She's Watching the Sky

The house quickly filled with the scents of supper. Kekoa was making teriyaki chicken with pineapple. She smiled happily from her seat at the dining room table. She could hear the sizzle of the chicken grilling in the pan and the subtle, hollow sound of the gas flame beneath it. The sweet tang of the pineapple reached her nose, while she sat at the table, cutting the native fruit on the cutting board. To most people, a blind woman wielding a knife was not the most secure of images, but Kekoa knew better than to think that his sister was anything but capable. She sliced the pineapple in perfectly even strips, then dicing them again into smaller cubes. She scooped them all into a bowl with her hands and proceeded to wipe her sticky fingers on a damp towel she'd grabbed before she'd begun.

Nights in the siblings' house was quiet. One would think that without the ability to see, ones life would revolve around sound. That was a true statement, but Noel hardly saw the need for a lot of talk. She was much quieter now in her older age. She was a lively and loud mouthed adolescent, even more so after the accident. She found the need to whine and argue. She felt that she had to make herself known because otherwise, no one would go near her. She was wrong of course, which she eventually figured out when she was in her senior year of high school. She figured out that her need to be noticed was just the fact that she was lacking the attention she previously had, being an up and coming surfer, especially the daughter of a legend. She grew out of her need to be in the limelight and slowly crept inside herself. Her brother was the only person who had the ability to read her moods, know her thoughts. People often mistook them as best friends, or a couple. They both laughed it off and moved on.

The siblings didn't look too much a like. Early on, their skin had been the same mocha color as their mother's. As the years wore on, Noelani stayed inside more and more, her skin slowly losing its sun kissed glow. She still ventured into the sun and heat of it made her smile, but there was a certain lack luster feeling when she turned her eyes upwards, knowing that the sun was gracing her features, but the lack of light, the lack of visible confirmation, always forced her to retreat again inside the house.

Noelani's blonde locks were opposite of her brother's. He'd been born with their mother's midnight hair, making the two siblings look even more strange beside each other. Their eyes, however, both held the bright and crisp luminescence of both their parents. Noelani was lucky to receive her mother's sky blue eyes, dark around the rims, but crystal clear in the center. Kekoa's eyes had the same properties, but were a crisp iceberg lettuce green, hardly holding much color at all aside from the green curve around his irises.

"Someone's here." Noelani announced without warning. Kekoa turned to face her and then craned his neck to see out the front window. Sure enough, an old Volks Wagen van in a faded blue, blotched with the coppery rust of a car that had been sitting seaside for too long, was pulling up in front of their home.

The house was a small two bedroom home. The whole thing was tucked away in a small neighborhood with no property lines, just jungle and rainforest around the small homes. The streets were paved, but the driveways weren't, instead they were dirt. Kekoa had shoved unmatchable amounts of gravel on the driveway to give a more civilized look to the house. Noelani loved the sound of the gravel under her feet, particularly when she walked slowly alone. The rocks cracked and ground against each other underneath the pressure of her footsteps creating a distinct creek and erosive sound.

Noelani heard her brother click the nob on the stove, turning down the heat underneath the pan and wiped his hands on a towel. She could hear him pull the hand towel from where it was slung over the handle of the oven below, and in typical Kekoa fashion, she heard him flop it onto the counter. She shook her head and stood from her place. She figured she should be kind enough to stand up and greet the new friend as he entered.

The knock that came from the other side of the door was light and hardly confident. Noelani smirked to herself. She loved how she'd learned to tell even the most minute personality flaws merely by the sounds a person made, whether it be a knock on the door, the way their feet hit the floor or even how they cleared their throat in a tense situation.

Kekoa opened the door and in the way he spoke, Noelani could hear his smile. "Hey, come on in!" Kekoa shuffled out of the way and then shut the door.

The guest took three unsure and light steps into the house. His shoes were severely loved and overused sneakers. Noelani could tell by the sound the rubber made against the bamboo flooring. They didn't squeak when each foot lifted from its contact, but rather made a smooth and hardly noticeable sound of fabric rubbing against fabric, letting her know that a majority of the grip had been worn from the soles. She knew the shoes were canvas since they didn't make that awful reek sound that leather shoes made.

"Riley, this is my sister Noelani. Noelani, this is Riley." Kekoa in his usual fashion took his sisters hand and extended it in Riley's direction. Riley nervously extended his hand and took hers, giving a soft and sheepish shake before releasing it.

"Call me Noel." She smiled in his direction, her eyes not meeting his. She kept her eyes in one direction, just below her own eye level. She couldn't be sure how tall he was, but she was sure he was a fairly lanky figure. There was a sense that one didn't notice until another was missing... it was merely that; a sense. She couldn't explain it to anyone beyond intuition, but it was what allowed her to know even the simplest of things, like that this man, Riley, was nervous. It was thick in the air. He clearly wasn't used to being invited over to native's homes often, but she then remembered that he had just moved there. He wasn't used to the hospitality that the Hawaiians could bestow on guests.

"Sure." He said finally. His voice was thick and deep, nothing like the presence he was giving off. It was dark and ominous, but strangely alluring. Noel found herself wanting to lean closer to him as he said that one word.

