"Don't spend it all on dumb shit, Nicole." the last words that Nova's sister had spoken before going to work that morning.

Of course, the temptation was mighty! Nova had 50 dollars in her pocket and there were so many dumb things she could get. Still, the burden or responsibility was too strong and it didn't help that their kitchen was practically barren except for saltine crackers and a stick of butter of indeterminate age.

The plan would be such: hop on the bus (spending 2.50), go to the Surplus Grocery Outlet (its actual name), and spending $20 on 'unbeatable bargains' -- leaving her with nearly $30 for the dumb things.

Nova was truly torn, however, because ordering a pizza was a far cheaper option. She didn't have to get dressed, brush her teeth, do her hair and it had the slight chance of becoming a porno scenario with pizza guy / girl action. Though, she needed to leave her apartment because Zeke was getting weird just like she figured he would.

He had started calling her every day and knocking on her apartment door every other day. As cute as he was, Nova knew that it probably, certainly, definitely wouldn't work out. Plus, if not for Zeke, the perpetual reminder of Devi-things was a good enough encouragement to leave for an afternoon.

The bus ride was mundane and typical apart from it being brighter outside than Seapoint City was used to and the walk from the bus stop to the store was uneventful except for her scraping her tail against a stop sign when taking a right.

The store itself was like a vast monolith that stood in the middle of nowhere -- aisles and aisles of wholesale crap. It was a retail metropolis that none had ever seen before. Shopping carts were the cars that rode its streets and exceptionally trashy people were its citizens.

Nova stood at the threshold of its air conditioned entrance and took on the infinite maze of the bargain abyss; bravely taking a handcart and setting forth. She had a few immediate stops to take as she liked looking at the used movie section near the front and she also loved to gander at the 'As Seen on TV' items a few aisles down.

As she walked, however, it was a different thing that caught her eye: a slender white fox girl with her hair dyed blue. A girl with boyshorts barely visible from under her long white shirt that almost camouflaged with her fur and, most damning, was a beanie that almost went over her eyes.

Dammit. The comparisons to Devi were bewitching.

It had felt preposterous that this girl had stopped in the candy section to look at lollipops. Nova stood at the end of the aisle with an uncomfortable smile as she had an awkward mental image of seducing this girl with candy. Creepy.

"There ain't no time like the present." Nova thought then sighed as she approached the fox girl.

"I bet you're real good at sucking those." Nova said with an odd cadence; staring down at the lollipops that had originally caught the fox's attention.

"...wha?" the girl's voice was so dainty and high-pitched that it almost felt like an act.

"Ahhh, sorry about that." Nova chuckled as she lowered her head. "Heyyyy, what's your name?"

"...Randi." she said in her singsong and oddly flirtatious young girl voice.

"Randi?!" Nova pulled a shocked expression. "That name and that face don't match, that's really somethin'!"

"...oh." Randi shifted her gaze left and right. "Is that bad? You could call me something else if you want."

"I'd rather call your cell, sweetie," Nova winked. "What's ya number?"

"I don't have a phone." Randi smiled as she put her hands behind her back and started swaying her tail. "But that's okay, as long as you have a place for both of us."

"N-- wait, what?" Nova did a double-take. "I've... I dunno what ya mean."

"Well," Randi started in her adorable baby-doll voice. "It seems like maybe you like me and have a 'cwush' on me. And since it's Saturday and I don't have to be home tonight, I could be all yours~ You do like me, riiiight?"

"Ya know," Nova pointed a slightly suspicious finger at the fox girl. "This seems too good to be true. What's the catch? Is there a catch? What's going on?!"

"No catch, I do like you a lot after all!" Randi giggled. "Buuuut, maybe you could buy me some lollipops and you can teach me how to suck them."

"Fuckin--" Nova winced. "Okay, I think I got you. What, like... $200 worth of lollipops or wha?"

"$50 pwease~"

"FUCK!" Nova threw her arms up in frustration. "It just HAD to be $50. Why you gotta be as expensive as my grocery list?!"

At this point, an old wolf lady had passed by who was either hard-of-hearing or trying her best to ignore the subject of discussion.  

"You don't need groceries, silly." Randi leaned forward a bit and winked; almost seemingly in a jest compared to Nova's wink from earlier. "You could just eat me."

