BREAK DANCE!

In a corner of that same store, a young lady seemed to be standing near a large shelf of hats. She wrapped her fingers in a long section of silver hair, twirling it slowly and letting it flop back down off her finger occasionally. Red eyes bore at a red fedora; why the hell did her Biometal even like these things anyway? They were ugly to her, and her ears' earpieces would always be butting up against it uncomfortably.

"We're to the fedoras. Are you happy?"

"Not til you buy it." The muffled voice of a biometal in her cargo pants pocket muttered. Had the biometal been able to display emotions, he would have been giving a childish pout; with a body, he would have been crossing arms and turning his head to give a snubbed nose.

But sadly, he was only a biometal. And he was the biometal your biometal could smell like. So all he could do was whine to his biomatch. And that's what he was a-gonna do.

"...And how would I be able to eat if I bought one? Do you even know how much they cost?" Sharpei hissed, looking down toward that pocket. To most people, she was probably going to sound absolutely insane. Yep. Maybe she might as well do some insane dance like the tarantella if she could get a gig dancing in this town.

Another mutter came. "The red one's cheap. You'll have enough to live on."

Sharpei looked around furtively. She then snatched the red fedora off the shelf and marched toward a checkout to purchase it. She didn't want anyone to know she had just given in to her biometal. And if someone did, she was going to die of mortification. The earpieces on her ears cocked back with a hint of annoyance. Once she'd purchased the fedora, she held the bag it had been placed in next to her pocket.

Damn it, this bratty biometal had better have appreciated the fedora. Because it drove her nuts to the point that she could no longer stand fedoras. She then looked at what money she had left. Well, it looked like burgers for her. So much for a step up to pizza for a change...

Shar walked out of the store after a few more moments of looking at things that she couldn't afford right now because her biometal had insisted on her getting that fedora. If he liked it so much, he could wear it himself, even if it was utterly stupid-looking for a biometal to wear a fedora. She glanced to the man leaning against the wall--maybe he was waiting for someone?--but it wasn't her problem right now. Her problem was a bratty biometal.

"...What's gotten into you anyway, Mt?" She hissed to the biometal in her pocket.

Mt slid up some out of the pocket, though he was still covered by the bag containing the fedora. "...Y'know. The usual. Boredom. Stubborn biomatch." Here, Mt would have inserted a shrug, but he was only a biometal. Biometals couldn't shrug.

Sharpei paused in her tracks and heaved a sigh, slumping forward somewhat. She then placed the free palm of her right hand on her forehead and sighed. She didn't know whether to say she was babysitting the brattiest biometal known to humanoidkind or if she should say that she was just exasperated today.

Probably a little of both. She would have said something, but suddenly, Mt had piped up again.

"You know that weird feeling like when you and I tried to raid your brother's drawer that one time when you were sixteen? I'm getting it here." Mt suddenly spoke up. Had his earpieces been mobile, he would have had his ears up and alert.

Instead, that up and alert earpiece tic had gone to his biomatch. Sharpei's earpieces were now up high as though to show she was at attention now. She knew when not to screw around. Her biometal was no longer doing so.

Sharpei jerked upright when the hand clasped on her shoulder. She then gave a paranoid look around, her silver hair whipping back and forth with the turning of her head until her eyes fell upon Kai. For a moment, she pulled away nervously and shrieked.

"I swear I don't have any money on me!"

She then stepped back a few steps, only to feel a nudge in her pocket. Leave it to Mt to suddenly want to pop out in a situation like this.

"C-calm down. I think he only wants to talk." Mt squeaked somewhat. "Shar...?"

Sharpei blinked, then took a deep breath, putting her hand on her chest. She then looked into Kai's eyes and blinked a few time. This guy didn't quite look as shady as she had originally been thinking. Perhaps it had been just that she'd gotten a little wary, if not paranoid, in the year since she had moved out on her own.

"I'm so sorry. It's just that since I got out on my own, I've gotten a little more paranoid I guess. Things are fine though. I was just having an argument with my...'little brother'."

Sharpei blinked a few times when she realized everything was fine. Yep, she'd practically committed the verbal equivalent of blundered dance steps, and around a nice-seeming, good looking young man at that. Her left earpiece clicked downward as though to indicate her embarassment.

"Especially one in either of my occupations..." She glanced aside for a moment, rubbing her arm awkwardly. She then perked up. "Yeah. Kind of a noisy 'kid'."

"Am not" Mt sulked.

"I mean, a girl's gotta eat somehow, huh?" Here, she shrugged, her ears perking out to the sides somewhat. She then gave a nervously cheerful look on her face.

When he spoke about the hats, her ears suddenly flattened back and she gave a flat look. "I ended up going with a fedora. Noisy kept arguing with me until I finally got the fedora. He'd better be right about it looking good on me. Because it's gonna drive me nuts when it's touching the earpieces all the time."

She then glanced aside.

"Fedoras are classy!" The biometal blurted, trying to peek up out of Sharpei's pocket.

Sharpei thumped her pocket with the bag. "Shhhh!"

"Ehehe..." She kept giving the awkward smile. She then pulled the fedora out and put it on her head carefully, though she kept trying to hide Mt with the bag. "I just hope it doesn't weigh down my earpieces. But...you really think so? Think it'd look nice on stage?"

"Stop shushing me!" A loud whine issued from the biometal; he popped up out of the pocket halfway, thumping against Sharpei's thigh. He then tried to give the biometal equivalent of a glare at Kai. "And who's he?"

Sharpei heaved a sigh. "Damn it Mt..."

For a moment, Sharpei could feel her cheeks getting warm. No, she wasn't oblivious to the flirting. Heck, she was playing along. She just didn't expect to suddenly blush like this over the fedora. "You really do think so?"

Her ears drooped a little. She guessed the jig was up, but at the same time, it surprised her that he could actually hear the biometal. That could only mean one thing then. No one around her had heard the biometal before with the exception of her older brother. "...do you blame me for calling him my little brother? He sure acts like one." Her face had grown more serious, but she held a snide tone to her voice.

Model Mt seemed to settle down once he didn't feel so much like he was being ignored or pushed aside. However, he himself was a little wary around Kai. "...You could say that. And sometimes she acts like a grouchy big sister." Two could play at that game, and if Sharpei could call him an annoying little brother, he, the biometal that was once Metal Man, could call her a grouchy big sister.

"Pleased to meet you Kai." Sharpei finally smiled an honest smile, taking Kai's hand to shake it. "And you're not too bad looking yourself."