Eisley was on the lamb.

As such, she was dressed a little different than she usually did and trying to act as different as she could too. Having her mom come after her for whatever reason had spooked her into burrowing deeper into the streets, but since it had been at least a few days since the incident had happened she was growing more relaxed and less paranoid. Today, the teen was dressed to look much younger than she apparently actually was. (who would'a thought she was really 14? Not her!). She had on a chunky knitted sweater she had lifted from a thrift store, that was just a bit too long for her small frame, and a warm dress that had been in her costume stash for when she needed to look nice. She had taken to wearing it during the day while traveling from one place to the next, and changing when she settled down at night. Her winter hat, complete with giant fuzzy ball on top, decorated her head and kept her ears warm. The only thing that she normally wore were the well used and slightly dirty boots on her feet and the grey wool stockings. Good quality shoes were impossible to steal due to their size. She'd ended up with this pair because she had gotten lucky enough to switch her old ones out while a clerk wasn't looking... but that didn't happen often.

As she walked, her backpack bouncing against her butt with each step, she hummed a little off key tune and clutched her stuffy to her chest. She had only just saved Mr. Unicorn from ending up in a trash truck, so she was feeling extra protective of him nowadays. 

Currently she was in a part of town she didn't normally frequent, but that was because she normally stood out like a sore thumb. Nicer dressed people, less trash on the street. Fewer people like her mulling about. She needed to lay low though, at least for a while, and that meant she needed to not look like herself... and a place like this was perfect. 

After all, Who knew who her mother would send after her next? 

The teen paused next to a shop window to peer inside where an assortment of pastries and treats were displayed on decorative shelves. Her stomach growled softly and she tried to muffle it with her hand. Unfortunately for her savings, being on the run and in hiding meant she had to spent money like a normal person... at least for a little while longer. 

"Oh, Mr. Unicorn...  They have a cake in there with one of you on it!" Pressing her nose into the glass and shading her eyes with a hand, she tried to get a better look. "Do ya think they have any in there who are missing horns like you?" 

He didn't answer, but that was probably a good thing. 

Furnishing an apartment was hard work. There were pots to buy...and pans. There was furniture and artwork, and bedding, and throw pillows. The apartment was lovely, but it had felt so cold when Janelle first moved in, she had desperately needed rugs and soft things to make it warm. It was cold now, autumn having passed and the city taking on the characteristic chill that caused steam to rise from the streets.

Janelle was overloaded almost to the extreme, the reusable bags she’d started gathering hanging from both arms, elbows, and two in each hand. It was a long walk. It had been tempting to call Erik for help, but Janelle had resisted the urge on the basis of being her own woman and furnishing her own home. It was a matter of pride.

Still. The bags were heavy and the storm drains weren’t the only things venting steam into the cold air.

A glint of green stood out like a sore thumb on the cold, grey day and Janelle veered towards the little plant stand, dropping her bags on the sidewalk at her feet. It was time for a break.

Taking a moment to catch her break, Janelle studied her surroundings. This was a lovely part of town filled with shops, stands, and family owned restaurants. There was a bakery behind her and Janelle smiled at the little girl with her lovey, nose pressed against the window.

The redhead turned back to the plants, frowning slightly as she actually studied them for the first time. It was cold outside and the owner of the cart wasn’t doing their due diligence with the plants and the poor little dears were drooping and poor.

Pulling off her glove and stuffing it into her coat pocket, Janelle reached out and touched one of the leaves, pushing a little of her energy into the cold little plant and smiling as it brightened and darkened.

There were more in the row, and as the redhead moved they grew and some even flowered...this was still not a practiced art and as she got more and more excited the plants got more and more of her power, and she got more attention. Janelle didn’t notice though, the plants were feeling much better now.

Eisley's eyes zeroed in on the baggage on sidewalk faster than gnats on day old fruit. The teen glanced between the lady and the bags that probably belonged to her so many times she started to feel a little dizzy.

