11/18 Instance: Sinister Stalker

[Starfish]

Timeline: After the instance "Green Grass Burning".


Cassie: "Which kind of store would you like to haunt first?" Cassandra asked Elizabeth, the right arm hooked around her friend's elbow as the two girls explored the old shopping street they had found. "Aren't you excited? These are all new hunting grounds."

Elizabeth: ELizabeth chuckled, the last few weeks had been amazing for her, minus valentines night, so far her new cocktail of drugs were working and she'd never felt so free and happy. "Well due to the dodgyness of the club I'm now working at I actually need costumes.... so pick a clothes and or sex shop."

Cassie: "How about a shop that specialises in sexy clothes?" Cassandra looked at her friend with an impish smile on her lips. "My wardrobe could do with some restocking, too. Most of my costumes are now nothing more than tatters in the wind."

Elizabeth: "I restocked up on all my PVC and latex while I was still back in NYC with my last paycheck from Star butts, my first paycheck from the new place brought the necessities and now this one.... well restocking is not going to be the word sister." Sharing the grin with a little giggle then.

Claudine: The two girls were being tailed. It was hard to tell if the black-haired person was male or female, having fine features and long hair with makeup but broad shoulders and narrow hips. The baggy leather jacket didn't help.

Cassie: "Good thing we have more room now," Cassandra remarked and chuckled, skipping ahead as she slid her arm out of Elizabeth's elbow, taking the other girl's hand instead. "Come, let's get it all filled up with shiny things we don't need."

Claudine: It was strange. One of them she couldn't actually sense anything beyond complicated, hissing walls and the other was...enticingly dark. A small smile crossed her features as she once again caught a flicker of the old asylum. Finally.

Elizabeth: Holding Cassie's hand she spotted a dodgy looking shop down an alley with a peeling sign mentioning PVc and latex. "May be there's something in there?" The pair weren't hard to tail, both in eye drawing gothic lolita outfits and heels clicking on the path.

Cassie: "Ooh, that looks suspiciously spooky," Cassandra remarked, slowing her step as she perked up to look ahead. A moment later she flashed another grin and promptly took off. "Let's head inside!"

Elizabeth: Smiling she skittered along after the other girl, feeling positively wonderful after the huge breakfast staving off the relapse after all the weed. "Hopefully they do cool stuff and it isn't just another strip joint..."

Claudine: Claudine drifted after them, carefully making herself unnoticable automatically. These were X-Men, or at least knew where they were. Finally...she'd been following the trail of minds from the ruins in Westchester to here. Now...did she just...walk up to them? They didn't look like the ones that killed her father...

Cassie: "Why not? Maybe they'll top the offer of the last one that wanted to hire us." As they approached the store, Cassandra paused briefly before reaching for the handle of the door. An eerie shiver crawled up her spine, but she couldn't tell why.

Elizabeth: "Haha, I already have one job as a stripper and bar maid, I don't need a second.... well not unless the pays better at any rate." Stopping she watched the other shiver and frowned. "You ok Cassie?"

Cassie: "Only a cold breeze," Cassandra replied with an absent voice, her eyes on the street they came from instead of seeing her friend by her side. "Come, let's see what they've got!"

Claudine: Claudine smiled a little as Cassie's eyes went over her, black hair falling into her face as she followed them into the shop. Those were nice dresses. She was distracted by the shinies for a few moments, blinking as she tilted her head and tried to work out what they were exactly, before going back to following the two. Nothing for it, she'd have to speak, wouldn't she...

Elizabeth: "Yeah sure." Smiling again and leading the way into the dingy little shop full from floor to ceiling in lingerie, pieces of lace, odd outfits and true to the sign latex and pvc. "Ok.... I have found my shopping heaven!"

Cassie: "Now this is my kind of treasure trove," Cassandra commented, letting her approving gaze drift across the store's crummy interior. "Good thing we didn't spend any of our money before getting here, or I'm afraid we'd end up having to work off our debts."

Claudine: Right. Now. How to do this. Coming out with the truth was probably not the best of ideas. Linking herself to Essex was probably even worse. Soooo. Slowly she made herself noticable, shifting as she did into the grey-skinned, red-eyed natural form, a black-nailed finger playing with the softly glowing diamond on her forehead. "Um." Male or female? Fuck it, didn't matter. Both.

Elizabeth: Elizabeth barely noticed as the next person came in the shop, already pulling out a nurse outfit in pure lace that she liked, before turning to ask Cassie's opinion on it. "Yes No?"

Cassie: Cassandra's attention was divided between Elizabeth waving some clothes at her, and the next visitor who slipped into the store after them. Something about them seemed off, even though their outfit made them blend right in. "Oh, that's just kinky," she remarked, pulling her eyes off the stranger. "You must have it."

