Arionna de la Babin
It has been an...eventful day,
and she's certainly feeling it. Arionna is sitting in a cafe, though she
isn't sure which one. She just knows it has coffee, and probably
something to eat, given the bakery smell. She had to ask some stranger
to help her inside, at least for now. She'd call Lavi or Eli at some
point, but for the moment she wanted to just..be. She wanted to let it
sink in, to think over what had just happened and adjust. Oh god the
adjusting that had to be done.
She sat with a cup of coffee
in front of her, her head hanging over as she listened to the people
around her. She couldn't read anymore, unless she pushed her senses, or
learned braille, so she was listening, and smelling.
The cafe
itself was next to a bookstore, the one she had been in when her eyes
went dark and she saw the cougar in her dreams. It was the same one she
could have sworn she heard Eli in, but given that all of it seemed to be
a dream, she was certain he was too. It wasn't a chain cafe she sat in,
though she didn't know that except for the fact that no one asked for a
'venti' coffee, but stuck to traditional lingo such as 'large' or
'medium.' Thankfully, the amount of hipsters nearby seemed to be
minimal, or at least the air wasn't filled with the smell of exotic
incense and whatever they were sporting these days.
She sat
by a window, her long dark hair hanging partly over her shoulders. She
wore a skirt, as she often did, and a long sleeve that hung off her
shoulders. Now that the air was getting colder, she knew she'd feel the
poorness of her clothing choice. But she hadn't intended on staying out
so long. Arionna simply looked normal, except for the fact that she was
'staring' at her cup, and only lifted her head occasionally.
The
air that creeped from her was colder than it normally was. The chill of
winter was firmly entrenched beneath her feet, and crawled even further
along the floor, pushing away the summer heat.
Ian
[Awareness]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10) ( success x 4 )
Ian
Denver
was practically crawling with coffee shops of every shape and variety
imaginable. This one had received a number of good reviews (there were
even plaques on the wall with various awards they'd garnered over the
years,) which certainly would have made it more appealing if Ian was the
sort of person who drank a lot of coffee. The bakery wasn't half bad
either. Of course, neither of these things were on Ian's mind when he
slipped past the front door. What he was actually thinking about was how
annoyed he was that Benji had decided to reschedule their rehearsal
session at the last minute.
It was mostly coincidence that
Ian's dance studio happened to be nearby this particular coffee shop. He
was typing something on his phone when he walked in, gazing at the
screen with this sharp, brooding expression, but when he caught that
sensation of winter's chill coming from one of the tables near the
window, he looked up.
Interesting.
The girl behind
the counter was waiting for him to order, so he slipped the phone back
into his pocket and pulled his attention away from Arionna long enough
to ask for a cup of black tea. He managed a light smile for the barista,
and dropped a decent tip in the jar on the counter to make up for his
paltry order. When he had his drink, he walked over to the table where
Arionna was sitting, pausing a few feet away when she didn't make eye
contact.
He tilted his head, watching her silently. Finally he said, "Hey. Everything alright?"
Arionna de la Babin
[aware]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 3, 8, 9) ( success x 2 )
Arionna de la Babin
[Alert]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (6, 7, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 5 )
Arionna de la Babin
It's
surprising how...good she can be at paying attention. She had never
thought about it before. She had often listened and watched people, but
she never really thought about the intricacies of people, and exactly
how well she could listen if she tried. It's amazing to her how much she
can pick up with sounds and smells.
She can feel Ian as he
enters, though he's not as strong as the smell of baked goods and the
sounds of the people. She does pick out his voice. It's faint among the
sound of people, or at least not as intense as it would if silence
reigned, but she does hear it. Her chin lifts just a little, the foot
falls of him moving along the floor as chairs scrape, people laugh, and
coffee is brewed. Her fingers reach for the coffee cup, tentatively
touching, then curling around it as she feels the confidence of its
existence.
When he speaks, he sounds much closer than before,
and Ari lifts her head a little, moving it in his direction though
never meeting his face. "...Ian. Yes. I suppose I am. " She feels the
need to defend herself, to say that yes...all things are fine, nevermind
that she can't see a damned thing. She'll make it on her own! How dare
you people think she needs help! But she swallows it, an action that is
becoming easier, and then gives a small shake of her head. "I can't see
any longer. It's no great concern, simply new."
There's a pause, a beat as she considers her words. "You may sit, if you like."
Ian
Ian's
eyebrows lifted at that (though Arionna couldn't see it.) He didn't
respond immediately - perhaps processing this news with the other change
he'd noticed in her. She felt colder now - her presence in the room a
more noticeable thing. Ian had never especially minded the cold, though.
