OOC: Continued from Garrett's Room


As they headed off to the mystery destination, Garrett turned to Ghost. "Nice to get out and enjoy the evening, huh?" He was surprised at her zest to go out. He tried hard not to let his ego make him think it was all about him. He would be as cool as possible and just enjoy the time he spent with her. The breeze coming from the window was blowing those silken locks of white around a bit. He was mainly concerned with the look of brightness and happiness on her face. He'd go anywhere to keep that look up.

They passed the Park on the way through. "Maybe after we enjoy the lights, I can show you where the shop is. Or we can get something to eat. Whatever you like." , he said with a smile. He caught a glimpse of their destination, looking into the rear view and nodding at the look the cabbie gave him.

Ghost had actually been excited about taking a taxi as well. This would be her second New York taxi ride. She knew it was a silly thing to get excited about, but it just made her all giddy inside. Everything about this town was so... so... bright and shiny. It felt like at any moment they could step into a movie or a car chase could start and they'd be in for the ride of their lives.

"Nice to get out and enjoy the evening, huh?" Ghost nearly had her face out the open back window, soaking up the wake of air that the cab's open window allowed.

"Yeah!" She agreed enthusiastically, "Now I'll get to see the New York that Garrett sees."

"Maybe after we enjoy the lights, I can show you where the shop is. Or we can get something to eat. Whatever you like."

She wasn't hungry yet, but that didn't mean she wouldn't be. Ghost was the type that paid very little attention to what her body was telling her: she'd once walked around on a fractured tibia fore a week and a half before she realized anything was really wrong.

"I'm actually interested to see where you'll work." She subconsciously hedged the date scenes in a carefree manner. She flashed him her lopsided grin. "That way I can maybe come visit some time." Of course she had her own personal agenda that would prompt the visit, but it was nice to have a reason to just check the place out. No need to contact any dead people right away.

"Now I'll get to see the New York that Garrett sees."

Well, it will be a nice, packaged version. No reason to see junkies, prostitutes, food kitchens or shelters. Those things were the past and would fall under the description of what Garrett saw. He was glad to see her so excited. He had to assume that her knowledge of Japan brought her from there. Maybe she had never been. She did have that starry eyed look that many tourists have when they came for the first time.

She seemed to be interested in the shop a great deal. Again, he did his best to prune his ego. It had to be something dealing with spirits. " I am sure you are welcome anytime. I am going to try to get some items in there so he can make a little more money. Tarin's a good guy. Of course, I have only met him once." He certainly seemed genuine enough. That brought another detail to mind. "Oh, I don't remember if I mentioned before, but he is a mutant like us. Double bonus." He looked up at the rear view again. The cabbie's eyebrows arched, perhaps out of fear or anger. Either way they had arrived, so he could get over it. He stepped out of the cab and paid the driver, leaving the door open for Ghost.

As she stepped out on Fifth Avenue, the cab pulled away. He flourished and said, "Ghost, I present to you the Empire State Building." He pointed up about a quarter of a mile to a spot near the top. "Here is where you will see all of my New York and all of its blinking lights." They made their way through the lobby, as Garrett pointed out the sushi bar and some of the coffee shops inside. After Garrett paid for their tickets, they stepped into the express elevator to the 86th floor. The Observatory.

When they stepped out of the cab and she saw where he had taken her, she nearly hopped up and down in excitement. "That was on my list! I've never been!" Indeed, this was on her touristy to-do list and she had yet to make it to this site... at least on foot. She'd breezed by it once with Christian... She shook her head to clear the the thought just in time to wrinkle her nose at the sushi bar. Either she was getting rusty or someone non-fluent had done the design for that one. People really needed to learn their hiragana properly.

She did bounce a little in the elevator. She didn't like the confined space and even though she could feel that they were moving rapidly, it never seemed to go fast enough. The elevator opened with a bell-like ding and Ghost was probably one of the first off of the wretched death trap. Too many mouth breathers- blech.

