Alice was beginning to grow restless. She hadn't left mansion's premises since her shaky arrival two weeks earlier and being shut in for so long was getting to her. Of course, no one was forcing her to remain in the school. In fact, many of her classmates were encouraging her to (finally) go out for a little while, even if for some fresh air. But...truthfully, the outside still scared her. The streets and alleyways had the potential to trigger unwanted thoughts and memories. The brunette was terrified she might have a flashback in public, where everyone would see her cave in and freak out. Where she would be vulnerable to another terrifying experience. 

But she was also tired of constantly guarding and isolating herself, spending all of her free time in her room sulking. Alice did not like the antisocial, closed off person she was becoming, and enough was enough, even if every inch of her body dreaded facing the outside world. Nothing would be resolved, her peace of mind restored, if she avoided reality. She would never escape her nightmares if she continued to wallow in them.

Thus, the fifteen-year-old found herself outside the mansion's wrought iron gates, taking deep breaths as she stumbled along a street leading to a quaint park nearby. She had visited it before, and she knew it was relatively safe. If anything, it was close enough to the mansion that she could easily hightail it back if things got ugly. And the good thing about most New Yorkers? They left you alone. She didn't expect to face any trouble or long-lasting intrusion, fingers crossed.

It was a little lonely, though. Alice had thought to ask someone to go with her but ultimately decided to fly solo. She did not want to burden anyone with her poor company, and she thought it might be nice to spend some time introspectively. But a teenager can only wonder and wander for so long, and eventually she found herself seated on a park bench, wishing she had someone to converse with.

It seemed fortune was on her side, as a blonde young woman took a seat beside her on the park bench. The young mutant thought nothing of it at first, continuing to sink into an angsty loneliness, when something about the blonde stuck out to her. Alice could not pinpoint it exactly, but there was definitely something familiar about her...

She continued to stare at the blonde girl out of the corner of her eye, hoping that she wasn't being a complete creeper for--

Wait! That's it!

"The creeper!" she exclaimed into the empty air, "And ice cream!" She turned to the other girl with a silly grin, giddy to remember such a fantastic, utterly strange day. "Hi, again!" 

‘Twas a wonderful day to spend outdoors. Warm, breezy, sunny--all the best parts of summer. Elizabeth didn’t have anything at all to do so she’d set out towards the park. She didn’t necessarily want to drag anyone else along with her--everyone seemed to have plans, which was perfectly acceptable--so she’d picked up her pal Rufus and decided to spend the day with him. She knew the German shepherd had a semi-regular schedule for his days, but she also knew that she needed to start spending more time with him. A dog could be woman’s best friend too.

They ended up at the park, throwing sticks around and alternating between laughing and chasing each other. “Fetch” was one of the many tricks Rufus was a pro at. And one of the core rules to the game was that the human had to wrestle the object away from the dog. Of course Liz could always have cheated and just swiped his brain for the few moments it would take to relinquish the stick, but where would the fun in that be?

After a half hour of play underneath the blazing sun, Liz laughingly called a timeout. Rufus, with his tongue hanging out and panting, plopped down where he was in the grass, the slobbery stick protectively sheltered between his paws. The girl could feel the contentment and joy radiating from him.

Smiling broadly from the entertainment and the exercise, Liz glanced around for a place to sit. There were several benches close by, but all of them were full. It seemed like many other people had had the same idea of coming to the park for the day. Then the girl spied a single bench that only had one other occupant in it. Perfect.

Striding to the bench, Liz plopped down on the far end of it, establishing as much of a personal barrier between them as she could. It seemed somewhat impolite to randomly sit very close to a perfect stranger. Even one who seemed familiar, as if they’d me--

“The creeper! And ice cream! Hi, again!”

Blink. Blink. Liz turned to the bench’s other occupant. Wait, wha--? OH! “Oh, hey!” the blonde beamed, her smile matching the sun for its brilliance as her eyes widened in pleasant surprise. “It’s uh, um,” Liz sputtered, trying to frantically think of the girl’s name. “Lydia--no, Diana--aha! Alice! Hey, long time no see!” she said, as if they were long-lost friends. Which they kinda were, really.

She pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head so she could see the girl more easily. “Ooh, I like what you’ve done with your hair,” she complimented the younger girl. “How’ve you been? Meet any more unsavory individuals?” She flashed another smile.

Thankfully, Elizabeth's reaction was equally as positive, and after some name fumbling, she greeted Alice with a warm smile and compliment. The fifteen-year-old's grin only widened as the exchange continued. Though much time had flown by, to Alice it felt like the two had only seen each other yesterday. The experience they had shared was very memorable, at least.

>> "How’ve you been?"

She took a moment to ponder how to answer the question. She was not sure if honesty would be best in that moment, especially during such a delightful, fluffy reunion. She didn't want to dampen the mood with her self-absorbed teenage angst. But she was also an awful liar...

"I've been...good," she said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible (and probably failing at it), a placid smile on her face, "Especially since it's summer break!" The last exclamation she made with genuine glee, face brightening at the prospect of three months with no boring lessons and obligations.

>> "Meet any more unsavory individuals?"

The question made her giggle, and she shook her head no. "Nope! But I'm not going to take any chances." She promptly knocked on the wooden bench to jokingly stress her point.

"But anyways, what have you been up to?" Alice asked, scooting a little bit closer to her reunited companion, "Oh, and cool sunglasses."

Oh yeah, summer break. “Holla!” Elizabeth said in feigned over-exuberance, as if she were actually the kind of person to say such a thing. Her smile on the other hand was a perfect match for Alice’s. It was so nice to be out of school, even with the sadness of graduating high school. But alas, life moved on and so would she!

And it was equally nice that Alice had avoided more creepers. They were the worst. They were practically Captain Planet villains.

