beach dweller

who: eben and anna
where: McCarty's Cove beach
when: early afternoon

Eben walked along the sandy beach, occasionally taking time to attempt to skip rocks, not that that worked out for him. He didn't mind. The water wasn't still enough to really be doing that. He liked more watching the lines of chaos spark out from the stone when he threw it. He liked tipping them in different directions to see if he could get the rock to skip once, before it disappeared beneath the surface.

His mind was a little stormy, though only in the sense that there was a lot going on at the edges, in an eddy type of manner, and the main part of his mind was purely calm, in the eye of the storm. His mood was serene, not swaying hard in any direction.

Avoiding her home had turned into something Anna had become rather accustomed to, especially after she shattered her mirror this morning. The last few days and nights she'd spent her time wandering around, not seeming to be looking for something or someone, but just escaping from whatever... it was.

The strange thing in her mirror.

The beach seemed like a nice place to go, especially since after all the wandering without sleep or weaving the night before made her rather tired, forgetful, and rather-... well.... lost. Yes, she understood that she was completely and utterly lost, and having wandered so far from her new home frightened her. Yet it gave her solace. Because it meant she was away from her mirror, as well as the demon that seemed to be living inside it, behind her reflection. She feared even if she were to weave, or slip into the dream world any more, she'd see that dark demon again. So to be out was much better...

Timid little eyes gazed up to see Eben, smiling as she watched him for a little bit by the shore. He looked so calm and collected, at ease in this area. The beach was a wonderful place to relax...

Playing by the ocean. I like that idea. It be such a wonderful dream. Watching the waves rock and pass up the shore, so beautiful is nature...

"Good afternoon," she chimed with a smile, trying to be courteous to the male by the water as she passed. Anna hoped that by holding this bright little happiness inside, she'd beat down the fear that has surrounded her tired mind.

Eben looked over, and smiled serenely back. "Hello." he greeted pleasantly. Then he paused as he looked at her for a moment as his eyes widened just a touch. "Wow...you're beautiful." he noted. "You have the most amazing eyes..." Different colors and everything, that was gorgeous. Her hair was nice too, looked like a natural red as opposed to a dye job. All in all, she was very highly visually pleasing. And Eben...well, he just did that. He complimented people. His tone was honest, and he didn't really seem like he was trying to hit on her or anything, just that that was the first thing he noticed about her, and apparently didn't have any idea that it might not be appropriate to say in the first thirty seconds of meeting someone.

Blatant honesty was a bit surprising, but it was also well taken by the dream weaver. She couldn't help but stroke her fingers through her hair a bit, a small nervous tick, and avoid his eyes as her own cheeks filled with red. She did not expect the wonderful comment, but liked it never the less.

"Thank you..." she whispered, letting them come back up as she tried to recover. It didn't seem that she was set off by his comment. More or less that she's never been akin to receiving nice ones. "Most people find my eyes rather strange-... It's nice that someone enjoys them..."

That was when she noticed the piercing on his bottom lip. Almost like a curious child she stepped just one closer, peering at it with a strange look. The smile returned only moments later as she giggled about it. "I've never seen a piercing like that before," she said with all honesty as well, "It look like it hurt."

Anna's eyes caught his once more, and she was about to say how beautiful his were too. Such a nice blue- but her breath caught as she came to a hard realization of something. Her reflection. It's there. In his eyes. With the thing. Holding her hand to her heart which quickly took a hard beat she glanced away, then trying to recover from the small bit of panic and returned to a smile. "You have very nice eyes yourself... you seem like you hide them though with your hair. Why?"

"You're welcome, just stating the truth, though. You're just stunning. I'd love to take your picture sometime, if you'd let me..." he started, then she got closer to look at his piercings. "Oh, really? You haven't? I did them myself when I was fifteen...light and dark, representing human nature." he explained. He didn't seem to mind at all the proximity thing, and her giggle made him smile. He liked seeing the curious thing, it was interesting to see on a woman who had to be a good...well, he couldn't properly gauge, but a lot older than he was.

"It hurt, but it was worth it...." He paused as she sort of behaved strangely, and his head cocked to the side for a moment as he regarded her. "Are you alright?" he asked. "And thank you. I guess I just like my hair like this. Didn't know I should be showing off my eyes. Though they're still nothing compared to yours."

The more he flattered her the more her cheeks seemed to fill with redness, which was rather blunt on her somewhat pale skin. "I'm not... really good in front of the camera. But I'd be-... well.... flattered if you wanted to," she stated with a gentle giggle as she looked to him. The more and more she wandered about this place, the more she felt open to talk to people. Like this really nice boy. He was adorable really. Like someone you'd want to coddle and just take home with you.