She was surprised that the observation deck was outside. Or rather, partially outside- there were plexi-glass fixtures erected a little way out from the railing probably to keep people from throwing pennies or themselves off of the large building. She made sure to wait for Garrett before approaching the railing. Even though the plexi-glass shielded the majority of the wind, enough leaked through and dipped down from above to ruffle her skirt and her hair and tug playfully at any other loose bits of clothing people were wearing. She couldn't help but laugh.

She pointed out over the rail a few times pointing at places she'd seen or been to, the library, the park, the M-line... she also felt the need to point out nearly every blinking or twinkling light. This was why they were here, right? To celebrate his lack of seizures and thereby his lack of aversions to seizure stimuli.

She had breezed through the lobby. Garrett had to quicken his pace to keep up with her. When they had reached the elevator, there were a few other tourists getting on, so he placed himself next to her. Her enthusiasm was contagious. She seemed unaware of it, but the others in the elevator seemed to brighten with her arrival. She was truly a breath of fresh air. She shot out of the doors and out to the observatory as soon as the doors opened. Garrett smiled and nodded to the others. "Go ahead." he said. Courtesy wasn't lost on him, rather he thrived on it.

The wind was kicking up a bit. It seemed as if it had come to greet her and share in her excitement. She pointed out various places she had been too while he looked onward. It was hard for him not to just look at her, but his efforts to prevail over his emotions was still holding strong. " I always avoided this place when it was busy. I was afraid I might have an attack. I didn't fear the idea as much as where they might take me if and when they found out I was a mutant. But now after the Registration Act has been repealed, I feel like I have every right to be here. Especially since I don't have to worry about any attacks." He wanted to talk to her about her feelings, but time was long.

He put two quarters in the binoculars and pointed them at Tarin's shop. He held the binoculars at the spot and showed her. "That is the shop there. We'll go there next. I could tell you were excited to go there." He had moved it slightly so she had a hard time seeing it. He stepped behind her and looked over her shoulder, adjusting the binoculars and pointing out things to look for. It really blended in with the other buildings. How did anyone know Tarin was there?

She couldn't help but grin and once she'd started there seemed to be no turning it off tonight. It was worth celebrating.

"This is... well, I never got to look around, you know?" She graciously accepted the timed pay binoculars and peeked through to try and figure out which one of the mundane looking shops was the correct one. It was hard to tell, there was not a lot to distinguish them, though his hints helped... kind of. "I took five steps off the plane, headed for school... I didn't even make it out of the airport." She lamented to Garrett. This was why seeing the sights had become so important to her - she'd had months to stew over it in solitary confinement. Now that she was out, she had no excuse.

The black shutters snapped closed suddenly, making Ghost jump and nearly knock Garrett's teeth in. She hadn't realized he'd been so close. Her smile never faltered as she slipped out of the tight quarters and back to the railing. "It's just nice to be here with everyone. We're lucky enough to blend in pretty well, I guess." She tugged on his sleeve and pointed as probably the last building turned on it's lights that followed the contour of the building and blinked every three seconds or so. Everything else already seemed to blink even though it wasn't yet dark.

"I like it up here." She didn't seem to have any aversion to heights or speed or much else, really. Her lack of temperature sensitivity also made it hard to put on the traditional moves since she didn't get chills from the wind or the creeping cool that the night would supply. She seemed rather content to look toward the sun as it prepared for its brilliant finale. Here they were sharing another sun set in what felt to her like comfortable companionship.

"I took five steps off the plane, headed for school... I didn't even make it out of the airport."

So they had taken her that quick. It was a shame, not only for the obvious reason of her destination, but that she didn't get to see anything. Here he was trying to get fresh and all she wanted to do was enjoy the place she had looked forward to seeing for so long. He took a mental note of it but it was so hard when she smelled so good. Had he sniffed any closer, he would have probably received a broken nose for it. She jumped back quickly, so he tried to regain his composure and listen to her, playing off his close proximity.

She mentioned how nice it was to blend in. It truly was. He was happy that he had not had to use his abilities on anyone. The thoughts of pain and darkness were spirited away, perhaps due to both Ghost's company and the prospect of working at Tarin's. He stepped back towards her as they enjoyed the sights. The sun was going down and it would be brilliant, the clouds spread in a way that made them almost a blank canvas for the natural masterpiece that would take place shortly.

