please let this go well

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

{outfit reference: link}

Please let this go well Zoe silently thought for what had to be the hundredth time in the past five minutes. She reached up, adjusting her hat once more, feeling it shift slightly about her hair. Naturally she'd made sure to double-check with Liz and Mae before heading out, though the former had proven to be a little more helpful. Though Mae's "she'd better be nice to you" was somewhat encouraging too. Zoe ran her hands along her long skirt, trying not to freak about not wearing gloves. She'd covered most of her arms with the long sleeves, either through the maroon top or the soft pink blazer, but she had opted out of the gloves. Instead, she'd slid her antidote into her pocket, just in case. Zoe glanced down to her feet, shifting and looking to make sure they were fine. The shoes were brand new: purchased and donated by one of the Bellefontes. They were also the only article that Zoe could actually trace, as the rest simply came out of her now huge collection.

Oh God, she's going to think I'm hideous thought Zoe again, once more reaching up to adjust her hat. This is definitely the wrong hat. Most certainly. I should've worn one of the beanies. Oh, no, the tights, they don't match. The skirt is much too long: Alice is going to think I'm some kind of prude. Well, I'm not, Zoe bit her lip and shuffled, but she's not going to read that? Oh God! What if she looked at the Dirty Laundry posts? She might think I'm some kind of predatory lesbian out to seduce her! Is that better or worse then being a prude? Zoe's hand went up to cover her face, mortified. When a passerby went into the shop and looked at her with concern, Zoe forced a smile, lowering her hands, rubbing her fingers against her palms.

Just breathe: Liz approved of your outfit, and she's friends with Alice. No, wait, does that mean that Liz would tell Alice about me? Would she say nice things? Zoe began biting her lip again, only then remembering that she had a light lipstick. She'd only used a little makeup, since this was supposed to be casual. Just a light bit of eyeshadow and mascara to help make her eyes pop, a bit of foundation, and a lipstick to help match. Of course, Zoe was well on her way to chewing her lipstick off her lips.

No, it's Liz: she'll say nice things. Maybe she was too nice. Am I ready for this? Is it too soon after Devyn? Alice is just so sexy. There's no way she'll be interested in me.... but Devyn was sexy. Well, not, like, Alice sexy, but more, like, different sexy. Am i sexy? Do I have my camera? I need a camera. Well, I have my phone. I should text her. No, don't. That looks clingy. Is she late? It's... two minutes after four. OH GOD SHE'S NOT GOING TO SHOW. SHE'S GOING TO STAND YOU UP. YOU ARE GOING TO BE LONELY AND ALONE AND SAD AND NO ONE WILL EVER LOVE YOU.

Zoe looked about like she wanted to cry, and she smoothed her skirt again. she began pacing, moving her hands now. SHE THINKS YOU'RE ALL SAD AND PATHETIC BECAUSE YOU ARE! Liz probably told her that you just had a horrible breakup and Alice is probably way not interested in dealing with that or maybe Devyn talked to her and oh god, she's not coming. She's not coming. Maybe she's already inside? Maybe she sneaked past me? Oh no, what if she's early, and she's been sitting in there waiting for me to show up and I didn't see and then she's going to be mad at me and then when I go in to apologize she'll slap me and then everyone will stare and I'll end up running away. Just look, maybe she's in there. Maybe she... came in the back. Yes, that makes sense.

And Zoe started leaning forward, trying to unobtrusively look into the little shop.

[Alice Hobbs]

{{Outfit}}

So, the idea of dating was something that Alice had yet to get used to. Not only had she not actually been on a date before, but she generally either scared people away or pissed them off to the point where they didn't want to date her, which up until now had been just fine. Alice liked to consider herself as a very independent young woman who didn't need anyone in her life in order to feel complete. Sure, it did help to have the excuse of having to take care of both her sister and their father to hold over her own head as something to use to avoid the subject altogether.

But here she was; On her way to a date. With a girl. And not just any girl either, nope. She had apparently agreed to a date with this creepy, fragile little bird that well... Had completely and utterly caught her off guard and actually left Alice feeling impressed. Not a whole lot of people managed to do something like that. 

And not only that... Alice was actually wearing a dress. A damned dress for crying out loud. God. Of course, it was very typical her style and all; Warm colors, mature and well put together, but still a dress. Alice generally preferred wearing jeans and sweaters over dresses. Not because she didn't think she looked good in them, because she did, but because it just didn't feel like her.

