2019-11-14 - Parallel Lines

Early in the morning, and Matt is working again, with a large plaster around his thumb. The carousel is running right now, and he is standing next to it, his head tilted, just listening. His eyes are narrowed, checking, and then he nods, a satisfied air to that. That done, he turns, reaching for the flask that is rarely far from him, to pour himself some coffee. The man stands then, staring at his surroundings thoughtfully, inhaling the scent of his drink. Bliss.

Erin had left the other side of the park for this one with the intent on looking for the one that ran the carousel. She's got something like a book bag over her shoulder but the only things inside are a spiral notebook and a few writing instruments. As she approaches, she notices that bit of plaster on his thumb and Erin squints a touch. "Looks like the machine won." She offers a tentative smile. "Hi, I'm Erin Addington."

The approaching women draws him from the thoughts, and he offers a slow, lopsided grin, "She bites but she loves me really." His comment is wry, the tone mirrored in his eyes. "Matt Harriman." He offers his name with that smile again, the corners of his eyes creasing, the movement mirrored by a dimple deepening at the side of his mouth. "You look like you are on a mission..."

Kass comes wandering onto the boardwalk, glancing around here and there, tucking a stray lock of hair behind one ear. Shuffling along in her Chuck Taylors and clutching at the strap to her messenger bag. The Ferris Wheel catches her attention for a few moments, staring up at the large circle for long moments before she turns away and moves along. A glance thrown over her shoulder towards it now and then. Instead, she finds herself a nice bench near the carousel, taking a seat and flicking a glance towards the pair nearby as she reaches for a sketchpad and pencil from her bag. Propping both feet up on the edge of the bench, she looks to start sketching, then pauses and looks up from the pad. "Excuse me? Do you mind if I put either of you in the drawing?" Because she's learned the hard way, some people just don't like to be drawn.

Aw, the grin and the dimple? Too cute. Erin looks a little disarmed a moment before she smiles in return. "Love bites, I get it." The smile widens a touch. "A pleasure to meet you, Matt Harriman. Have you been to the doctor yet about that love bite? Because I know someone who can help with things like that." Now there she goes, going off point or losing hers all together. "A mission. Right! I did want to ask you.." again, distracted by the question from Kass. A smile is given her way. "Sure, I don't mind." And she didn't.

Matt steps a little further from the carousel, his smile slipping into a puzzled frown at the question. He turns, seemingly noticing her for the first time, and lifts his mug slightly in acknowledgement. "Drawing? Uh, sure, if you want..." He seems entirely bemused at the idea that someone might wish to include him. "Ah just a nip, I've had worse, it'll heal in a couple of days." He brushes off the concern for his poor thumb, tilting his head, the smile returning to his face, "You wanted to ask me something?" The bemusement comes back, his forehead creasing slightly, his eyebrows drawing up and togeather.

Kass flashes a brief grin towards them both and nods, "Thanks! Sorry, some people get weird if you draw them without asking. So now I ask." Head ducking back down, she's quick to get back to the drawing, peeking up at them every now and then as she sketches the carousel with the pair of them in the foreground. Her eyes jump to the bandage at one point, frowning slightly before dropping back to the page and making a few adjustments to the lines. Otherwise, she seems content to remain a silent observer to the conversation for the moment, working on the drawing itself as she goes.

Erin watches him for a moment, eyes dropping again to his wound before she gives him a careful nod and doesn't do anything in regards to his thumb. "Yeah, I'm making gift bags for the upcoming party for the historical society and I want to include some passes for the carousel. After all it's been part of the park for quite some time now. What I'd like to find out is if there is a discounted rate for buying in bulk. It's just a one day pass for it. I'm fairly certain it'd just be kids while their parents stood around, Maybe a romantic ride for a few couples here and there." She glances over at Kass, oblivious to the glimmer useage, but not so much the glimmer having. "Do you sell your drawings or keep for yourself?"

