(Untitled)

[theblindguy]

The switch in weather - and pretty much everything else - is going to take time to get used to. It was always bad enough when things were moved around in places he was used to by carelessness, but this - the entire landscape is different to him now, and it felt a little like he's back to square one because of it. It was a bit disorienting at first

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[farmgrown]

Annie's fortunate to at least have the advantage of sight - Auggie's finally starting to remember where things are, but given that their surroundings had literally changed overnight, she doesn't blame him for being frustrated at first. She's more than willing to be patient when it comes to helping him, though, especially since it comes as such a force of habit for her anyway. She's so used to having his hand there at her elbow, lightly allowing her to guide them, that she doesn't even bat an eye when he chooses to do it on that first day of change and then every day after that. It gets to the point where she holds her arm out before she starts out on her walk, waiting for him to reach out for her. Even with all the chaos that the winter months have brought to the island, some things are still familiar

[theblindguy]

"Well, I do have my normal cane back at the hut, so the hat's pretty much all I need to complete the set," Auggie muses with a quiet chuckle. His hi-tech cane, which is beaming a light out in front of them despite the fact he's mostly using Annie's guidance right now, probably wouldn't fit the part.

And that's what it kind of feels like right now - that he's playing a part, that he's on some kind of gigantic, island-wide set that he's pretty sure would've been made for a Christmas TV movie. It's still a little startling to him how even the smells have changed - there's no more flowers and sea salt; it's instead replaced by a faint smell of chimney soot and the general scents of a city that isn't supposed to be there.

"Finally given up on wearing pants, huh?" he adds after a moment, trying not to grin. He'd been meaning to ask since he realized what she was wearing earlier, the swish of the bottom of her skirt a near constant feeling against his pant leg as they walk together now.

[farmgrown]

"True. Between the cane, the hat and the coat, you'd look right at home in the middle of any period movie. Maybe even Muppet Christmas Carol," Annie muses out loud, grinning slowly as she curls a gloved hand around his forearm. It's cold enough for her to need them, and she'd managed to find a pair of leather ones in the clothes box - the entirety of which, frustratingly enough, had been filled with nothing but Victorian-era clothing. Seeing as how jean shorts and bikini tops wouldn't exactly be weather-appropriate, though, she figures it's best just to grin and bear it for however long this lasts

[theblindguy]

"Really? The first movie you think of is Muppet Christmas Carol? Not the original one?" he asks with a snort of amusement, shaking his head. Not that he hadn't seen the movie himself, but there's classics he definitely would've brought up before that.

He slows when she does, though he doesn't think much of it as he does. He glances in her direction instead, commenting, "It's thick fabric, too."

So is his clothes, and it keeps the chill of the snow falling on them well enough. That's all he can really ask for. Truth be told, from the sounds of it, what he has as clothes now is vastly better in quality than the stuff he had before this place changed.

[farmgrown]

"So I prefer that version to the original. So sue me," Annie mutters, swiveling to a stop beside him as her skirt swishes back and forth around her legs, taking a little more time to adjust to the sudden halt in movement

[theblindguy]

"You would," he teases, though there's a fond little grin lifting on his face as he says it.

He runs a hand through his hair when they get inside, pulling off any excess snow that's left there. He probably looks awful, but he ignores it for a moment to pull his coat off, folding it over the arm that she doesn't link with hers. He expects them to head to the rec room - or this weird new version of a rec room, because even the Compound's different now - and they do turn towards it. The abrupt stop a few seconds later surprises him and he lifts an eyebrow when they continue to just stand there.

"Is something wrong?" he asks, hearing the confusion in that small noise she just made. His cane isn't picking up anything.

[farmgrown]

"Gonzo as Charles Dickens? Doesn't get much better than that," Annie replies, though it's more of a faint murmur than a direct argument in response. Her gaze is already sweeping the room, trying to figure out what could account for their sudden inability to move. She has a theory, though, and attempts to take a step back, but she's only able to move the length of a few steps before something stops her just beyond the doorway.

"I don't know. All of a sudden, we just stopped," she adds, eyes still scanning as she looks over the room and then down, around their feet. There's nothing there she can see, although she has to maneuver her skirt out of the way to even see anything at all, and then she finally glances upward, up the length of the doorframe until her eyes spot it, the sprig of mistletoe hanging above their heads.

