Late Night Artists

who: eben and anna
where: her house
when: early evening

Eben hadn't had the best of days. Normally, his days were pretty good, but today wasn't. After the rude guy at the crafts show, he'd utterly ruined the interpretation of the pretty woman who'd bought a painting and statue from him. He didn't quite know how that happened. It had been coming out so well. And after that, nothing else had come out either. Hell, his pastels had kept breaking and he had to pitch the entire box, because they kept doing that. So, at least there wasn't much wasted paper, but he was out a box of pastels. Good thing he'd made enough to get new ones.

He always felt slightly off and strange when he couldn't get his artwork to turn out right, however. It was an unsettled, disconcerted feeling that he couldn't shake. So, when he was out walking around, he decided to stop in and see how Anastasia was doing.

It seemed during the time of the setting sun, Anna had decided to move her artwork outside. It freed her mind, and allowed her to think much more freely without any of the fears of the images that she had seen. Or of strange occurrences and things that did not make sense. No, here it did make sense.

The oils mixed perfectly, especially in the rather moist air, and there was just enough sunlight for her to complete the nice sunset she had started. By now the sun was much lower than when she had began, but it didn't seem to stop her from contrasting the yellows with the reds, the purple and deep blue that stretched into the black sky. A few more colors and-...

Her head turned when she heard a knock to her front door. The house was so wide it was sort of like knocking on a hollow log; and the silence of this area only helped to accent the noise more. "I'm out back!" she called loudly as she cleaned some of her oiled fingers on the smock that covered her front. Who could it be at this hour...

Eben heard her, and skirted around the house to the back. "Hey." he greeted. "Mind if I crash in on you for a little while?" he asked. He didn't approach closer, waiting first to get the okay to do so. He didn't want to interrupt if she didn't want to be. Some artists were very particular about that sort of thing, and he could clearly see she was working on something.

A smile formed on her face as she saw that it was Eben. It was so nice to see him, like her own little 17 year old muse. However, when he asked the question, her eyes flashed as if confused. She stood silent for a bit, and just smeared her fingers into the smock to attempt to clean. "... Crash... in on me...? Like... tackle me?" Her lingo was a bit out dated.

That made him laugh a little. "No, just hang out for a bit. I mean, if you wanted me to tackle you, that could be arranged, I just don't generally make a habit of it." he informed her. Not that the idea didn't have merit. But he wasn't thinking about that right now. "So...which will it be? Should I tackle you? Or just hang out for a bit? There's a third option of both, too, if you really desired it."

"Oh," Anna chimed as her entire face went red for a soft moment. Of course she should have seen that coming. "Ahh... I understand now, haha..." she let out a soft giggle as she glanced towards the male. "I think tackling would be bad for you, for as you see, I'm covered in oil paints," she first chimed, "But of course. I don't get company often so... it's nice to have you here." A smile formed on her face, just before she rose a brow. "... Third option?" she also asked.

"Yeah, but it looks good on you." Eben complimented easily, walking up to her. He leaned closer to her, and gave her a little kiss on the cheek. "I'm covered in art supplies pretty much all the time. It's not anything new." Then he stood back and eyed her. "Yeah. Third option...tackling and hanging out..." he said, wondering how she'd missed that. Maybe she was distracted. He had interrupted her after all.

Spacey would be the best description to dear Anna maybe... all the time. A little ADD maybe, but she's also been called that so it would be nothing new. Cheeks flushed a bit red, but seemingly more used to the gentle friction of a kiss. "Oh, right," she laughed again in a bit of embarrassment, "Well. Tackling sounds a bit to much. How about a hug and then hanging out?" she smiled, just before she leaned in to hug the male in her arms. "Does that work?"

"Yeah. That works." Eben said, hugging her back--completely unmindful of any paint that might have transfered from her clothes to his. He gave her a warm hug, maybe holding on a touch longer than he absolutely had to. He hated being frustrated. Though maybe now he would feel better. He could start over tonight and see what he could draw. Or maybe he'd write music and leave it in the music room for Thom to mess around with. Then he stepped back and sat down on the ground. "So what are you working on?"

