Jessie changes clothes and Ophelia poses for a picture

After they got to the gazebo, he asked Ophelia to take her sandals back off for the photos. She was worried about splinters from the old wood, but Jessie assured her that she’d been on the gazebo hundreds of times with nary a splinter to show for it. Ophelia eventually agreed to bare her feet, and Leon was able to freely appreciate the two girls as they chatted with each other.

The time to reveal Cammy came, and he tried to do so casually.

“I’ve got to fiddle with a few settings on my camera and then we’ll be all set. I want to get a few pictures of you lovely ladies together, but first I’ll get some of Ophelia by herself.”

Ophelia was staring intently at his camera as if it were the rabbit from a stage magician’s hat. It kind of was, but he was hoping she wouldn’t notice. Unfortunately for him, it was clear that she did.

“No solo pictures of me?” Jessie asked.

“Sorry Jess, I’ll get some solo pictures of you when we’re alone. Your clothes aren’t quite right...”

“I’ll have you know that you’re extremely rude. My clothes are nice and comfy, and there’s nothing wrong with that!”

“Comfy clothes don’t usually make for a good photo shoot, that’s all I’m saying.”

“My dress is quite comfortable,” Ophelia said unhelpfully.

Jessie shuffled over to him and quietly said, “I don’t wanna wait around like a lump of soggy dog food while you ogle our new friend. I’ll be awful to both of you if I have to sit here and watch that.”

“You could always go change,” he encouraged. It was great that she was becoming so open with him, but that was only the first step of her recovery.

“I think it’d be good for you. I’m not asking you to come out here half naked or anything. Why not go back to the house and throw on one of your new outfits?”

“...What if someone sees me?”

Leon sighed. “What scares you the most about being seen?”

“People getting ideas,” she said without having to consider the question. “I guess it’s irrational, but the idea of some guy like... setting his sights on me or something scares me pretty bad.”

“They’re gonna be in for a world of hurt if they think they can get anywhere near my Jessie. But hey, we could try starting small, don’t you think? Try wearing less layers outside, but only around our neighborhood. Get your feet wet before you dive in, ya dig?”

“Mr. Fairchild scares me.”

Leon felt bad for laughing, but he doubted Harlan was much of a threat. “Harlan? If you want to be careful around him that’s your own perogative, but I chatted with him quite a bit after he called me over this morning. He’s alright. Gave me a job, actually.”

“A job!?”

“I’ll tell you about it later. Ophelia’s never going to hang out with us again if we keep treating her like a third wheel. Think you’re up for getting changed?”

Jessie looked at Ophelia guiltily and trotted over time her. “We didn’t mean to leave you out Lia. I’m so sorry!”

“Secrets between lovers are no business of mine. Consider yourself forgiven.”

“Lo-lo-lovers...? We’re only siblings! Siblings can’t be lovers silly this isn’t the dark ages. Siblings can’t kiss and cuddle and sleep together. They definitely can’t touch each other’s butts and make each other cu-“

Ophelia looked distressed as Jessie stood spazzing out in front of her. It would have been comical if Jessie weren’t over sharing their private lives.

“Jessie!” Leon interrupted.

“Huh?”

“Go get changed, you crazy girl.”

“Oh right... I’m gonna go change now.”

“Excellent. We’ll give the camera a show that it won’t soon forget,” Ophelia said.

Jessie beamed at her and jogged back to the fence. She climbed it this time with the same ease as the last, and all the countless times before.

“I understand it now,” Ophelia said while they watched Jessie sprint away.

“Understand what?”

“How you’ve found a home inside that dark house,” she turned to regard him seriously. “You’re that girl’s whole world.”

“You think?” he asked. He couldn’t stop his lips from grinning at the thought.

“It’s better than having nothing, but she needs more than that.”

“I’m not good enough for her?”

“No one should be anyone’s everything. What if she came to rely on you, and then you died?”

“I don’t plan on dying.”

“Ah, well there we go. Problem solved,” she said dryly. “Everyone dies someday, and you can’t always see it coming.”

“I’m not saying you’re wrong. I want her to be her own person, not an extension of me.” Leon looked at her thoughtfully.

“You seem awfully miserable for someone with all the answers.”

“Having all the answers would make anybody miserable,” she stated matter-of-factly.

He considered asking about her power, but it seemed too early in their friendship to risk it. What if she got enraged and smited him with lightning or something?

“We should start on your solo photos while she’s gone.”

“I’m fine with that. What position do you want me in?”

“Phrasing,” he warned. “I want to get a good shot of your dress, so could you sit up on the railing there with your back to the ocean and your heels resting on that bench there?”

“Like this?” she asked, and hopped up onto the rail. The movement made her dress flutter around marvelously.

“That’s the way,” he said, and snapped a few test shots. She looked good in the frame, but he frowned. “Something’s not right. I’m not capturing you the way I should be. Can you alternate expressions and hold them for a few seconds each?”

Ophelia sort of changed her expressions (she was not an emotive kind of gal), but none of them reached her eyes. They were hollow and false; the exact opposite of what he wanted to capture in the frame.

“This isn’t working. Let me think.”

“I’ve never modeled before, but if you communicate with me perhaps I can help.”

Leon sat next to her and showed her the photos he’d taken so far. She didn’t appear to notice the UI on the photos. It was a good test, and one he was glad passed without incident. If Ophelia couldn’t see the UI, he doubted anyone could.

Her happiness meter now read 29%, a paltry 2% increase from when he’d first met her.

“This doesn’t look like you. Or this, or this, or this. For some reason, I just can’t seem to capture you in the frame.”

“It’s undeniable that this is me. I don’t understand the problem.”

“It’s just an empty vessel at best. Your essence, the thing that make you Ophelia Vidal, is missing.”

“Hmm. This is too abstract for me to help with after all.”

Abstract? Irregular... I’m missing... Of course!

“Can you imagine that you’re falling?”

“I’ve never done it on command before. I believe I can, though.”

“Give it your best shot. No pressure.”

Ophelia’s eyelids rolled closed, and Leon returned to the optimal photography distance. He centered her in the viewfinder and waited patiently for the perfect moment.

Seagulls cried in the distance, and the wind caused her dress to float across her legs as if it was attempting to defy its owner and fly away into the horizon. This time, he didn’t look away. Jessie wasn’t here right now, and Ophelia had given him permission to look up her dress on the fence. Once she volunteered to be under the scrutiny of his camera lens, she was giving up her right to be offended by his watchful stare.

The breeze revealed a white and blue patch of cotton, which any genius could see were her panties. The light blue color was from their trim and a teeny tiny bow on the front of them. They were cute but not exotic. He snapped a a few photos of them anyways, accepting the gift she’d prepared for him.

A glance back up at her face revealed that she’d begun to fall. This time when he took the full photograph of her, he saw the Ophelia he knew.