Happy Sticks, Art, and Insight Who: Gin and Lily Where: The Lake When: Morning
Lily had spent the morning with Lochlan, feeling lovely and like the world was complete. Shortly after he left, however, her mind began working against her as she began to process their conversation from last night more thoroughly. What if she had read things wrong? What if he was only with her because he couldn't be with the other one? She had convinced herself that wasn't the case last night, but what if it was? What if things changed and he could? Would he leave her? She almost pulled out her phone to call Lochlan because it always seemed to make more sense when he was there with her, but she stopped herself. She needed to work through this without him there and figure things out for herself. That was the only way she was going to have a clear head about this.
She may have been wrong. All the thinking on her own just made her feel worse and all she wanted was to talk to someone about this. She wanted to explain everything to her sister, Miranda, and ask what she thought about the whole thing, but that wasn't possible. Miranda was just as dead as she had been for years now, and Lily felt herself slipping into the depression she fought so hard to keep away from. She spent about an hour rummaging through her room until she found the hidden stash of weed she kept for situations like this. Alcohol was just going to make her emotional, she needed something else. Taking a light jacket with her, she collected everything she needed and left the house. She probably would have just crawled into bed had she not spent all day inside yesterday, but lo and behold, she had.. so to the lake she went, anxious to recall a time before what was shared yesterday. To when she felt just a little more sure that she wasn't going to end up with a broken heart.
Settling in against a tree, she brought the joint she had rolled back at her house to her lips and lit it. She pulled for the smoke through the paper and inhaled deeply, filling her lungs while she gazed out at the quiet, peaceful water surrounded by beautiful, solid trees.
Gin had already been sitting beside the lake, tucked up under a weeping willow and mostly hidden from the world. She hadn't been sure she wanted to see anyone for the moment, except maybe Cody who could have found her anyway. Probably. She liked to think that he was able to appear wherever she was whenever he wanted. She'd clearly romanticized him a little in her mind, all the while managing not to actually feel romantic about him. She felt a very great connection with him but she didn't think she had feelings for him.
She'd come to the lake with her sketch pad and the last bit of weed she'd bought from Jyoti. She found it relaxing to be beside the water and to sketch what she could see between the leaves of the tree. When the other woman came, Gin didn't speak up right away. Instead, carefully and meticulously, Gin began to sketch her, pulling out pastels now and setting aside her charcoals to get in the details of color.
When she was finished, with an impish smile and an exhale of smoke, Gin pushed aside some of the weeping willow's leaves so that she was more visible and said, "Fancy meeting you here, stranger." Fancy that indeed.
Lily jumped at the sound of another’s voice, coughing as a heavy puff of smoke billowed from her nostrils and mouth. She froze as if she had been caught doing something wrong before she shifted where she was sitting, offering up a small smile to the weeping willow girl once she got a better look at her. She didn’t look like the uptight type.. but even if she was, she kind of didn’t give enough fucks to do anything about what she had in hand. “Hey there yourself, stranger.” She leaned her head back against the tree she had sought support from, wishing it was able to give her tree hugs with its branches. “Do you often peek out at people from under there?” She grinned, hoping her expression would convey she was teasing.
Gin eyed the girl better from this vantage point, the dark long hair and the exotic looks were pleasing to the eye and she knew she'd be sketching those soon enough. She hadn't seen anyone quite so interesting to look at in a long time. There was Jyoti definitely but she hadn't seen Jyoti in a couple days or heard from her. She grinned a bit dreamily at the question. "Sometimes but I don't usually let them know I'm doing it. I get more fun being voyeuristic out here when I'm smoking. Hope I didn't freak you out too much."
Lily lifted her hand to pull for another dose of smoke, holding it within her lungs again as she thought over the types of things the girl must have seen if she was usually in voyeur mode. And apparently they were of a like mind, coming out here with similar intentions. At least on the smoking front. “You have some good stories then, yeah?” She exhaled, already beginning to feel a little more relaxed than she had been just moments ago. She wondered for a moment if she should just be permanently high and then all the other stress in her life wouldn’t have such a big effect on her. “I’m Lily, by the way.”
