2019-07-12 - A Walk on the Beach

It was a pretty morning, despite the heat. Justin had work to do and Dahlia decided to get out of the house before having to work tonight herself. The fresh air would be good. She had decided to go down to the beach and walk along it. Not quite in the mood for swimming, but a walk would be nice. She had her sandals hanging from her left hand as she walked along one of the sandy streps - wiggling her toes between the sand. Her hair was pulled back and she wore a light green halter top with a pair of black cloth shorts. There was a jagged sort of scar healing on her left shoulder. If one looked up close it might almost be reminiscent of teeth marks underneath the stitch the job.

Gray Harbor had a lot of interesting places to roam, which suited Eli just fine. Not many days went by where he didn't get off his ass and hike somewhere. Often it was just around the streets, but he preferred to get out of the town proper when time allowed for it. This morning was one of those times - and he wasn't alone on his little adventure, walking along the rocky beach with Genevieve at his side, enjoying the breeze that comes off the water to tame the heat of the morning a bit. He's dressed for the weather, wearing black knee length shorts, belted and a light, short sleeved button up shirt that's pale blue. He leans down and picks up a stone, sending it skipping along the water with a quick flick of his wrist. "I used to spend hours down here as a kid. I'm not sure skipping stones was all that exciting, but it was something simple I could focus on." And not darker thoughts, he leaves unsaid. It's about then that he notices the shape of Dahlia not too far off and points her out to Eve, heading in that direction. "Morning, Dahlia."

Genevieve isn't used to oceans like this, hers has soft sand and a lot of sunlight and blue skies. She wasn't sure of the dress code, but the warmth of the morning made her choose a vibrant red bikini top and a pair of jean shorts. She keeps up with Eli, glancing out at the water before she responds. "The sound of the water would be the reason I'd stay down here, you'll have to teach me how to skip stones though." She waves to Dahlia when Eli points her out and follows him in her direction.

Dahlia's gaze lifts from the water to the pair as Eli called out to her. She lifted her hand in a wave. A light smile on her lips. As they neared each other - both of them would notice that since the last time they had seen her, Dahlia had a very faint sort of glow, or shine. However they percieved those who Gimmered, it appeared that Dahlia did now too. Her own gaze lingered on them for a long moment, maybe a fleeting look of confusion before it passed and tried to shake off whatever it was that was rolling around her head and refocused on their faces. "Mornin' you two. Pretty weather draw you over this way too?"

"The sound. The smell. The feel of the breeze off the water. A lot of reasons to spend time down here - so long as you're not looking to build too many sand castles." Eli replies to Eve, looking across the rather rocky expanse of beach. They close the distance to where Dahlia is standing, his eyes narrowing just a fraction when they approach - first on her face, then her shoulder and back to her face. Then his expression softens. "Good morning. Dahlia - I heard about your mother. I'm sorry. That was so fast." Whether it being fast was considered good or bad is hard to say from his tone, though his sympathy seems deeply sincere. "I hadn't heard yet when you were in the store the other day." He adds by way of apology for not saying anything sooner. "And, yeah. It's a perfect morning to walk down here. Before it gets too hot."

"You'd think this would be a perfect place to make sand castles." Genevieve mutters under her breath, her eyes sweeping out to the water as they join Dahlia. When she looks back, she does a quick double take before she gazes steadily at Dahlia. "Pretty weather and the need to get out before the storms roll in, how are you doing Dahlia?" She sighs and steps in to give her a quick, gentle hug. "I'm sorry about your mother, Dahlia. How are you holding up?"

Dahlia's smile falters just a touch at the talk of her mother and then she puts the smile back on. "It's okay. Thank you both. It was...very fast. But I try to remember that she isn't suffering anymore." She brushed back a few strands of hair. "I'm staying with Justin for now. Well, he asked me to move in so I'm going to take him up on it. Deal with the trailer and her things in time..." Shaking her head a bit and accepting the hug from Eve. "I've been...okay. Staying busy with work and I may have gone on a minor pot bender to block everything out. But I'm working on facing it all now."

