(TWST Idia/Cater) so i'll dance with Cinderella

The Mall Date (Part II)

Forty-five minutes later, they walked out of Build-a-Scare, armed with their plushes of choice: Idia, with two ... creatures that were remarkably reminiscent of the minions of the King of the Underworld, which he aptly named Agony and Alarm; and Cater came out with a hedgehog named Lil' Spikes—a name recommended by a sales associate, which he assented to after not being able to think of anything better.

Idia was more into figurines than stuffed animals, but he had to admit that he had had fun in Build-a-Scare with Cater. There was something strangely methodical and relaxing about watching a toy be made, and to top it all off, it presented a conversation topic without too much trouble.

But, as soon as they exited the shop and were blasted with the air conditioning of the rest of the mall, Idia suddenly became very aware that he was in a crowded, public place, holding a pair of plushies, standing next to a guy who was way out of his league ... who, uh, evidently didn't feel that way about him, if last chapter was anything to go by. But still!

He could feel a film of cold sweat manifest onto his forehead and, spotting a bathroom sign, he decided to find a moment of respite from the eyes of the curious mall patrons and passerbys. He shoved both stuffed animals and his boba drink into Cater's hands and muttered something about "needing to head off to a save point real quick" and ran off to the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Idia leaned onto the sink counters and took a deep breath. Okay, okay, calm down, he instructed himself. Things are going good. He leaned his head up to take a quick glimpse in the mirror, before he let out a sigh and turned his head back down. So, there it is—the mug that was gonna be immortalized on Cater's MagiCam. He peeked at his reflection again. This time he took a hard look at himself instead of turning away. It's ... not so bad, I guess, he thought, referring to his appearance, I ... guess I could call it a work-in-progress. Poking his cheek, Idia couldn't help admitting aloud, "Still can't imagine what Cater sees, though." Privately, he wondered if Cater's eyes needed upgrades or something—maybe he could look into his schematics of Ortho's optics software ...

His musings were interrupted by a buzz from his cellphone. A Discord message from Cater wondering if he had gotten lost bleeped onto his screen. He quickly responded with a negative before shaking his head, mustering up the final dregs of his courage, and heading out back into the main building of the mall.

Somehow, Cater had wandered near the bathroom door. He was a strange sight to behold as he scrolled on his phone with one hand and held three stuffed animals and two boba teas in the other—all while humming "Stacy's Dad" under his breath.

"Finally," Cater said dramatically, beaming as Idia walked over to him. "You certainly took your sweet time."

Idia retrieved the plushes and tea from Cater as he looked confused and realized, "I was only gone for three minutes."

"Yeah, well, in the Queen's time, that's like an hour!"

"Ehehe, in the King's time, it's only thirty seconds." Idia was extremely proud of this response and couldn't help the demonic grin that broke out on his face.

"Wait—stop! Don't move!" Cater whipped out his phone to take a photo of Idia's beaming face. However, by the time the picture appeared in his camera roll, Idia's smile had transformed from natural to stiff and genuinely creepy, which was only exacerbated by the terrified gleam in his eyes. "Worth it. Sorta." As Idia mentally chided himself for such a humiliating display, Cater's eyes roved the space around them. "Oh, hey! Everyone's crowding up over there. Wanna go see what's up?" Upon glancing to his right and seeing that Idia remained mildly petrified from the sudden photoshoot, he rectified the suggestion with, "Uh ... I mean ... wanna go ... avoid it? We could go get some food instead if you want."