`Shattered Mirror, Shattered Monster-:. {{OPEN}}

The deaf blond wandered the streets, a frown playing upon her pale face. Nothing in particular was wrong, only she had gotten into a small squabble with the blind part of the school's student council. She could still recall the lipread words of that one blind boy : Deaf people shouldn't be here. They are useless anyway. After angrily signing to the translator that deaf and blind people are equals any way you look at it, she snatched her black messenger bag and stormed out of her school, making it a point to stomp her shoes so the blind could hear it.

She didn't hesitate to curse in sign language down the halls. If you saw it and were able to read sign language, it would go something like this: That blind bastard. He doesn't know a thing about being deaf. Hell, deaf people have it worse. We'll never know our friend's voices, listen to music or do anything blind people do. We both have advantages and disadvantages but to be so bold and say blind people are better? We are both the same! Bastet bursted out of the halls and pulled her hoodie up over her ears. Revenge would be in order for that blind boy.

Sulking and wallowing in that conversation didn't help to sedate Bastet's angry feelings. After deciding she didn't want to go home, she turned her feet into a random direction which led her to some random apartments. The apartments were nice, not one of those little things you may see in District Twelve. Admiring the buildings with the sense that made up for her hearing loss, Bastet couldn't help but notice a man close to her, anger playing upon his face. Bastet felt chills run along her spine as she realized this. Why does he look so sad? Maybe I should go see how he's doing.

Her sharpened eyes examined his face, the red splotchy patches of emotion making a display, telling everybody he was angry. Bastet stopped in her tracks and looked more closely at the man, trying to size up the situation. His hands were to his face, making a sweeping motion. The deaf girl herself was upset, but seeing anybody else upset was unacceptable to her. All people deserve to be happy, whether they be blind, deaf, hearing and seeing. Tentatively walking up to the man, she stood next to him. Looking up at his face, she began to sign, but realized that not everybody knew sign language. Putting her hands in her pockets, she tried to think of how to talk to him.

Clearing her throat and trying something she hadn't in awhile, she tried to speak the most clearest words she could. "You are mad. What is wrong?" Bastet didn't usually talk to the hearing, but this person seemed so upset, she just had to find out why. Speaking was a big accomplishment to her, even if the words were sloppy and slurred, she could still tell by his face that the words were good enough. Still looking up at the man with her eyebrows knit, she couldn't help but think that this man's problem might be bigger than her own.

The boy looked at her like she was insane. What could he possibly take her for? He stared at her with the silliest confused look she had ever seen from a hearing person. Bastet held back a giggle until he spoke words she couldn't hear. "Not mad. Nothing is wrong. Do [unknown word] need to get somewhere? Would you [unknown word] me to help you?" Bastet didn't catch a couple of the words, but she got the big idea. With the way Panem was today, he probably thought she was drunk. Bastet thought of something to say that would hint at her being deaf.

She narrowed her eyes a tad and titled her head. "I need no help. I was just walking, cause I was mad too. Some blind kid called deaf people not good and so I got mad." Her short choppy utterances were nearly unintelligible, but she did manage to at least make it so they were more cleaner. Bastet watched the boy's face for awhile, trying to hint at the sentence she just spoke by tapping her ear and tugging her earlobe, while having her other arm across her stomach to make it look casual. Why was it always so difficult to talk to the hearing?

She looked at his face, waiting for any hint at him to understand what she was. Deaf. Unhearing. Never being able to hear the pitterpatter of rain, her horse's neighs at night, or the tune of the music box that was gifted to her by her grandmother. Thinking of such things was fruitless to Bastet, but she couldn't help but curse the very word meningitis when she looked in the mirror and pulled at her ears. She knew of others who had been born deaf, and felt blessed that she had a few years of hearing sound, but would always dream of becoming a doctor to cure herself of her lack of hearing. Bastet dreamed of curing everyone of their lack of hearing.

Trying one last thing, the sign language word for deaf, she brought a finger to her lip, and then bringing it to her pale ear. Mentally and physically shrugging her shoulders, she awkwardly stood there, waiting for the boy to say something, or for something, anything, to happen. But what could ever possibly happen between a hearing person and a deaf person? Then again, she could read lips and partially speak, and it seemed like he got the last words she said, so as long as Bastet pushed herself, she could actually communicate with this boy. The very thought sent chills down her bony spine.