Gin watched Lily with a pleasant expression on her face. There was tension that she could almost physically see easing out of Lily with each puff. She wondered what the woman's story was, what had her out here trying to relax and de-stress. "I do, I do. There's one kid who rounds this way almost every day, or at least he did for a better part of this week, when he should have been in school. He mutters to himself sometimes. And there's the man who runs through at different times, sometimes turning into a big, furry red wolf which is interesting to see because his clothes always stay on. He looks like a silly doggy with tiny clothes." She giggled and took a drag, holding it in as long as she could. She'd learned to pace herself finally so she would only start to get silly and giggly rather than falling over stupid. "Oh and the couple who think having sex out in the open is actually in private. But it isn't." She scooted out further, getting to her knees and leaving her sketchbook behind to reach out and offer her hand to Lily. "I'm Gin. What's your story?"
Lily lifted her free hand to run her fingers through her hair, rubbing gently at her forehead at the mention of a red-haired wolf who had a pension for wearing clothes even in his hairy form. Lochlan. She then glanced back over at Gin with the next mention of the public sex couple, a little bit self-conscious at the idea that she may have been part of that. Technically, she hadn’t had sex with Lochlan out here.. but there had been some heavy petting going on. She moved her hand from her forehead, offering it up for a handshake when Gin moved to greet her properly. “My story?” It was difficult to pick out what to share from her story since it was quite the long one, and most of it was a tale of tragedy. Then again, she was probably more curious what brought her out to the lake and not so much how she came to be. “Boy troubles.” It sounded like an understatement, but it was probably better that way. Maybe if she downplayed it enough, it would stop freaking her the hell out so much.
Gin smiled that her handshake was returned. She held on to Lily's hand for a moment but not too long. It was a friendly, I'm kinda high thing. When she let go she settled back on her feet, happy to be closer and able to see more. She thought she'd caught a flash of color beneath the jacket sleeve when they'd shook and she almost grabbed Lily's wrist to investigate but she controlled herself. She nodded solemnly at the mention of boy troubles. "Guys suck, right?" she asked matter-of-factly. "They do dumbass things and make us feel bad. What did yours do?" She was honestly thinking about Daniel and some of the bonehead things he'd done. Like not finding a way to break his military contract and stay with her after they'd been married. But she never held that against him really. She knew he loved her and she'd never forget that.
Lily wanted to laugh, but she couldn't really bring herself to, despite her high. "They usually do, but not this one." She shook her head, taking the opportunity to inhale from her self-prescribed medication. She spoke with her lungs full again, "He's been nothing but honest with me from the beginning.. I'm just starting to see I chose to hear only what I wanted to hear." She exhaled, offering Gin a puff. She knew she had her own, but it seemed like the polite thing to do. "He's in love with someone else." The words just fell out of her mouth, making her realize how badly she wanted to speak with someone about this. "And he says he loves me, but I don't know if it's more because he can't be with the other person.. and I don't know what he means by can't be with this girl. All he'll tell me is that he doesn't want to love her and that it's something that can never happen.." She frowned, feeling guilty that she was dishing out these details to a stranger. She just couldn't stand to be in her own head anymore, going round and round. "It's not like I haven't been with guys who just thought with their dicks and cheated whenever they felt like it. This is so different, though.. knowing he's so committed to someone else emotionally almost hurts more than if he just slept with someone. As fucked up as that is." Her eyes had glazed over and despite the moisture threatening to spill, she had convinced herself it was just a side effect of the drug.
Gin listened with a bit of a stoic expression on her face which was only in place because of what she'd been smoking. When Lily offered her a puff she said softly, "Save it for you, sugar, I think you need it." Then she mulled over all the other woman had said about this man she loved. "That sounds super confusing. He's emotionally committed to someone else but he says he loves you too?" Gin moved, shifting off her knees to sit in the grass beside Lily. She could see the emotion on Lily's face and her heart went out to the other woman. She couldn't imagine being in that position or in the other positions it sounded like Lily had been in in the past. "You make my heart hurt, sugar. Why do you want to be with this guy? He sounds no good for you! Especially if he makes you sad like this. You're too pretty to be so sad," she said firmly because that was how she felt. There were few inhibitions holding her back at this point thanks to the weed so Lily was going to get the full effect of both personality and feistiness. She already felt like Lily was a friend in some round about way or at least a comrade in arms for having to deal with dicky guys.
