That Is Not Procrastination

[Jason Campbell]

It was so boring today. Jason had the feeling his list of patients was never-ending, despite the fact he barely spent more than five or ten minutes with them. Maybe it was because none of them had something new or interesting for him. He should be glad that they only came for regular checkup or a simple rash or a renewal of their prescriptions. Some asked questions regarding their ability after their side-effects grew a little more painful than usual. But most of the time, it was because they used their power more than usual in the past few days and it was normal. And normal meant boring.



Then came the aging community of Kalispell. Now, he had nothing against them but they seriously needed to see more people because spending two minutes to give them a prescription and then thirty more to hear their stories about rheumatisms leading to their grandchildren degenerating into how better it was in the good old days, it didn’t help making his day more entertaining. It was odd for Jason, to feel so down. He usually loved work, no matter what he had to do. But today, the kind babbling of old ladies was doing terrible for his nerves.



Usually, he spent his lunch break at the clinic, eating in his office or something, reviewing some files and all. But today he warned the receptionist he’ll eat outside. He needed a change of air. Jason still brought his beeper, in case of an emergency. After all, one could come at the clinic, or a patient of his be brought to the hospital, or even the academy could call him. He left the clinic and walked to a small restaurant near. It was a little cafe. A small crowd was forming and Jason was glad he arrived before them, otherwise he would have no place at all. But after ordering his meal, he found a place of the terrace. It would be perfect. Jason was the kind of eat quickly and go back to work. Today, he’ll savour it. Anything so he would not go back to old ladies and their stories.

[Maya Deveraux]

It was true what some say about excess. And ingratitude. You have too little, you complain. You have too much, you still complain. Maya fell into the latter category but in her defence, she didn't want to end up a recluse. It was why she had the bookstore so she could come in whenever she felt bored.

And despite her hatred towards the baseline community, she was very dependent on interaction. Or...people paying attention to her. Whatever the reason, she never liked staying at home.

Home was quiet. Home was boring.

As per usual, she employed her driver to drop her off at the designated bus stop and she made her way around town, passing by different stores she knew by touch (and memory).

It was only when she felt her stomach pinch that she decided to actually pause at shops that smelled vaguely of food. She stopped when a very familiar power that her abilities caught drew attention. The 'feelers' of her ability creeped out to properly capture the mutant in question until she was standing directly in front of him. The healer.

"Jason Campbell?"

[Jason Campbell]

Jason at first did not notice Maya. Sure, she was blind but in the crowd she was just another one passing by. Jason saw no reason to look more closely at anyone. He was content with what was before him, in other words, the food on the table. He wanted to chase away from his thoughts anything related to work and focus on the meal he just bought. The thought did come to his mind that he could come in late. Most people would not notice, they always like to complain on how long they have to wait. But it was not like him and he knew the best he could do at procrastinating was to wait until the last second, even though he finished eating, before walking back to the clinic. It wasn’t very far anyway, he could see the building from his seat.

Or at least, he could, until a woman stood right in front of him. He frowned, staring at her. He did not realize she was blind to begin with but he soon noticed she was not staring straight in his eyes. What did she want? He didn’t want any patient of his bothering him when he was in lunch break. As he thought that, he realized that the woman shouldn’t know who he was, unless someone directed her in his direction. “Yes?” he asked. Perhaps she just wanted a seat and did not realize this table was taken since she was blind.

But all of his theories were proven wrong when she called his name. He did startle a bit, surprised she knew him. Did he know her? He couldn’t recall any patient of his who was blind. “Do I know you?” he asked her.

[Maya Deveraux]

Maya could hear the uncertainty in Jason's voice as she folded her walking stick.

His question was met with a small lop-sided grin. "Probably not. But we did go to school together." She reminded him, her hand seeking out for a chair to hold on to.

"I borrowed your power from you sophomore year. I was losing a lot of blood. Some might have gotten on you, if I recall."

The event had been fresh in her memory. She had been caught in a skirmish outside of school. She sought out for a teleporter's power for quite some time and by then she could almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thankfully, she got one and boy was she lucky it was a trained teleporter.

Once she had teleported in school, she sought out the first healer she could find that she hadn't stolen powers from and Jason was the only one there. Back then, her abilities were tactile and she had to touch him to get them. Borrowing his powers, she made quick work of the wound, actually thankful for getting to live another day.

She never thanked Jason, not really. Not that she was going to now. But she supposed he deserved some recognition.

