Carbeth walked with Kit out of the bakery with two hot sugar buns in their hands. The snow was falling softly as they walked and munched on their treats.

"Thanks for buying me the sugar bun," Kit said, finishing hers. "Its so warm and fluffy, it really hits the spot on a cold day."

"Mine's hooooot" he said, his face red and his tongue hanging out. He smiled a goofy smily at her when she giggled. He opened his mouth to take in some fresh falling snow to cool off his mouth once he finished his bun. Kit giggled again.

"You're funny when you're not trying to flirt with me," she said, hooking arms with him. She was starting to get cold.

Carbeth took this oppurtunity to once again try putting his moves on her. "Who said I wasn't flirty when I got you a hot bun?" he said, poking her nose. "It makes your nose red, and it looks adorable to me!" He looked over at a single red flower growing out from the sidewalk. "Hey look at this," he said, picking it up. He twisted the stem into a circle and formed it into a ring. He took Kit's hand and slipped it onto her right thumb. "I got you a pretty ruby!"

She smiled, blushing. "Okay, you're kind of cute when you're flirting too..." she took hold on his hand to continue their walk together.

They rounded a corner where they ran into a group of petitioners.

"DIFFERENT RACE MARRIAGE IS WRONG! WE WERE PUT HERE TO LOVE OUR OWN KIND!" a man yelled into a megaphone. Signs were held that opposed the marriages of different species including Wolves, Mermaids, Fairies, Kitsunes, Cats, Elves, and Pixies. "SAME-RACE MARRIAGE IS THE ONLY MARRIAGE THAT GIVES PEOPLE HAPPINESS!"

"I'm an elf mother of four!" a elf woman shouted into a megaphone. "I want to continue my pureblood line without the tainting of kitsune or wolven blood in my descendants!" she shouted. The crowd cheered with her. Across the street, another woman got on top of a newspaper stand.

"And I'm a kitsune mother of five adopted children!" she shouted. "Science tells me I can't have children with my fairy husband, but science can't explain my love for him!"

"YEAH!" everyone across the street shouted. They were all couples involved in different-species relationships.

A riot soon broke out amongst those against separate-race marriage and those who were for it. Carbeth looked over at Kit who was looking down at her feet. She pulled herself away from him and walked ahead of him. "Come on," she said. "It's getting dark..."

He frowned, following her closely.
______________________________________

That night, Li was reading the paper when Kit came in and climbed up on his lap. "Hey Li, can I ask you something?" she asked.

"What is it?" he said.

"...Is it okay for two different races to like each other? And get married?" she asked.

"Of course it's not okay," Li said, without a thought. "If you can't have children together, then it's not a real relationship."

"But...some different species can have kids....so it's still not okay?."

"And you see how screwed up they turned out to be? The gypsies were a menace to most people, now extinct, and all the other half breeds are looked down upon. You shouldn't be thinking about these things at your age," he ruffled her hair.

"...Oh...but...that's not their fault!"

"It's how the world works," he picked her up and set her down. He kissed her forehead. "Night, Kit," he walked away.

Kit sniffed, looking down at the flower ring Carbeth made for her outside the bakery. She slipped it off and tossed it away. "Okay, Li...."