Perfect Illusion

[pentagrandma]

“Hm,” Ash considered; allowing a moment of silence to pass before conceding, “I like your interpretation of it better.” Her own analysis of the painting had been rather bleak; a little girl whose blithe oblivion distracted her from observing the surrounding turmoil. Though, Ash supposed, ignorance was bliss - she decided that she’d rather know about the flood. Better to feel the sorrow of the world - and equip yourself with the means to survive it - than to drown happy. She gave no voice to these thoughts; perhaps Dreki needed his spot of happiness.

His following question prompted another smile from her - and as she responded, she carefully resumed their slow meandering. “I have no pets currently, but I had a lot growing up. My family home is on a plot of good-sized acreage, so we always had chickens and goats and barn cats. I’d like to get a cat, now, for the company - if my landlord will allow it. What about you?"

[Maxpphire]

He had followed her lead, walking slowly with her. He was enjoying himself so far, making a new friend wasn't a bad way to spend the night, particularly in a place where he wasn't expecting it nor able to have enjoyed himself otherwise. A bad night for him turned into a good night thus far.

"I wasn't allowed pets growing up," he explained while walking with her, "my dad didn't allow for it, I was sheltered a lot as a kid because of my blindness, mostly from my dad who was also blind. My mom who had working eyes, tried her best to allow me to experience the world. You would think it would be the other way around, but I'm guessing my dad was more free as a child and something happened to him that scared him. They used to fight a lot about it, but only after they thought I'd give to bed. They didn't want me to hear it or worry about it." It was the first time in a long time he talked about his parents, and honestly it felt nice to.

"I was debating getting a cat as a first pet. They are pretty easy from what I can tell. Food, water, cleaning it the litter box, and they will seek love from you when they want it. I'm actually a little nervous about doing so on my own, which is why I haven't yet." Which wasn't the full truth. It would be one more thing the facility could use against him, not like he needed to worry about such a creature that wouldn't be able to defend itself in such a way. "Might be better off finding a roommate who owns or gets a cat instead of me, first." He then mentioned, almost like a trial in a way. While he knew the basics, that's all he had known.

"What's it like living on a farm?" He then asked having made note of the animals she said she had. His dad would have never stuff for allowing Dreki to go to a farm to visit a friend, but it's not like he had a choice in such matters anymore.

[pentagrandma]

Ash pursed her lips, a trace knit marring her brow as she listened to Dreki speak. “They didn’t even want you to have a service dog?” Came her thoughtful query, before she bubbled on with renewed enthusiasm. “Oh, cats are so easy! I mean, I never even had to deal with litter, because all of our cats back home were outdoor - but, you know, they’ve got those self-cleaning boxes these days. And timed feeders, too! They’ve even got pet fountains that hook up to your plumbing. If you had all of that set up, you’d have to do next to nothing. You should totally get a cat,” She announced decidedly.

With his question, she exhaled an exaggerated groan. “Oh, gosh. It’s boring. Repetitive. Every day is the same. It’s why I came here. There’s so much to do in the city, by comparison, that I’m overwhelmed by it - but I do love it.” In spite of having spurned her previous life, Ash found herself smiling again. This was nice, even if she was more focused now on Dreki than on the artwork. She felt more awake with someone to talk to, too. Besides, now that she lived here, she could always come back.

“What’s it like growing up in the city?”

[Maxpphire]

"My mom suggested it but my dad shot it down in regards to the service dog. He used the fact that I went to a public school as a reason against it. Too many kids trying to touch it. My walking cane was good enough back before I had gained some sight. Also I'll look into getting a cat then, once my personal life calms down a bit." He was purposefully vague on that last bit. He knew if he got a cat, and Hofflan found out, well that would be the end of that. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself for putting such a creature who couldn't defend itself in such a possibly abusive or harmful situation.

