3 Killing Time

With a golden dragon bracelet up her forearm, Thea made her way out of the house with a firm and arrogant expression on her face. It was as if she was making the silent statement that she could do whatever she wanted, whenever and wherever she wanted.

With great stride she made it to the front gates and climbed, climbed until she reached the other side and dropped flat on her feet. Catching herself with her arms out to her sides and her legs bent slightly, she walked without problem to her next destination.

There were a few hours before the party even started, so she might as well go into town, have a little bit of fun. She avoided the man who assumed the role of her bodyguard on her way out, so no one would know where she was.

"So where we going?" Cade asked as he remained in a statue like position around her arm. At the moment he was disguised as an expensive piece of jewelry.

Thea thought of how she would answer him, if she said to get drugs, she knew that he would instantly shoot her down. "I mean, we could go to the Arcade or a cafe." She said as she dusted off the edge of her dress and skirt.

She had put leggings on as well, it made her look more like an adult rather than a sexualized young teen. Thea could understand his taste, it made her appear more mature.

"Could get a haircut." Cade suggested as she gave her the ideas which she seemingly pulled out of a hat. He knew what she was thinking about. She wanted her party drugs, she wanted to feel good, better. She wanted to heal and fill the hole that tore its way into her life, even if it was just a temporary fix.

Raising a brow out this, she looked at the piece of jewelry. "Haircut? Hm.." She tried imagining herself with shorter hair and tightened her lips a little. "What would you suggest?"

"Maybe a short textured bob, you have the perfect hair for it." The only reason why he suggested it was because she had a bob cut sometime later on when she was older in the other seasons.

Thea nodded slowly as she could picture herself with a textured bob. It'd definitely show off her facial features, her eyes and her ears. "You into tomboys or somethin'?" She asked as she fiddled with his golden head.

"I mean, I am quite literally hooked onto your arm." Cade responded with a serious yet sarcastic tone. They both snickered at this as she walked alone along the side of the road.

A little while later they made their appearance at the storefront of a hair studio. She glanced in through the window and looked at the people who were awaiting a cut. There were at least three other people there waiting.

It wasn't one of those places where you paid a thousand dollars to get your hair done. Hell, it was a common place for anyone to go as long as they had fifteen bucks to their name.

Pushing the door open, the bell chimed as she walked in.

Now that she was inside she could tell that there were at least four barbers in the building. Two of them were sweeping the floor and cleaning, while the other two were actually treating people's hair.

Then there was a single person at the receptionist desk who glanced up from their phone to see a person there. "Ah, hello!" This person was severely underweight, but they didn't look unhealthy, they actually looked several times younger than they actually were. "Do you have an appointment, or are you just walking in?"

"Walking in," Thea said with a blatant smile across her lips.

"Name?" the girl asked as she began typing onto the computer, setting up a profile.

"Thea Queen," She said without much hesitation to sharing her name. She noticed the receptionist pause briefly before nodding and typing in her name.

"What will we be doing with you today, Miss Queen?" She asked as she looked up at Thea who was now watching the people sweeping up the hair from other people.

"Hm... Styled haircut," Thea responded near automatically before looking over at another teen, a male, with a fade haircut and medium fringed layers on the top. She smiled, admiring his red hoodie.

"Please take a seat. Your average wait will be around fifteen minutes." The receptionist informed and watched as Thea walked over to the seating area and sat down.

Thea rested her hands in her lap, staring forward as she listened to the idling conversations of the others present. The reason why she was here was because she simply couldn't afford something big. Her strained relationship with her mother obviously made sure she couldn't support constant expensive pampering.

About thirty minutes later she had gotten her hair cut, layered and styled the way that she believed fit her best. Her hair no longer went past her shoulder, and it showed more of her face. She could be taken much more seriously as it made her appear sharper.

Once they left the hair studio, after paying, she made her way down the sidewalk towards a nearby EZ Convenience Store.

Her eyes gazed over the rice balls, sushi and other packaged asian cuisine which lined the shelves near the entrance. She made her way towards the back of the storefront and over to beverage fridge.

"Onigiri..."

Thea blinked hearing him speak into her mind after the long silence since the barbershop. She looked down at the golden jewelry wrapped around her arm, as if holding it hostage. "You say something Cade?"

