Realistic or Modern Project X12

[Girl2Fine2]

CeeCee Davis

​

CeeCee practically bounced on her toes, eyes bright with glee and hands clapped in front of her as Ella responded rather positively to her suggestion. She had mentioned planting, partly for the aesthetic reasons, but mostly because she knew that they had the potential to perk Ella up. Sometimes, even with the mention of them, Ella might still be a bit reluctant, a side effect of being confronted with CeeCee's everything, but she tried anyway. She was persistent like that. So, having a reaction like a smile and an actual agreeing thought process was enough to make CeeCee almost squeal in excitement. "Really? Awesome!" She exclaimed, brain already trying to conjure up this imaginary garden. She didn't know if Tori or even Sal was going to approve it; most gardens, CeeCee mused, were outside or at least separate from the living areas. However, surely with the way the roof was and the fact that the space was big enough to actually section things off, it could work. It could really, really work, and CeeCee and Ella could both work on it. And CeeCee could be useful and feel like she was such.

"Yeah, definitely," CeeCee answered quickly after Ella asked about going out. Granted, when it came down to it, regardless of her disgust of having to clean the inside of their home, CeeCee would in fact - and with minimal to no (gotta be realistic after all) complaining - clean. But at the moment, especially with all of the attitudes from a few minutes ago, she didn't want to. They were in a huge city - you couldn't be any type of living creature and not know that New York was, well, New York - and it was like a huge playground to CeeCee. They might get a little lost, but heading out and exploring just a little, and getting something for everyone else, was just as helpful as picking up pieces of broken bottles. And a lot safer and cleaner, a voice in her headed added snidely, but CeeCee shook her head before beaming at Ella. "Let's go, I'm sure the others are bound to forget at least something. Maybe we could be the ones to remember what that something is."

Mentions
(@FrostFire)
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[BurningBridges]

Sal almost immediately felt melodramatic after leaving the warehouse, but he also felt like his outburst was justified. It was justified. As much as he loved all of the others, there were often moments when he felt like the group would honestly be better off without a few of them. Overall, at some point or another, each and every one of them had proven to be useful in some regard. Still, they were a big group. A big group meant that they needed more space, more resources, and more care put into concealing their true identities. While there was safety in numbers, when it came to their situation, larger numbers also meant greater risk. At the moment, it also meant that there was a greater potential for someone (or multiple people) to piss him off. It took a lot to really get on Sal's nerves, and today's outburst was honestly probably a few months worth of anger pent up. He thought that he deserved snapping at people once every few months when it seemed like he was on the receiving end of complaints ten times a week, at minimum.

He had no real destination in mind, but he continued walking for a few minutes without even thinking about what he wanted to do then. He needed to clear his mind, and moving, breathing and blending into crowds seemed like the only way to do that right now. Eventually, he turned a block and came across a supermarket. He had walked past a Chinese restaurant a second before, so it felt too challenging not to go inside. Sal had money on him, but he didn't intend on spending any of it. Leaving X12, no one had a penny to their name. That was why Raine had really come in handy (and why she still did). Sal didn't like relying on anyone though, so over the past year, he had found his own ways of making money. Over the winter, wherever they were, he spent mornings and nights shoveling feet and feet of snow to make an honest living. He had gotten a few other odd jobs that were off the books in various other stops along the way, like a week long gig at a car wash, and a table waiting job for a private event that he had found and answered an ad about by luck one weekend. Things like that made him feel like a good person, one that was contributing and assimilating into society. It was really hard to find jobs like that though. None of them could secure real jobs that were on the book for various reasons, and with the weight of his world on his shoulders, Sal had eventually resorted to a less honest way of making money. He had to support himself and the others somehow, so if it came to theft, then that was what it came to. In truth, he really did try to steal in the least harmful way possible. Ways that only hurt businesses financially. Occasionally, though, he had to hurt individuals financially... and physically. It wasn't something that he was proud of, but if he had to mug people a few times a week to make a couple hundred bucks, then that was what he needed to do.

Even if he wasn't comfortable with doing immoral things, he had learned how to do it smoothly and casually, so as not to draw suspicion. As he headed into the grocery store, he smiled at an employee that he passed, and stopped another to ask for directions to the produce area. It seemed like most of the people working there were teenagers, most of whom seemed bored and uninterested in the job. With his hoodie up he wasn't really worried about the cameras, and given that today the temperatures were in the low sixties, he also wasn't concerned about seeming suspicious looking. Besides, after carefully tucking a box of Poptarts, granola bars, and a jar of peanut butter and grape jelly into his backpack, he grabbed a loaf of bread and two boxes of cereal that were clearanced because they expired the next day, and headed for the register. He was going to pay for something to avoid suspicion.​

 

[FrostFire]

Elanor 'Ella' Fraser

Spoiler: Image

Ella was glad that her responses made CeeCee happy, it really was a good idea to have flora indoors... Ella was trying not to look forward to it that much, she imagined there would be a fair amount of friction from other members of the group, but.... If Tori could help her create a little corner of plants, Ella might feel a bit more at home.
She disliked the city intensely, so if the group had a garden or a vegetable patch Ella could work on, and maybe even the tree CeeCee seemed so excited about, she might be able to forget momentarily that she was surrounded on all sides by dull, grey buildings full of people.

