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Once he had purchased three shirts in varying shades of green for Donat, along with two pairs of jeans that were already well on their way to having holes in the knees, Kumoru lead the boy out of the store and down the crowded mall hallway. The necromancer had no other particular destination in mind for now, but he figured perhaps he would remember something he had forgotten if he took a bit of a walk.

Donat proudly carried the bag of the clothes he'd picked out at the thrift store, though he quickly observed that, to keep the bag from dragging on the ground, he would need to walk upright. So he followed after his father, falling a bit behind but not at an alarming rate.

As Kumoru paused a moment at a hall intersection by the food court, the goat boy caught up to him and reached out to tug his sleeve a little. "Daddy, can we get something to eat? I'm a little hungry," he said, peering up at his dad.

Kumoru glanced down at the boy as he spoke to him, then nodded. "Sure. I guess I could use a drink, too. Where do you want to go?"

Setting the bag down by his feet, Donat stuck his finger in his mouth while he thought, then pointed to the glowing red neon sign of a Chinese place. "How 'bout there?"

Kumoru considered offering to take the bag and sending Donat to order the food for himself to allow him some freedom, but the goat was not really experienced with that sort of thing yet.

So the mage leaned down and took the bag of clothes, then lead Donat over to get in line at the fast food Chinese place.

"They have egg rolls with vegetables in them and no meat," Kumoru told the boy when he saw the food, pointing down at the steaming bunch of them on the other side of the glass.

"Really?" Donat asked, standing on his toes and grabbing the edge of the counter to peer at the food available. He was just barely tall enough to see. "That sounds good. Can I get two, daddy?"

"Sure," Kumoru replied, scanning over the menu at the top for something else that sounded interesting for himself. He held onto the bag of clothing with one hand, and absently twirled a lock of his long black hair around the index finger of his other hand.

Donat squirmed and strained on his toes, trying to get a better view into the steaming bins of Chinese food set into the counter behind the glass. It kind of hurt his back a little, though, so he figured he would have to see as much as he could before he finally let go and got down on his hands and knees again.

A lot of the food looked like icky meat, but there were some portions that had vegetables in brown sauce or white sauce or yellow sauce, and with only little bits of icky meat. Donat wondered what they all tasted like. Then, with a slight twinge of pain in his back, he let go of the counter and crouched down, resting his forearms on his knees so Kumoru would not scold him for touching the floor right before he ate. Then, after a moment, the goat boy reached over to grab the edge of the bag of clothes his dad had, and peeked inside to further admire the green shirts.

Kumoru glanced down at Donat as he heard the plastic bag of clothes crinkle slightly at the boy's touch. He would have to take Donat shopping more often, since he seemed to enjoy it far more than Serif did, not to mention he was much more inclined to behave himself. Maybe he could buy Donat a treat or something after they ate.

After a moment, though, Kumoru began to get the vague sensation they were being watched. Or that it was not him, but just Donat. The boy himself did not seem to notice; the mage wondered if it was because he also had no fear. Leaving the bag at his side for Donat to look through if he wanted, Kumoru turned and rested his back against the edge of the counter and glanced around at the expanse of people dining in the area.

Donat saw someone move into his field of view, and he looked up from his bag to grin at the new boy. Did he want to see inside, too? The goat reached in and pulled out one of the nicely-folded shirts, shaking it out to unfold it so he could show it to the other kid.

"I like green, so I just bought some new green shirts, see?" he said with a proud smile.

Kumoru heard Donat's voice and glanced down to see who he was talking to. He smiled his usual polite smile at the youngster with plants growing out of him, adjusting his grip on the bag handle a little. Not that he thought this boy would try to steal anything, but it was a sort of unconscious reaction.

After a moment, the necromancer realized that the space beside him was free of people, and that the man behind the cash register down the counter was asking him what he wanted.

"Here, let me take the bag. We have to tell the man what we want now," he told Donat, gathering up the other bag handle and turning towards the cashier to place their order.

Donat glanced at his shirt, then at the other boy, then specifically at his branches, then over at Kumoru before sidling over to stand beside his father again. He crossed his arms with the shirt folded over them, looking up at Kumoru and trying to pick up what he was saying over the noise behind the counter so he would know in the future what he had to do to get food like a Big Boy.

