<div class="floatleft">(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/8c/61/27/8c61271d1e9eb637d7d65ab37b4edce9.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><strong>Name:</strong> Elena Charlie Vandel (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=250173.msg12381845#msg12381845)<br/><strong>City | Date | Time:</strong> San Francisco International Airport, CA | August 9, 2017 | 03:31 PM<br/><strong>Tagging | Mentioning:</strong> Julie, Jason, other versions of herself.<br/><strong>Content:</strong> Arriving at the airport.<br/><strong>Wearing:</strong> Sweater, tank top, khaki capris.</span><br/><hr/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><br/>Elena had awoken early on August 9th, and for some reason even though five in the morning seemed much too early even to her, she'd had some odd instinctual feeling that it was right in its' own way, too. That was fine for her - even if she felt just a touch groggy after having stayed up as long as she did, Elena simply set about her morning. She made herself a pot of coffee - a rarity, but also necessary for the early days - and then poured herself a cup, only to ruin it with copious amounts of milk and sugar. With her big, t-rex adorned mug in one hand, and her laptop in the other, she wandered through the mostly still house, trying to decide where it was that she felt like sitting for awhile. She'd intended to just do all of this in bed, to be entirely honest, but when she'd awoken to discover her laptop <em>elsewhere,</em> that plan had changed too. <br/><br/>Finally she'd come to settle down in the den, which was really just a common room decked out with electronics, comfy chairs/couches, and huge windows that looked out over the tiny man-made pond Elena had put in, which at the moment was surrounded by flowers coaxed into a late, beautiful second bloom only possible due to her powers. Judging by the <em>types</em> of flowers that grew, it may have been apparent that Elena either wasn't picky, or that she simply loved most any type. Just looking out at them made Elena miss spring. She could imagine the big open field far back on their acres of land filled with flowers, and it made her want to plant even more among the fields and forests of their home. Even as she thought of that, she thought of fall's helpful nature when it came to growing food and herbs, and really she wasn't too upset about anything. For as much trouble as her powers <em>could</em> have gotten her into, they mostly hadn't, and Elena did use them for a lot of good, too. Most of the food she grew she donated; after all, they were pretty rich, and the vegetables she tended always turned out to be much larger, thus more in line with the needs of a bigger family.<br/><br/>Letting out the tiniest of sighs into her coffee, Elena flipped on the TV and set her laptop on the coffee table, her cup following suit as she set it on a coaster. It was then that she unceremoniously duplicated her pajama clad body, the new clone <em>popping</em> into existence on the couch beside her. The two looked at one another for a moment - as if in consideration - and then as the clone smiled, Elena spoke. "One or two to clean the house today?" she asked rather simply, pondering even as the words slipped from her mouth. <strong>"Two,"</strong> came the reply, and Elena smiled, nodding. "Mine, or yours?" Without another word being spoken, the duplicate stood and began to walk towards the kitchen, another unnatural <em>pop</em> occurring beyond the kitchen's door. Moments later there were soft giggles, and the soft rattling of cleaning supplies being gathered up. Taking another sip of her coffee, Elena took a moment to send out a little local broadcast within her mind to the two who would soon be busy dusting. <em>Don't forget the barn. The horses need love this morning, and Sir Oinksalot, too.</em> That was about all she had to say or think to them. They knew the list of chores by memory just like Elena did, and asking them to give a little extra care to the animals wasn't even really required. Elena - and any version of herself, just about - loved animals to the point that bathing them in love was only natural. Elena was just motherly, and this particular morning, it showed.<br/><br/>She spent the next hour or so until six am watching old cartoon reruns - <em>Tom and Jerry</em> and <em>Scooby Doo</em> specifically - at which point she'd run out of coffee. It was then that she opened up her laptop and wandered off into the kitchen to get another cup, and as she was pouring in her milk, she heard the faintest of sounds from the other room: a notification from Facebook. Of course that didn't strike her as weird or queer or anything else at that exact moment, so she didn't rush or anything. She just topped the cup off with milk, then spooned in about five teaspoons of sugar, stirred, and walked off back to her computer. Sitting down, she immediately clicked through Facebook until she found the offending... message?