[HSS] a bit more aggressive

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Maybe Zoe needed to be a bit more aggressive? There were just so many people about and she didn't want to offend or hurt anybody. Maybe she should have worn gloves, if she'd worn gloves, she could at least maybe nudge people slightly, get forward a little. the one time Zoe had tried, she'd accidentally touched someone, and they'd stopped for a moment. Zoe had immediately felt so guilty that she'd practically shoved her hands into her pockets.

Now she stood near the fountain in the center of the mall, looking around. She needed to get forward, to get into some of the stores and look around. Maybe one of the stores with nice lotions? Or maybe some jewelry or something? She also needed to get Alice a gift... and probably a few of her other friends.

"Okay, just go forward and get to a store," said Zoe. She took a deep breath and pushed forward, getting into the closest store. She was soon in a store, and she looked around. This... didn't look like where she wanted to be. "Oh my," she mumbled, looking about. "Well, uh, I guess I can look?" she said, edging, wondering if there was even anything here that she could need to get for someone.

[Olivia Chance]

She moved near the fountain and it exploded.

Or...well...kind of. The normally placid water shot up and turned into a whirpool tornado thingy. She put a hand in front of her in a stop motion and it shot down, calming down. She didn't know quite how her powers worked yet. Apparently they were partly controlled by her mind and partly by her actions. So whenever it flared up, it was probably due to the mind reacting to whatever water was near. Olivia's shoulders slumped as she ran into the nearest store, away from the fountain. She leaned against a clothes bin to relax and it rolled away. Without her. She hit the floor and just sat there kind of shocked sitting on her butt.

"Well that was a rather unexpected turn of events." She shot a dirty look at the rolling clothes bin. What the hell? So not fair.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe looked at the item in her hand, which appeared to be a sweater that involved a wolf of some kind. When she paused to look around, she noticed that she'd somehow ended up in what appeared to be the "wolf" store, or at least the wolf section. Before Zoe could really think or do anything about it, however, the fountain behind her seemed to nearly erupt. She jumped, turning, expecting a mutant to have let their powers get out of control, something that Zoe understood all too well. Though it was somewhat surprising that they'd even let someone out of the school if they were going to explode fountains.

Someone ran from it, and Zoe, along with many other people, watched them run. Within moments, the girl was standing very near Zoe's position, leaning on a bin of her own. Zoe blinked and looked at her, then back at the fountain, then back. She opened her mouth, closed it, fidgeted, took a deep breath, then forced some words out: "Um, was that..." she pointed back at the fountain, "you?"

Zoe flushed: as if that wasn't obvious. Still, at least she'd said something. That was something, right?

[Olivia Chance]

Olivia heard the voice and turned towards it. She took in the sight of a pretty young woman and heard the question about whether the water explosion had been her. She was unsure of what to say. On the one hand, people might not like mutants and so admitting it could be dangerous. She looked away and lied.

"Must've been some weak piping or something." But her skill at lying had become rusty over the two years she'd been in the coma, and she was now a lousy liar as a result.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Weak... piping? Zoe found herself blinking rapidly, confused, wondering why someone would go through the trouble of hiding their whole mutant power in the middle of an event specifically catering toward them. It felt a bit like pretending you weren't disabled in the middle of a disabled persons convention. Zoe supposed that it really wasn't her place to talk: she certainly spent quite a lot of time pretending that she didn't have any powers.

"Well, um, that is unfortunate," she said, looking over at the fountain. She licked her lip for a moment and then looked back at the clothing. "Well, ah, you certainly found the, um, the," she waved a hand at the section for a moment, "the... wolf section of the store," Zoe flushed and bit her lip again. Yes, talking to people was definitely still not one of her strong suit. There she was, still trying, while she still needed to get some presents for her friends...

[Olivia Chance]

The girl was looking at her weird now. Wait...was that guy over there...okay so powers were visible right now.

"Alright. Totally didn't realize the others around here had powers. Thought I might die if I mentioned I was a water manipulator. The girl was having trouble talking, but she managed to mention the wolf section. Olivia looked around.

"So it is. Weird. I can understand passion about a subject as I used to have a wolf cross for a pet. But this is ridiculous. Maybe someone has a fixation or something."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"Well, um, it's the, whole special shopping thing," said Zoe, looking around for a moment. Given how very... open most people were being about using their powers, it struck the poet-photographer as somewhat odd not to have noticed it. She didn't want to mention that to the other girl though, especially not in the discomfort of the wolf section.

Said discomfort didn't prevent Zoe from nodding along as the girl continued, though she didn't want to think about having a wolf for a pet. She just shifted and looked. "It's probably just, um, a store thing or something," she said. She shook her head and started edging away. "I think, um, that maybe I'm going to try another section?" Zoe looked at the girl, uncertainty scrunching her face. Should she invite the other girl along? Did she even want company? She'd just darted in here to avoid the whole power thing, right? Maybe she wanted to be left alone? Zoe would...

[Olivia Chance]

Now that Olivia looked around more closely, she realized that people really weren't hiding their powers at all. That meant she was not only unobservant, but also she looked completely odd not using her powers. She rubbed the back of her neck with a nervous laugh.

"Odd that I'm a fish out of water considering I'm a water manipulator." She shrugged. Then she gave a start as she thought of something.

