Riley watched the different emotions flicker across the boy’s face as he realized that she was, without a doubt, right. It had been inevitable from the moment she spoke. The boy had been clueless, completely clueless.

He hadn’t said anything when the words sank in and he had his revelation but the look on the kid’s face was worth a thousand words….ten-thousand. Riley nodded slowly, any remaining smile disappearing from her face. There wasn’t any sarcasm left, and the advice was genuinely given…if not in the kindest way possible.

”You get it.” Riley said, nodding her head slowly, ”Don’t forget what I said…and good luck.” she said, before turning and making her way back down the street, away from the boy and his camera, and his kitty cat graffiti. When she was sure she was out of earshot, Riley spoke quietly to herself, ”They can’t take away something that isn’t there.”


(I hope you’re okay with ending it there. ^.^ It just felt right. We can always have them run into each other later, too!)

She nodded too. Her nod was slower than his and it was done after she translated some of what he was saying with his own nod. He got it. In a million different contexts he got it. "Thanks, you too." Was he really thanking her? Did she deserve that?

...

The answer was yes. It didn't matter what went down earlier in their little scene--the part you always remember best is the end, unless you fall asleep before the end of the play. She ended with advice that triggered a pretty major epiphany on the Van's part. No real harm done anyway, if he thought about it. Thanks were in order, so they were given.

...

The boy didn't watch her walk away, he turned back to his wall and his chalk and then to the hose peeking at him from under a pile of boxes. He wasn't going to win the contest with Polaroid snapshots of anything. He needed a larger picture and a photo editor...and kitties, he needed kitties. It was time to worry about how to get kitties and not the background of the shoot. His mother's camera banged against his chest as Van leaned down to retrieve the old hose. If he was lucky, it wouldn't be frozen over.

The water started out slow, but soon there was a steady jet of water heading towards the brick walls of the bar.


((OOC: Perfect ending. I think that them meeting again would be very interesting, maybe after Van gets a job with a photographer or something...))