⚘ mall

@⚘ : serene b 。 there are some things that he'll never understand in the terran world. both communities are different; laidback in other ways, strict in many ways, but he'll never fail to find something that peaks his curiosity. one thing for sure is this whole idea of "bubble tea"; a drink that accompanies the word "bubble" into its origin, yet it contains no such thing. terrans have always been inventors of strange perks, but he obviously doesn't find anything wrong with it. however, he always locks himself up in his studio—constantly building his works in complete silence, maybe a few rings from his phone, but it's always something uninteresting. of course, until he met a miracle (a quite big definition) that graced his electronic device. he looks at serene with such amazement, even if it is a simple meet; he isn't going to get another chance like this.

bubble tea is an odd thing. maybe he's looking into it too much, but it is blessed with such colorful designs that he will never think of. a beverage consists of a vibrant color of orange, purple, yellow, so forth—it is no wonder that terrans enjoyed this sensation. though, he is curious to how serene knows a drink like this, but he guesses that she visits the land way more often than he does. he emits a small laugh at her cute gesture and scratches his chin while he enters the era. "please—let me pay for my own," he shakes his head in refusal to her comment, then looking up to spot the different words of the menu. he eventually chooses regular milk tea but with a small amount because his teeth is a little sensitive.

@♆ : ayden c 。 her eyes widen, shocked by his comment. her lips formed into an ‘o’ as a soft gasp escapes from her tiers. does thalassans not have bubble tea down there? what kind of life do they live in? she broke into a simper at his expression, “you’ll understand why it’s called bubble tea once you try it.” she elicits a small laugh, lacing her slender arm with his to lead him to the held boba place, gently tugging. this merely made her even more curious about the underwater world, too bad she couldn’t ask him. after passing a few stores and many different sized frames, serene loses grip of his arm. she wanted to make the boba place appear exciting for him, so she juts both of her jazzy hands in front of her frame whilst gazing at him with a wide grin that etched on her lips. “tada!” she says cheerfully, then running back to him. “now we just order,” she raises her index finger up to the menu above. “choose whatever you crave, i’ll pay since this is your /first time/ having bubble tea.” she saunters to the front and orders a regular sized taro boba, gesturing him to order his finally choice of bubble tea.

if he doesn’t end up liking boba then more for her. she doesn’t understand anyone who dislikes boba, how do they even live? serene was glad that ayden was open to try new things. he was easygoing and cool to hang with so far. she had hung with a few guy friends of hers before him, but most of them were dry and stubborn. ayden was different from the rest. she wondered if thalassan guys were just like him, if so, maybe she should’ve been born as a thalassan. it would be cool to breathe underwater and outside of water, instead, she has to breathe this stupid air every single day.

@⚘ : serene b 。 it has been a while since he visited a crowd full of terrans. it didn't bother him to be fair, but there is an unsettling feeling attempting to gut him. he ignores it though, even if the emotion slowly creeps behind him. though, he doesn't quite understand why he feels so afraid. the tension between both parties have lessened, and one has never exactly bothered him in a way. however, he knows that the environment around him created the misconception. terrans aren't supposed to hang out with thalassans, and vice versa. though, he can't continue to mope around about his perspectives of each species—he is here to spend time with an internet friend; more so, one who he has talked to for quite some time.

"sure, that sounds good with me." his smile proceeds to grow bigger, allowing warmth to gloss over his tiers. he adjusts his beanie while he looks around for more entertainment. "what's bubble tea? that sounds odd," he questions as his expression slips into a bewildered look. "does it have to do with bubbles? in form of tea?" the only fancy drink that he had is alcohol and coffee. terrans always create strange ideas as food, but the creativity is interesting since it always end up being good. "i'll try it! if you don't mind of course."

@♆ : ayden c 。 as they near towards the motion doors, it opens for them. good thing there wasn’t too many people, hopefully being around with this many terrans wouldn’t bother him. serene follows his pace, letting him take the time to examine the environment and decide whether he still wants to hang around. her eyes shifts to his grin, she wondered how lucky she was to have him as her friend. his smile only made her feel guilty, she couldn’t decide if she even deserved to have him as a precious friend of hers. making friends was always a struggle for serene, she really didn’t understand the meaning of friends when they’re going to leave anyway. not until that day when she had approached ayden. she didn’t think he would reply to her, which slightly made her feel special in a way. maybe the fact that he was thalassan? she didn’t know for sure. she was indeed lucky to have him as a friend, to rely on whenever down.

“want to grab something to drink? i already ate before i came, but we can grab a few snacks if you’re hungry. we can grab some bubble tea?” she suggested to him, briefly tilting her head with a small simper. still a bit full from her sandwich she had made back at home, which wasn’t too far from the mall. “have you ever had bubbly tea before, just curious.” she didn’t know what they had in the sea because she wasn’t a thalassan herself. hopefully he didn’t question her. she had a few stores in mind that she wanted to visit, but she didn’t really mind going wherever he wanted to go.

