It's Half Off and I Still Can't Afford It (SSoDI-G)

[ParamountKeymaster]

"We're only out of the loop because Mic didn't explain his mission to us, but okay," Paul responded somewhat flatly, shrugging at Perdix. Sure, there was more to it than that, but he was trying to distract himself from more grievous matters at the moment. It did cross his mind to possibly bring it up to Perdix, or at least figure out how much Mic knew, but now didn't feel like the best time.

Paul glanced back to offer Will and Ranuen a nod and a wave as the two departed, smiling a tad at the latter's suggestion. When he faced forward again, he found Mic staring wide-eyed at Perdix, lips parted a millimeter and eyebrows arched with confusion. A nerve had clearly been struck.

"Straighten me out... or...?"

"IIIII'm gonna see what these guys are doin'...!" Kenny awkwardly interjected, turning and scurrying after Will and Ranuen, tactfully avoiding the incoming drama.

"They were... gonna...?" Mic tugged at his coat collar, his eyes flicking about as he tried to make sense of what he had been told. "I-I mean, I was wondering why Lady Bennu tasked me of all people to find you, but... she... I... W-What do they mean by...? What's wrong with me?! I-I haven't done anything wrong! Well, okay, there was some property damage here and there, but I've always cleaned up after myself! I've always tried to be helpful! Why do they need to...?!"

Paul's ears and shoulders drooped a bit as he watched the little yellow angel fidget in place and undergo a mini panic attack. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to help. All he knew was that it hurt to watch.

[DanteMGalileo]

"Am loyal to Lady Bennu above all else. Following her orders is top priority, and Lady Bennu had more pressing concerns than me. So tell me, he who makes explosions, how many things go boom? Even if cleaned, still material that cannot be replaced. Especially with crisis."

Perdix turned to face Paul with the same impassive expression. "Ah, scaly double low appendage creature. Was not an exile order. _{Though I wish.} Was order to address problem first. Then abandon if fruitless like the bark columns of Area E." He let out a clearly-recorded laugh, then turned back to Mic. "So, he who makes explosions, is constant in explosions beyond make much mess?"

--

"... I remembered that I can't fucking read any of this."

Will stared at a box in front of him, not sure what it did. The characters were basically chicken scratch to him. "Uh, Raunen? Can you tell me what this is? It looks like something I might've seen in a love hotel. _{Notthativeeverbeeninone.} I mean, it's definitely interesting..."

[ColArana]

Ranuen snickered. "You know you could probably ask someone to help teach you how to read." He suggested. "....To be fair I sometimes have trouble as well, but I have an excuse. It's harder to read when the letters you're reading are the size of a small building." He argued defensively, despite nobody suggesting anything. "But if I'm back here I can probably figure it out." He looked at the characters of the box Will was looking at, but paused a moment.

"Love hote-- why would... nevermind." He broke off and focused on reading the tag on this unit. "Oh. ...Oh it's a blender." He replied to Will. "It's an electrical device that's used in cooking. Hmm... Uhh.... well it's got a bunch of blades inside that spin around at really high speed to dice up stuff and mix things up like milkshakes, smoothies and stuff." He explained awkwardly, feeling he wasn't adequately explaining the device.

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Or small animals if you're a sick f*ck like that," Kenny spoke up as he approached the duo from behind. "Not really a necessary piece of equipment. Basically a luxury if your income is anything like my family's."

The boy leaned against a shelf and glanced up at Will. "So tell me something. What's up with all these angels that have been showing up today? They're kind of a far cry from any angel in my world that I know of. Also, where can I find these hotels you speak of?"

---------------------------

"I-I don't mean to blow stuff up!" Mic desperately insisted. "I only build the things I do because I wanna help! I salvage what I can! I've never hurt anyone! ...S-Severely! I-I don't need correction, I swear! I'm loyal! I'M-!!!"

"W-hey, hey, Mic...!" Paul spun Mic around, grabbed him by the shoulders, and looked him warmly in the eye, quickly calming the little angel down. "It's okay, buddy, it's gonna be okay. From the way it sounds, you're not in any severe amount of trouble. But, y'know, maybe they're onto something. Even if the intentions are good, damages stack up. Can't exactly ignore that."

"I..."

"But you don't have to necessarily change to appease anyone. You just have to... improve." Paul smiled and gave Mic a light shake. "Listen... You're an inventor. I'm an engineer. I like to think I know where to look when machines start going wrong. If we work together, maybe we can tweak your methods to a point where malfunctions are considerably minimized."

Mic's eyes widened. His jaw nearly dropped to his sternum. That excited glimmer was starting to return. "Y-You would do that?!"

"Of course! Whatever talents I can offer, I'm happy to oblige."

"Well...! That...! Y-YEAH! LET'S DO THAT!" Mic whipped back around, eagerly grinning at Perdix. "I'll get myself and my inventions in working order! I'll prove my worth! YOU'LL SEE!"

