michael2021

"Hey!! I'm here, and I'm alive--!!" Mead shouted as she entered a rather quaint abode.

"Hmmm? Oh there you are." The voice seemed to have come across, toward the kitchen.

"What do ya mean 'Here I am'? Sheesh, thanks fer carin'…" Mead closed the door shut and slowly stepped into the kitchen where the voice emanated from.

"Come now, I knew where you were, and that you were already being cared for by that Kali…" The voice belonged to another Flygon who, one would say, was covered with a feeling of elegance: jeweled earrings that hung from her short yet curved horns, her body adorned with jewelry, such as the medallion hanging from her chest, and various rings that lined the outer edges of her curved wings… but the most noticeable feature would have to be the body paint that were all over her slender body in intricate patterns. She seemed like a Flygon that was not from Andalusst, or from where Mead lived, for that matter. "Did you kindly ask her for an engagement?"

"Ahhhm… well, I think she was busy…" Mead didn't want to assume that she was turned down for a date, after all, it was not explicitly stated that Kali was not interested. "But, hey! Ya had a talk with her, didn't ya? How was she like??"

"Oh? Hmmm, well…" The Flygon put down something that she was working on and turned around to look at Mead face to face. "I would say that she seemed very young, and didn't have much time to settle into her Flygon body. She's very clumsy, but I would think that her heart is far from it. Overall, she's quite lovely…"

As the Flygon said those words, Mead felt her worry about Kali slowly melt away, reinvigorating her interest in the clumsy Flygon once more. It was as if the slender Flygon had a way to bring relief to many with her own actions… perhaps that is a reason why she calls her Oasis. "Hee hee… aww, ah'm feelin' my heart beating once more! Ahh… I wanna go ask her out again!"

Oasis couldn't help but softly giggle at Mead's infatuation. "Well, since you said she was busy, perhaps you should leave her be for now. Besides, there was something she had you sign…?"

"Oh yeah!! Look at this!!" Mead unfurled a paper that she had in her claws and showed it to Oasis. "I'm an honorary Researcher now! An' that means this apartment's ours now!" A sense of pride beamed from Mead.

"Ah, so that is what she asked for." Oasis clasped her two claws together as she smiled. "Well done, Mead!"

"Khaw haw haw… thanks!!" Mead's ego could not be any bigger.

A whistling sound emanated from behind Oasis. "Oh!! My, I almost forgot about tea." Oasis turned around and looked at the stove that was heating a kettle full of water.

"Say… d'ya think we can get somethin' to eat? My belly's growlin' somethin' fierce!" Mead was primarily hoping that Oasis would have something prepared for dinner… disregarding the fact that she had eaten several berries two hours ago at the Cotton Guard Hospital.

"Ah, I knew I forgot something again." Oasis was busy preparing tea for herself and her smaller Stunky companion. "I'm sorry, but I didn't get anything to eat. In fact, I almost remembered with how my stomach was aching earlier…" She mixed a special blend of tea that had quite an alluring aroma. "Come now, at least fill your belly with this."

"Really? You felt hungry, but you didn't think about gettin' food to eat? Kheh… fine, fine…" Mead grumbled as she walked to a chair by the table to sit on.

As strange as it was, the concept of eating food was, as Oasis once told Mead, 'something that wasn't necessary for many, many years.' In fact, it was only a few weeks ago that Oasis finally began to feel hunger and the need for nourishment, but if it wasn't for Mead saving her from starvation when they first met, she would possibly not be here now. "Hmmm, today's tea is… I think…" Oasis elegantly picked up the appropriately sized teacup and sipped from it's contents. "Ah, yes that's the proper one. This one will surely coddle your heart, Mead."

Mead grumbled. She didn't want hot water to fill belly, she wanted food! Rather, she actually wanted some meat to satiate herself with, but such a desire was practically taboo in Andalusst. "Okay okay…" Mead took the teacup and eagerly took a gulp of the tea. "Hmm…" Surprisingly, it was a pleasant flavor that Mead never expected. While this wouldn't rid Mead of her hunger, it seemed to quench her grumpiness. "It's pretty… great."

"Ah, I'm glad." Oasis continued to slowly sip from her tea. "It is late. After tea, let us go to bed so that we may go to the clothes shoppe tomorrow."