The long hug actually caught her attention. It was almost like having a child cling in a way to hide their worries and fear, yet find the comfort they need... Of course she wouldn't make assumptions, and just kept herself smiling. Slowly she relinquished him, as if she left that option in the air if he needed to return, he could. "Me? Oh.... the canvas called to me today. Since I'm stuck on a dream..." she said, just before she sat down on the ground beside him. "The sunset was nice today. Even after all that bad weather. I had to capture it..."

"You can continue you know. I didn't mean to derail you. If you're not finished...by all means, I'd love to see your process." he invited. "You're stuck on a dream?" he asked. "How do you mean?" He still didn't fully understand what she did, but then he hadn't asked in depth probing questions, either.

"It's done. I was just.... I guess trying to spread the time on the painting because I didn't want to say goodnight to the sun..." the girl said, as if she was going to miss the sun. "Well. It will return in the morning..." Her head turned to the other from the edge of the lake, and gave a soft nod to him. "Well... think of it like this. Though we weave dreams, like one weaves a basket or a carpet, it has to have form and structure... Like a story!" She tried so hard to make it make sense. "And I don't have a good ending... it's like one of those dreams right now that you'd wake up, and hate that you did."

"It will." he promised. Yeah, the sun he could guarantee. Then he paused as he thought about it. "So what's the story so far?" he asked, laying back on the grass, propping his head on his crossed arms as he watched her. "Maybe I can help." he offered. He had no idea if he could, but he was willing to give it a shot. It was a fascinating sort of idea, really. Coming up with the ending of a dream.

She pondered how to explain the dream. It wasn't easy since some of the ideas came to her mostly in the weaving process. By then she was so far in a trance it was hard for her to actually distinguish between muses and reality. "Well... this dream I wanted to do on flight," she stated, just as her body moved to lay back to relax and think. "It starts with the breeze, the sky... the sensation of wind, cool and all around. Relaxed... the body picks up, I wasn't sure if I wanted to make wings- but... flight, guiding along the lake, into the sky, touching the clouds. I wanted to make something relaxed. But I can't figure out... where to end this glorious flight. I'm worried if I just end it off somewhere like that-... it could develop into a nightmare. And plummeting does not sound like a wonderful way to wake..."

"Falling dreams are definitely not pleasant." Eben agreed, closing his eyes for a moment as he imagined what she was telling him. "Could you end it in the clouds? Sort of an eden up there? Definitely with the impression that there was no falling to be done. More like they'd gone home." he suggested.

She smiled large at the thought as she looked up at the sky. "In the clouds..." she whispered, just before her hand reached out. "I like that, I really really like that..." a giggle escaped, as if almost excited at the idea. "I've heard that clouds are like really thick cold fog. Is that true?" It was a random question, and she seemed to know that. But... it intrigued her never the less.

"That's what they tell us in science class." Eben said, smiling at her. He liked watching her laugh, her smile. It was nice. Relaxing. It helped him forget a bit about the earlier lameness. "I don't know, I've never touched one." He hadn't been in a plane before. He'd done a ton of traveling, but never in a plane. It had all been in a vehicle of some description or another. A couple of times on horseback, boats...nothing that flew.

"I think it's impossible to touch one," she stated with a laugh, "since it's like fog... always so distant from one's fingers..." She nodded and slipped her eyes shut. Her fingers reached up into the air above her, and without even thinking, she worked her fingers into the air as if she was at her loom. "Like going home... I wonder if I have something to simulate that..." she whispered, "belonging... comfort... relax..." she whispered.

He watched her, fascinated, and he moved to lay on his side, head propped up on one elbow. He reached out to trace his fingertips down the outside of her arm, a light little trace, nothing to distract her. "I'm sure you could come up with something." He sounded like he had perfect faith in her ability, even if he knew nothing about what she did or how she did it. But he figured she knew what she was doing, and until proven otherwise, that was how he was going to view it.

Her arm seemed to almost shiver to the gentle touch, yet didn't stop. It wasn't that he had distracted her, but she noticed it and it sent a sensation of tingles up and down her arm. And it felt good. She smiled again as she continued to weave her fingers, just before her body darted up in sitting. "Would you like that dream Eben?" she asked, a bright smile on her face.

