Fingers Crossed... [Oriel]

[Genesis Kyland]

Genesis tugged on the straps of her backpack in an attempt to get it more comfortably situated. Surely one of these days they'd invent a more convenient way of carrying things around. Anti-gravy backpacks or something came to mind... Of course, hers wouldn't have been so heavy if she didn't insist on keeping her skateboard stuffed most of the way in it. Then again, she didn't have to carry around a bunch of books, like other students. So maybe it all evened out in the end... but one way or another, it was heavier than she would have liked.

She listened to Oriel's footsteps as they entered the (much less confusing and loud) hallway. So much better... and now they could talk better about this whole flour baby project. He'd already taken one of the flour sacks, or "babies" as she supposed she should think of it now. Golly, she just hoped this wouldn't turn into a huge mess... Of course, being herself, she had plans for if things went south. But they weren't necessarily orthodox methods, and if she got found out she'd likely be in trouble. Well, hopefully the situation wouldn't come to that.

"I hope you ain't one'a those that's planning on bombing this assignment," she said aloud. "And if you aren't sure about anything, just let me handle it, okay? Also, I want custody of it at night, in addition to whatever we work out for the day schedule." Her head gave a painful twinge, and she twisted around to dig her pain meds from the backpack's side pocket. "I wanna do well on this," she continued after swallowing a couple of the pills. "Even if it is a silly project."

[Deleted]

Oriel followed the short girl known as Genesis, aka Alex, out of the classroom into a blissfully more open spaced hallway, holding their "baby" in one arm like the little toddler it was. Really Oriel didn't mind kids. They were cute. Sometimes. Adorable, noisy, stinky, pooping bundles of cute. But this thing he was lugging around was neither adorable nor cute. It wasn't even alive. And looking at it, Oriel thought it looked more delicious than anything else and would love to see just how many cookies or dinner rolls he could make from it. There was probably enough in this five pound bad to feed the class and then some.

But while Oriel didn't care for this project, he wasn't about to fuck it up for someone else, as much as he wanted to. "Look, I know what it takes to take care of a kid, I don't need a fucking school project to teach me how to do it." After all, he was technically a kid and he'd pretty much been taking care of himself for as long as he could remember. And his boyfriend, Phoenix, was practically a baby himself and Oriel took care of him just fine. Oriel was more worried that Phoenix was going to botch it up more than he was of himself.

Oriel grunted as he hefted the "baby" in his arms to keep his grip on it. He had no problems carrying it, but the bag was awkward and prone to slipping. "Fine, works, you want it at night, be my guest." He smirked. "Wouldn't want to scar the kid for life with things he ain't ready to see yet." Like he and Phoenix's "canoodling". "You got a plan worked out for the daytime already? Or should we compare schedules?" Contrary to popular belief, Oriel actually knew how to keep a schedule. He was a man of routine.

[Genesis Kyland]

"Yeah, didn't say it was the most intelligent project." Genesis stuffed her hands into her pockets again. "But if you know how to take care of a kid already, that just makes things easier for us." She had to admit, she was a bit relieved that he wasn't immediately seeming the troublemaking sort. Not that she expected someone who'd decided to botch the project to come out and say it, but so far it seemed he was being aboveboard with the situation. Hopefully things would keep up that way, for both their sakes.

She rolled her eyes at the "scarring" comment. "Yeah, that's exactly what I'm scared of," she said, with a healthy trace of sarcasm in her tone. Though not sure exactly what he'd meant by the comment, she had her guesses. However, her main thoughtline rested on being glad he hadn't decided to be stubborn about letting her keep it at night.

"'Course, if you're worried about scarring the kid, you should pro'bly take up a cleaner mouth while you're at it," she added drily. Though she by no means considered herself flinchy when it came to language, she did consider it to be pointless when used habitually, and with the fact he'd dropped a several "fuck"s into the conversation already in their short time knowing each other, she'd come to the conclusion that it was definitely a habitual thing for him, rather than something he used to convey a point. But that was his business...

