Sparkle! (Amanda+Astrid)

[Amanda Dupomme]

As could be expected on a weekend, the mall was positively booming with people. Young and old, rich and wishfully rich, elegant and more retro. Amanda could feel the excitement in the air, of hundreds of people busily wandering through the large shopping center. Some were eating, some were busily throwing away huge quantities of money they did not have, on seasonal clothing and games, others: simply idly loitering, drawing angry stares from the mall security. 

Yet, for all the buzz in the air, Amanda herself could not share in it. It was unknown to her why she had even come here. She had no particular desire to buy anything, nor any particular want to spend time with others. Ever since her argument with Annie and Tanya, she felt... dead, inside. Lifeless, joyless, simply drained of all emotion.

Slowly, the girl paced through the busy crowd, keeping her head low until she could find a bench to sit on. She didn't notice the large Octillery centerpiece fountain behind her bench, nor did she care about the food-court not twelve feet away. For her, sitting quietly and unnoticed was the best thing she could do, right then. 

Amanda let out a soft sigh.

[Astrid Sherinian]

The great thing about the mall being so crowded was that nobody gave Astrid a second glance. All she had to do was let her hair down and dress plain and she didn't get a single fan fawning over her. When the crowd was big enough, it didn't take much effort to just be part of it. It was for that reason alone that she didn't mind it, and was so far able to enjoy a nice, peaceful day at the mall. It had started as a shopping trip, but at the moment she was just relaxing.

She hadn't seen too many people from the academy thus far, and none of the ones she did see were people she recognized. That changed when she passed by the food court and spotted someone sitting in front of the Octillery fountain. Her name was...Amy, or Amanda. One of those. Astrid wasn't really sure what to make of her. Being close to Seria meant she was probably okay, but with how she'd acted in Battle Tactics class and during that mission on the thunderstorm plains, Astrid had to wonder.

Then again, maybe she'd just been having a bad time of it after the Team Doucheface incident.

"Hey," Astrid said, approaching the girl. "Haven't seen you since that mission with the Joltik giant. How're you holding up?"

[Amanda Dupomme]

The voice broke the muted silence in the mind of the young Kalosian, as she looked up into the crowd. Was someone speaking to her? It was unlikely, she didn't imagine anyone would recognize her at there. Scanning the crowd: Amanda finally found the source of the voice: it was that girl from the mission.

Reflexively, Amanda got up, putting on her best fake smile. ''Oh, hi! Um...'' Her mind raced, fighting to remember the name of the girl. She knew that she had at least heard it once, yet all she could remember was that it begun with an ''A'', Annie... Alice.. ''Astrid! Hello, I wasn't expecting to see you here!''

Amanda spoke with a calm tone, polite as always, even though she felt significantly disappointed at being caught out unexpectedly. She felt that she of all people shouldn't be the type to get recognized, but Astrid probably had no idea what that was like.

The Kalosian crossed her arms, maintaining the fake smile. ''I'm... alright, thank you for asking. Et toi?''

[Astrid Sherinian]

Huh. Amanda remembered her name after all. Astrid was sure she'd have to remind her, with how preoccupied the Kalosian girl had been back during the mission. And she seemed calm enough, too, not like how she'd been back on the plains. Or at least, not as much like that. Astrid still got the feeling that something was up, although that may have just been surprise at being picked out.

"I'm doing pretty good. Managing, at least. Getting stronger, getting things done, enjoying my time here, and all that. Kind of bored, with how uneventful it's been around here lately." She didn't go into any details for the moment. Unlike with most people Astrid knew, she hadn't shared anything about what she did or who she was with Amanda yet. Actually, she didn't even know if Amanda knew that she was Luna. Well, if it came up, she'd say something then. Right now, she was more concerned with how Amanda had been acting before. "You sure you're okay? You seemed pretty on-edge last time I saw you."

[Amanda Dupomme]

It was a difficult question, oddly. One that Amanda could normally have answered with ease, any other day. Other days were not today, and the blonde hesitated to respond. She didn't quite know Astrid, too well. The girl seemed nice enough, at first glance, but was trusting her with problems really the proper thing to do?

''Not particularly...'' Amanda confessed, at last. Her gaze drifting to the people wandering by. ''It's about Team Origin, I still haven't gotten quite over what they did to this place, to the people around her, and to us...''

The blonde looked back at Astrid, smiling sadly. ''How does one deal with terrorists, really? People who destroy and harm others, how do you stop something like that? Let alone without letting it affect you...'' Her mind drifted to the argument, to what she had done. ''...and your judgement...'' She laughed, bitterly. ''Apologies, you asked a sincere question and now I ramble...''