Image Prompt Response 062 – First Sight of the Ocean

I chose the image of the light house on the coast of Ireland as my prompt today.  I’m borrowing characters from another image prompt I wrote a while back (#20).  I’ve continued playing around with that story and what happened next, but this is more just a little side moment with Ian and Ailill, the characters in that image prompt scene.

First Sight of the Ocean:

Ian watched the crowd moving around then, marveling at how effective Ailill’s magic was at hiding what he really looked like.  It probably helped that blue hair wasn’t as weird as it used to be.  Anyone could dye their hair blue these days.  But the wings disappearing was always a little weird.  Ian was so used to seeing them.  He wondered if they were really gone, or if Ailill was just hiding them from sight.

“Have you ever been here before?” Ailill asked, trying to lean to see around some of the people in front of them.

“Yeah, I had an engagement photo shoot here a few years ago,” Ian replied.  “I thought you might like the views.”  Ailill had told him recently that he’d never seen the ocean before.  This was a pretty nice spot to show what the coast was like.

“That’s sweet,” Ailill said, turning to smile up at Ian.

Ian smiled back.  He couldn’t help but smile when Ailill was smiling.

“Not that I can see much from here,” Ailill said, looking at the backs of the group in front of them.

“I can’t either,” Ian said softly.  “It opens up a bit further on and you can see more, this is just the path down.”

“Oh, alright,” Ailill said his shoulder brushing against Ian’s arm as they continued walking.

Ian kept half his attention on his feet and the crowd in front, and the other half on Ailill.  When they got to the end of the path, where everything widened and the group was suddenly scattering further apart, he saw Ailill’s eyes widen.

“It’s so sparkly,” Ailill said, actually stopping to stare at the blue water that glimmered in the sunlight.

“Let’s not block the path,” Ian said, grabbing Ailill’s hand and towing him forward and over to the railing where they could stand and look for as long as they wanted.

“What’s the weird white building?” Ailill asked softly.  His eyes never stopped moving as he gazed out over the vista before them.

“It’s a lighthouse,” Ina explained, smiling as he watched the delight in Ailill’s eyes.

“What’s it for?” Ailill asked.  “I’m guessing it’s not like a silo.  That doesn’t seem like the best place to store grain.”

Ian laughed.  “No,” he agreed.  “You see the top part, where it’s all glass?”

“Yeah, there’s a light in there from the look of it.”

“The light turns in a circle, so that the building is visible to all the ships passing by.  It lets them know where the land is, so they can stay far enough off shore where it’s safe.”

“At night when it’s dark?” Ailill guessed.

“And also when it’s foggy or storming, or anything else,” Ian replied.  “It’s a safety thing, from back before technology could tell you exactly where you were at all times.  And for when the technology fails you, because that definitely still happens occasionally.”

“Humans always come up with such interesting ways to supplement their senses,” Ailill said.  “A Fae would never think of such a thing,” he added in a softer voice.  “We’d just use glamour.”

“We’re good at making up for any deficiencies we may have with technology,” Ian agreed.  “Want to walk around a bit, see more of the ocean?”

“Yes,” Ailill agreed, smiling up at Ian.  “Thank you for bringing me to see this.  It’s really beautiful.”

“I’m glad I could bring you to see the ocean,” Ian replied, walking slowly away from the railing and further along the walkway.  If they were lucky, the pier would be open to visitors today and they could walk out over the water.  Ian was pretty sure that would fascinate Ailill.  Both the platform of the pier being out over the water, and getting to look down into it and see the fish and other things through the water.

Ailill continued to point out interesting things that caught his attention.  Ian tried to see it all with new eyes.  He barely remembered what it had been like to see these views for the first time and he didn’t actually remember his first sight of the ocean.  His mother had send him and his sister to the shore every year since before he could remember.  He didn’t even remember who had gone with them before his sister was old enough to mind him on her own.

They were near the entrance to the pier, and it looked like it was open today, when someone bumped into Ian.

“Sorry,” a familiar voice said.

“No harm,” Ian replied, stepping away slightly and turning his head as the person when past.  Except they didn’t go past, they shifted to move behind Ian.

Ian shifted, suddenly feeling uncomfortable about the person being behind him.

“Careful,” Ailill said softly, suddenly standing between Ian and the stranger.  “We don’t want to draw attention,” he added in an even softer voice.

Ian stepped back a little, giving Ailill more space.  The last time he’s made a comment like that, they’d run into another Fae by accident and the woman had almost gotten into a fight with Ailill.

“We don’t?” the man in front of Ailill asked, tilting his head a little and smiling.  Ian knew that smile and recognized those bright green eyes.  What the hell was he doing in Ireland?  Blair’s little piece of Faery connected to Scotland.