Eli reaches down to take up another stone, but he doesn't toss it, just rolls it around in his fingers while they stand there by the edge of the water. "If we can do anything, well, just let us know. I know that losing a parent can be difficult. Taking a few days and blocking everything out is entirely reasonable. Face it all when you're ready. It can take awhile to process." He replies quietly. Eli sets a hand lightly on Eve's back when she leans back from hugging Dahlia, eyes shifting to Dahlia's shoulder again and then looking briefly toward Genevieve before speaking again. "Has anything else been bothering you?" He ventures.

Eli is saying everything that she would be saying so Genevieve just looks around at the beach, taking in the new spot. She glances back at Dahlia when she mentions her new living situation, offering her a smile. "It's important to be around people who are supportive, so it's good that you're going to be staying with Justin." She blinks at Eli when he asks the question, and then her eyes are drawn to Dahlia's shoulder. She presses her lips together, hopefully squirrels don't come up again.

"I'm hoping my brothers will come in to town soon...so we can figure out funeral stuff..."Dahlia shook her head again, not wanting to dwell on it. "I will let you guys know, of course." If there was anything they could do. "He's been really great. And I've always hated that trailer...so I think it's a good step." Rubbing the back of her neck. Looking between the pair, studying them and carefully considering how she wants to answer Eli's question. "...There have been a couple strange things but...I think it's just my mind playing tricks on me from like stress or something."

"But you haven't had strange mind tricks happen before while living here?" Eli asks, taking a slow breath and then he grabs at the hem of his own shirt and pulls it up to reveal the bare skin beneath - and he's not just giving Dahlia a show! The wound that he displays on his side is mostly healed, but it's still visible and irregular and certainly could have been caused by teeth if you wanted to imagine that. He looks toward Genevieve to see if she has anything to add to the demonstration before speaking. "Not from a squirrel."

Genevieve has clammed up, she's visibly nervous and when Eli shows Dahlia the scar from their encounter, she hisses out a warning. She might have tried to keep him from showing the remnants of the wound he received, but it's too late now. Her own wounds are carefully covered up, and despite the solidarity of the moment, she doesn't want to share. "Eli.." She says quietly, worried eyes on Dahlia. "..don't push." Her gaze stays on Dahlia to see her reaction, not wanting her to get frightened away.

"Not until my dream..." Dahlia was silent, bright green eyes drifting down towards the wound that Eli showed her. There was a touch of tenseness, of caution, that creeped in as she looked from Eli to Eve and then back. She maybe looks a little hesitant herself but is holding it together pretty well. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, she speaks. "...It wasn't a dream...was it?"

Eli's lips are in a thin line, eyes focused on Genevieve. "I'm not - we can't just not say anything." He insists, well aware that Dahlia is standing right there. "I think we both know this isn't easier if you're left to deal with it yourself. We can help?" His tone imploring. He turns his eyes back to Dahlia, though he seems to hesitate a bit on exactly how to respond to Dahlia's question. Finally he shakes his head. "It was a dream. But, also not." So very insightful.

Genevieve clenches her jaw, her eyes narrowed on Eli. "Nous ne sommes pas des enseignants. Nous savons à peine ce qui se passe." Her voice is quiet and tense, and when she looks at Dahlia again, she sighs, nodding her agreement with Eli, but it's reluctant. She obviously isn't happy about discussion of dreams, even in the bright light of day. She glances away from both of them, her eyes on the water.

Dahlia just gave a little nod, looking down to her shoulder a moment. Then back to them. Her expression is rather blank. As if trying to figure out what to say or do. "...I always knew there was something fucked with this town." She settles on finally. "...At least I'm not going crazy." She seems to be fine leaving it at that, noting that Genevieve doesn't appear to want to talk about things. And she isn't particularly ready to add even more things to ponder about. "If anything else crazy happens I'll let you know." A beat of pause. "I'm glad you're okay." Nodding towards where he had shown his wound.

"Nous ne pouvons pas la laisser être seule." Eli replies, but he doesn't seem to disagree with what Genevieve says, nodding to her and briefly closing his eyes before focusing them back on Dahlia. "You're not going crazy." He's comfortable assuring her of that. Or not any more crazy than half the town is. "This town has something about it. Just, take care of yourself. It's easy to feel very much alone, but it doesn't have to be the case." This is shared as though it's some great secret that Eli had perhaps only learned recently. He presses his hand a bit deeper against Eve's back and shakes his head. "It's good that you're getting things sorted out. Life has to go on even when it seems the hardest." He pushes the conversation back away from the details of the dreams to more generalities.

