itsananomaly | MHA #16 - Late Monday Evening

It was late, there had been a few last-minute things Connor and Lester had to take care of before he caught his portal home. So when Connor stood outside the door to Cutter's flat, he figured he would still be awake but knocked a little softer than normal. If he was already asleep he could easily pop by early in the morning before heading to their class. So, Connor stood with his bag and waited to see if Cutter was up or not.

Cutter was still awake, even with class starting early tomorrow, Rex was curled up on the couch dozing in Connor's hoodie and he let out a chirp at that knock.

He went over to the door and opened it, "Connor, come in," he smiled, pleased to see him and he stepped back to let him in the flat, "how was your trip?"

"Hey Nick!" Connor said with a grin as the door opened. "Trip was really nice thanks. Sorry for the late check in... had to fit in a few things last minute."

Connor walked in and set his bag down and was about to say something when a happy chirp filled the air. The next moment Rex was scurrying over, Connor's hoodie draped over him like he was trying to wear it.

"Hey there Rex, did ya miss me?" Connor asked as he knelt down to give Rex some much deserved scritches.

Edited 2023-07-04 00:56 (UTC)

"Oh that's okay, I was awake anyway," Cutter admitted as he followed Connor into his flat, "Rex definitely missed you, he found one of your hoodies that you left behind, even though I think it's safe to say that the hoodie now belongs to Rex,"

Rex let out a happy chirp at that as he enjoyed those very well deserved scritches.

"Ah so that's where that one got off to" Connor said with a smile. "Well, I guess it's only right it's yours now Rex. You took such good care of it while I was gone."

Connor gave a few more scritches to Rex and then stood up and looked at Cutter again. "He wasn't any trouble for you while I was gone was he?"

"He was no trouble at all," Cutter smiled fondly at Rex as he bent down to give him a few scritches as well, "we had a good time didn't we Rex? He helped me work on my lesson plans, also turns our Rex is a really good listener as well," he admitted as he looked back up at Connor with a sheepish grin.

"Yeah that sounds like our Rexy!" Connor said with a fond smile as he made his way over to the couch and sat down. He had to laugh as Rexy dragged the hoodie over and chirped to be picked up, which Connor of course obliged. "You weren't kidding about the hoodie thing were you?!"

Cutter smiled at that, "he refused to go to sleep or eat without it," he said fondly, "I think it's his new favourite thing now, you might have trouble getting him to leave it alone now," he added.

Connor helped Rex get situated on the couch beside him and smiled as he watched Rex burrow under the hoodie and curl up in it.

"Yeah I think ti might be Rexy's jacket now" he said with a fond smile. "And speaking of items of clothing.... I got something for you Nick."

Cutter smiled as he watched Rex get comfortable under the hoodie, "yeah it's definitely Rex's," he said and then looked over at Connor, "oh?" he said, blinking a bit in surprise, "I mean thank you," he said remembering that manners were a thing, "I um ... don't have anything for you though," he admitted.

"Thats ok Nick" Connor said with a smile. "It's just something I wanted to get you before I came back. Something I thought... might... might help you."

Connor was carefully trying to choose the right words. He wanted to try and help Cutter but also didn't want to push or hurt him by bringing attention to his hands more than what was already happening.

Cutter smiled warmly at that, "thank you," he said softly, "what ... what did you have in mind?" he asked curiously with a tilt of his head at the way Connor was wording everything.

Connor grinned and then reached down into his duffle bag at his feet. He fished around in it for a minute and then pulled out a small package and handed it to Cutter.

"These should help you... at last... I hope you like them" Connor said suddenly filled with self-doubt about if he had chosen right.

Cutter looked at the package in surprise and then opened it curiously, his mouth fell open in surprise when he saw the navy blue fingerless gloves.

He stared at them, trembling for a moment, "I ... these ... thank you," he managed to get out, tears beginning to spring to his eyes, "thank you," he found himself lost for words as he began to trace a finger over the gloves, feeling their material.

Connor smiled as he saw Cutter's reaction. Slowly he reached over and put a hand lightly over Cutter's.

"I... thought they might help you some. They might also help with the pain a little too."

Connor looked over to the duffel and then gave Cutter a smile. "And if you like how those feel, I got some others you can try out too."

Cutter nodded, too overwhelmed for a moment as Connor put a hand on his, "I would like that," he said softly, "these ... this is perfect Connor, thank you ... I ... I won't have to look at my hands all the time, be reminded of what she did," he said softly.

"Aye, and if they help with the pain we can look at getting some compression gloves for you- kill two birds with one stone." Connor hesitated a moment and then smiled. "Do... so you want any help with them?"

Cutter nodded, "I ... I would like thank you," he said, his hands trembling slightly, "thank you Connor, for this ... this ... " his voice trailed off, unsure of what to say as tears rolled down his cheeks, "thank you," he said softly again.