"Oh, shoot!" Mead could not believe that she forgot about that. Especially with the fact that Kali had put in a suggestion for her. If Mead was going to get ever so closer to her heart, she would have to take her suggestion. "Ah thanks, yeah yeah… thanks a lot!" Besides, Mead would also have a few things to show to the clothing shop as well…

"Hmmm, well that was an excellent brew." Oasis finished her tea, as slow as she was imbibing it. "Now, come along Mead. Wouldn't you say you feel tired?"

"Ahh… I don't feel like hay tonight…" It was a lie. Mead was used to sleeping with hay beds, but the fact of the matter was that Mead disliked sleeping alone, since she and her mother and sister always slept together in the same bed.

"Hmmm, I know what you mean. Here…" Oasis walked toward Mead and picked her up to embrace in between her arms. "You shouldn't be afraid to ask me to sleep with you. I wouldn't object!"

"Ahhm... " Mead blushed with a bright red in her cheeks. "Th-thank ya' kindly." Oasis sauntered off to the hay bed in another room and curled up with Mead in her embrace. Although the feel of Oasis's scales was much different than her mother's fur, there was a kind of pleasant feeling to them. This comfort slowly lulled Mead to sleep, and Oasis soon drifted to slumber afterward.

* * *

Morning had arrived, and already Mead and Oasis were up and raring to go. The mood was made much cheerier with the fact that Oasis had awoken two hours earlier than Mead did so she could go out to the markets to gather a jar of Haban Berry preserves and a loaf of bread to make yet another exquisitely delectable meal.

After they ate their light breakfast, the two left together for the clothes shop that Kali had mentioned to them before. Along in Mead's possessions were two articles of clothing that had definitely seen better days…

A bell had cheerfully rung as Mead swung it open to announce the arrival of a potential customer. "Welcome, welcome!" An elegantly pampered Furfrou pranced from behind several racks of colorful clothes in order to meet the two. "How may I help… you?" The Furfrou was used to seeing many exotic Pokemon come and go, all with unique tastes and flavors in styles and choices, but this one was even new to her: A very beautiful Flygon that had a Stunky with her. The Flygon was a sight for her to behold, but the Stunky was quite the opposite."(Ugh)." She knew that Stunky naturally exhume an unpleasant odor, and she did not want to start the day holding back a gag reflex. "(Okay, you can do this. Maybe the lovely Flygon's the one who wants something new…)" The Furfrou regained her composure as she withheld the desire to breathe deeply. "Ahh… I see someone as elegant as you have come to the finest place for clothing. I must say… I would like to know who came up with your look. Fantastic work with the body paint too…"

"Ah…? Oh, my… no no. I am not the one here to peruse your goods.Though I appreciate your compliment, instead, this young one here would like your undivided attention, come now Mead." Oasis stepped back slightly and used her tail to prod Mead from behind to step forward.

"Hello… madam~!" Mead dug into her unkempt clothing pile to pull out a fresh rose. "I see you and yer lovely sheen of fur go to and fro with your beauty~!" Mead did her best to pull of a suave look towards the Furfrou's eyes. "Would ya kindly help a troubled Stunky obtain the clothes to keep a lonely heart from freezing?"

"(Ahh… no… So that's Mead.)" The Furfrou closed her eyes and took a sigh. "Look, my name is Chantelle, and I would prefer if you kept that rose and your… aroma, under control. I've been aware that Kali put an order for a Mead, but I was hoping that I wouldn't have to deal with another Stunky."

"Ah..ahaha…" Mead almost dropped the rose she held out. "B-but miss~! I assure ya', I'm as sweet as honey, and I don't intend to upset anyone with any foul vapors…! Surely ya' noticed by now, haven't ya??"

"(Come to think of it… all I've noticed was a sweet tinge…)" Chantelle realized that Mead was correct, and if she was truly exhuming any offensive odors, she would have smelled with her naturally sensitive Furfrou nose before the two even entered. "My mistake. Come now, Mead, I just need you to come with me to the fitting room so I can measure your size." Chantelle turned around and beckoned Mead with a wag of her tail to follow her.

"C-coming…!" Mead was surprised to see that she already accepted her as a customer. It was common fact that Stunky and Skuntank usually are avoided due to their foul odor, but luckily for her, she was born with a very faint but pleasantly sweet odor. A strange mutation, but nonetheless, Mead can create naturally offensive odors if she wished. For defensive purposes, mind you. "Ah…! Right behind ya', hehe…" Mead scrambled to keep up as she entered the room ahead where Chantelle went into.

