[i](Collab between [@Lasrever] and Ruby.)[/i]

Nothing much had happened for Alex since reaching the auditorium. She'd noticed the child - Eve, as she vaguely remembered it - staring at her briefly, but decided not to look into it any further. 'Let them do the approaching' was her attitude towards most people, especially when it came to the more unusual members of their group.

Raising her head to look around once more, she paused. There wasn't much mistaking the woman who stood before her, was there? As Alpha spoke, a quick glance around confirmed that either she wasn't appearing to everyone or they were all deciding to ignore their most powerful member. Which begged the question of why Alex was the one being singled out, of all people. She'd have expected it to be one of the single-digits, really.

Once Alex got over her initial shock, Alpha would hear a voice in her ears - as though it were coming from somewhere that couldn't quite be seen. [color=FFDEAD]"Wouldn't have minded a little extra sleep, but I guess it could be worse."[/color] There was the slightest hint of confusion as Alex smiled softly, glancing down at the notebook before closing it over and turning to properly look at Alpha. [color=FFDEAD]"So... how are you doing? We don't see you much."[/color]

"Our illustrious Director and his Chief of Security consider me too powerful to have the same freedoms as the everyone else, so they have designated me 'Hostile.' It's lonely, but as you can see, it limits me as much as I allow it to."

She spoke to Alex, but she kept facing the rest of the group, watching and listening for a good extra minute before she finally turned back to Alex, catching that smile and the fact that Alex had given her full attention. Frost's head felt...lighter, as if the gravity in the room pulled a trick on her for a heartbeat, or two. 

"For now, to avoid conflict, I have decided to appear to you and only you. I would explain why, but I'm not sure I even fully understand it myself." A lightning bolt of concern, or discomfort, flashed across Frost's features before passing, back to a more neutral state as her mind moved away from why Alex and not someone else. "I am lonely, but busy. I maintain a constant observation of EVE. I've been exploring the Institute, even the non-EVE Project sections. It's larger than most of us seem to think. I haven't tried to meet anyone yet...but soon, as I believe I found someone very interesting that's not attached to our project. Someone that would enjoy interacting with me, but time will tell."

That was a lie. Time had told, at least, time had told her once before and it would again. It was hard to conceive, non-linear time, but to Frost it was as comfortable as linear time Maybe even more so. "I've been looking into the Hydra, as well. I feel...that they are more than simply monsters, I just cannot say with any certainty now. More study is required. More experience with them, dangerous as that can potentially be. Even for me."

That part was no lie. The danger to Frost may not be the same, yet just the same there was some primal instinct in her that knew it could be dangerous...even if the Hydra themselves did not feel so dangerous to her. Something about it, however, gave her a decidedly lack of comfort. 

But Frost was staring, a fact that she was aware of, yet somehow not able to stop. "How are you? I've missed you. I haven't spoken to you in a long time, not since the dream where I took you for a chat under the Northern Lights. I'm always looking out for you, but for the same reason I chose to appear to you, I sometimes find it difficult to openly speak to you.....just please don't conceive of that as abandonment, or disinterest It's just more complicated than I want it to be...the human part of me is always the most confusing part for me."

With that, a heavy sigh ushered Frost back to silence, and her gaze to sweep across the large room once more. 

Difficult? That wasn't what Alex had expected, anyway. As though there was anything for Alpha - Frost, even - to worry about when it came to her. 

[color=FFDEAD]"You've... missed me? Won't say I'm not surprised, but there's no need to explain if it makes you uncomfortable. I appreciate being looked out for. Besides..."[/color] Alex shrugged, glancing around the room before continuing, [color=FFDEAD]"I don't mind the company right now. I think I'm a little too quiet for most of these guys."[/color] She raised her head, tapping a finger to her throat with laughter in her eyes.

Something to do with Alex specifically, though, that was... unexpected. And it wasn't hard to notice that Frost had been staring - the woman's gaze was always fairly striking. Even with that, though, Alex dismissed the first possibility that sprung to mind. Frost probably just wasn't sure how to act while talking with her - she'd said as much.

[color=FFDEAD]"As for me, I've been pretty good. Not too busy, so that's a bonus - plus, I got a [i]bunch[/i] of new comics in this week. I'll finish them pretty soon once we're all back from whatever this is, though, and then I'll probably have nothing to do."[/color] It wasn't like she could go anywhere or do anything too interesting, so... 

[color=FFDEAD]"Talking to me's fine if you [i]are[/i] lonely, you know. Even if you find it hard at first, everything gets easier with practice."[/color] And it'd be reassuring to count Alpha as a friend. After a moment, Frost would see the air above her shimmering with light. [color=FFDEAD]"There - Northern Lights, see? Don't know if that helps or not."[/color] Alex figured it might make Frost more comfortable somehow. Worth a shot.

"Not everything gets easier with practice." 

Her words sounded farther away than a distant star, her eyes glazed, the starlight flecked in her eyes brightening, reacting to something unseen to the Child of EVE who sat beside her in the oversized room. With an audible, sharp, intake of breath the fixation upon the unseen was broken, and Frost's head turned back to Alex. The starlight dimmed almost past the point of visibility. 

