Kalos appeared again, back in her overalls, and intent on telling the woman off.

>>"Clothes should not be make people low! People are... they should be... I'm sorry. I'm very, very sorry."

"It's okay" Maya put an arm around her shoulder. She was going to protect the sweet coral kid from any harm, including weird retail people. And it wasn't like she was wrong about the clothes. She was totally right. No piece of clothing should make anyone less than.

>>"I am sorry too. It is a culture thing and difficult for those that are free to understand. We don't sell short sari. Only long, you see? No one is low who leaves my shop."

Well, at least the woman caught on enough to apologize too. It had been a miscommunication. Maya took the bag with the clothes and the shoes.

>>"Clothes are difficult."

"They are." Maya chuckled as they walked out of the shop. It had not been a complete success, but also not a complete disaster. "Some people are better at not judging others by their clothes than... other people." she sighed "Alright, where next?"

Hero sister Maya pulled Kalos into a kind of hug. It was good. A show of solidarity against the evils of clothing. The lady handed them their bag and Kalos was still kind of mad about it. Well, mad-sad. Mad-sad was a thing, right?

Where next was a good question. Kalos didn't exactly feel like shopping anymore.

"Let's go see the headless children. I think I see short clothes last time." But she didn't have to sound happy about it.

Actually, when they got close, she was able to see some things she liked, now that she knew to look past the headless automatons. She was happy to flit from table to table and look at the clothes that were like the clothes she saw everywhere. They were the same, expect bright colors and small enough! Mostly she was drawn to shorts and overlarge sweatshirts. Sometimes skirts, if they weren't too boring. She found unicorns and rainbows and an octopus and a weird looking cartoon rat with a bow on her ear, but mostly Kalos loved the solid blocks of color, stripes, and polka dots.

She dropped her entire pile of clothes to try on when she saw a shirt covered in rainbow sequins. When she ran her fingers over the rainbow, the stars changed color to be completely pink.

Witchcraft!

"Whaaaaat is thiiiis?" It was clear by her tone that she had found it. The end all be all sweatshirt. Kalos' holy grail.

Okay, so they had shoes and a pretty yet questionably useful dress. That was not going to make a wardrobe for Kalos, as much as she loved them. Maya looked around, wondering where to go next, but ultimately left the decision up to the coral girl.

>>"Let's go see the headless children. I think I see short clothes last time."

"Oookay" the mirrorwalker smirked, and they walked back to the 'headless children' together. Kalos moved around, examining colors and designs with critical eyes. Maya had to give it to her, she knew what she wanted and what she did not want. She was not going to accept outfits solely based on functionality.

And then she found the rainbow shirt.

>>"Whaaaaat is thiiiis?"

Maya laughed at the reaction. Kalos seemed to have found the Holy Grail. She poked at the color-changing sequins in awe.

"Um... they are called sequins?" she ventured, still chuckling "Do you like them?"

Smoothing her hand over the sequins made for an interesting experience. She didn't feel through her coral fingers. Coral was just like bone. But she did feel the flick, flick, flick sensation of each scale tapping her fingers. Were they scales? They looked like fish scales.

> "Um... they are called sequins?"

"Seeeequins." She managed to take the sweatshirt down from the hangar while still petting it.

Did she like them? "I love them. Are sequins alive?" They didn't seem alive, but then coral had a way of not seeming alive when it wasn't and Kalos was plenty alive. With this and her gold shoes, she was sure she would need no other clothing.

Kalos would not stop petting the shirt. She was completely in awe. Maya chuckled at the site; seeing someone appreciate small everyday things with such wonder was kind of amazing. She had a suspicion that some people would turn Kalos into a lucrative business of inspirational posters...

>>"Seeeequins. I love them. Are sequins alive?"

"No" Maya laughed, shaking her head "They are just... um, tiny pieces of plastic, I guess, sewn onto the shirt. You want one?" she asked, nodding at the shirt. It seemed comfortable enough, and they had it in Kalos' strange size, give or take."

Did she want one? Yes. Very, very much so yes. But she couldn't say that. Not straight out. "I- I think it might fit. It might look nice. I wouldn't mind petting it all of everyday." Fortunately, her new sister got the message and they went to the register with the sweatshirt as well as some of the things from the pile she'd gathered. It made Kalos feel better to put some of them back. It made her feel better to hold the sweater once they had exited the store.

"Can I wear it today?"

>>"I- I think it might fit. It might look nice. I wouldn't mind petting it all of everyday."

It did fit, and it did look nice. Kalos did not ask for the sweater, though, even though Maya could see how much she wanted it. She was shy about wanting, and shy about asking, or maybe she did not know how to either. But she didn't need to, not yet. Maya walked the coral girl to the counter, and bought a healthy amount of new clothes for her. She knew she would be happy with the sequins.

>>"Can I wear it today?"

"Yes, you can" Maya nodded as they walked out of the store, and she stopped to fish the sweater out of the bag. Kalos could wear it on top of her shirt. "Should we keep looking at things? Are you hungry?"

"There are too many things that you have bought already. I cannot let you buy more, my sister Maya." New things! For her! Kalos pulled the sweater close to her cheek and hugged it before tugging it over her head. It got caught and one prong from her crown went clattering to the floor, but she did manage to get it on.

And it was the best. thing. ever.

Kalos tugged the hem down to just above the top of her shorts hem and felt the need to swish back and forth and feel how soft it was on the inside. She didn't feel the inside before. Only just the plastic sequin scales. A little hooooo sound of excitement escaped involuntarily.

"This is my favorite." It would come off for baths and never again, Kalos decided.

