nothing exists til you see it {open}

[Raff Wilde]

Raff was feeling a little lost. Every one of his siblings was in a class somewhere, and he didn't have a single class this afternoon, and it was very unsettling not having any of them around. Even when the girls weren't there, Fox would usually tag along...but not today. Today it was just Raff on his own, wandering around his new city, feeling like he was missing a limb or two. He stepped into a store along the street because it seemed interesting, and was immediately assaulted by the smell of incense. Oh, it was one of those sorts of shops, with the rainsticks and wooden jewelry and dresses made of hemp and such. Raff let the door shut behind him, the little wind chime fastened to the handle rattling to signal his arrival. He gave the girl behind the counter a quick smile and walked towards one of the shelves, gravitating towards some little wooden carvings of foxes.

He quickly decided that he wanted to get a matching set of these for himself and his siblings, although he debated whether he shouldn't get one of the little wooden wolves for Fox instead. Would Fox take it as more of an insult if Raff gave him a carving of the animal they could all turn into besides him, or would it be more insulting if he deliberately got him a different carving than the rest of them? It was always so hard to tell with these things. He picked up one of the little foxes, running his thumb along the smooth wood flank. They were well made, and Raff wondered who the artist was.

The wind chime on the door rattled again as someone else came into the shop behind him, but Raff didn't look up to see the newcomer at first. They were probably doing their own shopping anyway, and he was still deeply contemplating the implications of giving his siblings wood carvings. But as he made his way around the circular shelf to look at the larger things, like wolves and elephants, he accidentally caught the other shopper's eye, and felt obligated to offer a somewhat shy smile, because staring at them dead-eyed and straight-faced probably would have been even creepier than smiling at someone you didn't know.

[Jenny]

Jenny was very much aware of the new guy. Of course she was, she had some kind of in-built hot guy radar that alerted her to the presence of any new, attractive guy within a certain radius. Plus, her mean girl minions had all run to tell her the second they saw him, all wanting to be the first to give her this piece of juicy gossip.

And so, she may or may not have been watching him, waiting for the opportunity to strike up a conversation, flick her hair and bat her eyelids, and have him fall completely and utterly under her spell. Problem was, he was always surrounded by what she assumed was his family. And girls were dull and protective and she did not want to deal with that.

Somewhat unbelievably, she hadn't actually been following him today, she just happened to be in town since she couldn't be bothered with her gym class. She was, of course, make up shopping, but as she saw him go into the shop over the road, amazingly alone, she dropped the lipsticks and headed straight over, entering the shop and looking around. She'd never actually been in here, since they didn't sell clothes or make-up, and as she looked around she realised it was probably more a Genevieve shop than somewhere she'd spend any time.

Unless there was a cute guy there, of course. A cute guy who had just caught her eye and smiled. She flashed him a smile back, flicking her hair back and pulling her top down just a touch more, to show off her assets. Moving closer, she looked at what he had in his hand.

"Oh my God, I just love foxes!" She gushed, batting her eyes, and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she flashed him another smile.

And waiting for him to fall for her in 3...2...1...

[Raff Wilde]

Raff had no idea he was being watched. He was just minding his own business, fretting about his siblings, and doing his shopping. He had smiled because he'd thought it would be more awkward to not smile, and then suddenly the girl was all about foxes. This was not an area of strength for him, talking to girls who were...waving their chests at him and fluttering their eyelashes and whatnot. Tala would have been all over that, because Tala both knew what to do around attractive people and also was never intimidated by anybody, but Raff was not Tala and as it stood, he was momentarily rendered speechless by this behavior.

"I...me too, they're...my dad is a fox." Wow, that just did not sound good when he came out and said it. "I mean, literally, he was a fox, before he met my mom and decided to stay human." That really didn't sound much cooler, but it sounded more interesting than implying that his father was a stunning man.

"What, uh, what do you know about foxes?" Why was he asking her that? He probably knew more useless fox facts than one could possibly care to know, it wasn't as if he was going to learn anything. "I was just thinking of picking up some of these for my sisters," he added. "And maybe a wolf for my brother, because...well, he has a complicated relationship with foxes."

Raff liked to tell himself that he was always hanging out with his siblings because they were inseparable and bound by the bonds of family and whatnot, but if this conversation was any indication, it was probably because he would just embarrass himself horribly without them.

