Making Sea Shells by the Seashore

Esarosa smiled more widely when he offered a tiny little smile of his own. Was she starting to break through his walls? She hoped so. Though she was quite outgoing by nature, and somewhat of a blabber-mouth, she still tended to notice the little things. The significance of facial expression, eye contact and other subtle gestures were not lost to her. And she was not inexperienced at getting through to the more quiet individuals. Her most precious friends so far had all been quiet, distant individuals, until she'd been able to break through and discover their deeper, more open selves. When he asked why it was an interesting day, she would merely grin and wink at him before going on the hunt further down the beach.

When she returned to him, he had already hungrily gobbled up the crab she'd left him with, and was looking with grim interest at the clams she'd dropped. Esa watched with fascination as he settled down with one of the clams, trying to crunch it between his jaws. The ebony-coated female took the other clam and lay in the sand as well, placing the hard-shelled creature between her paws so that she could get a good hold if it with her teeth. She'd place her molars carefully over the hard shell and bite down, cracking the shell so that she could get to the meat inside. She was still quite hungry, so she slurped down the small morsel quickly. Emerald eyes would glance up at Steel, meeting his crimson gaze as he finally looked up from his meal and thanked her.

Why was she doing this for him? She tilted her head, then shrugged, her paws scuffling the sand lightly. "I guess I was just excited to share with someone, and you seem nice enough," she began, distractedly looking to the rough waves of the sea, "I mean, not like I really know you at all. But it's always worth a try, getting to know someone." Her words trailed off in a slightly wistful tone, as though her thoughts had taken her elsewhere. She was trying to keep memories of old friends from invading her mind. "I can't seem to keep company very long..." she admitted after several moments of silence, "I guess I was hoping you'd like me. Maybe... you'd stay a while if I made it worth your time." She glanced over at Steel again, her tail flipping from one side to the other. She'd suddenly gotten a little too deep; she hadn't meant to burden him with anything, and hoped he wouldn't feel uncomfortable. Chances were, she'd done just that, though. "Uhm... nevermind that," she said, shaking her head, "If you're still hungry, I can show you how to snatch up these weird sea creatures." Smirking awkwardly, she just wanted to shut her mouth and stop talking - maybe give him a chance to get a word in.

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