Issue 1 Downtime

The day after the weird Danger Room session Jennifer is in her room after class, blasting music from a small stereo hooked into her iPod and dancing with maybe a little less finesse than usual but much more gusto and hip.

Winn walks in from her...wanderings? Who the hell knows where that girl goes.

"Yo," Winn greets her roommate.

"Sup Roomie." she shouts over the music.

"I've been cursed by some sort of crazy cosmic bird lady to tell the truth all the time," Winn says. "So, I'm terrified that I might reveal something honest about myself for once. Instead of, y'know, pretending to be something I'm not constantly."

Winn grits her teeth and shakes her head, "Motherfucking bullshit. I swear to God I am going to act like I'm angry and make some vague threat I will never carry through with."

Winn groans in frustration.

"Wow. That's some bullshit. But also hilarious." she chuckles, stopping to dance and turning the music down some.

"It sucks so hard," Winn says. "I mean, do you have any idea how shitty it is to suddenly just, like, have no filter?"

"Kinda? It's complicated. Liberating though to give less of a fuck. You should try it."

Winn snorts, "Trust me. The world is much better off if I don't act on instinct. My instincts are terrible."

"Like that frickin' girl the other week. What a fuckin' disaster that date was," Winn say with a heavy sigh.

"Nothing wrong with instincts. Who cares if other people can't handle it."

"Easy for you to say," Winn grumbles.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Only that maybe it's pretty freakin' easy to get away with not caring what people think when you know it for a fact," Winn says. "You'll never have to put yourself out there or take a chance. You just take a peek into their head and there ya go."

"Oh yeah cause knowing what people think of you for certain is super great. Hearing every shitty thing that jumps into someone's head when they glance your way. It's fucking amazing!"

"At least you know," Winn snaps back at Jen. "Fuck, I don't care if my mother hates my god damn guts, but it'd be nice to know for a fact instead of sitting at home alone wondering why the shit she's never around for me."

"You can ignore that shit because you know what it is. So, excuse me for not having that fucking ability and for being super envious of your powers and your gorgeous goddamn hair that I just want to braid really really badly."

"Jeez, you weren't kidding about that truth thing. Maybe you could see how getting a constant salvo of that from everyone all the time gets old real quick. Man, I hate that creepy bitch. I wonder what her tits look like. Mutie freak. You know how much people lie just because they want to be polite? People suck. All the unfiltered hate, garbage and creepy shit that seeps out of every other brain. Wanting to braid my hair is downright cute in comparison."

Winn was hiding her face in her hands. She looks pretty embarrassed, "Yeah, well, I kind of has this secret thing for girly shit that I can't really indulge because as much as I try to act like some sort of big bad rebel, I'm still just looking for my mom's approval. And she would hate it if I wore dresses, grew my hair out, and got all domestic and shit."

"Urrgh. I'm sorry. I'm being a fucking bitch again just 'cause I'm really jealous," Winn says with a sigh. "Just fuckin' ignore me."

"Jeez, you can braid my hair if it'll make you feel better. Just quit whining."

"...Really?" Winn asks.

"Sure, why not. If it means that much to you."

"Cool. I'll go get a brush and some stuff," Winn says. She tries not to look too excited.

What a weird girl.

"You could just grow your own hair out, you know."

"Probably," Winn says, getting brushes and stuff out of her closet. "But the last time I tried people laughed and made fun of me."

"It was kind of humiliating for a ten-year old girl."

"Huh. You don't seem like the kind to take much shit from anybody these days."

"If you have short pink hair, you look like a punk. You look badass. Rebellious," Winn says. She sits down on her bed. "Long pink hair? You start looking like a candy princess."

"You don't got anything you're sensitive about like that?"

"Everyone thinks I'm a creep and strange so they leave me the fuck alone. Why change that by trying a different look. Anybody who's bothered by that is not someone I want bugging me anyway." she lies.

"Cool," Winn says. "I don't know. Maybe it's just my problem then. Maybe I'm just shitty at controlling my feelings like that."

"If it makes you feel better there's nothing wrong with it. I think your hair looks cool."

"Thanks," Winn says.

"So that's not dyed? That's just your natural color?"

"Yeah, I can't even dye it. It repels dye or something, I dunno," Winn says.

"Freaky." she says in a tone that suggests she uses that word as a compliment.

"Something like that," Winn says.

"Being Queen of Freak Mountain is better than being Prom Queen."

"I don't think there's a whole lot of difference." Winn shrugs.

"Well one's official and sucks and the other you just pretend exists."

"So, you don't ever wish you were normal?" Winn asks.

"Not really. Being normal sucks. I'd rather be better than normal."

"You are so cool," Winn says.

"Finally someone who acknowledges that." she jokes. Mostly.

"Come on," Winn says. "Sit down. I'll do something cool with your hair."