World Tree MUSH

It was morning, the weather was beautiful, and shops were starting to open up for the day. Miwa was waiting near the docks of Malie City as she had sent a message for Mirage to meet her there. She had planned to take her on that promised shopping trip, and decided that the next island over from the one she called home was better suited to a day like the one they were planning. She was quite excited, knowing there were a lot of different things they could do there, and just happy to be getting a chance to see Akala again, as it had been a while. But for now, she could only wait, in the shade of the building that handled tickets and registration for the various boats that came in and out every day.

Mirage was surprised at the message she had received from Miwa. On some level, she wasn't that surprised by it--but getting asked out like this by the pokemon lady was... interesting. The choice of time being the day had made Mirage get up a fair bit earlier than she was used to--was it any surprise someone like her got up a fair bit later? But either way, she would be there. The ferry was an interesting choice too, she figured, as she showed up at the docks. Miwa knew Mirage could just hover over water, but it seemed this had been chosen on purpose. She grinned.

A disguise would be somewhat necessary for this--anyone looking at her would see a human woman of her same size and shape, except for Miwa. She didn't want her new gal-pal to not recognize her, after all. And that's about how she'd find her--leaning over a railing at the docks, waiting--her long thick tail curiously flicking around behind her as it extended from the rear of her suit.

Miwa was beginning to wonder what was keeping Mirage from getting here, when she looked around and saw the woman leaning over a railing at the beginning of the dock. She blinked, wondering to herself how long Mirage had been there and how she didn't notice her before. With a shrug, she decided it wasn't important. She then attempted to sneak up behind Mirage and surprise her with a gentle bubblebeam attack, showering the woman in bubbles. "Boo!" She says playfully. 

 "The other day I realized I never answered you when you mentioned how playful I was. Well many Primarina are kinda regal and reserved, but I guess I'm still a playful Popplio at heart. We're going to have so much fun today. I can't wait!" She says as she hands Mirage a ticket for the next ferry, held between two of the digits of her flipper. "Come on, we don't want to miss the boat!" She called and began lumbering off down the dock.

It would be hard to surprise Mirage if she didn't want to be surprised--at the moment, she wasn't paying attention--having spaced out a bit. Thus, when the bubblebeam attack crashed against her--well, she jumped appropriately surprised--giving a sound like 'whoo!' before turning around with a bit of a thrash--then realized who it was.

"OH! it's you," she sighed a little, then looked up at the bubbles clinging to her hair, flicking her visor up and cleared a few of the bubbles away from her long-ish hair--before realizing there was a bubble clinging to her hair, still. She flicked it off with a little embarrassment, sheepishly--before turning to go as well.

"You're right, lets get on before it leaves without us," she took the ticket and moved alongside Miwa, watching her move over the dock.

"Didn't know you had a big day out planned.. maybe next time in the evening?" she teased Miwa a little. "Or are Primarina's more diurnal creatures?"

Miwa felt a little bad for her surprise attack, as Mirage didn't seem terribly amused by it, but this was quickly forgotten as the pair hurried down the dock heading for the ferry. Miwa shuffles aboard after having her ticket stamped, and tucks the ticket into her hair. "Is this too early for you? Sorry, I just wanted to make sure we had enough time to do various things. I can do evenings too, most of my shows as a performer were in the evening, sometimes later if we did a double show in more populated areas. But yeah, as a whole Primarina are diurnal. Easier to find and catch fish to eat when there is at least some sunlight filtering into the water." 

 Soon the boat started moving and quickly picked up speed as they headed toward their destination. "This ferry will drop us off in Heahea City, we can go shopping there, then I thought we could get a makeover, and after that I have a surprise place I want to show you."

Mirage didn't seem cheesed at all about the sneak attack--pardon the turn of phrase--she actually seemed more sheepish that she let her butt get all bubbled. Again, pardon the turn of phrase.

"Little bit, but I'll let you make it up to me later," Mirage doesn't say how, probably a coffee, or the like.

"I can see that, put on a show in the evening, in front of an audience having a few drinks--I assume you're not a children's entertainer, eh? Perhaps more like a glitzy lounge singer?" Mirage teases, showing her tickets to the guards once they're on the boat itself, before tucking it back into her suit.

"Heahea city? is that like the Haha-cienda?" the mouse snerked, teasing again a little.

"A surprise? Ooh, and what's this about a makeover--" of course, her words might be lost to the wind and the sound of the ferry as it started up...

