Tses felt like a puppy waiting for the girl, and she was fighting internal turmoil. On the one hand, she sort of liked how the fabric felt on her. On the other, she felt like she was standing in the middle of the store nude. She didn't know how the girl could see the scars as pretty, or even be excited to dress her up. She was the ugliest barbie doll she'd ever seen. At least, that was what she thought.

Her hair fell down towards her shoulders, and she ruffled it with her fingertips, trying to get rid of the ponytail lump she worried she had. Then she was a bit bewildered when Chrys grabbed the shawl and handed it to her. It seemed a strangely nice gesture for someone so twisted. Feeling grateful, Tses gave a smile; a rare action from her, and put it across her shoulders.

"Thanks. That helps." She admitted, adjusting the fabric so it hung nicely. Her posture seemed to pick up a little bit, and she almost seemed to look as 'club ready' as Chrys seemed to be trying to make her. She did an obligatory 'spin' to show of the back for her companion. She liked the combination of black and red: it was intense, kind of like her. "It's not as awful as I expected." She said, returning to that almost 'impossible to please' manner.

The girl placed the shawl over her shoulders, and it really pulled the outfit together. The colors emboldened each other, and complimented her light skin. She was red, black, and white, and it turned the tough-looking girl into something almost alluring.

The girl performed a little spin, which amused Chrys, but she was still downplaying herself. Chrys flicked her own cheek with her index finger to share the minute scolding with Tess. "Quit it. When you get rid of the grundgy look you have going on, you're actually a pretty doll to play with." Chrys probably would have gotten bored if Tess did not wear the selected outfits so well.

Chrys led the girl back to the dressing room, picking a blue camisole off the rack along the way. "Okay, I don't think I have to keep pushing you in." Instead, Chrys simply opened the door to the dressing room and waited for Tess to take her place once more.

Tses flinched as Chrys flicked her own face, and it left the blond mutant rubbing her cheek irritably. The shared sensation was definitely getting old, but getting dressed up wasn't as miserable as she expected. As she was scolded, she wanted to stick her tongue out, but she resisted considering the comment was an offhanded compliment. "Give me a break! I don't exactly 'dress up' on a daily basis. I don't even know how to wear half of these clothes." It came out as more of a whine than she would have liked, especially since she was trying to feign disinterest. But in a way, this was just embarrassing. After all, what girl didn't know how to wear a dress? She didn't... but she was actually starting to try to participate in this nightmarish dress up game. the pride she was trying to save by not playing along was being replaced by the pride she was trying to save by proving she could do this. Maybe she was the pauper in this princess game: how in the world could this girl expect her to pull of the whole 'tiara' class.

"You don't even want to see what'll happen if I try wearing heels with this..." She muttered as she walked obediently into the dressing room, steps muffled by her socks and hands pushing her hair out of her face. All of this for a pair of earrings... she must have an inner diva somewhere in her mind.

Chrys chuckled at the comment about the heels. "That's a dancing dress, so you could probably get away with flats. Not in this next one though."

The moment the door made its signature click, Chrys grabbed the last piece of clothing: a dress certainly meant for a higher class of event than Tess was accustomed to. It was probably for events Tess would have never planned on getting near, but life was full of surprises. "Just start changing, I'll be right back!"

Inspiration struck, and Chrys was on a mission. Returning to the floor, she found three nice shawls; red, black, and white. The color scheme was working so far, so why mess with a winning strategy? Atop the shoulder-wear, she realized that Tess had a neurotic need to cover up her wrists, and there were prettier ways to do so for a formal event. After a quick scan, Chrys found a pair of long black gloves that would go with the dress perfectly.

Bringing the spoils of her search to the door, she considered throwing them over, but it occurred to her that the dress might be easier to get into with help. Despite feeling the familiar air on her stomach, Chrys (with the social tact only she could claim) turned the key in the lock and barged into the changing room. "I have more things to go with the dress!"

