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Lizzy kind of wanted an iPod. Not because, you know, she had any especial fondness for music. Only really weird kids were music addicts. (Not like there was anything wrong with that, her uncle Jack used to play music, and she was sure he still did, but she didn't know if he was her uncle still or not, you know?) But it would make her waiting for stupid, hateful Eight a lot shorter. It would also help her block out the waily violin-sorta music that the redhead liked to play at weird hours. She already knew Eight came from somewhere else, now it was just a matter of deciding whether Eight was still on her homeworld's schedule or if she just had a perverse sense of humor.

The little girl kind of bet on the 'perverse sense of humor' option.

Well, it didn't change the fact that she was still trapped here, at the Liberty Center, rambling around the outside of the complex completely free of Eight but also completely bored. Who knew that being by yourself could be so annoying? She really wanted another kitten.

She stuttered to a stop, letting the heels of her shiny black shoes scuff along the ground. Someone was scaling the fence to the playground, an older kid it looked like. Clearly, it was a sign! Although... you weren't supposed to leave school and the reason she was outside was because class was in session and she couldn't be loud. Like she didn't know that!

"Hey," she yelled up, really forcing her voice out to be as loud as she could make it. She cupped her hands around her mouth to ensure her voice was even more sonorous. "You shouldn't be doin' that, you know!"

"F-fixed the loose brick?" Lizzy stared at the boy, incredulous. Were boys just stupid or something? All the ones she knew seemed to have big problems, anyway. Like her stupid (ex?)-brother. But this guy was climbing over a big brick wall, and there were loose bricks, and what if he fell? Not only was it stupid it was probably extremely bad for his health, or something. He actually didn't look that healthy either, really, his eyes were all dark and smudgy like when someone hasn't slept for a while. "You're not s'posed to be doing that because you're s'posed to stay in school," she said hotly, putting her hands on her hips in an unconscious effort to mimic her mother's posture when scolding. "You're gonna get in trouble!"

Then something seemed to register. "They fixed a loose brick weeks ago? You climbed the fence before?" Stupidity once 'cause of being young was okay. But being stupid twice was stupid.

That stopped her for a second. It was true that he wasn't breaking rules yet. After all, the rule was to be on school grounds during school hours, at least at her school. And at this school, she bet, but if he never actually left he wasn't doing anything wrong, but-

"Then where's the teacher," asked Lizzy, possibly forgetting she was still pretty much a toddler. She felt older, anyway, even if she didn't look it. And-- while she was inner-monologue-ing, he was getting away! "Hey! Wait! I am talking to you!"

She had to jump a little to reach the first obvious handhold. And the climbing-the-wall deal was harder than it looked.

Self-study? What in the world? Well, she wasn't going to be outdone. And even if she did fall, Dean would-

Okay. So he wouldn't. He was unreliable at the best of times. She tossed her hair lightly, so as not to upset her tenuous grip, and she stared after Austin. Climbing higher didn't seem like such a good idea, no. "I am not little," she muttered, a little breathless. "What're you tryin' to do anyway?"

"What class," said Lizzy bluntly. Her small wings fluttered ineffectually, though she seemed to be in no danger of falling. It probably was just a nervous tic of some kind, an annoying trait that she couldn't get over. Probably. She didn't even notice it anymore. "I'm waiting for my guardian to finish what she's doing so she may take me home."

Pause. "What, do you want me to go away?" As if the thought hadn't occured to her. Which it had. She had just decided not to acknowledge it, which was the true trick of truly indomitable personalities. Elizabeth didn't know if she had an indomitable personality, but she knew she would like to have one.

This peeved Elizabeth, who didn't like to be reminded of her small size. "You're not that tall, either," she pointed out, but she struggled back down to the ground anyway. She frowned up at him, disapproving; "And I'm not a crayon at all. I think I would know if I were a crayon."

But this guy was being... well, annoying. That wasn't the way to work with someone, though; Elizabeth settled into a vague, cheerful smile. "What are you going to do once you get over the fence?"

"See," she said when his feet were back on the ground, "you're not that tall." Neither of them was anywhere near where he'd held his hand out to, so he couldn't be tall enough to climb the wall. Especially since he'd had to be all the way up there to even reach how tall you had to be.

She narrowed her eyes, suspicious. "I don't think I believe you," said Elizabeth, sounding like she wasn't all that sure if she even believed herself, "and I don't know what 'savvy' means either." But did it really matter? It wasn't her who would get in trouble.

No, she decided, it did matter because you should always do the right thing. Right? "How would you tell the teacher you'd finished your self-study?"

Elizabeth even believed him this time. She stared up at him blankly for a moment, then her expression changed over to confused and then to reluctant acceptance of the fact that maybe he was right. Maybe. A little. "Oh," she said, "Well. That makes sense, I guess." But how would they know he'd done it? How would they grade him? Everything was graded in school. She knew, because they even graded her on citizenship, which was like sharing her pencils and stuff. Maybe that was just because she was in kindergarten, though.

"How fast can you climb over the wall," she asked, affecting unconcern.