Tis the Season

[wolfs_daughter]

With only two days until Christmas, Echo was celebrating the holidays in her own way. She'd made some popcorn, then strung it up with cranberries she'd bought at the grocery store. A small artificial tree resided in her living room. There weren't any presents underneath, but she'd put tinsel and one string of lights on it. The season made her miss Seattle.

When Cian took her home from the meteor site, he'd mentioned that he worked at the marina in Cottonwood Cove. She suspected that the other were was guarded about his life, and in any case her shyness prevented her from pressing for details, But she got some pamphlets about the place at the community center and did some reading up. She'd finally bought a television, a used black-and-white model, but because Searchlight only got a few channels there wasn't much to watch during the day.

The hybrid parked the van in the marina's lot, locked the vehicle up behind her. She wondered if they offered cruises on Christmas day. Maybe she should have called ahead and asked if Cian was working today. If he wasn't here, she wouldn't know where else to look.

Comments

Tis the Season

[cian_oneill]

There was a flatbed truck pulling away from the boatshed next to the slipway, the empty cradle on the back having just been emptied of the motor it had brought down to be re-installed into the cruiser moored next to the slip. The motor had been away for repairs, and there had been some jockeying done to get it into position before being lowered below deck and reattached.

"Aye, merry Christmas t' you too! And y' wife and little 'uns," Cian called to the driver, who'd stayed to help jostle the motor back below deck. He was wiping his hands on a rag, watching the truck drive away when he saw the familiar figure of the young hybrid looking around.

"Echo? What brings y' down this way then, lass?" he asked, walking toward her as he continued to wipe his hands.

Re: Tis the Season

[wolfs_daughter]

She straightened up when she heard the accent. made herself not look down or away. Working on her shyness meant not avoiding eye contact. It wasn't like Cian was going to bite her or something. The truck's horn beeped, and when she looked in the direction of the departing vehicle, the driver was waving through the open window.

"I hope you're not busy with stuff," she said, indicating the rag in his hands. She'd purposely come by early in the day as opposed to the late afternoon, both because it seemed like things would be busier then and because the days were so short. There might not have been much business at the marina, but she didn't want to be in the way if there was some.

"I wanted to say thank you for the stone," she said, pointing in the direction of the van. "I put it where the note said to. It helps, I guess. Makes me less tense."

Her left hand rubbed the back of her neck. In her right there was a box wrapped in plain blue paper. Despite her attempt not to be self-conscious, she was uncertain about giving it to him. If only because Rhiannon had brought up sex and whether or not she, Echo, wanted to have it with him. Maybe she did have a tiny crush, but it was completely platonic and was based on the fact that Cian seemed to have his shit together.

"I don't know if you celebrate Christmas or not, but, um..."

Re: Tis the Season

[cian_oneill]

Cian could read Echo's body language like it was a neon sign. Now his hands were at least passably clean he undid the top few buttons of his overalls, the sun still carrying enough heat in it to make the long-sleeved, dark coloured coverall garment uncomfortably warm for the Were.

"'m glad y' like it," he said, silently pleased she had already put it place. "Took a while for it t' get here. Post is slow from home." He eyed the package she had in her hand as he shrugged his shoulders out of the top of the coveralls, revealing the white t-shirt that had stayed like that because of the protective overalls. He let the top part fall, the fastenings holding the garment around his waist still.

"'nd yeah, Christmas was always m' favourite time o' year," he told her, leaving out the part that now it was different, that the time reminded him of how much he missed his family still. At least now, with Rhiannon, he might have someone to help ease that loneliness, to start making some new memories with.

"Is that f' me?" he said, seeing her standing there looking nervous and uncomfortable. He gave her a reassuring smile as he indicated a large outdoor table and chairs that were kept there for people waiting for their boats, walking over and sitting on the edge of the table.

Re: Tis the Season

[wolfs_daughter]

She trailed after him, passing the box from one hand to the other. "It's not really anything much," she said, perching on the bench. "I got this catalog in the mail, and I flipped through it instead of throwing it away. They had a few nice things."

She was looking down as she talked, and she made herself lift her gaze so that she could at least see the legs of Cian's overalls. Then higher, so that she could look at his face. She put the box on the tabletop and pushed it in his direction.

"I don't know if you believe in stuff like this, but amber is supposed to have healing properties. I had to make sure I could get it on a gold chain instead of a silver one."

Re: Tis the Season

[cian_oneill]

Cian's eyebrow raised a little as she explained, and he reached over to where she had pushed the gift, picked it up and unwrapped it. He opened the box and saw the piece of amber sitting against the black velvet-covered support, the gold of the chain slipped through the slits to hold it in place. The sunlight reflected off the different flickers and textures of the piece as he moved it from side to side a little.

"Thanks, Echo. It's a nice piece," he told her reassuringly. He didn't wear any jewelry for a couple of reasons, the main one being because he'd learnt very early in his transformed life that it was really inconvenient when it came to needing to shift quickly, and the number of chains he'd broken when he'd been learning to control the shift was more than he could remember. He figured he better try and explain that to her so she wouldn't be offended when he wasn't wearing it. "I, uh, can't wear anythin' that might get caught when I'm workin'," he told her, indicating the maintenance workshop behind him, and the boats there, and on the docks. "But I know a spot I can hang it," he added, not wanting her to think it was unwanted, or anything like that.

Re: Tis the Season

[wolfs_daughter]

"You don't have to wear it all the time," Echo said with a nod of acceptance. "You work with machinery and stuff, and it would be ugly if you got a chain caught in something. Plus, jewelry doesn't really work when the moon's full."

