Worth it

Zoo

Stepping off the bus, Lars sifted through his art satchel, making sure he had everything still, and waited for his friend to hop off the bus, "Y'got everything?"

"Yeah," Ronaldo wheezed as he hauled his too-heavy backpack onto his shoulders, "Just making sure I didn't drop anything on the bus..."

"We're going to the zoo, not spelunking," Lars rolled his eyes, "What's even in there anyways?"

"Oh, just four cameras, laptop, a tripod, my tablet, headset, and various paranormal hunting gear."

"Jeez man, bring your whole room why don't ya?," he snorted, "If we have to, we'll rent one of their lockers to put your stuff in. Why'd you bring four cameras anyway?"

"Well, in the case that I want to document animals at different distances, environments, and angles, each camera has a specific strength devoted to one or the other and-"

"Yeesh," Lars interrupted him, "I've got a membership here man, the animals aren't gonna go anywhere if you don't get the perfect picture of 'em. Besides, it's a zoo, not a haunted house or whatever. Just a bunch of animals."

"But I have to for my other blog, my aesthetic blog," Ronaldo whined, and caught up as they walked down the street for the three blocks it took from the bus stop to the zoo, "Thanks for inviting me by the way. I haven't been here since we were little kids."

"No prob," Lars rolled his shoulders, "Decided to get some drawing practice in here, and figured you'd like it here, what with all the animals in the trees and stuff."

"I do quite like animals in trees," Ronaldo nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets as they reached the entrance gate, and Lars paid for their tickets with his membership, and both went through the turnstile.

"So where are we going first?"

Lars glanced around, "Well, I'm going to the tigers, I've been itching to draw some. You can go find what you wanna see though."

"Aw, you're not gonna see the rest of the zoo first?"

"I come here every three weeks, not much exploration for me," Lars shrugged, "I can walk around with you later after I get some drawing done, if you're willing to wait."

"I guess," Ronaldo sighed, and followed Lars as the other knowingly walked to the tigers, maneuvering through the crowds, dodging strollers and tiny kids being led along by their parents. It made Ronaldo feel a little nostalgic, remembering when he and Lars were tiny, they went to the zoo together with their preschool, and they ended up being each other's trip buddy. Apparently, lots of pictures had been taken of them holding hands and stuff, and they had been the most enthusiastic about the whole trip out of all the children, almost refusing to leave.

Once they reached the tiger exhibit, Lars had plopped himself right on the bench in front of the glass overlooking the large environment for the animal, and flipped open his sketchbook and prepared his sharpest pencil, looking poised for when the animal was in sight for drawing, wandering around its exhibit.

Ronaldo had settled beside him, "So how long is this going to take?"

"Dunno. Could be under an hour, could be over. We'll see," Lars mumbled, and perked up as the tiger walked into sight, quickly laying down soft lines to block out the shape. When the tiger paused momentarily, Lars cracked a small grin, talking under his breath, "Aren't you gorgeous?"

"Why, thank you!", Ronaldo smiled smugly, which made his friend sputter, and curse at him under his breath while he still sketched away. After a while, he seemed to zone out, not even seeming to care or notice Ronaldo was there.