The pixie wasn't entirely sure what to expect of all of this, and well, how could she know? She hadn't heard much about the girl. Which wasn't all that weird as Alice hadn't really asked around. She already thought people sucked, so there hadn't been a need for some kind of stupid background check. At least, if the girl turned out being some kind of creepy mass murdering predator, at least Alice would die looking pretty.

Walking down the street, Alice quirked her brow as she noticed the girl - Zoe - she had been talking to and somehow agreed to date with a bemused expression. She looked completely and utterly lost and that amused Alice far too much. Stepping closer as Zoe was busy... Leaning? Alice reached her hand out and tapped her shoulder. "You doing okay over there? Looks uncomfortable," she spoke, gesturing towards the...bending? Leaning? "Cute outfit. Very Mary Poppins," she added, giving the girl a once over. Something of a smile brushed over Alice's lips before she nodded towards the coffee shop. "You wanna continue peeking inside, or should we go get an actual table with some actual coffee?"

Again, the drowning kitten reference flashed across the brunette's mind and a smirk formed on her lips. She looked really cute though, which didn't really surprise Alice. The outfit wasn't something one would normally see on today's teenagers, but maybe that was why Alice was once again impressed by her meek counterpart.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

A tap, and Zoe jumped, letting out a little yelp. She heard the voice and turned, only to end up staring at her date. Alice had most definitely dressed pretty: all feminine and warm, with a skirt that showed legs. Zoe didn't catch the the intiial comments, but she caught the compliment about her outfit, flushing and looking down. Wait, Mary Poppins? Was that good? Well, it certainly wasn't sexy, and that immediately made Zoe's heart fall into her stomach. So much for that wow factor. Stupid. Then again, could she look sexy and still, well, cover things? Maybe Zoe was---

Maybe Zoe should try talking, since Alice had asked questions and compliments and everything. "Th-thank you," Zoe managed, swallowing hard. "You look good too, very chic, se--sexy," Zoe swallowed, flushing again. Zoe turned and looked to the shop. "Yes, we should. Um, there's some nice ones by the window in the corner?" she was already moving forward, though she paused, wondering if she was supposed to do something. The other person had always taken the lead in the date, but, well, Alice had made it quite clear that she expected Zoe to at least try and take charge.

As if the petite girl wasn't already a nervous mess. Now she was trying to think of how "in charge" she should be. Was she supposed to act like the girl? Devyn just always took the lead. Zoe had already walked in, pointing toward a table and trying to desperately think of something. it didn't help that she kept wanting to stare at how very pretty Alice looked, which just made her feel like a frumpy old maid.

Like Mary Poppins...

[Alice Hobbs]

Again, the girl managed to look like a baby deer stuck in front of a pair of headlights. Alice wasn't sure if that was something that'd ever stop amusing her. Ah, well. She wasn't going to give her shit for that. At least, Zoe had managed to step up her game if only just a little, and that was enough for now. At least, until she started apologizing again.

"You're very welcome," Alice said with an amused smile. "Sexy? I'm amazed you can say that without apologizing," Alice chirped. Really though, she was glad her outfit had hit home as well as it had. Didn't stop the girl from looking all sorts of flustered though, which was to be expected. Following Zoe's gaze, Alice nodded. "By the window sounds fine. If we run out of things to talk about, we can watch people walking past us instead." Following suit, Alice tilted her head to the side, giving Zoe's outfit another once over. Well, it was cute. Seemed typical of the girl too.

Once inside, Alice continued following her, keeping her mouth shut as she cast a glance around in the coffee house. Cool Beans was a cute little shop. Not far away from where Alice was working either, though that was more of a dinner-cafe than a coffee shop, really. Sitting down, Alice intertwined her fingers while resting her hands on top of the table. "Don't be so nervous. I'm not going to bite you." But slapping though...

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe wanted to point out that Alice wasn't the only one who was amazed that she'd managed to say the word without apologizing. Though, really, it would've been more stuttering then apologizing for that. After all, why would she apologize for complimenting someone? Zoe took a deep breath, reminding herself to live in the moment, to stop overthinking things.

"Oh, you like watching people too?" asked Zoe, sounding far too eager, even though she knew it. She had to remind herself not to apologize and just push on: "I love to watch people, wondering what their stories are and what led them here. It's all so fascinating, isn't it? How all these moments built to get us here and..." she paused, realizing that she'd rambled.

