Dance Inside! {Corey/PM for Invite}

[Katia Redfield]

"Ahh.."

The first sigh of the day, a feeling of complete and total relaxation washed over Katia as she set down her towel. Taking off the over shit she'd been wearing, she'd expore her new Bikini which had been the only reason she decided to come down to the beach anyhow. She'd been here for so long now, but she'd never seen any of the sights until today, so this was a nice first for her. The air wasn't exactly as warm as it should be for most beach inhabitants, so for the most part she was the only one who seemed out of place in summer swim wear, yet where she came from the temperatures were always lower then this, she was used to swimming in chilly weather. Propping herself up on an elbow, she'd reach into her bag and remove her book.

As always, she was reading another romance novel. Although she used it mainly for inspiration in her own writing, she day dreamed about finding a romance like the ones she read about. The ability to share your most intimate feelings with someone you cared for, to her it was something she'd trade the world for. Flipping through the pages to find her place, she'd look up at the sky for a moment and think about her little chat with Tyson earlier on Campus. She was suppose to go out tonight to wherever it was he wanted to go, it was going to be kind of amusing to just spontaneously do whatever someone she had just met had decided! She'd laugh at her own thoughts as she dug her toes into the sand.

Minutes seemed to melt into hours as she sat there, alone due to the fact that she didn't have too many friends here yet. Slipping a pair of ear buds in, she'd listen to some music while she read, singing along with it not caring who might pass her by and hear it. She was currently stuck listening to "Simply Being Loved" by BT. Another one of her all time favorite musicians, although his sort of music didn't truly appeal to many people that she'd met.

[Corey Bennett]

Corey finally had a new charge he could watch and guide some, though this was another mortal who had the potential to be a future whitelighter. It was going to be interesting, and by that he meant that it seemed like the Elders were trying to challenge him. His charges had tended to be teens before, but Katia was his new one and she was five years older. Or she was five years older than Corey appeared to be. He had been a whitelighter for ten years, so if he hadn't died he'd have been five years older than her.

Corey was making his way over the beach in swim trunks and a sleeveless shirt, baseball cap on his head and sandals on his feet. He'd been raised in northern Minnesota, so the weather in California had always seemed far warmer to him than it did to the natives. Just like Katia he was a little different, but perfectly comfortable in the current weather. Though maybe in his case it would have been better if he hadn't stuck out. He'd only been walking and minding his own business when the next thing he knew his cap was off his head as a taller guy was waving it over his head.

"Hey, give me that back," he said as he tried to jump at it. Ok, being short was a bad thing, very bad. That or it was at least annoying. Why couldn't the Elders have waited until I'd gone through a growth spurt to have me die? He kept jumping at the hat, but this was only to the amusement of his tormentor, who apparently had friends and they were now playing monkey in the middle.

"Come on. Cut it out." But obviously these guys hadn't reached Corey's level of maturity yet, and the game continued until someone fumbled the hat and it flew over in Katia's direction. It landed next to her, kicking up some sand as it did. Ok, I'd wanted my introduction to her to be done in a little bit more graceful a manner, but I suppose this works too. To jeers and catcalls Corey turned and made his way over to retrieve his hat and meet his charge.

[Katia Redfield]

She'd tap her foot gently to her music, singing along as she always did without a care in the world until she noticed movement. Out of the corner of her eye she would see a group of guys picking on a smaller kid, holding his hat over his head. With a heavy sigh she'd take her head phones out and look over. Yet as she was about to say something, the wind would pick up and the hat would come flying over. Landing on the sand next to her, she'd flinch as it kicked up a bit of sand onto her, causing her to wipe herself off slowly. It seemed that today was going to be an interesting day, two stranger would somehow find their way into her life, something she never expected to happen.

Picking up the hat, she would look at Corey with a sort of confused, yet welcoming smile. The other guys however would get an evil glare, one that almost seemed to end the jeers and laughing. Holding out the hat to him, she'd smile and tilt her head to the side. "Looks like you lost something. Don't worry about those guys, they'll all realize they have nothing worth living for one day." she said smiling at him as she put her book down. She definitely wouldn't let him wander the beach alone for now, not with jerks like them around so she'd pat the ground next to her. "If you wish, you can have a seat." she offered, her accent heavy with her Russian heritage.

