Chapter three: Too Much Information

Luckster tried to avoid looking at any of the people as she stepped through the automatic doors of the mall. Normally in the early afternoon there weren’t many people. Just those who happened to have the day off, or didn’t work, who were around for routine shopping. Today, however, looked just as crowded as it would on a weekend evening, complete with the parents with lack of control for their kids, and teenagers who sought attention or trouble--whichever came first.

"Guess a lotta people have the day off," she grumbled, her headache quickly returning. Rayman was holding himself back from playing with the automatic doors. Even during the Robot Pirate invasion he had goofed off a few times, entering and exiting a place via automatic door, over and over again. Though concerning Luckster's temper, he didn't try it. He noticed Luckster held mixed feeling about the people around them as she pulled him through the masses. Luckster smirked just a bit to some of the small children playing around in the windows of some of the stores, and scowled at others who were crying and screaming as they passed the soda and candy machine.

"....kids....meh...." she simply grumbled.

"You don't like kids?" Ray couldn't help but ask. He personally loved them, having spent half of his life with a bunch of Glute kids perching on top of him. He simply adored little ones.

"I'm picky...I dun like spoiled brats," She admitted. "Most parents these days don't raise their kids right and it shows. Take a closer look around ya.” She stopped and pulled Ray to the side of one of the stores, just to give the limbless a good idea of what she was on about. The limbless took a moment to examine the noisier kids a bit, and finally had to agree with her. Globox's kids were nowhere in comparison to these...the little Glutes didn't whine for nearly nothing, only when they lost a toy or something like that. They were little angels most of the time, while these were rather devils.

"You know...I think I agree with you, for once." he mused.

"My Dad always yelled at me anytime I was a brat. Kept me in line," she explained, walking further away from the screaming children. "Parents these days think that yelling at their kids will damage them or something. It's really stupid...I personally salute my father‘s method. A quick raise of his voice and a scowl on his face was more than enough to scare a bit of good behavior into me." Again, Rayman measured humans to the Glutes. He never heard Globox yell at the kids...not that he ever had to, as most of them listened to him, and the rest would only protest because they wanted to play with him.

"From what I see, NOT yelling does more damage..." he quirked a brow at a particularly screaming kid. That was just not normal...

"Oh well...not my kids, not my problem," Luckster said, pulling Rayman into a clothing store. "I'm just thankful to have had a strict father to keep me in line." Instantly she started looking at the sweaters in the teen-section, for something to match Rayman's hoodie. The limbless was just simply marveled by the amount of clothes. He never even dreamt so many existed, let alone such a colorful chaos. He got used to seeing always the same clothes, with only a few variations coming from Teensies. His mind pointed out one thing though.

"None of you wear body suits?" he queried, still regarding the humans fairies at some point. Luckster took a moment to make sure she heard him correctly before thinking of a response. Even thinking of a response took her a while, trying her best to not make fun of the naive limbless.

"Not normally....why do you ask?" she quirked, sure that going around in just a body suit would make anyone feel rather exposed. She may have had the body for such attire, but objected to the very idea, even if she were paid.

"Well...Ly wears a body suit, so I expected it must be a common attire, even here." he mused, scratching the back of his head. "Though it seems it's not...strange. I think it suits better than simple clothes."

"If I wanted someone to be able to see every curve and fold on my body, I'd go around naked," Luckster muttered before pulling a red sweater off the rack. "Slip this on and see if it fits." Lucky she steered his thoughts away, as he was just about to visualize what they were talking about. This way, he just silently took the sweater and attempted to get into it, though getting trapped in it halfway along the process. He looked rather like someone being shipped to an asylum, at the moment, the trench coat disguise of his not helping him one bit in the struggle.

Luckster smirked a bit, enjoying the show a bit before getting a new idea. "Never mind....we'll try something else," She sighed, pulling the sweater off him and pulling him to another part of the store. "The dressing rooms have no cameras, so no one will see you," she explained as she pulled him into a small room. "NOW try it on." Ray groaned but complied, trying again after taking off the coat. After a few minutes of trying, he finally managed to get it right...though it seemed even worse, as he nearly completely disappeared in it.

"Is this a bad joke?" he sighed, his hands not even reaching out of the sweater.

"Hmmm....a little too big..." Luckster said. "You stay here. I'll find a few more in different sizes." She left the room without another word, leaving Rayman alone in the dressing room. A few other humans were around, talking about school, work, and even more personal topics. The limbless resisted the urge to go out, but couldn't hold back his curiosity. He thought about what would happen if they found him, but discarded the gloomy images. Instead, he leaned a bit closer towards where the sound was coming from, eavesdropping on the conversations.

There was a girl in the next dressing room over, chatting with her friend outside it. "You'd think these teachers would realize we actually have lives rather than slamming us with two tons of bookwork!" One complained. "Eh...you know how old geezers are. Youth isn't important to them anymore so they wanna make us all miserable and bitter."