<br/><br/>It wasn't just a normal notification. No, no it wasn't. It was a message request from <em>Julie</em> and Elena found herself sitting there, staring at it for just the briefest of moments as a waterfall of memories came rushing back. Not like they'd ever been forgotten, mind you. Elena just did her best to separate herself from the independent clones, even though there really was no way for anything to be separate. They were all linked like a web, and that meant they all felt <em>everything</em>. This situation was even more special, though, because Elena herself had <em>intervened</em> to help protect Julie and her clone, without really telling Julie the swap had happened. Elena had always wondered if Julie figured it out. If the woman had noticed the subtle differences in the way Elena spoke or carried herself, or if she'd noticed the way her ring finger had that slightly paler band of flesh where her ring often sat. <br/><br/>Even now, she felt bad for the deception, regardless of the fact she knew there was a reason for it. Julie - and to a lesser extent, Nicole - had been in danger. At the time it'd been somewhat surreal, but thankfully Elena had the foresight to see it coming, and she'd made preparations just in case. Those preparations had simply been the swap of herself for Nicole, a sacrifice made out of love and caring that really made no difference. Even in sparing Nicole by being there to handle those poachers herself, Nicole remembered it as freshly as Elena. It could've been her just as much as it'd been Elena. They all swam in the same ocean of consciousness despite the space they tried to give themselves in their head, so it wasn't like it'd ended up making that much of a difference. In her mind it did, just like any mother may feel better knowing they did their best to protect their loved ones from harm. and thankfully she'd come out uninjured, too. That was thanks to what seemed to be an insane rate of healing that Elena hadn't fully been able to grasp or understand before, but... In those moments of violence, it'd came in handy, even if the entire situation had changed her. <br/><br/>Reaping life was far more taxing than growing it, she found.<br/><br/>With all of that pounding her central cortex, sat there in stunned silence a moment. It was awkward - she even looked surprised - and her mind flooded with memories among a whirlpool of other thoughts. It'd taken her a few anxiety filled sips of her scalding hot beverage before she calmed and responded. The conversation over messenger had felt odd - stilted - and Elena knew it was because talking in person would be best. She could even almost <em>feel</em> Julie's emotion through the small printed text, which felt odd but also so right. There was a lot of love there - and care - so the blonde haired woman did her best to come off as nonchalant, confident, and... fully stable. Shortly after speaking to her, Elena took the appropriate steps to get there. A ticket bought - first class - and a talk with Jason, who didn't seem to mind much once she'd explained. She even packed a small bag of things, in case the trip became a few - day stay, as she truly had no idea how things may go. When she finally called a car and left, Elena left the two duplicates she'd made previously there to go about their business and help Jason however they could.<br/><br/></span></span><hr/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><br/><br/>Flight 3064 had been one of the earlier levels of hell. To begin, it was cold, and that was before everyone around her opened their little fan/ac - things that made it colder. Secondly, there was far too much screaming. <em>Children</em> screaming. From coach. So loud it reached first class and pierced Elena's headphones at times, even though she was listening to music. People around her were mostly watching the news, because something about Tac 6 was on and it seemed like <em>every</em> plain Jane was obsessed with them. Meanwhile, they were the assholes that prevented Elena from trying to do any world-wide good, or at least that's how she felt. Her father did not share Tac 6's views thankfully, and Elena would not deny the fact that a copy of herself works at her father's farms specifically to just help more food grow and be available. Just thinking of her father made her sort of long to go see him, and it was mentally added to her <em>list of stuff to do.</em> Shortly after take off, Elena dozed off, her cellphone on airplane mode laying in her lap playing all manners of music for the hours she slept.<br/><br/>When she awoke, she'd drooled onto the little pillow they'd given her, and the flight attendant was looking at her a little strangely. Caught off guard, she sort of looked around, confused, and then simply let the moment pass. Whatever the woman had been staring at, even though it pertained to Elena, was soon dismissed by the announcement that they'd landed and would be arriving soon. Ahead of schedule, even. Elena found that to be both good news and anxiety - inducing for a myriad of reasons, but the specific one that stood out was, of course, the inevitable meeting in moments with Julie. It'd been a long time, the visit was overdue, and the beautiful woman was owed all the explanation she wanted as far as Nicole <em>or</em> Elena were concerned.