Miwa wonders for a moment what Mirage has in mind for her to make it up to her. Though she is promptly distracted from that by the question about her performances. "Well, to be honest the more comical stuff I did when I was a Popplio and Brionne, I could have been a children's entertainer. But no, I was in a musical theater troupe, my trainer was the owner. I sang and sort of danced and floated around the stage, sometimes with a partner, and also made sort of exploding water bubble 'fireworks' for the finale most of the time." She explained as she moved toward the front of the ship so she could see where they were going. 

 Akala Island was already getting larger in view on the horizon. "Haha-cienda? Never been there, no idea. Heahea is one of the larger cities in Alola, and is home to one of two incredibly popular hotels on Akala. The more popular one is a little further away, called Hano Grand Resort. It's booked for rooms a year in advance, but getting in for a spa treatment is easier."

"Ahh, so less piano bar and more opera, I get it--I like that, definitely makes what I saw in there make more sense," Mirage had likely positioned herself next to one of the railing and was leaning out again--enjoying the brine tinged wind in her face, but would turn and gently reach up to doot Miwa against her rounded cute nose.

"You're just lucky you're so damn cute, you," she winked at her again, wanting to show she was joking without having to say it, before returning to looking out over the water, flicking her red-tinted visor down again.

"Oh, I'm sure I could arrange a room for us, if you really wanted," Mirage slowly turned her head over to Miwa with a grin, showing off those large ivory buck teeth were showing off again. It might have been sinister, if it wasn't somewhat comical and adorable (to some, at least).

"You don't need to tell me the surprise, and I won't pry in your head if you don't want me to, you know."

Miwa nods at the 'more opera, less piano bar.' Then adds. "Right, though honestly I could see myself providing entertainment at a bar, that might actually be something to try since I really should find some work to prevent me from eventually running out of money and needing to crawl back to Kaleo to explain that I'm broke and need more money." She says before blushing a bit as Mirage boops her pink nose. 

 "Thanks, I think you're pretty cute too, with that little nose and fuzzy rounded ears." She says as she reaches up to ruffle her hair a bit and rub those ears briefly with her flipper. At the mention of arranging a room, she tilted her head a bit. "And how would you manage that exactly? Oh, and as for the surprise, it's just a really pretty place I like, though I may be a bit biased, since it has lots of water." 

 Moments later the boat arrives at the Akala dock and Miwa begins shuffling along to get off the boat, and then starts heading up the dock and eventually toward a clothing store. Even from the outside, it seemed to have a very islander theme, and looked to sell clothing for both humans and various sorts of Pokemon.

"You should, you should be self-sufficient, no one should be able to order you around, hon," Mirage looked back over her shoulder towards Miwa, speaking slowly--though when Miwa decides to get counter-physical with her--she's not quite sure how to react, at first. Her tail and ears stand up a bit, as the Primarina ruffles her hair and rubs her ears--eyes widening a bit as she blushed a bit--not being used to the contact, apparently, like at all.

"Nnnff... don't you worry how I'd do it, hon," she deflects the question a little, shivering a bit as if she was still trying to process what the Primarina just did. She'd follow along with Miwa of course, once the ferry docked and the passengers disembarked.

"So... this is the place, huh? I actually always wanted a hawaiian shirt, very loud colors--I think it would be a good look for me~" she grins, though also somewhat teasing Miwa a bit.

"Exactly, and I really do want to be. I can live free and be myself now, and I don't want to ever give that up." Miwa answered Mirage's words of encouragement. At the rubbing of Mirage's head with her flipper, the mouse-girl seemed uncomfortable so Miwa stopped and didn't push it further. "Sorry if that was too much." She apologizes before focusing on the clothing store as she makes her way inside, deciding she doesn't want to know how Mirage would get them a room at the most exclusive resort in Alola. "Sure they have that kind of stuff and surfer gear in the window, but they do have other stuff if you know where to look." She says with a grin as she heads through the womens area, past the short skirts and bikini tops, to a corner that was filled with everything from the sorts of things you'd expect a girl to wear on prom night, to some evening gowns that were certainly a bit more on the sultry side.

"That's good, you should be your own person--and not ever let people take it away from you," Mirage walked along with the cool wind from the waterfront buffeting her hair. It felt nice, but she was also temporarily lost in thought as she walked, the words having spurred on some kind of memory--one she wasn't shaken out of until she followed Miwa into this department store--and realized just where they were. Not just beach and surfers gear was right--there was a lot more than just that. Synapses were already firing wildly in her mind as the certain 'eccentrities' and the like she'd already picked up from Miwa were screaming at her.

"Oh, my god~ look at all of this..." Mirage didn't even realize she was starting to hover as she flitted about the store--using her TK to fly, looking a bit like Tinker Belle--if one with large ears and a tail.