She shrugged, a startlingly casual act from the figure best known simply as Alpha. "To be human is to be uncomfortable, I'm slowly finding out. My discomfort and strain will only allow me to better educate EVE on the nature of humanity, to make an impression on a scale they would never normally conceive, let alone embrace. Still, if I have to go through one more outburst of my imagination showing you and I lip-locked, I might just run from humanity faster than a shooting star. To want and not know why, to desire and be left empty-handed and wanting...I don't understand it. Why would humans do that to themselves? Is it possible humanity's conciousness was a cosmic miscalculation? For I can't understand the logic anymore than I can understand why I love orange juice so much." 

[i]...but I do enjoy the sharp, sweet, citrus taste of orange juice. Maybe a kiss would be similar?[/i] 

It made her chuckle, finally, though it was likely clear to Alex that Frost was mentally, as she was physically, multi-tasked. Another quick sip from her bottle developing the teardrops of condensation, and Frost felt herself refocus. It may appear as if she missed what was said before, not responding or commenting, only to respond to it later. As if it were still fresh to her. 

Linear time was a funny thing.

"We will speak more. Prehaps you can even show me these comic books? One of the scientists calls me 'Supergirl'--I've been told this is a comic book reference. An alien girl stranded on this planet, a refugee out of time and space, doing all she can to help the planet acting as her temporary shelter..."

Frost nodded, slowly. "It would be nice to see these comic books first hand. I could do it myself, instantly, now...but it would not be a shared experience. And I would like to share that experience with y....."

Frost was snapped into silence when the illusion struck her. The shimmering ribbons of light dimming, then glowing, then dimming again in a multitude of greens and blues and whites...a smile spread across Frost's lips, her eyes gently closing. "Would that I could show you the infinite expanse of the universe. Even a small taste like the Northern Lights...."

When her eyes opened, there was something new there: the glassy reflection of eyes touched to near tears. "Thank you, Alex."

Frost was aware of the projection Alex gave her, just as she was aware of it's appearance to every single other soul in the Auditorium in that moment: Frost so touched, so emotional on it, the illusion became visible to everyone in that moment, even if Frost was not.

But her presence became so charged, so strong, that even the humans in the room would have a hard time not noticing it. 

[color=FFDEAD]"No need to thank me."[/color] Alex seemed briefly distracted, mentally going over everything that Frost had had to say. Most of it did seem fairly expected - not that surprising to learn the most powerful of them had trouble getting in touch with her humanity. It was probably strange to think about being-- wait.

'Lip-locked'? Oh. Alex's eyes widened, her cheeks burning a little - and she was all too aware that her face was going red. Could only wonder what it looked like to the others in the room, since she was pretty sure they still wouldn't see Frost. [color=FFDEAD][i]Oh[/i][/color]. Looked like her initial suspicions had been right on the money after all. That... really was human. But how did you deal with finding out the resident godlike super-being was crushing on you?

[color=FFDEAD]"Um. Yeah, sounds--"[/color] Alex paused, noticing the lights that she could above her. Oops. She hadn't meant to do that, but a moment's focus confirmed that she wasn't in control of the increased effect. Looking at Frost's eyes, it was obvious that something about Alex's words or actions had really touched the Alpha, so it wasn't hard to put two and two together. Anyway, uh, where [i]was[/i] she? Something about comics? [color=FFDEAD]"Great. Sounds good. Talking more. Yeah."[/color]

The illusionist didn't think anyone could blame her for being a little bit flustered. Okay, she just had to stop. Take a breather, and say something coherent. Or at least finish a sentence. [color=FFDEAD]"I mean... that'd be nice. I'm sure I've got a few Supergirl comics somewhere. Not really as exciting as 'the infinite expanse of the universe', but it'd be cool to show you if you're interested. And, uh, Frost?"[/color] 

Annoyingly, the blush on her cheeks, although fainter, didn't quite seem to be going away. It was kind of difficult to get her head around all of this. [color=FFDEAD]"You don't need to run from your humanity. There's nothing wrong with... with thinking like that about anyone. Don't know if I'm up for any lip-locking right now, though."[/color] The last part was delivered with a few short breaths from the mute, like she would have chuckled if she could.

If Frost seemed to notice the red of Alex's cheeks, she didn't show it. Instead her head tilted to the floor, her eyes dropping from the display light in glimmering, ever shifting, ribbons across a section of air above them no fewer than three feet across. Slowly, almost carefully, the Alpha of Eve's Children nodded in basic understanding. 

"I can no more run from my humanity than I can disconnect from the universe, or remove EVE from my subconcious...I am inseparably connected to everything else that there is, or has ever been. A function within greater functions, interconnected." Her head rose to find the image of Alex, and for half a heartbeat, a smile dared to find her pale lips once more. "Survive, Alex. Come back from the fighting, and we will see about that comic book, and our lips. If you will excuse me...I should go whisper in the ears of a few of other siblings before the Director begins to tell us all about the dangers he is to send all of you into."

A final, long, look framed in a softer expression than any before...and Frost slipped from Alex's sensory reach even as she began to walk towards the others in Alex's final glimpse of her physical image.

Half finished orange juice in hand.