Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy
Lily-Rose's rounded face and golden ponytails would have made her the picture of innocence were it not for the black leather bound notebook she clutched to her chest with both hands as though it held all her secrets. In actuality it held mostly her doodles for she was not as dedicated an observer or recorder of people's actions and words as she would like to have been. Her father Ryan had been reading Harriet the Spy to her and over the past few days Lily had been hooked to the classic children's novel. After the first few chapters she had begged her father for a notebook so she could write things down like Harriet. At first Ryan had protested but it took only one look into the seven-year-old's heartfelt face and honest eyes for him to give in. The next day he had brought home a black notebook and Lily had hardly parted with it since.
Despite the expression of somber concentration on her face as she looked around the outer grounds, watching the few people around, Lily still looked cheerful in a sun printed dress and matching yellow sweater that only served to accentuate her blue-grey eyes. Pink and white sneakers, slightly scuffed from hours of play, protected her small feet and a beaded bracelet was tied around her right wrist. She was very cute and yet there was a maturity to her, a maturity despite the yellow dress, twin ponytails and innocent eyes. It told of sadness and loss and of relying now only on a few people, far less than when her mother had lived. Ryan Warner had trouble trusting and had Lily been truly old enough to understand she wouldn't have blamed him. As it were she wished she had a playmate other than the blonde fairy Tess, who was ten years her senior.
Lily-Rose took a few steps backwards and peered around the corner of the tree she was currently leaning against to look carefully at Tessa Macneil. The older girl, her unofficial guardian, was entirely involved at the moment with Scott though. That was no surprise. Lily wasn't old enough to understand love beyond that she remembered vaguely between her parents and the love she showed her father and he, in turn, her and yet she had a very adult idea of what might be blossoming between the young pair. She just had no name to put to it and no words to give it but Lily knew, somehow she knew.
Ryan's daughter liked Scott. Being only seven years old she believed without hesitation in fairies and she hadn't had any trouble seeing Scott. In fact she thought it odd that other people were unable to do so and she pitied them. Lily was swept away by the whole idea of magic and she was thrilled to have a second fairy friend. Right now though Lily was quite eager to slip away from her appointed guardians of this afternoon so that she could observe other people and make some friends. Her father was so protective of her that sometimes Lily felt like she was being smothered. She adored her father and wouldn't have traded a thing for him and yet, at seven, she desired a little bit of independance and a few friends closer to her own age and with Ryan she was getting neither. The only way she could leave the institute's safe walls was with her hand in his or with Tessa nearby. Tessa had agreed a few days ago to take Lily-Rose out today while Ryan prepped a lecture, one of the first he was to deliver here, so here they were. However the other blonde was distracted and had been for the past hour, during which Lily had begun to slip further away. Around the next bend and she was out of eyesight. Should she risk it? She still hadn't decided.
The blue-grey-eyed girl openned the leather notebook and touched a newly sharpened pencil to the page. Successive lines were scribbled in large uneven letters; Lily-Rose hadn't learned how to handwrite yet.
Dear Diary.
Tess is with Scot. I'm spying but theiris noone to spy on. All must be in instituit. Maybee I will bee brave and turn the corner. I dont know.
Her spelling was atrocious because, quite simply, it was one of the few things Lily-Rose didn't care about or have any interest in. The usually curious girl mostly enjoyed her lessons but she didn't like spelling and had convinced herself that it was useless anyway. Ryan was planning a story session, with the help of his powers, that invoked the assistance of someone who could spell. Reading Pippi Longstocking a few months ago had not exactly helped the problem. As it were Lily wrote in poor printing with poor spelling but she was a very intelligent girl and could read far beyond her reading level, as could she understand things beyond the comprehension of some seven-year-old's. None of that was in Lily's mind though as she pondered turning the corner. One last glance at Scott and Tessa who were in deep conversation and probably wouldn't notice for awhile. Oh well she'd just pop around and pop back. No harm done right? Lily-Rose turned the corner and began an adventure out of the fairys' eyesight.
Taking Connor from the school had proved wrong, though X-23 had enjoyed his company, she knew he was the son of Logan, who had been the subject her DNA had been sampled from. Now, technically that didn’t make Logan her father, if anything it made her his twin sister, yet X-23 wasn’t sure how she looked at him, perhaps like an uncle of sorts, an uncle who she wasn’t sure if he left her in the hands of Hydra on purpose if he wasn’t even aware of what had transpired. However Connor had retuned now, back with his family and improving from what Amlarie had said, not only had Connor returned here, but Jade had also been entrusted in to the care of this school. Amlarie may be able to protect Jade, but she couldn’t offer the same social environment that a school could, it was a risk Amlarie was willing to take for now, though Jade was watched carefully, and as best as possible considering the schools now heightened security.
The raven haired 15 year old glared slightly, though to any observer her expression would be calm, distant, possibly a slightly cold air about her, but still calm, still patient. The tips of white sneakers peeked out under the slender denim jeans X-23 wore, a white belt hang about her waist, slender silver chains were attached to the side of the belt, which hang over the side of her thigh, a red thin jacket was worn over a white shirt, which had the image of a black cat with large feminine blue feline eyes ‘Purrrr…’ was written in silver underneath the simple though cute picture, a sharp contrast to X-23’s often seen personality but a glimpse into the child she just wanted a chance to be. Pale pinkish peach berry lip gloss gleamed on her lips, her eye lashes naturally thick and long, though she wasn’t yet wearing any sort of make up other then possibly her eyeliner and her lipglosses. Amlarie got them for her, and while X-23 didn’t see the point in wearing them, part of her still found herself liking the effect they had, she liked the idea that other girls dressed up, and that for once she had just as much a chance to dress as them. Nail polish was another new thing, she liked all the different colours, and there was a flare of creativity seen just by looking at her nails, she didn’t often ever have just plain in the last month Amlarie had supplied the young girl with a collection of them. She did patterns, simple, striking, effecting, pretty or just slightly odd, anything was possible, and the clawed youngster found herself enjoying the effects her often suppressed creativity had. Today it was black with silver tips, simply because she had not removed it from the previous night when she had dressed up in a black and silver top and decided to have a similar colour theme on her nails.
