"...Boss, can we get ice cream?"

The Native sighed, pushing her hair out of her face, and threw a hand in the air in an exasperated manner. That twin in particular had been asking non-stop since they had left the school, and was showing no signs of giving up soon.

"No." She answered back tersely, while continuing the text she had been working on. She was supposed to be at an after school function, technically... but had slunk away from it the first chance she got. The teen wasn't much of a fan of forced interactions with people, and most certainly not a fan of other girls her age. Gatherings like that always seemed to split off into big groups of either sex, and since none of her actual friends were willing to stick around it meant she had to wander around somewhere in between on her own.

Again, not a fan.

"....Pleeeeease?"

She stopped walking, dropping her hand and phone down by her side, and threw her head back to sigh deeply at the sky. "Fine!"

The native took stock of where they were currently, spotted down the road from her and bee lined toward it. The faster she got her stupid clone an ice cream the quicker it would shut up. "You get one treat, got it? one!"

Jerking the door to the establishment open, she ushered her twin inside and sidled on up to the counter.

Bailey had lost all sense of time after standing still for so long. His eyes had sort of glazed over as he stared endlessly at one little spot on the wall. Working alone could get rather boring, and when it was slow, he tended to zone out. There was a little crack that was just slightly off centre and...

Oh hey!

There was a noise!

That noise was the bell for the door, which meant he actually had to do work. Ugh.

He glanced up at the clock and grinned a little. So much time had passed since he last looked! It had been, like, ten whole minutes! That meant he only had ten minutes left! Maybe it was his replacement at the door rather than a customer?

Nope, it was a customer.

Or two customers, rather. Two customers who were utterly identical in every sense of the word. Even their clothes were exactly the same! How weird! It was a pair of girls that looked about his age. It was always nice to meet other people his age. He hadn't met that many people at his school yet, and getting to know more people sounded like an excellent idea. 

"What can I get for ya?" Bailey asked the odd pair and leaned over the glass counter with a grin. Even after having been thrown off a little by their appearance, he was still in an excellent mood about getting to go home in ten minutes.

"What can I get for ya?"

The clone shot forward, leaning in and pressing her face against the outside of the glass case. "I want one of everything!"

The Native was one step behind her, reaching out to haul her back up and away from the case. She left a nice little face print on it. "... Sorry, she's slow." She started, attempting to battle away an embarrassed blush at her twin's antics. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if the guy behind the counter was older, or ugly or something. Instead looked to be around her age, had a fabulous grin, and was taaaaall. 

She cleared her throat and turned to her twin, averting her eyes from the cute boy. "You get one, Remember? One flavor." Her twin nodded, bouncing on her toes. Elke released her and she was right back to the glass case, pressing her nose into her. The teen just sighed and stepped up toward the register. 

Meanwhile, the clone was excitedly asking what every since flavor was, hmming and huhing, and then asking again. 

"Pick one!" Elke growled, instantly garnering her clones attention. The twin squeaked and chose some kind of birthday cake concoction finally. Elke sighed. 

"Reaaaally slow."

"Uhh sorry, everything won't fit on one cone," Bailey informed her with a grin. "I can try, but it'll probably be taller than you!" And would likely end up on the floor.

He couldn't help but wear the same goofy expression as he watched the two girls debate. It was clear who was in charge, and where most of the, um, brains ended up between the two. He thought originally that it was supposed to be brains for one and looks for the other, but it seemed that they both received the looks. The one was just a little less fortunate with the brains.

"Good choice!" Bailey informed her after she made her decision. "Though, there are many good ones here. We have free samples, you know," he added nonchalantly, as if that would have no weighting on the girl's decision.

"So... Waffle, chocolate-dipped, sprinkle covered, or sugar cone?" He moved over to the little display of cones where the four types were displayed. Next they could cover the number of scoops as well as any toppings.

"Good choice! Though, there are many good ones here. We have free samples, you know,"

The clone opened her mouth, eyes widening in excitement.

"Nope." Elke muttered to her, squinting at her twin, who snapped her jaws shut a second later and pouted.

Clearing her throat, she pointed to a plain sugar cone. "She'll have one of the sugar con-"

"Aww, but I wanted the one with sprinkles!"

"You don't need the one with sprinkles if you-"

"But he said I could chose!"

Dragging a hand down her face, mostly to hide the furious blush darkening her cheeks, she finally relented. "...Sprinkles it is." Her twin threw her arms in the air and proceeded to do a little dance around in front of the counter.

Elke could only mutely stare at the ceiling, hoping with all her might that it would cave in and kill her where she stood. She cleared her throat again, trying to salvage some composure. "You know, she's not even a real person. I don't know why I put up with this."

"Nice," Bailey nodded to the second twin. He took a sprinkle cone from under the counter and walked over to the flavour of ice cream the second twin had pointed at.

It was fitting; a sprinkle cone with the birthday cake ice cream. The girl had good taste. He continued to grin at her as she danced in front of the glass case. He couldn't really decide which one of them he liked better. The first one was definitely smarter, but the second one had a certain optimism that he could relate to.

