Spencer Hastings makes shockingly bad choices. (ctrl_a) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-01-01 10:28:00
Who: Spencer and Itachi What: Random Encounter Where: Cafe When:backdated to Mid September Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
The start of the quarter felt like a breath of fresh air for Spencer. She was putting all that crap with Stanford behind her, and was making things new. New classes, a bunch of new friends (hopefully) and new outlook on life. That was what she was trying for, anyway. She wasn’t being hopeful, per se, just moving forward. Things couldn’t possibly be as bad as they’d been before. Right? Right.
So today she was taking the afternoon off, sitting in a cafe with a book. Hopefully it was a good book, she’d heard good things. She had a latte in front of her on the coffee table as she lounged on the sofa and read.
Missing the start of the semester bothered Itachi. He was so close to finishing, to achieving his goal but it'd been too hard for him to attempt going back at this time. He would, however, start back at the first of the year, but he was still sorely disappointed. Little things were getting easier, going out by himself wasn't a big deal any longer and he was learning how to read braille.
The cafe was a good practice spot for that. There weren't many distractions and he'd be able to get some much needed caffeine and snacks when he needed them. Plus if he needed help with anything there would be someone around to ask. He'd been to this particular cafe enough to know that they had sofas, which was better than a stiff chair in his opinion. Itachi ordered his usual, and then made his way over to the sofa, making sure that there was no one seated there before he moved to sit down. He could tell that there was someone else was occupying the same space, just at the other end. Pulling out the practice sheet he'd been given from his bag, Itachi started with the letter A and slowly started working his way through the alphabet.
Someone sat down at the far end of the sofa, and Spencer barely glanced up from her book. This was a good book. She’d heard good things, and the first few chapters were okay, but then things took a drastic turn. She was completely hooked. She had to take a moment to breathe, though, so she lifted her eyes from the text to reach for her cappuccino, and blinked. There was a blind guy sitting on the sofa with her. Something about that made her feel… what? Uneasy? Why? There wasn’t anything wrong with someone being blind. But for some reason she felt… strange.
She sipped from her cappuccino, then set the cup back down, scolding herself for staring at the guy.
Itachi's fingers kept moving across the practice sheet, working on each letter until he felt confident to move on. He sensed movement down at the other end of the couch, and then eyes on him. That wasn't anything out of the ordinary to be honest these days, and he hoped with each passing one that he'd wake up normal again.
"Do you need me to move?" He asked, turning his head to look in the other person's direction. "I mean, if you're expecting someone or something I can move."
“What? No. God, I’m so sorry,” Spencer said, feeling instantly guilty and ashamed that she’d been staring. She sat up a little in her place on the sofa, and … well, she would have made some kind of gesture to articulate how sorry she really was, but the guy couldn’t see it, anyway. Or could he? Maybe he was one of those mostly blind guys who could still kinda see? “I really, I didn’t mean to stare. I just needed a short break from my book, and you happened to be in my line of sight.” Then she winced. Was it weird to mention line of sight to a guy who couldn’t see?
A light smile graced Itachi's lips, and he gave a small shake of his head. "Don't worry about it." He waved a hand dismissively, and then took in a deep breath. He'd become used to the looks from people, the stares when they realized he was blind. "My other senses have become a little more acute since losing my sight. You'll have to forgive me for assuming things." He gave a small apologetic nod in her way. A line appeared between his brows, "What book are you reading?"
“Oh, I’m sure they have. I’ve heard of that sort of thing happening.” Spencer gave him a smile, even though he couldn’t see it. She cleared her throat, and shook her head. “No, it’s quite all right.” She turned the book so she could look down at the cover. “It’s called Wool, by Hugh Howey. Have you read it?”
Itachi offered her a small smile, thankful that she wasn't upset with him about assuming anything. It was harder being blind than he'd ever imagined that it would be, but he was trying hard to adjust to the darkness. His brows furrowed slightly, and he shook his head. "No, I have not. What's it about?"
“It’s a dystopian novel about people living in a bunker after a nuclear holocaust.” Spencer explained. “But that’s not the surprising bit. The surprising bit is that this guy self-published it, and it sold half a million copies. He was signed with an agent and a publisher well after it became popular… I think they’re making it into a movie.” Spencer hugged the book to her chest. “I’ve heard he wrote two more after the popularity of the first one.”
Itachi tilted his head to the side, listening as she spoke of the book. He could hear the passion in her voice as she talked, and it made him smile. It was always nice to meet people that shared the same passion as himself. "That's wonderful. I'm glad that he's found such success, and I will most certainly have to see if I can find it in a format that I can enjoy." He gave a small nod of his head, "I would say that there's a good chance that he did, especially if it was popular enough to justify it." Most authors that signed contracts like that did so for multiple titles, of course, Itachi wasn't sure about this particular author. "What's his name? The author that is."
“I would be really surprised if they didn’t make an audiobook out of it.” Spencer said. She didn’t spend a lot of time listening to audiobooks or “books on tape,” but she’d listened to quite a few books read by her parents when she was younger. It was a brilliant way to enjoy reading. If only she had as much focus with listening as she did with her eyes. She’d love to be able to multi-task… “reading” and driving, say, or “reading” and folding laundry.
Of course, she should have mentioned braille because he obviously had a book in his own hands. She just assumed audio.
“Hugh Howey,” she responded to his question. “I bet you’ll be able to find it. I can email you the information, if that’d make it easier.”
Audiobooks had become a staple in Itachi's life. There were times when he'd just spend the day listening to someone else reading a favorite book of his, the sound soothing to his soul. Of course, he was trying to learn braille, but he was thankful to have the option of audio. "I would too if it's that popular." He gave a small nod, storing away the information for now.
A light smile tipped up the corners of his lips, "That would actually help. Sometimes it's harder for the software I use on my computer and phone to pick up certain things." He shifted, reaching down into his bag to pull out a small notepad, and pen. Quickly he wrote down his information, and then tore off the page. "Let me know if you can read that alright."
Spencer watched, amazed, as the blind man wrote down his name and email address. She accepted the paper from him, nodding a little as she scanned it. “Yeah, actually, your penmanship is amazing, if you don’t mind me saying so.” She was surprised by how neat his scrawl was. She’d expected something almost illegible.
A light smile tugged up the corners of Itachi's lips, "I wasn't always blind." He gave a small shrug of one shoulder before his phone began to ring in his pocket. It was an alarm sound, he probably should get going and head home. "Well, it was nice to meet you. I hope to hear from you soon." He gave a nod of his head in her direction before he began packing up his bag. "Have a good day."