Take Me Out to the Ball Game: Part 2(Drea)

"-Pretty good seats if you ask me."

Andrea sank further into the open arms of her pea-coat, her eyes squinted and narrowed and fixed on Saph. His reaction to her question was, well... to be expected in her opinion. But still. With a quiet Hmph she slumped back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest as she peered about from within the safety of her hood.

"...I've only been here for all of..." She paused to think on that subject. Exactly how long had she been here? Going on... four weeks? And technically she wasn't even a citizen.. "...Four weeks."

Best not tell anyone that little tid-bit of information though. The threat of being deported was a constant and serious one, and she needed the help the mansion offered... as well as the socialization. After grumping for a bit, she relaxed in her seat and returned her eyes to Saph. "I've never been in a stadium before... what's it like?"

The thought of being surrounded by large amounts of adrenalin filled men and women didn't exactly excite her, but being cooped up in the same house for years at a time tended to do that to a person. Make them wary of strangers and especially of confined spaces with vast numbers of people packed into it like sardines. But... then again maybe it was just her nerves playing cruel tricks on her again. Maybe this experience was a blessing in disguise...

...Either that or Saph was the devil and she was being personally escorted to hell.

Andrea would bet on either at the moment. The bus slowed gradually, and the people around her gathered their things and moved, some stepping out of the way of others, others getting ready to step off the bus. She eyed her companion calmly, waiting for him to signal if this was the stop they would need.

Her tongue raced across the front of her teeth quickly before she clamped her mouth shut and ducked even further into the protection her hood provided. Yes, it was a bit rude, but she was used to it, mostly. Having a mother comment almost daily on your teeth when you are young and growing can prepare you for even the rudest of comments when you eventually leave the nest. She shot him a look through her glasses and slouched further in her seat, causing the already uncomfortable passenger next to her to grunt and stand, exiting the bus quickly with a mutter about Mutants.

She shrugged inwardly. The more time she spent out on the streets interacting with people, the more she grew accustomed to the blatant rudeness that everyone seemed to love flaunting.

Which brought her back to staring at, what was it... Seth?...No no, Saph. Yes. That sounded correct. She grinned at him for a moment, flashing her well taken care of pearly whites, before uttering a soft, "No offense taken."
She swung her feet for a moment as the bus started off again, bracing herself with a hand in the now empty seat beside her.

>>"So... where you from, then? Eh... Andrea, right?"

She nodded to him in answer, turning her eyes away from him to cast a shadowed gaze towards the back of the Bus. "I am from Rhodes." After a slight pause she added, "It's in Greece."

She had to cover her smile and a snort of laughter with her hand, watching as Saph took it upon himself to enact revenge for the rudeness of the other man. It was almost forgotten that he has spoken out about one of her more... Interesting features just a few moments ago.

It almost felt like when she had met her roommate at the park, and the girl had offhandedly spoken in pirate at a passer by who gave them a strange look. Protective, almost. She could get used to that sort of thing quickly, people sticking up for one another. Her eyes followed the man as he departed, half wondering what would become of the encounter, if anything at all. She worried over these sorts of things, negative interactions with people who considered themselves 'Normal'. Maybe it was just the small, paranoid child in her, but she couldn't help but feel that everything would always end badly.

>>"Greece, huh? Hows the weather over there? We get off at the next stop, by the way... Stick close, it ain't the best part of town."

Tilting her head up a little, she arched a dark brow and pondered the question. From within her climate controlled house the weather had always been good. Looking out a window though often showed either sunny days, or rainy days, or a mix in between. Her Backyard had been her only form of an outside play area... She had stopped traveling outdoors after her eyesight changed. Something about Grey trees, Grey grass, and grey animals was to put it lightly a buzz kill.

She shifted nervously in her seat again, one hand reaching to ensnare itself in the length of one braid. Her eyes shifted as well, turning on all of the colorless people who filled the bus with them, lingering, then shifting to look at a Grey Saphirus.

"I...I can't really say. It was weather, just like any other place has."

She could elaborate, sure, Go further into detail about how through a window it all looks the same... but with something so personal to her, so touchy, she felt it better to brush the question aside completely.

"...what about you? You seem like an interesting enough fellow, what's your story?" A pause and she added, "If you don't mind, that is."

>>"one-a them cultured places like Greece."

From the corner of her eyes, she shot him a curious look. Another who spoke of being homeless. Her eyes turned to stare out the bus window. In a way, she felt spoiled for having had a roof over her head all her life, and meals morning, noon, and night. She had never had to sleep out under the stars, or miss eating dinner because of lack of funding...

well, that wasn't entirely correct. Her trip across the sea, and her meager amount of time in America had shown her that the world was indeed a harsh Mistress. She had witnessed corruption and greed for the first time with her very own eyes and had spent more than one night with little to no food in her belly. Even this did not compare to the mans story though, Two or three days without food was nothing compared to Ten years scrounging in the streets to stay alive.

A frown had overtaken her lips by the time he was done talking, about how the game he was taking her too was considered American culture. Curious, at least to her. She took a moment to think back on all of the information she might have stored on... the Yankees, and baseball in general. Her laptop had shown her pictures and videos of grown men tossing about a small white ball, while others either tried to hit the ball with a bat, or ran about the diamond. She knew little to nothing about the rules, nor what point the game served. It was like rugby. She would never understand how something so violent could be considered fun. With a sigh, she slapped a smile on her face and swung her legs one last time before standing along with the taller man. Others passed her on their way out, but she kept her eyes foucused on Saph.

