Toyz B' We

Allie was only just realizing what sort of shop Syd had stopped in front of by the time Syd started walking away. Her own cheeks flushed deeply and she opened her mouth but thought better of it. That was probably not a conversation that would go well for either of them, no matter WHICH way it went.

She was thankful when Syd asked her a question, even though it was a difficult one. "Uhhh, welll... I THINK bar is... Sa-ka-ba..." She remembered THAT one. She wasn't going to forget bar since it was where she and Syd hung out. The kanji though... that she was still working on...

"Let's see... there's, um, two of the kanjis. The first one kind of looks like one of those dumb red post thingies they have at the shrines but it's enclosed like if the bottom part was closed off. There's some shit inside of the box part and then it's got a dangly bit... rrr... so stupid..."

Allie wasn't even going to try and figure out the second one and just looked up and looked for a sign. "There! That's one! I know it!" She said as she grabbed Syd's hand and began to tug her towards it.

"Mh." Finally.

Syd set off toward the bar, a little more slowly than her usual pace. "You think your sister cares if I get a title?" She asked, with a hint of bitterness in her monotone voice. "You think I don't know what I want, but I think you don't know what I want. I don't think you'd know what to do if you got it. What would you say?"

Syd's voice trailed off slightly and her walking pace slowed to a stop for the second time. Her attention drifted away from Allie and the bar and was suddenly consumed by the store next to it. An illegible kanji sign hung over the door with a picture of a cartoon robot welcoming patrons inside. Displayed in the window were toys and games, not totally unlike the other toy store, but something caught Syd's eye.

"I care."

Allie snapped, as though that were reason enough. It WAS, but if Syd had a title, then it could prove that she was the better Parker. Not that she needed to prove it to herself, or even to Taylor. She just needed to erase any doubt in her sister's mind.

Allie shook her head at Syd's stupid words. "That doesn't even make any sense. Like pretty much everything you say. You told me what you want. You want to beat people up. Are you lyin now?" She asked. "You make things more complicated then they need to be, Syd. That's probably why you're so miserable. "You spend your time thinking about stuff that doesn't even matter. Being happy matters. Having things matters.  Having the best things matter. The most things. Being the happiest and making sure everyone else knows that they aren't good enough for you. It's about being worshiped." Allie said.

She was about to walk into the bar but stopped again when Syd stopped. She sighed but then smiled coyly.

"Cooome on." She said like a mother pulling along her child. She grabbed Syd's wrist and pushed into the toy store, a little surprised that Syd wanted to go in.

"You've been a good girl lately, so, you can pick out another toy." She mocked, though there wasn't the sort of bite that her tone usually held. She was a bit more bubbly as she pushed through into the store and turned to face Syd while she backed up. "You better give me a smile though." She said and pouted her lips before cracking up into actual laughter.

"Shut up," Syd grumbled.

To Syd, it was obvious how stupid everything was that Allie wanted, and she couldn't wrap her head around how Allie couldn't see it. She wanted to be pretty and to have expensive things and for everyone to worship her, but everyone was stupid. No one will half a brain would want idiot sheep fawning over them all the time. That would be more like a sign that you were doing something wrong.

She didn't ruminate on Allie's misguided life goals for very long. She walked into the store, a second hand shop by the looks of it, and circled back to the front window where there were two rows of unimpressive-looking used toys and games lined up in a glass case. Syd tried the sliding door at the back, but it was locked.

She looked up for the shopkeeper behind the counter not far away, and pointed at the thing in the case. "I want that," she said, forcefully, as if that might overcome the language barrier. In the case, the object of her desires, was a dented-up box for a seven-year-old Sony PSP. She watched the shopkeeper impatiently while she waited for the older woman to fetch the thing for her, but of course she didn't seem to understand, or didn't feel like doing it.

Syd looked to Allie. "Tell her in Japanese," she said.

Allie huffed at Syd's comment but she didn't say anything else. She just watched and snickered inwardly as Syd uselessly tried to get the clerk to open the cabinet so she could get her handheld toy.

Allie certainly knew how to say "give me that" in Japanese. She turned to Syd. "Why don't I get you a new one?" She asked, then suddenly paused. "You'll just whine until I get you that specif one, right?"

Allie sighed. Allie said finally to the clerk. She then looked at Syd. "You owe me a smile." Allie said seriously.

Syd didn't respond, and only followed the clerk with her eyes until the thing was on the counter, waiting to be paid for.

Of course, Syd didn't have any money. She remained at Allie's mercy for everything that cost anything. She knew Allie needed her and had to keep her at least happy enough to keep wrestling, and that if she had to she could just beat her up and take her money. Mostly, Syd just didn't feel like dealing with money. Someone else had always done it for her.

She stared blankly at Allie and glanced at the counter where the clerk was waiting.

Allie quickly pulled out her purse and got her charge card out. She had learned quickly the best cards which would let her use credit. She thought their money was stupid and when making large purchases, she didn't want to have to pull out a wad.

With a swipe and a friendly nod, the device was hers. She stuffed it into the bag with the anime statue and then turned to look at Syd. "Can we drink now?" She asked, tilting her head. "Remember... you don't get this until I get a smile. And an ACTUALLY one, not one of those stupid "I'm so tough and sadistic" ones you like to throw at people. Those are for opponents. Not me."

Syd grumbled. If she wanted it, she'd take it, and there was nothing Allie could do to stop her.

Of course, the PSP alone wouldn't help her. Obviously, she needed games, or at least one in particular. She didn't see any in the store, though, which was stupid. She was so fed up with the whole thing that she left and went next door to the bar. Allie was much more tolerable after a few drinks.

She went straight to the bartender. "Tequila." Hopefully he could at least understand that.

The bar was full of well put-together men and women in their late twenties, possibly early thirties, all of them well dressed in snappy going-out clothes. Little black dresses and jewelery and bohemian accessories, trendy glasses, and whatever the hell the guys wore. Syd held her glass of tequila and scanned the room, and the women in it, with her eyes.

"Hm."

"Rrrr."

Allie growled when Syd just walked away but she trotted along behind and into the bar. She sat her bags on the bar and tugged at her shirt to expose a bit more of her cleavage before she batted her eyes at the bartender and ordered her own drink. She had gotten used to the taste of Kirinbeer so she didn't have to compete with Syd and her iron tummy.

"So, Syd..." She said, turning to face her charge., "I didn't take you for a gamer nerd." Allie said. "You know us popular kids always made fun of dweebs like you in highschool, right?" She said, sticking out her tongue and grinning.

"And I liked to beat the fucking shit out of kids like you," Syd remarked, and threw back her tequila. She set the glass down and leaned back against the bar.

"I didn't play video games. I just had that because I had a friend in school who had one, and I played God of War at his house once. So I got it. It's what I did when I was mad and shut in my room." She paused, and then motioned to the bartender for another. She wasn't sure that she liked sharing this much with Allie, since she was probably just going to make fun of her for it, as usual.

"I like movies, but I don't like TV. Except for wrestling. And I don't like stupid games. In tenth grade I used to go to my friend's house and we'd just sit in his room and play God of War." She thought for a moment, and then shrugged. "Maybe he wanted to fuck me. We didn't really talk."