Dressed in a long-sleeved green t-shirt to hide her scarred and bandaged left arm and a black skirt with white tennis shoes, Victoria walked towards the mall to meet with an old friend of hers and guildmate Gaia Sabin-Dyer. It had been a long time since they had last met and an even longer time since they had last went shopping. When the invitation came Victoria eagerly seized the chance... she was still not in fighting shape and needed just a little more time to recover from the clash with Kalama. Her left leg was not hurting nearly as badly as it had been and she could walk somewhat normally, but she still did not want to run on it. She also did not want to hold anything heavy in her left arm, which was still hurting and still had a few bullet holes in it.

Victoria moved slowly to protect her left leg, which was still hurting badly enough that she had to walk a little differently than a normal person. It was not an obvious limp like the one she had had during her last trip to the mall with her friend Abigail Windstrider and her older sister, but if one looked closely enough one could see that Victoria had something of a limp. She hoped that Gaia would not be put off by that or be slowed down too much by having to accommodate Victoria.

The brunette reached the front of the mall without incident and spotted Gaia sitting on a bench and wearing a cute outfit that prominently featured light colors. The Sabertooth Ace was still as stylish as ever while Victoria still looked as plain as ever. Gaia would probably wonder if Victoria had anything besides green t-shirts and black skirts. No matter whether Victoria was in her short or tall form her sense of fashion was... basic, to say the least.

"Hey Gaia! It's been a long time!" Victoria warmly greeted the Sabertooth Ace. Victoria was in her "tall" form with long brown hair in a ponytail and unmistakably feminine form and she did not remember if Gaia knew that the brunette had a new form. If she did not know Gaia would learn that today.

[Post Word Count: 372]
[Victoria's Word Count: 372]
[Total Word Count: 624]

@Gaia

It seemed that Gaia had not seen Victoria's new form because the blue-haired mage reacted with visible surprise to it.

"Yeah, it's been a long time since we last met, Gaia." Victoria told Gaia and received the hug from the blue-haired mage. She was about to explain that the new form was not entirely natural when she decided against it for the sake of time and keeping the good mood intact. They were here to go shopping, not hear the lengthy story of how Victoria was changed in appearance with transformation magic and then cast out onto the streets for her own protection.

Victoria quickly noticed the gesture Gaia was making and wordlessly followed her Sabertooth guildmate into the mall so that they could begin shopping, doing her best to disguise her limp so that she did not worry Gaia too much. If the question as to how she got the limp came up she would be truthful. Fighting a Dark Mage to protect innocent people was nothing for the brunette to be ashamed of.

Once the Sabertooth mages were inside the mall the brunette listened to the question that had been put to her by Gaia and quickly answered it.

"I'm up for something to eat, Gaia. We can go towards the food court any time you want." Victoria answered and made it clear that the latter was in charge of the pace at which they moved. Since this venture was Gaia's idea it was only fair that she control the pace. Victoria watched the blue-haired mage look towards a kiosk and the former noticed that it dealt in iLac accessories and cases; the cases were more interesting to the brunette than the accessories. Gaia's interest in the items was obviously greater and she was keen on taking a closer look at the wares.

When Gaia looked at her in a way that got her attention Victoria soon put two and two together and wordlessly walked over to stand next to the blue-haired mage, managing to disguise her limp enough to pass as normal. The brunette stopped at Gaia's right and listened to the conversation between the mage and the vendor. Victoria's left leg was doing all right so far... it would be harder to get up stairs without help, but she would cross that bridge when it came.

[Post Word Count: 390]
[Victoria's Word Count: 762]
[Total Word Count: 1,388]

@Gaia

Victoria watched the proceedings between Gaia and the vendor with a good deal of interest. The brunette watched in silence as her guildmate did not comment on a case that was not very visually appealing. Spikes were not Victoria's style and they obviously did not help the ergonomics of an iLac case.

The second one did not appeal to Gaia either. Victoria was with her guildmate on that one. The brunette was not a fan of the wafer-thin look, but then again she had a preference for simple and functional aesthetics. Her iLac case was a basic one in olive green with a white five-point star inside a circle with a white border, a design that resembled a stencil pattern.

The third case was one that looked like it had potential. Victoria watched Gaia test its durability with visible interest and when her turn came to give it a try she took it into her hands and did her best to test how it could endure rough handling. It seemed to withstand her best efforts to bend and twist it, but that was not saying a whole lot since she could not apply her full strength to the case. However, her initial impression of the case was a favorable one.

Once the trial period was up she handed it back to Gaia without complaint and watched it be returned to the vendor. Victoria was disappointed to learn that the only color available here was black, but her disappointment faded when she learned that there were color alternatives available elsewhere, including the Lacrimanet. She would have to check that out herself, but for now she would wait because Gaia wanted something to eat.