"Don't got a plan worked out for the day yet." She shrugged. "I can cover most mornings though. Some afternoons. What's your schedule like?" Though fairly sure he wasn't going to intentionally wreck the project at this point, like some of the people she'd heard talking, she'd decided long ago that whoever her partner, she wanted to try and do as much of the caretaking as possible.

[Deleted]

"Wait, there some intelligence associated with this fucking project?" Because Oriel still wasn't seeing it. He snorted with disdain. "Didn't say that I knew how to do it, just that I know what it takes. And some lifeless bag of flour that you only care 'bout 'cause of a fucking grade ain't the way to do it." A bag of flour didn't get hungry, didn't shit, didn't cry…you could easily just leave it lying around somewhere and nothing would happen to it. No consequences, save for a bad grade. A real kid, though, and you'd get more than just a bad grade.

He just laughed, though, in the face of her sarcasm. This chick wasn't bad. But if she wanted to handle most of the taking care of, then Oriel was more than willing to let her.

"Hey bitch, I'll fucking tell you there's nothing fucking wrong with the way I fucking talk, you get me you thundercunt?" Oriel sneered down at her as he littered his phrase with as much filth as he could could muster. Yeah, it was a habit, but he could break it anytime he wanted. Right?

Well, he had more important things to think about than is language.

Oriel considered what she gave of her schedule. "Most mornings? That helps. I got practice in the mornings, but usually free in late afternoons." Since Phoenix wasn't home in the afternoons, Oriel had a lot of spare time then. And he could probably get away with taking the bag to drama club….maybe not. The Cheng twins might decide to eat the bag. "Maybe we should write it out or something? Like a diagram?"

[Genesis Kyland]

Genesis shrugged. "Not like they can hand over a real baby for us t' take care of. Not sure any of us would want that anyway. Sorry, but bein' kept up 'till all hours of the night by a screamin' kid ain't my idea of a fun project. This'un might not be 'intelligent', but at least it won't drive anyone nuts or endanger innocents."

She considered Oriel's next sentence for a moment before musing, "Dang, you really do have a stutter. An' it's gettin' worse, too. Gettin' nervous about the project or somethin'?" Unable to see his sneer, she didn't feel the need to react quite as snarkily as she might have. Her friends back home would often "mockingly" tell her directly what facial expression they were making if they wanted to get a point across. It had become more of a joke than anything though. Of course, she did have a feeling this Oriel guy was just trying to get on her nerves at this point. Smart-aleck.

"Diagram works if you wanna write one out." She shrugged. "I don't got no paper with me though, so I can hold the kid while you write." Her hand gripped the pen in her pocket, and she took it out, clicking reflexively to make sure he didn't try to toss her the bag and she miss or something awkward like that. In her experience, flour sacks were the most fragile when you didn't want them to break, so by extension, if the thing fell now, it would probably burst everywhere. And that... would really stink since they'd only just got the thing.

[Deleted]

"I ain't saying we should take care of real kids. But…I don't know, do something to make it more realistic. Like…I don't know take care of a fucking hamster. Or a bug. Anything other than a five pound bag of lifeless flour." Oriel held up the bag to illustrate. "I could make a lot of cookies from this thing….maybe even a pie."

There was something familiar about that blank stare that Genesis had, something Oriel knew he'd seen before in someone else he was close to, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. But he'd definitely decided that he liked this chick, she was quick and maybe not the sharpest in her retorts, but at least original. "Who me? I'm Mr. Confident, let's get this party started." He laughed one of his actual friendly laughs…which somehow still sounded condescending coming from him. "Alex." He cackled through a bright, playful grin that he had no idea she couldn't see….yet.

Shit, Oriel was expecting Alex to be the one writing. Well….it would probably be okay, it was just a diagram and Oriel could at least manage that on lined paper. "Yeah, sure…" he spoke hesitantly, plucking the pen from her hand and starting to hand the "baby" over to her. It was at that point, however, that he finally realized as he was handing her the bag of flour. "Wait a fucking minute…." he said, leaning in closer to look at her face and study the look in her eyes. "….You're blind!" Now it made sense. The way she didn't quite look at you even though she was….that was exactly the same kind of look that Hay-lin, his dance teacher, had on her face like, all the time, everyday, all the time! As if to assert his distrust of the girl with this newly discovered information, Oriel pulled the baby back into his arms, holding it protectively against his chest. "I ain't letting you near this thing," he mumbled like a kid.

