please let this go well

[Alice Hobbs]

A smirk splayed over the Pixie's lips at the short response Zoe offered her. Good. It was about damn time that the meek little girl clawed her way out of her shell and finally grew a damn spine. Alice was pleased to see that she hadn't been completely and utterly wrong about coming here. "Photo show?" she repeated, nodding slightly. "That's actually really cool." And not something someone had done before, which was even better. She was creative and could think outside of the box. Good. 

"You call hiding it by taking antidotes working hard? We clearly have very different views on working hard then," Alice said, her smirk growing wider.

"And might is not a definite 'not ever', so really, it just sounds like an excuse to me," she continued. And yes, she could see the fire burning within the meek girl's eyes and honestly? It only egged Alice on, because she knew she was pushing some kind of button here and as stupid as it sounded, she was curious to see just how far the girl was willing to play this game before telling Alice to go to hell like everyone before her.

This was what Alice did. She didn't respect boundaries and personal spaces. She didn't care who got butthurt because of it. She was blunt and honest and spoke what was on her mind, and if people didn't like it, that was their issue. She wasn't forcing the girl to stay, and if she wanted to leave, she could. Of course, Alice would rather she didn't, but that was life after all.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"Thank--" began Zoe, believing for a moment that perhaps she'd penetrated the shell, only to find that Alice kept going. Zoe stared, not quite believing that Alice really kept going with that. Excuse? Excuse? Zoe felt more anger burning hot in her chest, and her first instinct was to swallow it, to try and move forward. Alice was just so pretty and she really seemed at least somewhat interested in Zoe and it had been so long since Zoe had even managed to work up enough courage to talk to another girl in even a mildly romantic way that she was nearly desperate, especially with someone so pretty.

But that was what happened with Devyn and, well, Alice seemed to almost like it when Zoe fired back so... so she might as well try. Worst thing that happened was the girl walked out, right? And then Zoe would have a good cry, write a few nasty poems, and be right back where she started.

"Do you realize how many tests go into that?" she replied, the anger making her British accent quite thick. "And I also attend training sessions too, though perhaps not as many as some people. We all don't get to be so lucky as to just have beautiful wings pop out of our back," Zoe gestured, flushing as she remembered how very pretty Alice had looked. Then, unable to stop herself: "Do you even like me? Or are you just here because you feel sorry for me?"

Zoe's eyes were practically on fire by this point.

[Alice Hobbs]

Alice stayed silent as the girl spoke, even managing to keep the amused smirk off of her lips. In fact, she gave Zoe her full attention when she spoke up and defended herself. That wasn't something that happened often either. She for once took this person seriously, and that was a large step in Alice's book. She every rarely took people seriously enough to give them a second glance, but here she was, staring at the once meek looking deer grow into a tiger.

Lifting her hand, Alice lifted a finger for each point she made, "One; I do not, no, because from what you've told me so far, I can only assume and you've made it sound like you've simply given up." She almost smiled at that. Almost. "Two; At least you don't have some abnormity growing out of your back, though I'll give you that much; My ability don't cause me nearly as much trouble as yours do for you, so that's a very fair point." She couldn't argue that. Yes, she hated her wings, but they rarely caused any more trouble than just being in the way and covering her back in a nasty looking tattoo.

"Three; If I felt sorry for you, I wouldn't have wasted my time. I have much better things to do than run around making people feel better. I'm selfish, Zoe, and I only look out for number one. I wouldn't have been here if I didn't want to, and I wouldn't have still been sitting here if I didn't like you. It really is that simple. I do whatever I want, when I want to and I don't care whose feelings I hurt because of it."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Another rapid fire burst of conversation strafed across Zoe. This time, however, she felt more ready for it, as though her defenses had been pulled up just in time to prevent any real harm. Okay, so maybe she had, but at the same time, Alice had assumed. As far as Zoe was concerned: they'd both been mistaken and they could leave that at that. The abnormality thing nearly had her laughing. Didn't Alice understand how people like Zoe dreamed of that?

It was the last that really got her attention. Not just because of the words, but because she recognized the truth there. Again: Alice didn't hold back, and, well, why else would she. Still, there was something else. "That's kind of sad, don't you think? That you don't want to make some people feel better? I understand, well, not wanting to help everyone because there are evil people out there," Zoe looked to the window, then back, "but, well, I--I don't care about them. But... I care about, well, what you think, and I care about your feelings. It's not---not just because you're---pretty. You're beautiful, but I don't need to keep telling you that. It's...you're so strong. I wish I was more like that but..."

