by Victoria Sheridan 8th October 2020, 11:33 pm
-Ten minutes later, in the food court-
Victoria had hurried to finish her pizza because Florence had been patiently waiting on her for the past thirty or so minutes. Once she had finished she threw the greasy plate and napkin away but kept her cup so that she could get a refill of Cherry Charge before they proceeded on their merry way. Once Victoria had accomplished that task she rejoined her mentor and together the freshly caffeine-fueled mages made their way to the second floor stairwell so that they could go to The Music Vault and look for the latest Steel Matron album. Hopefully they were not too late to buy a copy.
-Inside The Music Vault, five minutes later-
Having finished their drinks and disposed of their drink cups, Florence and Victoria now stood inside The Music Vault and looked for the metal music section of the store. The store was fairly busy and the employees were helping customers by making recommendations and ringing up purchases, but the blonde was such a frequent customer that she knew her way around the store and guided Victoria to the proper section. There she peered into a locked glass display case with several music lacrimas, all of which contained Steel Matron albums.
"Here we are, Vic. The display case devoted to Steel Matron. Now to find their newest album." Florence said to Victoria. The brunette blinked.
"Um, what is the name of Steel Matron's newest album anyway?" Victoria asked Florence. Florence looked up from the case and blinked.
"Ummm... actually, I don't know what its name is." Florence answered with an embarrassed tone on her voice. The blonde then began to look around the store for a hint such as a poster advertising the album or someone mentioning the album by name. Victoria also kept an eye out for what her mentor was looking for. Moments later a dark-haired store employee in a white dress shirt, burgundy vest, and black dress pants with black dress shoes approached Florence and spoke to her. He looked to be around Victoria's age, if not slightly older.
"How can I help you, Miss Manderley?" The dark-haired male employee asked her. Victoria was amused that Florence patronized the store so often that some of the staff knew her name. Florence turned to face him and smiled.
"I'm looking for Steel Matron's newest album. Would you happen to know what its name is?" Florence asked him.
"It's called Steel The Spotlight. It's also the name of their new hit single from the album." The young man answered. The blonde was pleased to have the answer to her question.
"Great! Where can I buy a copy?" Florence asked him. He turned towards the counter.
"Follow me, Miss Manderley." He said. Florence followed the employee and Victoria followed close behind her mentor. Finding the album was not too hard thanks to the knowledgeable staff of The Music Vault. Now all they had to do was purchase it and Florence's objective for the visit would be met.
-Ten minutes later, outside The Music Vault-
Clutching the plastic shopping bag containing Steel Matron's latest album, Florence and Victoria stopped a short distance from the entrance to the store and looked at each other.
Now that they had found the album, what were they going to do now?
"I've got the album I wanted, but I don't want to go home just yet." Florence said to Victoria.
"Yeah, me neither, but it took us two hours to get here, so we don't want to get caught in Capital Crocus around nightfall." Victoria replied with knowledge gained from harsh experience. The streets of Capital Crocus got unpleasant after nightfall. Since both of them were fairly attractive women, they would be subject to a lot of unpleasant attention or worse.
"I know what you mean. I honestly can't think of anything else I want to do here. I'm halfway tempted to call it a day and head back home." Florence admitted to the brunette. Victoria could not think of anything meaningful to do here. She already had figurines of some of Earthland's most prominent mages, so she did not need to return to Resin Monuments for any particular reason. She also did not want to hang around and encounter a third panty wizard terrorizing the mall.
"Yeah, I don't have anything I want to do here either. I'm ready to go if you are." Victoria said to the blonde. Florence looked at the brunette and pondered her decision for a few moments before ultimately deciding.
"Let's just go, Vic. I've done everything I need to do. It seems like a waste for us to come all the way out here for a couple of hours, but I've got what I want and I'd rather go home while there's still daylight." Florence made her decision. Victoria could agree with that decision.
"OK, let's go back to Sakuramori." Victoria voiced her agreement. Together the pair made their way towards the stairwell that would lead them back to the food court and the mall entrance. They had at least a two-hour trip ahead of them and they needed to get going while there was still plenty of daylight.
-Back in Sakuramori, two hours and forty minutes later-
After a lengthy trip of over two hours the pair had made it to Sakuramori without incident. The roads were free of bandits and there was no traffic worth mentioning. As they approached the neighborhood where Florence's house was the blonde spoke to Victoria.
"Thanks for going with me, Victoria. I know the trip was kinda short and that most of it was spent in the food court, but I had fun." Florence said to Victoria. Victoria looked towards Florence and made eye contact before speaking.
"I had fun too, Florence." Victoria said simply. She felt kind of bad for insisting on pizza and causing a delay in their plans, but Florence did not seem upset about it, so the brunette would let that matter drop now. Instead she would focus on the results of their shopping trip, which was the acquisition of Steel Matron's new album Steel The Spotlight.
"Do you think Steel Matron's new album is any good?" Victoria casually asked Florence.
"There's only one way to find out." Florence said with a smile as the pair reached the front doorstep of the blonde's house.
[Post Word Count: 1,066]
[Total Word Count: 2,098/5,000]