"That does sound so painful though. Having one right... there. But you made it somewhat like a-" she tried to think of the word, putting a finger to her lips. "A Yin... Yang? Like the Asian symbol of light and dark balance?" It was nice to have conversation. It wasn't when it was broken by the shadow in his eyes. Water, mirrors, even eyes seem to hold it.

Like she was being watched...

"I'm alright... yes its just-" she put a finger to her hair and brushed them through a couple times. Explaining it sounded almost crazy, so she put her fears under a cover for now and formed a lie. It was a bad lie, but it kept the gist of it under wraps. "Ever get that feeling you're being watched? For some reason I've had this odd little-... feeling for a few days. It's nothing though. Just something one needs to get over..." The laughter returned.

"You do have beautiful eyes though. Your hair almost seems to want to hide them, as if they were jealous," she laughed, soon returning to herself.

He liked the blush. It looked really good on her. At first he'd been thinking some black and white shots, now he was definitely thinking color. "Well, if you'd let me, I'd love to. Any time, honest." he added. Then he smiled. "It's two, actually. And yeah, kinda like that. Representations of universal themes, that kind of thing." he agreed amicably.

"Watched?" He paused, actually giving that thought. "Not sure? I suppose sometimes, but not really a lot or anything. Are you feeling watched? Because that's not good. I mean, this town is a little weird and everything, so you never know what might be happening, and so...what kind of watched? And...my hair's jealous?" he asked, grinning at her, and he reached up to tug his fingers through his hair to get it out of his eyes. It highlighted the pinkish ring around his eye, where he'd violently introduced his face to the street during the vamp attacks, but he kinda sorta forgot about that most of the time.

Never before had she been felt that people payed much attention to her. Of course, she had liked to stay alone, work on her weaving, stay between the realm of living and dream. And now it was quite interesting to be interacting with such a young boy, who had to have been at least 10 years younger than her, and be excited about her picture being taken, while committing another family sin. "I'd love to have my picture taken..." she whispered, trying to fan down her excitement. "I haven't... had a picture taken in quite a while. It be very nice..."

Her eyes turned curious once again over the piercing. She peered a bit closer, seeing it. Ah. It was two! Not just one that connected to each other like the thought. "I thought it went right through, like one of those bar like ones that people will put through their tongues?" she stated, actually finding herself biting down on her tongue at the thought. Ohhh those sounded painful. "I like that idea, having that... instead of some people who just wear it to look shinny and grab attention," she stated with a laugh.

"Yea like being watched..." she nodded, "I'm not sure of what it is either. Sort of like... feeling someone is behind you, seeing you, but you know and can feel that no one is there..." She shook her head though. "It's nothing. I'm still a little new to this town, so I think it just might be that..."

She laughed as she watched him tug at his hair, nodding. "Yes. You have such beautiful eyes that your onyx locks try to cover-" That is when she noticed the bite around her face. Her eyes gave a worried sort of blink and without even warning she reached out to stroke the wound. Something akin to a motherly intuition took over her and she moved to stroke the wound on his face.

"What happened here...?"

"Really? Sweet! When do you want to do that? I'd love to, as soon as possible, I mean, today might work well with the weather..." he added, glancing towards the sky then back to her. He was an artist at heart, of course, and she as in fact, absolutely beautiful. "And yeah, I just...liked the concept, really. So I did it." He was impulsive like that at times.

He made a point to look behind her over her shoulder. "...there's nobody here but us..." he told her, trying to be reassuring. When she reached out to touch him, he didn't really seem to mind the contact, or think it was strange at all. He liked contact, it was nice. Tilting his face a bit more so she could see it better, he watched her exquisitely mismatched eyes. "There was er. People" vampires "through town earlier this month, and I kinda sorta got wrapped up in a big brawl they were having. I got pushed over and didn't get to catch myself." he said. Then paused and reached up to tug the neck of his shirt aside to reveal more of the stitches he had that went from the side of his neck down his shoulder and back. "I got these, too. Really, I should probably have someone cut them out by now." he added. They looked good enough to him. It hadn't been the full two weeks he'd been told by the hospital, but it was long enough, he thought. Besides, they itched.

Randomly, off in the trees parallel to the beach, a branch gave way and dropped, sending a flock of seagulls to flight from up the beach, and they soared in their direction. Eben grinned, looking up to watch the birds flying overhead.

"I have time today, I don't mind doing it at all today if it would be best for you..." She glanced up to the sky with him, and wondered what he was looking at. Photography was not an art she was very well knowing. Sure pastels and acrylics were her favorite type, as well as glamour of course, but photography was very far out of her realm of knowing. "And it looks good too. With those... bright blue eyes and such dark hair. Like you yourself has a bit of a battle of light and dark on the outside." She'd never assume inside though. By the way she watched him smile and glow like that, she would guess he was just full of light. Everyone had those streaks of darkness, even her, but mostly light.