Should she? She glanced down at her toy looking for an answer, before glancing back up at her newly acquired possible target. IF she did, she would kinda be breaking her current in hiding status. She wouldn't be able to stay in this area as long as she planned. Worrying her bottom lip, the teen took a few tentative steps in the girls direction while she thought about her options.

There was potentially a lot of stuff in those bags. New clothes she could wear, items she could pawn, things she could use. Money? Money. Tourists and people coming back from traveling typically were hard targets unless they were very trusting or very new to the game. Scoring a few large bags of things, sometimes even the ones with wheels, could set someone like her up for a long while. She'd heard stories about people scoring electronics and expensive jewelry from snagging a few suitcases from unsuspecting pedestrians waiting for taxi's or buses.

Eisley had sidled her way up quietly and casually, keeping herself from being too obvious that she was definitely casting shifty eyes at the woman and her luggage.

But, as soon as she was withing grabbing distance and had her sticky little fingers primed and ready.... she stopped.

A small, wonder filled gasp left her and if the girl turned at that moment she would spot a little girl (or what appeared to be one) standing there with sparkles in her eyes and wonder slapped across her face. She would heard the small whisper that left her lips, directed mostly at the stuffed horse she had labeled unicorn, "...She's a fairy, Mr. Unicorn."

Wide eyes the color of the sea were locked on the plants; the flowers that had bloomed and the growth and color that had been brought to a once lackluster display. She wasn't the only one watching, too. The person running the little booth was leaning over from the other side, marveling at how different the plants looked and blinking confusedly as they pieced together what had happened.

"Are you a garden fairy, lady?" Eisley focused on the girl, who looked young but she couldn't guess at an age. All she knew was that she was really pretty, looked like a fairy from the movies, and could do fairy stuff like one of the ones from the movies. The teen leaned in a little bit and whispered, "It's okay if you tell me, i'll keep it a secret I promise."

”You really should have these guys covered on a day like this….” Janelle was saying as she worked on perking up the final plant in the row. They all looked much better now and the owner of the little stand seemed to be listening with an open mind. ”If you need one for display, just rotate who is out so that nobody gets too cold for too long.”

Whew. There had been a lot of plants and some of them had really been struggling Janelle wasn’t exactly tired, but thinking about the rest of the walk to her apartment building made her sigh...at least until a little voice drew her attention.

A...a garden fairy?

The small voice was coming from the same small girl who had been at the window of the bakery a few moments before.

”Not really….” she said softly, glancing back over her shoulder at the plants and she leaned down a little closer to the girl’s level. ”But I can help plants and I like to do it when I can.” For a brief moment, Janelle had considered entertaining the small girl’s fantasy, but something about that little white lie had seemed very wrong.

On closer study, the girl seemed to be dressed a bit oddly for the weather and her nose pressed against the window of the bakery took on a new meaning….maybe. Kids were strange sometimes and Janelle knew that a lot of parents liked to let them dress themselves independently, no matter how interesting the results were.

Frowning very slightly and looking at her bags, Janelle made a quick decision, ”Are your parents in the shops?” she asked, glancing up and down the street for anyone who seemed to be missing a kid. ”I’m a little worn out from all that work and I was thinking about hitting up that bakery for a rest and a snack. Think they’d mind if you helped me with my bags for a minute? There’d be hot chocolate in it for you.”

Sure, there was something a little odd about inviting a random child you’d just met to have hot chocolate with you, but if Janelle had to put money on it, she would have bet that the kiddo was alone.

”I’m Janelle.”

Not a fairy then? Well, that was slightly less exciting.

...Unless she was fibbing, because Fairies weren't supposed to interact with humans. The teen eyed the girl suspiciously for a moment before deciding to drop the subject. She supposed that the lady could be like super Saph and a few of the other people with magic that she had met in her life, as boringly mundane as that was.

Good thing she still had a stubborn streak when it came to letting go of childhood fantasy's. "That's what a fairy would say."

