Who: Del Ethier and Zadkiel Thrush When: Early Morning, Thursday, July 1 [Backdated] Where: The park and then the car What: Del takes Zadkiel to tai-chi, then tries to talk to him afterward. Status: Log, Complete
Del completely zoned out during tai-chi. He'd been doing this so many years now that he didn't have to rely on The Man to direct his movements; his body simply flowed from one move into the next, in perfect synchronicity to his surroundings. The sound of his breathing had long since become background noise to the wind and the white-noise rush of traffic some distance away, and with the usual need to move gently satiated, it was no wonder this worked far better than any pill had ever had for calming his hyperactivity. It was everything calming and soothing in the world.
It was never disappointing when it ended, as it did just now. Del opened his eyes and exhaled deeply, attention swimming around the world for a moment to settle on his compatriot.
"Hey."
"Hey," Zadkiel replied. He glanced around as everyone else dispersed. It seemed strange to just have all of these people meeting, doing this same thing like this in the middle of a public place, and it didn't even really draw attention. He'd been self-conscious the whole time, sure that everyone was watching him, seeing that he was slightly out of step, half a second behind all the time. He'd noticed Del zoning and supposed he'd been doing it long enough that he could forget the potential audience.
What happened now?, he wondered, but didn't ask.
Del made a gesture with his head back towards the car and picked up his discarded windbreaker from the ground. He didn't bother suiting himself up in it, though it was just shy of 8 in the morning, Del felt effused with the warmth of a very productive stretch.
"So?" he prompted as he checked his jacket pocket for his keys.
Zadkiel looked at him curiously, not sure what he was asking. "I'm sorry?"
"So what did you think?" Del elaborated simply. "Kinda weird, very relaxing, super awkward? What?"
"It was good," Zadkiel said, which he knew was an answer that really said nothing. He searched for words to elaborate. He had to make some kind of effort. "I couldn't help feeling as if everyone was staring at me," he admitted.
It was a non-answer, Del though, like calling something 'interesting' when what you really meant was 'uh...'
"Were they? I didn't really notice that. I mean, we're a bit young for the crowd, but usually the geriatric set only notice that for a minute before carrying on." It was an unconscious slight - while there were some people in the group who were of the elderly sort, the percentage of late, mid-aged folks would probably take offense.
"Or were you talking about the dog walkers?"
"Most likely no one was actually staring," Zadkiel said. "It was just... me being self-conscious." He shrugged. "Usually I try not to call attention to myself."
"Oh," Del replied thoughtfully. He wasn't sure if stage training beat that sort of thing out of him or if it was something that had never been a part of his ego. "Well, I guess the better question then is whether you think you would have liked it if you weren't in a park. Although, I think part of it is doing it outside. I can't imagine it having the same sort of... uh... ambiance? Something. I can't imagine it being the same inside."
"I don't know," Zadkiel said. "I guess I'm not sure what I'm supposed to get out of it?" Del blinked, which was impossible to tell behind his glasses, but his motion to start walking towards the car was halted for a fraction of a second. "Uh. Well." Del stopped, both physically and mentally.
His head craned back to Zadkiel. "Originally we'd talked about self defense that didn't actually require you attacking anyone, but really I guess I can't answer that. I know what I get out of it - only thing that makes me feel relaxed and focused, but still energized and, you know, alive. But I don't think there is anything definite for you to get out of it - just kind of a 'it makes you feel better slash productive slash healthy slash centered' type of thing. Like it doesn't have a specific goal."
Del restarted walking motions back towards the car.
Zadkiel followed him, waiting at the passenger's side door for Del to unlock the car. Having grown up on a farm where there was never any shortage of physical work to do, doing something that burned energy unnecessarily just seemed, well... pointless. Not that he was doing any real labor here, except walking around practically everywhere.
He slid into the seat once the car was open, fastening his seat belt.
Del slid into the driver's seat of his elderly blue car. It was a good car that was maintained well and was, considering Del's penchant for distraction and casually messy attire, extremely clean. Even the dashboard had been dusted.
"You got work today?" Del asked as the engine turned over, looking to kick-start the conversation again.
"This afternoon," Zadkiel said. "I was supposed to have the day off but then the other receptionist quit. Again."
"Is receptionist a high-stress job there? Or is your boss just a dick?"
"It's a lot of work with not much reward, unless you really want to help people, and don't mind taking a lot of abuse. My boss is very nice, and so are most of my co-workers. It's just... I guess it's pretty stressful. You're dealing with sick people who don't have the money to pay for care, and they usually have to wait a long time. They often wait longer than they should to come in in the first place." Zadkiel's shoulders rose and fell and he stared out the window.
"Yeah," Del snickered self-deprecatingly, "I know how that goes. I'd have to be pretty much throwing up internal organs before I'd go in. But I get the picture. You'd think though that you'd know what you were getting into with that sort of thing, though. I mean, if you're a receptionist going to deal with sick people, and you yourself know what it's like to be sick and know what it's like to wait in impossibly long lines. Put those two together and it ain't hard to figure out what you're in for."
"Sometimes you just need a job. Any job, until a better one comes along." Del's attention shifted from the drive in front of him to the man beside him.
"What job are you waiting for?"
"Not me," Zadkiel said. "The others that they've hired. They take the job because they're desperate and then go find something better."
"You want to be a receptionist?" Del asked. It wasn't condescending however (though he couldn't imagine the attraction); he'd certainly enjoyed driving around in a postman's truck and dropping packages in slots. "Doesn't that bother you? Being around all those sick people and being their receptionist? You seem to be the... altruistic kind," Del pointed out, stumbling over the double letter-score word.
Zadkiel tipped his head to the side, turning his head to look at him. "Why would it bother me?" he asked.
"All that power and you aren't doing the saving with it. You're booking the appointments for some other person to do it."
Zadkiel frowned. "All of this power, and I could lose my job or worse if anyone knew I was using it," he pointed out. He opened his mouth to say more, then closed it again. Let Del judge if he wanted to. Let him make assumptions. It was easier than trying to explain.
Del thought about that for awhile. It was easier for him to think that he'd go off and be that sort of hero if he was an Ace or at least a Joker with some sort of ability that was helpful to other people. But maybe he wouldn't - it wasn't like people were looking at Wild Cards as answers to a problem. They were just problems.
"Something is better than nothing?" Del asked as he stopped at a light, head swiveling to meet Zadkiel's. "I mean, just helping the people that can help people is better than not being involved at all?"
Zadkiel made a noise that might have been agreement and turned his attention back to staring out the window.
Del wasn't sure if that was agreement or if that was a sign that this subject was no longer to be discussed, so he treated it as the second and dropped it.
It was easier to have a comfortable silence with someone you knew rather than someone you didn't, and this exercise into the park hadn't really done much to bring Zed into the 'knowing' category. He was quiet, but not in the shy, nervous-to-say-something-wrong way. Or in the I-don't-acknowledge-your-existence-you-peon way. Or the intensely-focused-on-something-else way. It was just... absently quiet. This was not a personality type that Del was accustomed to.
Del considered turning on the stereo to fill the void in the car. Instead, he filled it with his mouth.
"Well, thanks for coming to tai-chi anyway. Sorry it didn't work out," Del said.
Zadkiel wasn't sure if the right response was 'you're welcome' in response to the thank you, or an apology in return for the fact that he hadn't gotten out of it whatever he'd been meant to. So he just nodded and let it go.