"Is it permanent?"
He
sat down in the chair across from her, pulling it out quietly. As alert
as Arionna's hearing was right now, she'd still be able to detect the
soft creak and scratch of the wood, and the light clink of Ian's glass
mug against the table as he set it down. He got comfortable in the chair
before he leaned over, resting one elbow on the counter. Everyone had a
particular scent - a combination of pheromones and hygiene products and
the fabrics of their clothes. Ian smelled like citrus, cedarwood and
amber, among other subtler notes. His conditioner had a bit of sage and
lavender. His jacket smelled like clean leather. The tea he'd ordered
had notes of chocolate in the steam that rose up from the glass.
"What happened?"
Arionna de la Babin
"Yes."
Tat she knew of anyway. The wonders of magic meant that well...Morrigan
could give it back if she so desired, but for the moment she knew quite
well that it would be this way for some time. She expected that anyhow,
and she would have been deeply surprised if it changed anytime in the
near future.
When he sat down, her head tilted just a little.
Without thinking much about it, she was flaring her nostrils to take in
the new sensations. She'd never focused on scents before, and now she
was getting a swarm of them. There were so many she was having
difficulty deciding which she preferred, and which didn't quite work.
"You never struck me as the flowery sort." She could have expected
cedarwood, but lavender seemed a little off for him; it seemed to fit
women better than men in general, and Ian never struck her as
particularly feminine. Maybe her perception was wrong.
Ari
took a slow sip of her coffee, glad that it was at least still warm. "I
gave it away. Seemed the most logical conclusion at the time."
Ian
Ian
couldn't quite place the flowery comment at first, so he didn't respond
apart from a light tilt of his head and a questioning expression (that
of course Arionna couldn't see.) The issue of Arionna's sight seemed a
bit more pressing, and Ian almost questioned her about it further,
but...
There were a lot of strange and miraculous things that
happened in their lives. Once upon a time, Ian used to have scars on his
arms. Now he didn't. Kalen had needed a cane to walk when Ian met him
for the first time. Now his leg was as healthy as the rest of him. Was
it that far of a stretch that one could lose their sight in the same
way?
"That's a large gift to give."
He picked up his mug and took a sip of his tea. Finally the flowery comment seemed to click in his head.
"Oh,
are you smelling my hair?" There was a flicker of amusement in his
inflection. "Pretty much all Aveda products have lavender in them. This
one's pretty subtle though. I'm surprised you noticed it."
Arionna de la Babin
"Yes."
It seemed obvious to her. His words were right. It was a rather large
gift to give anyone, especially since she was losing it after years of
seeing. Adjusting was going to be difficult. There would be questions
too. Her aunt would likely take her to the hospital. There would be
issues of dealing with color, so she might need someone to label things
for her...and reading..well..
"Some gifts are required to be
large. Gifts given to acquaintances need not be, just as gifts we give
to those closest to us tend to be of high value. Other times gifts are
signs of trust or loyalty. Such as tribute."
"Is it? Seems a
logical place to have it. I'm not familiar with the product you're
suggesting. I imagine that is where the other herb smell is originating.
The wood smell is a cologne? I've never smelled it before." There was a
whole new world she had to learn. "You are as surprised as I. It's
oddly surprising the things we miss."
Ian
"Or a sacrifice," he added quietly.
But
for her part, Arionna seemed to be taking the loss of her sight as much
in stride as anyone might be expected to. Certainly more than he would
have. The way she marveled at her other senses was... almost infectious.
She wouldn't see the smile - soft and genuine - that pulled at Ian's
lips, but there was a small note of warmth in his voice when he said,
"It's fascinating, isn't it? Being able to smell like that. What's
better is the way people smell under all of it. Just... human and alive. I can smell how people are feeling, sometimes. The chemistry of it."
He was quiet while he drank his tea, watching Arionna - the way her eyes roamed and hovered, unseeing.
"Do you need help getting home?"
Arionna de la Babin
"A
sacrifice is legitimate, yes. It is a form of gift. Some sacrifices are
quite small, some are large. The smaller sort tend to be routine.
Larger gifts are given once, or rarely throughout the lifetime.
Naturally, one can only give their eyes once." She had few options when
it came to dealing. She had already went through panic and fear. Now she
was attempting to own it, especially since it was a choice to continue
being as she was now.
There was no longer a need to move her
own eyes, so they stayed in the relative same position, even as she
moved her head, tilted it, even shifted to listen to people. Interesting
how odd it was to see someone who didn't engage in such little
movements. "So far, I smell a barrage of scents, many of which aren't
nearly as pleasant as one would expect. Combined they are all a
bit...nauseating."
