Puppet-Master

3- Typical Shopping

"The name's Andrew Lapis," Andrew thought to himself, eyes closed in a lazy yawn as he stood in line to return his plate. Oblivious to the line's movement, he inadvertently blocked those behind him. Alex, positioned right behind Andrew, wasted no time and gave the sleepy boy a gentle push, nearly toppling him.

"Tsk..." Andrew let out a dissatisfied sound, his half-opened eyes narrowing as he turned to shoot an irritated stare at the three friends behind him. "And, as you can see, I'm a poor man who needs to cling to his anger to maintain as peaceful a life as possible," he mused. Continuing his train of thought, he returned his plate, then made his way out of the cafeteria. "Yes, my life is peaceful because yesterday was the same as the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that, and so will be the days to come... except for this one peculiar day..."

"Eye Bags!" Alex shouted as he exited the cafeteria along with the rest of the group, and Ray put his right arm around Andrew's shoulders. "It's unusual for you to bring a backpack, don't you think?" he inquired, waiting for a response.

"I'm barely standing on my feet, and here you are weighing me down even more," Andrew began, addressing Ray and raising his hand to remove Ray's arm from his shoulders. "Well, I've got my reasons, to be honest."

"What are those reasons then?" Leonard chimed in, his hands occupied with a cleaning wipe. "Spill the beans."

Sighing deeply, Andrew answered as they exited the university. "The little ones' birthday is coming soon, and I promised to get them something for that day."

"You promised them a gift!" Ray gasped, instinctively patting Andrew's back as he giggled. "That's so unlike you!"

"I'm as surprised as you are," Andrew commented, giving Ray a deadpan look to stop the patting. "So, I'm going to do a little shopping before heading home. The backpack is simply needed so I can put the gifts inside of it."

"You could've just put them in a bag from the store you're buying them from or something," Alex suggested, nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders.

"Nah," Andrew simply shook his head as they continued walking. "Walking home while I'm holding something in my hands is tiring. It's better to distribute the weight on my back."

"You're seriously unreal," Alex sighed as they stopped at a certain crossroad. "Well, I guess we'll go our separate ways now. Ray, take care of Eye Bags!" With that, Alex and Leonard parted ways from the other two.

"Will do," Ray replied as he waved goodbye to his friends, just before he and Andrew resumed walking. "Take care of me?" Andrew questioned, scratching the back of his head. "What am I to you, a baby?"

"Oh, believe me, Andrew," Ray added, his laughter nearly getting the best of him as he spoke. "A baby can take care of himself better!"

Ray didn't hesitate to accompany Andrew to the nearest mall, offering to assist the bewildered young man in his mission. "So, what should I get for a 6-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl?" Andrew inquired, and Ray simply stood there in silence, next to his friend.

Minutes passed in silence, and Andrew finally turned to Ray, only to find him picking his nose. "What?" Ray said, still picking his nose as he locked eyes with Andrew. "I can't help it, it's itchy..."

"I'm not even thinking about it," Andrew replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "If you want to act like a clown, be my guest. I'm just waiting for your answer."

"My answer?" Ray expressed, looking genuinely perplexed as he lowered his hand. "Answer to what question?"

"To mine, of course," Andrew clarified as they continued walking, eventually entering a toy shop. "I asked you what I should get for a 7-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy!"

"If you're asking about girls..." As they approached the girl's section, Ray didn't hesitate to lend Andrew a helping hand. "What does she like? Singing, puppets..."

"Singing..." Andrew sighed, holding his head as his body lightly shivered at the thought of his sister's singing. "Sadly, she's fond of singing."

Giving Andrew a peculiar look with a raised eyebrow, Ray extended his arm. "This Karaoke Box is pretty famous these days," he suggested, showing it to Andrew, "Especially among girls. Believe me, you can trust me when it comes to girls aged 5 to 12."

"Yuk..." Andrew muttered, looking somewhat disturbed as he, without hesitation, accepted the first suggestion his friend offered. "What are you, a lolicon..."

"I have a little sister too, you dumb fart," Ray retorted with a wry grin, moments before they moved on to the boys' section. "As for the boy, I guess I can leave that to you. I mean, you're a dude as well, after all."

"Are you sure?" Andrew added, handing the Karaoke Box to Ray as he rubbed one of his eyes. "Can I really be trusted to pick out a gift?"

"I mean, you're his older brother," Ray chuckled, realizing that Andrew had passed him the box not just so he could rub his eye but also because it was somewhat heavy for him. "Little brothers are usually thrilled when their older siblings get them anything; I'm pretty certain."

"What? You're turning into a homo lolicon now?" Andrew quipped, turning to his friend and noting Ray's visibly disturbed expression. "You're really something, Eye Bags!" Ray winced and promptly kicked Andrew's leg, causing the lazy boy to tumble face-first.

"Ow, ow, ow..." Andrew muttered, his body unwilling to get back up even though he had the will to do so. "Did Alex's savagery finally rub off on you or something?" he remarked, turning his head into a more comfortable position as he continued to lay sprawled on the floor. "If only there was a pillow here, I'd definitely catch some much-needed sleep."

Andrew blinked his eyes rapidly as he spotted something that piqued his interest. "Um... Ray," he began, reaching for a box at the very bottom of a shelf and showing it to Ray as he stood up. "Should I get him this?" he asked, a slight grin tugging at his lips as his eyes betrayed his curiosity. "It looks fun."

"Andrew..." Ray muttered, clearly taken aback as he accepted the box of fake cigarettes that Andrew had just handed him. His voice and expression were filled with disbelief, “You do realize what these are, right?”

"Yup, those are fake cigars!" Andrew replied nonchalantly. "I've been wanting to try one of those for so long, you know."

Returning the box to its place on the shelf, Ray smiled as he made his way to the cashier. "You know what," he added, gesturing with one hand for Andrew to give him the money to pay for the girl's gift, "I'll take care of the boy's gift as well. No need to burden yourself."

"Thanks, lifesaver!" Andrew exclaimed, slipping some cash into Ray's hand before hurrying out of the toy store, “And here goes all of my savings…”

He patiently waited for his friend outside the shop. After about 10 minutes, Ray finally emerged from the store, spotting Andrew sitting on the nearest bench with his eyes closed and his ears occupied by AirPods.

With both of the wrapped boxes in his hands, Ray walked straight up to Andrew. "Oi, Earth to Andrew!" he called out, tapping Andrew's head with the pink-wrapped box.

"Oh, is it morning already?" Andrew gasped, assessing his surroundings before realizing he had returned to reality. He reached for his bag, unzipped it as he sighed, and allowed Ray to carefully place the presents inside. "You owe me 5 dollars, understood?" Ray said with a satisfied smile after securing the gifts in Andrew's bag. "That was the fee for the store to wrap the gifts."

"Yeah, add it to the growing list, money boy," Andrew interjected before letting out a tired yawn. "Geez, that was tiring, such a drag..." he muttered as they exited the mall, prompting Ray to look at him with a puzzled expression, "Huh? Tiring? What do you mean, 'tiring'?" Ray questioned. "I'm the one who did all the work, you know."

"Yeah, yeah," Andrew dismissed, his shoulders slumping a bit more under the sudden weight shift in his backpack. "I already thanked you, so..."

"I'll just head home," Andrew finally said, voicing his desire as he waved goodbye to his friend. "We'll meet at the coffee shop tonight, as usual. Take care!" With that, he walked away, avoiding any further conversation with his friend.

“Crap… I forgot to ask what he got to the boy…”

“Well, nevermind…”