Maya watched Kalos hesitate. Technically, they had enough clothes that fit her to hold them over till she worked up the courage for shopping again. And there was definitely nothing that was going to top the sequin sweater today. Or this week. Kalos put it on with such enthusiasm that she even broke a piece of coral off. Maya picked it up.

>>"There are too many things that you have bought already. I cannot let you buy more, my sister Maya."

"Food it is then" Maya smiled.

>>"This is my favorite."

It was good to see Kalos happy. Maya smiled and put an arm around her shoulder. She held up the coral piece.

"Are you going to miss this? It doesn't hurt, does it?"

Kalos was collected into a walking hug that made her blush. Her sister was so casual with her love. Kalos hoped that everyone understood that her sister was as awesome as sequins.

She didn't think twice for the loss of a coral spire until her sister held it up for her. Kalos pat at her scalp and found which one it had been. Not her favorite one. Good.

"It has no hurt. See?" She had to stop walking in order to concentrate on the right spot. A little light blue tentacle, thinner than a pencil, poked from the broken prong of her coral crown. It reached around limply with the tiny white pad waving in the air before it receded back into the calcified structure she wore on her scalp. It was clearly not developed or strop enough to grip or lift. It was almost like an antennae.

Kalos let out the breath she'd held in concentration and let herself start walking again toward the most delicious smells. "I can stink people so watch out! They are like baby fingers." Kalos waggled her fingers with their coral caps and had to go chasing after one when it dropped and got accidentally kicked across the floor. Her fingers were a stronger blue between the covers, the anemone-like tentacles were also much thicker and—

> "Gross!"

Just as she was reaching her finger someone had stepped on the tip of it, freaked out at the crunch, and kicked it away.

"My finger!" Kalos gave chase again.

Maya was still not entirely clear on how the coral nature of Kalos functioned as a mutation. She did not seem hurt or in pain with the lost bit, but it was still strange to have a piece of her just broken off in the middle of a mall. Technically, it was like losing some hair... but Maya was not sure what to do with that. She watched in fascination as the tiny blue tentacle appeared.

>>"It has no hurt. See? I can stink people so watch out! They are like baby fingers."

She took a piece of her finger off next. It was like something straight out of the Mary Poppins books... Before Maya could react, Kalos dropped the piece, and went chasing after it while some people stopped to watch.

>>"My finger!"

"Kalos!" Maya darted after the girl, managing to catch up just as the piece stopped sliding on the floor. Someone was yelling in disgust, and Maya whipped around to face them down. "Oh, f*** get over it. I have seen worse at the joke shop one floor down. Be a goddamn adult."

At the City Wok, free bourbon chicken nuggets were drawing a crowd. Kalos' partially crushed finger tip slid to a stop just shy of the counter where so many good smells were coming from.

The little coral girl turned and slipped between people, touching as few of them as possible and still managing to get jostled. She all but collapsed on her fingertip and tried to fit it back into place right away. It broke into many large pieces. That was okay. She could grow more. But when she looked up and saw only strangers, her eyes began to prickle with tears.

> "Are you okay, sweety?"

"Be a goddamn adult." Kalos echoed whatever her sister had said because she didn't know how else to respond. She just wanted her sister. And maybe some of that free chicken.

The teen making disgusted sounds shut up as Maya snapped at her, and then muttered as she walked away. Kalos was crouching on the ground, and people were reacting with a disturbing mix of disgust, amusement, and pity. At least one lady tried to make sure the coral child was okay.

>>"Be a goddamn adult."

"AAaaall right that's it, show's over people" Maya sighed, scooping Kalos up and away from the gathering crowd "You all act like you've never seen a mutant kid before. Shoo."

The lady, relieved that there was at least a semi-responsible adult taking care of the kid, nodded at Maya and went her way. Maya walked Kalos over to the nearest bench down the hallway, before she set her down to make sure she was okay.

"Let me see your finger, kiddo. Does it hurt?"

She was defended and picked up and saved by her hero of a sister-brother. It was too late for her finger, but Kalos kept it wrapped up in her hand just in case it wasn't. Kalos was pleased, incredibly pleased. And it was probably the smile on her face that made people offended as they made their exit from the limelight. What made it all so much better was the fact that Kalos had on a nice sweater. Kalos played with the sequins all the way until Maya sister set her down at a table.

> "Let me see your finger, kiddo. Does it hurt?"

"No. It has the same. It's just the outside." Kalos opened her hand to reveal the crushed bits. There was going to be no chance of putting this finger piece back together. It was done for, but at least it wasn't a very big piece. "It's just the top. See?" Kalos held up her hands and it just appeared as if one finger was missing the bit beyond the top joint. "I grow more every day. I just have to break off and rub to smooth or otherwise it scratches." She was already feeling around her crown for a suitible replacement.

Maya checked Kalos over. People muttered in the distance, but she could always just yell at them some more if they did not leave them alone. For now, her priority was to check exactly what it entailed that her little sister had lost a finger. Because it sounded pretty bad.

>>"No. It has the same. It's just the outside. It's just the top. See?"

The little coral piece that used to be the top of Kalos' finger was broken beyond repair. It did not seem to hurt, but Maya was at a loss of what to do about the missing piece.

>>"I grow more every day. I just have to break off and rub to smooth or otherwise it scratches."

Maya blinked, trying to comprehend the process. she would break off a piece, and use it to replace the top of her finger?... Her mutation was really one of a kind. Maya patted Kalos gently on the arm.

"Alright then, all's good, yes?... Maybe we should find you gloves. Do you think that would help? With... this kinda thing?"