Beach Stroll (Ashley, Open Tag)

[Ashley Bolton]

[Character Played: Ashley Bolton]

Ashley had risen quite early, he was trying to find a reason to stay in for the day, but it was quickly becoming apparent that it was to hot a day to let the day be spoiled by wanting to be alone, so he packed Kai into the car and toook some stuff for him to wear at the beach.

It was a sure work to the beach from the car and soon the two of them were perched on the sand, making sound castles, both in just shorts, as some of the people on holiday's started to show up for their day in the sun. It was easy to forget about the last few days, especially when he was with Kai wasting the weekend away.

It was easy to remember that the weekends were about the only time he got to spend with his son, this was there time, and though he had a sitter for the party later in the evening he had some alone time.

"Hey buddy you want to go get some ice cream?" he asked.

"Please." Kai said Ashley rose to his feet.

"Come on then imp, lets get you an ice cream." Ashley said to him as he picked him up and placed him on his shoulders. "What do you want?" Ashley asked him as they walked the short distance to the van.

[Connor Pearce]

Having no plans, at least for the morning anyway, Connor decided now would be as good a time as any to head to the beach. Which is why he currently found himself with sand covered feet, sand covered clothes and sand covered camera, standing as close to the water as possible, taking pictures of everything that caught his eyes. Surfing photos had been on his mind ever since talking to Ben and Eden about it, though, he had yet to arrange a time to actually go and snap them. Which was preferable, he wanted more close up shots than he was getting now. Still, he was just lucky that it seemed his idea of a morning at the beach was apparently shared, he had no shortage of willing subjects for his photos.

He was planning on spending some time with Julia that weekend though, and Sunar too if possible. Video games were on the agenda with both, it seemed. But, with Julia, a gossip session was also on the cards it seemed. He had been up until the late hours talking to her on the phone the previous night. And found out a few things she needed to get off her chest. One, Jeremy was gay, two, Jeremy had a boyfriend, and three, Julia didn’t like this boyfriend, due to his apparent habit of kissing other guys. And so, like any decent best friend, Connor had immediately became Vice President of the We Strongly Dislike Jade Edwards Association, so to speak. Julia seemed quite worried for her brother actually, so the Irish teen planned on cheering her up. And if the Lord Of The Rings and junk food didn’t work, he was prepared to go even further, suggest they egg Jade’s house. An extravagant one, by the sound of it. He had never done anything like that before, and he was prepared to guess neither had Julia, so he could only imagine how amusing it would be, the two of the in stitches trying to be stealthy.

Though he had the foresight to bring a waterproof camera, Connor didn’t want to push it too much so backed away from the water a bit. It was perfect timing to, spotting Ashley some distance away, with his son. Grinning, Connor jogged over to him, glad to see a semi-familiar face. “Hey Ash, can I take a photo of you and Kai?”

[Ashley Bolton]

Ashley looked up and smiled as he slipped his wallet back into his pocket, "Oh hey Connor right." Ashley said to him. "Yeah sure, what do you think, should we charge him for the priviliage Kai." Ashley asked with a smile.

"Uh huh." Kai said to him Ashley laughed.

"Out here for work or just trying to have a good morning, the heat here is getting more intense by the minute." Ashley asked Connor. "I like New York but even the winter here is hot." Ashley said to him. "I'm supposed to be going car hunting actually, but I can't bring myself to looking at my bank account, that and I love my car, I mean sure its a rust bucket that just about runs, but she pers almost like a baby on a good day." Ashley said making small talk as he lifted his son of his shoulders back onto the sand. "Careful now, you dont want to drop your ice cream baby boy." Ashley said Kai looked up at him.

"So where would you like us, down by the sea or on the sand, either way I need to go back and get our bag." Ashley said to him as he headed back down the beach to the bag checking everything was there.