[Jason Campbell]

The fact a blind woman could tell they went to school together when he couldn’t, and he had the advantage of being able to look at her, that was a blow for him. Was he really that bad with faces and names? No, wait, if she went to school with him, they she probably was a mutant. That’s it. Her power must allow her to sense other people, perhaps recognize them. Still, remembering him when he must have graduated something like fifteen years ago, it was quite the ability, with or without power.

She explained she had been losing blood and borrowed his power. “Mustn’t have helped you much,” he pointed out, since he never managed to heal himself. But he did recall that. He rarely healed anyone back then, at least not people losing a lot of blood. His trainer got him stuck on paper cuts and sprained ankles and making him not heal people. You don’t want to cut someone deep, in case Jason had not been able to heal it. “I do remember that. You don’t get bleeding girls falling in your arms every day,” he said. He was certain to be the one who healed her but perhaps she managed to use his ability on herself. Who knows, he was never sure how it worked when someone copied another one’s power. Maybe she just forced his power to work on her. It was not like he asked her back then. And the even slowly vanished from his mind, until she brought it back.

“I’m sorry, I know what you say happened but I’m not quite sure of your name,” he told her. At least he could recall her, it was something already. He could not fully remember her face so he wasn’t sure how much she changed. Hell, he didn’t even remember she was blind! Although now that she mentioned it, he did recall a blind student while he was a student.

[Maya Deveraux]

Maya shrugged when he mentioned that his abilities might not have helped her. "It stopped the internal bleeding enough for me to get to an actual nurse. If I hadn't found your power, I would have died." She explained, unaware that she had identified him as a power instead of a person.

A smirk came upon Maya's lips at Jason's remark. "No, I suppose you don't."

His roundabout way of asking for her name held her smirk in place. "Maya. Maya Deveraux. We never actually exchanged names so I suppose I'll let you off the hook this time." She chuckled. Technically because of that, she actually shouldn't have known his. But being her, of course she had to put a name to a power.

"I was responsible for one of the kids getting kicked out of school for bullying."

[Jason Campbell]

She got a point, when she said it was some great luck that she found his power, although he would have preferred hearing that she found him, since it would be more accurate. At that time, he did work a lot about his ability, more with his father than he was with his trainers, but he was also kind of a rookie in comparison to his control now. Falling in his arms just assured her to be healed as Jason wouldn’t have been able to do anything else, really. Anyway, he wouldn’t have had the physical strength to carry her to the nurse office on his own. He meant to nod, his expression showing how he was agreeing with her, when he realized she was unable to see it. “If you see it that way, I suppose you’re right,” he admitted although he still couldn’t quite shake the slight offense that she mentioned his power instead of himself. It was like all Jason was was his ability, that he was a mere vessel to it, some unimportant container for it.

He was not certain, when she smirk at him, if he should take offence for her words or not. In doubt, he chose not to say or do anything and simply wait to see whether she would tell him her name or if he had to get it out of her. She said it although her name did not get his interest as much as the fact she admitted they never exchange their name. “Then how come you know me?” he asked. He supposed there were many ways for her to have heard his name. Just the fact he was the only doctor with a healing ability taking care of the mutants of this town was enough for her to know his name. But since they talked of the academy, he was trying to think how she could have heard from it there, when he never considered himself popular enough for people to really care about it. She even talked further of it, making him even more stuck in that time. “You bullied a bully?”

[Maya Deveraux]

It was rare that Maya saw anything more than a power in any mutant. She hadn't gotten close to anybody enough to think of them as mere pawns to her own self-indulgence. Which was why when Jason relayed his response to her sentence, she saw nothing more than it being a quiet answer to her earlier statement. And obviously, she's always right.

"A girl's got to have her hobbies, doesn't she?" She answered his query. "I identify people as their powers since faces allude me for obvious reasons." She tapped her walking stick against the leg of the chair she was leaning on to make a statement. "It wasn't easy but I managed." She shrugged.

"I can't say I bullied so much as persuaded some people." She shrugged. "What does a girl have to do to sit down in this establishment, I wonder." She said with a smirk.

[Jason Campbell]

Jason could not explain why, when a healthy, normal person met one with impairment such as blindness, they had to feel almost guilty to be able to see and not them. If he could not explain why it was so, that did not change the fact he did feel slightly uncomfortable to be so bluntly reminded that something he took for granted, his sight, was a gift others were not blessed with. He tried to chase it away however. He was friend with Guy who had dwarfism and never felt bad for being tall. He was also friend with JJ and never apologized for having a brain.

