A Demon's Protection

Shopping Frenzy

After Gabriel changed into something a bit more comfortable, Raven asked Lucy if she was ready.

"Yeah," Lucy hesitated, "You can still carry me if I get too tired, right?"

Raven laughed, "Of course! I'm an omega, aren't I? It'd be kinda pitiful if I couldn't carry my own child!"

"Then yeah, I'm ready to go!" Lucy turned to look at Gabriel, "By the way, when did you change?"

Gabriel just smirked, "Magic." He had, in fact, just run into the bathroom while Raven was fussing over Lucy's outfit and changed into the spare outfit he always has on him, just in case something a bit more casual than formal pops up before he has the chance to grab his stuff from home. He was now wearing a dark-red t-shirt under a green jacket, along with a pair of jeans and brown boots. He turned to Raven, "I left my armor in your bathroom, I hope that's okay."

"It's fine." Raven's eyes widened, "But how did you change so quickly?"

Gabe just smirked again, "Magic."

Raven laughed, "Alright, Lucy? You ready to go?"

"Yes!" Lucy yelled . . . right in Raven's ear.

Raven yelped than shook her head and opened the door. "Off we go then!"

Lucy giggled than ran out the door, dragging Gabriel behind her. "Come on, come on! I want to see all the animals!"

Raven chuckled as Gabriel looked at her in confusion. "She's talking about the petting zoo I always let her visit when we go there on my birthday." Raven suddenly grinned, making Gabe fear for his life. She shrugged her shoulders, spreading her wings, "You ready yet?"

Without waiting for a reply, Raven shot into the air, joined a moment later by a giggling Lucy, "Well, come on!" Gabe shook his head in amusement than spread his three pairs of wings out and took off after the two girls.

Raven was weary of the archangel flying right behind her at first, but after drifting back a little, just to where she could keep an eye on him, she began to relax. Lucy took the softening of Raven's feathers as a go-ahead to begin their usual flying games. She smirked at Raven, causing Raven to smirk back and casually drift away from Gabe. Then, Lucy dive-bombed Raven's wings, forcing her to either dodge or be knocked out of the air. Raven countered Lucy's dive with a tight loop towards Gabe.

Gabe's startled yell was cut off by Lucy and Raven's laughter, "Try and keep up, will ya'?" Raven smirked at Gabe, then took a sudden swipe at one of his wings with her tail, smoothly transitioning to a different spot with the movement. Gabe let out a deep chuckle as he evaded her tail.

"Oh, it's on." Gabe dived at Raven without warning, causing Raven to laugh as she took off toward Lucy, who had been flying ahead as fast as her wings could carry her. Lucy squealed with laughter as Raven caught up to her and tried to grab her ankle. Lucy and Gabe shared a look over Raven's head, then went into action. Lucy did a tight flip over Raven while Gabe dived under her, effectively trapping her between them.

Raven yelped at the sudden action, freezing momentarily. Once she collected her wits, she did a quick barrel-roll with her wings spread out, catching the two angels and letting them free-fall for a few seconds before letting them go. She continued to free-fall even after Lucy and Gabe managed to right themselves, only pulling back up just before she hit the top of a tree. She let out a whoop as she darted towards the town slowly appearing, instigating a game of chase.

The three unlikely companions continued to play their game of chase until they reached the shopping district, dropping down to the ground completely out of breath. They let out several quiet giggles, then collected themselves before entering the first store.

"Hello!" Raven chirped at the cashier, "Lovely day, isn't it?"

"Yes, absolutely lovely!" The cashier's words positively dripped with sarcasm, "Everyone loves freezing temperatures and snowstorms that leave you grounded until they let up."

Raven laughed, "Yes, I suppose there is that." She turned toward the cashier, "But it also means hot cocoa, cuddling with loved ones, and . . . my birthday!" She darted off before the cashier could say anything, heading towards the athletic section, mumbling as she went. "Now, what should I get? They have those fancy touch-screen flight gloves. But they also have windbreaker coats designed to form around your wings instead of leaving open gaps for the wind to get through . . ."

Gabe gave Lucy a questioning look, but all Lucy did in reply was shrug and wander off to help her mom with choosing an article of clothing. Gabe stared after them for a couple minutes before shaking his head and trotting off after the oddball pair, who had decided on the gloves and were making their way over to the cashier to pay. As they walked out of the store, Gabe turned to Raven with a confused look, "Why'd you only buy one thing?"

Lucy giggled, "It's our rule; we're only allowed one thing from each store. It saves on money, and it prevents Mom from spending all her money in one place and coincidently missing out on something in another store." Raven nodded in agreement, so Gabe slowly nodded back and followed the duo to the next store.

This continued on for several stores before Gabe decided on a present for Raven. They had entered the pet store and Raven and Lucy were immediately drawn to the cats. They had cooed and gushed over the felines before Raven sighed and made a comment to Gabe, "I want a cat so bad, but buying a cat would require buying a bunch of other stuff that I just don't have the money for." She sighed again, gave one last longing look to a particular tortoiseshell kitten, then motioned for Lucy and Gabe to follow after her toward the next store.

"You guys go on ahead of me," Gabe gestured toward the next store, "I have a couple things I want to check out on my own." Raven stared at him for a moment before shrugging and guiding Lucy into the next store. Gabe watched them go for a second, then darted back into the pet shop.

"How much for the tortoiseshell kitten as well as whatever else you recommend to buy for a cat?"

-----

Gabe carefully covered the travel bag full of boxes with a thick blanket as he walked up to Raven and Lucy. Raven turned around at the approaching footsteps, "There you are! Where have you been for the past hour?"

"Getting a couple things that caught my eye," He gestured to the huge bag gently cradled under one arm. Raven huffed and glanced away.

"Well, I hope you got everything you wanted, because it looks like it's going to snow soon, so we should probably head back before we get caught out in the snow."

  oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo    

A/N: Hello and welcome back everyone! I have absolutely no excuse for long it's been since I updated. I'm really sorry though! I'll try to update more often! Promise!

Okay, so, it's midnight right now, and I really need to sleep, so no super long A/N. G'night! Vote, comment, and subscribe for more updates!