He could not resist stealing another glance at the boy, though. It might be mean, but the child's brances made him a bit hungry. The goat would never eat another kid, though. Especially since it looked like the kid's dad was in line right behind him. Donat turned towards the man behind them in line and waved, too.

"Hiyas!"

Donat's face fell slightly as the other boy went to hide behind his daddy's leg; it reminded him of when he met Etain. Was the plant-boy afraid of him? The leaves just made him kind of hungry; it was not like the goat wanted to eat another person just because he made him hungry.

He tried unsuccessfully to fold his shirt before stuffing it back into the bag, then turned his attention to the good-smelling food that was being placed on the counter in front of Daddy. Still, Donat periodically stole glances back at the leafy boy and his father, and smiled a little at them when he did.

Kumoru's hair was not tied back today in the ponytail he usually wore since he figured he was just going to the mall, and that required no special dress. He brushed several strands of it back behind his shoulder, then lowered his hand to tap his pale, slender fingers lightly on the countertop while he waited for the food.

After a moment, the necromancer heard the bag rustle again, and glanced down to see Donat stuffing his shirt back in. Kumoru smiled a little; good of him to try, but the shirt would need to be refolded later. As his eyes rose again, he caught sight of the people directly behind him - the boy to whom Donat was waving, and his father who looked... strikingly familiar.

The mage's expression turned to one of slight confusion as he opened his mouth slightly to try to produce a name, but for the life of him he could not recall one. And then to break his train of thought, the man at the cash register slid a tray of food to him and repeated the total for the meal. Kumoru was forced to break eye contact so he could pay for lunch.

As soon as the money left his fingertips, Kumoru was promptly handed a tray and hurried on his way so the cashier could take care of the next customers. And, just his luck, a group of teenagers passed by just in front of him, chatting with each other and generally not noticing the rather tall mage and his tray of fried rice and other assorted pseudo-Chinese food. Had someone called his name in the crowd? No time to look now.

"Donat, can you grab the bag?" the mage asked, raising his voice a little to ensure that the goat would be able to hear him over the somewhat sudden influx in activity as they were kind of nudged by the crowd away from the counter. Kumoru sighted an empty table with only a few dirty wadded-up napkins sitting on it, and immediately headed for that to get out of the bunch of people, glancing over his shoulder once or twice to make sure the goat was still following.

Ignoring the fact that no one could hear it, Donat nodded and grabbed the bag handles, and lifted his hands up to chin-level so the bag would not drag on the ground as he followed Kumoru. He did not bother trying to steal a glance back over his shoulder at the leafy boy and his father, since he was a bit afraid of losing sight of his own daddy, but once Donat had stowed the bag safely under a chair and climbed into it, he could not help but watch them from afar while he grabbed an eggroll.

When he was seated as well, Kumoru shifted his cheap plastic chair around the small round table a little so he could sit beside Donat and also watch the line in front of the Chinese restaraunt. Had the familiar-looking man called his name, or was he just imagining it? He watched the other and his son, figuring that they might try to talk to him again if there truly was recognition between them.

"Never heard the name," Kumoru denied reflexively, tensing at hearing someone speak it. His eyes directed as they were at his lo mein and not at his visitor, he did not immediately realize that it was the same man he had found familiar in the line behind them.

A moment later, however, the necromancer looked up, hoping that the person who knew his name was indeed at least the slightest bit familiar. No knowing whom the Tower of Wings, the mage tower where he had studied, and from which he had been expelled, might send to try to find him again. If they decided that knowing where he was was in their best interest.

The face was uncommonly familiar, much to his relief, as Kumoru's sharp mind finally managed to place from where he recognized the other man. The one person he doubted the Tower would ever be able to find to track him, as Kumoru himself had had no end of trouble keeping track of his friend.

"Higashi?" he stated, though his voice still carried a slight rise in tone at the end; Kumoru wanted to be sure.

"Gwmmfff!" Donat declared, dropping the uneaten half of his eggroll to point at the brown-haired man, while the other hand rose to his mouth to try to catch the bits of shredded carrot and steamed cabbage that tried to escape from it.

The goat chewed as quickly as he could, took a liberal gulp of his drink to help in swallowing his mouthful of food, then tried again: "You were in line behind us," he said with a cheerful grin of greeting.

Then he looked down at Laerad and waved again with his fingertips. "Hiya. What did you get to eat? I like the eggrolls, they're really good!" And then he took another bite.