"No!"<br/><br/>Sen nearly jumped at the single word spoken so suddenly! After the unusual silence aboard the train and his initial silence while he blinked rapidly several times in succession (had something irritated his eyes?) the abrupt response, whilst being no louder than the average speaking voice, sounded almost as loud as a shout. Sen tipped her head slightly, almost on the verge for apologising for being a nuisance, when he spoke again, elaborating on the single, monosyllabic response of before.<br/><br/>"I mean... no... not as in 'You can't have this seat' but as in..." he looked around the train "this seat isn't taken..." he looked back and smiled. The smile, coupled with his scratching the back of his head, made the response seem both reassuring and even a little charming. Sen gave a brief, small smile of gratitude as the squirrel spoke again.<br/><br/>"... I mean, it's not like anyone else is on this train, right?"<br/><br/>These words caused Sen to remember her reason for seeking out company in the first place, when ordinarily she would never do so. She swept her head around slowly, swivelling her ears in the process. "Not from what I've gathered.. so far," she replied, deciding that would be a safe enough response. It was also true, she'd been unable to discern any trace of life beyond themselves aboard the train so far... but that might only mean she hadn't picked up all the signals yet. And Sen could pick up more signals than most. Before she could dwell too much on that though, the squirrel in front of her spoke again.<br/><br/>"To answer your other question, yes, this is the 16:30 off peak," he informed her, before adding with a noncholant laugh, "guess the train's not for everyone!"<br/><br/>Sen gave another small smile of her own at that murmuring in a largely- but not completely- reassured voice, "or indeed not for anyone!" In the momentary silence that fell again after that Sen again pondered the odds of a train being empty of all but two people close to rush hour on a weekday. Mercifully, her musing was interrupted by the squirrel in front of her, speaking again as something caught his attention.<br/><br/>"Isn't it getting a bit too dark to be wearing sunglasses?" He asked.<br/><br/>Had she been more sure of herself and more sure of his disposition, Sen might have ventured a joke about her eyewear when compared with his. However, this question- or variations of it- had been asked of her often enough that she had a ready answer.<br/><br/>"It might be if I wore them to protect my eyes from the sun", she answered. Then, seeing his face crinkle in mild perplexity added, "um, sorry that's a little oblique. Let me show you!" So saying, Sen reached into her pocket and brought out something that almost looked like the hilt of a sword, minus any blade and complete with a wrist strap. Slipping the strap around her wrist with a twirl and a flourish, Sen held out the apparent hilt and released a catch on it, causing several inches of retractable white plastic to shoot forwards and revealing that her weapon of choice was... a retractable white cane to go with her dark glasses.<br/><br/>Tapping the length of light plastic against the seat, Sen spoke again. "I've been totally blind since I was born," she explained softly but matter-of-factly, "So I've gotten used to wearing the dark glasses all the time, even when I'm not using this. I don't need it for getting round the interior of a train, especially when it's so empty!" So saying, Sen eased past her fellow passenger, gracefully settling herself into the vacant seat. As she collapsed the cane again and returned it to her pocket, she reflected on what she had told him.<br/><br/>There was no lie to her statement, but she'd omitted a significant truth. She had been totally blind from birth- and as far as she knew, her eyes still didn't function. Just ten years ago however, at the tender age of eight, there had been a...change. What accounted for it, Sen couldn't say, since she had no idea, but it had marked a complete change in her life. At eight, she had woken up one morning to find herself seeing. Not simply seeing in front of her, but behind her, either side of her, above her, beneath her... all around in fact, in a perfect, continuous sphere of 20/20 vision. The change, whilst being alarming and unnerving at first, had been welcomed by her parents- and by Sen herself- with pure joy. She'd finally been able to see their faces, see the world around her and gain greater freedom and independence than she'd enjoyed previously. Her unexpected gift was not without its own strangenesses though, as Sen had rapidly discovered.<br/><br/>Daylight and darkness made no difference to her sight because, as Sen had come to realise, she saw not merely what light revealed, but saw present realities- or put simply, she saw what was really there. That might have been fine if only the natural reality was there. However, as Sen had rapidly discovered, the supernatural was a present reality too; and she saw it no less clearly or unerringly than she saw natural realities. No matter if was a person's aura, a sprit of the deceased, or other kinds of spirits.. or even spells... Sen saw it all. And in a town as steeped in history as the place she called home, Sen had swiftly learned that there were certain places it wasn't wise to go if you could see the supernatural. She'd had to hone her instincts fast.<br/><br/>Settling comfortably- or as comfortably as she could- into the seat next to her fellow passenger, Sen ventured a question of her own. "Where are you travelling from, if you don't mind my asking?" she enquired. Then added, with a small, wry smile, "I don't think I've<span style="font-style: italic">seen </span>you on the train before now!"