New Hobbies?

Arden cradled her camera in her arms, feeling very protective of the particularly expensive equipment. Her family had sent it to her as a gift for something or another, in a rare spout of guilt or something. She couldn't explain her family sometimes. They isolated her one minute, and spent money on lavish gifts for her the next. It was a constant game of ups and downs; part of the reason she moved to the Valley was to escape the roller coaster.

This was a good present, she decided - unlike the sunglasses that made her break out because of the paint coat, or the TV that screeched obnoxiously and turned on by its own free will. The camera, for a change, was something she decided to use. It would be fun to take pictures.

She sat down on the beach, folding her legs on top of a striped towel and carefully removing the lens cap. Zooming in a little bit, she aimed at the ocean and snapped a picture. It flashed on the display, coming out better than she had expected.

Ari felt a need to explore this little valley he had been staying in for so long already. He had seen the halls of the mansions, the beauty of the Goddess Pond, the dirty archeological site, the ranch and the farm. Then an idea sprang up in his artistic mind; a trip to the beach for some scenic photography. That would be a nice event for the day. Plus the weather was nice and the wind wasn't too bad. So from his little room at the inn, he grabbed his lovely camera and set out for the beach.

But he was not alone as he came upon the beach, there was a female-looking figure ahead of himself. He wasn't going to say anything--but the way she was sitting on the beach in her lonesome, staring out into the ocean horizon, just made Ari want to take a picture of that moment. So he took it upon himself and silently snapped a shot. Turning off the camera, he began to move just a little nearer to the girl. In his mind, he was debating on saying anything at all.

He paused for a moment, "Beautiful sight, isn't it?" He kept his gaze on the ocean in front of himself.

Arden gasped, losing her grip on the camera. She floundered around before grabbing out at it, pulling it back into her lap before it landed in the sand. She whirled around as effectively as she could on the towel, startled. The man who stood behind her looked unimposing enough, but immediately, her guard shot up. "Uh-huh," she nodded in response to his question. She looked him up and down, trying to deem him safe or not simply by his appearance, which she realized was shallow and noneffective. But she did spot the camera in his hand, and notice that the lens, though lowered when he spoke, was aimed at her. She cleared her throat and asked, "Did...did you just take a picture of me?"

Ari could only assume that he had caught the poor girl off-guard. He remained silent for a moment but then responded to her second comment, "Yes I did. I apologize, I should have asked your permission first. But I couldn't miss the opportunity for that shot." He told her. "I will delete it if you really want me to." He continued, glancing down for a moment towards the girl but then moving his emerald eyes back up to the sight of the ocean.