Participants:
Scene Title | She Has The Light |
---|---|
Synopsis | Colette arrives at the Lighthouse, and Kameron sees what no other has about the young girl. |
Date | February 24, 2009 |
From the outside, the Lighthouse looks as if it has had better days. The massive tower rising out of the house has fallen from its former glory. It is no longer a shining beacon, guiding wayward ships in from the lost harbor — though some may argue its purpose now is even more admirable. In its current state, the lighthouse seems to be in disrepair. Though upon closer inspection it all seems to be in the details. The paint has chipped away, leaving a discolored patterns of grays, whites, off-whites, and more grays. The occasional graffitti tag is here or there along the large building. One would notice that the doors, the windows, and the integrity of the building are all quite sound and newly repaired. The lighthouse has just been left with the look of abandonement.
Inside is a completely different story. Upon entering the main door, one will find a completely furnished and cozy arrangement. A spacious living room lined with two large blue sofa's, facing each other, a coffee table between them and several large bean bag chairs have been planted in the room. Shelves have been hung on the wall to display various different pictures of the occupants. A large bookcase is against the wall, holding a large variety of books from Dr.Seuss to the Bible, and even a copy of the Qur'an. The living room is focused on the fireplace a small black fence encloses it, the wood stocked on the bricks in front of it.
Connected to the living room is a kitchen, complete with a large rectangular table capable of seating around four on each long side and two on each end. A sink, a stove, an oven, a microwave and two refrigerators complete the look. Several low and overhead cabinets line the kitchen. At the edge of the kitchen are a pair of doors, one leading to a bedroom and the other, which has a padlock on it, leads to the basement.
At the back of the living room a glass sliding door leads out into the backyard of the Lighthouse, but just before it a staircase leads to the upper levels of the structure.
Yesterday was a day of revelations. And not revelations she particular had wanted to know either. The thought that Cally might have been picked up by people to make her fight was worrying enough that Kameron spent most of the day pacing a short distance from the Lighthouse. Even Prince seemed to sense her perturbed mood. It was rare that Kameron wasn't in the mood to play her violin, but the thought that your friend was in trouble and being held against her will was definitely something that could qualify for not wanting to play.
Nonetheless, she slept well enough to make a few decisions, some involved with the Lighthouse, others not. There weren't too many there yet - that she knew of. There was the quiet little girl, Lily, and of course, Bai-Chan and Joe, who were with Brian at the moment. Kameron is down on the first floor of the lighthouse, with the tiktiktik of Prince's paws indicating that the dog is following along behind her. Kammy is restless, admittedly, but she at least is busying herself with things so as not to go mad.
It's not often — not usual at all, really — for someone to come knocking on the front door of the Lighthouse. The old, steel door that barricades the structure from harsh storms and has allowed it to weather so many decades of harsh coastal exposure rings hollow with the knocks. There's little other ceremony about the sound; no approaching crunch of tires on gravel to indiccate an approaching car, no conversation on the stoop outside — just silence interrupted by knocking in the hours after sundown.
Out one of the ground floor windows, the front stoop can clearly be viewed. It's the safest way to see who's outside without opening the door. It's no thug, waiting on the stoop; no emissary from the Linderman Group. Instead, all that this cold, snowy night finds is a young girl with a fully stuffed backpack and a tattered looking messenger bag waiting outside the front door. Her hair, tousled and in disarray looks like a mob of ink black against pale skin.
One day Kameron will learn to think more carefully before she does things. Like go to the door without checking to see who's outside. Staten Island might be her grave if she isn't more careful. Nonetheless, there is barking from within the Lighthouse, as Prince responds first to the summons. Kameron takes a second to turn, a hand against the wall, "Just a second!" She calls quickly, opening her eyes briefly. ".. shelf, table, door, chair, door — oh," she mumbles to herself, mentally 'recording' the layout.
