"Y-Yes, sir…" Nathaniel got to his feet unsteadily and stood close to Zedd. He picked up the laundry detergent and the fabric softener and put them up on the washing machine before returning to Zedd's side. He was noticeably limping, but he kept quiet and didn't bring it up. When Zedd eventually left the room, he trailed after him, fidgeting nervously with the tips of his wings.
Hearing light footsteps, Zedd looked over his shoulder. Seeing Nathaniel limping, he took the boy into his arms once again. "Please, just ask for help when you're hurt like this," he pleaded as he started to descend the stairs as smoothly as he could to avoid jostling Nathaniel too much. Funny enough, Cal was still standing around in the store. "Is he alright?" the man asked.
"He's fine. Gonna take today off though and close early," he explained. He stepped out from behind the counter, walking Cal to the door. "Fair enough. Take some time to find something to do that won't get him hurt," Cal joked before leaving. He waved as he turned left down the sidewalk. Zedd gave a small smile, fully knowing that it was hard to keep the angel out of trouble. He switched the small sign to closed again, now taking Nathaniel to the desk to sit as he rewrapped the currently bleeding injury.
"Sorry, sir…" Nathaniel rested his head on Zedd's shoulder while he was being carried, sighing softly to himself. He looked up when Cal spoke, but stayed silent because Zedd replied for him. He waved to Cal and sat still when Zedd set him down. "Are we going somewhere?" He asked curiously as he looked up at Zedd. He winced a bit while the wound was being wrapped, but otherwise didn't react to it at all. "Why are you closing your house? Can you do that?"
(Y'all know what time it is)
(no, what time is it-)
(like 12:25 am)
"If you're feeling good enough to get some clothes, I'll take you, but if you can only limp, then we'll wait maybe an hour," Zeddicus replied, finishing with the bandage. He bit the inside of his cheek as he tied it firmly. Now finished, he replied to the other questions. "The upstairs is the house. Even if both floors were, I'm allowed to. My property, my rules."
"Um… I-I think I can walk… it's not that bad." Nathaniel slid off the desk onto his feet, testing his weight on his injured leg. He winced a bit, but walked anyways, gritting his teeth to keep himself from limping while doing so. He didn't want to inconvenience Zedd any more, so he could just suffer a little bit and force himself to walk normally.
The taller man narrowed his eyes. He wasn't an idiot. Watching Nathaniel try and walk, he shook his head. He was not going to play this stupid game again. Instead, Zedd took the boy into his arms again, making sure one of his hands was somewhat free to be able to use the door. "You've really gotta stop trying to force yourself to walk when you're in pain," he said, shaking his head. The man moved for the door, opening it wide enough to keep it from swinging closed too soon and hitting Nathaniel. After locking up, the two were on their way towards the shops lining the street. Store windows advertised clothes of all different sizes, colors, and for all species. Zeddicus wished he could fly in the air again, but wouldn't risk another panic attack from the small kid in his arms. "If it doesn't get too late, we can find you some metals and stuff I guess…"
"S-Sorry, sir…" Nathaniel fell quiet while Zedd walked, hesitating before resting his head against the man's shoulder. He looked into the shop windows when they passed, clearly curious. He'd never gone into the shops before. He had no money, so he had no reason to. All the money he had went to buying food for himself. He turned his attention back to Zedd when the man spoke again. "Oh! Okay. Where would we find that?" He asked curiously. "Do they have a shop for it around here somewhere?"
Zedd gave a small hum of affirmation. "Never really needed to go inside much, but yes," he replied. After turning a corner, he took another turn to enter in one of the clothing stores. It was one that generally focused on children's clothing, so it wasn't any surprise that several families were inside with their children. A feeling of dread washed over him as he stepped forward further. He had zero ideas of what Nathaniel liked or even what size anything he was. Oh, this was not going to be fun…
"I guess point out some stuff you like and we'll see if it fits?"
"Um… okay, sir." Nathaniel let Zedd show him around the store, clearly a little uneasy. He eyed the families around them nervously, his heart pounding. "U-Um…" Eventually, he managed to find a couple hoodies and other things that looked like they might fit him. "S-Sorry… I'm not very good at shopping for clothes…" He sighed softly, looking down at the few articles of clothing he'd managed to pick out. "So… um… we try these on somewhere?"