A small photo was held in the young hands, intense green eyes, while not strikingly feline they weren’t exactly human either, there was something deep and wild about them, mysterious and zealous with whatever held their focus. Right now it was a worn and somewhat tattered image of a gruff looking face, crimpled and slightly stained in the corners. Wolverine… years ago and yet still she had seen him and he had not changed much at all. It was the only photo she had of anyone, not even her Sensei lived on in anything but a memory, or her caretaker… no one, but at least her caretaker had smuggled this photo into the special sections of Hydra where X-23 had been kept. It had come in a book, the first and only book X-23 ever was given, though her care taker read to her, usually it was about tact, missions, battle regimes and historical wars or combats or anything that any soldier was forced to know. But on a few precious nights, a real bedtime story was smuggled in, in the guise of a war book, and while they were alone, a child’s fairytale would be read to X-23, and one fairytale had been the story of Alice in Wonderland, within which one page had held this very photo. She didn’t have the book any more, they probably found it by now… it was probably gone, destroyed like every other aspect of her life they deemed unfit or unnecessary.
The photo was slowly slipped into the back pocket of her jeans, her eyes lifting to stare up at the wall, her mind thinking, lost, her ears heard motion, which is why she hide her photo, but her eyes just wanted to keep focus on the schools boundry. If she tried, she could scale that wall… though she knew she’d set off alarms, undoubtedly, but there was a new booth at the entrance gates, she couldn’t just sneak in quickly and check around during the day, security had really been increased, though she’s assassinated high officials who had invested into their security too… systems had their weakness, she just had to find it. Sad emerald eyes drifted down, unfocused on the pavement before her, her hands dragged at her side and her loose coal hair half fallen over the front of her shoulder.
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy[[OOC: I assume from her senses that she would know Lily was there before anything was said hence the looking up. I don't know exactly what kind of reaction might be had though so edit away if needbe.]]
Lily-Rose Wagner felt a moment of elation and the thrill of adventure as she turned the corner and left the fairies in eachother's company. The limit of how far she could go had been drilled into her often by her overprotective father and Lily was too young yet to rebel with a roll of her eyes and a disobedient word. Until today she had always done what was asked of her and been content to do so. Lily, however, was a curious soul like her mother had been. Whatsmore her father had always been on the observant side, enjoying people watching and making up details about their natures and personal lives whether outrageous or perfectly reasonable thoughts.
She didn't remember it now but her mother, Mandy-Lynn, had taken her aside and told a three-year-old Lily about her innocent first date with Ryan. Both her parents had been seventeen and they had spent a few hours people watching at the mall before going to see a movie. It was the people watching both had remembered though through the rest of their courtship and eventual marriage. Eerily similar was the 'spying' Lily-Rose was doing now, having been inspired by the protagonist in the latest book she had been read. Lily couldn't have known it but every time Ryan saw her carrying around the black notebook and taking notes he felt nostalgic and conflicted emotions ran through him. How like her mother she was but Mandy would never see her Lily grow up.
In her disobedience of her father's wishes she was doing exactly as he might once have done. There was no way of knowing that though and instead Lily continually looked over her shoulder, feeling the fear of discovery and guilt at wandering away from her unofficial guardian Tess. Tessa had already been in trouble once when she had been possessed by a wrath and yet had visited Lily-Rose, scaring the child. In that instance she had lost his trust and has only slowly regained it. What might her father say or think when he was told that Tessa had let her wander off? Well the only course of action then was to come back before anyone noticed her absence. She would just take a turn around the front of the school and then head back, no harm done.
The metal gate caught the blue-grey eye of the seven-year-old and she took a few paces towards it, small steps even for her as she inched towards it. The gate towered over her in a most intimidating fashion but it was open and it beckoned to her like the siryn's song to Odysseus. Lily opened the notebook and wrote in it.
Diary,
the gate is big. Not sure I should go. nooone will know I could do it.
She gazed defiantly up at it. She could do it, she could venture outside if she wanted to and no one would know. Lily was too young and too caught up in the moment to remember the intense security at the institute and instead knew only that there were big walls, a gate that was closed at night and that she wasn't allowed to go outside anyway, and cameras somewhere. The where was all very vague to her and she didn't really consider it, not even the thought that her father might see her on one.
Lily walked right up to the gate with a certain amount of bravery as if she were daring the gate to come and get her. It wasn't closing though and on a day like today the outside looked so welcome. Like Ariel staring up and wondering about the world above Lily wondered about the world outside the institute. There was so little she remembered and she had lived such a sheltered life since mom's death. Lily liked it here. She liked that there were real fairies and that her father seemed happy but she didn't know anyone her age and she wished she did have someone to talk to at times. It was a very lonely existance for a child and maybe outside the gates there was someone out there who wasn't too busy or too important to be her friend. Maybe she could find a kindred spirit like Anne had found in Diana.
Lily placed one toe on the ground just beyond the gate and quickly drew it back. Nothing happened. No one seemed to see. She looked over her shoulder again, blonde ponytails swishing as she did so. Nothing. Cautiously Lily stepped just beyond the boundary of the gate but again there seemed to be no change and no indication that anyone cared she had done so. The next few paces were easier as she stood on the effective driveway to the institute.
Then Lily got a shock as she looked to the side and saw someone standing there. Her first thought was that it was a student who had found out and was going to bring her back to her dad who would be very upset. Then Lily realised the girl hadn't been looking right at her. She took in the downcast eyes, long dark hair and age of the girl. Obviously older than herself but not a real adult and most of the students seemed older than her too maybe. Lily wasn't good with ages, tending to group people as kids like herself and people older than her as adults. For a few seconds Lily just stared, not seeming to find any words for the situation. Then, rather meekly since the girl had now looked up at her, she offered a timid "Hi".