[Jenny]

She stared for a moment as he blurted out that... could it be called an explanation? She nodded slowly a couple of times, before deciding he was hot enough that it didn't matter. "That's so cool." She smiled, flashing that trademark smile once again and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "My parents are so not that cool. I mean, my mum's a queen, but whatever." She gave a little laugh as she dropped the princess bomb - she'd always found that to be a surefire way to keep a guys attention. Guys had a thing about princesses.

He was asking her what she knew about foxes... she almost froze, she knew absolutely nothing about foxes other than the fact that they were orange. Did they live in the woods or something? "Oh they're just so super cute." She said with a simpering smile, reaching out and touching the ornament in his hand with the tip of her finger, getting closer to Raff as she did and brushing her arm against his. "You should totally get them for your sisters." She placed her hand on his arm, smiling at him and fluttering her eyelashes. "That is so sweet. I love a guy who cares about his sisters."

[Raff Wilde]

That's so cool? What of what he had just said could possibly be construed as cool? His father being a fox? His little brother's complicated relationship with foxes? Raff wasn't sure what he had said that could have impressed her, but he was quickly distracted by her mention of royalty. She was a princess? That, on the other hand, was pretty cool.

"Being queen sounds pretty cool to me," he told her, managing a mostly-normal smile. If a girl was flirting with him, especially a pretty girl, he wasn't going to drive her away. Intentionally, anyhow. Also, it wasn't a terrible idea to run his gift idea by a woman, although from the sound of it, she had already given her approval. "I do care about my sisters," he confirmed, nodding. "We're triplets, so...we're pretty close, you know, that's sort of the way of these things, I think." He was sure there were triplets out there who were not close, but he could barely function without his sisters, so it was hard for him to imagine.

[Jenny]

"Yeah, I guess it's kind of cool. I don't really think about it, you know? I mean, it's just my life, being a princess, being royalty... I just like to think of myself as a normal girl." She shot him a dazzling smile. "I mean, I'd hate to think people treated me differently just because I'm a princess. Some people get so intimidated by that, you know?" She stepped a little closer, on the pretense of leaning over him to pick up an ornament from the shelf, and pressing herself against him, just a little.

She looked up at him as he spoke about his sisters. Triplets? Interesting - she thought to herself that she might have found her way in. "Oh my god, triplets? That's awesome - I'm a twin." Another smile and flick of the hair. "My younger brother and sister are twins too - we have so much in common!" She put her hand on his arm again. "My twin and I aren't close though, it's such a shame." She pouted at him slightly, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes. "I wish so much that we were closer. It must be so great to be close to your sisters. I bet you're super sensitive and understanding."

[Raff Wilde]

Of course she wouldn't think about it too much, it was just her life. Raff didn't spend an inordinate amount of time sitting around thinking about werewolves, either, and other people probably would have found that a little outside the norm. "Yeah," he agreed, "it's rough, when people assume things about you based on the circumstances of your birth. Sometimes you need to be your own person." As if Raff was ever his own person, he could barely go shopping without his family without getting into trouble.

"Oh," he said, surprised, "that's cool, isn't it? That is a pretty interesting thing to have in common, especially just randomly talking to someone in a shop. We've got four in my family as well, but it's me and my sisters who are triplets, and then one younger brother. I'm trying to decide what to get him here as well, he's a bit harder to shop for."

He glanced over to see what she'd gotten off the shelf, although he was a little distracted by the way she was leaning closer to him. "Maybe if you got your brother something here, that'd be a step towards you two getting closer, hm?"

[Jenny]

"Oh my god, that's, like, so deep." Jenny almost purred at him, staring at him as if he'd just said the most profound thing in the world. "But you are so right. I just hate it when people assume that just because I'm like super hot and incredibly popular that I'm, like, shallow or something, you know?" She looked up at Raff, a simpering look on her face. "Because there is so much more to me than just being really really incredibly good-looking, you know?"

"Four of you - that's awesome. Isn't it just amazing having a big family? I have a half brother and a half sister as well, it's just... great. Never a dull moment, right?" Jenny was trying very hard not to speak through gritted teeth; she had always found having a big family to be a complete pain - how was her Dad supposed to give her his full attention when she was competing with the entire Summer brood. But this guy clearly liked his sibling, so she swallowed her resentment in the hope it would help her get closer to her goal.