Miwa let Mirage do her own thing and look at whatever she wanted to for a moment while she looked around a bit herself and picked out a few things. First she found some pink bows for her hair which pretty well matched the pink stars on her head, not to mention the fins on the upper part of her tail, and also some coral colored starfish hair clips. Moving into the next section, she found some summer dresses that looked nice and began looking through them a moment before glancing back toward Mirage and blinking a bit. "Um, Mirage, you're... kinda floating. Also, what do you think of these?" She asks as she holds the bows and hair clips up to her hair. "Also these?" She continues as she pulls out a few dresses and holds them up with her other flipper. "Any thoughts on what you think would suit me best? I've never actually been clothes shopping I must admit, and usually didn't have much choice in what stage costumes I'd wear for a show."

"What?" Mouse was suddenly distracted from the various evening wear finery--only then realizing she had sort of... wigged out for a second there. That was a bit embarrassing, ahem~ Her booted feet slowly descended to the floor--alighting against it--thankfully before any of the clerks saw.

"Oh, shit--sorry," she seemed to react with a more sheepish grin than deep embarrassment, however. She was more distracted by the large pink bows that Miwa presented, however--moving over to Miwa with a quick walk that was basically a strut.

"Ooh, the color is definitely you--but the large bows, hmm... is it really you?" she stepped behind the Primarina, gesturing to her.

"Ah, the red clips--definitely you," she grinned, her bucked teeth on broad display as she was definitely excited by this. "You weren't able to choose what you were allowed to wear? hmph, that's a crime--she would use her TK to float over a lilac silk kimono-esque robe to the Primarina, catching it and holding it up with a slender furred hand alongside Miwa. It was definitely shiny--and the pinkish/purple color of the robe seemed to match her quite a bit.

"Just sad we can't get tabi and geta for you," she pouted a little, with a smile.

"Maybe smaller bows?" Miwa questions in response to Mirage's reaction to what she picked out as she continues looking. After a moment she pulls out two summer dresses with skirts that would end just beyond the pointy pink fins and longer shimmering transparent fins on her tail. The first dress is white with a pattern of dark blue hibiscus flowers and palm fronds. The second is black with large pink and yellow flowers with a pattern of white palm fronds along with green colored ones as well. "What do you think of these?" She asks, holding them both up to herself by the hangars. Finally getting a look at the silk kimono robe, she grins a bit. "Well, that one is certainly an attention grabber." She says with a chuckle, hanging one of the dresses she picked out briefly as she reaches out to feel the silk with her flipper. "Who are Tabi and Geta?" She asks with a curious tone, looking back up at Mirage.

"Mmm..." Mirage started to study the two and then Miwa with what seemed to look like a studied eye. Really this mostly just the color coordination sense she'd picked up from Miwa. She even put a hand to her chin and rubbed it a bit, before stepping closer.

"Yes to the first, no to the second--I'm not sure black does anything for you dear, and it might make you look like more of a grandma--err, unless you were going for the more... mature and distinguished look," she quickly corrected herself, laughing a little sheepishly, but still with an air of haughtiness that seemed to scream 'primadonna'.

"Ah, no--see, tabi is a kind of sock, and geta are sandals--hrm, maybe I should look into something like this, we could go as a set," she grinned. "Perhaps for tea?" she seemed to like this idea, peering into Miwa's eyes.

It turns out that it was the black one she put down in order to feel the fabric of the kimono, so Miwa nods and leaves it there. She does find some smaller pink bows with thin white trim and clips them to the hanger of the dress she is keeping, along with the starfish ones. At the explanation of what tabi and geta are, she nods and chuckles a bit. "Yeah, I've seen people put sock-like covers on the flippers of water Pokemon, but considering my tail has a frill near the end, I don't know how well that would work, they'd probably need to be specially made, and I don't see sandals working at all...." 

 "So anyway, this lilac kimono thing is for me? I thought you were getting something for yourself." She says in a surprised yet happy tone. "I'd very much enjoy joining you for tea, but then we need to find a kimono for you too!" She says excitedly as she begins looking through for one that she thought would work. A few moments later she pulls out one that is a shimmering light orange, the color of the local bird of paradise flowers which coincidentally, could be seen growing by the windows a the front of the store. "How's this?"

"There we go, something a little more suble, we don't want to distract from your natural colors," Mirage grinned, stepping around the Primarina again to inspect, her own tail flicking along. Of course, it would look somewhat odd to sales people--they weren't seeing the long tail, or any of her mouse features at all--due to the illusion she had cast for everyone but herself and Miwa. So the sight of dresses and hangers rocking back and forth after her tail bumped into them was probably a little... strange. Air current, perhaps?