Her eyes glanced over her shoulders again and scanned the area. She knew it wasn't behind her anymore, it only showed up in reflections, like his eyes. And as long as she didn't force her focus on her own face in the reflection, she didn't see it. Maybe if she continued to think if I can't see it, it's not real, she'd slowly feel safe again. "Thanks..." she whispered, liking the reassurance. Her concern for his neck though seemed very strong, since injuries like this she's never met with. Coming from such a sheltered world, the female had seen very little of battle, of pain, even of death. The most she'd actually seen was in the dreams she's made, and the dreams of others.

"It's good that you've had these looked at..." she stated, looking at all of the stitches. Without realizing it she slipped her finger down each one and looked at how tightly they held to the skin. "I wouldn't have them removed yet. Sometimes what looks good on the surface, hasn't been fully healed completely beneath it. You could get these out and reopen the wound, and have to wait further for them to heal with more of them..." Her hand pulled away as she smiled in reassurance to him as well. "I did that against my Grandmothers will when I was little- tripped on a rock and cut myself rather bad. They were so annoying and I thought I was ok, and then I opened the wound again and listen to her lectures for three weeks."

The branch, however, had caught her off guard, and in her already state of somewhat paranoia she turned to look to the noise with wide eyes. When nothing came but the birds who went over the lake, she let out a breath of relaxation and calmed herself. "Well.... that scared me," she laughed.

"I like the way you think." he decided, when she was going on about light and dark. "And you're welcome, if you want me to keep reminding you, I can." he added. It wasn't like with his upbringing that he hadn't dealt with paranoid people before. He most certainly had. He let her do whatever she wanted there with the stitches, still just kind of liking being touched. So many people didn't do that on principal, and so it was neat to meet someone who didn't have that filter. Again, with the kind of places he'd grown up in...his definitions of personal space didn't necessarily match up with other people's. "I'm supposed to get them out in like two days or something, I'm pretty sure that they're good to be taken out. They itch a lot. Sort of irritating and such. But they're back there, I can't exactly cut them out myself." he explained. "Sorry to hear about your having been lectured." he added.

"That had to have sucked--" he broke off when she looked all tense and frightened. So he reached out to put a hand on her arm. "Hey...it's alright. Just..." he glanced over. "A branch or something." Which really had probably happened because of him. That shit always happened around him but he was used to it. "By the way, what's your name, beautiful, kinda paranoid creature? I'm Eben."

"Thank you," she stated with a smile as she gave more little strokes at his skin, "And I think that someone likes to be touched hm?" Anna then asked with a coo, just before she drew her hand up to his head to give a little pet at his hair. Touching was not something that she was against, but it may have also been just another sin she liked to break from her family. Touching was controlled by the male, but in this world, it seemed anyone can touch whoever, as long as they didn't mind. And this boy didn't at all. Like petting a cat almost...

"Ohhhh I bet they itch. You have a few. A good thing I learned to put on the skin is chamomile? Like the leaves they use in the tea? You flatten it out to get the juices inside the leaves and rub it on the skin. Then you can use the leaves for the tea," she giggled once again. "Ahhh it was so long ago... I sorta miss it from Grandmother..." She missed her so much.

The reassurance was nice again to her. The fear melted away so quickly, and she felt very safe around the male. It didn't matter how small or young he was, his sense of light just helped to keep her so calm. "Yes, just a branch," she stated with a soft little laugh again as she kept herself rather perky. "Oh? I'm Anastasia... you can call me Anna for short... It's nice to meet you, Eben the flattering, strong male of light and dark..." Her bright smile appeared on her face again as she felt inspiration hit her once more. Maybe with these thoughts she could weave without fear again.

I want to make him a dream too...

He wondered if she was a little high...might be, it was always possible, he supposed. Not that it mattered, so much. He just wondered. "Who doesn't like to be touched?" he asked rhetorically. "Where are you from? It's obviously not around here." he assessed. She didn't sound like it, and just...her manner and everything really sort of screamed 'I Do Not Belong'. Which he was pretty good at picking out because he didn't necessarily belong anywhere. Not really, definitely not really here.

"Anastasia...think I'll go with that. It fits you. It's beautiful too." he decided.

She decided to sit down on the sand, since she had this random need to just let her legs rest. Well... it may have been from all the wandering but, she wouldn't say. Her eyes gazed up to him as they spoke and made sure to follow his movements. "Where?" she asked, and just seemed a bit nervous to actually answer the question. Her eyes turned down at the sand a bit while she let her foot out of her slip on shoes to feel the soft sand. "Lets just say... out of town... think of it almost like one of those little villages where Amish people live? It wasn't Amish but-... people say our type are just about the same..."

