A Two Person Job

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

This was quickly becoming a two person job. Zoe puffed out her cheeks and looked around at the various cameras and other related paraphernalia that she'd half-dragged into the hallway. The bits and pieces of them gathered around her legs, and she'd very nearly trapped herself with them. Many of them were fairly modern, at least one or two brand new, newer even than Zoe's relatively new digital camera. Many more were antiques, and Zoe wasn't entirely certain that they all worked.

With that particular thought fresh on her mind, Zoe bent down and picked up a battered case. She carefully worked it open, coughing as it released dust. Her fingers slipped slightly on the hard case, but she managed to stop it from falling to the floor. instead she opened it and looked inside.

"Maybe it works?" she said softly, reaching in and taking out the camera. She held it up, considering it, moving it slightly in her hands. Another sound behind her made her jump, and the jump again caused Zoe's grip to slip. This time, however, she was soon twisting and moving about, trying to catch the camera before it hit the ground, a blow which would certainly not serve the device well at all.

[Quinn Wiley]

Anyone who knew even just a tiny bit about Quinn knew he loved photography. There was no surprise then to see him in the photography club. Sure, he was not exactly a social person and preferred to keep most of his work to himself but his aunt had insisted he joined a club. Despite the fact she couldn’t really know whether he did or not, as he remained at school and she was far away from Montana, he still did as she said and joined this one.

Recently, he had a new camera. A brand new, top of the technology one. One that he obviously could not buy himself but he happened to have some friends... well one friend... well some crazy girl who wanted to be his friend, who offered him this. Since this, he was barely ever seen without it around. If it was not, then it was likely in his bag. He still had his older camera, on his desk, in his room. He knew too well what it was like to have little to throw away something in working order.

He was making his way into the club with his new camera with him. He didn't think he would make anyone already in there startle but he sure stopped as he noticed Zoe in there. He watched the scene with the camera as if it was being played in slow motion. His heart did skip a beat but he froze at the scene, unable to jump and help her out. Could he even reach it in time though? “you’re back,” he just said as he recognized Zoe. He might not have been super close of her but he was not oblivious to the point of not noticing someone who shared a common passion with him had left for a little while.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

The words pulled Zoe's head around to their speaker. That instant snatched her attention from the camera, leaving it to hit the ground with a clatter, at least one piece shooting off. Zoe let out a yelp at the realization of that, immediately dropping down onto her knees and scooping at it. She'd started gathering parts when she realized that she should at least be acknowledging her quasi-friend.

"Yes," she said, shooting a look up at him. She reached up to brush back some hair as she did so, adjusting, feeling the familiar heat of a flush. Her freckles didn't even help cover it: it just filled in the blanks in between. "I was away for a photo tour of the West Coast,' she offered, as though Quinn didn't already know. Frowning, she picked up pieces of the camera, certain now that it wouldn't be put into use any time soon.

[Quinn Wiley]

Seeing the camera break seemed to be what Quinn needed to wake up and move towards Zoe and the camera. She already had it in her hands. “Sorry,” he said. He might be a jerk as his only friend like to say he was but he still knew when to apologize when it was clearly his fault and he really didn’t mean to cause that. Plus it was not like she was forcing him to apologize. But, if asked, Quinn would more say it was because a camera had been involved and that was enough to say he never meant for one to break.

He then realised all that she had with her. Ok, maybe one could break... Not really. It was still a camera even if there were definitely a lot more and some newer than the one she held right now. The age was not the most important though and Quinn secretly wished this old thing didn’t work too well, making the damage less painful on both of them.

He seemed to realise something changed on her. It took him a moment but noticed how her hair had grown since the last time he saw her. “You’re letting your hair grow,” he replied once she explained to him where she left. Not exactly the kind of thing you say after someone tells you they went on a photo tour of anything. He was just stating the obvious. It did come to him though that she might expect more than a comment about her hair. “Was it nice?” But it was more for the form than to really know. He thought so. “Sorry for the camera. You think it can be fixed?”

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"It's okay," came out before Zoe had even really thought about it. Apologizing was, after all, second nature to her. Though in this case, she didn't hold too much ill will toward Quinn. It wasn't as though he'd set out to maliciously upset her or anything along those lines. Zoe kept fidgeting with the camera, feeling somehow responsible for it.

