Peas in a pod

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"Wait." Elise shouted after the girl, but she was already running off. Instead of running after her, Elise just sighed and left. One reason was because she doubted she could talk any sense into that person. Another reason was because she couldn't run. Her stamina was awful. She always used her illusions to get out of trouble, so running was rarely on the table. A chase would only end with her being sweaty and barely being able to breath. It wasn't worth it. If fate wished for her to do anything about that girl, it would definitely make sure they met again.

She put the silver chain around her neck and wore the necklace as it should be worn, something she had never done before. Now she were too paranoid to keep it in her pocket. Anyone could steal it from her like that. It wasn't safe.

As Elise arrived at her job, she was almost an hour late. Since they needed her for the day they let her work, but she did not get the last two days which they had originally intended for her to take. It didn't matter though, she could easily get something new in a few days, which would mean she would change her appearance again. Maybe she would even try to get the job she just lost. They wouldn't see any difference.

The plan of getting her old job back the next day was destroyed though as they already had called in someone else before she got the chance to call them with her new persona. It didn't matter though, a day off was always nice. So instead of trying to get some work, she took a trip to the library. Her new appearance for the day was that of a young man with light brown, short hair, blue eyes, quite slim and tall. She had never had any problems playing men. In bigger cities it was actually her preference as guys always wanted to talk to her when she walked out as a girl. On the country side though, people might give her a hello but not expect her to talk to them, which was okay, except when she was highly paranoid.

The day was so beautiful that Elise walked around for almost an hour before entering the library. She could have gotten there within twenty minutes, but sometimes you just had to enjoy the great weather.
 
Once Xan was sure that ze had shaken off the girl from the alleyway the pace eased and the teen looked around to see where the escape had taken hir. Seeing a sandwich shop around the corner and a library across the street ze grinned, just what ze needed.

A sandwich later Xan dropped by the library to check out the local maps, surveying them and checking the internet using the public computers Xan started to get a more general idea of the whole town, not just the part ze had looked at earlier in the day. Cheerful Xan found what hir was looking for and noted the locations. For the rest of the day the teen just relaxed and flipped through the books at the library, not settling on any subject in particular.

When closing time came along Xan dropped by the sandwich shop yet again to get another meal before heading on towards the area that had the exact kind of buildings that the teen preferred. Along the way were several small shops, the odd cafe and even an arcade. Grinning widely at the prospect of having fun while in the town Xan relaxed a little. Ze had met on of those people that easily made things into something valuable, but they were everywhere, still the girl's insistence on Xan not stolen made hir shake hir head in disbelief.

Soon enough ze was at an old part of the town, looking around it didn't take long for hir to pick out a building. Finding the backdoor Xan pulled out a rolled cloth, untying it revealed set of lockpicks and a small hammer. Studying the lock for a moment before picking out the chosen tools the teen got to picking the lock. A few moments later a soft click could be heard and the door was finally open.

Entering the building ze looked around, the hallway was narrow as it lead further inside. There was a thin layer of dust covering the floor, making the teen look disgruntled at the meaning. "Hard to hide that I've been here..." Walking further inside what was clearly an office building the teen read the dust-covered signs and moved along as all of them were a disappointment. At the third floor Xan smiled as the sign was promising. 'Doctor Preston. M.D. in Child development.' Picking open the door Xan found a psychologist's office, mostly empty save for an old desk on one side with an office chair behind it, along the opposite wall stood a worn-down couch and the third wall held several bookshelves with just a few lonely books left behind. It was as big as you'd expect, which meant it was barely any bigger than a child's bedroom.

Dumping the bag down by the couch ze walked the two steps needed to reach the left behind books. Picking out one of the tomes ze then returned to the couch and laid down on it. Reading the book proved a challenge with most of the words holding terms Xan was unfamiliar with, spending a few hours on it the teen ended up falling asleep on the couch, book splayed across hir chest.

Waking up early next morning ze yawned and stretched, the sunlight shining brightly from the window over the couch. Hissing softly as the light hit hir eyes the teen hissed softly and rustled through the bad to pull out a pair of sunglasses. Putting them on ze sighed in relief. "Stupid pigment failure..." Grumbling the teen got up and found a change of clothes. Changing quickly the teen then pulled out a small and squished cloth backpack from the bag and transferred hir wallet and some other small items over. Once done Xan hid the bag in the largest drawer of the desk and headed out, making sure to wear the needed sunglasses.

Half an hour later Xan was at the library yet again, entering the building ze decided to check the psychology books this time. Borrowing the public bathroom Xan quickly washed up before heading to the correct department. Finding some nice introductory books and an undisturbed corner the teen took off hir sunglasses and began reading in peace.
 
