A late night visit to the beach(Open) - Bathtub Beach

Esteban should have been back at home. His guest would have waited if he had asked her. But after his talk with the Prince he just didn't have the heart. He had so much to do, so much to plan. But he knew that tonight he could not concentrate on any of it.

So he stood at the beach, His jacket still in his car, his sleeves rolled up and a hand full of rocks, one by one making their way out into the sea.

The woman seemed to come from thin air. She had toys, she would play.

The voice was just over his left shoulder and behind his ear. Low and husky, with a hint of amusement.

"Throwing stones could hurt someone."

The voice sent a shill down his back but he knew better than to jump or react. A female voice, that he did not recognize.

"Small stones, small pains."

He turned and smiled his most charming smile, the words following out before he even saw the woman.

"It fits my mood tonight."

And then he saw her. He remained standing and smiling, both positive developments. If not for his mood, for the news he had just heard, if not for his training, who knows if those would have been true.

One long, well-kept finger tapped the stones in his hand.

"How many small pains make a large pain?" she asked in a whisper. She was smiling in a friendly sort of way.

As he drunk in her beauty, it was all he could do to not have his smile go from charming to seductive. He did not want for that to happen but he was reacting to her automatically.

"He was in the process of finding out but, somehow I just lost count. I suddenly find myself distracted."

Perfectly groomed brows lifted as she met his eyes unflinching.

"If you are so easily distracted, it must be a very small pain indeed."

His smile took on a little sadness as somehow he looked at the rocks in his hand.

"The pain was a little deep but from a single blow. It will heal on its own time."

His smile brightened a little more as he looked back at her.

"And you. ma'am, could distract the sea from its bed."

She looked at the rocks in his hand when he did, then back to him.

"I thank you for your kind compliment," she said, then plucked one of the stones from his hand.

"These stones, they are your sadness, yes?" she asked, running her thumb over the smooth surface.

"No, the sadness is in my heart. But if I can convince each stone to carry a bit of that sadness, to carry it into the sea, there will be less for me to carry."

His eyes darted, her face to her hand, to the stone stroked by her thumb back to her face.

She met his eyes. They were bright and blue and unflinching as before. She shook her head slowly.

"A stone is simply a stone. It cannot carry your burden for you."

She tilted her head. "Why does your heart carry sadness?" she asked, taking a step closer, until she was standing more beside him than in front of him.

He bent down and set the down softly, then stood and offered an arm, though he had no idea if they were going someplace.

"A death. Someone I barely knew but hoped to know greatly."

She slid her arm through his, though she made no move to go anywhere.

"Death is a part of life. You, of all people, should know that."

Her arm felt good against him. Cold. Chilling. Delicious.

He tensed as he looked at her and then relaxed for some reason.

"You are right, death is. But best when at its proper time. One can mourn opportunities lost. But I would ask you, why do you say me above all others. Have we met and I have simply blacked out from the pleasure?"

Her laugh was as infectious as it was melodic. She leaned close. So close that when she spoke in a whisper, her full lips brushed against his ear. Also cold. He could smell the scent of violets in her hair when she leaned that close. Just the feather-light touch of her lips against his ear for a moment while she spoke, then she stood looking out over the water again.

"You, like I, are one who walks the night."

That laugh, that voice, her touch. That cold cold touch. She was as if someone had sent his dream to him. She smelled so good, he could not help but wonder how she tasted.

And like that he was no longer her attention. He smiled again

"Yes, I know. But that does not make me special. Standing here with you on the other hand..."

She turned to look at him, her full lips in a smile.

"Standing here with me does not make you special, either. But by nature of what you are, you must become desensitized to the natural beauty and course of death."

She was fully looking at him now, her fingers intertwining together at his elbow.

"So you, above all others, must know that death is a part of life. It is natural. As it is natural to mourn. It is rare to find those who truly mourn at a death these nights. Most do not even realize it as a natural occurrence. They simply accept that 'what will be, will be.' This is not the case, or I would not see such sadness in your eyes."

His face becomes a little sad.

"So many do not understand. One must be joyful of beauty, face its passing and then mourn it or it is as if it never was."

He looks at her, not just seeing her face and beautym though those are never far from his mind.

"How do you know this of me? Who are you?"

He sounds confused but does not pull away from her but instead puts a hand on hers.

Her lips curved into a smile again.

"I am called Ra'idah Tahan. I know these things of you because I know these things of our kind."

She looked around at the beach, then back to him. "Should we go somewhere that we will not be overheard? It is quiet out this night, but one can not be too careful when keeping up appearances."

He nods and starts to lead her up the beach.

"I am Esteban Fortunato. It is a pleasure to meet you Ms. Tahan. I would be honored if you would call me Esteban."

He leads her to the street, where his vehicle is parked.

She walked slowly with him, a slight smile on her lips.

"Ra'idah, if you please." She paused to look over her shoulder at the beach once more. "I take it you have completed your mourning for the one you would not name?"

"For now. I met her but once and I have mourned for her but she.. she is now linked to an older mourning. One that was quite deep and quite painful. One I thought was over."

He smiled at her.

"But these things are not how I should entertain a lady like yourself. My manners and poor. Please forgive a gentleman who has become too tied up in sorrows."

She smiled and shook her head.

"No, I will not forgive for what no forgiveness should be asked. Mourning and sorrow are also a part of life, just as death is. I will not forgive honesty, as there is no need for forgiveness."

She turned to look at him. She stared at him for a long, long time. When she spoke again, it was likely only moments before his own mouth had opened to speak.

"True sorrow will never end. We lie to ourselves each night of our existence. We say that the pain will end. But it does not, it never truly will. And we, the creatures that we have become, cling to it as a life raft. Because it reminds us that once, we were human. Once, there truly would be an end to our suffering. But seeing as how we cannot escape, and we continue to live and exist though our bodies have died, our sorrow, our pain, will never cease. Until the night we each greet Final Death with open arms, our pain lives. We are simply able to forget our pain by the nightly tedium by which we continue to exist."

She shook her head. "I do not envy you, Esteban Fortunado. You seem as though you carry much pain."

He smiled at her manner. When she turned and looked at him close..he almost got lost in her beauty, in the overt sensuality that oozed out of her, even when she was not seeming to try at it.

As went to speak..she shocked him with words. He rolled them in his head and on his tongue and then answered her.

"Life and death are a balance, a dance. So is Pain and Pleasure. I try not to cling to old pain, though I admit it returns. But I also do not hide from new pain or the pleasure that so often brings it."

"Of course your argument asks, why? why do you continue on, if you truly believe that final death is such a gift?"

She smiled at him again, locking her blue eyes with his.

"Final Death is a gift, as is the ability to continue on, to live and exist far beyond when others would. I embrace the gift of this existence, just as when the time for my Final Death comes, I will embrace that gift."

Her lips curved upward in a smile. "Checks and balances, Esteban. All good things to those who wait."

He fell into those blue eyes. Fortunately he could swim.

"I have always been good at celebrating life and death equally. And I have no problem being patient."

As they arrive at his car, he nods to one side. "Would you like to join me Ra'idah? A little privacy?"