[A/N: Finally hacked my account again, yay! this one is fooooooorrr Wafflez-wmv/SOURC3NDIES bc they want more of this duo. It's kind of a "yeah i guess so" kind of pair for me, but i'm up for giving more content for it. Sorry that it took me a minute to get to it: i guess i'm just not good at doing things for people anymore :c
(Me making "shortie" fics for people that have too many words bc i don't know how to stfu. And NO, i do NOT take requests. Suggestions, maybe, but not requests)
TW/CW: public places/mall, casual shopping, casual talking, evening to nighttime, trying on shoes and clothes, employees/people working/(some) associated anxiety, public transit/bus/buses]
Tuesday evenings were good enough. Early enough in the week to not be used for the kind of recreation best for weekends, but late enough for people to be too exhausted after work or school to consider doing them regardless. It was risky being in public at all, but Tuesday evenings were good enough.
Mandy walked in through one of the entrances that wasn't where the bus dropped off its passengers. She didn't see anybody that knew her by name on there, but even those people don't need to know that she was going to the mall. It was also a little bit further from the rest of the city area, in case anybody that did know her happened to be somewhere in the vicinity at this hour. It didn't really matter that she was here: but if they didn't know that, then they would never know why she was here.
She was only a few feet from the entrance to a store that was on the corner of the main corridor. She stopped when she heard the noise.
"Well, well, well. Look what the cat FIIINALLY decided to drrrag in."
Mandy only glanced her eyes over. "I THOUGHT we agreed to meet at 7!" Mindy stood tapping her foot with her fists on her hips.
"Billy kept me up with some stupid art project."
"Uhg! Billy is SUCH a loser!!!" The girls were now walking next to each other. "When are you going to finally stop hanging out with that dweeb?"
"He's probably a fatal disease." Mandy didn't really want to admit that she did like having Billy as a friend.
"He sure seems like it!" Mindy's voice got higher as she spoke. She walked ahead of Mandy and spun around to face her as they kept walking. "I heard that the Shoeporium is having a sale! Let's go there first before they start CLOSING!"
Mandy rolled her eyes and sighed. "It's not even a quarter after." Still, the two hastened over to the specified store so that they'd have a little bit of time to take a look.
The girls searched through the displays of shoes, not wasting time to decide whether or not any given pair would fit into any wardrobe that they currently had. Instead, they just snagged up boxes of the decided style in the closest size that would fit them, and huddled their selections to the benches at the center of the store.
Either girl tried on their first selection. Sitting up from fastening a buckle, Mandy noticed an anxious looking teen in a store uniform. They were watching from the end of an aisle, fidgeting their hands together in the hopes that they wouldn't take long or leave them a big mess to clean.
Mandy turned her head. "What do you think of those ones?"
Mindy had a pair of strapped shoes with short heels. She stood up and looked at the mirror under the seat. "Hmm, i don't know… i feel like i can do better."
"Well, if you don't like them, put them over here." She pointed to a spot nearby them, closer to where the employee was. "I think they're among the better ones you picked."
"You really think so??" Mindy was twisting her ankles around to see different angles of the pair.
Mandy decided that she didn't like the sandals that she tried on, so she took them off and placed them back in their box. She slid the box over to where she designated the "no" pile to be, and nodded at the teen to let them know that they could put them back. They nervously reached for the box and pulled it away from the girls, swiftly finding the spot that they belonged.
The girls chatted about their day and what was expected of the week and various other things as they each tried on the shoes that they collected. In the end, four pairs were bought between them, and this was completed a few minutes after the store was scheduled to close. The person that checked them out followed them to the door so that they could close, and the other teenager continued to scramble to clean up.
"Well, at least i got SOMETHING today." Mindy glanced over to Mandy with an annoyed expression. "To make it up to me, yooouuu have to carry the bag." She pushed the bag slowly to Mandy, who only glared at her.
A few tense, silent moments passed with neither girl backing down. Mandy audibly sighed, and snatched the big paper bag away. Mindy smiled triumphantly and led them to one of the department stores, which would be open for almost a whole nother hour.
There was hardly anybody besides them in the whole store. The people that they did see were employees walking to and fro, and one other customer that must have still been there literally only because she moved so slowly. Otherwise, there wasn't anyone else around to bother them or get in their way, or see that they were together.
Like at the shoe store, Mindy suggested that they pick whatever they thought looked nice to try on.
"Maybe we should stick to the dresses, then." Mandy was partially thinking out loud. "So we don't have to try and find matching pieces for a whole outfit."
"Alright, alright, we'll just look at dresses then." Mindy stopped flipping through a rack of skirts and strolled over to the proper section next to Mandy.
Comments were made about ugly dresses and nice dresses that wouldn't fit them, and how the seasonal fashions seemed to be released earlier and earlier with every new set. Mindy never minded that last bit, as she said it gave her an opportunity to plan how to look better than everyone else around her. Mandy held back her snide comment so as to not hurt her feelings.