As Elise entered the library, she went straight to the fantasy section. She loved escaping reality with a good book, though she didn't dare to do it for too long as it could give some bad results. If she got to into a book, she sometimes made illusions without thinking about it, which wasn't such a good thing to do in a public place. Most people would probably freak out if a giant suddenly started to walk around in the library.

She chose a book filled with short stories so that she easily could put it away once one story was done. After each story, she made sure to think about other things for a little bit or walk around in the other sections of the library to read the back of some other books. It was her way of making sure she wouldn't get too caught up in the stories and eventually forget herself. Once people would just have brushed it off as a mass hallucination possibly due to a leak of gas, but now a days they would most likely blame it first on mutants, and that was not the publicity they needed at the moment. Plus, if it came out that they believed a mutant with illusion powers was roaming around in that town, a certain someone would definitely come searching after her. That was something she wished to avoid.

During one of her breaks, she entered the psychology section. It was quite surprising to find the thief from the day before just sitting there in a corner, reading a book.

"You." Elise burst out, completely forgetting that she had changed appearance from the day before. Even her voice was changed to make sure no one could see through her.

It had to be fate, meeting that person again. Something was pushing them together. Maybe she was meant to help this girl. It probably sounded crazy from others perspective, but Elise believed that the forces of nature sometimes wished for things to go in a certain direction, thus they created opportunities like this.

"I didn't think I would meet you again, and certainly not this soon. Have you thought anything about what I told you? I do realize you probably aren't the type to listen to such arguments, but I do hope there was something that made you think about those actions you're taking." She rambled on, completely unaware that she looked like a stranger to that person. The only thing that might give her away was the necklace that now hanged around her neck. Though it was laying underneath the shirt with only a small part of the silver chain being visible at the start of her throat.
 
As the male voice called out to Xan the teen froze. Looking up ze saw a complete stranger addressing hir. Slowly closing the book ze was guarded as the stranger spoke about things that made no sense. Where had ze met this man before? Was it recently? Where? When? Mind reeling the teen gripped the book tightly, tensing ze was ready to strike at any ill-intended move from the stranger in front of hir. Did this person have any connection to that man?

The strange man was rambling at it caught the eye of a few others in the library, ze needed to get out and that fast. "Dude, you got the wrong person." Keeping hir tone as level as possible the tight grip on the book told the truth about the teen. Danger, fear, tension and panic.
 
"No I didn't. We met yesterday. You bumped into me when that building was burning. Don't you rememb..." Wait.. Dude? Elise finally remembered that she was quite different from the day before. Even if someone met an illusion creator, it wasn't like they would expect them to come with a new appearance the next day.

"Ah, sorry for the confusion. I forgot that I changed this morning." She apologized, though it was an extremely vague explanation. She sat down on the opposite side of the table, but not right in front of the stranger as she already seemed a bit too tense. Instead she sat one step to the side of her.

"I tend to change appearance every now and then. If I didn't it would be hard to stay in the same place for very long. But I am the girl from yesterday." Elise explained with a lower tone so that people wouldn't hear.
 
Letting go of the book the teen breathed out, trying to regain the lost control. Looking at the man skeptically as he, no she, tried to explain the different forms. The illusion user? Was likely. Still, Xan's mood for reading was ruined and ze put the books aside.

"Didn't you agree to leave me alone?" Staring at the person in front of hir the teen found it hard to believe that the male in front of hir was the same illusion user from the day before. Another thing was bugging hir mind, this person changed appearance regularly for some reason, if that was true then that meant this person used hir powers all the time to stay hidden or for kicks. Why?
 
Elise raised a curious eyebrow. "No I didn't. You told me to leave you alone, on which I replied 'if you give it back, I promise I won't hurt you.' I never said that I would agree to your terms, but you did agree to mine." She shrugged while wearing a cocky grin. "As long as you don't attack me, I will keep my word and not hurt you." She then added to make sure the girl knew that their agreement still was valid.

"Truth be told, I didn't mean to meet you again, I just stumbled upon you. It's like fate wants us to learn something from one another." She might say that, but in reality she meant that the girl needed to learn something from her. What was there for a thief to teach her?
 
"Right... How about you return to whatever planet you came from and leave me alone?" Annoyed and stressed out Xan gathered hir things in the small backpack before getting up. Slinging the backpack over hir shoulder and gathering the books on introductory psychology the teen was more than ready to leave and find somewhere else to be.