Zoe bit her lip and slid into a seat, looking away for a moment. Don't be nervous? Really? She looked at Alice, nearly goggling. "That's easy for you to say!" she burst. She took a deep breath, telling herself not to apologize, to just keep going. "You're all sexy and confident and--and I'm... me," she shifted, smoothing her skirt down and taking a deep breath, looking out the window. However, she saw her reflection and that immediately made her want to look elsewhere, but she certainly couldn't look at Alice after word-vomiting.

She's going to call you an idiot and then she's going to run and leave you here and you'll be humiliated and then you can just go dress in your pajamas and write poetry in your room.

[Alice Hobbs]

With a curious tilt to her head, Alice smiled. "I suppose you could say that," she drawled. She wasn't sure if she'd put observing people at the top of her list over favorite things to do, but it did come before actually talking to interacting with most people, so there was that. Of course, there was a few exceptions to the rules. Obviously. "And I don't think I share your optimistic view on people," Alice added with a shrug. She didn't think getting into her fucked up viewpoint of people in general was a great dating topic to converse about, so unless asked, she'd put it to rest there.

Watching the girl closely, Alice's eyebrow arched upwards when she burst out her opinion. "Yeah, it is," Alice said simply. "It's because I'm confident. Those two are very different, Zoe. And you're... you? Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" Holding up her hand as if to pause Zoe from saying anything else, Alice leaned forward. 

"Your problem is that you care too much about what other people think about you that you're too afraid to be yourself. That's your issue and it has nothing to do with how you look."

With that, Alice pulled back again, a softer, less amused smile caressed her lips. Sighing, the brunette lifted her hand to lean her cheek against it. "I think I'll go with a simple cappuccino. What about yourself?"

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe smiled at the thought of people being good and optimistic and whatnot. She could understand why people would think otherwise, what with SPECTRE and all the awful going on out there. She was tempted to slide back into the type of subject matter she'd focused on before her life had turned around: all the gloom and doom.

Hardly date material though.

Tough it was much more fun to hear Alice going on. Because she was confident and... well, obviously she didn't think being Zoe was a bad thing, or at least she wasn't sure. Zoe flushed and forced herself to look in Alice's direction. It did hurt a little, hearing her problems laid out like that, particularly the bits about not being afraid and whatnot. She fidgeted, figuring that it was probably true. Still:

"Well, it's not just confidence," she insisted, taking a deep breath, "like, your aesthetically pretty," she raised her head, her eyes moving as she took in Alice. "Your face is all pretty and smooth and your complexion is just amazing. People would kill for that coloration, especially in this light. Plus your eyes have that kind of sparkle thing to them and all. That's not even talking about--about,' she blushed and just sort of gestured at Alice's body, "so even if you were, well, um," she bit her lip and shifted, "not you, I guess, then you'd still be sexy or at least pretty." She shifted again. "I usually get something sweeter with a lot of cream,' she looked aside for a moment, then back at Alice, blinking. Zoe opened her mouth, tempted to ask if Alice thought she was pretty, but she closed it instead. At least she managed to keep looking at Alice. That had to count for something, right?

[Alice Hobbs]

Alice was certain that it took a great deal of bravery for Zoe to say what she did, and really, it was actually quite attractive watching her be so blunt about it. Instead of paying attention to the words, Alice focused on the way Zoe moved, her expression as she spoke. She looked uncomfortable still, yes, but there was something else there too. Something Alice hadn't quite noticed until now and it made her smile. 

And the thing that struck Alice the most was just how beautiful and pure the girl sitting before her was. Not once had Alice ever looked at someone and actually thought that the person was made of nothing but goodness. There was always something, something Alice could poke at. Some flaw that made them into less of a good person. Something about them that could further her beliefs that people were indeed selfish and cruel. But with Zoe? She didn't see that at all. And it puzzled her to such an extent she didn't even notice that Zoe had stopped talking. Blinking, Alice licked her lower lip as she sat up, drumming her fingers against the table before opening her mouth to speak.

"And you're not pretty? Is that what you're trying to say? Because if that's the case, I might have to slap you." Shaking her head, is if in disbelief, Alice sighed. "I can see why people would refer to you as sweet, because you are. You're cute and adorable, everything about you just shines and sparkles," she drawled, sighing again. God, complimenting people made her feel so uncomfortable.