"Alright, there you go," he handed the cone to the second girl rang it up in the register.

"You know, she's not even a real person. I don't know why I put up with this."

"What do you mean by that?" Bailey asked curiously and quirked his head at her. That was an odd thing to say, even if it was about a sibling. "I mean, I've heard that twins can be smaller because they share a room 'n all, but you're still both real people!"

He shrugged and looked down at the register. "Anything for yourself?"

"What do you mean by that? I mean, I've heard that twins can be smaller because they share a room 'n all, but you're still both real people!"

Her face turned an odd shade of red and she hastily tried to back peddle. Ignoring for the moment that he had asked her if she wanted anything. "N-no! That's not what I mean! I Meant th--"

".... Ugh... Boss? I don't feel so good..." The clone whimpered, and Elke turned her chin to look at her. She had probably eaten too much of her cone too fast and-

HOLYBALLSSHEWASMELTING

"F@#$%!" She looked like a melting wax figure! Elke shoved the girl away to prevent any of the goop from getting on her clothes, which just so happened to also shove her out of the six foot range Bailey was surrounded by. The twin toppled over, dripping little bits of pink goo everywhere. But she managed to keep a grip on her ice cream! 

Flustered and confused, Elke glanced around the shop warily. Was there another mutant close by? She knew for a fact the clone wasn't even close to expiring! She'd only had it for two hours!

The clone purred from the floor, casually licking her cone as she slowly started to return to normal. The Native looked back to the boy, Bailey if his name tag was anything to go by, and laughed nervously. 

"...Ehehe... um, so what's in those cones anyway?"

What.

The.

$&@%.

Bailey stood with his mouth open as the second girl began to melt. Yes, literally melt. There was pink goop stuff running down her face and all over her skin like a melting candle. Bailey had never seen anything like it, and he had seen some weird stuff in New York.

"What's wrong with her?" He asked with wide eyes. Maybe he was imagining things. Maybe staring at that crack in the wall for so long had finally broken him.

Obviously the first twin saw something amiss too, since she pushed her sister out of the way. The second girl toppled, but held onto her ice cream and recovered. 

After a minute, she started licking her ice cream again and returned to normal. Bailey's top lip had turned upwards at the less-than-appealing scene that he had just watch, but he tried to hide it. Maybe that was supposed to happen.

"Uh," Bailey reached for the container and read off the ingredients list. "Anything that would cause her to... Um... Melt? Or anything else that would make her do that?" Maybe she had a medical condition or something. 

"What's wrong with her?"

The native looked at him and shuffled awkwardly for a moment. "I dunno... maybe she's not stable. Maybe i'm sick or something." She couldn't really remember this ever happening before. It was kinda freaking her out. What is something was wrong with her?! 

"Uh, Anything that would cause her to... Um... Melt? Or anything else that would make her do that?"

She groaned inwardly, her face reddening. Okay, so... bad joke was bad. "Well, i'm allergic to homework and greek food...." She sighed, fishing out her wallet. 

"Look, I'm a mutant." She started, "I make copies of myself. She's one of em." She pointed to the clone, who was busy trying to lick her ice cream up faster than it could melt.

"That's what I meant when I said she wasn't even real." She glanced back again, frowning at her twin. "Though she doesn't usually do that... I don't know what's wrong with her."

"Ah yes, the homework allergy," Bailey nodded sagely. "I've experienced that one myself. Pretty nasty, eh? Can't say I've ever seen someone melt from it though." He tried his hand at continuing the joke as he tried not to picture the pink goo dripping down either of the girls' faces. That was a memory that was probably going to be sticking around for a little while.

He paused with his hand hovering over the register and his face in an 'o' shape. She was a mutant. Everything was so much more clear! And maybe a little more awkward.

Bailey chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck as he felt his face redden. "This is kinda sorta maybe my fault, then."

A week or two ago, he totally would have just ignored this and not mentioned his 'mutation', but after receiving some information from a rather grumpy X-dude, he figured that he owed her the courtesy of an explanation. She had been pretty nice, and seemed confused, after all.

But darn! This is was what, the third time he had almost killed someone just by standing near them?

"See, you're a mutant..." He began awkwardly, abandoning his job of ringing up her order. "And I'm an adapted. Six feet is supposed to be my range. Might want to keep your, uhm, clone, that far away."

He attempted a sheepish grin and looked at the original girl. "Sorry 'bout melting, uh, her. You can have that cone on the house. And one for you if you'd like."

"Ah yes, the homework allergy, I've experienced that one myself. Pretty nasty, eh? Can't say I've ever seen someone melt from it though."

She laughed along, maybe a little too readily, and clasped her hands behind her back. Mentally she pumped a fist in the air in celebration. She'd gotten a joke through! Was she supposed to break out the awful pick up lines now? 'Dang, boy! Is your name wifi? Cuz' i'm feelin a connection!' She snapped out of a second later when he started talking again.

"This is kinda sorta maybe my fault, then. See, you're a mutant... And I'm an adapted. Six feet is supposed to be my range. Might want to keep your, uhm, clone, that far away."