Spotting the piece of silver at last the remaining denial about the stranger's identity faded and the teen added a simple fact to the snark. "I don't need to learn from someone who's putting more value in a trinket and ridiculous notions of fate than staying safe." This person would possibly keep their word but Xan didn't trust anyone just like that, turning hir back to the stranger sounded like the recipe for trouble.
 
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This person didn't seem to like people very much. Maybe there was problems at home? The possibility of the girl being a spy for her that man seemed to be getting slimmer. Either they would already have reported it to him, or they would try to get close to her until they could trick her to come to wherever that man was. This girl was doing the complete opposite by shutting her out instead. It might be a new trick, but she doubted that. Though if he had sent a spy on her and it was a new trick, then she needed to keep an eye on her.

"You're doing it again." Elise complained as she stood up. "You're hurting people without caring or even realizing it." She continued. "I put everything in staying safe. I have a million precautions planned in case something were to happen, and so far they have worked perfectly." Not completely true, there had been some seriously close calls, but she learned from it and made it out in the end. "Just because I care dearly for something doesn't mean I can't stay safe."

She had definitely said more than she should, but she couldn't help herself. She had forced herself to get used to changing appearance at least once a week just to make sure no one would ever find her. She had no close friends any longer because it wasn't safe and she couldn't show anyone her true self either way. She had abandoned her own self to make sure she could stay free and not become a tool for other people, and even so, someone has the stomach to tell her that she isn't trying her best to stay safe.
 
Staring at the girl(?) blankly Xan replied dryly: "You think I honestly care? If you don't wanna get hurt then stay away. Simple. Fire is bad. I'm bad." Tired of the sickening caring towards if people were hurt or not Xan walked away and put the books back on the shelf they belonged. With the books back in place Xan walked away.

That girl was probably on the run from something too, but she was handling it far differently than Xan was. Ze had given up on caring, having something precious and trusting others. Trust was no longer something Xan was willing to give, that night had broken all the trust ze had been able to give.
 
"You're not bad. You're just human." Elise replied as the girl was walking away. Humans made mistakes, humans lied, humans deceived, humans hurt each other, but even so there was always something good in everyone. Sometimes it was just hard to see because of the darkness residing in a person's soul. She didn't explain it though, nor did she follow the girl. If fate wished for them to meet again, then they would. Elise was sure it would happen sooner than any of them could expect.

She noticed the glances that was turning her way now. Of course people would be curious. The whole thing must have looked very odd to them, but as long as they were normal humans, they probably just thought it was a quarrel between friends, or possibly lovers. No one seemed to look suspiciously at her at least, but just to be on the safe side, she would make sure not to take that appearance again.

Already as she got back home, Elise changed her appearance into that of a little girl around the age of twelve. No one would even think of checking into the mind of a child, so if any mutants were close by, she would be safe for now. Of course it wouldn't help her getting any jobs, and she would have to change again for that, but now she just needed to get out and relax. The interaction with that strange girl had made her far too depressed, and she needed to let loose.

First of, she decided to get something to eat though. She made a noodle soup, which was the main dish on her table during most days. After she had eaten it, she was on her way out again. It was her day off and she wanted to make sure to have fun. Fate might have other plans though.

After having consumed her meal, she rested for a couple of hours before heading out again. She had a place in mind already. One which she could enter even as a twelve year old. The arcade. She had passed it quite a lot the last couple of months, and even entered to play a few games at times. There were games that had an age restriction, but most of them could be played by everyone, and those were the ones she enjoyed the most.

Once at the Arcades, Elise found herself drawn towards the dance games. Sometimes it was good to move around, and dancing was one of the few times she would consider actually getting sweaty. Not because anyone else would notice it when she had her illusion suit on.

She got quite the shock when she turned towards the machines. Once again she had unexpectedly been running into that woman. This time though, she would approach with more caution.

"Hello." Elise said with a cute childish tone as she approached the stranger she had met twice already. "These games are a lot of fun, but it's kind of boring to play by yourself. Wanna go a round against each other?" She asked, not revealing her true self just yet.
 
Outside the library the sun was shining offensively bright, putting on the sunglasses Xan just left to find something else to do. The stress of having met an illusionist twice was an annoyance that ze couldn't get out of hir mind easily. Walking around at random didn't help much, the crowds were annoying and picking pockets wasn't necessary just yet.

Walking past the arcade Xan paused. Looking at the building thoughtfully for a moment ze then shrugged and entered, ready to play and have fun on stolen money. Inside there were all kinds of games, shooters, air hockey, whack-a-mole, racing, fighting and dancing games. There was even some crane games off to one side.

The stress and nervous energy lingered in hir system so strongly that sitting still was not an option. Heading over to the dancing games Xan popped a few coins in the machine and started moving to the music and the arrows on the screen.