Colette isn't left waiting for long, as the sound of puppynose snuffing at the door, whining, is soon replaced by a soft voice going, 'Shh, move.' Then the door swings open, and a girl with shades is in the way, with a Collie standing beside her trying to wedge his head through the gap between leg and door, in an attempt to see who the visitor is. With a warm, welcoming smile, Kameron — tilts her head one way, then the other as if looking for someone. Pointless for blind people can't see - but Kammy was cheating a tiny bit at that moment. Using her evolved sight to try and see if anyone else was around. Seeing no one but the one girl, she greets Colette with a: "Yes, can I help you?"
It's not who she expected. Colette hesitates for a moment, "Is — " Is this the Lighthouse? Come on. She chokes back those idiotic words, biting down on her lower lip before restarting. "C-Can — Can I… come in?" The voice is small, soft and anxious, all of the tension in her neck, every bit of her awkward social anxiety shared for Kaneron's trained ears. There's an awkward shuffling of her backpack and the other bag, zippers jingling on them both. "I — um, I — I'm sorry for…" She swallows, feet scuffing in the snow on the front step beneath the gabled awning that covers it. "I should — " She's so afraid this wasn't the right idea.
Well well, what's this? Someone new? Kameron doesn't recognize the voice, though she half turns to gesture a silent command to the collie behind her. Prince clearly doesn't want to, but he does back away a bit as Kameron shifts gears from worrying about Cally, to wondering about this girl. It's clear she was anxious and nervous - and probably skittish to boot. "Yes," Kameron answers to both of the initial questions, stepping back with a gentle, beckoning gesture. "Please, come in."
Once Colette does, she pushes the door shut behind them both, "It's all right," she adds, "You're safe here." … well, 'safe' may not be the right word, if she's to believe Teo. But Kameron was wanting to not believe such negativity, so - safe place. "You don't have to apologize for anything," she adds reassuringly, her head turning to track Colette's movement. "Can I help you with something?" A place to stay perhaps?
Looking up at the older woman, Colette's brows furrow, watching the way her head doesn't follow any movements, the way those dark glasses worn after sunset shield her eyes. There's a faint, visible wince as the girl finally puts two and two together after eyeing the dog. "O-Oh I — " Mismatched eyes flick back up to Kameron, head tilting slowly, lips pursed as she murmurs a soft and hushed, "I — I don't… have anywhere else to go, r-really." It's a lie, a painful one, but for now this is where she was told to go. Lies will have to do.
"I — " Stopping just short of the entrance, Colette looks around at the much more comfortable furnishings than the run-down exterior would lead her to believe she'd find in here. "M-my name's Colette," one small hand is offered, but then retracted as she remembers her own observation about the woman.
With a tilt of her head, the girl starts to walk again, moving over towards one of the sofas to drop down her backpack and messenger bag, both heavily crumpling the upholstery as they're set down. "Is — " She looks back, one pale hand threading a lock of dark hair behind one ear, "Is there a guy named Brian that works here?"
"You've come to the right place," Kameron smiles in the girl's direction. "The Lighthouse was established as a place where people could come if they need a safe place to go." Mostly for evolved, but Kameron couldn't turn away someone who wasn't evolved — as far as she knows. "Welcome, Colette. It's nice to meet you," Kameron keeps her hands neatly clasped in front of her waist as is proper, "My name is Kameron. And yes, Brian does work here. He founded the Lighthouse, actually. I'm just one of his employees." Even if people tend to think there was something more between them, though Kameron, bless her obtuseness, isn't aware of it.
There's an awkward laugh, and Colette hesitates from settling down on the sofa. Her hand traces along the back of it, but she can't bring herself to sit. Turning to look back up at Kameron, the young girl's half-blinded eyes watch the woman in front of her with a quiet scrutiny. Brian Fulk, things really do come full circle, don't they?
"I — " She looks up towards the ceiling, "I'm sorry about — " Her teeth sink gently into her lower lip, "I don't want to be a problem." Slouching her shoulders, the young girl brushes her fingertips over the sofa one last time, before walking slowly back over to Kameron, trailing wet footprints from melting snow in her wake. "How… long can I stay here?"
