Re: [Woods: Patrick & Raven]
Patrick followed at a distance. He didn't want to spook the woodlady, not before he learned where she lived. Then, he could tell Con, and he wouldn't be responsible. Dude, there was nothing Patrick liked less than being responsible for things. It was a massively unchivalrous trait, but dude just did not care for pressure. He reasoned it explained a lot in his short life. But, man, he was only 23. Maybe he would improve with time.
He stopped when the old trailer came into view. RV, man, this was some rickety old RV. She was making a sound, but Patrick didn't get it. He was looking at the RV, man. He was wondering, as he often did, how people lived out here in the dead of winter. It was the same as the abandoned houses, dudes, and everyone inside them should've frozen. Man, why would anyone live like this?
He didn't walk the remainder of the way. Man, no, he was just going to get Con to do something about this. His sis had a bleeding heart and more patience than he did. So, Patrick, true to his lifetime of not taking responsibility or following through, backed up.
"All right. We're good. You have a pad, and I have to get back to work." He turned to walk away. Man, walking away was something Patrick was exemplary at. He'd save the world all right, but on the spur of the moment. This was complicated and slow, and Patrick never did hang around for complicated and slow.
He didn't mention Con again, in case she understood and it encouraged her to split. Dude just walked off through the trees. When out of sight, he pulled the chronometer out of his pocket and disappeared to another forest, one where no one needed anything from him, man.