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It was kind of amazing the fact that Alex had managed to make a friend miraculously at Bellefonte, despite the fact that she'd been a hermit with her twin because people freaked her out and technological devices made her feel like a schizo. Even so, she'd clung to Emmett pretty closely once they had met and interacted. Alex wasn't afraid to be her typical brash and colorful self and she took Emmett how she was with no judgment.
Alex had left her cellphone back at her dorm and made sure to tell Sam that she would be out with her friend so that he didn't worry. He knew the bar she was at and she'd told him to call there if it was an emergency. She just couldn't tolerate the smart mouth of her device, judging her for her poor decisions. She was already a few beers in by the time that Emmett made her way over.
With a squeak, Alex waved and patted the stool beside her, "Emmmmeeettttttt! M'so glad your here. I may have started without you. But! I ordered you one. I missed you!" She was fully aware of how obnoxious she was being, but all inhibitions had been released after that second...er third? beer.
She had been running a little late; the car that she had promised to be done today had given her a bit of trouble, but the mechanic stuck through it until the end, and the owner was happily riding it home without too much of a delay. She had tried to message Alex but it came as no use, so she got changed as quickly as she could, swapping her dirty band shirt for a slightly less oil stained on. Within minutes, she was on the road and headed towards the bar. After the struggle she had getting that timing belt changed, she was glad to be going in a direction that involved beer.
Emmett had only just walked in, and she was already called over to. The familiar face brought a grin to the mechanic's features as she raised her hand to acknowledge her friend. Quick steps brought her to her, and she plopped down on the stool. From the sounds of it, Alex had been throwing back drinks the whole time Emmett had been missing, and the blonde gave a laugh for that, reaching for the bottle she assumed to be hers.
"It's been a while, eh?" Emmett agreed, pressing her lips to the bottle and taking a swig. "What the fuck have you been up to, Harper?"
Alex Harper
Ask me how I'm doing I'll say okay, but ain't that what we all say?
The dreaded question of what she'd been up to made Alex's face scrunch up. Other than locking herself in her room to play video games, trying to quiet the voices in her head and babysitting her brother, there wasn't much to tell. "Same shit, different days. Sam's trainer has been trying to get him out of his comfort zone, talking to people, socializing to see if it's going to make his heart explode. So I've been kind of doing the same thing, except with devices and shit. I hate modern technology, it's so loud." Her fingers reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose and she shook her head. Her life was not all that exciting and she realized her rambling had been pretty Debby Downer-ish.
"How about you, dude? How's things going with the garage? I bet you meet hella people right? Man, I wish I knew jack shit about cars, but cars are so different from computers and phones," She began to ramble again. "Like, pretty soon, I'm going to have to worry about cars though, right? With the advances and shit happening." Alex groaned against the lip of the bottle she held up to her face.
If she could just forget her ability for a moment, she knew that she'd relax, but even with the alcohol, her mind was going a mile a minute. Maybe she needed something stronger. She waved down the bartender and ordered a double of Jack. "You want anything?"
Alex was shooting off answers and questions left and right, and Emmett did well to keep up. She was familiar with the fast pace in which her friend spoke, having gotten used to it years ago. It was great that Sam was getting out more - at least the mechanic believed so. There was protection from the outside world, but how the poor boy spent his development years couldn't have been good for when he would eventually have to go out. So she smiled and nodded. "You got this. You both do." Emmett managed to squeeze in between Alex's sentences.
But the question turned towards the mechanic, bringing a harsh laugh out of her lips before she tilted the bottle back and nearly finished the beer she had just started. "My garage is fucking trashed." Her jaw clenched at the thought of how much she'd been cleaning up this past few days. At least bright red paint no longer stained the bay doors. At the thought alone, she nodded to the bartender. Two jack and cokes. "I guess it's classified as a hate crime. Whoever it was tore apart my whole shop." Fuck, it sucked.
Emmett let out a long breath, forcing her irritation over her situation to something more positive. "But speakin' of characters. I have the hottest lawyer. I mean -" she lifted the bottle to her face, finishing it off. "Damn."
Alex Harper
Ask me how I'm doing I'll say okay, but ain't that what we all say?
The encouraging answer from Emmett made Alex crack a smile. That was one of the things she'd liked best about her. Emmett put up with Alex's uncontrollable rambling and picked out the more important parts of it. That, and she knew what it really was that Alex was worrying about in all of the words that were thrown together. She nodded and tried to keep her mouth shut while Emmett went on to finish the rest of what Alex had asked.
