тнє тнιєƒ тнαт ѕтσℓє... ωєℓℓ, єνєяутнιηg

[~echo~]

Vanessa looked up and nodded. "You're right. My mother always told me about ANEW... I can't imagine being caught by them."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"Yeah, you don't wanna be," Conner muttered. He sat down on the edge of his bed and pulled off his boots. "Ahh, much better," he said, wriggling her toes.

[~echo~]

Vanessa watched him, then sat down against the wall. She wasn't sure of what to say so she just sat there, looking around.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Conner stopped moving as his gaze settled on her. He watched her for a few moments, pensive. "So what's your story?" he asked. "Mommy and Daddy keep you cooped up?"

[~echo~]

Vanessa gave him a short glare, then drew her knees up to her chest. "I never knew my father. Mother always said that he hated that I was an evo and ran off as soon as I demonstrated my power." She paused for a moment, frowning. "Mother told me all my life that everyone in the world would want to steal my power and use it for their own gain, that everyone in the world was bad. But now that I've experienced the world... I see that not everybody is like that." She stopped again and then shook her head. "So yeah. This is my first time outside of our apartment, meeting people, doing anything without her."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Sorry, darling, but most people are like that, he thought. Maybe not everyone, but a lot of people would want to use her for her powers. Especially ANEW. They'd love to get their hands on her. A healing ability? The jackpot of the century. "Maybe your mother is right," he said. "You'd be in danger on your own."

[~echo~]

Vanessa looked up at him, a crease in her forehead showing the start of a frown. "I don't know. Maybe you're right. But what's life worth if I can't do anything. I never want to see the inside of that apartment again."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Conner raised an eyebrow at her. "Well you can't stay here," he said. "You've either got to go home or make your own way. You up for that?"

[~echo~]

She rolled her eyes. "I wasn't suggesting that I stay here with you. I figure I'll return back home until I can get my feet under me, then I'll leave and make my own way."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"Sure, you do that," Conner said, but he sounded... worried. He didn't think she could 'get her feet under her,' she had no idea how to, and for some reason that bothered him. He shouldn't care about this girl--he didn't. Yet worry nagged at his mind when she spoke. What was wrong with him?

[~echo~]

Vanessa frowned at him, wondering why he sounded like that. Was it... annoyance? Worry? She couldn't really tell, but it certainly wasn't indifference.