She twirled her fingers in a sort of thought of different. It wasn't that Anna didn't mind being different, but that she was strange on a very high level. She smiled at him with the red cheeks returning. "You are very honest... it's a good quality. I've really never felt so flattered, even for a woman my age..." The laugh returned again, smiling bright.

Weirdly, the girl seemed to be talking to exactly the person who might understand that kind of thing, considering his own background. He sat down with her, leaning back on both arms as he regarded her. "Your type?" he asked, curious. "What type is that? Were you in a cult?" he asked. Cults he'd seen. Communes he'd seen. He'd been all over in his 17 years, and so it wasn't a foreign concept or anything. He also just sounded that--curious. Not like he was going to think her answer weird if she happened to say 'yes'.

"I don't see the point in lying." he told her, with a little serene smile. "Never quite got it, so I tend not to. And c'mon, you can't be that old. You're....what." he said, titling his head to the side as he assessed her, looking her up and down. "Mid to late twenties?" he suggested. "That's not that old. And if that's truth, then that's a shame. No one's told you you're beautiful before?"

Her toes had been making little symbols in the sand. Soft little things that seemed to have no importance. But... were just there. Anna's different eyes didn't look up at him again as she tried to think of the best way to explain it. She wanted to be honest as well. "No. Not a cult. Just... old family traditions that never broke." Her eyes gazed up to him once more. "I'm a dreamweaver. We're not very open to different thoughts... cultures.... so its all a little bit sheltered, unless you have the guts to really leave." Anna smile again, and felt better from having been honest.

A laugh broke from her throat much louder than before as he guessed her age. She nodded as she seemed proud for his answer. "Good guess. I'm actually 27... and compared to where I came from? No I never got compliments. We're expected to look proper for the husband. Flattery is usually for males..." It was a bit embarrassing to feel that she's come up from a place that demeaned women so. "My family was the worse.... the women were married off young, no choice whatsoever. Even having a female in my family was considered almost a sin, since they had to pay to give the girl away. Rather than having a son who would stay at home all the time..." A sigh escaped her lips at how sad her entire childhood had been. "You can kinda say I escaped all of that.."

"Dreamweavers?" Eben asked, perking up. "...that anything like...I dunno. Fae, or anything like that?" he asked. Fae he'd talked to mentioned dreaming things. He hadn't quite got what they were going on about, but he had the feeling it was something he wasn't quite meant to grasp, either.

He then paused as she listened to her story, frowning a touch, the first real hint of anything bugging him. "That sounds terrible." he said. "But you got out? How long have you been out then? I'm guessing not long..." he said, eyeing her again. He'd seen people do that too. Like when cults broke up, or people left a commune, the world view just didn't fit in anymore with everyone else's and it was difficult for them. "They're not looking for you...are they?" he asked, watching her profile even if she wasn't looking at him.

"Fae?" she asked as she pondered that word. She's heard it before-... other than fairies. "We have something in common... I can't really remember if we were from them, or got powers from them but... I don't really know much about it so- I'm a bad person to ask." Anna shook her head as she tried to think further, but found herself almost nowhere in answers. It was alright though, she thought. It wasn't that important, right?

Though she could see the dismay in her tale, she didn't seem to keep from smiling about it. It was more or less bad history that was just that, history. It was behind her. "I've actually been out for several years... I think I was- 20 when I ran away from home..." again in thought, she nodded, and continued her story, "But I think I've been more or less just wandering around since then... Trying to find the best glamour for my weaves. And I think I just... got so fed up with my redundancy again that I decided to take an outlook somewhere else..." she smiled. "And no. No one is looking for me. I'm a black sheep. And I'm far too old now to even try to force into another marriage... I'm probably long- long forgotten..."

"Another one? So...you were married before?" he asked. He always liked finding out about different races, people, how things worked. He wished he had his camera right now so he could be taking her picture while she was talking. He wondered why she still seemed so stilted if she'd been out on her own for seven years now. Maybe some people just never quite bounced back. ...or bounced forward, since bouncing back for her would be going back to her roots, he supposed. It was interesting, in a purely objective manner.

"Ahhh no no no..." she stated, shaking her head hard at that thought. "I've never been married... but. My family attempted several times when I was... 16 to 20 to try and marry me off. Everything was arranged. And basically.. you became a tool when that happened..."

Anna drew her legs towards her chest, seeming to curl up in a bit of an uncomfortable thought. But it seemed the girl never really had chance to talk forward about such things like this. Or talk at all for that matter. Opening up seemed to really, well, open her up.

