Atomic Dog, Feb 17 (open)

[Meg A Ohm]

Even before her coming to England for school, Meg had heard of Atomic Dog, one of the 'holy' sites for those in the goth and cybergoth lifestyles. She had honestly never expected to get to one, given the relatively limited number of locations world-wide.

Now, she stood before the doors, staring at the two chrome guardians who flanked the doorway. She hadn't been shopping since she had arrived, and she was hoping to add a bit more clothing to her collection. She decided that she could afford a little time after classes to put toward the idea. Thus, Tuesday afternoon, post-classes, she made her way from the campus to Camden.

Here, her blue hair, a result of her mutation, stood out no more than other patrons, many of whom had hair that was multicolored, worn in dreadlocks or half shaved off (in a couple of cases, all three on a single person).

The scenery would have to wait, though. She had shopping to do.

Note: I decided to use a different name, in part because I didn't know if we'd get in trouble for using the real name of the place. But also because those familiar with Parliament, Funkadelic and George Clinton, it seemed a good fit for the name.

[Colette Rosenhof]

"S'il vous plaît monsieur, I assure you I know what I am doing."

The classic French accent in such a high and girlish voice stood out from the general English mumbling of other patrons in the store. A pair of bright pink pigtails stood out from the crowd as someone seemed to be protesting with one of the staff.

"Oui I know zat if I break zis open it will make a mess but I will not spill it on your floors I promise."

[Meg A Ohm]

Meg was no judge of accents, but she did note that one stood out among the other, very British ones. It was enough to make her stop and look for the source. "Right. I can't see this ending well," she said under her breath as she watched the scene unfold. At the moment, there was nothing she could do. She certainly did not recognize the other girl, but given her appearance, a guess would not be out of place to assume that she was a student at the University. She continued to shop, but split her attention between the clothing and the scene with the odd girl.

[Colette Rosenhof]

The girl had her back to Meg. She was dressed in layers which included long striped gloves and socks with a short plaid skirt, some black boots, a striped scarf and what looked like some kind of peacoat. Her pink pigtails were long, stretching down past the bottom of her skirt. In her right hand she was holding a single large glow stick.

"Please monsieur, I have already purchased it. I just want to try it before I decide if I want to purchase more."

With a flick of her wrist the girl produced from her belt what looked like some kind of multi-tool and cut the top off of the plastic tube. Without hesitating for a moment she brought it up to her lips and started swallowing the chemicals.

[Meg A Ohm]

Meg did a double take as she saw the girl cut off the top of the glow stick. Her mouth fell open as she saw it rising to her lips. She dropped what she had been examining and literally flew over to try to stop the girl, grasping the glow stick with both hands.

"What the hell are you doin'?" she asked, the concern for the girl's health more evident in her face than in her voice.

[Colette Rosenhof]

The glow stick would easily be pulled away, though Meg might get it's contents on her clothes if she wasn't careful. The girl's pink eyes went wide at the sudden outcry. She'd finally get a good look at the girl; it wasn't just her hair that was pink, it was her whole body. And... could she see the wall behind her?

"Comment? I do not understand what is ze problem. I just want to drink zis."

[Meg A Ohm]

Meg was careful enough to keep the chemicals off her clothing, though some spilled on the floor. She ignored the glare from the sales person the other girl had been speaking with; to the blue-haired girl, it was better to have to clean up a small stain on the floor than have to get a body bag for the girl. Besides, given the floor here, it'll probably just look like another artsy design.

"Don't understand...What on earth are you talking about, girl? This ain't a thawed freezepop you were about to chug. I know some ravers pop 'em open and pour the crap on their skin, so that their skin glows in various places; it's bad enough what that stuff does to the skin in the long term. But none of 'em are crazy enough to try to drink it! What are you tryin' to do, kill yourself?"

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Zat is what I am trying to do, make myself glow all over." Colette said in her thick French accent. "Eet cannot irritate my skin, I have none. I do not even have a stomach. Regard."

The girl lifted the bottom of her pea coat and the shirt underneath. Meg would see that the girl wasn't lying, all that made up her torso was some translucent pink goo with a few darker spots floating around in it. She dropped her coat.