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy
Oh my god!! I saved over my half started post from when you first posted... I can't believe that XD Anyway, sorry, I wrote it out but it seems to be a little shortish
First Jade had been sent here… and then Connor was returned here, X-23 didn’t like staying at Amlarie’s building on her own, sure Oraya was there but she was older then the mutant clone. Everyone else was so busy, though there was a Japanese woman in Amlarie’s research team, she was really nice with X-23 and spoke purely in Japanese to the girl, who found a comfort in the language. Emerald eyes shifted, the footsteps drew closer and the raven haired mutant made sure her photo was securely hidden away in her pocket before she even focused her gaze on the younger child. A human child… how strange a creature to X-23, who had never seen a child, other then herself… and the occasional ones in a distance. But this one was so close, winning a curious tilt of the clawed mutants head as emerald eyes studied the blonde child.
"Hi" Came the quiet words from the smaller child, and X-23 stared back at her for a moment longer before bowing her head slightly in reply, her own voice coming clearly, though gentle as she returned a greeting.
"Konnichiwa." As the intense forest eyes opened, her face lifting once again and the long lashes parting to stare back at the girl, X-23 could clearly tell the child did not speak the language that was preferred. Not bothering the raven haired girl too much, she corrected herself, the same neutral tone, mysterious in some ways just by the gentle way her voice sounded, soft, though unafraid. "Good afternoon." Never having talked with a child before, or anyone her age really, Connor had been the youngest, and she didn't meet or talk with Chris, but it meant that X-23 wasn't sure of the skill level of children, and just assumed they would have known as much as she had at the similar age. At least what she assumed could be similiar... telling ages of children was really hard for someone who didn't really have the experience or knowledge to place an age to a face of a person.
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the SpyOOC: Awww half saved over post? That's just sad, poor you. Sounds like something I might do. No worries, short can be good.
For some reason the piercing emerald gaze of X-23 was something that Lily-Rose found comforting. She didn't think through it consciously but the brightness of the older girl's gaze was familiar. Her father's eyes weren't bright yet there was a deepness within them of emotion and a warmness that always made her feel at home. Even when she did wrong he looked upon her kindly with mere worry rather than anger. There were bright eyes on others though. Lily hadn't known Scott for that long yet his bright azure gaze made him easily recognizable. Similarly Tessa Macneil, her unofficial babysitter and idol, had beautiful amythyst eyes and Lily had always liked the colour purple finding it bright and soothing. So when X-23's green eyes fixed on her Lily didn't feel uncomfortable as she might have if another stranger had begun to stare at her; Instead she felt completely comfortable.
Lily was also stricken by her raven hair. She had been so protected throughout her youth that she hadn't come into contact with many people. Her main group consisted of her father, whose hair was a mundane brown, Tessa and her golden curls and now Scott. Lily's own blonde hair was in ponytails at the moment as she stared up at X-23. She had never seen the like of that pitch black hair, in fact the closest she had gotten were the shiny dark locks of Susan when her father had brought her forth from Narnia but it wasn't the same.
X-23 finally bowed her head at the little child and Lily knew that bowing and courtseying was supposed to be out of respect or rank so she wondered why the strange girl would be bowing her head in such a way to her. "Konnichiwa," she said. The seven-year-old stared openly, having never heard the word before in her life. Did the girl not speak english? How disappointing that would be. She was meeting a friend, finally someone who would come and play with her yet if they couldn't talk to eachother how would they play?
Lily-Rose's face fell at the foreign word, her cheerful smile falling away and her eyes not lighting up with the same brightness. Then came a great surpise as the older girl corrected herself, speaking in a gentle but confident way as she said, "Good afternoon." The greeting was not the usual 'hi' or 'hello' that the child usually heard and sounded much more formal but she understood it's meaning and a few of her teachers had always said 'good morning' or 'good afternoon' so she knew what it meant.
"Oh, you speak english!" the child exclaimed in pure delight. Imaginings of the two of them playing princess, dolls or spy were floating through her head. She might have a new friend! Sure she had been told, like any other child, not to talk to strangers but Lily assumed that the girl was just one of the students here or, if not that, than a friend of one of the students. Surely X-23 belonged here just like she did and had just been standing outside the gates.
"Do you want to come play?" Lily-Rose asked, eyes wide and a smile beginning to play across her young face. "We could go 'sploring or something." Suddenly the girl seemed to realise she hadn't introduced herself and she had been raised with some manners, even if the playing hooky she was currently undergoing didn't support that fact. So the child did the proper thing and introduced herself, asking in turn what she should call the older girl who, in her mind, was already a new friend. "I'm Lily-Rose. What's your name?"
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy
"Oh, you speak english!" Surprise came from the blonde girl, which confused X-23 a little more, surely most spoke English, those who didn’t were considered less in the eyes of X-23’s trainers so without understanding the reasons the raven haired clone assumed those of poor language skill or no English were merely less intelligent people. Since leaving the organization there hasn’t been a lot of chances still for X-23 to meet others her age or any age really, the few she did know were in the employ of Amlarie and all had quite good educations.
"Do you want to come play?" Play? How intriguing! No one has ever asked X-23 to play with them, sure she’s been asked to ‘play a game’ here and there but usually it was said in a malicious tone that warned X-23 it was going to be a long gruelling few hours ahead of her. Was a child about to drill her somehow? Was she about to set out a mission or lay down some sort of training set up to follow? "We could go 'sploring or something." Sploring? What was that? The girl seemed delighted at the thought, though steered off activities for now as she enquired for a name. "I'm Lily-Rose. What's your name?" Name? Yet another thing Hydra had robbed from the clone… emerald eyes peered at the girl, feeling rather sad that another child got a name, a proper one, and all she got was a letter with some numbers thrown in.
