more_than_tools | You can't always get what you want

Who: Jonas and Khemrys?
When: Early in Jonas' stay at the company, some months before the escape
What: Jonas likes taking pictures, but he likes some pictures more than others.

Jonas fiddled with his camera, not looking up as the lady held the door open for him to go back into the dormitory. The camera, a gift from his father when he turned ten, had been one of the only things he'd been allowed to bring besides books and a few clothes, and they came to take the memory card every few days and bring a new one. 'So he could take more pictures' of course, since none of them were allowed a computer that he could download the pictures to. But it was okay. He liked taking the pictures, mostly, so if they disappeared afterwards, that was just what happened.

She patted him on the shoulder and he flinched, even with the cloth of his shirt between them. He twisted, turning to snap a picture which made her laugh and tell him she'd be watching for that one when she got him a new card tomorrow. It was fine, she would, the picture was fine.

Sometimes, though, the pictures looked weird. He couldn't really describe it, except that one day, the pictures would be fine, and the next, pictures of the same person would be not right anymore. He'd never told anyone, not even the lady, especially not once he realized that most often, the pictures that looked weird were pictures of the kids that were gone the next day. The ones that 'were placed in other homes.' He didn't believe it, but he didn't believe lots of things, and it never seemed to matter.

So he was always careful who he took pictures of, watching for that weird something he couldn't describe. There were some people he liked taking pictures of, though. He raised the camera again once the door had closed behind him, snapping a picture of Khemrys. She looked tired today, but her pictures were never weird.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

homeless_pard

Probably to make matters better in terms of photography she had that unconscious posture and pausing pose that any cat tended to have? Even tiredly slumped back against a bunk rail and a puppy in her lap chewing on her braid, well, photogenic was probably the term.

She looked up at the click of the door and offered him a smile "you look better than yesterday Jonas, I'm glad!"

From:

deaths_eye_view

He shrugged, checking the photo and smiling a little when it turned out good. Then he deleted it, because he'd rather delete his favorite pictures himself than let someone else take them away. With the screen black again, he let his camera hang from its strap around his neck and headed for his own bed, giving the puppy a wide berth. "They brought me back early. I guess they're getting in some new kids and one of the testers is sick, so they're borrowing mine."

From:

homeless_pard

"Ah," that single sound was laced with tired sadness. She did not care for the company continuing to bring in fresh crops of children to wade through as recklessly as some of the handlers did.

That was neither here nor there though was it? No, as she was prone to she wiggled when he settled, laying her head, well cushioned his pants and her own thick hair, against his knee. The boy needed touch after all. The pup could stay safe and asleep in her lap! "So they did not press you too harsh today, a gift of an afternoon then. How will you spend it?"

From:

deaths_eye_view

Even if he was halfway expecting it, he still flinched and stiffened when she touched him. Yes, there was plenty between them, and yes, it was as safe as it could ever be, but there was still always that voice of doubt that said maybe it wasn't safe enough. Eventually, he leaned back on his hands, widening the distance between her and the few bits of him that weren't covered, and called it good. "I don't know. I didn't think about it."

Which probably just meant pretending to sleep and thinking too much, really.

From:

homeless_pard

Yes, well, she expected him to flinch and never even jumped now when he did so. One of these days she'd just pass him a brush and have him help with her braid but not today. "Ah, well, it has been some time since you were in the gardens to take pictures, we are still in lock down but if I fetch Kernan we can let you have some shooting time?"

From:

deaths_eye_view

With all his sisters, at least that would be familiar. As familiar as anything, anyway. He glanced at the sleeping puppy. For some reason, talking about Kernan always made him think of the dogs and vice versa. Not that he talked about Kernan with anyone but Khemrys, and she always had at least one dog with her, so maybe that had something to do with it, too. "Won't you both get in trouble if we do that?"

From:

homeless_pard

How could it not? The Elven Hounds were as much Kernan's power as the path running. If the corporation could figure out how to harness it for something useful they would! "I oft go to the gardens, they have ceased attempting to stop me as I aid them in growing and several of the trainers have suggested it is a strengthening exercise. Who I bring for company will fall on me to explain."

From:

deaths_eye_view

But that was the problem! He wasn't worried about himself. He huffed, the sound more childish than he might have liked under other circumstances. "Only if you can explain it without getting in trouble."

Edited Date: 2015-03-03 09:21 pm (UTC)

From:

homeless_pard

She chuckled, reaching up to trace fingers along the edge of his sleeve, "Aye, I believe I may," she admitted. "Or at least far less trouble than others may." She was...hard to yell at. Go figure. "Will you not trust me?"

From:

deaths_eye_view

He didn't so much... trust people these days. Even if Khemrys wasn't exactly people, just like he wasn't exactly people, the adults all were, and it was them he didn't trust the most. Still... "It'd be nice to get outside for a while, I guess."

From:

homeless_pard

"Then that is what we shall do," she stood and held her hand out easily for him. There'd be a sleeve between them no doubt, but that did not mean she wouldn't offer. "Do you wish to bring your camera?" Some outdoor shots could be nice for him?

Meanwhile the pup in her lap went darting off to fetch Kernan.