Poor thing. "As long as you need to." Kameron hasn't even thought about the 'rules' of the lighthouse, but - she can make some up on the fly if she needs to. The important thing was getting the girl to relax. "Provided those that stay here respect the Lighthouse, and the people within it, we have no reason to cast anyone out, especially if they need a safe place to stay for a while. She cants her head to the side, figuring Colette knew Brian's name from the radio, or the television, or the magazines - or wherever the reporter had run that special. "Really, you don't have to apologize," Kameron reassures the girl again. "You staying here isn't going to be any problem." Probably.
She's heard that before.
Colette's jaw tenses, her discomfort and the glassy quality her eyes take on going unseen by her blind host. The young woman wipes at her eyes with shaky fingertips, then turns her back on Kameron, embarrassed. "I — " The emotion in her voice, perhaps not understood fully by the woman offering her a home, is clear as day. "T-thanks… I — I don't… really know what I'd do otherwise. I — I spent — " Too much, "Practically everything I had getting here."
Stifling something sounding like a choked sob, Colette rubs her hand over her mouth, turning to look back over her shoulder to Kameron. "Is everyone here — " Struggling to rein in wild emotions, the girl drives off topic, "L-Like me?"
But Kameron means it!
Even though she doesn't know Colette's situation or anything. "It's all right." Kameron smiles, again, even though she may sound like a broken record at this point. "Would you like something to drink?" Maybe something to calm her nerves - the girl was clearly (as clear to a blind girl anyway) distraught. The change in topic earns not even a slight eye-blink, for Colette surely means, 'homeless'. And not 'Evolved'. "Yes," Kameron answers easily, moving to elaborate as she leans down and pats her collie for being a good dog. "Everyone here has lost their home or families in some fashion," poor little things. "And have nowhere else to go."
"I — " She interrupts her own words with an awkward laugh, shaking her head and smiling. But then again, maybe that's for the best that she misinterpreted. "I could… actually — I haven't — " There's a squelching sound from her stomach, lips crooking into a wry smile as her body finishes her sentence for her. "I could actually use something to eat, um — I — I can cook it myself if — " Her eyes dart about, uncertainly scanning her surroundings before letting her eyes settle on Kameron again.
"How many people stay here?" It's remarkably quiet, though given the late hour it's possible everyone is asleep. "I — There's room, right? I — " She's so awkward. "I'm sorry if — " another choked back laugh, "It's — been a bad week." Jaw tensing again, Colette brings her hand up to cover her mouth, trying to quell that emotional wavering in her voice, eyes closing.
"Not to worry, I can manage." Kameron smiles. After all, she's been on her own for years, she had to learn to manage things like this. "I can show you around," there's an awkward pause, "If you don't mind a less than detailed tour." She beckons to the girl, "The kitchen is over.. this way. Prince." This is a command mostly, as the collie is suddenly alert to Kameron's hand grasping for the dog's leash.
"Let's see. I don't think there are too many people here just yet. Two little boys, and a girl, then Brian of course, and myself. Brian has a room down here on the first floor, and I'm up on the next floor up, by the rooms." She adds. "How about some toast and tea? It's not much but.." if she's just coming off the street, it's best not to stuff her. "There's plenty of room, so you don't have to worry about that." Not just yet. "I'll show you where your room is in a little bit."
Tea.
God, she forgot to tell anything to Ygraine. Colette's hand over her mouth squeezes, fingers pressing into her cheek as she leans forward, eyes wrenching shut. Nodding her head yes is a futile effort she indulges in anyway, lips pressing tightly together before she manages a weak, "P-please, tea and — " There's a rough, awkward swallow between her words, " — toast, s-sounds wonderful." Shaking from head to toe, the girl makes her way to just sit on the arm of the sofa, covering her eyes with one hand.
