Denise Washington was not made for running. Strange considering that she was a part-time guard at the jewelry exchange here in New York. The military put their soldiers through constant rigorous training. Shouldn’t that be the same for any level of security? Otherwise, what are they being paid for? Either way, Casey was quickly learning that Denise was not the best choice in escape vehicles.

The job was simple. Casey, though in no real need of the money, had gotten wind that some rare blue diamonds were going to be passing through the New York Jewelry Exchange. It would have been stupid to not take a swipe at it. Even if she only got away with one of those precious stones, that would allow for some totally epic bragging rights!

So she made her move. On the day those jewels would be passing through, she picked out one of the guards that seemed to be easiest for her to take and maintain control of: Denise Washington. She wasn’t as stern and as militant as the other guards appeared. She wasn’t even part of the transfering task force, just a door guard who would be on duty that day. She was older, but still fit, with a lithe figure. What Casey wasn’t expecting was the asthma.

Right after she made her move, snatching a small baggie of the highly valuable jewels, Casey/Denise broke a run. After bowling over another guard, she made it through the doors and was running down the sidewalk; and boy how her lungs burned. The tightness and the wheezing that broke her from her lips was so...atrocious to hear. She wanted nothing more than to take a break, to catch her breath, but for every step she ran, she could head a mass of them behind her. She had to keep going. She had to think of something or this was going to be a waste.

Feeling the inhaler shake in her pocket, an idea came to Casey as they ran around another corner and she pulled it out from her pocket.

***

Rounding another corner, Casey felt like Denise’s lungs were going to collapse. She lost so much ground. The sounds of the guards getting ready to round the corner were being drowned out by the blood that pounded in her ears. But she had her plan and, best of all, just up ahead she could see that there was a small crowd of people she was getting ready to merge with.

Inhaler in hand, she quickly tossed it into a nearby trash can as she barreled directly into the mass of people. ”Out of the way! I have a gun!!!” she screamed.

She wasn’t expecting the little guard to come tackle her from the side. The last of her breath was knocked from her lungs, sending her falling onto her side. Just as that pain exploded from her now shattered kneecap, Casey pulled the consciousness of Denise Washington back to the surface and ejected herself into some nearby shrubbery where her ghostly form wouldn’t be seen.

Once out of Denise's body, Casey could no longer feel the burn of her lungs or the radiating agony in her knees. Instead she peeked out from the bushes, grinning as a groggy and confused Denise attempted to sit up, screaming and asking why she was being held down. It was a hell of a show, but one that she wanted a closer look at. But which of these gathered meat suits should she take for a spin? So many choices...

”Out of the way! I have a gun!!!”

Huh. Of all the things she'd expected to run into today, this was not one of them.

A figured barreled into the crowd she was currently a part of earing a few gasps from the declaration. A few people took no chances and immediately started running. Juniper, with a bag of McDougal's fast food clutched in one hand and a drink cup in the other, turned toward the voice and stopped walking entirely. A few people walked through her while trying to get out of the way.

There was a woman on the ground, screaming in a seemingly confused manner about being tackled and pinned. The teen had missed exactly what had happened since it had started behind her, but she was certainly going to stay for the show! It beat going back home and having to do homework or running into Xavier while she was still slightly hungover. He definitely would not approve.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know... I think she said she had a gun..."

"I don't see a gun."

"Dude! Do you have to be so forceful! She's a woman!"

Chatter sprang up in every direction as more and more people stopped and formed a ring around the situation. Another uniformed person stepped in to try and get the people to disperse, or back up at least.

... Was no one else aware of the suspicious-looking velvet bag in the ground barely a foot in front of her? Why hadn't anyone come to pick it up yet?

This was totally another weird thing happening in this nightmare of a city, wasn't it? Or, like, some kind of grand theft operation? Nah... the lady being pinned was wearing the same uniform as the others. Internal conflict of some sort?

Juniper hit bottom with her drink and the slurping sounds drew at least a few eyes. Eh, whatever. The show was probably over now that the chick had been caught, right? She turned to figure out where the nearest trashcan was so she could throw her cup away and get back to heading for home...