<br/><br/>What came next was a total blur. People talking both pleasantly and not, a flurry of baggage being ripped from bins and the pounding of heavy - handed people plopping their stupid, wheeled suitcases on the aisle of the plane. Among it all roamed the out of place traveler, Elena, who was not only quiet but also carried nothing but one over - the - shoulder cloth bag that seemed only half full, and a small backpack she'd stuffed her purse and other things into (like makeup, and her phone charger.) Further defying expectations, Julie was the last person from first class to stand up, which left her well above the huge pack of people from coach behind her, but also proved she was a little nervous even though no one was there to see it. <br/><br/>Strolling down the terminal didn't take long, as her feet seemed stuck on a set path despite the shops that lined both sides of her constantly vying for her attention. Step after step she hardly strayed from her path save to avoid a slow - moving person or three. The only time she stopped walking was when she got onto the silly moving walkway, which she always found <em>so humorous</em> that it made her giggle. They were always in front of some ridiculous 'immersive' advertisement, and the entire concept was one Elena found funny. No matter if you were so lazy you didn't want to walk, or if you were in such a hurry you needed the speed boost from the automated walkway, it was so unnecessary it was <em>funny.</em><br/><br/>That left her in good spirits, all smiles regardless she was nervous as the sliding glass doors opened up and vomited her into the general waiting area where what could only be described as a sea of loved - ones waited. Elena didn't know if that statement applied to her - did Julie love her, or would those emotions crumple under the wait of Elena's odd, unnatural existence since she'd become an evolved? It was the same decision her father, friends, and <em>'family'</em> all had to make upon discovering she'd changed from <em>shy homebody with confidence issues</em> to <em>confident woman with powers</em> seemingly overnight. Okay - truth be told, it wasn't <em>overnight,</em> even though the powers <em>had</em> come that abruptly. Elena's change from shy reclusive young - woman to something else had taken time, her confidence building as her control over her powers did, too. No amount of abilities could ever change Elena's gooey insides though, the same insides that made her feel like crying when random people on the news called Evolved people <em>monsters</em> just because she - and Jason, and Julie - were all included. It didn't help she felt that out of all the Evolved she'd met, she was the most truly like a monster, too.<br/><br/>All thoughts got shuffled to the back of her mind when she finally spotted Julie through the thick crowd of people. With no delay whatsoever, Elena waded through the bodies between them. As she moved, her long, grey, oversize knitted sweater hung and swung low on her body, the garment slipping down lower along her shoulders as the straps of her bags tugged on the cloth. Beyond the gray sweater though, Elena was dressed rather.. <em>beige.</em> She had on khaki capris that led into silly socks (http://www.sockittome.com/images/detailed/5/F0289.jpg), which matched her brightly colored blue flats. On her upper half beneath the sweater seemed to be a simple off white tank - top that flared out a bit at the bottom. It never really dawned on her that she'd dressed this way because of Julie, but now it was. Just looking at the woman her duplicate - that <em>she</em> - had slept with, and met, and everything else, reminded her of the way they'd been dressed when they met. Nicole had been wearing bright colors, Julie: tan. So no wonder today she'd come in a mash-up of those two styles topped with her own - the comfy sweater.<br/><br/>Now within arms reach, she paused just a moment there, smiling at Julie full - force like the day she had they met, and it almost seemed like the little blonde was looking for something in Julie's eyes. She sort of was, too, she just didn't know what it was, or what it'd feel like when she found it. After a small stint of silence (which Elena found encouraged by Julie's lack of saying <em>anything</em>,) she let out a little sigh and moved in close, her arms coming to loop loosely around Julie's neck if she allowed it. It took her a moment, because truly she was just so filled with comparatively similar and contrasting emotions about so many things, but after a few long moments of that tight hug, Elena whispered: "Hello, beautiful," and after nuzzling Julie's cheek just once, she finally drew away, her hands coming to rest on her hips lightly, eyes critical, voice perhaps a little sassy in a motherly way. "You never went back to bed, did you?"<br/><br/>It was rhetorical obviously, because seconds later, Elena was giggling and taking Julie's hand as she slowly led her towards the exit of the airport, which she knew from several memories of other duplicates travelling through this airport previously. "Do you have a hotel room? A car? Or can I get us one?" she asked, as Julie likely marveled at the fact that the only difference between her and Nicole seemed to be the ring on her finger.<br/></span></span>