Nova ran her hand through her frizzy hair and groaned; her shoulders fell as she weighed her options. "Fuckin'... how about $35 worth of lollipops and you film it. There's money in that, good money, trust me."

"Weeeell..." Randi said in her cutesy tone. "Mayyybee. Sure."

"Alright!" Nova put a finger up. "Hold that thought, though! I gotta actually do some grocery shopping first."

Randi snickered as she glared quizzically at Nova. "Okay then, I guess."

Before Randi had a chance to say anything else, Nova dashed away; now wanting to get this list done as quick and frugal as possible. Oh how fate had smiled upon her! Her clumsy flirting had led her to a prostitute! And not just any prostitute, a super cute one that was around her age.

Nothing could possibly spoil this joyous occasion.

As she quickly dashed along the produce aisle, an influx of security had caught her attention. She brought her steps down to a light trot and followed the direction in which they were gathering.

In the middle of a circle of doofy looking guys in yellow security shirts was a distressed... skunk? Black, white stripes, big ol' tail, most likely a skunk. She looked like she was moments away from bawling her eyes out.

Once again, Nova was plagued with the phantom of Devi while looking at this girl whose hair mostly covered her eyes and, from what Nova could detect from said eyes, they were blue. Like Devi's. Son of a bitch.

"Hey, what's going on?" Nova tried to push passed the security and get to the girl. "What the hell are you guys doing with my... uhh... sister!" Nova finally breached the center of the crowd just to see that she was half a foot taller than the skunk girl. "...my little sister!"  

"Your... little sister?" one of the guards eyed the both of them.

"What're you, racist? Fuck off!" Nova crossed her arms. "Different fathers, dumbass. Whadid she do? What's goin' on?"

"Well." one of the guards jumped in. "We found your 'little sister' stealing a box of cookies."

"The fuck?!" Nova turned to the girl who looked horrified beyond reason. "WE GOT COOKIES BACK HOME, YA MORON! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Nova flared her nostrils at the girl.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" the girl started crying; terrified beyond all comprehension and still left in the as to what exactly was happening.

"Thaaat's okay, I know you're not right in the head." Nova turned back to face the guards. "Look, my little sister, when we was younger she fell out of her crib. She ain't ever been quite right since. I'm sure she was just confused and thought they were our cookies. I'll pay for it and I'll tell our mom, is that fine?"

"I still think we need to phone this in." a particularly militant security guard spoke before being gestured off by another one.

"Your power trip isn't necessary." the gesturing guard said to the militant one. "You don't need to pay, just take your sister and go home."

"Right as rain!" Nova said as she grabbed the girl by the wrist; pretending to scold her as they both left the store.

"Oh god, please let me go!" the girl quivered in Nova's grasp, "I just wanna go home!"

"Pfft, I'm not actually gonna hurt you." Nova snickered. "Got you out of that bind with those knuckle-draggers, though. But seriously! What the hell are you stealin' cookies for?!"

"I dunno... my friends put me up to it." the girl sniffled; trying to hide her face.

"The fuck?" Nova looked around the parking lot; nobody around their age could be spotted. "...who?"

The girl scanned the parking lot as well. "...oh. They left."

There was a long and awkward interval of silence before Nova finally sighed and spoke up.

"Well, where'd they go?"

"I dunno." the girl muttered. "I just met them today."

"Well fuckin' hell!" Nova laughed as she patted the girl on the back. "Just met 'em and you're already stealin' for 'em? You must be a cheap date, sweetheart."

"That's not true..." the girl seemed very hurt by that statement and Nova felt a tinge of regret.

"Hey, that was a joke. I'm sorry." Nova put her hands on her hips as she tried to find something to lighten the mood. She looked at the girl's shirt -- another familiar tell that reminded her of Devi, it was a fucking horror movie shirt. "Ahh. You like horror movies?"

"Y-yes." the girl wiped her face.

"I knew a person who loved horror movies so much and I had to watch soooo many with her." Nova giggled to herself.

"You're lucky." the girl sighed. "Nobody wants to watch horror movies with me."

"Well, perfect!" Nova wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders. "We can watch a movie sometime. What's ya name, little skunk?"

"Baaah!" the girl groaned and rolled her eyes; defending herself under her breath. "Imnotaskunk."

"I didn't hear ya."

"I'm not a skunk, I'm a black squirrel!" the girl tried an assertive tone but it was riddled with voice-cracks. "And my name is Vivica."