She smiled for a moment, her expression a little sad. "I also wish you were a bit more like me, I guess..."

[Alice Hobbs]

Sad? Alice wasn't sure if she agreed with that. Perhaps, to someone else it was. Alice herself just did whatever she needed in order to survive. "Why would I?" she said, arching both of her eyebrows. "What do I owe them? Nothing. That's the thing, Zoe. I'm selfish." She had already said that though. Leaning forward, Alice rested her chin against the back of her hand, sighing silently. "I'm strong because I don't let anything affect me. I'm strong because I look out for myself and I don't get pulled into petty drama and foolishness." She furrowed her brows for a moment, choosing her next words carefully for a change.

"Maybe it's sad, maybe it's pathetic, but the difference here is that I don't care. I am the way I am because I choose to be, and I don't let anything or anyone drive me off the road. Some people call that strength, some people call it a defense mechanism, but I believe the word people often use is 'bitchy'."

Even so, that didn't mean it was impossible for Alice to care. She just cared for a few selective people, which was two people, as sad as it was; Her sister and Liz. The only two people who had ever managed to get past her defenses and made Alice care. Her sister because she had to and Liz because... Well, she was Liz.

"More like you?" she chewed on that for a moment. "How so?"

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

What did Alice owe people? Technically nothing but... but what a cynical way to look at the world. Zoe almost couldn't believe it, and she felt a few more pings deep down. How had they already gotten here? With her sitting across from a girl she barely knew, a very pretty girl, and being worried about her all over again? She'd talked to several girls since she broke up with Devyn, nice ones like Mae and Liz.

So why was her heart racing while she talked to Alice?

"You're not that bitchy," argued Zoe, looking back to her date. "And... is it really strong to not let anyone in?" She shifted, looking away. "I... well, I mean, everyone keeps saying I'm strong because... because I guess I'm still going forward after everything that's happened and--and I keep letting people in and, well, I know they're going to hurt me,' she looked at Alice, "you're probably going to hurt me but... but it might be amazing for a bit. And I know that even if, if you do hurt me, then... then I'll just get back up again and---I don't know,' She looked away, "I really don't... I mean, it's not really," she looked back to Alice, fidgeted, "fair for us to be saying stuff about each other yet... is it? Can't we... can't we get to know each other first?"

Zoe shifted again. "I really would like to. Get to know you, that. I mean, if you want. Which I'm guessing you do," Zoe looked down for a moment, "since you're still, um, sitting there..."

[Alice Hobbs]

"Depends on who you ask," Alice pointed out. Really though, someone could find it as strength, while others thought of it as a weakness. At the end of the day, it came down to who's opinion you decided to listen to. Brushing her thumb across her lower lip, Alice sighed. "That's the thing though, Zoe; What makes one person strong, doesn't necessarily mean it works the same way for someone else." However, at the comment about Alice hurting Zoe, Alice raised her eyebrows. Well, wasn't this an interesting turn of events?

"You're asking me if we can get to know each other first when you're the one thinking ahead?" she asked, smiling as a chuckle fell from her lips. It was actually kind of surprising that Zoe did think ahead, even if it had just been a word of phrasing rather than what she actually thought. It was one of those moments where someone said one thing they didn't really mean that could be perceived as something completely different.

It was... Cute how flustered it made her.

Nodding somewhat, Alice pursed her lips. "You make a fair point there, Zoe," she began, looking at the girl for a moment before continuing. "Alright, what do you want to know then? Since you've told me a lot about yourself, I'm assuming I should return the favor."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe was most definitely not taring at Alice's thumb as it moved across those lips. No, definitely not. Because she was listening very closely to Alice's response and engaging her date in the manner that was most appropriate. Plus, Alice seemed to at least be taking what Zoe had to say seriously, and there was no agonized hair pulling or anything like that.

Zoe flushed at the comment, knowing that it was she that had launched forward. She opened her lips to try and comment, to insist that she just wanted to make sure that Alice didn't end up getting blindsided a ways down the line or anything like that. But no sooner then she had when Alice actually said she had a point. Zoe stared for a few moments, her brain deciding that now was an appropriate time to go back to staring at Alice's lips instead of processing anything remotely resembling conversation.

