beach bunny

Who: Eben & Jules
When: Mid Afternoon
Where: Beach

It was well into the day when Jules finally stirred from her slumber and rolled over to look at the clock by her bedside. She shook her head and inwardly cursed herself for sleeping the morning away. She grabbed her robe and made her way to the porch to survey the weather for the day. It was unusually warm for this time of year and she decided to use that unseasonal weather change to her advantage.

So, dark wavy hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, clad in a white tank top and a pair of short black cargo shorts, red bikini firmly in place underneath, she headed out to the beach. It didn't take her long to arrive, and once she had she took up residence on the shore on the beach towel she'd brought with her. She sat down, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her chin upon them. It was beautiful here, she'd give the little town that much. Quiet. Peaceful.

Eben was walking up the beach, not really doing a lot with his day. He was considering going by to see Anna again, but wasn't sure if that would be considered bothersome or not by now. So, he was merely enjoying the day for a while. He was also watching all the chaotic lines around town. Something was going on. He'd seen very very strange things about. None of them had paid him the slightest bit of attention, so he'd steered clear, but yeah. Weirdness was abounding. He was so wrapped up in the shiny, sparking lines of chaos around him that he almost missed the chick who was laying on her towel, and pulled just short of stepping on her. "Oh...hey, I'm sorry." he apologized immediately, looking down at her and tipping his shades up a bit to look at her properly.

Jules looked up at the boy. Being so enthralled with the waves she hadn't even noticed him until his voice pierced the silence. She smiled at him to let him know that it wasn't a problem. "Don't worry love, It's not the first time someone tried to step on me, among other things." She slid her feet down the towel and leaned back on her palms to get a better look at him. He was young, at least a few years younger than her, probably in high school. "Beach got you preoccupied too?" she questioned.

More the lines of total chaos surrounding us. he thought but didn't say. Instead, he smiled. "Something like that." he said. "I'm a fan of the beach. It's peaceful." he offered. "So what's your name?" he asked. "You have great eyes." he added, since it was just what he did. He found something he liked about people and told them as much.

She blushed a bit at the unexpected compliment. Sure people had told her that she had pretty eyes, quite a few times actually, but not right off the bat... not with the honesty that the boy had conveyed. She smiled after a moment. "Thanks." she said softly. "Yours are pretty awesome too, very... piercingly blue. My name's Jules. What's yours?" She scooted over slightly on the towel, making room for the boy and patting the space beside her should he decide to take the offer. "Sit?"

"Eben." he said, then smiled in a delighted sort of fashion, as she moved over. He sat down, accepting the invitation. "Thanks. Nice to meet you, Jules. You don't sound like you're from around here." he pointed out. Then paused and eyed her again with a smile. "The tan kinda gives you away too. Where are you from?"

She looked at her arms and grinned flashing her strikingly white teeth. "Guess I can't hide my immigration with a tan like this." she laughed. "I'm from Beverly Hills. Just moved here permanently about a month ago. Inherited a house from my grandmother and decided that maybe it was time for a bit of a change. All that fun in the sun can drive a person crazy after a while." She'd lived in California her whole life, aside from the summers and holidays she'd spent with Gran, but Marquette always seemed more interesting than the glamorous lifestyle she'd grown accustomed to back home. You'd never get peacefulness there. The beaches were crowded year round, not like this place.

"Oh wow, Cali. Haven't been through there in a while." Eben said. "Now you can have fun in the snow?" he suggested. "How're you liking living here now?" he asked curiously. Especially with the weirdness that had been going on. Such as the vampire attacks. Hell. He still had a pink scar on his face from the roughing up they'd done to him. Though he'd gotten the stitches on his neck out! Pink scars adorned there too, though. He just didn't seem like he paid any attention to that sort of thing.

"I'm adjusting. I spent the first month getting everything situated. Didn't really venture out much. I know my way around luckily. My grandmother lived here her whole life and I was here every summer and just about every holiday. What about you? How long have you lived in Marquette?" It probably wasn't any of her business about the boy or his life, but Jules never was one to mind her own business anyway.

Eben didn't seem to think her question was prying at all, and he shrugged with a little smile. "Three years or so." he answered her. "Before then, I was sort of all over, traveled a lot with my parents. Then they stopped here so I could get some proper education." And mostly what had happened was he'd settled even more into his artwork. That's what he did at school. He did his artwork.

"Ah, the wonders of a 'proper education'." she said with a slight laugh. "Isn't that what every parent dreams of for their child?" She slid her feet out of her sandals so she could edge them off the towel and feel the sand between her toes. She smiled at the texture of the grains of sand. "Do you miss your nomadic years?" she asked. "I mean moving around all the time and suddenly stopping couldn't have been easy on you."

