Three-eyed wander [PRIVATE]

It has been a week now and the exploration of this school was almost entirely done. Through their walks in the corridors, whether it was with Ellie or with Zee, Caroline discovered almost every room of interest in this school. The only one she hadn't properly visited yet was the art room and only because she stumbled across it when she was with Ellie and it didn't seem fair to spent too much time inside while the blind kid couldn't enjoy it. Now, the only mysteries left were the gardens. Not that she hadn't visited them before, but they were huge. If somehing was left to discover, it was probably hidden somewhere in there. It was also the perfect opportunity to take both Zee and Ellie somewhere.

She was a wingwoman after all, and she takes that role very seriously. Caroline had promised to Ellie that she will send every guy to her. Zee was a guy, so it made perfect sense to make the two of them collide. Sure, Mizo was older than Ellie, but it was a start, not like they had a lot of choice when the school was still mostly empty. And the idea itself was too funny to be abandonned. It has been a few days now that she talked to Ellie about it, she seemed enthusiastic but maybe she was simply joking. In any case, just making two friends of her meet was good enough in Caroline's opinion.

Like usual, it was Ellie who went to her room in the morning, Caroline only had to put on a buttoned shirt before going out. From the girl dorms, they went to the gardens, where they would meet with Mizo, as she had said to him.

“Here, it's good, he can't miss us.” Caroline said, right between the main entrance and the gardens.

She took her cellphone from her pocket, just in case he send a message or something.

“So... I told you I would find guys for you.” she said, teasing.

Mizo had rolled out of bed that morning, quite literally right onto the floor. He'd had those weird dreams again, oh well they were just dreams.  After finishing his morning routine which included doing a few stretches to help loosen up his bad leg Mizo got dressed, picking out a black t-shirt with a composite half and half of MegaMan X and Zero's head with the words "Reploids Against Mavericks" scrawled above ( Picture of Shirt ).
Throwing on his track jacket he took one last look in the mirror, messed up his hair a little more and was off.

He was off to meet Caroline at the gardens. She was going to introduce him to her friend today and the three of them were going to explore the large gardens. His leg was holding up a bit better today, but he'd missed his morning walk yesterday so it wasn't as limber as he'd of liked.
As he approached the gardens he saw Caroline and a younger girl he assumed must be Caroline's friend. He waved at the pair and said to them.

"Hey! Sorry I'm a little late, I didn't keep you waiting too long I hope."

His usual grim spread across his face

"Unless waiting is what you're into, in which case I can come back later" he added with a small chuckle

Today was going to be a monumental day in Ellie's short, yet surprisingly eventful life. When Caroline had told her that she'd introduce her to a guy - like, an actual guy that she could hear and touch - at first she barely believed it! After all, while it was true that Caroline had promised to act as a wingwoman for her young friend, Ellie didn't actually believe that this was going to happen. Not that she accused Caroline of being a liar or anything, but it wouldn't be surprising to her if the truth had been stretched a bit. Lots of people had done it to her already, after all. But when the day before the girl in the wheelchair had asked her if she wanted to meet a guy, Ellie finally realized that this was actually happening for real, and she couldn't be happier about it!

The young girl woke up early in the morning, took a long, steaming shower (the cool thing about living in a dorm as opposed to a foster home was that she could take literally as long as she wanted to shower without worrying about saving water for 5-6 other people) and then picked out her best outfit - her signature green hoodie (she rarely left home without it) on top of a black T-shirt and white shorts. She'd shaved her legs while in the shower, and the weather was still relatively warm despite the fact that fall was coming, so she felt like shorts were appropriate, and would raise her cuteness level by a few notches.

Picking the clothes out wasn't that hard, even for a blind person - she knew exactly how each of them felt, so she could mix and match outfits while being fully aware of what the end result would look like even without having a mirror. Of course, sometimes accidents happened (like the time when she discovered that her T-shirt had had a hole in it the whole time she was wearing it, so embarrassing!), but for the most part Ellie prided herself on her fashion sense. Having never had too much money for herself, she often had to do a lot with very little, and as such managed to learn how to mix and match what few clothes she had into varying outfits that looked good while also seeming different enough. Once she was dressed, the girl applied some floral perfume to her clothes - not too much, but just enough to make the scent noticeable. She really liked her perfume's sweet scent, but she wasn't sure if it was what guys were after. There was only one way to find out!