[DanteMGalileo]

"See? Is not abandonment order. Can put in note with Lady Bennu. Give you twenty-one light cycles on backwards calendar to improve. Or however many Lady Bennu will grant. Please call own Uber or take portal. Am not interdimensional public transportation service, am assistant to councilangel." Perdic gave a stiff nod, then turned to Paul. "Scaly double low appendage creature, have low faith in you to make he who makes explosions into he who does not make explosions. Good luck. Am off to find station. ... If integrated directional indicator was still working. Ha ha ha. Is not joke."

---

"... I don't wanna ask."

Will gave a shudder at the image Kenny had given him. "If you're gonna butcher an animal for food, knives work better, my brother would know all about knives, the weirdo." Oh, angels. "Uh, disclaimer, the only thing I... really know about angels comes from Lobo and Loba, and from what I can tell, they're kind of abnormal among their kind. I dunno what angels are like in your world, but these are what angels are like where I'm from. Apparently. I dunno if it means anything, but... uh... nope, actually don't know."

Beat. "No, I'm not giving your directions to a love hotel. N-Not that I've ever been in one."

[ColArana]

Ranuen winced at Kenny. "Please don't suggest that one." He asked politely, regarding small animals in blenders. "That happened once and it was not a fun experience." Ahh, the perils of being the size of an ant. "But yeah it's not something most people need but it's handy if you can spare the change." Not that Will probably had that for it. ...Or a house to keep it in. ....Yeah a blender probably wasn't the most use to him.

Kenny brought the subject to Angels and Ranuen frowned. "Gotta admit, these aren't what my world would call Angels either." A mental image of a certain Anarchy sister flashed through his mind. "Granted, I've met a few people calling themselves angels that don't really fit the bill from my world either. In my world, angels are said to be messengers of the divine. Generally they're affiliated with light, positivity and all that sort of thing. They smite the wicked, uplift the good, etc. etc. etc." He shrugged. "Personally I've never been huge on religious faith though, unless I want to think of this" he added, gesturing to himself. "...as some sort of divine punishment."

"Either way these guys are very different from the angels I heard about in storybooks and myths. About as tough to kill though, that's a pain." Ranuen could still hear Mic-- seemed Paul was doing something to help him calm down.

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Bummer." Kenny kept it vague which of Will's answers he was referring to. He ran his hand through his blond mop and glanced around the corner at Paul and the two angels, nodding along with Ranuen's explanation. "Yeah, in my world's mythos, angels are basically the same. Guess it's worth asking Lobo and Loba what these guys' deal is if we're gonna be around them more often."

Kenny lowered his eyes and tapped his chin. Maybe it was worth getting back in contact with the Angel of Time. He seemed to be of a different ilk than these angels.

---------------------------

"You bet, Perdix!" Mic chimed, offering the synthetic an overeager salute. "I'm gonna go restock my toolkit! WHOO!!!" His feet hovered off the floor and kicked about like a cartoon character revving up, then he flew down the aisles to resume his search with newfound fervor.

Paul chuckled at the sight, then he turned back to Perdix. "Excitable one, isn't he? I'm guessing he's always been that way? Heheh... Well, I'll see what I can work out with him. You can trust me to watch his back, if nothing else."

[DanteMGalileo]

"Hmmm... yeah. Probably not worth it. Knowing my brother, even if I did have this eel-lect-tree-city thing, he'd just take it apart for the blades, he's got an obsession with knives. No, I had nothing to do with that."

Will placed the box back, sighing, placing a hand to his temple. "Sounds like a lotta hokey to me, but then again, it's not exactly hokey to you. Dunno about messengers and goodwill and all that, because goodwill's kinda a luxury where I'm from. B-But maybe it is just a coincidence? Then again, shit always goes to one of the fifty hells in a handbasket when we're around for some reason."

---

"Yes. Has always been overly-excitable, like fledgling in sweet confectionery consumer good building, or wing-remover after successful execution of wicked. Is hard to understand, even with being coded to not be so."

Perdix made a stiff arm-waving movement. "Wish you not horrible light cycle and luck in making he who makes explosions into he who does not make explosions. Now must find way back. Or call Uber." Mid-walk, he stopped, rotating to face fall. "Oh. And if see stupid Keruv, give him this face." The mechanical angel's face took on a subtle look of anger, before resetting back to a neutral one. "He will know what it mean."

[ColArana]

Ranuen sighed, glancing aside and up at Will. "You guys do not come from a happy place, huh?" He commented. "Either way though, I don't think these are the same angels that Kenny and I are familiar with. We should at least figure out exactly how they plan to go about doing things. I'd spy on them if we had a place to start, but we'd need to find one to start, and I'm not so sure that one here is a good one to start with. Doesn't seem careless, and seems like he'd be able to notice me if I tried hitching a ride with him."

[ParamountKeymaster]

Kenny let out a low, childish snicker at Will's remarks on Jordan. Once that was out of his system, he shot the man a gentle, sympathetic expression and a slow nod. There was a lot going on, and Kenny could tell that it was putting a damper on an already hectic life.

The conversation taking place a few aisles down was basically public knowledge due to Mic's volume. Bearing this in mind, Kenny continued, "Well, it seems like Screech is gonna be sticking with us for a while. We can probably ask him whatever we-"

Kenny's tone and gaze simultaneously trailed off. His eyes landed on the store's front window just as a shadow disappeared past the pane. "What the sh...? Um, hang on, guys, I'll be right back." He then dashed away and out of the store, hastily rounding the corner in hot pursuit.