"I'm probably the wrong person to ask on what it was like to grow up here. I was pretty sheltered, only allowed to go to school by myself and everything else my dad demanded that either he or my mom accompany me. My mom worked as a lawyer and sometimes was just too busy for me, and my dad, well, he didn't like to leave the house. The one time I had snuck out I had gotten in pretty big trouble so I didn't do it again. Other than school and the occasional time mom would make time for me, I was stuck inside." Due to his abuse at the hands of the facility, he didn't quite realize his upbringing with his actual parents wasn't exactly healthy for a child either. To him it felt like a walk in the park, something he yearned to have back in a sense, but also glad he wasn't stuck inside anymore and allowed to live his life mostly in the way he wanted. It was a bitter sweet feeling

"Pretty much it was very loud, growing up here." He felt like he was rambling on for too long, and thus shortened his thoughts. "There is a lot to do but it doesn't mean much if you don't go out and do it, so make sure you enjoy it between classes." He smiled at her, "Make the most of it while you're here, even if you stay here forever, new things crop up all the time so I'm sure you won't get bored."

[pentagrandma]

Ash didn’t question the lack of calm in Dreki’s personal life. She chalked it up the regular turmoil of adulthood; balancing work and friends and general existence. Her smile slowly twisted, reshaping into a frown as he shared with her the details of his childhood. It was different, she supposed, growing up blind with an overprotective parent. If she had a blind child, would she, too, fear letting them out of her sight? Everyone needs to learn independence at some point, right?

“Ah,” she replied after he finished, bidding a note of lightheartedness to color her tone as she continued on. “I definitely will. I mean, I don’t know if I’ll be here forever - but I definitely plan to make the most of each day.” There was a pause before she queried, “Do you still talk to your parents, then?” Was that too personal of a question for a first-time meeting? Maybe not. Dreki had expanded on more of his childhood than she’d expected, so...

She brought them to another halt; though, she was far less careful in her sudden standstill this time around. “Oh! This one invites you to touch!” Veering Dreki toward the sculpture, with its sign denoting to Please Touch, Aislin extended her free hand enthusiastically.

[Maxpphire]

"I would, but they are long since gone," he mentioned politely telling her that they had died without saying as such, "It's been 12 years now, so no worries, I'm past any grief caused by that now. How about you with your parents?" He didn't want her to feel bad over asking about it, but he thought it was important to be truthful about it as well. When she suddenly stopped he was worried out of concern about what she asked and his response but when she mentioned a touchable sculpture, he felt relief. They were walking slowly enough that her sudden stop didn't feel so sudden.

He had yet to be in this room, and as such he hadn't come across this sculpture yet. He smiled and tentatively reached out and touched it. He could tell it was of a woman, a large bird sat on her shoulder as she reached up to it with the arm of the shoulder it sat on, and her other arm cradled a cat. He was hard from him to tell the expression on her face without feeling it, and thus he did. She seemed happy, peaceful. The cool and smooth texture to the sculpture changed when he went to the bird, where it felt feathery. Feathers were likely added for a textural difference, but the bird seemed like a bird, he wasn't sure how to tell emotions on one, but it seemed calm as well. As did the cat when he brought his hand over to that next, it felt so incredibly soft there, and it seemed as if the cat as asleep in her arms. The look on his face the whole time was that of a child like wonder, and almost excitement as it isn't often he gets such an opportunity to experience art.

"Also I apologize, didn't mean to imply you'd be here forever," He smiled as he was still exploring the art piece, "I guess I meant to say it will never get boring. Even now, this is a new experience for me, and I've lived here all my life. Sure I've been to this museum before with my mom, but they didn't have anything like this back then. She would just describe everything to me much like you have so far. I want to say thank you, how about we grab some food after this? You can choose wherever and whatever, it'll be my treat." His tone of voice was warm, as he remembered the times he had been here with his mom, and her doing the best she could to let him know about everything she could in the museum. He felt thankful that Ash started to talk to him and decided to bring him around to do something similar, the least he could do to repay her he felt was to offer to get her some food or something.