"I watched my mother growing up... she was just so empty. She barely weaved, and mostly just made glamour for my father... But grandmother had lost her husband at a young age, and once a widow was always considered a widow. She really opened me up into thinking outside of stature, to learn to live and love the art of weaving and the dance. To enjoy life for what was given. And not give it away..." She shook her head. "It was her death that made me want to leave."

Eben nodded, listening, encouraging her to go on. "So, you did. Just...packed up and never looked back? What brought you here?" he asked, ever curious. His mind was wandering a little to a sculpture piece he could do, too, sort of something inspired by her. It was forming in the back of his mind, anyhow. "And do you feel better for it all? Are you happy?"

Anna released her legs and slipped her hands behind her to allow her body to sort of recline back. Her eyes too focus to the sky, seeming have forgotten her fear of others, as well as the fear of the shadow in the reflections. A few birds flew over them, chirping away, and she smiled.

"I just... left. Ran and never looked back..." The question of what really made her come here? She thought of that... "I guess... I just followed the trail of glamour." Anna let her eyes blink, as if in deep thought. "Looking for items to weave... and sometimes I just wandered to the next place and next place to find fresh until I came... here."

The last question was so easy to tell though. "I'm very happy..." she nodded, "I like how my life is... and... even if it never changed, I think I'd still be happy."

She rose a brow. "Are you happy with your life? How it has been?"

Eben thought about that for a moment, and he shifted over closer to her, laying back on the sand, arms crossed behind his head to prop it up. He was gazing up at her, watching how her hair stood out against the dark clouds. "I'm happy. I don't really think I was ever unhappy, though. My life's been my life. I know it was a lot different than most everyone else's though. I moved around a lot with my family, my parents are kind of hippies. So...it was bouncing around here and there...a few cults, some communes...there was a nudist colony in there somewhere. A couple years ago my parents sort of recognized that my education was pretty patchy so they settled here so I could go to school like other kids." he explained.

It was nice that someone else could say they were happy with their lives. In dreams she could see how many people were so unhappy, so haunted and so afraid of what was to come. But she could tell through his honest words that he was, in fact, happy, and it made her smile.

"Your parents sound nice," she stated as she reached out with one of her hands to brush his hair from his face again, and allow the light to really shine off his eyes.

However, she choked at nudist colony. Not something she was... very akin to. "A.... nudist colony?" her entire face slowly went red.

He laughed a little, smiling up at her as she blushed again. He wondered how many times he'd gotten her to do that since he'd met her. A lot, really. He also didn't seem to mind her messing with his hair at all. "Yeah. When I was eleven." he said. "That really kind of gets you over any weirdness about the human form really fast." he told her. "We were there for about six months before we took off. Actually, it was around then that my older brother set off on his own. But yeah. ...I take it you're not really that down with exposure?" he asked. Which was a shame, he could picture doing a few interesting photographs, the clearest oen coming to mind of her back exposed, looking over her right shoulder with her hair loose down her spine. He thought it would turn out nice. He just couldn't decide if he would want it in color or not.

It was very easy with pale skin to let it glow. And grandmother always told her it helped to really make her face light up. So why try to beat it down?

"Well it isn't that... I'm not... down with exposure- its just..." she grew even more red, trying to keep it down now. "I'm not used to naked... and... I've never even seen beneath a male's clothing or-or... I'm still rather sheltered I guess," Anna laughed in an attempt to cover up her slight embarrassment.

Eben's eyes widened a touch at that, and he blinked at her. "You're a virgin?" he asked--that whole society-appropriate filter he lacked was biting him again. It was a little too surprising for him not to ask though, because well. She was gorgeous. Plus, she seemed a bit on the naive side, and he was pretty sure people in the world might try to take advantage of that. But 27 and still untouched? That was...well. That was something. He wasn't sure what kind of something, just something.

Every bit of her turned red in that moment. Even though that it was considered rather weird to be her age and... untouched completely, and she knew very well in this society outside her own it was really strange and a touch pathetic...

"Well-..." no lying, she reminded herself. "...mm.... yes..." A pout covered her face, but she went right to finding a reason why. "I've always been wandering around looking to perfect my art. I really never had time for another..." Which sounded even more pathetic. "And I guess in some ways I've-.. made myself a little scared of men. My brothers and my father always tended to beat up on me since I defied their ways... I lost I think four weaves to them. So I've always been... scared maybe.." A hand rested on her cheek. "I've never thought about that..."

"You were never with another woman?" Eben asked. "If you're afraid of men, then maybe you should start there." he said reasonably. "I mean...we're not all frightening or anything." he added. This was coming from someone who didn't have a gender preference, though, as well. Her culture sounded pretty hetero-oriented, as it were, but still. She'd left it.