"He must be, right? If I wasn't with Lochlan but had all these feelings for him that I do, I'd be committed to him that way. No one else would be able to match up." Saying it aloud felt like she literally drove a spike through her heart. She was the consolation prize. It managed to simultaneously break her heart and make her feel like the world's biggest idiot for convincing herself otherwise last night. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be unloading this all on you." She fixated her gaze on the paper in her hand for a moment before looking back up to Gin. She'd understand if the girl didn't want to hear anymore about her relationship woes, but she didn't want to leave Lochlan in a bad light. Whether or not this girl knew him. Her comment that Lily was too pretty to be sad inspired a small chuckle, shaking her head. "Thank you.. he doesn't make me sad. It's these circumstances that make things shitty.. he's so sweet and thoughtful and funny. I just feel connected to him in a way I've never felt with anyone else. It's hard to explain, but I just knew I loved him pretty much the moment I met him. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me." She took another drag then, falling quiet.
Gin looked stoic again and took in a lungful, holding it as she listened to Lily again. "So he's kind of a great guy in your eyes, but you don't think you're his main focus. That fucking sucks. I don't mind you unloading on me, unload away," she said, her tone inviting. Sometimes you just had to talk to someone and a stranger was the most objective audience you could find if they were willing to listen. Gin was always willing to listen. She'd had years of experience doing just that in her aunt and uncle's bar. She couldn't help but grin sunnily when Lily chuckled. Oh she was so much prettier when she was smiling. Gin reached out a hand and touched the edge of Lily's jacket sleeve. A small gesture of connection, not even taking into consideration that maybe Lily didn't want to be touched. "Oh, he is a great guy except for the whole loving someone else. You say he can't be with her? Maybe she's married or something. Does he take off to be with her? Does he talk about her a lot? Do you guys have sex?" She giggled and covered her mouth though she wasn't as embarrassed for that last bit as she appeared to be.
"I.. I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only girl in the world with him, and then other times it's like he's completely confused. Like last night." Lily looked down as she felt Gins' touch on her jacket sleeve, appreciating the gesture. It made her feel like she was genuinely interested in her wellbeing, even if they had only known each other for a few minutes here. All of this was exactly what she needed. "Thank you." She smiled softly at her before listening to her series of questions and wearing a lopsided grin with the last. "He's never said he was going to see her to me, but apparently he told her yesterday about his feelings. So I guess he may have gone to see her, after all.." The day after they had had sex. Did being with her force him to realize what he really wanted was her? Another spike hit her hard, contemplating throwing herself in the lake soon. "He doesn't talk about her all the time. I've only heard about her when he's talking about being.. yknow, in love with her." She paused, wanting to clarify. "Which isn't often." It was amazing to her that she had felt so on top of the world after they had been together physically, and now she was wondering if it was a mistake if he was just going to withdraw more from her afterwards. "We have.. that's kind of its own complicated thing." What if sex for a werewolf was like testing out the glass slipper of lifemate hood? That just solidified her fear she wasn't it, especially with Lochlan's visiting the girl after.
Gin smiled and let her fingers slip a bit further to rest on Lily's arm. Sometimes physical connection could heal the soul or something like that. She thought she'd heard that somewhere. It sounded zen and wonderful in her mind right then and so appropriate for this situation. "Hmm, well there's a few thoughts that come to mind as to why he'd tell her. Maybe he had to tell her to get it out of his head and put it to rest. If she's married, she'd tell him no thanks or whatever and then there would be no more wondering what if, you know? Or maybe she forced it out of him for some reason. Maybe it was causing a problem for their friendship. Maybe... is it possible she's dead? Like maybe a ghost because those are a thing in here, sugar. And you can't be with them. At least as far as I know. Hm..." She breathed in the lovely smell of their smoke, letting it enhance her slow burning high. "It sounds like you really love him though. Like really really love him and it's making you miserable. Love shouldn't make you miserable. It should fill your soul and ease your pain and make you feel light on your feet!" She lifted her hand and sent it in an arc as though painting a rainbow there with her palm. She hadn't been in love in a long time but she remembered its sweeping passions and trials and in the end all of it had left her happy, not miserable the way Lily seemed to feel.