Hoping that he'd take the offer, she'd giggle a bit as she noticed one of the guys seemed confused. She was actually offering to have Corey sit here when they were expecting him to get yelled at or something. While it was embarassing for Corey most likely, they wouldn't get the satisfaction of seeing much of a reaction other then a friendly warmth towards him. "What's your name cutie?" she'd ask, speaking to him as she did most people who were younger then her.. even if in this case he was actually a bit older then her. She'd shift her weight to look at him a bit more directly, her bright blue eyes shining warmly.

[Corey Bennett]

Katia was really rather nice about the whole situation. As Corey reached her she took his hat and held it out to him, even smiling a little. Her expression turned to a glare for a moment as it traveled to the other guys, and the jeers seemed to cease at that. Corey felt a little odd being dependent on her for help, but at the same time he was grateful for the kindness. The situation could have been far more awkward than it was if Katia hadn't been so nice about it.

She offered to let him take a seat and he managed to find his usual smile again. It was somewhere between a boyish, cocked grin and a sincere smile, showing that he was still a kid in some respects but definitely more mature than his age would indicate.

"Thanks," he said, though it was kind of soft. He was just a little embarrassed by the whole situation, thought it was worth it to see the look on the faces of some of the guys that had been teasing him. They had obviously not expected her to offer to let him sit down.

"I'm Corey, Corey Bennett," he said in response to her asking his name. He sat down, dusting the cap off a bit before placing it back over his dark hair and turning to look at her. "Thanks for... well... not getting mad or making this awkward. I honestly wish I were taller, mostly so I wouldn't have to deal with that kind of situation, but I've kind of learned you don't always get what you want out of life. You end up having to roll with the punches a lot."

He rolled his brown eyes a little at that statement. It wasn't always fun rolling with the punches, but even becoming a whitelighter had felt like that sometimes. Life wasn't perfect, but you made the most of what you had. In his case, he had to learn to live with being short.

[Katia Redfield]

"Don't mention it, I can't believe people sometimes. It's like they have nothing better to do." she said shaking her head. It had been like that ever since she'd come here, except it had been her in his place. People who made fun of her accent, of the way she acted, and how outgoing she was. Sure sometimes she wasn't always exactly sure what something someone said truly meant, she wasn't stupid by any means but that didn't seem to make a difference to them. Even though she'd been here a year or two by now, the many different slang terms for everything eluded her. "Maybe one day they'll be in your shoes, then they will know what it's like." she said laughing softly as she turned her attention away from them and onto the beach.

"Nice to meet you, Corey Bennet. I'm Katia Redfield." she said, returning the introduction, making sure to get the pleasantries out of the way early this time. Earlier she'd had an entire conversation with someone and learned a bit about them before even knowing their name. "Make it awkward? I don't think I could get mad at you, even if you did it on purpose." she laughed, winking at him with a conspiratory smile. She had always been so nice to everyone, of course she would treat him the same way. Even those who wronged her often were treated better then they deserved. Even though he was a kid in her eyes, she nodded and seemed to relate to what he said. "I can agree there Corey. Sometimes life does very cruel things to you at an age where you're too confused to understand what it all means." she said slowly.

She'd made many bad choices in her life, rolled with the punches. Yet no matter what she seemed to always find her way back into bad situations. Even now she was fighting against her old habits, trying to stay clean was not easy when you knew where you could find what your mind craved somewhere deep down. Yet she was to be a good person in the overall scheme of things, she just didn't know it yet. Taking note of his clothing, she laughed a bit. He was just like her, while it was mildly chilly out he dressed for a relaxing day at the beach, a normal summer day. "I guess it's a little cold for the way we dressed huh? Not from around here either are you?" she asked raising a brow at him.

"I used to live in Moscow before this, sometimes I miss home alot."