He paused as he watched her for another long span of moments. He didn't like the thought of anyone hurting a creature as delicate looking as her--but then again Eben was pretty anti violence to begin with. Just wasn't his thing. He moved one hand out from beneath his head to reach up and touch her cheek over her fingers. He didn't say anything, since it wasn't like he could take away past trauma, or make any promises that there weren't other assholes in the world who wouldn't do the same thing. But it seemed like the thing to do, so he did it.

There was a long pause after that statement. She really had to remember hard at that moment that homosexual relations actually did exist. It didn't matter how long she had been out, she lived most of her seven years in the dream world, really, so she had to remember that it did happen. "I guess..." she whispered, "I-... never found women appealing either?" For some reason the way she had said that in a question confused her, and she pursed her lips into a sort of scrunched face, but relaxed in a blushing persona once more. ".... relationships just was never important to me." A shrug came there after.

At the touch her focus returned to him, and she smiled. It was rather soothing to feel touch from another... It reminded her so much of the nice touch of grandmother. Sometimes words weren't needed. Words could be so complicated. "Thank you..." she whispered. This boy was so nice...

He watched her eyes, ticking his gaze between her different colored eyes. "For what?" he asked. He sort of wanted to ask about whether she found men attractive, or if she'd just never looked and didn't want to, but didn't. He wanted to know what he was being thanked for, first. He brushed his thumb over her cheekbone lightly, still just kind of paying attention to everything she was doing. That stormy cloud backdrop really was setting her off so nicely...

"Your nice touch.. and listening..." she whispered, smiling further to him. Her fingers turned into his hand giving a bit of a stroke of her own against them. "It's been very nice, and... really relaxing talking to you...." She could keep seeing him passing her head towards the background, and curiously she turned towards the clouds. "What do you keep looking at?" she asked curiously, turning back to him.

"Well, I'm glad you like all that." he said, smiling at her in that serene fashion again. Then his smile brightened a bit more. "You--see the clouds behind you are dark right now. Heavy gray. But you're bright, and with the red hair, it just makes you stand out really really well. It looks nice. It accentuates your natural beauty, better than a blue sky would, because that'd be equally as bright." he explained.

Her head turned once more at the mention of the clouds and gave them a bit of an analytical look. It was then she tried to hold up her hair away from her vision, and place it upon the dark clouds. Her eyes widened a bit in the realization that he was right. That her hair did really was framed against the dark clouds. She let it drop with a bit of a while a bright smile took her face. "You must really want your camera don't you?" she asked, "You're a wonderful artist though. I'm not very keen on Photography, but I can see what you mean..."

"I'm told that from time to time." Eben said. "Though I don't only do photography. I kinda do everything." he informed her, "And yeah, I really want my camera right now. Why don't you like photography?" he asked. He knew there were people out there who were really twitchy about getting their photograph taken, but that was usually those who had self esteem issues. He didn't really see where she'd be getting those, just with how gorgeous she was.

"Well its not that I don't like photography. It's just not something I'm not real knowing in... I do the old arts but I've never really worked with a camera..." she nodded. "And its not that I'm nervous about being in front of a camera... I'm not.... used getting my picture taken. Again- thing with the family... no photographs..." A smile crossed her lips and she sat up a bit more, looking to him. "Where is your camera? I'm... a little excited, actually..." The red cheeks returned.

"Home. Do you have a vehicle or anything, so I could run and get it? Or, if I ran to the school, I could get one of the cameras there. I'd prefer mine though. Otherwise I could probably call my dad or something and have him bring me my camera bag. Because if you're up for it? I'm definitely game." Eben said firmly. Yeah, very definitely. "Where would you want to have your picture taken? Just here, or do you have any other ideas in mind? There's here, the break wall, your house if you have other clothes you might want to wear."

Oh wow there were... so many options. It wasn't like she really knew what to do. Her smile grew somewhat nervous, and yet excited all at once. "I'm sorry but... I don't even have a license so, all I have really is bus tokens..." Another point of pathetic, but she didn't think the boy would mind it. He was so open, she was so open. it was nice...

"I'm... game," she repeated and laughed at the word as she moved to stand. Her hands brushed away the sand form the bottom of her white skirt and she glanced back over to him. "I'm-... fine with whatever you think would be best.. I only live maybe a mile and a half up north, so it be a bit of a walk from here, especially if we still need to get your camera..." She glanced down at her attire for a moment, and pondered if she liked this. The white skirt, the sky blue button down shirt with the short sleeves... was this ok? She would like grandmothers necklace, that she left at home...

Eben sat up and dug his cell out of his pocket. "It's fine, I'll just call my dad. He can grab my camera and bring us to your house." he suggested. "I usually like having a few different aesthetic options when there's a good subject...just to fully explore possibilities." he explained reasonably. And while other parents might question the behavior...Eben's parents wouldn't. In any way, really. They always sort of just let him do what he wanted, encouraging him to be a 'free spirit'. Which worked out for him, really. It meant he didn't have to curb artistic impulses like going home with a woman he'd just met who was ten years his senior to do an impromptu photo session.