"You zought I was going to poison myself? And you came to stop me, a complete stranger? Zat is so sweet! You are like ze knight in ze shiny armour, oui."

[Meg A Ohm]

"Whoa!" Meg raised a blue eyebrow as she took in what the girl revealed. "Man, and I thought The Invisible Man statues were odd. No skeleton. Hell, not even a stomach. Which begs the question of just how you planned to drink that stuff and glow. I mean, it's a mixture of the chemicals in there that cause the glow, ya know, right?"

She shrugged at the girl's compliment. "To be honest, I didn't know what you had in mind. But all I knew was that I wasn't gonna let somebody do something like that if I could get to them first. But why would you want to glow like one of the sticks?"

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Well, when I drink grape juice I turn purple, so I zought why not give it a try?" Colette smiled softly. "Eet certainly turns ze heads at ze clubs. Instead of an unseen body and glowing clozes, a glowing body with chlozing silhouettes."

[Meg A Ohm]

"There's more to clubbing than just making yourself glow in the dark," Meg said with a shake of her head. "You also might wanna consider the effect drinking it here would have. I mean, think about it. You drink that stuff here and start walking down the street, people ain't gonna know that you just drank a glow stick. They're more likely to wonder if you're some kinda radioactive creature."

[Colette Rosenhof]

"People already zink that." Colette said softly. "Besides, one little trip to la salle de bain and no one is ze wiser."

"So you are an expert on ze act of clubbing, non?"

[Meg A Ohm]

"I wouldn't go as far to say that I'm an expert," Meg chuckled. "But I certainly do it as much as I can get away with."

She held out her hand. "I'm Meg, by the way." She rubbed the back of her own head, a bit embarrassed. "Sorry about the 'radioactive creature' line. I really didn't mean anything by it, I hope you realize."

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Ooh. I zink I could learn a lot from you zen." Colette grinned.

"Enchanté. Je m'apelle Colette." She said, squeezing Meg's hand with her own striped-gloved digits. "Zink nozing of it madame Meg."

[Meg A Ohm]

"Bear with me, 'cause I didn't take French in at The Institute." She shook Colette's hand -or at least what passed as one for her. "Look, I came here to shop. Care to give me a hand? Never hurts to get another clubber's opinion on what'll look good."

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette was fully-formed. She was just a little... soft. "Oh, oh oui. I will try to choose my words more carefully." She said in her stereotypical accent.

"I would like zat very much Meg! I do not know many people here in England and I could use some new friends." She stopped and looked at her, as if sizing her up. "We definitely need somezing zat accents your hair. It is such a vibrant colour zat shifting attention away from it would be a crime."

[Meg A Ohm]

"Then let's get started." She looked toward the staff member, who throughout this whole event, had looked back and forth between the girls, confused. "Look, send me the bill at the the University when you figure out how much it costs to clean that spot. I'm sorry and we'll try to be a bit more careful. Colette, come on, time to shop."

With that, Meg drew the other girl behind her, leaving a rather flabbergasted employee behind.

"Now, where to start? Any ideas?"

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Well I zink it's best to find one article of clozing you really, really want and work around zat. Maybe a nice corset, non?" Colette smiled. She really looked like she was enjoying spending time with her new friend. "Personally I have a weakness for boots. Always getting zem in my size is one of the few benefits of being me."

[Meg A Ohm]

"Hmm. A corset. And maybe a good couple of tops to wear as well. And we can see about getting a pair of boots for you, while we're at it, if you want."

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Maybe." Colette said, looking a little embarrassed. "If zere is a bargain perhaps. What kind of tops do you usually wear when you have fun?"

[Meg A Ohm]

Meg gave a pat on Collete's shoulder. "I'll gift ya the boots. Consider it my apology for both the incident with the glow stick and the radioactive comment. As for what kind of top, for me, it depends on what I know about the place I'll be wearing it. If it's just for an average get-together, I'll just go for a simple tee. If it's a rave, black or something that looks good in black light.

"And if I'm really lucky, at the end of evening, there won't be a need for a top." She gave Colette a wink. "On average, though, I err on the side of basic black."