"Mother fuckers! Did you find out who did it?" Alex was ready to fight them if she did. Although, she knew she was good for a punch or two if nothing landed on her, but she was otherwise pretty useless in a physical fight. She shook her head in frustration herself, "If you need any help getting it cleaned up, Sam and I will come over and help you out. People are so fucked. They just need to pop a xanax and calm the fuck down." She could feel heat crawling up her neck at the words hate crime. It was so typical of people. Wasn't Oregon supposed to be a safe space?
On the up side, the lawyer, made Alex snicker, "That's killer, dude. You gonna try to tap it once the case is settled?" Her eyebrows waggled before she gave the bartender a nod when he dropped off the drinks. She took a sip and it reminded her of the only pretty face she'd seen, "I ran into Evan Smoak the other night, d'you remember him?"
There was comfort in knowing that someone else was disturbed by what had gone down in her garage, but Emmett waved a hand in her best attempt to dismiss it. Most of it had been picked up by now, but there had yet to be any sign of the person who did it. A stolen hockey jersey was the only sign of evidence, but the idea of Alex helping in a fight drew a grin to her face. She wasn't sure how great she'd be in one, but the thought counted for something within itself.
"Hey, you never know." Emmett mused at the idea of finding her way into bed with the clean cut lawyer. Really, she knew her own chances. That woman was beyond something else entirely. When a drink was set in front of her, she immediately reached for the harder beverage over her beer, taking a long sip from it. She closed her eyes briefly. It was perfect for the mood and company.
Dark eyes opened again, lips pursing in thought on the name. It sounded familiar, but she wasn't the best with putting a face to the name. "Give me a reminder," she requested.
Alex Harper
Ask me how I'm doing I'll say okay, but ain't that what we all say?
"Seize that opportunity if it's presented to you, man. Not that I think you wouldn't," She smirked. Alex could use a hot lawyer, or a sexy nurse? Something. She just needed a solid distraction from the shit show that her life was. Anything to get her out more and away from Sam so that he could do the same. Neither of the Harper twins had been given much chance to grow. They were so confined from the time they were born and onto their training years. "I'm going to live vicariously through you."
Alex chewed on her lower lip and tried to find words that described the bartender. "He's like a golden retriever except scruffier, a little rough-looking. Blonde, easy-going yet somehow incredibly rigid. I think he went into the army or something," She shrugged and took another drink. As she described him, she couldn't help but sort of smile. Evan was such a golden retriever, she never noticed until then.
"Anyway, he's basically the only pretty face on my radar right now. 'Cept for you of course, Emmmm," She waggled her eyebrows and snorted.
With the description offered to her, Emmett tried to draw up a picture of the man Alex was talking about. She recalled hearing someone go off into the military, but she must not have known him throughout their years at Bellefonte. There was also the chance she just hadn't cared enough about some guy for him to be memorable. Either way, she grinned at the information given. Because he was on her radar.
"I'm sure I'm far more handsome than him." Emmett joked, laughing as she bit the straw of her drink. Another sip of the sweet liquid and she was already starting to feel the effects, likely because her job had pushed her past any sort of dinner.
Lifting a hand, she pressed it to Alex's shoulder, giving a light squeeze. "Seriously though, just do it." Emmett sounded confident in her, because she had no doubt that the brunette could capture anyone's attention. "How'd you ask him out?"
Alex Harper
Ask me how I'm doing I'll say okay, but ain't that what we all say?
Alex laughed, "That's a given. Nobody tops you in my book." She always had liked that they played off of each other, it was the only friendship she had that she felt comfortable saying what was on her mind rather than thinking she needed to tiptoe. Not that she ever tiptoed anyway, but that was also why she didn't have many friends.
Her face fell a bit with Emmett's encouragement. She so didn't agree that she could capture anyone's attention. The very hate crime that happened to Emmett had been her whole life summed up. It was why she had no family, the reason she distanced herself from others. It was one thing to be a mutant, but it was another to not be able to push past basic human interactions. It was so cut and dry with Alex that she often wondered if she'd ever be able to connect with anyone on a serious level.
Someone who wasn't her brother.
"I haven't, I mean, I couldn't. Odds are he's already locked down by some blonde bombshell that would try to claw my eyes out or something." Based on movies she'd seen, it always seemed like the nice guys fell for the psychos and vice versa.
The change in her expression hadn't gone unknown to Emmett, whose eyebrows rose at the explanation of why she couldn't. It was something she failed to understand with the brunette. In her biased opinion, Alex would be considered a catch if she could gain the confidence to chase someone - or allow someone in a little closer. Her fingers tapped against the glass of her drink, quickly sucking down the rest of the contents before she waved to the bartender for another round.