"I bet..." The murmur is in reply to Kass, Matt still looking perplexed, as he lifts a hand to rub through his hair, leaving it tousled. He lowers his hand slowly, lowering it to eye level, staring at his thumb for a silent moment. Then he lifts his other hand, gently and slowly pealing off the plaster, revealing an uninjured thumb, his eyes narrowing. "Uh." The sound is oddly muffled, the narrowed eyes widening again, a look of almost horror on his face. "This, right here, this shit is why I left this place. You know?" He puts his other hand up, palm forward, to Erin for a second, adding in a very controlled voice, "Just one moment." He turns, walking with great deliberation towards the carousel, towards his bag, to put the plaster away. He stands there for a moment, clearly taking some slow, steadying breathes, and then finally gives a nod to himself. "Right then." His voice is very firm, very controlled, "Discounted. I just repair the thing, but I don't see why not." His smile is there, sitting on his face, rather like a paper mask in front of a very rigid and controlled expression.

"Uh?" Kass looks up from her drawing to blink rapidly at Erin. "Me? Oh, uhm.. nobody's ever asked before... I mostly just draw and paint what I like.. but, um.. if you want it you can have it.." She drops her gaze to the page and quickly starts to fill in more detail. Her hand shifts this way and that across the page, moving like lightning even as she glances towards Matthew and cocks her head, "You don't like Gray Harbor?" The question seems innocent enough even as the girl continues her quick sketching. Her eyes jump back and forth between page and scene like a ping-pong match while she works on the drawing at lightning fast speed. At the end, she licks the edge of her thumb and smudges it across the page here and there, even using a corner of her sleeve to fill in some shading. Tearing the page free from the book, Kass rises up to her feet and holds it out to Erin.

The scene is a loose sketch, less a detailed portrait as a vignette, a glance. Despite the lack of colors whirling, the carousel gives the impression of movement, the lines more blurred and shaded. Erin and Matt are recognizable.. if you knew it ws them to begin with. But the undeniable aspect of the pair standing there in front of the carousel, with the gray tones of the sketch, lend the picture a clandestine aspect, with the almost sinister-seeming carousel in the back, watching on like some hulking sentinel.

Erin watches Matthew for a moment, confused. Until he removes the plaster off. Now, she can detect glimmer in the both of them and only one of them is confused. Even though she doesn't detect the actual usage, her dark eyes settle on Kass with a frown, but her words are soft, not scolding. "Dark men will and do come for casual usage that that." She says nothing further on that though, but she does smile at Matt at the agreement. "Maybe you could get me the name and number of who owns and operates it? Please don't say Margaret Addington.." Turning more to watch Kass a moment, she is surprised when the drawing is held out. Accepting it, she looks down on it and shivers a little. "Interesting.. Thank you. I like this. It suits the area. The history of the park."

"Don't like Gray Harbor?" He repeats, the words soft, that odd sense of extreme control echoing in every word. "I don't like nightmares, or machines that bite, nor random things that happen, nor ..." He bites back the rest of the words, that control reasserted with those small tells of the difficulty. Rant averted, only by pure willpower. "Don't do that again, if you please." The rigid, polite words are directed to Kass, as Erin's words make the source clear. He glances down at the picture, giving it a long, silent look, before he averts his gaze, and replies to Erin, "Here, I'll get that number for you, if you leave me yours." The words are quiet, seemingly polite, and the smile is back on his lips, sitting there, plonked in front of his face, seeming disowned by the look in his eyes.

"Nobody is ever happy to be fixed. This world is so strange.." Kass shakes her head and shrugs before looking back to Erin. "This place confuses me more than the other. And I barely remember the other place. If they come for me, then they come for me. I live alone, no friends, no family. Nobody that I have to worry about. It'll just be me. One more disappearance in this town won't make any difference. Nobody would even notice that I was gone. I'll do what I can while I can, then I'll disappear. Its fine." Its not fine, but she's not going to say that. Closing up the sketchpad, she tucks it back into the bag and glances towards Matt, "No promises. I fix things when they're broken. Call it karmic debt to pay." Hefting her up bag onto her shoulder, Kass bobs a nod, "Tahnks for letting me draw you. I tried to keep it anonymous, mostly."