[Genesis Kyland]

"Well, we ain't bakin' the 'kid', and they ain't giving us a hamster or bug, so I guess we'll just have to deal with it." Genesis shrugged. She had to agree, she would have preferred something a little more... alive than a flour sack, but life didn't always give a person what they wanted. And neither did teachers. However, she was glad that they hadn't given them a bug or hamster... bugs, too easily got away and crawled all over you with their creepy little legs, and hamsters liked to bite.

Well, at least he was sounding somewhat friendly now, if still a little condescending. Judging from his heartbeat though, he sounded fairly at ease, playful maybe. Maybe she could warm up to this guy eventually after all, and vice versa.

Wait a fucking minute....

Or.... not. Alex took a step back as he leaned closer, already guessing what had got him riled up, and having it confirmed a moment later. She narrowed her eyes as he pulled back and held the flour sack protectively, pulling out a different pen and clicking it sporadically. "Of course I'm blind, genius. And if you decide to be an ass about it, I'm gonna be irritated. If I can handle skateboardin' without killin' myself, I can darn well handle a sack of flour. Now give me the thing before I hit you!" She scowled and regained the step she'd taken back earlier, holding her hands out as she did. Yeah, yeah, a shock reaction was normal, she knew that well enough to not be really angry with him yet. But she was determined to assert that she had no intention of backing down from this project with a little friction. However, maybe she shouldn't be quite so rude... Sometimes that could just worsen a situation, especially with some people. So, she added a begrudging, "Please".

[Deleted]

Everything she said was right and Oriel knew it, of course. That didn't mean he couldn't complain about it. He had a lot of things to say about this dumb project, he could write a dissertation on it…if he was any good at writing. Seriously, he was getting better, slowly but surely….very slowly.

Despite his objections, Oriel was willing to take the thing seriously, or at least as seriously as he could take treating and carrying a flour sack around like it was some living, breathing thing that mattered. That's why…the news that his partner was blind did not settle well with him at first. Yes, she sounded all serious and the like, but how capable could she be in taking care of a kid when she couldn't see?

Ok, Oriel knew he was being unfair with that assumption. Hay-lin was probably one of the most capable people he knew and Oriel had never treated her like an invalid. People weren't going to cry and be sympathetic for anyone who had a hard time and didn't have what the 'privileged' had at their disposal. So you had to make it on your own. And from the sounds of her protests, it sounded like Alex understood that concept well.

Still….Oriel wasn't about to just hand it over. "Well…I don't know. You could just be talking out of your ass," he surmised. "But who knows….maybe you are telling the truth. Maybe you can handle this shit like a pro." Oriel chuckled, turning away from Alex as she stepped closer, holding the "baby" in his opposite arm. He looked at the "kid". "What do you think, baby? Think mommy's up to snuff in being your legal guardian? Huh?" He cooed at the bag of flour, "tickling" it's chin. "What's that Stevie? You think she is? How so?" Oriel leaned in as if listening to the silent words of their "child". He gave the "kid" a look. "Okay, I guess you're right."

With another snicker, Oriel held out the baby bag to his new Mommy. "If Stevie trusts you… then I guess I can trust you too." It was too bad Alex couldn't see Oriel's cheesy grin right then. He was having a grand time amusing himself with that act.

[Genesis Kyland]

This guy. Alex gave an exasperated sigh as she glared at him. But at least he wasn't being too serious about the matter. Sure, he was being a dork about it, but she could put up with ridiculousness a lot better than actual judgement. Way too many people though she couldn't do anything without sight. Really though, they all operated without a sense too-- they operated without echolocation, which though not technically one of the five senses, had become enough of one to Genesis that she was willing to use it in an argument. If people could go about their lives without echolocation, then she could darn well go about hers without sight.