A gust of wind came from above. It was strong but brief, knocking a drink out of someone's hand and carrying another's hat off into the night air. he reached out as they looked onward and took her hand. When she looked at him, he said." Just to make sure you don't blow away." He smiled and winked. Not too much, but enough.

He took her hand in his. She had looked at their hands first, then at him inquisitively. He seemed to be prepared for her reaction. "Just to make sure you don't blow away." He smiled and winked. Not too much, but enough. At first she thought that he was afraid that she really would blow away or take off on some wild breeze and leave him to take a cab back to the mansion. Except for the fact that he'd winked. She could lie to herself and think that friends could hold hands, but she wasn't sure that friends winked at each other. At least, it didn't fully make sense to her in this situation.

She opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly became intensely interested in the beautiful sun set instead. The cogs in her brain were finally clicking into place. She'd let it go for now. She wasn't sure that she entirely minded. She wasn't entirely sure about much, actually. Sirens wailed below them, racing along the street as fast as the traffic would allow. Her eyes became slightly unfocused as she let her mind wander. Maybe riding that wild breeze out of town wasn't such an awful idea after all.

The reaction was about as he had expected. He had only met her this week and here he was, moving too fast. Her usual brightness drifted off into a gaze. She was enjoying the sunset but also was drifting off in her mind. He enjoyed the setting of the sun with her and then let go of her hand. "Well, ready to go by the shop?" A change of pace would be good for both of them. He waited with her as the elevators opened and walked in with her. The ride down and out seemed much quicker, but alot of his anticipation was gone.

He hailed another taxi, since she seemed to enjoy the initial ride. They set off to the Park to see this place. The shop, as obscure as it seemed to be on the outside, was a wellspring of possibility. Tarin seemed to be interested in the Mansion, Ghost was interested in spirits, and he was interested in making some kind of life for himself. He had hoped they might find somewhere to sit and talk. He would no longer set out to pursue her, it really was silly at this point. But he still wanted to know about her. She was an enigma and he wanted to unravel her, know some of her secrets. All in due time.

"Well, ready to go by the shop?" She'd been surprised to hear the words and feel his hand slide away from hers, her mind had been so far off chasing a particularly wicked current of air. It was what she did when she wanted to think of nothing at all. True, her enthusiasm had waned, but her joy never seemed to run out. She didnt' want to ruin... this. Whatever it was. She felt a bit self conscious now, perhaps understanding a bit of what Garrett felt now. She smoothed and re-smoothed her skirt all the way to the next taxi ride.

Any worries she had were washed out the window of the speeding taxi. By the time they slowed to reach their new destination, her cheeks were a radiant pink flush of excitement again. "Is this Tarin guy nice?" She wondered more to herself, though her next question, she directed right at Garrett. "You didn't sign up to work for some weird-o, did you?" She supposed the term weird-o was relative. They had already established that Tarin, Garret, and Ghost were all mutants. How much weirder could it get?

"Is this Tarin guy nice?"
"You didn't sign up to work for some weird-o, did you?"

"No weirder than you and I.He seemd pretty nice. And I am not signed up for anything. It is cash under the table. No forms to fill out, so if they don't like me or vice versa, I can go as easily as I came." Garrett smiled. He was glad she was concerned for him. His weakness when they were working had probably made her sympathetic for him. He could do it though. Anything beat waking up in trash. As they approached the shop, the small signs indicated the medium was no longer in. Made sense with the time and also reassured Garrett of few late nights there.

She inspected the closed store as Garrett reassured her about the owner and the under the table nature of the job. She analyzed the darkened neon signs that read 'Medium' and something about spirits of the dead. He was a mutant - she believed. The blinds were closed so she couldn't really see much inside. She imagined a table and a crystal ball... that's what was in the movies.

She turned to Garrett to ask a question, but he was looking at her with a deep and hard to understand expression. She wasn't sure why but her cheeks burned hot and whatever she'd been wanting to ask flew straight out of her mind. She fumbled out some words anyway. "You uhm... what's your..." She cleared her throat and looked back a the window that was dark and served as a near perfect mirror. His reflection was easier to face. "I was wondering what Garrett's family is like...?

