Who: Harry and Mary When: Recently Where: Shopping District What: Running into each other, awkward catching up Rating/Warning: None Status: Complete
Seasons change, and Mary needed some new clothing--although she never needed an excuse to go shopping. But many things had happened in the past few months. The dreams were still frustrating and relentless, but she was toughening up. Oh, her smiles were still rare, but there was a shift within her. Perhaps she was leaning for the first time, how difficult life could be, and she was taking pride in survival.
Of course, she did this with an enormous bank account, walking through the shopping district wearing boots that would finance for a small family’s vacation.
Harry was out shopping for the family, and for himself. It had been months since the random encounter on the beach and he had gone on to do a lot of other things, be a lot of other places. But he was always very good at recognizing faces, and he smiled when he saw her.
He raised a hand and nodded. “Hello, Miss.”
Mary was in checking her phone, as lone shoppers tend to do, looking for some social companionship without having to distract from the actual shopping. She looked up quickly, because the voice was familiar, but not one she could immediately place. In fact, even looking at his face, Mary wasn’t quite sure who the man was, though her gut told him they had met before. “Hello…”
“They call me Harry Dresden, remember?” He chuckled. “It has been awhile since we talked, that one day. How have you been?” She did not seem to have changed much, from his point of view, but it had been some time, so maybe he was mistaken.
The name jogged her memory. Harry had come across her on the beach, witnessing one of her more embarrassing meltdowns. Thinking about it now made her cringe internally, although she was trying to shake off her need for constant perfection. Trying. “Oh… Well, better. The dreams still happen.” She swallowed. “How are you?”
“They never really stop, I’m told. Mine still are going, too.” He smiled to her. “I’m doing good, actually. Things are going fairly well, despite dreams and strange events.” The OC’s madness almost felt normal after his dreams.
Mary slipped her phone into her purse and chose to be silent for a few moments, as if she was buying time. Whom from, she wasn’t sure; perhaps she just didn’t know what to say. She’d been so lonesome lately, it sometimes felt as though Sybil, her sister, was the only other soul in her little world. “You’ll have to pardon me. I’m still liable to blush from the things I blurted out to you when we last met.”
He hmmed. She seemed nervous, maybe? Or maybe he was just seeing things. “Why? You needed to talk and a stranger is sometimes a better person to talk to than someone closer. Did you ever find any conclusions about what to do?”
“I spoke with my sister,” Mary replied. “It’s so strange. She and I keep dreaming of our family, but in another home. Another life. And in this world, we’re both progressively detaching ourselves from everything we used to know.”
“Yeah? How did it go?” He nodded and shook his head. “It seems like that happens to a lot of people, at least here.” He smiled ruefully. “The more Dreaming one does, the worse it gets.”
She pressed her lips together in a thin, grim frown. She didn’t want to hear of sad things. “Home seems farther and farther away. The home we grew up with. Everything is different now. Some of it for the better.”
“I hope it continues to get better,. The Dreams have brought me some upset, but mostly joy.” He nodded. “They helped me reconnect with a long lost love, discover a daughter, and find a lot that life had not given me.”
“Discover a daughter?” Mary repeated. Occasionally, a good bit of sensationalism could cause her to forget all decorum. Most girls were the same.
He nodded. “Unbeknownst to me, my high school flame, the last time we met, became pregnant. It was a night we both did not quite regret, but had forgotten, for she got together with a long time flirt and friend right after, and we all assumed it was his. We confirmed she was mine earlier this year.” He smiled proudly. “She is an amazing girl.”
She turned a little white. In her dream world, it would have been a scandal, one she had narrowly avoided herself. Here, she wasn’t sure what to think of such things. Harry seemed happy. Her family had raised her in a way to ignore that. “I suppose I should say congratulations,” she replied, after being quiet a little too long. She sounded like her mother and she didn’t like it.
“Thank you.” He eyed her. She looked extremely unformatable. “Are you okay?” He knew his tale was odd and even somewhat looked and sounded bad, but he had not thought about it in some time with any trepidation.
Mary touched her forehead and sighed. “Every time I think that I am, I realize that I’ve only been successful in distracting myself for a little while.” She smiled weakly. “As long as I’m not melting down, I suppose I’m doing as well as everyone else.”
“And better than some.” Harry nodded. “Give yourself time. Nothing heals quickly in life. Not if it is going to heal well.”
Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her phone once again. It hadn’t been ringing, but Mary had decided to pretend there were pressing matters that she needed to tend. She looked at the screen and pretended to read something. “I should be going.”
Harry nodded. ", Of course. It was nice seeing you again. Ok hope things get better for you and yours." He offered her a smile.
Mary smiled back, weakly. Her eyes had turned away before her body.