"I have not been given a name," X-23 began, her voice silky soft, yet a firmness still about it, not a sliver of weakness despite the tinge of sadness that etched the edge of her words. "My designation is X-23… that is what I am called by." Why did the other child have a real name? What made her so special? "What is sploring?"
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy
Looking up into the older girl's emerald eyes Lily-Rose understood, with a maturity beyond her seven years, the sadness there. Her brain didn't connect the dots but the gaze reminded her of something and only later would she think of her father's chocolate eyes clouded with an intense grief. X-23 had had some of her life robbed from her, not that Lily could possibly have known this, just as Ryan had had his heart stolen from him when he had held his wife's corpse in his arms. The look of sadness differed a little yet it was something Lily had picked up on nonetheless and she felt and immediate sympathy despite not knowing what was making the dark-haired girl so upset.
"I have not been given a name," X-23 said after a minute and Lily's face echoed a certain shock. She was seven, at the age where she was learning the names of all things and all people and at the age where she named each doll and stuffed animal she recieved - and there were many of them. The usually cheerful girl listened to her father's stories straight from the mouths of the characters and every one of them had a name. Furthermore Lily had clear memories of a story her father had told her about his school years where a teacher of his had named everything in the art room. He hadn't been able to say he was going to use the pencil sharpener, he had to state that he was paying Cynthia a visit.
While the story made Lily-Rose giggle it was also representative of the way she saw the world. When she asked what something was called she always recieved an answer. If Ryan didn't know he would look it up for her or make something up and it had led the seven-year-old to think that each and every thing had a name. She simply couldn't conceieve of a being, particularly a human girl like herself, without one. So confusion and shock registered on her youthful features as X-23 spoke in a firm yet sily tone.
"My designation is X-23… that is what I am called by." A designation. Lily couldn't pronounce the word and she was quite certain her spelling of it would be even worse. She had no idea exactly what a designation was and had only very vague memories of hearing a blonde lady with weird things on the side of her face claim she had no name but a designation on a show her father still watched in reruns. Was this child like the blonde woman? Blue-grey eyes stared at her face for a moment before Lily decided that no this girl was like her not one of the machine people. There were no markings and most machine people didn't have so much hair from what she remembered of the show.
"What is sploring?" Lily-Rose was still caught up in the question of who this girl was that didn't have a name and she promised an unbreakable promise to herself on her my little pony that she would ask X-23 about it later. Luckily the child had a larger attention span than most her age and might actually keep her promise, despite not recording it in her journal. For the moment though she was more concerned with the notion that this strange green-eyed girl didn't know what it was to 'splore.
"You don't know what 'sploring is?" Lily asked, as though scandalized. "It's great, 'specially 'round the mansion. There's so many places to go and you can spy on people like what I was doing," Lily tried to explain, not realizing how miserably she was failing. "'Sploring is discovering things about places and people." The tiny blonde nodded her head and her ponytails bobbed with her. "Or if you don't want to we can play hide and seek or freeze tag. There's no one here to play with, they all run faster than me," Lily confided, treating X-23 as an equal even though the other girl was more than twice her age.
"But before we play you have to have a name," Lily stated quite firmly but in a friendly way. She was convinced that by offering to help X-23 with a name she was doing what was neccessary. "Did your parents forget?" In her little sundress Lily-Rose was babbling but she was so cheerful about finally having found a friend that it didn't really register. There was, however, a strange and sincere sympathy for X-23 and her lack of a name because Lily had three, four if you counted her father's affectionate 'princess', and she couldn't imagine lacking even the one.
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy
*mouth drops open* I didn’t realize how short the last post was!! Geeeeze…
It was as if not having a name was really something the other child couldn’t believe, such an odd thing… yet somehow it pleased X-23 that there was someone out there who thought it wrong that she not be named properly. Was it because Lily wasn’t aware of what X-23 really was or if it was something else, the raven haired girl couldn’t be sure. There wasn’t any suspicion in her features, no sign of possible disgust or weariness… maybe the child hadn’t been involved in anything like Hydra or Weapon X or the like. Most of the subjects there had code names and designations, they weren’t people any more… just things, things to be used.
Television wasn’t something X-23 knew much about at all, she knew of security cameras and video screens, but the idea of people watching movies for entertainment was beyond her at the moment. So even if Lily tried to explain the character in her mind, the green eyed mutant would have still had little idea on the sci-fi series she was trying to explain. However things seemed momentarily focused on the fact that X-23 wasn’t sure of the word ‘sploring’, not used to slang or strange accents that cut parts of the words out or altered them in some other way.
"You don't know what 'sploring is?" A slight shake of the older girls head followed, coal strands falling gently over her shoulders in the movement. "It's great, 'specially 'round the mansion. There's so many places to go and you can spy on people like what I was doing," So it was a type of mission! How interesting… a little human spy! X-23 took it more seriously then a game, she never really had much of an idea on what a real game was and everything in her life tended to be life or death, even the so called ‘games’ her over lookers organised for her.
"'Sploring is discovering things about places and people." Maybe the child meant ‘exploring’… sounded like some sort of examination in any case, and it tingled X-23’s curiosity greatly as she wondered how something so small managed against others who could stand in her way. Obviously the girl was a mutant as well… maybe a trained assassin, some form of spy as she had mentioned earlier. "Or if you don't want to we can play hide and seek or freeze tag. There's no one here to play with, they all run faster than me," That threw X-23 off a little, she had no idea what freeze tag was, or the idea of hide and seek as the younger girl saw it.
"But before we play you have to have a name," Surprise now settled on X-23’s features, no one had ever wanted to give her a name before! How exciting! How does one get a name? What if it was the wrong name? "Did your parents forget?" Parent’s? So parents were responsible for the names? She didn’t have a father, not like normal children did… her father was nothing more then a slice of DNA from a fragment of a man known as Wolverine. Did that make him her father? And her mother… they said she didn’t have one, even if she was born from the womb of her caretaker, they did not let her grow up thinking of her as a mother.