Denise was having a tough day. And it was only going to get worse for her. As the guards continued to swarm her, another went through her pockets and pulled out two, very shiny, precious blue diamonds. The crowd Ooo'd and Denise (who was finally regaining some mental facilities) stared silent and dumbfounded. That only lasted a few precious moments before her wheezing screech filled the air.

"It's...a frame...up...!" She tried to scream through her constricted airways. Her forcefully struggling was immediately met with shouts from the guards to control herself or they would make things worse.

They also wanted to know where the rest of the diamonds were.

The crowd started to disperse from here, most not knowing or caring what happened next. There was a straggler or two who looped back around at the mention of "diamonds" but for the most part the crowd thinned out. That would make her choice a bit easier. As a matter of fact, the perfect candidate had already made herself known as she walked to the very trashcan where Casey's prize lay in wait.

With no one around, the ethereal woman crept forward, waited until the blond had her back to her, and then made her move.

It was fast. At most she would be confused for a shadow or a blur out of the corner of the eye. In any instance, the semitransparent woman floated through the open air and immediately threw herself into the blonde with the fast food containers.

Now, normally Cas faces some initial resistance when she enters a body. The consciousness attempts to fight her off. In this case, she spilled in like a glove and immediately overpowered the girl's essence and sent her to sleel.

Wow. She must be a dullard.

In her new blonde, teenage body, she took a moment to stand perfectly still and adjust to it. It was like slipping in a new pair of underwear. She had to wriggle herself around inside until she could feel that comfortable spot that let her know she had taken root. Again, it was quick.

Holding her hands up in front of her face, she smile as she stretched and closed them. With a breath of air she could feel her lungs open and remain undisturbed. And...damn did she have a tight little body! She turned, flexed, and sighed gratefully. Much better than being in the broken jalopy that was Denise Washington.

She wondered who this girl was. But, questions later. For now, she reached into the trashcan with her empty soda cup. Just before she released it, she plucked out the slightly heavier inhaler and pocketed it. There was a jingle of diamonds inside heard only by her...and she smiled.

"Perfect."

Mission accomplished, Cas turned and walked away, the hand holding the inhaler slipped into her pocket as she moved. A few steps later she rounded the corner and sighed with a satisfied smile. It was here she noted she was standing in front of a store front and looked herself over in the reflection.

Blond. Young. Pretty. Apparently a dumbass. She wanted to know more. And with the level of control she had, well, it would be easy to maintain control AND have a someone to chat with!

In an instant she pulled up the consciousness of this body. Just enough to allow her a backseat view as Cas remained firmly in the driver's seat. Feeling the consciousness stir, the ghostly mutant smiled and spoke to the reflection.

"Hey gorgeous..." she said, giving the reflection a little wave. "Enjoy your catnap?"

So... uh... that was weird. One moment she was throwing her cup away, and the next she was somewhere else entirely, and staring at herself in a window.

... the @#$%?

It took a moment to even register that words had come out of her mouth that she most definitely had not thought to say. Also... why was her hand moving like that on it's own?

... oh god, she was having a stroke or something, wasn't she?!

"... what..."

It took even longer for her to realize that the words she had actually wanted to say never made it past her lips for some reason. Why had she just called herself Gorgeous?

Gradually the puzzle pieces clicked into place that something wasn't right with her body. She wasn't in control... With that realization came a heavy dose of gut-wrenching horror, or well... it would have if she had been in charge of her guts, currently.

She proceeded to fill whatever mental space her, um, her-ness, was occupying with a slew of the most colorful, vicious cursing she could think up.

...

Once that was out of her system and she was a bit calmer, she responded again in a more reasonable tone.

".... I hate this @#$&ing city so much."

Why HER?! Why was it always HER!?!?

You know, there was a weird sort of out of body thing going on that made this slightly easier to deal with currently... or, just maybe, she'd surged straight past all the anxiety and was living in some horrible limbo right now between perfect calm and a major break down?

Who knew! "Who are you?!"

There was a multitude of ways that this could go. Whenever Cas took control of a body, she liked to take bets against herself to see how the person would react. Some would panic, others would blubber like a baby, some tried to pretend that it was all a bad dream and they would wake up at any second. She wondered how this little blonde bombshell was going to react. Judging by the food and the attire, she guessed...denial.

Yup. Denial. That's what she was going to put her money on.

