Sticks, swinging, existential crisis

Hollie had told Aeron before leaving that one of the new kids in the chat was looking for a Vet and that she had agreed to meet them at the park. She promised them that she'd leave her phone on loud so if they needed her she would come running back and not to hesitate if the did. Still unsure about leaving them alone she hopped on her bike and made her way down the street, checking the location a few times on her phone, she was a little surprised about how close Charlie seemed to live to Aeron's home as it was. Slowing down to a halt she looked around the greenery of the park for Charlie, if she was honest she was partially glad it was one of the newer kids asking for her. Not that she had anything wrong with Eva or Chara that is! She liked Eva very much and Chara seemed sweet enough, but it felt...odd, those two had been in Seaford and with the team much longer than she was, did they resent her for being the one Percy and Belladonna told others to come to for help? Were they annoyed that some outsider just showed up and was already categorized as a "vet"? She bit at her nails, the satisfying snap of one breaking off between her teeth calming her a little as she saw the new girl from afar, double checking her name in the server she wheeled her bike over.

Charlie was happy to get a chance to meet up with Hollie, Hollie had been the other medic at the witch battle and was a friend of Aeron's. Charlie wanted to make sure she met everyone on the Seaford side at least once so she could feel a bit better about everything. She didn't want to risk well...making anyone upset or angry at her... but Hollie seemed like she would be nice...right? She knew it was probably a bit selfish of her to ask Hollie to meet up and then come to the park right out back of her house... but she didn't like to walk alone anymore or risk Biscuit if she did have to walk alone.  She saw a soul gem coming closer, it was a heart with wings. She liked Hollie's soul gem color it was nice. She knew it was Hollie's because she made sure to keep an eye on all of the soul gems so she didn't make another mistake. Although Hollie was coming a bit quicker then expected. Charlie out of mild panic ducked down when she saw the girl come closer as a faster pace then expected.

"S'up"? Hollie asked, kicking the stand of her bike an letting it rest where it was, she took in Charlie's appearance better, she was a sweet looking girl, the type of looks her mother would've said "Butter wouldn't melt" about, although there seemed to be something off with her, for one thing she had ducked when she approached which was strange in itself, was she expecting one of those Rose fucks to show up? She thought, quickly looking around the area for any sign of them, though aside from the one she's met, would she even know one if she saw one? "Everything okay"? She asked, turning back to face the girl.

Charlie realized Hollie stopped and said s'up. Charlie stood up. "I... am sorry you were going fast and I thought I was being charged at... it made me a bit anxious..." She said as she began to stand up slowly. "I can only see your soul gem not you so I thought you might hit me with how quick you were and... I panicked." She explained feeling a bit bad. She twisted her bracelet before looking at Hollie's gem. "It is nice to meet you though. I am Charlie...wait you probably know since I asked to meet you here...?" She asked offering her hand without her soul gem on it.

"You couldn't see me?" Hollie blinked in surprise, the more she looked at the girl the more she noticed that her gaze seemed to not focus on anything, at best catching on her soul gem on her finger but nothing else. She was blind?!"No-no s'alright! Really" Hollie began to protest. "I mean, with everythin' going on I shouldn't hav snuck up on ya like that anyway, you know? My bad man!" She bit her lip, ugh. So much for a good start. She took Charlie's hand with a firm shake; "Name's Hollie, nice ta meet'cha"

"N-no I can't" She explained. "I am blind and my wish lets me see souls. Bad wording for trying to get back normal eyesight" She explained to the girl. Who sounded like they felt bad a bit. She didn't want to make Hollie feel bad or anything. "Thanks... I hope you are able to understand though?" She asked. "And it's ok you didn't know... But thank you. So you know for the future... I can see your soul gem and how close or far you are." She offered a smile.  They shook hands and she smiled more. "Nice to meet you too Hollie! I wanted to talk with you because well... I wanted to meet everyone and maybe talk more to everyone? Uh... that doesn't make much sense does it?" She asked feeling awkward

"Makes total sense" Hollie agreed, swallowing the 101 questions that instantly came to her head about being a Magi and being blind. "I mean, we're all relying on each other so it makes sense to get a feel for the people here, and with everything going on, can't blame ya for wanting to know which one of us is well, a part of Us instead of them. It's smart, really" Hollie admitted, her own interactions with the team being very, very wanting.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah! And if you have questions I can try to answer them too. I am still learning all about this though." She said offering up a smile.  "Yeah it does make sense. I can tell who all of the Seaford magi are though by their soul gems now! And I have avoided... them pretty good... except for one instance but its ok now. And thanks!" She said with a smile "Oh uh so what do you like to do for fun? Your a medic too right? I saw you bring back a magi during the witch fight." She said looked at the direction of the person who had the soul gem, wanting to ask a bunch of questions

"Bring back? What do you mean?" Hollie snorted, she made it sound like she revived the dead! "All I did was heal her up, Bella did that to her girlfriend too, you know? Don't worry about it too much, it takes practice to really fix the big stuff but so long as our soul gems are intact we can come back from pretty much anything except a beheading" Hollie joked, reassuringly.

