thorns who: Kai and Mickey where: the coutyard when: late afternoon
Kai had been walking around the hotel for most of her day, being solitary. She was still spinning her wheels over everything, but she came up with no answers. So, she was losing herself in photography. She was taking frame after frame of the wild garden, climbing into the foliage to get angles she liked. There were light little scratches all over her arms and legs, and two on her cheek from the thorns on the roses, but she was happy to be drifting into that place she loved, that place where she caught fragments of the world. Just a fraction of a second, immortalized.
Mickey had taken his bag back to his room since he didn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon. There was no point in staying his room, which meant he went wandering a little and considered himself lucky when he found the courtyard. Sure plants weren't really his thing, but this was a nice change of pace from the hotel itself. He heard the rustling before her saw her, eventually he did spot her, buried in the plants and he couldn't help but smile. "Are you a woodland sort of creature or just stuck?" Kai had been so far into the zone that she hadn't actually heard him. She gasped, then burst out laughing. “Um...if I say I'm a flower sprite, does it make it less embarrassing that I totally didn't even notice I wasn't alone?”
Mickey laughed a little then held a hand out for her if she needed help getting out of the bushes. “If you were a flower sprite I think the flowers wouldn’t try to bite you like they have,” he said with a small smile.
She glanced at the scratches. “Busted, then,” she concluded with a sigh and a firm nod. Then she looked up at him, and instead of taking his hand, she held out her camera. “Might as well immortalize the moment!” she told him. She was thinking Ronin would be amused, at least.
Mickey wasn’t expecting the camera to be handed to him, but he took it anyway, turning it over before finding the right button. “Might as well,” he said holding it up to point it at her and snap the picture. “If it helps, I wasn’t here long,” he reassure her. “And at first i did think you were some sort of animal, but you’re...well a little too tall.”
Kai looked up at the camera with a little half amused twist to her lips. Then she pushed herself to her feet, making a face at the fact that she was dirty, scratched, and looking around for how she'd even managed to get back there. “Thanks,” she said to his taking the picture. Then she blinked and looked back at him. “Tall? Really?” she grinned. “First I've heard that. I bet there are taller animals than me. Deer. Scooby-Doo dogs. Y'know, that kinda stuff.”
He held his free hand out to her again to help her out of the shrubs. “That’s why I said a little,” he pointed out with a smile. “And I figure in a place like this the biggest you get would be what? Rabbits? Squirrels? You’re bigger than those I think.” Though she was tiny, which was actually kind of amusing in its own way.
She took the help, hopping out with only a few more scrapes. “Sorry, I heard 'tall' and my brain exploded,” Kai teased good naturedly. “I haven't seen any animals, but it'd be pretty cool if there were some rabbits or squirrels. Though I think what I'd wish for most would be birds. I'm a fan of birds,” she told him with a smile.
With her closer Mickey really got an idea of how short she was and chuckled a little. “I can imagine. You’re getting there though.” He looked around the garden area and shrugged. “You’d think there’d be at least birds.” Glancing back at her he tilted his head to the side a little with a curious expression. “Why birds?”
“Because they're awesome?” Kai said. “Birds are great. They're beautiful...I mean, okay, some are a little less beauty pageant and a little more Addams family, depending on what you're looking at, but still! They're pretty in general. They sing, and their songs have meaning to one another, it's not just random sounds, they know where they're going, some birds stay with family units pretty much forever, I know there are some birds who mate for life, some are scary levels of smart. There are all kinds, sweet little things, birds of prey, it's all over the map. And just to be cliché, I also have to stand in awe and envy of their ability to fly and just look so damn free and graceful.”
That was a lot more answer than Mickey was thinking he would ever get when asking about birds, but he wound up nodding along as she spoked. When she got to the end of it he shrugged. “You got me. Sold on birds. Now we definitely need some in here.”
She laughed. “Maybe we can request some. Only I don't know who we'd ask, since I have trouble finding anyone who works here yet. Though, to be fair, I've done less looking for people working here and more trying to see what happens if I leave? I gave up on that today, though, and instead decided to just take advantage of the awesome scenery. What about you? Also – what's your name?”
“I haven’t seen anyone. Heard the leaving part doesn’t work all that well though,” he questioned. Bianca had mentioned that. That it was like being stuck in Hell. “Mickey, and I am just trying to get my bearings. What’s your name?”
“You haven't tried it?” Kai asked, blinking. “Huh. I would have figured everyone would have given it a shot.” She went to sit down on one of the nearby benches, starting to glance through her pictures. “I mean, you never know, right? At any given point, this silly, weird scenario could end. And my name's Kai,” she introduced herself, turning her attention back to him with a smile. “Nice to meet you, Mickey.”
“I guess after being told it didn’t work and you wind up in random rooms I hadn’t chanced it yet.” He followed her a little, leaning down to try and see the screen on her camera. “Nice to meet you as well Kai. Interesting name though.”