But if making an outfit without looking at it might seem like a difficult task to someone, imagine what putting on make-up was like! Ellie rarely put on make-up, mostly when she knew she'd be meeting someone special, or attending some sort of event, and even so, she never put so much make-up as to be noticeable. It was kind of a necessity, considering the fact that she couldn't really see how she looked, and as such had to rely on minimalism to excel. Even so, putting on her make-up and making sure that it was stellar took at least 45 minutes whenever she decided to do it. The only way she could be sure that she didn't look like a clown was if she went very, very slowly and carefully and then double, triple and quadruple checked. After all, it wasn't like anyone was going to tell her if she'd messed her make-up, so she had to rely solely on herself!

Still, the girl was lucky enough to get it over and done with well before the agreed meeting time. The final touch was her hair, which Ellie brushed thoroughly before tying in her signature high tails, which were literally the cutest hairstyle ever invented in the history of mankind, as proven by numerous scientists in peer-reviewed studies. After running her fingers gently through her hair a few times to make sure it was perfect, the girl grabbed the key to her dorm room and her favorite red cane (just like the one Daredevil had in the 2003 movie... Or so she was told) before quickly making her way downstairs and to Caroline's room. By that point, Ellie had been down there so many times that she knew the entire floor layout, including who Caroline's immediate neighbors were (hey, no one said she got it right away). With a huge grin on her face, the little girl knocked a few times on her best friend's door before stepping back to allow her wheelchair to move out. Was it right to call Caroline her best friend? They had only known each other for a few weeks, after all... But since Ellie didn't have a better friend at the moment, she decided to stick with that name, at least in her head.

The walk to the gardens was a short and rather uneventful ones - the girls had their usual chat about how they were doing, what they dreamed about, that kind of stuff. Ellie lied on both counts, of course, but there was no other way - her chronic depression didn't exactly mesh with her genki girl image, after all. Instead she stuck to her usual routine of being remarkably adorable and super excited about everything, especially about the prospect of finally being paired up with a boy.

"I know! I can hardly believe it myself!", she responded to Caroline. "Is he hot? Please tell me he's hot! Honestly, at this point I'd take a 7/10 or above! Maaaaaybe a six if he's got a really cool personality and is into comic books! Definitely not a five or below, though! I'm not Alicia Masters!", she exclaimed, knowing full well that Caroline probably had no idea who Alicia Masters was, but explaining the joke would've just ruined it.

The two didn't actually have to wait very long in order to meet the guy. Sure, he was a little late, but the moment Ellie heard his voice she knew that the wait had been worth it! He sounded mature, definitely out of that awkward period when boys first entered puberty and their voice began to crack, but still not old enough to be called a man. If Ellie had to guesstimate, she'd place him at about... 14, maybe 15. As he approached them, the little girl smiled widely at him, looking at the direction of his voice.

"Oh, that's okay! Waiting can be sexy sometimes! But not if it's too much! You don't wanna keep a girl waiting for long! I give you a 9 out of 10 for this one, though", she chuckled, extending her small hand in Mizo's general direction. "Ellie Wilson, pleased to meet ya!", she grinned. Sure, that wasn't her real name, but she hated 'Eleanor' with a passion. That name never felt quite right... Or perhaps it felt a bit too right for her liking. She couldn't explain it. Nor did it matter.

Mizo extended his hand accepting the hand shake.

"Nice to meet you Ellie, You can call me Zee. Too bad I didn't get a perfect score though, guess I'll have to make things up to the both of you then." He said with a smile.

He looked over at the gardens noticing they looked a bit bigger than he'd first assumed. The sun felt good though and it couldn't have been a better day to wander through the gardens.

"Well I suppose I should consider myself lucky, I get to spend the day exploring with two lovely ladies. Most guys don't even get to spend this much time with one. You two ready?
he asked as he gestured toward the entrance to the gardens.

