It hadn't taken her long to find the best places in the city to buy booze as a teenager, she had the internet and a need for that sweet drunken buzz right now. The past couple of weeks had been stressful as all hell and she needed a release, and since most of the girls her age at the mansion had a tragic case of the straights, drinks it was.

The only problem she had now was her fake ID was for the UK, which meant while she'd been able to get alcohol there, this stupid country made you wait till you were 21. So that option was out the window. Option 2 was flirt with some creep in the parking lot in the hopes they'd buy it for her. That was not a tack she wanted to take because frankly, flirting with those guys was always dangerous, some of them expected things for doing a favour.

The last option was to bank on luck and a lonely cashier, two things she hadn't had in her life for a long time so surely she must have some coming her way about now, right?

Just as she approached the door she got a quest pop up. Really, now was when she was getting one? Not when she needed help getting to class or when she'd needed to avoid those cops, her power wanted to work now. God damn it was annoying.

Quest Started: Obtain Booze - Speak to the crow to continue

Speak to the..."OK what the actual f--- is going on with this bulls---! Where the f--- can I find a talking b----- crow!" Spinning to face the direction of the marker, she was confronted by a girl her height. With giant black wings. And black eyes.

"Oh.....that's what it meant."

When she lived in France, wine had been easy to get her hands on. It was cheaper than water and better than sex. Well, at least, that was what she heard the tourists say. Astrid had no frame of reference.

In America, however, things were different. Getting booze was often tiresome and more effort than it was worth for her to be able to drink for a night. Plus, everything in America was absolutely terrible. She’d thought that she would never be able to set up something worthwhile.

Eventually, though, she had done it. It had taken a while for her to find a good, backwater bar that would even let her in the door, but she had done it. She’d started by using her fake I.D., and when that had been turned down, she’d looked to other methods. It had been a good thing that the manager had taken nicely to threats. A few dead employees and a crystal to the throat, and they had an understanding.

Now, she was allowed in whenever she pleased, and she even got a discount on her drinks. Things were so much better when the people around her were under threat of death.

The best part of it all was that she no longer had to deal with horrible bouncers at other bars (yes, she was thinking of that awful giant shrimp), gross teenagers (yes, she was thinking of that angsty empath), or disgusting old men. Even if she got to fight them off with October. Instead, she got to drink in peace.

So, drink in peace she did. She sipped her red wine and read through a simple English storybook that she’d picked up from the library, trying to sound out the words quietly to herself. She did not think that anyone would approach her.

She wasn't sure whether to curse her power right now or cheer. It was being frustratingly obscure, like usual, and she didn't know how a girl with black wings could help her get alcohol. Christ she even looked a little younger than she was, even if she was the same height.

Rather than approach her on the street, Alice just watched as she gained entrance to a seedy looking bar without a problem, the bouncer didn't even bother checking her ID. How the hell?

OK, maybe she could help, although she wasn't sure why a stranger would risk their neck to get her booze but it was worth a shot at least. Moving over to the bouncer, he seemed ready for a confrontation right off the bat. Figuring she only had a shot with a desperate gamble, "Hey, I'm here to meet a friend. Tall girl, black hair, wings? Stands out a bit." He didn't like like he believed her yet, "I wouldn't want to keep her waiting, would you?"

Paling a little, he just waved her through, muttering something about damn teenagers. That had been easy? Bit weird but hey, she was in and it didn't take her long to find the girl, her wings were pretty easy to spot. Getting closer, she had to admit the 'raven' was pretty cute, her long limbs and serene face  made her look almost elfin. And god those eyes, she could lose herself in those pits.

"Erm hi, this might sound weird I know, but my power kind of tells me you might be able to get me booze. Or something." Yeah it was way weirder saying it out loud, she half expected the girl to just flat out ignore her. "Actually, this is sounding stupider the more I think about, sorry to bother you."

"Annie r-ran to ze stoore," Astrid read quietly, her finger moving along the page as her eyes did. Reading English had always seemed like such a daunting task, but it really wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. If Jude could learn English that well, then so could she. Feminism and whatnot.

