Holding On For Dear Life

[Alice Hobbs]

Tag: Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe

Opening the door to the art studio, it only took the brunette a brief moment to zoom in on her girlfriend working away at her photographs. Had this been any other time, Alice would have stopped and enjoyed the moment where she could simply stand there, and watch the beautiful girl that had picked her for her girlfriend for some reason.

But that wasn't why she was here.

Holding up her phone, Alice walked forward. She wasn't proud of the fact that she had succumbed and started reading DL's blog, but she had heard the whispers. Seen the stares. And she knew she had to go straight to the source to find out whether or not this was the truth, or another pathetic rumor.

"Tell me this isn't true," Alice said as she held her phone up in front of Zoe. "Tell me this didn't happen without you telling me."

"Speaking of the male twins... Is it just me, or have they too been stalking a lot of people lately? Seriously, what's up with all this stalking? And worse than that, these two have been seen in the girl's locker rooms, hitting it up with a certain yellow mouse-lesbian. And clearly, frm the way they were punching and hitting her, they clearly didn't get what they wanted. I'm not sure what Pikachu's sweetheart feels about this though, and I suppose we can all agree that if Pikachu wanted a girlfriend who couldn't kick someone's ass, she surely picked the wrong Pixie."

Normally, Alice cared little for what the blog had to say, but this sounded rather serious, and Alice wanted to know if someone was bullying her girlfriend. She wouldn't have any of that.

As for the comment she'd made.. Well, they could talk about that later.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Often Zoe would develop her photographs or work on them in her own room. However, her rather recent shift to being a college student had left her without the setup she used to have in her other room. Various events had kept her too busy to really devote the time necessary to get something useful together. Going to the art studio wasn't quite the utterly terrifying possibility it used to be, so Zoe often found herself simply heading there again.

Like now, as she looked through various photos she'd strung up on the wall, making a few final calls. her show had been postponed, but now was due to start just after Valentine's Day. Which meant that she now had that and the show to worry about. She was just looking through things when she heard Alice coming.

Zoe turned to smile, reaching a hand up to brush aside some of her hair. it seemed as though her bangs had grown out first, and she hadn't exactly been all that caring. Her uniform was slightly rumpled and she looked, well, as if she'd been focused on art. "Hello Alice, what--" but Zoe stopped as Alice held a phone up. She frowned, reaching to read through it.

The Brit had given up on DL a while back, mostly because all her friends told her to avoid it at all costs. Zoe had been one of DL's favorite punching bags: the blog seemed to often take quite glee in unveiling every aspect of her life. It looked as though it had continued. Zoe's brow furrowed. She was still the Pikachu? Still?

"It didn't happen like this," she said, pointing at the phone and looking to Alice. "I mean," she bit her lip and looked away. "it... sort of?"

[Alice Hobbs]

Carefully, and silently, Alice watched Zoe's face, trying to read her expression as she read through the wall of text. She looked for any sign of distress, any sign of truth. At first, Alice felt the air of relief spread over her body at Zoe's first words-- then she tensed up, and then at last, Alice sighed. She figured it then wasn't nearly as bad as the blogger had portrayed it to be, which was enough to make the brunette retract her claws, but it still didn't mean that whatever had been going on in that locker room was alright.

"Well, either it did, or it didn't, Zoe," she said, shaking her head as she lowered her hand. "Are you alright?" After all, that was the most important thing. Between getting bullied and punched around, she wanted nothing else than for Zoe to be alright. Whatever else, they could figure out.

She did however feel a lot more relaxed now than when she had first read it. It didn't keep the worried expression and the furrowed brows from leaving Alice's face, as to be expected. After all, Alice did care for Zoe, which was probably hard for those who knew the Pixie to believe, but despite her lack of showing it and admitting it - in most cases - it didn't change that it was a the truth.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe flushed at Alice's words and the shaken head. "I'm fine!" she said. She even reached down and pulled her shirt up slightly, pulling it free of the skirt. Her stomach had just its usual pale whiteness. "See? Nothing, and you know I bruise easily," though she had bruised after the punch, she'd also tended to it well enough that it had gone away soon enough. Zoe dropped the shirt, chewing, shifting.