For once, Zeddicus didn't look irritated or tired. He looked a bit scared. "Uh, sure. Um…" he started, looking around for some sort of little room for Nathaniel to change clothes. Finally he saw some stalls near the back, and he took the small boy into one of them. There were two little chairs inside the room, so Zeddicus took one and turned to face an empty wall. He was mostly staying in the room to avoid having to stand there in the mess of parents and little tiny children grabbing at him. His feathers were already fluffed in a similar fashion to goosebumps.
Nathaniel picked up a couple things and pulled them on. It wasn't anything super fancy; just jeans, a navy puffy vest, and a white undershirt. "I think the pants are too big…" Nathaniel hummed thoughtfully, holding up the waistband of the jeans with one hand as he turned to look at Zedd. "Sir? What do you think?" He asked Zedd, examining himself curiously.
Hearing Nathaniel's voice, the man turned around. Were he not on edge, Zedd would have chuckled at how big the pants looked on the angel. "Aside from the pants, it looks nice," he replied, trying to keep from fidgeting. He was being honest, the clothes looked pretty good on Nathaniel. It was nice to see him in something newer as well.
"Do they come smaller than this?" Nathaniel asked softly, adjusting his grip on the waistband. "Everything else fits okay, I think… should I just try on something else and deal with the pants later?" He asked, turning his gaze up to Zedd's face curiously, "S-Sorry, I don't think I've ever really been shopping before…"
Zeddicus shook his head. "Uh, yeah. We can get pants after you're done with what you got. And um… you don't gotta apologise," he said quickly. The man seemed really on edge as he turned back around. His wings drooped lower than usual rather than being folded neatly on his back. It was rare for anyone to see Zedd in such a state.
"Are you okay, sir?" Nathaniel asked, changing into a pastel blue hoodie that fit him pretty well. "Have I done something to upset you?" He pulled on a pair of white shorts and examined himself in the mirror curiously. I don't know anything about clothes… He sighed softly.
A chill suddenly ran down his spine, causing Zedd to move his wings a bit closer to him. "No. You'd know if I was upset with you, let's put it that way," he replied, tone even. He was completely ignoring the first question.
Nathaniel swallowed nervously. "R-Right…" He hesitated before changing into something else. He found another pair of jeans that actually fit him during this process, and the rest of the hoodies fit him as well. Most of the clothes they found actually fit him quite well aside from the first pair of jeans.
Zedd no longer heard the ruffling of clothes, so he risked turning around. He put a small smile on his face. "Looks like it fits. Check what size those pants are and we'll get a few more pairs." If they knew the size already, then it would be easy to pick a few and pay without trying them on. "We'll have to get you shoes. You cannot go around in sandals as it gets cooler. You'll get cold."
"Um…" Nathaniel checked the size of the pants. "Size… eight, it looks like. What kinda shoes are you talking about?" Nathaniel asked, changing back into his normal clothes. "What's wrong with the sandals?" He looked up at the hooks on the wall. One was labeled 'keep' and the other 'return', but he couldn't read them. He doesn't know how to read English. "And what do these say?" He asked. "Are they important?"
Zedd turned to face Nathaniel. "The snow in the winter will literally give you frostbite if you walk around in those. And you're not going to wanna wear those as it gets colder in general," he started. He then looked at all the clothes sitting neatly near the small angel and up at the hooks. He… he can't read freaking english-
"Left one says keep, right one says return."
"Oh, okay…" Nathaniel hesitated before hanging up the big jeans on the right hook. "Do we have to hang up the stuff we want to keep? I feel like it would be easier to just take it with us…" Nathaniel hummed thoughtfully as he looked between the hooks, trying to decipher the words above them for himself.
"No, it's just so you don't have to set the clothes on the ground if you have a lot of clothes in here," Zeddicus explained. He had finally calmed down for a moment, seeming a bit more relaxed, Nathaniel taking priority of his thoughts. Until he remembered that they had to actually leave the stall. Zedd bit the inside of his cheek as his feathers fluffed up a bit again. "Let's find you some shoes, a few more pairs of pants, and then we can leave," the man explained, mostly trying to calm himself.