Room 303, late Tuesday afternoon

[walter_n_wires]

Walter had two packages waiting for him today. He'd picked them up from wherever one does that and carried them back to his room in the aftermoon after work. As much as he wanted to tear into the package from home, he set that one aside and opened the one from the ophthalmologist's office first

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[union_jane]

Seras heard the string of profanities as she was walking along the hallway and called out, "You know, if you ever tire of your vampire hunting butler gig, I'm sure you'd fit right in down on the docks."

[walter_n_wires]

Walter made a rude noise and resumed trying to stick his finger in his eye, only not.

Pup put his front paws up on the box and scrabbled at the butcher paper wrapping it.

[union_jane]

The door was open and Seras stepped in.

She noticed Pup scrabbling at the package. She scooped him up in her arms.

"Not yours," she admonished, giving him a gentle tap on the nose.

"Um...are you okay in there?" she called and reddened as something occured to her. She'd heard some...harrowing stories about zippers...

[walter_n_wires]

"Yeah," Walter called through the open bathroom door. "Just trying to stick this thing in my eye."

Good thing he was oblivious to Seras' thoughts.

Pup gave her a happy lick and whined at the box.

[union_jane]

Stick this what is his huh?

Seras had a moment of pure mental stoppage such that she was oblivious to Pup's attentions.

Then, the wheels of logic began to turn and she remembered that a)Walter had been talking about getting corrective lenses and b)Walter, skilled though he may be, was not a contortionist.

Ding, ding! You go Policegirl!

"You might want to do your best to hurry up. Or leave it for a bit. Pup seems bound and determined to get into your package out here."

[walter_n_wires]

"Hold on." Walter grumbled and finally managed to get the lens into his eye without it folding over and blinking out into the sink.

He came out of the bathroom with his left eye noticeably reddened from his repeated attempts to stick a foreign object in it, but he was able to see properly, and that was well worth the effort.

It was enough to actually lighten his mood, which was quite welcome and he smiled at Pup, who was still whining at the package on Walter's bed.

[union_jane]

Seras winced a little looking at Walter's eye.

"How does it feel?" she asked as she stroked Pup's back.

[walter_n_wires]

"It's alright. I just need to learn to control the urge to blink when something's coming right at my eye."

He sat down on the bed and pulled the box around to start pulling at the tape and string holding it closed.

[union_jane]

Seras nodded, carefully not saying anything more about it.

She set Pup down on the bed and watched curiously as Walter opened up his care package.

[walter_n_wires]

Pup immediately trotted over to the box and scrambled inside, tail wagging furiously the moment Walter opened the top.

"Get out of there. Those are clean clothes." He pulled Pup back out of the box and started removing folded trousers, waistcoats, and shirts, stopping to pull out an envelope with his name on it in Arthur's familiar handwriting.

[union_jane]

Seras gathered Pup in her arms again and perched on the end of the bed.

She tried to distract the little fella with a few ardent belly tickles and a brief monologue that assured Pup that, yes, he was the dearest little hell beast in the whole wide world.

"D'you get packages from home often?"

[walter_n_wires]

"No, but I really needed new clothes. Fandom and getting taller have wrought hell on my closet."

He opened the envelope and read the note inside before frowning and digging under a pile of waistcoats for another, smaller box, also wrapped and labeled in Arthur's handwriting. This one had a different name on it - Miss Seras Victoria.

He held the box out to Seras.

[union_jane]

Seras looked down at the box, reading her name on it and then up at Walter once more, not reaching out for it just yet.

"Is this some sort of...souvenir or something?"

[walter_n_wires]

Walter shook his head. "Arthur sent this for you. I'm sorry, but I had to tell him about you. It's my duty."

[union_jane]

Seras swallowed.

"It's...that's okay. Really. We agreed that it was fine to tell other people if we needed to."

Pup began to wriggle in her arms, straining towards the box. Seras set him aside and took the box from Walter. She was proud of the fact that her hand didn't shake.

Seras tore open the paper, and laid it beside her on the bed spread, not noticing the envelope attached to the bottom of the box. It was closed with a red wax seal and addressed simply 'Walter' in handwriting that looked like copperplate might if all the smooth, graceful edges had been replaced by sharp angles.

Moving faster than one would imagine a dog with such small legs could, Pup dove for the paper and the envelope, worrying it, his entire body wriggling with delight.

[walter_n_wires]

Walter looked away from Seras and her package long enough to snatch the envelope out of Pup's jaws. "Hush. It has my name on it, not yours." And in handwriting Walter recognized immediately.

He tore the end off the envelope and let its contents slide out into his hand.

Pup jumped up to try to snatch the length of red cloth out of Walter's hand, whining and wagging frantically.