Re: Kitchen: Hugh & Hannah & Zee
As Zee stepped towards them both, Hugh reached over and slipped his arm around her waist to pull her in for a quick, affectionate hug and a warm smile as he let Hannah and Zee greet each other, confident they might enjoy each other's company. Zee had interesting stories to tell, and Hannah loved interesting stories. And he had told Zee something, after all, but he didn't really like dwelling on the disappointments, and so it had been simple: 'we dated, it didn't work out, we're still friends'. All true, but like an I Can Read story book of a film, it left out so very many things, because it was hard and time consuming, and required explaining Repose strangeness - something he was not ready to do just yet.
"I am not too serious!" he laughed at Hannah's tease, all smiles while he shook his head even as he accepted the way that she presented him. She wasn't wrong, really. Since Theo had left he'd thrown himself into his work, mainly, and spent hours and hours reading lines and rehearsing with his co-workers, and only rarely coming out for things like Noah's party, or planned doggie playdates with Dietre, but his performance was something he could control - he could put the work in and do it perfectly - and it was easy to lose himself in it and ignore any personal loneliness or failures or losses in the meantime.
"Try the cookies," he told Zee as an aside, pointing to the ones Hannah had pointed out to him earlier. "Audrey is an incredible baker who definitely rivals my abilities and we've got to find her before we leave and tell her she's amazing. But no, I didn't say," he shook his head at Hannah. "And I would say from Seattle, but it would be untrue because I didn't get her for my entire life," he glanced over at Zee fondly. "Just from Freshman year at UW... She's actually from nearer this part of the country originally," but he didn't fill in further, letting Zee share what she wanted to.