Slow Discovery [Open]

So, that's how a school looks when it's empty. It feels weird. As I travel through the empty corridors of my new school, I guess I can only blame myself for all of this. Since my family wanted to make sure I'll be in Toronto before the start of the year, and because I wanted to be gone as soon as possible, I'm arrived two weeks before the official start. Of course, the Tachibana Academy is ready for this kind of student and I could access my room as soon as the plane landed. Honestly, it's kind of amazing, lots of space and everything accessible for people in wheelchairs. Sure, it reminds you constantly of the fact that you now live in a school for crippled, but it's a small price to pay to be comfortable. The rest of the school is also available despite the fact that only a handful of students was already on the campus.

It's only the first day and I've already been bored to death by my room, once I installed the laptop on the table. I didn't want to play for now so I've settled on exploring the whole place. I've been advised to try the library – which is cool – and the gym – which is... I have no idea why someone would advise me that. After a few minutes in the corridor, I've discovered the Holy Grail. An elevator. Adapted. To Wheelchair. It's freaking huge. Like, you could fit three of my vehicles into one of them and the buttons are at the perfect height. Honestly, I think I could have spent a few hours inside, just to enjoy that. A few hours after I installed my stuff, I decide that the Tachibana Academy is just fine for crippled.

But, let's not forget the point of leaving my room. I need to find the library. On my way, I think I saw someone on the far end of a corridor but he was gone quickly. The place really seems empty. And finally, I find the right down with the simple yet beautiful word “Library” written on it. I carefully push it and enter.

“Hum... Hello ?”

Usually, I'm not that shy even in a library, but it's a new place, in a new school, in a new city, in a country where the language is different from my own, so I think I got enough excuses. Plus, there isn't a soul behind the counter. A few books are waiting here, in a pile, like someone left them here to do something else. I wait 5 more seconds and roll between the shelves, looking for nothing and everything at the same time.

That seems to be in braille. So... I think I'll be better on the other side.

I'm starting to take confidence, navigating inside the shelves and trying to memorize how they are arranged. I'm probably not the only one here, but this place is so huge that I didn't see anyone yet. Then...

Eeeeek. Eeeeeek.

Oh come on. Don't tell me you need some grease. For a second I think it'll be ok before the wheelchair makes the exact same sound, squeaking slowly. I try to go slowly but it only makes things worse.

“Shut the fuck up, we're in a library...” I try to whisper.

Best part about being at school two weeks before the start of the school year? It's empty. No one you can possibly bump into, no noise to drown out the nice, rhythmic clicking of your cane, no idiots to try and trip you just to be funny (and yes, even schools for disabled kids usually have a couple of those of those assholes, at least as far as Ellie had noticed). The young girl felt like a queen! She could go wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted, with no teacher or a student telling her otherwise! One or two times she heard another student walking by (sadly all were female, if their perfume was any indication), but for the most part Ellie had the whole place all to herself. And she loved it!

The girl must have spent at least an hour exploring the relatively large building, trying to remember the layout and the locations of all the rooms for when the school opened and she was inevitably forbidden from using her cane inside due to the large number of people. Over the years, she'd developed a near-photographic memory when it came to spatial awareness, and it really helped that the names of all the rooms were written in both regular English and Braille on the plates by each door. That way, Ellie could easily compose a mental map of the whole place while she was exploring. Unfortunately, her map-making adventure had to come to a screeching halt when she discovered the school library.

Ellie adored reading. She had loved it ever since she was in diapers! The loss of her sight did absolutely nothing to strip her of this adoration, quite the opposite - once movies had lost most of their charm, reading was pretty much all she had left. As such, she felt it was vitally important to inspect the library ASAP, just for future reference! As soon as she entered, Ellie tapped her cane a few times on the floor, almost squealing when the echo indicated that the room was quite a lot bigger than she had expected. She slowly took a few steps forward, careful not to bump into any furniture. It didn't take long for her to discover the bookshelf closest to the door, which - if the spines weren't lying - was filled exclusively with books in Braille. Ellie thought that this was actually a pretty decent idea, sparing the blind students the trouble of having to navigate the entire room searching for books and just placing them right at the entrance. Either that, or the library had a lot more books in Braille than she thought. The young girl didn't mind either way.

