The warmth of the fries and the triumph of the Sanrio keychains lingered as they left the food court. Iris walked with a new, slightly less hesitant step, her adorned bag swinging by her side. The 0% approval rating in Kaelen's mind felt less like a void and more like a promise.
"Alright," Kaelen said, looking down at her. "Toys 'R' Us. Lead the way."
Iris's eyes lit up, and she actually took the lead, navigating the bustling mall with the unerring instinct of a child homing in on toys. They entered the store, a riot of color and sound that made the McDonald's seem serene. Aisles stretched to the ceiling, packed with every imaginable game, doll, and action figure.
For a while, they just wandered. Kaelen watched, fascinated, as Iris's fingers trailed over boxes containing elaborate robotic pets and building sets that cost more than some people's monthly rent. But the girl didn't ask for any of them. She seemed content to look.
"You can pick anything you like," Kaelen encouraged, gesturing at the overwhelming options. "Really. Anything."
Iris stopped in front of a display of plush toys. Not the expensive, limited edition ones, but a bin of smaller, softer animals. She carefully sifted through them, her expression serious. She pulled out a slightly lopsided, incredibly soft looking stuffed sloth. It had kind, glassy eyes.
"This one," she said softly, holding it to her chest.
"Just the one?" Kaelen asked, surprised. "We can get more."
Iris shook her head, hugging the sloth. "He's lonely. I don't want him to be lonely."
The simple logic undid something in Kaelen's chest. "Okay," she said, her voice a little thick. "The sloth it is." She then pointed to a nearby science kit. "But what about that? For… for not being lonely together."
Iris considered it, then gave a small, shy smile and nodded.
As they moved towards the checkout, Kaelen spotted a display of high end art supplies a kit with real, professional grade watercolors and brushes. Remembering the traditional picture frame in the penthouse, a relic in a digital world, she had a hunch. She added it to their basket.
"Iris, can you look around here for one more minute?" Kaelen asked, gesturing to a nearby aisle of puzzles. "I'm just going to pay for these at the checkout. I'll be right there, I promise."
Iris, clutching her sloth, nodded trustingly and wandered towards the colorful puzzle boxes.
Kaelen made her way to the counter, the weight of the simple, chosen toys feeling more significant than any corporate acquisition. She was just finishing the payment when she heard it. A raised, childish voice, dripping with a cruelty that was learned, not innate.
"...so poor. Why are you here? Toys here don't suit you."
Kaelen's head snapped up. Her heart plummeted.
Iris was backed against a shelf, her face pale, tears welling in her eyes. Two boys, maybe a year or two older than her, dressed in ridiculously expensive miniature designer wear, were circling her like sharks.
One of them snatched the sloth from her hands and threw it on the floor. The other picked up a grotesque zombie doll from a nearby Halloween display and shoved it at her.
"This one suits you!" he sneered. "Because you're hideous!"
Iris burst into quiet, heartbroken sobs, staring at her beloved sloth on the dirty floor.
Something in Kaelen snapped. It wasn't the System's rage. It was her own. A pure, protective fury that burned through the last of her Dominion induced calm.
She crossed the distance in five long strides. "What is going on here?" Her voice was low, but it crackled with an Alpha intensity that made the two boys freeze and turn, their smug faces dissolving into instant terror.
"Where are your parents?" Kaelen's gaze was ice. "I want to talk to them. Now."
The boys pointed with trembling fingers towards a couple browsing luxury Lego sets a few aisles over. As Kaelen fixed her glare on them, the boys scrambled away, fleeing behind their mother's legs.
The parents, a well dressed Alpha and Beta couple, looked up, annoyed at the interruption. The Alpha male puffed out his chest. "Can we help you? Why are you frightening our children?"
"Your children," Kaelen said, her voice dropping to a deadly calm that was far more frightening than a shout, "were bullying my child over there. They called her poor and hideous and threw her toy on the ground."
The woman's eyes flicked to a sobbing Iris, then back to Kaelen, her expression one of arrogant dismissal. "I'm sure it was just children playing. A misunderstanding. You shouldn't make such a scene "
Then her eyes properly focused on Kaelen. She took in the sharp, elegant features, the cutting grey eyes, the unmistakable aura of power that even a recessive Alpha from the Blackwood family could project when truly angered. The blood drained from the woman's face. Her husband's bluster evaporated as recognition dawned.
"You're… you're Kaelen Blackwood," the Beta man stammered.
"Apologize," Kaelen commanded, the word leaving no room for negotiation. She didn't yell. She didn't need to. The name 'Blackwood' did the yelling for her. "You will make your children apologize to her. Now."
Trembling, the parents pushed their sniveling sons forward. "Apologize to the young lady! Now!" the father hissed, his previous arrogance gone, replaced by sheer panic.
The two boys mumbled a terrified, "Sorry."
Kaelen didn't even look at them. Her eyes were locked on the parents. "The next time your children feel the need to assert their superiority by preying on someone smaller," she said, her voice silken with menace, "I suggest you remind them that there is always a larger predator. And my family has a very long memory. Now get out of my sight."
They couldn't scramble away fast enough.
Kaelen immediately knelt, her anger vanishing as she gathered a trembling Iris into her arms. She picked up the sloth, brushing it off. "Hey, it's okay. They're gone. They're just stupid, mean boys. They're nothing." She tucked the sloth back into Iris's arms. "He's okay. See? He's brave. And so are you."
Iris hiccupped, clinging to both Kaelen and the sloth. The raw, unexpected protectiveness had shattered the last of her walls. She buried her face in Kaelen's shoulder.
Kaelen held her, rocking slightly, right there on the floor of the toy store. The 0% in her mind didn't change. But the feeling in the air between them did. It was no longer neutral. It was something new. Something fragile and warm.
After a few minutes, Iris's sobs subsided. Kaelen stood, holding the girl on her hip with one arm and carrying their bags with the other.
"Come on," she said softly. "Let's go home."
The words felt different this time. The penthouse wasn't just her gilded cage anymore. It was where she was taking this child to keep her safe. It was a subtle shift, but for Kaelen Blackwood, it was a revolution.