Under Control (closed for AbyssalDream)

[LostElise]

OOC: This thread is closed for LostElise and AbyssalDream, but welcome all others to read and enjoy!

Her mother kept badgering her to make new friends. Their weekly phone call had some qualities of a stuck record. "I know you're in a new place," she'd begin, "but you always were good at making friends."

"Yes, mother," she'd reply, "when I was six years old. It's nearly two decades since that."

"Come now Abigail dear, you don't just stop being able to make friends when you get older. You need to get out, meet people, just be your usual pleasant and welcoming self."

She'd roll her eyes at that. Like it was that easy.

"Take up a new hobby, even."

Ah, the hobby line again, "But with picking up some lecturing and doing the research for my thesis I really don't have the time for even more activities."

That was never going to stop her mother, though, and she knew it even before she said it. "Photography. You liked taking the holiday photos, didn't you." It wasn't a question. "And you were good at it too. You should take that up again. I'm sure I saw a course in the prospectus somewhere..."

Oh really? Her mother would do this sort of thing. Research what her only daughter should be doing and then casually drop pointed references to it as if it was something that had just occurred to her. Still, she was correct insofar as she'd been good at photography as a child and even enjoyed it. Surely the best tactic was to capitulate to this one thing to stave off even more badgering and well-meant scheming.

So she found herself in a small classroom built in a draughty extension on the back of the Arts building. Arriving early, as she is wont to do, she reads the manual for her new digital camera, an entry level DSLR that the guy in the shop told her was excellent for newcomers. She remembered operating a camera as being super easy: just point, click the button and wind the film on. Except that a digital camera has no wind, and the button has this sort of half-press before a click, and the flash pops up all of its own accord... still, she's a bright girl and she's got five minutes before the class is due to start so she reads the manual so she doesn't end up looking like a complete fool if they're actually asked to use them. She suspects that the first class in this series won't have them hands on anything, just minds at work, and that would suit her fine. Still, better safe than sorry...

The door swings open behind her, letting in another gust of chill autumn air. She glances up over the top of her glasses noting the arrival of a couple of very obviously arts students. She tries to lounge like she belongs there, somehow looking more awkward it the process. For starters, she's dressed far too smartly to fit in with the student crowd, but "fitting in" is as much attitude and confidence as anything and Abi hasn't felt much like she's fitted in since... well, since those younger days her mother remembers so fondly.

So she does her best to look inconspicuous while reading the manual and comparing the arcane schematics with the device in her lap, like that'll keep her safe from the hordes now filing in.

 

[AbyssalDream]

The day had started like any other for the young yet semi-professional art student. Wake up, shower, get dressed, head out of her dorm room and leave a note for her room mate of what chores might need to be done that she wasn't able to get to(Dishes in this event, as there was a spider over the sink and her room mate loved spiders....she couldn't stand them.), and then head down the stairs to head out towards the Arts building. Over all it would look to be an ordinary and rather pleasent day for the budding little painter/photographer, named Kiara, heading to the first actual photography class of the semester.

Except that they were moving on to digital photography, which somewhat didn't suit her tastes and would allow less experienced students into the class that she'd probably have to help with. It wasn't that she hated digital art or photography in general, it was more that she simply preferred to work with a more classical theme to her pictures then something that would be cut out and pasted onto a computer, only to be fabricated with new shiny gizmos and gadgets. Often times she found that digital art and photography could be just a tad bit cluttered with too much, making it difficult for one to really express what it is that they saw. Granted she knew some clients of hers would want more of what they really saw, so while necessary to learn it wasn't exactly going to be her favorite style.

Her heels clicked lightly along the hardened surface while her slender digits wrapped around the knob of the door to the classroom, twisting the cool metal underneath her palm just enough to allow her to give it that push to open up. With the gateway to the classroom opening for her she would step through into the classroom seeming to enter in a little earlier then most, and only a few of the other students had actually managed to arrive at this point in time. She gazed over each of them noting that most of them were indeed pretty new to the class while others were old time acquaintances. One or two of those she recognized offered Kiara a polite wave but didn't say anything to her as they conversed with eachother in soft voices that murmured throughout the classroom.