Ellie thought that, now that she was there, she might as well browse a little bit. She slowly ran her finger through the spine of each book, recognizing a few of the titles, though most were titles she'd never heard of. They didn't seem to be in any particular order, alphabetical or otherwise, so Ellie allowed herself to pull a few out that seemed interesting to her and place them on a pile on the floor, intending to put them aside and check them out once the school year began and the librarian came to work. At least that was the plan... Until she spotted 'Insurgent'.

A year or two ago, Ellie read 'Divergent' and fell absolutely in love with it. She wasn't really a fan of young adult novels - she found 'Twilight' to be repulsive (quite surprising, for a hopeless romantic like her) and 'Hunger Games' to be just a watered down version of 'Battle Royale' with all depth and ambiguity replaced by teen drama. But 'Divergent' was different. Sure, it had a lot of corniness in it, but it also had a complex world, a protagonist that was actually interesting to follow and some really creative ideas. At the time, the second book, 'Insurgent', hadn't been released in Braille, and considering how rarely books of this kind got adapted, she kind of assumed it never would be... But there it was, right in her hands! 'Insurgent' by Veronica Roth! There was absolutely no way this was going to wait for 2 weeks. She was reading through it immediately. 600 pages? Pfft! She could chew through that in, like, half a day if she tried! And if push came to shove, she could always sneak it out of the library and return in tomorrow or something. It wasn't like anyone was going to tell her something!

Book in hand, Ellie gently tapped her cane a few times as she moved forward, trying to find a place to sit. Ultimately, she managed to discover a few beanbags in the back of the library, which, while not exactly the most comfortable things in the world, were going to do just fine! The eleven year old girl threw herself on one before promptly taking off her shoes and socks - if she was going to be comfortable she couldn't be anything but barefoot. Shoes had always felt restrictive to her, for some reason, even when they were more open, like sandals. She was sure that the Tachibana Academy had some hygiene-related rules regarding bare feet on campus, but as Grunkle Stan from 'Gravity Falls' once said - "If the police aren't looking, anything's legal!" The girl also considered letting her hair loose, but eventually decided against it. If someone entered, she could probably put her footwear back on before they got to her. Her hair, though, was going to be a lot more difficult. Once the preparations were complete, Ellie lied back into the beanbag and opened the book.

There are generally several methods blind people use when reading - some like to use a single finger, while others prefer to use both their index fingers, with some even using most of their fingers. Ellie's method was a bit more peculiar - she liked to use her right index and middle fingers, reading with her middle finger and using the index one for confirmation in case she missed anything. This allowed her to reach some pretty impressive speeds, and while she couldn't exactly reach the levels of a speed-reader who could use their eyes, she definitely fared way above average as far as blind readers were concerned. The negative part was that reading required a whole lot of concentration, so the act usually left her oblivious to anything happening around her. That's why, when a girl said "Hello" at the entrance, Ellie didn't even flinch. Still, as the new person in the library came closer, it was a bit hard to ignore the repeated screeching of a wheelchair.

Eeeeek. Eeeeeek.

As soon as Ellie heard the sound next to her, the small girl jumped up in her seat, 'looking' around as she tried to determine the source and location of the noise. That was definitely a mechanical kind of 'eeek', so the girl ruled out the possibility of it being a wheelchair, without it even occurring to her that it could be a mechanical one.

"Uh... Hello? Is someone there?", she spoke, feeling a bit afraid that someone might have caught her in the act.

As it turned out, Ellie wasn't just imagining things - there was a sound there! And from a wheelchair too! And atop the wheelchair was sitting a cute girl! Well, sure, the young girl couldn't say for certain, but she had an adorable French accent, and she smelled pretty nice! Wait... Did she? Ellie didn't want to sniff around, but she wasn't sure if that nice smell came from her companion or from herself. She'd recently switched perfumes, so the scent of the new one was still a little bit foreign to her. Well, her new companion was a French girl, after all (or at the very least from the French-speaking part of Canada, which was more or less the same thing), so she had to have some perfume on, right? Gah, why was she overthinking this?!? Focus, Ellie!

"Hey!", the girl smiled. "No, no, it's okay, you're not interrupting anything. I'm just glad you're not a teacher or someone with a stick up their butt, because I don't think either of us is supposed to be here!", she chuckled. "I mean, yeah, I know the library officially opens alongside the school, but come on, can you blame me? They've got 'Insurgent'! I had to get my hands on that!", Ellie spoke as she lifted the book up, somehow subconsciously expecting that her new companion would be able to read the Braille on the cover.

