Art in the park (Elijah Brooks)

[Mason]

She nodded with a half shrug, maybe they did, maybe they didn't. They hadn't made too much effort to contact her either so it must be fine...though now she did want to look them up and see if they were fine. Didn't feel too much that they had too stay nearby or work too hard to talk together, just wanted to be sure they were ok. "Yeah, hopefully so."

Ah the youngest, she heard sometimes they were either the neglected one or the really spoiled one. She nodded smiling and thinking, before a question was asked to her. She tapped her fingers on her lap,
"Well, not entirely. I mean we've lived around here a bit now and then but it's only been the last few years that I truly have been completely living here."

"We went through now and then but didn't really stick around long so I had a slight feel for the city beforehand. But still the city was a bit on the wild side when I really got settled...well, as settled as I am for now. I have some goals to go for."

[Elijah Brooks]

As Macy gives the story of her travels to, through, and around Harper Rock, Eli nonchalantly strums his thumbs and fingers against his sketchbook. He’s still got the weighty stack of paper sat on his lap and since he’s staring directly at her, he doesn’t notice his bad habit. He does notice how she keeps her story vague - as if she is trying to hide something from him.

“I see,” Eli says sympathetically, though he can’t quite empathise.

His family has only moved the once when they emigrated over from Queensland, Australia; plus Mason hasn’t given him much detail. In comparison, Eli is an open sketchbook. He has always been very emotional and has never been shy to show his sensibility to the world without even thinking he might get hurt. Being so emotional, open, and sharing can make him a challenging conversationalist though; Eli hates small-talk, especially when it contains white lies. Equally, he’s struggled with taking the initiative with other people, but when Macy mentions she has some goals, he jumps on that boat and starts paddling down what he hopes will be some rapids of chatter.

“Oh, yeah?” he questions; his light voice now practically effervescent. “What kind of goals? I’ve never been much of a goal-setting person myself,” he admits and his eyes travel to the edge of the park with a bit of embarrassment. “I can just about plan what I want for breakfast.”

[Mason]

Macy paused at the question, Get a proper house or apartment, kill undead, grow stronger...do entertaining things. Two were relatively normal, but those other two were a lot more questionable to some people. She wasn't sure who she should tell, but he wasn't a vampire. So...as long as he didn't tell anyone. It should be fine to tell him she was a paladin. At least she hoped.

She scratched her head in thought and bit her lip, "Well, a few things, I'm gonna get a proper house or apartment. What I have is a bit shabby and it's cheaper to just get another then fix it up. And, uh, just find some more proper hobbies. But, if I tell you the other two, you'll have to swear not to tell anyone alright?" she asked looking him in the eyes, "It's not something that I really want spread around, at least not at the moment. Maybe some day, but not right now."

If he did in fact promise to do so, she would have an explanation, "I'm a paladin, in other words, a vampire hunter...with powers. I am stronger, faster, more coordinated then most humans, I can recognize vampires on sight, I can bless weapons all thanks to some kind of ritual or something, and runes." she pointed at a few, many blending in well with the other tattoos, one was on her stomach, another near the shoulder, a few along an arm. Just some of the ones she had hidden among the tattoos she already had. "I want to grow stronger, more powerful, so I can properly protect myself and take them on. And I'm going to kill them, those that I can, make sure they understand they shouldn't mess with humans. That they understand as a vampire, they are the enemy."

[Elijah Brooks]

At first, their conversation is perfectly normal and she shares with him the simple aspiration of home ownership. In his opinion, Macy doesn’t really have that homemaker vibe about her; a feeling as inviting as the smell of freshly baked cookies. There’s an edge to her, this hardiness, that convinces him that she would be better equipped for the practicality of buying a house and fixing it up. That’s where Eli’s imagination takes him; dreaming up a world where Macy - sledgehammer in hand - is tearing down the old to make room for the new. It’s a vision that repeats for him too as she moves on from one project to the next; making the world that much brighter with bricks and cement. He imagines all of this even though she tells him that she would rather buy a new house than fix one up. Perhaps he’s not listening as carefully as he should be, but he does have a few accuracies to share around hobbies.

Just as Eli’s ready to add his own thoughts, Macy surprises him. The words go dry on his tongue, his mouth hangs ajar, his eyes widen in their shallow sockets. She wants to share a secret. He nods his head and smiles; permitting the knowledge even if it’s at the cost of tasting the apple of Eden.

They say to be careful what you wish for because you might just get it. Eli thought he had a clear idea of what he wanted from Macy, but he didn’t consider how his life could change when he got it. He suspected that she was hiding something from him, but he didn’t think that it was something this extreme or controversial. There’s a lump in his throat as she talks about killing vampires and it sticks in his raw skin like a fishbone. He can’t say a word and can’t control the shape of his face either. He just stares at her; meek and forlorn as if she has revealed herself to be a cannibal. He can see the contradiction - he understands the irony - but the feeling is so strong that his stomach muscles clench and tremble. His fingers bite into the paper of his sketchbook and he raises the pages up to his chest, under his chin, like a shield.