"Married? Dead?" Lily repeated the possibilities, blinking a few times as she tried to wrap her mind around the latter suggestion. She didn't really believe in ghosts herself, but some people did and she was never one to argue with someone else's beliefs. "Maybe. I guess that could make sense." She spoke thoughtfully, another frown pulling at her lips when she listened to Gin continue. "He doesn't make me miserable at all. I just am so out of my element and I'm scared shitless he's going to leave me for whoever that girl is. If he really loves her, I'm sure he'd get to a point where he would find a way to make it work." Her frown didn't let up. "I just.. I love him so much and can't picture my life without him. Ever." She was quiet for a few more minutes, looking all around before looking back to Gin. "Am I wrong to feel so jealous and insecure over someone I don't even know? I don't want to be the girl trying to shove her big ass feet in the glass slipper. I want to be his fucking Cinderella, getting dressed by squirrels while birds do my hair and shit." That was probably several different Disney princesses in one sentence, but it made sense to her.
"Cody and Ember are dead and apparently they can be together but I don't think, if I felt like that about Cody or Ember, that I could be with them." She shook her head and giggled, lost in the thought of possibly kissing a ghost. That would be quite the experience. But she pulled her mind back toward Lily's problems. "No, sugar, you are not wrong to feel how you feel. And I don't blame you for feeling insecure, not in the slightest. You should get to be Cinderella! Oh imagine you being attended by animals and birds. Oh and imagine you in that white gown. You'd be breathtaking! Your hair all up with crystals sparkling in it." Gin was smiling quite dreamily as she pictured Lily looking so beautiful in Cinderella's ball gown. "Of course you couldn't have glass slippers. That wouldn't be practical." She paused and then her eyes widened. "Gosh, I'm so sorry. My mind wandered." She giggled and tried to look apologetic but the weed was having its effect on her. "Is there anything that he could ever do or say that would make you feel more secure in your relationship with him? If there is, you need to tell him. If not, sugar..." You should probably break your own heart and leave him first. At least Gin had the good sense not to say that out loud.
Lily quirked a brow, unsure what she was talking about now. Maybe Gin’s weed was better than hers.. then again, she was all set on seeing ghosts. Especially ones that could make a relationship work better as dead things than she could living and breathing. Gin’s reassurance that she wasn’t wrong in feeling how she felt was encouraging, though. It made her feel a little less childish, but still didn’t really take away from feeling like an idiot. That was no one’s fault but her own. Lily was surprised when her own laughter joined with Gin’s giggles, amused when she thought more on the idea of her as a princess in a ball gown and the very true impracticality of glass slippers. “No, it’s okay.. thank you. I needed that.” She lifted her hand to her lips again, lighting the paper so she could get another good pull in. She thought over Gin’s question for.. well, it felt like forever, but it was probably only a few minutes. She had exhaled by the time she was ready to speak again, resting her head back against the trunk of the tree. “If he just made a decision.. no hesitation. No back and forth, no confusion. Then I’d know.” The question was if he’d ever be able to.
Gin couldn't help but giggle even more as Lily laughed. "Gosh, but you are really pretty when you do that, you know?" she said, her eyes all smiles. She wasn't sure if she was helping much at this point. She was getting a little silly and it was getting harder to hold her train of thought. She decided not to take anymore drags and gently put out the end of her happy stick as she liked to call them. She cleared her throat and re-settled herself a bit, getting herself back into the right frame of mind. She'd be serious again, she could do it. Gin sort of studied Lily as she thought over the question. It wasn't usually polite to stare but she was kind of getting the warm fuzzies for Lily and thinking about telling her to chuck that man so she could make her happy again. She knew just how she'd do it too. But she wasn't high enough to burst in and say any of that. She bit her lower lip and played with a piece of grass only to look up again when Lily answered. "What kind of decision? You said he said he can't be with her."
“I’m going to keep you around to boost my ego.” Lily had a hard time not bursting into a series of giggles herself at that point, Gin’s bordering on down right contagious. But she was following her lead right back into seriousness again, rolling her head which was still resting against the tree trunk so she could get a better look at Gin. “I don’t believe that he can’t. There’s always a way to make something work.” She sighed, not even able to comprehend what she would do if Lochlan had made the decision to make things work with the woman. “Especially when love’s involved.” She nearly scoffed at herself and how lame that sounded, but it was true. “I think if I just felt like there wasn’t any doubt in him about us, maybe I wouldn’t be going so crazy about this whole thing.”
