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 Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:43 pm
She had a lot of free time, anymore. Elke fiddled with the knobs on the ancient Polaroid camera. It'd been ages since she'd taken it out; it'd been half because of her in-patient treatment, and another half because nothing in it made her happy anymore. Today, for the first time in forever, she'd felt a need to go out there and produce something, anything. Get back on track with her life. Forget the senshi thing for real, forget the Surrounding, forget all of it... Nearby, a bird sat on a branch, its bright blue feathers popping out of the greenery like a punch to the retina. It had been dry, of late, and though the leaves were still green they were crisper and browner than they ought to be. Elke raised the camera and centered the bird in her sights, lowered it and changed the focus until the leaves blurred behind her subject. Finally satisfied with the image she saw, she depressed the shutter. The bird startled at the noise and spread its blue-mantled wings, flying away. Too bad, she thought, shaking her photo and waiting for it to develop. She would've liked to get another picture.
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Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 8:29 pm
Normally, Colin didn't have much free time, but since he'd gotten a really bad sprain a few days earlier and couldn't dance for at least a full week...he was making the best of his free time while he had it. The blond had dusted off his digital camera (he preferred using actual film but he'd spent a lot of money to get a DSLR digital camera for graduation and he loved the hell out of it) and had decided to go to the park and see if he couldn't get some nature shots..or just people watch. He limped around for a while, took some photos, and eventually got distracted for a moment watching a pretty girl with an old polaroid camera setting up carefully for a shot. Whatever she was shooting, he didn't want to disturb it, so he went very still and waited for the sound of the shutter and spin of the film ejecting before moving again. The bird that was disturbed flitted by and he caught a glimpse of brilliant blue. Too bad I didn't get a shot too."Hey, I thought I was the only person out today taking pictures." Colin was careful to present himself as someone that was harmless, he didn't want to distress her at all if possible. "I'm Colin. Colin Hargrove." Because he was friendly. Also, he was trying very hard to keep himself from reaching for her, from being handsy the way he always wanted to.
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Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 11:05 pm
Elke turned to face the stranger talking to her. He looked familiar... something in the nose-face-area rung a weird hind-brain sort of bell, she thought. If only she could put her finger on it. "It's nice to meet you," she said. "Elke Arma." She offered her hand to shake his, letting her camera by the neck strap. It wasn't as heavy as it had been in recent months, which she supposed was a blessing. It meant she was getting stronger. "School's out," she said. "I don't have anything else to do." She studied the camera, lifting it and making a great show of inspecting its case for scratches. There were none. When she had first received the camera, her father had buffed them all out--and she'd been very careful, as a child, to treat this treasure as well as she could. Eventually, she could no longer distract herself that way, and the man was still standing there. It was broad daylight, and there were other people enjoying the sun. He wouldn't do anything to her. He wasn't going to hurt her or turn out to be a Negaverser. And she needed more friends... "You look familiar," she said, finally. "Have we met somewhere?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2015 3:10 am
She wasn't the only one feeling a ghost of familiarity; looking at Elke made him think about some of the photos of his mom, back when she was much younger - only not completely. Maybe not at all...it could have been something about the line of her jaw or...anything, really. Colin was just certain he must know her from somewhere! She was far too familiar to him. And then she gave her name. Arma? As he accepted her hand in a firm but brief clasp, it hit him why that last name would be so terribly familiar to him. It's mom's maiden name! Maybe she's related to us somehow? Perhaps he was being rude, but Colin was mentally trying to figure out just how she could be related when as far as he knew his mom didn't have siblings...and his grandparents were all dead. A distant relation? But how... Elke spoke again and he startled a bit, an apologetic smile on his face, "Hmm? Oh, uh..no. I don't think we have...but..you look really familiar to me too." Colin figured that he might as well get it over with, if she was family... "My mom's maiden name's Arma. So...I mean, it threw me for a loop, hearing you say it." Also, there went one of his online security questions, dammit! That had been a good one too, no one else in his life knew his mother's maiden name. Was h crazy or were her eyes the same green as his, that odd colour like green growing things? Bjorn had always said he had the prettiest eyes... "I mean, what are the chances, huh?" Wait
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 1:27 am
Arma wasn't a common name. She looked down to her camera again, and bit her lip. "My father had a sister," she ventured, her omniglot European accent rendering the vowels softer than they should have been. "Rebecca. They don't speak, I suppose. That's what he says." Hadn't Papa said that his sister had children? She narrowed her eyes at Colin, noting the same similarity in eye color as he had. And their hair was similar shades, though hers was more ashen, and straight where his had wild curls. Maybe from his father? If his mother and Papa really were related. Elke glanced at the photo of the jay she'd taken, and after a moment's consideration held it out for Colin to see, if he wanted. "It's been a while," she said. "I was sick. So it's not very good. But it was a lovely bird."
