What do you think?" asked Samantha.

"It's pink." Colette was staring at a frilly top, tied and stitched in front to make it look spontaneous even though it was mass-produced. She hated the look of it, but it was undoubtedly Samantha's style. Colette knew that Samantha was really looking for her opinion though; she was already standing up on her toes to pluck the shirt from the rack. Samantha wadded up the top and tossed it into one of the several bags hanging from Colette's arms. Somehow she always got stuck carrying the bags.

"What about this one?" Samantha continued.

"You actually gonna wear any of these?" Colette was skeptical. Samantha had an enormous closet full of clothing, and Colette wasn't sure she'd ever seen her wear the same outfit twice. Where did the old ones go? Did they end up buried under new ones, or did they get donated or resold somehow? Maybe Sam had a person who did that sort of thing for her.

Samantha shrugged dismissively. "Probably not. But I have more money than I know what to do with."

Colette placed a hand against her mouth, stifling a chuckle. "You sound just like my sister."

Samantha was busy pulling shirts down from the wall by the handful, but stopped when Colette replied. "Don't compare me to her! She's snooty and annoying."

"Yeah, you're nothing alike," Colette said sarcastically. She flashed a toothy smile, feigning innocence when Sam turned around to glare at her. Samantha playfully punched Colette's shoulder and resumed shopping.

Colette quietly fell back in line, following along behind her friend. With all the colorful and "trendy" clothes starting to fade into the background, she instead focused on the swaying blonde pigtails in front of her face. Samantha's bouncy, energetic gait was causing them to swish back and forth. So once Colette's eyes caught sight of something black on a shelf, she reached out to grab a handful of hair and yank.

Samantha shrieked. She quickly turned on her heels, spinning to face a smiling Colette.

"Hey, buy me this shirt," Colette said, holding out a hand to point. It was a plain black tee with a large skull on the front. On top of the skull was a pink bow. There wasn't much to the design, and it didn't seem to mean anything or reference anything specific. Just like she liked it.

Samantha huffed, putting both hands on her hips. "What? Why? Buy it yourself!"

"You know I don't have any money." Colette reached to pick up the shirt, unfolding it and holding it in front of herself. It was about the right size, if not a little large. Anyway, overly large tees suited Colette just fine. "See? Cool skull."

Samantha laughed. "You pretend to hate all this stuff, but you love it too."

Colette shrugged with a big smile on her face. That much was true. It didn't really matter where her clothing came from. Just that the style and pattern was interesting enough to warrant wearing it.

"Tell you what," Samantha offered, "I'll buy it for you if you take me to the beach later. You can fly us there."

"What?" Colette scoffed. "That's such a waste of my magic. I'm not a taxi service!" Sam was always trying to get Colette to use her powers on something dumb or wasteful.

"You'll do it if you want that shirt."

Colette started to pout, turning the shirt around to get a better look at it. Eventually she sighed in resignation and tossed it into the bag. "Okay, deal." She might've been caving too easily, but she had to offer something if she wanted a new shirt.

"And for my second wish, I want--"

"I'm not a friggin' genie!" Colette shouted.

Both girls laughed as they made their way to the register, and Colette waited patiently while Samantha paid for all of the clothes. She even arranged to have them shipped for an extra cost. Just as well, Colette didn't fancy carrying them around for the rest of the day.

"You wanna get some coffee?" asked Colette.

"Sure. There's a place across the street I want to try." Samantha pushed ahead of Colette, making a beeline for the nearby shop.

It was tiny and colorful, overflowing with patrons. Colette doubted there'd be an open seat, though to her surprise she found a spot freshly opened. She rushed to it and slid into the seat. Once settled, she turned to find Samantha. "Hey, get me a mocha iced coffee with cream and stuff."

Samantha laughed. "Mocha? You don't want a bitter black coffee?"

"Black like your heart? No way. Something sugary. Extra whipped cream."

When Samantha eventually returned, she had two cups in hand. One she dropped in front of Colette, letting her snatch it up and stuff a straw in it. She sipped at the drink, half expecting it to be booby trapped in some way. Fortunately, it was pleasantly normal. It was cold and it was mocha and it had too much whipped cream to tackle without licking some off the top first.

"I hate these crowded places," Samantha grumbled. "Humans everywhere."

"Yeah, humans are dumb," Colette replied.

Sam chuckled. "You're a human too, stupid."

Colette shrugged. "Sure, but like, a cool one, right?"

Samantha rolled her eyes, though she couldn't hold back the smile on her face. "You're okay I guess."


________

Love how these two look together C:

Wonderfull history by

Colette (left) belongs to
Samantha (right) belongs to
Art by and