When her jail was secured, Tses started undressing, slightly pacified for now as she set the dress and shawl on the pile on the bench. She doubted there would ever be a time she'd wear it, but she wasn't going to tell Chrys that; at least, not so long as they were connected by this strange twisted bond. Then again, who knew? Maybe some day she would try on the deplorable outfit, and try to find her feminine side. That was assuming she had a feminine side, that is.... somewhere underneath this punk/tomboy image she had going.

She just resigned to the fact she was going to have to deal with this, and make it as painless (literally and figuratively) as possible, when the next object invaded the room. She slowly reached for it, holding up the slinky fabric object with a sort of disgusted fascination. It was horrifying, yet strangely beautiful at the same time, and she both wanted to put it on and wanted to pretend she never saw it. The black fabric was almost as soft as the last one, so she was sure it would feel nice. But the emotional state it would put her in was also to be considered.

In her moment of debate she was left standing in her leggings and bra, skin bare to the cold air, when the door suddenly came flying open and Tses leap backwards like a cat that got it's tail stepped on. Holding the dress up like a shield, her face turning scarlet, she yelled at the female intruder, and snarled with irritation. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" She sputtered, backed as far into the corner as she could, butt flat against the wall so the cold metal pressed into her back. "Why didn't you just put them under the door!" She snapped, and gnashed her teeth irritably. She felt like slapping the girl, but she realized doing so would be like slapping herself, and that just pissed her off more.

So Tess did not respond very well to Chrys's invasion, which was rather rude considering Chrys was actually taking Tess's personal preferences into account when dressing her! Obviously the girls was a little shy, so Chrys let the aggression slide. It was not that weird for a girl to see her dolls without clothes when playing dress-up, so Chrys thought nothing of it.

"I figured I'd check to see if you needed help with your dress--my, you're actually a pretty little thing under all those clothes, huh?" With even a touch of TLC, Tess could be something pretty impressive. The thought of making the poor girl an ongoing project was gaining some steam with her.

Tess was so busy turtling up, she seemed less aware of her surroundings. A fun idea crossed Chrys's mind, and as was typical of her, she quickly decided to follow through with it. "So I guess you are feeling fine about your ability to get dressed, and my my are you touchy about being seen naked." As Chrys spoke, she picked up the clothing Tess had already tried. Amidst the jeans and dress, she also snuck a few other things into the pile: Tess's shirt and undershirt. She really wanted to swipe the boots, but it would have been too noticeable. "I'll be waiting outside then, grumpy no-pants."

Once outside the room, Chrys placed the new purchases in a neat pile, and hid the stolen clothes under the neat pile. She would continue with her plan after examining the dress on her dolly; no sense in rushing and making a poor purchase.

Tses didn't care what the girl would do, there was no way she was going to stand there half naked while being gawked at by a complete stranger. She felt relieved when the door finally shut, and sighed, finally letting her arms drop with the dress lightly brushing the ground. Before Chrys decided to come back, she wiggled her way into the black material, and straightened out the wrinkles before looking in the mirror. After being spotted in nothing but her 'underthings', this dress was feeling that much more modest, although still unacceptable for public display.

It was very low cut, and she tried to give it a tug to cover more of her top, but it was not going any higher. She always hated things that showed off her skin, but at least the outfit didn't make them stand out too badly, and the material fit her figure nicely. Her skin was pale and she probably needed a tan to wear something like this, and she traced one of the longer scars just below her collarbone. Smaller scars scattered it, working their way across her shoulders and down to her hands, and she looked around for something to cover them up with.

On the bench were the three shawls Chrys had brought in, and she moved at picked up the white one, and slipped it across her shoulders. It didn't look too bad, she decided, and she unwrapped the bands from her hands, laying them on the bench before putting the gloves on. The soft material covered her well, but it felt odd against her skin compared to the tighter material she usually used to protect her knuckles and skin. For curiosities sake, she made a tiny energy orb in her hands that disappeared with a barely noticeable fwoosh. It was enough for her. If she could use her powers in the dumb things, they would be ok for this dumb dressing game.

