Petting Zoo

The glistening allure of the Reos World Fair hadnt gone past the group of three friends after all it had been hard to ignore with Maple pleading her two friends to go with her.

As such in an effort to stop Maple relentless pleading but moreso as the others interest was also piqued, Maple, Katholes and Varos had found themselves at the entrance of the fair, excited to experience what it had to offer.

"I really wonder what sorts of things we'll find here, I haven't been to a fair before, but the posters advertising the event made it sound like so much fun!" said Maple, a curious, excited glimmer in her eyes as she scanned what she could see as the three were still at the entrance to the fair, of the stalls. Varos sniffed the air, catching a whiff of roasted nuts, baked apples and popcorn. "The fair smells divine- I cant wait to see the food stalls." said the small chaser, the with the culinary arts being his special interest he felt excited to see how certain things were prepared here. Secretly he was hoping to find some exotic food stalls and perhaps discover a dish through said stall, that he wasnt familiar with but would fall in love with. Katholes ears flicked back in discomfort, yet he wanted to give it a try for his friends seeing how excited the two were, large gatherings of people always made them nervous as the shadows of their past were still surely hunting them. It would be hard to keep an eye on all of the strangers seeing as- no. Katholes shook their head, wanting to cast their worries aside to just enjoy the time the three would be spending together as is.

"Alright lets go. Make sure to not wander off. Id hate to lose either of you in this crowd." said Katholes, glancing between their two friends to make sure the message was clear, getting a confirmative nod back from the chaser and tyrian.

The glittering tents and soft glowing faerie lights gently cast light down onto the stalls, as the party walked further into the fair grounds, the fair was bustling with laughter and joy filling the surroundings. Maple was the one to lead the group, her bigger frame allowing her to serve as a sort of tide breaker to make a path for her friends through the crowds there was a bounce in her step clearly mirroring her vocal excitement, as she would loudly and excitedly point out any and all stall the trio walked past. There was one sign in particular that once it caught the brown Tyrians attention, made her stop in her tracks, a clawed hand pointed ecstatically and frantically at the sign which read "petting zoo this way" with an arrow pointing away from the main road of the fair and down a calmer spot on the busy fair grounds. Looking ahead Maple could just make out a wooden fence in the distance, clearly one of the pens for the animals in the petting zoo.

"We have to go!" she said with beaming happiness in her voice and from her serene expression and intensity of her reaction to the sign Varos and Katholes knew itd break Maples heart if they wouldnt check out the petting zoo right this moment. Katholes sighed, but nodded, happy that Maple had followed his wish to let them know if she want to head down to the petting zoo, even if he himself wasnt sure if a petting zoo was really down his alley.

Varos mirrored his tyrian friends excitement, waiting only for Katholes and Maple to start following him before he ran ahead getting way too excited at the sight of the first goat that was running around a designated pen that other reoseans and fair goers were standing in and around of. The closer the three got the more noticable the soft bleats, clucking and other animal sounds became.
Maple, rushing after Varos as if the two of them were competing for who would be at the petting zoo first, noticed a smaller pen next to the one for the larger animals in which she spotted some bunnies, nose twitching and jumping about. They looked so soft!! But she had to restrain herself, she knew how tall she herself was so she made a conscious effort to slow down, look as nonthreatening as possible and move slowly. Lowering her clawed hand into the bunny enclosure she watched on with eyes full of excitement as the grey bunny she had reached out to pet, stood still to allow the tyrian to gently pet its head.
"Awww. aren't you a cute one." coo'ed Maple, glancing over to Varos who had walked into the enclosure with the goats inside and whilst he was petting one, another one wanted his attention and started to nibble on the chasers tail, causing him to startle and turn around as if to tell the goat to stop that.

Katholes watched from outside the petting zoo, a smile gently stretching across their face as they observed their friends. This was when they noticed that a horse was being led around by a human holding the bridle secured to the horse through the crowd. As the horse got closer it approached Katholes on their own, the warm breath of the horse tickling Katholes as it pressed its snout into his shoulder. The puller chuckled, and then gave the horse a wellmeaning pat to say that he was appreciating it, but that this whole cuddle thing wasnt for him. Soon without more pets to encourage the horse to keep engaging with him, it left to continue on with its handler to other fair goers.

Katholes would watch his friends interacting with the animals, until Maple and Varos would have gotten their fill and wanted to continue exploring the reos world fair. For now he was content and happy, emotions he rarely felt this intensely nor in tandem, a sigh escaped Katholes as he felt some of the tension he had kept for a long time finally leave his body.