>>"Erm hi, this might sound weird I know, but my power kind of tells me you might be able to get me booze. Or something."

Astrid slammed her book shut and slid it off the table, brushing it into her lap. She wasn't embarrassed by it. Not in the slightest. Why would someone even think that ever?

She looked up at the girl that had approached her table. She was as tall as Astrid was, with short blue hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. And God, was she ever pretty.

Wait... what?

That had never happened before. Astrid could already feel her face starting to flush. People weren't pretty. People could be sorted into three categories: horrible, cool, and alright. Pretty was not a category... so why did it seem like there couldn't be any other way to classify the girl in front of her? 

The winged teen's hands were shaking as she reached for her wine. Why on earth were they shaking? Astrid didn't get nervous around people! People got nervous around her! She had a lot of stuff to figure out. For the moment, though, she just had to play it cool.

How did that work again?

>>"Actually, this is sounding stupider the more I think about, sorry to bother you."

"Wait, no!" Astrid said, a little more eagerly than she had meant to. That was not playing it cool on any account. She just had to get a handle on herself. Gain some composure. "If you are wanting zee booze, I am being get booze... sometime." There, that was better. She had picked up a little bit of lingo from her time in bars (and her sessions with Jude), but this was new for her. She had never supplied another minor before. Especially not one that looked like that.

Alice was already turning away when the voice broke through her self pity. Oh my god, she was french. She was tall and cute and french. Oh and she might be able to help her get a hold of drinks, maybe a little bit. OK girl, play this right and you might even be able to hang out with her, and get a drink as well.

"Cool, I can pay for them of course, yours too if you want. Only seems fair." As long as she didn't swear too much and reined in the sarcasm she might be able to get a hold of that sweet, sweet buzz she'd not had for, oh god had it really been more than two weeks?

She needed a drink, soon.

"I'm Alice by the way, nice to meet you," she supplied taking a closer look at the girl now that she was closer she knew she'd been dead on about her being younger. She was what, fifteen/sixteen? Chewing her lip slightly, she had to wonder what her new friend would look like in a few years. Tall women were kind of hot to be honest and if she was this tall now, what would she look like at twenty.

Shaking away those thoughts, maybe it'd be best to start with getting to know her before imagining her in four years time. Yeah, that'd be a good idea.

"You mind if I sit? Had a long walk and it seems a bit uncomfortable for you to be staring up at me."

Speaking had stopped the girl in her tracks, which Astrid was very glad about. As confusing as she was, there was one thing that Astrid was not confused about: she did not want the girl to leave. That was very strange. Usually, she quite enjoyed being alone.

But gosh, she didn't know what to do with the girl. She was so pretty, and although she was British, she didn't even mind. Plus, she didn't even seem to be put off by Astrid's appearance. She wasn't scared or screaming or looking at her with disgust. All she could do was follow her gut, which was telling her not to let her get away.

She didn't mind the idea of the girl paying for her own drinks, or for Astrid's, but it was unnecessary. She hadn't paid for a drink at that bar for quite some time. Ah, the perks of terrorization. "No pay," she shook her head and waved the girl off. She wasn't about to start a new precedent at the bar that the owners would begin to expect.

>>"I'm Alice by the way, nice to meet you,"

Alice. That was a pretty name. A pretty name for a very pretty girl. "Astrid," she supplied, not even bothering with her 'mutant name'. It was her real, French, given name.

>>"You mind if I sit? Had a long walk and it seems a bit uncomfortable for you to be staring up at me."

The teen nodded and used her foot to slide a chair a little away from the table, motion to her to sit down before turning back and waving to the bartender. "What you are drink?" she asked as the bartender left his post to join her. He looked terrified as he stepped toward the table, leaving two customers high and dry over at the bar.

It was so fun to have people wrapped around your thumb.

She didn't need to pay? Well that was awesome. She'd come out for a few drinks and now she was getting free booze and hopefully have a chat with a new friend. Alice had precious few right now who were OK with her more rebellious bad girl side. What could she say, she was still a punk at heart.

