"Oh, actually it wasn't that bad of an explanation. I know both bands, the last one rather reluctantly though. All-in-all, it sounds like a good group. I'll probably listen to them some time."

Kara blinked, then breathed a silent sigh of relief. She'd understood perfectly what Kara had been trying to say, and even more importantly, didn't think of her as a geeky indie music hipster nerd etc. Probably because she had similar tastes, from what it sounded like.

'So first you're friends with a human teddy bear, and now you're friends with someone 8 years past your age. Ever thought about getting a peer group that's something like you!?'

She chuckled slightly at the thought.

Then she noticed herself glowing. Full body. Muffled by her clothing, but still pretty visible.

"Dammit," she muttered under her breath, quickly and immediately turning it off. She kept glancing over at Sarah, but it was impossible to tell whether she'd seen it or not. "Dammit, dammit, dammit," she repeated.

"What other types of bands do you like?"

"Hubwah?" Kara emitted, jumping up slightly. Having been lost in her own thoughts, she'd completely forgotten that Sarah was still in the room. It took her a few seconds to remember the question, and another few seconds to formulate a response. She was so nervous, it almost took her a few tries to say anything, but she managed to stutter, "I...um...just rock...but, like...sof--softer rock, you know? N--Not too...heavy. Y--You?"

She nervously went back to scanning shelves, trying to re-light just her finger. Unfortunately, she was so nervous, the best she could do was make her fingertip look shiny.

'Dear God,' she thought. 'Now what do I do?

>>"I...um...just rock...but, like...sof--softer rock, you know? N--Not too...heavy. Y--You?"

Sarah nodded as she slipped a CD in its proper place and pulled one from the wrong area. She was thinking about how to put her taste in music. It was a little everywhere.

She laughed. "I don't really have a type. My family is so diverse when it comes to music that I've learned to like a lot of different genres. Though I guess I like rock the best. Sometimes I'll play Rock 108 when I'm painting. Creates some pretty cool images."

The brunette sighed as she continued to look. She spotted a case with the band title the teen had told her about. However, it wasn't the one she was looking for. The find did boost her optimism.

"Well, I found one album by Uh Huh Her. Not Nocturnes though." Then a thought hit her. "So do you listen to older rock music? It's got a lot more soft stuff than present day."

"I don't really have a type. My family is so diverse when it comes to music that I've learned to like a lot of different genres. Though I guess I like rock the best. Sometimes I'll play Rock 108 when I'm painting. Creates some pretty cool images."

Whoa, wait...

Painting?

This girl...paints?

Kara glanced over the 20-year-old. Seeing Sarah as anything but a wisecracking ex-cheerleader was honestly pretty tough for Kara. Then again, she'd thought Hillary Clinton looked like a bimbo, so it said pretty decisively how much Kara could guess about people. Though now that she was looking for it, she could kind of see a few subtle hints to the fact. Namely, the way she stood.

"When people stand like that," her dad's voice lectured from deep in her memory, "it means they stand a lot. And that means there's a good chance that they do something in construction, politics, or the arts."

She sighed softly. Now she was nervous, stuttery, and homesick. Great.

"Well, I found one album by Uh Huh Her. Not Nocturnes though."

Kara silently nodded, still lost in her angst.

"So do you listen to older rock music? It's got a lot more soft stuff than present day."

"N--no, not...really. Not since...since my brother got obsessed with Pink Floyd. Nowadays it just...annoys me."

>>"N--no, not...really. Not since...since my brother got obsessed with Pink Floyd. Nowadays it just...annoys me."

Sarah laughed. It seemed like a similar situation between her and her brother. She could remember times when the two wouldn't be in the same room due to music or colors or friends or... well, the list went on.

"I'm sorry," she apologized between laughs. "It just sounds like me and my brother. He listened to rap and hip hop so much, I boycotted it."

The brunette looked over at the teen and noticed a certain sadness in her face. It made her feel bad. Most of the time she kept people smiling. Seeing someone a little sad through her off for a moment.

"Do you miss them? Your family?" she asked quietly. It would be a touchy subject, but if Sarah knew anything it was to never hide. Negative emotions grew that way.

Sarah's laugh both startled and relaxed Kara at the same time, in the most odd mix of emotions she'd felt in years. At the same time, though it helped her loosen up a lot. Enough to re-light her finger, and most of her body, before she got it back under control. She smiled softly as she resumed scanning CD cases.

"I'm sorry, it just sounds like me and my brother. He listened to rap and hip hop so much, I boycotted it."

