A Little Bit of Everything

Who: Emily and Lily
Where: Fontaine Park
When: Early Afternoon

“I still haven’t decided on a dress for this gala,” Emily sighed after she snapped a picture of Lily sitting on the park bench with a polka-dotted umbrella opened to shade her face. She was using primary colors and simple patterns in the shoot – like the polka dots – which Emily was certain would look lovely in the stark black and white. “I just want to throw everything out that I see.” Lining up from a different angle she took another shot. It was a beautiful day, the birds chirping and it was just the two of them again having what she hoped was a good time. Thoughts of the man with the glass eye still weighed on her as she contemplated asking Lily for advice on the whole situation. She wasn’t sure what to make of it still.

The awkwardness Lily had felt when Emily had first pulled out her camera had diminished now and it was starting to feel natural to pause the conversation they were having as another shot was taken, even fun. "You'll look lovely whatever you wear," she reassured the blonde when she got close enough for her voice to be heard. "Have you not got anything you like?"

Emily leaned against the park bench and wound the film up, having reached the end of the roll. “I do, just nothing seems to fit. Too fancy, not fancy enough. And then what color to wear. I was thinking peach or blue but I don’t like my blue dresses right now and the peach makes me look fat.” It was a simple problem, girl problems that seemed to feel so easy that she may have focused on a little more than she really intended to.

"I refuse to believe that," Lily chastised gently. "But if you have nothing you like we could go and look for something?" she offered, indicating with the umbrella in the vague direction of the dress shops she and Vera tended to frequented. She could probably use something new herself, she was accompanying one her favourite clients to the gala and he always liked to see her in something different.

Emily’s dresses were all couture, a Walker having nothing less than the best, but the idea of a proper shopping trip seemed like a fun idea. “I think I’d like that,” she told Lily with a smile and started loading in a new canister of film. “Have you ever seen a tall man with a glass eye around?” she asked suddenly, curiosity getting the better of her. She doubted it. Emily herself had been all around the city and had never seen the man before. “Tall, kind of rough looking?” Well, that wasn’t very specific. Plenty of people looked rough looking.

Glad her suggestion seemed to have caught Emily's interest, Lily smiled and watched with interest as the camera was reloaded. It didn't falter at the question that followed though the sudden change of topic caught her a little off guard and her head tilted slightly in curiosity. "I don't think so," she said, moving to sit on the back rest of the bench. "Charlie's boss has a glass eye but I doubt he's the only one in the city with one." He had told her a little about Mac when she'd asked about his job and that detail had stuck with her.

“Really? Where does Charlie work?” Charlie… had Lily mentioned a Charlie before? Emily wasn’t quite sure and she thought she’d remember something like that. And while Lily was right, Charlie’s boss probably wasn’t the only one in the city with a glass eye, she at least had a place to start.

"A bar called the One More Round, it's in the Sprawl," Lily replied, wobbling slightly on her narrow perch before she hooked one foot underneath the seat of the bench so she couldn't topple backwards. "Why'd you ask?"

“I ran into a man the other day and he knew my mother. Very well, actually. He seemed kind of shocked at my existence and ran off. It got me curious.” Moving away from the bench she fiddled with the camera a bit. “You don’t have to sit like that anymore if you don’t want to. You could just sit normally.” A grin spread across her face and she moved towards some bushes by the bench. “I can spy on you. That might look interesting.” It also left her with a slightly uncomfortable feeling and she instinctively glanced around before looking back at Lily.

Noticing the past tense, it occurred to Lily that Emily had never mentioned her mother when talking about family and her smile dimmed a little as she realised the implications. She didn't press the issue though, knowing her own reluctance to talk about family who had passed and did as suggested, unfolding herself and sitting back on the bench normally. Well almost normally, instead she sat sideways, one leg stretched out in front of her on the bench and the other resting on the floor. "The past isn't always easy to deal with, especially when it catches you by surprise," she pointed out, repositioning the umbrella so she could see Emily in the bushes.

Getting down gingerly on her knees, Emily focused in. She felt a bit silly there in the bushes but she wanted interesting angles. “That’s perfect,” she praised. “I suppose not. I was just so surprised and he looked so surprised and then poof! He was gone.” She remembered the tang of smoke and alcohol coming from him and she had wondered if he’d been in a bar, but a bar owner with a glass eye? How many of those were there. Not many, she was willing to bet.

Lily flushed a little at the slight praise but kept her head up, resting the arm that wasn't holding the umbrella along the back-rest. "Are you going to go speak to him then?" she called, hoping her voice would carry over to where Emily was crouched. "Assuming this guy is the same one who you spoke to."

“I don’t know,” Emily said after a moment. Where was the One More Round anyway? She knew she could find someone to point her in the direction, but it was in the Sprawl, someplace she really hadn’t ventured into. “He knows about my mother and maybe my father too and the way he talked about her…” there had been something in his voice, something that spoke of more than just old friends and memories. “I’d get a real story out of him.”

"You know it might not be a story you like don't you?" Lily pointed out, not caring about the photos for a moment as she kneeled up on the bench and leant towards her. "If he ran off you like you said." Because she knew first hand how painful stories about long absent mothers could be and unconsciously her hand went to her throat.