@⚘ : serene b 。 the hint of doubt remains in the back of his head. he isn’t the type to be skeptical, but he hates being gullible as well. though, he couldn’t help but roll with it. he has to admit that he has fun with the girl. they had frequent comforting talks at the crack of dawn, sometimes listening into the few words of encouragement whenever he works. even if she reveals to be a terran, he wouldn’t hate her for it, but he wouldn’t trust her either. the more he thinks about it, the more questions rise. terrans has never reached his thoughts, but it is because he doesn’t have much opinion about the species. perhaps, they are different; of course, they treated his people with no kindness, but that belongs in history. it is now the recent century—he has to tolerate them, and they have to tolerate him. “pretty rustic?” he repeats quietly, following her movements with his sight and pacing towards the entrance.

their motions slowly opens the doors. his eyes search around for something that gives interest. it is definitely a mall, but it is different from stores he has been in. it’s been long since he travelled through this space, but he does recognize a few things from it. “i’ll make sure to follow you,” he replies with a grin. people are buzzing around the area, and the children laughing while they run, but he knows most of them are a different creature from he is. he isn’t exactly bothered by the idea, but there is a small tint of discomfort hidden in his heart. more so, they’re both /thalassans/, which makes it worse. he clears his throat, “have any plans on what to do? we eat or?”

@♆ : ayden c 。 she barely knew anything about thalassans, only thing she knew of them was that they were humans who could breathe underwater and lived primarily in the sea. serene had thought that since they were similar to humans that possibly their appearance are alike, so she didn’t worry too much about appearance wise. she nods her head at his reply, glad that he didn’t have to wait long, her tiers curling into a soft simper. ‘don’t blow up your cover’ she repeatedly digs into her head, so that she doesn’t accidentally slip. he didn’t know the mall too well, did that mean he rarely visited the land? she quickly had to make up something that seemed as if she hadn’t visited the mall in awhile. “no no, i used to a lot but my parents didn’t like the idea of me hanging around with terrans. its been awhile since i last visited the mall, so i’m pretty rustic of where certain stores are located at.” she speaks calmly towards him, crinkling her eyes to match with his from earlier. she stepped towards the entrance, she gestures him over to follow her lead since she did know where everything was located at. her hand uncurls and she lightly flicks her wrist her way, “follow along so you won’t get lost.”

she hoped that some of the employees that know of her won’t encounter them. she just stated to him that its been awhile, if so, here comes another lie. serene had a feeling that it was going to continue to pile upon each other, creating a huge mess, that /hopefully/ ayden wouldn’t know about until later. someday he will know about her not being a thalassan, today would be too early to expose the truth to him. she wondered if she told him, will he forgive her? will he leave her due to her lies? she just wanted to runaway from the answer, deep inside she knew that karma would hit her. during those late nights chatting with ayden, it was definitely a roller coaster ride. she enjoyed his company, feeling safe, someone she could count on if she ever needed let loose. she was always excited to see his text messages whatever time it was, they were comforting.

@⚘ : serene b 。 he assumes that he is simply dressing too casually, but it is far too late to reconsider his fashion. though, he isn't the type to dress-to-impress, so he'll take it as a way to display his true traits. his tiers slowly sways into a meek smile as he continues to observe every feature that the woman showcases. with fitted clothing and lovely hair, she definitely decided on her outfit for a while—but something is off. her eyes doesn't create that special hue that thalassans share together. maybe it's the lighting? or perhaps, he can't see well? but the tint is a dull color of a terran, a dark brown. despite the off color, her eyes still shine to him, and it causes him to remain in anxiety. his head attempts to shape an excuse—maybe she's wearing eye contacts. even then, a blue color can never be hidden under a false image. he remains silent about the ordeal; his smile presses a thin line while his eyes slowly crinkle into crescents.

he adjusts his beanie, "it wasn't too long. i got here a few minutes ago actually." he replies in monotone, scratching his jaw while he searches for something else to look at. "don't worry about that," a reassured smile slips through his parted lips. "however, i don't know this place too well—" his eyebrows furrow with slight concern. it has been a while since he visited the land, and the mall is definitely the last place that he would consider going to. most of the time, he only comes up when business needs to happen, or a friend wants to eat out somewhere. other than that, the land isn't something that he would go on a basis. "i assume that you know this place well? since you considered it and all."