The questions came next, along with some of Zoe's answers. Quinn's comment actually had Zoe smiling again. "I am," she agreed, nodding. "I really only cut it off because I thought my power was tied to it. Now that I know better..." and was in better control of her power. She looked away, considering that for a few more moments. Yes, she was.

"It was," she agreed, nodding. "I especially enjoyed San Francisco," Zoe looked back down at the camera just before Quinn asked about it. The question made her sigh, eventually holding it up for Quinn to look. "I'm not sure. I'm not really good at making that call. Perhaps you could tell?" she extended it further to him, a hopeful expression on her face now.

[Quinn Wiley]

If Zoe was sued to apologize Quinn was not. His tone might sound not repentant enough to some but the simple fact that he apologized proved that he was. He didn't need any frown or concern in his voice. He said it, not mumbled it. That proved he really was sorry he caused her to drop the camera. He was not going to hold himself too responsible for this. It was an accident, neither of them were at fault. Him less than her.

She was smiling and Quinn could only think she did at the fact he was able to notice she let her hair grow. Hey, some guys wouldn’t be able to see the difference even if their girlfriend died their hair another color. But Quinn liked to believe he was observant. He was not sure however how her hair could have been tied to her power so he said nothing about it and instead went for a safer “It looks good on you.”

He stayed where he was while they talked until she showed the camera to him and asked for his opinion. He was not exactly manual and probably not the best to try and fix it but he could have a look. He held the piece that came off it, located where it was from. “Maybe we can glue it back. But I don’t know if the mechanism inside is broken. I guess you’ll have to try it.”

Alright, now he might feel a little guilty for startling her. He gave it back to her with a somewhat sheepish expression. His eyes than landed on the multiple other cameras she brought with her. “You didn't bring them all on your trip did you?” he said, pointing at them. One, maybe two cameras, if the aspect of the picture was different between the two, it made sense. All that, it was excessive.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

The compliment had Zoe flushing for a moment, especially given its particular source. She simply couldn't quite discount Quinn compliments as easily as those that came from others. The more serious young man offered them rarely, and something in the words always made Zoe feel like they rang true. She did want to ask if he thought that other girls would be interested, but she could already mentally see his puzzled look.

Better to focus on the camera at hand. Zoe fidgeted with it again, nodding along with Quinn's assessment. Yes, it might be glued. She let her skilled hands move along it again, clicking a few buttons to test for a moment. The machine let out some soft whirring which was at least something.

The question drew Zoe's attention back up at her quasi-friend. "What? Oh, no," she shook her head, "these aren't mine. I'm, ah, doing inventory? This is... these are all the various cameras and equipment that the school has. They're, ah, photography club ones?" she looked up at him, as if hoping that he'd confirm it. He was a member as well, right? She was already fidgeting, looking back down at the other camera, letting her fingers go to familiar grooves to see if they could actually open it or something along those lines.

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn was not very good with fake compliments and other trivialities said for the form. If he didn’t have anything to say to you, he would not talk to you. He was not the kind to start mentioning the weather just because they were both standing next to each other. Complimenting Zoe wouldn’t change anything to her and was not something he had to do but he still did. Sometimes, he could act like a decent human being. He was not trying to flirt though, far from it. It was true that he did not recall she was homosexual at this right moment but he still knew it. Besides, flirting was even less in his character.

Since Quinn came to the club with his own camera, it never occurred to him that some might join without owning one. In a way, it made sense. Everyone in the basketball team didn’t have their own ball. But the analogy was not quite right. To compare the club with a sport, he should pick baseball and the cameras for the baseball bat or the glove. And he was pretty sure they all had theirs. Then again, it was not like Quinn ever bothered to join a sport club so who knows. Maybe they just borrowed a bat from the club. “I had no idea they had so many,” he said as he looked at them. And some were relatively old too. He grabbed one, looked it up.

“They asked you to check them up?” He asked, turning his head towards her. She seemed easy enough to manipulate into this. Like, they could just drop the box full of those and tell her to make sure they all worked and everything. He looked back at them. “Do you have to try them all?” That would be long. Especially if she had to check the pictures, if the camera lens left no blemish on the pictures. So much for a welcome back.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"I don't think anyone realized quite how many," Zoe admitted. She looked over the gathered cameras again. She didn't quite see the utter mass that apparently Quinn did: she saw a handful, most of which were openly useless. Cracked lens and parts gave things away at just a look. Sure, she'd have to try several, but, well.