"Um, I think I figured it out," she quietly admits.

[theblindguy]

"I picked up on the stopping part," Auggie says, dryly. He tries to move as well, and he finds himself being blocked from moving. He's about to try the other way when she speaks again, and he turns his head in her direction, confused as hell now.

"Mind cluing me in?" he prompts when she doesn't immediately say it. Because he certainly isn't finding any reason why he appears to be frozen in place.

[farmgrown]

There's something about this moment that would strike her as infinitely funny if she didn't suddenly feel so awkward about telling him, about explaining the real reason for why they're suddenly stuck standing here with no means of moving - except, she's guessing, to do exactly what the tradition demands.

"There's, uh, mistletoe, up - " She points, even though she knows he's not going to glance that way, but he can probably infer as much from the way her voice trails off, grows faint as she looks up above the door again.

[theblindguy]

For a second, Auggie doesn't register what she's talking about. What did mistletoe have to do with this? And then - then he starts thinking about all the other kinds of things this place has pulled.

Suddenly, the idea of being stuck in one place because of something dangling over their heads doesn't seem so crazy.

"You're kidding me," he says regardless, letting out an incredulous sounding laugh. She's not laughing, though, and they're still not moving. "Wait, seriously? There's no reason but that?"

[farmgrown]

"I'm totally not kidding you. And I kind of wish I was," Annie mutters, definitely within earshot at this point. As far as she can tell, there might be two ways to get out of the situation: they can either go ahead and do what's apparently being forced on them, or they can find some kind of loophole to get free.

She sighs, stepping to stand in front of him, looking up at his face with a mixed expression. "Well, let's see if this works," she declares. She doesn't have to rise up on tiptoe to reach his face - she has the advantage of high-heeled boots today that serve that very purpose - but she does tilt slightly at the last minute, gently pressing her lips to the edge of his mouth.

[theblindguy]

He's about to make a joke about being hurt at the disdain in her voice at the prospect of kissing him, because that's about all he can think to do right now - laugh this off, because this is completely insane. She's all business, though, and before he can say anything, he gets a second of warning - the feel of her breath close to his face - before her lips press against him. Without really thinking, his head turns a little so he's facing her better, and it only serves to shift the kiss from the edge of his mouth to squarely in the middle

[farmgrown]

It's not quite a kiss, but she wonders if it will be enough to satisfy the mistletoe magic or whatever it is that's giving this one a little bit of extra hold over them - close enough to avoid any potential awkwardness that may arise from actually kissing him fully. It's not that she wouldn't, not if there's a moment where, say, they're being forced to - though even that sounds like she doesn't find him attractive, and she does. Somehow, all of these thoughts are running through Annie's mind as she tries to focus on delivering that one peck, intending for it to be completely brief

[theblindguy]

Auggie half-expects her to pull away the second he did. She doesn't, not even when she speaks, and all he can concentrate on right now is the feel of her fingers splayed against his cheek. He's tempted to lift a hand to rest a palm against hers as well; to touch what he'd so briefly seen months ago, to map it out in ways he knows he would never be able to without going over this invisible line that keeps him in check around her

[farmgrown]

It's no secret that Auggie has always been a constant presence in her life. And from the first minute she stepped through the doors of DPD headquarters, she was on his radar - literally. She can still remember walking out of the room after signing all of the forms to find him sitting there waiting for her, scanning her over with his cane and quickly identifying her perfume of choice shortly thereafter. There was a part of her, initially, that had found herself attracted to him - his confidence, his sense of humor, and the surprised way he smiled when she caught him off-guard with an unexpected joke of her own that first time. He'd been the person who had sought her out after she'd seen a man get killed right in front of her, who had found her again hiding in the bathroom and called her out on lying about being okay after getting reamed by Joan. And somewhere along the way, the crush had made room for a friendship that was deeper than just the attraction - or so she thought

[theblindguy]

Auggie almost feels like he's gone too far already, like at any moment, things are going to go to hell between them. But it doesn't, and it's strange how much more intimate how they are now than the few seconds ago when they'd been kissing. He can hear the indecision in her voice when she speaks. He's almost surprised to realize she's undecided at all, that there might actually be something more there. Either way, that's all he really needs then to know what to do right now