Kara chuckled slightly. Maybe this Sarah girl and the young mutant had more in common than she'd originally thought. And she seemed nice enough. So why was Kara still afraid to talk to her? She hadn't even introduced herself to Sarah, all because she was too damn phobic.

Kara closed her eyes and silently counted to ten. No use getting angry over something so small.

"Do you miss them? Your family?" The girl's question caught Kara off-guard. She instinctively answered a brief, "Kind of," and kept scanning CDs, but then she stopped herself.

She remembered her therapist's homework. "You need to practice being open with people if you're going to get over these phobias of yours."

So Kara took a deep breath and added, "I mean...there's...a lot that I miss. But th--there's a lot more that I'm...glad...I got away from. So...kind of." She went back to scanning shelves, her emotions now a mixture of nerves, homesickness, and even a few hints of loneliness.

>>"Kind of."

Sarah simply nodded. She didn't really expect the girl to talk to a stranger. She still wasn't sure why she asked.

>>"I mean...there's...a lot that I miss. But th--there's a lot more that I'm...glad...I got away from. So...kind of."

The explanation warranted the brunette's full attention. She smiled softly at the girl. She could hear so many emotions in the girl's voice.

"It's always hard to be without family, though they can drive you insane. Just think about the things you won't miss. That's what I do," she told the teen.

She looked over a few CDs before turning her full attention to the teenaged girl. The counter boy was still snoring, so the girls were basically alone.

"I always try to remember how my brother would wake me up at unorthodox hours of the morning. Sometimes I remember the fights I had with my dad, or the few times I wanted to get away from my mom. If you feel sad or homesick, remember the times you hated to have. Another thing that helps is to keep a busy life. The busier you are the less likely you are to think about them."

She knew she was talking a lot. There wasn't much she could do though. She wanted to help the girl. Whatever her situation was, Sarah wanted the girl to be able to live through it and get stronger.

"It's always hard to be without family, though they can drive you insane. Just think about the things you won't miss. That's what I do."

Kara nervously fiddled with a CD, picking it up in her hand and absent-mindedly messing with it. There was something about it that seemed to command her attention, but she forced that aside. She just didn't have room in her brain to look at it properly, let alone think about it. She saw Sarah turn toward her, and glanced up for a brief instant before returning to the equivalent of twiddling her thumbs.

"I always try to remember how my brother would wake me up at unorthodox hours of the morning. Sometimes I remember the fights I had with my dad, or the few times I wanted to get away from my mom. If you feel sad or homesick, remember the times you hated to have. Another thing that helps is to keep a busy life. The busier you are the less likely you are to think about them."

What was left of Kara's smile faded, as the girl's monologue turned her mind to things she didn't like about her family. Then she came to a sudden conclusion. And she felt a bizarre, inexplicable...urge. Urge might have been the wrong word, but it was still the best one she knew. She just felt like she had to share it with this girl, though she had no logical reason for it, and it made her even more uncomfortable than she already was.

So she did.

"I...I don't really have any memories...of back...home. I mean...dad was rarely home...and when he was, he was...busy...with his re-election. Everyone else, I just...avoided. And I used to have some...friends...but that was before..." she stopped herself there, before she exposed herself as a mutant to someone who...well...she still didn't know if she trusted Sarah that much. Sure, she'd been able to piece together a lot of her life, and she'd jumped in to help Kara with her CD problem without a moment of hesitation.

Speaking of which...

Kara looked down at the CD she was holding. It was the exact one that Sarah had mentioned she was after. Some of the text was rather hard to read, so that it instead read "Strange Case Halestrom", but it looked about right.

She nervously held it up and muttered, "I...um...I think I found your CD."

>>"I...I don't really have any memories...of back...home. I mean...dad was rarely home...and when he was, he was...busy...with his re-election. Everyone else, I just...avoided. And I used to have some...friends...but that was before..."

The brunette listened to the teen explain some of her life. It was all a shock. She simply leaned against the end of the shelving unit as she rolled the words in her head.

It was strange to think that someone didn't have memories they could look back on. The girl was young. To be so young and not have something of family to look back on... Sarah shook her head.

>>"I...um...I think I found your CD."

"Oh? Let me look," she offered as she pushed off the shelving unit.

The little revelation Kara had explained seemed to stun the brunette into silence. Kara didn't blame her. It's not every day that you realize that your family was barely a part of your life.

"Oh? Let me look."

Kara held the small plastic case at arms length in front of her, still mentally refusing to look Sarah directly in the eye. Another little annoying quirk.

"I wasn't quite sure...I couldn't read all the text. But...it looks about right."

