paper flowers

Who: Evelyn and Marian
Where: The boarding house
When: Obscenely late (er... early) hour

Monday had sort of gone by in a haze. Granted, that was probably because when Evelyn finally did get fall asleep it had been after sunrise, and it hadn't happened naturally. The sedatives weren't a thing she was proud of, but on the list of things she wasn't proud of right now they were at the bottom. So she had slept, much later than she would ever allow herself to. And then she had tried calling Becky, but hadn't been able to reach her, and then had a sort of powerless anxiety come over her... and at that point decided to at least get out of her apartment. It was late, really late, so she couldn't exactly move around and do things without disturbing her roommates. She even had been of a mind to to read something mindless, only to notice that the book that had become the fixture in the living area wasn't fixed there anymore. So she made her way downstairs. She wasn't really sure what she would do down there, but headed down nonetheless. She headed to straight to the main common room, not glancing at the side rooms that she had argued with Dodge in. And, once there and observing the state of the wall, Evelyn saw exactly what she could do.

And, an hour or so later, here she was at some obscene hour taping bright flowers to the wall. She hadn't started the project. It was the kind of thing she would never had seen herself doing, much less starting. They had just sort of appeared suddenly, nearly two weeks ago. One day, after the fiasco with Jesse finding out about the Drake, she had been heading to work and noticed the incredibly bright collage of flowers in the main common room. With only one and a half of the walls done it was obviously unfinished, but two weeks later it still remained that way. Nobody had done anything about it -- either in removing or completing the job -- save for moving the box of remaining flowers off a chair and into a corner.

So Evelyn, after coming in and staring at the wall until the unfinished part just starting bugging her to no end, decided to do something about it and slid the box out from the corner. For a moment she had debated whether to put the remaining flowers up or remove the display. But, in the end, opted to complete the job. Which brought her back to it being an hour later now, and she was still at it, the progress considerable even if it wasn't finished.

Marian was just short of dead on her feet. She'd worked like the world was going to end because she felt so bad about what had happened with Roy. She hated that he knew, that she didn't want to see him, and that she'd been too big a coward to point out why. That she'd ignored what he said about Alec.

And Alec. Alec who hadn't shown up for his burger and coffee on her last shift like she'd hoped he would. Though at the same time she'd been hoping he wouldn't show up, that he'd stay away and she could just pretend that he didn't exist. That she didn't somewhat look forward to seeing him. By the time she'd managed to stumble home after working most of the night she couldn't quite see straight, her feet and back ached and all she could think about was sleeping so hard that it would take a bomb to wake her up. Marian actually had a hand on the banister, headed up the stairs when movement caught her eye. Looking over she noticed that Zhen's flowers had multiplied and that there was someone working on it. Rubbing her eyes a little to make sure she wasn't seeing things she turned, taking a step into the common room. "Zhen?"

That got Evelyn's attention, and she glanced over mid-taping looking a bit confused. "Zhen?" Not that she could have possibly forgotten Zhen, but Evelyn had no idea of Marian knew Zhen as well. And she didn't see the Asian girl around, and Evelyn herself looked distinctly non-Asian and had a height difference so.... she possibly misheard Marian.

"Oh! Evelyn, I'm sorry." Marian flushed a little when the other woman turned towards her. "I thought...well those were Zhen's flowers. I thought..." Marian realized that she missed her friend, that she hadn't really seen her since she'd given her that beautiful gift. "I'm sorry. I've been up all night. Why are you up?"

Evelyn blinked, Marian's answer momentarily distracting her from giving her own. "You know Zhen?" she asked, that part sticking out to her. She glanced back up to the flowers, and then smiled wryly to herself. Zhen? Well, that sure as hell explained things. "She would be behind this..." she murmured, half to herself as well as to Marian.