As the new girl prepared to leave, though, Ellie quickly closed the book, placing her small finger in between the pages to keep track of where she was. "You don't have to go!", she almost begged. "I haven't spoken to anyone in this school yet! Well, except for Hawke, but he's a really big pervert. He watches porn, like, all the time, and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he tries something funny! Some advice from girl to girl - don't let him get too close!", she nodded her head affirmatively. He he he. That's what you get for not setting her up with any cute guys, Hawke.

"But anyway! I'm Ellie! Real pleasure to meet ya!", the girl grinned, offering her spare hand in the general direction of her companion's voice and sincerely hoping that she had both of her hands. Would've been so awkward to offer a handshake to an amputee... Suffice to say, Ellie knew that firsthand.

"Two hours?", Ellie raised an eyebrow. "And you're already in the library? I don't usually like to use the word 'nerd', but...", she chuckled. While it was true that in reality there was hardly a bigger nerd than her in the entire school, she at least tried to hide it as much as possible, being fully aware how much of a social life poison the branding was. Caroline, though... Well, she didn't appear to mind. Or she just didn't know that going to the library first thing after transferring to a new school made you a nerd. Either way, the little girl found it quite adorable. "It's okay, your secret is safe with me!"

When Caroline asked about 'Divergent', Ellie's blue eyes lit up immediately. Holy shit, she now had a nerdy friend! She could talk to her about, like, books and superheroes and stuff! She could geek out! They could binge-watch 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' together! They could go to conventions and cosplay together!!! Ellie let out a chuckle as she quietly saved this little fantasy, adding all of the tasks from it onto her mental 'Things to do before I die or get old' list.

"Oh my gosh, 'Divergent' is just so friggin' good! It's probably the best young adult novel out there! I mean, I haven't read them all, but most of them tend to be total trash... At least the ones I can find in Braille or as an audiobook. Like, there's no substance in them, y'know? It's just pandering to teenage girls! Oooh, let's make this story center around a love triangle, that's what kids want! Let's make a main character without a semblance of personality so that the kids can identify with her! Bo-ring~!", she took a breath. "At least 'Divergent' isn't like that. I mean, sure, it's got the obligatory romance, but it's also got, like, this super awesome world... Like, everyone gets separated into one of five groups based on their personality and stuff, but if you fit into more than one group you're considered a threat and get hunted down. So the protagonist, who's, like, this Amish girl - or at least what passes for Amish in that world - suddenly finds herself as a Divergent, like, one of those people who fit in more than one place, so she decides to join the army in order to learn how to fight and defend herself for when they come for her. It is SO good, seriously!", the little girl finished her speech. Rule number 1 of Ellie - never, ever, ever bring up anything geeky or nerdy in front of her unless you want an enthusiastic speech from a walking encyclopedia.

"Yeah, I think you'll like it! I mean, every rule has its exceptions, so who knows, this might be the one young adult novel you like!", Ellie chuckled. She thought about adding the fact that being somewhat interested in a book still made you a nerd, but she didn't want to come off as mean. Sometimes her playfulness and lack of filter didn't leave a really good impression. "I think I took it with me when I moved here, I can lend it to you if you... Wait, that won't work, will it?", she laughed awkwardly. It was so hard to remember the fact that most people didn't know how to read Braille!

When Caroline told Ellie about it being either the library or the gym, the little girl raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? What kind of an idiot told you that?", she scoffed. Having been around people who weren't exactly sensitive about her disability for years had left a pretty bad taste in the girl when it came to those things. "Well, in any case, there's also the art room! I mean, I've never went there, cuz, y'know...", she waved her hand in front of her eyes in a rather obvious demonstration of her blindness. "But I assume it's filled with all kinds of supplies, if you're the artistic type! There's also the music room, if you've ever wanted to learn guitar or something... Or how about the gardens? I dunno what they've got there, but it smells really, really good! And if all else fails, there's also the pool. I mean, I don't think you can swim, but you can, like... Float, maybe?", she shrugged playfully.

Upon being asked if she had been there for long, Ellie nodded. "Yeah, I arrived about three days ago. I didn't need to, but... Y'know, I thought it'd be fun, and it'd give me a chance to explore the school before it fulls up with people who scoff at the sight of a cane!", she smiled. And besides, an individual room certainly beat foster care. "What about you? Why'd you arrive so early?"

