Best of Both Worlds [Sky]

[melissa]

18th April, 2009

It was the weekend and Melissa had the whole weekend off from work at the White House. It wasn't often it happened, she was usually very busy, but this was one of those rare occasions when she got both the Saturday and Sunday off, and not just the Sunday. Today since it was unusually nice and warm Melissa took herself off to the park with Kaiser her dog and allowed him to run around, while she sat on the grass with a blanket and began to paint the scene in front of her.

The scene was of course the little lake in the park, with lily pads, and swans. The scene was really pretty, and Melissa found the whole concept of painting very relaxing. Just as she was finishing her painting, she heard Kaiser bark. She turned round to see the stupid dog running about the park, chasing after another much smaller dog.

"Kaiser!" she shouted, her Scottish accent very strong. "Oh for heavens sake, leave the little dog alone" she shouted, as she picked herself up off the grass, leaving all her artist stuff on the blanket along with her jacket and ran after the dog. She caught up with him, put his lead on and began to walk back to where she had been sitting.

Of course Melissa wasn't really being very careful, and as she stepped backward to tie Kaiser's lead around the leg of the park bench, she bumped into somebody, which knocked her onto the ground. Of course Melissa's ability meant she hadn't hurt herself, but as she looked up at who she bumped into, she noticed he was wearing dark glasses and had a guiding stick.

She quickly stood up, "I'm really sorry, I should be more careful where I'm walking" Melissa rambled slightly, her accent very strong. Fancy bumping into a blind person of all people, what if she'd knocked him off his feet?

[Sky Beckett]

Sky stood out on the balcony of his apartment, clad only in his pajama pants, his head tilted towards the sky. He could feel the sun on his face and bare chest, even though he saw only blackness, as usual. It had been a quiet few days at work, no urgent cases going on at the time, so there was no need for him to go into work at all this weekend - unless, of course, something came up.

Sky turned and went back into his apartment to get dressed, dressing casually in jeans and a t-shirt. It had been a long time since he had spent a day outside - actually, it had been quite some time since there had been a day this nice. He tossed the book he was currently reading into his messenger bag, swinging the bag across his chest and grabbing his sunglasses and white cane on the way out the door.

Sky made his way across the street to the park, meandering slowly along the path, meaning to wind his way around to find a tree to sit under and read. He was concentrating on the path a ways ahead of him, and wasn't paying attention to the path directly in front of him, so he wasn't expecting it when someone walked into him. He stumbled back, catching himself on the park bench and getting himself upright again, reorienting himself as the person - a woman, with a Scottish accent - apologized profusely. He offered a smile. "It's okay, really," he assured her. And, since he figured, why not, he offered his name, too. "I'm Sky."

[melissa]

Melissa felt terrible for bumping into the blind guy, she really did, all because of her stupid dog Kaiser. He really could just be a big over grown puppy at times with his attitude, he was quite often difficult to control, especially on warm sunny days when all Melissa wanted to do was sit and paint the scenery. Bringing Kaiser to the park with her was like a kill two birds with one stone thing, except sometimes Kaiser did was he just done, and caused Melissa problems.

She couldn't help but notice how lovely a smile he had, quite typical of somebody with a disability, what ever the problem was they had, you usually found yourself attracted to some other feature, and in this guys' case Melissa was attracted to his smile. It instantly made Melissa relax and smile back. "Well I'm pleased to hear that, Kaiser can be such a big puppy sometimes, he causes me all sorts of mischief" Melissa tried to explain.

Rather than sitting back down on the grass however, Melissa gathered up her artists things, and put them under the bench. The guy then introduced himself as Sky. She held her hand out and took his in her own, "I'm Melissa, pleased to meet you Sky" she said softly, as she then sat down on the bench. She took in a deep breath and let out a gentle sigh, "I was just painting the lovely scenery and of course Kaiser found a dog he just had to chase and a much smaller one than he is" Melissa said, not even sure why she was telling him that, but finding she couldn't stop herself.