“Oh, a little bit of this, not much of that,” the blonde said in response to Alice’s inquiry. “Just relaxing and enjoying the time off.” It was no effort at all to push aside all the nervousness and anticipation for college. That would not do for a pleasant reunion.

Alice closed the gap between them and Liz stopped clearly perching at the end of the bench. After all she wasn’t really sitting with a stranger. “Thanks!” she said, pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes as she smiled at the compliment. “Hey, do you want to meet a friend of mine? Hey! Rufus!” Liz turned and whistled for her pal.

Recognizing his name and Elizabeth’s voice, Rufus lifted his head from his chew-branch and cocked his head. Then he got up and ran to his friend, clutching his prize in his mouth.

“Hey boy,” Liz greeted the dog as he came up to her. “Alice, this is Rufus. Rufus, this is my friend Alice.” Introductions out of the way, Rufus dropped his stick and attempted to lick Alice’s hand.

Elizabeth seemed as friendly as she had been when they had first met, and Alice couldn't help but copy her exuberant exclamation (which, for her, was not so uncharacteristic). Summer break was a welcome relief to any student, especially a restless, hyperactive one like her.

She politely nodded as Liz gave a general answer to her question, marveling at how mature the older girl seemed. Or rather, was. She seemed to carry herself with much confidence and humor, two traits that Alice admired very much.

Heck, she even made the fifteen-year-old want to start donning sunglasses.

>> “Hey, do you want to meet a friend of mine? Hey! Rufus!”

She cocked her head in slight confusion as Elizabeth called and whistled to someone. But clarification quickly arrived in the form of a large German Shepherd, and instinctively Alice grinned and reached forward to pet the dog. Rufus returned in kind by affectionately slobbering all over her hand, making her giggle.

"It's nice to meet you, Rufus," she chirped after Liz made swift introductions, "Wow, you're a big fella, aren't you?" Certainly a giant compared to her little kittens at home.

"Heh, your dog is really nice," Alice commented, still giggling and petting Rufus.

Rufus was a big fellow, that’s for sure! And he enjoyed the attention of people, but really just children and youngsters. He barked after Alice spoke to him and then set about to making the absolute most of Alice’s affection for as long as he could, panting with joy and tail-wagging with glee.

Elizabeth didn’t need to be a mutant to figure out how Rufus felt.

“He actually not my dog,” the girl felt compelled to explain. “He’s a professional stray, ran away from home a while back and has since worked out a regular system of hand-outs. I just like hanging out with him a lot.” To underline her friendship, Liz scratched Rufus’ chest with the toe of her shoe.

“But you’re right. He’s so nice! And he absolutely loves children.” Which is one of the reasons Liz hadn’t felt any compunctions about not bringing Rufus over. A large, running dog usually scared people a bit, but Rufus was smart enough to still come off the perfectly adorable gentleman he was.

“Oh, he also loves to play f-e-t-c-h,” Liz spelled out conspiratorially, winking at Alice. Not that it made any difference. Rufus’ ears still perked up and he suddenly focused on both of the girls. Time to step the tail-wagging up a notch.

Rufus was absurdly adorable and quite possibly the friendliest dog Alice had ever met. The way he reacted to her affectionate attention made her grin like mad and giggle with every doggy kiss he gave. She could pet him all day, if he was going to be so wonderful about it.

>> “He actually not my dog. He’s a professional stray, ran away from home a while back and has since worked out a regular system of hand-outs. I just like hanging out with him a lot.”

"Oh wow," the fifteen-year-old responded, giving the German Shepherd even more scritches, "How did you find him?"

Learning that he was homeless certainly led her to examine him much closer, discovering what was perhaps a thinner build than other domesticated dogs and matted fur in the areas of longer growth. However, considering how long he had lived as a stray, Rufus did not quite resemble one. He seemed to be doing well on handouts and care from from kind people like Elizabeth.

"I wish I could take you home with me," Alice chirped to the lovable creature. But she knew she could never take care of him. He would be better off with a few people caring for him than one neglectful, busy teenager. (And plus, she didn't even know if big dogs were allowed at Xavier's.)

>> “Oh, he also loves to play f-e-t-c-h."

The fifteen-year-old giggled as Elizabeth slyly attempted to alert her to Rufus' favorite pastime. It seemed the playful fellow had already figured out what was going on, tail wagging a mile a minute in excitement.

"Then I guess it's time to play!" Alice hopped off the bench and raced towards the nearby grass, scouring between the blades for a stick.

“He kinda found me, actually,” Elizabeth said as she thought back to the day. “I was reading a book outside the--my school--” Whew, almost let it slip! “when out of nowhere comes this big ol’ friendly guy. I had nothing better to do so I took him for a run through a park.” Liz conveniently left out the part where only her mind had travelled with the dog, but she felt that too many details were sometimes unnecessary. Fortunately, Alice didn’t really seem to be keen on asking for such details. Otherwise, Liz would have a tricky time explaining how she knew about Rufus’ past and daily habits.

But it didn’t matter. Alice was just as agreeable as Rufus was to the idea of playing Fetch. As the brunette flew the bench, presumably in search of a branch or something to use, Rufus bolted after her, barking just enough to show how happy he was but not enough to scare people. Such a sensible guy.

Liz smiled at the two even as she reached down to pick up the stick that Rufus had brought over to them before promptly dropping it in order to bathe Alice’s hand in greeting. It appeared that both girl and canine had forgotten about it. Oh well. This one had dog slobber all over it anyways. But Liz still set it on the bench beside her, a silent testament to the pointless effort Alice was going through in order to find a suitable stick. Elizabeth watched the shepherd prance around the girl as the girl seemed to scan everything in sight. Liz couldn’t restrain her smile.