“I. Uh…”

All words fail him. His brain is fixated on less than helpful thoughts as she points out the marks that are left on her body from some unknown ritual. He looks, naturally. His attention is devoted to the shape of her rather than the runes that blend into her inked skin. She lifts her shirt to show him her stomach and his back presses into the bench. It’s only for a brief moment that he’s ogling the contours of her waist and the peaks hip bones before she sits back to show him her shoulder, then her arm. Eli tries to swallow the lump in his throat, but it chokes him. All he can do is cough, shift nervously in his seat, and try to change the subject.

“Right. So. I see you have some passions,” he says; his voice becoming both raspier and higher-pitched. He coughs into his fist again, hitting a soft reset on his vocal chords. “Didn’t think that something a little less… dangerous, like bullfighting or swimming with sharks, was for you?”

Eli does his best to make light, but it’s like pulling teeth to him - vampire teeth. What a pair they would make: Eli feeds them and Mason kills them. He really has to be careful with what he says next; the last thing he wants is a confrontation especially since up until then, Eli was enjoying her company.

[Mason]

Macy remained unaware of his imagination running along with itself for her first part. His surprise to her revealing of her paladin side however, that was expected. But the reason for his worry however, at least, that extra reason behind why he might be wary of what he'd say, that she had no clue about. It didn't even occur that someone would willingly do it.

Even though she was perhaps a bit willing to show the tattoos she didn't initially think of the fact he might be paying attention more to her form then the tattoos themselves. Of course, she enjoyed showing off, but that wasn't too say it was always on her mind that others were wanting to look.

She bit her lip waiting for his first response, he hesitated. Ok, that was...ok right. He was expected to be surprised by it. She pushed her hair back and breathed in trying to consider if she'd made the right choice. She liked him so far, he was nice, he had a hobby she really liked, and he wasn't that bad looking either she realized. For someone who put so many things on her own body she noticed she didn't look at other people's all too often unless they were either really noticable or after a little while of talking with them, as she had now.

When he finally got his first sentence out she smiled, well at least he was hightailing it or anything. Even joking about bullfighting being a less dangerous job, she giggled and shook her head, "I...didn't do it because of the violence. I was...afraid of them, and I wanted to make sure that would never happen again. So, I did what I had to, and now I'm just where I am."

She looked down and put a hand in her hair twisting some of it up, "Listen I know it's not exactly a normal thing for someone to admit something like that so fast. So, I...I'm really trusting in you not to tell anyone this. It...it could put me in serious danger and...maybe I should have said anything but that's how it is ok?"

[Elijah Brooks]

When Mason laughs, the air tumbles out of her as attractively as birdsong. Relief washes over him in a sweet wave and paints a smile on his face, but his relief is short-lived. The more she talks, the more Eli realises where the source of the violence stems: fear. The guilt wrenches the corners of his lips down and he sighs through his nose. Eli watches her face, the agitation creeping into her movements as she tugs with her hair, and he realises what a complete and utter selfish jerk he’s being. She really did take a chance in sharing this with him and he reacted by thinking about how that news impacted him. Eli glances off in the distance for a moment before her words draw him back.

“No, it’s fine. Really. You just… You just surprised me is all it is.” Eli relaxes his grip on the sketchbook and it falls back into his lap; his sister’s gaze staring up at him. Eli lays a hand gently over the crown of her fingers and searches her blue eyes out from black hair and pained features. “I understand. I mean, it’s perfectly normal to be afraid of a predator. I don’t really like spiders,” he says and laughs dorkishly. “I won’t tell a soul. Scout’s honour.”

Eli does a quick impression of the three fingered salute, but he’s never been a Scout in his life so he has no idea how accurate his gesture is. He does intend to keep his promise, though. He gives her hand a light squeeze and then lifts it away; he has probably kept the contact going for a lot longer than what was considered polite. He looks back at his charcoal sketch with a bit of a sigh - Janette really wouldn’t approve of all this talk even if for a minute she believed in vampires and paladins, but Philippa just might. A new smile comes over his face as lightning strikes and he peels the paper back, opening a new page.

“Can I ask you something?” Eli says; his voice brimming with energy. He lifts his eyes from the empty canvas and looks at Macy with a grin. “Would it be ok if I draw you?”

[Mason]

She chuckled again when he mentioned the scouts salute and gave his own attempt to do it. While she wasn't quite sure he was the type to be a scout, it was still amusing and a comfort. The following hand squeeze was in its own way, though, it persisted longer then expected and she looked up wondering if it was intentional before he released it. He was an interesting fellow, she imagined many artists were though, even if only as a hobby. She had to wonder just what went on in people's heads at times.