I couldn't keep my eyes from looking at the little girl, even though it wouldn't really matter if I didn't look at her in the eyes. She wouldn't notice after all but I was used to keep eye-contact with the person I was talking to and it wasn't something you could forget easily. Plus, it didn't hurt to do it after all, I was able to see how Ellie was reacting. Her eyes were fascinating actually, not blank and empty like you would expect from a blind person, they were actually moving at every second. I suppose it is because she hadn't been blind forever but I wouldn't know. And I don't think it is a good idea to speak of it. Even if Ellie seems to be quite comfortable about her condition, she even made a joke about her book which was probably in braille.

“Yeah, I don't think I'll be able to read it that way. But I'm pretty sure there is the same book adapted for me in this library, right ?”

Actually, she seemed very comfortable with it, judging by how she moved her hands in front of her eyes like this. It reminded me of a character in a cool cartoon so I couldn't help but chuckle a little. And she was way more informed than the girl who escorted me at my room a few hours earlier. I guess she was busy.

“Well, the gardens sound cool, plus I would already have tried that after a while. The music room is kinda nice too, I'm not playing any instrument, but I was a pretty good singer before... Well.”

I stop at that. I didn't sing since the accident actually. I don't know why, but I'm pretty sure the fact that I can't stand anymore will reduce my capacities and I don't want to hear myself like this. Also, I can't dance anymore, which is even worse.

“And I can certainly float young lady. Doesn't mean I want to.” I chuckle again. “Well, I guess I'll try all of this later.”

So, apparently it was her first year too, but she already had three days to explore. I wondered if it was the first time she entered the library, since it was forgotten. I didn't ask her, though. Instead, I shrugged, forgetting she wouldn't be able to see it. I just answer her question, almost honestly. I mean, I couldn't have said “I want to be as far away as possible from my parents because they are absolute assholes” so I lighten the truth a bit.

“Well, I've come from far away, so I guess I wanted to prepare myself in a calm environment first you know ? So I can ease myself into the city and the school. Kinda.”

Plus, maybe it'll give me time to work on my accent because I need to. A lot.

While Caroline kept eye contact with Ellie, the same obviously wasn't true for the younger girl. Her eyes wandered around as she spoke, only occasionally focusing on her conversational partner, and even then she tended to look more towards her mouth than meet her gaze. It was a bad habit she'd picked up during her early years of her life in darkness - one that she shared with quite a lot of blind people. On rare occasions she'd remember to look slightly higher than the source of her partner's voice, but for the most part she ended up simply staring at their lips... Whenever she even bothered to look at them at all.

"I guess. I mean, as far as I can tell this place is gigantic, so it's bound to be here somewhere, right? Guess the hard part would be finding it", the girl chuckled. When Caroline mentioned that she no longer sang, Ellie tilted her head a little bit. From the way her companion was speaking, it seemed like her predicament was caused by some sort of accident... Which was something that the child could relate to. Still, it didn't sound like said accident had damaged Caroline's vocal chords at all, as besides her rather obvious accent she sounded just fine... So why did she seem so reluctant to sing? Ellie thought about asking, but ultimately decided not to - her companion hadn't asked any questions about her blindness, after all, so she felt like it wouldn't be fair to pry.

As Caroline explained her reasoning for being in the school so early, Ellie nodded her head understandingly. "Yeah, I hear ya... I was born and raised in Ontario, so I'm about as adjusted to this place as anywhere. Windsor isn't that different from Toronto. Toronto's just... Bigger, I guess. Like, five times as big", she chuckled. "I'm guessing you're from somewhere in Quebec? Accent kinda gave it away!"

The little girl nodded when offered the chance to explore the school alongside Caroline. Having someone around always helped, at least as far as navigation was concerned. No more bumping into walls while exploring without a cane! And besides, it was fun to just have someone to talk to while walking. Ellie had to use her ears for navigation just as much as other people used their eyes, so listening to music while walking wasn't exactly a possibility, which made walks kind of boring. It would've been pretty cool to have a companion, especially if Caroline also lived in the dorms. Perhaps they could go to school together every morning? That would've been so cool!

"Yeah, sounds great to me! I mean, I'm already familiar with most of it, but there's still some areas I haven't been in, like the gardens and stuff. So, you know, I'm always up for exploration if you are!", she smiled.