Victoria let herself be led to the food court and listened to the blue-haired mage speak to her about food. The brunette wanted food too, so she was willing to go along with companion's wishes.

"I'd like some fries too, Gaia. At least to start with." Victoria told Gaia what she wanted. The brunette felt like she was abusing her friend's generosity by adding the second sentence to her statement, but a side dish alone would not be enough to make her happy. She did not know whether Gaia was going to eat something else with the fries or get only that, but Victoria wanted something more to go with hers. However, she would wait and see how Gaia reacted before saying anything else.

[Post Word Count: 406]
[Victoria's Word Count: 1,168]
[Total Word Count: 2,291]

@Gaia

Victoria listened as her blue-haired guildmate spoke to her and paid attention to the part about her leg. The brunette had not gotten the injury from a dancing mishap. She had gotten it from a lengthy battle with Kalama and her angry horse. Both of them had done their best to kill Victoria, but the brunette survived because of the firepower she could bring to the table and being deceptively tough for someone of her build.

"I'm thankful for the help, Gaia." Victoria dispensed with trying to look like she was not bothered by her injuries and expressed gratitude to her guildmate for the latter's help. The brunette was trying not to let other people know about her weakness because her uncle and older sister were already upset by her injuries. Victoria was more than a little worried that if she made her pain too obvious they would try to force her to give up her career as a Sabertooth mage. It went without saying that she did not want to do that because she liked being a mage and did not want to give up such a lucrative job.

She did not dwell on that subject for long and instead focused on the topic of food. She received her order of fries and was about to begin eating them when Gaia mentioned that she had accidentally forgotten to obtain drinks for them. That was no big deal to the brunette.

"It's all right, Gaia. Stuff happens. You can get the drinks whenever you're ready to get them." Victoria calmly said, eating one of her fries without a care in the world. She was trying to assure her friend that the mistake was nothing to get upset over. She just hoped that it did not sound like she was being passive-aggressive about it.

"What kind of drink do you like?" Victoria asked the blue-haired mage out of curiosity. She did not know very much about Gaia and was trying to learn a little more about the Sabertooth Ace. The brunette figured that asking about drink choice was a safe place to start.

[Word Count: 352]
[Victoria's Word Count: 1,520]
[Total Word Count: 2,929]

@Gaia

Victoria listened to Gaia talk and did not say a word until the conversation shifted to drinks. She heard the blue-haired Sabertooth mage make a joke about the wine at Red Dragon Inn and for once the brunette was mentally alert, so she understood that the remark was obviously meant to be a joke. That spared the brunette from getting egg on her face by saying something dumb like stating that she liked vodka above all other types of alcohol, something Gaia likely knew already. Any of the staff at Red Dragon Inn could tell her that; it was no secret that Victoria's favorite mixed drink was the Screwdriver and that whenever she did not feel like making one herself she just ordered one. On her days off, of course... she did not drink on the job.

Instead Victoria focused on what had been said before that, which was Gaia's offer to talk to the latter about anything that might be bothering her. The brunette gave the offer genuine thought because there was one subject that she wanted to talk about and that was Kalama. Victoria wanted to sound the alarm so that if the murderous blonde and her murderous horse ever put in another appearance around Ace Of Spades the guild would be ready for her. However, the two would need to discuss the matter in private.

Another subject for discussion was whether it was too late for the pair to be friends or not. Victoria felt she had slammed the door on a potential friendship with Itori after that time in the Phoenix Mountains she had criticized the fox lady's approach to the job they were on. The brunette felt like Itori was not inclined to befriend someone who had badmouthed how she did things and was somewhat afraid to approach the latter because so much time had passed that any attempt to start a friendship would likely come across as an action motivated by self-interest. Maybe there was still time to become friends with Gaia... if the blue-haired Ace wanted to.

"There is something I'd like to talk about, but I don't want to do it here. Not in public." Victoria dropped a hint that a conversation might be in the future... if Gaia was interested, of course. Gaia had her own life and her own responsibilities and did not have time to coddle Victoria every time the brunette had a concern. Besides, Victoria did not really talk with her guildmates and tended to work alone or with her longtime friend Abigail Windstrider, so she was not sure if she had enough pull to get the blue-haired Ace to hear her out or not. She would find out later.

"I'd like a Cherry Charge soda, please." Victoria finally told Gaia the beverage she wanted. The brunette had grown fond of soda partially because she liked the taste and partially because drinking a can of soda in public was much more socially acceptable than periodically taking a swig from a bottle of vodka or tequila. Cherry Charge was by far her favorite soda because it had a pleasant cherry taste that was not overpowering.

[Post Word Count: 526]
[Victoria's Word Count: 2,046]
[Total Word Count: 3,901]

@Gaia