Kiara had always been sort of the quiet kid, she kept her head down and never spoke to anyone much despite most of her class mates and peers being the party-goer types. She had few friends and none of them were very close, having learned at an early age to somewhat keep others at arms length. The last time she'd let anyone in too close to her she had ended up wounded, not physically, but it left an emotional scar that was somewhat difficult to get rid of even into her early twenties. It wasn't as if she was completely unosciable, but when a friend or two asked her to go with them to the neated, happinest, popping club about she had turned them down for one reason or another. She prefered working on her art projects anyways as they gave her a sort of peace and serenity of mind when she was focused on them.

As she stepped further into the class room head to her usual seat in the back only to notice with emerald hues that it was taken up by what appeared to be a woman in a smartly dressed outfit who seemed just a tad bit out of her element. It wasn't her age that made Kiara think the woman was out of her element, it was the camera she held and the way she was looking over a manual like it was written in some foreign language. Kiara herself was dressed in what appeared to be a light jean jacket and a plain pink tank top underneath, with tight body fitting jeans and converse sneakers. A very expensive looking camera(In fact it had to be the most expensive thing she wore,) was currently hanging down off of her neck as she'd taken it out of her bag that was slung over her shoulder, doubling as a purse as well.

While she'd been down with her dark hair that was hanging lightly down past her shoulders in soft yet wavy curls she would seem mildly surprised at the other woman's choice of seating, lightly blinking in that 'I was not expecting anyone to be here' kind of way as her presence had somewhat disrupted her habits. Shrugging slightly she would head to the seat next to the woman without saying anything, finding this slight habitual disruption in her daily routine to be a minor inconvenience at best.

As she took her seat a boy who she'd seen about on the occasion came to sit down next to her, another newbie to the class it would seem and looked over to her with a soft smile. Kiara only gave a slight wave in his general direction while still somewhat gazing to the girl next to her now, wondering if it would kill her to help the woman out with the camera.

"Hey." She heard the phrase coming from the boy, and as soon as she heard it she decided it might do less then kill her to help the woman out as she turned over to her.

"Do you need any help?" She would ask to the woman who was still trying to figure out her camera in a fairly considerate tone just as the boy spoke to her, hoping to dissuade him from speaking to her.

 

[LostElise]

Abi looks up with a note of surprise across her face but she turns that into a small but welcoming smile. "Oh, hi, uhm..." She shifts in her chair to sit up straighter, look less like she's slouching uncomfortably, and immediately regrets the change of position. The camera in her lap begins to tumble towards her knees and the surprise turns to alarm as she grabs it back to her, crumpling the paper manual against the camera body as she recovers her hold.

Clutching the back bodied object into her groin, curling forward to protect it, she looks up with sincerely apology, "Yes, yes it would appear you really could. Please help me totally not break this." Finding her balance, she extricates the device from her lap and offers it to the girl – younger woman, surely – with a gently pleading smile.

A second or two later, with her DSLR safely positioned near the centre of a nearby desk, Abi stands and rearranges herself. "Sorry, I appear to be such a klutz today. I'm not usually this useless, I assure you!"

She brushes down the front of her knee length, charcoal grey, pleated skirt and quickly re-tucks the front of a soft, opaque, deep blue cotton blouse. She straightens the simple cut wool waistcoat, done in the same colour as her skirt, and buttons it closed again. Her collar is opened to the second button revealing just a little of her lightly freckled upper chest. Those same freckles find their way in misty clouds up over her finely boned cheeks and onto her forehead. Brown, intelligent eyes behind dark rimmed glasses. Her hair, also a very dark brown, is pulled back into a somewhat unruly ponytail. She's not tall, but made taller by the short heel on her supple, black leather boots, each buckled twice around her upper calves. She almost looks like she's ready for a job interview, clearly overdressed for an undergraduate arts student class.

She finishes her self composing as she apologises again, "Sorry to be such a pain. Am I in your seat? I can move, if that troubles you. Here, sorry, I'll move, it'll be fine."

She realises she's wittering at the girl who has kindly offered to help her and, if it was possible, she'd roll her eyes at herself. "I think I'm going to start apologising for apologising in a moment, so I'll shut up now. Thank you for your help." Has she had help yet? She supposes she has, although not so much with her camera as in making a fool of herself but not being mocked for it. That'll have to do.

Then she notes the instructions, crumpled on the floor between them. Really? Today she just can't seem to do anything right. She begins to think she's made a mistake leaving the bio-lab and her thesis outline.

