From the Shore to the Water (IC)

[alderwitch]

"I can do that. That doesn't sound difficult. You think that would work?" Alex asked as she gathered up her armfull of clothing. "I mean, I hug Mike a lot. I'm sure I've hugged him in a swimsuit before. Do you think asking him to help me with my suntan lotion would work? That was kinda my plan. Hence all the skin."

She gestured to the smallish swimsuits. Like Erin, Alex owned once pieces and this was a new forray into the bikini realm. "Do you think that we should get something to go over them or just, towel, t-shirt, jeans?"

[Electra]

"Regular clothes will probably be okay," Erin figured. "I know James is doing something to make the weather around his place warmer, but it's still going to be February outside the bubble. We're probably better off wearing normal clothes overtop, so we don't freeze when we leave school." They made their way towards the checkout, past the Valentines Day blowout that was the jewelry section, where even the lights were obscured by giant cardboard hearts and red bunting. The resulting dimness highlighted Alex's glow in a way the bright fluorescent lights hadn't, drawing a few stares from the people around them.

"Oh wow!" Erin startled and spun at the voice from behind them, coming face to face with a girl who looked to be about fifteen or so, who was watching them with great interest. "I know you guys!" she told Alex, hurrying up to get face to face. "You're in Young Freedom, aren't you! I watched what you did at the baseball stadium this summer, it was so cool!" she gushed. "Can I have your autograph?"

[alderwitch]

Alex spun around and blinked a few times, her arms full of the swimsuits. Once she realized what the girl was on about she blushed and stepped slightly in front of Erin, trying to provide her an out if she wanted anomnity.

"Oh, well, sure I guess. Do you have something you'd like me to sign?" Alex juggled the suits to one arm as she dug in her backpack for a pen. She could have floated them but she didn't really want to make more of a scene than she was already. "Or just a piece of paper?"

[Electra]

"Oh, yeah! Um..." The girl patted her pockets, then reached into her backpack and pulled out a notebook. Flipping to a clean page, she proffered it eagerly towards Alex. She spared a glance or two at Erin, but looked rather intimidated. "Could you make it out to Patty?" she asked eagerly. "My friends totally aren't going to believe this. I didn't even know superheroes shopped at the mall!"

[alderwitch]

"We have to buy socks and underwear just like other people," Alex said with a gentle smile as she quickly jotted down the note: To Patty, Freedom Forever! - Your Young Freedom Pal, Psyche. Having spent time in Mark's super hero fueled brain had its advantages.

Alex clicked the pen off and tried to figure out what to say next. To Erin, it was obvious who she was copying as she wiggled a finger and said, "Now Patty, you have a nice day... and stay in school."

She left out the lopsided Mark grin and matching wink but other than that she had the stance down before she turned around to head for the counter with a silent, "Lets get out of here before we draw a crowd."

[Electra]

Erin nodded agreement and headed for the nearest checkout counter, which was thankfully under brighter lights. After carefully counting out the money for her swimsuit from her wallet, Erin waited for Alex to pay for hers, then headed out into the mall with her. "Stay in school?" she finally asked, laughing. "I'm not sure we're supposed to say that to people our same age. Though I guess now that you've told her to, she definitely will. Do you get that a lot now?"

[alderwitch]

"I got a whole list of things from Mark to say to people. It seems to work alright but I feel super corny doing it. But just saying 'well, seeya' seems to dissapoint them as a farewell." Alex admitted with a little shrug. She ran her card and tucked it back in her wallet as her suits were bagged.

"It depends where I am and how dark it is. It happens more often at night but usually its people asking me about glowing than recognizing me as a super hero. So far, its been a little surreal but not problematic."

[Electra]

"You could start carrying around a flashlight, I guess," Erin suggested, slinging her bag over one shoulder as Alex caught up with her, then stopping in front of the mall directory. "I want to stop at the pet store before we go," she said, "I'm running low on cat food. And if James' party winds up going a whole weekend, I don't want to come up short. Not that I would probably stay that long, but still. What do you do at a party that goes three days, anyway?"

