Devolve 2.0 The Reboot

Paige was taking advantage of the fact that Mel wanted to use their bedroom to watch movies with some of the other girls in the colony. She'd excused herself, sure that none of the teenagers really wanted her there anyway... and even more sure that she didn't want to be around to listen to whatever it was that teenagers gossiped about now. So she'd headed down to the library, where she was sure she'd find something to read that would distract her for at least a few hours.

She was right, and about two hours later, she was still down there, curled in a chair, book in her lap. A few people had come and gone, but at the moment she was alone, enjoying the peace and quiet.

"How's hope feeling today? Tired and sick of this place..."

Ali's voice sounded small to her own ears, accompanied by the piano in the music room. She'd been shocked to find it in tune, only to realize that there were enough big brains in these parts to keep one lousy piano in tune. Her playing started a little clumsy, but she carried on, unperturbed. It smoothed out as she continued on, her long fingers drifting over the keys as if she'd never been away.

"Red wine is fast, at the lip of your glass, saying I'm going to ruin..."

Last night had been fun, but working with Jono and Jay had reminded her of her old band members. Tabby, of course, was whirling like a tornado all over the place, but the others--nobody knew where they were or if they were alive. She didn't think about what happened to them and certainly never allowed herself to hope she might see them again. But she did allow herself to remember them, fondly and a little sadly, as she did now. There was never a song she played, even just goofing around, that El hadn't backed her up on. And Dan, tall and with nervous long-fingered hands that were never still, had always known exactly what to do when she or Tabby was upset.

"Everything...Everything. So its better my sweet, that we hover like bees,'cause there's no sure footing...No love, I believe."

It surprised her how lonely it felt to return to what was, for all intents and purposes, her home. Seeing her mother had been so welcome, so important, but after the first few days the thing she called 'survivor brain' kicked in again. The only thing she cared about was making herself useful, making their fortifications stronger, protecting the home base. It didn't occur to her to socialize, to bond with people. If she was going to be here for a while, obviously that had to change.

Ali had really only meant to play for a minute, just to recharge her batteries a little, but she felt almost drunk off the sound. It was a beautiful piano and as she continued to play, this time leaping into a medley of cartoon themes she'd once learned to entertain her friends' kids, her skin began to glow softly. Ali played, a smile turning into a grin, and shards of rainbow light danced around the room as if spun from invisible prisms.

After Jubilee got done in the greenhouse, she'd gone through the usual routine. Shower, scrub nails, lament lack of nail polish, get dressed. It was late afternoon, already nearing dinner time, and there was really only one thing she wanted to wear.

In her favorite grey sweatpants and a massive faded Batman t-shirt, Jubilee took off down the hall. She hesitated for a fraction of a second in front of Victor and Molly's rooms, but she brushed off the impulse to go whining to them and instead headed for the stairs, which she circumvented via the banister. Downstairs, she made a bee line for the rec room, where she put on some cartoons and curled up on the couch.

Her whole body felt empty, as if she'd used up her monthly allowance of thoughts and they'd scoured her clean. Earlier in the day, it seemed like Ororo had sensed there was something up with her and she'd let her do whatever she wanted. As nice as it was not to be on fertilizer duty, Jubilee knew it was an indication she needed to snap out of her little semi-crabby funk. But as she gazed blankly at the television, it occurred to her that it might be a little harder than she thought.

Molly had decided that Sunday was a good day to visit Jimmy. He spent a good chunk of it keeping an eye on the gates, and she figured that it got lonely... and if anything exciting was going to happen on a Sunday, it was probably going to happen there. Of course, nothing exciting did happen, usually, but at the very least she would probably get a good arm-wrestling match out of the whole thing.

"So," she leaned back in her seat, looking up at the large man. "What's with the shades? Not that it isn't a good look or anything, because it totally is. It's just not usually your thing."

After speaking with Raven the evening after Tabby's altercation with Jim, Ororo went in search of Hank. She headed, first, for the lab Fifteen minutes to dinner time and the kids were gone, not that she could blame them. But it did worry her, as it always did, to see Hank working alone, but it also gave her hope. Not just for the future, but that they could just survive. More than half of the people she'd been closest to, who she'd known the longest in her life, were dead and gone. But not Hank. He would be in that lab, looking for an answer, from here to Armageddon.

"Knock knock," Ororo said from the doorway. She wore the same cargo pants she'd been wearing all day, plus an over-sized sweater that hung gracefully on her tall frame. Her milk white hair was drawn into a ponytail and it caught the light as she smiled at him, "I've come in search of answers."