 

[AbyssalDream]

Kiara could only blink a little bit as she watched the camera start to fumble from the woman's lap when she turned lightly to face her, a light hissing noise made from sucking air between her pearly white teeth when she watched the brand new camera nearly falling to the ground in what would have been likely a rather dissatisfying clunk and clatter. That would have been bad as even if the fall didn't break the camera itself the lense might have been cracked. Though to be honest the slightly older woman's nervousness would present a slight giggle to escape from the girl's lightly pink painted lips.

She gave a soft shake of her head while a light somewhat understanding smile curved her soft lips. She took note of her apologizing three times and she couldn't help but allow the giggle to rise to light laugh. "It's alright I don't bite, well, much at least." She would say in a lightly teasing tone that might have come off a bit flirty, though she honestly couldn't have been able to tell the difference. "As for the seat, don't fret over it. There's no assigned seating so you being there is more just a slight change to my general monotonous schedule. Monotony sucks anyways. Let see if we can get that camera working."

Kiara would then lightly reach over to gently grasp the electronic device in her slender digits, lightly pulling it away from Abi's outstretched hand to begin her investigation of it. She already recognized it to be one of the newer models that was meant to be for beginnner so it wouldn't take her long to figure out how it worked. Fiddling with it for just a little while it would take her a rather short moment to figure out how it worked as she flipped a switch and heard a satisfying little gear grinding sound to let her know that the camera lens was prepping itself.

She occasionally looked up at the woman while playing around with the camera a little bit now, taking note of her rather pretty face with the light cloud of freckles that covered the cheeks. Her hair was a darker brown which was still lighter then her near midnight black tresses that came curling down over Kiara's slim shoulders. Her own cheeks with lightly sharper yet pleasently sculpted bones were clear as not a single spot was taken on her lightly paler skin, her emerald hues the color of a leaf almost as they held Abi with a soft gaze. Her pink blouse would come down into a low neckline that showed off the beginnings of her the top of her breasts and showing much of her collarbone area, giving a light little line down the center of her breasts as it was almost just a light tease. Covering the blouse would be a very light jean jacket that cut off literally at her mid-riff, usually containing a pencil or two that she would use to sketch something out on. Kiara had a slender frame that was slightly curvy around the hips with what could appear to be soft legs hidden underneath the jeans that she wore. She was usually shorter then most but today she could be considered an even height of 5'3" with the heels she wore attached to her own leather boots, though rather then buckles attached at the calves it was a zipper that tucked itself into her jeans and ran down ot her ankle.

Taking note the instruction manual that was now inbetween them on the floor she would reach down to take it inbetween her slender digits, pulling the crumpled piece of paper off the floor to place it on the woman's desk. After doing so she would hold the camera up to her emerald hues with the lens pointed at Abi. "Smile." There would be a soft click as Kiara managed to get a picture of the woman's face, though no flash came as she had managed to figure out how to turn it off. Looking down at the picture on the screen she would give a soft smile while tilting her head a little bit.

"Not bad, next time though you might want to be a little more prepared but I've seen worse." She would say as her soft lips pursed themselves lightly into a slight pout as she gave a light shrug. Extending out her arm with the camera in hand back out to the woman she would keep it held there for a moment. "And no problem, really, was my pleasure." She said warmly as she took note that the guy who was sitting next to her still kept giving her a couple of glances every now and then. She had wished to be left alone but sometimes she couldn't help it entirely, but at least she could help who she started a conversation with if it was inevitable.

"There's a switch on the side that turns the camera on and off, if you were having trouble with that. Then the little switch here." She indicated with a finger where there seemed to be a little flip switch by the spot where you pressed the button to take a picture. "Will allow you to take a picture when flipped. Everything else is pretty much extra, and if you need anymore help feel free to ask. We have a few more minutes before the professor arrives, he's usually a little late."

 

[LostElise]

Abigail had always been a smart girl, it's just that technology has never been her strongest suit. Still, given a little time and, better, a good example she can learn quickly. So she watches her helper's nimble fingers walk over her camera and discover the functions organically. She doesn't doubt that knowing what a modern device is meant to do in the first place helps a great deal, but the jet-haired girl before her makes it look easy.

She feels a little tingle at the back of her neck, the beginnings of a pleasurable shiver that never quite manifests in her muscles. She enjoys learning from people who know what they're doing and she's adept at following motions. As the girl holds the camera like this, or that, her fingers twitch in similar motions as the mimicry starts to create a deeper understanding, actual learning.

So when Abi finds herself looking down the business end of her own camera, her smile is one of a small internal pleasure and really very little to do with the picture being taken. Indeed, when she hears the click and sound of mechanism cycling, she's almost surprised that she's been photographed. Not upset, mind you, just something that she hadn't particularly been thinking about.