From:

deaths_eye_view

He'd do one better and reach into his pockets for a pair of gloves. It made him feel a little better about taking her hand, even if that fear that somehow his power would sneak past the fabric anyway never really left. He nodded in response to her question, the camera still hanging on its strap around his neck. "They're bringing a new card tomorrow, so I might as well fill this one."

From:

homeless_pard

She gave his hand a delighted squeeze when she was able and paced them toward the young, hooded man who'd suddenly appeared near the bathroom doors. "It is warm enough there may be strawberries..." she mused easily while Kernan looked up and down the hall, checking for immediate observation, and opened a glowing arc in the nearby wall.

"If I come running to you then do not hesitate to stand ready," he warned easily.

"Of course," Khemrys chuckled and tugged Jonas through the shimmering light into the slightly weed choked edges of the far laboratory park lands.

From:

deaths_eye_view

Jonas was pretty sure that he could go through one of those things a thousand times and still get that shivery feeling every time, like his hair was all standing on end. It was just weird, weirder than normal for them, to take a step out of one place and end up somewhere else a long way away.

But for being outside, that was worth it. He tugged his hand away from Khemrys, but less out of discomfort and more to hold his camera properly. As always, a bit of him wanted to turn around and try to take a picture of the door, but they never showed up right, anyway, and he'd just want to delete the picture right away, so he didn't bother. He snapped another picture of Khemrys, instead. "Why aren't you out here all the time, since it's so easy? Why stay cooped up inside?"

From:

homeless_pard

To be fair to his assertions the gardens where only far away mentally, they were hardly distant, spatially! She held still a moment for his picture, more than willing to allow him his centering actions. That and well..she was a cat at times. She posed naturally!

"They would come to me here were I here all the time and I wish to keep this place as a relief. A sanctuary when there is need rather than another testing ground for our keepers."

From:

deaths_eye_view

He gave her a small smile as thanks for the picture, smile widening just a tick as he looked at the picture before deleting it, replacing it with random pictures of their surroundings instead. If nothing else, he figured, it would give whoever had to go through and study his memory card something pretty to look at for once.

"I guess." He fiddled with his camera strap, glancing around reflexively to make sure they were alone. More or less satisfied, for now, he looked back to the camera, angling the lens up to get a picture of the sky, the sun blocking out the top corner of the frame. "Maybe I'd just keep going, if I could do what Kernan does. I wish I could do something useful like that."

From:

homeless_pard

"It has been a thought," she admitted softly, kneeling to pluck some weeds from a bed that the gardeners hadn't managed to find yet. "But he needs more strength than he has, for the moment, to take as many as we will. I cannot allow him to be so selfish as to only have us two flee."

From:

deaths_eye_view

"...Why?" He was pretty sure he'd feel horrible if he could escape and left someone behind, but at the same time, he wasn't sure that would stop him from going.

From:

homeless_pard

"He will not leave me," she smiled. "I will not leave you. Any of you. He finds it frustrating at times, yes, but he has learned his idea of pack and my own are...different." And that was the simplest way to put into words the frustrating almost fights they had sometimes?

"And should he kidnap me and run I would be very angry with him," she mused after a moment.

From:

deaths_eye_view

"I'd do it, anyway." A mad Khemrys was still an alive Khemrys and even though Jonas couldn't say he had as much claim to her as Kernan did, it was still something important to him. "Even if you never talked to me again."

None of them belonged there, but Khemrys belonged there even less than most. She was just... Well, he'd take her away if he could, even if it meant leaving people, even more than he'd take just himself if he could.

From:

homeless_pard

"See?" she chuckled softly. "How could I agree to leave those who care for me so much? Even as you care and wish to see me free I care and wish to see you free. That is...the best I may explain?"

From:

deaths_eye_view

"I guess." He'd still do it anyway. In a heartbeat.

He turned away, going back to taking pictures, chewing on his lip as he thought about things that he probably shouldn't be thinking about, if only because that was a little like borrowing bad luck. Wasn't that the saying? On a whim, he took another picture of Khemrys, but no, it was still fine. "What if you were going to get disappeared? Would you go then?"

From:

homeless_pard

She was actually working on pulling blackberry shoots now. They had a place, certainly, but not here, and so carefully working around the thorns to dig them up...

...but what an odd thing to ask. "No," she chuckled softly. "I would be frightened, certainly, but there is no place in this world or the next where my Kernan could not find me. It would just mean I must withdraw with him to a nearby place until we could get you all out."

From:

deaths_eye_view

It was definitely an odd thing. Lots of things about him, about all of them, were odd, though. "But you wouldn't let them just take you, right?" That was important. That even if she didn't go far, she would GO.

He crouched down across from her, watching to see what she was doing for a second before gesturing for her to move her hands away. He pulled off one glove, careful to touch only the plants she'd been digging around, feeling them (and more importantly, their roots) shrivel and die under his touch. It wasn't so bad with plants. They didn't feel or think or react... Maybe he should become a gardener.

From:

homeless_pard

She chuckled softly as he moved her aside and settled on her heels to watch him, hand on his shoulder. Touch was important, even for young men like him! "I would," she admitted. "I would go quietly and gently so they would not harm any of you as a way to control me. And then I would pity them all, greatly as the pack took them apart."