Thinking about it, Eben shook his head. "Not really...up until then I kind of got really patchy education. Traveled around a lot, got home schooled for a lot of it, or was educated by different sects and the like. My parent's dreams are a little...different than a lot of people's." he said. There wasn't any other way to put it. He laid out on his side, propping his head up on his hand as he pondered her question. "Do I miss them? Sometimes, I suppose. It wasn't hard, though. It was just different than what I had been doing, that's all. Neither one is harder than the other." But then, Eben was stupidly well adjusted sometimes. He didn't take almost anything badly. It wasn't in his nature.

"Sounds like you're more mature than most people around your age. You can't be what 17, 18 maybe?" she questioned. Again, nosy perhaps, but she didn't care. "Seems like you took things a lot better than most would being put in the same situation." She moved her feet out of the sand now, rolling onto her stomach, resting her head upon her crossed arms and tilting her face to look at the boy. His eyes were striking, almost captivating and she couldn't help but stare into them as she spoke to him now. "Eben, right? Interesting name, I like it. Original, not many Eben's walking around I'd say."

"Seventeen." Eben answered. "And I suppose I just don't let things bother me like other people do. If that counts as maturity, then I could fit the description." he said, not really bragging or anything, just assessing what she said thoughtfully. "And thank you. I like it too. I don't know any other Ebens around here. I like it too. Is Jules short for anything?"

She nodded. "Juliana." she offered. "I suppose I shortened it because I got tired of people trying to fake the Hispanic accent. And in turn, also tired of people looking at me and saying 'you don't look very Hispanic'." She couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Apparently being of Hispanic decent means that you have to have dark eyes and hair, I'm usually a blonde back home and as you can see my eyes are far from dark." she smiled, flashing her white teeth.

Eben nodded. "I like it. Juliana." he said it, getting the pronunciation correctly, since she'd just said it to him. "Were people really concerned with the ethnicity issue?" he asked. Sure, some of the places he'd been had been race conscious, he just never understood why. It seemed silly to him. Childish, even. Totally pointless at best. But then again, Eben didn't in any way hold with prejudices in general, or persecution for stupid reasons.

"I don't really know if they much cared what my ethnicity was, I mean California is definitely a melting pot. I guess the real issue was that everyone assumed my father was some rich banker or something, then they'd hear my last name, or even my first name and be surprised that he was actually a Hispanic Lawyer." She shrugged her shoulders a bit. "Ethnicity is such a trivial thing to me. I mean that, sexuality... religion... I don't see why people put so much time and energy into arguing about those topics."

"My theory is ignorance. That, tied in with an inability to think for themselves...weak personal convictions. None of the above I actually back as an excuse, mind." he said thoughtfully, shrugging one shoulder. "I never really played with any of that. I just find it all devoid of any merit or intelligence."

She smiled. "Sounds like you and I will get along just smashingly, love." she told him. He seemed genuinely intelligent, even more so than she would have suspected given his age. She was surprised at how well he worded things. Intelligence was always an attractive feature, and this boy, despite his youth, seemed to have grasped the world quite well.

He smiled at her, a sweet, bright smile. "Well that's good then. I like making new friends." he told her. "So what is it you do, Juliana?" he asked. "And you can interpret that however you'd like." he added. He liked leaving the options open. Career, for leisure time, intense personal passions...whatever she wanted to fill in the blank with, and he was curious to see what she might choose.

"Well... I do lots of things..." she began. "Some things that are too graphic for your young ears." she teased playfully. "I just got hired as a personal assistant for Derek Price, so that's what I do for a living. And when I'm not keeping myself busy with work I like to play piano, and that's what I do for myself." she smiled. "What is it you do, Eben?"

Eben arched an eyebrow. "Too graphic for young ears?" he asked. "Somehow I doubt I'd be shocked." He grew up around cults. Little shocked him. Not that she knew that. "A personal assistant...who's Derek Price, and what's he do that he needs a personal assistant?" he asked. "Excellent for the piano. I write music, though generally I leave it in the music room and someone else edits and finishes it. I don't know enough instruments to fully get things right, but that doesn't stop me from trying." he added. "I'm an artist. Kind of...everything, generally speaking." he mused. "Photography...painting, sculpture, music, you name it, I've probably done something in it."

