Dreadful Mall Shenanigans (Valery and Lucia!)

Dressed in her usual casual outfit of gray long-sleeved shirt, long white pleated skirt, and brown boots with black shoulder bag slung on her right shoulder, Lucia was on the way to the mall to deal with a threat of an unusual sort. In fact the threat was so unusual that this was the first time Lucia had ever heard of such a thing.

Lucia was going to the mall to deal with a "panty bandit."

The Luminous Rose mage read the job notice once and thought that it was someone's bad idea of a joke. She read it a second time and still could not believe what had been written on the notice. It took a slow and careful third reading for the reality of what the job entailed to finally sink in, but Lucia decided to take the job anyway. Even though the "panty bandit" was not a world-shaking threat, they still needed to be taken care of so that female shoppers could shop in peace without some weird person trying to steal their undergarments.

Today Lucia would not be alone in her quest to vanquish the panty bandit and bring them to justice. Today she would be working with a Fairy Tail mage named Valery Phacelia. Lucia had heard of the famous guild that made its home in Magnolia Town, but she had never interacted with any of its members before today. Speaking of mages, Lucia approached the mall and felt a magic signature that corresponded with that of a mage who was no longer a novice and who was on the way to attaining higher levels of magical power.

Upon feeling the magic signature Lucia looked around the area and spotted a man who presented a striking image. He wore a five-piece suit where the primary color appeared to be purple and the secondary color was black. His hair was as distinctive as his clothing... exactly half of it was white and the other half was black. Finally, his facial expression was one of barely concealed disdain for someone or something. In between the color-coordinated clothing, unusual hair coloring, and disdainful facial expression, the fellow certainly stood out in a crowd.

Believing that his magic signature meant that she had found her partner for this job, Lucia approached the man and introduced herself.

"Hi there. I'm Lucia Winchester, a member of the guild Luminous Rose." Lucia introduced herself to the well-dressed man with a good eye for color coordination. She hoped that she had found the right person. Otherwise things could get a bit embarrassing for the blonde.

[Post Word Count: 432]
[Lucia's Word Count: 432/5,000]

@Valéry

Lucia's hunch had proven to be right and the well-dressed fellow was her partner for this job. He was not only a well-dressed fellow but a polite one too. He introduced himself as Valery Phacelia, a member of the guild named Fairy Tail. Lucia had heard that name somewhere before, but exactly where she had heard it before eluded her. Lucia listened to her partner talk and heard him confess to her that he did not have a very good command of Fiorian.

When Valery reached for her hand Lucia let him take it and watched him kiss the back of it. No man had ever done something like that before and she was not sure how to react to that, so her first instinct was to blush and blush she did. She hoped that Valery would not be offended by her blushing because he was such a well-mannered man who had gone out of his way to make an unforgettable introduction. The blonde quickly recovered from the blushing episode and focused on her partner, who had inquired if she was here for something with the last part spoken in a language that she could not understand.

"Forgive me for not understanding the last part of what you just asked me, Valery. Judging from the context, I think you're asking me if I'm here to put a stop to the panty bandit." Lucia said to him, again hoping that he would not be offended by her failure to understand the last segment.

"My answer is yes. I'm here to put a stop to the... panty bandit." Lucia said, obviously struggling to wrap her mind around what she had just said. She was not sure why someone would devote their time to such a pursuit, but it did not matter. Together she and Valery would stop them and bring them to justice. However, they could not work together if they were not actually together.

Lucia walked to catch up with her well-dressed companion and soon caught up with him as he walked towards the mall. She glanced at his face and saw that he had an intense disdain for something, but she was not sure what it was directed towards. Perhaps Valery was displeased by the panty bandit's activities and wanted to put a stop to such an individual. Perhaps he was displeased with something else. Whatever the cause of his ire, it caused him to suddenly pull out and don a pair of black gloves.

That gesture must have been an indication that he meant business.

[Post Word Count: 426]
[Lucia's Word Count: 858/5,000]
[Total Thread Word Count: 1,614/10,000]

@Valéry

"I'm fine with the phrase, Valery. It's just the concept of a panty bandit that I'm having trouble fully understanding." Lucia replied to her well-dressed and well-mannered companion's question. The blonde understood the basic idea behind the phrase, but it was the idea of someone who spent time and effort stealing women's underwear that she was not entirely comprehending. Lucia decided to let that particular matter drop for the time being and focus on what else Valery was saying.

