what do you expect from this?

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn had said it, with no regrets because she was going to say it anyways so figured why not sooner and later. She really was trying to make this not plunge into anything too fast, but it was very hard when the thoughts were all on the surface. Begging to be let out and to be said so that Zoe knew that Devyn meant it and was going to try and be the best girlfriend for Zoe. They both had gone through so much together and it just seemed crazy to not think about the two of them being together. Even if Zoe in the end did not want to go back out with her, at least they had to be friends. At the very least. They had been friends at first before all of this and if Zoe really had loved Devyn, would she not want her around still?

Like even if you knew you could never have someone the way you wanted them, it was at least nice to still have them around. That was how Devyn saw it anyways but she preferred to be able to have Zoe as her girlfriend again. Zoe didn't answer or really say anything about Devyn's words but it was not hard to tell that they had affected Zoe. At least got her thinking about it which was part of the goal since you could not just expect a person who was not a mind reader to know that you wanted to be with them. Even if Devyn had been making that pretty clear from the start. Zoe just focused on the shoot, telling Devyn to do what she normally did so the tree option it was. Devyn being pretty good at climbing it was not hard at all to get a good leap and grab a hold of the first branch.

"You don't have to answer me right now or anything. I planned on asking you out for a few dates and hanging out...build things back up and what not." Devyn went ahead and kept talking since she could in fact climb and talk at the same time. Figuring that she might as well at least let Zoe know that she didn't need an answer now. She again was doing all of this to prove that she really wanted to be with Zoe and was going to work at it. Devyn gave a simple nod to Zoe's words about letting her know when she was ready. Was that a hint of panic in Zoe's voice? "I'm ready here...unless you want me to go higher." Devyn said as she semi sat down on a branch while her arms held onto two separate branches. Ah, the spell of the tree was amazing and the breeze higher off the ground was nice too, but it made her feel farther away from Zoe. Since well she was up higher off the ground with Zoe down there with her camera.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Oh, there was definitely a hint of panic rising up in Zoe. Thankfully, she heard her phone chirp, letting out a tingling, wind-chime tone that she'd set for texting. Blushing furiously, Zoe quickly switched it over to silence, not wanting Devyn to know she was getting advice. She did glance down on it, alternating between the message and Devyn. Zoe took a deep breath, noting that Liz had offered her an out. So tempting, so very tempting.

Zoe quickly hammered out the details in another text before tucking her phone back into the pants. "Um," she looked up, seeing Devyn situated. "Well, if, uh, that's where you'd normally climb, that's fine,' she said, moving the camera up. She adjusted it, looking through the lens. Zoe had to shuffle to the left, reaiming and adjusting. She frowned, letting the camera doing some of it.

She also knew that she needed to buy some time for Liz to offer some more helpful advice, and to put aside the panic. Zoe clicked a few photos though, adjusting and furrowing her brow in concentration. Just lose yourself in the photos for a bit; that should be easy, right?

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn missed the phone chiming but she could still see Zoe blushing, the girl was pale enough that even up here Devyn could see the color change in Zoe. It could be a good or bad thing, she really didn't know but she hoped it was good. Wanted it to be that Zoe was blushing because she was thinking about that Devyn cared about her and that she too wanted to be back together with her. Devyn honestly didn't know and maybe she was having to high of hopes, but just being Zoe again made her want to say it all. Lay it all out there and to just get right to trying again. Was that so bad to want Zoe and to try and get things back to the way they were before? Yeah, she knew she had messed up but it had been one mess up. One that she didn't feel like Zoe had the right to hold it over her because of the conditions of the relationship.

Zoe was still not saying anything about the whole getting back together or even anything about the dates. Focusing on the photo shoot which Devyn figured she should probably be doing the same thing as well. "It is..." Devyn responded as she made herself more comfortable in the tree after Zoe pointed out if that was normally where Devyn would climb up to. She never really climbed up that high, personally liking to be closer to the ground if anything and only took to climbing trees for workout purposes or vision advantage. "I was thinking of going to see a movie...or going to get some coffee with you." Devyn tossed out there, still wanting Zoe to keep in mind possible things they could do for a date. She really just wanted to be with Zoe. Girlfriend or just friends she just wanted Zoe to be in her life because she really didn't want one without Zoe being in it in some way.

