[Deleted]

Zeraora's heart was pounding in her ears. Most people got like this in the heat of combat, most who fought for their lives felt this way, and those who gave it their all would show this symptom. Not Zeraora. Her crippling social anxiety and her general self-conscious demeanor was a clear result of her social isolation. She held a hand to her forearm a bit as she stared the ice cream shop down. This was where Krystal and Shaymin said to meet, right..? Just five minutes prior she'd bumped into a guy and spilled his coffee! It was terrible! Zeraora had to help clean it up and kept apologizing despite the dude's insistence that it was okay. Again, another flaw of her's. Men were so complicated, such a mystery to her. Why couldn't they just express a little more feeling? Why couldn't they just think a little more?

She was getting ahead of herself in thought, awkwardly gazing around the place. The scattered booths near the windows, walls, and the long bar at the front reminded Zeraora of her favorite places to eat before being exiled. This place had fries as well..! Awesome! Fries and a malt were her favorite snack, but... where was Krystal? Where was Shaymin, and that cute little girl that Shaymin was speaking to, Plutia..? Was it? She forgot the name, sadly. Zeraora would find the only empty booth sitting farthest from the door, and placed herself down there. All she had to do now was wait for the others to walk on. A server greeted her, a girl thank Arceus.

"Hello and welcome to Shaymint Ice Cream-"
Zera seemed to begin to almost tune her out till the words she was looking for came around. "What can I start you with, sir?"
"It's uh... It's ma'am, and I uh... I'm waiting for the rest of my friends to show."
"Oh! I'm so sorry about that! I'll be right with you when they arrive." and with that the server was gone.

Great, not even ten minutes in and someone already called her a sir. That just stung. What a way to hit a girl's pride.

[heirtothemonado]

Krystal arrived at the malt shop right on time, and stopped in front of it before she went in. They didn't really have these kind of stores where she was from, so she didn't really know what kind of food she could expect. Hopefully whatever was served here was good.

Looking through the window, Krystal spotted Zeraora sitting alone in the corner of the room. Looks like no one else had joined her yet. Entering the store, Krystal walked over to Zeraora just as the waiter left. "Hello Zera" Krystal greeted with a smile. Her smile faded when she noticed that Zeraora looked a little down. "Zera? What's wrong?" she asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

[Coolshaymin]

Truth was Shaymin happened to already be in the store, though hiding out in the back room for the moment. She's been having dreams lately about that Scizor that died and that woman that said it was their fault. How could it of been? That girl was invincible! If she struck then not only would Scizor die then she would of too! And besides that he was already ripped to shreds when she ran away. What kind of self righteous jerk would blame a scared animal from fleeing certain death?

"... Um, Ms. Shaymin, Ma'am, the guests you talked about are here," in a brief moment of panic Land's eyes shot up and she jumped to the ceiling... Instantly becoming Sky. "Huh? Oh... Right. Of course. I'll see them in a moment..." Sky stated before floating to the ground. "Do you want me to hang out with them, Land?" Sky asked before glowing jade again and transforming back. "N-no. This is a girl's thing, Sky. You just sit tight," Land stated before opening the back door with her mind and noticed Plutia did not come yet but Krystal did and Zera was here as well.

"Sorry about that, I was.... helping clean up," Land said as she moved to the others. "Huh? Zera? Something up?" Land asked.

[Deleted]

"Rough start to today, but I'll live."

Zeraora lied through her teeth about what was going on, a false smile to brighten up at Krystal's arrival, and Shaymin's inquiries. The two were always so caring towards her, so kind and compassionate. It hurt that she had to hide this from them both, this aching sense of uselessness and ugliness, but it was clearly something that she was able to at least cope with on some level. Zeraora never saw the scrying eyes of interested men, only the leers of naysayers. For now, though, she'd been looking through a menu to see what specifically they had as far as malts and fries. Seemed there was quite a selection of all these different fruits and berries. 'Strawberry', now that sounded tasty. Zeraora had never tasted a strawberry before, and its description made it sound like a more bitter or more sour Pecha berry.

"Uh, Shay, Krystal. You two've had strawberries before, right? I wanna get a strawberry Malt but I dunno if it's anything like a Pecha Malt."

[heirtothemonado]

Krystal gave Zera a questioning look. She knew that she had something on her mind, but knew better then to read her thoughts, let alone say anything, if she didn't want anybody to know yet. So instead, she just sat down and looked over the menu. There were so many things here that she'd never heard of here, so she was almost as lost on this menu as Zera was. She had just decided to look away and point at something when Shaymin showed up.

"Oh, hello, Shaymin. It's alright, we only just got here....." Krystal greeted before trailing off again, unable to decide what to order. Zera's words broke the silence, and also helped her make up her mind.

"Hmm....I've never tried strawberries either, but they sound really good. I think I'll order one of those" Krystal said. Hopefully the food was as good as Shaymin said it was. Maybe after eating something, Zera would be willing to talk a little more.

[Coolshaymin]

"Strawberries... Yeah, I had them before. I wouldn't say like Pecha Berries exactly though.. Actual strawberries are more red than pink oddly enough. It tastes good though. No harm in trying one, it's on me. I'll order one too. 3 Strawberry Malts, please! I'll cover it!" Land called... with her mind... there was really no reason for it to be that loud. The complications of being a Telepathic without Psychic abilities. "We'll get it set up right away, Ms. Land," somebody calls from the back. "... So, while that's going on... Want to talk about something? I need to take my mind away from things," Land suggested, it'd be a minute or two but should be done while they start talking. Really one had to wonder how Land was able to afford offering people ice cream relatively frequently... Or how there's no harm in trying food.

[Deleted]

"Oh, and french fries! I'll cover that extra." Zeraora made sure to add on, before slumping down and looking at the other two. Why did she feel so lesser than them, that hollow beating in her chest felt like pins every time her heart pressed forward, only to leave herself empty as it went back, and again to repeat itself ad infinium. For now, she would just look over, gazing longingly at a few younger men sitting at the opposite end of the store, then back to the two once more. "You two are so pretty." Zeroara remarked, not paying her appearance any further mind, wanting to focus on being hungry, so the food and drink would come along to satiate her desire. "Honestly, it's amazing."

Inside, she was harping on herself. 'Your fur's a little matted' 'Your center-horn is dusty' 'Why're your hindpaws like that?' 'Your forepaws aren't even'. It was a thousand echoes of insidious, crawling insecurity. Hopefully these two would catch onto her little glances, and realize that she wasn't in the best mind right now.

[heirtothemonado]

"Oh thank you, Shaymin." Krystal said, thanking the grasshog for offering to pay for their meal. Her mind was called away from the food they just ordered when she heard what Zera had just said to her. "and thank you, Zera. That's very kind of you to say" While her words were kind, her thoughts were swarming. Zera was comparing her appearance again. Krystal knew what that meant. Looking into Zera's thoughts, her suspicions were confirmed. Very thoroughly, actually.

"....Are you sure you're okay, Zera? You been awfully quiet since we got here. It's....very unlike you" Krystal commented. "(And you're thoughts are all over the place.)" she continued mentally "(Don't be shy. We're here to listen if you want to talk)"