She took in a slow breath, tightening her
lips briefly. "...Yes. I had planned to contact someone, but I'm not
familiar with methods of using my mobile device without manual dialing."
Arionna leaned towards her bag, moving her hand along it until she
could find the opening and slid her hand in, searching for it. Her brows
furrowed slowly until she found the smooth device and set it on the
table. "Are you familiar?"
Ian
"You
really love to dissect conversations," he observed with a hint of
amusement. For him, half the fun was in the subtext (which probably
explained why he withheld so much.)
When Arionna pulled out
her phone, he glanced at it. "Did you program it to recognize your
voice? It won't respond to voice commands until you've done that. I'm
sure there's software you can get that's designed for the visually
impaired, but I'm not familiar with anything off the top of my head."
Almost, he said, you should ask Grace, but then he recalled the
last time he'd witnessed the two of them try to have a conversation.
"Maybe get Elijah to help with that. Voice commands are easy though.
Here..."
He pulled his own smartphone out of his pocket and
set it on the table. "Ok Google." The screen flashed to life, and a soft
electronic chirp sounded from the device. "Text Elijah."
A couple more chirps, and then a female voice said, "What's the message?"
"Hey, you should call Arionna. She's got news."
Another chirp. "Do you want to send this?"
"Yes."
The text sent and he slid his phone back into his pocket. "Works the
same for phone calls. Assuming you have the name in your contacts."
Elijah
When
the text came in, Elijah took the opportunity to call himself out. He
cleared his throat, looking apologetically at his instructor, "sorry,
it's my mom. She wouldn't text unless it was an emergency."
And,
with little fanfare, he slipped off to make a quick phone call. When
the call came in to Arionna, there was the sound of godawful piano music
on the other side. Elijah hadn't been kidding, of course, he really did
have a recital coming up and, as the one male that was actually there
to play harp (because he found the harp amusing, because it was cool,
and it was slightly less terrifying than being in a class full of people
who had been playing piano since they were three and he was just taking
this as an elective except he was starting to really miss it and
not-so-quietly contemplating holing up a piano at the apartment sand we
digress, but there is the cacophony of too many pianos in the background
when he calls.
"Please tell me you're rescuing me," he said. Not a hello. Not a what's the news. Just please dear god make the pianos stop.
Arionna de la Babin
"Conversations
are compositions of thoughts. Those thoughts are parsed into words. The
particular uses of words have meanings. The use of one word over the
other option indicates something of the individual's mindset. Not
dissecting, as you put it, means we miss the underlying aspects of the
individual. In some situations that can be rather dangerous. People
normally take words at face value, thus miss a great deal. Much like
many people seem to miss the scent of lavender and citrus. Or the
chocolate in your drink. Brings me to a curiosity. What did you order?"
It was like being a child again and asking the names of things she saw,
only this time she was trying to acquaint herself within the scents and
sounds.
"Blind." She corrected Ian. "I'm not impaired. I lack
it entirely. I'm blind. Let's not call it what it isn't. I dislike
words for the sake of not offending."
"Do I tell it to
answer?" She asked as some birds chirped through her phone. "I think
you'll have to answer it." She left it entirely to Ian to handle
because...and she hated admitting it even now...she was completely
helpless with it.
Ian
"I would argue that
dissecting the semantics of an argument generally makes the learning
process less efficient." But he didn't seem to have any particular
investment in convincing her of this, which Arionna may or may not pick
up by his tone. He was looking at her phone - at the way the screen lit
up when Elijah called. When she asked for his help, he picked it up and
answered it.
"Actually I think she was going to ask you the
same thing. But you'll want to talk to her about that." No explanation
was given as to why Ian was the one answering Arionna's phone and not
Arionna. Instead Ian leaned across the table and said quietly, "Hey,
it's Elijah." He touched her hand gently to let her know where he was,
setting the weight of her phone into her palm.
Elijah
"Uh,"
real eloquent on the other line. He walked a little further away from
people, waiting ever-so-impatiently and his brows knit together.
There... this was all confusing, clear in the usually chatty young man's
stilted tones.
"O... kay?"
Arionna de la Babin
She
was almost entirely alright with the assistance up until Ian had to
practically put the phone in her hand. That was when the embarrassment
started to show in her face. It's honestly more a struggle to accept the
help than to handle being blind, but...she's managing. She's managing
well in fact.
Ari brought the phone to her ear. "Hello
Elijah. It's quite a long story, but I'm having a difficult time as of
this moment. Ian has been very helpful, though it seems I'm going to
need further assistance with my phone, among other issues. Well. No
sense in being coy about the whole thing I suppose. " Though it seems
strange to sort of admit it over the phone. "I've lost my sight. I
wasn't prepared for it." As if that explains the whole breadth of her
issues...just that she wasn't prepared. Surely she should have trained
herself in the fine art of scent identification in the chance that she
might go blind.