Eisley squinted at the lady when she mentioned parents, instantly going back on high alert for a moment until she remembered that asking such a thing was probably a normal thing that normal people did when normal kids were out and about without a guardian glued to their side. Good thing she had a slew of excuses prepared!

"Momma's at the πphone store waiting to get the new one that just came out. She said I could look around so long as I stayed on the block." She'd used a similar excuse before since blocks in the city were generally pretty big and finding a phone store was relatively easy. It was almost as easy an excuse as the coffee one.

She glanced down at the bags, the same ones she had just been thinking about trying to run off with only a few moments ago. The guilt was almost enough to overshadow the offer for a hot chocolate... almost. "Sure! Dad always says to help people when they need it!" Of course, there was no dad in the literal sense... but someone she looked up to a lot did indeed think that the 'helpers' in society were true heroes. And, like Super Saph, she wanted to be a hero as much as she could while trapped in a little human body.

"I'm To-" The name jerked to a hault on her tongue and her brain blue screened for a moment while she scrambled to come up with a new name. She couldn't use her nickname or her real name, because she was supposed to be undercover right now, and if any of the spy clips she had ever seen told her anything it was that you don't let your real name slip!

"--...TOori. Tori. That's me.... Tori." She finished off, trying to stretch the out the beginning of 'tom' into something less tom-like. As a distraction, she thrust her stuffed horse out at the lady; newly named Janelle.

"This is Mr. Unicorn. He lost his horn." It was clearly a stuffed horse, but whatever.

"I ain't had a hot chocolate in a long time!" Excitement started creeping back in and she hovered excitedly around the bags before just choosing two to pick up to carry.

Mom was in the phone store, huh? Janelle nodded her head slowly, glancing up and down the street and not seeing a phone store within half a block. Shopping with parents wasn’t something the redhead was familiar with, considering that her parents assistants had simply brought things to the house for them to choose from as she’d grown up. Still, something seemed weird about the story, it was almost too canned and convenient.

And now there was a dad too, and he always said that helping people was important. Janelle just smiled though, if the kid was more comfortable this way, it was better.

’Tori.” Janelle said, nodding her head and not commenting on how difficult it had suddenly been for the small girl to remember her own name. ”And Mr. Unicorn. Excellent to meet both of you.”

It had apparently been a long time since Tori had had hot chocolate and Janelle had to think for a moment to remember the last time she’d had any. It wasn’t the sort of thing she usually had, opting more often for coffee or tea.

The girl had chosen two of the bags to heft, and for a moment Janelle busied herself with gathering the rest. How were there still so many with someone helping?!

Off they went, into the shop.

Luckily for the two of them there was a little sitting area opposite the counter, and Janelle lugged her bags in that direction, dropping them by one of the small two-person tables before turning to study the chalkboard that served as a menu. There was indeed hot chocolate (It would have been super awkward if there hadn’t been….)

There was also a large selection of pastries, cookies, and other delicious sounding treats.

”I’m going to have a medium hot chocolate, and a chocolate croissant. My helper Tori and her friend Mr. Unicorn here will have anything she wants.”

It was a bold proclamation, but Janelle had the time and it really would be nice to sit down for a while.

She's chosen to bags, and though the other lady was carrying more it was still a struggle to get two bags and herself into the store after Janelle. Maybe it was because she hadn't had any rest, or a proper meal in a while. She'd been hoofing it for a few days with little rest and apparently that was starting to show. The bags felt to her like they were filled with cinder blocks.

Possibly being a little over dramatic, she carefully set the bags into place with the others with a slight groan and turned to stretch her back like she was an old woman. Sitting for a bit would be good... especially since she had an adult with her to help her blend in.

Once she got to the counter and was waiting while Janelle ordered, she stared up at the menu that she couldn't really read all too well. She figured her new friend would order for her, since most adults did... so when it came about that she, Eisley herself, could order whatever she wanted from the menu, she did a doubly take and stared up mutely at the lady.