[pentagrandma]

Her hand halted mid-reach, and hovered. Shit. She shouldn’t have asked - and now he was asking about her parents, and it felt like boasting to give him the truth. “Oh, um,” she began, lowering her hand to stroke the sculpted cat. “I’m close with mine.” It was better, she thought, to condense it down into that simple statement. Better not to tell him that she still called her parents every night before bed, and sent texts in the morning; better not to say that she still told them when she was leaving her apartment, and where she’d be. Though, in her defense, her mother would likely blow up if she didn’t check in at least once per day.

She looked toward Dreki, her touch of the figure having grown listless, and observed in his childlike wonderment. How cute. A smile curved unbidden, expanding further with his offer to treat. “It’s been my pleasure,” she answered sincerely, “but I’d love to have dinner. Why don’t you pick the place? I’m still not all that familiar with what’s good or close by.”

[Maxpphire]

"Do you know what district you live in? I live in the west, and well there is a nice little cafe I live by, or we could go somewhere near where you live? If you want I could walk you home afterwards, sometimes the night streets are not the friendliest." He made mention thinking of the Fae attacks becoming more and more prevalent according to the news outlet he now follows about the supernatural creatures in the city. While he could tell Ash was just a normal human, he worried regardless that if one couldn't find their fix that they might attack and feed off of someone else instead, he didn't want Ash to be that someone else. He knew he could handle himself in a fight well enough, even if he wasn't the best at it. He stopped touching the statue and looked towards her.

"Do you have more art to show me, do you want to linger around a bit, do you want to grab food now?" He asked trying to see what she was feeling up for.

[pentagrandma]

Ash dropped her hand from the sculpture, allowing it to settle once more at her side. “I live north, but the cafe near you sounds fine. I could really go for a coffee,” she stressed.

Dreki's chivalrous offer to see her home was met with widened eyes and a hasty shake of Aislin's head. When the belated realization dawned that he might not be able to perceive the motion, she said, “Oh, god, no - if anything, I should be walking you home.” Usually, she drove; today, however, she hadn’t wanted to deal with parking, and had ridden the subway. Mentally, she cursed herself for not taking her car. How much easier it would have been to offer to drive them both home. Oh, well. She wasn’t all that familiar with the public transit yet, but felt she could manage. If not, she could always Uber.

Feeling indecisive, she shrugged. “I don’t know. What do you feel like? I’m happy to describe a few more pieces to you - or we can go. Your call!”

[Maxpphire]

He had noticed her shake her head and almost asked what was wrong until she offered the other way around. He chuckled at her declaration to walk him home and warmly smiled. He hadn't quite expected that, but worse came to worst, he could just order her an Uber to get her home safe. After all, he was the one with 3 jobs, his source of income wouldn't be taxed to get her home safe.

"I don't recall anyone ever offering to walk me home in such a way before. It's a nice change of pace, I think I'll take you up on that offer." He smiled at her, "I'd be fine to hear about a few more pieces of art, this is a rare deal for me, might as enjoy it while I have access to it." His tone was light hearted and happy, he was enjoying himself greatly, this was a nice break from the stress of his life and he wanted to enjoy it for as long as he could.

[pentagrandma]

Clearly baffled, Ash queried, “For real? ... Wait, in what such way?” Initially, she thought he meant that no one had ever offered to walk him home before - Rude! - but then, she was snagged on his phrasing. In such a way. At least he seemed happy about it, whichever way that was.

With a small shrug, she turned to resume her gentle guiding. “Alright, let’s find some good ones. I haven’t looked in this room, yet,” she added, steering him toward the unexplored gallery.