She winced slightly, her lips curling into an amused, slightly shocked smile at the torrent of obscenities and curses that rebounded in the back of her mind. It was low, like a soft whisper, but clear enough for her to make out each and every word. Honestly she was impressed. Some of those she had never heard before! She was going to have to add those to her verbal repertoire for the future.

For the time being she merely stood there, staring at her reflection, grinning as she felt the consciousness of her latest suit struggle futilely against her mental bonds. When she finally ran the gambit of curse words, Cas felt the other slump in frustration and demand to know who was here.

”Oh good,” she said with a smile, looking one last time at the reflection. ”I guess this isn’t totally free real estate. Glad you were able to rub those last two matchsticks in your brain enough to spark a thought.”

With another demeaning smile she turned, shoving her hands into the fronts of her pockets and moved down the sidewalk. As she did, she began to whistle a tune, “Time is On My Side”, just under her breath. She could still taste the sugar from the soda on her tongue, such a sweet burn. But as much as she wanted to relax and enjoy the sensation of another body, she had company.

”The name’s Cas,” she said out loud. ”Don’t worry. I needed to make a quick getaway and, well, I could hardly deny myself a luxury ride like this, could I?” As if to punctuate her words, she palm of her hand smacked her own (or rather the blonde’s) rear. She giggled. ”I can bounce a dime off this.”

Further down the street she rounded a corner. She breathed a sigh of relief with every bit of distance she put between herself and the guards that were still trying to handle Denise. Feeling calm enough to take a breather, she ducked into a frozen yogurt shoppe. Hrm, did this blonde have any money? She began to explore the pockets of her latest suit as she struck up further conversation.

”I hope you have some cash, honey,” she said to her captive. ”Otherwise this will be a total bummer.” She began to pull items from the jeans as she continued. ”You got a name, sweetie?” She asked, looking into her reflection in a stainless steel wall decoration. ”Or should I make one up for you? How about...Jiminy?”

Ouch! Her own goddamn tongue laid a merciless burn down on her, and she didn't know how to feel about it.

Hey! Watch it, that's my best asset!"

...What? Even during the most trying of times, there was always room for a good pun, right?

At least she had a name to do with whoever had just body-jacked her. That's what this was, right? MF had just jumped in at a stop and taken the wheel. Juniper might have been impressed if it weren't for the fact that she was the one stuck in this horrible situation.

Oh no! All her cash! @#$%!

"I hate you." She said simply, as the entity known as Cas forced her body to riffle through its own pockets. There were many, considering the fact that she was wearing a zip-up hoody a few sizes too big, and jeans. In one pocket, a lighter and some cigs... which she only tended to partake in while out and about on particularly stressful occasions. In another her wallet, which was stuffed with cash and a few prepaid cards. Her phone was in one coat pocket, still open in messages from another spree of sending memes to everyone she knew, and, in particular, the boy wonder himself. Soooo many @#$% jokes.

"... Juniper." She replied shortly, still peeved over someone else having hands on her hard-earned money. It had bee bad enough when the mysterious Chippendales dancer had hustled her into a rideshare and then literally ghosted her mid-ride. With her wallet.

And she assumed her watch. Man, pug face hadn't been too happy about her suddenly empty pockets. Thankfully she'd been able to pay with an app on her phone, or she'd really have been in the dog house.

"So what exactly are you, er... we, getting away from?" She went quiet for a moment, thinking, "This have to do with whatever that scuffle was back there?"

You can tell a lot about someone by going through their pockets. Cas learned that over the years. You’d be surprised by what some people carried on them. So when she found the wallet that was flush with cash, she had to smile. She definitely had picked the best out of the bunch. Sure she could have gone with some well-dressed business type, but you’d be surprised by how little cash they carried. And cash was usually best as she didn’t have to torture her victims with hours of pop music to get their pin numbers.

From this little money bank she found a wallet full of money and prepaid cards, a phone with a bevy of text messages (especially to whomever X was), and a cigarette and lighter. Perfect! She was beginning to like this girl!

She pouted as she looked at the reflection. ”Aw, you can’t hate me. We’ve only just met, hon.”