He blinked as she sat up so suddenly, and he took a second to figure out what she meant. "Like...have it? Like you would give it to me?" he asked. Which he was pretty sure she was offering. "How would you do that?" he asked curiously. He wouldn't mind it, it sounded neat. "Do you dream? Can you give yourself dreams?" he asked. "...could we share it?" He had no idea how any of this shit worked, of course.

"The dreams I weave are to be given, not to just show off on the shelf like a painting..." she whispered, and smiled to the male beside her. "Well, when the weave is done, I would put it in something for you to eat. Like water... I once gave a child some good dreams through cookies," she giggled at the old memory and nodded to him. "I can have dreams. I've sometimes used good dreams and put it in something like... a lotion to try and carry that thought with me all day. It's like a relaxing massage in something very comfortable for me. But-..." she had to think about it, and put a finger to her lips. ".... I'm not sure if I can share... maybe if I put it in water and we both drink?" she had to actually think of it. If not, she knew she could create her image in the dream, and that would give him the illusion of share. But she was no dream walker.

"Maybe. Just wondering. If we could, that would be interesting." he said. He would like it, really. Sharing a dream with her, that would be...nice. "I didn't expect a dream in the first place, though." he added. "But I can't say I'm not curious." he added, with a smile that said he was definitely telling the truth.

It did sound rather nice. She knew she could experience it with him at the same time, but it was impossible for her to be in the same dream with him. Or... so she thought. She pondered that if she were to slip into the Dream realm, and find that dream while he was enjoying it, could she slip inside? A small ponder came to her mind. "It would be really interesting..." she'd have to test it. If not, she assumed that maybe if she slipped herself inside, and she could sort of watch from the dreaming realm. After weaving the dream alone, she'll be FAR too awake to even think of sleep! The girl rose to her feet, not seeming to care if there was debris from where she sat. "Would you like to watch me weave?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"I'd love to." he said, smiling. Then he stood, grabbing his backpack to shrug over one shoulder, moving to follow her. "Do I have to be quiet while you do it?" he asked. "What do you do when you are weaving?"

A bright smile formed on her face as he said he'd love to. It actually made her quite happy to show off her work. If only he could... see the colors, see the beauty of it all. Maybe, like glow dancing... in her weaving, in that dance of making, he could. "You don't have to be quiet, I somewhat-" now the explanation... "-z.. zone out..." she tried to use, "... when I do it. It's like fading from reality and becoming completely entwined with weaving. And somehow, my mind and body link so well I don't even realize what my hands are doing anymore. It becomes so natural... like dancing..." The smile on her face only grew larger as she drew him inside, and lead him over to the weave. She even dragged over a chair from the other side of the room so he had somewhere to sit.

"I'm almost done with this dream... so it wont take me hours like it usually would. I just have to finish it up, that's all," she stated, just before she moved to sit at the weave. She reached over to grab the brilliant stocks of thread she had, at her use, which of course only appeared rather grey to him. There was a bit more she added to the colors, so that she could finish off the end. This would be such a nice dream...

"Ready?" Anna's voice asked in utter excitement.

Eben was entertained just watching how excited she was. "Ready." he confirmed, sitting on the chair, and he turned it around to straddle it, arms resting on the back of it and his chin on them. His eyes were on her, though he started looking over the loom curiously, and the greyscale colors she was using. This would be interesting. He was hoping it would help re-inspire him.

A tad bit of nervousness hit dear Anna as she faced her own weave. It had been a long time since she had an audience, and probably the first she's ever had one that wasn't family member. She sighed, took in a deep breath, and reached out for the strings before her.

At first she started slow, found the colors she needed, and strung them into the weave. Loop, tie, knot, cut. Loop, tie, knot, cut. That was the constant procedure as she began to weave. Those first steps were always quite normal, like someone making a rather elegant carpet, but slowly her eyes slipped shut, and her body began to move something more of a dancing rhythm rather than something created by redundancy. Her arms became more fluid, almost like she was gliding between tying every string into the design that had no real figure, and no real pattern. It was just.... there, as it grew larger and taller with every bit of string she put through.