[Maxpphire]

"In the past when I've gone home with someone, it's usually because we've agreed to a one night stand," he spoke without shame while letting her drag him along to the new room, "such a thing leaves me feeling more hollow than not nowadays, so it's not something I do much of anymore, if at all." His thoughts veered again towards Sam. In a way he was annoyed how Sam just kind of ended things without so much of a response, he had told him he was looking for someone with more permanence in his life, even if it was just casually. He shook his head almost as if to get the thoughts of that out of it.

"This is in a more friendly way than that," He then explained, "or at least not inherently sexual in nature from what I can tell anyway." The more he thought about things, with her even going as far as calling him the full package earlier, he wasn't quite sure what to expect out of her. He wouldn't really turn her down if hm she came onto him, at least, not without getting to know her first, and he was interested in learning more about her.

[pentagrandma]

Ash felt her cheeks heat with Dreki’s explanation; color blooming brighter with his final sentiment. From what he could tell. “O-oh,” she stammered out, following it up with a nervous laugh. Suddenly, she felt oddly guilty; but that wasn’t right, because she was innocent. Right?

A flash of an image; a man she’d met only once, wearing the expression of one she’d known intimately well.

Her hand felt stiff in the crook of Dreki’s arm. Focus. She swallowed thickly, then cleared her throat. “You don’t have to worry about that from me,” she finally said, pausing to anxiously wet her lips with the tip of her tongue. “I’ve only ever, um... I’ve only had one partner, so... And, you know, being new to the city... Making friends is my priority.” Not that you aren’t attractive, she had almost tacked onto the end of her awkward disclosure - thankfully having managed to cut herself off before then. He probably knew, anyway, even if he couldn’t see it for himself.

[Maxpphire]

He felt her stiffen up and act nervous suddenly at the mention of such things, and suddenly became worried. He was always open about this kind of stuff and wondered if her nervousness was because of the fact that she only had one partner or something else. His mind went to his own experiences, a few of which were not consensual on his end and worried if maybe she too had such an experience, but that was unlikely, or at least he told himself that. He didn't like to think about others going through similar torment that he had experienced. He closed his eyes, furrowing his brow, and shook his head.

"I'm sorry if I crossed a line. I tend to be rather open about my life, almost to a fault. I'm learning slowly to be a bit more reserved so no worries, I won't mention it again since it made you uncomfortable." His candor genuine to his words, "I don't have very many friends here myself. Mostly just due to my busy nature, but I've managed to make some. It's a good priority to have." He lied, he had one friend. He knew Sam doesn't count as one anymore, but he had Drew at least. He also didn't want her to think anything else was wrong with him given the social faux pas of him possibly being a little too open with her. It wasn't even any of the big things about him either. He hoped it wouldn't be that big of a deal in the end because he was enjoying her company, he wanted to be her friend. He suddenly felt nervous that he might fuck that up now.

"Is there anything in this room that is catching your eye?" He asked in a way to change the subject, not wanting her to feel any further discomfort from such a conversation, unless she decided to continue it on her own.

[pentagrandma]

Damn. She had a terrible habit of making others feel culpable for her own insecurities.

Aislin had all but forgotten that she was supposed to be explaining art. Still, before she sought out a suitable piece, she felt it important to say, “You haven’t done anything wrong.” It was difficult not to throw in the cliched, ‘It’s not you, it’s me.’ Was a statement like that even appropriate used outside of a breakup? Finally, she settled upon, “I’m just awkward, is all... I’d like for us to be friends.”

Coming to a stop, Ash tilted her head in quiet regard of the piece before them. Her brows knit marginally, and she was quiet for a time before softly admitting, “This one is weird.” She took a moment to chew on her lower lip, before giving her explanation. “It’s an old man, with a lot of excess skin - so much, that it pools around his feet. He’s like a human Shar Pei, but super exaggerated. He has a little tuft of white hair, and-- Whoa! I just noticed, there are hidden shapes in the folds. A serpent; a skull; a naked woman in the fetal position...” She trailed off, squinting in an attempt to uncover more of the stealthy figures.

... “I think that might be a telephone?”