voice; un: spiderlily

[higanbana]

WHO: Ris and whoever would like to take pity offer help!
WHERE: Blue Fish Park and the hospital
WHEN: Morning, February 4
WHAT: Ris has woken up feeling a bit... under the weather.
WARNINGS: Health scares specifically related to eyesight, vaguely-gaslighting-adjacent questioning of sanity


U-um. Is this thing on? ...I think it's working. Ah... hello, everyone!

[The voice coming through the speaker is... cheerful, but in a way that sounds fake. Like it's trying too hard, like the edges are just clipped enough to sound wrong.]

So, um, I... have a bit of a predicament, I guess. I woke up today with... with something weird going on, but Dad's acting like I'm crazy? S-so, um, he wants me to come see him at the hospital so he can check me for a concussion.

[There's a little catch in the way she pauses for breath.]

N-not that I couldn't get an Uber or something! But... um... if anyone's free... if anyone... you know, just happens to be near Blue Fish Park...

Would someone be willing to come with me? I'd really... really appreciate it.

[She pauses again, before ending the transmission with one last thought. This time, there's no attempt to hide her vulnerability; her voice is shaking and small and desperate.]

...I really don't want to be alone right now.

Comments

[higanbana]

[Oh, he really is going to make her cry. She swallows it for now with another shaking laugh, brushing his hand away, but definitely has to take a gulp of air before moving over to the bench with him.

Once they make it, she sits down with a sigh, quiet for another moment as she tries to figure out where to even start.]

I guess... the best place to start is to just explain why I was [why she is] freaking out in the first place.

I know some people on the app have been waking up with changes. New eye and hair colors, stuff like that. And if it were just that the color changed, I could live with it, you know? It's not like I can't make weird red eyes work. But...

When I woke up this morning, I couldn't see anything out of my right eye. I still can't. Like... if I close the other eye, I can tell if there's light right in front of my face or not, but that's it.

So naturally I panicked and called Dad... but he says that I was born with the cataract in this eye. He was acting like I'd lost it, that's why he wants me to come in and make sure there's no injury or anything, but...

[She looks over at Amal, almost pleadingly.]

I know you were out of it when we met at the gate last month, but you remember, right? It wasn't always like this?

[thavnairian]

[He settles in next to her, every inch of him turned toward her so that he can show he's attentive. He rests one warm hand on her back, ostensibly to keep the blanket from falling down but really it's so she doesn't feel so isolated.]

Right.

[His eyebrows rise.]

So you're blind in that pale eye now... Of course you'd panic about something like that. Anyone would.

[He nods.]

When we met, you had... silver-blue eyes, I think. [He pauses for a moment.] It is strange that he seems to remember you as you are now, but us outsiders get treated kind of the same way... The last time I tried showing someone my ears and explaining my situation, and they weren't on the network, they thought it was part of a costume. So I'm thinking, maybe it's the same weird enchantment that keeps people from realizing they have elves and horses and whatever running around town.

[He rubs warmly between her shoulders, trying to be comforting.]

Whatever the case... red isn't a bad color on you. My best friend has eyes like that and he agonized over them for a long time. Maybe red seems weird to you both, but to me, it's the most familiar color in the world, like a sunset or embers in a fire. Not strange in the slightest.

[His own eyes are amber. Not quite the royal glowing red of the man he's talking about.]

[higanbana]

[The touch is... well, it's helping for sure, but it's an alien sensation all the same.

Certainly, neither of her parents were much for physical affection. But even ignoring them (which, to be fair, is easy to do most of the time), it's not like the company she usually keeps is much for it either. Touch is reserved for one thing only, really, with them, and even intercourse is an exchange. It's never for any purpose like this.

It's stranger than she has the ability to process right now. But she likes it, she thinks, and she's not pulling away.]

...Okay. [She definitely sounds like she's about to lose it there for a bit, but after taking a breath she's less shaky.] So long as you remember... and if it's happening to you, too, then I'm not going crazy.

[Knowing that doesn't fix everything, far from, but it does help. The last thing she needed was losing her marbles on top of her eyesight.

As for the rest of it, she just listens. The person Amal's talking about... those sound pretty. Like something she'd like to see someday, although she doubts she'll be able to. Like something she'd like to see, but nothing she could ever really apply to herself. Not that she doesn't think she's attractive, she knows she is to the extent that her stupid body allows, but embers and sunsets feel a bit wrong for her.

She can't look at herself now and see that. She sees blood. But maybe it's just the mindset she's in. Regardless...]

Ehe... thanks. I'm sure... I'll get used to the color in time. Just means I'm going to have to learn how to dress to make them work for me. [She's still got a hint of a smile as she sighs.] Really, it's the blindness that's scarier. Even just getting down the stairs to get out here was pretty rough, honestly.

You really don't know how much you need both eyes to get around until suddenly you don't have them anymore.

