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The man was still extending his hand to her. She hadn't taken it at first, so why would he assume that she would want to shake it then? Eventually, he dropped it, taking the hint. Astrid only touched people on her terms.

Then, he began to order. Astrid had thought that her order had been large, and rather expensive at that. But watching the man order, she realized that she was wrong. Even being unable to understand half of what he was ordering didn't stop her from understanding that it was a lot of food.

He began to talk again, and Astrid did her best to follow along and answer each unnecessarily fast question as best she could. "Age is... No good to be work," she began to speak in slow, broken sentences. She hoped that the hand gestures that she used would help to fill in some gaps, "normally... Play at the... Outside... Not hate... The cello... Hate... This," she gestured to the restaurant around her, unable to think of a word for it. "And the... Sounds."

Name. That was a simpler question. "Astrid," she told him, and then pointed to him. She tried her best to keep her expression neutral, but she was desperate for the food to arrive.

The man gestured to the chair in front of him when Astrid was finished playing. She hesitated. What did the man want? She was willing to do a lot for money, but there was a line. She narrowed her eyes and stared at him for a moment before giving up and joining him despite her reservations.

The man began talking immediately. He used many big words, most of which went right over the girl's head. He brought over a server and then looked at her, though, so she assumed that he was telling her to order. She made the connection between the few words that she understood and the way her was moving his hands, that he was offering to pay.

A huge, mischievous smile formed on Astrid's face as she scanned the menu. Her eyes fell on the most expensive item on the list and she settled on what she was going to order. "Steak," she said to the server, her finger on the item. She figured that she was probably pronouncing it wrong, but that it would help if she pointed it out.

The man said something about 'fellow mutants'. She understood the word mutant. She had been called that many times. But was he saying that he was also a mutant? That made sense from his appearance. It also explained why he had come to the restaurant that night.

>>"Why'd you agree to do this if you disliked it so much?”

"Money." Astrid answered simply, rolling the word around in her mouth as she waited for her meal to arrive. It was a word she used often. It was usually her reason behind most things. That and her quest to be evil.

Astrid tried very hard to stop herself from smiling. It was such a comfort to hear her native language again - even if it was being butchered by a munchkin. But alas, evil people or 'Dark Ones' did not smile. Especially at children.

She nodded at the little girl as she picked her up, letting her rest comfortably in her arms. She took off again and flew off in the direction of the hotel she had stayed at the night before. Room checks weren't for a little while, so they had some time.

Astrid flew into the window she had left open and set Abbigail down. "Here," she told her as she stood up in the lavish room. Her stuff was still there from the night before, including her makeup.

"Sit," she told Abby and pointed to the bed. She picked up a bottle of eyeliner and twisted out the applicator. The little girl was going to look much better when she was finished with her.

>>"What are you going to do to my face?"

Astrid pursed her lips and thought hard. She couldn't think of the word. In fact, she couldn't remember ever hearing it in English. "Maquillage... Maquillage..." She repeated softly, making hand gestures like she was applying makeup. She hoped that the little girl would understand what she was trying to say, because there was no way she would get the word out.

After a moment, she pointed to the girl, realizing that she probably needed something to call her. "Name?" She asked her.

>>"Wait! I didn't pay for this!"

Had Astrid not made it clear? They were not going to pay. Yet, the girl was still resisting.

The workers had begun to circle around them, starting to block the exits. They needed to get out, and fast. Astrid grabbed a few packs of pantyhose off of a rack near the door and then scooped the girl back up in her arms with the pile of clothes that they had aquired. She took off quickly, flying through the doors with the girl with her.

She flew about a block before landing again in an alleyway. She set the girl down and handed her the clothes and pantyhose. "There. Much better." The French girl announced. "No need pay."

>>"Just don't touch me again,"

Astrid grunted and smiled, finding it easier than mangling her way through English words. It seemed that the girl had experienced pain, which was good, That was what she was supposed to be doing. Inflicting pain, that is.

The girl took the dress and went to get changed in the change room. Astrid waited outside and rifled through some Victorian-style dresses. She pulled out a few of them and slung them over her arm to keep. She also pulled out a few more in the blonde's size that were similar in style to the one she was trying on.

>>"Judgement, Oh Dark One?"

Dark One. It sounded like some sort of reference, but Astrid couldn't place it. Americans had a never-ending revolving door of references that would take years for her to fully comprehend. But from the munchkin's connotation, it sounded bad. That made her smile.

"Good," Astrid nodded. The dress was much better than the atrocious ensemble that the girl had donned pior to her intervention, but it wasn't perfect. She didn't fill out the dress quite right, and the leggings were much too thick under the thin fabric. Astrid didn't tell her that, though. There wasn't a lot more you could expect from a girl so young.

"Here, more." She handed the girl another stack of dresses, all of them black.

>>"And how will you 'fix' it? I don't have any money to buy new clothes."

"Silly girl. No buy," she laughed softly at her.

The little girl was digging in her heels in protest. Astrid sighed and shook her head. She had dealt with annoying little girls before, many times in fact, and she had ways of making them do what she wanted. Usually, she could just pulled them along, but this little girl would not budge. What was with her legs? They were incredibly strong - nothing like Astrid's impossibly skinny ones.

Her black eyes narrowed at the girl as she protested. There was an easier way to do this. She turned and scooped the little girl into her arms. If she hadn't been such a munchkin, she wouldn't have been able to do it, but Astrid was in luck. She flapped her large wings, hitting several people as she did.

She took off immediately, causing people to move out of the way as her legs dangled where they walked. They soon exited the subway station, where Astrid flew to a clothing store that she had never been to before. It looked like they had some of the things she was looking for, and it was better to start fresh. It wasn't difficult to pick her out of a crowd.