[Sky Beckett]

Sky took a minute to re-orient himself, determining where the woman was standing and turned himself to face her after he picked up his stick from the ground where he had dropped it. When she mentioned her dog, he smiled again, bending down and letting the dog lick his hand before he gave him a good head rub. From the feel of the dog's head and ears, Sky guessed that he was a German Shepherd.

"Nice to meet you, Melissa," Sky responded, shaking the woman's hand. He heard her sit down on the bench that he had used to regain his balance and he found the armrest of the bench before sitting down also. He felt the dog, Kaiser, come over to him again and he reached out, playing with the dog's ears as Melissa spoke again.

He listened as she talked about how she was out painting the lovely scenery, nodding. "I'm loving this nice weather we've been having recently," he agreed, tilting his head back to face the sky. He laughed softly as she mentioned her dog running off to chase a smaller dog. "I know how that can go," he replied, thinking back to the huge Great Dane that his family had had when he was a kid.

[melissa]

Melissa could only smile as Sky petted her dog Kaiser, he really was for the most part just a big fluffy puppy, but sometimes his puppy attitude could get her into all sorts of bother. It could actually be quite funny at times. Then there were times like this, when he caused her to knock over a visibly impaired man. Melissa could still feel her cheeks glowing pink over what had happened even though he seemed to be fine with it.

"He'd have you do that all day you know" Melissa said referring to the fact Sky was petting Kaiser. The dog loved getting his ears played with like that. Melissa smiled, "Thanks" she replied when Sky had said it was nice to meet her. "Yes the weather has been very good considering" Melissa said, as she looked up toward the sky and basking in the sun's rays for a few seconds.

"Days like this make you want to come out and make the most of it while you can before they disappear, reminds me a lot of home to be honest, the sun is a miracle in Scotland" Melissa said as she laughed at the thought. A day like this in Scotland and everybody would be in their shorts and vest tops and lying in the local park soaking up the rays and eating ice cream and ice lollies by the bucket load.

"Glad you understand the way of a dog then" Melissa laughed, when Sky said he knew how it could go with a bigger dog chasing after a much smaller one. As Sky spoke to her, Melissa couldn't help but be drawn to his face, not that she was staring him out or anything, or at least that certainly wasn't the intention, but she really couldn't help but notice how handsome he appeared to be.

However, Melissa really didn't want to come over as some sort of desperate woman in need of a man, so she quickly put the thoughts to the back of her mind and just continued to smile and hoped he couldn't sense she had been staring at him, as she looked away and watched the scene she had been trying to capture earlier.

[Sky Beckett]

Sky continued to play with the dog's ears as he and Melissa continued their conversation. He hadn't had a dog since he was a kid, and he missed having a dog sometimes, but his job really didn't allow him enough time to take care of a dog. He had also considered getting a guide dog shortly after he went blind, but then his ability had emerged and the combination of his telepathic echolocation and the white cane gave him the independence he needed.

Sky laughed at Melissa's comment about the weather, with people running out to enjoy the sun before it went away. "Yeah, I grew up in Seattle," he explained. "The temperature gets above 60 degrees and people are flocking to the beach before the sun goes away again. It's cloudy an average of something like 275 days a year in Seattle." He grinned. "It's the same way with snow; people freak out at the first sign of snow and everyone runs out to enjoy it before it starts raining." Sky paused, not meaning to have given a speech.

When Melissa spoke, Sky listened intently, focusing on her voice, how she talked, and other subtle things about her to get a "picture" of her in his head. By this point, Sky had learned that visual descriptions of people weren't helpful anymore - it was getting harder to visualize things, like brown hair or blue eyes. After he had gone blind, the rehabilitation guy had told him that this would eventually happen - he would start to forget visual images - but it was still slightly disconcerting, now, four years later, to realize that he couldn't remember colors anymore.

Sky shook his head bringing himself back to the present. "Where in Scotland are you from?" he continued curiously.

