Dominic greeted their fellow beach occupants with a short wave of his own. He received a few waves in return and was satisfied there had been a general acknowledgement between others enjoying the nice weather. These vague introductions were merely a nicety, but nonetheless a necessary one. The group around the fire continued to go about their business, greetings finished, their laughter and lazy conversations providing a familiar backdrop to his and Karin's walk near the shoreline. Maybe he'd needed the added presence of other people, too, for their close adjacency was undeniably encouraging in an instinctive, purely human manner--there was safety to be had when in numbers, granted unrest and strife did not cause tempers to rise, or hearts to falter.
Not to mention the heat of the fire was carried by the breeze towards the encroaching waves, though just barely. But it was enough for the ghost of it to lightly brush against his skin, and thus served to calm down the slight, apprehensive feeling he'd been affected with ever since meeting Karin; he wondered again what had caused her to seem so troubled, especially on a night like this: the sky was clear, the waves were low, and company was amicable. He didn't want to entertain over-imaginative thoughts, but the memory of her stricken expression still bothered him, for she'd looked like something or someone had walked over her grave. It was a morbid idiom, yet nonetheless fitting.
A look towards the merriment being had by those around the burning flames sufficed to quench this potentially superstitious idea, but it was brought back in a rush by Karin's seemingly random interjection. Dominic's eyes shot to her, and he was about to ask what, exactly, she was protesting, but then Karin's words were tumbling forth, as if she no longer could hold them inside of her. He blinked, unsettled, and fixated instead on the ground beneath his feet, the beach which stretched out before them, never-ending. There was an almost extra sense of movement towards his right, seen out of peripheral vision only, but he dismissed it. Nothing would be there but the constantly moving ocean.
Fee must be the sister Karin had mentioned earlier. He pulled himself out of his thoughts and responded to his companion's quickly strung together sentences.
"I'll have to get you a copy of Along the Bay," he said, trying on a smile but finding this to be difficult in lieu of his neighbor's sudden rambling, and the unmistakable, frightened tone of her voice. "I think supporting more than just the big wigs is imperative; there's a great little coffee shop about twenty minutes from here, but it'll never be the next Starbucks. And that's okay." Dominic paused, walking a few steps more before coming to an eventual stop. His back was to the ocean after he'd turned to face Karin.
"I don't mean to intrude, but are you okay?" He posed the question to her, concerned. He'd held off long enough from directly addressing the issue, and given Karin's blatant change in disposition, felt it was now time.