She receives her camera back and returns a warm smile in exchange, "Thank you for your help. You really do seem to know your way round this." She carefully bobs the camera, now held attentively and firmly. "And you're right, of course, I should have spent more time looking over this beast, but..." she gives a rueful shrug, "Well, this was a bit of a last minute thing. One open space, happened to be at the right time, just bought the camera this morning..." Abi puts on her best "you know how it goes" expression.

Now feeling more at ease, she takes a moment to look a little wider and sees the boy sat one seat further over, still trying – with a certain ineptitude, she feels – to attract Kiara's attention. A glance back to her impromptu camera expert tells her what she needs to know; Kiara is clearly not interested in talking to the boy. She even continues explaining the camera rather than engage with him. Maybe some history there? No, she thinks, but still a lack of interest in being badgered. She remembers her own undergraduate days and decides that it's best if she helps her helper out. A bit of closed circle solidarity to fend off intruders.

So she asks more questions to pass the time. What does it mean with a half press there? What do the other symbols on that selector there do? That sort of thing.

It takes a couple of minutes to get to the pleasantries. "Look, that's been a huge help. You've been really marvellous to rescue me from the pits of camera ineptitude. Hopefully you won't hold that against me?" She smiles, looking for a friendly connection, and offers a hand, "I'm Abi. Abigail, really, but please just call me Abi."

Only a moment or two later, the professor turns in, now a good eight or more minutes late. He's shabbily dressed as only a man with tenure could get away with, and has mad, wild man hair that frizzes in all directions. Of some indeterminate age over 40, probably over 50, he also has an intensity to his face that seems to command a least a little respect. She wonders if he's one of those teachers who can flay errant students with words alone.

She risks a last, low gambit before he can make it to the front of the room, "Look, would you like to go get a drink, a coffee or something maybe, after this class? I'm buying, of course."

 

[AbyssalDream]

To be honest Kiara had never fastened herself as being a teacher of sorts since normally she was the one who'd been less experienced. In fact she was a little surprised at how easily it is she was able to speak to the other woman, finding that usually in social situations she was generally a little awkward and not always knowing what to say. Yet while she went over how the camera worked she took note that the woman was actually listening to her and didn't even seem put off by all the information she recieved. She actually seemed to be learning it, which internally pleased Kiara that she seemed genuinely interested in one of her chosen arts.

One of Kiara's slender black eyebrows would arch at the mention of how it is that Abi got into the class, though to be honest she wasn't judging her. She seemed genuinely interested when she was explaining how the camera worked, espescially when she took her picture surprisingly. She enjoyed taking someone's picture when they were least expecting it, there was no forced smiles or attitudes and it all just seemed so natural to her. With the smile on the picture it would seem to have been genuine so she was really just more curious as to what had sparked her to make the decision to join the class at the last minute. Her lips ended up curving into a light smile before she gave a bit of a soft shrug. "I've been taking photography since before highschool, along with a few other interests. It's no problem, really, though that's hardly a beast....it's more kittenish, kinda cute even." She said, teasing her new associate lightly.

To her relief the conversation didn't end there and she seemed to have a few more questions about the camera itself, meaning she wouldn't have to talk to the boy who sat next to her. It wasn't that the boy wasn't attractive, her had fair light brown hair with that perfectly chiselled frame and sculpted face. Normally Kiara would be lightly gushing when given such attention from one so attractive but this wasn't the place she wanted to be bothered by such. Espescially when it was clear to her that he was one of those boys who joined photography just to possibly take pictures of girls naked, at least that was her theory on it since the camera he had was even less complicate then the one Abigail was holding and likely wasn't even suitable to the class.

When Abi got to saying her name she would return the warm smile with a pleasent expression and a light nod. "Oh, a pleasure then Abi. Names Kiara but some people shorten it to Kiki for some reason." She would say with a slight roll of her eyes and in an expression that said it was a nickname she wasn't entirely proud to admit to have. "Oh, no worries, really. We we're all newbs at one point or another." She said, slipping in a bit of her lingo from her internet gaming hobby.