Chrys was patiently waiting outside the door, or at the very least what passed for patient with her. There was toe tapping and a few disgruntled sighs, but those could mainly be attributed to how excited she was for her great new idea.

Once Chrys could feel the soft clothy presence of a dress, a shawl and gloves on her skin, she was willing to believe she was once again granted visitation rights. Tess was dawdling, and Chrys was enjoying herself too much for waiting, so she keyed back into the changing room.

The girl looked passable! Sure, she was pale as a ghost, but some people found light skin tones appealing, and even if that was not the case, there were ways around it. "Not bad. Could probably use some make-up, but this would certainly be acceptable if I ever needed to call on you." Everyone kept questions to a minimum when a young lady was accompanied by another young lady at a high-class event.

"Okay that's the last outfit I'll be outside paying good luck!" It was a tragic run-on sentence, that just barely beat out the door closing once more and Chrys pretty much skipping over to the neat clothing piles.

She had to act quickly, before Tess could react and ruin her fun. Chrys ran over to the counter, placing the clothing down. "Hi, I need to check out quickly; we're running late and I have to get out to the care to get into my dress. My friend'll just have to wear hers out. It's one of those--" She pointed to the spot where Chrys pulled the dress from. There was no reason for her to be lying; it was one of the most expensive things in the store. "And there was a shawl and a set of those gloves, too."

The cashier seemed confused, but Chrys pressed the issue one more time. "Please, if we don't get going, one of us might get fired." Chrys clasped her hands together pleadingly, with her elbows pressing inward just enough to create as much cleavage as her modest chest could muster.

The man was hesitant, but he started ringing out the purchases and Chrys hastily placed them in bags. She handed over her card and he swiped it at a similar pace. Listening in for what she was sure would be an opening changing room door, Chrys took the bags and thanked the young man relentlessly as she backpedaled out of the store.

With the bags in hand containing the new purchases and all of Tess's tops, Chrys jogged her way to the food court, approaching the ice cream shoppe counter. Something cold and sweet sounded perfect to her.

Tses shouldn't have been surprised when Chrys barged in again. It was like it was the girls self-given talent to make Tses as miserable as possible, like some twisted game for her to entertain herself with. Since the blond-haired mutant was fully dressed, she didn't freak out this time, but she did manage a slightly annoyed frown, before the girl did a quick look over her which apparently she approved of. Tses was a little glad she wasn't bad looking enough for the girl to dismiss her, a slight boost to her self confidence, but at the words of 'make up' and 'call upon you', Tses felt the color rush from her face. That made it sound as if this escapade might continue at a later date: and idea she was NOT thrilled about.

"Call up--" Her question never made it out as the other girl did a quick dash, and left Tses behind, standing in the long black number. Shaking her head, she turned, and started looking for her clothes to change into. She found her skirt, shorts, and arm bands, but her shirts... they seemed to have gone AWOL. Frowning slightly, Tses opened the door and stuck her head out, looking for Chrys to warn her she accidentally picked up the objects. But there was no Chrys to be seen.

"You... gotta be kidding me." Tses felt herself saying softly, as dread sank down on her. She shut the door hastily behind her, and flattened her back against the wall, panic threatening to rise. She took off the gloves, tossing them with the rest of her stuff, then pulled the shawl tighter around her to cover as much skin as possible. She put the shorts on under the dress, then put her hair back into a ponytail. While it didn't make her look any better, it certainly made her feel like she was being punished rather than trying to be a girly girl.

Quickly putting on her boots, and grabbing the rest of her clothing, she glance in the mirror. She looked like someone threw a prison inmate into a dress and declared they were taking her to prom. She was by no means ready to go in public like this. Strings of profanity ran through her mind, and she tried to think of something else she could do, but the longer she considered, the further she figured Chrys was getting away. With one more curse, she darted out of the changing room, and rushed to the front counter.

"My friend? Have you seen her?" Tses blurted out, and the man pointed a finger out the door.