She smiled, but shrugged at his question about Derek. She really didn't know much about him to be honest. A fact that annoyed her a bit, now that she thought about it. "Derek is a CEO of some big company. I haven't really researched much into the whole thing, I probably should do that now that I think about it." She wasn't about to tell the boy that she'd met the guy in a bar. "I might have to get you to write some collaborate with me on some music." she said with a smile. "I love playing new songs. Actually, I love playing just about anything." she frowned a bit at the fact that she hadn't done much playing since she moved to Marquette. "Artist huh? I'd love to see some of your work sometime." she said sweetly. The boy was too young for her, at least for any physical type relationship, but he was mature and sweet. She couldn't help but think that she may have made a friend for once instead of a lover.

"A big company? Not many of those around here, you might want to check that. Kinda...sounds shady." Eben said honestly, making a little bit of a face. "And sure, I wouldn't mind collaborating sometime. What kind of stuff do you usually play? Mood-wise that is. Got anything specific that you like?" he queried. "As for my work, sure. If you want to see it, I can show you." he offered, perfectly fine with that.

She nodded. "It does sound a bit shady to me, as well. I think I may have to do some investigating on Mr. Price." She shrugged. "I love all kinds of music really. If I can hear it, chances are I've already played it or can play it." She wasn't really bragging, it was purely truth. She'd never had a problem with learning music, it just came naturally to her. "What type of stuff have you been working on lately? What's your favorite type of media to work with?"

"Lately I've been doing photography." Eben said. "A friend of mine, Anastasia, she's this beautiful redhead with two different colored eyes. So she's been a great subject, humoring me and letting me take her picture a lot. But yeah, lately it's been that. I was starting to do a few more pastel drawings the other day, but..." he frowned slightly. "I think it's just not working for me right now. My pastels seemed to crumble all the time and nothing I was drawing worked out so I gave it up for now and picked the camera back up. I enjoy photography though. I like developing my own film and prints."

She smiled. "Two different colored eyes? I bet she is beautiful." she told him. "Photography is amazing isn't it?" she asked, rolling over over onto her back and leaning forward, tugging the tank-top off. She might as well make the use of the time in the sun before it disappeared entirely for the winter. She wadded the shirt up and propped her head against it as she laid back down. "I mean really, you can just capture this moment in time forever. People years from now can see for a moment how life was before they were around."

Eben stayed propped where he was, looking down at her a bit. "I like to think of it as one tiny piece of someone. So they shouldn't get to see what life was, they'd just get to see this sliver of a person. One tiny shard, there just for them, if they care to look. A fraction of a second of someone's life, and everything that went with it. Emotion, depth, lights, shadows...everything."

Perceptive. Deep. In touch with his creative and artistic side. Eben was definitely not the type of boy that Jules was used to. It was a welcome change however and she couldn't help but let the smile playing on her lips take hold of her and light up her face, her eyes crinkling slightly. "Sounds lovely when you say it that way." she told him. She tilted her head up at him again, once more captivated by his eyes. "Has anyone ever photographed you? I mean I'm sure you've taken pictures and such, but has anyone really taken the time to capture everything that is Eben?"

He smiled at her first statement. "It's just how I tend to look at my portraits." he admitted. Then he shrugged a little. "Not really." he answered her. "I'm generally the one behind the camera." He was too busy looking at everyone else that he didn't generally think to do any self portraits, and people found him weird enough that no one had ever asked him to take his picture before. And another reason. "People like attention. So if I'm going to be asking them to take their picture, I don't think it would occur to reciprocate."

"Well, we'll just have to change that then won't we. I want to take your picture." she said with a flash of a smile. "I'm not exactly a photographer, but like the majority of the world, I know my way around a camera." She studied his face, her eyes tracing over his features. He was boyish, but those eyes, they seemed as though they'd seen things much beyond his years. "I can't let those gorgeous eyes escape the lens any longer." she told him.

Eben blushed a faint bit. "No?" he asked. "Well, if you're insisting, I can't say no. People are kind enough to play muse for me, if you want me to for you, I will." he promised. Karma, really. What went around... "What kind of camera do you have? Or would you like to borrow mine? Black and white? Color? Location? Day?" he rattled off the questions, wanting to accommodate her however she wanted. It also never occurred to him that it might be strange. He'd met Anastasia and gone home to her house to take her photograph. What was different about this?

"I have an old camera at my house. Not sure how decent it is, I don't take many pictures with it." she smiled. "I was thinking color, mostly because your eyes are this almost... unnatural shade of blue..." she said, her hand having a mind of their own for that moment as she brushed her fingertips across his cheek, her thumb rubbing lightly at the skin there. It took a moment for her to pull her hand away and when she did, she went on with answering his questions. "As for location, something outside... the woods maybe... or here. And whenever you're free I'm sure I can find a way to accommodate you."