Noticing movement out of the corner of her eye, Ella turned her head to spot Mick moving from behind the bin she had seemingly been behind... She didn't say anything, the other girl looked as if she wanted to be left alone... When she disappeared from view, Ella turned her attention back to CeeCee - who was much more likely to check up on someone. She had, after all, done the same for her. Ella was much to quiet... She kept to herself most of the time, it was why she didn't have any 'best' friends, nor really had been very good friends with anyone in the facility before they had escaped. Despite this side of her nature, she was also kind-hearted... Which meant that she worried slightly, hoping Mick was all right.

Ella was... Less happy about the suggestion that they leave the compounds of their new home. Granted, she wouldn't say anything against what CeeCee wanted to do, nor would she utter a sound of complaint - it was in her nature, after all. To please, even if it meant that she herself would suffer.
Standing up from the brick she was sat on, she smiled softly (if a little strained) and brushed off her jeans. "Please, lead the way. Would you like anyone else to come with us...?", she cast her mind to those she considered herself to be close to in the group... Tommy sprung to mind, he was the only one she could think of that might not be otherwise occupied with chores or out shopping... But she didn't want to suggest anything to CeeCee, and she certainly didn't want to go back into the building yet (if he was even there), so she just stayed silent.
"Well... I have a little bit of money on me...", Ella's mouth turned down slightly as she thought of the five dollar bill in her pocket... It wasn't much, but it was more than some of the others had - the only reason she had it is because she had exchanged it for a piece of bread with a hungry crow.
"So maybe we could try and find more...?", money was helpful. Ella disliked stealing, despite the fact that her distraction were very, very effective.
Ella remembered that people liked to drop their money and forget about it. She had no idea why... Another custom of society that she was dumbfounded by was that people liked to throw money into fountains, it completely mystified her. But right now, it was incredibly useful. If they found money, they could give it to the rest of the group, perhaps Sal could divide it between them, or they could buy vegetables with it. She doubted very much they would find anything over five or ten dollars... There was no way they would be that lucky. Still, a dollar or two could buy them a bag of potatoes or maybe some carrots.
"Perhaps there's a fountain nearby...?", she asked quietly, wondering if there were any ducks in New York. So far the only warm blooded animals she had seen were an abundance of pigeons, a few crows and squirrels, a fox and about a million rats - all creatures she was relatively adept dealing with.
She glanced up, the pigeons that had been bickering above her had since moved on... Ella hoped that they had resolved their argument.
Girl2Fine2 Metaphorically

 

[cure]

It was probably no surprise that Raine had very little sense of direction as far as navigating by street names went. It was part of the reason she was scoping for landmarks and notable areas as they made the trek east from where they were going. Navigating New York City, then, was surely an impossible feat. She had no idea what East 17th Street meant, even in relation to where they were. She had no clue how far away it was, but just assumed from Audrey's conviction that it couldn't have been that far away. Audrey had also beaten her to declining the bodega they came across. Especially when there was supposedly a Target not too far away, it made sense to keep walking. Even still, Target might have everything they needed, sort of like a one-stop shop, they weren't going to be able to get everything in one. Not everything that they really needed, and that was for multiple reasons. It would become a lot more difficult to maintain the illusion when they were a bunch of different things to focus on, and the stress of that would then make it even harder. Raine obviously wasn't trained when it came to her abilities, but even she played some role in her powers being subdued. She subconsciously psyched herself a lot of the times, and due to what happened just before she was kidnapped, she innately suppressed ever pushing herself to the limit, even if that 'limit' was well within her normal range of power.

"Hopefully we run across something soon," she mumbled to herself. After a couple of more minutes, just when Raine was thinking they might be walking aimlessly, they walked upon a CVS. Raine sighed a sigh of relief and happiness. In reality, it wasn't too bad of a walk at all. Traveling somewhere new made the journey seem a lot longer because they was so much novelty, still, she hoped it wasn't all in her head because they would still need to actually carry this stuff back since no one had to ability to teleport. Staying around the corner from the entrance, Raine pulled the others over. This store was obviously too big to need Azaria, plus there wasn't any need to resort to him, and even after a second thought, she decided against bringing Audrey. It would probably be faster if she just tried getting in and out without having to think about another person, and if she forgot anything, she'd just drop off the bags with the others and go back in disguised as someone else. "All right, give me that list," she told Ayaka as she looked over it. "It'll be too risky for us all to go in at the same time, plus I couldn't disguise you all." A beat later she was a couple inches taller, blonde, and about fifteen years older. "Are there any objections before I go in?" she said, intentionally looking towards Audrey as she looked through the little bit of cash had. This would do, definitely. While Raine tended to think her ideas were the best, she wasn't absolutely against the idea of something. And she mostly just asked so that she could say no.