Upon learning that her companion wasn't from Quebec, Ellie's mouth gaped a bit. "W-wait, you mean you're not Canadian?!?", she gasped. All this time, the girl had assumed that Caroline had grown up speaking both English and French, much like how Ellie and a whole lot of Canadians had. "Do you want to switch to French?", Ellie asked in the language. "I've got no problem speaking either French or English, so if you're more comfortable with French we can stick to that! I'm sorry I didn't suggest it earlier, I just didn't assume English wasn't your first language", she continued. Interestingly enough, while Ellie did have a barely noticeable accent when speaking French, it was one that was rather typical to Quebec and other French-speaking parts of Canada. As she'd learned the language from native Canadian speakers, it was more or less impossible not to get their accent as well, but for the most part her pronunciation was actually pretty good.

My face lit with a warm smile as soon as the girl confirmed she would be okay to explore our new school with me. Despite my usual joyful nature – or, to be more honest, false nature – I was very worried about discovering this whole new world completely alone. I’m not sure I was even aware of that before setting my feet – figuratively – into this school, but it’s true. I suddenly remember that I was never really alone in my life, not in school. Even when I passed and went into a new environment, I always had friends. In a way, it’s a strength, I know I’m pretty good with being friendly, not that I can befriend anyone at any time, but I’ve never had any problem to merge into a group. Strangely, it is also a weakness, I’ve never been alone, I don’t even know how to handle it. Maybe that’s why I stayed so little time in my room, I wanted to go and meet people.

I feel disgusted, am I that weak ? It’s impossible. However, I can let this young girl know of what I’m feeling, so I just smile calmly.

“Awesome. I’m in room 124, at the dorms, if you want to go exploring one day or another, you’ll just have to knock.”

It sounds like I found myself a new buddy, much younger than usual, but that’s a start. Plus, the start of the school year is still two weeks away, I’ll have time to ease myself into this school and this city. I’m sure Ellie will help with that. Somehow, I hope I can be of some help with her too, but I’m not that sure. I mean, she sounds like someone used to her conditions already, even if she’s not used to this school yet, I feel like she’s ahead of me, despite her age.

She’s even ahead of me when it comes to language. My eyes widened a little, but I shouldn’t be surprised, I’m in Canada, not U.S.A, French is a more common language here. That’s why she assumed I was from Québec. Hearing my native language so far from home, when I’m already used to hear English all the time is weird, but not bad.

“Merci, mais non merci.”* I replied in French, before switching back to English.

“To be perfectly honest with you, I didn’t travel from Paris to Toronto to speak French. I hope this year will allow me to enhance my talking. So, I’m afraid you’ll have to suffer my accent for as long as possible. Just tell me if it’s too much of a pain in the ass, and I’ll switch back to French.”

I laugh at myself, hoping to make her more comfortable with what I just said, but it’s true. I need to improve my English and I can’t do that if I always speak in French.

* "Thank you but no, thank you." if you need a translation

"Oh, cool! I'm in 212, myself! I think they reserved the first floor of the dorms for people in wheelchairs and gave everyone else the upper ones... But I'm not too sure. Still, we're not that far away! I can come to your door every morning so we can walk to school together if you want! Well, one of us would be walking at least!", she chuckled, hoping she didn't offend her new friend with her little joke. Really, Ellie was quite fond of making light of heavy subjects, such as disabilities - humour was the only thing that had been giving her solace during all those years in darkness. While she would never admit it, the girl deeply regretted the loss of hey eyesight ever since she was little. She never understood the people who were 'proud' of their disabilities, boldly proclaiming that they wouldn't change themselves for the world. In reality, Ellie would've done anything to see for just one day. But since that was an impossibility (at least until science was advanced enough to give her a new occipital lobe), she was stuck trying to make herself feel better about her situation - and about everything else that bothered her - through humour. She was quite similar to Caroline in that regard.

As her companion refused Ellie's offer, the little girl nodded her head. "That makes sense, yeah. Still, if you can't remember something in English, feel free to say it in French! A good chunk of people here will understand. Ontario is pretty close to Quebec, after all, so a lot of us grew up speaking both French and English", she confirmed. "And your accent isn't that bad! I mean, sure, I can hear it, but that's just 'cuz my ears are, like, really, really sensitive. I've heard a fly buzz in the other room through a closed door, no joke! I'm like Daredevil!", the girl grinned. "But yeah, I doubt other people will be able to really notice it that much. And even if they do, well, a Parisian accent is sexy! I'm sure guys will be all over you!"

