Some Things Just Can't Be Understood

"Lead the way~" Pheobie grinned.

Maple walked over to where the simians were, glad that Pheobie seemed to be enjoying herself already. There were several varieties of monkey one after the other: baboons, orangutans, chimpanzees, squirrel monkeys. They seemed to enjoy the attention of the passerby, hanging upside down from the artificial branches and occasionally winning food they weren't supposed to get. They were a noisy bunch.

Pheobie let go of Maple's arm to lean close to the fences separating the humans from the monkeys. She watched them in awe.

A passing teenager stopped by her with a smirk, his eyes on her short skirt. "Hey babe, what's your name?" He chuckled.

Maple was instantly irritated. He knew this kind of kid. Maple, being much taller than the teen in question, walked over to him and used the boy's head as an armrest.

"And who are you, pup?" he asked with a smirk.

"Whoa chill man, I'm just talking to yer daughter" The boy said in defence

"Maple look! Its hanging by its tail!" Pheobie giggled, turning and latching onto his arm again. To her it was almost like the boy didn't exist. "They're so cute~!"

Maple felt a little humiliated. Daughter.

"...Just doing my job, pup," Maple replied, standing up straight and giving the boy a few pats on the head while offering an insincere smile. "Have to analyze all potential suitors, you know." He hoped the boy would be creeped out enough to leave.

Maple watched Pheobie by the monkey cage. He suddenly became aware of the age gap between them. Not that he hadn't known before, just...hadn't fully realized it, he guessed. He noticed a monkey hanging by its tail and then falling clumsily, and Maple felt like that monkey.

On a whim, Pheobie turned and grabbed Maple by the wrist and started pulling him off. "C'mon! Let's go explore and see other animals!" She grinned.

The boy watched them go with a disturbed look on his face. For some reason, he didn't think Maple was her dad anymore.

"Wah!" Maple exclaimed, struggling to keep up without tripping over something. He never realized how fast she could run.

Pheobie came to a sudden stop at the lion enclosure. She looked at the beast in awe before looking back at Maple. A thoughtful expression came to rest on her face and she looke between Maple and the large Golden haired feline. "Maple, what's that big cat called?" She asked

" 'Tis a lion," Maple answered, pointing to the black label nearby. "Usually they live in the sahara areas where it's grassy and hot. They work together in groups called prides to hunt prey, which is odd for a feline if you think about it. Feel a little sorry for this one, being all by itself."

The lion paced back and forth in its enclosure, watching the spectators warily.

"...It would probably eat us if it could get out."

"It looks a little like you" Pheobie giggled. "If your hair was a little more blonde." She watched the lion and more male youths stopped to stare. It probably had been a bad idea to let her off the ship in a skirt that only just covered her ass if she were to bend over. And the bright colors only drew attention to her.

(Maple doesn't actually know how old Pheobie is does he? There's only like a 5 and a half year difference. My parents have a larger age gap than that lol)

(That's true, Maple doesn't know. Should be fine, but still enough to see a difference in age between them.)

Maple fingered his own mane of brown hair while feeling uncomfortable about all the unwanted attention Pheobie was getting. No worry about her not being liked in this world, that was for sure. He was starting to wonder if this was a bad idea.

One of the more idiotic boys started tapping at the glass. The lion swiped at him behind the glass, causing the youth to stumble back in surprise.

"...I think Mr. Lion is feeling cranky now. Let's come back later."

"M'Kay~" Pheobie chirped, allowing Maple to lead her away. "So what's your favorite animal Maple?" she asked.

"I'll tell you my favorite animal baby, Its a fox" Another youth stated with what was supposed to be a sexy growl but they passed him by.

"..." Pheobie glanced over her shoulder before looking back to Maple "What was that all about?"

"Heatstroke I imagine," Maple replied, grimacing for a moment. "Well, my favorite is still the platypus, so that's...this way!" he replied, pulling her along."

Pheobie followed eagerly, excited to see the creature in real life. "This is fun!" She exclaimed.

"Glad you're enjoying it dear," Maple answered with a smile. Too bad I can't say the same

It didn't seem too crowded around the platypus pen, which relieved him. He supposed most people thought the creature was too ugly or weird and preferred to look at pretty lions and leopards. He looked over the edge of the pen, where two of the odd animals were swimming gracefully in the pool.

Pheobie watched them swim with a smile. "Maple? Do you think Platypuses and Lions could be friends? Cause I think I'd be a platypus and you're a lion..." She looked at him hopefully "Do you?"

"Eh? I'd be the platypus, not the lion," Maple answered with a barking laugh. "And you're more of a...cat maybe? Ocelot, let's go with that. It's a small jungle cat. Anyway, platypuses don't have many friends 'cause they're weird, so they'll take any friends they can get."

One of the platypuses climbed out of the pool and lumbered over to get some food lying on the ground.

"But you have lots of friends, and I never had any. You and your friends are a pride, but I'm just a lil' lonely platypus..." Pheobie sighed as she watched the platypuses. "I'm just weird."

"Friends? I have lots of colleagues, not friends. Though I do have more friends than I used to," Maple replied, leaning on the railing as he watched the other platypus crawl out of the pool. "Anyway, we just kinda run into each other randomly over travels. That doesn't really count as a pride."

Pheobie puffed her cheeks out in a pout. "Don't question my logic." She grumbled half-heartedly.

Maple was wondering how to answer that when a small dog ran up to him, a cross between a Corgi and a Pomeranian. It started barking and bouncing around him happily like it had just won a game of hide-and-seek.

Maple blinked. Wasn't that-

"Rolly! Come back here!" called a short boy with white hair, running over. He stopped when he noticed the dimension professor. "Maple? What are you doing here? Did you follow us?"

"I could ask the same of you," Maple answered, before turning back to Pheobie. "This is Dalios, one of the brats I was on the phone with earlier. Dal, this is Pheobie."

Rolly hopped over to Pheobie and sniffed at her curiously.

Pheobie squealed happily and crouched down to pet the dog. "You're so cute!" She declared.

Short attention span:1 Maple:0

(lol)

Rolly became even happier if possible as he soaked up the attention. Maple just smiled and shook his head. He wasn't worried about Dalios, since he was only ten. As far as the white-haired boy was concerned, girls still were icky. His two companions, on the other hand...

"Where are Falcon and Razekar at?" asked Maple, trying to sound casual about it. Falcon liked girls but was girl-shy, so he wasn't too worried about him, but Razekar was not. He was a fine fellow, but he liked the ladies.

"Razekar's been watching the tigers," Dalios answered, trying to look over the railing to see the platypuses better. "Falcon's been staring at the prairie dogs for forever. Did you know they're purple here?"

"No actually. That's interesting though."

Pheobie picked up the dog and cuddled him happily. "You're so much more cuddly than Mr. Kitty!" She exclaimed, continuing to give the dog all of her attention with as much energy as the dog returned her affections.

Did I say short attention span? I ment ADHD.

"Such A cute~ Puppy~"