214 Vol. 4 pt. 17 Patch 3.0: A Change of Pace (2/2)
Meanwhile, Serra is looking up pictures on her phone of fat ferrets.
All animals are cuter when they're fat according to Serra. Whether they are cats, dogs, cows, penguins, ferrets, or any other animal, fatness is equal to cuteness.
”Shall we go now then?” Alice asks.
”Yeah, we can just get ready while waiting for the autotaxi to get here,” Ryouta says.
”My hero, do you not think we should buy our own vehicle?”
”I don't really think we need one. It takes less than five minutes for an autotaxi to get here, and we'd have to use one multiple times a week for years to probably make buying our own car worth it.”
”Alright then! I shall leave that up to you while I go and freshen up. Serra, you're coming with me,” Alice says, wheeling up to Serra, grabbing her, and pulling her away toward the bathroom.
Serra whines and groans at the thought of not getting to look messy and shaggy.
”What about you?” Cassandra asks Ryouta.
”I'm a guy. It takes me less than a minute to get ready. All I have to do is put on shoes and mess with my hair a little bit,” Ryouta answers.
”Guys are so lucky.”
”You know, you don't have to spend so much time getting ready before we go anywhere. I doubt any of us are going to care if you don't worry about your hair, clothes, and makeup.”
”You wouldn't understand.”
”Then explain it to me,” Ryouta says as he orders the autocar on his phone.
Five minutes later of explanations and Ryouta says, ”You're right, I don't understand any of that.”
”I told you,” Cassandra says with a sigh.
”Just be like an Asian girl and wear a mask and a hat. Then you don't have to do your hair and nobody can see half your face.”
”I – you don't understand. I want to look good! It's not about wanting to be lazy. It's about wanting to look my best!”
Ryouta wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulls her close, and places a kiss on the side of her head. ”You always look your best.”
”You're smooshing my hair right after I had it cut and styled,” she says with a pout, ”but… th-thanks.”
”I hope you appreciate that I'm holding back. Your hair makes me want to really, really fluff it up. I just want to put my hands in it and shake it everywhere.”
”I'm going to leave you in a cage at the pet store if you do.”
”Can I do it once we're home?”
”Why do you want to so badly?”
”Because your hair looks super fluffy right now. I want to fluff it.”
”Let me guess, your obsession with fluffing my hair comes from one of your shows or those things you read?”
”Yep.”
”Fine, but only once we're home and when nobody else is around.”
Ryouta mentally fist pumps and pulls away from her so that he doesn't get too tempted to just fluff her hair right now.
He wants to fluff; he needs to fluff.
His phone vibrates to let him know that the autotaxi is outside. ”It's here!” Ryouta shouts so the others – well, other can hear him. Once Alice hears him, she grabs Serra's attention and they come back out into the living room.
Serra has had her hair straightened and combed down straight, topped off with an oversized hat, and Alice has somehow managed to switch into a dress for going out and is wearing a floppy hat of her own. She looks like she's going out to a park for a romantic picnic more than going to a pet store.
”Remember! No getting attached,” Alice says.
Ryouta nods, but he already knows what is most likely going to happen.
They're going to come home with ferrets.
The only question is how many ferrets will they come home with, and how much other supplies will they be bringing?
”Hey, we have a couple of spare rooms… so couldn't we just turn one of those into a ferret room instead of sticking them in a cage?” Ryouta asks.
”We could, but those rooms are for our future children!” Alice explains.
”They won't need their own rooms until they're older, and – and that might be a while away anyways.”
”They will still need a cage even if they have their own room.”
”Alright, alright.”
”Besides, my hero, we are only going to look! We are not doing anything more than looking.”
”I know.”
He doesn't know.