Garrett looked forward to Ghost visiting the shop sometime. Perhaps things would work out and she could find what she needed. She was doing her best to peer through the blinds and see what was inside. He had found he had become silent, only watching her. Though he had been moving too fast, the feelings he had for her were no less real. Now he was overcompensating by backing off too much. It was a delicate balance at all times. For a Taoist, this should have been evident. For a young man falling for someone, not so much.

When she turned to speak to him, the look on his face must have said volumes. Her cheeks became flushed and she turned back to the window. No reason to camouflage it. Perhaps she was a novice at this too. At least if he was upfront and honest, he could live with no regrets later. She had asked him about his family. They were barely a memory. Life prior to puberty and the resulting mutation seemed like a TV show he had seen once. It wasn't real to him like this was.

"Well, my birth family gave me away. When I was around 12 or 13 and had my first seizure, I was in a coma for a long time. They were good people, as I recall, but they could not afford the long term care I required then. So, at some point, they signed me over to the state. I spent alot of time in group and foster homes when I wasn't in hospitals or rehabilitation centers. I suppose that is why I took to meditation and the like so easily. So much time on my back made it an easy sell." And so it did. He hadn't realized that until now.

"What about you?" , he asked. " Other than Japan and you were taken from the plane to the camps, that's all I really know." He sat on a nearby bench. He couldn't make that look go away, he knew it was in his eyes. At least if he remained seated, he might not remain so imposing.

She watched his reflection as he spoke: he seemed so okay with what had happened. She envied him in that moment. He'd found an off the books job and she would have loved to have something to do. She had her overall goal to try and help patch up a society that was springing leaks, but she wasn't sure where to start. Garrett seemed to have a talent for making his own path. He must be used to it after what he'd been through.

Garrett must've tired from standing, his reflection made his way back to a bench that faced central park. "What about you? Other than Japan and you were taken from the plane to the camps, that's all I really know." Ghost stood for a while longer, inspecting the reflected streams of light from the nearly complete sunset. Street level, the last dregs of reddish purple were nearly impossible to see through all the buildings. She frowned.

"You may have noticed that I don't have slanty eyes... My dad's in the Air Force. Yakota Air Force Base, Tokyo Japan. When you work for the government they're all over your personal info. For the 48 contiguous states, Government Employees and their Families were Registered without choice. That would've been nice to know before I got on the plane. " She continued to report to Garrett's reflection. Her heart was pounding against her ribs and it had nothing to do with Garrett this time. "We moved to Japan right before high school. It was a... very well-timed move. Mom was a college professor. World religions was her forte so of course she loved it there." She swallowed. He could ask for more details if he wanted... like why she spoke of her mom in past tense only, but for now she was moving on.

"Before that we lived in Texas, Arizona, Kansas, Colorado.... nothing very far north and never anything as cool as New York." She sighed, fidgeted with her hands for a moment and decided to take a seat on the bench next to Garrett.

Slanty eyes. He had never considered the fact that she wasn't from Japan. One's appearance rarely explained much as far as where they came from. Nonetheless, he listened to her story. He could tell a difference in both inflection and tense when it came to her mother. She must have passed. Perhaps that was why she was so interested in the idea of a medium. She may have had things she still wanted to say. Life is fragile and people rarely gave it the weight it deserved. This was why he had decided not to hide himself from her any longer. To do otherwise would be both a lie and an injury to her. He wanted neither.

She had decided to join him on the bench. No more sudden moves or veiled attempts at intimacy. He tried to remain as clear as water. "So, I have to assume then that your mother has passed? If so, I am sorry. Is that why you wanted to come to the medium?" He turned his body to face her and listened to whatever she had to say. Regardless of how whatever was between them turned out, first and foremost he wanted to be there for her as a friend. " If you don't want to speak of it, I understand. I am here to listen if you need someone to talk to, though."

As he waited for her response, he saw that the lights of the sun had given way to the lights of the night. In particular, he could make out the timed mating rituals of fireflies in the trees. These lights were as meaningful as the ones he could see from the Observatory.