He didn’t want to give Maya sympathy for being blind. She said she managed, she didn’t need him to feel sorry for her. That would not allow her to see. “That is an interesting talent that you’ve got. Too bad we can’t all recognize each other,” he replied. He chose not to question further as to how she knew his name. She could have simply asked. A logical explanation, so logical she might think him dumb not to have thought of it himself. He had to hand it to her however, recognizing him after so many years not seeing each other, even if she knew of his power, it was impressive. “You mustn’t have met with a lot of healers in your life if you could recognize me so easily,” he told her. Though even if it was the truth that did not take anything to the exploit.

When she smirked, asking what she should do to get a seat, he realized he had not yet invited her. Of course, he never meant to, but it was still impolite of him. “Of course, sit down, sit down. You want something to eat? I can get it for you,” he said. She was already holding a chair so she could sit on it without problem but he thought going in there and trying not to hit anyone might be too much. He wouldn’t have that problem, obviously.

[Maya Deveraux]

She was used to the sympathy that came to her in droves. The moment they saw her walking stick, she could almost feel their resolve softening. It was annoying at best. She made sure they knew who they were dealing with soon enough though. Jason would probably be getting it soon. At least, if he didn't stop with the sympathy.

"It is quite unique and I'm very grateful for it." She nodded, briefly wondering why she was going the extra mile to be polite with this man. She supposed she was also grateful for him, felt indebted to him somehow. He was somehow more useful to her than most people she met, even if she already stole his power and couldn't do that again. Ever.

Rare few ever made it to that list. She supposed he too should be grateful but she wasn't about to let him know that. He'll have to figure it out himself. If he ever does.

"I have met with a total of nineteen healers in my life. Each of them have a unique mark about them, even though some have the same level of control over their abilities. But just like everybody's DNA is different, so is their mark. And I'm able to identify all of them." She explained.

"Ah, thank you." She slid into the chair easily enough without causing anything to fall or break with her stick. Of course, years of practice did help.

His offer to order for her was met with a polite wave of her hand. "If I'm to assume correctly, the smell of the chicken panini means I'm at Ophelia's, am I right?" She asked. It did have a distinct smell to it which was unique to the eatery, one which Maya could tell from several years of walking past it. And of course, her sister telling her about it.

[Jason Campbell]

If Jason was softer on Maya because she was blind, he didn’t notice it. That didn’t mean he was not getting more polite or helpful. Whether or not it annoyed Maya, that too he wouldn’t realize. “That would be helpful for me. Most of my patients are like us but I can get basic people as well. You just never know and the whole dance of suggesting it without suggesting it can be tiresome before the end,” he admitted. At least with the way she presented herself, he knew exactly what he could say to her.

He didn’t know exactly how her power worked. She could mimic one’s power, that he understood. He had no idea she could use it only once. But he knew one thing, he was more useful to mutants, even those who can mimic his power, than his power was really. They needed him to heal their wounds, unless they wanted to heal someone else. Two healers on the same person. It would really help him. But he had yet found an assistant for that to happen and doubted Maya came to him to propose herself.

He was actually surprised when she said she met nineteen like him so far. He bet his father was in the lot. Still, that was impressive. “That is more than I ever did. I mustn’t have met, including myself, more than four or five with that ability or resembling it,” he told her. And the fact she could recognize him out of them all, recognize his particular imprint, it was all the more impressive. “And you were able to remember mine even though it must have been fifteen or so years ago?” he said, not hiding his astonishment at the feat.

Jason actually had to look at the facade of the restaurant to read the name. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I didn’t even know the name. It’s just the closest one to the clinic, so it’s convenient. Do you want anything?” he asked. He had one of those panini she mentioned but he was not really tempted to give it to her. It was his lunch.

[Maya Deveraux]

"Mmm." She responded non-committally. It was quite obvious that she was quickly losing interest in the conversation but she was starting to get hungry so she might as well sit down to eat.

When he revealed that he hadn't met a lot of mutants with his particular ability, Maya forgave him for being so deprived. Of course, everyone who didn't have even an eighth of her fortune was pretty deprived in her books. She had been able to travel the world, what good it did with her disability but she had met people down the road that contributed to her ability to sense abilities.

"You must have left an impression on me then I suppose." Maya responded with a charming smile. It was hollow but most people were not astute in ciphering smiles, which was what Maya banked on happening.

"I'll order for myself, thank you." She responded, folding her walking stick and taking off her glasses to put on the table. "I hope you don't mind that I'm putting these on the table."

Because she had been blind since birth, she had retained the blue green colour of her parents eyes, though usually it is rather unfocused and to the trained eye, it could also seem a bit empty. Really, to the untrained eye, had she not had her cane and glasses, she could have passed for a sighted person.

She held her hand up until she heard the voice of a waiter. "I'll have your Caesar Salad with extra cheese and a pulled brisket sandwich. If you have Gruyere instead of Cheddar, that would be lovely. Thank you." She nodded and leaned back in her seat, her eyes trained on where she had previously heard Jason.