"Sorry if...if I'm making this hard on you at all. I just...well you know." Devyn said as she looked down at Zoe and let out a heavy sigh. She just loved Zoe and was still refusing to give up so easily with the other girl. She was tired of every time she fell in love with someone they no longer wanted her. She wanted to believe that there was a part of Zoe that still wanted her, still wanted to try being in a relationship. There had to be a small part of Zoe that had to still love her and wanted to at least give her a chance to be together again.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Thankfully Zoe felt her phone buzz. She scrambled to get it out, looking over the latest messages. She nearly sighed, especially as she heard Devyn continuing to talk even while she quickly hammered out a response.

Panic continued to rise as Devyn just kept going though, and Zoe looked back at her phone, where she still had a message half typed up. She bit her lip for a moment, but seemed to realize that she couldn't delay responding to Devyn for overlong without drawing attention. Still, she was seriously considering taking Liz up on an offer to send a phone call to bail her out of this in a hurry. Zoe quickly punched out the latest message before looking back up at Devyn.

"Could you turn away for a moment?" she asked, trying not to sound desperate. "I just need to get the light from the other side, just as a comparison. I'm also," Zoe began shifting and moving the camera up, "going to need to walk around the tree for a bit, get some shots from different angles."

Zoe nodded and began raising her camera, hoping that Devyn would at least look the other direction, even if she didn't stop the talking.

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn still missed Zoe messing with her phone but she did catch Zoe doing something that was not with her camera. Should she have been worried? Probably but she already knew that Zoe was probably still freaking out about Devyn asking her back out and all. She really didn't understand why Zoe would be in such a panic state, but this was Zoe. Zoe who trembled and would shake when she was upset and would be quick to cry. Zoe was an emotional girl and Devyn accepted that and was fine with it because she wanted to be there to get rid of any pain or sadness that Zoe was feeling. Yet up in this tree she really could not do much but Devyn felt like that was slightly what Zoe wanted. To still stay away from her and not respond back to her words about wanting to at least date.

Nothing, nothing at all from Zoe in a response to Devyn mentioning going on dates and trying to get Zoe back. It made Devyn feel defeated again, like even still Zoe was going to be forever stuck in the mind set of not giving her a chance. No, stop thinking like that. Just...keep trying at least a little. Devyn thought to herself as she let out a deep sigh as she remained up in the tree and adjusted her shades. Looking over to where the sun was before scanning across the land and getting a layout of the land, even if she knew this land by heart. There was a question then, one that Devyn wanted to believe that Zoe was doing for the picture but the tone in her voice was hinting to something else. "...okay..." Devyn said, letting out another sigh as she went to move, even if she had a feeling that Zoe was going to use this opportunity to run or something like that.

"I...never mind." Devyn said, wanting to just let Zoe know that she was sorry again and just that she wanted Zoe to give her another chance. To not fear her or run away like she was some kind of monster. She really did want to do this photo shoot but she also wanted to talk to Zoe and start to work things out. Something had to be achieved out of this besides photos and what was bad about talking while getting your photo taken? The photographer was supposed to work with you and make you feel comfortable in a photo shoot.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

The phone lowered for a moment while Zoe really tried to focus on taking pictures. That was what they were ostensibly there for, after all. As she moved, however, she noticed the sighing, noticed the emotion falling from Devyn's face. Didn't she get how hard this was for Zoe? Even just doing this, being close to Devyn, let alone having the other girl... doing what she did. It twisted Zoe's heart and stomach into knots.

She tried to take pictures, she really did, despite her hands shaking a little. Finally, she couldn't manage it any more, and she dug into her pocket, sending the shortest text that she'd done so far, just a few words...

... then she slid the phone back into her pocket, though not before switching the sound back on. Part of Zoe felt guilty for what she did, but, well, she didn't know what else to do at this point. "Just... relax," she tried calling up to Devyn, her voice warbling. "Relax and just focus on doing what you would normally." Which almost felt like advice for herself.

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn scratched at her head for a moment, her finger ideally rubbing over her father's ring as she thought to herself. Weighing her options and what was probably just best at the moment since she could easily tell that she had pretty much messed everything up. She had thought she was doing it easy enough, with no stress involved. Apparently not with how Zoe was reacting and not talking about any that Devyn had said. She could had at least said that she was not ready to talk about it or something along those lines but outright ignoring it was pissing Devyn off. Sure she did sort of the same thing but that was normally in the form of telling a lie or saying that she didn't really want to talk about it. Yet Zoe was still not giving her anything, just probably running away at the moment or something like that.