Even weeks later, Evelyn still wasn't sure how she felt about her encounter with the girl. Undoubtedly there had been some good things out of it. There was the model plane, for one, which she had come to appreciate for more than it just being a gift and a useful time-killer. In a weird way, it started to mean something, even if she couldn't explain how. But the other parts of the encounter? Well, they had left ripples afterward... they still did, even. Some Evelyn had appreciated. Some she hadn't. Some necessary, and some were others she thought she could really just do without.

"I do, she helped me out one day," Marian said, moving slowly but eventually reaching Evelyn and handing her another flower to tape up. "She was taping these up that day. She's a great person. Really truly," she commented smiling to herself even though she was exhausted. "You didn't answer, about why you're up."

Evelyn smiled, although internally was a bit uncertain. Certainly, if she had to choose between one or the other? She guessed she would have to agree that Zhen was a great person. The girl had given Evelyn the model of Amelia's plane after all. But, well, maybe it was just how Zhen had managed to leave little upsets in her wake still affecting Evelyn's life that had Evelyn hesitating on that opinion before she went with it.

"I couldn't really sleep," Evelyn answered. "And I didn't want to disturb my roommates – I'm pretty sure I've been bugging them incessantly for the last week," she flashed a little smile there, "so I came down her to find something to do – at least I could be just as restless down here as I can in my apartment – and saw the flowers. And just... seeing half of one wall done started to bug me." Because, yeah, Evelyn could admit that she could be a bit... concerned about things being ordered. Normally it was kept just to a practical and useful level. But when she got stressed? She knew it could get a bit out of hand -- not that she was going to really mention the whole 'stressed' part.

Marian laughed lightly, picking up another flower. "At least I'm not alone then. It's always strange walking in and there's no one around. Kind of lonely." That had her thinking about what Alec had said, about someone keeping tabs on the girls in the house, to make sure they were safe. "What's had you restless for the past week?" Even if she was exhausted there was something nice about having an actual conversation that wasn't an order or her brother unintentionally reminding her of how horrible a person she was.

Evelyn paused before she answered, filling the silence with taping the flower Marian handed her. In some ways, sometimes it was easier to open up to a near-stranger than it was those closest to her. Which, she understood, was absolutely ridiculous. She didn't really understand it, she just knew that sometimes it was easier to push words past her lips that would have otherwise clung there with her family. But, of course, that didn't mean that Evelyn was exactly quick to divulge her life story either -- and when telling her own issues involved having to divulge the issues of others? She was even more reticent.

"Just... a bunch of things," she murmured, initially looking like she wasn't going to expand on it. But it was also very very late, and the sleep schedule had been funny lately, and that had her in a bit of an odd mood -- maybe there was something about being nearly alone in the stillness of the common room that invited a bit more disclosure. "Family. Friends. Work -- well, I guess now the recent lack of." Another wry smile, although it wasn't one that was actually amused. "That whole trifecta."

"Lack of work? What happened?" Marian asked, the most awake she'd been since she walked in and definitely the picture of concern. "Do you have something lined up? Are you going to be okay?" Marian knew hardship, she knew how damn important her job was. She coudln't lose her job, not at all. She'd be on the streets, which just meant she was a step or two from going down that path she'd been down and she didn't want to go down again.

Evelyn smiled a bit at Marian's concern, making sure it was reassuring, "It's alright -- I'll be fine." And, as far as the job situation went?, that was the truth at least. Of course, that was really only if Dutch hadn't retracted his offer -- and she really and truly wouldn't blame him if he did. Evelyn gave a little shrug, taping another flower, "It was me who quit anyway. And I think I've got something lined up."

"You quit? Was everything alright?" Marian couldn't imagine quitting any job. She'd spent a lot of time trying very, very hard to be the best damn waitress that ever lived. Just so she could survive. Reaching into the box she handed Marian another flower. "What do you think you have lined up? Anything good?" Evelyn was smart, she could probably do whatever she wanted. That gave Marian a little pause as se considered the typewriter he brother had given her that she hadn't used enough. She needed to keep practicing.