".. I do not have parents, however, I did have a caretaker." It seemed an odd thing to admit, but speaking to the girl seemed easier then speaking to an older person, X-23 had never talked with someone younger then her. Other then Chris that was, being 9 he was still older then Lily, but Chris was always with Connor, and didn’t say much at all to X-23. "I do not see her any more," The older girl added, trying to explain she did have anyone to go to in order to ask for a name, not that her caretaker was dead, but working in Hydra was enough to keep them separated, because X-23 didn’t want to go back there, even to see her. "How else does one get a name?" Slight confusion etched the voice of the raven haired girl, a tingle of anxiety tickled inside of her, waiting hopefully for the response.
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy
Lily's youthful features appeared so earnest as she asked the older girl if her parents had forgotten to name her. To her it was second nature. Each child was named by their mother or father. Some children didn't have middle names and some really famous people didn't have last names but everyone had a name. Maybe X-23 had forgotten what she was named or maybe she had a name but her parents hadn't told her or something. In Lily-Rose's mind there had to be an explanation so she waited patiently for one.
".. I do not have parents, however, I did have a caretaker." How strange, thought the seven-year-old. A caretaker instead of parents? Lily could understand having only one parent. Her memories of her mother were vague and when someone asked about her parents she thought immediately of her dad with his dark hair and eyes, so different from her own, and his glasses and suits. She rarely thought of her mother, whose face she couldn't remember and who lived on in lullabies and a soft musical laugh rather than something more tangible and visual.
Sometimes Lily missed having a mother and wished that Mandy-Lynn Warner had lived to see her seventh birthday and her faerie princess costume. There had always been dad though and to not have a mother or a father was deeply troubling to the young girl. Her brow furrowed and her blue-grey eyes held pity for the percieved orphan.
"I do not see her any more," X-23 added and Lily's face fell further in a deep sadness for the girl without a real family. She not only lacked parents but she didn't see this 'caretaker', whatever that was. "How else does one get a name?" Now X-23 sounded a little confused as if she didn't know. Lily-Rose wrinkled her nose as she thought in a manner that any adult would have looked upon as very cute.
"I'm not sure," she said slowly, little brain still ticking. "Usually I think parents do it. But my dad told me that when a person discovers something first they get to name it." The implication of this seemed to sink into the young girl's head and she looked up at X-23 in a spark of inspiration. "I founded you. Does that mean I get to name you?" she wondered, looking instinctively at the person present who was older than herself for permission. All thoughts of asking X-23 how it was that she didn't have parents and didn't see her caretaker left Lily-Rose's head and she forgot entirely about asking if her companion was 'dopted.
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy
"I'm not sure," Then how did someone get a name if they had no parent? Surely there were other children and other people out there without parents who needed names… everyone else seemed to have a name but X-23 had never really thought of it before. "Usually I think parents do it. But my dad told me that when a person discovers something first they get to name it." Really? That was interesting… X-23 thought about that for a moment as it seemed Lily was doing too, the girls wondering about that before the youngest looked up with a sudden brainstorm.
"I founded you. Does that mean I get to name you?" That was interesting, no one had ever proposed such a thing to her before, though she had been declared someone else’s property in the past that wasn’t the same sense the raven haired girl got from the blonde child. With a pause of thought, a string of thoughts niggled her mind, one possibility to another and back again to the same thought that if there were no one else to name her than was this child not right in her offering?
"Perhaps… I have not been taught such customs, things here seem very strange… what would you name me?" It sounded as if they were worlds apart, as if what was normal for X-23 was not at all normal for Lily and vice versa. Though the thought of a real name was …appealing… strangely, X-23 had never considered having one before but now that it was a possibility she found herself somewhat fond of the idea. A new life… a new name… it seemed to all fall into place for her, though she was under no illusions that Hydra would lose her so easily and for so long. At the moment whatever freedom she could get, X-23 was happy with, suicide would never be an option, but neither would she willing walk back into Hydra’s nest either. If they wanted her, they had to throw their best at her and take her down. For now, the cloned child would live as best as possible in the strange new world.
(sorry for shortness! ..and for the looong wait lol)
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy
(OOC: It's been awhile so I'm not positive but I think we decided on Alice...if not just let me know and I'll edit )
As soon as X-23 agreed, for Lily-Rose saw perhaps as agreement, her mind began to tick once more. The young blonde was not spoiled but she was able to talk her father into things when they didn't involve danger. She was his world and she was well aware of it too, something she could use to her advantage. When her father said 'maybe' or 'perhaps' it almost always meant yes and so the word had come, to Lily-Rose, not to mean that the speaker was not sure but that they had made up their mind in her favour and just weren't saying so.
X-23 obviously wasn't used to the world if she didn't know things like 'sploring and names and so Lily saw her as a friendly outsider. The seven-year-old was an avid reader, due in part to her father's powers which made reading all the more interesting for her. Anytime she named a doll or wild animal it was always a character from a book that she was reminded of by the object or animal in question. Her last doll had been named Lucy and the previous one Lyra, both names to young girls who had travelled to other worlds and been outsiders yet neither seemed appropriate for X-23.
"Things here seem very strange," said X-23 before asking the young blonde, "What would you name me?" So Lyra wasn't appropriate, as in the heroine of the His Dark Materials trilogy yet neither was Lucy like in Narnia. Anne and Pippi seemed like they shouldn't be names for a girl with raven hair like X-23 had. It occurred to Lily-Rose in a flash of inspiration exactly what her new friend should be named. She was Alice because this, to her, was Wonderland.
"I'd name you Alice," Lily said with a firm confidence in the appropriateness of her chosen name. She was already beginning to let her imagination run away with her and was imagining playing hide and go seek with the newly named Alice and confiding in her about the notebook she had kept in which she recorded the goings on of the mansion. She was sure that Alice was the best friend she had been waiting for.
