Fiori refused to be left at home today and appeared to be extra clingy. She overheard about how her mother was going to Mamlak and wanted to go with her momma. There were so many children in the house and so many siblings that Fiori felt like she had to fight for her parents’ attention. There were maids or servants to take care of them but that wasn’t the same as having Simone or Lewis’ attention. Plus, one of her siblings mentioned how Mamlak had all sorts of exotic treats. After hearing that little piece of information, Fiori whined and begged until she was brought on the trip to Mamlak. The child wore a pink and white short dress and had her hair tied up in a half bun to keep it out of her face.

Her bright red eyes gazed at the city around them with a mixture of wonder. There were golden lions decorating everywhere and the chatter of people debating on fresh goods. Still, Fiori held tightly to her mother's dress and didn't let the woman leave her sight. Everett was joining them as well, the sweet little baby that Fiori felt a fondness towards. She wished her mother would let her dress Everett up in little dresses and bonnets. He was like a big doll to dress up and play with. From the corner of her eye, Fiori could see a fluffy black tail sticking out of an alleyway. Her face lit up with delight at the sight of such fluffiness to play with. She released her mother's dress and began to run towards the alleyway.
—————–
Wesley waited in an alleyway in his wolf form for his girlfriend to show up. He had been doing some shopping for a very special evening. His plans were to cook her something especially delicious and then present her with exotic flowers from the Laeto rainforest. Every since they were together, he had been making an effort to have unique and fun dates with her. Spending time with her at any point was a treat but he feared she would get bored of regular boring dates. That was why he was trying to spice it up with some unique items from the Laeto rainforest. The best place to buy those materials was the Mamlak market. A bag of covered ingredients rested at his side as he waited patiently, his tail swishing back and forth. They had promised to meet in this particular alleyway when their shopping was done. But she hadn't arrived yet, making him nervous enough that he transformed into his wolf form. It was a good thing they decided on an alleyway for their meetup.

Suddenly he felt a weight on his tail, and when he looked over he spotted a small child with white hair and a pink dress snuggling his tail. He attempted to move away from her but when he did, the toddler climbed onto his back and pressed his head down to keep him from moving. It would have been easy to throw her off, as she was too small to have any real strength. But he could never do that to a child! Instead, he transformed back into his human form, with his boring clothes and non-fluffiness. Fiori's smile curled into a frown as she realized the fluffy tail was gone. She sat on the back of this man, who was laying on the ground still and picked up a stick next to her. She began hitting Wesley with a stick and started shouting.

"Tail! Tail! Tail! Tail!" Fiori shouted while whacking his head with a stick.

Wesley just laid there and took the hits while trying to think of a way to calm the child down. Perhaps he should give her what she wanted? No, that would mean he would be stuck in wolf form and unable to explain himself when the mother came around. He had a feeling unless he could explain the situation, the mother's beating would be far worse than the child's.

Simone didn’t mean to make Fiori feel so left out. They often took turns taking the children out to give them as much love as possible without making the others feel left out. So when Fiori came to her and begged she gave in easily enough. She scooped the girl up in her arms and kissed her all over. “You know I love you right?” Simone gave her a smile. “I’ll always make time for you if you want it.” She was at that age where all she wanted was her parent’s love.

For this trip, Simone’s hair was left down with the sides gently pulled back into a small barrette in the back. Her dress was a patterned gold that flowed to the ground and stopped short of being dragged across. The sleeves were long and bellowed out. It cut deeply down her chest having a plan gold fabric layered beneath it and it wasn’t as deeply cut as the top layer showing just the right amount of cleavage. Down the lower portion of the dress, the top patterned layer parted like a robe to reveal the plain fabric below. A bronze-colored wide belt was around her waist with a gold rope tied around that. It was elegant and looked good on her skin tone.

It was easy enough for her to doll Fiori up for the trip and with her and Everett in tow, Simone went out for a bit of shopping. “Hold tight,” Simone said softly as she watched Fiori out of the corner of her eyes as they made it into the crowded Mamlak streets.