Her fingers picked up the pace, and a smile came over that soft, tired looking face. Every string she plucked, she knew was right, and everywhere it went was exactly where she would have it. By the time she was completely in her state of weaving she was doing maybe two or three knots every second with her eyes still closed. But her eyes were not shut like someone who attempted things blind. It was more like she was... fast asleep, and her fingers and arms in their motion was all that kept her upright. And sometimes her eyes actually would open, like a flutter of someone within a trance, smile, tie a knot, and then fade back into that sleep like state in constant weaving.

Eben was completely transfixed, watching her. God. It was beautiful, the strange dance she was doing. He wanted to record it, he just didn't quite know which medium he wanted to do that in. Couldn't pin it down in his head, didn't think there was any single way it could be reproduced and given justice to. No...he would have to just keep this in his memory and draw inspiration, but never try to put it down into an impression in art. He said nothing, just watched, almost holding his breath at some points and forgetting to blink.

Anna had went on with this dance for maybe a good thirty minutes straight. It seemed that her knowledge of time was far from her in this state. But of course, she appeared asleep, even though she knew exactly what she was doing. After a while her fingers slowed, and her eyes opened once more. She licked her lips a bit as she woke up, yawned, and rubbed at her eyes. She smeared quite a bit of the liquid all over her face as she did that, but didn't mind. It was a bit soothing on her skin. As she finally looked at the weave she smiled bright. "It's beautiful..." she whispered, "I wish you could see the colors..."

He continued watching, smiling as she smeared the grey over her features. He didn't seem to mind it either. He really just thought it added to everything. "Me too." he said. He wondered what she saw. What colors were involved to her, when all he saw was grey. He didn't say anything for a few long moments. "You're beautiful." he decided. Again. He'd decided this before, but she was right now, especially.

Color filled her face in a soft red color as she looked to the other. He was so honest with his thought, and his honesty was always so nice. It felt... good to be flattered. "Thank you..." she whispered again as she rubbed at her face once more. That is when she realized all of the glamour on her fingers. "... seems I forgot to clean my hands," she laughed as she moved over to a towel to wipe it from her face. "I haven't felt this nice in quite a while. It's really great..." there was such a bright smile on her face as well, as she seemed to have this sort of bright outlook from accomplishing her dream. "So now all I have to do is put it into a drink or food and ingested..." she nodded and glanced to him. "... Do you want to wait a bit maybe? I just... came to have another urge," she laughed.

Eben smiled at her. "I'm never one to curb urges, so sure." he said. "Anything you want. What do you have in mind now?" he asked curiously, head tilting to the side as he regarded her. He knew he still had some of the prints to show her, but he was less interested in doing that just yet and more interested in watching her and being witness to anything that was flitting through her mind today.

A bright smile filled her face again, almost like a glow. "I can't decorate you like I can but.... its not totally dark yet. We can do this still..." she went to the shelf where she had all of the glamour, and began to uncork some of the bottles. Though she knew the colors couldn't be seen by him, she made sure to carefully select all the colors to look nice on her skin. She put a few dots and symbols of red on her cheeks with some blues, whites, and a bit of purple; then dipped her fingers in some greens and yellows. It would make a nice contradiction as she drew them on her hands. Then she recalled that it would burn him if that touched him, and she cleaned off her fingers. With a smile she pulled at his hand, though warned him not to touch her symbols because they would hurt him. "I just... wanted to dance..." she smiled.

Eben got up when she urged him to, wondering what she was up to. Looked like something specific, and of course he was immediately drawn in. "Did you? ...is there music? Just you, or..." he asked, trying to figure out what was happening, not that he seemed to mind in any sort of fashion. He was game for anything. Easy, as it were. He was more than good with whatever, he'd go with anything she wanted to do. Dancing, however, was always a fascinating sort of thing anyhow. He enjoyed it at pow wows and had at clubs, other places. There were connotations that rang back through cultures that he thought was fascinating.

