Marching to the Drums (Daphne)

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter Chevalier reveled in the sun. When it was a good day, what was the point of spending it indoors? His dorm room felt very insecure on days like this; the window was ridiculously tiny and the air flow was redundant. He was used to a lot better, and after years one would think he had adjusted to the downfalls of Hammel's architecture. Well, they would be wrong.

He carried his sketch book in hand and perched himself on the grass that overlooked the Courtyard. People were catching his eyes from behind his Gucci branded sunglasses. There was one person in particular, and once he had locked onto her sights he refused to look away. With pencil in hand he even started drawing the lines and contours that he could understand from the distance. And should she look up at him, he still wouldn't stop.

[Daphne Wood]

Daphne wasn't usually one to stay indoors on a nice day like this. She wasn't used to actual sunny days since it rained most of the time in London, so she especially was going outside a lot now that she was here in the States. She wasn't really paying attention while she was walking around outside in the courtyard, so she didn't notice Carter at first. She was only paying attention enough to not crash into people.

She stopped for a moment to look around, and take in the wondeful weather, and that was when she noticed it. A boy with Gucci sunglasses was looking right at her and obviously writing, or drawing, or something to that effect. Not that she wasn't flattered, since she loved herself and thought she was very attractive, but she found it a little peculiar. She walked over to Carter and she said, raising an eyebrow, hands on her hips, "Why are you staring at me?" She spoke in a tone that sounded like she didn't mind, but was curious instead, though her body language didn't show it.

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter noticed her notice him, and it was as if she'd given him the once over before deciding to make her way towards him. Not that it stopped him; he kept drawing regardless and would only look up every few seconds or so. But then she was in the light, her shadow casting down on him and his drawing pad. He looked up at her finally, through the lenses.

Carter stared at her when she spoke, reaching up to clasp his fingers around the line of his sunglasses so he could slowly draw them from his face. A better look at her under the tint; his eyes trailed her up and down for the moment before settling on her face.

"Because you're beautiful." He stated matter-of-factly, remnants of his French accent slipping into the dialect as he spoke. He settled his glasses down nearby and continued to draw.

[Daphne Wood]

She was surprised that Carter didn't stop drawing when he had noticed her look. Usually people were embarassed to be caught doing something like that, or they'd be afraid of the person they're staring at to get angry. But she liked that he had guts, so she'd give him points for that. When he finally looked up at her, and he began to lower his sunglasses, she lowered her eyebrow and put her hands back at her side, relaxing a little bit. He didn't seem like some creepy pervert to her, so maybe it was okay.

She turned a light shade of pink when she saw him look her over. She was pretty confident about how she looked, but still she grew a little embarassed when somebody took the time to look her over. When he removed his sunglasses enough to look at her better, she noticed his eyes; they were always the first majour thing she noticed about a guy. She decided he had nice eyes.

"Oh, well...thank you. So...you're drawing me? Nobody has ever drawn me before...that I know of," she said in her English accent. There were few things she loved more than boys with accents and she could easily detect the slight French accent he had since she grew up around people who had that kind of accent. She smiled lightly at him.

[Carter Chevalier]

"I like to draw people I'm attracted to." Carter admitted, as shameless as ever. He glanced up at her while keeping the line of his eyes to the paper. When Cart noticed she had a clear accent he had to stop himself from smiling further. He was always drawn to people with accents; it meant they had interesting stories to tell and reasons for being here.

"You can look if you want," Carter looked up at her again, "Though at the moment it's still rough lines." He turned the pad around to reveal it to her, an almost hopeful expression in his eyes. "I take summer arts programs in France." He added for good measure. It explained why he was so good at what he did.

[Daphne Wood]

"Well, if that's the case, I'm flattered that you find me attractive," said Daphne, smiling brightly. She carefully sat down beside him, holding her skirt down so it wouldn't fly up when she adjusted herself in the grass. She loved that he'd go right out and say it instead of beating around the bush.

She took a look at the drawing when he turned it toward her, and she thought it was really good for a rough sketch of her. She felt a flip in her stomach, and tried her best to ignore it. She then said, "It's really good, I think. And I've always wanted to go to France. But it seems like those summer art classes really paid off. I'm from London, by the way, in case you haven't guessed." She giggled slightly, not really knowing why she mentioned where she was from. But she wasn't totally embarassed by it.

[Carter Chevalier]

Beating around the bush was nothing but a waste of time, and Carter disliked wasting his time with such idle trivia.

"Thank you." He replied, when she said his drawing was good. Carter offered a smile in her direction as well. He nodded along when she spoke about France; it was a country that he loved above no other, and was a huge part of him and his heratige.

"I could guess," Carter started again lightly. Now that she was sitting beside him, he could start to colour the lines of her smaller features with a little more easy; "London is a wonderful city."