[melissa]

Melissa noticed how Sky was still ruffling Kaiser's ears. It was almost as if he missed having a dog around, which made Melissa wonder why he didn't have a guide dog. "He's going to love you for that you know." Melissa said with regards to Sky ruffling the dogs ears. It was the one thing Kaiser loved, he would sit there and let you do it for hours at a time. "Never thought of getting a guide dog?" She couldn't help but ask, as he seemed to be really enjoying playing with Kaiser's ears.

Melissa listened as Sky went on about understanding the miracle of a sun. "Sounds like Scotland alright." She replied with a smile. She had to laugh when he mentioned about the snow as well. "That's also the same in Scotland, the snow thing, everybody loves the snow when it's just freshly fallen, it's when it starts to melt and then freezes over, that's when they don't like it." Melissa explained as she shivered slightly at the thought of it.

She noticed he then went quiet for a short time, she wondered what he was thinking. But she wouldn't pry, Melissa wasn't that type of person. He then asked where in Scotland she was from. "I'm from Glasgow actually Sky." She answered his question as she kept staring at him. She somehow felt compelled to lift his hand up to her face, but at the same time, didn't want to come over all forward. But she had heard that blind people usually like to do that, to get an idea of how a person looks.

[Sky Beckett]

Sky shrugged his shoulders when Melissa asked him about getting a guide dog. "I don't know. I've thought about getting a guide dog, but..." he trailed off, thinking for a while. He wasn't sure whether he should tell her or not that he had an ability, that he was an evolved human. It seemed like he could trust her, and besides, evolved humans were getting pretty commonplace nowadays, he reasoned.

"I'm an evolved human," he explained, hesitating a moment at first. "I have telepathic echolocation, which means I send out a sonic wave and it gives me a rough mental image of where stuff is, just the basic shape of things, so I don't really need a guide dog." He lightly tapped the cane resting against his knees. "This is so I can get around the smaller stuff that I can't sense. And to keep up appearances, of course," he joked.

Sky paused, fairly certain that Melissa was staring at him, and felt a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. He was quiet for a minute. Then, "Can I feel what you look like?" he asked impulsively, turning his head towards her.

[melissa]

Melissa listened as Sky spoke about a guide dog and trailed off, she wondered what he was going to say. She tilted her head to the side, as she tried to figure out what he was going to say. However, Melissa wasn't the type to push anybody for an answer. She felt as if she was looking at him a lot, staring at him, and although he was blind, she knew he would sense it, so she just hoped it wouldn't make him feel uncomfortable, yet she couldn't seem to stop herself from doing it.

She was just about to prompt him when he began to speak again. Melissa felt herself let out a gentle sigh, it felt good to know she was once again in the company of another person like herself. An evolved human. His power sounded pretty unique and well god damned useful for somebody in his position. When he joked about his stick Melissa couldn't help but let out a small laugh, handsome and a sense of humour she thought.

"Damn good ability you got yourself there then, and you have a sense of humour, I like that." Melissa said softly, and then decided since he had been honest enough with her, she would do the same. "Well, I'm an evolved human too, I have what they call impenetrable skin. Means I can't be physically harmed, but my mind could be messed with by a telepath." Melissa explained, and then smiled, "Comes in quite handy when Kaiser trips me up like he did before." Melissa then laughed at her own touch at humour.

And then, just like he had read her thoughts, he asked if he could feel what she looked like. However, she didn't feel particularly embarrassed by this, she smiled brightly, "Sure, of course you can." She said gently as she took his hand and lifted it to her face and then let it go, smiling the whole time.

[Sky Beckett]

Sky breathed out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief after his revelation about him being an evolved human. Melissa didn't seem weirded out or confused after learning that he had a superpower, essentially, and a minute later, he learned why. He was definitely not expecting what she said next - she revealed that she was, in fact, an evolved human, too.