[thavnairian]

No... not at all. I've met plenty of people one could say were... out of their mind. But not you.

[Amal is patient and gentle, far unlike the image he likes to project, but it's honest at least. Naturally the orphan has a soft spot for kids.]

I'm sure you'll figure it out. [He makes a soft noise of concern.] Okay, so maybe you won't be able to judge distances for a bit, but think of it this way: you can get really, really good at aiming. Throwing knives! I can teach you.

[He rubs warmly at her shoulder.]

Nothing's hotter than a girl who knows how to throw a knife. Trust me. You do that in a bar and you'll have at least six guys asking you for a date.

[higanbana]

[Ris is pretty sure that's why he's being so nice to her. Either he's seeing her as someone else, or he's treating her like a kid. Later, after this moment has passed, she'll acknowledge that both options are kind of upsetting if she thinks about it too hard, but right now? It's nice. It's just just having someone give a shit about her past what they feel obligated to do.

She laughs a little at the idea of throwing knives. It's weak, but it's there.]

That actually does sound pretty cool... I'd like to learn how to do that.

I don't know if I'll actually try to win anyone over with it, but it would be a fun party trick if nothing else.

[thavnairian]

[What else is he good for if not protecting the people around him? If he treats her a little like a kid, it's not meant to be insulting. Though that's something delicate that goes over his head right now...]

Good, good. I think you'll like it. Though I'm probably biased, since I've been playing with knives since I was a kid.

[That explains so much about Amal, doesn't it.]

You mentioned something about ice magic. When did that pop up? Are you having fun with it?

[higanbana]

Really? That sounds like a pretty dangerous hobby for a kid. You're lucky you still have all your fingers.

[She doesn't sound serious about that, though. Why would she be? After all, what's done is done, and she's the one saying that throwing knives sounds like fun.]

The first day the app showed up for me, actually. I woke up with my bed frozen over. And since it was January, I just figured the heat was busted... but, nope.

I've mostly managed to stop waking up with frozen bedsheets, so now that that's over it's been at least more fun to try to learn. I'm still not great with it, though... although I have been managing to manifest bigger and bigger chunks of ice with practice, so that's something, I think.

[thavnairian]

[He chuckles a bit.]

I get that a lot.

[He nods. That does sound like a predicament... but at least she's had some time to deal with it.]

You haven't given up entirely, so I'd say that's a win! Magic is hard. I know a little elemental magic myself, but I haven't gotten it to work since I ended up here. I'm such a beginner at it that I suppose it isn't a real shock...

I'll just have to be your personal cheerleader.

[higanbana]

Ehe... I guess this world just decided it wasn't fair for you to be an elf and get to have cool elemental powers on top of it, so it decided to share the wealth.

But if I'm going to have someone like you as my cheerleader, I guess I'm actually going to have to seriously try. [She smiles a little, bittersweet] ...Can't even remember the last time I had a good reason to do that.

[thavnairian]

Fine with me. I only took up elemental magic to learn a bit of healing, honestly. Seeing people get hurt and not being able to do anything about it... it gets to you.

[He won't dwell on that for too long though, it's a depressing thought.]

Of course you have to try. Because I'm going to bribe you with food or whatever else you really, really want, and that'll help motivate you!

[She seems like... she's had a bit of a gray life until now. Not really trying to do anything, just sort of existing. Maybe that's an assumption on his part, but she seems just so eager for some kind of companionship now that they're close. And Amal, who was once in that very same position, can't help but oblige.]

What's your favorite dessert? I'll learn how to make it just for you. And next time you have a breakthrough, we can both try it. How does that sound?

[higanbana]

Yeah... I get that. [She looks down at her feet.] Dad's a surgeon, it's his job to help people. And, I mean... a lot of things weigh down on him, for sure, but as far as his job goes, I think that's what weighs on him the most. When he does everything he can, but he just can't help.

[It is depressing. Honestly, a lot of things about her stepfather are depressing.

Thankfully, she can't dwell on that for too long, because Amal is over here trying to make her face blush deep enough to match her new eyes, the jerk, and it's working.

She's clearly stumbling for words at his first offer of motivation, so it's a good thing he follows up with an offer of dessert. Because all she can think right now is that maybe, what she really wants is just more of an excuse to hang out with him.]

Tch... you don't need to go that far! [She's so flustered right now, god help her.] But... if you insist... I like desserts with lemon in them. Sweet, but still kind of sour, y'know?

[thavnairian]

... Yeah, that's a heavy burden. A really heavy burden.

[Ris is right here in front of him though, and he's not about to let her be down on her birthday. If he notices her stumbling on her words, he doesn't think much of it; it was a perfectly reasonable request in his eyes and he doesn't have his mind in the gutter for once.]

Desserts with lemon! I think I can find something that fits that description.

[He pats her arm.]

So. Do you want me to show you how to throw right now, or would you rather do something else? It's your nameday, so you're in charge.