Sitting carefully and considering the question, what did she want? A beer or maybe something a little sweeter? Wine wasn't really her thing and as much as she wanted to impressed this young french girl, making stuff up seemed a bad idea so she opted for being herself. "Can I just get one of the nicer beers they have? Been too long since I've had something and I don't want to lose my head too quickly."

Well, she had a drink on the way, company to share it with, today had improved a fair amount. Who could honestly complain about getting to spend time with someone as pretty as Astrid.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Astrid and thanks again for the drink, really appreciate it." Depending how this went she might walk away with someone new to hang out with. Someone who had the hook up for drinks as well, so that was nice.

Sitting this close though, it was really hard to not focus on how good looking this girl was. Hold it together Alice, she's only a tall, beautiful and French..... She was doomed.

"How long have you been in America, if you don't mind me asking?" Good, start with small stuff then work her way up, that made sense.

Everything about the interaction that Astrid was in was strange and foreign. She didn't sit with strangers and make small talk, or order them drinks and not steal their money. That was like... flirting. That wasn't something that Astrid was built for, clearly. It just wasn't how the world worked, was it? It was all too confusing.

She nodded at the girl's drink order, making some assumptions about the English words, and then met the eyes of the bartender that approached. Free drinks and silence; that was their understanding. Astrid picked up her wine glass and made a silent motion for him to refill it before glancing at the blue-haired girl across from her. "And one... nicer beer?" she repeated the words cautiously, cocking her head at Alice to make sure that she'd gotten it right. To her relief, the bartender nodded and hurried back to his post. She hadn't embarrassed herself too much.

>>"Well, it's nice to meet you Astrid and thanks again for the drink, really appreciate it."

All that Astrid could do was nod again. The girl was really disarming, which meant that Astrid's terrible English only got worse the longer she looked at her. Each time that she tried to think of words to respond with, nothing came to mind. She was at a loss. Couldn't she just go back to stabbing? That had been a hell of a lot easier.

Her face flushed ever so slightly, she looked back down at her wine glass and the book in her lap. It felt heavy against the tulle of her black skirt, and she really wished that she could ditch it somewhere. She would die if Alice ever caught a glimpse of it, which meant that she would not be standing for the entirety of their encounter.

>>"How long have you been in America, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Err..." Astrid trailed off as she thought. She knew the answer, but she didn't know how to say it in English. Fragmented words would have to do. Dammit, so much for being cool. "One and some of the years. How long is you being here?"

Was that what conversation was? Asking questions back and forth and feeling like an equal? If so, Astrid was finding that she actually quite liked it.

Drinks were ordered, the bartender hurried off and left them alone and she was pretty happy with how things were going. Astrid seemed cool, Alice could really do with some friends now that was OK with her drinking and smoking and was generally not judgey about her. She wasn't blind, she could see people checking out her looking and forming their stupid opinions about her.

If she didn't know any better she'd think her 'raven' was nervous to talk to her. It was so cute. Although, was she making her (hopefully) new friend embarrassed by sitting down and chatting with her? She hoped not, or least least that she say if she was getting bothered.

Listening carefully and picking up on what Astrid meant, "Well, I've kind of only been here for about a month which is why I kind of don't have the drinks hook up yet." Not that she was complaining, thanks to that she'd met this, angel? Were black wings angelic or more, well devilish? Well, either way didn't matter but devils did have way more fun. Blushing a little and focusing her mind back on the conversation, "Left home a little, quickly so it's kind of nice to meet some new and interesting people. Don't have many friends here yet."

That was going to be fixed though. She would make friends, friends with wings and black eyes and......stop it Alice, flirting will probably not end well. Yet.

"So what do you do around the city, for fun I mean." Was she going to be tactful or just ask? Damnit she was sooo good looking, screw tact. "Or any cute boys you have your eye on?" Oh God, why did you ask that girl? She's going to think you're weird, and a nosey b----- and won't want to talk to anymore. Why mess this up already?

Alice really, really needed to stop being such an idiot when it came to pretty girls and hitting on them. No, she couldn't just make friends with them, she had to act like this, and mess with their heads. Hanging her head a little and hoping this wasn't over, she just kept her eyes on her feet, hoping she could just get her drink and get that sweet buzz she needed and just not care anymore.