... Adapted? What the %#$& was an adapted? She blinked at him, but nodded anyway. She didn't want to seem like an idiot in front of a cute boy. "Oh... yeah, um... totally. That must be it." She chalked it up to him being some type of weird mutant she'd never encountered before and filed away a note to look into it at a later date.

"Sorry 'bout melting, uh, her. You can have that cone on the house. And one for you if you'd like."

...Speaking of dates....

A sly, devilish grin slithered onto her lips. "You know... I don't really want an ice cream a whole lot, but there is something else you could do for me to make up for nearly melting my sister..." She tucked her wallet back into her pocket and leaned on the counter toward him, looking very much like a hyena closing in on her prey.

"You could take me on a date."

"You could take me on a date."

Usually, that would be the time when Bailey would endlessly ramble on a topic, but at that moment, he was completely at a loss for words. He just stared at the girl for a good minute.

He had never been asked out before. He had never even really been on a real date. Sure, there was the middle school 'dating' thing, where you just walked down the hallway holding hands for a week and then break up because it 'wasn't working', but he had never done anything even remotely resembling what she was asking.

"I uh-" Bailey stammered, unable to figure out what to say in response. It wasn't as if he didn't like the idea of it all, it was just that he was so caught off guard. She was cute and funny and forward, and he was just staring at her.

The little bell above the door saved him. His replacement, a tall woman in her mid-twenties, walked in and nodded to him. He was free to go.

Bailey took his leave and scampered to the back, his face bright red. Finally out of the sightline of the pretty girl(s) still waiting on a response, he could breathe. He sucked in air and glanced around. Bailey ripped off his ugly pastel apron, bowtie and itty bitty hat, and stashed them in his locker for his next shift. He still didn't know what to say!

He grabbed his bag and relocated to the washroom, attempting to delay his response. There, he changed back into his own jeans and t-shirt, and changed his boring white socks to his own, much better pugs not drugs socks.

Once he was back in his own clothes, he could think a little more clearly. Emphasis on the 'little'. 

He opened the door to the main restaurant and glanced at the state of the girl, who he realized that he didn't actually have a name for. 

"I uh-"

She squinted at him, bracing herself on the counter as he struggled for an answer. She was torn between backing off a little, or pressing forward on the matter harder. If he was even slightly thrown off by it, she was wondering just how easy to control he was. Was he like the rest of the boys she knew?

Ding!Din-ding!

The door opened behind her and she turned, momentarily distracted. A woman walked in, nodded, and started to head behind the counter... before she spotted the girl on the floor eating ice cream and surrounded by gloops of pink mystery stuff.

Elke turned away, back toward Bailey, just as he skirted into the back and vanished. "H-hey!" She was tempted to follow after him, but as it turned out the other woman appeared to work there. She was muttering to herself as she moved about setting up wet floor signs around her clone.

With a huff, Elke crossed her arms and stepped away from the counter, falling back to lurk by the front door for an answer. Her clone had gotten up with her, nearly finished with her treat at that point.

The girl was still there. She was just standing there by the door like she was waiting for something.

She was waiting for something, he realized. She was waiting for him.

He seemed frozen in place, unsure of what to do with himself. Did he want to go out with her? Kinda, yeah, but he didn't even know her, or where they would go! Besides, he had just been told in school to not go off with strangers! Even if they were cute girls his age...

He stared at the girl and he clone for a few more seconds as he weighed his options. He could:

a) Go and tell the girl that he didn't want to go out with her.
b) Go and tell the girl that he did want to go out with her.
c) Take the back exit.

Needless to say, Bailey chose option c. The door to the staffroom swung wildly behind him as he raced to the back exit and made a break for it. Confrontation avoided.

She waited for a few moments while watching un-apologetically as the new woman set about cleaning the floor, with her foot tapping impatiently, and eyeballing her phone every few seconds. He was taking forever! Finally, her impatience won out and the Native left her perch, leaving her clone behind, and stormed into the back get an answer from him one way or another.

The back area was empty.

She spotted a back door an swore colorfully and tore after him. He must have ducked out the back at some point, and she'd been standing up at the front like an idiot! The alley behind the store was empty, save for a few rats that fled in terror from the noise of the door banging open. Her face screwed up, and she lifted two fingers to her lips and belted out a loud, shrill whistle that echoed through the alley.

Activating her power, she popped out two more duplicates just as the third (with an ice cream and sprinkle smeared face) rounded the corner and joined them. The Native glanced at them, leaning into give a quick description.

"Find him." She was determined, and unaware that she was probably tip-toeing into something illegal in her pursuit of the boy. "When you do, signal back with the whistle. We will all meet up after."

All four of them nodded, and split up. Elke watched as two ran one way, while she and the last clone turned in the opposite direction. She'd started using the whistling as a way to keep track of them when she was out... it was a low key but effective tactic in her opinion. Not many people could whistle the way she could.

With a determined frown etched onto her face, the teen took off at a sprint and turned in a different direction then her clones had gone. Between the four of them she hoped that they had a good chance of hunting him down.