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Oh please madame Meg, I could not accept such a gift. You are too generous!" If it was possibly for a girl made of goo to blush Colette was certainly doing so.

"Euh, I normally do not dress so covering. I like to wear ze t-shirts as well but ze air in London she is very dirty so I must cover up when I go outside. In ze clubs I like to wear something... skimpy, is zat ze word?" She asked. "But with fishnet stockings on over my body. But zat is for when I want free drinks, oui. Black works for me as well for my glowing idea."

Her blush deepened at Meg's comment about a very good night.

[Meg A Ohm]

Meg laughed. "Girl, we have got to hit the clubs together at some point. Been a long time since I've had someone who's read my mind on just how to look going in."

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Oh, zat would be wonderful! I am still new here and do not know any of ze good clubs. And it is a little scary to go into a strange club by oneself, oui."

[Meg A Ohm]

"Hey, I only got here about a week or so ago. I haven't even had a chance to hit the clubs, so we're starting out about equal. What say we hit one on Friday or Saturday night?"

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Perfection!" Colette practically squeaked.

"I should warn you zough. Some places do not take kindly to mutants such as myself. I do not know if a mutant club would be fun for you as well."

[Meg A Ohm]

"This close to campus, there have to be some that are mutant-friendly. And I've got no problem going to a mutant club. So long as the music's good, the dance floor's hot and the drinks flowing."

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Back home I would frequent a, how you say, gay bar? For zose same reasons. Ze men might not have bought me many drinks but zey were nice to look at and the music was fantastique."

"You know about ze mutant school?" Colette asked Meg.

[Meg A Ohm]

"Yeah, I'm a student there. Just started, like I mentioned." She leaned back slightly as she asked "Aren't you?"

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Oui, euh. Sorry but I did not realize. You are so beautiful! You have no tails or claws, no horns or rocks for skin. I would not have know you were a student had you not told me."

[Meg A Ohm]

"Flatterer. My hair color is about my only constant outward sign of it. Don't sell yourself short, though. Your accent is bound to let you get your share of attention. And you'd be surprised just how many guys really couldn't care just how someone looks, if they're interested in 'em."

[Colette Rosenhof]

"You are so lucky! Many women here would give zeir eye teez to have hair like yours."

Colette again looked flattered by Meg's compliment, though from her expression she obviously took the "some guys don't care about looks" comment the wrong way.

"What kind of a corset do you zink suits you best? Me I am partial to latex et latex but zat is more for function zan looks."

[Meg A Ohm]

Meg caught the look from Colette and said quietly "Sorry, again." Then her voice picked up. "I don't mind latex, but I can't really wear one for that long. I'm not allergic, but it doesn't feel all that comfortable to me. I usually prefer coutil. Since it's mainly cotton, it breathes a hell of lot better on me. I've worn a leather one, but it never seemed to settle quite right on me for some reason."

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Ah. Cotton and most fabrics do not work well for me sometimes. I have never had any problem with leazer. Of course I can always change to fit it razer than ze other way around."

"I zink somezing with some laces on ze back. Your skin is very flawless, it would be a crime not to show it off."

[Meg A Ohm]

"Oh, you're good, love!" Meg stated with a laugh. "Are you sure you're not working for this place?"

[Colette Rosenhof]

"I wish! I could use an employee discount." Colette grinned.

[Meg A Ohm]

"All right, no more teasing you. Now, let's see what we can find. I'd say let's aim for black, purple or a dark blue." She started searching through the racks. "What do you think?"

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Aw, I do not mind. Or you can always tease me more later." She smirked. Colette poked through the rack next to Meg, tilting her head slightly as she looked through what they had to offer.

"Yes, dark colours like zose go wiz most everyzing. Very easy to work wiz."

[Meg A Ohm]

The pair sorted through various corsets. Then Meg gave a "Ooo!" as she pulled one from the rack.

"What do you think of this?" she asked, as she placed it up to her front.

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Parfait!" Colette exclaimed. "Ooh Meg, zat would look so good on you. It would really emphasize your shape. If you do not get it then I will get it myself and gloat at you."