pictures in the park

who: cheyenne and jenny
where: fontaine park
when: afternoon

Today had been a good day for Jenny. She woke up, showered, ate, cleaned a little around the house, talked to Jackson and finished whatever other things she had set out to day. Now, in the lull of early afternoon boredom, she found herself actually wanting to wander out side. So, grabbing her purse and slipping on her warm sweater, she locked the apartment and left the building.

She had no actual destination and just found herself honestly wandering. It was a nice enough day out, she figured - cool with winter, but bright with the sun. Within twenty minutes of walking, she found herself in the Fontaine Park and smiled a little to herself. Jackson used to take her there a lot when she was younger and she had always enjoyed it, enjoyed the feeling of freedom the large park gave her. Smiling a little wider, Jenny made her way over to a park bench just in time to hear a tell-tale snap-click of a camera snapping a picture. She blinked and looked around.

Cheyenne paused to wind her film, and smiled at the girl she'd just taken a shot of as she looked over. "Hello." she greeted, walking closer. "I hope you don't mind. I'm just kind of taking a few pictures of the park today, and I liked the image of you walking there." she explained. "I'm a photographer. Sort of. I'm trying to be." she added, then recognized the fact that she might have been rambling just slightly. So, she stopped, and hoped that the girl didn't look at her like she was insane.

Despite herself, Jenny's mouth turned into a little smile. Well, this was one way to get used to people again. She ducked her head and shook it, blonde hair swaying with the movement. Shyly, she looked back up. "No, I, ah," she paused, then tried again. "It's alright," she said. Then, she moved her purse and made some room if the other girl wanted to sit down on the bench. "Do you, do you mind if I ask what else you've taken? Or what you're interested in taking? There used to be some really pretty places here. I could show you some if you want..." She trailed off, feeling her cheeks heat up.

Sitting down, Cheyenne smiled sweetly. "Sure! I'd love to see whatever you'd want to share." she said. "And all sorts of things. People, places, objects, interestingly shaped burn patterns on walls, cracks in glass, birds...I'm sort of open when it comes to what might catch my interest." she explained, glad she wasn't being looked at like she was a weirdo. She reached up to tuck her white hair behind her ears, and noticed the other girl blushing. She was especially cute, she had to admit. Was she just shy? She'd have to figure that one out. It had been known to happen that some women didn't take very well to other women finding them cute, so she didn't want to say anything and risk alienating her straight out the gate.

Jenny nodded. "I see... I don't know if it's still there, but there was this statue I saw a while ago... really made an impression on me." She shifted a little and stood, hooking her purse onto her shoulder. "Um, wanna see? It's probably covered in ice this time of the year, if it's still there. So, um." She ducked her head again, embarrassed. It shouldn't be this hard to talk with someone who seemed to be a lot younger than her.

"Why I'd love to!" Cheyenne said, standing right back up again. "Statues covered in ice are always pretty." she added. She had a few of them around the city snapped, though she hadn't developed the film yet. "What's your name?" she asked, at the last second cutting 'pretty girl' off of the end of the statement. Must behave, must behave. she told herself. And she would, she just had to edit herself a little bit. It had been nicer last time she'd been at a Walker party...she'd had enough drinks in her to not care if she might catch someone off guard.

"Jenny Haas," Jenny introduced, shifting her weight on her hips and holding out her hand politely. She smiled brightly, if a little shyly.

Cheyenne took the girl's hand and shook it, giving her a wink. "Mine's Cheyenne Walker." she said. "Nice to meet you, sweetie." she continued, actually giving into her nature a little more, because the little thing just seemed so shy, maybe if she were a little more engaging and dynamic, it would help her out. and if it didn't work she could always dial it back again, right? Sure thing. "So, there's pretty ice covered statues you wanted to show me! Want to tell me about yourself while we walk?" she invited.

"Oh-oh, it's nice to meet you," she said. Blushing a little, Jenny began to walk towards the west section of the park, Cheyenne following. About herself? Well, there were a lot of things she wouldn't say, but she could say, "Well, I'm twenty-seven. I work for the Echo. My brother is a police officer. I like to read and write. Also, I like the color you get when you mix yellow and purple paint." She turned her head to look at the younger girl. "You?"