When the professor came in she would turn attention to the front then glad that the boy next to her seemed to have finally lost interest, or at the very least didn't seem too intrigued in trying to speak to her now that the class was about to start. When Abi asked her a question that was a little out of left field for her Kiara would blink a little bit as the sudden question startled her. She was quite a bit surprised by it though was in no means upset, just wasn't expecting it really. "Umm...sure. I'd like that." She said warmly, and being wholly unexperienced when it comes to these sorts of things was not sure if the girl was asking her out or asking just to hang out. She hoped it was just to hang out, probably, not that she'd mind if she meant it as to go out...whatever, perhaps it would be good to have some social contact either way. Odds are she could probably use some friendly non-interface based human on human interaction.

Right then the professor would begin to go into his lecture, getting into theory first about how photography is meant to inspire and capture emotions in images and all the other things that Kiara had heard before. She knew he was doing it for the benefit of the other students, so she mused herself to just sitting there patiently thinking of a few art projects she'd had in mind.

 

[LostElise]

The class surprised Abi with the breadth of different topics covered as the professor outlined the focus for the semester. A mixture of practical and creative, technology and art, she hasn't felt so whirled around by a lecture in some time. That said it's hardly surprising as her last real experience with photography was almost a decade ago. Still, she knows she's bright and she knows how to learn so she soaks up all the information she can and scribbles questions on a notepad she'd pulled from her messenger bag at the class' commencement.

"This may be art, people," the professor sums up, "But that doesn't mean that it's an easy ride. This week's assignment is on these pages being handed back now. I want your results in my inbox by five o'clock on Monday."

There's a general moan around the room but the professor acts like he doesn't hear it. Abi doesn't share in the background sentiment; she's used to working hard to get what she wants. She eyes over the paper quickly before filing it in her bag for deeper inspection later.

Chairs squeak on the lino floor as the majority of the class take their cue to leave and a general buzz of conversation, some relevant, others relieved, hums around the room. The boy – okay, young man – a little young for Abi's tastes, but easy on the eye nonetheless, hunts for another opportunity to get himself acknowledged by Kiara but Abi was ready for the pass and gives him a brief, stern look. A silent "can't you see you're intruding" sort of look. He looks piqued, almost says something, but thinks better of tangling with her and turns to leave.

Abi packs her camera in its padded bag, pulls on her warm, woollen coat that had been draped carefully over the back of her chair, and then slings her messenger bag and camera over her head to hang on her left side.

Patting the bag, she asks Kiara, "I think I'd like to drop these off somewhere safe before grabbing a drink, if you don't mind? My office is just over in the Chargaff building." That'll be the biology department, specifically the newer building where the post-graduates and other researchers have rooms and lab space. "My office is locked and I've got a lockable cabinet that you could put you camera in too, if you don't want to lug it around."

It's only a small diversion from the coffee shop on this side of campus to get to the building, all done in sandy yellow brick work and clean white panelling with a clear perspex peak down the centre of the building to give it an indoor "street" sort of feel.

As they walk, Abi explains that she's studying for her doctorate here because the facilities and people here, in her field, are top rate. Worth moving across the country for. "Plant genetics," she declares as her field. "I know, I know, sounds boring as hell. Like counting the toes on a millipede. But it's important and it'll help people, real people, all over the world." She speaks with passion, an idealist. "People have to eat and there's steadily less to go around. We need to know how to make sure that in two, three, four decades time we can still feed everyone. Hell, feed the people we've got now."

There's a security guard at reception who gives Abi a courteous nod as she swipes a colourful key card at the staff door on the left side of the concourse. "They lock the offices at six," she explains. "Some of the equipment in here is scarily expensive." A left, through a pair of swinging double doors, a right, another pair of doors, and then another left. Last office on the right has a black name tag with white lettering stencilled on it slid into a metal holder a little above eye level for the girls, even Abi's five and a half feet (in modest boots). It reads "PRICE, A".

"This is me. Sorry about the mess." With keys from her coat pocket, she unlocks the door and drops her bag on an L shaped desk in one corner of the room. It's clearly an office for two or more people but given the stack of partly unpacked boxes filling one side of the room it's equally clear that no one else is occupying the space. On the desk is a new looking but otherwise fairly basic workstation with a screensaver of slowly cycling photographs of scenes of nature, mostly high resolution close-ups of various different plants, all vibrant colours and textures. Abi pays it no heed and sets about unlocking the filing cabinet by her desk and deposits her messenger bag and camera inside.

"Ah, oops, almost forgot," she says reflexively, retrieving her purse from the bag. She slips the slim, brown suede article into her coat.

Offering the draw, she smiles to Kiara, "Speak now or forever hold your, well, camera I guess."