There was another pause. Evelyn couldn't really say 'no, everything was fine' after just saying that she quit. After all, people didn't really quit when things were all peachy keen, now did they? "I was working at the Drake. Things weren't really bad or anything," she started, taking an unpainted flower and turning it around in her hands. "Just... unsustainable." And, well, here was where Evelyn stopped when it came to the details. "But the new job -- well, if I get it? -- it's a bit of a pay cut, but it's actually more up my alley," and Evelyn grinned a little there. She was aware that her main interests and hobbies ran more masculine, but that fact itself had actually never been one that bothered her much. She had never been ashamed that, yes, she actually preferred to read technical manuals than some of the popular fiction of the day (save for mysteries, she loved a good mystery).

"It's at a garage," she continued, still grinning a little. "Though it's mainly a paperwork gig. But, well, let's say I have enough of an interest in technology that staying strictly behind a desk? Could present a problem."

"The Drake? Really?" That was definitely a step up from Nighthawks. The waitresses there probably got real tips. And Evelyn was leaving it. Taking a paycut. Marian couldn't imagine that sort of flexibility. "A garage? Which one? Roy works at a garage," she said. It would be nice if Evelyn worked at hte same one, then maybe she could keep tabs on him when she wasn't able to see him. "You're interested in that sort of thing?"

"Yeah, I've always been kind of fascinated by technology -- especially planes. I actually have this model plane I'm nearly done with -- from Zhen, of all the coincidences," Evelyn answered, finally taping up the unpainted flower while she internally flailed a little. Because, oh right, Roy worked at the garage. Roy who she saw around the Drake, and knew her as Amelia Wright. And she remembered now, from one of her conversations with Dodge (she wasn't sure which one) that Roy did work in the same garage that Dutch ran. Which was... well, shit. Although, to be fair, at least in the boarding house? She certainly wasn't the only girl around who used an alias -- either for reinventing themselves or, well, shadier reasons. "It's at Occam Automotive." And, internally, she braced a little for Marian's answer, unsure what to do.

Now Marian did smile. "That's where Roy works! Or at least I think that's it. I'm horrible at pronouncing the name. He really likes it there." Marian didn't have the heart to ask Evelyn to keep an eye on her brother for her, but she bet that Evelyn was the type of girl who would do it without being asked. "Sounds like you've got it all worked out then. Working at something you're interested in. I can't even imagine what that would be like."

All worked out? Hah! Yeah, right. But if that was the appearance she had going right now, Evelyn wasn't going to speak up and disclose otherwise. Some days she felt like she was falling apart and barely keeping pieces together... that, really?, knowing she came off more put-together than the reality was a bit of a relief. She glanced over at Marian, catching the last statement there and latching onto it. It was an odd statement to Evelyn's sentiments, even if she knew it wasn't an uncommon one -- actually, it was probably more common than not. Evelyn herself had always seen a job she wasn't interested in as a temporary thing. Even when she didn't know what she wanted, deep down she always knew she wasn't going to let herself stay in some job that didn't interest her forever. But she knew that, for some people, life wasn't as simple as that -- and she didn't judge them on it. Her world view certainly wasn't an all-knowing, all-wise one. She could use to to judge herself -- which she often did -- but not-so-much others.

"What are you interested in?" she asked, curious without trying to be invasive. It wasn't as if she would be able to give the other girl The Answers that would solve whatever issues she had and set her on the track to a job she liked and Happiness or any of that jazz. Hell, Evelyn herself didn't feel qualified to really give any answer. But she could at least ask, right? She couldn't give out any answers, but at least she could always ask questions.

"Hmm?" Marian asked, only half listening because she was still tired. And she was jealous of how nice it seemed to be to be Evelyn. "Oh, I...um. I don't think I'm interested in anything really," she said, looking down at the flower in her hands so she wouldn't have to look at Evelyn. The way the older girl had explained her interests, with such passion, was lost on Marian. She didn't have anything like that. When was she supposed to find an interest? Where was she supposed to find one?

