Short Person Problems

[Alexandra Lawson]

"But... I'm twenty-two!"  Alex insisted in vain.  She stood in front of the checkout counter of the liquor store, protesting her case to the clerk who simply wasn't having it.  The diminutive young woman peered up to the cashier who towered over her with an expression of utter astonishment.  The urge to drink didn't hit Alex often, it never had.  She rarely went to parties or hung out with the underage drinking crowd when she was in school and that relatively conservative attitude towards alcohol hadn't changed when she graduated and set out into the world.  Even after she'd reached the legal age to buy liquor she had barely taken advantage of it.

"Oh come on!"  The redhead whined pitifully.  "The only other open store is all the way across town!  You have my ID, it's good!"  Suddenly Alex's brow furrowed as the obvious sunk in.  "Yeah, you have my driver's license."  She pointed at the little card in the clerk's hands.  "Can I, uh, have that back?"  She wasn't expecting to hear the recital of the Montana state penal code that afforded alcohol selling businesses the legal right to confiscate false or altered identification cards when presented to clerks.  Alex huffed, nearly stamping her foot in a flustered state of utter frustration.  "But I'm old enough!"  She, again, insisted.  "I graduated college a year ago!"  Anger mingled with humiliation as the threat of calling the police was issued and Alex was forced to flee the scene before causing any more trouble.

Alex pushed her way out of the heavy metal and glass door and stepped into the cold, Montana night.  She exhaled sharply, watching as the steam of her breath billowed out in front of her.  Hands immediately found their way into the pockets of a heavy, winter coat, only emerging long enough to tug the bright pink, wool cap (which came complete with a small, fluffy ball atop it) onto Alex's head and over her ears before seeking the warmth of the coat once more.  She hopped up and down both from the cold and the frustration of being denied alcohol and having her driver's license taken before shuffling along the sidewalk of the shopping center, unsure of her next move.

Suddenly Alex's eyes lit up.  She hurried over to the only other person in the small shopping center, coming up behind them quietly.  "Um, excuse me!"  She said politely, sort of giving a half flail, half wave in order to attract their attention.  "I'm twenty-two but the clerk at the liquor store didn't believe me even though I had my driver's license.  Then he took my license away and threatened to call the cops and I was wondering if you could help me out and buy a bottle of vodka for me?"  And with that she presented the folded bills she was going to pay for the alcohol with and peered up to the person with a bright gleam in her brown eyes.

[Cassie Stryker]

Cassidy was five foot eleven inches. So when the diminutive figure bounced up to her, she was surprised to say the very least. She had just been drifting from store to store browsing. It was a fun way to pass the time, and doing so meant she had a better sense of what there was around. It was the way she'd found out the pizza place delivered to the house Lupe and herself had. She smiled and looked at the girl as the explanation was given.

"I don't really blame them for thinking you're underage honestly. That being said, I remember being in the same classes a while back so I'm pretty sure you're the same age as me or maybe a bit younger perhaps. Yeah I can buy you alcohol." Then it occurred to her that had the cops not already been coming as she thought they were, then Cassie could've just teleported behind the counter, picked up the ID and gotten out quickly.

"And you are you one of those types who's picky about what type or flavour of vodka? Or is it okay just as long as it's certified vodka-yuck?"

[Alexandra Lawson]

Alex's gaze looked just beyond the other young woman who towered over here by nearly a full foot. Brown eyes narrowed as she spotted the clerk through the window, oblivious to the deal that was going on outside as he went about ringing up another customer. Alex mumbled a few choice curses under breath, almost forgetting that she had initiated a conversation with someone and that person was talking back. She blinked, shook her head as if clearing cobwebs from her mind and then looked up to the tall woman.

"Uh..." Again Alex's eyes narrowed, this time as she looked at the woman. There was something familiar about her now that Alex was actually thinking about it. "Oh!" Her entire face lit up with recognition. "Cassie! Right?" She blurted out. Alex had been a year behind Cassie in college and they had differing degree programs but she remembered the tall, slender young woman from a couple of the pre-requisite courses they'd shared over the years. "I remember you!" The frustration from moments before and, it would seem, even the quest for alcohol had been abruptly cast aside with the revelation. "How have you been?" She asked, eyes gleaming brightly now. "I have seen you since..." Her brow furrowed in thought as she paused long enough to try and remember. "English Lit, Junior year?"

[Cassie Stryker]

"Yeah you got it right. Alex right? Yeah we had English lit." She smiled.

"I've been pretty good. Living in town with my girlfriend now. What have you been up to? Been a while since we were juniors eh?" She grinned. It was good to see Alex again.