He laughed softly. "It is pretty damn useful," he agreed. "Lets me live independently, get around by myself." He paused. "Although having an ability like yours would be pretty damn useful, too. Especially if you're a cop," he added. "Like me." In the first few months after he had become blind, before his ability manifested itself, Sky had lost track of how many times he had tripped over things, run into walls and furniture, endlessly bruising his shins and knees, coming close to punching inanimate objects with frustration. Then one day he had woken up and discovered this ability, this strange, wonderful ability, and with some practice he could use it almost effortlessly to get around.

Sky was somewhat relieved when Melissa agreed to his request. He had come across all kinds of responses to that question over the past couple years - uncomfortable silence from the other person when they didn't know what to respond, blatant refusal, the list went on. But Melissa seemed completely fine with it, and Sky felt her guide his hand to her face. He lightly, quickly moved his hand over her face, getting a general idea, and then lowered his hand. "Thanks."

[melissa]

Melissa felt herself laugh lightly inside when she heard Sky's sigh of what she could only assume was relief over the fact she had no problem with his ability. Then again, having an ability herself why would she have a problem with it? If anything, Melissa often wondered if people would have a problem with hers. But nobody seemed to have a problem so far, which was great.

Melissa listened as Sky went on a little bit more about his ability and how useful it was to him, and how her own ability would be useful to him as well seeing as he was a cop. "I can understand how my ability would be useful to you as well in many ways, it's certainly been useful to me, I can be rather clumsy and then having a dog who is prone to tripping you up doesn't help matters." Melissa explained and then laughed softly again, "So, a cop huh? Uniformed? Or just detective?" She asked, completely interested to hear more about his job. Only because the idea of him having a uniform was kind of appealing to Melissa, men in uniform were always rather eye catching she thought.

When Sky's hand lightly touched over her face, Melissa actually felt her skin tingle slightly, his touch was amazing. She smiled the whole time, and then when he dropped his hand and thanked her, she smiled again. "You're welcome Sky." And then unable to help herself she added, "So what do you think? Not as pretty as I sound, or better than I sound?" She asked and then laughed again. She was basically joking about herself, because she knew how the Scottish accent could sound to others, especially when shouting, like she had been earlier at Kaiser.

[Sky Beckett]

Sky grinned when Melissa mentioned something about her being somewhat clumsy. "Man, you should have seen me when I was a teenager. I was so clumsy I could trip over thin air, not even my own feet!" He said, laughing at the memory. "I actually tripped going up the stairs to the stage when I graduated high school!" He paused. "Or right after I first went blind...god, I lost track of how many times I ran into walls and furniture and everything else."

At some point, Sky reached up and took his sunglasses off, putting them into his shirt pocket. People that didn't know him well sometimes got uncomfortable when he wasn't wearing his sunglasses, his sightless, unfocused blue eyes visible, but Sky didn't think that Melissa would mind - besides, wearing sunglasses during a conversation that went on for some time seemed almost impersonal.

Sky nodded in response to Melissa's question. "Yeah, I'm a cop. I started out uniformed, but I got promoted to detective not very long after I joined the police force." He paused a second before continuing. "I do mostly in-office stuff like case files and interviewing - or interrogating - people, although I do occasionally go out in the field."

Sky smiled at Melissa's dig at herself. "You look - or feel, I guess - like how you sound. If that makes any sense at all," Sky said, knowing how strange the sentence sounded. He grinned sheepishly. "It's kind of hard to explain."

[melissa]

Melissa listened as Sky told her about how clumsy he had been as a child. It was quite funny to listen to him explain about it. Melissa couldn't help but laugh. "Sounds a lot like me when I was younger, but having the ability to be unable to hurt, like unbreakable skin so to speak, does have its advantages." She said with another laugh. When he mentioned about tripping at his graduation, Melissa put her hand to her mouth. "Oh Sky, that must have been so embarrassing for you." But at the same time she couldn't help but laugh at it. It really was quite remarkable how alike he was to herself in being clumsy.