While a sighted person might be distracted enough not to hear the quiet, soft sob that comes from Colette, Kameron has no such distractions; why she's so upset, that's much harder to discern. "Thank you," she croaks out, trying to sound like she's fine. "Thank you so much."
Colette must have gone through a lot to be driven nearly to tears just at the mention of tea. "Okay." Kameron smiles softly, though the confusion and concern is obvious in her voice. As Kameron puts the water on for boiling, and bumbles about with bread for toasting, she contemplates the situation Colette must have escaped.
Maybe her parent made tea often,so the offer of making tea reminded her of her loss. Hrm. Maybe the person she cared for was name Talia and nicknamed T, so the pronounced word reminded her of the nickname which drove the girl to tears. Maybe.. Maybe…
// Maybe you're overthinking it, Kammy. // Kameron folds her arms as she faces the kettle, watching the kettle start to warm up.
Well, not watching. "You don't have to thank me," Kameron says, turning to face Colette. "I mean, the idea of a Sanctuary, and everything - this was all Brian's brainchild. I'm just along for the ride."
That's even stranger than the blind woman cooking for her.
"Brian never seemed like the caring type," Colette murmurs, rubbing at her mouth with one hand, trying to get a grip of herself. All she can think of now, is how huge of a mistake this all was, how she shouldn't have ever left, how everything good she's ever had is just on the other side of the river. Even though that cell phone in her pocket could give her all of that back, her hand shakes, stopping as her fingers curl around it.
She's doing this to protect them.
The fingers unwind from the phone, and with her jaw clenched, she tries to force a smile — not for Kameron, but for herself. "Brian…" easier to talk about someone else than herself, "Brian always seemed… " Blurry, tear-muddled vision peers up and around at the lighthouse, "I misjudged him."
"Really? He's always struck me as pretty considerate. I mean, he wouldn't let me be after he knocked me over when we first met. Until I agreed to going to dinner with him and his friend anyway," Kameron chuckles. Man did -that- feel like a world away and far ago. Or .. wait, was it far away and a world ago? "… is it a world away and far ago? Far away and a world ago? How does it go.." Don't mind the blind girl muttering to herself. Random thoughts occasionally strike on a whim, and just won't leave her alone until she figures it out.
"Anyway," Kameron reaches over as she sees the coloring of the steam around the kettle grow more red, and she plucks it up before it has a chance to whistle. The kettle, not the steam. That wouldn't even make sense. And it would hurt also. "Well," Kameron reasons thoughtfully, "I guess it's easy to misjudge a person. But I think it's important to give second chances… and in a way, that's what this place does. It gives people who've lost their home and families a second chance."
"I… guess I never gave him a chance," Colette murmurs, rising up from the sofa, one hand hesitantly reaching out as if she could just pluck across the span of the room between her and Kameron to help her, "I — d-do you need a hand?" Her teeth tug once more at her lower lip, rising up fully off of the arm of the sofa to start walking with squeaking footfalls towards the kitchen. "Brian's — I met him, back — " Hesitation, but only for a moment, no harm in spilling this. "Back when I volunteered at the soup kitchen. He — he used to come in for meals." There's irony in this, feeding a man without a home, only to become it herself.
Things really do come full circle.
"You worked at a soup kitchen?" There's some clattering as she pulls down a mug, knocking one of the cups off the shelf. Plastic, thankfully, so all it does is bounce onto the ground and roll against Colette's foot. "Woops - can you get that?" Since the girl was coming in anyway. "Anyway. Soup kitchens are those places where volunteers go to serve food to the homeless, right? I thought they were only open during holidays and cold days.." Though that made no sense, now that she actually -said- it.
Three containers on the counter, and Kameron leans over to inspect each one by scent or touch. Salt. Flour. "Ah - there it is." Sugar. She spoons two level scoops into the cup, adding the tea bag that was resting by the edge of the counter. "Um. Anyway," she holds the mug in one hand, kettle in the other as she turns towards the sound of Colette's entrance.
