"Penny, where are you going?" Atlas stopped in the mansion’s great hall, catching his sister running down the stairs in a hurry. "We still have a session today."
Penny flashed him a smile. "I already left the lesson plan tonight in the library."
"Then where are you going?"
"Thursday!" she hoped that answered his question and resumed her quick steps toward the main door.
Atlas followed her figure with his gaze. Her small purple bag bounced on her bag while she was holding two pet carriers. His eyes slowly shifted to the thing on top of her head.
"Just how strong is that frog’s grip on her hair?" he wondered, getting a bit distracted at the sight of Tiana. The frog, after all, was facing his direction instead of facing ahead.
Atlas blinked and got rid of the intrusive thought. "Just what is going on every Thursday?"
At this point, everyone knew that Penny had a fixed schedule every Thursday. Her brothers once offered to come with her, but Penny said they might scare her friend. A friend... another friend Slater called Mushroom.
"Well." Atlas shrugged and headed to the library with the glass of water in his hand.
Penny was in a rush because she was a little late than the time she agreed to meet with Renren. Ever since they started taking walks, they would also sometimes change their meeting time because of Penny’s schedule.
This time, they were meeting in the neighborhood playground.
When Penny reached the playground, she quickly searched the area. There might be a playground in the neighborhood, but it was more than nothing but a decoration. No one played in there. Considering most houses in the neighborhood were big enough to have pools and activity areas, this playground was very unnecessary.
Renren was quietly seated in the swing, eyes cast down, a cub in his arms. He was deep in thought when he heard a familiar and energetic voice.
Slowly, he raised his head and followed the direction of the voice. His eyes quickly shone in relief, watching her bounce in his vantage point.
"Blacky~!" she greeted first, standing in front of Renren.
"You look tired," he pointed out, seeing her pant while putting down the pet carriers. "Did you run here?"
"I was scared that you would be waiting for a long time."
Renren smiled. "I don’t mind."
"But I do. I’m a woman of my word." Penny then stretched her arms to him as if asking for a hug. "Blacky, come come!"
"..." Renren pressed his lips and slid his eyes to the corner. ’Just now, she looked like a little sister asking for a hug.’
Renren’s attention froze when Tiana leaped from Penny’s head to his. "Is that... is that the frog?"
"Still scared?" she asked.
"Not — not so much." He forced a smile before handing over Blacky to her. With carefulness, he squatted down to get Chunchun out. When Chunchun was in his arms, his eyes slid to the other pet carrier.
"Is it safe to take Mouse out?" he wondered, eyes on the gigantic mouse inside the carrier. "Penny, I think Mouse just grew a few inches."
"Hehe. Mouse just gained weight, but a few inches is a little stretch."
Renren glanced at her, and she already sat on a swing. She happily hugged Renny, which she called Blacky. He glanced at Mouse again and felt sorry that they seemed to be neglecting it. Hence, he decided to take out Mouse for once.
There wouldn’t be a problem if he carried Mouse and Chunchun at the same time right?
"Haha!" Penny laughed, watching his pale face twist when he tried to lift Mouse with one arm. "It’s heavy."
Renren gasped at her. "How can you carry it?"
"Because I’m strong," she smirked proudly. "It’s even heavier than Blacky."
"I agree." Despite that, Renren still carried Mouse out of pride. Fortunately, all he had to do was lift it and sit down. After the most hassle three minutes of his life, he settled down and found a comfortable spot for Chunchun on the side of the swing and Mouse on his lap.
"It doesn’t stop eating, does it?" he pointed out, torn between awe and horror. "How can it continue eating when I was clearly moving it around?"
Penny shook her head. "A non-food lover wouldn’t understand," was all she said.
Renren kept his eyes on Mouse before he cast Penny a look. "No wonder Mouse is gaining so much weight..." he trailed off when Penny arched a brow.
He said nothing further.
"Did you just stop whatever you want to say after that?" she asked and he shook his head.
"That’s all I want to say."
"Hehe. Don’t worry. I won’t be hurt. Anyway, my dad bought a big hamster wheel for it."
"We’re all worried that Mouse is not having any exercise at all! Even when I let it free in my room, it stays in one place and eats." Penny sighed, naturally sharing her biggest dilemma at the moment. "My entire family roots for it and even encourages it to take a few steps, but to no avail."
Aside from the upcoming final exam, the entire family also had to think about Mouse. It was concerning.
"Maybe it’s actually a defective sloth? In disguise?" Renren replied, earning a conflicted look from her. "I’m not trying to make you feel better."
"Good, because you if were, you need help." Penny sighed and gazed down at her child on his lap. "I know she’s happy, but I don’t want her to leave me so soon just because she loved munching so much."
Renren smiled, seeing how genuinely worried she was. It was a little silly, he thought, but considering Penny considered her pets her family, it was natural for her to grow worried.
’At least, it will die with a smile,’ was what he wanted to tell, but he knew it was a bad idea to say it aloud. Renren stared at the heavy and huge mouse on his lap, rubbing its fur with his fingertips. At this point, he could hear Penny playing with Blacky, talking to it in a tiny voice.
"Penny," he called, hearing her hum in between her giggle while playing with the cub. "I’m leaving."
This time, Penny froze and slowly faced him. "Huh?"