Re: Shepard and Darcy
The shoulder pat was perfectly sufficient in terms of physical contact as far as Darcy was concerned, and he was actually rather grateful that she hadn't gone for a full on embrace. He never knew what to do with his hands, and just got all awkward about it.
At her admission, he gave her an almost imperceptible smile. Of course he had known she was goading him, and really she had known just how to get under his skin and make him feel all itchy and uncomfortable. He just really hadn't been sure why she wanted to do that to him. Of course. The 'stiff shell'. He felt his gaze dropping for a moment as she pointed it out. It was armour, it was protection, they were walls he had been taught to build brick by brick from a very young age. On one hand, he wanted to explain - on the other, Ashley always got to see what was behind it. That was all that counted, surely.
And so he let her speak, nodding a little as he tried to take it in and understand her perspective without butting in or trying to make it all about him. He knew he could be prone to that, but this felt important, and like a one-time thing. He was right, because then she was saying that she had been wrong and she was apologising again, and he was rather blown away. He hadn't expected that, not in the slightest.
"I... did not think for a minute that it would be something happy for you. I thought you'd... think I'd just come into your home when you were grieving and practically spat in your face, rubbed salt in the wound," he tried to explain, his tone calm and gentle compared to the last time they had really spoken. His smile grew a little, and he gave her a nod of agreement. "Yes, I have already come to realise that. That is partly why the wedding went ahead today, despite the station deciding to take Halloween rather too literally. We figured it would always be something," he smiled. He was really glad the effect had worn off when they'd left the station. It looked like everyone had made it after all.
Darcy gave another soft laugh at her explanation. That explained rather a lot about the look at the man's face, but he seemed like the kind of gentleman who could handle a lot more teasing that Darcy could himself. He remembered that her joke had made him feel uncomfortable at the time, so he didn't want to get too far into it again. "I am very glad that he recovered," he said instead, just moving on from it. "He seems a good man, and if his company can bring you even a little happiness, then..." he shrugged a little. "Well. As you say. It's a flicker of light."