"Really?!" The eye sparkles were back, and with a wide, genuine smile tagging along with them. She bounced on toes for a moment all giddy and excited, eyes scanning the board above like she was actually readying it, before pointing at a pastry displayed on a little case on the counter. "Can I have one of those, and a hot chocolate like hers?" She knew, even though the offer of 'anything she wants' was terribly tempting, that it was a bad idea to go bonkers with her order for many reasons. It would be rude, for one... and if there was anything Eisley tried never to do, it was to be rude at the very least. Secondly, if she ordered too much and tried to eat it all she'd get stomach pain again, and she had learned early on in her life that moderation was key when managing your huger. She also couldn't order a bunch of stuff and try to stash it, because that would probably come across as highly suspicions, and also she didn't wanna look stupid in front of Janelle since she didn't know how to pronounces croissant.

Considering that she was going to be eating, and would need her hands free, she turned and slid her old backpack from her shoulders. Squatting in a way that didn't flatter the dress she was wearing, she unzipped the bag and lovingly tucked her toy away where he would be safe and secure. For a moment anyone who bothered to look might be able to see that other than they stuffed animal now occupying her bag, there seemed to be a folded pair of pants and a t-shirt tucked away in there, as well as a well used journal of some sort.

Eisley zipped it back up quickly and slung it back in place with a bounce, pulling her hair out from behind it so it wouldn't start to tangle again. With all the energy of an excited child she twirled back around to stare expectantly at the poor worker on the other side of the counter just trying to get their order done. "You're really nice, you know that Janelle? Not even mom lets me order whatever I want!"

If it was interesting to Janelle that the backpack the girl was carrying held what seemed to be other wardrobe pieces, she didn't say anything. Tori ordered like a pro and was quickly back to the table with her pastry and hot chocolate.

Janelle smiled at the compliment from the kiddo and took a sip of her hot chocolate. It was really good. This place was going to have to go on her list of places near the apartment that she could frequent for breakfast.

Tori thanked Janelle in that nonchalant way that kids tended to have and the redhead shook her head and smiled,

"Good help is really hard to find. I just knew when I saw you standing out there that you were exactly the kind of person I needed to help me carry all these bags. I just moved into a new apartment, you see, and I've been trying to make it feel like home."

It was weird for Janelle to think that she didn't live at the Mansion anymore. It had seemed so small when she first moved in, but had grown on her more and more by the day until suddenly she'd caught herself thinking of it as home more than the home she traveled back to sometimes on weekends and holidays. Surely the new apartment could feel like that too, she mused over another sip of hot chocolate. It would just take time.

Realizing that the conversation had lapsed, Janelle smiled again at Tori, "Are you from New York, or are you and your Mom visiting?" she asked by way of small talk.

Eisley blushed at the compliment, not used to receiving too many of them. It also tickled her pink that someone could look at her and see a helper. She had always figured that due to her nature she would never be able to emulate her hero in that way. It both thrilled her and made her feel extra guilty.

She fiddled with the cup in her hands, sliding into a chair and swinging her feet. Was she from the city or far away? Hmm... well, the best lies often came from a granule of truth, so she would have to go with the city.

"We live here. In Boston. Momma and poppa have a business from home. So we get to go out a lot and explore all over." Vague, but not too vague. She internalized the new information to make sure she wouldn't slip up later if it came up again.

"That must be fun! I wish I could have a whole apartment to myself. Where did you live before Miss Janelle?"

She was genuinely curious, too. Having a conversation all casual and relaxed like this was unusual and rare. She was soaking it up like a sponge!

The story that Tori spin wasn’t completely nonsensical. Loads of people made their fortunes without ever leaving their houses. It was the beauty of a technological age and a bit of a boon in a world where civil unrest wasn’t as unheard of as it had been in the past.

Still…”What do they do from home? she asked quickly followed by, ”I’m still in college, so I’m always curious about what people decide to do when they’re out in the world…” by way of explanation for the somewhat probing question.