[alderwitch]

"What do you do in the abstract or what will we spend our time doing?" Alex asked dryly, lugging her bag along, "If you mean the former, its mostly drinking and hooking up with people in various states of sobriety. I imagine there will be one or two explosions of drama over the course of the party. I am planning on swimming, teasing Mike and trying to keep Zoe and Eddie from having sex as many times as possible. I also am bringing cards."

[Electra]

Erin grimaced. "Well that sounds like fun. At least there'll be swimming. I already know alcohol doesn't do anything to me, even if the idea of a drunken hookup were very appealing." She grinned over at Alex. "Maybe you can bring along a backpack full of board games, in case you get tired of teasing Mike to distraction. And maybe James will have some video games there, too. I'm sure Eddie will bring his music, if he'll untangle himself from Zoe long enough to play it. Maybe you can just keep pestering him with requests all day, that might do it."

[alderwitch]

Alex chuckled and declared, "Strip monopoly! I dunno, they might play spin the bottle or something. Or that one where people end up in the closet."

She stopped and window shopped along the way, childishly swinging the bag with the swimsuits in it when she dashed forward to catch up to Erin. "I've never been really good at video games but I like watching everyone else play. I don't know, though, I've never been to this kind of a party before. Just seen them on sitcoms. Then an episode or two later someone ends up pregnant."

[Electra]

"That would be bad," Erin decided. "You and Mike could wind up fooling around, and suddenly Eddie's outside making out with a thirty-year old Zoe. Which would, I guess, probably keep them from having sex too much this weekend." She snickered as they walked into the pet store, then headed for the shelves of cat food. "I think I may only stay a couple hours, but I'll make an appearance. Maybe it'll be fun."

[alderwitch]

Alex chuckled at the mental image and shook her head as she said dryly, "I don't think it works like that somehow."

She wrinkled her nose, and gave a little shrug, "Yeah, I'm planning on playing it by ear as well. Sometimes James' scene is most definately not my scene. But open mind and all that, you know. It could be fun."

[Electra]

"If nothing else, the food'll probably be better than anything they've got at school," Erin pointed out, studying the lists of ingredients on the backs of the various bags of cat food. She seemed to be taking the comparisons quite seriously. "And if James can make it warm out, I wouldn't mind just stretching out for awhile. I'm tired of all this snow. It just doesn't snow like this in Seattle." Making her selection, she took the chosen bag up to the checkout, where she was lured into adding a couple of jingling cloth balls to her purchase as well.

[alderwitch]

"Making it warm is well within the scope of James' abilities. Personally, I'm always sad to see the snow go. This is my favorite time of year," Alex said cheerfully. She went to the pen for the bunnies to stroke a fingertip over their soft pelts. Alex was an easy shopping buddy, she never minded the time spent in the pet store.

Giving the floppy ears a last pat. "I wonder if I'll find out what Mike's been hiding at the party. I can always tell when he's up to something. He frames his thoughts to me so carefully, over focusing on each individual word."

Alex grinned, entirely unconcerned.

[Electra]

"What do you think it is?" Erin asked curiously, finishing her transaction and coming back with the cat food in a plastic bag. Premium cat food was expensive, but Oliver turned up his nose at anything that contained any kind of by-product meal. She wasn't sure how he could tell, but he never missed. Sometimes she thought he could read the labels too. "Maybe he's got some kind of special date planned and he's trying to surprise you."

[alderwitch]

"No idea," Alex said cheerfully as she gave the bunny a final pet and brushed the fur from her hands, "I don't get surprises often so I'm trying to avoid topics that bring it up. It takes Mike some real mental gymnastics to keep things from me so I don't want to make it harder for him. I'm sure it'll be a nice surprise."

[Electra]

"Fair enough," Erin said, heading out of the store and back into the mall proper. "Though you probably need to be careful with all the guys, then. One of them might know, and most of them aren't that good at keeping secrets either. I think I'm about done," she decided, looking at her bags. "You got anything else you need to get here?"

[alderwitch]

Alex cast a wistful look at the bookstore but Erin knew full well the time it would take Alex to shop in a bookstore. Hours, or until she was dragged out. Shaking herself, she sighed and said, "No, no, I'm good. I have some trashy books to read. There's nothing else I need to shop for today. You sure you're done?"