Playground

...

It was later at night, and so all the children were already gone; that didn't mean the playground was empty though. In the swing sat a tall and somewhat lanky woman, a solemn and sad expression on her face. Her feet remained planted firmly on the ground and rocked herself slowly back and forth while her purplish-blue eyes rested against the ground. Her phone had gone off ringing, but rather than pick it up to answer she rejected it with a text message. It was her manager, and so she'd simply text him. The man should have known better than to text her anyway. She didn't speak...Not with anyone. Her face held a large scar, but it was covered by makeup, and it was surprising she could do such a thing since her home lacked any mirrors at all.

It had gotten dark, she had been out for a long time seeking inspiration for her latest work for her new contract. The park was empty, so she could do just what she felt like without repercussions: skip along the sidewalk like an idiot with a grin plastered on her face. Why wouldn't Esme be happy? She had signed a contract worth millions, even more important she was engaged to the love of her life.
She skipped absentmindedly along the concrete, solely focused on her happiness. The creaking of chains made her stop, looking over she saw only one other person in the entire playground. A woman swung back and forth lightly, looking forlorn and down. Esme blinked before walking over to her side and bending down to try and look at her face.
"Excuse me, but are you alright?"

The sound of someone speaking to her and the sudden arrival of a face near her own made Keaira jump slightly. Immediately after the jump she was on her feet, a slight heat creeping across her face as she flushed some to show just how shy she was. There was a line of nearly white left on her face though; showing off where the makeup covered her major default. She lifted her hands in front of herself suddenly and waved them about frantically as if to communicate that she was fine.

Esme leaped back when the stranger suddenly bolted up, her face beat red and waving her hands. Could she not speak? Esme lifted her own, backing up a bit from the shy stranger.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you. You just looked upset is all."
She glanced at the swing next to the one she had been sitting on and pointed to it.
"May I?"

Keaira's face remained red as she looked towards where the stranger pointed. She said nothing and made no physical indications to an answer; as if she were having somewhat of an internal debate. Somewhere in the mind was Aeron the demon inside of her encouraging her to sit down beside the stranger and make a friend. Though reluctant that encouragement seemed to be enough and as she herself slowly sat down she nodded her head.

The stranger paused seemingly in an internal conflict, it was a long moment before she nodded and Esme sat down. Her hands wrapped around the chains and she swung back and forth, letting the silence settle things between us. She smiled, thinking again to her beautiful fiance and causing her motions to go a little faster. She still had her foot planted in the sand but she swayed back and forth fairly eagerly.

Glancing out of the corner of her eye Keaira looked at the woman that sat on the swing beside her, only to turn red as a tomato once more. She hadn't begun the back and forth motion again, but rather sat perfectly silent; her hands gripping the chains of the swing tightly as her phone went off, causing her to jump somewhat again. Settling back in she forced one of her hands from the chain to pull out the phone and read the message sent before beginning to send one back.

The stranger jumped when her phone went off and swiftly began typing a reply when she had it in her hands. This gave Esme an idea. Reaching into her own pocket she dug out her phone and began typing. Once she was done she turned it to the stranger with a soft smile.
'My name is Esmeralda Keller, but you can call me Esme. What's you're name?'

Keaira stared in shock at the woman as she lifted the phone up. It wasn't as if she were deaf, or even mute...She'd rather not talk to anyone. Really she was practically afraid of all of those around her. Nevertheless she quickly read the message and stared a moment as if in debate once more before slowly glancing down to the phone in her hands, a very slight tremble passing through the body as she typed. "Kieara Valdís."

Esme smiled as the stranger replied, she thought this would be easier for her since she either was mute or didn't talk much. Keiara, a strange but very nice name. Esme was quick to respond.
'That's a very nice name, I just thought this would be easier for you since you seem really nervous. You don't have have to be frightened I'm not going to bite you.'
Esme gave Keiara a soft smile.

Keaira's face never changed once, and at Esme's joke she simply stared with a flat look before her face fell the tiniest bit. She looked back down to the phone in her hands, played around with it for a bit, and then finally typed out and held up her phone so it read 'That's not very funny.' After a moment she lowered the phone once more; deleted it and typed out next. 'What do you do?'

