(Untitled)

[accusedjonah]

DATE: December 1st, night [backdated]
CHARACTER(S): Jonathan Hollom and OPEN
SUMMARY: The wagons are circled, watches are being kept, and one man is greatly disturbed.
LOCATION: Around the campfire.
WARNINGS: Sad, sad little mouse inside.
FORMAT: Whichever.

Comments

[deusextaserina]

One thing Darcy should have- she really, really should have- counted on was the fact it was going to be cold in December. She'd always rationally known that, of course, even growing up in the desert it got cold. But she'd always had heat before. Even when traveling long distances, the car was heated, the gas station was heated, everything had heat.

And now that was gone.

So she'd grown super fond of sitting as close to practically in the fire as she could at nights. Just to survive, pretty much. But when she spotted Jon, the bringer of foods and quiet awkwardness, huddled up away from the life giving fire, she forced herself up and away from the warmth. If something was keeping anyone away from the heat, it had to be bad as far as she was concerned. With the outbreak of snake bites and illnesses around, it could be even worse than that.

So she wandered the way over to crouch down in front of him.

"Hey."

[accusedjonah]

"Miss Darcy," Hollom said as he sat up quickly.

He removed his blue coat without a thought, and he held it out to her. "You must be cold. Please. Put this on."

[deusextaserina]

She scrunched up her nose a little at that, and reached out and hand to push the offered article of clothing away.

"Yeah, frostbitten sailor boys are so last century. If you want to warm me up, you can come back over where it's toasty."

[accusedjonah]

"I'm not cold, Miss Darcy. I'm used to this-- worse."

Winters in the middle of the ocean were harsher than this, and there were proper fires here.

"Are you well? Injured? Ill?" There was too much misfortune lately.

[deusextaserina]

She held up one finger to her lips in the international sign of 'hush', then lowered it down as she raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not the one sulking on the sidelines. You're not dying of something horrible are you? Which, uh, in that case, makes the whole coat offer a whole lot less chivalrous, btw."

[accusedjonah]

"I-- No, Miss Darcy. I'm not ill. Or injured."

He never was. Not badly. Not like the others around him.

"I just... thought it best if I stayed out of the way."

[deusextaserina]

"Of that dastardly warmth and comfort?"

She grunted softly- staying in a crouching position was so much less comfortable after she'd hit twenty- and gave up, twisting her legs to fall into a cross-legged seat with a quiet 'umph.'

[accusedjonah]

"Of the others. I... tend to make a nuisance of myself more often than not."

It's true enough. He's an annoyance on a ship, though not for the reasons he would present. But this girl does not need to know the full extent of things.

[deusextaserina]

"Mm. Yup, you're living up to that right now. I thought some snake tried to murder you. Come on."

She jerked her head back towards the nice, warm fire with a small grin. A little crisis of ego? Fine, whatever.

"You'll be better where it's warmer."

[accusedjonah]

"You're living up to that right now."

He bowed his head slightly. She was getting cold-- she had to be. Because she was checking up on him. He looked up and tried to smile, but it didn't quite work.

"I'm warm enough, Miss Darcy. But don't let me keep you here. You'll be more comfortable by the fire."

[deusextaserina]

"I totally took that Take Back the Night course on self-defense, Jon. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Unless this is all part of some masterful plan you're going to monologue at me now."

She's sitting down. Cold, but seated. Him pulling her up is part of this game plan now.

[accusedjonah]

"...Miss Darcy?"

He's lost. Utterly and completely lost. Everything Darcy just said, pretty much? Over his head. So very, very confused now.

[deusextaserina]

Which just makes her laugh. Not trying to be cruel, but that's her sense of humor for you.

"Look, is there a single reason you're over here instead of by the fire other than not wanting to be in the way?"

[accusedjonah]

There were several, but most required explanation and painted him for the coward he was. So, instead, he settled on something that was only partly a lie.

"I'm warm enough here, Miss Darcy."

[deusextaserina]

"Uh-huh...Well, if it's like that you gotta tell me to- hm, no the one with 'and the horse you rode in on' is kinda expert level. Tell me to go mind my own business, if you're not in the sharing mood."