"I'd name you Alice," The thought which seemed put into this statement, and X-23 respected the child all the more for the effort put into something that was seemingly so important. The younger girl seemed to drift off into thoughts and the raven haired girl took this moment to ponder things quietly to herself.
"Alice." The jade gaze dawdled off idly to examine the gates of the school as she rolled the name around thoughtfully, "Are you from inside there?" The newly named ‘Alice’ found herself thinking about what sort talents this child had, some children were weak, helpless, and always protected by adults that wanted to shield them from harm. This had been learned because of the former assassin’s missions outside of Hydra, some targets had been parents and she could see the way the children were shielded from the body of their parents or the target themselves tried to hide the child away. Such strange little people, these children were, and X-23 still was confused over them.
"I want to be a student in there." She declared rather decisively, though she wasn’t sure how one exactly became part of the Institute, though that didn’t face the runaway project, as far as X-23 cared she had more then enough time to get into this place. Goal? Meet Wolverine… connect with Connor again, she missed Connor, even if they’re talk had only been brief before he was taken back here. But for now Alice didn’t want to go in with all her cards shown… what if Logan really had left her there with Hydra? What if he wanted her with them? Then if he found her here then he may send her back… then again, Connor had been so excited at finding out he had a cousin, though exact family details were far more complicated. Already Alice was plotting out ways on assigning herself here, a transfer student, a worker of Amlarie’s that looked enough like her to be considered related… It could work…
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy
(ooc: hey it's me, no need for apologies lol! I can't remember what we have planned out though since it was awhile ago so maybe a refresher discussion or something?)
Her mind filled with images of the raven-haired 'Alice' and herself playing an assortment of games. She imagined teaching 'Alice' how to 'splore and how to charm the grown-ups into giving you an extra cookie. Lily-Rose was a good kid. She didn't make trouble and she tried not to cause mischief but this was partially because she had no cause to. Why throw a tantrum when a smile and a 'daddy I love you' would yield exactly the same results?
She didn't show the results of it so clearly as other children yet Lily-Rose was a spoiled young girl. Spoiled by stories that came to life right before her eyes and by constantly being in the company of a parent and by a babysitter who was the seven-year-old's vision of what a princess would look like. Lily hoped her hair would curl as she got older and she wished she had interesting violet eyes instead of her blue-grey pair. All these wishes and hopes had been put aside though with Alice. In a moment a girl's dream forgotten as she abandonned it recklessly and took instead a dream of playing with a real friend to heart.
When she grounded herself once again, her soaring mind coming back to reality in a quick dose of the real world, 'Alice' seemed to be pondering her name. Lily hoped that she liked it because she had already begun to think of the older girl as Alice and as Xavier's as Wonderland. It was far more interesting than a plain school for mutants anyhow.
"Are you from inside there?" 'Alice' asked her. Lily-Rose had to follow her gaze to figure out what the older girl had been talking about and a confused expression had appeared momentarily on her face.
"What? Oh you mean inside the school. Yup!" she replied, first with puzzlement and finally with enthusiasm. Lily-Rose sometimes disliked the isolation of the Institute and the way it took her father from her as he went off to teach kids that weren't her. Other time though it was a masterful play place and a display of the most amazing powers. There weren't others her age around but perhaps she could amend this. Perhaps there would be more children coming soon and she would have friends, actual friends not grown-up friends like Tessa.
"I want to be a student in there," 'Alice' declared, aking Lily-Rose off-guard. She glanced over at the building, eyeing it's structure and size.
"Oh!" Lily exclaimed. Ideas were beginning to form in her seven-year-old head. The girl wanted to be a student. Then it wouldn't be a stretch to bring her inside would it? Lily so desperately wanted a friend and she didn't want to lose this one to the outside world where she was forbidden to go without Dad holding her hand. "You could come inside with me maybe and we could 'splore and meet people!" The geers turned within her head as she continued to ponder it. Lily, being still in single-digit years, knew very little of the school's set up or security measures. All she knew was that there were some in order to keep the students safe. "My dad says there's stuff to make sure we stay safe though. He says it's for protection," she said, proud of herself for remembering this small tidbit. "Are you going to come in? You could be my friend Alice," the petite blonde finished, her eyes pleading and her words spoken with the innocence that comes only with youth.
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy(Lady, Dan the 2nd is going to throw in his character to sneak into the institute with us but remain unseen just so he has a thread of him sneaking in without having to start his own, he'll not play with us but he'll tag along sneaking around and since you're showing X-23 ("Alice" the school I figured it'd be perfect to sorta show Dan around the place at the same time! Dan's going to post next I suggest, that way he can set up his introduction and from there I'll lead them into the school)
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy
Daniel finished pulling the tight red material over his arms to complete the funny looking red and blue jump suite that made up what he called his power suite. The suite was created very carefully using various materials, plastics and even his own skin cells. It held a leather appearance, yet it was stretchy and it breathed well, a scientific work of art; it also helped protect him from harm, as it was quite durable. But why go to such extremes? Why not dress in normal clothes? There was one problem with that, as the young girl Eva had discovered. Daniel could use his mutant powers to alter his size, shape and density, in short, shrink himself to any size. But he was not very good at shrinking other things yet, clothes included. He needed an outfit that could change with him. That is what his suite was for. He added samples of his own skin cells and fused them in with the material; the suite could grow and shrink with him with out ripping or falling off. Now Daniel was a genius, but even he needed help with a project like this. Of course he would never admit where he received his help from, needless to say however he had more then enough money to fund such a project. After the body suite was on, he checked himself in the mirror and smiled, the gloves and boots completed the ensemble. He was ready.
