MHA #16 - Late Monday Evening

[itsananomaly]

It had been a week now since Connor had left for his trip and ever since Rex had found Connor's hoodie, he had ended up refusing to be anywhere without it so Cutter found that the only way he could get Rex to sleep or eat was to have the hoodie with him so he could curl up in it.

Tomorrow was the first day of their class for the second session and while Cutter was confident it was going to go a lot better than last session, he still couldn't help but feel a little nervous about.

[for Connor!]

Comments

[anomaly_research_nerd]

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."

[itsananomaly]

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.

[anomaly_research_nerd]

"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?"

[itsananomaly]

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.

[anomaly_research_nerd]

"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.

[itsananomaly]

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.

[anomaly_research_nerd]

"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.

[itsananomaly]

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.

[anomaly_research_nerd]

"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.

[itsananomaly]

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.

[anomaly_research_nerd]

"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....

[itsananomaly]

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.

[anomaly_research_nerd]

"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.

[itsananomaly]

"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?"

[anomaly_research_nerd]

"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.

[itsananomaly]

"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.

[anomaly_research_nerd]

"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.

[itsananomaly]

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.

[anomaly_research_nerd]

"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.

[itsananomaly]

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.

[anomaly_research_nerd]

"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.

[itsananomaly]

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.

[anomaly_research_nerd]

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."

[itsananomaly]

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.

[anomaly_research_nerd]

"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?"