[She does have to wonder if this gift will also perhaps be breakfast-related. Perhaps some pancake pants?
It is not pancake pants. She's not actually sure what it is at first, but she does make sure to say,] Oh my gosh, this pattern is so cute! [as she tugs the end of it out of the box and sees how long it is. A scarf. A few people have gotten her scarves since then. Since...it happened, as Alex puts it.
She smiles again, though it's subdued with the weight of the reminder. Out of the corner of her eye, she catches the motion of his hands—and remembers keenly unwrapping the very injuries he tries to distract himself from.] It's not dumb. It's really thoughtful.
[Slowly, she winds the scarf around her hand, over and over until she can lift the entire length of it out of the box. She considers it for a moment before speaking again, a little airy the way she often is when she's trying not to make a big deal out of opening up.] ...sometimes— sometimes, y'know, I see a cute shirt or a necklace I wanna wear, and I go to try it on and I— I can't.
[Because it's too close to her neck. Because the feeling of something pressed to the jagged collection of scratch scars brings her back to that place.
She brings the bundle of the scarf in close to her chest, her smile warm despite it all.] But scarves are nice to practice with. I can just wear them looser if I want.
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It is not pancake pants. She's not actually sure what it is at first, but she does make sure to say,] Oh my gosh, this pattern is so cute! [as she tugs the end of it out of the box and sees how long it is. A scarf. A few people have gotten her scarves since then. Since...it happened, as Alex puts it.
She smiles again, though it's subdued with the weight of the reminder. Out of the corner of her eye, she catches the motion of his hands—and remembers keenly unwrapping the very injuries he tries to distract himself from.] It's not dumb. It's really thoughtful.
[Slowly, she winds the scarf around her hand, over and over until she can lift the entire length of it out of the box. She considers it for a moment before speaking again, a little airy the way she often is when she's trying not to make a big deal out of opening up.] ...sometimes— sometimes, y'know, I see a cute shirt or a necklace I wanna wear, and I go to try it on and I— I can't.
[Because it's too close to her neck. Because the feeling of something pressed to the jagged collection of scratch scars brings her back to that place.
She brings the bundle of the scarf in close to her chest, her smile warm despite it all.] But scarves are nice to practice with. I can just wear them looser if I want.