Evelyn frowned lightly, though she was tactful enough not to react much there. But still, that just sounded odd to her, and her mind had trouble getting a hand on it. No interests? In anything? And she caught Marian's phrasing -- the 'I don't think I'm interested in anything really' -- which told her that Marian didn't even know if she was interested in something, much less what. Not knowing what she wanted was something Evelyn understood well -- it was a mindset that caused her enough grief -- but she had always at least known what she was interested in.

"What do you think about doing if you're not working -- or, well, if you didn't have to have to work?" she amended. Because, even if Evelyn didn't know the girl well?, she knew enough to know that Marian was almost always working. So she could imagine that the answer regarding what Marian would do when she wasn't working would be sleep, eat, etc. At least, it was all Evelyn had wanted to do when she got home after a busy day.

Marian shrugged, still not able to meet Evelyn's eyes. "Not very much. Work I guess. But who's interested in being a waitress?" Even if she was a damn good waitress. Chewing on her lower lip a little she tried to think about what crossed her mind when she wasn't working or at work. Roy was there. Her family spread around town. As much as she hated to admit it, Alec seemed to have taken root in her mind and portions of her day were now dedicated to considering what a mess she'd gotten herself into with him. Shrugging again she glanced up at Evelyn briefly. "I can't think of anything really. I don't...There isn't much time for hobbies or things like that." Or money. There was barely enough money to survive, let alone have an active hobby.

Evelyn smirked lightly, "Yeah, I guess a lot of people wouldn't claim much interest for waitressing." She knew she hadn't, though it didn't lessen her work ethic. But then she paused, considering something for a moment, before continuing, "Though I guess, if somebody wanted to open up their own restaurant someday, they would be interested in it. You're in a position to see how things are run, and it's the servers who get the most contact with the customers. Who talk to them, hear what they're saying about the place. And there's that whole aspect of having to anticipate their needs that's useful knowledge for ultimately setting up one's own business. And, even if somebody want to stay in the back and just cook? A waitress will still hear what they're saying about the food, and know what people are liking and what they aren't -- and Lord knows customers are always adamant about pinpointing exactly what they hate or love about the meal." There was a slight eye roll there, as memories of enduring lengthy expositions on meal qualities returned to her.

Then she was quiet for a moment, as her mind drifted back to the fact that Marian hadn't actually answered the question... or, well, not answered what Evelyn had meant in the question. Marian had finished saying there wasn't much time for hobbies, which Evelyn understood, but she had posed the question as a hypothetical one -- if Marian didn't need to work, thus hypothetically giving her all the time in the world. And it could have been possible that Marian was deflecting, which Evelyn thought was very much within the girl's right and thus considered dropping the subject. She knew that she wasn't a fan of being grilled about things, especially from people she only knew as an acquaintance, and she thus tried to do others the same courtesy. But, considering Evelyn was aware that she could have probably phrased her question better, she opted for one more try.

"But, assuming some crazy thing happens, like say you win the lottery and are set for life, and you have all the time in the world... what d'you think you'd be interested -- hypothetically -- in doing, or trying? Or just a preferred way to kill time?"

"Oh! No, I can't even imagine owning my own place. That seems like such a giant undertaking! And I'm...no," Marian shook her head, brown hair rustling about her face as she dropped her eyes back to the paper flower in her hand. She had to wonder if Zhen made them all or if she'd found them somewhere. At Evelyn's other question Marian looked up, curious. It was that dreaming thing again, like Zhen had said. That it didn't hurt to dream even if it was ridiculous. That it wasn't a bad thing to want things, even things that might not be just a new dress or a pair of shoes that didn't hurt or a day off. "I don't know," she answered honestly, hating that if Evelyn had asked anyone else they would have probably prattled off answers in a heartbeat. "I never thought about it before. Or at least not since I was a kid I guess." Since their family was still together and there was time to be a kid. Things were hard but there was still time to play and dance and be happy. So much had changed since then.