Thankfully, the server arrived with a pair of drinks, setting them down and nodding. As he left, he said a quick hi to Zoe who quietly answered back before looking back at Alice. What was the question?

"Um, well, I, ah," said Zoe. Her mind could not think of anything but pretty lips right now, which was most certainly not useful. "I um," she shifted again, "uuhh, what's your favorite color?" Oh God, that really had come out, hadn't it? Zoe actually raised her hands to cover her face, lowering it down. She was not good at this dating thing, like at all. First she just blurts out how dangerous she was and now this? Really? Alice already thought she was a sexually repressed idiot; this was not going to help.

[Alice Hobbs]

Offering the server a thankful smile, Alice's hand went around the warm cup of coffee. Taking in the delicious aroma, Alice patiently waited for the other girl to gather her thoughts - assuming she was gathering her thoughts anyways. In the meantime, Alice spent the silence focusing on her coffee, letting the warm ceramic warm her cold fingers. Dipping her head forward, she lifted the cup to her lips and took of a sip of the hot coffee, using the tip of her tongue to check the heat. A bit of the cream ended up on her lower lip, which Alice brushed off with her thumb.

"My favorite color?" Alice asked, quirking her brow. Well, that was an odd question, but she'd bite, she figured. After all, Zoe looked like she was in absolute pain for not coming up with anything better to ask. "Ivory white and beige," she said, nodding a little as she put the cup back down against the table. "Though, ivory white often looks good with darker shades of brown, so it depends really," she added then with a shrug. "I'm also a fan of yellow and silver."

Averting her gaze to the window, Alice looked at the people walking by for a few seconds before sighing. "What else?" She figured the only way to get the girl comfortable with asking some more personal question was to keep asking. After all, favorite colors didn't exactly match up to "what did you do to send your ex to the hospital", and hey, at least Alice was that decent. And that was saying a lot, actually.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Okay, okay, she could breathe. Alice hadn't, so far, gone running off for the hills wondering why she'd even accepted a date with the clearly inexperienced and hopeless, Mary-Poppins dressing prude named Zoe Mylastnameistoolong-andhyphenated. She actually answered the question and Zoe found herself lowering her hands, the panic subsiding.

Of course, it came right back when Alice asked her follow up question. Zoe tried to think of something, anything, but of course her mind fell to Alice's lips (again) for some stupid reason and then fed her a constant loop of static and told her that she really shouldn't be dating anyone let alone someone as confident and sexy as Alice... wait, had she ever said her last name? Alice.... something.

Zoe actually giggled for a few seconds, eventually covering her hand as if to smother it. "I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I was just... I unloaded most of my history on you and I just realized that I don't even know your last name. You must think I'm utterly insane. I honestly don't know why you're still sitting there," still smiling, Zoe shook her head and then took a sip of her coffee, glad for the familiar sensation that soon followed.

[Alice Hobbs]

Seeing Zoe relax had the corner of Alice's lips tugging upwards into a faint smile. Good. She really needed to relax more and stop freaking out over every small detail. If Alice was going to run away, she would have when Zoe mentioned the part about putting her exes in hospital for just kissing them; Asking about her favorite color wasn't exactly the worst question that could have been brought up. No, there was obviously worse things that could have been asked - and more creepy things too.

"It's alright," she said, sighing as she licked her bottom lip, her eyes moving for a few seconds before eventually ending up on Zoe again. "And I thought we talked about the apologizing part." She smirked at that. No, she wasn't actually going to slap her. At least, not in here. She'd rather not cause a seen and pull unneeded attention their way. "As for my last name, it's Hobbs." Right, even when Zoe had introduced herself with her name and last name, Alice hadn't. "And no, I don't think you're insane. Insecure perhaps, but not insane. That role is usually taken by someone more cynical and wicked," she replied with a crooked grin.

"As for why I'm still here..." she began, drawling. "I'm not entirely sure of that myself. However, what I am certain of is that you intrigue me." And Alice loved solving puzzles. The real question was rather, what happened once the puzzle had been solved?

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

The apologizing, oh, right Zoe flushed again as Alice pointed that out. She'd just forgotten and, well, that was sort of how she talked. She really couldn't get through more then a few lines without apologizing for something she said or did, though this time she really thought it was more deserved. It did seem to get her a last name though: Alice Hobbs. It seemed to fit. She also teased Zoe yet again, making the girl giggle again.