Of course, Ellie was quite excited for this day, it shouldn't have surprised her friend at all, but Caroline was still astonished by the energy the younger girl was able to produce. And it was only morning, which meant it could get worse really, really fast. They had talked about anything and everything on their way out, just like friends would do before they come to the real conversation. But as soon as the french girl mentioned boys, Ellie was triggered. Caroline had no memories of being like that at that age, but again she took a long time before figuring out what was the “problem” with her at that time. Maybe she would if she had the same interest as the young girl.

Since she seemed so eager to know, it was only fair that Caroline took her sweet time to answer to her. And it has nothing to do with the fact that she had no idea how to grade a guy like that, of course not.

“Well, you know. I'm maybe not the best to judge but I think that maybe... he's at least a 7. At least. I don't know about comic books, but he sure like games... And I always keep words on my promises.”

She had no idea who that Alicia was but it was no time for question. Of course, for now, she hadn't say to Ellie was it seemed so easy for her to bring her boys. Not that she was ashamed of that or anything, it was just not something she would talk about on a regular baisis, and not with someone as young as Ellie. All she had to know was that Caroline could be a good wingwoman, maybe she'll do the math herself after a while.

They didn't have much time to discuss further before their guest finally arrived. The french girl waved at him before he and Ellie did the presentation. She couldn't help but smile at her friend's excitement and talking. Luckily, Mizo was the kind of person to get the joke and actually respond to it pretty well. It would have been a shame. He didn't seem to notice the blindness at first, but maybe he was just better than her at not showing it.

Caroline grinned as soon as she heard “lovely ladies”, but she turned her wheelchair toward the gardens anyway.

“Don't hope too much, Zee. I won't stay the whole day outside or natural sunlight might hurt me. I can let you with one lovely lady, though. And I'm ready.”

Hope you're happy, Ellie. Caroline was already starting to plant seed for a date.

"Don't worry, Zee, I'm sure you'll have plenty of chances to make it up to me-- to us, I mean!", she chuckled, doing her best to flirt without going over the top. Or had she gone over the top? Her foster sisters, especially the older ones, had always told her that guys liked girls who maintained a certain distance - not too close, and yet not too far either. Being too eager was a turn-off, and being too distant could be interpreted as lack of interest. Finding that ever-so-delicate balance was crucial, her sisters had told her. She didn't know if there was any truth to that, but she supposed now was the time to find out!

Upon being referred to as a 'lovely lady', a faint blush spread across Ellie's cheeks. She knew she was cute, sure, but she always assumed her cuteness was akin to that of a small puppy, or a plush animal. Being only 12 years old (minus a couple of days, but who was counting), she couldn't exactly be any other kind of cute yet, at least not without looking absolutely ridiculous in the process. Still, being called a 'lady' and placed in the same category as Caroline - a much older girl that she knew (or at least suspected) was rather beautiful, did made her heart thump just a bit faster. She knew next to nothing about this Zee, but she already liked him!

As the trio prepared to head into the gardens, Ellie extended her cane once again and pointed it forward. Typically, when blind people were walking, they had two 'modes', so to speak - one, which was the more famous type that was often portrayed in TV and movies, involved gently tapping the tip of the cane and using the physical and auditory feedback from that to make an approximation about the area immediately in front of her. The second required the use of a partner, to whom Ellie would hold onto. In that case, she'd only point her cane forward to make sure she wouldn't run into anyone, or anything. This eliminated the rhythmic tapping that Ellie was quite fond of (but a lot of people found rather annoying), but also created the need for a certain level of intimacy. Which wasn't necessarily a band thing.

"Um, Zee?", she turned towards the direction his voice had last come from. "Mind if I hold onto your arm? I may not look it, but I'm blind as a badgermole! As stylish as it is, that cane here isn't just a fashion accessory!", she lifted it up a bit.

Caroline wrote:“Don't hope too much, Zee. I won't stay the whole day outside or natural sunlight might hurt me. I can let you with one lovely lady, though. And I'm ready.”

"Hey, part of a day is still better than none at all."