[Connor Pearce]

“What, the cookie pigout wasn’t payment enough?” Connor teased. “Though, that basically was Julia’s doing, but still, she’s not here, so I’m claiming credit! Just don’t tell her I said that though. I’ve got a feeling she can hit harder than me! I mean, I’ve heard about her brother punching someone before. Fighting skills might run in the family, have to be careful, after all. I bruise easily.” the Irishman smirked.

“It took me a while to get used to the heat when I first moved here too.” Connor confessed. “Especially as I have the ability of getting sunburnt after ten minutes in the sun, when it’s a real hot day.”

Ashley’s love of his car made him laugh, but it was completely understandable. “Yeah, doesn’t quite compare, but I’ve got this camera, was the first I got when I started get serious about photography, and although most of my other cameras are much better, take much better photos, I can’t bring myself to get rid of it, or stop using it.” Connor said with a grin. “Though, I can have more than one. Cars, yeah, that’s getting a bit on the expensive side.”

At Ashley’s question, Connor just shook his head briefly, taking a few quick snaps of Kai, who seemed more intent on eating his ice cream than paying any attention to what the man with the camera was doing. And when Ashley went to look at his son, Connor took a photo of them both. These were always the best snaps. “There, perfect. I think they’re going to turn out really well. When I develop them, I’ll give Julia some copies, to pass onto you.”

[Ashley Bolton]

Ashley grimmaced, "Tell me about it." Ashley said in reference to the car. "Money has always been tight for me since Kai came along, my parents help out a lot but I draw the line at having them pay for everything on my behalf when ever I can anyway, which isn't a lot." Ashley explained. "The situation with Kai's mom is complicated with her parents, she wanted to help out financially more so than the child support her family is being forced to pay." Ashley said to him. "As a result I'm in the mood for a new car, assuming the cheque doesn't bounce because it go cancelled." Ashley said.

"Kai, you remember Connor?" Ashley asked him.

"No daddy." the boy said Ashley chuckled.

"His a friend of mine from school, and he would like to take some photos of us both." Ashley said to him and was rewarded with a smile a lot more of the ice cream on his son's chest and face than in his mouth. "What I am going to do with you mister, look at the mess I get you in huh." Ashley said to him. "So are you going to this party tonight or are you doing something elsse? My mother has consented to babysitting for me, so I can have a rare nght out." Ashley asked while the other boy took photo's.

[Connor Pearce]

Connor felt more than a little sorry for Ashley, things seemed to be very hard for the guy, who had been nothing but friendly to the Irishman since they met, so he couldn’t help but think it was grossly unfair. Ashley was young after all, it seemed like a lot for a teenager to deal with. Connor couldn’t imagine being able to cope with something like that. Though, it wasn’t something he would ever need to consider. Unless men started getting pregnant, and if that was the case, then he would have a lot more to worry about.

Kai having ice cream slowly covering his face just made the photos better, much more natural, and Connor could have happily snapped away all day. He was getting some quality shots. One day he would have to do something with all the really good photos, in his opinion anyway, that he had taken, besides store them in his own private collection.

“Nah, no plans to the party. Unless someone convincingly ropes me into going.” Connor laughed, finally managing to let go of the camera, letting it dangle from the strap around his neck. “Raves aren’t generally my sort of thing. Might see if Julia is free, otherwise I’ll just bum around at home.” he shrugged. “I know, boring way to spend a Saturday night. Sunar is going though, you might run into him. You remember him from the cookie bash? The artist. Well, the Indian artist.”

[Ashley Bolton]

Ashley chuckled, "Your Irish and you don't like a party/rave, I think I have been watching the wrong films, or maybe its the Scots that love to party, I love the accents of the Irish, even the thick accents, Scottish accents leave me confused all of the time." Ashley said as he bent over his bag to get a flannel out of it and proceded to wipe his son's face which made him squirm. "Stay still Kai then you can go finish your sand castle." Ashley said to him when he was done Kai raced the three feet to their castle.