"You know, other than not being able to buy alcohol because you look like a kitten who isn't the right age." She grinned mischievously and chuckled a bit at her own comparison. It seemed to suit her though!

[Alexandra Lawson]

Alex nodded hastily, the ponytail her brightly colored, red hair was tied into bobbed merrily in the process. She looked almost proud of herself for having remembered the young woman's face correctly. Alex often forgot what she had for breakfast, why she had entered into a room at any given moment or even, on occasion, that she had taken public transportation downtown instead of driving and went on an hour long search to find out where she'd parked. To note a former classmate after not having seen them for an extended period of time was certainly a win in her book.

She tilted her head curiously to the side at Cassie's rather unorthodox way of describing her. Alex frowned a little though there was no negative emotions to be found but rather a girlish pout touched her features. "You're not the first person to call me that." She admitted with a sigh before giving a resigned shrug. "But I've accepted that fact." Alex added with a snicker. "Not all of us can be, like..." She held a hand above her own head, indicating the substantial height difference between herself and Cassie. "... six feet tall."

[Cassie Stryker]

"I'm actually only five eleven but I suppose it's close enough." Cassie shrugged, putting her hands in the pockets of her dark wash jeans.

"Kittens are not the worst thing to be compared to. You have to admit it could definitely be worse. I mean, I get asked about basketball and you get compared to a cuddly creature who is the whole internet's obsession. Doesn't sound all that bad to me, to be completely honest."

[Alexandra Lawson]

A single brow quirked up at Cassie's correction and Alex merely gave a shrug. Five eleven was damn close to six feet. Once someone got that tall Alex stopped trying to figure out their exact height and just assumed six feet. It wasn't as if she would ever sniff those heights without the use of a step ladder. Her all of five foot tall frame made life difficult at times but at least she never had to worry about finding a cute, brightly colored outfit in the girl's clothing section at the store. Nonetheless, Alex shrugged it off and was ready to move on.

To being compared to a kitten.

Cassie wasn't wrong. Alex had actually been compared to much worse things. One teacher had described her as a 'sugar-addled hobbit' once and she hadn't been all too pleased with that. She'd also been liken to a spastic chihuahua even though she argued she didn't have bug eyes or shake around larger people. She imagined that comparison came from her habit of peeing when excited but she could hardly be blamed for that, right? "Oh, you're right about that." She said with a thoughtful nod. She'd managed to lose herself in the memories of all the strange things she'd been compared to and hadn't realized she'd stood silent, nodding to herself occasionally as if locked in stimulating conversation for a good fifteen or twenty second before finally speaking.

"I was at a music festival in the park last spring." Alex started, a bit of a resigned frown touching her features as she spoke. "My boyfriend used me for a beer stand." She pointed to herself. "Balanced a bottle right on the top of my head while we were standing there watching this horrible country band."

[Cassie Stryker]

"Country can be okay sometimes. Now your boyfriend using you as a beer stand is not. Okay, that is. If my girlfriend ever pulled that with me, I'd set her straight on it faster than you could say 'we're very not straight'. Of course I don't think she's ever even had a beer so I think that would be pointless. Wolves don't get drunk. Go figure." And she'd gone on her own little mini tirade, but it didn't even matter since Alex had done the same thing presumably in her own head.

[Alexandra Lawson]

As Cassie issued her response to the beer story Alex couldn't help the smile from slowly spreading across her face. She shrugged, her eyes gleaming playfully. "To be fair I made him carry me on his shoulders all day." She then slid her eyes from side to side, almost embarrassed at the next part of the story. "And I... may have used a stick to smack him on the butt when he was going to slow and also..." Yes, there was more. "I made him make horsey noises at random times."

Alex's eyes had narrowed during the last part of Cassie's little mini-rant. There were a few pairings of words that just didn't make sense, though the tiny, redheaded girl was hardly in the mindset to question them. She had no right to judge what people called their significant others even though she couldn't help but wonder what in the holy hell Cassie was actually talking about. "Right. Well... she's missing out then." Her nose scrunched up then. "Not beer, I mean, booze. Some booze. Vodka's okay if you mix it."

[Cassie Stryker]

Cassie hit her forehead with the palm of her hand when she realized how what she said probably sounded to someone who didn't know Lupe.

"She was raised by wolves. She is human I swear. I am...not into that." Cassie blushed slightly at the thought and shook her head with a sigh.