---------------------------

"Um... Good to know," Paul mumbled, scratching his head, not sure how to absorb the information on Mic or the attitude he was apparently supposed to have. Still, he had to smile at Perdix as the latter departed. He wasn't sure if he would go through with that final request, but he was happy to lend a hand nonetheless. "Good luck to ya. I'll do what I can."

So now he had a monster, a dragon, an apocalypse cult, angels, and machine work on his plate, and somehow Paul suspected that he was only brushing the surface. This was going to be a hectic week.

Oh well. Maybe it was best to help Mic with his shopping before he went and bought the whole hardware store.

[DanteMGalileo]

"... I have no clue what that was about, but I doubt it'll be important later."

Will shook his head at Kenny's disappearance, before glancing back at the front of the store. "I doubt anything in this store is worth anything to me, coffee or not. I guess we should see what Shouts McShouty is up to before Paul goes deaf?"

[ColArana]

Ranuen watched as Kenny fled, with a look of visible concern. "...Should we be worried about that?" He asked. But before much else could occur, Will mentioned about helping out Paul and Ranuen nodded. "Yeah, we may as well. Seems the other one's left anyways."

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Hey, wait!" Though there was a considerable distance between him and the figure of his interest, Kenny tried his best to wave them down and get their attention. "Hold up! What're you doing here?! I thought you were-!"

Without warning, a mighty gust of wind blew through the mall concourse. Several shoppers emitted startled yelps, tightly holding their bags. Kenny, hit by the gale dead-center, was knocked off his feet entirely and sent sliding back a few feet. The winds ceased as abruptly as they had begun, and as soon as the air grew calm again, as soon as Kenny scrambled back onto his feet, the person who had caught his eye was gone.

"Kenny!"

Instead, he found the familiar face of the Angel of Time leaning over him like a worried father. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kenny responded nonchalantly, rubbing the back of his head. "I was just... trying to... Wait, what're you doing here? Are you following me? Like, I get the whole concept of a guardian angel, but it's a little creepy considering how-"

"N-No, no, I assure you it's nothing like that," Kendall awkwardly insisted, waving his hands. "While I will confess to keeping tabs on you and your companions' timeline..."

"Oh, so it's more of a trans-dimensional voyeur thing. Good to know."

"Not appropriate, Kenneth. The reason I'm here now is to keep an eye on another party. One whose mere presence is a liability in this timeline."

Kenny stared up at the angel, blinking vacantly for a moment. Then he gazed down the hall where the figure had disappeared. Before he even had a chance to ask, Kendall answered the question. "Yes. That."

"So... Wait... Was that really...?"

"Yes. It was." Kendall's shoulders slumped as he offered the boy a slow, sad nod. "Just not the one you know."

---------------------------

Dammit... The dang time angel was on the trail. Should've known that shaking him would not be that easy.

Ducked behind a corner, out of the angel and the boy's line of sight, the lone figure waited patiently, watching as a green angel walked in their direction...

Wait...

Waaaaait...

Now.

A shadowy hand grabbed Perdix, hauling him into the nearest restroom.

---------------------------

"OPE! Excuse me, gentlemen~!" Mic chimed in as he squeezed behind Will, plucked the same blender the latter had held before, and tossed it into an already overflowing shopping bag. Then he eagerly scampered into the next aisle, muttering excitedly to himself at basically the same volume, just considerably less coherent.

Paul let out a limp chuckle, watching Mic sprint about the store as he approached Will and Ranuen. "If this kid plans on building a doomsday machine with me, I am ducking out of this whole adventure early."

[DanteMGalileo]

"... Does he have enough money to pay for that? Do you have enough?"

Will eyed Mic's overflowing bag with a concerned expression. "I'm not good at math, but I can tell that's more than my rent for an entire year." Actually, more like two years' worth of rent. "... What exactly is he doing? And where's the other one?"

---

"Ah."

Despite being dragged off to what seemed to be a pellet deposit room, Perdix retained his impassive expression, seeming more bored with the sudden change of scenery. He glanced around, meeting his captor. His eyes partially closed, and he yawned, the sound clearly pre-recorded.

"Am not interested in pleasures of flesh. Of course, am made of metal and synthetics, so all pleasures are not of flesh. Ha ha ha. is funny. Unlike you."

[ColArana]

As Mic squeezed his way past Will, the motion knocked Ranuen off of Will's shoulder. Probably not especially noticeable for Will to lose an insect off his shoulder, but understandably a bit of a big deal for Ranuen, who quickly scrambled to grab the nearest thing on the way down to stop his fall. Which happened to by Mic's shirt instead, as Mic dashed off. Now along for the ride with the angel instead of Will, Ranuen sighed as he looked at the items Mic was loading up into the cart. "You are finding a lot of stuff...." He murmured, not sure if Mic could quite hear him, while he hung on for dear life as Mic sprinted all over the place. "Mic, who exactly is gonna  be paying for this stuff?" He was starting to wonder if another five finger discount would be needed.