#mitch005

@occamcomplex​:

cambieandrews‌:

[She’d only gone outside for a matter of minutes, in order to retrieve the child that had ventured out in the storm because they thought they saw a cat in need of help. In those few minutes, Cambie had gotten as thoroughly soaked as if she’d just dived into the public bath still fully clothed. The child has been safely returned to their mother, and now she’s wringing her hair out into the sink of one of the communal bathrooms. She’s cold, and clammy, and shivering, and there’s a soft smile on her face: she has to laugh at herself, because of course someone is going to come in while she’s looking like a drowned rat.] 

I know, I know - I’m that idiot. [She smiles, shaking a few more droplets from sleeves.] I’d not recommend going outside right now. Bit brisk out there.

Bit bri– Cambie. [[ Mitch had barely opened the door to catch sight of her before he can’t help but laugh, though it’s playfully disappointed more than it is anything else. He’d caught sight of her just around the corner as she’d retreated, and of course had to follow out of a friendly concern.

They hadn’t exactly had a lot of time to sit down properly in the wake of the colony-wide sickness, even if they’d been able to steal the odd catch-up over mealtimes or between his classes. Mitch hadn’t been avoiding her, not specifically, but with some guilt he was realizing he hadn’t exactly sought Cambie out for any of their extended chats, either. Even if they’d managed to bounce back from the weighty conversation revolving around his ex-wife, there was still an unmistakable shift between them – an elephant in the room, even if it was a small one.

Still, it doesn’t stop him from smiling warmly and shaking his head as he crosses to help her, reaching up with careful fingers to disentangle the odd twig or leaf that’d been swept into Cambie’s hair. ]] We’d better get you back to Delma and changed, or I’ll be the one escorting you to the infirmary next.

[God. It wouldn’t be fair to say that Cambie’s been avoiding him, but it would be fair to say that she’s been cautious in the interest of protecting Mitch from whatever mess is going on in her head. It’s not fair on him, not in the wake of him opening up about his ex-wife. She’s halfway between trying to work through what she’s feeling and make some sense of it, while also burying it deep enough that nobody will notice.

She’s certainly not going to talk to anyone about it. Cambie is, after all, a Delma, whatever people might think of her openness. But as Mitch enters, Cambie is confronted with just how terribly she’s failed at accepting or burying. He says her name with that soft, warm laugh that he has, and he smiles that soft, warm smile, and Cambie just about melts.

Of course he reaches out to extract a leaf from her hair. And, bugger, of course it makes Cambie feel a twist in her stomach. Thank god she’s not prone to blushing - it’s a small mercy, anyway.] I thought that ‘you’ll catch your death out there’ was bad science? [She smiles, feeling a familiar swell of fond warmth as he looks at her.] Isn’t the common cold just a virus, nothing to do with getting soaked to the bone in a storm? Also, just for the record, you’ll have to take me down fighting if you think I’m going to the infirmary for a case of the sniffles.