And she opens her eyes from behind her shades.
And hot water misses the mug entirely. You'll pardon Kameron for being so careless as to pour water into absolutely nothing, but the sudden sight of unspeakable light around Colette was a bit startling.
There's a certain level of awareness Colette has about her ability, but how it affects non-visible spectrums of light is not one of them, nor is she aware how a woman who can see myriads of light-spectrums at once percieves her.
She'll never know how otherworldly it looks.
To Kameron, Colette is little more than a silhouette made of colorless lightly, a petitte young frame that glows like a lightbulb, a warm, soft and comforting form composed of pure energy. Expanding out from her are radiating bands of multi-colored light, rainbow-slick hues of all colors that warp and distort the air around her, like the corona of an eclipse and a rainbow fused to one unimaginable thing.
She was already reaching for the cup before Kameron started pouring hot water on the table. The girl drops the plastic cup and rushes over with squeaking bootfalls to take the blind woman's hand, carefully tipping the kettle back up. This close, she isn't any brighter than she is at a distance. She is just a living figure of warm light, with one spot at her head that contains a single sphere of brighter, more intense light where her blind eye is.
These bands of color swim and swirl around Kameron, unfelt but so vividly seen. For a woman who has been blind for so long, this sight is something remarkable, something beautiful. "Here, let — let me help you," gently moving the hand holding the kettle aside, her voice — soft, gentle — matches this form of light she seems to encompass. If only the girl had even the smallest fraction of an idea how she looks to Kameron, how this photokinetic gift of hers is constantly active, even if she can't feel it.
"Are you alright?"
It's… it's really fascinating. Incredibly lovely. And as much as Kameron knows it's a bad idea to keep her eyes open, to keep staring, she doesn't want to close her eyes. She's never seen anything so ..so phenomenally beautiful in all her life. But she's never seen such a corona of light around someone like this. Vaguely aware of being spoken to, and more than dimly aware that she was rapidly reaching her limit of keeping her eyes open, Kameron forces herself to look away, close her eyes.
It doesn't stop the nausea from coming, nor does it stop the vertigo. It's good that Colette was tipping the kettle back up, because Kameron almost drops it entirely, swaying almost violently backwards with the sudden sense of 'which way is up'? "Rg— " She swallows back the urge to lose her lunch, sucking in a breath that's almost a sob. Just seeing that. She …
"Oh - uh — I-I .. y.. yeah.." Kameron stammers when her brain catches up with her hearing and informs her mouth to make with the words. "I just…" She forces herself to keep her eyes closed, "I'm fine." She pauses. "The floor, however… is not." She quips, somewhat shakily. Always willing to dismiss the 'episodes' she tends to have, "I ruined your tea, didn't I?"
"Sit." It's hard to tell who is taking care of who now, as Colette gently takes the kettle away with one hand, and guides Kameron towards one of the chairs in the kitchen with her other hand. "Just — please, I — you don't look so good. The — the tea'll be fine, and I can clean up the floor." Her hand squeezes the blind woman's shoulder gently, brows scrunched together as she walks around from the table, back towards the counterspace with kettle in hand. Dealing with someone else's problems always makes it easier to ignore her own.
Lifting the kettle to set back down on the stove, Colette bumbles around the kitchen, finding a dishcloth to start mopping up the watery mess on the floor. Her lips crook into a mixed smile, "I — I'm sorry for being such a — " part sympathetic, "— a pain in the ass. I — I should've — " part guilty "I — are you sure you're alright?" Every bit sincere.
"But -" Kameron hesitates as their roles reverse slightly, with Colette guiding Kameron to a chair. Prince does his part in helping clean by sniffing at the water on the floor and, once it's cooled a bit, proceeds to lap away, even when the other girl starts mopping up water. Ew. "It's really nothing," she assures. "I have . . I mean it happens all the time. Well not all the time, but enough that I'm used to it by now. It passes quickly enough, you don't have to -"
Ah, but it seems she already is. Kameron's lips press into an uneasy, thin line briefly.