"So this is not a frequented spot for you?" She asked as she pushed her thick hair to the side and fanned herself a little.

[Jason Campbell]

It was obvious by the way she responded to him that Maya was losing interest. Clearly she couldn’t care less about his job and the struggles he might have. Come to think of it, she never asked what he was doing or how he was or anything actually, simply recognized his power and shared with him her identity, refreshing his memory with events that occurred when he was a student. Jason always considered himself a boring man and he knew his job was his passion so if she got bored while he talked of his work, no doubt she wouldn’t want to hear about anything else about him. He actually found it hard to believe he left any form of impression on her. If he did, it might be because he was the first or one of the first healers she had seen in her life and had more to do with the circumstances in which they met than his presence really. “You’ll make me feel bad for not remembering you now. I don’t know if I caught your name then. Besides, I’ve never been really good with associating a name to a face,” he replied. He felt like he was finding himself excuses and didn't like that but what else could he do?

He was about to stand up and to order something for her when she said she would order on her own. He stopped his movement, hesitated for one moment, ready to assure her it was no problem at all. But seeing she seemed determined to do it on her own, he sat back in his chair. There was something a bit strange with her gaze. He knew it was because she couldn’t focus it on the person as well as one who could see. Had he not been a doctor he wasn’t certain if he would have noticed however. Perhaps he would have felt something different in her gaze since she was blind but he wouldn’t have known the cause. Her eyes were incredible of course. Jason had piercing blue eyes himself and he could see something quite similar in hers.

She proved him she could order on her own indeed as she caught the attention of a waiter and placed her order. She must have come here a few times before if she knew about the menu. It was not like it was in Braille for her to read it, in fact, it was not like he had one in front of him for her to read it even if she could see. He shook his surprise as she talked to him once again. “No, I must admit, I haven’t really. I normally eat at the clinic. But it’s one of the closest spot to it and it was positively boring today,” he explained. Again, he had the feeling he was offering more details than she asked or cared for. He shifted a little on his seat, feeling uncomfortable. “Did you stay here in Kalispell after school? What have you been doing?” he asked more than happy to shift his discomfort by throwing questions at her. Normally, he’d eat but she wouldn’t be able to see his silence came from the fact he was eating and not because he was ignoring her.

[Maya Deveraux]

"Oh not at all." Maya opted for a softer smile, when she realised he felt bad. She didn't know why she felt the need to be nice to him. She never felt the need to before. It was taking a lot of energy. "It's absolutely fine. You're fine." She patted the table, her distance not quite covering where he actually was.

Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she turned to where his voice was coming from and nodded, pretending she was listening. Well, she was listening, it just didn't register that properly. Until his question went to her own backstory.

"Well...I actually travelled, like I told you earlier. I picked up some minor diplomas along the way." She of course did not add in the fact that the only reason she came back was because her parents had passed on. "Though I've been a bookstore owner for the past three years, give or take. Books of Honor, have you heard of it?"

[Jason Campbell]

Unaware of Maya’s more usual personality, Jason had no idea her sudden burst of sympathy for him was out of character. He chuckled lightly, looking down. He did not quite reach for her hand. Unless she would try to find his, he doubted it was really necessary. He personally thought she was trying to be nice, as quite a few people seemed to do around him. He had the feeling they pitied him or something. Because he was a hermit with no social life other than with patients and rats. It was annoying at times, to have the impression everyone just felt sorry for you. Made him wonder whether they bothered with him because they wanted it or because of that. After all, what interesting thing did he have to say? That he was not eating here a lot? Wow, that was a vital piece of information.

He nodded, as if unable to remember the woman could not see. “Really? In what?” he asked. He wasn’t all that interested but Jason accepted a while back to be the one hearing and not the one sharing. It was an important characteristic for a doctor. Not detailing why she came back, Jason assumed she lived here all the time and simply travelled a lot. He would not question further anyway.

When she mentioned a bookstore, he was puzzled at first. What could a blind girl do with a bookstore? But he knew about Braille and they made a lot of audio books lately. He even recalled one of his patients who might very well turn blind mentioning it. “The Braille one, right? Yes, I have heard of it,” he confirmed. But there was still something he considered odd about her owning a bookstore. “Isn’t it a little hard, to manage a shop on your own? People might try to take advantage of your condition,” he questioned her. Of course, she might only own the place and let employees do the rest. It was not like he went there before. She could also have found a system that worked with her. If she travelled around the world despite being blind, he doubted there was anything she could not do if she chose to.