The moment Fiori took off Simone wasn’t that far behind, “FIORI!” Her daughter had wanderlust and she couldn’t be mad. Apparently, she saw a puppy and wanted to pet it but Simone was skeptical if it was a puppy at all.

“No, no, no!” Simone finally stopped her running as she adjusted Everett on her hip. “Fiori, please don’t hit him. Can’t you see that hurts him!” Simone’s face was oddly calm as she bent down to Fiori and took her hand, “Here, look… See?” She pet the top of his head with Fiori’s hand. “Do this, don’t hit.” Everett even reached out and touched the wolf’s head as he squealed. “Yeah, see? Gentle.”

Her eyes looked over the wolf and seen the bag of ingredients. “You aren’t a puppy at all are you?” She could smell the magic and she hoisted Fiori off. “Are you perhaps a lycanthrope? Shifter?” There were context clues that she could follow. “Please, if you can shift back I would be grateful.” She put Fiori on her other hip.

“We owe him lunch… Don’t we Fiori?” She eyed the girl easily enough. “As a sorry for hitting him? Would we hit daddy?” Simone shook her head as the answer. Instead of yelling at the child, she kissed Fiori’s head. “You didn’t know Fiori~ I’m so sorry for my daughter. She does like fluffy things. She might have thought you were a toy at her age.”

Fiori dropped the stick when her mother began telling her not to hit the wolf. She looked up at her mother who took her hand and began showing her how to pet the wolf monster. The toddler continued petting the wolf and started playing with the fur. Suddenly she was hoisted off and held at her mother's hip. Fiori grabbed onto her mother's dress and watched the strange wolf creature. Her mother figured it out but the child didn't particularly care whether the creature was a real wolf or not. It was fluffy, that's all that mattered. Her mother eyed her for a moment and asked if she was sorry for hitting him. 

"You hit papa." She said with a cheeky smirk. 

The child was not sorry in any sense of the word. She didn't understand much in the world but she knew she was cute and knew enough of sass to be trouble. Fiori liked to be a mixture of sweet and sour at times. Most of the time she was sweet but sometimes she would cause trouble for her own amusement. She looked at Wesley as he turned back into a normal human with displeased eyes. She wanted the fluffy dog, not this ugly human. Instead of looking at the man, she turned to her mother and snuggled up to her, trying to be as cute and sweet as possible. She was done with the Wesley stranger. 

"Food." She requested with a voice as sweet as nightingale. 
————————–

Eventually the child's assault came to a stop and suddenly the child began petting him, with some help from her mother. When the child was brought off him, he shifted back to his regular form. He was completely human again, wearing a simple green tunic and some brown trousers. The young man rubbed his head but there wasn't a bruise or any real damage. A toddler wasn't strong enough to cause damage to a magical wolf monster. If Wesley was in human form that may have been a different story. 

"Oh don't worry about it." He said, "Toddlers are a handful."

He didn't mind the child. She didn't cause any harm and even if she did, he still wouldn't have mind. He couldn't get mad at a child, especially not one as young as her. The mother suddenly offered him lunch and at first he was going to turn her down, but then his stomach growled. Realizing he couldn't turn her down now, he picked up a piece of charcoal from the ground and quickly wrote on one of the alleyway brick walls. 

"I would certainly enjoy lunch. Just let me give my partner a heads up so she doesn't worry." Wesley said as he wrote. 

The note read, 

-Dear Hana, A child beat me with a stick and the mother offered me lunch as an apology. I accepted but will be back soon within an hour or two. Feel free to join us! Love you, Wesley-

After writing the note for Hana, he turned to the woman. He hoped they wouldn't go too far so his girlfriend wouldn't have to travel far. Thinking that this was the perfect plan, he decided to go with the lady. He picked up his bag and swung it over his shoulder before giving the woman a nod. If all else failed, Hana had strong senses and could probably follow his scent trail. 

"Alrighty. Lunch it is!" He said with a smile.