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Gwin sat rested against a tree which grew against the odds on a barren grass verge. The mutant watched cars whizz past; people desperate to be somewhere and feel wanted and important. It was a cold day, but, despite the lack of a coat, Gwin didn't seem to mind. The wind blew her dark hair, and she thought she must have looked very ominous, hunkered in the shade of the tree.
She had a bottle of cider in front of her. She didn't quite know why she brought it. Alcohol brought on the visions, but she liked alcohol oh so very much. She stared at it for a long time, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.
She had to consider her options here. Maybe if she drank enough she would have a massive fit and die out here... Not enough cider to bring on death. Dammit.
Gwin took another long puff of her cigarette, leaning back
"SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL, BUT SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL IN THE WAY A FOREST FIRE WAS BEAUTIFUL; SOMETHING TO BE ADMIRED FROM A DISTANCE."
❝
Alice rarely ever planned her direction ahead of time. She was filled with wanderlust and restlessness and had never really enjoyed sitting still for long. Which was probably why she found herself walking aimlessly through Stagfort's downtown area; she had a little time to kill before her shift started;
surely, sitting still at home wasn't the best way to kill the time and she couldn't exactly go out drinking, either. With the cold weather usually followed lack of people wandering the streets.
Which was probably why the sight of someone sitting leaned against a tree struck her as curious; the girl didn't even wear a jacket. Perhaps the girl was one of those mutants who didn't have to worry about the cold weather.
Never the shy one, Alice stepped closer. "Yo," she called out. "It's way too pretty out here for you to look so down."
Why did everyone feel the need to interact with everyone else? And why did they gravitate towards her. Gwin fought the urge to roll her eyes, so instead settled for a silent huff. Green eyes slowly move to fixate upon the woman.
OK. At least she was pretty. That was a tiny prize Gwin could take from this experience. "this place isn't pretty, and I'm not down." She murmured, tiny puffs of smoke escaping her lips with every exhaled word. Of course she was down, but Gwin wasn't a fan of pouring your heart out onto the grass and cry about your woes. Best to push them back and ignore them, right?
She took another drag, before eyeing the glowing tip of the cigarette, hoping being ignored would be enough to make the woman go away
"SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL, BUT SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL IN THE WAY A FOREST FIRE WAS BEAUTIFUL; SOMETHING TO BE ADMIRED FROM A DISTANCE."
❝
Alice had never been one to care much about the kind of people who spouted sourness wherever they threaded. Sure, she didn't mind antisocial people, but this girl didn't exactly give her the vibe that she wanted her to stay around.
"Well," Alice drawled, "Aren't you quite the ray of sunshine." Perhaps Alice would have gotten further in life and had way less enemies if she'd been the type to care enough to break through people's walls. Sadly, she wasn't.
Either the girl wanted to talk, or she didn't.
"Aight, I'll leave you alone to your misery, then," she added as she shrugged.
Was that a hint of a smile? A ray of sunshine... Not likely. Gwin looked back at the woman, rolling the cigarette between her fingers. She had a choice here. Be alone; festering and angry as her usual self - not all together the most fun - or dodge past that and at keast try to make a friend.
After a long moment, she pulled out the packet of cigarettes and held it to Alice. "Do you want one?" She murmured, watching the old woman before flicking her own cigarette to the floor and brushing her long hair from her dark rimmed eyes. "Im Gwin, by the way."
"SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL, BUT SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL IN THE WAY A FOREST FIRE WAS BEAUTIFUL; SOMETHING TO BE ADMIRED FROM A DISTANCE."
❝
Smiling, Alice shook her head. "I think smoking is the only vice I've tried that I didn't like." She offered a shrug at that. She didn't have anything against people smoking, but she'd never grown a taste for it herself. Besides, with her job she needed to remain in perfect shape and filling your lungs with black goo wouldn't help with that.
"Hey Gwin," she said, trying the name out for good measure. "I'm Alice."
Alice was glad the other girl had taken a turn; Alice loved meeting new people and seemed like such a waste when she wasn't able to at the very least talk to them. "You a part of the academy?" she asked.
Gwin scoffed a little. She remembers when she was younger how adamant she was that she wouldnt smoke. How times changed. Instead, she picked up the beer and held it towards Alice. "You can have this if you want... Its hardly got any alcohol in it, but its all i could find" She shrugged, taking a drag from her cigarette.
"Like Alice in Wonderland?" She asked curiously. A favourite childhood book which she had all but forgotten about until that moment.
"Yeah. Part of the acadmey" Was her awnser, and there was no hiding the bitterness in her voice. Was the academy and powers all the fucking town cared about? Thats all anyone asked about. Nothing else. Always 'Are you part of the school?' or 'OOOO You're a mutant? What can you do?' It was bullshit
"SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL, BUT SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL IN THE WAY A FOREST FIRE WAS BEAUTIFUL; SOMETHING TO BE ADMIRED FROM A DISTANCE."
❝
Accepting the beer with a smile, Alice took a seat next to the other girl. Crossing her legs, she unscrewed the cap and took a deep swig. "Not bad," she said once she lowered the bottle from her plump lips. If this was all the girl could find, Alice briefly wondered if the girl was below the legal drinking age. Maybe she'd ought to offer the girl to buy her some proper beer sometime.
A nod followed by a smile was Alice's response. It wasn't the first time someone made that connection to her name. And it likely wouldn't be the last.
Alice detected the bitterness in the other girl's voice and issued a chuckle. "I used to attend the school a few years back." She looked at the other girl and shrugged. "It's as lame as any other school, but at least it's free." Not that Alice had taken advantage of the college program they offered, but it was still nice to know you could without having to worry about money.
SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THESE; WHO AM I TO DISAGREE?
Gwin chuckled a little at Alice's approval. In truth Gwin thought the beer she had brought tasted like piss, but alcohol was alcohol right? The cigarette went to her crimson painted lips, smoke flowing from the cracks between her lips.
The woman listened to the other's short story about attending BA. "Lame?" She scoffed. "Its a piece of shit!" A short pause, another lungful of smoke. "And its only free if you willing to give up your life, friends, home. If youre not ok to give that shit up, then you pay for the fucking school with all you got." She sucked in another almost angry mouthful of smoke.
Eyebrows raised, Alice pondered the other girl's words for a moment. She furrowed her brows then, head tilting quizzically. "But isn't it better that we learn to control our abilities rather than potentially ending up hurting someone, or ourselves?" She was in no way biased towards the school, but she fully understood why they did what they did.
Besides, wasn't moving to a different school and making new friends just part of life? Wasn't it better to do so while young, rather than when you started college? The way Alice saw it, she figured moving to Bellefonte at a young age had only made sure she'd keep her friends, even as many of them attended college. Since, you know, the college was right there.
Shrugging then, Alice smiled. "Beats the alternative, but that's just me."