With a wink she pulled out several bills and proceeded to make herself the biggest froyo that she could buy. It was large, filled with a riot of flavors, and weighed down by the piles of toppings that she added to it. She made her way to the register, smiling innocently at the girl behind the counter who eyed her large treat.

“Wow! That’s almost as big as you!” the cashier said with a bubbly laugh.

Cas purred. ”Ooooh, I may be small but you should see what I can put away.”

With a wink she paid the very overpriced cost of the froyo, snatched a pen from the counter and opened “her” phone. After jotting down her digits (she pretended that the phone and number were new), she tossed the bill into the tip jar and winked at the girl again who immediately blushed. Taking her frozen treat in hand, she marched back over to some isolated, secluded corner of the shop where she planted herself down in a chair near the window and took a bite.

Mmmm. Though she was essentially a ghost and couldn’t eat. She liked to keep a schedule to appear somewhat normal. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, with some very light snacking between. It was important to find the right bodies to partake in these little things and this blonde here certainly seemed like a steal.

She pulled out the phone again, mulling the name over in her head. ”Juniper?” she repeated. ”Cute name.” With that she pulled Juniper’s phone out from her pocket and started to flip through it. Taking another bite from her froyo, she perked up when Juniper asked her what had happened and her involvement in what occurred before. Looking at her reflection, she grinned wide. ”Oh yeah. That was Denise. She served her purpose, but didn’t anticipate she had asthma.” She shrugged. ”Had to think fast or I wouldn’t have gotten these out.”

With that she pulled the inhaler she had retrieved from the trashcan and popped open the cap. Carefully looking to make sure no one was watching she tipped the inhaler into her open palm. A couple of sparkling, rare blue diamonds reflected in her hand. She shook them, satisfied by the clicking of the jewels she stuffed them back into the inhaler and grinned as she returned to her treat.

”As you can see, I deserve this little treat.”

Haha, yeah, sure. Only just met and all. There was plenty more time for her spite to stew and grow then!

She watched, in a weird abstract way from inside her own head and yet through her own eyeballs, as her hands went through the motions of making the biggest damn froyo cup she had ever seen in her life. If Juniper hadn't been used to randomly buying herself expensive things she'd have relatively no attachment to, she might have keeled over and died just from the expense of the treat. Instead, she found respite in how big it was.

"Jokes on you! All of that is never gonna fit in my stomach. I'm like a @#$%ing hummingbird." Always hovering around nibbling on things, and apparently she could die if she forgot to eat for long enough. Whoops!

It was curious watching her hand out a phone number to the girl behind the counter, who, by all rights, was very cute. She wasn't used to being a back seat flirt, after all.

"Thanks. It's not terrible sometimes I guess." She paused. Awkward silence in her own head was more uncomfortable than it was from the outside. "Cas is pretty cool, too..." Course', she had no idea what kinda entity she was talking to other than a name. "uh... what pronouns do you go by?" It was uncomfortable thinking of Cas as an 'it' or a thing, and... man, did that ever piss her off. She was being guilted into being civil to a body-jacker! How rude!

Cas, as it were, had been very busy before Juniper had become her unfortunate method of escape. She didn't have eyeballs to widen at the sight of the glittering, pretty jewels, but damn those were gorgeous!

"Holy @#$% those are pretty." Of course, Juniper didn't know they were rare in any sense, so she was going off of appearance alone.

"Good job! I can see why you're celebrating. Erm... hey, so... I know I said I hated you and all, but can you like, make sure not to get caught in my body? I don't wanna end up in jail for a crime I technically haven't committed." Shoot, there were plenty of crimes she had committed to be jailed for, first!

"My boss will literally kill me if I miss work one more time."

Cas was enjoying the froyo but, strangely, she was already beginning to feel a little full. She did meet the girl as she was tossing her fast food trash away, so maybe that was the reason. But even then, she should have been able to get more than a couple of spoonfuls in right? Ugh, of course she hopped into a body that couldn’t accommodate her hedonistic diet. Oh well. At least she had a killer figure. With a sigh she let that thought go, stabbing her spoon into the mix and returned to the phone.

”Don’t worry, Matchstick,” she smiled. ”I’m sure there is plenty else I can enjoy with your body.” Eyeing the reflection, her lips twisted into a malevolent smile, a reminder that she had total control and for an unspecified amount of time.