"Oh, no Colette, don't think that. You're not a pain," she can't swear. She refuses. It's just against her upbringing! "Really, I'm fine." Hopefully Colette won't mention this little incident to anyone else. Kam would have a hard time explaining it.
Biting down gently on her lower lip again, the young girl's concern is momentarily stolen away by the adorable dog trying to 'help'. She cracks her lips into a smile, one hand scratching at the top of Prince's head. "My… mom used to get like that too," More distractions, ones from much further back. "Light headed, kind've like — she'd get all weak all of the sudden?" Mismatched eyes look up to Kameron, and then her head shakes slowly, not continuing her story as she straightens, throwing the dishcloth in the sink.
"She um — " Closing her eyes, Colette realizes too late how bad of a story it was. The awkward, uncomfortable laugh that follows is an inappropriate lead-in to her next words, "She found out years later she had cancer." Kameron can almost hear the sickly regret in her voice for bringing this up. "She — passed away a few years ago it — that wasn't the best story."
Cancer.
It's just a word, but it holds implications in that word. Funny, how it can change the atmosphere of a room, much like other words. Of course, by itself it's just a word, it holds no power - but it's still something that people try to avoid talking about or acknowledging, like Crazy Uncle Louie high on Ecstasy or some other booze, dancing naked on a table for peanuts.
Yeah, well, maybe not quite like that.
Prince's tail wags at the scratch atop his head, the collie pausing in his assistance to acknowledge Colette good naturedly. "Really.." Kameron finally speaks, into the awkward silence brought on by the big C word. "I.. um.." Well it's not like Kammy had Cancer. Losing a parent to that though.. it made Kameron appreciate her own parents all the more. Even if they were overprotective. "I'm really sorry, Colette… I didn't know." She shakes her head slightly.
"S'olright, she's…" The young girl shakes her head, jaw tensing at the memories that particular conversation brings back. "…she's in a better place, now." So much better. "Sorry I — my mouth opens and I just say shit — I — I'm sorry." Having seen where the cups are kept, Colette pulls down one more, searching for another teabag before securing the kettle in a more stable hand, pouring steaming water into both. "Do you take cream or sugar with your tea?" Colette is the guest here, right?
Listening to Colette only reminds Kameron of her want to find Cally as soon as possible. It's only when she hears the question, and automatically responds with, "Sugar." that she realizes what was going on. "Wait, wait," Kameron lifts her head, "I don't.. You don't have to.." She rests her hands on the table, standing uneasily - mostly unsteady for want of looking, another glimpse at that amazingly… indescribable sight one more time.
She daren't. Right about now Kameron, if she believed in the Powers that Be, would be fuming at them. Seriously, why would you give someone sixteen years of sight, then tear it away, only to give her opportunities to see beautiful things - things that were even more beautiful, even - at the risk of your own health, causing you to collapse and be ill for hours afterward? God's an ass.
Kameron slumps back into her seat, not quite steady enough to move, "Sorry about all of this. I should be the one showing you around and everything." And she will! As soon as she felt steady enough to move.
"It's — It's alright, I'm used to taking care of people." The tension in her voice makes it obvious that thinking about that — saying that — hurt. Colette quietly pours sugar into Kameron's tea, matching the same in hers; neither with milk. The similarity, at least, brings a smile to her face. "I — I used to volunteer a lot, um, at St.John's in Manhattan." A homeless shelter and Cathedral, rather famous as the place where PARIAH made their demands to the world months back.
Bringing the two teacups in her hands, she quietly makes her way back over to the table she set Kameron at, leaning in to settle the cup down with an intentionally loud clunk, then pulls up a chair beside her, sitting down with a slouch forward to rest her elbows on the table, both hands cradled around her cup of tea. "S'where I met Brian, he used to come by for lunches. I — we had a bad start, and — " Her head shakes, "I'm rambling."