As Anna pulled the male outside into her backyard, she came to a realization that she didn't have music... there wasn't a boom-box she owned that could play it outdoors, and what she had inside wasn't loud enough to really use the acoustics of her home to reach. She tried to think of a better way, then just decided, make a beat, stick with it. "Well. I don't have good music now... so setting a beat works just fine right?" she asked as she let go of his hands and thought of something inside of her mind. "Duhduhdah dumdum... duhduhdah dumdum..." her feet began to step to the beat that she created as she allowed her feet to feel nice and cool on the grass. Her body was as fluent in the form of dance as it was on the weave, keeping a perfect tempo and using the strange beat to her advantage to make the dance a bit more wild. Her hips rocked, hands moved, eyes closed and sometimes even spun her body about to the beat. The beat became so natural to her within moments that she could feel the Glow Dance trance drape over her mind. "Come on," she whispered and reached out to Eben to invite him to dance as well, "Keep to the beat... Duhduhdah dumdum... duhduhdah dumdum..."

Wishing he had a bongo drum so he could keep time for her himself, and watch her as opposed to joining her, Eben joined anyways at her urging. It was a little jarring, though. Because he could swear that where there had been grey, there was color now, and he was watching it kind of...light up. It was amazing. He was kind of wondering if that might not draw undue attention, from anyone who could see bright glowy lights outside, but they were in the back yard, maybe it was fine. But god...yeah...his mind wasn't thinking so much anymore along any lines but ones that had to do with what he was seeing.

Even if he was a little off beat, she didn't seem to mind the fact that he was a bit behind in tempo. She tried to get him to follow her moves a bit and continued to spin and dance with the other. Sometimes, instead of whispering noises, she'd whisper numbers in the hope that maybe it would help. "One-two-three, one two... one-two-three, one two..." A bright smile came over her face which only mixed with the colors of the glamour so well. She paused from the counting for a moment, but kept to the beat and the dance still. "Can you see them?" she whispered in question, while she watched the colors in his eyes glow. Those beautiful blue eyes.. she wished she had a glamour color just like that.

He was watching, and he nodded. "Yes." he said, in almost a bit of a gasp. He had stopped worrying now about her being seen, he was more transfixed by her and the glow. God, that was beautiful. He could imagine her all covered in the stuff, dancing, moving her body to a low, slow drum. She wouldn't even need a fire to dance around, it would only take away from everything else. Good god, seriously...wow. He wanted to just...sit down right where he was and watch, the afterimages that tracked the glow visible in his eyes.

Anastasia noticed how-... flabbergasted the male seemed. It was probably his first time seeing glow dance. Then she remembered, he's never even met a dreamweaver, it was his first time. Her hands slowly let go of the others with smile, and took a couple steps away to allow him to just watch. She dipped her fingers into the glamour on her face and on her hands to tint every tip with the glowing substance. With her hands free she used her arms much like one would with glow-sticks or with fire, and drew lines and symbols into the air as she danced to her own beat.

Eben backed up a pace or two then did just drop to the ground, holding himself up by his arms as he watched like his life depended on it. As she added more into it, on her fingertips, the afterimages all left trails even more pronounced, and he was absolutely enamored. He wished he had a camera, he wished he could show this to the entire world, because he didn't think he'd seen anything more beautiful in his lifetime. God, no he was getting sure of it, the longer he watched. It was undeniable, and he wouldn't have been able to tear his gaze away if fighter planes started falling out of the sky.

Her eyes closed, and her body spun round and round with the colors around her. Oh it felt so good to dance like this, so carefree and so brilliantly wild. How she wished she could give this to the world, this sensation of dancing over and over again in this way. People would be... so much happier if they danced just a little bit more. The spinning however was a bit too much, and after a bit she actually spun so much she slipped over and fell onto her back. A deep sigh escaped her lips, and then a burst of laughter as she lay there on the ground. "Oh that felt so good," she laughed as she glanced up at the dark sky. "So good..."

He watched her and then she was down, and he still had the afterimages burned into his eyes. The lights stopped and faded, though it was still just barely light enough outside that he could see her. He took the opportunity to crawl over to her, looking down at her. "That was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." he told her, the truth he felt behind the words clear in his statement. He leaned closer to her, and brushed a kiss just on the underside of her jaw, where there wasn't any grey smudges. There was a reason he hadn't kissed her lips, too, which was he was a little wrapped up in everything right now and wasn't entirely sure he was fully trustworthy.

