[DARROW] May 11th

[unseentides]

I noticed her shock of red hair, first. I'm not sure I'd ever seen anything quite like it. My own was a dull blonde, cropped around my ears since I'd left the Cottages and started to have little time for myself. I remembered when I'd first seen her, how she'd been mourning the loss of someone who'd disappeared from the city without word or warning. I still struggle to come to terms with that. But, then again, the way Ruth and Tommy left was almost as unremarkable. To the rest of the world, at least. To me, well, it still ached.

I'd just left the grocery store with my arms carrying paper bags filled with the essentials. Bread and milk and tea and fruit. Though it was more than I'd spent in my bedsit back in England, I still didn't spend all that much time in my apartment in Darrow. I mostly ate at cafés, from the cafeteria in the hospital, so I didn't need that much. It was entirely inconsequential, what I was doing, but my mood and my mouth lifted at the sight of somebody familiar. "Helen?"

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[jianhuo]

Saffron hasn't been grocery shopping today, but she'd passed by a flower shop on the way home and found herself unable to resist the gorgeous display. She's walking along with her bouquet of wildflowers, mentally going through her small collection of vases at home to figure out which one will work best, when the sound of a familiar voice calling her name grabs her attention.

"Kathy," she says upon turning and seeing her. Smiling warmly, she goes over to join her. "It's good to see you, sugar. How've you been?"

[unseentides]

"Not bad," I said, my own smile growing in response to hers. I was better than not bad, really, but I was in an in between sort of place, still trying to work out where I fit into the city, still working out what to do with the time I had left. It was so much more than I'd ever thought I would have. I glanced at the flowers. They were beautiful. "Special occasion?"

[jianhuo]

"None at all," Saffron says, with a small laugh. "Maybe it's silly of me to get flowers for no reason, but they were too pretty to pass up. And I like to have them around to brighten up my apartment a little." The furniture and decor they'd been provided was fine, but kind of drab, and she liked the added color.

[unseentides]

"I don't think that's silly at all," I said, shaking my head. I didn't. I thought it was admirable, really, not needing a special occasion to buy something beautiful, even something as simple as flowers. "I've been thinking about the same myself. Finally settling in and making my place my own."

[jianhuo]

Saffron nods. "I didn't do much with my apartment at first," she says. "But I figure it's going to be my home for the next...who knows how long, so I might as well make it a space I like to be in, a space that feels like home instead of just being somewhere I sleep."

[unseentides]

I'd never really settled in anywhere. Hailsham had felt like home until I realised that everything I owned fit into a slim suitcase. The Cottages were lovely, but just felt like somewhere in between. My own bedsit was bland, grey, really just a place to rest my head. I didn't always sleep there, anyway. It made little difference whether I got a bed in the hospital or slept in my car or back at my apartment. I wanted something different in Darrow. I smiled. "Flowers are a good start, I think."

[jianhuo]

"I like to think so," Saffron agrees. If she'd ever learned to sew more than a button, she might do some brighter curtains or some slipcovers for her dining table chairs, something along those lines. As it is, she makes do with what little things she can buy. "And I've gotten a couple of things here and there to brighten up the place, art and knick knacks and the like."

[unseentides]

"I'd love to see it when you're finished," I said, and then hesitated a little, not wanting to impose myself. I could still be a little strange when it came to friendships. I guess that was a result of having grown up with the same people, within the same walls. Still, I considered Helen a friend, or at least somebody who I wished to have as one in the future.

[jianhuo]

Saffron smiles warmly. "I'd like that," she says. "You're welcome anytime, sugar. My door's pretty much always open for my friends." She likes being around people, likes having company over and being social, so she doesn't much if ever turn away the prospect of more visitors.

[unseentides]

"That's very kind of you," I said, smiling back, a little relieved that she, too, viewed me as a friend. I didn't want to assume. Shifting the groceries in my arms as the weight began to make my arms ache I added, "and the same goes for mine. Although my place is by all means unremarkable, and I'm not sure I'm all that good of a host." I laughed. Honestly, I could be a bit of a mess at times, living off the basics when I could have had much more with what the city gave me. Old habits died hard, and all of that.

[jianhuo]

"Oh, I'm sure you're fine, honey, I don't need anything fancy," Saffron says, since while it's true she's always appreciated and enjoyed the finer things, she's got no objections to casual. It's part of what makes it so easy for her to adapt to any given situation. "But listen to me, carrying on while you're standing here with those bags. Can I help you with those? These flowers aren't exactly heavy."