Two weeks went by in a blur. Before I knew it, it was my first payday. 11,475,175 ITL. More than I had ever held at once. I wasn’t sure what to do with it all. Then, Cosmia, the assistant chef, suggested something. “Hey, why don’t we go out shopping? Take your mind off work for a little bit. Besides, you need a day off anyways.” I blinked, hesitating as I thought. 

“... Mmmm… I suppose… If Rosine is fine with it. Plus, she hasn’t needed me to do much of anything besides basically being a packmule, so it should be fine… I just hope she won’t get into any trouble.” I said softly and sighed, rubbing the back of my neck as I remembered the stories her father, Astor, told me. Though I smiled bittersweetly at how he lit up talking about her debate tournaments, her volunteer work, and how he’d read her a bedtime story every night until she was 15. He sounds like a good dad… Wish I had that growing up. I thought to myself. Cosmia noticed and nudged my arm with her elbow.

“Hey, you good?” I blinked and looked over, then nodded and shook myself out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. I'll ask if we can go out, okay?” Cosmia nodded and I went upstairs, from the kitchen to Rosine’s room. I knocked, entering when she said I could.

It was exactly as I expected, whites, pinks, lavender, and touches of red, with lace, faux fur and stuffed animals everywhere. Rosine was sitting on her window seat, the cushions shades of pink and white, with a tea cup on the table next to her and a book in her hand. When I walked in, she looked up and asked, “What do you need, Seren?” I chuckled softly and folded my arms behind my back, feigning professionalism, causing her to roll her eyes playfully.

“Well, Cosmia wanted to go shopping. I wanted to ask your opinion first.” Rosine blinked, seeming a little surprised as she put her book down, her finger in her book to mark her place.

“... I appreciate that, but why ask me instead of my father?” I smiled a little and chuckled before responding, tilting my head a little, as I felt the reason was obvious.

“It’s not his schedule I have to keep tabs on. I needed to know if we have anything planned today, and if you were okay with me going, or if you wanted to do something else.” Rosine blushed a little more, but huffed a little and nodded as she looked away.

“... Alright, you can go. Just be back by 8 so you can have dinner with us. Akito finished with your wardrobe, so go pick up your outfits from him before going. I already talked to him and he agreed to keep the staring down to a minimum.” I relaxed a little and nodded again, smiling a bit in relief.

“Alright, thank you, I appreciate it.” Then I thought of something and paused, glancing at her book before I asked, “What’s your favorite genre? I usually enjoy reading sci-fi, but a good fantasy novel is nice too. And every January 16th I read a specific science book.” Rosine looked up at me again and tilted her head to the side, reminding me of a kitten or a confused bird as she spoke.

“Why January 16th?” I paused, my smile faltering as I glanced away, remembering… her.

“... It was my mother’s birthday. I miss her dearly, but I know she would want me to be happy. Besides, she died a long time ago.” Rosine’s gaze softened and she paused, then she nodded a little.

“... I may not be able to relate, but I think I’d feel the same way if my dad died. I like reading fantasy novels best, though, preferably modern fantasy. Would you like January 16th off from now on? I mean, I know you haven’t worked for us that long, but still.” I relaxed a little and nodded as I smiled gently.

“That sounds wonderful.” Just as I was about to leave, however, Rosine spoke again.

“When you come back… Do you want to talk about your mother?” I paused and stared at her for a minute, then smiled a little more.

“I think I’d like that. It’s been a while since I’ve spoken about her. Most people just say, ‘Oh, your mom’s hot’, then move on. So… Thank you. I’ll see you at 8.” Then I waved goodbye and went back downstairs.

Cosmia met me at the door and I smiled as I followed her to the mall. “So, where first?” Cosmia thought as we walked.

“... Mmm… I’m not sure. Maybe we could just explore and see what they have?” I chuckled and nodded a little. 

“Sounds like a good idea. Also, I know you’re interested in someone, but who is it?” Cosmia blushed and looked away. We were about halfway there until she responded to my question.

“... You wouldn’t know them. But… you’re right. And don’t worry, it’s not you. You’re not my type.” I chuckled and nodded a little.

“Alright, that’s fine. I don’t mind. I don’t really know what my type is. If I chose it… my type would probably be… Kind enough to help others, but independent and feisty enough to take care of themselves when needed.” Cosmia raised an eyebrow and smirked a little.

“That kind of sounds like Rosine.” I rolled my eyes playfully.

“She is attractive, but she’s my boss. I wouldn’t make a move on her unless she does first. Besides, she seems kind of uncomfortable. I wouldn’t want to push her.” Cosmia paused, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye before she responded.

“... She has her guard up, yeah. It’s not my place to tell you why, but I think you might be able to break her walls down.” I shrugged.

“That’s for her to decide. If she doesn’t want it, then I wouldn’t push it or try anything with her. Besides, I have trauma too. I wouldn’t want to put that on her.” Cosmia smiled a little and nodded a bit.