"Oh really? The Echo?" Cheyenne said latching onto that. "That's pretty fabulous. What do you write? Do you have a collumn or something?" she asked. Not that she actually read the paper. Or, she did sometimes, but usually only when she was eating alone at a diner or something, and was bored enough to look through. The news was always depressing, so...she kind of avoided. "And a police officer? That's cool. I met one not too long back. Danny McKinnon?" she asked, if the girl might recognize the name. Then she laughed. "Kind of a rich brown?" she asked. "You do a lot of paint mixing?" she asked. "And me...just kind of a photographer in the making. I used to model, but I got a bit tired of the things that went with it, so I've been trying to get out of it." she explained, even if there was more to the explanation than that.

"Oh, I just write stories - ones for kids and teenagers to read when their parents finish the paper." Jenny pursed her lips and paused mid-step. "Danny McKinnon... I think he's my brother's partner," she said and continued walking. "His name sounds familiar, anyway." A smile pulled at her lips again. "No, not really. Just whenever my mom visits and says we need to paint together. And being a photographer sounds fun. How long have you been taking pictures?"

"He'd be really cute if he smiled more often." Cheyenne assessed of Danny. "And you're a writer? That's really awesome!" she said enthusiastically. "I'll have to look the stories up, I like to read." she said. And she did, she had free time, after all. More than she knew what to do with, lately. "I've been taking pictures for a while. Not as long as I've been in front of the camera, or more, I sort of didn't work on my own photography that much when I was modeling. I was too busy. So I'm taking the time to re-focus as it were, and to use a really bad pun." she added, tucking her hair behind her ears again. "What kind of stories do you write?" she asked.

Jenny shrugged at the comment on Danny, but nodded a moment later. "They're kind of fantasy. You know, Tolkienish?" She blushed at the description, then hastily commented, "Do you like modeling or taking pictures more?"

"Tolkienish?" Cheyenne asked, looking a little blank. She didn't recognize it so much, so she felt a little dim, like she should know. "Fantasy, like...other worlds and things?" she asked. "And I like taking pictures more. Modeling...it was alright for a while but...well..." she gave a little half smile and laughed a bit. "It's kind of a long story. I'll tell you if you want to know, but I'm just warning you first." she said, in the interest of not boring someone to death with details they didn't want. In her experience, people didn't actually want to know. Not really.

"J.R.R Tolkien? He wrote a book called The Hobbit. It's a nice read," Jenny said, nodding once. "But, yea, 'other words and things.'" She turned her head to meet Cheyenne's eyes again. "No, it's alright. It sounds like a personal story and, well, we're pretty much strangers." Besides, it might make her feel obligated to tell some of her more personal stories. Then, her footsteps stilled and her face lit up. "Oh," she breathed as she halted. "We're here!"

Before them stood a massive statue of a half broken swan, poised as if taking flight from the water. Icicles dripped down from its beak and wing tips. "Ooh, I can't believe it's still here!" Jenny grinned, looking far younger in that moment than she had since she met Cheyenne.

And there it was. The dismissal that Cheyenne was pretty much used to. Especially with the kinds of people her family mixed with. People who were really only half listening at the best of times, and were just smiling and nodding long enough that they had their obligatory greetings in then they went off to talk to more 'important' people. But it wasn't just her family, she knew. It was more or less everyone. No one wanted to know someone else's story. Or, more, she viewed it as no one seemed to but her. She wanted to know people's stories. She wanted to know people, period.

She hid her disappointment, however, and it was easy to do, because she smiled immediately and brightly at the statue. She'd seen it before, of course, but it was especially gorgeous today and she didn't have any pictures of it. "It's beautiful." she told Jenny, a grateful note to her voice. "I love it, it most certainly does deserve to have a whole bunch of pictures taken of it!" she said, walking closer, so she could start snapping shots and winding film. "Maybe I'll do a series."

Jenny smiled brightly at Cheyenne, arms held behind her back and spinned in a slow circle, her skirt fanning out enough to show some skin at her shins. She bounced once on her toes in place in childish delight. A distant part of her told her to tone it down some because Cheyenne would soon see that there was something wrong with her - something cracked and broken, damaged from what happened twelve years ago, but she was just so pleased to be able to make someone smile with something as simple as showing them a ruined statue.

"I'm glad," she said happily. "I know some other ones, too, around the city. There's one of those women pouring water fountains near the Echo that's pretty. Oh, and the statue of Saint Michael pushing Lucifer into Hell near the St. Peter's Cathedral. My mom loves that one best."

