City Street

[SageTavers]

"Like a squirrel she is."

At her comment to knowing how to save food for later. She was handing one of the trays to Alice as she held out her hands, because frankly Sage couldn't juggle the two trays and the bag on her shoulder. She probably could have managed to fit all their stuff on one tray, but why try when there were eager grabby hands in front of you?

She walked out of the shop and onto the little patio, putting her tray down and sinking into one of the seats while using her foot to push the other seat back for Alice just a bit so she could climb into it a little easier. She went about setting the bottle of water and soda on her tray and a bag of the chips before she was twisting the cap off of her own soda and taking a long drink. Watching the little girl a moment before she was reaching into the bag and pulling out a stuffed dog that Sage had carried around with her from about the age of 2 to 7 when she decided that stuffed animals weren't necessary to carry around anymore. Though it said something that she still had it.

"His name is floppy but you can change that if you want..."

She just kind of waved her hand in the air and then rested the stuffed dog on the table next to the girls tray.

[Little Bit]

She took the tray and carefully carried it away from the counter, following Sage to the table. She was proving that she was a good investment considering she was getting food from Sage. Little Bit put the tray on the table and seated herself properly. She could smell the food and it made her stomach grumble. She was going to start eating right away but Sage was rattling around in the bag.

Little Bit's eyes got wide when she saw the toy. She squirmed on her chair and her fingers twitched a little until the dog was put on the table next to Little Bit's tray. Her eyes weren't on the sandwich anymore. It was all the toy. She finally reached a hand up to tentatively touch the dog's foot, stroking lightly with fingers that probably should have gotten a better wash than they had gotten that day.

Her voice was full of awe. "Is .. he for me?"

You would have thought the girl was given something much bigger or more valuable than just a stuffed animal but then again, when the girl had nothing the stuffed animal was the world.

[SageTavers]

Sage was pretty sure in that moment her heart broke just a little. It shouldn't have because she looked so over joyed when she saw the stuffed dog, but no kid should look that elated over a toy. It just told Sage how very little she had and that wasn't okay, not in the slightest. She didn't even think about it when she folded her arms over the table and dropped her chin on it to look across the small space at Alice. The way she touched just the dogs foot, stroking it, and then asking if it was for her Sage couldn't help but smile.

"Yep. All yours. You just have to promise to take care of him for me ... he got me through some scary nights ... he's very good at listening, and he's definitely a cuddler. He loves to cuddle."

Sage had already come to a definitive conclusion in her mind about the girl in front of her, and it had her just a little scared, but for the moment she was content to sit there watching as the girl looked at the toy.

"Go on, take it, he doesn't bite...he's yours now."

[Little Bit]

The child's voice was perhaps more somber than it should have been when accepting a present. Her head nodded and she whispered, "I promise." Only then did her fingers crawled up the stuffed animal's leg until she could curl them around his belly and pull it right toward her. Only when she had it sitting on the edge of the table right next to her did she add, "I like to cuddle too."

Little Bit pulled the animal from the table and put him on her lap in front of her so it was facing the table too. She shot a smile at Sage that wasn't the 'so cute you'll give me stuff' smile. It was a real smile from the little survivor. "Thank you, Sage. I don't have a present for you." And that last part was spoken with true sadness.