If there was one thing in the world that Astrid could empathize with, it was loneliness. As much as she liked to make it seem like she was fine being on her own (all the time), it could get difficult, and it often made Astrid wish that she had someone to talk to, even if she wouldn’t admit it to anyone. Not even herself.

Meeting Jude again had been great. Sometimes, it was hard to believe that she went all that time without really talking to anyone. Or without really speaking French.

Then, in that bar, she was staring at someone who was a little like her. She’d wound up in a new country without any friends, and she was trying to figure out life. What would Astrid be if she didn’t lend the very pretty girl a hand? She could set aside any evil plans for a while. They could wait.

”Do not being worry. I am getting drinks for you,” Astrid commented, putting her hand on the table as she looked back at the bartender working diligently. Anything that she could do to make the girl feel better, she would.

...what was happening to her?

>>"So what do you do around the city, for fun I mean. Or any cute boys you have your eye on?"

Astrid screwed up her face and cocked her head to the side. She’d heard that phrase once before on a television show. They were talking about love, of all things. Did Astrid love boys? ”No,” she replied readily, ”boys are not the cute.”

Really, there wasn’t anyone that was ‘cute’ in the sense that Alice was going for. Boys were weird looking, and girls were just… well, maybe they were cute? Come to think about it, Alice was kind of… ‘cute’. Man, her head was a mess.

A second later, the bartender returned to their table and set their drinks down in front of them.

Astrid was officially her best friend in America. Not only was she cool to talk too, and willing to provide those sweet, sweet drinks, but she was cute. Which had nothing to do with why Alice wanted to get to know her, in any way. At all.

Her head shot up as soon as Astrid told her that. Boys weren't cute. BOYS WEREN'T CUTE! That was the best thing she could have heard right then, the girl didn't like boys. Score girl, you've got an in. Maybe, hopefully. It didn't matter, there was a chance and she was going to cling to that hope for now, even if the cute french girl wasn't interested in her as more than a friend, she'd keep that hope.

She couldn't wipe the huge grin off her face as the drinks were dropped off for them, although it was mostly for something else than the booze. Take a quick, deep swig and giving a very pleased sigh, "Oh that's the stuff. Thank you, it's been way too long since I've gotten a good drink."

Hard to beat drinks and good company.

Since when had hanging out with people been this hard? She wasn't the type to flail this much around others, even when they were pretty girls. Why was this so different?

"I hear you on the boy front though. Never found a one I thought was good looking." Subtle Alice, so subtle. She might as well be putting a big neon sign around her neck with 'I am a Lesbian' written on it. In fact at this rate, that might be the less obvious way to do it.

Astrid pushed her old wine glass aside and picked up her new one, sampling the wine. Yep, it was exactly the same as her old glass, which was just fine. For American wine, it was drinkable, so she would stick to it. That night, she wouldn’t even complain about the service or drinks. Yeah, she would be a pleasant patron for once in her life.

Alice looked to be very pleased with her drink, which made Astrid weirdly happy. She actually had to stop herself from smiling, which never happened. Astrid very rarely smiled. The way that she sighed after taking a drink and then talked in that stupidly adorable accent, though… ugh. It was too weird. What was she supposed to do?

At least she was on the same page with her in regards to boys, though. That, Astrid could talk about without feeling weird. Boys just... well, they were kind of strange looking, in all honesty. She could take or leave them. Sure, there were a few cool ones, but none that were, as Alice had put it, ‘cute’.

”Is that being… weird?” Astrid asked in a hushed tone. Her new friend would probably know what was going on with her, or if she was totally strange (because running around stabbing people at sixteen was so normal) and would never be okay again. She seemed older and knowledgeable, so hopefully, she would be able to help if Astrid needed to see someone to get fixed or something.

Weird, why would that be weird? Wait, did Astrid have no idea about this kind of stuff, like at all? Oh my god, could she be any cuter right now. Okay Alice, got to be careful here, can't be scaring off potential recruits to great gay agenda. Which may or may not be entirely focused on seeing if the pretty french 'bird' would object to the idea of kissing women.