The delay in answering didn't phase Evelyn much, considering Marian had admitted before that she didn't really think she had any interests. So, really, taking her time in answering was to be expected. But when she did get to answering, and it returned to her not knowing, it left Evelyn feeling at a loss for where to take the conversation from there. Because a part of her had believed that, if Marian just thought about it for a minute in a no-restrictions hypothetical situation, she would come up with answer. Because Evelyn had always known what she was interested in, at least, and that knowledge just... came easy for her. And, even if she knew life didn't always work out for people to pursue their interests, she had always assumed people at least knew what their interests were. But, apparently, that wasn't the case. And it took her a moment to alter her mindset there a little to take that in, which then left her feeling a bit abashed for having gone with the option to press on and ask again -- especially since she had now undoubtedly made Marian uncomfortable.

And she was all ready to try to make it up to the girl by changing the subject -- but then Marian added that last part. And Evelyn considered her for a moment, now debating whether to go with the subject-change plan or not, before opening her mouth. "Do you remember what you thought about as a kid?" she asked, tone a bit a mix of careeful and gentle as she was now hyper-aware of making Marian uncomfortable. "And feel free not to answer if you don't want -- I don't really have any right to go about interrogating," she joked lightly, though the disclaimer was very much genuine.

Marian shook her head a little. "Silly things like any little girl without much dreams of. I wanted to be a princess or a movie star. I wanted to be in love with a handsome prince." Alec's face floated into her mind's eye and she felt her cheeks heat up. "Silly things," she said again though more to herself than anyone else. "We didn't have much, and I was one of the older kids. I spent a lot of time taking care of the younger ones." Marian stepped away, moving to sit in an open chair, paper flower still in her hands in her lap.

"I don't think it's silly," Evelyn murmured, taping another flower up. For her? Yes, those dreams were a silly fit. But one thing Evelyn had realized long ago was that what was for her didn't mean it was for anyone else, and vice versa. Daydreaming of handsome princes had never really been her thing, not even as a child, but that didn't mean they couldn't be someone else's. Really, finding that One Love seemed a more natural and integral dream than the ones she aimed for. So she supposed that really just made her the odd duck out. "Large family?" Evelyn asked in regards to the last bit. Though, from that statement she gathered it would be 'yes' and it was probably bigger than her own. ...There weren't many families of adequate size enough to say something like 'I was one of the older kids' after all. But Evelyn, though she may have just been reading into it, also noted the whole past tense phrasing, which also left her more hesitant to prying.

"You don't? I mean it is silly isn't it to think that some prince would just sweep in and rescue you from all your problems isn't it?" It felt that way, and yet Marian couldn't help it when her thoughts drifted to Alec doing just that. She nodded when Evelyn asked about her family. "Quite. There was more than one family living in our house. So I had aunts and uncles and cousins running around." It was still all past tense. So much of that was gone now, so much of it. And Marian had cut herself off from so much of her family, out of shame that she couldn't do better by them.

"I don't think dreams of being in love with someone is silly," Evelyn answered, taking another flower from the box but not yet putting it up. She didn't pry further into questions on Marian's family. Because, yes, there was definite Past Tense there, and Evelyn didn't think Marian would appreciate a girl she hardly knew prying into an issue that was likely painful. "And, I guess, it's nice to daydream about somebody sweeping in to the rescue. I don't think daydreams themselves are silly -- that's kind of the point of daydreaming, right? Or, well, to think of something that's more fun than reality at the moment?" There was another pensive pause though as she took her turn just turning a flower around in her hand. "I think the trouble lies in expecting reality to become like the daydream, or just putting too much into just hoping that it does. Like a handsome prince coming to the rescue isn't likely," even though Evelyn had a brother who was always jumping in to the rescue, Jesse certainly was no prince.

