right about now zion was cursing their god-awful time management skills. between work, prep for battle of the bands, and working on the album, there was little time to give to other responsibilities, but there was time, in theory. in practice, the ever preoccupied zion had waited until the last second to buy a birthday gift for their niece. now, here he was, rushing into the sun hill mall right after school, unsure what he was looking for, but determined to find it. preparing for judgement they knew would be coming, they sent a text to the family group chat asking what their moms and siblings got, for reference.
while waiting for a response, they wandered around the shopping centre, fidgeting with the grip on his phone absentmindedly. he knew what kind of things his niece liked, was the thing. he knew all the buzzwords to get her to go from a mousey wallflower, to a raging volcano, bursting with encyclopedic knowledge of all of her favorite things. still, it’s not like he could just walk into one of the stores and say “um, sailor moon?” and expect them to produce something before his eyes. well-- he could have, he thought, if he’d just searched online weeks ago and had something shipped out like a sane person. it couldn’t be helped now though. as their phone began buzzing with messages from the group chat, they lifted it up to read at the exact moment they walked directly into someone’s back. “oof,” he huffed, gently placing his hands on the persons shoulders to keep from fully knocking them over, and speaking all in a rush. “hey! yikes, i’m sorry. god, i really gotta stop walking and reading, i know i’m no good at multitasking. are you alright?”
