Framing One's Focus [Bat]

    Derrick pushed his sunglasses a bit higher on the bridge of his nose as he looked around the four way stop, checking for cars or errant bikes. Seeing the coast was clear, he hurried across the sidewalk, eager to continue forwards.

    School began in a few days. For some, classes had already begun. He couldn't say he was particularly sorry about that turn of events. With most people attending to their studies, the streets were almost completely barren. On top of that, it lowered the risk of him being disturbed throughout his outing.

    He'd intended to go through this neighborhood and to a spot he enjoyed visiting on days like today. But as he turned down a street a particular house caught his eye and made him backtrack.

    New owners had come in, he knew. There'd been a FOR SALE sign out front but it was gone now. On top of that, the house had been painted a sickly yellow; not exactly bad too look at, just weakened and pale and not at all the usual sunshine shade most people thought of. Now it was a dreamsicle, a striking orange, and the front flowerbeds that had been barren were now filled with brightly colored flowers. The decor was bright and balanced, but it was the colors that made him pause.

    After a moment of deliberation, Derrick carefully dug into his messenger bag and pulled out a camera. He leaned his cane against the fence and, once certain it wouldn't fall down, turned the camera on and let it start up. In less than a minute the display lit up, signaling it was ready to operate. Tilting his glasses down, Derrick began to adjust the settings, taking periodic peeks at the screen to make sure he was getting the desired saturation and settings for his shots.

    He heard someone coming. Footsteps and the distinct clattering of a bag rolling down the street coming from behind him. Sighing inaudibly, Derrick lowered his camera and stepped closer to the fence, looking back and trying to pinpoint where the person was on the sidewalk. Hopefully they'd be considerate and not knock into him. His camera wasn't that new, but he'd still hate to drop it just because a person couldn't show a little decency.

    Now, Derrick wasn't very proficient in languages (he'd been taught a handful of Spanish words when he was a kid), but he could tell that this girl was starting to speak one of the romance languages, at least. It was a relief to hear her switch over to English, although that heavy accent stayed there.

    The boy thought for a moment, holding his camera with one hand and resting the other on his chin in thought. East Eden...he knew the way, but trying to figure out the most direct route for a normal person was a little different. "It's not too far." He said after a few seconds. He pointed almost lazily over his shoulder, towards the direction the girl was heading. "Go down this street for three blocks. Take a left, then a right, then a left. There's a big sign there so you'll know the second you reach that district."

    A conversation was not what he was expecting. Rather, he'd been eager to avoid one, considering how most of the streets were empty and he should be able to focus on his hobby in peace. But he could hardly shoo the woman away now; after all, that would be rude. Lowering his pointing hand back to his camera, Derrick shook his head succinctly. "No. It's just a hobby."

    For a moment, he wondered why in the world this woman was talking to him. Was she interested in what he was doing? Was it his age? Or was she one of those people? ...Hm, probably not the last one. She hadn't mentioned anything about the cane yet nor seen him walk. Still, it was strange, considering how awkward she was. He might even call it frightened, in a way. "...Even if I wanted to hurt you, I'm clearly at a disadvantage." He spoke up suddenly, accompanied by a meaningful glance at the girl's height. The words seemed almost joking, but both his face and tone were terribly deadpan, almost comically so. "You don't have to be so worried." That said, he turned to the house once more and adjusted the settings briefly before propping his glasses up on his forehead and snapping a few pictures of the house. A small frown came across his face as he reviewed the shots. Too much contrast in these. He'd have to turn that down a little. He reopened the settings on the camera again, fiddling with the buttons.

    "I don't see why not." He shrugged lightly, more focused on his camera than her at the moment. She would most likely stick around; his patience with his camera, however, would not, so he'd rather get his desired shots and continue on with his day.

    To be honest, he tuned out most of what she said after his statement. He was too focused on his end of things to worry too much about her. He caught a few snippets here and there, though, so he had a vague-ish idea of why she approached him. So basically she was pushing herself to spite her parents? He couldn't see the sense in it and, honestly, the thought of being so immature that she'd stoop to that was a bit irksome. Yet the years he'd spent trying to learn some kind of social etiquette paid off and he managed to hold his tongue for now as he fixed the settings and tried to get a couple of photos that were to his liking.

    "Usually the person who initiates the conversation will introduce themselves first." he said idly between shots, occasionally pulling the camera back to study the display before nodding and returning to photographing the house. Yet after he stepped a few feet away for a slightly different angle, he supplied a simple, "Derrick. And you?"

    France, huh? Well, he'd gotten his romance language guess correct, then. letting his camera drop from his face, Derrick turned his head towards her in order to see her properly as he nodded once. "A pleasure." he said succinctly. A moment later he raised the camera back up again, took about three shots, then turned off the camera. As he was placing it in his messenger bag, he commented offhandedly, "I'm surprised you'd leave there for here. Endymion isn't really anything special." Well, strictly speaking, there was that, but it was hardly seen as anything good. On the contrary, most people tended to shy away from the city for that reason; most of the time he saw new faces were just people who were too curious for their own good.

    Crossing carefully back to the girl--Batilde--he reached out to the fence and picked up his cane. He rested his hand over the top of it, allowing the cane to stand at its full height (which was just above his shoulder), and placed his sunglasses back onto his face. "I trust you still remember the directions I gave you?"

    "...You thought Seven Stars was a good place to go abroad?"

    He tried to be mature and responsible, maybe even a bit questioning, but his voice was thickly coated in disbelief. True, Seven Stars attracted a wide group of people, but they were all government inclined. Paperwork, places of authority, and for the asinine a spot as cannon fodder on the cadet team. It was not, in his opinion, where one went to be more culturally diverse or expand their horizons.

    Shrugging off the thought, Derrick immediately moved on to the next piece of business, giving Batilde a short nod at her confirmation. Good, she hadn't forgotten. He gave her a slight smile. "Excellent. As for me, I think I should be leaving now. Good luck in your new home." Adjusting his grip on the cane to a more proper stance, he gave the girl a slight wave as he turned and began walking dow the street, swiping his cane across the ground as he walked.