"She already explained the situation, she went to the car to get her own dress and paid for yours already. Hopefully you have some shoes in there as well..." He glanced down at her footwear, and she growled before racing out the door and into the busy mall. A few people glanced her way, but she tried hard to ignore them with the color burning in her cheeks, and combat boots clicking on the tiles of the mall floor. After a short glance, they quickly got out of her way. Rather than looking like a pretty prom date, she looked like a shadow out of hell ready to take out the first person who made the wrong remark. With the scars on her arms visible, it probably made the appearance that much more intimidating as she spotted a rather familiar looking figure in the distance of the food court.

"Here Chrys Chrys Chrys... you and I are going to have a talk..." She growled low, and started in that direction.

It certainly did not take long for Tess to emerge from the store, and it subsequently took no time after that for Tess to spot Chrys waiting at the ice cream counter. Her presence in the foyer was certainly noticed as pedestrian eyes turned to catch a glimpse of a pretty but very overdressed blonde storming through the mall.

It was apparent in her face that Tess did not find the same degree of humor in Chrys's prank as the Voodoo Girl herself. Additionally, though Tess would not know it, Chrys had walked herself out of range by going to the food court, cutting off the bond between the two. If Tess noticed the change, there could be some rude retributions in Chrys's future, so she would have to begin wrapping up their day at the mall.

Noticing a napkin dispenser, Chrys pulled a pen from her purse and wrote her phone number down. The cashier seemed hopeful, but Chrys quickly shook her head and bluntly replied, "Nope, it's for the girl in the dress. Nice try, though." Chrys dropped the napkin into the bag containing the jeans, camisole and stolen tops.

The two cones were handed to Chrys, one in each hand with the bags dangling from her arms. She approached Tess and before her new friend could say anything (or throw a punch, which was just as likely,) she asked, "Strawberry or Chocolate?"

As Tses approached Chrys, she had several ideas of what she wanted to do to the highly decorated pain in her butt. She knew it may backfire on her, but anything would be worth a good slap across the girl's face. The distant figure was in her crosshairs, and she shoved her way past shoppers oblivious to any trouble she caused. This was personal now, and no one took her clothes while she had a say in it.

In her head, her thoughts were racing. She was dumb to let this go so far, and she was furious now. She worked her way through some possibilities she could execute to make Chrys pay for what she did, and was just about to act on one of them, when the girl held out the ice cream cones for her to choose one. Infuriated still, Tses felt her face pull into a snarky grin. She wasn't sure if this was a poisoned apple, or a peace offering, but either way she wasn't taking the bait.

"I'm not sure I'm exactly appropriately dressed for soft serve dairy." She replied darkly, and crossed her arms, stopping just short of Chrys. She nodded her head towards the bags, and put on her most 'no nonsense' face. "I want my clothes Chrys. Now."

Part of her wondered what it would feel like to be on the receiving end of one of her explosive orbs. She knew they gave a punch, but didn't know if it would feel like getting hit by a large gust of wind or a fist. It seemed more logical than actually trying to hit the girl. At least the explosives wouldn't cause any real permanent damage, right?

Tess was an image of beautiful rage, which was high on the list of beautiful embodiments of emotional states. It was an amusing sight, and would be more so if Tess was not clearly considering harming her, which would ruin the leverage Tess assumed Chrys still had.

"That's absurd. There is no inappropriate clothing for ice cream." She still remembered commanding a limo driver to pull through a Wendy's drive thru for a chocolate frosty. Remembering the treat, the craving for chocolate set in. "Too late." Chrys licked the ice cream, savoring the smooth chocolate taste. "Hope you like strawberry."

If Chrys did not comply with Tess's demands, it was likely she would find self-harm as an acceptable sacrifice. Apparently to some, Chrys was "difficult to deal with," whatever that meant. "Fine fine, don't be such a grump." She extended the two bags of clothes with the same arm that was holding the strawberry ice cream. "Everything's in there; old clothes and new," she assured with a smile.

