[DARROW] Christmastime

[unseentides]

We didn't talk much, but I liked Paul. I'd been hoping for a while that I'd encounter him - I had a card in my purse and a small gift that I'd meant to mail and kept forgetting to - when I spotted him outside the store. Smiling, I adjusted the strap on my bag, made my way over and offered a small weave.

"I've been meaning to find you. I've got your Christmas present."

It wasn't much. Just a card, like I said, that thanked him for helping me my very first day in Darrow, and some chocolates. I figured chocolates were universal enough and more people liked them than didn't, but I was still slightly nervous the gesture would be ill received. 

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[fiveminutewindow]

It no longer prompts his heart jump into his throat anymore, seeing Kathy. He isn't any less acutely aware of her resemblance to Irene, hasn't yet reached the point where he can look at her and not think of someone he'll never see again, but she isn't the only person here for whom that's the case, and he doesn't resent it like he has with some of the others. If anything, it makes him more inclined to try to look out for it.

It makes the smile he summons up at her approach a genuine one, too. "Hey," he says. "You didn't have to get me anything." He wonders if it means maybe he should have. He hasn't had people to buy gifts for in so long, though, that he wouldn't know where to start.

[unseentides]

"It's nothing much," I said, because it wasn't. He was a hard type to shop for, though, seeing as I knew almost nothing about him. I liked him in spite of that. His quietness made him fascinating to me, made me wonder what he thought about. Handing over the card and the box - I hadn't wrapped it, just tied on a bow - I smiled again. "For helping me when I arrived."

[fiveminutewindow]

"Thank you," he says as he takes the box of chocolates and the card, the smile he offers her a genuine one. Even if it isn't much, that's not something he'd ever be concerned about, and it isn't as if that would make it any less thoughtful. "I was glad to do it." She looks like Irene. Maybe that's no reason to help a stranger, but he wouldn't have just left her to fend for herself, not knowing what might have happened.

[unseentides]

"It still meant a lot," I said. And so had his talking to me after I'd been sent the papers. I think that was what I liked about Paul so much, even if he was curious, he didn't ask for more than I was willing to offer. He didn't press. It had made that day that much easier.

But I didn't want to dwell on that. I'd thanked him, he'd accepted it, there was little else I could do. I just wanted him to know that much, and I was glad I'd run into him like that. "Anyway, what have you been up to? Did you have any plans for Christmas?"

[fiveminutewindow]

"Not really," he says, shrugging. It's been a long time since he had any plans for Christmas. There hasn't been any reason to change that this year. He's had a couple of people to stop by and see, sure, but thinking back on it now, he isn't even sure any of that fell on Christmas itself, for not wanting to interrupt anyone's plans. "Gave myself a day off, though. What about you?"

[unseentides]

"Not really," I echoed, shaking my head. I'd been invited to a party of Sookie's which I'd decided to attend but had no plans for the actual day. It seemed like the kind of thing saved for families and lovers, and I had neither in Darrow. "I've been volunteering at the hospital, I might see if they need somebody for that."

I imagined most of the volunteers would have plans and figured if I could be of use anywhere, it was there. Otherwise, I thought I'd just stay home and read. It didn't bother me at all. I realised it might have others, but I was perfectly fine with being alone.

[fiveminutewindow]

"That's nice," he says with a slight nod, and means it. "Supposed to be a busy time of year there. The holidays." He isn't sure what he knows that from, thinks he must have heard it in a TV show that he wasn't paying much attention to or something like that. It isn't as if he's frequented hospitals much himself; when he's needed it, he's typically gotten medical care elsewhere, the benefit of having some decent connections in a line of work like his. He's always preferred to handle things himself, anyway, or as close to it as he can get. Involving a hospital staff and records wouldn't really allow for that.

[unseentides]

"Unfortunately," I said, thoughtful but trying not to let the conversation drag down. Hospitals could be depressing places, but they were infinitely more hopeful than the Recovery Centres (in hindsight, a bit of a misnomer. Nobody recovered, after all.) "A mixture of holiday silliness and everybody taking time off to be with their loved ones, I suppose. But they do a lot for the patients, I think. Decorations and music and all of that."

[fiveminutewindow]

"They must like that," he says. He imagines it's better than the usual hospital environment, which at least in his mind is cold and sterile, especially around this time of year. Though he might not do much celebrating himself, doesn't bother with much in the way of decorations, a lot of people do, and especially for someone stuck in a hospital, that kind of cheer might be helpful.