"You'll have to get directions from Ian."
Because she knows Elijah will come. " I only know we're in a cafe, and I
didn't really look at the name of the bookstore nearby. I'll return you
to him." She held out the phone, assuming he was ahead of her given
their latest interaction.
Ian
Arionna handed
the phone back to Ian, but he settled his hand on the receiver for a
moment, letting Elijah wait for a few beats (perhaps giving him time to
process.)
"It's tea, by the way. My drink. There's no chocolate in it, that's just part of the way this type smells."
He pulled his hand off the receiver and put the phone to his ear.
"Hey
Elijah. We're at this coffee shop downtown. Are you cool to swing by? I
can give her a ride, but she'd probably prefer someone she knows
better." (Unspoken but implied: someone she trusts.) And even if he offered, Arionna might very well say no. Their last car ride hadn't exactly ended well.
Elijah
Ian
can hear the dead air, can probably imagine the look on his face, the
look of groping at straws, at his shock and maybe quiet horror because
Elijah was so... so banal in that way. Hadn't ever imagined what it was
like to be without something permanently and couldn't imagine how
she could be so technical about it (except he could, it was Arionna.
Maybe she was having a hard time processing,maybe she wasn't scared at
all, maybe it didn't phase her that this is terrifying)
"Does
she have a concussion or something?" he's grasping at straws, but he's
walking out. Someone's yelling at him, or yelling in his direction, and
he's walking out. He'll say something about it later, lie through his
teeth and get out of this rehearsal without even a slap on the wrist.
"Is everybody okay?" read: are you okay? Later, "yeah, yeah I'll be there. I'm probably gonna get a C in this class anyway."
Arionna de la Babin
"Tea."
She said it almost as if she couldn't quite believe it was tea in the
end. It didn't smell like tea. Though Ari wasn't close to a tea
connoisseur. That gave Ian time to talk to Eli, to give him directions,
or at least discover if Ari had to call someone else. Because Ian was
right. She could manage dealing with him in public, particularly now
that she was unable to initiate her flight response, but being in a car
would not be so wise, or enjoyable. She'd like to keep her housing
location between a select set of individuals, and limit her family's
exposure to the people she knew.
"Does it taste like
chocolate?" Because now the question is coming around to whether tastes
will not be as they smell; seems to ba n obvious answer and yet...it was
never something she really thought about much. She lifted a hand to set
her chin on it, keeping her eyes down in the perception that she might be staring at the table and not other people. "This is far more trouble than I had anticipated."
Ian
"No,
she's not hurt. And I'm fine. It wasn't like that." Ian listened to the
background noise on the other end of the line and frowned. "Elijah, if
you need to stay it's fine. Nobody's going to die."
Somewhere
in the past, there was a version of Ian who would be highly critical of
the current version of him that was having this conversation.
He tried not to think about that.
"But,
whatever. Do what you want." He preceded to give Elijah the name and
address of the coffee shop before handing the phone back to Arionna
(again, carefully.)
She'd asked him if his tea tasted like
chocolate. He exhaled quietly. It might have almost been a laugh. "Not
really, no. It tastes like tea. There's a bit of a chocolate note to it,
but it's subtle. More of an impression. It's jin hóu chá, or Golden
Monkey, if you ever want to try it." He didn't like using the English
name, and it came out after a brief hesitation in his voice (like he had
to remind himself that giving her the Chinese name wasn't all that
useful.)
But the tea was not the focal point of this
conversation, so he left Arionna to speak with Elijah as she wished,
leaning back in his chair with his half-empty mug of tea as he glanced
out the window.
Arionna de la Babin
She
didn't know what Elijah had said to Ian, only that something about it
had felt the need to tell him not to come. Even her brows furrowed. When
the phone was given back to her, she continued the conversation. "If
there is trouble..."
"Nevermind Elijah. I'll handle it. You
should go back to what you were doing. There's no need to worry. We'll
meet later. When you have the time." Because knowing him, he was.
Soft-hearted, that one. She set the phone down, pressing on the screen
with the hope of at least hitting the right button eventually; there
were only so many things she could push after all. She had to hit the right one eventually...right?
"I
may have to." Ari moved her hands back towards her bag until she found
the opening, and kept one hand present while the other slid on the
table until the weight of the cell was located. "I'm...pleased you came
when you did, You've been helpful."
