[Gift] Girls Outing at The Mall

Bzzz-Bzzz!

Mango opened her eyes to the sound of her phone. It was late morning, a weekend, so no school today. Honestly, Mango had no idea what to do, since her Moms were occupied. She grabbed her phone. Let’s see what that text was…

EpicDragon77: OMG have you heard about that new mall opening in Ionford? I just got an ad for it, it looks so cool!

Ch-Ch3rry B0mb!!!: Oh Yeah. I think it has a big opening sale going on too 

FroYoSnow: I don’t have any plans today, if you guys wanted to check it out

EpicDragon77: Heck yeah! Let’s see if Mango and Beryl are up for it

FroYoSnow: I feel like Beryl isn’t gonna wake up till evening…Mango should be awake by now. Let’s wait for her response

Mango’s eyes lit up. The mall sounded like a great idea! Her claws tapped her screen as she responded to the group chat. 

FruitSmoothie96: Oh I am so down! Wanna meet up at the shuttle in half an hour?

EpicDragon77: Sounds good to me girly!!! See ya then <3

FruitSmoothie96: <3

Ch-Ch3rry B0mb!!!: Can you guys save it for the shuttle

FroYoSnow: Awww don’t be a downer. Do you want me to call Beryl?

Ch-Ch3rry B0mb!!!: …

Ok, that was enough. Mango hopped out of bed, grabbing her scarf off her desk. She then headed downstairs. Grabbing a bagel, she saw a note on the counter, along with a small pouch.

We’re at the Mini Soda Stand today, here’s some cash if you wanna get a treat. See you later <3

• Mom Tangerine

Epic.

Mango put the pouch in her bag, then headed out the door. Time to have some fun!

~~~

It didn’t take long for Mango to reach the shuttle station. When she got there, she saw Raya and Frozen Yogurt waiting. Cherry Bomb wasn’t there yet. Raya turned around, and upon seeing her girlfriend ran over to nuzzle her. 

“Smoothie!!! How are ya?”

“Hey Wyrm! I’m good, just getting ready for some big stuff.”

“Awww, you got whatever’s gonna happen! Oh look, here’s Cherry!”

They all turned to see Cherry Bomb running over. She stopped in front of her friends panting, out of breath.

“I’m so sorry I’m late! Got caught up talking to my dad. Has the shuttle come yet?”

Froyo laughed. “You’re good, girl. It should be arriving in a minute. Beryl couldn’t make it?”

“Nope, said he had to watch his sister. I said I’d bring him back a treat.”

Raya and Mango gave each other a knowing look. Just then, the shuttle pulled in.

The 4 cats got in and took their seats. Froyo started up a conversation with Mango.

“So I heard your Moms are preparing a mini soda, are you excited?”

“I am, I guess I’m just a lil nervous. Who knows what my sibling’s gonna be like? What if we don’t get along?” Mango flapped her wings nervously.

Raya held her paw. “Hey, I’m sure you’ll be fine. Siblings are annoying sometimes. But you’re smart, kind and pretty freakin’ awesome. I don’t see any way they won’t like you.”

“Awwww, you’re the best.”

Raya tapped Mango’s cheek with her nose. Cherry Bomb rolled her eyes lightheartedly, which made Froyo nudge her side. 

They made small talk for the rest of the ride, and before they knew it, they were at Cosmos Mall. 

It was huge. And it was full of people. This mall had been built with the large Cirrocanius in mind, so some things were on a larger scale for the sky dogs. Being a Sodacat, Mango found the Cirros especially large, but luckily she knew how to navigate it. 

Stepping inside, the girls were met with sights, sounds, and smells galore. There were stores, food stands, and other attractions everywhere. What to do first?

Cherry Bomb answered that question quickly, trotting over to a pretzel stand. The brown Spacecat running it put down some dough and looked at the teenagers approaching.

“Oh, hello there! What would you like?”

Cherry Bomb spoke first. “I’d like a single cinnamon pretzel please.”

Raya spoke next. “Two cups of pretzel bites please, with a side of cheese dip!”

Finally, Froyo. “I’d just like a frozen lemonade. Thank you.”

The chef wrote down the orders and smiled. “Of course! Gimme a second.”
A few minutes later, the girls were sitting at a table, enjoying their food. It was really good, Mango made a mental note to check for the brand at the supermarket. It didn’t take long for them to finish eating, so they then grabbed a map of the mall to figure out where to go next. 

Mango pulled out the map and spread it on a table. It was a big map. She might’ve grabbed a Cirrocanius size by mistake. Oh well. 

“Sooo, there’s a video game store on the other side of the mall I’d like to check out. Anything else look interesting?”

Raya pointed her paw to a store label. “I heard this store has really cute plushies! Let’s stop there.”

“Can we stop at that bookstore there? I’m looking for more manga to read.” Froyo chimed in. 

Cherry Bomb surveyed the map for a minute, then her eyes lit up. “Oh my gosh, they have a gothic store! We NEED to go there!” 

“Then we have a plan. Onward!” Mango handed the map to her taller girlfriend and pointed her paw forward. Froyo giggled at that.

~~~

The bookstore was the first stop. After a quick observation, the girls found the manga section. 

Froyo clapped her paws together. “They have a whole shelf dedicated to yuri!!! Awesome!” She then began scanning the shelf for her favorites. Raya moved to a different shelf, and grabbed a book titled “The Dragon Dance.”

“What’s that about?” Mango asked. 

