[center][h3][color=palevioletred]『ℤ𝕠𝕖』 [/color] [color=a187be]『𝔸𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕠𝕟』[/color][/h3][/center]
[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/28qjKqU.png[/img] [img]http://i68.tinypic.com/mhf02b.jpg[/img][/center]
[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/3R5vYYi.png?2[/img][/center][hr][center][color=silver]𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟠, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘   / /   𝕌𝕊𝔸ℝ𝕀𝕃ℕ 𝔼𝕒𝕤𝕥   / /   𝔹𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔹   / /  ~𝟙𝟠𝟛𝟘[/color][/center][hr][center][sub]Collab with [@Lasrever] and [@VarionusNW][/sub][/center]

Standing outside Allison's dorm room, Zoe was surprised by how uneasy she felt about this. Honesty was always something she stuck by, but there was a difference between that and actually... Well, actually looking for the discussion. But maybe Fred had a point this morning, about needing to trust the others, needing them to trust her. Didn't change the fact that it was a massive pain in the ass. And that she wasn't sure about being strong enough for it. But trying to fix things a little seemed like a good middle ground.

Still, she wasn't too bothered by what this one thought of her. Well, she was, but she figured it couldn't get too much worse in terms of making an impression. When she thought of it like that, it really wasn't too tough to deal with. After all, out of all her classmates, Allison had ended up in the same group as her twice when she'd lost it, even if she [i]had[/i] barely been conscious the first time. So it made sense that Zoe owed her an explanation. That, and being in the same building meant that she was easy enough to find. Her expression serious, Zoe knocked firmly on the door and waited for the girl to answer.

Allison sat quietly at her desk, staring intently at the small brown notebook, worn with age and full of ripped and torn pages. She re-read the section she had just added over and over again, as if trying to eek out some secret meaning from the series of words. She closed the notebook suddenly, placing it on top of a similar small notebook, though with a black cover, next to her phone in the middle of the desk. Her eyes glanced down beside her, to where a box sat, containing the new pair of shoes she had bought earlier. They were cheap, and much the same as the pair she had before. It was a shame that her shoes had been destroyed by Hazel's power, but at least getting a replacement pair came cheap. Allison could've probably requisitioned a new pair, but by the time she thought about that, she had already bought the shoes. A knock at the door interrupted Allison, who quickly got up to answer it. Allison had no clue who it could be.

Allison opened the door slowly to see Zoe standing in front of her. Images flashed in her head of the girl unconscious on top of Gregory, who's face she had melted. Why was Zoe here? The sensible part of Allison said that Zoe was probably just here to talk, though somewhere in her mind she cooked up the idea that Zoe could possibly be here to melt her face off. As dumb and unlikely as the latter prospect was, Allison was afraid of it. She looked visibly nervous, giving herself a moment to compose herself before speaking.

[color=a187be]"Oh, hey Zoe. What's up?" [/color]

[color=palevioletred]"I'm not here to attempt a murder, so you can stop that."[/color] Zoe looked slightly irritated at Allison's apparent fear, though most of it was just frustration. Zoe realized that it was probably a reasonable reaction, but was she that much of a loose cannon? Well, probably, but that didn't mean it wasn't annoying. She sighed. [color=palevioletred]"I just wanted to talk things out. After Monday, and I guess the first day too. You know, 'cause I keep flying off the handle."[/color]

After a moment, she gave Allison a questioning look, sharpness returning. [color=palevioletred]"So can I come in, or would you rather I just stand out here and do it?"[/color]

[color=a187be]"Oh, right, of course."[/color] Allison moved to the side, ushering the other girl into the disorderly room. She shut the door as soon as Zoe entered, and offered Zoe the chair by the desk, before taking a seat on the bed herself. [color=a187be]"Alright, what's up?"[/color]

Taking a seat, Zoe frowned. Part of her figured the girl wouldn't bother confronting her about anything, so she decided to just get straight into it. [color=palevioletred]"First thing's first, I'm here to apologize. Which isn't something I do often. I screwed up yesterday, so I'm making an exception."[/color] Leaning back in the chair, she glanced over at Allison, seeming almost irritated as she continued.

[color=palevioletred]"That, and [i]apparently[/i] I need to trust you guys more or help you trust me - something like that. So here I am. If there's anything you want to ask about, I'll answer. To an extent."[/color] She looked away from the other girl - considering they weren't friends, this whole idea wasn't exactly comfortable for Zoe.

