Barring the anticipation from Ivory's date with Rick this was possibly the most nerve racking experience that Tanner has been confronted with in ages. At the very least he had time to mentally prepare for the date unlike this spur of the moment decision that Marcelle somehow talked them into. Perhaps she won't miss her calling as a door to door saleswoman, she'd surely con several people into buying vacuum cleaners or something.

The commute was short enough that Tanner was able to ride in the cup holders of the front seat while Ingrid drove and Blake rode shotgun. He was more than happy that Marcelle was relegated to the backseat though he had the aching suspicion that she had a grand scheme in this and her laser guided stare was burning into the back of his noggin, not that he had the gall to look back to confirm this theory.

After parking Ingrid scratched her head thinking of the best approach to handle journey inside. “ Since I obviously can't have you out in the open I guess the best place for you is . . .” Ingrid paused unsure of how she wanted to phrase it. “ My pocket I guess.”

“ Hold up, you lost me in the last half of that. Your pocket?” Tanner repeated. He didn't expect to be frolicking around in plain sight, but still it's hard to think of being confined in another persons pocket to be anything besides degrading.

Ingrid groaned, she wasn't thrilled at the idea either but was willing to do what needed to be done. “ Look, I don't have any better options. If I carry you around like usual people will see, you'll be the headline on the news, and Ivory will be out for blood . .my blood to be more specific.”

Tanner was about to make further fuss about it until he remembered what Julie said earlier about things being as awkward for Ingrid as they were for him. If there was a better solution readily available Ingrid without question would have gone with it, he shouldn't give her a hard time when she was trying her best. “ . .You think no one will notice me there?”

“ Not while everyone is minding there own business doing whatever.”

“ Yeah short-stuff, even if it's a passing glance people are probably going to mistake you for an accessory or something anyway.” Blake added, meaning well but Tanner found the input a touch belittling to his humanity.

“ Not helping.” Ingrid responded, preferring to take charge of the persuasive efforts. Despite good intentions Blake didn't always think before speaking.

“ If you're not up for it Ingrid I'll hang onto him.” Marcelle offered.

Ingrid needed a second to ensure she heard that suggestion correctly and not laugh from nonplus. She'd sooner contemplate handing him to a pack of wolves. “ You're kidding right?”

“ I'm serious, besides I've hardly gotten to spend any time with the little guy. You don't mind right Tanner?”

“ Fucking bitch.” Tanner quietly swore. Marcelle was using her leverage over him for all it was worth and at every turn where Ingrid became cautious of her behavior she'd use him to placate her. The worst part was that it was working. “ . .I don't see why not.”

Ingrid had a gut feeling there was something more to Tanner's compliance than meets the eye, but now was not the time or place to call her out on it. She was going to be nearby anyway and they were in a public spot so at least it'd be hard for Marcelle to pull any funny business. “ Knock yourself out.”

Marcelle wasted no time leaning forward to snatch Tanner into her hand (without warning per usual). She looked as happy as a kid getting candy from the grocery store.

“ Anyways, sorry if we can't talk to you very much while we're inside.” Ingrid apologized ahead of time.

“ Just enjoy the view while the big girls play.” Marcelle said, still smiling as she slid the small boy into the confines of her pocket. Tanner felt somewhat like a cocoon waiting for metamorphosis. His body was almost completely pinned between the denim of his cousins jeans, the most movement he could muster in the pouch was descending further.

Instinctively as soon as they exited the vehicle into the open Tanner receded further into his cousin's pocket leaving his neck up exposed. He tried to ignore the disgusting irony that he was essentially relying on her of all people for protection. The parking lot from his eyes looked like a gray abyss that expanded for eternity to come. With each sight of someone also departing from there vehicle and heading into the mall he tucked his head hoping to look as inconspicuous as possible. Granted Ingrid's words were proving correct as they went along there own business; the only thing keeping him on edge was the impending paranoia that at any time someone who looked hard enough or watched at the right time would notice he wasn't merely some inanimate object.

The entrance the trio took led them directly into the food court. The sensory overload for Tanner was on the brink of making his head spin. That was always one of the more bizarre aspects he came to realize as he shrunk, the way it transformed the mundane into wondrous spectacles of fantasy. He compared the house to being a whole world to him, well right now he thought he was in a new galaxy.

Everything was so overwhelming he didn't know where to start looking. One of the most striking things was the loudness he hasn't had to deal with in so long. Becoming accustomed to being in or hearing conversations involving only a handful of participants it was strange to be reintroduced to hearing the voices of multiple people conglomerating into a collective noise. Speaking of which, holy crap the people; there were so many of them in varying sizes, shapes, etc. None of this should be as shell-shocking as it was, but Tanner at this moment likened himself to a zoologist watching an ecosystem of enormous beasts in there natural environment, conversation, eating, or in simple terms being regular people.

“ Blake what are you doing here?” Asked a voice that sounded dreary enough that if you relied on it alone you'd mistake the area for a funeral home. A voice that Tanner could specifically distinguish as belonging to Blake's 14 year old sister Abigail.

“ I think I should be asking that question, I didn't think malls were your scene.” Blake answered, making clear reference to the young teen's Gothic influenced manner of dress, devoid of any color that wasn't black. The only contrast to be seen was the sections of white in her converse shoes and white studded belt. Coupled with her loner disposition, a lively and crowded mall seemed like one of the last places the she'd be seen.

