someone had to record the damage

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Someone had to record the damage. There were naturally official assessments, photographs taken and sent in to various agencies to determine how much money the Academy received for insurance or something along those lines. Zoe didn't really know or understand that. She knew and understood loss; she knew it all too well.

Though, strangely, this time she felt almost stronger for the events of what happened. Unlike so many, Zoe nearly walked away from the fire. She'd saved someone and only really lost a set of clothing and perhaps a little of her reservation. The more confident girl was now tiptoeing through the library, looking around and feeling stabbing pains in the guts.

"I suppose it could be worse," she mumbled, looking around for a few more moments. "It looks as though someone stopped it from getting too far..." in fact, the library looked better than some of the other places Zoe had been. She'd been near ground zero at the Arena: it looked absolutely awful. The kitchens were supposedly completely ruined. There was a fair amount of damage here: smoke and water doing their part, but nothing too major.

Zoe took a few pictures, taking note of the various people milling about and mostly trying to avoid them. However, she quickly realized that she'd have a very good shot if she could just get some attention. "Um, hello?" she called, poking her head out from behind the camera. "Could you, just, maybe, lift your head up a little and turn this way?" The shot would be just perfect if they did.

[Sebastian Swift]

Sebastian had come to the library seeking, unsurprisingly, books. However he’d completely forgotten that the fire had reached that far, and instead found himself preoccupied by the damage. It wasn’t that bad, all things considered, but it was still humbling to think how much worse things could have been – after all, if the fire had reached that far they were lucky the entire school hadn’t been devoured by the flames.

The young mutant paused in his exploration of the wreckage and was taking a moment to appreciate the view from one of the library’s windows when a voice in the distance pulled him from his reverie, "Could you, just, maybe, lift your head up a little and turn this way?" Unfortunately it took Sebastian a moment or two to find the source of the voice, and for a moment his head swizzled this way and that until he spotted Zoe, camera fixed in hand.

Doing his best to oblige he lifted his chin and turned towards her, freezing in place whilst she snapped away. Figuring she’d got what she wanted, but unsure whether or not he was allowed to move Sebastian cocked his head to one side, whilst a hand rubbed the back of his neck, “Was that okay?” He asked, a little nervously. Sebastian never had been fond of posing for pictures; he found the whole experience made him even more self-conscious than he already was.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe saw the young man turn, and she couldn't help but immediately be struck by his bone structure. He just had one of those faces that looked ready to be made into art, in her rather biased opinion. And Zoe's reaction was just that too: not even the slightest blip of attraction (which happened when you were rather gay and quite in love). Zoe nodded at the statement, though again she had to hesitate, this time because she thought she heard just a trace of a very familiar accent in there, one that reminded her of her childhood.

"Yes, just like that," she said, her own London-based accent suddenly coming on slightly thicker. She gestured and then raised her camera, taking a few snapshots before lowering it. Zoe smiled and flushed, raising a hand up to fiddle with the camera. "Sorry about that. I'm, ah, getting photographs," she said. She raised the camera, only to flush again when she realized how very obvious the gesture was. She lowered the camera more slowly. "I... the school has me take photographs from time to time," she laughed a little, her nerves making the sound warble slightly, "though I'd probably do that on my own."

Another pause, and Zoe nodded and raised a hand in a little wave. "I'm Zoe, by the by."

[Sebastian Swift]

Sebastian smiled and nodded in greeting, “Hey, yeah, I know. I mean... I’m Sebastian. I mean, I don’t know you in a creepy way – I’m not some kind of stalker – I’m just, uh...” He trailed off, having lost his point until his eyes wandered away from her face and down to the camera, “I’m sorry. I meant to say, in a totally non-creepy, non-threatening, non-rambling way that I’ve seen you around taking pictures.” With that he inhaled and exhaled deeply to calm himself down.