Charlie blinked and looked at the Hollie. "You...you didn't see the soul gem fading? Hollie you brought her back from the dea-... does Belladona not know what she did either?" Charlie was now confused. Did both girls not know what they did? "Hollie... their soul gems faded into darkness, not like how grief clouds soul gems and gives them an icky feeling. " She explained to Hollie... "You guys healed them adding light back into it... not healing the grief but the body. " She said to Hollie. "It is good to hear that as long as our soul gems are safe we came come back...from almost everything though." She said with a smile

Hollie stood there staring at the girl, mouth and eyes wide open. She couldn't be serious, could she? Sure she just told her she had some sort of soul-based-sight but she brought someone back from the dead? Only the Incubators could do that and that was only if the felt it was worth it! She only had the vaguest sense that Aeron might've said something about Bella and them having that ability too. She felt her knees buckle and her stomach lurch for a moment as she found herself gripping onto Charlie's shoulder for support. Did she always have this ability? Her wish was to save a life, so in theory it would fit in with her abilities, right? Did that mean that she was that much of a monster that she just left people to rot? Seemed right...She would have to talk to Belladonna about that when she got the chance. Realizing that she was probably making Charlie uncomfortable she swallowed thickly and straightened herself up, self consciously wiping the girls shoulder clean of her sweaty palms. "S-Sorry that's uh-I mean, that's a lot to take in, you know? I uh, I've never done anything like brining back the dead before...it's...wow..." She blinked back tears, clearing her voice of the raspy texture it took on in response to the news.

Charlie couldn't tell what was going on with Hollie. She waited for the girl to calm down and felt a hand on her shoulder as she felt a little anxious. She waited for her to speak again... She thought about the repercussions and what it could mean to bring someone back from the dead...holy shit.  She felt the hand leave her shoulder and the other girl seemingly sounding sad. "It is alright... but... take in a deep breath and breath. You need to stay calm. You and Belladona were able to bring someone back... it was a very very magical thing to do. I know I wouldn't be able to if I tried. It is crazy. Do you need to sit down?" She didn't mean to give another vet another existential crisis. Who was next Percy?

"I uh...thanks, yeah" Hollie nodded, sitting on the bench, she tried to focus on the girls words, by all meanings of the word she was right, what Hollie did was a miracle. But that wasn't the problem. "Sorry again, I'm meant to be the experienced one and here you are schooling me on my own abilities" She laughs it off, a little shaky but better than before, she took a deep breath.

"No problem. I think I have gotten pretty good at calming down people" She offered with a smile as she patted Hollie trying to help her chill out a little more.  "No it's fine.. I can see things you guys cant.. like your souls and others souls... did you know animal souls are green most of the time? Its because they are calmer and more wise I think." She said trying to help her out by taking her mind off of the problem.

"Is-is that so"? Hollie asked, focusing on the girl, push the bombshell down for another time. "That's cool, what about people? Uh, non-magi I mean? What colour are they then"?

"Yeah." She said flashing a smile. She didn't mention how she also caused people to have minor existential crisis's because she often asked weird questions or stuff that caused people to just think more.  "Ah so people who have no affiliation to magic or the magical world have blue souls. Salem has a pink one, but I don't know about other people cause they might have different colors?" She said offering a small explanation

"Huh...maybe because Salem's tied to magic, her soul's different? I dunno the whole story but I'm told her twin wished for Salem to like, always have what she needs or something, like endless money" Hollie pointed out, wondering what colour Lillie's soul is

Charlie nodded. "It was one of our theories for why it was different. I want to see if Fawn's is too eventually... and maybe others. if we know them?" She said thinking about it. "Salem is able to grab money from her pockets which was cool." She said with a smile

Hollie nodded before realizing that Charlie couldn't see that; "Yeah! Her sister really set her up, huh"? she agreed, enthusiastically.

"Yeah she did. Salem tried to give me a fifty once but I uh... still haven't told my sister about all of the magi stuff... but Salem is set up." She said

"You family don't know? Or just your sister"? Hollie asked, a pang of guilt shot through her. "I mean, I get it, it's not easy to tell them" She nodded, rubbing the back of her neck "But it's better they do know, you know? It uh, it'll save you a headache down the road when they learn you've been sneaking out at night or skipping class to fight witches" She told her.

