4131/Doggie in the Window

Doggie in the Window
Date of Scene:	14 November 2020
Location:	Landmark Mall (TMNT Base)
Synopsis:	Alopex and Kainashi are going to the mall!
Cast of Characters:	Kainashi, Alopex

---

Kainashi has posed:
    "... but Alopex, I don't understand, the Den wasn't compromised, why are we moving?"

    That was the question on the younger canine's mind as she hefted a very heavy pack, with double-stitched bottoms and a sad looking teddy bear sticking out of the top of it. Her lips are pusued as she flicks her left ear, the red and white pitbull crouched near the entrance to the mall.

    "... especially one so... out in the open...."

Alopex has posed:
    "Don't think of it as a move, Kai. Think of it as a more 'centralized' location for all of us so we don't have to go so far to get a hold of each other. Besides that, we have the den as a backup location. We can go there anytime we want. Think of it like an outpost that we know is ours, that has stuff for us if we need it in a pinch," the fox explains as they finally reach the basement entrance to the Landmark Mall. They'd each seen it on patrols before but hadn't paid it much attention due to the security presence, allbeit a small one, outside.

    "And yes, it's wide open, but no one -comes- here. There's only one or two people outside at most on any given night, and I don't think they are here during the day."

Kainashi has posed:
    "It might be hard to defend. There's a lot of space that people can hide in." worries Kainashi, and she breathes out, rubbing the back of ehr head as she turns to Alopex. "But... I trust your leadership." she states softly, following behind the white fox.

    "People don't still shop here, right? Like, humans don't come in at weird times in the year?'

Alopex has posed:
    "Hard to defend for one or two of us, not 8 or 9 of us," the fox points out as they enter the basement proper through the access the mall has. She'd turn back to give Kai a hand out, and then move to close it back up. "Ah, no, no one shops here anymore. It's officially closed to the public, which is why we don't have to worry about it being so out in the open."

Kainashi has posed:
    "Oh. Not even on the Black Friday?" Kainashi inquires out of curiosity -- she heard about it on TV, probably. She's helped out, and she crouches again, unsure of the huge space. It's like being outside -- with a roof over your head.

    "... th... there's no /zombies/ here, right Pex?" she asks quietly, sniffing the air. She could catch the scents of some of the others here, spread out over the storefronts.

Alopex has posed:
    "Not even on black friday," Alopex repeats as she takes in the lower level for the first time. ... Yep. This is going to be interesting.

    "Zombies? Oh, the movie from Halloween night? No no, nothing like that thankfully," she insists as she starts to wander, heading mostly for the ex-escalator-now-stairs that go to the main level. "Down here is still a bit dark and dusty. I was told its the main level where we can really find good spaces."

Kainashi has posed:
    "How many did Raphael take? I know he probably wants space -- did he take a whole wing? A whole level? Three dumpsters?" she gives a wry smile, and Kainashi looks at the escilator, and attempts a Fancy Trick, She hops up on the rail, and attempts to 'run' down the railing -- she wobbles a bit, but manages to make it most of the way up before her wagging tail throws her off, and giving a loud 'WHOA?!', she tumbles into the stairs, and tumbles backwards down the rest of them before landing, curled tail-over-teakettle.

    "I'mOkay!" she states from the bottom of the stairs.

    Alopex might have been an unwitting bowling pin.

Alopex has posed:
        "Ouf!"

    It's a fluff pile. "I thought you had that, are you okay?" she mumbles as she starts to pull herself up from being bowled over. "Lets... try that again," she says, rolling a shoulder before resuming her hike.

    On the main floor, the fox has to stop and look around for a moment. "This ... -is- really open," she says, but she sounds more refreshed by it than anything else. She can't help but turn back to see how Kai reacts to all this.

Kainashi has posed:
    The canine sheepishly untangles herself from Alopex, and draws herself up -- and offers the fox a hand up in apology.

    She does not try to be fancy again.

    Once they reach the top, however, Kainashi looks over the wide open mall, its skylights, abandoned storefronts, turned-over benches and the like -- and her tail gives a little bit of a wag.

    "I can smell the guys have been around --" she trails off a moment, tilting her nose to the air a moment, and then she looks to Alopex, and gives a slight grin.

    "There's a lot of empty space."

Alopex has posed:
    "Mmmhmm. They've claimed places here first, which is fine. They found it, so they get first dibs. It's just nice that we get to find a place too," she continues as she starts walking. There's a directory like... a few feet away. "Hrm..."

Kainashi has posed:
    The directory was a map, that much Kai knew. She tails behind Alopex, investigating the images with her head tilted a moment. A lot of squiggles and funny little lines that turn and seem to shift about in her vision, and she breathes out in a soft huff. "... so, which one is ours?"

Alopex has posed:
    "Well, this is a big place, and only a few people actually have taken residence so..." she steps by the sign. "Time to look around and see what we can find. Why don't you run ahead and see if anything strikes your interest?"

Kainashi has posed:
    "... you... mean I get my own room? *Without* being caged in it?" Kai asks, her tail suddenly giving a wag, and she is *off like a shot*, scrambling over a forgotten potted once-plant, and she vaults over what was a Peircing Pagoda, skidding along the tile floor, her tail wagging like mad as she looks around at *all the possibilities*!