@♆ : ayden c 。 her orbs examined the lad from top to bottom, she was glad that he wasn’t a catfish. for their first time meeting he dressed comfy casual, she thought that she had possibly overdone her appearance. was it bad that she was acting as if she was a thalassan? she wasn’t sure due to the excitement that took over her. it didn’t come to mind once she made eye contact with him. she got lost in those eyes, feeling her heart throb against her ribcage. it was as if she was in a maze — lost. in those dashing eyes of his, she just couldn’t tell him the truth, not today. just imagining the situation if she did, he would most likely not talk to her anymore. their friendship would be ruined and their trust would break — horrible. ‘i’m sorry’ were the words that kept repeating in her head. she felt guilty looking into those eyes. all she wanted to do was to splash his blank canvas with color, instead she was digging a hole in his canvas. feeling as if she didn’t deserve to gaze into those charming eyes.

that soft grin of hers faltered at the thought. she was quite surprised how good looking he was compared to other guys she had seen. she nods her head at his word, her tiers stretching into a small grin. trying to forget about telling him the truth, even though it hurt her inside, she tried concealing it within. hiding it with a warm friendly expression instead. “i’m ready,” she elicits a chuckle trying to appear bubbly to him. “were you waiting long?” she asked, curious. her hands clasped together hanging in front of her frame, slightly anxious for what’s to come during their time in the mall. she knew this place very well, she would have to play a bit dumb as if she rarely knew where certain stores were located at. having to give ayden the wrong directions, basically messing around with him for personal reasons. serene didn’t like that idea, but she had to play the role in order to stay as friends with ayden — to not break him.

@⚘ : serene b 。 there is a tad bit of worry in his mind. is his outfit not good enough? he knows that he shouldn’t worry about such things, but it’s been a while since has met with a girl, specifically a /thalassan/. he asked her a while ago on why her profile said terran, and she simply said it’s because she wants to other terrans too. he didn’t ask further since he understands how hard it is to communicate with the other species, but there is a hint of suspicion in her answer.

the female finally stops replying to his messages, in which he releases a small sigh. though, his head immediately jerks up at the sound of his name. he squints at the frame as it approaches closer—it’s serene. his lips form a thin smile as he gets up, greeting her with a nod. “yes, it’s me ayden,” he release a small laugh.

she dresses so nicely for such an occasion. a blouse with perfectly fitted jeans, meanwhile he looks like an absolute idiot. anyways, he’s thankful that he isn’t meeting with a catfis, and gods, she is prettier than the girls he has seen on the streets. he keeps silent about though, hoping to not glow a tint of embarrassment from his thoughts.

“ready?” he asks.

@♆ : ayden c 。 serene was stoked to meet up with her closest online friend, closest guy friend, and only thalassan friend too. it would hurt her to see him, pretending to be a thalassan in front of his eyes. yes, she was guilty, but she knew he wouldn’t be able to talk to her anymore. she was bored hanging out with people like herself, she needed something refreshing and different. maybe it was time to release the truth when they meet up, possibly later tonight.

she wondered if this was the right choice, was she leading him on? indecisive if she should tell him late tonight or not. he’s going to figure it out sooner or later. he was kind and charming when they first messaged each other, it was a getaway to relief her stress. whenever she needed to rant or lonely he was there for her.

serene stressed about what to wear for their first time meet up. didn’t want to wear anything too formal nor too casual. her room was a mess after going in and out of her clothes. finally ending up with: a white blouse, high waisted jeans, a pair of white sneakers, and a few silver jewelry. it was decent enough.

after stressing for hours on what to wear, she finally arrives at the mall. noticing a man sitting on a bench in front of the building. his features matching up with his profile. handsome. she swiftly crosses the road, stepping onto the cement and towards him. her tiers pursing into a soft grin, “ayd?” she glanced down at him, standing in front of him.

@⚘ : serene b 。 ayden rarely goes out nowadays. it isn't because he doesn't have any friends (well, he has a selective few), but he simply likes staying in his studio while he snacks. the last time that he actually went out with others was a few months ago, where he came 30 minutes late, but lets not talk about that.

he has been talking to this female for the past few months. of course, their relationship isn't anything special to brag about, but it is definitely a nice thing to keep. he rarely continues conversations online, so he'll count her as someone fresh. the decision to meeting up is very odd, since a lot say to watch out for people online, but the female doesn't have anything that he should be afraid of... unless she is some catfish (which he hopes she's not).

for the first time, ayden arrives at the mall at a decent time. perhaps, ten minutes earlier than their supposed meet-up time. he is surprised, but this shouldn't be a surprise honestly. he pats his clothes down: a beanie, a large t-shirt, and some baggy jeans that he found at the corner, also converses. it is comfortable enough for him, yet casual enough so he doesn't look like a bum to the newcomer.

he sees at a bench near the entrance, tapping away on his messenger app in hopes that she'll come closer, and also looking around for any locations that they can visit.