Macy raised her eyebrows expectantly as he said he'd like to ask a question, then gave a nod if the expectent look wasn't enough. He certainly seemed very excited about it and it made her a little extra eager to know what it was he was about to ask.

“Would it be ok if I draw you?”

There was a pause as she collected exactly what was said before a smile spread across her face, "Oh absolutely!" she said joyfully, before hesitating, "Uhh, how would you want to do it? I haven't exactly been drawn before." she admitted. She was very interested to see how it would turn out, though, given it was a drawing it had to take a few minutes right.

[Elijah Brooks]

Some might say that Eli is a bit too brazen for his own good, but he never did like to assume too much. The easiest way to know where the line is drawn is to look for it and if it’s not visible, then the second best thing to do is ask where it is. If Macy is uncomfortable around him, Eli hasn’t noticed and he’s encouraged by her accepting his request to draw her that he doesn’t consider this concept again. He kicks up his knee, brings his ankle under the other knee, and rests the sketchpad along his thigh. This angle is far more comfortable for him to start drawing. He’s turned slightly toward Mason so he can share his intense focus between her and her soon to be charcoal reflection.

“Ok. So this may sound a bit strange, but I need you to trust me for a moment,” he begins with a gentle smile. “Close your eyes. Sit back. Now concentrate on your breathing for a minute. Listen as the air goes in through your nose and then out through your mouth. Feel it fill your lungs and raise your shoulders as you inhale and relax into the exhale.”

Eli picks up his charcoal pencil and begins to sketch the guidelines of Mason’s face, neck, and shoulders. He works on defining the shapes of her facial features, hairline, and the lapels of her coat as he speaks.

“Now, think about a place where you feel most comfortable. It can be the seaside, maybe you’re at home on the sofa, maybe you’re in a field somewhere, or maybe you’re in a park like this one. It's wherever you feel safe. Focus on it. Look around you. Where are you? What’s there?”

[Mason]

Macy took a deep breath In and out before shutting her eyes and trying to relax. Somewhere comfortable. Hmm, hard to answer. What would be the most pleasant place to be, think about it.
"A cliff, overlooking a forest and mountains in the distance, and a crystal lake beneath. And, behind me more woods, not densely packed, just enough to be somewhat shaded. Sun is just along the horizon. The air is crispl, and you can feel the life of the land. The way the water moves, the animals moving about, the soft earth and grass beneath and the way the cliff stones feel colder and sturdy."

It wasn't something she'd really done before, dreaming about where might be the most comfortable place to be. But the idea of being there gave her a great deal of joy, she could practically smell it, see it, feel it. Was this what people did when they meditated? Did they sit around imagining perfect comfort? If that was what they were doing she could understand why people did it then, it was remarkable. Was that how artists came up with things on their own? Or did it just come to them. She almost forgot exactly where she was really, only hearing the noises ever so slightly, sometimes incorperating them into her little world as she dreamed on.

[Elijah Brooks]

“That sounds beautiful,” he says softly; he doesn't want to disturb her daydream.

It really does sound like a wonderful place to be in and as she builds the picture up for him, he can imagine her standing there on the edge of that cliff face. The sun is warm and bright; it plants emeralds in the forest and scatters diamonds over the surface of the lake. The wind whistles through her hair, tugs it past her eyes so she can really appreciate the view below. The smile on her face is the same she's wearing in this moment; a look of complete contention. It's the look he's been hoping to capture; a new memory that can one day be a happy one to look back on.

Eli finishes filling in the details; sketching not just the physical beauty that is there but the feelings she's showing him. The final stages are in balancing the shadows and the light. Eli observes Macy through slightly closed eyes to match the tones. He strengthens the details of her features and deepens the surrounding tones by smudging and erasing. Some of the larger areas of tone around the forehead, cheeks, chin, and neck are gently darkened with graduated shading using soft charcoal and a blending stump. The smaller, sharper details are gently blended into and balanced with the softer areas of tone that surround them. Eli builds up the strands and locks of her hair with a hard charcoal pencil, using rhythmic lines that follow the style of the bob cut. Then, using a soft charcoal stick and blending stump, he smudges a layer of shading over the hair to enhance its volume.

Eli chooses to leave the shoulders unfinished as he feels that further detail may detract from the focal point of Macy's face. Some artists choose to be dramatic with the use of chalk for the highlights, but he prefers the natural fleshy tones of his sketchbook paper and adds extra shading for the contrast. When he's happy with the image, he takes a moment to compare it with his model. He's worried about what she might think, but he's also pretty proud too. Mason does look stunning in charcoal.

“You. Uh. Can look now. If you'd like,” he murmurs, turning the book over to her.

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