Melissa watched as Sky removed his sunglasses, she imagined a lot of people might feel uncomfortable at seeing a blind person's eyes, but Melissa wasn't bothered in the slightest and if anything, she could see his face properly now and Melissa could see easily just how handsome he was. She couldn't keep it to herself either.

"You know Sky, seeing you take your sunglasses off, I can see just how handsome you are." She said softly, smiling, not taking her eyes off of him. She was glad she had met Sky today, and she knew she would want to get to know him a lot more. Maybe she had found a special someone to have in her life.

Melissa then listened as he spoke about his job. "That's wonderful Sky, I mean that you can still do so well despite your disability, I'm very impressed." She replied, she wasn't mocking him in any way at all, she simply was very impressed with Sky. Being a cop or detective wasn't an easy job for a normal able person, but to hold it down when blind was simply amazing.

"I feel like I sound?" Melissa repeated what he said in a question, she raised her eyebrow, she wasn't quite getting what he was trying to say, but she wasn't going to push that matter. "I can imagine it's hard to explain, I'm going to take it as a compliment though." Melissa said with a light laugh after it. Melissa knew she wasn't exactly ugly, but she also wasn't big headed enough to think she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

[Sky Beckett]

Sky laughed again. "It was pretty embarrassing. I went to a pretty small high school, though, so there weren't that many people there. My friends never let me live it down, though." He tilted his head towards the sky, feeling the warm sun on his face. "Needless to say," he continued. "I eventually grew out of the awkward phase of my life. Mostly."

Sky blushed furiously when Melissa bluntly told him that he was handsome. He wasn't used to flat-out compliments like that, and he had to admit, it was flattering. To be honest, the only thing he did for his appearance was run his hand through his spiky blond hair with a little hair gel after he showered, but hell, he didn't know what it looked like. "Thank you," he said, smiling.

Sky nodded. Melissa didn't have the same response as many other people did upon finding out that he was a cop, the overly-shocked, overly-gushing about how great that was that a blind person could have a normal job, which he greatly appreciated. If there was one thing that Sky couldn't stand about being blind, it was the way some people acted around him - thinking they needed to speak extra loud when talking to him, being shocked that he had a normal job and that he lived independently...jeez. Some people. But Melissa didn't seem too much like that.

"It's a really interesting job," Sky agreed. "I had the job for a few years, and then after I went blind, they let me back onto the police force." He subconsciously touched the narrow scar on the side of his head where the bullet had sliced past his head. "There were a lot of people who didn't think I could do it, but so far I've proved them wrong."

Sky laughed again. "Yeah, just take it like a compliment. That sentence came out weird. You know what I mean."

[melissa]

Melissa shook her head with a smile, "That's friends for you, never letting you live things down, friends are the best thing on earth." Melissa said laughing, half teasing and half being serious. It was great to have friends, of course it was, but you could always count on your friends to be brutally honest with you and tease the hell out of you as well. Melissa nodded her head and laughed a little, "Yeah, I'm not so clumsy now, only when Kaiser decides to wrap his leash around my legs." He did it quite often, especially if he saw another dog, he would try to get to them and in his excitement would run around Melissa's legs.

Melissa smiled when Sky thanked her for complimenting him on his looks. She was only telling the truth after all. "You're welcome, just speaking the truth." She replied, although she saw him blushing furiously and she immediately felt bad for embarrassing him. She hadn't meant to, she was just being kind. "However, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you." She added, as she caught the sun's rays on her own face for a few seconds.

Melissa listened smiling the whole time as Sky spoke more about his job as a cop. "Well I think it's great, and it annoys me when you hear people saying that people with disabilities can't do jobs. I've seen it with my own eyes, there are plenty of disabled people out there holding down decent jobs better than a lot of abled people." Melissa said almost ranting a little, but things like that really annoyed the hell out of her.

When Sky laughed, Melissa laughed too, and then gently put her hand on his knee. "Well, thank you for the compliment Sky, and I'm sorry I didn't understand it properly." Melissa found she really liked Sky, and she hoped that he was possibly feeling the same way about her.