"I volunteered," she admitted, glancing over at Quinn before chewing her lip bashfully. there was something about that which made her feel as though she were crazy or something along those lines. It didn't sound like something that most people volunteered for, after all. She fidgeted with the camera in hand, clicking and listening as it ran, looking for film that it no longer had.

"I don't think I really have to try all of them," she said, looking up and back at the table again. "It's mostly just to see if they at least work..." she trailed off before looking back. "Do you... do you think we should? Try them all, I mean."

[Quinn Wiley]

On closer look, Quinn realised that many of them had broken parts. If she was to test them, she would have to fix them first and she just proved to him not being a very manual girl. He grabbed one of the cameras in her pile As he pulled it, a part fell down. “Uh...” Quinn let out as he dug to through the cameras to get it back. “Got it,” he said, flashing it to her once he got a hold on the piece. He had a little sheepish smile, feeling embarrassed for what just happened. Maybe it would be best if he just put it on the desk and stopped touching it. That’s what he did.

Zoe admitted she volunteered. He was not entirely surprised but at the same time Quinn bet someone more like manipulated her into thinking she volunteered. It didn't seem very hard to do that. “You’d think whoever was in charge over the years would have taken better care of them,” he said. Unless they were tossed here because they were not working, or at least not working well. That did make checking them kind of silly but it would not be the first silly thing they chose to do or have them do.

And she had to ask him what she should do. Seriously, he wondered how she managed to even dress up in the morning if she always had to ask people like she couldn’t know better. He shrugged at her, looking back at the camera he would never admit he broke. He didn't break it. It was already broken. You cannot break it just by grabbing it. Unless you were like Hulk or something. He definitely was not Hulk. “Some looks like they need repair if you want to do anything with them. Maybe you can keep the pieces but they look more like you should bring them to a recycling center.” Sad, but true. Oh well. They were not his so Quinn did not feel as sad about this as others might.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"Yes, someone definitely should have attended to them before now," Zoe agreed, looking around and feeling some anger at that. It wasn't as though there weren't enough people in the photography club. True, they generally talked about their art and so forth, but still, you'd think someone would have taken the lead. obviously that someone wouldn't have been Zoe, but still, someone.

Yes, definitely not Zoe. She could practically feel Quinn thinking that as he looked them over. She knew she needed to make up for it, and nodded. "Right, we should try them then," she said more definitely, rising up and looking them over. "Some should likely be recycled, and since we're here, we'll, um, make that call," she nodded again, as if trying to convince herself. "Perhaps we can fix some though," she picked up one, considering it. "I do know some of how to fix them, but, um, admittedly not much..."

Zoe trailed off, looking up at Quinn somewhat speculatively, hoping that he'd suddenly admit to being technically proficient on top of everything else.

[Quinn Wiley]

The blame was not on them. Both of them had cameras, they didn't use those. They were not in charge of the club. If Zoe decided to become some sort of assistant here, it was her problem but he still would not blame her for something the head of their club, or the ones before, should have looked at. “I didn't even know they could offer cameras to those who wanted to join,” he let out. He figured it was something you needed to have already if you wanted to join. He didn’t think one moment that someone might have a passion for photography but not the money to buy a camera. It made sense though, now that he thought of it, but he never bothered to think about it until he saw the cameras. He likely wouldn’t have ever too had he not walked in the room at that time.

Quinn turned his head very slowly towards Zoe, some surprise shown on his traits. “We?” He didn't exactly expect her to include him in this work. He had nothing else to do, really, but that was beside the point. He was not sure if he should complain that he did not sign for it or just be surprised this girl finally stood up to someone and told them what to do. For a brief moment, he looked at the door. It was so easy to walk out of here and she was likely not to stop him. But, somehow, the fact she suddenly decided on her own made him want to stay. Or maybe just the curiosity of checking all those cameras. Yeah, it had to be the curiosity.