She looked around at his suggestion, stepping slightly closer to him again. "Oh my god that's such a good idea. But... I wouldn't know where to start. Maybe you can help me find something perfect." She smiled at him, fluttering her eyelashes.

[Raff Wilde]

It was deep? Huh. She was really into the flattery thing, wasn't she? Raff could not remember the last time anyone had been this interested in anything he had to say, and as he had not been doing anything really out of the ordinary, he could only assume she was flirting heavily with him. Which, again, he couldn't remember the last time that had happened. It threw him off balance majorly, but honestly, she was hot, and the fact that she was apparently attracted to him, while perplexing, was definitely not a negative thing.

"I love my family, yeah," he agreed, nodding. "I don't know what I'd do without them. Look at me, I'm a little lost right now, and they're only in class, it's not like they've gone anywhere far away." He tried to think of something very nice to say; she had been so complimentary of him that he felt like he needed to even the score a little at least. "Are the rest of your family as pretty as you?" There, that was nice, right?

He glanced around at the various little figurines and other things around them. "What sort of stuff does your brother like? They have some really cool things in here, but I don't really know his taste - is he into natural stuff?"

[Jenny]

"Oh my god, aren't you just the cutest ever." Jenny simpered as he spoke about his family and complimented her, leaning against him and squeezing his bicep. She raised an eyebrow slightly - not bad at all, she thought to herself. Could be better, but those eyes, and that hair certainly made up for anything else. God, he was cute. She caught herself before she responded with her usual 'no one's as pretty as me' - somehow she thought this guy needed a slightly more delicate touch. A little more demure; Jenny lowered her eyes and fluttered her eyelashes with a smile. "You really think I'm pretty? Oh you're going to make me blush!" Jenny hadn't blushed in years, but he didn't to know that.

She looked around the store, wondering if there was anything in here that Gaston would actually like. Seeing as there didn't seem to be anything Star Wars based, she guessed probably not. That didn't matter though, what mattered was keeping this guy interested, she could make something up to do that. "Oh, well he really likes, erm..." Think of animal, quick... "Elephants. He just loves elephants. Maybe there's something here with elephants on." She smiled, looking up at him through her eyelashes. "Will you help me look?"

"I'm Jenny, by the way." She said with a dazzling smile, offering him her hand.

[Raff Wilde]

Raff had about decided that this whole interaction was just going to be an ongoing series of her saying things and him repeating them incredulously in his head just to make sure he had heard what he thought he'd heard. One wouldn't think that an 18-year-old guy of above average (he had been told on occasion anyway) looks would be this taken aback by a girl flirting with him, but it was so rare that he was actually out anywhere without his siblings that he had almost forgotten how to handle it. His siblings certainly never called him the cutest ever and they definitely didn't squeeze his arm like that (thank god).

"You're beautiful," he said, matter-of-factly. She was, there was really no sense dancing around that issue, he wasn't the sort to play hard to get, and even if he was, she had directly asked him to confirm it, so it would have been strange to deny it.

Elephants. Raff took another look around. "I am absolutely sure we can find something in here with elephants on it. Were you thinking a figurine or a scarf or something?" He moved one hand to her back, high enough to avoid being in danger of touching anything improper, and guided her towards one of the other racks, where there were a lot of colorful sashes and scarves with various animals and plants printed on them. "Maybe one of these?"

Jenny, she said her name was, so Raff shook the hand she offered and returned her smile, although his had to have been considerably less dazzling. "Raff," he said. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Jenny."

[Jenny]

People told Jenny she was beautiful a lot, it wasn't anything she didn't know and she was used to hearing it pretty much everywhere she went. It was fact, she worked very hard to make sure it was fact and to make sure she always looked completely dazzling and turned heads everywhere she went. But, despite that, she felt herself smile the first genuine smile of their interaction as he told her she was beautiful. As he looked around the shop, she allowed herself a grin and a proper look at him, her eyes roving over him appreciatively. There were a lot of extremely attractive people at this school, and Jenny had had more than her fair share of them, but this guy - she really wanted this guy.