“It means 'willow tree',” she said. “Native American, Navajo to be specific.” She tilted the screen so he could see as well. “Also, thanks!” she added brightly, as they got past the flowers and courtyard stuff to the shots she'd taken of Ronin the night before.
“Willow tree. Interesting. Same with it being Navajo...is that your heritage?” Mickey asked, still looking at her pictures when the subject changed. “That’s not a flower.”
“Sure is!” she said. “My parents were even involved with tribal council stuff. I translate for a few tribes, and in my spare time, I translate children's books to different native languages. It's pretty fun, really,” she shared. Then she laughed. “He is not a flower, correct,” she congratulated him. “He's a Ronin. Or. Well. Not the wandering swordsman kind, that's his name.”
Mickey moved to sit with her as she spoke, wanting to see the pictures better. “That’s pretty cool, the translating and such. I don’t think I’ve ever met a proper translator before.” He smiled a little, then looked back at the screen. “A Ronin. Interesting. Is it weird to say that’s a good picture when it’s of a guy? Because it’s more the photo than the guy…”
“I translate a lot, I've been hired by corporations to do translations as well. I find language interesting.” When he went on about the photograph, she laughed. “Nope! It isn't weird. I'm a photographer, too. I have a studio and everything. So, if it wasn't good, then I wouldn't be doing my job.”
"Why interesting?" Mickey asked, finding it easy to ask her about herself and keep her talking. He looked at the photo again and nodded. "Well, take it from me you are good at your job. What's in your studio? Just backdrops for models and toddlers getting Easter photos?"
“Because first off, it's interesting that there are so many, and just how different they are from one another,” Kai shared. “I love the differences in wording, too, and how different languages have words that just have no equal in other languages. Unique features that are all their own.” When he told her she was good at her job, she looked pleased. “Thanks! And no, there's a gallery for mine and other artist's work. My sister's a model, I do proper fashion model shoots for her, and Ronin has a band that's just about to hit it really big, and I've done a lot of shoots for them. Oh and I helped put together some music video stuff, and was actually in one.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard it worded that way,” Mickey said, getting comfortable as she explained. It was always interesting to hear people talk about things they cared about. They always lit up and smiled. “So you were in a music video, your friend is a musician and your sister is a model? That’s not something you hear every day. Especially when you add in translator. I’m starting to rethink the wood sprite.”
She laughed. “Well when you put it like that it does seem kinda unbelievable, I suppose...” she conceded. “But yeah, all of that. I'm just not the one in the spotlight, so much. Creepy internet people decided to call me 'Vicki' because my name was never released in conjunction with the video? And I don't know if you knew this, but the internet is populated by very strange people with way too much time on their hands.”
“All I’m hearing is ‘I have an alter ego name Vicki’,” Mickey told her with a grin. “Though I do hear that about about people with the internet. Too much free time.” Not that he was all that familiar given his lifestyle, but he didn’t live under a rock either.
“Ha! Nooo. Or, I guess yes, if one can have an alter ego that they have no control over or anything to do with...” Kai said. “And yep that's totally it. Too much free time, and weirdness comes out. I think the internet is like how people see Japan. Only instead of it being just perceived repression of a people, it's everyone letting any little bit of themselves that they've repressed fly free and loud. And when that happens it gets real weird real fast. Sure, sometimes it's just people pinning pictures of silly cupcakes every day to their pinterest board, but sometimes it's people writing x-rated stories about My Little Ponies.”
Mickey laughed a little, but shook his head. “That’s not a thing… is it?” he asked, too surprised. “I would think though...it’d be good for people to let go of the repressed side wouldn’t it?” He’d done it once and it had worked out in his favor, though someone else might think the tattoo he’d gotten from a drunk stranger was ridiculous.
“Which part?” she asked. “And I certainly believe in not repressing anyone. What I also believe in is not doing sick stuff, and there's lots of that out there.” She grinned. “Such cheery topics! Yeah, I'm just gonna shut up now about everything internet related, kay? Tell me about you instead!”
“The My Little Pony part,” Mickey said shaking his head. That was just too weird. She was right, there was not repressing people, but there was also reigning in the crazy. “Me? Well, I don’t know how I live up to you, but I’m a mechanic and handyman and I have no idea how I got here.”
“Psh. No one has to live up to anyone else,” Kai said with a warm smile. “And a mechanic? So you're all handy! That's awesome! I pretty much live up to the useless girl stereotype when it comes to anything like that. About the only thing I know my way around is a drill, because I absolutely have to have it for hanging things at the gallery. But beyond that, I'm lost. You have no idea how you got here? I wonder how this all happened. See, me and my sister Mai, we were traveling, and stopped at this place on our way to a photo shoot. But Ronin definitely didn't stop here, he was pretty confused when he got up. What about you? Where were you when you went to sleep before waking up here?”