... Stevie? What kind of name was that? Eh. She'd address it later. For the moment, she took the kid as Oriel handed it over. "Well thanks," she said, layering on as much sarcasm as possible. "I'm so glad you trust the kid's word over mine. Dork," she added the last word in an under-breath. Despite her apparent irritation with the situation, a grin still tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"So, now that we've got that figured, you gonna draw a diagram of the schedule, daddy?" She tilted her head and cast him a "sweet" smile. Two could play this game. She shifted the flour sack in her arms. The thing was slightly heavier than she thought it would be, slightly slipperier too. Nothing she couldn't handle, but all the same she made a mental note about it for future reference. It was important to take note of the texture and weight of things.

[Deleted]

Oriel was only a little concerned about this girl's blindness. Sure, she was probably a lot more capable than a lot of people gave her credit for, but that didn't mean that she could tell when something horrible was happening across the room to their "baby". But if she was taking this thing as seriously as she was implying, then he supposed that she probably wouldn't leave the kid on the other side of the room while she went and…did whatever it was she did on the other side of the room.

As for Stevie….Stevie was a great name! Just ask Kodi! Oriel'd name everyone Stevie if he didn't have to distinguish between people via their names. "Kid's smart. He listens." Alex wasn't the first person to think Oriel was a dork. And she definitely wouldn't be the last.

"Yeah, sure," he finally relented. At least she wouldn't be able to see how badly Oriel sucked at drawing while he made it up. And it was mostly for his own purposes, it helped him keep track, keeping a complicated diagram-like schedule like this. He pulled out a notebook from his backpack and plopped down on the floor, leaning up against the wall. "So…you said….overnight and…most mornings? Which days exactly? And I need times exactly of when you can take him." Oriel started his horrible little diagram, marking the week Monday - Sunday over the top then general times off to the side, crossing them in some sort of grid.

[Genesis Kyland]

"Oh, he listens real well." Alex bounced "Stevie" a bit. "He's quiet too. What a good baby." She patted the flour sack, somewhat awkwardly, on the "head". Whether she thought someone a dork or not, it didn't mean she wouldn't play right along if opportunity arose. Serenity in life was overrated, in her opinion.

She nodded as he started repeating back the schedule she'd given earlier. "All mornings 'cept Tuesdays and Thursdays," she directed, listening to the sound of pen on paper. "Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I can keep 'im 'til two, and weekends I can keep 'im as long as necessary." Sure, she went skateboarding most weekends, but she'd figure something out. "And I nights I can start at dinnertime. That work with your schedule?"

She crouched next to Oriel, holding Stevie with both arms as she listened to the pen, keeping her eyes fixed on where the soundwaves were coming from. "How'd you guess, anyway? About me bein' blind?" she questioned. She couldn't say she wasn't somewhat peeved that he'd guessed her blindness so quickly, so obviously she wanted to know how he'd put it together, so she knew what to work on.

[Deleted]

Oriel chuckled, pleased that Alex was indulging him on the whole 'Stevie' business. "Wonder if they'd let us get 'im a sister?" He looked back at her and smirked, despite knowing she couldn't really see it. "You know, twins're pretty popular these days."

With the pen she gave him, Oriel started darkening the blocks of time on the chart that indicated which times Alex could take the flour baby. Then he put in blocks where he knew he could absolutely watch over it. Which left the times when neither of them could. "Weekends're nothing, we can go halvsies on those. If I can avoid it, I don't want to take him with me to dance practice but…" Well, if he had to then he would. It wasn't like the kid was going to go away just because he had other shit to do.

Oriel continued working on the diagram, doing a crappy job of coloring in the time blocks while Alex watched over his work. He blinked up a second with her next inquiry. "Uh…." It was kind of hard to explain. Well, easy and hard. Or rather he just didn't want to think of how to put it into words. "….my dance teacher. She's…also blind so…I guess I just kind of recognize the look?" He sighed, not really sure if that explained everything.

He set down the pen and sighed, trying to think of a more specific way of explaining it. "Like….when she looks at you, she's looking right at you, I guess. Like a dead stare….when other people look at me…I notice they never actually look right at me. They're looking around, at parts of my face, away and over there…probably at about a dozen different things all at once." Oriel glanced at her. "When a blind person looks, they ain't distracted by the dozens of things going on in front of 'em." He shrugged and picked up the pen again. "That make sense?" Oriel wasn't even sure he knew what he was talking about anyway.