Her attention was drawn to the decor of the mall, which she noticed was a lot more vibrant that usual. Lucia looked around a little more and was about to give her opinion as to why the place was decorated in such an eye-catching manner when she heard Valery muse aloud about a possible location that their quarry might be found in the vicinity of. Lucia caught the name "Olga's Boutique" and began to think about it to try and see if she had ever heard of that store.

After a little thinking she came to the conclusion that she had never heard of a store by that name before today. That gave her reason to believe that either it was a new store or it was a store she had never noticed on her previous trips to the mall. Either possibility was likely. Lucia turned her head towards Valery before speaking to him. When she faced him she noticed that he did not look very happy about something... she was not sure what could have caused him to feel such intense and visible displeasure, but that was a secondary concern to her.

Lucia's primary concern was luring out and capturing that panty bandit alive and unharmed. To do that she would need Valery's help to look for the panty bandit. However, just walking around and hoping to run into the person in question was not a very effective option, so Valery and Lucia would need to come up with a better plan than that.

"How exactly do you want to go about finding and capturing the panty bandit, Valery?" Lucia asked him. Her idea was to have her companion observe from a distance as Lucia walked around the area of Olga's Boutique for anyone who was showing just a bit too much interest in her, but the primary problem with that plan was that she did not have a way of communicating with Valery and she was not sure if he could communicate with her once the two mages had separated to look for their quarry. Maybe Valery could come up with a better plan that they could use.

[Post Word Count: 440]
[Lucia's Word Count: 1,298/5,000]
[Total Word Count: 2,470/10,000]

@Valéry

Lucia listened to Valery's suggestion and was initially uncertain as to whether she was that committed to being the bait for the panty bandit, but then she saw the logic in his suggestion. If the blonde mage wore something a little less modest she might be able to draw their quarry out into the open. Upon giving the logic a little further thought the blonde's hesitation was replaced by a willingness to find and buy a shorter skirt in order to put their plan into motion.

"Certainly, Valery. If it'll help I'm willing to do that." Lucia voiced her agreement with his suggestion. She needed to start gathering parts for a new outfit anyway and now was as good a time as any. However, the short skirt she was going to buy was not going to be everyday wear for Lucia. It was going to be bought for this job and once the job was over it would be relegated to her closet as a "special occasion" garment that would be worn as infrequently as possible. It would occupy the deepest, darkest recesses of Lucia's closet and stay there, hopefully for a very long time.

After taking a few moments to think over her partner's suggestion, Lucia faced Valery and made eye contact with him. She had a question to ask him.

"Do you think there's any other clothing I need to buy in order to look more appealing?" Lucia asked her companion. The blonde was not sure how far she needed to go, but she wanted to make herself a tempting target to the pair's intended quarry so that she stood a good chance of luring the bandit out of hiding and luring them far enough away from any shelter they could hide in. She would wait for her partner's counsel before taking the next step and dressing down any further.

Lucia listened to Valery comment on the "music" and was moved to comment on it herself.

"I'm not sure what this music is, Valery. It's definitely not something I like... I can tell you that much." Lucia commented on the noise that might or might not be considered music flooding the area they were currently passing through. The blonde found herself wishing for something less grating like upbeat pop music, even if said pop music used a synthesizer as the main instrument.

"Not that I'm aware of, Valery. I don't visit this particular mall very often, so I don't know how the mood here tends to be." Lucia answered the question the Fairy Tail mage had asked her the best she could. She wished that she could have given him a better answer, but she did not visit here very often. In fact this was the first time in several weeks that she had paid a visit to the mall.

[Post Word Count: 472]
[Lucia's Word Count: 1,770/4,000]
[Total Word Count: 3,285/10,000]

@Valéry

Lucia listened to Valery's suggestion and knew that she would have to increase her commitment to being the lure if the duo wanted this plan to work. Feeling herself being maneuvered somewhere by the well-dressed fellow, Lucia went along with it because she was not sure where exactly she was going and would defer to him. He he a much better eye for fashion than she did, after all. His outfit was much more colorful and coordinated than her own, which was a plain one she had worn many, many times to the point people likely thought that it was the only outfit she had.

The blonde mage blushed when she was pulled closer to Valery. She was uncertain if there was any romantic intent behind the gesture, but she blushed nevertheless because he was the first man from outside of her family to embrace her in a long time. His words confirmed that there was no romantic intent, only practical intent. That intent was to assess her measurements so that she got an outfit that fit and looked natural, not one that had been cobbled together in a flagrant attempt to appeal to someone who stole women's underwear.