((ooc; don't worry about the drunk part. It made me laugh so hard XD ))

Bastet saw the boy step back again, but from what? Did he think that deafness was contagious? She stepped forward to the boy to make up from the lost distance. Looking him straight in the eyes, she titled her head to the left, trying to make out what the boy was saying. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought..." A nervous look played upon his face. That nervous look frustrated Bastet to no end as she slightly narrowed her eyes at the boy, trying to figure out what he had thought prior to him discovering she was deaf. Many people had thought she was just retarded until she had done some fluent cursing on them. Then they would flop their hands around saying "can... you... understand... me...?" Bastet would turn her back to them, walk away and flip them a bird.

This boy at least had some grace to politely apologize for his misunderstanding. Many just gave up, thinking a deaf person didn't deserve a apology because she couldn't hear it anyways. Bastet watched his lips as he said another word of apology and walked away to his apartment, his keys jingling a tune that Bastet couldn't hear. She was pretty sure he said something else as she had witnessed his lips move again just as she walked past her. The boy ripped his keys from his pocket and picked through three different pieces of silver in front of his home. Going through the ring too fast, he dropped his keys, to which Bastet saw his lips move, probably a cuss word or something. Bastet felt angry - pissed off even, that this boy just suddenly discovers she's deaf and then leaves.

She examines a look in his eyes that still told her he was upset, angry beyond belief. Clearing her throat, she approaches the boy, words stuck in her throat. Bastet tried to make a word, but her throat momentarily caught it and didn't allow a sound to be heard. Trying once more, she manages to get some complete, intelligent sentences out so the boy could hear them, signing along with the words. "Just cause I am deaf does not mean I am retarded. I still want to talk to you. Hiding problems is not an answer to a happy heart." At that moment, two things struck Bastet. 1. That was one of the most meaningful things, and probably one of the longest things she had ever said. 2. She knew that this boy in his own personal way was deaf. This boy was deaf to his feelings even if he could hear everything going on around him, refusing the help of another even though she want to take a pain off his shoulders.

"I know I am not much. But please, let me help you." Bastet knew what it was like to be so upset about something that you would just slam your emotional door shut and not allow anybody to come near you. She knew what it was like to be alone, so upset that you could almost feel the cold fingers of depression wrap itself around your neck, squeezing until you couldn't breathe. She knew what it was like to come to school one day and see one blind girl missing because she couldn't bear the thought of being clouded in darkness and a never ending depression, taking a knife she had felt around for, and "falling" on it. Bastet couldn't ever live with herself if this boy had done something drastic, all because she hadn't taken the initiative to go up to him and ask him what was wrong. That mistake was done once before, by other seeing impaired people, and now they wish they could turn back the clock to that one moment when she was alone in her house, feeling around for that knife.

For a moment, he looked confused confused. Had she spoken too fast for his hearing ears? Looking at her like she was insane for a moment, she stepped forward to him, looking at his face for any potential words he would speak next. His lips moved, and Bastet was able to catch only a couple of the words from the boy. "Would [unknown word] like to join [unknown words] dinner?"

Bastet placed a finger to her lip, trying to think of what he was trying to tell her. What did he say? Crap, I need to go to lipreading classes more. Why am I a horrible lip reader? Bastet thought back to the lipread words of the boy. She only caught the words "dinner", and "like". Putting the pieces of the puzzle together, she figured he asked her to dinner. She noticed immediately after he did such gestures as if to invite her in, he looked confused and tried to repent for such gestures by snapping out of his position. Bastet tilted her head to side - just as she usually did - and looked at the boy again.

Speaking with slow, deliberate words, she spoke each word as if it was a sentence. "I will not force you to invite me." Looking at his face again, she couldn't help but think that he didn't like her. She had been quite intrusive, but hey, that was just Bastet. She always wanted to know the who, what when, where, why, and how. Stepping down slightly from trying to find out what was wrong with him, she decided if he told her to go away, then that was the end of it, and she would go away, not to remember the boy. Although she would take her leave if necessary, she hoped that she would be invited in so she could talk with him.