He replied, still smiling

Ellie wrote:"Um, Zee?", she turned towards the direction his voice had last come from. "Mind if I hold onto your arm? I may not look it, but I'm blind as a badgermole! As stylish as it is, that cane here isn't just a fashion accessory!", she lifted it up a bit.

"Mind? I don't mind at all. I'll lead you with my right arm."

Mizo said as he extended his arm and gently bumped the back of her hand with his own so that Ellie would know where his arm was at.

Well, Ellie didn't last any seconds. That could have made Caroline smile if they hadn't been with Mizo already. The blind girl was way more pro-active than her friend would have thought. Not that it was a problem of course, it was rather cute. Caroline laughed softly at the name of badgermole, not sure if Mizo would be able to get the references. It would have ruined the fun to explain it though, so she didn't say anything.
They ventured into the gardens, and she led the way in her wheelchair.

“So, before I lost you in there, lovebirds. Is there something you're looking for ?”

Caroline didn't care about using words like “look” or “see” with Ellie, or with Mizo actually. She had tried at first, to watch her steps and dodge the use of those words. But it was not only difficult but pointless, neither of them seemed to care about that.

“I must say, I'm only here to escort your, for first, and also to see if there is one place in that area that I missed.”

"Anything I'm looking for? Well I'd like to find out if there's any Lilac bushes. It's too late in the year for them to bloom right now, but in the spring they're really pretty and they smell amazing. How about you Ellie?"

Mizo asked

[Mizo, just for reference, please wait your turn before posting. The order goes Caroline, You, Me. If you've got something to say, save it for your own post. Let's not descend into chaos here]

"Great!", Ellie exclaimed, gently sliding her hand underneath Mizo's arm and gripping his biceps with her fingers before pulling in close. Mizo smelled so good! She didn't know if that was his perfume, deodorant or just the smell of the detergent or fabric softener he'd used for his laundry, but she adored the scent she got from the boy. For a moment, the blind girl even got a little bit self-conscious about her own smell. She knew she'd put on perfume, but was it good enough? It wasn't super-expensive, after all, so it wasn't all that strong and was probably going to wear off in a bit, but she still liked it and was kinda hoping Mizo would too. But what if he didn't? What if he hated that particular scent? She had pushed herself so close to him, and since she was blind and needed him for navigation he wasn't going to tell her anything even if he disliked the way she smelled. Was she supposed to ask him? No, it would've sounded like she was fishing for compliments, even if in reality it was quite the opposite. The little girl sighed quietly, catching herself overthinking stuff again.

The question about what she'd be looking for snapped the little girl out of her thoughts. "Oh!", she chirped, averting her eyes towards Mizo. "I dunno! I'm just gonna admire the sights, I guess! Or... The sounds, in my case!"

Lilac, huh ? Someone had a love for purple flowers. Not that Caroline couldn't understand, her own perfume was from lavender. The lilac's one was just stronger, but Mizo was right on the fact that a bush of those would be beautiful in spring. Unfortunately, the french girl had no idea how it would look like when it wasn't bloomed. She had probably seen it before but couldn't remember how it looked and it was impossible for her to be sure it would be lilac. She smiled and shrugged to her friend.

“Well, I hope you know how to recognize them because I don't think I can spot un-bloomed lilac in here. I'm just gonna check every bushes and you'll be on your own to tell us what those are.”

Caroline was trying very hard to not laugh at her youngest friend, who seemed absolutely captivated by Mizo. It was funny to see how even her eyes seemed to look at him like she was already in love, despite the fact that she could obviously not see a damn thing.

“Well then, I'll try not to be too noisy so you can enjoy all of that. Onward !”

She pushed a button and her motorized chair moved forward in the little alley of the gardens. Once again, she was surprized to see it have been designed to be welcoming for wheelchairs, since it was probably possible to cross another one in those alley and still not risk any collision. A detail of course, but one she was already able to appreciate. Caroline quickly led the way to a part of the gardens where absolutely no flowers had bloomed, which she supposed was the “spring place”. There was a few bushes but she was unable to see what were the plants.

