Chapter 2

The fluffy little dragon looked so cute, cozied up in his bed like that, Lavender decided while she gazed down at him. She was half-tempted to simply climb in and cozy up, but she had big plans that involved not letting her friend laze about sleepy all day. Instead, she stepped over to where she could tickle at his pointed snoot with a pad, making the soft fluff below her scrunch his face up for a few moments and then sneeze! Vanilla blinked awake, looking confused for a few moments before purring when he saw who it was, and trying to close his eyes again. “G-goohd morniing.. Few more minutes…"

Lavender, as impatient as she was, simply had no time for a few more minutes. Instead, she reached under Vanilla with her big mitts and scooped him straight out of bed, prompting a whole bunch of squeaky chirping in protest. “C'mon, fluffbutt! We're gonna be late for when all the stores open. We've been planning this for a week!"

“I know, but.. W-we were up so late, playing games, and.. H-how are you even awake?" Vanilla grumbled as he got lifted over to his living room, set upright on a couch while his friend trotted into the kitchen to grab him some breakfast. “Coffee!" She called back, her maned tail swishing as it disappeared around a corner.

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Some time later, the pair had made it into Lavender's beat up old car, the fluffdragon's eyes bright as they gazed out on the sunny day. He'd protested each moment of getting up earlier but was more than awake now, especially cradling his thermos of berry-flavored tea. He couldn't even help the excited thumping of his tail beneath him as he gazed over to Lavender, peering up at her. “Where're we going first? Can I choose?"

She couldn't help an adoring laugh as she turned into the parking lot, reaching over to affectionately play with his fluffy ears. “Go for it, dork. What're you thinking? Games?"

Vanilla chirped along happily, bobbing his head. “Mhm! There's a new one I wanna see if they have…"

And, hardly a few minutes later, they were already walking out of the game shop with not only a paper bag full of game cartridges but a Pokemon plush to go with it. Lavender admittedly was clueless about games and the rants her friend would go on, but she'd tried to be as supportive as she could, even lifting him up to pick from the higher shelves in the store. Besides, he'd agreed to let it be her turn next, and she wasted no time in tugging him into a nearby skate shop.

“You don't even skate!" Vanilla pointed out with a giggle, prompting a snort back from Lavender. “It's not about /riding/ the skateboard, fluffbutt. It's about looking cool with it. Imagine me walking around with this one over my shoulder…" She tapped with a claw on a board with green rims, purring at the thought. Vanilla just stuck his tongue out in response, nudging at her side and giggling.

Despite how excited Lavender's tail had been swishing the whole time, she managed to walk out empty-pawed, aside from a couple stickers she'd been offered by the worker behind the counter. They got quickly crammed into a pocket as Vanilla took the lead again, eyes already on a candy store.

“Can't you buy candy at any store?" Lavender questioned, gazing between colorful shapes full of sweets from floor to ceiling.

“It's better from here, though!" The fluffdragon chirped back, about to keep rambling before a worker stepped over and interrupted, offering them a sample of some colorful gummies. Vanilla took one and popped it into his muzzle, making him immediately squirm and scrunch his snoot up from how sour it was. Lavender, meanwhile, was doubled over laughing at watching how he danced around, not able to help cackling at her poor fluffy friend's expressions.

After walking out with a bag of hand-chosen sweets, distinctly lacking sours, the pair took a quick bathroom break and then headed to the foodcourt. Both opted for Chinese food, Vanilla happily slurping up some noodles while Lavender tossed pieces of chicken into her muzzle, occasionally stealing from the other's plate and prompting some squeaks and growls.

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With newly full bellies, the pair's excitement turned into a relaxed walk around, although Lavender's tail gave an excited flick on spotting a familiar clothing store. She gently scooped a paw under Vanilla's chin, tilting it up towards the sign, prompting a happy squeak from the dragon below. “Oh! I remember coming here last time, they had fun sweaters. We should pick clothes out for each other!"

Lavender gave a fond laugh at the idea, pinching one of his ears. “Fine, but remember you started this! I'll meet you by the clothing store in fifteen." With a determined nod from both, they each streaked off to separate areas in the store, knowing exactly what they wanted to get the other.

And, fifteen minutes later, the pair almost crashed into each other in front of the changing rooms. Vanilla's soft arms were full of sweaters practically as big as he was, where Lavender had some denim shorts just a bit bigger than her paw. She quickly nabbed one of the dragon's fluffy ears and tugged him into a room, locking it behind them while he squeaked. 

“Can't we, uhm.. Do it separately? I don't know if I-" Vanilla peered at the shorts the lioness had found for him, giving a bit of a flustered chirp at how short they were, but she cut him off with a pad on his snoot. “Nope! I don't want you chickening out and still making me do it. C'mon! Take what you've got on off or I'll do it myself." 

Lavendar had already halfway wriggled out of her shirt while she'd been speaking, leaving no choice for the fluff to do the same, sitting down and carefully sliding his pants over his tail and off. It wasn't as though the pair hadn't seen each other in far more states of undress before - over the past year, Lavender had shown that she knew no shame, from stripping down in front of him after complaining about how warm her fur was on a hot day, or barging into the bathroom to pee while the fluff was showering. To some degree, she /did/ do it to mess with her fluffy gay best friend, but still. With how close they were, something like this was casual at worst, even if Vanilla huffed over it nonetheless.

After a few moments, they stood up in front of each other, Lavender only wearing her jeans and a top and Vanilla only his boxers and an oversized sweater. The lioness's tail still playfully flicked at his waistline, tugging the sweater upwards so it didn't hang down quite so far. “You're going first, fluffbutt. Try these on!" She tossed a pair of particularly short jeanshorts at him, making him squeak in alarm. 

“These barely reach my thigh!" Vanilla complained, holding them up to himself and huffing more. Still, after being met with only an expectant gaze from Lavender when he gazed back, he went to slip them on without further complaint, holding his own sweater up so she could see how they fit. 

“Not bad. Probably get all kinds of tall, handsome dragons chasing after you if you went out like that." She noted, prompting the soft fluff's muzzle to instantly heat up to a pink blush, and him to toss a colorful yellow sweater at her as revenge. Lavender held it up to herself, blinking and then scowling at the flowery design in the center, glaring down at the Vanilla. “Really?"

“Mhm!" He chirped back, sticking his tongue out at her. With a snort, she slipped it on over her head, wriggling into the oversized fabric and struggling for a few moments. Finally, when she had it settled, she blinked down at Vanilla and he peered back… and they both broke out in a fit of giggles and laughter, at just how ridiculous it looked on her. She scooped him up for a tight hug, purring down at him. 

“I'm never wearing this out." She noted, prompting an eager nod from the fluff. “Me neither. They're too tight! I don't know how you wear these all the time… It's squeezing right at my bladder." She tapped him on the muzzle, tail swishing in amusement. “Fashion hurts, yeah? You run off, I'll put these back."

And with that, the pair got changed back into their clothes, mutually satisfied by not purchasing either of the garments. Vanilla, after realizing the bathroom was all the way on the other side of the mall, trotted off, giving Lavender plenty of time to return the clothes and then linger outside the store, waiting for him to return. So long, in fact, she got bored of her phone, glancing around at other patrons and the shops around. One in particular caught her eye, one that she'd never be able to convince Vanilla to go into with her… And, with a playful smirk, she padded over to make a quick purchase.