"But that doesn't mean daydreams like that are meaningless. I guess the question is whether the point of the dream itself is having the handsome prince come to the rescue, or just being rescued? Because there isn't much to be done in waiting for a prince that might not show up. Some people are nice enough to jump in and help, sure, but that's no guarantee they're princes. And they might bring in just as many issues as the one's they rescued the girl from. ...But if the point is just to be rescued from a situation? Then it could be a starting point for a person to rescue themselves. Not that it would be easy, but it would be a start..." But then Evelyn caught herself, and gave an abashed smile in Marilyn's direction before sticking the flower to the wall. She wasn't normally a rambler, but she liked problem-solving and working things out in her mind that she had gotten carried away in thinking things out loud. "Sorry, if I'm coming off lecture-y I don't mean to all -- I'm just musing out loud, really; and not sleeping's apparently left me unable to shut up."

"It's okay," she told Evelyn with a smile, having just listened to Evelyn's rambling without interrupting. "I guess maybe it's the want to be rescued. Or at least feeling a need for it." Marian dropped her eyes from Evelyn's again, studying the flower like it was a priceless object rather than a flower crudely made from paper. "How do you tell? Just because someone seems like a prince, or seems like he wants to rescue you, how do you tell if that's really what he wants?" Marian was thinking about Alec again, and thinking about how it might be nice to have a different opinion on the situation. "What if it seems like the day dream could come true? And how bad off is it if most of the time you're afraid?" She wasn't being specific and part of her doubted she was making sense, but she was worried if she actually laid the situation out properly she might wind up in tears, crying to a girl she barely knew.

"I don't know," Evelyn answered, frowning lightly as she surveyed the flowers that had been taped thus far. Her mind unwillingly drifted back to her old boss, which probably gave her a more jaded outlook on the matter. Not that she thought he was a prince or anything close, but that whole sham 'philanthropic/helping the unfortunate (particularly women)' thing he had going on came close enough. "I know that, regardless of the rescuer meaning it or not, sometimes being rescued could leave a person feeling helpless and dependent." At least she had felt that way. Sometimes with her brother, and certainly in Dutch's apartment after she had been attacked and in the days afterward. Thankfully time had helped, but that didn't mean Evelyn was fond of the recollection. "I know that some people are exceptional actors," she continued, "and you usually won't find that out until they let it slip on their terms."

Marian nodded, tears threatening the edges of her eyes while she listened. "That's a good point," she said softly. Evelyn was right, she would feel dependent, more than she already did on Roy and her family, even if they were the ones who were supposed to be dependent on her. "I guess I just wanted it to be something better than it was," she mumbled, a small sigh escaping after saying it.

Evelyn's gaze pulled away from the flowers and properly onto Marian, a small pit in her stomach forming at her obliviousness. Really, she should have caught that -- she normally would have caught that. But she hadn't, and instead missed the point in the conversation where it drifted from hypothetical What If to 'hypothetical'. And, for an awkward moment, she really didn't know what to say. She didn't think she would really take back what she had said -- that viewpoint she had on the matter didn't really change just because the situation related to an actual scenario instead of an imaginary one. But she would have been more tactful about it, more prone to highlighting that it was only her viewpoint and that it didn't apply to every situation. But even then... Evelyn really didn't know the situation, or who the guy was involved, or any of the details. And she just wasn't trusting enough anymore to give a complete stranger the benefit of the doubt. "Wanted what to be better than it was?" she asked finally, being gentle about it since Marian seemed on the verge of tears. She figured she couldn't really say anything about a situation she knew nothing about; and, seeing how Marian brought it up first, she didn't feel like she was rudely prying.

