PLUSHIES

--SaturnStorm

There were some great benefits to teleportation. The most obvious of these was 'getting where you want to be in an instant'. The downside to this was a cost of energy, but the little it used up was barely noticeable unless you tried to hop the World in steps. So long as there was just point A, point B, and maybe point C and D (if there's a pickup route), you'd hardly notice a drain.

So Ness had no qualms abusing this power to take Paula out wherever she felt over a weekend. In fact he enjoyed it! Just seeing the bright smile on her face made every teleport, and every weekend not doing homework, completely worthwhile.

This weekend, he and Paula were at Fourside, enjoying a simple day-trip in the mall. Ness wasn't exactly the biggest fan of mundane or useless shopping trips, since he thought if it didn't need replacing, you didn't need a new one (a habit burned into him from his adventure days). Yet Paula had managed to work him into a good mood at the coffee shop, with fascinating tales from her week and the promise of a home-made meal later from the chef-in-training.

So now they were browsing around the toystore, Paula enjoying the cute atmosphere and the extensive range of teddies, while Ness kept peering at her from behind a shelf of lego, torn between the two nostalgias.

"Oh, wow!" Paula squealed, picking up a large teddy-bear. "I haven't seen HeartU bears like this in years! I can't believe they're remaking them!" She hugged it close, wearing a look of adoring facination, "Aww, I always wanted one of these as a kid!"

Ness came out from behind the lego, a small smile on his face, and a chuckle left his lips.

Paula looked up, still holding the bear tight. "What? What is it?" she asked.

Shaking his head, Ness replied "Nothing."

He hadn't said anything, but Paula knew what he was thinking. She hugged the HeartU bear close and frowned a little, "So what if I'm 15 and still like plushies? There's nothing wrong with that!"

No matter what Ness wanted to be thinking just then, every thought was chased out by just how cute this stubborn Paula was. Jeff had said it best once: She was too cute to annoy. And as Paula sat there, hugging the large plush toy close to her, with a small pout on her face, Ness had to agree. Sure she was a teenager. Sure she was in middle school. Sure the toy in her arms was meant for people half her age. But how could he tell her that? She was just too darn cute!

Instead he just said "You're right." and checked the price tag. "But I'm not buying this."

Paula's pout grew larger, "Aww, what's wrong now?"

Holding up the price, Ness replied "With this price tag? I could equip all four of us with new silver bracelets for this much! No wonder you never got a HeartU bear! They're so expensive!"

The pout was gone, replaced now with a doe-eyed puppy-dog look. Ness's voice caught in his throat as her expression made him feel like he'd whacked her with a newspaper. Once he could speak again he added "B-besides, I don't have that much on me right now. Maybe another time."

Finally the blonde caved, putting the teddy back on the shelf sadly. "Okay." she mumbled, "another time." and with a turn, she had left the teddy bear.

"Oooh, those are some cute little bunny plushies!" was the next thing she exclaimed, her expression lighting up as she found a new toy that would make the most adorable accessory to her infinite cute expressions.

With a content smile, Ness followed, ready to face the next onslaught of emotional blackmail.

~~

END.