[Nexus 100] 018. - 021.

[shimmerandsing]

018. Black.
Word count: 194

Looking up from the large, open window she sat in, Alison mused on how the lights from the street below and her own glow made the night sky seem so much emptier; a blanket of black night across the sky where no stars could be seen. It was never completely silent or dark in the city and that was both a comfort and sadness to her.

She lived on light. Lived in sound. But, it seemed like a cruel joke that the one place in the world that needed the stars guiding light the most would never see them past the glare of their own flashing neon.

If she looked up into the black sky too long she heard the sound of her father's voice telling her that she had broken his heart and that she would never amount to anything if she chose this path. And all of that might have been true, but she knew in her heart that somewhere beyond the endless black night, the stars still shown as brightly as ever. One day she'd see them.

In the meantime, she'd cast off her own shadows and glow just as bright.


019. White
Word count: 353

Once the sales lady had stopped gawking at her pink hair, recognized her name, and associated it with money, Alison had been shown all the merchandize she'd asked to see. It was nice to know there were still some places where she was known. Fame wasn't on her mind as she stood in front of the full length mirror and watched the sales lady fuss over the dress she was wearing. Her mind had skipped ahead two months to the wedding she'd been planning in her head since she was young.

Yards and yards of white silk and lace make inroads into the flower petals scattered by young girls with wide smiles and big dreams in their own eyes as she walks down an aisle lined by the people she loved. Often, in those fantasies, her mother and father were both there. Sometimes, Lois was in the crowd as well.

Sometimes she envisioned the ceremony in a cavernous cathedral with resonant pipe organ music and candles in every stained glass window. Sometimes it was outside in a field of flowers in bloom. Every color of the rainbow swayed in the breeze as she exchanged vows and rings over the sound of birdsong in the old tree branches over head.

The details changed throughout her life. Small things from the cut of her dress to the exact flowers in the bouquet she carried. The biggest difference in her vision of her dream wedding this time was the identity of the man at the other end of the aisle. Or, rather, that he had an identity. Men had come and gone in her life and not one of them had fit into her perfect vision of the event.

But now, she envisioned wide blue eyes and a sunny smile under a fringe of blond hair that refused to be held back with any elastic or tie. None of the other details mattered once he'd stepped into place in her mind. All the rest of the wedding could fall into place around them. As long as the two of them were there, the rest was incidental.


020. Colorless
Word count: 127

For a person as connected to bright colors as Alison was, it seemed strange to find herself so enamored of something colorless like a diamond. Rubies, emeralds, and sapphires should have been more to her liking with their vibrant colors. But, the allure of the diamond wasn't what it was, but what it did.

A diamond reflected the light it caught with perfect clarity, breaking and bending it into something even more beautiful than it was when it began. Other gems imposed their own colors on the light they touched; shading it down with their influence. A diamond brought out the beauty, using its own lack of color to enhance what it touched.

Other gems captured light to enhance their own beauty. A diamond sets it free.


021. Friends
Word count: 300

"Are you sure you want to sit there?" TJ's voice murmured from behind as Alison perched herself on the edge of the table.

Both women wore reflective sunglasses with holographic eyeballs on the outer lenses and held bubblegum cigars between their lips. Brian Braddock, aka: the ever-so-fun-to-watch-perspire Captain Britain, had called for a day off after a week's worth of non-stop work and the team had fallen out onto the town to relax.

Alison and TJ had convinced some of their 'co-workers' to invade the local pub for some billiards and the very best French fries this side of the Atlantic. The game had quickly dissolved into men vs. women, thanks largely -- and she did mean largely -- to the man bending low over the table to cue up his shot. Cain Marko was just as likely to put a billiards ball through a wall as he was to pocket one.

She really did have the most dangerous seat in the house.

"Off the table, petal. Mr. Marko's about to extend our very generous lead s'more." Pete Wisdom's voice always made Alison's teeth set on edge just a bit. But, he was one of them so she had to play nice. Even if he was kind of sleezy. Across the darkened pub, Alison heard Sage snort derisively and the crinkle of newsprint as she returned ot her reading.

"Whatever you say, Wisdom." Alison grinned and turned to whisper Watch this to TJ. She leaned forward just a bit. Just enough to take full advantage of the low cut shirt she had worn out and smiled. "Good luck, Cain."

She winked and hopped off the table. Seconds later, the bartender was cleaning up shattered glass amidst Pete's howls of outrage. The man just couldn’t handle a little competition among friends…