A Blind Meeting

Riffel casually walked down the streets of Central, not really watching where he was going. Man he was glad that he was back from Xing, being kidnapped and brought all the way over there was not his idea of a vacation. He clicked his tongue, watching the outlines of the trees, as he continued to walk. Wow, it was a nice morning today, he stopped in the middle of the street, to admire his surroundings, when he bumped into something. He turned his head and noticed he had just run into someone. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" A feeling of embarrassment fell over Riffel. Just how many people would he have to run into before he learned his lesson to not space out? First Tsune, now this person. He clicked his tongue furiously to see if he had caused her any harm. "...cool cane..." Oh, did he just say that out loud?

"Yeah...I have a tendency for knocking into strangers it seems. It was totally my fault I was just daydreaming. You have an interesting cane there, it's pretty damn cool." he said as he ran his fingers through his hair. He heard something being shifted and silently used his ability to see that she was moving her glasses. Glasses....cane...could this girl possibly be blind as well?! Wait, he couldn't possibly ask her something that rude, especially since she was pretty cute as well. No...he definitely did not want to screw this up. "Is there anything I can do for you? I feel it was pretty rude of me to have run into you, so if there's something I can do to make it up, just ask." He smiled, and shifted his own sunglasses as well, it was unusual meeting someone who was also blind but could also see as well. He wondered how she did it. Wait, was he jumping the gun here...maybe she wasn't blind?

"Oh...I see..." Riffel said with a disappointed sigh. He guessed he was wrong after all. Maybe this girl wasn't blind. He was stupid to jump to conclusions that fast, he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. Still, he was glad that she wasn't as angry at him as Tsune was. Then again he did trip over Tsune, so maybe that was he became so furious with Riffel. He shook the bad memories away, it didn't matter anyway. She seemed like a nice enough person though, it wasn't everyday that he was able to run into someone with as good looking as her, even if all he could see was her outline.

Riffel was still curious though, he was almost sure that she was blind. Something about her just seemed out of place. Maybe she was like him trying to hide it as best as she could so that other people wouldn't notice. Gah he hated doing this but it might just work. He brushed his long, hair out of his face again and removed his sunglasses, revealing his cloudy white eyes. "Well my name's Riffel, what's yours?" he grinned happily.

"Ilona...that's a cute name." He heard something tap on the ground was that her cane. He hadn't noticed it before, he wondered what the tapping was for. He started to drift off thinking of the different possibilities that it could be used for, when something took hold of his hand. It was cold, but he felt a sort of gentleness as she led him somewhere. Not wanting to make his usual clicking sound he let her guide him to a bench. He felt the wind dance around them, it made him shiver even though he had his leather jacket on. Surprisingly his hand was warm though, he guessed the gauntlet that the girl was wearing was making her hand warm.

She didn't seem to be alarmed even though he had taken off his sunglasses. Riffel breathed a sigh of relief, usually people thought he looked like a freak when he took them off. He was so happy that this girl didn't seem to think so, or at least he hoped she didn't. Oh was he still holding her hand? "Is there something you wanted to say over here?" he asked with a smile.

Riffel felt waves of sadness, emanating from this girl as she told him that she didn't want to go home. He wondered what had happened at her home, that would make her not want to return. All he wanted to do was to cheer her up but he had no idea where to start. He didn't know the kind of situation that she was dealing with at her house. Confusion flooded through Riffel, why was it at times when he was needed most by someone he couldn't find the right words to say to them. He closed his eyes and lifted his head letting the breeze envelop his face. He then lowered his head to her and squeezed her hand as she whispered that she was really lonely. Riffel couldn't help but feel sorry for Ilona, "Well, I can be your friend. Then you wouldn't have to be alone anymore" he said quietly.

He felt a drop of water fall onto his hand. It hit the back of his hand and ran down his fingers like a small stream. He smelled the saltiness in the air, as more drops hit his hand. He felt them as they ran down his hand, as if her sadness was pouring into his skin. He wanted to help her with the things that were troubling her. He didn't know why, but he felt that if he did, she wouldn't feel alone anymore. His confusion worsened, just how was he supposed to go about doing that? He quietly clicked his tongue to see her, he suddenly noticed that a scar was visible behind her sunglasses. He realized then what the cane and the sunglasses were for. So she was blind. Then maybe just maybe, instead of having her help him with the troubles of being blind, he could help her instead. He put his arms around her and gave her a hug, "It'll be alright" he said as he put his hands back into his lap. Why was he nervous?