"I'll have to make a point to go see them." Cheyenne said, not really tagging Jenny's behavior as 'odd'. Of course, she was busy taking pictures of the statue, as well. "I don't know if I've seen the one near the Cathedral. I wasn't really much for religion, growing up and neither was my family. So, it kind of got passed over, as it were. It sure sounds interesting, though, I'll definitely have to see it." she said, thinking maybe she should do a whole series of statues, in general. It would be interesting, anyways. She liked the idea. "Thank you for sharing! This'll give me something to do for a while." she said, looking over at Jenny again and grinning brightly.

Smiling, Jenny nodded. "You're welcome. Glad to help."

Cheyenne looked back over at Jenny as she smiled. "Mind if I take one more shot of such a pretty girl?" she asked. "With the backdrop of the statue?" she backed up, working on a framing in her mind, so she'd need to move over if it was going to line up right, in case Jenny actually agreed. She really hoped she did.

"Um," Jenny hesitated for a moment, then nodded, moving and standing in front of the statue, a small smile on her lips. "Sure. This okay?"

Cheyenne eyed up the scene, then Jenny again, then smiled and nodded. "Perfect." she told the girl. She snapped a shot, wound, then lined up another. "Can you look up that way?" she asked, pointing. "Towards the sky. Any expression you want, you don't have to put on a smile." she explained.

Remembering an old film poster she saw once, Jenny looked upwards, a curious expression on her face - a reminisce of someone contemplating the heavens.

Lining up the shot, Cheyenne again took her time, and got what she wanted, pushing in a little closer to Jenny, though she could still get the statue behind her as well as the expression Jenny was giving. "Perfect!" she told the girl, smiling as she wound the film again. "Very nice indeed. Thanks so much for humoring me." she said. "I'm sure these'll come out lovely."

"You're welcome," Jenny said with a laugh and approached Cheyenne. "Do you mind if I take a picture of you? I'm sure it won't be nearly as nice as your picture, but..." She shrugged her shoulders a little. "I know how to use a camera. My mom used to let me take pictures when I was younger - took pictures of everything: her, my brothers, my daddy, things inside and outside of the house. Besides," she added, "it would be a waste if you didn't get a picture of yourself with the statue. Please?" She flashed Cheyenne a warm, pleading smile.

Cheyenne laughed a little and handed over the camera. "If you insist." she said. "And interesting that you used to take pictures. Why'd you stop?" she asked, walking over towards the statue. "Where do you want me?" she asked, figuring that Jenny would be giving her direction, and she planned to follow it. Even if she didn't really want a picture of herself, so much. There were plenty of pictures in the world of her. She didn't need any more. Though this one would be a bit different than the others, certainly.

"Over here." Accepting the camera, Jenny pointed towards the front of the statue, moving to stand by it as well, but with a decent amount of space to give Cheyenne room and to have enough distance to take the picture. "As for why I stopped, I never really into it in the first place. I mean, it's nice nice enough, but it never was something I was all that interested in. I'd rather have written stories, you know. Anyway," she lifted the camera, "ready? Stand however you want, but smile like you mean it!" She said, looking from behind the camera with a grin.

Cheyenne did as instructed, and she looked over at Jenny, smiling with a big, genuine smile. Like she was happy. She drew it from her modeling days, where she needed to come up with certain emotions or expressions on command. It worked well enough for her, really. She hadn't got to be a model because she was bad at it, after all.

Lining up the shot, Jenny waited a moment, then snapped the picture. She lowered the camera and rewound it, stepping over to Cheyenne with the camera held out. She handed it back with a small, shy smile. "Thanks for letting me take one," she said, feeling her cheeks heat up.

"No problem at all, sweetie." Cheyenne said. "Maybe I'll see you again sometime and I'll talk you into taking more." she said, giving her a wink. "Though for now, I suppose I should get going. And I don't want to keep you, I totally derailed whatever you were doing here in the first place!" she said, which was true. She didn't want to be rude, after all. "But it was really nice meeting you." she added.

"I was just walking," Jenny said. "If anything, you helped me out. But, yes," she nodded, "I should get going, too. My brother's supposed to be getting off work soon and he worries." After a moment of uncertainty, she held out her hand to Cheyenne. "It was great meeting you, Cheyenne. Hopefully we'll run into each other again soon."