Kameron inwardly cringes. It seemed every time she opened her mouth she brought up something that wound up hurting Colette. Or reminding her of something bad. "St John's." She considers a moment, "I think I've been there, once." She's not entirely certain. "Thank you," this to the mug of tea, as Kameron lifts her hands to locate the clunked down cup, a half smile playing across her face. "A bad start? Worse than knocking over a blind girl?" She quips gently. "What happened?" That was a harmless question right? Surely that wouldn't bring up bad memories. "It's okay to ramble. I don't mind."
Laughing, a much more honest laugh, Colette shakes her head, "No I — okay maybe not quite like that." She snorts out a laugh, threading a lock of hair behind one ear, scuffing her cup of tea from side to side in her hands across the table, watching the edge of the liquid inside slosh from one edge of the mug to another.
"Someone that I worked with he — they were showing these videos, like, pro-Evolved stuff." That feels like a forever ago, "My friend — " she has to re-evaluate that, a momentary pause to try and consider if she's calling Trent a friend out of habit, or out of honesty. "My friend," honesty it is, "he wanted to show it to me, it was like — It was scary, burning registration cards, all that stuff." It was all over the news in the fall, Phoenix's first appearance to the world. "Brian got really upset, I didn't really… know him? I'd seen him around but — he got upset at Trent talking about it."
Sighing softly, Colette finally lifts her teacup up, breathing over the top to blow some of the steam away. "They got into some political argument, I — wasn't really listening. Someone else showed up to talk to me and, I dunno. Then Brian's brother showed up," Brother? "And they both left. I — they're like, spitting images of each other. Did you know he had a twin? Heh, they both had goatees though." she nods with a thoughtful nod, "So it wasn't like, a Star Trek thing."
Kameron smiles at the sound of Colette's laughter. It's a much nicer sound than hearing her try not to cry. Lifting the mug to her lips, she blows on it gently to get it to cool, sipping the liquid. It always helped to settle her stomach. "Pro Evolved? You mean like.. um.." She struggles to find the correct term, and for a few seconds, doesn't say anything. "Zealots?" With the burning registration cards and whatnot. Heaven knew, Kameron wasn't going to register. Not if she could help it.
And since she's been doing a wonderful job of pretending to be non-evolved, it looked like the issue wouldn't come up. Knock on wood. "Your friend, he was Pro or Anti…?" She asks, mainly curious. After all, if he was anti, that might explain why Brian was upset. "Anyway, I don't think Brian would hold your friend's views against you or anything an-" She stops. "Brother? Twin? .. He has a goatee?" Kammy, dear, please, try and stay on track here. The twin is probably one of the other hims.. "I didn't know he had a brother." Says the girl, not willing to spread around other people's abilities, even though they were all - supposedly - the same here. "What's Star Trek?" As across the cosmos, every trek fan screams in horror. "Some NASA project?"
"Trent is like, as far Pro-Evolved as you can get, and he's like — he's normal." The girl sputters those words with a roll of her eyes, nursing her tea between chilly hands. "I don't know, I think Brian thought he was like, pro-evolved poseur or something? It — " She chokes on her words, "You don't know what Star Trek is?" There's a crooked smile, followed by an awkward laugh that slowly turns to nervousness, and finally mumbled apology, "I — Oh — Oh God I'm sorry it — television I — Oh shit I'm so sorry." Ducking her head, Colette hides her mouth behind her cup, wondering just how flexible she'd need to be to fit both feet in her mouth so expertly.
Rather than be offended, Kameron bursts out into soft giggles, muffled if barely behind a hand. This is more to poor Colette's reaction than the matters of poseurs or non-poseurs and things. "It's all right." Kameron waves a hand, used to the reaction by now that the following words have almost lost meaning to her. "I wasn't always blind." she explains, "I lost my sight at about.. sixteen, seventeen. That area." She lowers her head slightly, "It wasn't a big deal." Liar. "But I didn't have access to television programs even before then, so I kinda - I've never heard of a lot of TV shows that most people have."