Elijah
He
didn't have anything to say at that moment. Or maybe he did have
something to say and there was just awkward, pregnant silence and
someone yelling in the background and Elijah patently ignoring whatever was being said.
"O-kay?"
Click.
Suffice to say, he was going to be useless at rehearsal.
Ian
Ian
raised an eyebrow, but whatever he was thinking he didn't say it. And
of course, Arionna missed the expression. (He was going to have to get
used to that. So much of his communication depended on body language.)
"I didn't do much. But I meant what I said. If you need a ride, I've got
my car. Or I can call you a cab."
Arionna de la Babin
On
both of their parts really. She was accustom to looking at people,
discerning what they were thinking based on their face and body
language. Now she had to listen for tonal shifts. Arionna was not
prepared to handle getting half the message. When her loss was called
'suffering' to gain strength, she didn't even realize how much it would
be. This wasn't just ten or twenty minutes of struggling, this would be
until... well until the end.
She made the choice. Now she has to handle it. And handle it...she's trying.
The
problem with cabs, as any woman knows, is that a stranger knows where
you live. She may not know Ian very well, but eh was far less of a
stranger than a cab driver. Arionna pushed the chair out slowly and
rose, sliding her fingers along the bag until the strap was found and
pulling it onto her shoulder. Her lips tightened, her fingers curled
around her strap and Arionna stood there for a moment, staring somewhere
into space while she considered her options.
She could not walk on her own. Yet.
It
was a truth. A simple truth. She could be defiant all she wanted, but
she'd get no where. A sigh escaped her. "I'd rather you drove me."
Ian
To
his credit, Ian didn't hold it over her. (The fact that she needed
help. The fact that here she was asking him, of all people, to give her a
ride, given the words they'd shared at that restaurant.) Perhaps he
could have, but that wasn't why he'd offered. So when Arionna told him
she'd rather he drove, he finished off the last of his tea and stood up.
"Sure." There was an awkward pause as he regarded her figure, standing
there with unseeing eyes as she waited for him. With anyone else, this
would have been easier. But that wasn't necessarily a complaint.
He
closed the distance to her side and said, "If you want me to let go,
tell me and I will." Then he set his hand on her arm, touching her above
the elbow so that he could lead her out to his car.
Arionna de la Babin
She
was patient, and nearly about to hold out her hand when he put his hand
on her arm. Did she tense? Yes. There was an obvious tension. "Just
don't run, or walk too fast. " She held her other hand out in front of
her to try and feel out where things were located. Granted her arm is
quite short in comparison to the sort of information she would need, and
she hasn't quite adapted. It's not easy to navigate without your eyes
when you've lived with them for so long. But she walks, slowly,
following his lead and putting a great deal of trust in Ian; he could
easily throw her into traffic, or have her trip...so many options when
you've someone who can't fend for themselves. "At this moment I am glad I
have never insulted a blind individual."
When she felt as if
she might stumble (because blindness makes us all a klutz initially),
she grabbed a hold of Ian's arm with a death grip that could rival a
lobster. Regardless of how frightening it was all slowly becoming, she
kept with him.
Ian
"Don't worry, there's still time."
Ian's
tone was dry and teasing, but for what it was worth, he took the
situation seriously. Despite not being all that accustomed to
interacting with people who couldn't see, he was, as a rule,
exceptionally aware of the details of his surroundings - which helped
when it came to looking out for potential obstacles. He led Arionna
around the tables carefully, and when they reached the door he warned
her of the step so she wouldn't trip. The breeze outside was slightly
cool and full of the scents of the city (most of which were rather less
pleasant than Ian's cologne.)
And there was that moment -
likely when they reached the end of the stoop and stepped onto the
sidewalk - that Ari thought she might stumble and suddenly grabbed hold
of Ian's arm. The leather on his jacket (lambskin) was thin and soft
under her hands. Ian stopped moving for a moment, exhaling quietly in
what was probably an attempt not to utter some surprised noise. He
didn't try to loosen her grip though. Likely she would relax on her own,
but if not, he tolerated it.
Luckily, his car wasn't far.
He'd parked it in the lot across the street. There was a brief delay as
they waited for the light to change, but then they were on their way
again (and again, he warned her about the step.) When they got to the
car, Ian opened the door and helped Arionna into the passenger seat (at
least as much as she needed it.) Then he got into the driver's side and
started the ignition.
She'd been in this car before. Maybe she
remembered the way it smelled (like clean leather) or the way the seats
felt or the fact that it drove smoothly. Maybe now those things felt
more noticeable. (Maybe she had better things to worry about right now
than how comfortable Ian's car was.)
"You'll have to give me directions to your place."
And assuming she did, they were on the road a moment later.
