And a squirrel and a vortex in my cortex

((Early December))

Ever since hearing someone in the park talking about places that gave you fast food and had pits of coloured balls to play in, Minx had been scouting them out. She had gone to a few places that did smell of chicken and ketchup, although she hadn't managed to find out where they stored their chickens. They hadn't given her any burgers either because apparently she was supposed to give them money, and they wouldn't accept her drawing 10$ on a napkin, even though she didn't really see the difference; paper was paper. A couple of places had just been confused because she kept saying she didn't want ketchup. And they apparently did not make burgers out of squirrels.

The one benefit Minx got from all her searching, after some employees told her that the condiments were free, was a nice hoard of ketchup packets, sugar packets, and plastic utensils. And some paper bags. She eventually found the pit of balls she was looking for at a fast food joint called Generic Burgers & Fries. It also had a big slide with interconnected plastic tubes in bright primary colours. This place had everything - food and fun!

Once she found the place, Minx then had to catch some squirrels. She got a large paper bag used for big orders to hold them in, then she went to the park to stash her goodies behind bushes and to find some prey.

Finding the squirrels was a little difficult, as she wanted to save her mink form for the play place and didn't want to be too tired. Also, it was winter, and she was pretty sure the squirrels knew her by scent. She did manage to scrounge up two nice big ones, though, and to keep them in the bag. Minx poured a little ketchup she had saved into the bag with the squirrels. The ketchup wasn't enough to really affect the bag, but she still felt like it was going to rip through before she even got to play with them, so she hurried back to Generic Burgers & Fries.

The front counter people didn't notice her because there was a bit of a rush going on, so she made it into the play place with no questions. There were a couple kids playing in the tubes, but no one else in the ball pit. Some of the kids stared when Minx walked into the center of the ball pit, but she wasn't paying attention. The fae dumped the bag of squirrels into the balls and quickly transformed. The little mink was soon half-buried in the colourful balls and scrabbling wildly after the ketchup-covered squirrels.

@Aero

Minx was so wrapped up in her little adventure that she didn't even notice the policeman enter. After all, he was just another person in a busy restaurant. Staying on top of this pit of balls was also proving to be more difficult than she had expected it to be. She was barely able to hop a few steps before floundering, and the ketchup dripping off the squirrels was making it worse. Soon the poor mink was almost as coated with the red stuff as they were.

Luckily the squirrels were also having a hard time navigating the colourful balls. They were also a little heavier than the mink, so she had a bit of an advantage. She finally managed to balance on a ball close enough to one of the squirrels to pounce on it and bite it, but the attack threw them both off-balance and they were submerged in colourful balls yet again.

Minx heard some man yelling about the police, but at first, she had no idea that he was shouting at her. After all, she was doing nothing wrong. Unlike chickens, she hadn't stolen these squirrels, and squirrels were meant to be eaten. Most humans didn't care if she stayed in the forest and hunted squirrels. Also, no one had objected to her being in this fast food place before.

She also didn't really know what police were. The fae didn't have them, and she had never been caught by them before. Humans had threatened to call them on her many times, especially while she was scouting out these place, so she knew they were scary, but that was about it.

She did decide, after a moment, that she should probably see what going on anyways. It wasn't like the squirrels were going anywhere. So the fae clambered up onto another ball and peered around. When she saw Noah, she guessed he was the police because she was pretty sure she hadn't seen him when she came in, but she couldn't see who he had yelled at. He didn't look that frightening, so she shrugged it off and went back to chasing squirrels.

Minx, having already written off the police officer as not a threat, proceeded to thoroughly ignore him. Since she was basically in hunting mode, it was very easy to ignore the human's loud voice, especially since she still didn't realize it was directed at her. She was getting slightly annoyed at his pit of balls and these squirrels, though. But the fae was not one to give up that easily, especially after all the work bringing them here.

She considered switching out of mink form, but she hadn't been in it that long and she still wanted to crawl through the colourful plastic tubes. Besides, she was covered in ketchup, and it would be easier to go roll in the snow and get clean as a mink than it would be to do so in her humanoid form. She'd also be less likely to get in trouble for stripping naked in public to clean herself. Humans were so picky about that kind of thing. Also even wet the mink's fur was warmer than bare skin.

She paused when she heard the policeman yell that she couldn't animals in here. Why the heck not? That made no sense! The mink squeaked shrilly at the police officer, now miffed at him as well. Who was he to stop her from chasing these squirrels she'd worked so hard to catch? Besides the guy seemed to be rather ineffective standing so far away. Minx went back to her hopping and floundering while keeping one eye on the police human in case he did try getting too close.

For a moment Minx just looked at the increasingly annoyed policeman. Then she laughed at him, which in mink form sounded more like a series of high-pitched squeaks. She had no idea what he was hoping to accomplish by yelling at her. She did notice him inching closer though. He might become trouble soon.

The fae considered. She could make him chase her through the ball pit, but she was already slipping and sliding and he would probably have the advantage there. The most she could do to avoid him would be to crawl under the colourful balls. And he would probably just scoop her up.

Minx sighed, it looked like she wouldn't be able to eat those squirrels after all. Although, they weren't exactly going anywhere, and she didn't think the police officer would be able to catch both her and the frightened, ketchup-covered squirrels. Sizing up the police officer, she considered the plastic tubing that the children had been climbing through. Right now any kids still there were just staring at their altercation.

Suddenly, the semi-feral fae made a run for it, scampering out of the pit of balls, away from the policeman, and up into the actual playplace. Try and catch me now! She thought, victoriously. This was just too much fun!

Minx didn't really have a plan, except maybe outwaiting the police officer until he got bored and left. Maybe he would try to rescue the squirrels since he seemed so concerned about them. She kind of hoped he would just go away though. Those rodents were meant to be her dinner after she finished playing with them.

This playplace was kinda fun though. She almost wished she had snuck the squirrels in here instead. It was a lot easier to manoeuvre through the tubes than the pit of balls. And there were peepholes where she could look out to keep track of the policeman's progress and maybe stick her tongue out at him if she was feeling particularly annoying.

She could also probably climb out of one of those holes and clamber onto the top of the plastic structure, but Minx decided against that for the moment. These tunnels were so much fun, and she was pretty sure the policeman wouldn't be able to fit through or move as quickly as she could if he did.