Far from offending Caroline, the joke made her laugh, not like a crazy, but it was still a laugh and it was good to have. The French girl was way too fond of this kind of joke, especially about cripples, to be mad at someone else for joking about her disability. She was actually relieved of that, because it meant she could do the same kind of joke to her, after all. If Ellie didn’t want people to make fun or her poor eyesight, she wouldn’t have made fun of Caroline’s wheelchair. At least, that’s how the older of the two understood that and it was more than enough for her.
Apparently, Ellie was truly eager to know more about her new… well, friends seemed very much appropriate right now, since she just suggested that they would walk to school together in the morning. It didn’t seem too weird to accept it.

“Sure Ellie, could be fun. Plus, if all the wheelchair-guys are on the same level, I’m sure I’ll bond with them about that. Maybe they’ll be jealous of mine, I’m thinking about adding flames on the wheels so that people would have the feeling I’m going super-fast by looking at me…. Well, of course it won’t work for you, but hey, I can’t think of everything.”

Sexy ? That wouldn’t be the first word in her mind when it comes to her accent, but she wasn’t the most fitting person to judge. Maybe a French accent truly was sexy after all, you can never know.

“Don’t over-exaggerate, miss Murdock. I know everyone can hear it. And yeah, I’m sure I’ll have girls and guys all over me, but that’s not because of my accent, I’m just that hot. It’s not my fault, I’m just born that way.”

She shrugged, remembering after the fact that Ellie couldn’t have seen that. But yeah, she hoped that the little girl would be wrong about that, she didn’t want to have guys over her. Not that she didn’t know how to handle it, but it could be hurtful, she didn’t like to reject people, though she already had to do it once clearly. Usually, she just tried to make it clear quickly that they didn’t stand a chance with her. But nicely.
Today, she didn’t want to talk too much about that, so she changed the subject. Very subtly.

“So, do you think they got a big shelf for fantasy stuff here ? I’m not too much into reading, but my brother infected me with those.”

[OOC]Sorry I came back to third person mid-rp, it just comes easier to me

[Don't worry about the switch! We gotta experiment a bit until we find our comfort zone, after all ]

"Ooooh, flames! I like that! You'd be like a paraplegic version of Ghost Rider!", she chuckled. When Caroline called her 'Miss Murdock', Ellie couldn't help but laugh out loud. Ghost Rider and Daredevil, what a team! The little girl's eyes glanced to the side as she tried to remember any instance of the pair actually teaming up in the comics, but she couldn't really think of anything. Then again, the only things she knew about comics at all either came from Graphic Audio audioplays or from what her foster brother Joel - a hardcore comic book nerd - had told her. She could have easily missed an issue where the two teamed up, though Ellie didn't assume that they'd get along very well, considering Ghost Rider (at least the Johnny Blaze version of him) was an actual daredevil and would probably take an issue with Murdock's claim to the name. When she caught herself spacing out, daydreaming about nerdy stuff again, the little girl quickly focused her eyes back to where Caroline's voice was coming from.

"Well, I'm just gonna have to take your word for it!", she laughed as Caroline explained about her hotness. "Though I kinda hope it's true! Do you know how awesome it is to have a really hot friend? You can be my wingwoman, attracting the guys and sending them my way! N-not that I'm... Desperate for a boyfriend or anything... It's just if it happens, you know?", she shifted her eyes.

As she was asked about fantasy, Ellie rubbed her chin. "I couldn't tell you... So far I've only checked the braille books, and not even all of them. You're gonna have to look around", she spoke. "So, what fantasy books do you like? I don't think I've read too many of those, so I could use some recommendations. Last one I read was... I believe it was called 'Prince of Thorns', and it was really, really weird. I don't think I liked it very much"

Ghost Rider ? Well, she hadn't thought about that, but it made a lot of senses actually. Carole couldn't help but giggle at this idea. She was always surprised to see how much this young girl knew about some pop culture references, and she knew she shouldn't be surprised like this. She still had no idea for how long Ellie had been blind and with all the audio-books, audio-descriptions and all that stuff, she could've easily known about a lot of characters like that. Caroline just wasn't used to meet blind people, apparently. She should probably get used to that kind of thing, because in that school, there was a lot of different disability.