Oh her heart.... it was being so hard she actually thought it would wear itself out and stop. She placed a hand to her chest as she broke out another soft laughter, with a tired twist mixed into her voice. Of course that smile on her face only grew brighter as he approached to compliment her, which sent her cheeks to be red within moments. But it wasn't an embarrassed or shy as most of her flushing represented, it was a happy little redness. She was far too open, far too calm and far too... happy to feel anything less than that. A little bravery sparked at the pit of her stomach, and she tilted her head just enough to brush their lips together. Just as he had inspired her to weave, to dance, to smile, he inspired her to kiss.

Okay, he was going to be good there, he was. It was part of the plan, so far as Eben ever had plans, and then she went and kissed him. So, if she was going to be doing that, then she was getting kissed back. He didn't hesitate or anything--it had been what he wanted to begin with. So, he kissed her. It started light but didn't stay that way.

The little bit of bravery didn't stop at just the simple brush either. The feeling of kissing and being kissed... it was really nice. And tasty too, oh he was really tasty. But it felt so good to just let her mind slip away, allow her natural senses to take over, and slip into this euphoric state of lips melding together. This time she didn't just test or be nervous, but really enjoy it. Really really enjoy it...

He made a soft sound, letting himself fall into it since she was being so accommodating. Not only that but she seemed to be fully engaged in it. There wasn't the same hesitation or anything that had been present the first time. He did keep himself from lowering himself down on top of her--since he so easily could, though he did shift a little more over her. He just made sure the only actual contact was the kiss. The kiss that he deepened, tasting her, letting it escalate a hell of a lot faster than it had the first time.

The want to touch him came hard as she felt herself melting once more to his lips. Her hand hovered up for a moment, but she recalled the glamour in which would ruin this moment rather hard. A shower... or just getting changed, something really quick would be a nice idea for later. But she just wanted to continue to kiss him, open her mouth for a bit more of a taste, and let it just go however far compared to last time. Not only had Eben made her feel calm around him, but also so relaxed it was like... time had actually stopped. When that thought crossed her mind, she pondered how cliché that was.

It was getting just a bit more difficult for him not to do anything more. Not after having seen her dancing like that. With just how beautiful it had all been... It was definitely difficult not to get wrapped up in the moment, and he only really caught himself when one of his hands had ghosted up her side, resting on her ribs. Yeah, alright, stopping now, because the next part involved him stopping the propping himself up thing, and he couldn't very well do that. He needed to breathe anyhow. So...he pulled back, listening to his heart give thuds in his ear, and he tried to recall that all important breathing thing as he looked down at her. Just long enough to know he needed to actually physically move, and he shifted back again to her side.

There was a shiver that went up her side as she realized his hand was there. But it wasn't a bad sort of shiver, much like there was no more nervousness (or just so little it was hard to notice) it was very comfortable and somewhat like a spark of heat that went up her side. Then there was a break, and her head bent up as if in an attempt to not let go, but slowly let their lips part so that they could breathe again. Her own breath was heavy, while eyes were parted just enough to show that relaxed, heart racing face. "... I think.... I need... washing..." she panted.

Of all the things she could have said, that wasn't one of the things that came to mind. He nodded, hover. "...yeah, I--sure. I'll go." he said, starting to push himself to his feet again. Probably best for the moment. He'd leave her the prints he'd brought, and head home. See her another time. ...go home. Dream about her. Dream about that dance...

"Why...?" she asked as she glanced up to him. Her body sat up as she glanced to him. Did she.. say something wrong? "I just... don't want to touch you with the glamour..." She tried to break a smile on her face again and stood up as well. "You don't... need to go home yet, do you?" It was just so comfortable with him around. And it was hard to just.. let him go.

Did he have to? No. Really not. He eyed her for a moment, as if trying to figure out how serious she was--and on top of that just how naive. Because that was kinda a factor. "I don't have to leave." he said. "I just figured if you were going to be bathing or something...you might want me to leave." he explained.

"No not... like bathing," she stated with a laugh as she wiped a bit of the glamour on her face. "No I mean... getting rid of the glamour. I didn't want to burn you I was... worried..." She tried to break another smile. "Are you ok...?" A sense of sadness filled her smile. Did she say something wrong she wondered again.