As she felt his hand on her back she smiled again, feeling pretty certain that he was into her. Well, why wouldn't he be? She allowed him to guide her across the shop and as they reached the rack she moved so she was standing just in front of him, leaning back slightly so that she was just pressing against him. Looking at the scarves, she reached out and picked one up, wrapping it around her own neck and spinning to face him, deliberately moving slightly closer to him again so that they were practically pressed against each other as she faced him. Feigning surprise at their proximity, she pretended to stumble slightly, placing her hand on his chest to steady herself.

Looking up at him she smiled. "The pleasure is most certainly all mine, Raff." She said, looking up at him through her eyelashes and giving her best attempt at a shy smile. "What do you think?" She asked, her hand still on his chest, indicating the scarf. "Does it bring out my eyes?"

[Raff Wilde]

She might have been in the habit of receiving compliments, but Raff couldn't even recall the last time he'd given that sort of compliment to a girl. And it seemed to have gone so well, although part of him was a little curious what he could do at this point to chase her off. She seemed like the very determined sort, and if he was being honest with himself, that wasn't wholly unattractive.

He was about a hundred percent sure she had done that spinning around thing on purpose so that she'd end up pushed up against him, but once again, that wasn't anything negative. He reached up instinctively, laying his hand over hers on his chest. Weren't they buying the scarf for her brother? Maybe she wanted one herself. Maybe he should get her one. Raff's family wasn't rolling around in piles of money like a lot of the kids around here, but he had enough to buy a scarf to impress a pretty girl.

"I think your eyes are stunning with or without the scarf," he said honestly, "but it definitely is a great color on you. Do you...do you want one, too? I could get one for you, and you can get one for your brother, if you think he'd like it."

[Jenny]

Feeling an odd flutter in chest as he placed his hand over hers, Jenny glanced down at their hands in surprise. She wasn't used to feelings like that at a guy's touch, after all, guys touched her all the time. If she felt a flutter every single time she'd be a puddle on the floor, completely incapable of doing anything. But there was definitely some kind of stirring at Raff's touch, and it wasn't the sort of stirring she was used to - for one thing it was substantially higher up.

She kept her hand there as she looked up at him as he complimented her, feeling, for the first time in longer than she could remember, a slight flush appearing on her cheeks. This guy was just too... nice. She was pretty sure he was the kind of boy her mother would approve of, which made her slightly uncertain... but then she looked into his eyes and realised she didn't care. He was different to her usual targets, but, she thought to herself, sometimes a change was good. She was pretty sure it would be very good in this instance.

"You... you want to buy me a scarf?" She asked in surprise, glancing down at the scarf she'd wound around herself. People bought her gifts all the time, and usually she had no problem accepting, but his offer touched her more than the usual gifts did. "Sure... I mean if you like. That's so nice of you." She smiled, and suddenly realised her hand was still on his chest and took a small step backwards, taking the scarf off and looking at the rack. She reached out and pulled off a plain red scarf, one close in colour to her father's favourite coat and smiled. "I think my brother would like this one."

[Raff Wilde]

Raff wasn't sure what kind of girl his mother would approve of. He wasn't sure that kind of girl existed, first of all. His family were so closely-knit, bringing an outsider in was harder than pulling teeth from an angry wolf. Not that you would ever want to do something as awful as that, but it seemed an appropriate analogy. He was not in this situation thinking that he was meeting the girl he'd take home to his family. But when she looked down at the scarf and she seemed to lose her little mask of flirtation for just a split second, he smiled, because yeah, he'd had a feeling there was something else under there.

"I'd love to buy you a scarf," he confirmed. "I'm not...well, you've probably been given much nicer gifts, being a princess and all that, but if the thought counts for anything..." He gave her another small smile. "Count me in, hm?"

The scarf she picked out for her brother was fairly basic, and did not seem to have any elephants on it that he could see, but maybe she hadn't really been serious about the elephant thing. Maybe that had been one of those things a person just blurted out when they were in an anxious social situation. Or maybe he was giving himself too much credit to imagine that a girl like this (an actual princess) would be anxious around him, maybe he was just reading his own nerves into the situation.

"I think they'll even put it in gift wrap for you," he said, nodding towards the counter. "They have this really fun tissue paper that looks like real grass or something, and they put it in these bags that are made from recycled paper. Good for the earth, you know?"