"Its just me and my sister... so it is my family" She said as she twisted her bracelet a little bit.  "I need to though.. I almost died due to Alexander, and I also messed up with the witch" She said mumbling... she had been wanting to tell Cali but had been scared. "I know it will... oh I don't go out at night or skip class. I go to Haslen's school for the gifted, if they happen during school hours I wont be able to be there." She said explaining.

"Wait, he attacked you"?! Hollie spluttered at just how casually Charlie had admitted to being attacked by not only a member of Rose Corp but Mr.Great-Big-Dickhead himself! "It-It's important that you tell her, just so she knows about them" Hollie implored the girl. "They've already attacked people like Salem and they've made pretty explicit threats to our families. From what I understand the girl they did kill, Ophelia, they didn't stop with her, her mom was killed too. You've at least got to warn her, you know"?

"Yeah, Belladona helped me out though. He wanted me dead. And none of us know why. It's why I said I was anxious to go out still." She said looking around just to be safe looking for some soul gems.  "I know... I just need more time. " She said looking at her hands.  "I know they attacked Salem... and Fawn... and also threatened our familes... Its why I was worried... and I know they ki-...they killed her mom? Isn't it a murder case... I don't want to tell her just yet but... that makes me more nervous" She rambled anxious now... how could she tell her sister she signed up basically a contract that no matter what would lead her to her death.

Hollie places a gentle hand on Charlie's, hoping to calm her down, if even a little. "I know, it's scary, I'm sorry it's none of my business. I just-sometimes you gotta think about the long term, you know? What's gonna cause you more grief in the future" She smiled wryly at her own play on words. "I can't promise you'll live to see like, 20 or something" She told her "But we're all working as hard as we can together to keep each other alive as long as possible, there are some places that if I told someone I or Percy or Belladonna have been a Magi for three years they would call us a liar because that's too long. This place is special and us working together is special too" She told her, hoping to convince herself, at least.

She felt a hand touch hers and tried to stay calm. It was just Hollie so she shouldn't worry too much.  "It's ok.. I was thinking of the long term... but then everything happened and I got scared... its why I asked if I will be forgotten if I died because of so then I wouldn't have to worry as much." She said looking at her soul gem  "I know I won't. But I don't plan on going down super easy... It is good to know you guys have been magi for three years though. its amazing... and I am glad to get to work with everyone. " She said with a small nod. But she felt like she wouldn't live a long life. How many brushes with death can you have before its your time?

"Haha, it's not as easy as it sounds" Hollie laughs a little. "But it will be now, now that you have others looking out for you, you know? We're friends, we don't let each other die" She promised her.

Charlie thought for a few seconds. "I know... I know." She said quietly as she looked at her hands. "Yeah I know. I just also want to be able to take care of myself too... but I am glad to have a bunch of friends now." She said with a smile

Hollie bit her lip "I don-I don't want to make is seem like we're babying you or anything. I'm sure you're more than capable, you know? I'm just trying to reassure you that we have your back" Hollie told her.

Charlie fiddled with her bracelet. "I don't think you guys are trying that at all. I know you all are trying to help me out. I just also have to prove Alexander wrong about me getting someone killed protecting me.... and well you all might not always be here..." She said looking down away from hollies soul gem

"He said that?" Hollie asked, letting that sink in for a moment. "Well there would be a who lot less reasons for us to be in danger if he and his bag of dicks just left"! she cried out angrily.

Charlie was quiet for a few more seconds. "He said more then that but it is alright." She said in a quiet tone. "There would be but thats not what they want to do... they want to watch us burn Hollie." She said in a quieter voice "I don't think they are just going to leave after all of that." She whispered

"You're right, their not" Hollie said between gritted teeth. "But that just means we gotta burn them first"

She was a bit quiet. "I know. .. oh uh I am sorry about the dark talk and stuff... its not the most fun... Lets uh do something else alright?" She offered trying to offer a smile

Hollie nodded before answering "Yeah, sounds good" She agreed, glad for a moment of not thinking about things.

"Alright then follow me the swing sets are this way!" She said flashing a smile to Hollie

Hollie let the blind lead her along, glad that Charlie seemed to be in much better spirits at this point.