 

[Girl2Fine2]

CeeCee Davis

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CeeCee had, in fact, noticed Mick but originally said nothing because it didn't seem like Mick noticed her. Not that it would have stopped CeeCee or was going to stop CeeCee from inviting the girl with them - even before Ella had offered - but still. She had noticed, but Mick disappeared behind the bin with a ball bouncing off of her foot. It always fascinated CeeCee when she saw Mick with the soccer ball; the tricks she could do, how swiftly she could shuffle the ball between the insides of her feet, how natural it all was. Because it definitely didn't feel like it would be natural if CeeCee got anywhere near the thing, so she had fashioned herself an open admirer and watched during the times they had all been outside underneath some bridge and Mick dribbled and did tricks. It had been better, then, than to sit and complain because they happened to be under a cave. They all very well could have been stuck in their cells again, she had more than likely pointed out before trying to convince everyone that lamenting that they were in less than favorable conditions helped nothing.

"Ummmm...." CeeCee hummed to herself, twirling on her toes and heading in the direction she had seen Mick go only because that just so happened to coincide with the direction of the street and sidewalks they had taken to get to their current location. "I just saw Mick, so we could ask her if she wanted to get away for a little bit. Pretty sure the others have started looking around inside or something. You think we need anybody else?" She wasn't particularly sure if telling Tori and the others they were heading out as well would be received well, especially considering what would be most helpful would probably be cleaning up the inside, but now that the idea of leaving - at least for a little while - had been placed in her head - CeeCee was more inclined to go with it. Besides, if this was home base for awhile, they could do some cleaning at any point, even at night. It wasn't like she fell asleep immediately, anyway. "Oooh, and I have some money too. Pretty sure we can figure something out," she exclaimed, feeling into her back pocket for the dollar bills she had stashed from wandering around. What CeeCee had tried to do at some point was see if she could get a lot of money out of an ATM since she wasn't ignorant to the existence of those machines; she remembered going with her mom all the time and watching her back to make sure no one got too close to seeing her mom's PIN when she typed it in. She had at least remembered that cash came out of it and it was technically a computer of some sorts, right? It had resulted in a bad headache and fatigue that lasted for a good chunk of the day, but a small wad of cash she had given to Sal.

Passing by the bin, CeeCee - as she thought she would - found Mick distracted with earbuds in her ears and the ball circling her legs in ways CeeCee was pretty sure would be impossible with her own limbs, but she shook the thought away to wave her hands at Mick in case the other girl wouldn't hear her originally if she called. Mick liked to listen to her music loudly sometimes, CeeCee had noticed. "Hey! Mick!" She called before gesturing to Ella as she continued, "We're gonna go see if there's anything else we'll need for everyone. You wanna come?"


Mentions
(@OppositeInverse, @FrostFire)
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[OppositeInverse]

MICK​

Mood ~ Back to Normal

The Latin and Dancehall music blared in her ears as the despair from the previous hidden emotions she released gradually begin to fade away. Slowly her frown was replaced with a smile, and then full on hyperactive grinning as she felt in her element working the soccer ball like the family knew she could. She was also in rhythm of the song that could be heard through her earbuds they were so loud. She saw a wave in her peripheral and saw CeeCee smiling at her in her usual giddy and optimistic demeanor. Mick removed an earbud out and smiled back at the girl, with Cee notifying her that her and Ella were about to leave and gather things people may need. Didn't Audrey, Azaria, and some others leave for that very purpose already? Mick looks at the two girls before kicking her soccer ball precisely back into the bag with pinpoint accuracy. She then zips up the bag and straps it on her back. Since her 8 years in being trapped in X12, her English had gotten to the point where it was understandable, but her dialect still lacked certain jargons. Usually she'd joke in Spanish or mild English, but most cases she'd just do some goofy gesture to assure people she was lighthearted and meant well. This was one of those cases, where she simply grinned from ear to ear, giving the two girls a sharp thumbs up, the sun shining down on her bronze coated skin. CeeCee was a very happy girl, much like Mick was to the group. There were times she was a bit Naive but CeeCee always meant well, and always managed to make Mick feel lighter on the inside. Ella was quiet but very serene. Definitely wasn't the worst company by any means.

"Hmm, Tengo dinero de antes... how do you say... uh, I have some money, but from last time?"