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 2:39 am
No. No Arma was not a common name, especially not in Destiny City (never mind anywhere else). And when she mentioned her father had a sister named Rebecca Colin went very still and couldn't help staring at Elke. "My mom's name is Rebecca." Okay, this was getting very strange and very convoluted very quickly, so he was quite glad to have the photo of the jay to look at for a few moments while he gathered his thoughts. "No, it's good. Especially with the noise the shutter on those old Poloroids make." He meant it as a genuine compliment, and if it didn't quite come out right it was more because Colin was rolling the family information around in his head. Colin offered the snap back with a distracted smile. "Say...you don't suppose we're family, do you? Mom doesn't talk about her family much." Wait wait, she had been sick? Colin was not only maybe finding out he had a secret cousin and uncle...he was finding out his cousin liked photography but was also - or had been - sick. "Are you okay now? I mean, you don't have to tell me anything, but I hope you're doing better."
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 2:50 am
Papa would be confused and pleased if Elke told him about her apparent discovery of another branch of their family. Surely he would know. He wrote to his sister, sporadically. Elke didn't know if she ever answered, but it didn't seem to really matter. If Colin was her cousin, she'd find out sooner or later. She shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "Papa writes to his sister, I think. I can ask him, but he's in France, so it'd have to be later." International texting was not a thing, and Elke hated writing emails on her phone. She fiddled with her camera again. "I'm getting better," she said. "It's nothing contagious. You don't have to worry about me getting you sick." She smiled, a little wanly. "So you like photography? I used to do it all the time, when I was younger." Not littler. At fourteen, she'd seen more of the world than most people, in more ways than one. She fell silent again, and tucked the photo into her pocket.
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 2:37 pm
"Would you? I'd really...it'd be cool to have more family. Like, I have one cousin I know about and he's kind of a pain in the a**." Understatement, really, but Colin had always tried to be nice because family. A thought hit him: why didn't he just ping his mom, instead of waiting to hear from her dad? But then, if she hadn't ever told him before about Elke and Co, was she likely to tell him now? Quandry. Also, Elke was talking about her health and also photography...which was kind of more important than the mystery of whether or not they were related by blood at all. She could be a friend, even if she wasn't a cousin! "Good. And I wasn't worried about catching anything." He gave her a bright smile, open and full of neat teeth, "I do. Actually, I love it. But I kind of had to put it on a back-burner a few years ago and I haven't had much chance to pick it back up since graduation. Today's one of the few 'free' days I've had and that's only 'cause I sprained my ankle." Such a solemn looking girl, definitely more to her than a pretty face. "I love the feel of film and resisted going digital, but my DSLR is actually really nice. Graduation gift to myself." It was a Pentax K-50 DSLR, one of the better 'entry level' digital SLR cameras one could get (at the time - he had been waffling between the K-50 and a Nikon D5300) and he cherished it. "Wanna check it out?" Colin offered the camera to Elke, still smiling. There wasn't anything bad on it (he didn't think...no, he'd taken that memory card out before leaving the apartment) but if she looked there'd be plenty of random stuff captured.
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 1:12 am
Elke smiled. "I don't have any cousins," she said. "It'd be nice." She let the camera hang from its strap around her neck as he held out the DSLR to her. The polycarbonate was solid in her hands, and she carefully inspected the dials and the lens before nodding. "It's a lovely camera," she said, and it was sincere. After a glance for permission, she turned it on and looked through the gallery. "You have an eye for color," she said, flicking through each image, pausing longer on the images that had faces in them. There were many ballerinas, and she frowned in envy at their sleek, elegant forms. She was tiny, and bony, but getting better every day, or so they said. Elke rubbed at the place beside her nose where the feeding tube had once been taped. "You like dancers," she asked, handing the camera back. "Or are you a dancer? Your ankle wouldn't be cause for a free day if you didn't do something physical."
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