Riffel was surprised at being grabbed by Ilona, but didn't mind it at all. He felt her head as she burrowed it into his chest. Her voice reached his ears full of loneliness as she asked him to stay like this for just a little longer. He didn't know what to make of the situation, so he ended up sitting there wondering what he should do. Well, at least he was helping her in some sort of way. Riffel felt her the warmth of her body spread through him like a sunny day at the beach. Yeah...he didn't mind staying like this for a while. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer, and her hair blew into his face tickling his nose. He smiled again as he wrinkled his nose trying to move the hair away so that it wasn't blowing into his face. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked gently.

Ilona moved away from Riffel, and he felt her warmth leave his body. He watched her outline as she moved away from him and then realized that she was smiling. Her smile sent a different kind of feeling through his body, he was glad that she was alright. He smiled back, he guessed he had just helped in some sort of way. The atmosphere around him turned from loneliness into something more cheerful. He felt like he could talk with her more openly now. "That's alright...although it was nice though while it lasted. I'm glad that you feel a little better now." He put his sunglasses back on, man today was certainly a strange day. It's not everyday that he met a stranger and became really close to them all in one day. He wondered what sort of relationship this would turn into later.

"Who do I remind you of?" Riffel asked curiously. He was glad though that she was still smiling and laughing. Somehow it seemed to make everything better. She was really pretty when she was happy. He wondered what her eyes looked like beneath her sunglasses. Riffel then decided to shake off these thoughts and focus on Ilona's happiness. He just hoped that she wouldn't suddenly fall back into loneliness, then he really wouldn't know what to do.

"Well, I'll be here for whenever you need anything or if you're feeling down. Is there someplace you'd like to go?" Maybe if he cheered her up some more by showing her some fun things to do, then she wouldn't feel as lonely. Plus it would be more fun, he did after all get find some money on the ground at Xing. And apparently there was a lot their, well at least that's what a stranger told him, so he was no longer broke.

"Oh..." Riffel said, somewhat satisfied with the answer he was given but still curious. He decided to just drop it, it wasn't his business messing into other people's affairs. He supposed that she would tell him in time what was bothering her. She said that she wanted to go home, her voice seemed to be drifting back into sadness. Funny, Riffel thought to himself, he didn't even have a home. Ever since his teacher, Flux, passed away he had moved from place to place sleeping where he could, and stealing showers from local gyms. He occasionally was able to get some money by using his alchemy to fix things for people so that he could do his laundry. Man, what a harsh life he led...he wished it could get a little better than just wandering around.

"Well, I can walk you home if you'd like" he held out his hand for her to take.

Riffel took her hand in his, it was still warm from when he held it earlier. He smiled to himself, he was happy to be able to be with her again and so he squeezed her hand lightly once more. He let her guide him through what felt like a labyrinth. He no longer felt the need to click his tongue to see where he was going, giving his trust completely to Ilona. She seemed to confidently walk down the streets, pulling him lightly as she went. "Oh...yeah...well the world is my playground, I pretty much live where ever I feel like it," he said it confidently but inside he felt a little nervous. Maybe she wouldn't like him as much since he didn't really have a home. "It would make me very happy to stay with you even if it's for just a while, I'm kind of getting sick of being outside all the time. I just hope I'm not intruding on anything... I can cook for you though?" he said with a smile.

"Alright, that's fine with me," Riffel replied. "Thank you so much for letting me stay with you." They continued to walk in silence through the maze of streets. It felt like Riffel was walking through a dream, was he really going to have a place to stay? Even if it was just for a while, he wouldn't mind. His thoughts raced around his head, and before he knew it they were there. He walked inside after her, he wanted to click his tongue so that he could see, but worried that it would annoy Ilona. So he cautiously walked after her making sure his hand was firmly holding onto hers so that he wouldn't get lost but also loose enough so that he wouldn't hurt her. His thoughts started to wander again and he bumped into Ilona. "Oh! I'm so sorry! Damn, I'm so clumsy. That's the second time today!" he said with a worried look on his face.

Riffel was pulled slightly by Ilona into a small enclosed space. He heard a ding resound from somewhere and realized that he had to be in an elevator. He had heard about them from people but had never actually been in one! Man, he was really sheltered as a child...He ran his hands along the sides of the walls only to be met with an assortment of buttons. Riffel withdrew his hand quickly, he didn't want to press any of the buttons or they would be riding on this elevator forever. How high would it take them? Maybe Ilona's place was at the top of the building! Then he could get onto the roof and lay out in the sun when it was nice out! Then again though, he wasn't here to have fun, he had to find a job so that he could get a place of his own and then he would be out of Ilona's hair. He then noticed that Ilona had been deathly silent, "Hey, is everything alright?"