He gave her a little smile. It was an easy expression, one brought on by her words and he didn't fight it at all. "I'm fine." he told her. Possibly 'more than fine' would have qualified, really, but he didn't know how to explain that properly, so he didn't. "It would burn me?" he asked curiously, latching onto that subject for a moment, because it wasn't anything he expected.

Anna nodded a bit as she glanced to the male to stretch out her hands. "I'm not sure why... but... the stuff used to make the dreams, until it's actually woven full is almost like acid... It's once of the weavers best defenses because it burns anyone who isn't of a blood line of a dreamweaver..." She flashed him a sheepish smile. "Funny how something so beautiful can be so dangerous, no?"

"I don't know..." Eben said. "I've seen a lot of beautiful things that are dangerous. I suppose it depends on your definition. And everything should have different aspects. Not just one. Facets." he continued. He'd seen a lot in his time, after all. So he knew all about facets. Different levels of things, different sides, shards.

She motioned her head towards her house, so that she could go in and clean off the glamour. "Facets?" she asked, "what are... those?" Naturally curious, as always.

Eben blinked. "...do you just not know the word? Facets...different sides." he said. And he'd thought his education was patchy.... "Like when you see jewels cut in jewelry? The sides are called facets." he explained. "Everything's like that though. Nothing is just one thing--it's not supposed to be. Like...you weave dreams. Can you weave nightmares?"

"I've never heard that word before..." she stated in honesty, while the embarrassment flush took to her face. Oh she was so sheltered and that realization was so hard. There was a pause though as she thought of that. To weave nightmares. It was almost like... haunting oneself. Even though in weaving you gain sleep, it was almost like a restless dance of anger, dismay, fear, sorrow that didn't end when you were finished. "I ha- can... I can..." she sighed, "But... it's not something one should ever want to do..." Her bottom lip caught between her teeth and she moved towards her kitchen sink inside to wash off the glamour. "I understand what you mean though. It's just... sad though too. I wish I could decorate people with the colors, colors they should be able to see, and lead them on in dance. But its just like- what's that stuff- the glowing stuff... neon? It hurts people too."

Eben followed her inside. "You have woven nightmares before?" he asked, since she'd tripped over her words there at first, and he had to wonder if that's what she'd been going to say. "Yeah, neon." he supplied for her, as he leaned against the counter next to the sink, eyes on her. "Would you rather if the world was a perfectly nice place all the time?" he asked curiously.

Sadness peaked her face at the question. She turned her eyes away for a moment to sigh as she washed away her face and hands. Regret filled her eyes very hard. "It was.... a while ago... when I was still at home... my brothers for-... for the second time destroyed my loom. Because I didn't want to be married off and be just... another woman for a man. I snuck into my parents room and used my mothers loom, which is pretty much taboo for a weaver, and made something... horrible and gruesome to scare my brothers. I felt so bad for weaving it when it was finished that... I actually destroyed it..." she sighed. Her gazed turned back to him though as she moved to dry her hands, and actually took a moment to think about the question. "I would rather if there wasn't so much pain the world..." she muttered, "People are so... afraid, so sad. Scared of what they do, what they didn't do, what they could do... of what could happen and what could become. I just wish some people made more time in their lives to be... happy. So many just drag their feet in an attempt to live..."

Eben listened to her and wondered if she was talking about herself. From what he knew of her, she was sheltered to the point of not knowing so much about the world at large, he wondered how much she actually knew about people. How they were, what they did...So when she talked about people like that, while he could understand the point of view, he had to wonder where she was drawing it from. And the closest example he could find that he thought might fit the criteria was her. He watched her for a few moments after she'd trailed off, mind going in a few different directions. "Is that what you see when you look at the world?" he asked, again, curious. His voice might have been slightly softer than a moment ago. He also reached up with a towel he picked up off of the counter to wipe at a smudge she'd missed on her cheek.

