Dave wished that he didn’t have to travel in the bag that he’d been put in.
He was barely able to see outside the bag.
Which made it difficult to know exactly where they were.
He heard some things that troubled him when they were at Hailey’s home, although he couldn’t help but wonder if the word ‘home’ really applied in this case.
As he always thought that a home should be a place where a person feels safe and secure at the very least.
Yet, with a father like that, he couldn’t imagine how anyone would be able to feel safe or secure in those conditions.
Yet, he didn’t dare say anything to her about that when it happened.
For one thing, he didn’t want her father to hear him, which would have been difficult to explain how he could talk.
Not to mention how Dave was confident that it would merely create more problems overall.
Though, when they went outside, Dave felt it was probably safe enough for him to say something then.
“Do you want to talk about what just happened?” he asked, not entirely sure how to broach the subject, just that if he didn’t try, that he’d probably regret it.
“No,” Hailey replied firmly, making it clear that she wasn’t interested in talking about it.
Which Dave couldn’t say that he found that fact surprising in the least.
Yet, while he felt like he should push on the matter, he couldn’t say that that’s what was needed right then.
So, he let it go and tried turning it to a different topic.
“Do you have any questions about being a magical girl?” he asked, unable to think of anything else to say.
“Yeah, but I’m sure Hoshi can answer them for me.” Dave couldn’t help but feel hurt.
Hoshi wasn’t the one who was with her right then and might not actually answer her questions.
It might be true that Hoshi knew more than Dave, which Dave had to acknowledge was more fact than possibility, but Dave felt like he should be the one Hailey turned to if she was having difficulty with anything about being a magical girl.
He wasn’t sure why he felt that way exactly, just that he did.
Dave watched through the zipper in the bag forlornly as they moved along the street.
While Dave recognized several of the streets Hailey took as she made her way downtown, stopping to hop on the city bus system at a few locations, likely spending what little money she had to do so, before they reached the café where they were supposed to meet Himari and Hoshi.
All through that time, Dave felt like he was unneeded, even though he couldn’t think of what else to do.
If he tried to leave the bag, then he was confident that someone would see him, given it was the middle of the day and he really didn’t want to get seen as a moving stuffed animal.
While it might go unnoticed altogether, he couldn’t help but imagine getting sent to a government facility where they’d try to figure out how he was able to move.
Not to mention what exactly what he was.
Something that Dave wasn’t quite sure himself.
As Hoshi did mention something along the lines that faeries were supposed to be the ones who created magical girls, which made Dave wonder where that put him.
As while he at least used to be human, he couldn’t deny that he could create magical girls himself.
Though, one thing he was certain that he needed to learn from Hoshi was if it was possible for him to regain his human form at some point.
He didn’t know if that was possible, but he was at least determined to try and find a way.
As even if he wasn’t entirely human anymore, he’d at least like the ability to regain his human form if he felt like it.
When Hailey reached the café, Dave thought he’d at least try to ask her something, hoping that his talking with her would get lost in the ambient noise of the café.
“What time is it?” “Huh?
Oh, yeah.
You,” Hailey said, sounding like she’d forgotten about him, which made Dave wonder if maybe he should see if Hailey’s sister would be a better candidate for him to work with as a magical girl.
“Let’s see.
Yeah, it’s about fifteen minutes to two.” Dave sighed.
Not only was Hailey rather dismissive of him, but they’d gotten there early, making Dave wonder if Hailey would let him out of the bag when they had the meeting or if he should come out on his own and risk someone in the public seeing him move.
He hoped that wouldn’t be necessary, but with how Hailey was acting towards him right then, he couldn’t be quite sure.
“Fine, you want to know what’s been going on with my dad?” Hailey asked, sounding as if maybe she’d been wanting to talk about it but hadn’t been able to bring herself to do so up to this point.
Though, Dave couldn’t help but also wonder if maybe she was phrasing it that way simply because she wanted to talk about it, but didn’t really want to admit to that fact.
“I’d like to at least hear about it,” Dave replied, even though he suspected that his response wasn’t quite necessary.
“Well, it started when my mother died last year.
That’s when my dad started hitting me and yelling at Jamie.
I don’t know what it is, but I don’t know if I can live like that much longer.
Not to mention what happens at-” Hailey stopped midsentence, making Dave wonder if there was more going on in this girl’s life than she let show.
“Never mind that.
What’s important is that I’m not sure how to get my dad to stop.
He likes to keep up with appearances, but I’m not sure if I can survive that.” Dave wasn’t sure how to respond.
Even though he wanted to know more about what had happened, he couldn’t say that he knew what to say about it.
However, he was saved from having to say anything with Himari showing up.