"And they're not lying, because you are cute. But even more so, you're also beautiful. Not only because of the way you look - though that surely helps - but because of who you are. Your personality. Your opinions. Everything." Though, she could agree with the not being sexy part. The long skirt and covered up skin kind of took that away. "Being sexy only gets you so far. Being beautiful however, allows you to conquer the world."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe kept her attention on her date, feeling each heartbeat as it thudded. Surely even Alice would hear the thunderous noise: it certainly sounded deafening to Zoe. Though her jaw very nearly dropped as Alice continued. The girl did speak begrudgingly, as though each word cost her a drop of blood. Talking about how sweet and adorable and all sorts of pleasant things that she happened to be. It was the beautiful comment that warmed Zoe to her core.

Not that people hadn't said it before. Liz, Mae, Devyn, they had all said it all the time. They'd also been friends with her first, and, well, Alice was just so... blunt. She meant what she said. Though part of Zoe felt guilty, and she knew she'd be wearing a few albatrosses and that it was best to just pull them out and show now, while Alice still had a chance to leave.

"I'm not that..." she sighed. "You don't read Dirty Laundry, do you?" Zoe bit her lip, shuffling, "I... my last girlfriend we sort of... kissed and I put her in the hospital. And then SPECTRE tracked me down because of it, well, there was Dirty Laundry first and-- well, SPECTRE attacked me and I--- people died," Zoe looked down for a moment, taking a breath. "I'm sorry, and don't tell me I shouldn't apologize,' she met Alice's eyes. "I just... I don't want... you're friends with Liz and everyone and I'm sure they'd say nothing but nice things but... not everyone would. I've done quite a bit of dark things too, so..." she looked away. "I just... I'd rather you know now, from me, then---then find out later and be shocked..."

[Alice Hobbs]

When Zoe started sharing what was really on her mind, Alice actually pulled herself together and listened intently. No, she didn't read Dirty Laundry and shook her head at that. Why on earth would she read some lame gossip blog? If it wasn't obvious already, Alice cared little about people and their personal affairs. "Why did she end up in the hospital?" Alice asked. Was it related to the girl's power? Thinking about it, Alice had felt that numbing sensation when she had crashed into her. Or maybe the girl had a wicked left hook. That would actually be rather cool. It was the SPECTRE part that got to her though.

"SPECTRE targeted a lot of people and a lot of people died. If we ran around blaming everyone who has been in contact with them and thus driven them into action, we'd have very few students left," Alice sighed. "I understand that it's easy to blame yourself for what happened, but really, if you think about it, Dirty Laundry was the one who was careless enough to out you in the first place. None of us really took SPECTRE all that seriously until the series of attacks." Alice sure as hell hadn't. "You can't blame yourself for something that was out of your control."

And now she was playing this girl's shrink. Great.

"And even if my friends had said anything about you -- not saying that they have -- I am capable of making up my own mind and opinion of people," she said, arching her eyebrow. "We all do mistakes, and we all do dark things. It's just how we're built." Heck, Alice wasn't exactly a poster child herself. None of them were. Not a single student at the school was. Not a single human in the world. "Now, when you decide to go on a kitten murder spree, then we can start talking about me getting shocked."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe didn't want to answer that question, not if Alice didn't already know. Or, more accurately, she wanted to overanswer the question. She had an antidote now, not to mention the... preventative. Not that Zoe thought that they'd ever likely get to... to that point. At the rate this was going, Alice was likely going to be chatting about the awkward Mary Poppins she took out for coffee. Even if she did continue, practically parroting what Zoe's shrink had said.

Zoe actually opened her mouth to argue, closing it as Alice continued. That was... a dark way of looking at things. Zoe blinked, not quite believing it. She licked her lips, sitting there quietly for a while. Then she smiled slyly, "So you're saying I shouldn't show you the dead puppy art museum?" she said, before shifting. She bit her lip, and looked about to say more when a server seemed to finally notice them, coming over to take orders.

That served to distract Zoe enough, and she was thrilled to potentially be getting a drink. Really, they probably should've gone and gotten a drink from the counter but, well, they did recognize Zoe, seeing as she stopped by fairly regularly. She just hoped they weren't wondering what she was doing with a pretty girl this time.

[Alice Hobbs]

"Oh no, I'd totally want to see that," she tossed back with a smirk. "I'd probably even be amused at it, but that wasn't my point. My point is that you're a good person who made a mistake. People make mistakes -- and trust me, that's a lot coming from me," pausing, Alice sighed. "You're wasting your time feeling bad about it, because at the end of the day, no one's gonna care about your feelings. They'll only care about what brings you down, and you shouldn't let them. Rise above it. Grow and learn from it, and all that piss." She rolled her eyes at the last part.