When a kid called out to hir after yet another round the teen shrugged. "Sure, if ya wanna." Having already dealt with most of the stress and energy built up Xan was much more calm and casual and dealt with the child with a bored disinterest. Kids were rarely dangerous.
 
Elise jumped up in the air and clapped her hand excited. "Yay, thank you big sis." She said, deciding to play the little sister role for a bit. The girl would probably not be happy if she knew that the girl from the library was there. Most likely she would think Elise was stalking her. Which wasn't true. She just took the opportunity to talk to her when they happened to meet.

She put in a coin into the machine and made herself ready. She had played this game quite a few times in different cities, so she was more than used to it. What she hadn't thought about though was that ever since the incident the other day, she wore the pendant around her neck to make sure it would be better protected. Since she wasn't used to that arrangement she didn't think about hiding it with her powers now when she met this girl again. In the middle of their first game, the necklace had somehow gotten out from under her shirt and was dangling visibly on her chest as she moved to the rhythm, too focused to notice the thing that might reveal her identity.
 
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Shrugging casually Xan popped a new coin in the machine and waited for it to start up. With music starting up ze moved to the beat and followed the pattern of the dance game. Relaxed and eager to win Xan was giving it hir all, while still keeping a careful eye on hir surroundings.

Like any habitual thief Xan always had an eye out for valuables and as the silver necklace around the girl's neck popped out ze give it the occasional glance. Towards the end of the game Xan froze as the trinket was recognizable. Not caring anymore about winning ze stood still trying to chase away the sinking feeling of the girl being the illusionist. The music finally stopped and the thief moved in, grabbed the necklace and gave it a scrutinizing glance. "A.R... You again." Staring down at the girl in front of hir Xan was not particularly impressed.
 
"Ah it looks like I wo..." Elise started as the music stopped, but was fast interrupted as the other girl suddenly grabbed her necklace. Busted. That went faster than expected.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I didn't stalk you or anything. I just came here to have a good time just like everyone else. I play this game all the time." She fast defended herself. Not because anyone would be able to testify to that, it wasn't like she ever came in the same appearance. "It's not like I've tried to talk to you about anything like earlier. We just played a game."

A slight grin grew on her lips. "A game that I won by the way." She said cheekily.
 
Dropping the necklace in disgust Xan kept staring down at the girl in front of hir while she babbled on about their third meeting being a coincidence. Even more annoying was the cheeky way she proclaimed her victory. "Hmph, only this once." Crossing hir arms ze was not about to make the win bigger than it was. "You wouldn't handle a second try."
 
"Ooh." Elise crossed her arms and looked at the girl with an entertained smile. "What about a bet then? If you win, I'll treat you to a beautiful dinner. All you can eat. If I win, you will answer one question of mine. Deal?"

If the girl took the bait, Elise would have a chance of getting an answer to her question no matter what outcome the game had. Though she did want the girl to win, because rather than forcing her to talk to her, she wished for the girl to do it willingly. A dinner would definitely give that opportunity.
 
Lips curling into a smirk Xan was certain that the dinner would be hirs. "Give it your best shot. By the off chance that you win, I get to decide which question to answer." The illusionist had tripped hir up with uncertain conditions before, this time the girl wouldn't have the chance to get the answer to any question.

Xan had often played games at arcades, it was cheap fun and a good place to blend in for the teen when the police was looking for any burglars. Speaking of burglary... Ze had to find a good fence in town sooner or later. A lucky stroke like the day before was a rare one.
 
"Sure thing. Let's do this." Elise said, agreeing immediately. She hadn't planned to win anyways, but she would still make sure the other girl worked for her victory. She put in another coin and soon their game started.

She did stumble slightly and missed the rhythm in the beginning, but those lost points were soon taken back. It was an extremely even game with the stranger on top some times and Elise on top other times, but as the last twenty seconds approached, Elise realized she might actually win if she kept playing seriously as she were a few points ahead. So in an attempt to not win, she stumbled slightly with her foot on purpose so that she would loose the rhythm again. It probably looked like an accident for anyone there. It was an exhausting game and mistakes happened. In the end she lost with a few points.

"Damn it. I were so close." She complained as she looked at the results.
 
Keeping an even pace Xan was feeling a little tired but not enough to affect overall performance. While fighting for victory and keeping a good match ze was enjoying hirself quite a bit during the dancing.

The successive victory would've been sweet if not for the off feeling that it had been set up, it was only a niggling feeling but it was enough to annoy the teen. Turning ze walked away silently, all desire for food lost.
 
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