“You’re sweet, Seren.” I chuckled and shrugged, then we finally got to the mall. “Alright, let’s start shopping.” I nodded, then we started to explore.

“... The mall’s bigger than I expected.” I mumbled to myself, and Cosmia chuckled softly.

“I mean, yeah, malls are kind of huge.” I shrugged a bit and we took a look at the map. “Mmm… Well, we’ve already had breakfast… So we should be good on food until lunchtime. It looks like there’s a few clothing stores, a bookstore, a candy store, a phone store, a sporting goods store, a few different toy stores, ohh, there’s a build-a-bear! We should go there!” I blinked and looked at her, confused. 

“What’s build-a-bear?” I asked and chuckled when she looked at me as if I told her I had never heard of Santa Claus. I rolled my eyes and chuckled. “I haven’t been in a mall before, so obviously I don’t know about the individual stores in the mall. Especially not this mall, remember, I was raised in Scotland. And not just Scotland, but the city in Scotland with the highest crime rates, and highest poverty levels in certain areas. So we didn’t have many malls or things like that.” Cosmia huffed and rolled her eyes too, but explained it to me.

“Build-a-Bear is a store where you can custom-make a stuffed animal. It’s expensive, but you can put a scent in it, a message, and even dress up your stuffed animal.” I thought for a moment, then nodded a little and smiled.

“Let’s do it. That sounds great. I wanna get one for Rosine, she’s been looking down sometimes recently.” Cosmia snorted, but nodded and led me to the store.

It was smaller than I expected, but there were still a lot of options. But I was most drawn to a cute, brown rabbit stuffed animal with a pink nose, and pink inner ear, the ears flat against the rabbit’s head. “I like this one, can I get two? One for me and one for her?” Cosmia chuckled and nodded, then picked up the… ‘shells’...? Of the rabbit stuffed animal, making me chuckle. “That looks so wrong.” She snorted and nodded in agreement, choosing one for herself. Then we brought them to the worker to stuff them. 

“Do you guys want a scent?” They asked and I blinked, surprised for a moment before looking at the options. I paused, then looked at Cosmia.

“I’m torn between lavender, jasmine, or roses.” Cosmia thought, then spoke.

“Rosine would like lavender and jasmine most.” I nodded, then looked at the employee.

“For mine, can I have one with coffee, and one with lavender and jasmine?” They nodded and put the scents in, then started to fill the stuffed animals. Once it was full, they looked at me.

“Do you want a recording in it?” I paused, thinking for a moment, then nodded and took the recording device. After a moment of thinking, I whispered into the recorder, then handed it back to the employee. Cosmia looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

“What’d you say?” I rolled my eyes playfully and smirked a bit.

“That’s for me to say and you to maybe find out.” Cosmia huffed, but nodded a little as the worker put in the recording and finished filling it with stuffing, then sewed it up, as well as mine. “I’m going to dress them up, you go ahead and do the stuff with yours.” She nodded and I looked around, holding the stuffed animals as I looked at the different outfits. I decided on a biker outfit for mine, and a cute pink dress with white lace on it for hers, similar to her regular outfit. I paid, then waited near the door for her to be done, holding the boxes. When she approached, I nodded, then asked, “So, where to next?”

~~~~~~~(POV Switch to Rosine)~~~~~~

I looked up from my book as I heard a knock on the door again. Are they already back? I thought to myself and called out, “Come in!” Then Seren walked in, his arms full of bags and a massive smile on his face. I couldn’t help but chuckle as I asked, “You’re back early, and you certainly went all out.” Then Seren responded.

“Most of these are for you.” I blinked, feeling heat rising to my cheeks as I looked away.

“... Oh, thank you… You didn’t have to do that.” Seren shrugged and sat down with the bags as I turned to him. “What did you get?” He smiled and started taking stuff out of the bags.

“Cosmia helped me with the outfits, to get the right size. I got stuff I thought you’d like, and some I thought would look nice on you, and some that’s a bit of both. I also got some books, like a copy of Mary Shelly’s ‘Frankenstein’, some of Shakespeare’s work, a few fantasy novels, and a few others, including ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte and Michael Mason, and ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ by Alexandre Dumas.” I couldn’t help but stare, stunned that he’d know ‘Jane Eyre’, but he kept going. “I also brought you a bouquet of pink roses, a bag of candy, and a stuffed animal. We went to build-a-bear.” I huffed, rolling my eyes to hide the warmth in my chest and face as I took the bag of candy and the stuffed rabbit.

“... Thanks, I guess… Now could you go get a vase for the flowers? I don’t want the water dripping onto my floor or rug.” Seren nodded and left the room, then I sat down again and hugged the stuffed animal. But, to my surprise, I heard Seren’s voice from it, soft, tender, whispering.

“... The world is a better place because you’re in it. You are a light in the darkness, an angel in this hell of a world. Please, keep being yourself.” I felt my heart swell and I couldn’t help but giggle, kicking my feet like a little girl as a massive smile spread across my face.

“... Dork.” I mumbled, my voice tender as I smiled so wide, I knew my cheeks would hurt later.