Gin giggled and then settled into a grin. "You could keep me around for other reasons too, you know. I wouldn't mind." Which might have been as close to admitting she was attracted to Lily as she was going to get. She sighed then feeling sad for this girl's heartache. It seemed so simple to be happy until unexpected things like this happened. Like someone you love and can't imagine your life without telling you they're in love with someone else. How effing confusing. "You don't think that him saying he can't be with her means he won't be with her? Or you think he's deluding himself or something into thinking that? Why?" she wondered, wanting to understand why a man would say he couldn't be with someone he was in love with and then spend his time with someone else. She wasn't going to let it break her brain so she decided to focus on Lily again. "Do you think you'll ever feel confident in him? Because you deserve that, sugar."
Lily eyed her, catching a hint of flirtation in her words. She couldn’t help but grin, feeling flattered, but it wasn’t really enough to distract her from the unsettled feeling she still had with Lochlan. She could feel another wave of emotion flooding her, though it was sadness mixed with a little bit of something else. “If you loved someone, you wouldn’t try to figure out a way? It sounds like bullshit to me.” She looked down to the roach in her hand, twisting at the end she had had lips around. “I really don’t deserve much of anything, this is just a reminder of that.” Her gaze shifted out to the water again. “I always used to wait for the bad shit to happen because it was only a matter of time. It didn’t surprise me much when it did. Then I meet him and I’m sitting here hoping for the best, and I’ll probably still end up shit out of luck.” She looked over to Gin, trying to force a smile even though her eyes gave away she was anything but happy. “Some of us just have to soak up the bad, so other people can have the good. That’s my job.. you’re welcome.” She was trying to be humorous, but her tone fell flat.
Gin eyed Lily thoughtfully. This girl was really bumming her high but that was okay. She didn't mind being the one who listened though she did wish there was a way to make Lily feel better. It didn't seem fair that someone so lovely would have such pain. "I would if it was doable, yes. But I wouldn't wreck a marriage and I wouldn't hold on to someone who was dead when I could move on and be happy with someone else. When Daniel died that's exactly what I did. I moved on and I do still love him, I probably always will, but if I find someone new, I'm going to love them too. Love them with all my heart and soul." Though maybe not everyone could be as well adjusted as Gin was. She took the loss as what it was, an absence, but she filled it with happy memories instead of sadness. "Mmm, rambling again, sorry," she said. "What you need to do is talk to him. Get him to answer your questions, sugar. Because it sounds like you have a lot of what ifs flying around up in that pretty head of yours that could do with some answers. If he's as great a guy as you seem to think he is, then don't give up, don't soak up any bad, sugar. Fight that thought because it's not true. You deserve to be happy."
“Who’s Daniel?” Lily asked quietly, feeling guilty. She was blabbering on about what was going on in her life like nothing else in the world mattered, but what if Gin had something even worse? She shook her head when Gin apologized, pushing the sleeves of her jacket up some. “Nothing to apologize for.” She let out a soft sigh, wishing Lochlan would talk to her, but he didn’t seem like he wanted to share all that much information based on how their conversation had gone last night. Something about trying not to hurt her more, even though she didn’t quite understand how she could be much more hurt with all the doubts circling her mind. “Thank you.” She gave a small smile, not sure she believed the last bit of what Gin had to say, but wanting her to know she appreciated her listening and advice. It did help to shine light on things more than Lily could have done on her own.
Gin smiled, her eyes drifting to the side with memories. "He was my husband. The best man I ever knew." She looked back at Lily. "You would have adored him. He was the most gentle man with the fiercest soul. He died overseas on a military tour when the zombies started rising." She let out a sigh, remembering good times like she always did when she thought of Daniel. When Lily rolled up her sleeves, Gin's eyes widened with delight. "Wow! Those are absolutely gorgeous!" she said as she looked over Lily's tattoos. Without thinking about it, she picked up the girl's arm and with delicate fingers traced a couple of the beautifully colored tats. Then she realized what she'd done and looked sheepish, letting go of Lily's arm. She bit her lip again and squirmed a little. She was suddenly imagining things that she had no business thinking on and she looked up at the sky. "You really don't believe me though, do you? That you deserve it. But you do."