His destination, the Xavier Institute! His friend Eva had told him about it, and even set up an appointment for him to meet the people there. But he needed some information first. What was this school about, were they good people? He knew he would not get this information from them; he would have to find out himself. But such a mission could be dangerous! He would have to risk it anyhow. Besides he was a good hider. Dan could shrink himself down to at the smallest, 1 inch tall. At that height he would be nearly impossible to find, unless one were actually looking. The down side would have to be how vulnerable he would be at that height. This is where his suite came in once more. He had built it sort of like a Chinese finger trap, the more pressure put against it, the stronger it would become. That meant he could deal with limited obstacles. Not so much as say a dog or a foot or anything like that.
The drive was short, he parked his car a few streets down, and approached the Institute from the side. Cracking his neck and making sure his long black hair was firmly tied back and out of the way, the already short Daniel Andrews closed his eyes and activated his powers.
Anyone who would have been around watching would have literally seen him one moment, and the next there would appear to be nothing. Almost as if he just disappeared!
He was now very small, only about 3 inches tall. The blades of grass were well over his head, but also, he was more then small enough to fit in between the barred gate, or even under it.
At this size, moving around took time, but he was a fast runner. He used logic and memory to place himself, and then moved towards the entrance of the massive school building before him. His plan was simple. He would move around the school at this size, smaller if he needed to, and find out about the students, faculty, and anything else he could, then once he knew if it was safe or not, he could come back at a normal size and apply for study.
He didn’t plan on getting caught, but then again, no one ever did. His only real problem was finding a way into the building, perhaps a vent or a hole in the wall?
He made his way swiftly through the grass, past the security mechanisms set up to prevent people from spying. He whispered to himself.
“I gather they never counted on a Mutant like me…”
He was almost to the door when he heard voices, loud voices. Immediately he stopped moving and looked for a safer place. Before he had much time to do this, he could see the blades of grass around him bend as two people made their way into the school. He could hear them talking.
"Are you going to come in? You could be my friend Alice,"
There was a young blond child, and an older black haired woman. Daniel was very shy around women most of the time, so the ability to shrink away and not be seen was very useful.
It appeared as if he would not have to sneak in after all, these two were about let him in!
(OOC: I hate to plan things so concrete like, so if I make a mistake and someone in this thread finds a creative way to discover me, I encourage it. I like to let things occur naturally is what I am saying, so if I slip up, exploit it!)Edited by: Sammy Todlson at: 7/5/06 4:01 am
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spysorry for long wait an shortish reply..>.>"
"Oh!" The sudden exclimation confused X-23 a little and it showed as her brow furrowed ever so slightly. "You could come inside with me maybe and we could 'splore and meet people!" The girl sometimes used words that the raven haired mutant wasn’t sure what they meant, but in this case it was slightly easier to guess what she intended to say and X-23 gave a small nod in agreement.
"My dad says there's stuff to make sure we stay safe though. He says it's for protection," Security? Emerald eyes peered over towards the not too far off gates and pondered the possibilities, surely nothing too bad with the kid in her presence, people acted funny when tiny humans were around. "Are you going to come in? You could be my friend Alice," Friend? The cloned former assassin of the Hydra organization stared down at the little girl, who wasn’t entirely that short since X-23 herself was still in her growing years.
"I would like that." The reply wasn’t entirely heart felt, but sincere in X-23’s own way, she wanted to get into the school after all, and that’s what she’d like, the comment on friendship however was too strange even for her to reply to just yet. Of course, it didn’t occur at the moment that the agreement could most likely be associated with the last part of the precious comment Lily-Rose made instead of the first part of it. "Lead the way." The Mid-teen years were always said to be the hardest, so often young kids find themselves walking past these school gates… The newly dubbed ‘Alice’ was one of many, the only difference being that she wasn’t just a typical runaway. Now that she was here however, the cloned mutant really had no idea what the next step would be.
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy
For one terrifying moment young Lily-Rose was sure her new friend would say no. 'Alice' had been wearing an expression that seemed to indicate that she didn't complete understand and at the same time she hadn't looked particularly excited or willing to join Lily in her exploits. It was almost the expression her father wore when he said no or when she said or did something and he smiled at her but she could tell he didn't understand. Sometimes grown-ups were ever so silly and the little girl, with her hair in twin ponytails, wasn't so sure she ever wanted to grow up. Perhaps she could go away to neverland with Peter Pan and Wendy. Her father might be able to make it happen, Ryan Warner could accomplish anything, at least in the mind of his daughter. On the otherhand her dad probably would be sad to see her go and she didn't want to leave him alone. For the moment Lily decided she would stick things out.
"I would like that," 'Alice' said at last. Lily studied the raven-haired girl, not entirely sure she was being serious and really had any desire to enter the school and be her friend. After a moment though she decided the intentions had been good and her child's mind returned to thoughts of play and of never growing up.
It had occurred to the girl that 'Alice' had only replied to one of her statements and had either been agreeing to be friends or agreeing to enter the school but not both. She had thought of asking which but decided that it wasn't worth asking. Surely a person wouldn't turn down on offer of friendship right?
"Lead the way," the fifteen-year-old said and a grin spread across Lily's face as she began to head towards the school. She wondered briefly if perhaps she should let her babysitter know where she was going and guiltily the girl's blue eyes looked in the direction of the fairy but obstacles blocked her view. Tessa was busy talking to Scott anyway. She wouldn't notice if Lily and her friend went off on their own for a bit right? She would be back before Tessa even noticed her absence!
Lily-Rose made her way back to the other side of the gate, having only stepped outside it a short distance anyway. That done she marched with a purpose towards the doors to the institute. Openning the door proved more difficult due to her height and the height of the doorknob but after a brief struggle she managed and stepped inside the institutes warm shelter. There was a homey feel about the place to the seven-year-old who could not remember a prior home. She hadn't checked to see if Alice was following her and now she turned around quickly, checking to see that the older girl was still there.
"Well this is the front hall," Lily announced, looking proudly around the welcoming foyer area. She wondered what Alice would think of her home and if she had ever seen anything like it. "What do you want to do first and where should we go?" Lily-Rose was a bundle of questions and energy packed into one cute little girl package. This was the first time she had ever had a possible friend close to her age around and she was willing to do just about anything in order to make sure Alice was happy and having fun so they could continue to be friends forever.