The nervousness was an unfortunate by-product of meeting a pretty girl for the first time, and there was something so understated and elegant about Zoe’s appearance that he found himself quite taken aback. There was also a familiarity in her voice that he couldn’t help but be drawn to like a homing pigeon.


“So, can I at least sneak a peak at your work? Seeing as how I’m such an obliging model an’ all...”

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe smiled as Sebastian stumbled through his introductions. There was always something about hearing someone who seemed as nervous as she felt that put Zoe that much more at ease. She found her own shy smile spreading onto her face, as if she could sooth him simply by throwing it on there. She nodded as he continued: she understood keeping tabs on someone without really stalking them and so forth.

"It's okay, I don't mind," she said, waving a hand again. "It happens, and I have been taking pictures everywhere..."

And she'd put up the signs for people getting things ready for her show. True, she still had to finalize a few details, but that should be showing very soon, and she almost hoped that she could draw a crowd. In fact, she nearly thought about asking Sebastian about it, but he instead preempted with a question of his own.

"What? Oh, right, certainly," Zoe said, nodding. She shifted to get her camera into a decent position, stepping forward. Her brow furrowed for a moment as she worked buttons and knobs, finally pulling up the pictures. Zoe managed to set it for the most recent and showed it to Sebastian. "See? I'm trying to show that we're moving past the damage and everything," Zoe explained, gesturing with the hand not holding the camera. "It's, uh, about contrast and balance and all..."

[Sebastian Swift]

Sebastian gave a relieved smile, relaxed by his companion’s easy nature. He appreciated the fact that she seemed to look beyond his initial stumble; unfortunately it wasn’t unusual for people to be put off by his initial ramblings. Moving in to take a closer peek at her work, Sebastian nodded slowly, liking what he saw.


“Hey, these are pretty good. Well, I like them, at least. Gotta admit, I don't really know anything about photography...” He trailed off with an awkward giggle. Putting his hands in his pockets so he’d not be tempted to start any nervous fidgeting as a result of his momentous social inadequacy, Sebastian glanced randomly around the library as he pulled away from the camera, not quite wanting to meet Zoe’s eye but not knowing how to avoid it without seeming rude.


“So... You’re English too?” It was awful, and obvious, and he hated himself for asking but Sebastian’s small-talk skills were limited at best. Besides, people were always telling him to just be himself around new people – what was more a part of him than home?

---

ooc: sorry it's so short and uninspired! totally not worth the wait, i know.
next one will be better, honest ^^

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

As usual, Zoe flushed at the compliment. She still managed a soft "thank you" and nodding. The giggle and the mention of lack of knowledge was also, strangely enough, something that Zoe was used to. She just offered the boy another smile. "It's alright: I don't expect everyone to be experts or anything. I still appreciate it."

Zoe nodded and looked back to her camera. He seemed to be looking around for a moment, and Zoe wanted to give him the time to gather himself. She knew that it could be horribly challenging talking to new people, and she had sort of imposed herself upon him. She was rather used to dealing with people that weren't quite used to being dealt with.

The question, however, caught her by surprise. Zoe jerked her head up and looked to the young man. She blinked. "Well, um, yes?" she said, unable to stop the comment from coming out like a question. "I was born in London, actually. My family moved here when I was young," she added another soft laugh. "They used to say that I was only in Britain long enough to pick up the accent and a love of fish and rain," she gave Sebastian another smile. "I've only been around here for a year or so though. Are you, um, new yourself?" She asked, though she supposed that being around for a year didn't exactly make her new any more. She still felt like she had so much to learn and know though...

[Sebastian Swift]

“Oh, awesome, me too,” Sebastian gave a big smile, genuinely pleased to find they had something in common. He missed England, even after all this time. It was refreshing to someone who might actually understand, “I’m from Guildford - literally just outside of London. Small world, huh?”


Shaking his head at her question, Sebastian pulled a face, “Well, it’s been a few years. I had some, uh, trouble I guess you could call it, with students at St. Bethany. I still miss England though,” A sadder smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he let out a sigh. Over-sharing was an unfortunate side-effect of his tendency to ramble.