"Well, it doesn't matter why, because you are," insisted Zoe, gathering herself up and nodding. Yes, she was. Alice was sticking around, which meant that clearly Zoe hadn't failed so far. And if she hadn't failed with "I sent all my previous exes to the hospital" then she probably wasn't going to any time soon. Okay, she probably would with, like, the next sentence.

"You're mysterious yourself but, like, in a sexy way," insisted Zoe, nodding. She took another sip of her coffee, her tired brain still trying to come up with something. "So, you're at Bellefonte, so I know that, but are you in college or just an Academy student? Oh God," her eyes went wide, "you're not staff, are you? You don't look that old but I know that there's a lot of younger staff and all, but if you are that's perfectly fine."

See, that bit about the next sentence failing was prophetic.

[Alice Hobbs]

"Fair enough," Alice said, smiling as she was clearly amused. Alice preferred Zoe's company a lot more when she didn't act too nervous or flustered. It made the entire thing easier to deal with and well, it got a lot more out of the girl than what it had before as not every sentence contained pauses or 'uhh' or 'uhmmm'.

And then there was the sexy comment again. If Alice hadn't been Alice, she'd might have gotten a little conceited from all the compliments. Luckily, Alice very rarely took anything anyone ever said to heart, so there was no threat of that happening anytime soon. Well, apart from what was there already, of course. The questions about Alice's role at the school had her chuckling. Part of the staff? Oh dear. One would imagine Alice had done her background check of the girl had Alice been a staffer as the girl looked fairly young herself, but once again, Alice decided to bite.

"College student," she said, smirking. "So no, you don't have to worry much about me being a staffer and us getting in trouble because of it," she added with another quirked brow. "I study medicine, though, I've been thinking about changing my major." That was mostly because her sister kept insisting that Alice belonged in some fancy shmancy kitchen, cooking people food. "What about yourself? Student, college student, staffer?"

It hit Alice that she didn't even know how old the girl was, which made her a little disappointed in her own abilities. "I'm eighteen by the way," she added then with a ghost of a smirk on her lips.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

College student, well, that was good, and Zoe couldn't help but look relieved. It made sense for her to be interested in college students. She was, after all, technically still an Academy student, but that was just because of her woefully late manifestation messing up her grades and all.

"Medicine? Quite ambitious," replied Zoe, nodding. "Oh, I'm just a student, but I am eighteen, so you don't have to worry about that,' she smiled a little teasingly, then flushed again. Another sip and she licked her lips. "I, uh, got my powers incredibly late, just about a year or so ago, so I got held back a little," explained Zoe, nodding. "Oh, and I do photography, but, uh, I already said that, didn't I? Plus, I'm supposed to be asking about you, right?"

Zoe laughed a little, shuffling a little. "So, medicine," she repeated. "does that mean you want to end up being Dr. Hobbs? I can see it," she said the last slightly teasing, taking a sip of her drink. There was something in Alice, that brusque, no nonsense persona that definitely seemed to fit the persona. Though now Zoe was picturing Alice wearing a lab coat, with her head pulled back and a pair of spectacles and there was most definitely something wrong with Zoe's brain.

[Alice Hobbs]

Honestly? Alice didn't even really want to study medicine, she just had the grades and figured it was better than nothing. If it was entirely up to Alice, she would have left Montana a long time ago and attended some fancy college far from home, but with things being the way they were on her home front, that was easier said than done. With an alcoholic dad and a sister that couldn't take care of herself, Alice didn't have much of a choice in the matter. "I suppose so," she said, shrugging. "Worry? Now you're doing it again," she smiled, "Thinking ahead of yourself," she added as if it wasn't obvious.

"Wow, you've only had them for a year? Well, that explains your lack of control," Alice smirked. But it really did make sense though, and Alice suddenly realized why the girl was so damn afraid of her own ability. Unlike Alice who had had her ability for several years; She at least had grown used to the idea and had time to grow comfortable with it as well. "Yes you did, and yes you are; So, keep throwing the questions at me."

"I don't know; I don't really do it because I want to. It's more one of those things 'do it because you can'." Alice lifted her cup again and took another sip of the coffee. "But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy it, mind," she added, mostly to avoid the whole speech about following your dreams and doing what you wanted, and blah, blah, blah. God, she hated that speech.