"And what if he's not?" It wasn't like Emmett to have sound advice on relationships. Really, she was probably the worst to speak in the matter, given she hadn't committed to anyone in years. That was besides the point. "You gotta at least try to know, right? If you like someone... just kiss 'em." She shrugged her shoulders.
Alex Harper
Ask me how I'm doing I'll say okay, but ain't that what we all say?
She had to try her best to play it off. It was a silly crush, nothing worth exerting effort towards. "'Like' is a strong word, 'noticed' is probably a more accurate depiction. And it's only because he was attractive. He could be a total freak for all I know, he's been gone long enough without any explanation." She just accepted that he joined a cult and got out before they started sacrificing human body parts. Although, her mind was a messed up place, so it probably wasn't actually that.
Alex lifted her shoulders and dropped them heavily, "I'm just going to wait ever so patiently for my sugar mama or daddy to find me. I'll shake my goodies for money and then I can retire on the west coast or something." That was the life she was meant to live. On a private island, with few technological devices and an endless supply of Jack Daniels. "Sounds way better to me than developing any kind of feelings, whatever those are." She laughed and took another drink.
"But don't let my fantasy derail you. You better be putting the moves on that lawyer. She could actually be your sugar mama for all we know."
Emmett watched with mild amusement as Alex's feelings were broken down in front of her. What was originally a person on he radar had bleeped out of the realm of possibility. The girl sounded like she wanted to avoid commitment as much as the blonde did. It was a trait they've shared for a while now. Her eyebrows quirked up as she played with the straw of her drink. "Why bother with the middle man?" Emmett prompted, humoring the whole idea. "Just get rich and not have to deal with anyone."
Though a life without companionship sounded a little too lonely, even for the mechanic's tastes.
A laugh bubbled in Emmett's chest, pouring out her lips as she pressed a hand to the bar top. "I'm not so sure about that, either." The lawyer had her curious, that alone was new. "She might be a bit too fancy for me." Rich car, rich tastes. Emmett couldn't keep up. She held up her drink, tilting it towards her friend. "Fuck 'em all."
Alex Harper
Ask me how I'm doing I'll say okay, but ain't that what we all say?
"Oh Em, you really know the way to my heart. No people, ever. Heaven," Alex could cheers to that. If only she had a fool proof way of getting rich quickly. Sure, she was great with computers, but that didn't quite lead her to a career path. It was cheating if she got a job to fix them, since she barely even needed to touch it. And she was pretty sure she could get rich hacking into plenty of things, but she also liked not living in a cell. Besides, if she ended up in jail, no one would be there to watch out for Sam.
Her nose scrunched at the term fancy and she nodded, "I don't blame you, dude. Fancy chicks are either into really cool and kinky stuff, or they're prudish and snobby. I grew up around that hell, it's not usually worth getting involved with." She had never looked back at that life that she almost had. In fact, she couldn't even stomach thinking about herself in some fancy get up.
"Hell. Yes. Fuck 'em straight to Hell," Alex lifted her glass before tilting the rest of the contents back into her throat. She set the glass back on the bar and made a little hoot of excitement. "This is why we're friends."
She knew she liked Alex. They shared a very similar mindset. One that Emmett appreciated. The clink of their glasses proved that. Fuck 'em all. Who needed companionship, anyway? If anything watching the way her parents had fallen apart was more than enough to steer the mechanic clear of any long term commitments. Or any commitments that lasted longer than an evening.
Tossing back her drink, Emmett felt the heavy effects of drinking a decent amount quickly on an empty stomach. Her grin was just a little sloppy as she laughed, a hand rising up to press to Alex's shoulder. "So other than getting me halfway wasted tonight, what are we doing?"
Alex Harper
Ask me how I'm doing I'll say okay, but ain't that what we all say?
It was easy to tell that they were both starting to feel the alcohol. Alex had a small enough frame that it never took her much before she was feeling pretty good. What helped more was that she was just having fun instead of drinking because she was angry or stressed out.
Emmett's question brought a light to Alex's eyes, like a bulb lit up over her head. They could do some damage together and Alex was always game for getting into trouble. "Let's go on a manhunt, dude. Find the fucker that messed with you. We can make him or her cry together. God forbid two mutants approach them. I bet they'll have a shit fit." If only she had an ability that was better for causing bodily harm than just being able to stare at computers long enough for them to work.