She was admittedly a little surprised when a compliment was offered to her own name. She hated it. Cas wanted something more exotic sounding, more likely to inspire adventure or sexiness. She didn’t want to be named after a baseball poem. Ugh. So disappointing. After shaking the thought away, she bit her lip and sighed.

”She / Her,” she replied. She still wasn’t used to people asking her that question. Honestly maybe it was because she was from the 1980s, or maybe because she had such a hard life that such questions didn’t really matter. Whatever the case, it was still a trial to get used to saying and answering that. With a shrug she half-heartedly asked the same of the body she occupied. ”Yours?”

She only half listened to the answer as she started to inspect the diamonds that she had managed to steal away. They were gorgeous. Really she couldn’t spend them right now, but they would do nicely in one of her many caches that she had throughout the city. Always good to have some money stored for a rainy day.

After slipping the jewels back into the inhaler and returning it to her pocket, she returned to her froyo for another bite. Oof. Stomach was definitely still full. Oh well. She’d have to find some other way to enjoy this body before the time limit ran out. Certainly she could think up an idea or two.

At Juniper’s request, Cas shrugged emotionlessly. ”Why?” she asked, peering at the reflection again. ”Not like I’m going to get into trouble.” She winked. ”I’ll tell you what, darling. Tell me a bit about yourself and I’ll consider it.” Turning the phone around she looked at the name with all the text messages. ”Tell me, who is the pretty boy?”

Matchstick... ouch. That one was gonna stick, huh? Greaaaat. Just what her self-esteem needed.

That threat was something too, actually. Brought a fresh wave of horror to the whole 'I'm hijacked and have no control' thing, which... she was still not a fan of.

But that was okay though! Maybe if she just kept playing it calm and nice, she'd walk away with everything intact and no new nigh terror-inducing life events to stew on for years to come.

"She/her." She wasn't used to asking that a whole lot because it could be awkward sometimes. She usually just found creative ways around it in conversation... but this was a whole new kinda situation. At least, to a very slight degree, knowing that someone womanly was in her body was a slight relief. Very slight, but hey, it was something!

Ah, why? Should she be totally honestly why getting caught would be bad for her? Or only slightly honest? Hmm. Considering Cas could apparently abandon her ass the moment things got too hot, she wasn't sure the whole truth was a good idea.

"Let's just say not everybody around here likes me a whole lot, and I'd rather not add more reasons to the list yet."

Being unable to make a face at the idea of telling a body snatcher about her self was a crime in its own right.

"I guess... not like I have much of a choice. What specifically do you want to know?"

Why was it suddenly uncomfortable that she was looking at Xavier? Food for thought later, maybe. Who was he, though? Lying would be hard considering there were tons of pictures of him on her phone, mixed in with pictures of April and Blue, as well as a few from when she had managed to convince Zaid to go do things with her again.

"That's Adonis or Wonder Bread. He's my best friend." Was her eventual, slightly reluctant answer. "The other hot guy, and one of the girls, also besties." This was weird and slightly intrusive.

"Every other picture in there that's not them are just people I thought were hot."

Cas liked to get to know her hosts. Not that she really cared about anything that happened to them (they were just tools to her) but it helped to chip away at her time and gave her a little taste of the world. When she first started doing this, she was in the 80s and kind of kept that same mentality. However she soon discovered that while most people were dim-witted, they caught on to her vernacular and way of doing things. She had to evolve if she was going to survive.

So she did. She learned. She adapted. And she was all the better for it. Seems people get suspicious when you continue to use phrases like “tubular” or “righteous” in your everyday vocab. Who would have thought?

Juniper turned out to be a bit more interesting than she would have thought. The blonde had been one of the few to inquire about her pronouns. Cas liked it when she was dealt firsts because they helped to teach her. Now that she knew it was a more regular thing, she would begin to ask that of her hosts whenever she was invading their space. It was the least she could do.

But she was curious also of the fact that Juniper wasn’t begging on her knees (figuratively) to be released. Instead she asked more respectfully if she could not be the victim of Cas’ cruelty. While she didn’t have the intention of having Juni hauled off to jail in the same way she had condemned Denise, she didn’t want to reveal that. So long as her host was kept in the dark, then that would be best for them both.