Raya smiled. “It’s about a super cool dragon trainer who falls in love with a pro athlete. Kinda a slow burn, but it’s really entertaining. You should try it!” She opened the book to a page of two guys staring at each other, heavily blushing. This was definitely something Raya would be into.

“Hmmm, I’ll look for it at the library. Though I’m guessing you own the whole stack?”

“...Yeah. You can borrow them sometime.”

The duo looked back at Froyo, who was rambling to Cherry about some princess x swordswoman ship. Then they heard a crash behind them.

A large gray spacecat had accidentally knocked over a shelf labeled “Old Man Yaoi”. He looked quite upset and scrambled to pick up all the books that had fallen. Mango walked over and began helping him. He smiled at the Sodacat.

“Thank you, miss. I suppose I should be more careful with the stools.”

“It’s no problem! I can help you get something higher if you want. I don’t think the store would mind if I flew a little bit…”

“Oh, no, don’t worry. I found what I was looking for.” He picked up a book with what seemed like little plant cats on it. “Thank you again. Have a good day.”

With that, he walked off to the checkout line. Mango’s friends came over to her, Froyo with several books in her paws. Looked like she hit the jackpot.

“Is the line long? This whole series is 50% off!”

Cherry sighed. “No, it’s not busy. But you should definitely get a bag for all that…”

A few minutes later the girls exited the bookstore. The gothic store was just across from it, so that was the next destination. The door read “Goth Topic”. Froyo laughed. 

“Goth Topic? What’s the topic? The Devil from Da Bible?”

Cherry Bomb frowned. “It has cute bows too, if that helps.” She then walked inside and headed for the spiked collars. Mango followed her. 

“Why is the black collar so much more expensive than the rest?” Mango asked. 

“You’re really supposed to trade up some of the other colors in order to get the black one. See, 7 of the yellow collars are worth red collars, and 3 reds are worth one black. The goal is to trade for as many blacks as possible.” Cherry sounded pretty confident in her explanation. Mango looked confused.

“What if your favorite color is yellow? Why would you get rid of your yellow collar just to get a color you don’t like as much?”

Cherry looked annoyed. “You clearly don’t understand spike economy. Hey look, there’s some sea creature jewlery over there!”

Mango forgot about the conversation and headed over to the jewelery. There were squids, octopuses, sharks, and assorted other fish charms. She reached for one but was bumped into by a tall red Spacecat, letting out a yelp. Mango looked at the spacecat annoyed.

“Hey, watch where you're going dude!”

The Spacecat didn’t say anything, simply frowning and nodding their head. They then walked into the back of the store. Mango looked back at the jewelry stand.

What a weird dude…Holy shit these are 1000 cloudcoins each?! Hell no. 

She walked away from the stand and met up with her friends. Cherry Bomb was checking out, speaking with the gray Spacecat running the register. She had bangs covering one eye, and a black broken crown halo. Now that was a goth. 

The girls exited the store and walked for a few minutes. Finally, they reached the plushie store. Raya trotted inside, the other three following. 

Looking around, Mango saw plushies of many animals: Wrens, Letturidae, Furrats, even a life-size Giggle Roach! But nothing seemed to catch her eye…

Then Raya grabbed her paw and dragged her to a display.

Red, Green, and Yellow Bear Pepper Plushie Set. Comes with magnetic paws for paw-holding.

Raya smiled. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Mango smiled back. “Yes.”

They grabbed a set and stood in line to checkout. Then, Mango had a realization.

“Wait, there’s three in here! Who will get the third one?” 

Raya laughed.

“I was thinking you could give the third to your new sibling when they’re here! Vatra doesn’t really collect these, and Eventide has plenty of plushies. Whadaya say?”

Mango smiled. “I like that. Which color do you think?”

“Hmmm, maybe the yellow one?”

“Awesome.”

After checkout, the girls walked out. It was getting into evening at this point, but Mango still had one more stop to make: Galactic Games.

The video game store was amazing. Figures, games, consoles, and controllers a plenty. Mango’s friends went to separate sections, and Mango went to the game section, her mind only thinking of one thing.

There it was! She grabbed the game off the shelf and smiled. She’d been waiting for this game to come out, and it was out of stock in most stores: Aerial Blade. 

Mango got into the checkout line, and listened to the couple in front of her discuss some fighting game. Afterwards, the girls exited the store, and found the mall’s exit. 

“This was AWESOME!!!” Raya said on the shuttle ride back to town. “We have to come back sometime, there’s still so much to see!

Froyo nodded her head. “Yeah, we should invite that new Sodacat in history class, she seems nice.” 

“Cheyenne? Yeah, she’s into manga too! I wonder if she likes ‘The Dragon Dance’…” 

Mango chimed in. “I’m sure if you show her it she’ll love it. Let me know when I can come over and borrow your books, by the way. I’m spent.”

“Yeppppppp,” Cherry Bomb agreed. “I can’t wait to sleep.”

The shuttle finally pulled into their stop, and they got off. Cherry and Froy

headed their way home, but Raya and Mango stayed behind for a minute. Mango looked at her girlfriend. 

“Are you sure I’ll be a good big sister?”

“Girl, my sisters love you as a sister already! You’ll be a natural! And I’ll be here if you need anything. I promise.” 

The cats nuzzled each other one last time, then went their separate ways. Mango’s thoughts were a mile a minute as she made her way home: her family, her girlfriend, and mostly, how lucky she was to have such an awesome group of friends. She was excited to plan their next outing.

But right now, she had other things to take care of. It wouldn’t be long now.