"Ooooohh, Mandy, you should try this one on!" Mindy held up a dress that had two different pinks that made it seem like it was two separate pieces.
Mandy looked it over and shrugged. "Okay." She took it by the hanger and added it to her few selected dresses.
When the girls felt like they had enough clothes to try on, they went on over to the dressing rooms, choosing two that were next to each other. They continued to prattle, as the walls that separated the rooms didn't reach the ceiling.
"Hmm… Mandy, i'd like your opinion on this one."
"Okay. I can step out of the room now."
Each girl stepped into the hallway outside of the changing room doors wearing one of the dresses that they picked. They exchanged opinions on the current pieces, and decided to do this for most of the other ones as well.
Mandy whittled down to one more after this one, but Mindy still had two or three more to try. They stepped out of their rooms and turned towards each other.
"I guess i just like dogs better." Mandy's mind went completely blank after finishing that conversation, having caught sight of the dress that Mindy was now wearing. It clung to her hips and flared out just below that, with a sash that circled her waist and did a good job of dividing her body between top and bottom. The neckline sloped swiftly enough to show some of her lightly-freckled chest, and short sleeves that puffed and ended in elastic did a nice job of defining her shoulders.
That all was one thing. What really made the image strike her was the absolute attitude in her pose from her frustration with the conversation topic. She leaned hard on one leg, which made that hip far higher than the other. That was further exaggerated as each was gripped firmly by her well-manicured hands. Her elbows stuck out as borders of the image, and her shoulders were tense and exact. Her fringe was flipped to the side in a huff, and it framed the curve of her face from that viewpoint. Her facial expression was one more commonly worn by Mandy than by Mindy, but maybe it was that reflection that made it so poignant in her mind. However, her makeup didn't do any hindering in that, either. It took Mandy a moment to feel a less violent heartbeat in chest.
"Honestly, like just get a fish." Mandy only caught the last couple of words that were said, but not many that were said in the last couple of hours had much meaning.
Mandy shook her head and finally breathed in. "I, uh… ehh… i don't think this color looks good on me." She twisted around to look at it against her leg again.
Mindy casually glanced over. "Hmm. I think it looks fine. It goes okay with your hair." She looked her in the face and shrugged, and turned around to go back into her changing room.
Mandy stepped back into hers, and took another moment to rearrange her thoughts before getting to the final dress.
Within the next few minutes, the girls each decided which dresses, if any, they were going to buy. Mandy briefly considered getting that one dress if only for nostalgic purposes for herself, but felt better that she got lucky enough to convince Mindy to buy her own instead.
The girls collected all of their bags and stepped out under the cover of nighttime to wait for the bus. Now really was a time that was baren enough for them to comfortably sit next to each other without many eyes to glance at them. On the bus, they reviewed the things that they each got and consolidated their own items.
They were only a few more minutes from home, and Mindy finally decided to stop talking and just sit quietly together. Mandy watched the darkness outside of the window, and Mindy looked about the bus. She glanced at the seat next to her and saw Mandy's lonely hand, and with the same amount of thought that she put into anything (which wasn't much), she slowly reached her own out to touch it. She wasted no time intertwining their fingers together, relishing in how softly their skins embraced.
Mandy jolted in surprise at it and turned wide eyes to look at their hands and at her companion. Mindy smiled happily at her, and Mandy tried to dismiss the butterflies and light blushing by glancing all around and outside the window.
"Thank you for shopping with me!" Mindy smiled again and leaned a few inches toward Mandy.
She hoped her blush wasn't as visible as it felt. "S-sure. Whatever."
Mindy grinned at her being so uncommonly meek. "Gee Mandy, it sure seems like you had a good time with me this evening." She teased, but in a much friendlier tone than she usually used.
Mandy contorted her face and ground her teeth together in her head. She grumbled at the comment and glared at her friend. Mindy giggled in her typical way, and almost seamlessly used the same smile to gently kiss Mandy's lips for a few seconds. Mandy never expected these affections, but awkwardly fumbled the surprise, recovering from that, and all the silly feelings in her belly and chest in the very brief moments she had to reciprocate it. Mindy pulled away to enjoy the funny blushy face it always left on Mandy before she could blink back to looking at her. Mindy giggled again and gave Mandy's hand a little affectionate squeeze, and Mandy grumbled again in embarrassment.
Now they only had another minute or two before one had to step off at her stop, but the girlfriends sat quietly with their hands together until they finally did have to say goodbye for the night.
[Post A/N: YEAH, so it's a lil derivative of "Moonstruck," so what?! :( The shows share an actor, their fanfics can share some fluff from me. Also sorry again that it took so long to finish: if it isn't the writer's block, it's my hands hurting too much to type. Pro tip: don't get old or a job, they both SUCK. Hope it's decent, i'll take suggestions of any cartoon femslash couples that you have, bc i can't think of many :P]