"Do you really enjoy watching men toss about little white balls? What are the rules?" Questions flooded her mouth, threatening to spill forth and drown the man if she didn't clamp her mouth shut. She followed him closely out onto the street, her small steps quick to keep up.

"I don't really know much about sports, so forgive me if many of my questions seem Ignorant. I-"

Silence fell on her after a moment, while she thought about what exactly she was trying to say. I don't get out much was much too simple of an explanation, and she certainly wasn't about to launch into a full blown Autobiography. orange eyes dropped to the side walk, where her feet tapped softly beside Saphs much heavier footfalls. She was reminded of her fathers feet by the size difference, and a buried memory floated to the surface. The last doctors visit she had been to, around the age of five- if she remembered correctly. Her eyebrows knotted together as she thought back. She had always been allowed to walk in between her parents, mother and father each holding one of her hands. And when their adult gate became to much for her to keep up with, they had lifted her and swung her back and forth.

She remembered getting some sort of test done at that very same appointment. A skin biopsy that had left her with a distrust of Doctors until she had aged and matured. she glanced back up at Saph and opened her mouth to finish her own sentence.

"I've never really been all that interested in-" She had been deep enough in her thoughts to miss the body walking towards her. A man, much taller than her and much wider than her, who was rushing forward while he spoke loudly on his Cell Phone, muttering deep angry words to the unfortunate person on the other end. She and he collided, and the force of the impact sent him staggering back, while Andrea herself sprawled flat on her backside- Knocking her head against the sidewalk with a good amount of force. The man's Expensive cell phone clattered to the ground at her feet, while her Sunglasses skidded to a hault just outside of her arms reach. She hissed through her teeth in pain as black dots swam before her eyes, and pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her eyes landed on the man's phone first- which he was in the process of looking for.

"Ah... I- I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going..." She picked up his phone and held it out for him, making sure to keep her gaze down until she recovered her glasses.

A hand joined her own, out stretched and waiting for her to drop the phone into it. "It's alright, just look out next time oka-" His eyes had landed on her fully and his eyebrows knotted together angrily. His forgiveness was gone, seemingly dissipated into the very air. "Oh, One of them. Get out of my way you %@*# Freak!" He grabbed the phone from her hand violently, as if touching her would burn him. The action caused her to recoil back in fear, her eyes wide. She looked up swiftly, locking eyes with the man, and gasped as he went completely ridged.

"Oh! Ah...Not good, not good!" She tugged on her hood , diving deeper into the shelter it provided as she danced from one foot to the other. Panic was setting in quickly.

Her spot on the ground became all the more uncomfortable as fear anchored itself in her chest. She heard Saph talking, but couldn't quite understand him. It was like listening to someone who was far away, distant. Too soft to make out, yet still there. She pried her eyes away from the frozen man, to Saph, before dropping her gaze and tugging her hood down to cover her eyes.

She had done it again. Stupid Stupid Stupid!

A hand entered her field of vision, a hand she knew belonged to Saphirus. She took the offered hand and let him help her up. On wobbling feet she stepped back immediately and moved to retrieve her glasses. After they were securely back on, she turned back to face what she had done once again.

"You alright, Andrea?"

She shuddered under her coat, peeking out from under her hood at him. With a gulp she nodded slightly. Yes, she was alright... It was the Man that she was worried about. She cleared her throat again and clutched at her braids nervously.

"What am I going to do?"

>>"We. You and I. We are gonna leave. That's what we are gonna do."

His words broke the stupor she had fallen into, she trailed along behind him, rushing to keep up- but did not try to pull herself from his grasp. If she did, there was a chance her legs would give out underneath her. She let out a shaky breath, one she hadn't realized she had been holding, and stayed silent... on the oustide. Inside, she was battling back her fear, as well as a smidgen of anger at how she had been treated.

>>"You hear what he said to you? If anything you shoulda punched the guy... Leaving him to stand there and think about what he's done is being nice."

Was it?... She thought about all of the things that could happen to him while he stood there, unmoving, and her stomach twisted. It would be on her if anything bad happened to him. It didn't matter if he was hateful, or if he was mean. In gods eyes, it would be her fault! She felt her pace slow as panic seized her within its terrifying grasp.

>>"Games starting soon, we're almost there!"

She opened her mouth to protest, to tell him that he was wrong and that she must go back to make sure the man was alright!

But something inside her woulden't let the words form. Did she not care?... She blinked away sudden tears as a heavy cloud of confusion fell on her, and brushed away the thoughts. She would beg for forgiveness later, she would pray. With a sigh she picked her pace back up and wrinkled her nose to move her glasses back into place. Her eyes dried and she managed only a sniffle or two.

"...Will you tell me about the game now?"

>>"Looks like your seats have been changed... you're going to section E 12..."

While she caught the expression on her companions face shift to something a little more sullen... disappointed even, she chose not to voice her questions about it until after the ticket man and his friend were out of ear shot. He had one of those looks about him and it bothered her. Once she moved past him, following quietly behind Saphirus, she cast a quick look over her shoulder and caught the ticket man laughing with his buddy, pointing in their direction. She turned herself back to face Saph and furrowed her brows, her lips drawing down in a frown. They stopped before a map, and Saph picked out their destination.

>>"... This blows... It's obvious racism!"

"They moved us because of me, didn't they?"

She was surprised at herself when the guilt she felt creeping up inside didn't come out in her voice as well. She was more than willing to bet all of her possessions and her laptop as well, that it was because of her standing next to him that the seats had been switched. Well... after what Saph had said at least. She had to admit that in the ticket mans defense there was the possibility that something had gone wrong with the section they were supposed to be seated in....

"I'm sorry Saphirus, if i had been more careful you would have had the time to find someone else to take."