A soft, sympathetic sound comes from Colette, weak and gentle as she sets down her tea, reaching out with one hand to settle on Kameron's. "I — That's funny, I — I mean, not like ha ha funny but — " Her nose wrinkles, she's terrible at this whole talking thing she seems so fond of doing to no end. "I — I can't see out of one eye? And — and I just turned seventeen in the fall." As if to demonstrate, Colette closes her good eye, leaving just that blink, milky-white orb to stare out silently at Kameron. Not that the other woman can see it, of course.
"Doctor's… said I caught part of the atomic flash, maybe through a window." Her brow scrunches together, hesitantly moving her hand away from Kameron's, "Um — yeah I — it sounds reasonable. So like I — I half understand?" Smirking awkwardly, Colette laughs again. "You're a whole lot more graceful than I am, and I've got one eye up on you!"
"Really?" .. was that brighter light from her blind eye? Kameron presses her hands over her mouth, trying to recall. Of course there was an easy way to figure that o- NO, Kammy. No looking. Sigh. "I was - I'm native to Florida, so I can't blame the bomb on that. And I think I'm only graceful because I've been on my own up here for a couple of years, so a lot of it's really routine." She makes a face, "Unless I'm spilling tea on the floor, that is." She adds, grinning briefly. "It only goes to show what I've been telling Brian ever since we met. Sight's overrated." She quips again, lightly.
Laughing softly, Colette settles her hands around her teacup again, staring down into it with a quirk of her brows. "There's some things," some people, "that I'd never trade having seen, even once." The tone of her voice has gone softer, gentler, though it has a distant and reminiscent quality. "But," she looks up, lips quirked into a smile, "I'd trade all my times having seen her, for her to be here right now." That soft edge comes back, that emotional lean to her words as she stares into the dark tea.
"Do — you know if it's safe to go out for walks around here?" One dark brow raises slowly, "I mean, any worse than in the city?" As if this wasn't even a part of the city anymore, like it's something else, something removed from reality. "I've — got a lot on my mind, and I — I kind've just like to move around, kick it out in my head…"
".. yeah," Kameron puts a hand on her chin, thoughtful. "Yeah, I know what you mean." Well, nevermind that. She had devoted herself to not thinking about her 'disability' as much as possible. "Well.. I hear it is more dangerous than the city. I'm going to be staying in, so if you like, I can lend you Prince for the time being." She starts to her feet - the Collie, who had been lying behind her chair, quickly moves to stand as she does. "I should show you where your room is before that though.
It always comes down to her and a dog, somehow. "Yeah I — I'll take him for the walk. He seems like a good dog," Mismatched eyes look up to Kameron, and Colette finally starts to sip at her tea, even as she stands and pushes her chair back slowly with her legs. "Cool, that — That sounds pretty awesome. I — um, I was worried…" She looks down to the teacup, then Prince, then finally back to Kameron, "Worried about coming here, but — I think I'm going to manage. You… you're nice, and if you can put up with Brian," she smirks, tone of voice now so very much in jest, "I guess I'll try."
The collie wags his tail as he's glanced to, and Kameron smiles, "He is a good dog. He'll protect you if anyone tries anything." Good little guard puppy that he was. "I'll give you a proper tour later, after you've gotten settled in. But first, your room is this way…" and so saying, she proceeds to lead the way out of the kitchen, purely from memory - if Colette listens carefully, she can probably hear Kameron counting her steps as she walks, turns, then counts again. It's undoubtedly a way for her to tell herself when she needs to turn.
Once she's shown Colette to her room though, Kameron leaves Prince with the girl and wanders away to give her some thinking space. Kammy wanted to think alone too, for that matter, so it worked out well for both of them.
![]() February 24th: Learn By Imitation |
![]() February 24th: Obtuse |