[ Sorry about that, I forgot my Role-Play etiquette. I'll stick to the order from here one out. It's been a while since I was in a RP with more than one person at once. ]

When Ellie pulled herself in rather close it caused Mizo to blush a little. He'd had female friends before but he'd never really been close to a girl like this before. He could smell her perfume, it smelled nice. He suddenly became self conscious of weather or not he smelled alright, he was pretty sure he'd put some deodorant on...or was it some body spray? Either way he decided to say something

"Is that perfume? It smells nice."

Mizo followed as Caroline started to lead the way.

"Don't worry Caroline, I should be able to spot them."

He said in response to her concern about the bushes.
As they walked towards an area that looked as if it had more of the spring time bushes and plants Mizo looked over at Ellie again. She seemed to be enjoying herself and he couldn't help but smile a bit. Mizo decided to make some conversation to break the silence.

"So Ellie, what kind of stuff are you in to?"

The moment Mizo asked about her perfume, Ellie just felt herself dying. That was, without a doubt, the most embarrassing moment of her life. Embarrassing in a good way, but still! She'd never had a guy compliment her on her perfume! In fact, she'd never had a guy compliment her appearance in any way before! The worry that she probably didn't smell great melted, only to be replaced by five different types of self-consciousness. Did she look good enough? Was her make-up on properly? Did it get smeared? Did she come off as fishing for compliments somehow? Was she trying too hard to make him like her? It wasn't easy being Ellie!

'Thanks!', she grinned, not even betraying a hint of her anxiety. 'You don't smell too bad yourself! For a boy, at least!'

Upon being asked what she enjoyed, the young girl rolled her eyes in thought. Was she allowed to get weird with him? Being unable to see his geeky shirt, Ellie had no clue if he was a nerd or not. She did feel some muscle on his arm, so maybe he was a jock who was into sports or something and was going to laugh at her if she revealed her interests? Then again, if he WAS a nerd, then he was going to like her even more after this revelation! She had to play it smart.

'Lots of things, you know! Books, for example. I mean, there's not much else you can really enjoy when you're blind! I don't own a computer or anything like that, so I mostly just rely on books and my MP3 player for entertainment. I also have this friend who sometimes talks to me about comic books, so I know a bit about that too...', she finally admitted cautiously.

When Caroline asked Ellie about this idea, she had no idea it would work that good. The younger girl seemed very enthusiastic, of course, but she always was, especially when it came to boys. It was impossible, however, to know how Mizo would have reacted, so it could have been so wrong. But instead, they were talking about perfumes. Perfume. Shouldn't you wait a few dates before noticing a change of perfume. Maybe it was an american thing or something. Or maybe she was just imagining things.

In any case, it was her duty as a friend - of Ellie and of Mizo - to stop things here before they start making out in the middle of the gardens.

"Sure, she knows 'a bit'. I found her lurking inside the libraty my first day, when it was strictly forbidden to go inside - the reason I was at the library too doesn't matter. And I'm pretty sure that, if she hadn't already choose one book, I would have found her in the comic book section. Well... if there is one, that is."

She grinned to her friend, mockingly, forgetting once more that Ellie couldn't see that.

"Hey nothing wrong with liking comic books. Everyone's got that thing they enjoy doing. I'm what you'd call overly enthusiastic about playing my keyboard and classic video games."

He said with a playful smile

"I'm actually kinda curious now though, do they make braille comics or are they like an audio book type of thing?"

As Caroline mentioned the library, Ellie snuggled up to Mizo adorably, as if she was afraid that the revelation that the girl in front of him was actually a gigantic geek was going to make him pull away. With some people it was actually a very real possibility, but apparently not with a guy who spends his free time playing Donkey Kong Country competitively.

'S-shut up! You're one to talk, Ms. Song of Ice and Fire fangirl!', Ellie teased right back, sticking her tongue out to Caroline, though she doubted that either of her companions saw that. It might have been for the best.