"I'm not offended at all, Valery." Lucia insisted that the unorthodox way to gain her measurements was not a problem to her. If she wanted to be effective bait she had to set aside her personal discomfort and go all in on the clothing. Besides, Valery was a charming man.

Lucia decided to focus on the skirt first since it would be the foundation of the outfit. She thought a bit about what color she wanted and what color would go with other colors. Her first color choice was black. It was a definite contrast to white and it would go with many other colors.

The blonde mage sought out a black skirt and soon found one, one that was short but just long enough to cover her backside. Perhaps this would do, but first she would ask Valery what he thought of it. He had a keener eye for fashion than she did, so seeking his counsel was a prudent idea.

"What do you think of this one?" Lucia asked her companion while holding the skirt up on its hanger so that he could see it.

[Post Word Count: 386]
[Lucia's Word Count: 2,186/4,000]
[Total Word Count: 3,999/10,000]

@Valéry

Lucia paid attention to Valery's actions and saw him procure a skirt that was superior to the one she had picked out because its size was more of a fit than the size of the skirt she had picked out. She did not object to the better skirt because one that fit her would help her be more effective bait for their quarry.

Lucia received her next instructions, which were to find and select a shirt that complemented the skirt, ideally a shirt with a low collar. Finding a shirt that fit that description was easy, but finding the right color would be difficult. Lucia's first choice was light blue because her color preference leaned towards shades and hues of blue, but today was not the time to put her preferences over the job. She would look for a color that would complement a black skirt.

The blonde mage began to look for shirts with a low collar and found two possible options in her size. One of them was a white sleeveless shirt and the other was a light blue sleeveless shirt, but the second one was one that could be buttoned and unbuttoned. She was leaning towards the latter and not just because of the color... she could unbutton it a little without showing too much of her chest if the low collar was not enough. However, Lucia would need to be careful not to try too hard to look appealing lest she spook the target into deducing what was going on and making a swift exit.

Lucia carried her two selections over to Valery, who was obviously not happy about something in the store. What that something was was not readily apparent to the blonde, who was focused on putting together a good outfit. She would gently call his attention to her.

"Valery, I found two shirts that might work. Do you think they'd work or do they need to go back where they came from?" Lucia asked her partner while holding up the garments: the white shirt was in her left hand and the light blue shirt was in her right hand. She looked at what she had picked out, then lowered them just a little to make it easier to make eye contact with the well-dressed man. The possibility that she might need to increase her commitment a little more crossed her mind and she was going to ask about it.

"If those two shirts won't do, would you suggest I make a big change and go with something a little less conservative?" Lucia asked of the fashion guru.

[Post Word Count: 434]
[Lucia's Word Count: 2,620/4,000]
[Total Word Count: 4,736/10,000]

@Valéry

When Valery gave his verdict that the light blue sleeveless button-up shirt would do Lucia did not question it. The Luminous Rose mage also did not question his advice to try on both shirts and took both of them with her to the first dressing room that they could secure while he kindly carried the skirt she was to wear. Once she was inside she heard the news that the locks on the doors had been used so much that they were no longer able to be secured, something which prompted her to hurry up before another crowd of shoppers came into the area looking for dressing rooms. Some shoppers were more considerate than others and Lucia would have to hope that she would have enough time to model everything before someone wanted the dressing room she was currently occupying.

"Thanks for the warning, Valery. I'll try not to take too long." Lucia thanked her partner for passing on the warning and walked into the dressing room to try on the light blue shirt first since he had suggested that one. The dressing room was a bare-bones one with four walls, a mirror on the wall directly in front of her, hooks to hang hangers on, and a door behind her. Lucia shut the door behind her and Valery kindly held it in place while she placed the hangers holding the other shirt and the skirt on hooks before taking off the shirt she was wearing to try the light blue sleeveless button-up shirt.

Lucia quickly put it on and buttoned it up with ease, then moved around in front of the mirror to see herself in it. It fit just fine and it did not hug her tightly anywhere, which meant that her partner had made a great choice. She then took off her long white skirt and tried on the one that would be part of her outfit. It fit fairly well, but it seemed to hug her backside a bit too much.

"I'm ready to show you the first shirt and skirt combo, Valery." Lucia informed the Fairy Tail mage with an eye for fashion. She would need his eye for fashion to pick just the right outfit for the next phase of the plan.

[Post Word Count: 378]
[Lucia's Word Count: 2,998/4,000]
[Total Word Count: 5,114/10,000]

@Valéry