"Onigiri, can you get me some?" Cade asked as he'd nudge his head against her palm.

"And that is...?" Thea arrogantly asked as she looked back towards the sugary drinks which were before her. If she wasn't able to get drugs, then she might as well get a sugar high, right? While it didn't necessarily give her the same high, it definitely made her feel something, and if she had just enough; she'd be knocked right out.

"The rice balls," he responded with a sigh as she didn't know the Japanese name for the food. She lived in California, a historic hot spot for the asian cuisines and cultures themselves.

Thea froze for a moment when he had said this. It was one of the most simplest items here and she didn't know the name of it. "Oh," was her only response before opening the fridge in front of her and taking out two of the Japanese melon flavored Ramune, a carbonated beverage.

A male vietnamese cashier who had heard her talking to herself was looking down the aisle with a brow raised slightly. He knew it was rather normal for people to talk to themselves, but she seemed to be having an intellectual one with her bracelet? When he caught sight of her walking over to the food stand to get a box of rice balls, he got a glance of the dragon. He had this odd feeling that it was looking right back at him.

Once she collected a six pack and brought it over to the counter to pay, she took out her wallet and placed ten dollars as the guy scanned the items.

"I couldn't help but hear you talking to yourself earlier, what was that about?" The cashier asked curiously as he took the ten dollars and gave her back three dollars back in change. It was cheaper to go to walmart or actual market rather than being charged extra for the 'convenience.'

"Oh... I was talking on my bluetooth," Thea excused his 'misunderstanding' of what was going on earlier. "Friend was asking me to pick something up for him to eat."

After a brief pause he nodded. "Well, have a nice day then. Stay safe out there stranger and come again sometime." He gave a brief wave as he watched Thea walk out the door with the food in the bag. She was walking off towards the direction of Tommy's family home, where the party was going to take place.

About thirty minutes later she was sitting at a picnic bench within a pavilion of an empty playground. There was no one there, except for a few couples or people walking their dogs.

She placed the bracelet on the table and the bag. The drinks were still moderately cold, though they had been precipitating while in the bag. Sweating glass was annoying to deal with, let alone open up since it wasn't dry enough to hold easily.

"So how are you going to eat these Caden?" Thea snickered a bit as she rested her head on her arm as she leaned over the table lazily.

Caden resumed his more animated form, no longer completely gilded in gold. Coiling up on the wooden table, he looked over her with his arctic blue eyes. "I'll grant myself a human form, just you wait..." He said, sounding as if he was concentrating. A first it looked like the little dragon was going to have an aneurysm due to how hard it looked like they were pushing.

"I... Think I got it..." He said about a minute later when he began to turn different colors. Following a sound akin to the popping of a balloon, his entire formed changed in the blink of an eye.

Caden is in pretty good shape with well defined muscles, hidden beneath what appeared to be casual business wear. A white button down shirt, blue blazer, blue dress pants and a pair of sneakers. He is average-height for his age with a fair peach skin tone, brown almost black hair and arctic blue eyes.

Thea could have sworn he had picked his attire from the Doctor Who series, sneakers with a suit, so David Tennant. After gazing over most of his features, she took in the style of hair he had. It was short on the sides and layered all around. It wasn't particularly outgoing, and it appeared to have a wavy structure.

Either way, Thea was surprised and excited to see him in a human form. He was at least five inches taller than her as he sat there on the bench table. "Wow..." Were all the words she could find herself saying, as she reached over and pinched the fabric of his blazer, it was expensive material. "Are these clothes real?"

"As real as they can get," Caden snickered in response to her question about the clothes. He watched as she played with the fabric between her fingers. "This form is a personification of myself, an avatar so to speak, I guess.."

Thea nodded slightly, "Kind of like the warship from the show Andromeda." She referenced a science fiction series from the unused works of Gene Roddenberry that aired from the year two thousand to two thousand five.

Ironically it was another one of Caden's favorite shows from his past life.

"Pretty much," Caden nodded in agreement as he knew what she was talking about. "Except it's just one body, not multiple."

Thea shrugged with a halfway smile, "Yeah yeah. Let's get to eating, we have a party to get to, goof."