"His a great kid, which is a miracle considering how screwed up his home life tends to be, for all my moaning about being a single parent, his given me direction, his also the reason I work hard at school because of him... my grades improved ten fold when he arrived rather than dipped, it wasn't that I wasn't intelligent, it was just that I was to concentrated on my sports, I played basketball and football in New York, I was more interested in ice hockey back home as well, I hated that I had to give up so much at the beginning, but when I held him for the first or second time, anything else that was in my life took a back seat, his mom left and I was holding the baby." Ashley said. "Pull up a space, I have some drinks and its bloody hot." Ashley said to him as he went to sit back down.

[Connor Pearce]

“Well, the Scots love their partying too, but you’ve been watching the right movies. I’m just a bit odd for an Irish teen. Put it down to spending most of my childhood in the States.” Evan grinned. “My father got me to try Guinness once, and to his great dismay, I couldn’t stomach it. I prefer my drinks not to taste chewy. I know, I know, I’m an awful Irishman.”

He couldn’t help but grin at the indirect compliment at his accent. He had to admit, it was a plus, and although it usually made him feel guilty, he used it to his advantage when he could, charming himself out of trouble and what not. Though he didn’t consider himself a charmer, far from it. It was just something about his accent that Americans loved. “Don’t blame you there, not many non Scots can understand what they’re saying, especially if they’re excited while they’re speaking. You’ve got no chance there. In the interest of fairness though, if my father is angry, or riled up about something, no one outside the family can understand him either. I’ve had to be a translator more than once. It’s funny, it just makes him more annoyed.”

Watching Kai toddle off, starting his masterpiece in the sand, Connor had to take a few more photos. “It’s really good of you, what you’re doing. Not a lot of people would do that, your age.” Connor smiled approvingly, before a teasing grin crossed his face. “Jock, eh? I should feel privileged you’re speaking to me then. I just run. Can’t really count myself as a jock.” It was a relief, to be off his feet, Connor didn’t fare so well in the heat, so he happily sat down, gratefully taking a drink. “Cheers eh?”

[Ashley Bolton]

Ashley looked at Connor for a moment, "Their wasn't a lot of choice in the matter, he had his mother turn her back on him because of her family... I understand that... actually I don't but..." Ashley said as he stroked the hair of his son who was to busy playing to notice that he was being spoken about. "If I didn't step up to the plate for him, who would." Ashley said to him with a sad smile.

"Sometimes when you make a bed for yourself, you have no choice but to live with the mistakes you made, and as mistakes go his a big one, but one I would not change if I had the chance to." Ashley said to him with a grin "Like I said before it just took me to hold him once, after that everything else didn't matter." Ashley said to him.

"Running can be good thinking time, I do a lot of that, then if I need more I have a punching bag and my laptop to write on, and if all else fails I have a PS3 that my parents brought for me last christmas." Ashley said to him. "So what does Connor do to wind down besides Photography." Ashley asked as he took a swig of his drink.

[Connor Pearce]

“Punching bag? You any good, at hitting things? Cause I may have been teased, just a little lately. For my lack of...um...ability to hit! Which is totally unjustified and unfair! Julia has never seen me in a fight! I have never been in a fight! Actually, yeah, that might explain the teasing then.” Connor laughed, chugging down half of his own drink in one sip. He really didn’t do well in the heat. Something about fair skin. And more time spend in a little dark room than anywhere else.

“Let’s see, what do I do?” Connor grinned, stretching where he sat, looking over the beach. “I like movies. The classics, you know, the old black and white ones. Um, and musicals.” he admitted with a sheepish grin. “I know, clichéd in my casem but, they’re just so cheesy and fun! I can’t help but love them.” he laughed. “And it seems play video games too, soon enough, if my friends have their way with me. I think Rock Band, with Sunar, might be a little, just a little cooler, than World Of Warcraft, and Lord Of The Rings Online with Julia. And you know me, I’m nothing if not cool.” He let his eyes wander over to the admittedly impressive, to Connor anyway, sandcastle Kai was building. “And photography.” he repeated with a smirk. “Maybe I’m just a little bit too keen on photography.”