"Dinner is almost ready." Kekoa announced and took a series of heavy steps back towards the kitchen.

Kekoa turned the heat up underneath the chicken and they sizzled inside the pan. The scents that were filling the house made Noelani's stomach quietly rumble and she turned away from the guest, pulling herself from that strange alluring voice and settling herself down in the kitchen again. She had lied out all the makings of a salad and decided that it would be worth it now to finally prepare it.

"Nice place here." The stranger's voice was right behind where Noel was sitting and it forced her to jump. She usually was so aware of everyone and their placement in the house, no matter how lightly they stepped, but Riley had quite literally snuck up on her.

"Sorry." He uttered in that leather like voice. Noel couldn't do anything but imagine the sound of stacked leather heals as they came into contact with hard wood floors. The sound, if one has never heard it, is rich, supple and seductive. The sound of leather and wood could only be really described as what chocolate would sound like.

"Oh, its ok." Noel stumbled over her words quickly and returned to her preparing of the salad.

A shrill ring broke the silence and again, Noel nearly jumped.

"Excuse me." that leathery voice announced and with a few silent steps, the front door opened and shut.

"What do you think?" Kekoa asked. He was clanging a few pots in the sink. He'd just cleared the chicken onto a platter and was now creating the perfect presentation... something Noel didn't care much for, but Kekoa was all about aesthetics.

"He's nervous." She said, eyes still turned down the table as she now tossed the salad together.

"Of course he is." Kekoa laughed.

"What's he look like?" Noelani stopped her fussing with the salad and brought her face towards her brother's. She could feel the smile in the air and Kekoa crossed the short distance from the kitchen to the dining table.

Descriptions were extremely important between the siblings. No detail was ever left out. Kekoa was extremely visually stimulated and so he noticed things that most others wouldn't. Of course, to some, his over-observant and photographic memory was of little use, but for Noelani, it was a staple of life.

A chair scrapped the floor beside her and Kekoa plopped down onto it. Kekoa enjoyed this kind of question from his sister because it was in those moments that they were extremely close. They could clearly understand each other and that was the only way they would have it.

"He's taller than I am, about six foot one, maybe a little shorter. He's caucasian, fair skin, but its obviously been out in the sun a bit in the few weeks he's been hear. Earlier today I could see that his shoulders were pealing. I'm assuming the majority of his burn was taken care of though. He's thin, but muscular... I guess he's best described as lean. He's less than a surfer, not as bulky, but he's still got some definition to him. He'd make for a great subject of a photo. Anyway..." Kekoa waved a hand in the air that blew a subtle breeze across Noel's face before he continued, "He's got dark and narrow eyes. They aren't quite a dark chocolate, but not an amber or honey either. He's probably got the coloring of dark wood. Yeah, his eyes are more of a dark wood color. Really rich brown, not ashy. His hair is like a cherry wood. It's mostly brown, but there's hints of cherry in there. It hits half way down his neck. Its wavy too. He looks straight out of the seventies with his hair. Its kind of funny." Kekoa laughed and cleared his throat. "He's got really really angular features. His eyes are kind of hidden behind his hair, but they are narrow. His nose is average size, nothing super distinct about it. His face is a little longer, sort of rectangular. He has a really defined jaw line, a lot like dad."

The front door opened again and the stranger's shoes shuffled across the floor towards the dining room. Noel's eyes were down, almost as if she was focussing on the table, but she was really trying to create a clear picture of the man in her mind. Her brother had described him easily and many would think that he was gay for noticing so much about another guy, but it was Koa's job to notice the details about another person. His whole line of work revolved around it.

"Sorry, business call." Riley's deep voice broke the silence. Noelani could finally see the full picture, well, as much as a blind woman could, when he spoke. His voice didn't strike her as a 'lean' kind of person, but she could see how it might fit anyway.

"Riley is an artist." Kekoa announced. He was trying to help out his sister a little. She was being distant and Kekoa knew her to be intimidating.

Noelani didn't know if Kekoa had warned him about his blind sister. That was the kind of thing people didn't do well with when it was just sprung on them. She chuckled lightly and then turned herself in her chair, hopefully facing Riley.

"What kind of artist?" Her small voice sounded light and airy against the room that was dominated by the men.

"Painter." Riley answered quickly and she could hear him shuffle in his spot. He clearly didn't know what to do with himself and she could feel that he wasn't looking at her. Kekoa was back at the counter and now bringing the plates to the table.

"Looks good." Riley uttered, changing the subject and stepping around where Noel was sitting. She could hear a chair beside her pull out from its usual place at the table and then the new friend sat himself lightly in it.

Riley moved nothing like her brother did. She was used the thudding and the heavy movements, the ones that kept her in with what was happening around her. Riley was extremely light on his feet and in every movement he made. She found herself leaning towards him more and more as he moved, trying to understand his movements.

"Thanks. Dig in." Kekoa offered. The clink of silverware on plates started to fill the air. Kekoa filled his sister's plate heartily, even though she was perfectly capable herself. The dinner proceeded on, starting off slow, but eventually the shroud of nervousness cleared and the three found themselves leaning back in their chairs, full and smiling.