"Ok then..." she thought to herself as she slipped her feet back into her shoes in the sand. A soft little look came to her face, akin to something confused, pondering, and questioning all at once. Like she wished not to ask, but decided to anyway. "Your parents wouldn't mind? Isn't.... it still strange in this culture to just, go out with an older woman to her home to do a photo shoot?" Might as well cover all the bases at once.

Eben shrugged one shoulder. "Depends on your point of view." he said. "It's not strange to me." he added. "And no, they won't care." he assured her. He got his dad on the phone and arranged everything, then smiled at her as he hung up. "It's all good, he'll be here in about five, if we want to go up to the parking lot." he said, starting to head up the beach towards said lot.

A smile came to her lips at the thought. To be so free from persecution from one's parents. To be allowed such freedom. It made her feel rather... happy, that people in the world were aloud this. "It's nice that your parents give you such freedom..." Her voice sounded almost envious with that thought as she followed after him.

"Well, they're hippies. Freedom is kind of what they're all about." Eben explained. "It's pretty much their entire world view, just...freedom in all it's forms. So I don't really have anything like restrictions or limitations like other people do. I've never had a curfew, I've never been grounded, my parents are more the type who also decide if I get into trouble, the consequences will be punishment enough, as opposed to piling on more. Big fans of learning from mistakes...everything that goes with the territory." he got them up to the parking lot, then leaned against one of the trees next to it.

The smile remained on her face as he talked about his parents. Yes there was a bit of envy, since the most she had ever gained in the form of freedom was through her grandmother. And after that... there wasn't much else to her life but following in fear, rather than in love. "That sounds really nice," she whispered as her eyes took up to the sky with her soft little smile.

"I think this will be the first time in a while I wont fear another's parents," the girl giggled as she face the male once more.

"They're really not scary. So nothing to be afraid of or anything. All's well." he promised her. "And yeah, I've had a good time with my life, really. No complaints at all." he added, with a smile. He didn't have any complaints. Complaints were for people who couldn't see around a situation, or didn't have the initiative to do anything. Or who didn't see beauty in the world around them, only saw the negative. There were far too many of that sort wandering around, in his opinion. But either way, he was all kinds of good with his life. It wasn't long before his father drove up in the van. He waved, then opened the door for her. "Dad, this is Anna, Anna, this is my dad, Robert." he introduced.

"If such a cute boy like you came from them? I would think it impossible for them to be scary..." she whispered with a bit of a happy chime and took her time to put her hand out and pet the male's head once more. It was almost like having a little puppy who liked to be pet, take pictures, and live such a wonderful life.

A bright smile came to her lips as the father drove up. She was able to keep herself rather cool around the other male, introducing herself and thanking him for the drive. As taught, she was courteous to the other and did not really hesitate to answer any questions. There wasn't much to her: an artist who mostly lived off of a few of her paintings, who liked things rather outside of normal thought and was very excited to have such a talent take photographs of her.

After arriving she thanked him once more, and assured him he was safe with her. As she had stated, her house was about a couple up the beach road, being a rather short trip. It was considered rather out of town but, she rather liked it that there was much more forest area and beach for her to explore and draw her ideas from.

"Well... my house may be a bit of a mess. I've had a lot of open ideas lately..." she stated just before unlocking her door to open it. The house didn't seem at all messy, just a lot of things left with open thoughts. By a large window that opened to the lake were two different oil canvases completed and half completed: a portrait of the beach at sunrise, and one that was not completed of what appeared to be monarchs flying over the water into the distant horizon. Then by another part of the room was a nice relaxing chair just before the small TV with a few rings of cross stitching that needed to be completed. Then on the opposite side of the room was where she had settled her large weave, and every bottle of glamour she had in stock. An entire bookshelf was completely dedicated to hundreds of bottles and vials, labeled all different emotions. To him it would look nothing more than different blacks and whites and every shade in between, as well as several already woven strings ready to be put on the weave, but to her it was like a giant streak of colors, with the current dream in process on the weave.

Eben walked in and looked around, smiling as he did so. It was a soft expression, light on his features as he made a slow circuit of the room, taking everything in. He didn't touch anything, not wanting to disturb anything from it's natural place, but he was quite attentive to everything that happened to be in her home. He was especially drawn to the loom, where he could see bright chaotic lines running through it. Those always drew his attention. He tried not to alter anything, however, not at all wanting to disrupt her work. Finally, his eyes fell back on her. "I like it." he said simply and genuinely.