"No, it's not weird to not like boys. Theres plenty of women who prefer other women. Or plenty of men who prefer other men. It's pretty normal." If Alice was guessing right, Astrid didn't just have a small amount of experience when it came to sexuality, she had absolutely no clue. Had she not learned this in school? From what she knew, the french teaching system was pretty good when it came to teaching sex ed.

This might be a little awkward at first, but even if her new friend wasn't into her like that, Alice would happily teach her about this. After all, what were friends for? Well, maybe they weren't the usual person someone learnt this from but she would certainly take that responsibility seriously.

"There's a lot of variety in who people like and none of it make you feel ashamed about yourself. Tell you what, I'll tell you who I like, make it less weird for you." Deep breath girl, and be careful, don't go oversharing with the poor dear. "I like girls, instead of boys. All it means is I want to have relationships with other women. I just don't like guys, in that way at least. They can be good friends, kind of." Some of them struggled with the idea that she was, in fact, a lesbian. They seemed to be under the impression that she just said that to keep boys away. For some reason.

Giving the girl a warm smile, "Just don't worry too much about it. You are who you are, who you like doesn't change that." Best not to push too much right now. She had a feeling they were going to be friends anyway, plenty of time to figure other stuff out later.

Astrid, frankly, was very worried that she was weird. She was supposed to like boys, wasn’t she? That’s what all the girls in her books and shows did, anyway; they got married and had lots of kids and then faded away into obscurity. That just didn’t sound like Astrid at all.

But then what was she if she didn’t like boys? She had no idea. With no formal education and no knowledge on the subject, Astrid didn’t really know anything about sexuality. It was a weird, dark area that she wasn’t at all sure how to navigate. She really needed someone to come explain things to her.

Wasn’t Alice amazing?

The winged mutant sat forward in her seat without realizing, absorbing all the information that she could understand (boy, was she thankful for those sessions with Jude). Most of it made sense to her, and she was beginning to get the idea of how things worked. She didn’t have to like boys. She could like anyone she wanted. That was actually so cool. Every once and a while, she learned that the world wasn't as terrible as it usually seemed.

This was yet another reminder that Astrid really needed people in her life. She'd gone so long thinking that she was better off on her own, but she was missing out on information like that. It was such a shame. 

In fact, Alice didn’t like boys either. Alice liked girls. That meant that… she was pretty, and she liked people of Astrid’s gender. The teen felt her face flush. Weird thoughts that she’d never had before were running through her head, and she didn’t know what to do with them. They were new and foreign, but they were giving her an idea of what she felt...

”I think… I am not liking the boys? Girls… are being better…” Her blush only deepened and she looked down at her wine glass for a moment before taking a very large sip.

Astrid was so cute, sitting there all ears for her great gay wisdom. All what, two years of it? Well,, that didn't matter, right now, with a drink in hand and a confused young girl to shepherd down the right path, she was all confidence and mentoring...ness. If it wasn't a word before, it totally was now, and she was being it. Whatever it was.

Wait, how the hell did you actually help someone learn about themselves, understand their own sexuality and all that, emotional stuff? Was she supposed to explain everything or just give her a few places she could learn about it? And was it bad form to hit on someone just coming to terms with, well everything. It probably was, annoyingly but damn it was hard to not want to.

And then she blushed. Well, Alice has hooked. This french angel had her full attention and damn, were her eyes not beautiful. What were they talking about again?

That did it, the words shocking her back to full tilt. The implication from before was actually said. Astrid. Like. Girls. Were there ever a sweet set of spoken sounds, in an adorable accent no less.

This was going to be so good.

"Thank you, for sharing that with me, I know it's not easy sometimes." Her own coming out had been, rocky, with her grandmother at least. She had just pretended like nothing had happened. Thankfully her mum was way more accepting, she didn't make a big deal out of it at all, which was so cool."

"if you've got any questions or anything, I'm always free to answer." Or if you want to try anything. Hold it in girl, let her at least get comfortable with the idea before you put kissing and other things on the table. All she had to do, was hold it together for a little bit longer. When Astrid was a bit less confused, then you could feel free to pounce as much as you want.