“Well, yeah, actually. Ghost Rider sounds amazing, except for the whole 'skull on fire' thing, I'm not sure I could do that. And I'm pretty the school wouldn't like me trying so I'll stick with the wheelchair on fire.”

So, Ellie was young, but apparently already in the process of discovering boys. Caroline had a phase like this, well... sort of. She could understand. Plus, she has already done that kind of stuff. She has been a pretty good friend with that since... well, no boys were of interest for her. She always redirected them to her friends and everybody was happy, almost. The thing is, she never did that for a friend that young compared to her. Yet, she laughed at the idea.

“Well, don't worry about it. I'll be sure to send every guy to you. Not because you're desperate, of course, it happens. And well, I'll try to make sure those I send to you aren't too old, so I'm not sure how it'll turn up, we'll see. But I can be your hot friend, for sure.”

It has been a moment now that those two were talking, and Caroline was starting to get comfortable, especially with the use of the verbs “see” and “look”. She smiled at Ellie and shrugged.

“Yeah, one of us has to look around and I feel like it's going to be me. But don't ask me for recommendations, as I said, I don't read a lot of them. My brother made me read some of those when I was younger, probably your age. There is 'A song of Ice and Fire' that I've read... a lot of times. Maybe that's why I'm weird because... I don't think they are meant for children. Also, The Farseen Trilogy is really interesting, but it's the same problem.”

She turned around on her wheelchair, trying to have a good look of the whole library but it was way too big.

“Oh, and maybe you've heard of them. There are some nice little books in a Fantasy setting called 'The Lord of the Rings', they appeared to be pretty fun.”

"Yay!", Ellie exclaimed happily like only a little girl could. She'd wanted a boyfriend (or maybe a girlfriend - she wasn't quite sure yet) for as long as she could remember. Perhaps it had to do with the reality of living in a foster home, and the Disney fantasy of a beautiful prince coming to take her away just seemed seemed rather appealing to her. There was also the fact that, as much as she didn't want to admit it, being blind meant that she was dependent on other people. She couldn't go shopping by herself. She couldn't cook almost anything. She couldn't read 99% of all written things around her, be they posters, labels or handouts. She couldn't go exploring the city on her own, at least not effectively (as she wouldn't be able to see what was around her, so exploration made little sense). Hell, she could barely even work with cash, as she had to rely on Hawke to fold her banknotes in different ways depending on their value, and they always tended to get unfolded in her wallet. Despite her intelligence, Ellie was far from independent, and if she had to have someone by her side at all times, why not someone she could love?

When Caroline began talking about the books, the young girl nodded. "Yeah, I'd wanted to read 'A Song of Ice and Fire' ever since my fo... My friend got into the show and then wouldn't shut up about it. But I've never actually found it in Braille. I mean, they're bound to be sold somewhere, but I haven't been able to find them. And yeah, there's also the fact that they probably wouldn't be very appropriate for someone a month from her 12th birthday", she chuckled. "And yeah, 'Lord of the Rings', huh? The name kinda sorta rings a bell. That was the one about the boy with glasses that goes in a wardrobe, right?", the little girl laughed, sincerely hoping that her sarcasm wouldn't be lost on Caroline. Her companion seemed like she had a sense of humor, but one never knew. "But yeah, I've actually never read them. Braille versions tend to be larger than the regular books, since the fonts are quite big and the pages are thick, and honestly, I don't think I can even lift the Braille edition of 'Lord of the Rings'. I've seen the movies, though! Well, listened to them, mostly!"

“Oh yeah, the show.” Caroline said, sounding a lot biter than she thought. “Ah, sorry. I tend to be a book snob sometimes, don’t worry about it.”

She laughed it off, especially after Ellie herself made a joke about the Lord of the Rings. She couldn’t blame her on that. Once again, Caroline was discovering that she had no idea what life could a blind person live. Like, she knew about books in braille but she hadn’t thought about all the problems you could still had with that. She realized that most of her life was spent not thinking about such thing, and probably most of everybody’s life. Should she feel shameful about that ? It wasn’t being a bad person of course, right ? It was just being, well, unaware of some things. That sounded okay and she decided it was okay. Most people couldn’t think of all the stupid stuff she was forced to do because of the wheelchair, and she had nothing against them.

“A month ? Well, I already know what to buy then. I’m sure the first book ‘ AGame of Thrones’ is heavier than you, but you’ll deal with it. Be careful though, you might end up like me, reading those books at such an age, and I’m not talking about the wheelchair thing, I’m talking the crazy part.”

