05-03-2013, 06:40 PM
"I've never been bit," Calden replies, "but I've had to scare a rattler out of my way once in a blue moon."
They close in on Ellie's mother. Who is lovely. And also: truthfully, quite a bit fairer than her daughter. A lot more ... north european, where Calden would have pegged the little girl as Latina. The surprise is there in his eyes, there and then gone, a quick flicker that Eva has surely had to deal with for the past decade, give or take. Sometimes that look comes loaded with significantly more judgment. Sometimes with disgust. Sometimes with pity.
For what it's worth, there's neither judgment nor disgust nor pity in Calden's eyes. Just a quick beat of surprise; a fact observed and acknowledged. It fades; replaced by a thread of amusement hiding under a Very Serious face. As he comes up to Ellie's mother and her friend, he gives that small tug of his hatbrim again, playing it to the hilt.
"Ma'am," he says, Very Serious Indeed, "I'm a real cowboy and I'm here to advise you that your daughter needs proper cowboy boots. And not pink ones either. Good sturdy ones, with just a bit of tooling on the side. Just a little bit of decoration, see, but nothing too fancy. Because otherwise, her toes might get bit by a rattlesnake."
He takes her hand, then. And the grin makes its way to the surface, curling up the edge of his mouth. Her palm is damp. His is dry and warm, calloused. "Calden White," he says. And then extending that same hand to Emmett, "Éva, Emmett. A pleasure."
They close in on Ellie's mother. Who is lovely. And also: truthfully, quite a bit fairer than her daughter. A lot more ... north european, where Calden would have pegged the little girl as Latina. The surprise is there in his eyes, there and then gone, a quick flicker that Eva has surely had to deal with for the past decade, give or take. Sometimes that look comes loaded with significantly more judgment. Sometimes with disgust. Sometimes with pity.
For what it's worth, there's neither judgment nor disgust nor pity in Calden's eyes. Just a quick beat of surprise; a fact observed and acknowledged. It fades; replaced by a thread of amusement hiding under a Very Serious face. As he comes up to Ellie's mother and her friend, he gives that small tug of his hatbrim again, playing it to the hilt.
"Ma'am," he says, Very Serious Indeed, "I'm a real cowboy and I'm here to advise you that your daughter needs proper cowboy boots. And not pink ones either. Good sturdy ones, with just a bit of tooling on the side. Just a little bit of decoration, see, but nothing too fancy. Because otherwise, her toes might get bit by a rattlesnake."
He takes her hand, then. And the grin makes its way to the surface, curling up the edge of his mouth. Her palm is damp. His is dry and warm, calloused. "Calden White," he says. And then extending that same hand to Emmett, "Éva, Emmett. A pleasure."
BECAUSE OF LIGHT AND DUTY AND REASONS.