Charlie continued to walk until they were about at the swing set area, she reached the area and threw her hands around for the swings catching one with her arms. "Lets have some fun to calm down a bit ok? I can push you!" She said with a smile

Hollie hesitated. Yeah, sure her soul sight thingy probably meant that she would see when Hollie would approach her on the swing, but the idea of accidentally KO-ing the poor girl on the swings sent a premature jolt of guilt up her spine. "A-Are you sure? I could easily swing you, you know?" She offered, fidgeting with her nails

Charlie thought for a few seconds before smiling. "I can totally do it! I can see your soul gem after all, I can tell when the swing comes towards me!!" She said with confidence. "Plus you get to have time to be a kid and not think about...well nonsense!" She said confidently

"Y-yeah...I get that..." She supposed if this girl was going to be going into fights with witches and stuff, she should be trusted to push someone on the swing set, right? "Okay, I'm gonna sit down now" She informed the girl, settling herself on the seat, it was years since she's been on on a swing like this.

Charlie thought for a few seconds. "Yeah!" She said with a smile as she waited for Hollie to sit down She saw Hollie sit down. "Alright here we go!! Your gonna have fun!" She said with a smile! as she used all of her little weakling strength to push her.

Hollie felt the push and helped the girl a bit by pushing herself along as well, legs digging into the woodchips on the ground. She pushed herself forward, Charlie's petite hands helping her lift of off the ground.

Charlie continued to push the girl until it came back towards her. SPlat goes the charlie on the ground. Her confidence was not well placed and her weakling arms failed her. She got up quickly as to not worried the girl. " Maybe.. I actually shouldn't...noodles aren't good with this stuff." She said as she reached around for her walking stick.

Hollie felt herself collide with the girl, teeth rattling in her skull as she tried to stop herself from fully running her over with her body, she spun around to face her. "Jesus shit! Are you alright" She dropped to her knees to make she she hadn't like, broken her nose with the back of her head or something.

Charlie looked around a bit and stayed calm. "Im fine!! No worries!! Plus if I wasn't I could transform and heal myself?" She said not too worried. "But uh..do you see my stick?" She asked

Hollie raised herself up a little, to get a better look, Charlie seemed unharmed, which was good... "Wait here a sec, okay? I'm gonna look" She told her. It shouldn't be too hard to find a white stick in all this grass, right?

Charlie nodded. "It was my bad..." She said as she thought... maybe eventually she could ask Aeron if he could help her by making a magic one...but they weren't doing good so ... not a good idea. She thought for a few more seconds. "Thank you" She said with a smile

Hollie stepped carefully through the grass, it hadn't been cut during the winter and was in desperate need of one. She wasn't sure how durable walking canes were but the last thing she wanted to do was snap it with her feet..."You uh...you have spares of these at home, right?" She called out nervously.

Charlie thought for a few seconds as she heard hollie stepping around in grass. she then heard her ask if she had a spare. "Yeah..of course I do ...yaknow" She said with a smile. She in fact didn't have a spare...what happened to it?

"R-right...cool..." Hollie called out, turning her head to check on her again, she hadn't gone that far, five or ten paces before she felt something under her foot, there was a sick lurch in her stomach. Looking down was the pale white cane slightly muddied from being knocked across the ground, quietly she knelt down to asses the damage. It wasn't snapped in half thankfully, but there was a crack. Did she do that? Or was it from the swing? Either way she supposed both instances would come back to her.

Charlie heard Hollie said right cool before becoming really...really...really quiet. She glanced around squinting to make sure there wasn't anyone else around nope... and no dogs.."Are you ok Hollie?" She asked concerned

"Whu-?! Huh?! Oh-y-yeah! I uh...I found your stick!" She walked over carefully. Maybe the crack was only superficial? "It uh...it's a little dinged up" She admits, placing it in Charlie's hand.

Charlie nodded. "Alright I just got worried. Glad your ok though!" She said with a smile! She was glad her stick was good... but it was dinged up...? "Alright... it should be ok?"She said as she tried to tap down with it using her normal force and heard it crack... maybe she shouldn't have offered it as a weapon and then... "I think my stick is going to die." She said concerned.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck" Hollie said with such speed under her breath, it almost sounded like she was suddenly imitating a chicken for whatever reason. "I-It can be fixed, right? Like-like with duct tape or something"? She offered weakly.

Charlie heard the word fuck like...a lot ...."Are you ok?" She asked concerned. did she stub her toe or get hurt... she was then asked if her stick could be fixed with ductape. "Uh... no it will break again easily.. but dont worry." She said she would pat the girls back if she knew she wouldnt fall over

"I mean-shit...I know you said you had a spare but I still feel guilty, you know? Is there anything I can do to help? Will you be able to get home okay?" Hollie said, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

Charlie thought for a few seconds. "Oh uh well I will be fine no worries...but uh I do need help getting back home if possible?" She asked

"Right! Of course! Uh, What do you need me to do"? Hollie asked, suddenly very hesitant to just grab the girl and lead her through traffic.