"Hmmhmmhmm…" Oasis had a soft giggle, gladdened that Mead was also glad. The store had full of very intricate clothing and designs from all over Parai, but such material wealth did not interest Oasis in the slightest. She would instead close her eyes and meditate until whatever business Mead had was finished.

"Okay now, please stand atop this stool, since you have no problem keeping yourself on your hind legs." Chantelle ordered as she dug around a nearby drawer for measuring tape.

"Okay dokey." Mead put down her ragged garments nearby and then climbed atop of the stool.

"Here we are. I need you to stand up as straight as you can. No slouching!" Chantelle pulled out the aforementioned measuring tape and began to measure the certain dimensions of Mead quickly and efficiently. Arm length… height…width… "(Ah…??)" She brushed up a certain area without notice until it was too late, and had a realization that she intruded a boundary by mistake. "My apologies."

"Khaw haw… it's okay. Ya just tickled me there. It ain't no big deal… unless ya wanted to get frisky? Perhaps we're getting a little too ahead of ourselves, but I sure as heck don't mind~" Mead was more than flattered.

"Just... " Chantelle dropped the measuring tape and stamped a few feet behind her to grab a white coat. "Take this. It's in your size, anyways." She handed the rather plain coat to Mead without bearing to look directly into Mead's face.

"Aww… it's okay. I understand! We can have a few dates later on before we get to the good--" Mead boldly went into uncharted flirting territory.

"Please. What I needed to do is done now. Now, if you'll excuse me…" Chantelle walked out of the room in order to prevent any outbursts from the heavily awkward situation.

"Aw…" Mead had a feeling that she went too far. It was her first time flirting in such a risque manner, but her mother had done it all the time and it usually worked for her. "Well… I guess I better wear this…" She put on the rather drab looking coat on, and it fit snugly. She turned around to face three mirrors positioned for self-assessment. "...um…" While it felt nice, and the feeling of being treated to free clothes was appreciated… "(This just doesn't feel right… Well, I guess I can't look a gift Ponyta in the mouth.)" Mead stepped down from the stool and picked up the garments she brought in with her. "(Maybe soon I can get to wear these again…)"

As soon as Mead stepped out of the room, she was greeted with a stern look from Oasis. "Mead.. when we get home, I'd like to discuss something with you, please."

"Well before that, I need you to sign this, please." Chantelle took advantage of the situation to hand Mead a clipboard that held a paper reading that Mead had picked up her own Researchers Guild garb.

"Uh… Well…" Mead felt a little dejected. She had a feeling she did something wrong, and that Oasis was going to talk to her about this later, not to mention that she blew up a potential date opportunity. "Sure…" Mead took the clipboard and signed the paper without giving it much of a glance. "Here. Oh! Also, could you, uh… take an estimate at how much it would take to repair these?" She handed Chantelle the well-worn accessories that were brought with her. They were a heavily blood-stained green bandana, and a leather western hat that was very cleanly sliced in half.

"Hmm… well, these are salvageable, but I'm afraid these will cost you a good amount of Star Coints to get these repaired and cleaned. Just what on Parai did you do??" Chantelle was eagerly curious, as these impaired accessories would have a story behind their appearance.

"Uh… well… It's a long story but…" Mead nervously giggled. "Well, when I was travellin' with Oasis, we met a pretty rowdy Scyther. It almost got the best of me… which explains my hat. But it got Oasis pretty good. and I had ta' dress up her wound…"

"I'm very grateful that you did that." Oasis' stern look lightened up as she said that from her heart.

"Aw, shuckles. You know anyone would've done that, I just happened to be the one!! Khaw haw…" Mead let out a laugh as she scratched the top of her head.

"Well, I'm surprised. Going by the clothes and your story, you seemed more of an Explorer than a Researcher to me." Chantelle had a feeling that the white coat did not belong to Mead's true desires at all. "But, I won't criticize that decision you have made. Leave these garments with me, and I will send you a bill in the mail about how many Star Coins it will take to repair these."

"Khaw… thanks!!" Mead felt like she had a slight save there, and felt happier that things went her way in the end. "Well, let's get goin', Oasis, I gotta find some proper grub for us to eat!" Mead opened the door to leave the store and Oasis soon followed.

"Yes... but first we must have tea and meditation, so that I can properly tutor you on respect with other people, and…" Oasis's words slowly drifted away as the two of them left the store.

"Well they were certainly… something." Chantelle scoffed and then went to store Mead's clothing to be re-examined and repaired later.