When Mizo asked about how she experienced comic books, the young girl was more than happy to explain. The bespectacled boy should not have unleashed the genie from that bottle!
'Well, no, there aren't any comics in braile... But there's this company called Graphic Audio that makes really cool audioplays based on comic books! Some of them are straight from the comic books, like, say, "Civil War" or "52", while others are original and with comic book characters. They're so cool, with full voice acting, sound effects, everything! And there's also a bunch of straight up audiobooks that explain a lot, like Grant Morrison's "Supergods", which is absolutely brilliant! And aside from that I've also got this friend who always buys the new comic books and sometimes calls me to tell me what happens in them, and... I'm talking too much again, aren't I?'

Caroline hadn't thought about that at all actually ; was there comic-books for blind people ? Once again, she had completely failed to see the whole picture and talked about Ellie like she would with any friend of her. Again, she had no idea if it was a good or a bad thing. Luckily, none of her companions kept the subject on, and they started talking about comic books.

Well, first, Ellie tried to put the same blame on her, bringing on A song of Ice and Fire, which she should have expected since they talked about it on her first day. She couldn't know what Mizo would think about it, but didn't care that much. Contrary to her younger friends, she had no problem being called geek, especially not by someone who already revealed to her that he still played Donkey Kong. Again maybe Ellie didn't know all that, so that's why she wasn't as comfortable. Smiling, Caroline raised her hands in the air.

"You got me. I did read those books... A few times."

She shrugged and let her talk about comics for a while. Some of the names ringged a bell, especially because she also had some friends who read those, or at least seemed to follow the stories, but she wasn't a fan.

"Well... I wouldn't say "too much" but you'll probably lost me along the way if you keep going like that for five more minutes. It always sounds so complicated with those stuff."

Mizo chuckled a little.

"Yeah I have to agree, I might get a little most too. My comic collection consists of the Mega Man and Sonic crossover comics and those are published by Archie comics. I only bought those because I liked the concept of two of the coolest video game characters ever in a mash up story. I might of gotten in to that kind of stuff more if reading for extended periods of time didn't make my eye hurt and sorta give me a headache."

It had finally occurred to Mizo what Caroline was trying to do and he felt kinda bad. Since Ellie had taken his arm he'd kinda been paying more attention to her.

"Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we figure out what all three of us have in common. I mean it looks like we all like exploring new places, so that's something right?"

He said with a smile.

[Sorry about the delay, guys. MGSV is a harsh mistress]

Ellie chuckled a little bit when both of her friends expressed their concern about getting lost. Comic books had been a part of her life practically for as long as she was self-aware. She didn't remember too much from the time when she could still see, but she had clear memories of being about 2 or 3 years old and going through one of those hardcover Spider-Man collected editions that Mrs. Monroe had bought for one of the other children. She was never really confused by continuity or anything like that because she'd already been following it all her life... But at the same time, she could clearly see (excuse the phrasing) why that could get a little bit daunting for people who started out with comic books later in life.

"I don't think it's very confusing... While most of a company's comic books take place in the same continuity, they were designed to be as standalone as possible... So really, you can just pick out anything at all and have fun with it! I mean,as long as the comic book is good, of course!", she grinned, fondly remembering her foster brother's phone rants about, say, 'All-New X-Men'. "I can give you some recommendations if you'd like! Y'know, some more standalone stories and runs that are really good... I think. I obviously haven't read them myself, but they're recommended by someone I trust, so..."

When Mizo abruptly tried to change the subject, Ellie raised an eyebrow, finding it rather weird. All three of them? He already knew what Ellie was into, so why was he asking about "all three" of them? It was almost as if...

Oh.

Suddenly getting the not too subtle hint, Ellie's grip on the boy's arm loosened slightly. Geez, that was a rejection if she'd ever seen one! The young girl sighed quietly. What was it that had turned him off? Her age? Her geekiness? The fact that sometimes she spoke too much? Or maybe he just found Caroline more attractive than her. She couldn't exactly ask, but the young girl really wished that that wasn't the case. Her sudden burst of confidence began fading away, replaced by the anxiety she always kept buried deep within herself. Was she just not good enough? Was she getting in the way of Mizo and Caroline? Maybe she was just supposed to leave... Instead of responding to Mizo's question, Ellie simply averted her eyes silently, feeling a little bit let down.