"Hey, hey, no tears now" Connor said gently as he gave Cutter a hug and then picked up the gloves. "Let's get these on and see how they feel ok?" Connor got one of the gloves and started helping Cutter get them on, showing him a few tricks and giving him a couple of tips on how to make it easier with his hands.

Cutter gratefully returned the hug and then leaned back to give Connor room to help him put his gloves on, listening to Connor as he explained how he would be able to put them on easily.

He flexed out his hand as Connor put one of the gloves on, "this feels really good," he said softly, "I ... I ...I don't notice the pain as much," he added.

"Good..." Connor said with a small sigh of relief."And they don't feel too tight? You like the color and all?"

Connor knew what gloves meant to him and how much he liked them. He just hadn't been sure how Cutter would like them but he hoped they would help and give him a way to deal with it all a little more easily.

Cutter smiled warmly, "they don't feel too tight at all, they ... they feel just right and the colour's perfect, thank you," he said softly as he stared down at his hand, not feeling the urge to flinch at his hands, "I love these, thank you Connor," he said again with a smile, blinking away a few tears.

"I'm glad you like them," Connor said softly, smiling at seeing Cutter looking at his hands without that painful flinch for once. "I got some others with me here. Pick out a few others so you have a few on hand. Not like I don't have enough to go around right?" he added with a small laugh.

Cutter returned that smile, as he glanced up from the gloves, "I ... I would like that, if you're sure, you don't me having them," he added softly.

"Don't mind at all Nick" Connor said with a smile as he pulled out the gloves and set them on the couch between them so Cutter could look through them. He really did have a lot of gloves....

Cutter smiled warmly at that as he took a closer look at the gloves that Connor had, "which ones would you recommend?" he asked as he reached out to touch the gloves to get a feel for them.

"Well, we're coming up on the hotter months so I would say thinner and lighter would be best" Connor said as he picked through the gloves for a few minutes and then handed a few over to Cutter to check out.

"Okay, we'll start there," Cutter smiled as he carefully took off the gloves he had been wearing and picked up the first one that Connor had handed him, "this does feel nice," he remarked as he tried the first pair, flexing his hands a little, "what do you think?"

"Hummmm looks like they fit nice" Connor said, considering them for a moment. "One thing to keep in mind are the finger. You can get ones that give you just the tips free or that have most of the fingers free" he explained as he held up his hand to show the pair he was wearing. "I like them all so... makes it easier except trying to sort through all the pairs to find the one I want." He had been meaning to get around t owhittling down his collection, he just hadn't quite gotten there yet.

"I think ... I think for now that maybe having the tips free would work," Cutter said softly, "maybe eventually I can work towards wearing gloves that have most of the fingers free," he considered the gloves thoughtfully.

"We can definitely work towards that" Connor said with an encouraging smile. He figured Cutter would want as much of his hands covered as he could. It was the fingers that were worse on Connor's hand so he totally understood that sentiment. "After we find whatever ones you like from these, we can always get you some more so you have plenty to choose from. Get you your one little rival collection going" he added with a grin.

Cutter returned the smile, "I would like that," he said with a nod, "it will be nice to have these options, thank you again for helping me with all of this," he said softly.

"Any time Nick" Connor said returning the smile. "after all, that's what friends are for." And while there were still things to figure out and all, Connor was glad he could at least start calling Cuter his friend again.

And Cutter's smile was wide at that, it did feel nice being able to talk to Connor again like they used to be able to, before he had wrecked everything, "I'm glad we can do this, it feels really nice, I've missed this," he added softly.

"I've missed it too...' Connor said and gave a laugh as Rexy gave a happy chirp from where he was curled up on the couch between them. "Missed you too Rex" he said giving the little dragon a quick pet.

Cutter just smiled warmly at Connor and then at Rex as he chirped on the couch, "we ... we should do this more often?" he tried, "I mean, just hanging out here in the flat ... maybe have dinner ... .I mean, only if you want to ..." he added quickly, not wanting to push Connor in case he wasn't ready.

Connor considered that a moment as he looked at Cutter then smiled softly. "I... I'd like that. A lot" he said with a nod. "I've missed just hanging out like we used to. Random lunches together while going over research, sharing the latest tech and archeology news... And... I'll be starting my first class at Uni in a few days. It's a quick summer course... figure it would be a good way to ease into things."

Cutter smiled at that, "that would be really nice if we could do that, maybe we could do a lunch to celebrate your first day of uni? I mean ... if it's not too soon," he added, not wanting to make Connor feel any pressure about this, he did truly want to have lunch as friends.

"Lunch sounds perfect actually," Connor said with a grin. "And if you don't mind coming over to my flat... I can make lunch for us." Here Connor's grin got bigger as he thought about being able to surprise Cutter and actually make pizza for them. "My treat and my surprise. Can make an afternoon of it?"

