Idle

Two months go by and there is no hair or hide of the lanky man with the sad eyes and Rex doesn't expect him to come back. She just spends her time as she usually does. Her hair hiding under a small knit cap. It's been cut in the past two months so that it fits under it.

She gets tired of it easily enough that she doesn't really hold onto it when it grows too long. A good snip with her scissors at home and it's done. It's something she had come to not be bothered with, it was sort of her way of breaking away from the life she had before when things were less nice.

Her life wasn't a nice one now but it was better than before any of the things that she tried to forget. This bench was her safety place. She watched people go by from 10 AM to five PM, she gets up at one to get something to eat. She brings a coffee and sits there, drawing anything that she sees or thinks of. She tries not to tear a lot of them up because of how close to her they are.

She settles on looking at all the beings walking about instead. A smile surfaces on her face as she starts to sketch the little scene of a man holding his daughter's hand in his as they walk over to the grass and sit on a blanket. A woman soon following them. Its starts to look more like a comic book strip. Three little panels telling the story of people she doesn't even know.

It's something she has thought of before. If she was anyone else, maybe things wouldn't be so hard. When she left here she would be going to the museum to help with a little showing there and then back home to sleep for the night. That's how she explored the day. She got her funds by helping host things when there was a need for it.

There wasn't much work that she was allowed to do. That was another thing to think about. She shut her eyes, her hand stilling over the area she was shading, it curled up around the pencil and then she opened her eyes again and relaxed and continued the sketch. It was nearly complete.

Soon enough she was joined on the bench, the small space that she always left open for anyone who wanted to sit was taken up. The strong aroma of coffee filtered through her nostrils and she tried not to look over at the person who decided she was good company if only for a sit. She continued with the sketch nearly completely by the time the stranger decided to speak up. "I get these dreams."

Rex smiled a little as she looked over briefly at the tall man who she met just months ago. He had come back. She went back to her drawing as she allowed him space to talk if he wished to do so.

That was the thing about her. Once she opened the floor for someone to talk she didn't overbear them with her own words, she just pretended that she hadn't noticed until they open it up for her to say anything worth saying. Sometimes that never happened. Sometimes it did. Regardless, she sat there and waited.

She turned the page in her sketchbook and began on a new sketch. Her hand never faltering for more than a few seconds. She continued on for a few moments before realizing she hadn't heard him say anything else. His name was Reid, if you she could recall that fact.

"What are they about?"

He hesitated a moment. That gave Rex the idea that he hadn't decided whether he knew what he wanted to say or why he was here in the first place. That was okay. "You know, you don't have to talk about it."

"I do though." He said quickly. "It was a little advice from another friend of mine. To talk about this with people. It's unhealthy to keep it to myself."

Rex kept herself from asking why he wasn't talking to that friend instead of discussing this with her. Instead she nodded along to his words, because it was true. She didn't have anyone to do that with. She tried not to have people to talk about it with. Maybe it was on purpose but she felt better dealing on her own. It didn't mean she couldn't help Reid.

"So what happened…in the dream?"

"I was dancing and it was wonderful but then I woke up."

"What's her name?" Rex blurted out before she could think about it. It wouldn't be too bad if he was just dancing alone, though that would be a bit sad she realized. He seemed like a nice guy besides how lost he was. He was dealing with grief. That was never easy.

"Maeve." He choked out. "Her name was Maeve and she was the most beautiful woman I have ever met. She made sense. Have you ever had something like that before? Have you ever loved someone so much but something horrible happened that made you have to let go without even wanting to? You have no control over that. No matter how much you try to process it, it doesn't make it any easier for you to deal with it. Rex, do you know what that is like?"

She had stopped moving ever since she heard the words made sense and now with the question hanging in the air, she knew she would have to answer it. She didn't want to lie. As much as it hurt to speak the truth, there was man sitting nearby who needed someone to tell him the truth. She wanted to laugh at this situation. A bitter laugh really.

Instead she found herself nodding as she turned her grey eyes on him and whispering, "Yes."

Rex needed a drink. When she left here, she would walk down to Charlie's, grab a pint and go to the museum and then the day would be done. She decided that even as she sat there continuing to talk to Reid. Well, he was talking to her and she was listening but she felt a little lost herself.