“ There was a game that came out today that I just came by to pick up.” She answered still not sounding the least bit excited as she held her small bag up slowly as if that took a great deal of effort to complete that feat.

While she was focused on speaking with Blake, Tanner took the chance to ever so subtly retreat into the pocket as much as possible. He had no reason to suspect that she saw him, but his low vantage along with the bangs of her black dyed hair stopping right before her eyes made it difficult for him to tell where exactly her gaze lied.

“ You need to get yourself some outdoor hobbies squirt, I'll be home before evening.” Blake advised, knowing there have been days where her sister could be off in her room for hours on end without so much as a peep being heard from her.

“ Whatever. .” Abigail responded before disregarding her older sister entirely and shifting her shadowy eyes to her companion. “ Hey Ingrid how are you?”

“ I'm fine.” Ingrid answered, keeping it as to the point as possible.

“ How's Tanner?” She asked, it seemed like saying his name was enough to inject her with newfound life.

After hearing his name Tanner was happy he made the tactical decision that he did. It wasn't that he found Abigail bad per say, only weird and slightly unnerving. He hasn't had too many extended interactions with her but being familiar with Blake's family as a whole he could tell she was the black sheep of the family. Everyone else hailed from highly athletic and sporty backgrounds while Abigail was not the least bit qualified for such activities. On a good day her petite form barely cleared the 5'0 mark and was ill-equipped for any kind of physical exertion. If he were a betting man Tanner would put his money on that being the main catalyst for her gloomy nature.

“ Same old, same old.” Ingrid answered, purposefully not going into much detail.

“ Tell him I said hi.” She answered before circling her way around the girls to depart, her frame seeming to get lost in an instant among the rest of the people who were hanging around.

“ Cute kid.” Marcelle quipped.

“ Still in her goth phase huh?” Ingrid asked.

“ She'll grow out of it I guess.” Blake shrugged.

“ So anywhere you gals want to hit up?” Ingrid asked getting the group back on track to there original intentions.

Blake looked more than satisfied with where she was already and was checking out every guy who appeared single for a potential prospect. “ We can stick here, there's got to be a cute guy around here somewhere.”

Ingrid wondered why she bothered. “ Yeah, cause' Tanner really wants to sit around and watch you try and pick up guys.”

“ What you really need is something sexy to wear.” Marcelle butted in with her two cents.

The notion captured Blake's attention as she twirled a stand of her dark brown hair. “ . .You think so?”

“ Think so? I know so.” Marcelle corrected. She gave Blake a good visual assessment.“ You've already got the legs going for you, if you just wore something that showed a little upstairs then you'll have the guys at your finger tips in a heartbeat.”

Blake was a bit taken back from the advice placing her hand on her chest. She wasn't the most endowed women on the planet but her b-cup bra size meant she had something to work with. Though she didn't deem herself a conservative gal wearing clothes that left little to the imagination wasn't ever her style.

“ Great strategy if you want to attract every douche bag in the gene pool.” Ingrid snorted, stepping in between the two, ill-content to standby and listen.

“ Is that so?” Marcelle matter of factly said. “ Then what advice do you have for your statuesque friend? Don't tell me it's that 'be yourself' nonsense.” She ended her sentence in an obvious mocking tone.

Ingrid's brow furrowed, truthfully her cousin took the words right out of her mouth but she wasn't going to give her the pleasure of punking her out. “ As a matter of fact yeah. It's better than dressing like a bimbo!”

The outburst of Ingrid's voice attracted the gazes from the people passing and people eating nearby. Tanner only able to listen to what was going on right now wished he could bonk Ingrid on the head and tell her to keep her cool. Even if he couldn't see what was going on he was sure she was attracting unneeded attention. Surprisingly it wasn't Marcelle though who responded to that comment, but Blake herself. “ And what's that supposed to imply? That I'd be a bimbo if I took her advice?” She asked stepping forward to her friend taking it as an indirect insult.

Ingrid bit her tongue, her words had the total opposite effect than intended. “ You know I didn't mean it like that but. .”

“ But nothing, funny of you to talk down to me when you've never had a boyfriend!” By this point they've all but succeeded in making an entire scene with everyone nearby stopping what they were doing to checkout the argument.

Never one to back down from a challenge Ingrid fired back. “ I hope you can commit to a man better than you can commit to a sport!” Ingrid's barb succeeded in drawing some gasps and ooo's from the on lookers, practically instigating for the two to continue. Thankfully one of the mall cops that were in the area stopped by to check things out before things escalated further.

“ Is there a problem here?” He asked unenthused that he was forced to perform some actual work during his shift.

Ingrid and Blake both shared a fast glance before shaking there heads to him. “ No everything is alright.” They both answered. Knowing each other for so long they've had numerous spats and generally were able to drop a subject before things became too heated.

“ Fine then, carry along everybody nothing to see here.” He announced, encouraging for everyone to get back to there regular lives.

' Sorry, I guess I got a little sensitive there.” Blake apologized.

“ Me too, I just didn't want Marcelle doling out bad advice . . .” As soon as she said her name Ingrid looked to her back and sides noticing something was off. More accurately, someone was gone. “ Where is Marcelle anyway?”

Blake also took a quick look around. “ Um, not sure. I thought she was close by but I don't know what happened to her in the middle of all that.

“ Shit . .” Ingrid swore. It was no plain coincidence that Marcelle decided to split while they both were distracted. It wasn't only the fact that she left, it's that she left with Tanner.