A bright smile appeared on her face as she seemed to follow him a bit, like someone curious of another's reaction. She's actually never had anyone else inside this place... or anyone else period in any of her living spaces. So it was interesting to actually see him like her arrangement. She nodded a bit and looked back to the loom.

"Thank you," she replied as she moved her fingers over the soft little strings on the loom. "Um... as a warning. Anything in this area would.... burn your skin? So, if it looks liquid and grey of some sort... its best not to touch it. Even this unfinished dream, if I were to give it to you it be rather chaotic." Actually she had no idea where she was going with this one. After all of the feelings of being followed for quite some time, she just... felt a bit of her sense of ease disappear.

When she glanced up again, she recalled the mirror that was in that part of the room. And it was there. Staring back at her. She moved to take a small little rag and just tossed it over the simple reflective surface, then returned to the smile as if nothing strange had happened.

"Soo? What do you think Mr. Photographer artist? What ideas do you have sprouting?"

"I won't touch anything." he promised. Then he set his camera bag down and dug out his camera. It wasn't a digital one. He generally liked doing film process much better than viewing things on a computer screen, so he wanted to do things the old fashioned way. He also got out some black and white film, and loaded it in and he ticked his gaze back up to her. "I'd like you with the paintings. And the loom." he said. "This what you want to wear? Got anything..." he paused thinking about it. "Soft, or satin?"

Anna gave a curious look at the camera as he drew it out. Though she was not a photography female, she was at least knew the difference between digital and loading film. "You use film? That's rather old fashioned for a boy of your age," she stated, thinking that children tended to move forward with the time faster than that of their parents, and found it interesting that he didn't see the same. An ageless art, film processing.

As he began to process the thoughts of ideas, so did she. She glanced at herself in this small little outfit and thought of why maybe he thought those fabrics would work better. The fabric tended to flow better around the body, shading was nice. Or... that was at least what she thought through the eyes of a painter. "Let me see," she nodded as she moved towards her own bedroom. There was a bit of privacy as she let the door close a bit, but didn't exactly shut or lock him out. Even in her own home she thought that rather rude, to separate one from their guest. But it wasn't long before it took her to find something that she thought was rather appropriate.

It wasn't really anything nicer that she changed into, and certainly not satin. But Anna kept the feel of loose and soft clothing. Actually, this was a common outfit she used to weave in, since sometimes it was rather hard to get colors out of it when she worked on. It was a loose sort of tank top of a very light silver that had a few blotches of the grey here and there. The pants she changed into were of a more stretchy, very soft material that seemed to really follow her movement, also dotted with grey and even some oil and acrylic stains.

"I thought maybe... a more natural work clothing would be better than dolling up?" she asked.

"I like film, and developing it. I like printing things. You can't do that with digital, and while it's got it's uses...I like something that's less clinical. Something you can fuck up on, or correct by your own input. You don't get water stains on something digital, or anything of the like. Small imperfections that make things more...real." he mused.

He smiled as he watched her, even if he had ventured closer to the door to peer into the room through the crack she'd left. Not really to spy, more just to continue watching her in some fashion. Get a feel for her. "They're your pictures." he said, seeming fine with her clothing choices. He brought the camera up and snapped off a shot of her, not moving her anywhere specific quite yet.

"People are so obsessed with perfection," she noted as well as she listened to his little theory on why. It must be wonderful to enjoy printing, much like she did mixing her own oil colors. Just get the bases and then go from there, and you got whatever you wished and anything between. Getting skin color tone was still difficult sometimes...

Anna's clothing didn't seem to be a mixture of different clothes from maybe JC Pennies, Macy's and maybe Kohl's. She seemed to like a rather carefree, but proper look, with mostly skirts and sandals. She didn't want to be restrained by clothing, be too fancy, or too casual, and simply look nice. If Anna had figured out he was peeping on her, she may have freaked out a bit, even if it wasn't peeping. But the boy was lucky she had no idea and was completely oblivious.

"I can't get an artistic opinion?" she asked, allowing herself to stay a bit natural as he clicked off the first shots. She was glad at that moment that the window to the lakeside was so large, since it allowed him to use less flash and keep it natural indoors. Or, that was her thought at least. When she saw the camera come up, she couldn't help but allow a certain smile on her face, be it big or small. "Well? Where first?" she asked.

"Outside, first, I still want shots of you with those clouds. Then we'll come back in." he assured her, and he reached out a hand to take hers, tugging her along after him as he led her outside. He took a profile shot of her while they were moving, to get a more blurred effect, and got them out into the back yard. Then, he let her hand go, and he dropped down to a crouch, taking a shot or two of her from that vantage. Finally, he dropped to his back in the grass, and focused up on her. "Don't look down at me for the moment, look off over the horizon." he instructed.