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy
Dan followed closely, listening to the two individuals talk amongst themselves, for a wile it appeared as if all they were going to do was talk. However Finally the smaller one opened the door.
Dan would have to move fast! At his small size, one of their steps were like ten of his. Dan, despite being a nerd, was a very fast runner. He had to be. A life time of being bullied meant the faster he could run the less often he became the blunt of everyone’s enjoyment.
He waited for the young girl and the older woman to enter before he slipped in, managing to make it seconds before the door shut. He was in!
"Well this is the front hall, what do you want to do first and where should we go?"
For a little girl she had a loud voice, this was due to the fact that every sound was amplified to Dan when he used his powers to become so small. He wore ear plugs, specially crafted to protect his ear drums from high decibel sounds. Still, voices were loud, especially when they were coming from energetic children who were full of excitement. Dan would have to make a note to avoid such people.
Taking a deep breath, Dan looked around the complex. He didn’t know where he was going, or how to get there. He would have to stick with his “tour guide” with out being seen. At least until they passed an area of interest which could help Dan discover more about this place.
He had all the time in the world, he hid himself from direct sight behind the leg of a chair placed near the entrance, and waited for the two girls to move. Edited by: Sammy Todlson at: 8/1/06 3:50 pm
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy
Keen eyes shifted around the gates they approached, swiftly and eagerly the child lead the way and cautiously the newly named ‘Alice’ followed along. While inwardly X-23 waited to be pounced by security, so unused to being so clearly seen when exploring a place she was ‘scoping out’. The calm outward expression the girl had however hid any hint of uncertainty, and as Lily-Rose walked the young cloned teenager followed closely behind. The impressive structure of the large building caused even X-23’s emerald eyes to turn upwards, her pretty face tilting back and her blazing green eyes cast curiously around, white sneakers stepping almost silently into the front hall.
Peach glistened lips pressed lightly together, unfamiliar scents filled the front hall and sounds just as alien echoed down the interconnecting halls. The girl in front of Alice had now spun about on her heels, turning her attention to the raven haired girl and once again X-23 lowered her gaze to study the child.
"Well this is the front hall," Impressive… hardly the most singularly impressive thing X-23 had ever seen but still impressive enough that a slight curve touched the edges of the feral’s lips. "What do you want to do first and where should we go?" How about the secret bawls of the institute? Somehow Alice figured that was unlikely, and the 15-year old wasn’t sure what was so special about this place, but she knew there was something important about it, something more then just a collective of outcasts.
"Is there someone I should see?" The genetic duplicate of the X-men’s very own Wolverine, so alike and yet so vastly different, gave a thoughtful look towards the stairs and then back to Lily-Rose. "So we can ask if I can stay." Alice added thoughtfully, though lost on what to do… if Lily-Rose was actually able to explain the act of ‘games’ to the slightly older girl then there would be a time where the raven girl would want nothing more then to play, but right now all that Alice could thing about doing was seeing if she could join the school. After all, if she wanted to learn about Logan and his family, then all she had to really do was get close enough to watch.
Re: Sunday March 18th: Lily-Rose the Spy
The anxious little hostess-in-the-making probably would have led Alice anywhere she wanted to go. At seven Lily-Rose was naive and full of optimism. Even knowing, as well as such a tragedy could be explained to a girl of her age by her grieving father anyway, the manner of her mother's death she believed in the best in people and saw them how she wanted to see them instead of how they were. It was a trait that made her so appealingly charming and cute to adults but it was also dangerous. Ryan had taught her not to take candy or accept rides from strangers but here she was leading a stranger right through the doors of the institute.
In Lily's mind this was different because the girl wasn't a stranger. To her 'Alice' was already a good friend who was here to 'splore with her and since she had a name she couldn't be a stranger... right? Already the blonde child's mind had wandered and in her excitement over finding a friend she had forgotten entirely about getting back to her babysitters, the two faeries who had been too absorbed in eachother to notice her absence. She didn't think that someone might be worried about her, that she should go back before she was found out.
"Is there someone I should see?" X-23 asked the little girl. As a seven-year-old, Lily's mind didn't run to the people her father would have thought of. Any older student might have mentionned Dr. Hank McCoy, Professor Jean Grey or even, if they were feeling like a challenge, Wolverine. Instead Lily thought of people who were interesting to her, who were fun. Well there was her father, Alice could certainly meet him. He told the best stories and Alice would love them. Then there was Tessa, a real life fairy princess. Lily tended to forget that her favourite babysitter was only half a fairy and not at all a princess. Who else was there? Lily was wracking her little brain when Alice offered more insight to her.
"So we can ask if I can stay." That was right, Alice was going to stay and be her friend here! Now she remembered. Flipping her ponytails Lily-Rose considered. Her father had said Ms. Grey-Summers was the one in charge hadn't he?
"Well," the little girl began, "Maybe we could see Ms. Grey-Summers. Daddy says she's in charge." Even though Alice didn't seem to know as much as she did about things like exploring and the school Lily-Rose knew her new friend was older than her and she was used to being told what to do, or at least having the final decision made by, an older person. She looked expectantly at Alice, making sure this sounded alright to the raven-haired girl before she tried to find the way to her office.
That brought another point up though. Lily wasn't exactly sure which office was hers. She knew the way to the teacher offices, although she had never gotten there herself but been led by a grown-up or a student, from seeing her dad sometimes but that didn't mean she knew the way to other offices. "I'm not sure I know the way," Lily-Rose admitted. "But I can try." This was said with the youthful optimism possessed only by a child. Lily-Rose figured she could always ask someone else in the halls for help if she got lost anyway.
Edited by: 
)
the school I figured it'd be perfect to sorta show Dan around the place at the same time! Dan's going to post next I suggest, that way he can set up his introduction and from there I'll lead them into the school)
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