For a moment, Erin just looks between them, perhaps feeling a little awkward. Especially after what Kass has to say. "Then you find a reason within yourself for someone to miss you. To notice you're gone. You make friends. You build bonds. Make yourself matter. No one can do that for you, hon. And by all means do what I have done. If you want to fix people, if you want to matter, go to school. Be a nurse. Or even apply at the new doctors office in town. Jacob Winters. You could be a receptionist and help people there who are looking for help. Make a difference." She encourages. "As for the drawing, it's a reason to remember you. Thank you for it."

"Consent matters. If I were to touch you without your asking or permission, you'd kick up a stink and rightly so." Matt's words are direct, spoken with his gaze resting on Kass steadily, his tone so steady thatit is almost forced, his brown eyes oddly hard. "You do what you want, not what is asked of you. You use yours on me again, I'll use mine." There is a clear and present warning in his tone, in his tense body language. "I don't intrude on others, nor do I expect that they step into my space." He takes a slow breath, adding softly, "You hear me?" His tense body, the hands that aren't quite clenching at his side, and his tone, those all speak to his anger now, one that has been building and seems beyond what Kass did. Erin's kinder words earn her a glance and he abruptly turns away, walking stiffly to his belongings, leaning against the carousel for a long moment. "She is right, listen to her. What we leave in the world matters." Those words are softer, the heat drained from them, and his shoulders slump slightly.

"Tried that. Nobody wants to deal with the baggage I'm dragging. Can't blame them." Kass shrugs at Erin and offers a wry half a smile. Shifting slightly, adjusting the fit of the messenger bag, she looks back to Matt, blinks, then turns her gaze back to Erin. Hooking a thumb in Matt's direction she responds, "See? Strange. People here are strange and angry and nothing here makes any sort of sense. But its okay. I think I'll be going back soon. I've been doing alot. I keep wondering when they'll come get me. I think its because I'm not breaking things. I think I have to break some stuff before they'll come get me." She frowns there, brows drawing together, "I don't like breaking things. I don't like.. hurting.. anything. But I have to get their attention if they're going to take me back." Shaking her head, Kass looks to Matthew and offers, "We can fight if you want. But its usually better to pick a fight with someone who has something to lose. Anyways, I'll get out of your hair now. Good luck with your charity thing.. and with the whole.. carousel.. deal." Lifting a hand in parting, Kass heads back out of the park the same way she came in, once mroe pausing at the entrance to stare up at the Ferris Wheel before making a turn and heading off down the sidewalk.

Erin just looks between them and shakes her head. "Nothing is ever settled with fighting. From either side. Kass, just.. don't be impulsive. You have to realize that you can't save the world and everyone in it. You can only save the ones that want to be saved. You, yourself, have to want to be saved too. But no one can do it without your consent. Don't you see the parallel lines of it? Yourself and what you did to Matt here? Everyone has limitations and no one is allowed to cross the boundaries." Erin falls silent and shakes her head as the girl goes off. She watches her a moment before turning back to Matt. "Thank you for getting the number for me. Do you know who I talk to? A name?" She looks curious. "You need my number you said?"

Matt turns slowly, staring at Kass, his expression carefully blank, unreadable. He doesn't speak though, his lips pinching as if to hold the words back, behind them. The lines around his lips tighten, flattening out. He watches Kass leave in silence, letting a breath out as she vanishes. He turns back to Erin then, forcing a smile, "My apologies." The words are blunt and he forces a smile, "Talk to... Oh, the carousel. I'll get it for you if you leave me your number." He hesitates, adding quietly, "Not for my own use." There is an odd tone in his voice, a mix of ruefulness and something else. "I'm sorry about that." He repeats his apology with more feeling, lifting his hands to run through his hair, leaving it in chaos.

"You're much too.. I mean I didn't think you were meaning for your own use." Erin stumbles over the words, giving him a wry look. "No, no it's just fine." She reaches in her bag and takes out a card. Just Erin Addington with a phone number beneath it is handed over. No business number, just a cell. She offers it over to him. "Thank you, if you'd just get me that number. I'm just not sure who to contact about it anymore. I appreciate it."