A group of people crowded around one display or another was not an uncommon sight in the shopping mall, especially when there were discounts involved. However, it was less than common for them to be crowded around another shopper.
"Please, give her some space!" Nya was doing her best to keep the worried huddle of strangers away from the android on the floor, but either concern or curiosity had gotten the better of them.
"Are you okay, dearie?" an older woman asked, bending down and attempting to touch the silver-haired girl. She responded with a noise that was almost like a growl, successfully forcing the stranger to retreat.
"PIXAL, it's okay, they're just trying to help— sir, will you please move out of the way?" The water ninja was having more trouble with dispersing a small group of curious bystanders than she usually had against armies of snake warriors or rock monsters. Finally, she noticed a security guard passing by the other side of the mall and waved him over.
"What's going on here?" he asked, which was enough to make several of the people leave immediately.
"She's just cramping up," Nya explained, "but everyone's freaking out about it—"
"Oy!" the guard barked at the crowd, interrupting Nya. "Leave the girl alone, you hear? And you with the phone, I'm going to need you to hand that over! Filming without authorized permission isn't allowed on private property!" Several people groaned and started to leave, and one teenager muttered and handed her pink Borg phone over to the man.
"Thank you so much," Nya sighed, looking at PIXAL with a worried expression. "I guess they aren't used to seeing androids in this part of town…"
"Or any part of town," the cop said, glancing down at the girl. "But android or no, if she acts anything like my wife when she gets cramps, it was those shoppers who were in danger." He barked with laughter and gave PIXAL a small wink, which she responded to with a feeble smile.
"All right, I'm actually headed to my lunch break, so I'll be taking my leave now. Will you ladies be okay?" the man asked.
Nya nodded. "Thank you very much."
"Just doing my job. Have a nice day!" the man replied cheerfully, and walked off (probably towards the food court).
Nya was quickly reminded of the situation from a low moan from PIXAL. She knelt down in a concerned manner. "Where does it hurt?"
"My sides," PIXAL responded, curled up on the floor. She shut her eyes tightly and took in a sharp breath.
"Yeah, that's definitely cramps," Nya sighed empathetically. "Why do you even have pain centers there?"
"I think they are supposed to alert me— OW— if my thermo-coil overheats, but—" PIXAL winced, unable to finish her statement through the pain.
"It's okay," Nya reassured her, sitting down and scanning the long stretch of walkway in front of them. "It's gonna be okay. Just wait it out."
"It hurts," PIXAL moaned, sounding close to tears.
"I know," Nya said sadly. She remembered the first time she'd dealt with really bad cramps: she hadn't known what was happening, and Kai had completely freaked out, which had been less than helpful.
Thankfully, after a few minutes the android's breathing began to deepen again, and she managed to sit up with Nya's help.
"Better?" Nya asked nervously. PIXAL nodded, but looked weary from the pain.
"Okay," she sighed, relieved. "Then I think I know where we're going for our next stop."
"Hm?" PIXAL asked curiously. "Where is that?"
Nya smiled. "It's almost 3:30. This is when I normally eat something out of my candy stash. But obviously, that's back at the Bounty, so…"
PIXAL raised an eyebrow. Nya pointed to a poster in the window of a store announcing NinjaFruit Ice Cream: Now Open in the Food Court!
"Have you ever tried ice cream?"
PIXAL shook her head.
"Then we're going to fix that."
"We'll have a chocolate-chocolate-chunk on a waffle cone, and…" Nya turned to PIXAL. "What do you want?"
The android stared blankly ahead, seemingly distracted by the weird looks she was getting from the cashier. "Um… I do not know."
"Okay," Nya said, shifting herself in front slightly, "then we'll have two of what I ordered."
The manager (a scrawny, inexperienced worker who was obviously new to the city by his shock towards PIXAL) nodded nervously and started scooping the girls their ice cream.
"Hey." Nya put her hands on PIXAL's shoulders and turned her to look her in the eyes. "You okay?"
"Many people seem… uncomfortable around me," PIXAL replied in a low voice, as the girls moved away to let the next people in line order. "I do not know if coming here was a good idea."
"Trust me, it'll be fine," Nya reassured her. "Don't pay attention to them. And if anyone makes any rude remarks, I'll help you hide the body."
Surprisingly, PIXAL smiled a little at that and even seemed to have to restrain herself from laughing. "I did not know you were one for morbid jokes."
"Well, to be honest, I think Zane rubbed off on me," Nya admitted sheepishly, redoing her ponytail. Another worker at the counter motioned that the girls' ice cream was ready and handed Nya the cones.
"Are you referring to that Brickonicle movie? You do not really believe that Zane was the one making those jokes during that death scene, did you?" PIXAL asked, taking one of the cones from Nya.
"Well— I—" Nya stammered in surprise. "I asked him why he was snickering to himself, and he told me—" she whispered something in PIXAL's ear. PIXAL grinned and nodded.
"Indeed. I suppose you assumed he made that joke up," she replied.
"Well, I did think it was a little out of character for him," Nya admitted, and her eyes widened. "Wait. Don't tell me you told him that?"
"I was stuck inside his head," PIXAL said, shrugging. "I would often tell him things only he could hear."
Nya slapped her forehead. "So THAT'S why he was always laughing to himself! I can't believe I didn't realize—" Suddenly, she noticed PIXAL looking at the floor, smiling but seeming somewhat upset. She quickly changed the subject.
"Come on, you gotta eat that before it melts," she said, pointing to PIXAL's ice cream and taking a lick of her own. "Mm. I haven't had ice cream in way too long. This stuff is delicious."
PIXAL seemed hesitant but mimicked Nya, taking a small lick of the frosty treat. Almost immediately her face broke into a grin, although she ducked her head to try and hide it. Nya smirked.
"Good?" she asked. PIXAL nodded, biting her lip to try not to smile too much (Nya didn't know why, but it was kind of cute), and brought the cone back up to her mouth, this time taking a full-sized bite. Nya wondered how it was possible that she'd never tried ice cream before. It was kind of ironic, considering she was dating the ninja of ice.
"Come on," she said, noticing a newly empty table, "let's sit down while we eat. Gotta save our strength for more shopping."
PIXAL nodded and followed obediently, too absorbed in eating her ice cream to respond verbally. Nya smiled.
"Told you this was a good idea."
(A/N: It's been a headcanon of mine for a long time that after S4, Zane would always start laughing during death scenes and the others were super freaked out by it but thought, maybe it's a coping mechanism considering he actually died so we'll leave him alone... But actually it was just PIXAL making really morbid jokes and only he could hear them.) (Also yes I have a chapter called Ice Cream in SDLPC as well, I'm not good with titles okay sue me X"D)