Juniper revealed that she wasn’t well liked and that the last thing she wanted was to get into this level of trouble. While Cas could understand that, again, it really didn’t matter to her. It wasn’t her problem. Nothing was her problem. She could really do whatever she wanted and she wouldn’t get in trouble for it.

Still, she wanted to learn more about Juniper before she decided what she would do with her useless sack of skin. Questions and answers. There. If Juniper had an interesting enough story, maybe some facts about her, then she’d reconsider what she wanted to do with her.

The first, and easiest place to start, was her phone. Who were the beautiful people?

Admittedly Cas let her eyes linger on “Adonis” or “White Bread” as Juniper referred to him. Truly he was a beefcake. The other two besties weren’t bad either, but Adonis certainly had piqued her interest. Cas (through Juniper’s throat) purred.

”Ooooh, he’s a yummy morsel, isn’t he?” she grinned. ”I hope he’s more than a pretty face. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve met someone with a body like that who have no idea how to please a woman.” With a lamenting sigh she continued. ”So come on, dish. How was he? You can’t tell me you’ve been around someone like him and not dove into bed.”

Well @#$% it was getting more awkward wasn't it?

"Well, I mean, not for lack of trying?" Really, she'd practically thrown herself at him the moment they met but he hadn't taken the bait. And now... well, she just hadn't bothered trying again. She wasn't sure if that was going to be a never thing or just a yet thing, but she certainly hadn't put any effort in.

"I don't know how many times I basically told him I wanted to go to pound town, but he isn't the type, I guess? It's really confusing." Was it just her, or did she sound kinda bummed by that in her head? "Pretty much everyone else I've ever met was fine jumping in the sack with me, but not Wonderbread... not like I wouldn't mind."

Crap, she didn't wanna dwell on that right now though! There were enough buried feelings that had to do with him to deal with later. Much, much later!

"I can tell you a bit more about him other than that, though... just don't expect his address or anything." She paused, thinking about what to say. Harmless chatter wouldn't hurt anything... right?

"Xavier's like... I dunno, a carebear or something. Like, he's so cheery and happy it's painful to be around sometimes. Also bakes like a @#$%ing god, and I don't know how it's possible a guy that big can look so freakin adorable in an apron and oven mitts. "

She giggled and immediately stopped because giggling inside her own head sounded like something ripped straight out of a horror movie.

"Everything he owns is superhero-themed. Towels, underwear, bedsheet. Everything!" Snickering didn't sound nearly as creepy, so snickering was allowed.

"Wanna know something funny? He had a tendency to lose his clothes because of his power or some @#$%, so I have seen him completely naked. I know exactly what his buns and berries look like." It was unfair to a degree, really.

"Oh, also, if you happen to try and use my power... don't ever phase everything all at once. Not only will we lose all of my clothes, but we could end up stuck somewhere I can't get us back out of."

Cas didn’t interrupt Juniper as she began to offer up a bit more info about White Bread, or as she would come to learn, Xavier. How intriguing. Cas was all smiles as she looked upon her reflection, listening to the blonde’s voice as it rebounded inside of her head. Mm, so very, very tasty. Everything that she had described sounded so amazing. Truly it was an entertaining tale, exactly what she had asked of her.

But it truly made her wonder a bit about Xavier. Judging from Juniper’s own words, there was an open invitation. If she were throwing herself that hard at the hunky hero, then why wasn’t he taking the bait? Cas wondered if maybe she wasn’t his type, in more ways than one. After all, what man wouldn’t take a willing woman up on such an offer? She shrugged a little, resting her chin into the palm of her hand, staring out the window.

”Wow. Talk about a swing and a miss,” she mused out loud. ”Either you’re really bad at flirting or you don’t have the necessary ‘tool’ he’s after.” A wicked grin covered her lips as she glanced down at Juniper’s phone again.

Hrm, maybe she could arrange a meeting with Xavier and give this girl the piece she was so desperately after. Of course it would be Cas doing all the work, but, hey, for a bod like that, she was willing to take one for the team. However, before she could voice that thought, she was pulled back by something extremely interesting that the blonde had just said.