"And...if you were making him do all that I think we can forgive him for using you as a beer stand...I mean I know you probably weigh the same as a kitten but the horsey noises were probably a little odd for the guy." Cassie laughed. She knew Alex was a little odd, but that was just plain hilarious. Forget odd she herself dated a girl raised by wolves. Talking about odd was totally hypocritical of her.

[Alexandra Lawson]

Alex glanced up to Cassie and nodded. She knew her boyfriend was more than justified in making her a beer stand. It hadn't been the worst or even most embarrassing thing either of them had done to each other in public. Most may have found their antics childish and frustratingly immature but it worked for the two of them and it had obviously paid off in the way Alex's eyes gleamed with just the mere mention of him. "Yeah, well, he has to put up with this." She pointed at herself and, again, nodded. This time her head bobbed slowly and she had a self-deprecating sort of 'what can you do?' expression on her face. She was well aware that Ezra had the patience of a saint. He had to to live with her for any length of time.

"Anyway." Alex said after she'd fallen silent for a few awkward moments. She turned her eyes back toward the clerk that was inside the liquor store and gave a scowl at him through the window that went unnoticed. "I hate that guy." She grumbled under her breath.

[Cassie Stryker]

"Yeah about that dude...has he called the cops or anything yet? I ask because if you distract him and get him away from the counter, I could teleport in, grab your ID and you'd be golden. I mean, these days I haven't been using my teleportation nearly as much. I have good power control and it isn't like we'd be doing anything illegal. I mean I'd just be taking back a ID for someone who's legal age. If I'm able to help you out, I definitely could." She shrugged and smiled.

"Just pull an X-Men and pretend I'm Nightcrawler. Y'know." She smirked.

[Alexandra Lawson]

Large, expressive brown eyes slowly turned from the clerk inside the store to the tall, young woman standing nearby. Alex peered up at Cassie for a long moment as she thought over the tentative plan. She pieced together an elaborate scheme that would involve the both of them wearing these really great looking, skin tight leather outfits and twisting their way around laser sensors and the like to retrieve her coveted (and 100% legal) ID card. Obviously her mind had taken things a bit overboard and she actually had to shake her head in order to snap herself back to reality.

"Yeah. Okay." Alex said, nodding after she'd finally come back from her quick day dream. "I can do that." Although she frowned as it occurred to her she didn't have the slightest clue how to distract and asshole convenience store clerk. Thankfully she only had to ponder the idea for a few moments before her eyes lit up and she let out a low 'oh!' of surprise. She nodded hastily, turned on her heel and set off for the entrance to the store.

Pushing open the door, Alex made a beeline for the coolers that were in the back. Her presence immediately caught the attention of the clerk who started eyeing her suspiciously. "Hey, um, excuse me!" Alex called, waving her hand about. "I don't want to cause any trouble, I just want a Red Bull but they're on the top shelf." She gave a bit of a pout. "I didn't think you wanted me to climb into the cooler to get one..." She trailed off as the clerk was already rounding the register and reluctantly crossing over to where Alex stood. She smiled brightly before turning and moving alongside the clerk.

[Cassie Stryker]

Red Bull. Ha. Cassie would've chuckled at the simple yet effective distraction if it wouldn't have drawn attention to herself. Instead, she knelt down on the ground like she was going to tie her shoe and she teleported behind the counter. She'd had to take that pose beforehand so she wouldn't be seen. She looked through the stuff on the shelf underneath. There were a couple of other confiscated IDs. It appeared this guy was snap happy with them. She took Alex's, and then Cassie smirked before teleporting back out. She stood and stretched her arms before stowing the ID in the pocket of her jeans and walking in.

"Hey man." She walked beside Alex and smiled at the other girl before picking up a six pack of beer and walking back to the counter. The guy came back to the counter, she paid for her purchase and walked back out of the store, standing there and waiting for Alex.

[Alexandra Lawson]

Alex considered, reconsidered, then considered again the exact flavor of energy drink she wanted the clerk to retrieve for her until she spied Cassie approaching from the corner of her eye. She gave a short nod to the much taller girl before glancing up to the clerk and waving her hand. "Thanks but I'm just going to go with one of these." She said, plucking a tall can of raspberry flavored ice tea from it's slot in the cooler and turning away to head for the aisle where they kept the candy. She was feeling stressed in spite of the assumed victory and needed some Skittles to calm her nerves. After having to deal with the asshole clerk she figured she deserved it.

A few moments later the Skittles and tea had been purchased and Alex wandered outside where Cassie was waiting. "Did it work?" She asked once the door to the convenience store had swung closed behind her. She bounced up and down on the balls of her feet in anticipation.