HEY read this it's a little important. I'm losing traction as far as writing for this fandom goes but before that started happening I'd had a lot of things sketched out and half written and that so I figured I may as well post it because maybe someone would enjoy reading it one day. So I'll start posting some of that stuff up instead of deleting it. From this chapter forward, nothing is really polished or finished, it's a bit rough. If even one person gets some enjoyment out of it though then that's cool :) It's all going to be in the order I originally intended so you can maybe glimpse the growth (and eventual collapse) of the relationship between cammy and vega. line breaks were meant to be the ends of 'chapters'.

"My friend Lita says the leaves are going to change soon."

"Yes."

God so then does everyone know what that means but me? My fingernails are making circles in the table because now I'm embarrassed. But I have to ask because it's probably more embarrassing to not know, "What are they going to change into?"

He looks back over at me because he was watching everyone go by on the sidewalk. He's always watching everything like that, like he's expecting someone to come round only no one ever does. I'm the opposite and I get distracted by the tiniest thing and pay attention to it forever. Like a bug crawling on the ground or a piece of dust drifting in the air. "What do you mean?" At least he doesn't ask it like he thinks I'm stupid. That's a relief. I hate feeling stupid because I don't know things like this.

"Well, just, what's it mean that they're going to change?"

"They'll change color before they fall off."

"Oh. Why?"

"Something to do with the chemicals in them." He squints a little, like maybe he's thinking. "I can't remember exactly."

"Oh." Well that makes me feel even stranger because I don't remember it ever even happening, let alone what makes it happen. "So they change every year? Or what?"

"Every year. That's part of autumn."

"Well if they all fall off, how do they get back in the trees?" I'm struggling to picture the leaves getting up off the ground and climbing back into the branches. And what if the wind blows them away from their own tree, or someone steps on them?

"They grow new leaves."

"Oh!" It's so obvious that way. Like how you might lose a hair and a new one comes back. Now I realize what a dumb question that was. "You must think I'm such an idiot," I say just to maybe make it clear I know now that it was sort of foolish to think the leaves got back up in the trees.

But he's very serious when he says, "Don't ever say that. It's not good for you."

"How?" I don't know how a word or sentence could be bad for you. Unless it's something like someone saying they're going to kill you maybe because then there's some obvious immediate danger there. But just admitting you're a bit on the slow side seems harmless.

"Because then you've already written yourself off. If you think of yourself as 'an idiot' or whatever else, you've set yourself up for that. You'll see things and think 'I'm too foolish for that' and never give yourself the chance to improve." I guess I didn't think of that. Mostly because I don't think I'm going to be stuck this way forever. Just that for now, I have a lot to learn and I don't think there's a harm in admitting that. "And you aren't an idiot anyway. So don't ever say it."

I stare at him like he's the idiot now. "You do realize I just asked if the leaves get back up in the trees on their own?"

"So what? It means you are honest, not stupid. You didn't have a knowledge of something, and you asked a question to learn more about it. Don't ever let anyone make you feel stupid for that."

I guess he's noticed I've gotten sidetracked and I'm not paying much attention because I suddenly notice he's not talking anymore. I don't know how long he's been quiet. I just know how long this cat has been laying on the ground by the garbage bins down the alley. I make myself turn away from it and he's giving me a look that I can't quite decipher. "You have an obsession," he whispers.

I sigh noisily and let my head fall to the table and cover it up with my arms. "No I don't!" I sit back up and look over at the cat again. It's gone now.

"There are worse things to be obsessed by, I suppose. The ancient Egyptians thought of them as sacred." Ancient Egyptians. I saw about them on a documentary once. They built pyramids to talk to aliens.

"Well then, you understand there's a precedent for me."

He smiles a little but he's looking at people going by and not me. It's okay though, I think it can be unsettling after awhile to have someone's eyes on you for a long time. "You know you can roughly tell the time by a cat's pupils," he says.

"You aren't joking are you?" I ask because really I never know with him. He says things that aren't true to get me to challenge him about whether it's true or not instead of just accepting it. He says its a valuable skill, to be able to call someone on their bullshit. Obviously he used much prettier words, but I'm not good at pretty words.

But he shakes his head. "Their eyes are very sensitive to light. As the sun gets higher in the sky, their pupils become narrower. As it descends, they become wider. Ninjas would use this as a way to approximate the time before watches were around."

"Ninjas aren't real," I say. I'm fairly certain about this. After all, I've only seen them in Ginzu's martial arts movies, never in documentaries. He's just teasing me again.

"Why not?" he asks and again he seems amused. Probably because he knows I'm going to be uncertain now about it.

"They're made up, you never hear about ninjas except in movies and that. Never hear about a ninja knocking about at the store or going to the post office or whatever."

"They're meant to be stealthy, secretive, and able to blend in to any environment. Maybe there are ninjas all around you and you don't even know it."

I squint because I'm still not sure I believe him. So I decide to be just as ridiculous as him and I say, "Maybe I'm a ninja and I don't even know it."

"No," he says simply as if he's always known that. "Ninjas know how to be quiet."

"Oi I bet they know how to not be an ass as well!" I throw my empty cup at him and he catches it but he's smiling.