She was making up a game plan, deciding which ones would be beyond repair and would be recycled, he hoped she wouldn’t also figure ‘they’ should go to town and recycle them, and which ones were still in working order. She even talked about fixing them. “I can glue parts but if the mechanism inside is broken, I don’t know how to fix that,” he let out. Like this little piece that help keep the batteries inside, he could glue that so it wouldn’t fall off. The rest... “Lenses must be easy to fix, no? If you go to a store or something.” They would know better than them. Still, sorting through the cameras shouldn’t be too hard. He opened one. “I hope you got batteries. And film,” he said as he realised it was empty.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"Well," Zoe gestured at the cameras, "it's obviously not as well advertised as it should be," which was part of why Zoe was here now. She was convinced that they could open things up a little more, make the whole photography club that much more appealing to people. She loved it; Quinn did too. Surely there had to be other people.

The look of surprise threw Zoe, as did the repetition of the word. "Well, um, I just... I figured you'd... you don't have to if you don't... I didn't mean to," she stumbled, flushing. There had been her decision and the whole setup and such, but Zoe figured she could probably do it by herself. It would take twice as long, probably longer, given that Zoe wouldn't have anyone to spur her along, but Zoe could certainly manage it as much.

Just not fixing, not with her skills, and if Quinn wasn't.. wait, he was helping now? Was he just... teasing her? Sometimes Zoe knew people did that and she didn't quite understand and it left her feeling flustered. Was this another instance of that? She looked at him, wondering for a moment as he kept going, pointing out his own lack of skill. What was...

"What? Oh, I definitely have film," she moved forward, wading through some of the pile to pull out a small camera bag. She soon rummaged around before coming up with the little canister, which she then set on the table. "I think there are batteries around here too?" Zoe seemed to recall them giving her some. She started shifting things around, trying to locate some. They had supposedly given her everything she needed to get the cameras tested and in decent working condition...

[Quinn Wiley]

Yes, Quinn loved his photography club. As it was now. More people meant more people. He didn't like having more people around. He preferred it when he could be doing his own thing and not be disturbed by too many of them, with their enthusiasm and desire to give him ‘constructive’ critics about his work. He didn't think too much about the aspect that letting you borrow a camera might attract more people to their club as much as he considered what kind of quality those cameras could offer and the differences between them all. “They should teach us how to use programs to retouch photos too,” he just said, his thoughts obviously not taking him the same path as Zoe’s.

She included him in this and now that he pointed out, instead of going along with it like anyone else would, she folded and started to stutter her way out of this. He looked at her, torn between being perplexed or amused by this. “I see your trip didn’t make you better at talking to people,” he let out. She was still as nervous. After all she went through, she should have realised how strong she was. Instead, she kept acting like she was a defenceless creature in front of a bunch of predators. Since Quinn had never been the predator in any situation, you’d think he would like having the upper hand. But she had a way of making him feel guilty for this.

She seemed surprised he acted as though he agreed to go through this as well. He could leave at any moment. She found some film but struggled to get any batteries. Grabbing his own camera that rarely left his side, he pulled out the batteries in it. “You just need two no? All you have to do is switch them once you saw that the camera worked.” If she found some later, they could still go with them because right now, it was theirs that would be used. Those he had to pay for. Batteries might not be all that expensive but when you had but a limited amount of money to pay for everything, you learned the value of things. He put the batteries in a camera and pushed the power button. “Well, we know the power works for this one,” he told her. Too bad it didn’t have film in just yet, he would have taken a picture of her. Just because he bet she’d startle from it. She shouldn’t, but how could she do otherwise?

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"That is not the first time I've heard that," Zoe said, adding a slight sigh. She still didn't much care for the idea of learning how to manipulate photos via a computer. It struck her as being very close to cheating and almost a betrayal of what they did. At the same time, she did have to admit they had a point.

Almost one with the next comment as well: "I have so gotten better!" Zoe protested before flushing. "You just..." she gestured at him, moving one hand slightly, "flustered me," which was so something that she should be admitting aloud. Zoe focused back on getting the film out and getting everything together. Really she should have been used to Quinn by now, at least enough to not get, well, flustered around him. She was already berating herself for not being more assertive.

Zoe did look up as Quinn continued. "Right, you're right!" she said, before smiling and looking around. "And we should--" oh, he had some. And the power seemed to work for that one. Zoe held out the film to him. "You should check to see if it works with film too. I do think we've a couple of digital ones around here somewhere too. Maybe we should start with those?" Zoe was already looking around, trying to remember which ones were which and checking a handful as she went along.