Randy snapped his teeth at her, too, and lifted her up to his shoulders to be carried, whether she liked it or not.

Katie giggled and hung on to him, looking down at Nine and his girlfriend.

"Dad, this is Amanda," said Nine, introducing them to a thin girl with dark brown hair and thick make-up. She raised one limp-wristed hand in disinterested greeting.

Randy gave her hand a single firm shake, not feeling particularly keen on bending to lick it. She wasn't much to look at and she didn't seem all that friendly--which was about what one might have expected of someone dating Nine. "Pleased to meet you," he said nonetheless.

"Hi," she said despondently, she made no move to ask anyone their names so Nine introduced everyone.

"So how did the two of you meet?" asked Randy, attempting a smile.

"I was at the beach with my girlfriends and he happened to be there," said Amanda as she applied clear gloss to her thin lips.

"Very interesting," murmured Randy, hardly able to pretend that it really was. "We were just on our way to go and find a place to eat. Would the two of you like to join us?" He expected them to decline and continue on their way.

"Sure, I haven't eaten since this morning, it's ok for me to have food now," said Amanda as she texted away at her glittery pink phone.

Randy's ears flattened for an instant. "Wonderful! Why don't we try that stand over there? It looks very promising," he said, heading for a stand at which some Schickelgrubers were selling alligators on a stick...

Amanda curled her lip and wrinkled her nose, "Ugh, no, that's, like, gross," she muttered.

"They have other things to offer," came the dismissive reply from Randy, who was not about to pass up alligators on a stick for anyone--especially Amanda.

"No, everything here is all fatty, I can't eat it," Amanda moved to the stand across from the one selling alligators and got a small, slightly droopy salad in a container, the salad had been sitting for some hours and in spite of being a supposedly "healthy" choice it was covered in shredded cheese, ham and dressing and she picked out and discarded the cucumbers, tomatoes and onions.

Randy considered mentioning the nutritional content of what she was eating, particularly with the removal of most of the vegetables, but opted to ignore her instead. He took his alligator to a nearby bench to munch away at it, paying no mind to Amanda's complaints or her ridiculous idea of health food.

Greta had opted to get herself a basket of coconut shrimp and french fries with a slice of pie for dessert and Katie had picked the same. Amanda raised her eyebrows, "Wow, I guess ya'll are just some of those lucky people that don't worry about their health," she said in a syrupy sweet tone as she nibbled her cheese and dressing covered lettuce.

Randy gave her a look, then shrugged and bit the alligator in half, taking some of the stick with it and spitting that out at the last minute. It landed in Amanda's general direction, though there was no evidence that it had been deliberate...

Amanda let out a little shriek and made Nine pick it up and throw it away.

Randy raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing. Instead, he turned his attention back to Katie and Greta, who were far more interesting.

Katie offered him one of her coconut shrimp, "Their good!" she said. She offered Amanda one out of politeness. Amanda gave her a pained smile, "Eh-heheheh, aren't you cute, hon, I don't eat coconut...or shrimp...or anything fried,"

"More for us," Randy said simply, taking a few of the shrimp in exchange for part of the alligator.

Katie tried a bite of the alligator but found it a little to tough for her liking so she gave the parts to Greta who enjoyed them. Amanda rolled her eyes and moved to sit on Nine's lap, kissing him in a way that could almost have been described as passionate had she not retained her flat, disinterested expression as she plastered him with noisy, sloppy kisses. Katie looked over at Randy and grimaced, passing him the rest of her shrimp, her appetite long gone.

Randy frowned at the display but gladly took the shrimp anyway...

Nine and Amanda squeezed and groped each other while trying to get as much of each other's faces in their mouths as possible and even Greta ended up giving Randy her food, unable to continue eating.

Randy finished off the shrimp as he watched them. Once the food was gone, he leaned closer to Nine and Amanda. "You may wish to keep some napkins on hand."

Nine pulled his face away from Amanda's to give his father a glare, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you are very sloppy likely to make a mess," said Randy, his expression leaving little room for further questioning.

Amanda's eyes widened and her nostrils flared, but she tried to keep her expression "friendly", "What are you implying?" she asked in her syrupy sweet voice.

Randy cocked an eyebrow at her and dropped a napkin between them. "Mind your manners," he said curtly before returning to the other side of the table.

"Um, I'm sorry, I didn't know I was doing something to offend you," said Amanda with a roll of her eyes, "But whatever, I guess I just won't do anything while I'm around you, so that way you don't have to worry about my manners,"

Randy gave her a faked smile of his own. "Thank you; I am sure that will do nicely," he said in his most pleasant tone.

Amanda's eyes widened and her eyebrows shot up to her hairline, she looked at Nine expectantly. Nine cleared his throat, "You know dad, if you don't like my girlfriend you should just come out and say it,"

Randy pouted at him. "Why does she get to be facetious if I don't?" he asked playfully.

Amanda let out a gasp, she didn't know what facetious meant but she could tell by his tone that it wasn't a compliment, her eyes began to fill with tears that she delicately wiped away, half turning from everyone so that it looked as though she were bravely hiding her tears while she carefully made sure that they were clearly visible.

Randy frowned, realizing exactly what she was doing. "It is a good thing I brought a napkin, isn't it?"

Nine went to comfort Amanda who broke into sobs, "W..why is he s-s-so mean to me? Wh-why doesn't he l-like me?"

from next to Randy Katie started mocking her, putting her hands up to her eyes and sticking out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout.

Randy snorted back a laugh. "Because you are rude and unpersonable," he replied, though Amanda hadn't asked him directly.

Tears miraculously gone Amanda screamed and stormed off, telling Nine that she'd be with her friends and he could stay with his stupid family. Nine rounded on his father, "How dare you insult her! I love her!"

"You do not," said Randy with an exasperated shake of his head. "You are simply attached to her because she is one of very few to have given you that sort of attention recently."

"Oh yeah? Well I could do a lot worse, at least I ain't banging fatties!" he jerked his head towards Greta. Greta lowered her face, cheeks burning, furiously blinking back tears.

Randy's ears folded back and his brow furrowed as a low rumble of a growl rose from his chest. "Watch what you say, boy!" he snapped in his native language.

Nine cowered but made no move to amend his statement, glaring as defiantly as he could at his father while cringing.