Powers? She didn’t know she had wrangled herself a mutant! Of course that wasn’t a big surprise given the fact that she was in New York City of all places; the freak capital of the world. There were more mutants here than anywhere else and, yes, she had managed to body thief a few of them. Bodies were easy to take over, powers could be a bit trickier. Physical mutants didn’t take as long to master as opposed to those that could shoot rays from their noses or run at super speeds.

But this girl. Her powers already sounded interesting. What could she do? She mentioned phasing and Cas could feel her heart bounce a few extra beats. Walking through walls? Heh, no wonder the blonde had a big wad of cash on her. Looking into the reflection, she grinned extra wide.

”Phasing, huh? Well isn’t that just peachy?” she smirked. ”I can think of a couple wicked adventures we could get into with that. But first…” she picked up the phone and turned the camera on selfie mode. ”You want me to head to the bathroom and send ‘Xavier’ a topless pic?” She started to stand and head towards the bathroom. ”It could help your chances.”

"Eh... probably a little bit of both? I don't tend to flirt so much as just flat out make advances at people. I don't have time for much romance, but I definitely wonder if he's just not into girls. I've only ever been turned down like a handful of times, and half of those were from men and women who preferred the opposite sex to me."

Most people, when in the right environment, didn't generally hesitate to jump in the sack with someone who was offering. Her no-how in the bedroom tended to make up for the lack of butt and boob, also, so it's not like she could really blame it on that.

Juniper wasn't really sure what kinda adventures her body thief wanted to go on, but had an inkling that they probably wouldn't match up with the same kinda adventuring she normally did herself. Especially if they involved selfies!

"Hey wait-" Was there very obvious panic in her mind-voice? Very much so! The idea of sending X any pics of herself, let alone one of her nonexistent bewbs, was definitely a no-go! "W-wait! Like, I don't really have much chest to send, here!"

Ah, one of her worst insecurities brought to life. "There is a really expensive push-up bra doing a really @#$%in' good job in there, and I'd rather my neighbor not know I'm flat as a board." Yes, though it was painful to admit it out loud to a stranger, she felt like it was the right move. Couldn't send along a pic of something that didn't exist, right? Besides, her butt was honestly one of her better assets, even if it was still small. If she was sending pictures of anything, it was definitely a butt-

... why was she even thinking of this?! No!

"Besides, knowing him he'd either assume I'd sent it to the wrong person or just respond with something like 'K'."

... Of course, now that she was stuck thinking about it the idea of Xavier looking at a picture of her less than fully dressed did weird things to her. Could she get butterflies when she wasn't in charge of her own stomach? This was weird.

Cas had made two full strides towards the bathroom when Juniper’s panicked voice began to rebound in her head. In that second she revealed the fraudulent claims her chest was making and she stopped, arms crossed over her chest, listening to everything. She really didn’t want her picture taken, especially since what Cas was threatening to send didn’t exist. With a small pout she “tsked” at her reflection, reprimanding Juniper with a slight shake of her own head.

”Bad girl,” she whispered. ”Lying like that.”

She took another step to the bathroom, as if threatening to make that her photostudio anyways but turned on her heel and headed for the door. She left her uneaten frozen yogurt behind, along with a more than sizable tip (hey, wasn’t her money). With a grin she shoved open the door to the establishment and stepped out into the open air. That should have been more than enough time for the security team to have made their rounds.

With a mission accomplished and a tag along, it was time to go on an adventure. Now she just had to decide what she wanted to do. The possibilities were endless, especially knowing that she was in possession of a mutant! Those were always the best! And the powers! Ooooh! She could have so much fun with those. She was going to wreck havoc today. But, in the back of her mind, there was one thing that she kept at the forefront of her mind.

She grinned. ”Okay. No photo...unless I can’t think of something better to do to get you into Xavier’s pants.” She began to walk down the sidewalk, her fingers flexing and squeezing in thought. ”I’ll think of something good. Something even he won’t be able to ignore.” As she walked she stopped as she caught her reflection in another window. Staring at herself, or Juniper, a wide, wicked grin crept over her lips. ”Oh...I think I have an absolutely amazing idea, Matchstick. But first...care to show me how your powers work?” She shrugged her shoulders. ”Unless you want me to test it out myself and leave you stuck in a wall somewhere?’