“Don’t get me wrong though, America is great. I’ve never much liked fish myself, but the fast food here... Mmmm,” A dreamy look flitted across his face as he placed his hand over his heart, “It’s definitely love.” As if on cue, his stomach rumbled, seemingly reinforcing his point. Sebastian’s face on the other flushed ever so slightly with embarrassment. Doing his best to ignore it, he cleared his throat and continued, “I do miss tea though. And bacon! Real bacon! Oh god. After three years I still don’t get the whole turkey bacon thing. I mean... Turkey? Really?” Sebastian shuddered, “It’s just not right. Ahm I right?”

Though he’d never realised it before, he’d clearly needed a fellow Briton to let out some steam at. There were just some bizarre contrasts between the two countries that no one else could quite appreciate. Then again, it could have just been Sebastian. Clearly he had some unresolved issues about bacon.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe had to let out a slight laugh at the mention of it being a small world, nodding along with it. Yes, yes it was. "Though the mutant world does seem a bit smaller," she said, holding her hand up, two fingers just a few centimeters from one another. She lowered it as she looked around though, realizing that they were technically standing in the result of the mutant world being small right now.

It did seem as though Sebastian had definitely transferred more recently than Zoe. The accent actually reminded her more of family than of another place: her memories of England were more distant childhood ones. She hadn't actually been there in several years, after all. Still, she couldn't help but smile as Sebastian continued, not to mention empathizing with him over the bits and pieces.

"There are still people here who enjoy tea," Zoe offered, nodding. "They're, um," she smiled slightly, "mostly British implants, but there are some," she paused again, before figuring that she did have at least something she can add: "I miss the candy," she confessed. "My mum used to buy me the most delicious chocolates. They just aren't the same here. I don't even care much for American candy..." she flushed, feeling like this was silly, not to mention showing that she had been quite young before actually leaving, young enough that candy was something of a "big deal."

[Sebastian Swift]

“Yeah, I suppose it is – I’d never actually thought of it that way before,” He nodded, thoughtfully. The variety of different cultures represented at the academy suddenly made sense to him. He always thought the amount of foreign students – or at least those like Zoe who had been born elsewhere – was far more varied than any school he’d ever seen before and was one of the traits he appreciated it most for.


His serious expression softening, Sebastian couldn’t help but chuckle as she confessed her own longings, “Candy? You definitely have been here too long – but I know what you mean!” His stomach growled again, as if in agreement. He looked down sheepishly, giving it a gentle pat as he spoke, “I think we may need to change the subject,” He laughed, “This is just making me hungry for things I can’t have.”



Glancing round the library, his eyes touching on the damaged sections, he remembered that Zoe had been in the midst of working and couldn’t help but feel a little bad for distracting her. Personally, he welcomed the procrastination but he knew that not everyone had his decidedly sketchy work ethic, “Feel free to tell me to piss off, by the way. I promise I won’t be offended... I kinda forgot one of us was actually being productive.”

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe laughed lightly at his comments regarding the candy, laughed and nodded. Soon that familiar flush came onto her cheeks, though it did seem as though he remembered and knew what she meant all too well. Zoe ended up laughing again as Sebastian's stomach growled.

"Yes, we probably should," Zoe agreed, nodding. She opened her mouth to do precisely that, only to stop as she realized that Sebastian was looking around. Zoe tilted her head slightly, curious, as he did. Though as she followed his gaze, she could certainly see why he'd be looking. The damaged stacks did have a tendency to draw the eye.

"What? Oh, no, I wouldn't," she said, shaking her head. "It's alright, really. You can even help, if you'd like. Well," she smiled and shrugged slightly, "you can't really help with the actual picture taking, but you could help me figure out which areas to photograph, and maybe help me set some things up?"

Zoe couldn't help but make this last as a question. She was tempted to essentially flip his comment back at him, wonder if he really wanted to help out or anything like that.