Little Blind Mice [Bee]

[Dark]

Joy. A friendly one. "That sounds...nice. Be sure to tell me what you--see." It did sound nice though; it sounded wonderful; Raniya had never met anyone from the Capital before, and it sounded distinctly like opportunity knocking.

That she would actually have the chance, even if it was a remote one, to finally get out of this miserable town was-- It made her feel a little bit giddy, a whole lot determined. She wouldn't let this slip by without a fight.

"You can call me Niya for short," she paused, hating to be stating the obvious but since they were both blind, "I'm a resident Torquehelm, by nature and nurture. My eyes are that which is bound."

She wondered what would be the best way to convince Helena to take her with her when she eventually left--no one stayed long in Torquehelm if they could help it--and quickly settled on a friendly approach. She would hold on to hysterical pleas--OMG, take me with you--until circumstances looked to be turning against her favor.

[Bee]

Ah, that explained it, then. Helena wondered why Raniya--presumably blindfolded, that was a semi-popular Torquehelm binding--didn't just flip the thing over and see. It seemed--like such an easy thing to do. A bit of fabic wrapped around your eyes wasn't like having your bag leg shackled to your neck or something. But Helena supposed that if she understood that, she probably would have understood her own problem.

Self-interest aside, she really was curious about the binding mechanism, and what ingrained the self-abusing tradition so deeply into these people's brains that they didn't even think to pick the lock or tear the cloth.

"Thanks...Niya." She didn't offer up a nickname--mostly she had always gotten called Hel or Helena Handbasket, neither of which were very cheerful. Though maybe that would be a good look for Torquehelm: Hel, Dark Mistress of the Underworld.

Or not.

She continued, somewhat hesitantly: "Do you know any...freed Torquehelms?"

[Dark]

Raniya's stomach churned. Freed Torquehelms? Oh, she knew a few. Try her entire family. Growing up, she had known on some base level that she was different from her siblings, she just hadn't known how until much later; after it became apparent she wasn't blind by nature; after her parents had told her about the "curse".

"Why are you interested, if you don't mind me asking?"

If Helena was looking for freed Torquehelms, that did not bode well in Raniya's favor. Helena actually having goals, and eventually meeting those goals, meant that Raniya would sooner or later become obsolete. Of course, there was the possibility that Helena would be more willing to let Raniya tag along if she was actually helpful. But was Raniya willing to take that chance? This was her freedom they were talking about, after all.

[Bee]

Helena thought about the best way to go about explaining that, and then just threw caution to the wind and let everything spill out as it may: "I'm not...naturally blind, either. Or even blind all the time. I can see at night, but when morning hits, my eyes just...close, and nothing can get them to open, like I don't control them anymore. It happened when I found a little pelt, from a baby Rabbit, I'm sure it's a Rabbit, and I also hear..."

She stopped herself abruptly. It was enough to tell Niya that she had been cursed into blindness; she didn't need to know that she was a fucking lunatic, too. She didn't want to blow whatever chance she had of this girl helping her--because she desperately, desperately wanted help. And life had taught her the hard way that nobody liked helping the crazy bitch.

"It's...magically induced, a curse I think, and I thought that...maybe if people here knew how to rid themselves of a curse, they might be able to teach me how." It sounded even dumber, said out loud, but it was the only chance she had.

[Dark]

Ah. Curses Raniya understood, and she would have found herself interested in this particular one regardless of wanting Helena's favor. A rabbit pelt? Rabbits were little more than a myth--though there was always some shred of truth in myths--used to scare naughty children into obedience. What was the exact nature of Helena's curse, and why?

"I don't know that freed Torquehelms will be much help to you; I don't know that they understand it themselves. It seems to be a whole lot of good feelings, and even more blind luck. A 'miracle' you could call it." She tried to keep the bitterness from her voice, but it was hard to mask seventeen years of hurt.

Her parents thought they had been kind to only bind her with a blindfold, but how was it kind when the only discernible difference she could see was the blindfold they had put there?

[Bee]

Helena felt like someone had taken a needle and viciously stabbed it into her floppy half-inflated balloon of hope. There was no way to figure out a miracle or blind luck. They just happened, without rhyme or reason. And she certainly wasn't going to wake up one morning and suddenly be able to see while the sun was up. She could have cried.

"Oh. Well, that's...thanks for trying, anyway. I appreciate it."

It's okay, I love you, you'll always have me, don't you love me?

The rabbit felt suddenly heavier around her neck. Simcha was probably quite happy about this. Maybe not being blind anymore would make her go away forever. Helena could sort of sympathize. She wouldn't want to disappear into the void either. But she was more miserable for herself than empathetic toward the voice in her head.

[Dark]

Raniya, for the first time in her life, left like a complete and utter dick. It was a new feeling, having the power to mercilessly crush a person's only hope. Raniya wasn't sure she enjoyed it. Helena sounded... crushed.

"I--well, if you wanted..." Raniya couldn't believe what she was doing, but the words just seemed to tumble out of her mouth, "You could try talking to my parents. They're both freed Torquehelm."

She was turning into a bleeding sap. What did she care about Helena's personal problems? She squashed any sort of sympathetic response, justifying her actions--keep Helena happy; a happy Helena is more likely to help you--even though she knew it was a huge load of hogwash.

"Come on. They're still both at home this time of day--" being blind lent Raniya a very trustworthy internal clock, "--we can still catch them."

[Bee]

She was actually going to get to talk to a free Torquehlem--two of them, no less. She didn't have the words to express quite how grateful she was (she felt the urge to just hug, but firstly, she was just as likely to lunge and miss and injure herself in some embarrassing fashion, and secondly, her new friend might find that a bit creepy), so she settled for a couple of inarticulate expressions of thanks before she carried on after Raniya. She stuck very close, not wanting to get lost.

It must have been crap, though, she got to thinking, to have your parents walk through life totally unfettered while you had to be blinded. For reasons that probably weren't even completely understood. Helena certainly didn't understand them. She bit her lip. She knew what it felt like to be left out.

[Dark]

Raniya had hoped there would be no one home, or at the very most it was only her parents still milling about the family abode--mother tended to flit around in the morning, and father liked to linger over the stock reports. The noise level was the first thing that warned her that she wouldn't be granted her wish; she stepped through the front door with a grimace. Her entire family was home.

"Raniya--" the crinkle of the newspaper, "--you're back early. Are you quite alright, sweetheart?" "Did you want company after all? Your brother would be happy to--" "Don't volunteer me for things! Geez, mom." "You're such a pain, Hadi." "At least I'm not priss, Anisa." "I swear--" "Whose your guest, Raniya?"

It was eerie how quiet the kitchen became, and Raniya felt her skin crawl under the weight of their collective gaze.

"This is Helena."

[Bee]

There was an exceptional amount of commotion going on in the house, and Helena was reminded immediately of home, the Apartment of Endless Noise. It was a feeling both mildly comforting and extremely off-putting. She couldn't get a good look at anyone, of course (she tried for a moment to open her tightly closed eyes, but again to no avail), but she was happy that Raniya had a family that seemed to care about her, judging by their concerned and attentive voices. Her own family wouldn't have cared where she had gone or if she had even come back, especially Mom.

She gave a wave of her hand in greeting. She hoped no one would comment on the dead bunny pelt wrapped about her neck; she had gotten questions about that before, and it was always kind of awkward to explain about Simcha. "Hi. Nice to meet all of you."