Tses didn't move until the two bags were held out, and then she snatched ice cream and clothing in one go. She stuck her tongue out at Chrys, then took a lick of the ice cream with a glare. "I was going to pick strawberry anyway!" She huffed, but she seemed slightly pacified by the desert. It was actually a very good ice cream cone; then again, with the girl's classy tastes, she doubted she would have settled for something too boring. Or would she? Tses realized she knew very little about this strange girl, other than she had a lot of money, she seemed to be incredibly spoiled, and she seemed borderline bi-polar at times. Maybe it was just an act, or maybe she was just as psychotic as Tses thought. Either way, it was a long day, and she was just about done.

"Can I leave now? I really don't want to keep prowling around the mall in this." Tses said, trying to keep her composure. Secretly, she was trying to think of some way to attack Chrys with an ice cream cone. Maybe that was the sneaky reason for giving her the desert. Unless she wanted to loose her treat, she would be limited to kicking, and she couldn't do that very well in the silky black number.

"And I wouldn't be a grump if you weren't so... so... spoiled." Tses snapped, giving one more glare at her companion to prove she hadn't forgiven her for this incident.

Chrys was paying partial attention to Tess, who was comparably interesting to the ice cream cone she was currently enjoying. It was something about wanting the strawberry ice cream and wanting to leave. Chrys had no idea why Tess was sounding so defensive if she wanted the Strawberry, but she did get the disgruntled request to leave. Chrys was already planning to release Tess from her custody, so that would not be a huge issue either.

And then Tess called Chrys spoiled, which was not the first time Chrys faced the accusation in her life. She understood she was spoiled, and in her eyes it was well-deserved. She was a princess, and princesses were spoiled with whatever they wanted. Tess would understand if she were a princess.

But hey, if anything, Chrys was making Tess a princess in training. It involved lots of polishing, but she was willing to bet Tess could be a success story; she already had selfishness and mischief going for her, so all she needed was some class and a sense of entitlement.

"Oh fine, we're done." Her non-ice cream nomming arm now free of bags, Chrys was able to pull the tiara from her brunette crown and place it loosely on Tess's head. "You were amusing and I truly enjoyed the way you hurt that guy. Thank you."

Tses was a little speechless, which was something rather hard to accomplish. She was so startled she didn't even reach up to remove the tiara, which was probably good because it would have likely insulted her new 'acquaintance'. A camera could capture a thousand words on her slightly bewildered face; her tongue still halfway to her ice cream cone, the formal dress, the combat boots, and the tiara perched on top of it all. Then she gave the cone a final lick, and gave a small shrug of her shoulders, trying to compose herself. "Thanks... I think. I'm going to go try and recover some of my dignity now. I will see you... maybe. Not likely." She took a deep breathe, and then started scurrying towards the malls exit. A few people stared at her on the way out, but she was so far out of her element at this point, it didn't matter. She was like a shaved poodle: impossible to recognize, but still noticeable enough to laugh at.

A few blocks away, Tses finally got her head together enough to sneak into a fast food restaurant's bathroom. After momentarily backpedaling at the sight of herself in the mirror, she cowered in the biggest stall and changed into her normal attire. Afterwards, she threw all her new clothing in one bag, tiara on top, and noticed a small piece of paper tangled in the fabric. Rolling her eyes, she moved to dump the whole bag in the trashcan, but a store employee walked in before she could; after exchanging glances (the employees rather befuddled one, and Tses' enraged expression), Tses just tossed the thoughts aside and started the walk home, bags in hand.

Back at her apartment, she shoved everything into a drawer, and closed it up hoping to never relive the experience again. The whole day had been a train wreck, and all for a single pair of earrings.. With a little smile, she reached into her pocket to retrieve her final prize...

....but her hands came up empty.

....what the crap....

With a growl of rage, she prowled back out of the apartment, halfway across town and back to the restaurant, where she retrieved her jewelry from a rather terrified worker innocently cleaning the bathroom. With a few nasty words and a hasty exit, she managed to escape with the silver accessory that was earning a siren's reputation. Then, after several hours soaking them in cleaning solution, she finally settled down with her ears perfectly adorned. Maybe it was worth it in the end.

After all, diamonds are a girl's best friend.