There Are Worse Things I Could Do

[first_pink_lady]

Back home, Rizzo had to drive on down to the drive-in if she wanted to catch a flick. The options were pretty limited to whatever reel the man in charge had lying around, but she wasn't too big on the things anyhow. Here, though, they had plenty of movies just lying around on the bookshelf, waiting to be thrown up on the screen in the rec room - in

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[oh_so_pleasant]

Elwood hasn't a clue about many of the mysterious things the island does to seemingly torture its residents, though he knows the young woman standing before him is upset about seeing herself on the screen for some reason(home movies, someone had told him about the other day, and so he assumes these are perhaps painful memories or reminders of a life left behind).

Without so much as a pause, he produces a handkerchief from the breast pocket of his suit jacket and a calling card from an inner pocket. In one motion, he presses his card into her hand and offers her the cotton fabric.

"Elwood P. Dowd," he says gently, looking at her with respect and not an ounce of pity. The human experience is sometimes a terrible thing. "At your service, now and whenever else you should need someone."

[first_pink_lady]

She could barely focus on what he was saying, mind reeling, eyes hot, and tears on her face for the first time in years. She simply found herself holding a handkerchief and a card, with a man standing in front of her, and felt horribly ill. "What?"

[oh_so_pleasant]

Elwood does not wish to overstep his bounds, and yet he cannot help but be extremely concerned for the welfare of the young lady before him. "I realize something is troubling you, miss. I simply wish to offer my assistance, if possible. Is there anything you need?"

He will not ask what specifically is troubling her. If she wishes to divulge the information, he will listen. Elwood is an excellent listener, when the occasion calls for it.

[first_pink_lady]

She didn't know him. That made it easier, a little - she hadn't assumed for almost a year and a half that he had no prior knowledge of her or her deepest and darkest goddamn feelings.

"Have you ever seen a flick called Grease?" She asked, breath stuttering despite her efforts and thumbing away the tears on her face.

[oh_so_pleasant]

Elwood mulls over the name for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I'm afraid not. The last show I saw at the cinema was The Ox-Bow Incident. Have you ever seen it? Henry Fonda gives quite the performance, I must say. What is this Grease about?"

[first_pink_lady]

She knew that flick, had seen it as part of a double feature at the drive-in a few years back. She hadn't paid much attention, as she'd been necking in the back seat through most of it. Her relief that he didn't know everything because of that damn movie was something, alright. "That Fonda was a looker, huh?" She pressed the handkerchief in her hand to her face, blocking out the rec room, closing her eyes and trying to get herself under control. When she pulled it away, it was smeared with makeup and tears, but she was a little more her usual self.

"Star-crossed lovers." She said with a humourless laugh. "And a car."