Charlie thought for a few seconds. "Oh my house is that building." She said pointing over towards the house not far from the park. she thankfully was better with this area now to be able to point. "I had us close... so this is basically my backyard." She said with a smile

Hollie looked at where Charlie pointed, it seemed about where abouts the address she had told her about was, that was good. "R-Right uh..." Hollie gently placed her finger tips on Charlie's arm, letting the girl decide if she needed Hollie to physically hold her or just know where abouts she was.

Charlie realized Hollie seemed nervous. "It's ok we normally loop arms so I don't step into a hole and fall down. or well get run over somehow. Will your bike be ok here?" She asked as she glanced around.

"It'll be fine! Nobody's around to steal it so it'll be good. I uh, just didn't want to manhandle you, you know"? Hollie laughed nervously as she linked her arm with Charlie's.

Charlie laughed a bit. "I know im a noodle but you don't have to worry that much." She offered a smile. "The front door should be on the other side, and dont worry too much its fine. " She said looked up..maybe too far up who can tell she cant see how tall Hollie is she just sounds tall

"You're not a noodle! I just don't wanna be rude...you're so polite an' junk I feel kinda feral standing next to you" She confesses as they begin walking towards the park gates.

"No im a noodle look at these arms, its ok im a in a noodle bowl club though" She said with a smile. "Its fine just be yourself and dont worry. I think your pretty cool!" She said with a smile

"If you're a noodle, you're like, like one of those fancy high class noodles. Like an acorn noodle" Hollie told her as they approached the curb, she found herself for once checking for traffic. "But uh...thanks. I'll keep that in mind" She mumbles a little sheepish at Charlie's praise.

Charlie sounded confused. "What's an acorn noodle? It sounds weird?" She said confused "And no problem! " She said with a smile they were close to her house now!

"It's like, a type of noodle you get at Korean restaurants." Hollie explained at she led Charlie across the street. "You can like, make a flour out of acorns and junk and I guess from that flour noodles?"

Charlie nodded. "Ohh I don't think I have ever had it before? It kinda sounds...weird. But interesting?" She said unsure about the noodles.

Hollie wrinkled their nose "The place back in Chicago used to serve those noodles cold" she told her as they reached the other pavement. "It's great in the summer when you're hungry but not in the mood for like, heavy warm stuff but it was a shock the first time we got 'em!" She laughs, nudging Charlie a little. "If I can find a place that does 'em around town, I'd love to show you" she offers, a nice lunch or something was the least she owed her for her stick.

Charlie looked confused, noodles but cold...sounded gross. "Thats... unique. But I can definetly see how its a shock... I am not the biggest fan of that." She said before being nudged a little, she made sure to rebalance herself. Being a noodle wasn't always the best when your body weight could be the weight of a bag of flour. "Sure that could be fun! Oh my house is right there." She said as they turned the corner to the front of her house. "Can you not tell anyone else... only a few people know and I don't want to let a bunch of magi know." She said quietly.

"About being a noodle or..." Hollie trailed off, she guessed if she had been in battle with her and not noticed that she was blind, Charlie could get away with it, but then again it was a pretty distracting battle.

Charlie thought for a few seconds... "Uh where I live, I don't want others to know besides those who do" She said quietly, she didn't want to take risks even if she trusted some people. She most certainly didn't trust all of them yet

Hollie nodded "That makes sense, don't worry. My lips are sealed" She promised, giving Charlie's arm a squeeze. Even if she wanted to tell Charlie that everyone could be trusted, she couldn't say that honestly, she knew that not everyone who calls themselves your friend could be trusted, Charlie was allowed what privacy and safety she wanted. "Ah, there's a step here" She warned as they got to the curb and at the front gate.

"Thanks, It is just a safety measure if like... just to be safe. I try to keep meetings away from my house and stuff too." She said with a smile. Hollie was good she could trust Hollie. But there was a reason why she didn't put her address in the chat.  "Oh thanks so much." She said with a smile as they stepped up

"Hey, I get it. But uh...if you're ever worried about your home, I know Belladonna's got like, this enchantment to protect it. It's why Rose Corp Magi can't just break into her house, any magi she see's as an enemy can't get in. Maybe try talking to her about doing it for your house"? She offered, letting Charlie's arm go so she could get to the door.

Charlie listened and thought about it. "That would be smart, I will totally bring it up to her when I can then!! Because I don't want to uh have anything happen cause they know where I live. I have been careful though. But thanks. And have a nice night Hollie!" She said with a smile and a wave

Hollie waved her off before remembering, duh! "Night Charlie, glad we got to talk"!