"Tail socks, huh? I think my world has those, but not just for decorative purposes, aheh," Mirage shook her head, reaching back to grab a handful of her own, showing it to Miwa.

"We wouldn't this lovely thing to be damaged or get too cold, now would we?" she grinned, then her eyes lit up at the flower.

"There we go, that's very much your kind of color too--and so vibrant... it has something... je ne sais quoi about it, yes~" she seems quite delighted by Miwa's choice.

Miwa thinks about the concept a bit more when Mirage mentions protecting her tail from damage. "You know, you might be onto something there, maybe socks for my tail and flippers would help keep my skin from getting roughed up whem I'm walking around on land, since I honestly do a lot more of that than most other Primarina." She then smiles as she sees her friend's reaction to the beautiful flower and the matching kimono robe she had picked out. "You like it? It's called a bird of paradise, they're common around these islands. Hey look, there is even one on the tag!" She says with a laugh, pointing it out to Mirage.

"Mmm... socks, ribbons, maybe some scarves?" Mirage went on a little bit of a tangent there, thinking about Miwa's luxurious tail--then had to shake her head a little, to shake herself out of it a little.

"Hmm... gloves for the flippers, maybe, decorative of course~" she smiled after, then frowned a little.

"Have you always not been able to float? and of course I like it hon, why wouldn't I? It's very much your color," she stepped closer and wound an arm around Miwa's waist briefly, grinning. She was still smiling as she peered down at the tag. Oh man, this stuff was gonna cost a bit, she realized--good thing money was never a problem for people like her. And not just thieves--psychics had a special knack for picking up on sales and deals, to boot.

Miwa would have been more than happy to pay for their little clothes shopping trip, along with everything else she had planned for them to do today, since this was a special day that she wasn't expecting to repeat that often. But if Mirage was going to step up and pay she certainly wouldn't reject the generosity. "Gloves, yes, I should see if I can get some. I wonder if they have anything like that fitted for Primarina, of if I'll have to find someone to make them..." She ponders a moment, then processes that Mirage just asked her if she's always not been able to float. 

 "Wait what? Of course I can float, well, not the same way as you, but I can. I didn't the other day cause I didn't want to push myself after just getting out of the Pokemon Center, but here, let me give you a small scale demonstration." She says before blowing a water bubble about the size of a softball. She then begins to sing softly, using the melody and pitch of her singing to control the movement of the bubble, up down, faster slower. She then pokes it firmly with her nose and it pops. "So, I can make a much bigger, and somewhat more resilient bubble that I can ride in and control in the same way, even take someone else along as a passenger."

"I'm sure some talented tailor that can be... persuaded to do so, ohoho~" Mirage gave a little ominous laugh at that, then seemed to be confused a little, blinking.

"Oh, so you did--well, I should probably sotp floating you around so much--no wonder I didn't notice," she stuck out her tongue a little, her large conical ears flicking back just a little as the Primarina begins to sing--at once entranced by it and also confused--it had a certain ASMR-type quality to it. She shivered a little after Miwa was done singing.

"Aquakinetics...? I like it~" she then smiled, unlacing her arm from around Miwa's waist, stepping around her.

"So, do you want to get these paid for, maybe buy some swimsuits and have some drinks by the beach?" she grins.

Miwa nods, smiling proudly. "It's the signature ability of Primarina, though I like to think I've gone to great lengths to perfect my technique with it. Though I suppose there might be a more combat focused Primarina out there that could possibly show me a few tricks that I haven't thought of. Anyway yes, lets find some fun swimsuits and buy our stuff so we can be on to the next thing. Though the secret place I wanted to take you is even better than the beach, maybe we should go there." She teases as she makes her way over toward the swimwear section.

"I could use a drink anyway myself, I think something simple would be good for that, then we can hit the beach," Mirage grinned as she turned to her mermaid-seal friend and booped her on the nose a bit, before she proceeded to strut off with her to the swimwear section. It was sort of odd to her, for some reason--she hadn't had a friend like this, before--and that was before the superpowers and the erasure. Though she couldn't remmeber very much about the times before that... yeah, this was nice. It made her want to keep it, and it was different than how she felt like things before--she hadn't /liked/ hanging out or talking with folks before.

"You might have to teach me how to swim too, if we decide to go in the water--though I hope they have showers," she smiled, running a hand over herself. White fur and brine would likely merit it.