InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "...you know you're refreshing."

Elle Bishop (so_electric) wrote,
@ 2009-02-14 20:31:00

Entry tags:

claire bennet, elle bishop

Attention Crystal
New York City was huge, and Elle had no idea what to do when left on her own. She was here on assignment, but her orders had been to wait, so right now she was basically just killing time. Thing is not knowing anyone kind of limited her options. Well, not really. She could stick herself into pretty much any kind of environment she wanted and make it work if she tried hard enough, but despite her outgoing personality and the fact that she never seemed intimidated by anything, she was an anxious person. New social situations? Way out of her comfort zone.

She was used to having a strict schedule to follow. Playing the role of dutiful daughter had become her entire life, so when it came to deciding what to do during her free time? She never had any, so how was she supposed to know what to do for fun? There were so many things she'd never gotten to do, so many possibilities, and yet she couldn't make up her mind about where to go next. Guess this was why her father never encouraged her to engage in leisure activities. She'd end up spending most of her time just trying to pick something that interested her. But if they'd let her out more, she wouldn't have such a hard time. It was a vicious cycle. What she really needed was a hobby ... or two ... or three ...

Elle's pace slowed when she spotted a nifty little diner just up ahead on the right. It didn't matter what kind of food they served there; she was too hungry to care. Anything was bound to look scrumptious to a starving newcomer. New in the sense that she didn't get to go strolling the streets often. If she happened to be in town, she had a job to do. Today she got to go exploring. Exciting? Sure, but also a little scary - not that she'd be admitting this aloud to anyone ever. Nope, on the outside she looked as calm as ever. That is if you could ever consider Elle 'calm.' With that routine spring in her step, she walked up to the door to the deli and jerked it open before slipping inside.

First things first, she ordered her up a bite to eat. Eyes had immediately locked on the menu once she was inside, but she hovered in the background for a minute, debating about whether to get this or that. Finally she'd made her selection. Fortunately daddy had given her enough money to accommodate her cravings. The appropriate amount was handed over to the cashier as she flashed a broad smile, then swiftly turned and surveyed the area to see what kind of seating arrangements were available. Hmm, inside or out ... ?

That's when she noticed that one of the deli's occupants was someone she knew.

Well, well ... if it wasn't the cherished cheerleader.

Claire didn't know her, but she knew Claire. She knew about her anyway. As protective as Bennet was of his family, who they were wasn't a secret, especially since Elle was sort of a snoop. She had to find some way to pass the time cooped up in that building. Besides, Bennet was her partner ( sometimes ). Was it a crime to be remotely curious about his life outside the Company? And would it really be such a bad thing for her to get to know the golden girl a little bit? It's not like she was going to hurt her or anything. Then there was the burning question: why did Claire get special treatment from her father? What made her so different?

Elle casually sauntered up to where the blonde was sitting and put on her most convincing nervous smile. "Um, hi." She waited until Claire looked up before offering an explanation for why she was bothering her. "I'm kinda new around here, but I don't like eating by myself. And I couldn't help but notice you're by yourself too, so I was thinking maybe I could join you? Unless you'd rather be left alone ..." She was keeping her fingers crossed that this worked, 'cause she really wasn't looking forward to coming up with another reason to want to sit with Claire, although they were close in age. She could always pull the 'did we go to school together? you look familiar ...' card.

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cheerhappy
2009-03-01 02:10 pm UTC (link)

New York had been fun so far. But strange. Especially for a small town Texan. Claire had been allowed to come with her father on one of his many business trips, this time to some sort of 'paper conference' in New York...and then she'd barely seen him. He was out of the hotel for long hours, giving Claire the chance to play tourist. She had no fear of getting hurt, of course. And she was actually enjoying herself quite a bit-though she'd felt extremely lonely this whole time.

Just today, she'd taken the ferry from Battery Park over to Ellis Island. She'd stood in line for more than an hour until she'd been allowed into the Statue of Liberty and gone all the way to the top-even using some of her spending money to pick up a picture of herself next to the statue. She'd paused to study the inscription at the bottom of the statue. Back then, the US had been famous for taking in the world's rejects. Those who were different.

She wondered if they'd feel the same way about her, if they knew the truth.

After her foray across the bay and back, she'd decided it was time for a late lunch. Stopping at a diner that looked mostly promising, she slid into a booth and picked up the menu. This place was almost like the diner back home in Odessa-she almost felt at home here.

As she looked over the selections, she was interrupted by a voice. "Um, hi." Bright blue eyes looked up and met a gaze almost the same shade. "Hi..." She trailed off slowly as the girl continued. She seemed about the same age as Claire-maybe even a year older. What harm could there be in sharing a table? "No, that's fine-you can join me." Claire gave the girl a bright, friendly smile. "I'm Claire."

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so_electric
2009-03-14 05:07 pm UTC (link)

"Nice to meet ya, Claire. I'm Elle." Her tone was unnaturally perky as she flashed a broad smile. Maybe she should tone it down a notch before she scared the girl, 'cause if she was anything like her dad, she could turn out to be ... well ... extremely boring. So hopefully they weren't that similar. You know, because there was the whole adoption thing which meant technically Claire and Bennet ... different genes, different personalities. At least she was keeping her fingers crossed on that one. Mainly she was just curious to see what the cherished cheerleader was like up close. To tell the truth, Elle was a little jealous. Just a smidge. What made Claire so special? How come she got to be protected and sheltered by her daddy, when she didn't get that luxury? It was totally unfair.

She plopped herself down in the booth across from her eating companion for the afternoon - who apparently hadn't ordered anything yet. Would it be rude to start eating before Claire had her food? Better yet, did she care? Not really, but hey, if she was going to play nice, might as well go all the way. For now she'd just sip away at her strawberry kiwi slurpie. These things were so good! If she had to choose one drink for the rest of her life, this would definitely be it. It's not like you could get tired of them, what with all the flavors you could choose from. Hmm. But it probably looked a tad bit strange, her sitting here basically ignoring the one she'd just approached and begged to sit with for some much-needed company.

Oops! Guess she'd better keep up the charade unless she wanted to come across as crazy. Ha.

"So you come here often?" Those brilliant blue eyes seemed to sparkle as she spoke. To be quite honest, having an actual chat with someone without some big ole' ulterior motive was a refreshing change for her. Not that she was completely innocent in striking up a conversation with this lone customer in particular, but she had no intentions of capturing her and hauling her into the facility or anything drastic like that. That was a step up, right? She was actually ... just talking to her. Whoa. Talk about bizarre. 'Cause you see, Elle didn't just talk to people for the sake of talking to them. She was usually being forced to converse with them because Daddy instructed her to or her partner had handed her an order. It sucked to be at the bottom of the chain of command, but what was a girl to do about it? It's not like she had anyplace to go or anything else to do.

By 'here,' Elle could've meant New York City or here specifically. It was really hard to tell. She didn't even know which she'd intended. Either way, it was a good ice breaker.

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