Not at all seeming to mind the contact--Eben liked being petted, really--he smiled. "I'm free now." he said. "And color. Sounds good. Thank you, though. For the compliment." It was nice to hear them back. "So, the question would be where. It's your picture...you get to do whatever you want with it." he informed her.

"Well... if you don't mind riding around in cars with strangers, we can run back to my house and grab my camera and come back here." she offered. "I think a picture with you in front of the water would be striking." she said, sitting up.

Eben turned his head to keep her in his gaze, then nodded. "Sounds good to me." he said. "And I don't mind. You're not going to drive me out to the middle of the woods to try and kill me, are you?" he asked innocently, completely deadpan.

She chuckled. "I'm far to tiny to be able try to overpower someone enough for me to be able to kill them. I'm sure you could just toss me across the beach if you really felt like it." She stood and grabbed her tank top, shaking out the wrinkles before sliding it back over her head. She held out a hand to help him up.

He grinned at her and took her hand, letting her help him up. "Thanks." he told her. He looked down at her, assessing their height difference. She was a tiny thing, apparently. "I think you could take me." he told her. "I'm not a fighter." He was an artist. In fact, the only actual, real, honest to god violence he'd ever been a part of was the street fight that had ended up with him having more stitches than he could accurately remember, and gave him that pinkish scar around his eye.

She smiled. "Probably." she teased. "I could jump on your back and tickle you into submission." Reaching down she grabbed the towel, shaking out the sand and turned in the direction of her car, taking a few steps before looking over her shoulder at the boy. "Cars this way." she told him, tilting her head in the direction she was going as she draped the towel over her arm. She held out a hand towards him. "Come on. Lets get that camera so you can model for me." she grinned.

"You could do that." Eben agreed jovially. Then he saw her hold out her hand, so he walked up to take it, letting her lead him that way. "We coming back to this beach? Or do you have a different shoreline in mind?" he asked. It was Marquette, the place was lined with ridiculous amounts of water. It was everywhere. Beaches in town, beaches out in the woods...all the same lake.

She shrugged slightly as she lead him towards her Camry. "Not sure yet, maybe we'll walk around until the right spot strikes my fancy." she said with a smile, squeezing his hand gently. The car wasn't parked far from the spot where they'd sat so it didn't take long for them to reach it. She let go of his hand and unlocked the doors, pulling the driver's side door open and tossing the towel in the backseat.

Eben walked around to get into the passenger's side, then got in. "That sounds good." he agreed. yep. Eben was easy. He wasn't at all fussy over anything, and was looking at this like a happy little adventure to be going on. He looked around out the window, watching all the chaotic lines branching out from them now.

She pulled her keys and cell from her pockets. Climbing in, she put the phone in the cup holder between them and the keys in the ignition. Once the car was cranked and their buckles were firmly in place, she made her way back to her house. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to get in the car with strangers?" she questioned teasingly. "Not that I'm going to hurt your or anything, you just seem to be pretty trusting. Not a lot of people are anymore with all the craziness in the world nowadays." Working with her father and listening to all the cases he'd handled she'd seen many people killed at the hands of a psychotic stranger bent on nothing but harming someone they didn't know for no reason in particular.

"My mother met my dad by getting into a car with strangers..." Eben said, smirking. "So no, not really." His parent's philosophy went something like 'strangers are just friends you haven't met yet' or something along those lines. "I guess I'm trusting. I don't see why I should be paranoid until given reason to. You haven't done anything strange. Why should I treat you like you're going to, when you might not? Seems kind of silly to me."

She smiled. "Very true. Well, I can't promise you I won't do anything strange, I am kind of a quirky girl." she told him. "But what I can promise is not to kill you or harm you..." she smirked. "Or molest you, unless of course you ask me really nicely." she teased, flicking her glance over to the boy for a moment before turning her attention back to the road.

"That would depend on your definition of strange." Eben said. "I'm told mine kind of exceeds normal standards." he added with a little grin. "Not killing or harming me is good though. I hadn't planned on dying or anything, that would probably suck. Molestation...I suppose it depends on your definition of that too." he said. "But hey, with your not harming me clause I suppose that means you won't be carving my eyes out to keep in a jar somewhere, so that's cool."

She let out a short laugh. "You're really something love." she told him. "As pretty as your eyes are, I don't think I'd like them in a jar on my shelf, much better behind all that dark hair you have." she said. "And you know you'd enjoy being molested by me no matter what my definition. An older woman? You could brag for years with that." she teased.