Lily liked listening to Gin. She spoke with such a dreamy air to her that it was kind of addictive. She nodded slowly when she explained what had happened, speaking sincerely. “I’m sorry for your loss.” But then her arm was being lifted and a small grin broke through her lips. “Oh, thank you. I’m littered.” She motioned up and down herself with her free hand, holding out her hands for her to view as well if she wanted to. She was so used to seeing them on herself that she sometimes forgot they were a new experience for others. “I..” Why was she so bad at lieing? “I’ll get there. I’ll work on it.” She gave a firm nod, intending to really make an attempt.
Gin shook her head immediately at Lily's words. "Oh no, don't worry about me, sugar. I'm completely at peace with it." She smiled and folded her hands in her lap to keep from reaching out and taking Lily's jacket off to see more of the colorful ink. It didn't help keep her mind clear to know Lily was "littered" with them. Her thoughts went off into imagination land again for a moment before she caught herself. Her cheeks turned pink and she picked up her hand again, distracting herself by re-lighting her happy stick and taking a long drag. She held it and tilted her head at Lily with a brow raised. She wasn't sure why she could pick out the BS but she seemed to be able to feel it somehow. Or maybe it was because she'd known girls like Lily in the past. Girls who had such a bleak outlook on life that they didn't know how to be happy. Trying to be happy scared them because they didn't know what to expect and so they stayed stuck in their misery. Oh she wished she could help Lily feel better. She exhaled and smiled. "I hope you do," she said quietly.
Lily was glad to hear that Gin had made peace with her husband’s passing. She wasn’t sure how exactly she was able to do it, only that she was a stronger woman than she. Losing Miranda had tainted so much of her life, maybe if she had a better outlook on things then her past would have worked out differently. There wasn’t much point in wondering the what if’s of the past, though.. the past was unchangeable, but the future was. That was the scary part. Silently, she wished she had access to something harder than weed and alcohol. If she could just numb herself for a while, she’d probably be a-okay. She had never really been one to try the heavier drugs, but she was very slowly beginning to see the benefits to them. She lifted her hands to rub at her face, trying to wake herself up from those dark thoughts. That’s the shit she needed to stay away from. “What do you do for work?” She needed a change of topic, something to distract herself for a moment.
Gin looked at Lily a long moment, wondering what was going through her mind right then and hoping it was ways to make things happier for herself. She took another drag, hoping to bump up her high again to the point of being giggly. Maybe she'd bring up Cinderella again. But Lily had changed the topic and maybe that was for the best. Talking about something else might be good. "I run Encore, the second hand store. These days it looks more like an art gallery though," she said with a little giggle. Her mind wandered to Cody again and she smiled. "One of these days I'd love to paint you if you'd be interested in sitting for me! I already sketched you. What do you do?"
“Oh, that’s cool.” Lily smiled then paused, processing the rest of what Gin said. “You sketched me?” She looked surprised, wondering how long Gin had been watching her, or how fast of a sketcher she was. “Can I see it?” She asked curiously, nearly disregarding her question on accident until her mind backtracked to it. “I’m a waitress at Eatzy’s. And, soon I’ll be bartending at the club opening up.” With that thought, she knew she was going to have to shoot a text to Zania and see what was going on with the opening. She assumed it would be next weekend with yesterday’s weather, but she also didn’t want to assume and not be there on opening night if she thought they’d be ready tonight. And then continuing to work in an odd, backwards frame of mind, she wondered what a painting of her would look like. Would it be like one of those ritzy commissioned pieces where a pale woman stood with a huge wig and big, foofy dress? Or maybe it’d be more Titantic style. Wait, that was a sketch too. Good old pencil porn.
Gin was pleased that Lily wanted to see her sketch. She got immediately to her feet. "Of course! I left it under the tree though so wait a sec." She scurried back under the weeping willow, grabbing up her things and bringing them out. She saw no reason to go back under the tree at any point now. She settled down beside Lily again, tucking her feet up underneath her, and handed over the sketch pad. "Ohh I must have seen you some time before then if you work at Eatzy's. I love to eat there. So much faster than having to stop what I'm doing to make food or clean up after it!" She bit her lip, wondering what Lily would think of the sketch and worrying that maybe she should have kept that to herself because it seemed a little creepy stalkerish to have been sitting there sketching her when she wasn't aware she was being watched. Oh well, no sense worrying too much about it since it was out in the open now!
