[Bai i: Erald Sparrow, when are you guys coming back?]
[Erald Sparrow: A bit later, probably in the evening.]
[Bai i: That late? Then we'll order takeout for lunch, okay?]
[Erald Sparrow: Mhm, thank you for taking care of it. Is everything going smoothly on your end?]
[Bai i: Don't worry, leave it to !]
Staring at her phone screen, Erald Sparrow slowly sipped her tea, felt a bit relieved, and put her phone back on the table.
It was after lunch, sitting in an elegantly atmospheric tea restaurant, Erald Sparrow and Xia Liang were resting in their chairs. On a nearby wall, a clock steadily ticked, its clear sounds blending with the gentle music, creating a comfortable and pleasant environnt.
The lunch spot chosen by the two was a tea restaurant called Qin He, suggested by Xia Liang after seeing it recomnded online, not part of the original itinerary planned by Erald Sparrow. The restaurant was bustling with business, and they had spent an hour just waiting in line. Once they got in, the surrounding booths were packed with custors, almost no vacant tables to be seen.
Erald Sparrow wasn't particularly interested in such internet-famous restaurants, and she didn't have a preference for any particular dishes, so Xia Liang was in charge of ordering. The result was a table full of attractive-looking dishes, which Xia Liang then photographed with her phone, one after another.
Regardless of how the al tasted, Xia Liang seed satisfied at least.
As Erald Sparrow placed her phone back on the table, Xia Liang, who had been figuring out how to take a prettier picture of a small cake, looked up and asked with her phone in hand:
"What's up?"
"Nothing much, Bai i was asking where we are right now." Erald Sparrow answered matter-of-factly, without showing any expression.
"Why do you still call her Bai i?"
Xia Liang asked with a teasing smile, "Since they are not around anymore, you can just call her Lulu... Ah, I an, do you usually call her Lulu?"
Erald Sparrow stared at Xia Liang, her eyelids drooping, and said, "I've told you before, it's a matter of self-awareness as a Magical Girl."
"Hm—"
With a sowhat noncommittal hum, Xia Liang raised her tone slightly, then put down her phone and picked up the spoon next to the cake, "Even though you've already started to call 'Xia Liang' directly, you still insist on calling Lulu 'Bai i'. You're just shy, aren't you?"
"... As I've said, I haven't figured out how to explain it to her."
Erald Sparrow glanced away, a bit helplessly, "Anyway, if you're rested, we can head out now. There's more to do in the afternoon."
"Wait a second."
Xia Liang suddenly raised her hand to indicate that she had an idea, her face beaming with a smile, "I just thought of a place I'd like to go."
Seeing Xia Liang's suggestive smile, Erald Sparrow felt a twitch in her brow but still respectfully asked, "Where do you want to go?"
"Well, since we're already near the electronics district, and the weather has turned from rain to clear..."
Xia Liang gestured toward the windows of the restaurant, eager, "Let's go look at clothes, shall we?"
...
...
A mont later, not far from the tea restaurant, inside a clothing store.
"Aweso! That outfit really suits you!"
Inside the shop, Xia Liang erged from the fitting room, her eyes wide as she looked at herself in the mirror wearing her newly chosen attire, while the salesperson did not skimp on complints, "Miss, you're simply a born model, even our promotional photos can hardly show off the clothes as well as you do!"
Xia Liang and Erald Sparrow were at a casual won's clothing store called "redy," known for targeting young won, especially those between the ages of fifteen and thirty.
"Haha, thank you."
Xia Liang chuckled her thanks to the salesperson and adjusted the short pink sweatshirt she wore, smoothing out a slight wrinkle in her skirt, then hiked her white ankle boots, twirling to get a full view of the outfit, "But, um... it feels a bit childish, doesn't it?"
After looking over her clothes for quite so ti without making up her mind, Xia Liang turned back to Erald Sparrow, "What do you think, senior? Does this outfit suit ?"
"It's very pretty, very cute, very harmonious, very stylish," Erald Sparrow responded expressionlessly, with the precision of a robot, "I think it suits you well."
That was a habit she had developed while accompanying her wife An Ya shopping to select clothes.
Whenever An Ya chose clothes and wanted Lin Yun's opinion, it wasn't really about wanting feedback but rather just to hear him complint her; what she finally chose often had little to do with Lin Yun's input.
Of course, it wasn't just with An Ya, in fact, accompanying mbers of the old Fangting City squad shopping was a usual occurrence for Erald Sparrow — or rather, Cornflower, as the only Magical Girl in the team whose true form was male, Lin Yun was also seen as a reference for heterosexual aesthetics, which ant he was frequently asked, "What do you think of this outfit?"
Without answering, he would get asked repeatedly; too cursory an answer would attract disapproval, and over ti, Erald Sparrow had developed a set of sophisticated evasive responses.
Noticing the superficiality in Erald Sparrow's words, Xia Liang first narrowed her eyes in slight dissatisfaction, but then quickly seed to think of sothing, with a smile on her face that beca sowhat ambiguous.
"Sister,"
She suddenly said, addressing a nearby sales associate, "Do you have clothes here that would fit this child?"
"This child?"
The sales associate glanced at Erald Sparrow and then nodded, "Our smallest size should probably be about right?"
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