He blinked a bit to that. Maybe that was another reason why Luckster acted like this? Humans were actually educated to be so against the world? ...maybe that's why they didn't accept other species? He stopped his thoughts for the moment and continued to listen instead.

"It's not like we even need this information!" The first one continued. "You think we're really gonna need to know anything about the political system or economic system if we're nurses?"

"Or History! Don't forget that. I mean--what's done is done, right?"

"Exactly...and most of the stuff we learn in science class...ugh...it's based on theory! They just wanna make us think it's important so we can't argue with them about it."

Luckster finally came into the room again with more clothes for Ray to try. "Sorry that took so long Ray," she sighed, putting the clothes in a tidy pile on the dressing room bench, not even noticing he‘d been listening in on others‘ conversations. The limbless flinched to Luckster's arrival, a bit red that he'd been eavesdropping all along...which only made him understand humans even less. Why did they learn things the didn't use? He mostly knew things he could benefit from, in everyday life.

"Uh...it's okay." he finally muttered, shaking his head a bit, even sporting a faint smile.

"Hey....you have a BOY in the same dressing room as you?" One of the girls suddenly called over.

"Yeah?? And??" Luckster mused, scowling a bit. She recognized the tone of the voice too well. "Shouldn't you two be in school or something?"

"We're 25," The other lied. "We don't go to school anymore."

"25 my ass!" Luckster growled, peeking out the dressing room to look at the girl outside, keeping it closed enough to where no one could see Rayman. "Bullshit....yer as flat as a 14-year old, and as snooty as a prep," she growled. "Get yer spoiled asses outta here and over to school unless ya wanna grow up to be stupid bimbos!" Whether the girls were offended or scared, they eventually left within seconds of Luckster rant and she got back in the room. "Teenagers...they think they know everything..."

Ray couldn't say he wasn't a tiny bit scared of Luckster, even knowing she didn't like most people in general. Still...that was a bit harsh, at least in his opinion.

"What's this school exactly?" he asked. "And why are humans obliged to study there?"

"School is where we get our basic education," she explained, grabbing a smaller sweater than the one before, pulling the old one off him. "We go starting when we're as young as five years old and remain until we're 18, advancing to different grades over time. Depending on our intelligence, we can learn some advanced stuff at an earlier age."

"That sounds...boring." Ray remarked bluntly. "I learned everything at home, or out in the forest. We don't really have schools like yours. We...kinda educate each other on most matters, and learn mostly from experiences. It's a lot more fun that way."

"Humans are a little more advanced than that," she explained, pulling the sweater off him, proving to still be a little too big for the curious limbless. "We have a very long and complicated history that's best to be taught to every young generation so that they are not blind to what our world has been though. Science changes every day and it's a good idea to figure out what can be made, even if it's just a theory. And in this country especially, economics and politics are very important subjects to know about in terms of the government and our jobs. I find it fascinating myself....then again, I've spent the last few years reading books more than anything."

"Yeash....makes my head hurt just by thinking about it." Ray mused, rubbing his forehead a bit. "We're much simple than that. Teensies know the most because they're everywhere, while fairies know a lot about nature and magic. Other than that though, we usually have enough knowledge to live well...and that's about enough for us."

"Sounds nice....wish life was simple like that for us," she sighed, pulling the new sweater on him, struggling a bit with his large nose. The limbless reached and helped her a bit, forcing himself into the sweater. He looked over himself, smiling.

"Much better..." he mused, now that his hands were actually visible as well.

"Alright, now for the pants," she sighed, handing him a pair of black sweats. "I woulda got you jeans like mine, but they'd probably be a hassle for you to move around in." Ray eyed the pants with a bit more discomfort than the sweater. That seemed like having a bit too much...he was all too used to having just his shirt and hood on.

"Whatever you say..." he sighed in the end.

"Sorry bud...unless ya wanna trip around in a coat all day, ya gotta do this," Luckster sighed, helping him into them one foot at a time. The limbless soon got over himself and got into the pants, though looking disgusted and befuddled all the way.

"Now I know why Ly wears body suit..." he groaned. "I'd die if I had to wear this all the time!"

"You’ll get used to it after a while," she assured him. "Perfect! They fit you. Now I just need one more thing..." She ripped off the tags dangling off the side of Rayman's new clothes. "Just gotta buy em."

"Buy?" he muttered, quirking a brow. "Humans buy clothes? I thought they could be taken freely, like in my world. Fairies make clothes for others just out of pure fun." he explained.

"No...that would be stealing in this world," She explained. “People made these clothes and sell them to the stores, then people have to buy them from the stores for the store to make money to pay their employees and buy more merchandise." Rayman listened well, though obviously confused of the whole thing. He couldn't even comprehend the basics of economy.

"Humans think too much..." he groaned finally, rubbing his forehead again.