A smile crossed her lips as she felt the brush of the towel, and looked down to her hands as she dried them off as well. "Even though I.. pretty much live in a bubble I can see it... in people's dreams..." She sighed, "People are always wishing for happier dreams of happier times... because they hate their miserable lives... and wishing for dreams to scare away the nightmares. It's..." she almost choked. She wanted to take the world onto her shoulders and just hug away the pain, but she couldn't. "It's... really sad..."

He reached out to tip her face to the side, so he could get another smudge beneath her chin. "I guess I don't see that when I look at the world." he said. He didn't say it like he was contradicting her--he knew fully well that everything was a matter of perception. Everything. Truth was merely what your mind decided it was. And the next person's mind was different than yours. So it was a fluctuating concept. Everything was. "When I look at the world, I see different levels of everything. I see people who are miserable, sure. But I see happy people too. I see anger, love, hate, light, darkness, selfishness, selflessness...it's all there. I guess I don't see the world as something that needs to be healed, I think it's the way it's supposed to be. With everything all there at once, just varying with the levels depending on where you're looking at a certain time."

The smile returned to her lips as she listened to him. It was... amazing how much he saw. And so young too. She knew she was rather sheltered, and knew that her vision of what the world was wasn't totally true. But nothing ever appears as beautiful or as ugly as it was supposed to be. And she had been taught and pushed to think it was so ugly. Maybe all of that scaring and all those lessons finally dug into her that she just couldn't come to trust the world who would go out to hurt her. She leaned her head forward and pressed their foreheads together soft as she smiled. "How did... in such a short span of your life... did you become so wise?" she asked, as if happy for him to have seen so much, to know so much. Like she was proud.

He let the towel drop back to the countertop and he let his hands rest lightly on her hips, not pulling away at all. "Maybe I just see things without the jaded aspects most people do." he suggested. He figured that was it. It wasn't his parents, it wasn't his life, because well. His viewpoint was his own. Unique, as far as he could tell. Some people found him wise, like Anastasia apparently did. Others found him naive. Others just didn't understand him at all. So, he wasn't sure exactly, he merely knew that he tended not to look at things from a viewpoint that was dictated by other people in the slightest.

Her eyes slipped closed as she felt the contact of his hands, and decided to follow by drawing her arms about his waist and let them settle there comfort. He always seemed so warm, and it felt so nice. How was it that within meeting this boy within days she felt so-... free? "It's a good way to see life... but sometimes I guess-... you just learn to really carry that fear, don't you?" she asked. It wasn't that she was looking for an answer or for the meaning to life. Just a bit of light or clarification. Or even someone else's thought.

Eben tilted his head to the side to nuzzle at her cheek, towards her ear. "I don't know--I haven't really been afraid that often in my life. Even when I was in the middle of the street brawl, I wasn't that scared. It was more...when I thought I was going to die, I was just disappointed." he said to her, voice soft. Just barely above a whisper. "I don't think there's that much to be afraid of...but I think I'm strange in that regard. Most people spend a lot of their time being afraid. I just don't see the point. Things are going to happen how they are. People gain things, they lose things, it'll happen regardless of if you're anxious about it."

The word street brawl caught her ears rather quick. She flashed her eyes almost worried as she turned her head a bit more towards him. Anna saw fighting, no matter what the reason, was completely and utterly useless. But if forced into a fight for a reason, maybe like protection, to defend, it wasn't so bad. But still, unneeded and wished it could be avoided... "How do you do it...?" she asked curiously as a hand drew up to pet the side of his face. He had such soft skin. "How do you... live with such peace..."

He didn't mind being petted. Really really not. He thought about her question, however and tried to figure out how best to answer her. "The world is what you make it. If you see just the bad things, then that's what you'll get from it. If you see the beautiful things, then that's what you'll take away. Everything is kind of just...what you put into it. Everything is subjective. I look at the world and see a place that's exactly how it should be. There's all spectrum of emotions put in, and that's what should be happening. So, it's peaceful for me, because everything seems to be running smoothly."

"You are so wise..." she whispered with a gentle chuckle as she nuzzled her head into the male's shoulder just a bit. It was just... so comfortable. After all her fears and her worries of shadows and darkness, this was so relaxing. "I hope I can gain your outlook on life..." she whispered soft, just before she kissed his cheek.