She looked away, licked her lips, then seemed to figure that Alice wanted to know. "It... well, I was helping one of them," she said nodding to the phone, "one of the twins, Casper. He was separated and so I wanted to help him find his other twin... Jasper," she nearly winced as she said the second name. "Well, I did: he was in the girls' locker room, taking photographs of them. I... disapproved," she flushed, squirming again, rubbing her arm. "I... might have called attention to it? Then told him that he shouldn't touch me? And he, um punched me? Just the once though. Not, like, a lot."

Zoe paused for a moment, rubbing he arm and shifting. "He seemed quite angry: I do hope he's gotten better control over himself..."

[Alice Hobbs]

Lowering her gaze, Alice simply nodded at the girl lifting her shirt -- so, the punch had been directed towards her stomach? Who in their right mind even hit a girl? Like, sure, some people she'd understand, like, herself. She had a tendency of pissing guys off, like Scott, but Zoe? Like, she was the sweetest thing in the world. How anyone would even WANT to hit her was beyond Alice's ability to imagine.

Zoe continued though and the more she said, the more Alice's brows furrowed. "Wait, so hold on," she began, lifting her hand. "First you helped his brother, and then you told him to stop taking advantage of girls, and not to touch you, and... He hit you?" Alice found that hard to believe. Not that someone would do all those things, but that they'd actually hit someone for telling them no... It was just... "You reported him, right?" Looking towards the door, Alice was actually tempted to stroll down to the office and do so herself. "A punch is a punch, and he clearly didn't mean to just tickle you either," she said, sighing as she looked back to Zoe. 

"And what did his brother do?" Did he just stand idly by and watch his twin hit a girl? Some of these people around here was seriously fucked up. And Alice was oh so tempted to track them down and teach them a lesson.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe paused as Alice told her to hold on, listening. Then she nodded at the beginning: yes, that was what happened. She opened her mouth to add further, only to close and nod some more. That was precisely how the events unfolded, after all. "I did have his phone at the time," she added, not sure if she'd mentioned that.

Soon enough, she was flushing as Alice asked about reporting. She chewed her lip a bit and looked away from Alice. "Well..." oh, his brother! "Casper, um, well, he, sort of.." she fidgeted slightly, "He did sort of... let it happen? Just the once: he stopped it from getting worse, because Jasper was very mad..." Zoe paused again, shifting.

"I think someone reported him for taking photos in the girls' locker room?" she tried, her voice going especially hopeful at the time. She fidgeted again, taking a little step away from Alice and toward the various photos that she'd been sorting through, as though she could somehow walk out of the conversation and instead focus on the art again.

[Alice Hobbs]

"Why does that even matter?" Zoe having his phone didn't mean he was allowed to hit her. In fact, that just made it even more tasteless and disgusting. She couldn't really blame Zoe for reacting the way she did though. After all, that was how Zoe was, and Alice had learned that they were different persons (obvs) and reacted differently to different situations.

Narrowing her eyes, Alice was once again tempted to just turn around and hunt them down. She could use her dust on them and just send them on some crazy rampage. Or hopefully they'd see enough crazy shit to be put in a solitary room. "That's not an excuse. He should have let his brother hit you at all. Not for something stupid as that." It was apparent that Alice was annoyed. Of course, not at Zoe, but the twins. Who the fuck acted like that anyways? What kind of teachers let these kids run around without having someone to watch them? They were clearly unstable and dangerous.

Shaking her head, mostly in disbelief, Alice didn't stop Zoe from moving away. "You think?" She pursed her lips. "So, that's a no then. You didn't report them. You can't let something like that just go, Zoe. What if they do something like that to someone else, and you could have been able to stop it by reporting them?" She doubted Zoe would handle having something like that on her consciousness for very long.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Well, all the details mattered, didn't they? Zoe didn't say as much, she could already tell that Alice was upset. The narrowed eyes and the harsh words told Zoe as much, and all she wanted to do now was crawl away somewhere. She knew that wouldn't be a good reaction though, even if she had to mentally bolster herself.