Mick opened a pouch on the side of her backpack that pulled out crumpled dollars, $12 to be exact. It's all she managed to save over the past year, her other funds going into the group food stores and rations, or personal items that females would need for... things. She also purchased the backpack she now has at something the group called a 'yard sale' when they were on the move a while back. The soccer ball was definitely not needed, but when Sal saw the look of joy and passion in her eyes, he'd allowed her to take a small amount of money from the group savings and afford it. He probably knew as well as she did it was the only thing she'd ever have that could tie her to a home life of her past childhood. Small price to pay for gradual happiness, no matter how incremental it may be. She locked her arm into CeeCee's and wrapped her other arm around Ella, trying to void the fact she was a crying mess not even an hour before. Best they didn't see the group jokester and beacon of faith down in the dumps like that... pun intended.

"So... I hear Sal yell earlier, no bueno. I hope he's well. They left for things right? What sort of undercover mission are we about to do now? and also... where is The Big Apple? Apparently New York is supposed to have one..."

Poor girl had no idea New York was The Big Apple. It was easily something she imagined as a kid that they called the city that because they housed some giant fruit like James and the Giant Peach. Even looking inwards at the urban districts of the city over the view, she saw the complexes and tall buildings, and usually most 'tourists' would be fascinated with the caliber, but there Mick was looking for a damn apple, a literal giant apple. Of course that light humor was to be presented on the surface, but deep behind that exterior was the ever intellectual and calculating Mick. The one that was always prepared for anything to happen. Sharp, yet subtle. Maybe only Audrey and Tori knew of her prowess behind the mask of the comedic Latina. Hopefully, she'd never have to awaken that side no one's seen since the breakout. They began their trek to wherever the hell it was they were going, Mick poking her head inside to the remaining people, probably still at odds after the feud.

"Hola! BYE."

She sticks her tongue out and throws up the dueces as they make their way from their new makeshift home. She did feel a little hurt no one noticed she was even gone, but as always, she'd absorb the impact. Maybe that was the problem, it did cause Sal to explode, and her as well, just not in the anger spectrum. "Kay, estoy listo!"

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Girl2Fine2 FrostFire

 

[FrostFire]

Elanor 'Ella' Fraser

Spoiler: Image

Ella shook her head silently as CeeCee asked if they needed anyone else. She didn't want to travel in a large group - larger groups tended to attract more attention, something she was keenly aware of, and she was sure some of the others were too. Their group as a whole was rather large, and rowdy, which certainly made Ella worried especially in such a big city with so many prying eyes... But three was a good number, just enough to be a group of friends, but not too many that people began to notice.

She followed CeeCee to where Mick had gone to practice football, but stayed a few meters away. She liked Mick, just as she liked (or tried to like) everyone, however around her, Ella couldn't help but feel a little self conscious and guilty that she didn't speak nor understand a word of Spanish. Ella was ironically very, very bad at languages - something she had been ashamed of even before she was captured, her family had been bilingual, English and Gaelic were both spoken in her home and she was decidedly terrible at Gaelic, able to understand every word but speaking it was a different matter altogether... Since then she hadn't attempted to learn another language - and she worried that her reluctance could be translated into disrespect.
When CeeCee gestured to her, however, she took a few hesitant steps closer, smiling softly at the other girl encouragingly.
Seeing that each of them had a fair amount of money, Ella wondered if they should catch up with the other group and add their funds to the pool, or go on their own expedition at the risk of duplicating items. Not that it would matter much, there were a lot of them so she thought if they brought back copies they could all be useful. She would leave that decision to the other girls, whatever they wanted to do Ella would follow along, ready to lend a hand if they needed her or her power.

When Mick put her arm around Ella, she jumped a little but smiled all the same. She took it as a sign that she wasn't being too awkward, something she was secretly relieved for - she had a habit of overthinking things and then not really knowing what to do with herself, by which point she usually just made a hasty escape, or just froze. Thankfully, this was not such an occasion, and she gladly walked alongside Mick as she bid farewell to the others, and the three made their exit.
"Not an undercover mission,", she began quietly, "We just thought we could go and pick up some things the others might forget, or perhaps go and try to find more money.", she cocked her head at the second part of Mick's sentence. Her ignorance almost matching Mick's in that respect. "I... I don't know. I've heard people call the city the big apple but I don't know where it is...?", she figured Mick must have been right, although in her mind this apple must have been a spectacular monument, for them to nickname an entire city after it - why else would they call a city by such a random name? In her head she was imagining a giant, golden apple, wondering if it was a memorial of sorts, perhaps for soldiers in the war. Stornoway had one of those, although this memorial was a large tower, like that of a castle, and overlooked the town. She had enjoyed playing there for a brief period before she had been whisked away.

Girl2Fine2 OppositeInverse