“Knowing your way around a drill is definitely something, but you should know more than that. At least the basics so that you don’t have a pay a guy every time. Or so your place doesn’t flood while you’re waiting on a plumber.” Mickey nodded. “I guess more like your friend. I swear I went to bed in my bed, but woke up somewhere else entirely.” Which shouldn’t happen to normal people. Maybe he was dreaming, what with cute wood sprites and strange women in bars already on his list of run-ins.
"Shouldn't you be convincing me that all things should be taken care of by a professional? It's your job! Sell yourself a little!" she encouraged. "And that has got to be just strange. How are you holding up?"
Mickey laughed a little and shook his head. “I would tell you to have a professional look at your car unless you really know what you’re doing. As for your house, that you should learn on your own. I’d even teach you. I just do that to help cover my rent around my building and because i like fixing things.” He smiled at her and shrugged. “Not the kind of guy to try and screw people out of money either. Teach a man to fish and all that.” That was just how he was, the kind to help, not make a profit off someone’s misfortune. “I am not sure I’m not still having a crazy dream. Though it has taken a turn for the better since I found you in the bushes.”
“Okay, so what do you do that actually makes you money, if you’re wandering around being a good samaritan?” she asked curiously. “You gotta make a living, I wouldn’t say it was screwing people out of money. Just...making sure they don’t do something silly.” When he said the bit about things having gotten better since finding her, she blushed. “Well, aren’t you sweet,” she said.
“I work at a garage, so I make money from fixing cars, but it’s not really a ton of money.” Just enough to get by and help his parents out with their debt every now and then, but that was all Mickey needed. “I know it’s not, but it can be. And that’s not my style. There’s always going to be things I’m better at doing, but people should be able to take care of themselves sometimes you know?” He smiled a little at her blush thinking that fit her well and nodded. “You got me. I’m a nice guy.”
“People should indeed be able to look after themselves,” Kai agreed. “I'm pretty self reliant. I just also know my limits, I'd like to think. Which y'know, isn't probably a one hundred percent thing all the time, I'm sure I've rolled myself right into circumstances I totally couldn't handle well, I just have great back up,” she said. “And check. You're Mr. Niceguy. I have marked it in my memory and everything.”
“I have limitations too, but I’m not a fan of someone thinking they can’t do something just because I get paid to do it. Especially with being a handyman, I’d rather just help the people who I know can’t, like the Mrs. Winters with three cats that lives on the first floor of my building. But Cheyenne who lives in 6C needs to learn how to take care of the basics herself because that deadbeat boyfriend of hers won’t be around next week to do it for her.”
Kai perked up again at the name Cheyenne. "Is she native American too?" She asked curiously. "And you have got to have some interesting stories about fixing things for people. Tell me one!"
Mickey laughed and shook his head. "No I'm pretty sure she's a stripper named after a country song." He didn't live in the nicest of places, but it was the best he could afford. "The best stories are gross. Are you really up for that?" It was always about the things that people got clogged in something or another.
“Oh,” Kai said, then laughed. “Okay then.” She pretended to consider Mickey's warning, then grinned. “Oh, hit me with your best shot! Gross me out!” she challenged.
Mickey considered it for a moment, chewing on the inside of his cheek for a moment while he tried to come up with a good one. “So few months ago, we get like five phone calls, all around the building, that something just reeks. I’ve been three of the apartments and there’s nothing but the smell and they’ve taken out trash and opened cabinets, all of it. By then I realized it’s the vents and not the apartments themselves. Turns out, one of Mrs. Winters’ cats had gotten into the vents and died, only no one noticed it until the thing had started to smell like rotting animal. Hell, Mrs. Winters wasn’t even sure which cat it was. That and every time I clean up the clogs at Cheyenne’s apartment there’s a ridiculous amount of glitter.”
"Oh my god!" She laughed, clapping a hand a over her mouth. "Oh that's awful! But a great story! And stripper glitter to boot. Also? Glitter is terrible. It sticks to eeeeverything!"
“It does. Another reason why she needs to learn to how to fix her own things. It’s hard to explain glitter dust on my clothes at the garage.” Which usually just led people to believe he was frequenting strip clubs which wasn’t really his thing.
“You could just say you got them plumbing some pipes for a hot neighbor,” Kai said, completely straight faced, biting the inside of her lip to keep it up. “That's viable, right?”
Mickey grinned a little and nodded. “Totally viable. Then...what hot neighbor, you hitting that, and on and on.”
"That's when you employ the secret weapon of 'none-a-y'alls business'," she said with a smirk. "Hey, you want to go for a walk? I was going to look for more things to photograph."
“Ya’ll?” Mickey asked, smirking a little. He wasn’t used to that kind of accent. When she suggested a walk he got up with a nod. “I like that idea. See what else there is to see.”
She grinned. "Y'all," she confirmed. She hopped to her feet and headed out. It was nice to meet someone new, someone nice. Especially in this place.