As to where she used to live, ”I used to live at Xavier’s School. I went to my last couple years of high school there and they have rooms where you can stay. I’ve been graduated a few years now though and I wanted more space…” ...and to not have to drag her boyfriend through gaggles of teenagers (or share couch space with them) every time they hung out.

As for living alone…”It’s definitely nice to have my own space...but I wonder sometimes if I shouldn’t have gotten a bigger place with a roommate or two instead of a one-bedroom. I get kind of lonely sometimes...but there’s a great view of Central Park.

It was Janelle’s favorite thing about her place and the main reason she’d chosen that particular apartment.

"My mom sells stretchy pants and makeup to people online, and my dad makes Viewtube videos and has a blog." She shrugged.

"I heard of Zavyers before... didn't know it was a school! I'm home schooled, so I ain't never been to one before." Finally, a not lie! She had home schooled herself after all.

After a few more sips she had drained her hot chocolate dry and polished off her treat. It certainly helped to warm her tummy up and get rid of that nagging hunger that had been dogging her.

"I get lonely all the time, so I know how you feel." Another truth, but maybe one that hit a little too close to home. "I want a little baby brother or sister to play with, but my parents say no all the time. It would be so much more fun to have someone else around... Right now it's just me and Mister Unicorn."

She paused. "And you, of course! I'm not lonely with you here!"

Eisley fiddled with her empty cup. Doc had told her to be more open, and she was trying, but it was hard... Being more open meant exposing all the sore bits of herself that she didn't have bandaids big enough to cover.

Here though, tucked in a little cafe with Janelle the Garden Fairy she felt... safe. Comfortable. This woman was a good one, and she felt in her gut that she didn't have to be on edge with her around.

"What's school like?"

Tori’s parents, it seemed, were bastions of modern economy. Online sales and vlogging could be incredibly lucrative, ”You’ll have to tell me the name of your Dad’s channel! Do you ever guest star?”

As Tori explained more, Janelle nodded her head, ”I don’t have any brothers or sisters either. My Mom and Dad tried to give me one, but it never worked out…” she said in commiseration. Sometimes it had been hard to be an only child, but Janelle has had lots of friends. As a teen it hadn’t been so bad, she’d had lots of activities to keep her busy, after all.

It seemed that Tori had also heard of Xavier’s but not as a school, since that was primarily what the Mansion was known for, Janelle’s curiosity was peaked, ”What do you know it from?” she asked.

Tori’s next question made Janelle’s heart go out to the girl even more, ”School is pretty great sometimes, especially if you like to learn. It can get boring sometimes though, and kids can be mean...sports are fun to watch though...and clubs...why are you homeschooled? ”

Janelle took another sip of her drink and realized it was empty and frowned, ”I’m going to need one of these for the road...want a refill?”

Ah... crap. She hadn't thought that far ahead! What was her dad's channel name? Who was her fictional dad even!? The teen wracked her brain to think up a reply.

"H-he... does unboxing videos of stuff. Like... um..." She very much looked like a dear in headlights. "Like gardening things and power tools. I think he did one on something called a 'Master Hoe 5000' and the 'Nub Grinder 22:13'.."

She gulped to try and sooth the sudden savanna in her mouth. "I've seen his handle before, but he doesn't let me be in his videos or on his blog." A pause. "It's like... Bigspoondaddy68."

But, it got worse.

How did she know what Xavier's was? Why was she home schooled?? Crap baskets!

Opps, sorry. She hadn't meat to swear. She did look a lot like she was hiding a frog in her mouth with how tight her lips were pressed together.

Was it hot in here? She felt like she was sweatin' bullets!

"I have a friend who lives there!" Yeah, that's it. Nothing suspect there! "He's a super hero. Super Saph!"

She flailed for a moment to come up with something believable about why she was home-schooled.

"My mom doesn't like other adults telling her what to do."

Yeah, that'll do it.