Marian's eyes raised to meet Evelyn's, tears there shinning but not falling. "His name is Alec, he comes into the diner sometimes," she started, knowing that Evelyn hadn't actually asked, but part of Marian still wanted to talk about it. "He's rich, not just a little. A lot. His family they own the steel mills. The other girls at the diner, they talk about him a lot as well. How handsome he his, how rich, how polite. But he's always in my section and he's always just so pleasant. And last week, he decided he wanted us to be friends. Nothing more. I told him that I wasn't that type of girl, but he insisted he wasn't that kind of guy." A lone tear slipped from Marian's eye and she ducked her head, rubbing it away with the back of her hand, not willing to go on with the story.

Evelyn bit her lip lightly and she moved her gaze back to the flowers. She felt bad about Marian being upset, and felt awkwardly unfit at providing any comfort other than doing Marian the courtesy of not staring if she cried. She really didn't know what to say, or what she should say. Personally? Marian's story had Evelyn frowning internally, though she kept that off her face. Because people just normally didn't try for relationships -- romantic or otherwise -- far from their own social standing. The fact was that, generally, rich men didn't pursue anything more than trysts, flings, or games with poor girls. But a serious, willing-to-be-publicly-recognized romance was limited to movies and fiction. Even in her own experience with Ian, Evelyn had taken his flirtation with a bucketful of salt. And when she accepted that his interest was genuine? It was an exception, not the rule, and what with him managing a mafia-run hotel the exception wasn't an ideal one. And a rich man only wanting to be 'just friends' with a Nighthawk waitress...? That was more likely a line than the truth.

"I hope he's honest," Evelyn offered, in a manner she meant to be comforting. Because Marian was a nice girl, always smiling and friendly. And Evelyn thought Marian was a girl who could really use a lucky break: she doubted most of the other girls had noticed it, but she had caught moments where Marian's smile seemed more like a mask than the truth. "But I just know that there are probably more liars than not, who are good at sounding very sincere and would try to take advantage." And she tried to smile for a moment, to comfort or lessen the cynicism, but then she thought better of it. It just wasn't a statement that warranted smiling.

Marian nodded, fighting back the tears and managing to stuff it all back inside her like she usually did. "Silly dreams right?" she asked, a small smile there. Her eyes were still shinning from tears, but the mask was back in place. She wasn't the sad girl who needed saving, just a bubbly, happy waitress who wanted to be friends with everyone. Standing in a rare burst of energy she moved to tape the flower in her hand to the wall. It wasn't much but it was something else to focus on, something to use to cover up all the hurt and frustration and fear that was bursting to get out of her. She wanted to trust Alec, to be friends with Alec and to hope Alec was here to rescue her, but Roy was right and Evelyn was right. She was being stupid about all of it. "Do you want help finishing the flowers?" she asked Evelyn innocently, as if they hadn't just touched on harsh and difficult topics.

"I don't think dreams themselves are silly. Just that reality doesn't often line up with them," Evelyn murmured. But she didn't expand any further, instead just nodding her head a little at Marian's question and smiled a little herself, "Help definitely wouldn't hurt." Neither her smile nor Marian's undid the wet shine in the other girl's eyes. But Marian had put it on, and seemed to wan to drop the subject, and Evelyn couldn't blame her and didn't call her out on it. It wasn't that she didn't care. She never really minded listening -- she felt awkward trying to comfort people and think of the perfect thing to say, sure, but the actual listening part she didn't mind -- but she just wasn't going to dig and pry into the life of a girl who barely knew her. She understood wanting to put on a brave face, and not spill one's vulnerabilities out, that she just didn't feel like she had any right prying into details Marian probably didn't want to share.

Evelyn bent down to take a flower, holding it out to Marian to put up, again smiling a little. "And don't feel obligated to stay down here if you get too tired or anything -- I'm only doing this because I was restless."

Marian nodded handing over another flower out of the box. "I don't mind," she told Evelyn while they worked. "Sometimes when you're restless it's nice to have someone around," she added, smiling again. In fact, focusing on helping Evelyn made it easier to ignore her own issues, easier to push them aside and focus on making someone else happy, just like any good waitress would.