"You're welcome," Derek added in a similar tone, adding a smile so that he didn't look like a total dick. "Well, it's good to meet you, all the same," he said with a nod. "If there's one thing this place is good at, it's new and interesting company," which might not have been something he'd looked for back in his old life. Here, things were very different.
"So that hotel is pulling it's usual bullshit?" he asked Mitch, pulling out his pocket knife and scrabbling around until he came up with a package baring his own name. "Let's see about that..." and although the wrapping still felt like paper, the knife wouldn't penetrate it's fabric. Which was really weird. "Alright then. We wait till Christmas," he said putting it back. Derek took a few minutes looking under the tree, seeing Cora's name first, then Jo's and Kitty's and Krissy's, amongst the seemingly endless names from the other guests.
As he did he felt a decided change in the atmosphere and looked Mitch's way. "Alright, what's bugging you, Mitch?" he asked sitting back and cocking his head for conversation. "I don't know much about shit, but I'm a good listener and I don't blab, so go ahead and unload, cause you look like you've got a weight the size of the Empire State Building on your shoulders right now."