Lily watched Gin scurry to collect her things, glad she was here with her. She really had helped to give some fresh insight on her current situation and also helped to pull her out of a bad path she had been so close to inching down just moments ago. She accepted the sketch pad carefully, as if it were a delicate book that might crumble if she handled it wrong. She loved all the arts, but she had never been particularly gifted with drawing; she was always in awe when someone was talented enough to bring a picture to life with paper and pencil, pen, paint, ink, or whatever their poison. It was one reason she loved tattoos so much. “I work in the afternoon. You’ll have to come visit sometime.” She felt like she had made enough of a friend in her that she would definitely want to spend time with her again, preferably when she wasn’t being a Debbie Downer. “Oh wow.” Lily lightly traced her fingers over the page, looking up to her with a smile. “This is amazing. You’re really talented.” She looked down again to the sketch, blown away by the fact that she was even able to capture such raw emotion in this alone.
"Oh! That explains it then. Why we haven't met before. I'm usually in there for breakfast or the middle of the night! I get sidetracked with my art and with turning old things into new and useful things and realize I haven't eaten. So off to Eatzy's! I will definitely visit you sometime in the afternoon though. Thank you!" Had Gin known her better, she might have hugged Lily then. But she'd already invaded the girl's personal space more than enough so far. It was nice to be wanted around that was all. She'd been so lonely lately but that was beginning to change. Cody was going to come back to see her sometimes. She had Frankie and Lia and Jyoti. And now Lily too. She wasn't sure about Ember but that had been an interesting experience she wouldn't mind repeating either. Gin gave a little squeak of delight at the praise. "Thank you! Of course, I had a great subject! I'd love to paint you though, your tattoos and really get your eyes. They're so expressive." She'd picked that last word carefully so as not to continue to sound flirtatious. But any number of words would have worked: beautiful, hypnotic, soulful, breathtaking, and a million other words that would really only communicate one thing. Gin was definitely crushing.
“You don’t need to thank me.” Lily answered with a soft laugh, wishing she could draw some of Gin’s bubbliness into herself. She missed feeling that way, like she hadn’t a care in the world other than the occasional bad day.. or week. “My eyes tend to get me in trouble.” She spoke with a grin, knowing they were mostly the reason why she couldn’t lie. “Let me know a time that works good for you, a painting could be fun.” She was certainly open to the idea, never having had a painting of her done before. It would be interesting to see her artistically through the eyes of another. Especially someone who was apparently very talented. She grew quiet for a moment before speaking again. “Thank you again for listening and talking to me.. I really, really appreciate it, Gin. You were kind of my guardian angel.”
Gin might have said something about people deserving to feel the gratitude of others but there was that pesky word "deserve" again and she'd already heaped a bunch of them on Lily. So instead she took her sketch pad back and sighed down at it pleasantly. "How do your eyes get you in trouble?" she asked, intrigued by that and wondering if it was because everyone who saw them fell helplessly into crushing on them the way Gin was. "I'm ready whenever you are. You say the word and I'll get everything set up." Coquettishly she wondered if Lily would let her paint her nude. She bit her lip, hiding a grin that slipped out into a giggle before she caught herself, a hand going to her mouth. She smiled at Lily's gratitude, her hand automatically reaching out to touch Lily's arm. "You're welcome. Anytime, okay? Just stop by my shop if you're in need of a little guardian angel-ing." She giggled at that, the mental image of herself in a white robe with fluffy white wings and a halo was irresistibly amusing.
“I think they have a tendency to give away more than I like them to.” Lily lifted a hand to tap lightly at her temples. “They’re not good secret keepers. Not the emotional kind, anyway.” She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out her phone, handing it to Gin. “The next couple of days might be a little busy, but I’ll text you?” Aside from the unlikely possibility of the club opening this weekend, she wasn’t sure how busy things would actually be.. if she talked to Lochlan and things went well, then she would probably be up for a painting sooner. If things didn’t go well, then she would probably be in bed and dead to the world. “Hopefully you don’t get sick of me, then. I have a feeling I may have to take you up on that.” Lily smiled again at Gin’s reassuring gesture, hoping she would have good news for her when they did get back together for that painting.