Esme smiled sheepishly when Keaira replied that it wasn't funny. What did she do? She smiled and began typing out her reply, showing it to the white haired lady afterward.
'I'm an artist, I deal mostly in charcoal and paints. What about you? I just also wanted to say I think you're very lovely, I love your white hair.'

Keaira glanced down a moment before looking up and showing Esme her phone after typing a response. 'I'm an artist too...I like pencil.' She had ignored the second part of that statement for a moment but looked somewhat sad as she seemed to be typing something else out. 'You don't know what I truly look like, but thank you.' She was looking away as she worked in a second part and held it up. 'Your hair is an interesting color. You're very beautiful yourself.' Her face turned red at the last part and she didn't look back at her.

Esme laughed softly, a soft flattered sort of noise. She tucked a piece of said hair behind her ear and worked quick on a reply.
'You sound like someone I know very well, but that doesn't stop me from being with her.'
She deleted those words and went into her pictures, showing the other woman a picture of her and Melinoe together. She went back to typing quickly.
'My fiance, you remind me a lot of her.'

Keaira looked the picture over for a few moments before typing back, 'She's a lot more pretty than I am.' Slowly she shifted on the swing some, almost seeming to be having an internal debate once more as she sighed slightly; listening to Aeron's encouragement yet again. A frown crossed over her face before she lifted her hand to use her sleeve to rub the makeup off of her skin; showing off the deep and ugly scar that crossed over her face. She kept her head down for a few moments, her hair hanging in her face to hide it before she finally lifted her head up.

Esme giggled softly when Keaira said Mel was prettier then she was, she didn't think so she thought they were both pretty. For a moment she stared at the ring on her finger, thinking of her beautiful lover and seeing her smile in the diamond. Then she glanced up, seeing Keaira wiping her face to reveal a large scar on her face. Esme frowned softly, quickly typing.
'That look like it hurt, I won't ask you what happened if you don't want to talk about it.'

Keaira's lips actually parted as if she might say something, but shortly after she hesitated and then snapped her mouth shut. 'I have learned to keep my mouth shut on such things...And everything else." She lifted the phone so that Esme could see what she typed but still her eyes remained on the ground. She wouldn't look at the woman sitting beside her.

She looked like she would speak but quickly held her tongue. Esme frowned when she saw what Keaira had written.
'That's terrible, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that just to be kept quiet. That isn't right if you ask me.'
Esme cleared the text, quickly writing another hoping to get some sort of smile out of her.
'So you're an artist too? Maybe we could work together sometime, I'd like to see your art.'

'It's okay. I was silent before.' Keaira held the phone up for Esme to see. That was the truth. She'd only spoken maybe the first 5 years of her life. That's when she began to become more and more silent; finding it often tended to work more in her favor that way. She read the newest text, her eyes swiftly moving over it. 'I suppose if you'd like to...'

'I'd love to!'
Esme beamed as she cleared the text and began typing another.
'I don't think you should have been silenced, I think everyone has a right to say what they feel and think. It's the right of everyone.'

Keiara sat still a moment, a small frown spread over her lips before she reached into her pocket and pulled out a card that happened to have her address on it. Slowly she reached it out to Esme; handing it to the woman before looking down to her phone. 'No one made me. It was my own decision. I simply find it useless to speak.' That was true. No matter what she said everyone except her parents and Aeron had turned it around to be her fault.

Esme grabbed the card with a smile, tucking it into her sketchbook for safety. She was quick to reply.
'If it's your choice I suppose no one else can change your mind, I have a few of my sketches here would you like to see?'
if Keaira looked close Esme's fingers were covered in a thin black dust, charcoal her favorite medium. She patted the book at her side, smiling at Keaira.

Keaira watched Esme, biting her lip slightly in thought before speaking up quietly while nodding. "Y...Yes..." Her voice was barely a breath of air as it came out, and her face turned bright red once more. She hadn't even said anything as minor in a very long time.

Esme blinked softly before breaking into a huge grin, lifting up the sketchbook and flipping it open. she didn't say much not wanting to push Keaira too far as she handed the book to her. In dark charcoal on the first page showed a large forest scene, sketched in deep and lighting hues in the charcoal. she dusted some of the charcoal off her fingers, smiling at the gritty feel of the material.