That bolstering slid as Alice went on then. "I... there were other people there..." Zoe said, fidgeting again and looking down at her feet. She winced as Alice continued, insisting that this could have been something worse, that they could do more. "I'm sure it was just a one time thing," she said, shuffling again. "They seemed really upset about something: we don't know what was going on there."

Zoe looked away again, taking a hesitant step toward her work. Maybe she should try distracting Alice from the conversation with something? Preferably before Zoe started crying? No, no, she could do this. She was strong. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal," she continued, swallowing and forcing herself to look at her girlfriend. "He was upset because I had his phone and exposed him, so he hit me. It's really quite sad," she looked away again, mostly because she really did think that, that poor Jasper just needed some more hugs or love or something along those lines. He had just seemed so angry for some reason.

[Alice Hobbs]

"Being upset doesn't make it okay to hit other people." Why was Zoe defending him? In what universe was hitting someone else okay? "That's like saying that...that.." She stopped, shaking her head as she furrowed her brows further. Maybe she was taking this too personally. Not only because of Zoe, but because she knew exactly what people were capable of when they were upset.

"He hit you, Zoe. That is a big deal!" Alice stepped forward, spreading her arms. "It doesn't matter why he was upset or what you did. That doesn't give him the right to physically hurt you." Clearly, they were getting nowhere with this. Zoe didn't listen, or maybe she didn't want to. Shaking her head again, Alice's hand went to her forehead, rubbing it as she stepped away. Maybe this had been a bad idea after all. Maybe it had been better if she had simply ignored the blog post altogether?

Honestly, this sounded like one of those cases you would read about in the papers, where a husband hit his wife, and she'd defend him by claiming that she had done something wrong, or that he'd just been upset, and that somehow, that made it the wife's fault. Alice couldn't help but thinking that this was exactly what this conversation felt like.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"I know that!" Zoe said, jerking her head up. "It was awful: I was there," she fidgeted again, looking away. Was his hitting her a big deal? Zoe hadn't thought it was that big of a deal at the time, but now that Alice was reacting... maybe Zoe should have taken Alice into consideration? Zoe watched Alice.

"It's not..." she took a breath, moving closer to Alice. "It's as I said: I stole his phone, Alice, and then deleted his pictures," she actually looked a little proud at it. "And yes, he hit me because he's a sad, pathetic little person who can't react to anyone any other way. SPECTRE shot me because they couldn't handle my being a mutant. A trainer once hated me because I was on a date with another girl. Alice," Zoe swallowed and took a step forward, hoping she could make her girlfriend understand, "I'm tired of paying people back hate for hate. It doesn't solve anything, and if I keep letting all that get to me, I won't get out of bed in the morning."

Zoe paused for a moment, lowered her eyes slightly. "Do you think I should report him? Not because of vengeance or... or to hurt him, but because he needs help?" she looked up at Alice, her expression expectant.

[Alice Hobbs]

Pressing her lips shut, Alice didn't respond. She could easily enough tell that she had crossed the line and it was starting to upset her. She got that, and she wanted to respect it, but it was kind of hard when Alice was so damn certain she was right with this. Instead, she simply sighed.

Lifting her hands, Alice spread them out before shaking her head in defeat. "I never said anything about paying them back with hate. He broke the rules, and should be punished for it. Not because you're supposed to feel better, but because it's the right thing to do." Clearly this wasn't getting them anywhere, and if they couldn't see eye to eye, it was probably easier that they just agreed to disagree. And Alice did understand why Zoe didn't want to dwell on it. She really did. It was just frustrating to sit idly by without being able to do anything about it.

"You already know what I think, but it's not my call to make," she replied with another shake of her head. Moving forward, Alice was ready to drop the subject altogether, and instead, she walked over to the table and looked over the photographs. "These are really good," she said, leaning over to study them closer.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

No, no she hadn't, but Zoe swore she could hear it. She watched her girlfriend closely, paying attention. Zoe nodded, and though Alice might not realize it, some part of her agreed. But Zoe also thought she should let Casper know first, that she should at least say something to him before just reporting. They should get help, after all.