"I'm probably being annoying and totally bothering you aren't I? We don't get to shop much, and I'm totally ruining your shopping time. Sorry. It's a habit of mine."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe had to laugh a little at the fish out of water comment. She couldn't count the number of times she'd felt like that; it nearly felt like her constant state of existence. At least the other girl didn't seem quite so reserved about it. She even seemed fairly open, enough so that Zoe was nodding along slightly.

"What? No, you're not. It's just..." Zoe gestured with a hand for a few moments, as if she could knock the answer out of the air, "I...I'm always like this, really," she smiled a little, looking down and away. This unfortunately meant looking at the various wolf merchandise, so Zoe quickly looked away.

"I'm Zoe, by the way," she said, extending a hand quickly, "Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe," and just saying the name made Zoe's already fairly pronounced British accent all the more noticeable. "I'm a mutant too. Just, um, not so... noticeable," and she laughed a little, the nerves still bubbling over from within, no matter how hard Zoe worked to suppress them.

[Olivia Chance]

"I wasn't referring to your...whatever it is...your trouble talking." Damn that was awkward.

"I just have a habit of being annoying is all." She shrugged, shaking the hand extended to her.

"Good to meet you. I'm Olivia Chance. Water manipulator...when I actually figure out how to control the stuff. In the meantime, I'm just a girl who makes water randomly explode." She laughed at herself before continuing.

"Is that a British accent I detect?"

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe was used to people having difficulty even talking to her about her, well, difficulty talking. She just smiled as she heard this girl stumble her way through it herself. Someday maybe, Zoe would be able to talk to someone without forcing awkwardness. Though the girl seemed to take some of it on herself, with Zoe shaking her head, trying to insist that it wasn't her fault, that Zoe had most certainly been at least partially to blame.

Olivia Chance, then a description that made Zoe laugh and nod. "Yes, it's sometimes difficult, especially if you got your ability later..." Zoe trailed off for a bit there, remembering her own very oddly timed manifestation. Thankfully a question came that distracted her.

"Oh yes," she said, nodding. "I was originally born in London, though my family moved to the states ages ago. My father used to say that I only stayed around long enough to get the accent," she smiled again, then looked around. the wolves all seemed to be staring at her. Fidgeting, Zoe looked back at Olivia. "Would you mind maybe going somewhere else? This probably isn't the best place to have a conversation, and we really should be taking advantage of the sale while we can."

[Olivia Chance]

"Sure. We can shop while we talk." She shrugged. Back to what she was saying before, about the power description that had made her laugh.

"I'm seventeen, and I got my power when I was fifteen. By all logics, I should be okay at controlling it by now. However, I was in a coma shortly after my powers showed up. I just woke up recently. Therefore, I kinda suck at controlling them right now." She smiled slightly and sighed.

"As for London...that's pretty cool you've been to another country even if it wasn't for that long. I haven't really left the states. Haven't had the chance. And if some teenagers in the school are to be believed, I won't ever because we're 'child soldiers'." She chuckled.

"Personally I don't give a damn what I technically am. If I'm having fun and I'm safe, that's good enough for me."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe nearly sighed with relief as they started walking and talking. Just being away from the wolf stuff was enough to lighten her mood, but it was also quite uplifting to know that she'd managed to keep someone's interest enough that they wanted to talk to her a bit longer. It even sounded as though Olivia was fairly close to her age, though apparently she hadn't technically lived as long.

that last thought made Zoe wince, and she mumbled a "I'm sorry to hear that," as she kept going, before adding: "I actually got my powers quite late, so, um, I'm not very great at them either," she also wasn't entirely sure that her powers would ever really be controllable. She did a decent enough job adjusting her life to them. She just wore the gloves now for fashion or weather protection, as she did now, instead of a constant barrier between herself and the rest of the world.

The child soldiers comment reminded Zoe of far too much, and she frowned, shifting. "We're not, really," she insisted, shaking her head. "This is just... most of us don't want to fight and stuff, you know? I'd much rather just be normal. Though I suppose I wouldn't have met the people I met here..." she trailed off, somewhat distracted by a little kiosk that was apparently selling various cute figurines. She thought she saw a nerdy looking black guy looking through them, but she might have been mistaken.

[Olivia Chance]

"No need for you to be sorry about anything. It kinda sucks yeah. But I think whatever happened that caused the coma also caused my powers to manifest. And that allowed me to be brought here." She shrugged.

"I can understand not wanting to fight, but it's a little difficult for me to relate. My whole life, I never fought about anything because to resist something was dangerous for me. So finally being told that I'm free of all that and that they're going to make me fight? I'm not going to lie and say that it wouldn't be nice to have a choice. However, I'd rather they made me fight than put me back where I was before." Olivia smiled.

"What powers do you have, out of curiosity?"

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Resisting was dangerous? Zoe's eyes widened for a moment, trying to imagine what kind of world that must have been like. Then again, she supposed that she lived very much like that now, or at least had during those dark months last year. But as Olivia continued, insisting that people were going to make her fight, Zoe found herself frowning.

"The only people making anyone fight are the bad ones," she insisted, her voice clipped. She looked over at Olivia, a little anger almost coming through. Zoe swallowed, remembering things, dark things, and looked away, focusing back on the kitschy stand before her. She reached up to run her hands along some of the ceramic, trying to think if she should say or do anything more.

A question came, drawing Zoe out of her consideration. Blinking, she looked to the girl. "I, um, paralyze people," she said and raised a hand, wiggling her fingers. "Whenever I touch them. It spreads slowly but..." she looked at the space between her fingers, "I can hospitalize people... or kill them."