"Oh that does sound wonderful," Cutter smiled warmly, "and I don't mind at all going over to your flat," he added, "it sounds like a perfect way to spend the afternoon,"

"Alright, that settles it! How about Thursday? My class is online so I don't have to worry about timing a portal back or anything after class. It'll also give me the time I need to make sure I get what all I need for our lunch!"

Cutter smiled at that, "Thursday sounds perfect," he told Connor, "is there anything you'd like me to bring over for lunch?"

"You can bring the drinks" Connor nodded with a grin. "Maybe some soda and some beer? That should take care of things other than lunch itself, which I will take care of. And you... you are welcome to come over early... while I cook if you want. So... so long as you don't mind me being stuck in the kitchen the entire time.

"I can definitely bring soda and beer and I don't mind coming round earlier either," Cutter assured Connor, "it sounds like a wonderful way to spend the afternoon, I'm looking forward to watching you cook," he added with a smile, curious to see what Connor would end up making him.

"Perfect. And it's a secret what Im gonna make for us. But I will say this- it is something I learned while on the trip with Lester." Connor grinned even bigger.He knew it was cruel in a way to tease like that but it was also fun. He just really hoped in the back of his mind that he didn't mess it up!

“Well looks like I’m going to have to wait til Thursday then,” Cutter said with a grin, “I’m looking forward to seeking what you make, In especially intrigue now that Lester taught you as well,”

"Then I will do my best to impress and wow" Connor said with a grin. He was already planning what type of pizzas he was going to make and trying to remind himself to phone Lester to go over that ingredient list he had given him as well.

Cutter grinned at that, "it will be the best lunch ever," he assured Connor with a grin, "thank you again for all of this, with the gloves and well everything," he said softly as he looked down at the pair of gloves he was wearing, it was definitely nice being able to look at his hands and not flinch every time that he saw them.

Connor just nodded as he reached out a put a hand over Cutters. He then grinned and tilted his head as he looked at Cutter. "So, feel like looking at the scrapbook before I have to turn it in at my next session with Dr. Jones?" he asked with a small laugh.

"You had to do a scrapbooking assignment as well?" Cutter returned the grin, feeling comforted by Connor's hand on his, "I would like to see it, if you don't mind showing me," he added.

"I think Lester was plotting against me with that, but yes. I got photos and made a scrapbook to show Dr. Jones what all we did on the trip."

Connor leaned over and rummaged through the duffle back then pulled it out and handed it over to Cutter.

"Got more photos of course but the scrapbook has a few pages for each thing we did and has the best photos."

“I had to do a scavenger hunt with my photos,” Cutter told him with a small smile as he took the album from Connor and begun to flip through, “but it looks like you had a great time on the trip, so that’s Lester’s cabin huh?” he said as he came to some of the photos of Lester’s cabin.

"Oh a scavenger hunt would be a fun way to do photos too I think! But yeah that's Lester's cabin. Thing is huge! Eve has a hot tub! There's some pics later on of the area around it, which is really beautiful too. No Scottish Highlands but very nice for just being a few hours outside London."

“Oh wow, even though knowing Lester it doesn’t surprise that even his cabin is state of the art,” Cutter remarked with a smile as he looked through the photos, “it’s hard to believe that there’s a place like this right outside of London,”

"It really was nice" Connor said with a fond smile. "We went hiking, hunted for fossils, hung out at the cabin, it was a really nice trip. Good time to relax and just get away from everything. But..." Connor said with a shy smile. "It is good to be back!"

Cutter smiled at that, "that's what I found about my trip, it was nice just to not be doing any work, being able to do things that I don't normally, the trip helped a lot," he said softly and then added, rather shyly, "I'm really glad you're back as well,"

"Looking forward to another class too" Connor said with a shy grin of his own. "And yes I missed you too boy" he added with a laugh as Rex jumped into his lap and chirped loudly, demanding scritches.

Cutter laughed at that as well, feeling relaxed as he did, it was nice being able to hang around with Connor like this, he had missed it, "I'm looking forward to classes too, I've been working on some of the lesson plans, if you'd like to read them later, see what else we should cover in our class this session,"

"Yeah that.... that sounds good" Connor said with a smile. "Probably best to be at least a little prepared for class huh?" he added. It was nice to be back, to something a bit more normal. Different, but normal.

"That's what I was thinking," Cutter admitted as he returned the smile and he tried not to think about how awkward and unprepared those first few weeks of last session had been, "I thought at least having an outline would be a good start,"

"Glad one of us is prepared at least!" Connor said with a laugh. And yes, it was already pretty safe to say that this round of classes would be much better than the last.

Cutter smiled warmly at that, "I think it's going to be a really good class," he said, "I'm looking forward to us teaching again this session," he added.

Edited 2023-07-05 05:26 (UTC)

MHA #16 - Late Monday Evening

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