deep in December, it's nice to remember

[pacificator]

Who: Wynonna Earp, Benton Fraser (& others)

What: embracing the holiday spirit and other December things

When: December

Where: Milton & Lakeside

 

without a hurt the heart is hollow

 

Comments

[goingtobeunwell]

[There are times he wishes he had more of an artistic mindset; he can only dream of being able to create something so lovely. He sets down the piece and rearranges the board carefully, treating it like the treasure that it is.]

Thank you for saying so. Our continued survival is built on community - and there is one here. Small, but fiercely loyal, and worth protecting.

[maintiensledroit]

Many of them did a fine job of protecting the community themselves these past few months.

[ Not all of the Interlopers here are fighters, but he'd seen almost everyone offering what they could, whether meeting the Forest Talkers when they arrived and trying to hold them back or helping the injured.

He leans an elbow on the arm of the chair and rests his chin against his curved index finger, watching Crozier set up the pieces. ]

Sometimes it feels as though trying to find a little normalcy is the last thing I should be trying to do... but even here, little slices of it sneak in. A game with a friend, for instance, or a meal that isn't purely for survival.

[goingtobeunwell]

[He smirks softly, pausing to adjust a knight.]

Our need for normalcy even in the strangest of situations is a very human quirk, don't you think? Just surviving seems to ask the question of why we should fight so hard to survive in the first place.

[He sets up Fraser's side of the board just as carefully.]

Speaking of sneaking in bits of normalcy...how are you and Svetlana?

[maintiensledroit]

Ah—

[ He's a little shy, glancing down with a smile before he meets the older man's glance once more. ]

Very well. She's a remarkable woman. Even in this place, there's nothing that doesn't seem to be... easier and more bearable when she's there.

[ He reaches into his pocket and brings out a small parcel, carefully wrapped in soft leather. Unwrapping it in his palm, he shows Francis the charm he'd made for Sveta; the little sun glinting with tiny pieces of pyrite. ]

I made this for her. I hope she likes it.

[goingtobeunwell]

[Crozier takes a moment to marvel at the little handmade gift - even the packaging is perfect. The charm itself is worthy of admiration, and he leans forward to look at it closer.

It seems apt.]

She is a ray of sunshine, isn’t she? Were you hoping to capture her radiance, or remind her of the light still to come?

[maintiensledroit]

Both.

[ He looks at the charm in his palm, and can't help once again thinking of the differences between Sveta and Victoria. One, in his memory, is all snow and darkness and fear and desperation, and a longing that sapped him like a tree in early spring, and the other—

She's warmth and light and sweetness and however much he gives to her, he never feels emptied. ]

She gives so much to everyone here. I wanted to give her some small piece of it back.

[goingtobeunwell]

[He thinks of the desperate breaths he'd been reduced to taking after Hickey's beating; if it wasn't for Dr. Nazarova's care he wouldn't have healed as well as he did.

And a good woman deserves a good man. The two of them are quite the pair - both generous and knowledgeable, and kind when it truly matters.]

That she does. But for what it's worth, I think you make her very happy indeed.

[maintiensledroit]

[ He lifts a hand to toy with one of the pawns Crozier had set up on his side of the board, rolling it gently from side to side with the tip of one finger. ]

It's strange. I've spent so much of my life alone... well, Diefenbaker has been there, of course, but it's not really the same as human companionship....

I supposed I just always assumed I would stay that way. I have a few friends, but I lived alone, and until I came to Chicago, I mostly worked alone. I never minded the solitude... or at least, I didn't think I did. And then I came here, and I...

[ He breathes out, a faintly apologetic huff of a laugh, his glance flickering up to Crozier's face as if he expects the man to tell him to suck it up, stop woolgathering; no one asked for this. ]

...and I found more companionship than I've ever known, with people I could never have hoped to meet. And as much as I want to return, to go back to my duty and my friends... I don't want to leave the things I've found here. The people.

[goingtobeunwell]

[He'll find the very opposite in Crozier's expression: encouragement, earnest interest, gentle sympathy. Nothing that Fraser could mistake as annoyance. He tips his head forward in a small nod - there's understanding too.]

It's perfectly reasonable to wish to be two places at once. We long for home, yet if we plucked away from this place now and returned to where we came our minds would be as divided as they are now.

[He finishes setting up the last few pieces and turns the board - white facing Fraser for him to start.]

But I would have never taken you for an isolated man. You're genuine and warm, almost effortlessly so.