"Maybe you just don't think enough," She chuckled, placing his hood back on his head and pulling him out of the room, holding her old jacket in her other arm as well as the tags for his clothes. She went to the counter to pay for them, letting go of Ray's hand to dig through her purse to find her money. That was all it took for the limbless to vanish though. He couldn't help it though, his curiosity got the better of him again. He strolled along the clothes that could be found, eying them each.

He suddenly came to a stop as he found a few clothes he just couldn't figure out what their purpose was exactly...undergarments for women. A few other shoppers just walked passed him, ignoring him entirely. A few girls scoffed at him and muttered 'pervert' as they passed him.

Luckster noticed he was gone by the time she was done buying the clothes. "Oh for the love of....he couldn't stay still ONE minute?" she growled, looking around for him.

The limbless was still in one place though, trying his best to figure out what these clothes were for. He had never seen anything so much as resemble them, before. He took one off and examined it a little closer, determined to find out what they were for, even if it'd take him all day.

Luckster looked though every aisle and dressing room on the other side of the store, her blood boiling more and more. "If someone finds him, he's dead," she growled, getting a little more frantic as she looked. She paused for a moment, dazed by her own behavior. "Huh...so this is what it's like to be a mother...."

Rayman on the other hand had no knowledge of how Luckster was searching for him, still caught up with trying to figure out the purpose of the clothing he had in his hand...they were like two small bags connected, way too small to actually carry things in it, though he could see different sizes as well. 'Humans are weird...' he concluded his thoughts.

"Well, lookie here," A familiar voice rang. "The short man seems to have a bra fetish." Of all the terrible coincidences to occur, Tannen just happened to be in the same store as Luckster and Rayman. "Where's Luckster? Ya ditch her already?" The limbless rolled his eyes, even at the sound of Tannen. He didn't like him at all, and that was putting it VERY softly. Frustrated over his own lack of understanding and Tannen's arrival, he replied with the first thing that came to his mind.

"I'm getting one for her." he growled.

"Wow! You're already at the point where she's comfortable with you buying her underwear?" he asked, sounding very impressed. "Even when I was on my second year with her she never let me do that!"

"Just shows she likes me more than she ever did you." the limbless replied, allowing a smirk for himself. The word 'underwear' only sunk in a little bit later. Once it did though, he turned about as red as possible, though resisting the urge to throw it away, fearing he'd blow his cover in front of Tannen.

"Yeah right...she probably just feels sorry for you," Tannen mocked, crossing his arms. "She has a weakness for freaks like yourself. Once she finds an excuse, she'll just get rid of ya." Ray's reddening was now fueled by anger, aimed towards Tannen. He didn't mind being called a freak every now and them, but he didn't take it lightly from a person like Tannen.

"What was her excuse when she threw you out?" he growled, failing to hide his anger.

"Ah, she made up some lame excuse about me cheating on her when it was really her cheating on me," he scoffed. "That girl sure can get around! She just got bored with me and wanted to get rid of me...until she was found out by the others. Now she's alone, and up until now, I'm the only one who can put up with her. With her vile temper and demonic heart, you won't last much longer I'm sure."

The limbless gazed at Tannen with eyes wide to his words. He couldn't really believe Luckster would do all that...after all, she protected him...even took him out when he asked. The other part of his mind agreed with Tannen, concerning what he could see of her temper, her anger spurts...and honestly, she wasn't always good to him. Rayman kept being silent, unable to decide what to believe.

"Probably a good idea to ditch her while ya can," Tannen advised. "I'm only still after her to keep her from hurting other people. It'd be much better now for you to leave her before she betrays ya."

"But...but why'd she betray me like that? I didn't do anything wrong!" Rayman muttered, his tone showing he almost fully believed Tannen.

"She's just like that. Women are evil by nature and Luckster is the worse. She'll reel you in, gain all your trust, then use you in the end. She ain't worth it," he sighed, sounding rather mournful. "Even as a friend she ain't worth it. She uses them too...well...used them to be more accurate."

Rayman fell silent once more, Tannen's words sinking in slowly. He thought he gained a friend in this alien world...and now he was alerted to the fact that the one he considered a friend was actually just playing with him. 'That's why she didn't want me to think of her as a friend…because I'm not one to her.'
"W-what should I do?..." he muttered, mostly to himself.

"Ditch her while ya still can," Tannen repeated. "Don't even go back to tell her. Just leave...unless ya want a large red hand mark on your face from her anger, that is." Rayman pondered about that for a little while, the clothing he was holding slipping out of his hands. What if she was lying about people acting badly towards him, too? He found himself slowly walking away, but quickly picking up a pace as he was promptly running. He wanted to get as far away from Luckster as possible.

As soon as Rayman was out of sight, and no longer a threat to him, Tannen chuckled rather evilly. "Now...where is that sexy angel?" he purred, casually walking through the store to find Luckster.