[Genesis Kyland]

"I don't see why they wouldn't let us get him a sister," Alex mused. In fact, she rather liked this idea. If they had two flour sacks, there was an even better chance of one of them surviving... So long as they just made sure that they were identical, it would work, right? She nodded. "I think we should. It'd be fun," she added.

"I can take it during your dance project." Even though she didn't know what time that would be, she was certain she could work something out to make it work. However, she was still curious as to why he didn't. Did he think it would cramp his style, or did he have more serious reasons? "Why don't you wanna take 'im to dance?"

As Oriel explained how he'd known she was blind, Alex frowned a bit. "Yeah... that makes sense, I guess." Not that it helped her know how to act differently. She supposed she could try to do the whole gaze shifting here and there thing, but it sounded like too much work in the end. Not to mention it would make her look weird if she went overkill with it. Ah well, couldn't win 'em all.

[Deleted]

Somehow, Oriel actually liked the idea of taking on another flour sack to take care of. It made the whole project more interesting, in his professional opinion. "But…only if you want to. Think you can take care of two at once?" Oriel raised an eyebrow as if to challenge the cocky blind girl. "We ain't just gonna take care of one each and then switch or nothing. Separating siblings is like, the worst." Oriel should know.

"Alright, sweet." Oriel nodded uselessly, even knowing she couldn't really see it. "Uh…it ain't really dance, that ain't the problem, but the drama club. Got one right after another. Anyway, it's for his own protection. There's a pair of twins there that like to play tricks n' shit. Doused me and my boyfriend completely in flour on our first day." Oriel laughed at the memory. That was such a long time ago, but looking back it was actually pretty fun, especially considering the mood that it interrupted between he and Phoenix. "It'd be a shame if li'l Stevie were to suffer the same fate."

Oriel…sort of felt bad for de-masking Alex's clever front. She seemed disappointed that she couldn't fool Oriel…but then, there was no way she could've known that he was well familiar with working with blind people. "Probably," he started as he shaded in yet another block of time on the diagram. "You would've gotten away with it if I were anyone else. I didn't really catch it either at first." With his free hand, Oriel reached out slowly and gave Alex an affectionate pet atop her head.

[Genesis Kyland]

"I'm sure they'd be heartbroken if they were separated," Alex replied drily. "I'm down with twins, if you're up for the challenge. Sure your girly hair won't get in the way?" She gave a slight smirk. Much as she tried to hide her blindness, it wasn't to avoid teasing. Sure, she found teasing annoying sometimes, especially when it involved bullies, but banter like this? She could deal. Especially when the teaser was someone who could take banter right back without getting huffy.

As Oriel explained his reasoning for not wanting to take Stevie to dance practice, Alex decided she was very glad he'd had the presence of mind to bring up the issue. No way she wanted her project anywhere near pranksters. Sure, with that thought she excluded herself from being around her project as well, but she liked to think she was somewhat more conscientious than a few of the more hardcore "let's burn your homework for a laugh" pranksters. "Yeah... let's not risk being doused in our own flour sacks," she said, somewhat absently as she pictured the projects being gutted and the flour being dumped over Oriel's head. Satisfying as the idea of this guy getting such a prank played on him was, she wouldn't have wanted their flour children involved.

Alex found it somewhat funny that Oriel seemed to be almost trying to comfort her about not managing to keep her act up. That didn't happen often-- usually reactions were more sympathic and "you don't need to hide who you are" based. Yeah, yeah she didn't need to hide it, but that didn't mean she couldn't do it for kicks. "You bet I would've gotten away with it," she quipped, grinning a bit. "At least for a little longer than that, anyway." She ducked her head when Oriel reached to pat it, not unfamiliar with the gesture, but mildly weirded out to receive it from someone she'd just met. "I'm not a little sister," she stated matter-of-factly, as that was the first thing she associated head-patting with, before moving on to a question she'd been curious about for several minutes now. "What's your power, anyway?"