Allison wasn't sure what to make of the girl. She seemed irritated, uncomfortable in the situation. Allison assumed that her guest wasn't exactly used to apologizing, and respected the gesture, despite the strained air she felt still lay between them. She knew that Zoe didn't hate her, but Allison still felt nervous talking to the girl, not because of what Zoe was capable of, no, but just some odd feeling. 

[color=a187be]"I'm not really the one you need to apologize to, but thank you."[/color] Allison looked Zoe over, trying to figure out something else to say, letting the room fill with silence for a moment. [color=a187be]"For those first few moments yesterday, I thought you were a monster. Something unfeeling and horrible, willing to kill anything and anyone for any reason. Exactly what USARILN would want, right? I don't know when I realized I was wrong, but I think it had something to do with Ernie stabbing me in the eye. At that time I thought we were all monsters, ready and willing to play a sick game for selfish reasons, justifying anything we did. But... maybe I was wrong on that, too. Maybe there is something redeemable about us. We aren't just tools for killing. We're people, and that alone makes me hopeful. I don't know why you did what you did to Greg, and I don't think I want to know, but I think I can understand on some level."[/color]Her hand rose, fingers brushing against the X marking on her neck as she spoke. [color=a187be]"I want to trust you, and I think I can. I know you're capable, and I don't think you're a bad person. Even then, I don't really know much about you. The only times we've been around each other has been in battle. Not too great for first impressions. I guess what I want is to know you better, Zoe."[/color]Allison looked into Zoe's eyes, staring intently, unwavering. [color=a187be]"The you that isn't fighting."[/color]

Zoe watched Allison with a wary expression as the other girl started to speak. The first part was what she'd expected, and to a certain extent what she'd wanted, but still wasn't exactly nice to hear from somebody else. More because of the idea that she was what these people wanted her to be - though maybe there was an element of truth to it. It was the last part that gave her pause.

[color=palevioletred]"Me? Okay, not what I was expecting."[/color] Well, she had said she'd be honest. Couldn't really take that back after making the offer. [color=palevioletred]"I wouldn't mind. Ask away. Don't know that you'll get all the answers you're looking for, but I'll try."[/color]

She shrugged, figuring she may as well attempt. Wasn't sure where to start. [color=palevioletred]"I'm not sure the me that's not fighting is that different. Well, I am, but not-"[/color] Zoe frowned again. Yeah, she really sucked at this. For someone that thought of herself as honest, it was almost embarrassing how bad she was at being open with people. [color=palevioletred]"I've got a pretty short fuse anyway. And I won't lie, I've done some things I'm not exactly proud of before this. Obviously never melted anyone's face... Listen, is there anything specific you want to know about me? Or do I just, like, ramble until you're happy?"[/color]

Allison looked on as Zoe tried to speak. The girl clearly wasn't used to talking about herself. Allison guessed that she wasn't much of a people person. [color=a187be]"No, no, sorry, that's not what I meant."[/color] Allison shook her head as she spoke. [color=a187be]"I don't want to force you to tell me your life story, or anything. especially if you don't want to.[/color]" Allison spoke tenderly, aware of Zoe's clear short temper. She came her to work things out, and setting her off was the last thing that Allison wanted to do. [color=a187be]"I just..."[/color] She paused, thinking on her words. [color=a187be]"I want to get to know you, slowly.  Maybe we could hang out and talk, or something? I don't want to force anything on you, obviously, and I don't want you to be more open than you want to, but maybe we could be friends?"[/color] Allison stared down, kneading her hands as she spoke. [color=a187be]"When I say I want to get to know you, I don't mean just having you list off facts about yourself. I want to talk to you, and learn more about you through interacting with you. This is the longest conversation we've ever had, and the second time we've actually spoken to each other, right? We are strangers."[/color] She rose her head, looking at Zoe, letting silence hang for a moment. [color=a187be]"You know what.? You're definitely a better fighter than me, maybe we could do some training at some point, teach me what you know, make me a little less incompetent, or something."[/color] Allison added that last line suddenly, though she felt good suggesting some way to hang out with Zoe.

