Translucent purple wedges stormed across the tiled floor as their owner prepared to wage war, a piece of paper clenched tightly in her fist. This was ridiculous! She'd clearly stepped back from the scientific community upon opening her shop, and then they sent her this! Lips painted in a shocking color of fluorescent green twisted into a frown as she mindlessly followed the directions she'd been given at the receptionist desk, the rest of her features settling into place to make the slightly tanned face a fierce sight to behold. Not that Marlene wasn't a sight on any given day as it was - though the girl gave a particularly stunning visage today as the asymmetrical hemline of her skirt flew behind her, flashing bits and pieces of the shorts beneath. Finally, she met the unfortunate object of her rage - a woman in a lab coat, patiently writing on her clip board. Her head lifted, and she met the livid stare with her own, rather blank, one.
"You're late, Miss Phelps," she informed crisply, turning completely and raising a hand to silence the oncoming blast of words. "Really. I don't have much time to spend with you talking about this - I have other prospective guardians to be seeing." She worked quickly, pulling a folder from within her jacket and thrusting it into the other woman's grasp, which only took hold after a few moments of pointless grappling.
"I don't want to be part of your experiments," Marlene replied poutily, turning the folder over in her hands before curiously popping it open and rifling through the papers. "I don't want to be part of anyone's experiments - I could have conducted my own if I'd wanted to do something like that," she continued, eyes skimming the words blandly, pausing for a moment as a few choice descriptors popped out at her. "..Hybrid? Angelic... Demoni-..?" A sharp intake of breath followed, and she all but threw the folder down. "Oh no. No, no, no. You're either pulling my leg, or you're f-"
"Please, Miss Phelps. Mind your language around the child." For suddenly, there was a child there, Marlene realized - though it wasn't human by any stretch of the word. "This is Chloris. She's the result of a bonding between a representative of Gluttony and Diligence. We've entrusted you into her care on the basis that you have some basic concept of the science behind her being and can keep good enough notes to be of value." But Marlene was barely paying attention, watching in a mix of astonishment and horror as the little nightmare - Chloris - toddled swiftly about, collecting the scattered papers and handing them back to her new caretaker.
Reluctantly, she accepted the packet, her eyes drifting from the sweet smile and downwards, pausing on a bit of paper sticking from the second mouth embedded in the girl's abdomen. "...Ah.. Ch- ..Chol... Lori?"
The visible blue eye lit, receptive and cheerful. "Yes?"
"What... Ah.. What are you eating?" The hybrid paused, touching her mouth before glancing down, her lips forming a small 'o' before she reached, tugging the shimmery bit of white from the second set of lips - which reached after with a flexible pink tongue. The paper - a picture, Marlene noted - seemed to have seen better days, as there was only one remaining corner and half of it had been worn away. All the same, she carefully reached to take it, brows shooting upwards as she noted what it was - half of a family portrait from her college graduation, her parents heads both dissolved and part of her own then-orange head gone with them.
"..Oh," she mumbled faintly, glancing up to question the scientist responsible only to discover her missing. Her lips screwed into a frown once more before she sighed, shifting the folder under one arm. "So. Do you mind if I call you Lori?" A negative shake of the purple head. "Alright. Well, Lori, I guess I'm going to be taking care of you for a while. My name is-"
A small green hand was held up to stop her, and Chloris smiled toothily - an expression eerily mirrored by the mouth beneath. "You're mummy," the child replied in a sweet coo that made the shop owner's blood run cold. Marlene gulped, weakly attempting to smile back. ..What had she stumbled into?
"You're late, Miss Phelps," she informed crisply, turning completely and raising a hand to silence the oncoming blast of words. "Really. I don't have much time to spend with you talking about this - I have other prospective guardians to be seeing." She worked quickly, pulling a folder from within her jacket and thrusting it into the other woman's grasp, which only took hold after a few moments of pointless grappling.
"I don't want to be part of your experiments," Marlene replied poutily, turning the folder over in her hands before curiously popping it open and rifling through the papers. "I don't want to be part of anyone's experiments - I could have conducted my own if I'd wanted to do something like that," she continued, eyes skimming the words blandly, pausing for a moment as a few choice descriptors popped out at her. "..Hybrid? Angelic... Demoni-..?" A sharp intake of breath followed, and she all but threw the folder down. "Oh no. No, no, no. You're either pulling my leg, or you're f-"
"Please, Miss Phelps. Mind your language around the child." For suddenly, there was a child there, Marlene realized - though it wasn't human by any stretch of the word. "This is Chloris. She's the result of a bonding between a representative of Gluttony and Diligence. We've entrusted you into her care on the basis that you have some basic concept of the science behind her being and can keep good enough notes to be of value." But Marlene was barely paying attention, watching in a mix of astonishment and horror as the little nightmare - Chloris - toddled swiftly about, collecting the scattered papers and handing them back to her new caretaker.
Reluctantly, she accepted the packet, her eyes drifting from the sweet smile and downwards, pausing on a bit of paper sticking from the second mouth embedded in the girl's abdomen. "...Ah.. Ch- ..Chol... Lori?"
The visible blue eye lit, receptive and cheerful. "Yes?"
"What... Ah.. What are you eating?" The hybrid paused, touching her mouth before glancing down, her lips forming a small 'o' before she reached, tugging the shimmery bit of white from the second set of lips - which reached after with a flexible pink tongue. The paper - a picture, Marlene noted - seemed to have seen better days, as there was only one remaining corner and half of it had been worn away. All the same, she carefully reached to take it, brows shooting upwards as she noted what it was - half of a family portrait from her college graduation, her parents heads both dissolved and part of her own then-orange head gone with them.
"..Oh," she mumbled faintly, glancing up to question the scientist responsible only to discover her missing. Her lips screwed into a frown once more before she sighed, shifting the folder under one arm. "So. Do you mind if I call you Lori?" A negative shake of the purple head. "Alright. Well, Lori, I guess I'm going to be taking care of you for a while. My name is-"
A small green hand was held up to stop her, and Chloris smiled toothily - an expression eerily mirrored by the mouth beneath. "You're mummy," the child replied in a sweet coo that made the shop owner's blood run cold. Marlene gulped, weakly attempting to smile back. ..What had she stumbled into?