Emily looked up at her, Lily’s red hair vibrant in the sunlight and she wanted to look away because it suddenly felt like she was being judged. Not in a mean way, but with Lily’s ominous warning she felt like it was something sent from on high. Don’t go seeking the past, you won’t like it at all. So instead she took a picture of Lily sitting like that in lieu of an answer because she didn’t have one.

The lack of reply was disconcerting and Lily got off the bench to go kneel beside the other girl. "I'm not saying you shouldn't go looking for him," she said, resting her hand on Emily's arm. "I'm just saying that you might not like what he has to tell you. Truth can be a bitch that way."

“I know. Believe me, I know.” She’d been tricked and rused and manipulated before and she hadn’t liked it one bit. “But I can’t… I can’t not go. I can’t not find out what made him so nervous. If he doesn’t want to talk to me, that’s fine, but I can’t not try.” She gave Lily a hint of a smile and nudged her shoulder against hers. “I’ve never heard you swear I don’t think.”

"I understand," the red head said, knowing she'd feel the same if their situations were reversed. She did however blush at being called on for swearing and this time she did duck her head. She made a point of not cursing around clients, after all they expected a certain type of behaviour from her, and while Emily no longer fell in to that group, she was still a society girl so Lily tried to act accordingly. "Sorry," she said, looking through her hair at the blonde.

“Oh, no need to apologize,” Emily chuckled lightly and gave Lily a smile. “I’ve heard much worse, I assure you. It’s just funny to hear you swear.”

Lily smiled back with a sense of relief; the more she got to know Emily, the less and less the blonde seemed to fit the society girl label and she found it only made her more likable. “Alright then,” she said, standing back up and brushing her knees up. “Funny huh? Because of the voice?”

Emily shook her head, relieved herself that Lily didn’t seem upset but the observation either. Lily was surely intriguing, not quite a constant contradiction but Emily felt that she was always discovering something new about the redhead who she had grown quite attached to. “You just look too sweet to do so,” Emily said and followed her up. “You’re always surprising me.”

“Well you’ve only ever seen me in a good mood,” Lily pointed out, amused that Emily and Charlie both had the same impression of her. “Believe when I say I’m not always like this.” Her smile grew at the compliment though, thankfully this time it didn’t make her blush. “Thanks. I mean, I’m assuming you meant it as a good thing.”

Emily giggled and nodded, glancing down at her camera and fiddling with some settings and adjustments. “It’s a good thing. Keeps me on my toes.” A blush spread over her cheeks and Emily suddenly felt very bashful.

The blush was endearing and Lily’s smile blossomed into a full on grin. “Well I’m happy to oblige then Miss Walker,” she said and spying a tree not far off she headed towards it. If Emily liked her being surprising she was going to do just that and setting down the umbrella, she grabbed hold of a low branch and pulled herself up on to it.

Emily hurried after her, not realizing what Lily was up to as she strode over to the tree. While Emily could be a surprising individual, she was still a proper society girl at heart and the grip on her camera tightened somewhat as she watched Lily climb up into the tree. “Oh! Be careful!” she warned. Never in her life had she climbed a tree. She had a cousin who did once when they were young and he had ended up breaking his leg. “What on earth are you doing, Lily?”

“Being surprising,” Lily replied, laughing a little as she did so, trying to remember the last time she’d actually done this. “And I thought it might make an interesting photo for you.” The sun light was being broken up the tree’s spring leaves and left everything dappled with soft green light.

Shaking her head in amusement, Emily began taking shots as Lily swung up into the tree, excited and amused by the antics and pleased by the shots she was getting. “Don’t worry about looking at the camera,” she assured. “This is really good!”

The hem of her dress caught a small branch and tore a little as Lily pulled herself up to standing but she didn’t care, instead holding onto the trunk and leaning out so she could feel the breeze move through her hair. “I’m glad,” she called down. She was tempted to bring Emily up there with her but she doubted how well the other girl would fair with climbing.

Emily, for her part, could not climb a tree nearly as well and would’ve been incredibly nervous to do so. She was quite content to have her two feet on the ground, getting the very different angles from Lily’s joy of being up in the tree. “Be careful!” she warned, nervousness in her voice. She was so afraid that Lily might fall.

“I’ll be fine I promise,” Lily said looking down at the blonde, grin shifting into a reassuring smile. There was no missing the nervousness in Emily’s voice though and after a few more shots had been taken, she made her way back down to solid ground, the small rip in her skirt and a few leaves caught in her hair the only signs of her little excursion.

Emily grabbed a few shots of Lily climbing down and one where she was regaining her balance. Pleased with the outcome she started winding the film back once more. “I think that’s enough of the park. We could go take more or go off to get something to eat and shopping?” It wasn’t that Emily was tired of taking pictures, but she was worried that Lily might like a break. It was far different than a studio setting after all.

“I could definitely eat,” Lily replied, brushing herself down and extracting the foliage from her hair. “But we can do take more photos afterwards if you want.” After all that was the reason they’d come out today.

Nodding, Emily went to retrieve her camera bag by their other things and put the film and camera back in it. “Definitely. But for now, I think I could use a break. There’s this lovely little bistro nearby.” They’d re-energize and then get back to shooting and then Emily would see where the day would take them after that.