Claudine: She cleared her throat. "Um. Hi. C-can I talk to you two for a moment?" Okay now...how to do this without sounding too creepy, because 'hi, i've been following you all day and reading your minds' probably wouldn't go down well, judging from earlier experiments.

Elizabeth: ELizabeth turned round drapping the lace outfit over an arm and looked the he/she/it up and down. "Sure why not I'm in a good mood today." Either a mutant or a really good cosplayer.

Cassie: "Only if you tell us where you got this gorgeous gem," Cassandra replied cheerfully, smiling at the glowing diamond on the... - she assumed girl's - forehead.

Claudine: "Well when a mommy and a daddy really love each other-" She sniffed. Or daddy owns a really good lab and a protein tank... "It's not a gem. It's me. But. Um. Thanks? You're...X-Men, right?" She dropped her voice. "And I'm technically neutral. But you can use female pronouns, I don't mind." ...Oops. She wasn't supposed to do that.

Elizabeth: Elizabeth's eyes glowed a brilliant purple then as her mental shield got slammed up even higher then normal, half from paranoia about being spotted as one of the x-ers and another because the person had picked up something from her mind. "X-xe then."

Cassie: And there it was again - the creepy chill crawling up her spine. "I wasn't aware we were that famous," Cassandra replied, flipping her black ponytail over her shoulder before she cocked her head. Years in the show business had taught her how to feign friendliness. "Even though I've been hoping it would be that way."

Claudine: "...Oops..." She winced as the shields suddenly slammed up, actually taking a step back. "Sorry! I didn't mean to - I do it a lot by accident, I um." Aaaand this was why she didn't do talking to people. "Not - well, yes, actually, I've heard all about you my entire life and well-" Cut the babble. "Can I join you? Please? I mean - I tried to find you at the old place but you weren't there."

Claudine: "I guess if you read enough minds you can find anyone though so...um...yeah. Oh! My name's Claudine Es- uuuh. Renko. Claudine Renko. Yes. That's my name!" She grinned worridly and bounced a bit.

Elizabeth: "Stay out of my mind and honestly I'm not a real X-er being as you've picked that much up, it's only like the people that run the ..... group? That get to decide that." She wasn't sure about this new girl, for a mutant she was way to jumpy and stuttery when talking to other ones.

Elizabeth: "And yeah the old place kind of got a bit destroyed with people in it, we thought it best to leave." Rubbing her face and keeping the shields up now out of paranoia.

Cassie: The shady behaviour not only had the persistent sense in the back of Cassandra's mind stand on edge, it also piqued her interest towards the strange stranger. "Fortune seems to smile on you, if you've managed to find us all the way up here," she casually remarked. "And all that just to join us. Now that's dedication."

Claudine: "Well, like I said, I've heard about you all my life, you know?" And still heard his voice, when she wasn't paying attention. Ugh. "That and I don't really have anywhere else. I mean I can - you know - do the mind thing, but I don't want to live my life like that, you know? I wanna be a hero!" That was right, wasn't it?

Elizabeth: "A hero.... can't say I feel much like one, but if you've used your powers to get your ass all the way over here well.... after shopping guess we could text the leaders and you could talk to one of them." Looking at Cassie for advice with the strange girl.

Cassie: Taking note of Elizabeth's look, Cassandra nodded at the quirky stranger standing in front of her. "Oh, how could we say no to that much persistence?" She offered Claudine a kind smile. "The least we can do is introduce you to our teachers."

Claudine: Claudine clapped happily, grinning widely. "Thank you! I'm really sorry about the whole...you know...I'll try not to do it again but I'm still learning. It's hard, you know? Well, you probably don't, I mean telepathy's rare and no one gets it. But-" She caught herself again. "So. Um. Should I...leave you to it or...um...?"

Cassie: This time it was Cassandra's turn to give her friend a questioning look. "...oh no, we can't just let you stand around and wait on us like that," she said to Claudine. "I guess you could come along... if you don't mind going shopping with us."

Elizabeth: Elizabeth shrugged. "I don't know about that I think plenty of people at out place get telepathy.... yeah can't let you stand round in this weather, you may as well come shopping with us. I don't mind more people to carry bags after all."

Claudine: "Oh, carrying's no problem." Claudine smiled happily, and the nurse's uniform Elizabeth liked the look of floated off her arm and hung in the air. The shopkeeper was gawping, but his face suddenly blanked as he seemed to...stop noticing, the grey-skinned mutant giggling happily.

Cassie: Cassandra tilted her head and arched her eyebrows, giving their newest recruit an appraising look. "So, Claudine... I'd say you'd fit right in with us."

[steyn]

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