One look at the CD told Sarah that it was the one she was looking for. With a smile on her lips she took hold of the case.

"This is it, alright," she smiled.

The brunette felt like she could jump for joy. She had looked in the area the teen had found the CD and hadn't seen it. If the teen hadn't been there with her, she may have never found the disk. It was a wonderful thing to know help was needed and had done that which one alone could not.

"Now we just have to find yours," she stated after a moment of silent celebration.

She threw a smile at the teen before heading down an aisle, fully prepared to spend as much time as needed to find the teen's desired CD. It was the least she could do. The young girl had found the CD of Sarah choice. She felt it was only fair to stick around and help until they found Nocturnes.

"This is it, alright." Kara breathed a soft sigh of relief at the notion. 'One down, one to go,' she thought to herself.

As if reading her thoughts, Sarah stated, "Now we just have to find yours."

Kara returned to the shelf she'd been scanning, casually re-lighting her finger to try and read the band names. They were completely scrambled up on this side of the store, any semblance of order lost forever between lazy employees and careless customers.

Speaking of customers, there was something she wanted to say to Sarah...

"I...um...thank you," she blurted out, "Th--thanks for helping me...with this."

She lowered her head back down to the disc cases, blushing slightly. 'Glad I got that over with,' she silently muttered.

>>"I...um...thank you. Th--thanks for helping me...with this."

Sarah looked up briefly while she was stuttering. The teen had already moved her head back down by the time the brunette looked up though.

"You're welcome. It's the least I could do, anyway. We'd both be stuck here for hours otherwise," she tried to joke.

The twenty-three year old went back to looking through disks. Now there was just one CD to find, but it seemed like an impossible task with the disorganization of the shelves. A loud snore broke through Sarah's thoughts and caused her to look over at the teen sleeping at the counter.

"I wonder if we can send in a complaint. That kid is really getting on my nerves."

"You're welcome. It's the least I could do, anyway. We'd both be stuck here for hours otherwise." Kara smiled slightly, breathing out the first sign of a chuckle. It was funny because it was true.

A loud snore made Kara jump up with sheer terror, arms in front of her face for protection. When nothing happened, she dared to take a peek.

Just that kid.

"I wonder if we can send in a complaint. That kid is really getting on my nerves."

Kara nodded, muttering a small, "Mine too."

Then, as she returned to glancing through shelves, dimming her finger as it was no longer needed, a thought struck her. Finally, she just blurted out, "Oh, I'm C--Carragail. B--By the way. In case...you know...you were wondering..." Her voice petered out as she became suddenly intrigued by the shelving.

When the teen replied that the snoring kid at the counter was bothering her too, Sarah smiled over her shoulder at the girl. 'Did she introduce herself earlier? I think I told her my name, but did she give hers? I can't seem to remember,'[/color] the brunette thought as she watched the younger female look through the shelves.

>>"Oh, I'm C--Carragail. B--By the way. In case...you know...you were wondering..."

Sarah waved her hand in the air a little, in a way to dismiss the whole thing. She had been wondering, but that wasn't the point. The girl, Carragail, was probably nervous enough as it was.

"That's a pretty name. Long though. Bet cha have some sort of nickname, right?"

She was trying to make friendly conversation while they continued to search. Another loud snore broke her train of thought. She shook her head and strode over to the sleeping teen with a purpose. As she walked, she picked up some magazines from a rack. When she was close enough, she looked back to Carragail, a wicked look in her eye.

Then, she dropped the stack of magazines right next to his ear.

"That's a pretty name. Long, though. Betcha have a nickname, right?"

Kara began to take a breath in response, but not before she was rudely interrupted by a sleeping teen who was supposed to be manning his post (to be fair, there wasn't much of a post to man, but still).

She glanced over to Sarah to say something about how hilarious this kid was, before she noticed Sarah striding purposefully towards the boy, a twinkle in her eye and a few magazines appearing in her hand. And before she could even react, Sarah slammed the magazines down directly next to his head.

The noise made Kara jump slightly, though her reaction wasn't nearly as hilarious as that of the teenager manning the store. He leaped straight out of his chair, flew practically three feet in the air, and came cascading down in a flurry of loud swear words.

Kara couldn't help herself. After a quick little sputter, she burst out laughing, doubled over and holding onto the shelf for support. She kept trying to apologize for it, but she didn't have any breath to spare.

The kid's face of panic dropped. He straightened his slightly-torn tee and groaned, "Yeah, yeah, ha ha, very funny. Now leave me alone. I've had enough crap t' deal with without you two gettin' all up in my grill."