"God, that was lame," she shook her head. "What I'm trying to say is; get over it. There's no point in wallowing in self pity. It's quite frankly kind of pathetic." There. Much better. It also sounded a lot more like her.

Looking up at the server, Alice offered them a polite nod. "I'll take a cappuccino with cream, thanks." Turning her attention back towards Zoe, Alice quirked her brow.

When Zoe had ordered and the server was on their way, Alice ran a hand through her hair. "So, you didn't answer my question; What did you do to your last girlfriend that sent her to the hospital?" No, Alice wasn't going to back down on that. "Since you clearly want to tell me everything yourself, I doubt I'll have to threaten you by saying that I'll ask someone else for the story."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Boy, did Alice not hold back. Zoe stared, blinking, realizing that Alice was actually opening up to a degree, though she wondered if the other girl would see it that way. She kept attempting to buoy Zoe up, which was appreciated, not quite as much as the pathetic comment, as Zoe knew full well how very pathetic she was. Still, she, well, she had grown, hadn't she? And learned. Most people didn't go what she went through and remain standing, even if her legs were shaky.

Orders came and went, and then Zoe was trying to coming up with something to direct further, only to hear the question repeated. She flushed, but she also figured she might as well continue. As Alice said: she was sharing and, well, this was as good a time as any to show that she'd learned and grown.

"The first or the second time?" she asked, trying to sound light, even though her voice wobbled fiercely. "My powers came in when I kissed the first girl I ever loved," she said, keeping her voice steady, her tone casual, "and I sent my first girlfriend to the hospital because..." Zoe bit her lip, shifted her seat, looked down, then up, "we sort of made out... a lot. There was quite a bit of touching and, well, my ability it, uh, paralyzes people who, um, touch me. That's why," she held out a covered arm, then lowered it. "And it's also why I--I talked to a doctor and-- I have an antidote now. And--and a preventative, a sort of, um, well, it stops it from even happening. So," she smiled shyly, "you, uh, don't have to worry about kissing me. That is, uh, if you still want to, later. That is," she flushed scarlet and looked down harder then ever.

Why did flirting have to be so hard,

[Alice Hobbs]

The power to paralyze others? Huh. That sounded kind of cool actually. Had Alice had that kind of power, she'd just run around zapping people for shits and giggles. Then again, Alice was fairly fucked up too, so there was that. "That's it? Wow, I expected something bad." Like, melting someone's face off or breaking every bone in their body. But paralyzing? Nah, that wasn't too bad. "Well, at least that's better than accidently drugging someone down and making them hallucinating." Though, that could often prove to be quite a lot of fun, but in most cases, it was just annoying.

And then there was that antidote and kissing part, which once again had Alice quirking her eyebrow, staring at the other girl. "Well, if I was to kiss you, getting paralyzed because of it wouldn't stop me," she said simply with a shrug. Honestly though, Alice had expected much, much worse. After all, last time someone used their ability on her, she had almost got hit by a tree; Getting a little numb didn't even begin to match up to that.

"I don't know what kind of... dates you've been on in the past, and from the sound of it, they didn't exactly boost your ability control, as you're running away from it rather than actually trying to find a way to make it work without the antidote, but we're mutants. We have powers that's often less that... Favorable. The sooner we accept that, the better."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

That wasn't bad? Zoe wondered just what Alice's standard for that word happened to be, then immediately realized that she probably didn't want to know. It had to be, well, bad, if "sending a girlfriend to the hospital and nearly killing her" didn't rank to highly.

Though at least Alice seemed quite confident about the kissing part. That actually reminded Zoe of Devyn, though she immediately bludgeoned that thought and tossed it off a mental cliff. She was wondering about the drugging part, since she thought Alice's power had been the whole wings thing, but before Zoe could ask, Alice continued.

Zoe frowned, suddenly finding a strange emotion coming up. It made her want to tell Alice off, and she nearly found the words coming off her tongue, just managing to swallow it. "I'm working on it," she said firmly, almost too firmly. "I'm also putting together a photo show showcasing various mutants using their abilities. I went online to promote it and everything," she insisted, shifting. "And they say my power might never have an off switch, which is why I've been working so hard at making sure I don't send quite everyone I touch to the hospital."

Zoe found herself meeting Alice's eyes for a bit, and, while Zoe didn't realize it herself, a bit of fire had lit in her expression brown eyes. Alice had made Zoe actually want to argue, to insist that she'd done something right for a change. That and she'd defend Dr. Campbell, who'd spent so much of his time for her, quite fiercely.