"A squirrel, you say!" Nova squited her eyes and smirked. "Well, that's nuts! Love your colors though, girlie! Pretty neat for a squirrel. And Vivica is a pretty name. It suits you."

Vivica only looked up at Nova; her face exploding in blush as her hands slid inside of her long sleeves.

"Well, my name is Nicol-- NOVA!" it was baffling. The girl reminded Nova so much of Devi that she was even almost reverting back to her horrible real name -- the name exclusively spoken by Nova's sister and Devi in the first place.

"Nicolova?" Vivica tilted her head. "That sounds European."

"No, it's just Nova." she sighed. "My brain is no good right now. So... where do you live? You live far?"

"Kind of." the girl frowned and looked towards the road. "I followed my friends here, actually. So I think I'm lost?"

Nova inhaled to speak but, instead, looked over to see Randi with some guy leaving the store. She was holding onto his arm while staring dead at Nova, too.

"Ahhh, son of a bitch." Nova cursed under her breath as Vivica's ears perked.

"What was that?"

"Nothing! I missed my chance to get laid, that's all." Nova crossed her arms and pouted.

"You need to lay down? Why don't you?" Vivica innocently asked.

"Hmm." Nova raised both eyebrows and shut her eyes. That was embarrassingly cute. "Wowzers. Well, look, my evening cleared up so I'mma walk ya home. You have any idea where you live?"

"I know it's... that way." she pointed towards an intersection. Not much help.

"Whatevs, we'll wing it."

~~

It was a bit of a farther walk than Nova anticipated but it was nice. Vivica was very sweet and genuine and in a way it felt like she was talking to a younger version of Devi. Like, almost precise.

The neighborhood around them had become very ritzy and Nova was beginning to suspect that they were going the wrong direction -- not that she particularly minded the long walk or the company. But, finally, they stopped at a house behind a barred fence.

"Yaay, my house!" Vivica turned to Nova. "Thank you for walking me. I don't think I could've done it by myself."

"I was just following you, ya know." Nova snickered. "But no problemo, Vivica."

"Uuhm." Vivica rubbed her arm. "Thank you again for saving me from those security guards and walking me home and everything. If there's anything I could do, I'll try."

Nova could feel her fur stand up on edge as the most prominent phrase in her mind kept knocking at her lips. She could practically visualize the girl's large bed and the two of them rolling around in it.

But, then she remembered what Vivica said earlier and how she didn't know what 'getting laid' meant.

Then, for some odd reason, she ended up saying "Nah, nothing really. It's what friends do."

For a tiny thing, Vivica had a titan-like hug that winded Nova and, after a brief exchange of phone numbers, the girl ran into her house.

Nova watched her disappear behind the large mahogany door and stood on the sidewalk for a long while. She could see the color of the sky morph into tangerine as she mentally fought with herself; questioning why she didn't just go for it.

It was a question that followed her during the long walk back to the store, while getting her groceries and taking the bus home.

When she arrived at her apartment door, of course Zeke was in the middle of knocking. He turned and smiled his big goofy smile.

"H-hey, Nova! How are you?" there was a pause and then he seemed to notice something about her face that shifted him to concern. "Whooa. What happened? Are you okay?"

Nova stared back at him, her eyes half-lit, as she walked to the door and unlocked it.

"Hey siiis, are you here?" she called into the room.

There was no answer.

Nova turned back towards Zeke with her hands full with groceries. "You comin' in or wha?"

"S-sure!" Zeke followed her inside and shut the door behind him. "What's wrong though? You look... depressed."

"Look." she put the groceries down on the couch. "Fuckin'... frozen pizzas cost twice as much, I missed out on an opportunity to fuck a super cute hooker and I'm 90% sure I have brain cancer because every person I have met lately reminds me of my fuckin' ex-girlfriend. I'm pretty sure I just walked Devi's doppelganger home and for some reason I didn't fuck her."

"O-oh?"

"Soo..." Nova started walking towards her room. "...can you fuck me or wha? Today sucked and I'd REAAAALLY appreciate it."

"Uhm..." Zeke looked uncomfortable. "...my bottom kinda still hurts from--"

"No, you fuck ME." Nova called out from her room; the sounds of her clothes coming off and being thrown against the floor prominently audible.