[ToxicShadow]

"Want to have a look inside?" It was Z that turned to ask Toxic, as the two of them leisurely made their way through the shopping mall on their much deserved day off. "I think this is that same store that used to be on the other end."

The woman had stopped, because he had, in front of the display window, already past the entrance. And seeing that he was already taking a side step toward the entrance to the store before she answered, she nodded, and moved after him. "Sure."

[ToxicShadow]

Once inside, the pair ended up splitting up, Z moving ahead of Toxic, perhaps toward something that interested him more, while she was taking more time to look over everything from the moment she stepped into the place.

It was a gift and collectables shop. The sort that primarily sold expensive, decorative figurines of various sorts. It was not unlike the shops of the same sort that had existed in the other world, where they had originated from.

[ToxicShadow]

Toxic had not entered many of them in her time there, as shopping at the mall was not something popular with her parents, but Z had entered them more than once in the past, with the intention of buying gifts for his mother, whom fancied these sorts of things.

They were certainly popular among women of the older generation, although that did not rule out folks their age, either, as they both possessed their own homes to decorate and fill with things as they pleased.

[ToxicShadow]

Curiously, Toxic approached a case of popular movie character figures that had several shelves, and stood taller than she did. Each shelf had an additional sign that either read, "Retired" or "Limited," establishing that the figures contained in said display were, perhaps, rarer than others stored in the other displays. Most of them she recognized, but she only looked purely out of curiosity, not a true interest.

Then, she carried on, turning around to look at the display behind her, which was a shelf rather than a display case.

[ToxicShadow]

The woman found herself looking at a vinyl figurine of a certain storybook character that she was fond of on the shelf when Z approached her. She smiled.

"Did you see these?" She wondered, turning back around to look at the display case with the rarer figurines. "They're all either limited or retired," she remarked.

Z had stepped closer to take a better look. "Oh wow. They all are," he agreed, after seeing all the signs for himself.

[ToxicShadow]

They pair began to move on together after taking a few moments to curiously look through the case together and point out characters that each were more or less interested in, at least in name, neither actually having the intention of purchasing such things at the time.

Though, Toxic found herself looking at the vinyl figure on the shelf again, trying to get a closer look at it, when Z noticed her interest.

Since he turned to look back at her, she pointed it out. "It's cute, isn't it?"

[ToxicShadow]

With a small exchange, Z asking if she liked it, and she nodding again, the man picked up the box that it was in and carried it toward the back of the store, where the counter for making purchases was located. "I didn't know what to get you for your birthday, even though we went out, so let me get you this," he told her when he had carried it away.

Toxic thought to stop him, to argue, but it occurred to her that there would be no use in it.

[ToxicShadow]

Since he had already grabbed it off the shelf and made his declaration of wanting to buy it for her, there was no possibility of stopping him. It was too late.

Toxic was learning to just... accept things when others wanted to give them to her. It was hard, for some reason. While she liked giving gifts, she also felt strange and uncomfortable when receiving them, but Z was definitely not someone that she needed to feel awkward with.

[ToxicShadow]

She did not follow him all the way to the counter, instead taking her time to glance around another portion of the shop that she had yet to explore. Though, she could hear him exchange a few words with the man running the shop, even while not next to them.

"Is this the same shop that had been on the other side?" Z had asked, wanting to confirm what he had already deducted when they were outside.

[ToxicShadow]

The man confirmed it. "Yeah. We moved to this location last year."

Z's voice had a hint of amusement when he said, "Ah, yeah. I haven't really gotten out of the house in the last year." They certainly hadn't had the time to leisurely look around the mall and, even if they did, they were likely doing other things, rather than casually shopping around.

The two men exchanged a few more words, before Z returned to Toxic with a bag in hand.

[ToxicShadow]

The two began to make their way back out of the shop together, Z holding out the bag toward her once they were within the entrance, clear of all of the shelves.

With a subtly appreciative expression, Toxic took the bag with the figure that was offered toward her, still a little bit shy, and, thus, forgetting to even thank Z for the gift given to her.

He didn't make a fuss over it, the two simply making their way away from the shop and further through the mall.

[Crystal Synthesis Complete]