She'd been watching Cian's expression while he pulled off the blue paper, then noted the way he'd turned the amber back and forth to let it catch the light. Maybe she should have gotten him something practical instead. But he seemed to like it, so she was willing to settle for that.

"I've been practicing," she said after a brief silence. "Practicing letting the Wolf run like you suggested. That's what I was doing that night the meteor came. It's getting a little easier."

Re: Tis the Season

[cian_oneill]

Replacing the lid of the box Cian nodded. "That's good." He slipped the box into the pocket of his overalls. "'s no point in denying who y' are," he told her, resting his hands on the edge of the table.

"How's it round the time o' the moon?" he asked. He knew himself that at the time of the full moon he had to still be a little careful, and shifting was always easier then.

Re: Tis the Season

[wolfs_daughter]

"The change is a little easier when the moon is full, but now that I've actually been out in the desert running, that's helping too."

A spot on her forearm itched, and she scratched it absent-mindedly. She could feel the sun's limited warmth, and her angular jaw tipped upwards as she looked at the sky. She bet they had a million people here when the weather really turned warm.

"Rhiannon seems nice."

Re: Tis the Season

[cian_oneill]

The shift in direction of the conversation took him by surprise, but he didn't show it. "She is, he said in reply, nodding. There was no mistaking the smile that happily curled the corners of his mouth. "She tells me she and you had a conversation, on the bridge, one night. And y' gave her a lift home." He paused for a brief moment, then recalled something else.

"She said y' had some talent with pencil, that there w' a picture of a girl, I think? In the university, or library, or something, with a book?"

Re: Tis the Season

[wolfs_daughter]

"Yeah, at the student union. Drawing's always been an outlet for me. When you're too shy to talk, expressing yourself through pictures is easier."

And just lately Echo's work had become more fanciful. Dragons with neon scales, wolves that walked upright, a group of beings identical to the crater standing in a circle and holding hands. Whatever had brought on the burst of creativity, she was happy with it.

"Do you, uh, when you shift, do you remember stuff that happens while you're changed?"

Re: Tis the Season

[cian_oneill]

Cian shook his head, a small frown creasing his brow for a brief moment. "Not much, no," he admitted, "it'd never been somethin' I'd thought about, till here," he also admitted, a little quieter.

He looked at her, head angled a little as he asked, "'ow about you? D' y' know where y've been? What y've seen? After?"

[wolfs_daughter]

"Sometimes. It's hazy, though, like a dream. Or a picture that's been double-exposed. Kind of unreal."

Had she made him uncomfortable? She hoped not. Cian seemed like a very private sort, and it was against Echo's nature to invade someone else's emotional space. The hybrid laced her fingers together on the back of her neck.

"I bet this place is mobbed in the summer. It must seem weird when it isn't busy, like now."

[cian_oneill]

He wondered how different it was for someone born to it, instead of being infected with it during an attack, whether the mind would be more open to letting the two consciences interact, or entwine, if it was naturally given at birth, rather than fight it and keep it separate because of the way it happened, as the mind often did with traumatic events. It had been a question he'd sought the answer to on occasion, but had never found anyone who could tell him for certain.

"Aye, gets busy in summer," he agreed, going with her change of subject. "Still get the groups from Vegas who don't believe there's as big a river 'ere as there is," he continued, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of the marina and lake. "That keeps business goin'," he added. As he looked back at her the sun caught on the chain around her neck, the one he'd given her and he could see, peeking out from the edge of her shirt, the piece of tiger's eye.

"I see y' wearin' the tiger's eye," he said, looking from it up to the young woman's face.

[wolfs_daughter]

"Yeah. I like to wear it, it's pretty. I make sure to take it off before I run, though."

Echo touched the pendant where it rested against her cotton t shirt. A shy smile crossed her face. Maybe she was trying to absorb some of his quiet confidence by osmosis.

"Thank you, Cian. For helping me. I know I said it before, but it feels important that I should say it again now."

Re: Tis the Season

[cian_oneill]

He nodded, giving her a light smile. "Y' welcome," he said in response. "I w' lucky I had folks around me who w' able t' help me when I w' turned. One of 'm, Annie, she basically saved m' life. She's th' one who's blessed th' carving. It's why it took so long t' get i' to y', gettin' it over from home first."

Re: Tis the Season

[wolfs_daughter]

"Papa was turned a long time ago, before I was ever even something he thought about. A kid, I mean. I think that's why he didn't know what to say or do when I turned out to have the Wolf inside me too. He could have done a lot worse. I could be just another monster, but I'm not."

She was thinking of Sabra when she said it, and she twitched at the memory. "I should probably let you get back to work," she said. "I hope you enjoy Christmas, and if I don't see you before then, happy new year."

Re: Tis the Season

[cian_oneill]

Cian nodded as she spoke of her father. While he wasn't sure he'd do the same as her father, if he ever had children, he was glad she at least appeared to be handling it a little better, especially if she was now out running regularly.

"Aye," he said simply, then added, "thanks for the gift, and you have y'self a happy Christmas too. 'nd watch out f' meteorites!" he added with a laugh and wink.

Re: Tis the Season

[wolfs_daughter]

The hybrid brushed at the seat of her jeans when she got up, then reached out and hesitantly squeezed the other were's shoulder. She didn't make eye contact.

"I'll talk to you later, maybe."

Re: Tis the Season

[cian_oneill]

"Aye, later," he replied with a smile.