"Alice..." she said softly as her girlfriend passed, "I know you want me to make my own decisions, but that doesn't mean I can't listen to you first..." she watched, then turned. The photographs. Zoe flushed, rubbing her hands on her skirt as she stepped forward.

"I've already placed most of the ones for my show," she said, nodding. "There's, um, still some others and---" she licked her lip, looking over at her girlfriend. "There's... a hole," she paused, "I'll have to show you sometime, but, well," she drew her hand over the photographs, seeing so many people, some who had been transferred out, even one or two that had been badly hurt by the fire.

"Is this the first time you've been in here?" Zoe looked over at Alice. "I don't remember you visiting me here before..."

[Alice Hobbs]

Again, Alice didn't respond. Hadn't she already said what she thought of it all? Yeah, she had. She understood that Zoe wanted her too feel as if her opinions matter, but when it came down to it, it was Zoe's decision, and Alice had no right to push the subject, even if she wanted to. Luckily though, it seemed as if the photographs were enough to distract them both for the time being.

"A hole?" she repeated, furrowing her brows. Her brown eyes followed Zoe's hand before looking back at the girl. She didn't recognize a whole lot of the people on the pictures. "They all look alright to me," she added with a faint, but sheepish smile. It was no secret that Alice knew next to nothing about photography. All she did know was that Zoe was amazing at it, and she had the ability to take some really amazing pictures. And that was enough.

Nodding slowly, Alice lifted her head. "I think so," she said, pursing her lips. "I mean, I don't study art, so I've had no reason to be here," she shrugged. "I probably have, but don't remember it." After all, she had been around for quite some time. "Never really had anything memorable to remember it by," she added with a soft smile.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"Well, not here," Zoe said, gesturing and flushing, "The show, which is already set up in town. These are a few extras, and I was thinking of putting something together for another project," though to be honest, Zoe didn't need to work quite as much on her class projects. Her class literally got extra credit for going to her show, which sort of made her feel quite good about the whole thing.

At least they were talking about something else, though it was a little strange to see Alice as the one who looked out of her element and awkward. "It's alright," Zoe said, moving to give her girlfriend's arm a squeeze, "it's not as though I expect regular visits or the like," she waved off with her other hand, and turned back to look.

Zoe fidgeted again. "Um," she licked her lips, "the hole, in the show..." she looked away, the actual photos were in her room: she wasn't going to let people see it till she was certain it should be shared. "Never mind. Um," she looked around again. Then something seemed to occur to her, and she looked back to Alice's phone. "Did... did Dirty Laundry mention me in regards to anything else?" she looked up at Alice, then reached up to rub her own arm. "Like... anything I should know about?"

[Alice Hobbs]

"Oh, I see," Alice said, nodding. She continued looking at the pictures until Zoe mentioned another project, which naturally got Alice's attention. Another project? Although Alice had very little knowledge about, well, any of this, she did find it interesting, and Zoe was clearly gifted. Her work was beautiful, just like she herself was. "What kind of project?"

Smiling warmly, Alice chuckled. "Don't be too surprised. Just because I have little knowledge about this stuff," she began, gesturing at the pictures with her hand. "It doesn't mean I don't enjoy spending time with you. Besides, I like watching you work." It was nice seeing Zoe in her element. It was like watching a different person. She moved with such grace, such confidence. It was no wonder she was as talented as she was. It was like watching a beautiful painting being painted right in front of her.

Again, Zoe managed to catch Alice's attention with ease. "No, say it. What is it?" she asked, curiously tilting her head to the side. Shaking her head, Alice shrugged. "Not that I caught, anyways. Just the part about the twins, and something about Devyn. She got hassled a lot in that thread too." Furrowing her brows, Alice leaned against the table. "They were pretty rough on her- myself included." Sighing, Alice pulled up her phone again, and opened the tab with the blog. Handing it over, Alice pursed her lips. "Take a look for yourself."