Genevieve turns to look at Dahlia, a wan smile on her lips. "We still have to do dinner." She really doesn't want to talk about the weird, but she still seems to want to talk. "Text me when you and Justin have some free time, and hopefully the weather will favor us." She doesn't move away from Eli, giving him a brief look before she opens her mouth to speak, whatever she was going to say, she changes her mind and then she nods. "Taking care of yourself is the most important thing, and you are welcome to call either of us, anytime. If you need anything."

Dahlia gives a wry smile, maybe not completely sure that she isn't going crazy, but nods. "I will be careful. And try to remember I'm not alone." Then looked towards Eve with another smile, this one a bit more genuine. "Yes. I'll talk to him and text you soon. Dinner will be fun. I'm going to the trailer in a day or two maybe, so I'll find the recipe for that macaroni salad too." Lacing her fingers together. "I'll be back by the shop soon to restock. This time everything will last longer though." She laughs. "Things will be better. I'm just taking it all one step at a time."

"Yes. I'm sure you're busy dealing with everything, but this is a good time to get out and spend an evening with friends." Eli offers, nodding along with the talk of dinner. "Have some good food and a couple drinks and laugh a little. Despite difficult times it's still summer time and worth enjoying." For a moment it looks like Eli has another question on his lips, but perhaps thinks better of it and tosses the stone that's in his hand once before snapping his wrist and sending it skittering across the water, hopping several times before it eventually sinks. "Oh, I know we talked about language practice too. I'm terrible about following up, but we can still set something up." Things to focus on aside from dream creatures with too many teeth.

"If you need anyone to go with you to help you pack things up, let me know." Genevieve murmurs to Dahlia, turning her blue eyes on Eli when he offers language practice. She smiles at Dahlia and nods. "We got more bath bombs in yesterday, a few new kinds which.. will likely be nice for the summer?" She steps away from the pair, not going far, looking for flat rocks to attempt to skip. She kneels down, picking up a broken shell, turning it over in her hands.

"I appreciate it. It's gong to be a multi-trip thing I'm sure. I'll let you know." Dahlia agreed. "Perfect. I have one bath bomb left, so I'll get a couple more. I know Justin wants to try one some time too. So this way he can." She mused and then flashed another smile towards Eli. "Spending time with friends is always a good way to liven the spirits. And I'd love to set something up. You'll have to give me your vault of languages so I can pick one to start improving on."

"French, German and Spanish are really my best. But, I can string together sentences in a lot of others as well. I guess once you learn a few they all start to make sense." Eli says, leaning down to find himself another stone - nice and flat and smooth and ideal for skipping. "You've never skipped a stone, Genevieve?" He asks her, picking up on her comment from just before they'd met up with Dahlia. "I've sent so many to a watery grave. Helps when you have a beach like this with no lack of candidates."

Genevieve shakes her head at Eli, getting to her feet, the broken shell still in her hand. "My time at the beach back home was mostly just swimming and sunning." She turns the shell over in her hand, fidgeting slowly as she smiles toward Dahlia. "I have a jeep, and I'm happy to help you move things if you need the help. You've only to let me know." She rubs her thumb over the slick inner part of the shell, playing with the jagged edge. "I'll set aside some new things for you before they get sold out."

A thoughtful noise. "Maybe Spanish. I could always get better." She decided and nodded to Eve. "Perfect." Offering up a smile. "On both counts." Glancing up towards the sky a moment and then back to them. "I think I'm going to head back to the house before I get burned to a crisp. Don't wanna have a burn while I'm working tonight. But I'm glad I ran into you both. I'll be in touch soon about dinner."

Eli fires his rock into the water, this time it only skips once before it sinks. He frowns at it. Damn rock. He turns toward Dahlia and nods. "Glad to have run into you, Dahlia. Like we said, you know where to find us if you need anything. And look forward too seeing you and Justin at the house for dinner soon."

"Be well Dahlia, maybe I'll stop by to see you at the Club tonight." Genevieve tosses away the shell, and when it hits a rock it breaks again. She wrinkles her nose and aims her eyes at the ground as she looks for shells that are whole and not jagged. "I look forward to hearing from you!" She says in Dahlia's direction. Score. She finds her shell.