Alopex has posed:
    "Yes. You get your own--" Wait, that's just a dustcloud that LOOKS like Kai.. Smirk. "--Room." Shrug! She starts to wander the mall in the general direction of Kai's trail. At least she wasn't leaving a trail of destruction. "Hmmm... Forever 21, Journeys, Lids, Ann Taylor?" Bleh. Clothing section, and not the kind she really was interested in.

Kainashi has posed:
    The names didn't matter much. One store had a bunch of fake brickwork. Another had wide windows and REEKED of mixed strong scents.

    Another was very, very pink. She considered that one for a brief moment, slowing a moment. It was big, it had two entrances... maybe toooo big.

    Another couple of storefronts down, there was a another store with brickwork, with big glass windows -- but this one had resin trees, creating a portal into a green-carpeted area. The walls were flat, dark-gray, there were dividers formed of concrete, fashioned to look like crumbling walls.

    The shorter canine just stares at the trees and glass, and she steps forward a little bit to put a hand against the trees.

    "... Pex... PexPexPex... do... you think anyone's claimed this one?"

Alopex has posed:
    Along the way, following after Kai, the fox sees plenty of others. An abandoned food court, the husk of a Gamestop, Radioshack... ah. electronic stuff? She expected to see Donatello in the area, but didn't spot the purple brother. After a few more store front, there's a Suncoast, FYE, and then finally Kai in front of Hot Topic. "... Huh. That's ... Unique." And that's a compliment. It was the only store to have an entrance like, well, that. "What did you find...?" Alopex calls as she walks up, no clear view inside just yet.

Kainashi has posed:
    "Dunno, but I want this one." Kai states, and she passes under the trees.

    "I could maybe put some silk leaves up here? And maybe I could get some paint and paint the windows! The walls have ridges on them -- that's weiiird." she states, poking around in the Hot Topic as she riffles thorugh some abandoned boxes.

Alopex has posed:
    Peering around the entrance, and inside, the fox nods. As she heads further in, she takes note of the store, the space, and then continues into the back area where inventory WOULD have been. ... There's a surprising amount of room, plus access to the back-halls of the mall that connect all the store fronts. So multiple exits, area to expand into as needed, connections to their allies, ... and the FYE next door which she has IDEAS for. "... Yep. Yep I can work with this."

Kainashi has posed:
    The canine purses her lips, and then she brings up something that looks like a glue gun, though there's no 'spigot' to put glue out. There's also a collection of little spikes with balls at the end, and some positively ancient -- and likely expired -- alcohol solution.

    "Huh... wonder what this is?"

Alopex has posed:
    The door in the back even had the keys for the place. Perfect! The fox pockets those before turning back to the 'public' half of the store, and Kai. "Oh. ah. That... can be dangerous. Careful, okay?" The fox -thinks- she knows what it is but isn't entirely sure.

    After some chatting on the shell phone, Alopex is all smiles as she reports to Kai, "The store is all ours."

Kainashi has posed:
    The canine sets the gun looking thing to the side, and continues to ruffle through.

    "Lessiee..... there's some... jars... of paint? Ah, maybe it's paint? It's thick to be paint... some spikey things... some red spikey things... and some blue spikey things." snif, sniiiff --

    "HAH-CHOOO!"

Alopex has posed:
    Seems Kai would be doing all the looking around, seeing what's left over from the store's stock, things like that. Alopex, however, is checking the keys, seeing how they work on the front door, making sure the front security gate comes down over said doors correctly, things like that. They all seem to check out!

    Satisfied, she glances around at the wall,s realizing, "Oh. ... Huh. ... All the shirts are for ... bands... I think?" Hrm. One catches her eye. A rocket?

        "Who's Starset..?"

Kainashi has posed:
    "I dunno... are they a mutant like us? Is this actually their place? I... I'll fight them for it!" Kainashi states quietly, with determination as she breathes out, and then rubs the back of her head, and looks to Alopex "Whiiiich isn't very ally-like, is it?"

Alopex has posed:
    The fox shrugs. She motions at the wall, "There's all kinds of names up here. I recognize some from the names of bands I heard of, I imagine they are another one, that's all. I doubt all those people own this one store, Kai, so, I wouldn't worry about it too much." Alopex explains before promptly taking a seat on the counter by the cash register. "... We probably should get some of the benches and find some more furniture.."

Kainashi has posed:
    "I can put my beanbag in that corner!" Kai chipperly states, and she begins to gather up the flotsam and jetsam of the broken store, gathering it into a pile to look through later. "I could grab a couple benches, put them together, and put the beanbag on it, and then have a real bed! Or maybe I should do a real futon..." she considers, hopping up on a concrete divider.

    "This... this is pretty cool."

Alopex has posed:
    "I'm sure we could also rummage around other stores that are around here and aren't claimed. Their -might- be a mattress store with -actual- beds somewhere. If there is we are -set-. We can put them in the back. Plenty of room if I can get all the inventory shelves shoved somewhere."

Kainashi has posed:
    "I mean, we could, I guess... I've never had a real bed." Kainashi states, and then she breathes out, and just sits down in the middle of the floor, her tail wagging as she takes a deeeeep breath, and lets it out.

    "... this is a good home." she decides quietly.

Alopex has posed:
    "It is. It really is. It will take some work to make it ours, but it will be just that, ours, once we've fully settled in. That'll be wonderful."