[color=palevioletred]"So that's it."[/color] Ah. Zoe wasn't sure if she'd been hoping she could just answer a couple questions and that would be it. Not that she particularly minded the idea, but it wasn't the easy, immediate solution she'd been hoping for. And there was always the risk of losing it which was just as terrifying as ever. After a moment, she nodded, smiling slightly. [color=palevioletred]"Okay. I think I could deal with that, on one condition. If I tell you I'm having a bad day with the whole stigma thing and I want you to back off, you do it. For your own safety and mine, especially if you actually plan on being friends. That sound fair?"[/color] 

[color=a187be]"Sounds fair."[/color] Allison let out a sigh of relief, happy to have established a chance at friendship with Zoe. [color=a187be]"I guess we can out some time later this week, or something, maybe? Whenever you want."[/color]

[color=palevioletred]"Sometime, anyway. I'm kinda trying to figure some things out this week for, uh, obvious reasons."[/color] Zoe paused, still conflicted. Turning down a chance at friendship seemed like it'd raise more questions than answers, but she couldn't help worrying about her own control. Had to be cautious about this. [color=palevioletred]"Pretty sure I might need to go into town and get stuff at some point, so I can tell you whenever I decide to do that."[/color] Town was safer. There were people there, enough that she'd be stopped quick if she lost it. But until Zoe was sure of herself, she didn't want to risk it quite yet.

[color=a187be]"Alright, sounds good."[/color] The room returned to silence, and Allison made a half-hearted attempt to fill it. [color=a187be]"Well... anything else you want you talk about?"[/color]

[color=palevioletred]"I was going to offer you some advice. About the fights."[/color] Zoe paused for a second, before continuing. [color=palevioletred]"It's gonna sound like stuff I need to learn for myself, too, but there's some subtle differences. I'd wait, but you never know when we're gonna get dragged out again. Shouldn't take long."[/color] She looked straight at Allison, appearing confident for the first time since entering the room as she tried to gauge whether the other girl was willing to listen.

[color=a187be]"I definitely need some advice. Advise away."[/color] Allison leaned forward, listening intently.

[color=palevioletred]"At the start of both fights you've not really been doing much. You look around the battlefield, see everything that's going wrong, and it seems like you're not sure what to do. Experience fighting should help with that, but you could stand to keep it simple."[/color] Zoe sounded matter-of-fact as she spoke, although most of it was only based on what little she'd seen of the girl. Two fights didn't make a strong base for any argument, really, so there was a pretty good chance she'd be completely off the mark.

[color=palevioletred]"Don't try to sort out everything at once, you won't get anywhere. One thing at a time. Be aware of what's going on around you obviously, but focus on doing your job properly first. Better to do one thing well than to try and do ten and fail every one of them. Make sense so far?"[/color] From what Zoe had seen, Allison took a while to do anything in their fights - most of this was based off of the first one. She'd had a lot of time to actually think about what went on out there.

[color=a187be]"Yea."[/color] Allison kept listening. She didn't have any reason to interject, and was enthralled by Zoe's advice so far.

[color=palevioletred]"Second thing. Stop running off alone. In the first fight, you ran off and almost got eaten - which isn't fun, speaking from experience - and from what I saw on the video of the second fight, you jumped down by yourself at two people whose powers you didn't even know. If that was a real fight, you would've gotten yourself killed."[/color] It took a lot of effort for Zoe to try and be civil about this kind of thing. Just had to think about it a little more. Seeing how close the others came to getting hurt frustrated her, knowing that there wasn't much she could do about it.

[color=palevioletred]"You're reckless. I get that it sucks feeling like you can't do anything, but the solution isn't to give up on self-preservation just to try and make a difference. Again, it's a case of actually thinking things through. Your ability can be useful without throwing your life away."[/color] Zoe was aware that this all made her sound like a massive hypocrite, but she ignored it. Wasn't quite the same situation anyway. [color=palevioletred]"That's all I've got for now. Any questions?"[/color]

[color=a187be]"No. You have some good points there."[/color] Zoe was right, and her advice definitely made Allison think. Allison had been reckless in those fights, and in her attempts to do something, she ended up nearly getting herself killed. She acted in the same pattern, standing around panicking, and then almost dying trying to actually do something.  

Though she tried to focus on the advice, Allison's mind suddenly began to drift to the items she had left on the desk.

[color=a187be]"Thanks for the advice, really. Though, I've got some things I need to get back to."[/color] Allison stood up, slowly moving towards the door. [color=a187be]"Talk more later?"[/color]

[color=palevioletred]"Sure, no problem. I'll leave you to it for now."[/color] Zoe grinned, standing and turning to walk out of the door. As she opened the door to leave, she glanced back. [color=palevioletred]"Thanks for hearing me out, by the way. I didn't really expect it."[/color]

With that, Zoe walked out, her smile fading as she headed back to her own dorm. For now she still had to be careful, and there were too many things she didn't understand about herself. But if nothing else, at least that had gone a lot better than she'd hoped.