It wasn't that she was completely oblivious; X-23 was in the business of making people, men especially, stare at her for quite awhile. But now that that part of her life was over she tended to ignore the rest of the world when she could. She wasn't dressed the way she was because she wanted the attention, it was what was comfortable to her. If other people didn't like it they could piss off. When she met the gaze of a woman who was watching her with scrutiny, X-23's returning expression said exactly what her thoughts were. With a quiet cluck of her tongue and a shake of her head, the woman turned away and returned to her shopping.
She watched the truck pull in and would have watched the driver get out for the simple luxury of something to do while she waited, but the fat man in front of her decided to strike up a conversation with the cashier and the word "mutant" caught her attention. Her dark eyes quickly focused on the face of the young cashier, enhanced senses easily picking up his accelerated heart rate. This was not a conversation the kid wanted to be having. If fatty knew who was standing behind him, he wouldn't want to be having the conversation, either.
Deciding to not cause a scene, X-23 cleared her throat and gave the guy a glare when he glanced over his shoulder at her. "Are you going to pay for that stuff or should I pitch a tent and take a nap while I wait?"
"Listen, little girl..."
"It would be to your folly to think I'm a little girl." Her smile to him was saccharine and dripped with sarcasm. "The man is trying to do his job and you've got a line of people behind you wanting to pay for their shit so they can go home. That I happen to be one of the people waiting does not work to your benefit." All pretense gone, she leveled her gaze. "Do you need help counting all your pennies?"
The cashier disguised a chortle as a cough and turned his back to the store to hide his amusement. Fatty, however, was not as amused. He turned around to fully face her now, at least a foot and a half taller than the was and double in width. "Aren't your just a smart mouthed little bitch?"
"And so much more," she purred in reply. As much as she loved the banter, she was tired and wanted to get back to the mansion so she could sleep. She pulled a fifty from her pocket and sidestepped the man to slap it on the counter. "I'm on pump one," she told the cashier. "Keep the change." She brushed past the fat guy, hearing his knuckles crack as he flexed a fist. If he didn't stay where he was, this could easily turn into a fight.
Still, she didn't look back and kept walking. Out in the colder night air, she glanced at the truck driver and came to a slow halt. Clear and definitive visions of Stryker's men dragging in an unconscious mutant flashed into her mind. He'd been brought in with a metal band over his eyes which was only removed after Stryker got him under control by using the same serum he'd used on Deathstrike. When the man had his visor back, her was completely under the control of Stryker's suggestion. At the school was a memorial stone with his name on it, causing X-23 to just assume he'd died at Alkali. Yet here he was, pumping gas like any normal guy. She was confused and didn't care if it showed.