Devyn had her back to Zoe, so she was not even sure if the girl was still there; her ears had not picked up the sound of movement so assumed Zoe was still there. It had been a month and a few days now...or was it a month and a week now? Devyn was not sure all the way but it really had been a month since the breakup and was it stupid of her to think that it had been enough time to let Zoe work through stuff or at least think about all that Devyn had said to her. She probably didn't even hear a word I said back then either. Devyn thought to herself as the shadows near her moved a little bit. Zoe finally managing to speak, words making it all the more clear that she was upset which had Devyn shaking her head. "What I normally would do would be hug you and show how much you mean to me." Devyn muttered but it was loud enough for Zoe to hear with that hit of frustration building up inside of her.

Devyn just took another deep breath and started to climb back down the tree. "You can go ahead and leave or whatever it is you really want to do right now. I'm sorry for having wasted your time. I really did want to do the photo-shoot but I wanted to talk to you more." Devyn admitted as she made her way out of the tree, dusting her hands off on her pants when she got down to the ground. Looking towards Zoe with a sad smile on her face. "I clearly made you uncomfortable and I don't want you to force yourself to have to put up with me just because of this." Devyn gestured at the camera as she leaned back against the tree, looking down at the ground. She didn't want Zoe to leave, but she didn't want Zoe to stay and just be a shaking mess when all Devyn wanted to do was hold her and try and make it better.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe kept her camera oriented and continued at least trying to take a few pictures. Again, she was fairly certain that none of them would be all that usable, but, well, she couldn't help but at least try. She heard the muttering coming from the tree and hid her frown behind her camera. How could Devyn not understand that Zoe needed her space? She'd agreed to try this because it felt safe: just take some pictures and deal with it. Devyn was the one who'd made things awkward and uncomfortable.

Devyn started talking then, and Zoe froze as she saw the other girl climbing down the tree, which she definitely hadn't expected. Before Zoe could say that Devyn should head back up or whatever, Devyn put on that sad smile and started talking. Did Devyn finally get it? She seemed to, but...

...but now Zoe's phone was ringing. "hold on, I..." she dug it out of her pocket, pulling it up, praying that was Liz. Sure enough: she heard the voice on the other end. Zoe looked over at Devyn, lowering the phone, "That's Liz, she's, well, she says she got hurt and she needs me to, um, use my power to, uh, make it better," wow was Zoe not good at this, but Liz hadn't exactly given her a lot to work with. "i'm sorry, really, and, uh, yeah."

Zoe grabbed her things then, backing away quickly, practically sprinting to get out of there as quickly as possible.

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn still understood that she was still a bit jump ahead to things, she still apparently needed to work on that and made a mental note of it. She still had work to do on herself and it just seemed like a never ending list. She was just so tired trying to be right for someone, but you did have to change in order to be a better person. She knew deep down very well that with her sleeping around and just general attitude about things that she was not going to have anything that would last. So she wanted to do this, not just for Zoe but for herself. She just needed something to help her along with that goal and it seemed like she had nothing. Nothing to win in the end which just made sticking to all of it difficult and she wanted to give up.

For now she just decided to let Zoe leave, and not try and get her to stay here any longer because it clearly was hurting Zoe which in turn was hurting Devyn. So it was just a never ended circle of hurt and Devyn could put a stop to it by leave Zoe alone for a longer amount of time. Perhaps forever if Zoe would still shy away from her in the halls or not talk or even text her. She didn't know and soon the sound of Zoe's phone ringing was going off. Zoe then saying that Liz needed some help and apparently Zoe's power could help. She supposed Zoe's could numb any pain but it still felt all very fabricated. That just hurt even more, the fact that Zoe was possibly lying because she was so desperate to get away from this situation.

"Go help out your friend...be safe." Devyn just said simply, not even looking at Zoe now as she looked down at the grass and remained leaned back against the tree. She could hear Zoe moving away and slowly slid down against the tree at said at its roots. Closing her eyes and just breathing in the nature as the footsteps started to go distant. "Certainly a new version of a fairy tale…the princess running away from the prince." Devyn said with a slight chuckle, finding it stupid that she went for that analogy of all things. Closing her eyes and just planning on resting there for a little while and keeping her emotions in check.