Heat radiated off of the asphalt as Mio stepped out of her car. Above the endless row of utterly indistinguishable plaza stores, an orb of seagulls wheeled through the air, screaming, despite the ocean being miles away. A shopping cart rolled aimlessly away from the TJ Maxx across the parking lot. A pair of people walked together, but at this distance, they were completely anonymous. Miorette sniffed, pulled her hair up into a ponytail, and went inside the Michaels.

By Massachusetts standards, it was not a hot day out, but the concrete cool breeze that washed over Mio as she entered was refreshing all the same. She navigated around the large stands of cheap trinkets, avoiding eye contact with the two kids trailing wide-eyed after their mother. She passed by glittering aisles of jewelry crafts and fresh smelling rows of pre-built birdhouses. She paused at the end of one aisle, squinting to see if this held the proper supplies. Why on earth the staff split up the oil-based paints and the acrylic-based paints, she’d never know. Once she found one, she could never find the other, as if it had been tucked away beneath a wing of the universe, lost to time. This seemed to be it, though. Boots clunking on the linoleum tile floors, Mio made her way towards one of the racks to examine the paints offered.

Someone stood a few meters down the shelves. Mio glanced at them, but she already knew who it was from the gleam of their ginger twin tails. Lily stood there, glowering at a pack of pastels in their perfectly manicured hand. Mio quickly looked back at the shelf, ignoring the presence of her highschool friend. Why, she couldn’t say. It wasn’t like she and Lily had ever been on bad terms, even if Lily was rather odd. It was just easier not to talk to them. Mio just wanted to make it in and out of this place as soon as possible, so she could get back to her home and away from people. A friendly hello would slow that down far too much--

“Hey.”

Mio jumped, dislodging a metal hook from its spot in the wall and sending it clattering to the floor, knocking several packs of brushes to the bottom of the shelf. Mio caught herself on a sturdy stack of portable paint kits, and stared at Lily. Lily stared back, unfazed and vaguely annoyed. Mio stood up straight, brushing her bangs back out of her face and behind her ear.

“Oh. Hey.” Mio did her best to sound casual. Her best was not convincing in the slightest.

“Were you just going to stand there and not say hi to me.” Lily, despite being more than half a foot shorter than Mio, could be very intimidating when they wanted to be.

“I-”

“Nevermind that.” They curled a lock of their hair around one of their fingers, and continued to size Mio up. Oddly, Mio felt like she was seconds away from a major surgical operation, or maybe being mauled by a mountain lion. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Nor I you.”

“Not like you would have said hello if you did.” Their gaze slammed right back into Mio’s eyes as they spoke, and Mio swallowed around a ball of unease.

“No, this is the first time I’ve seen you since… What, Ruby’s holiday party last year?”

“Bit of a recluse, aren’t you.”

Mio opened her mouth, then closed it, unsure of how to respond to that. Could she even defend herself? Just because she liked staying inside and not talking to people didn’t mean she was- oh, wait. No, that’s exactly what a recluse is. She shuffled nervously in place, glancing to the side to assess how easily she could escape this situation. Lily’s stare kept digging into her skin, making her grimace.

“Uh-”

“Come get lunch with me.”

“I- okay.” Mio was too startled to realize what she had agreed to before it was too late.

She blinked a couple times as Lily whipped around and headed for the cash register, pigtails and skirt flouncing as they went. Mio glanced over at the shelf and figured she wouldn’t have enough time to pick out her paints. She winced inwardly, but supposed that she’d just have to order them online when she got home. She followed after Lily, though she wasn’t sure why. It’s not like she was obligated to spend time with them, but… She supposed she did agree to their proposal.

The carefully constructed product placement maze that led to the cash registers was colorful and inviting. With the line moving slowly, Lily began to thumb through the bags of tastefully designed chocolates. Brands bragging fair trade cocoa and organic products sat fashionably in non-biodegradable plastics. Mio watched in stunned silence as Lily began to pile the bags of chocolate on top of their selected items- a few sets of pastels- with a disinterested look.

“I thought we were getting lunch,” Mio said weakly, glancing between Lily’s face and the third bag of chocolates.

“Yes. We are. There’s a Panera across the parking lot.”

“Then… Why are you getting all that chocolate?”

Lily shot Mio an accusing, contemptuous glare. “Because I want it.” That shut Mio up right away, safe to say.