She chuckled nicely.

“Also, I think you confused ‘The Lord of the Rings’ with ‘Eragon’, The Rings is actually about a sparkling vampire with a scar, who loves to go into the forest. I think.”

She laughed again, apparently the blind girl had a sense of humor so she might as well enjoy it. Maybe not everyone in this school will have the same. Joking about movies or books seems ok with everyone but shortly before they were both joking about each other disability. While Caroline greatly enjoyed that, since it’s a way to make people forget about it, she was pretty sure that not everyone was comfortable with it.
But, as fun and interesting as Ellie was, it was probably best to not use her time all that much.

“Well, Ellie. I think I delayed you enough with your reading. I might as well go and explore the library and let you finish your book. I’ll probably go around the school after that, what do you say we explore the gardens together by tomorrow ? Just don’t expect to come at your door to knock, you’ll have to be the one doing it.”

Caroline had offered that without thinking one second about it. Actually, she didn’t even thought about it before starting to speak. She was like that, when an idea came to her, she was usually talking about it the second after.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about the crazy part! After all, we're all mad here", she chuckled. 'Alice in Wonderland' had been one of the first books Ellie ever read, even before she had lost her sight. And even afterwards, her first foster mother had given her the braille version as a parting gift, and since then the girl had read it so much that she knew most of it by heart. For a moment, she wondered if she was going to like 'A Song of Ice and Fire' just as much. The young girl had heard people talking about it a lot, with some of the older kids in her last foster home being fanatics when it came to 'Game of Thrones'. But she also heard that there was a lot of violence and sex in them. Not that the girl, despite her intellect, knew exactly what 'sex' even was, but she knew it probably wasn't something she was supposed to know just yet. Or was it? Nobody had ever explained it to her, and it wasn't like she had the Internet to check it out. Maybe she was supposed to ask Caroline about it? Perhaps it was going to be best if that waited for another time, though.

When Caroline told the young girl that she would be going, the blind child nodded her head. "Alright, sure! I'm probably gonna try and finish this today, just in case someone decides to, y'know, give me trouble for sneaking in here when I wasn't supposed to", she spoke. "But how about we explore tomorrow? I'm gonna do my best to try and find your room in the morning. I'll try my best not to bother too many of your neighbours looking for it!", she laughed. As the red-haired girl prepared to leave, Ellie raised her voice again. "Oh, Caroline? Thanks for chatting with me! I had a lot of fun!", she smiled.

She laughed at the idea of the little girl being caught inside the library. Could she really be punished for reading a book before the start of the school year. Caroline thought that it would be stupid but it was never a good idea to undermine how stupid the rules of a school could be.

“Don't worry” she assured. “If someone ask me, I didn't see you here. There is no one in this library. I'll also try my best so that they don't close it with you inside but I can't make a promise on that.”

For a moment, she wondered if she shoud have proposed to go and find Ellie tomorrow, instead of the opposite. She quickly decided that it was of no matter. The important thing was that they'll find each other by the morning and then they could go on their adventure to discover the school. That also meant that, tonight, she needed to sleep early because she had no idea when Ellie was going to pass by. It was for the best anyway, she needed the sleep after all that.

“Sure, I'll be waiting. I'm sure my neighbours will love you dearly.”

She was starting to go on her way, waving goodbye to Ellie, when she rememberd how stupid it was to make a sign to someone who couldn't see it. Caroline hesitated to apologize when Ellie's voice took her by surprise. Her sincere thanks made the young woman smile and she kept on rolling away.

“No problem, Ellie. It was really fun. Looking forward to tomorrow.”

"Well, what's the worst that could happen? Even if they lock me in, I've got a whole bunch of books here! Those should be enough to sustain me in lieu of food and water", the little girl chuckled. "And don't worry, I shall win over your neighbors with my pure adorableness! No one has been able to frown in the presence of this young lady! Not that I could tell, but still...", she sighed quietly.

As was to be expected, she had absolutely no idea that Caroline was waving at her, even if in reality the awkward silence should've been a dead giveaway. Despite how smart and alert of things Ellie was, sometimes her brain simply went poof for those kinds of little things. It was only after the girl in the wheelchair said goodbye that everything clicked in her mind. She waved back with a smile on her face, uttering a "Same here!" before once again pressing her fingers against the letters of the book.