Kellach Donnallen (bane_bait) wrote in valloic, @ 2023-12-14 15:53:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, the quarry: abigail blyg, werewolf ta: kellach donallen, ~plot: serendipity hills |
Serendipity Hills
That was just fine by Abi. No leaving the lodge meant that there was absolutely no way that anyone could guilt her into coming “home” for Christmas. She was going to stay nice and cozy at the ski lodge and have as much hot cocoa as she wanted—with marshmallows, and without anyone telling her how many calories were in them.
Yes, this snow was all perfectly fine with Abi, right up until she slipped on a little patch of ice (which she would’ve sworn hadn’t been there two seconds ago) and went plummeting right into one of the drifts next to the sidewalk.
She let out a startled squeak as she fell, followed by the soft pfft of her body disappearing into the snow that was easily taller than she was.
With the way the snow was coming down, Kellach was finding that keeping the walkways clear was a losing battle. He should have been headed to the airport that afternoon and boarding a plane headed back to Ireland to spend Christmas with his mother and sister. The weather had other plans for him. All flights headed in and out of the city had been canceled until further notice.
At least with the snow continuing to pile up, he had enough work outside to keep him occupied. Unfortunately, shoveling snow was a monotonous task and Kellach’s mind kept wandering back to his family back home. This was the first Christmas he was going to be on his own, in a foreign country where he barely knew anyone.
He stepped out of the way for a young woman, who was making her way up the walk, and reached for the bucket of salt to lay down on the pavement before it had a chance to ice over. Apparently, it was too late for that. No sooner had he turned his back when he heard a distressed squeak that was abruptly cut off. He whirled around to look. He didn’t see anyone on the walk at first. Then, just before he was about to go back to his bucket, he caught sight of a pair of feet sticking out of the snowbank he’d just made.
Kellach dropped the salt bucket and rushed over to the pair of feet. “Are ya alright, miss?” He asked, reaching out a hand to help her get up out of the snow.
“Sort of?” Abi offered. On one hand, Abi was pretty sure she wasn’t injured. On the other, the snow was soaking straight through her sweater that she thought would be sufficient coverage for her quick walk from her room to the lodge’s restaurant.
Abi struggled a little to reach Kellach’s hand, but once she did, he was easily strong enough to give her the pull she needed to get her feet back under her. She kept her hold on his forearm as she steadied herself and looked up with a grateful smile.
“Thanks—I don’t know if I could’ve gotten myself out of there on my own!” A fair assessment, seeing as the drift was taller than she was. Now that she was out and the initial panic was past, though, the cold and wet were hitting harder, making her shiver.
“Yer welcome,” Kellach said, making sure she was steady on her feet again. He kept one arm at her back just in case her ankle had gotten twisted or sprained in the fall and putting weight on it was a bad idea. She seemed alright, though, and he couldn’t help giving her a smile. “The snow’s gettin’ pretty high,” he agreed, glancing at the snow bank and the person sized hole left in it.
He frowned seeing her start to shake. “Ah, yer gonna freeze,” he said. He shrugged off his own thick coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. “C’mone let’s get ye inside where it’s warm, aye?”
Maybe it was the Christmas magic. Maybe it was just the coat. Maybe it was the cute guy with the accent and the nice manners. Either way, Abi suddenly felt a lot warmer. She gave him a shy smile as she huddled into the coat and nodded.
“Inside sounds really good right now,” she said. “I was on my way to dinner, but it’s not like anybody’s waiting on me, so I may as well get some dry clothes first.”
Was she deliberately letting the cute guy with the accent and the nice manners know that she wasn’t here with anybody? Yes, and she would not apologize for it. It was as good as she got when it came to flirting.
There was something about that shy smile, her wholesome attempt at flirting and how adorable she looked practically swimming in his coat that made Kellach chuckle warmly. “We kin take care of that,” he assured her as they headed towards the lodge. “Just watch yer step as we go, lass, I don’t want to have to end up carryin’ ya inside.” He winked at her playfully. “Are ya enjoying yer stay here? Up until ye took a tumble in the snow, I mean.”
“I am! The lodge is even more beautiful than it is online, and everyone’s been so kind and helpful,” Abi said, and then her smile dropped. “I just feel bad for all the people who are snowed in here. I always meant to stay through the holiday, so it’s no big deal for me, but I know for some of you it’s got to be awful.”
“Aye, that’s good.” Kellah said. “I’m glad your enjoying yerself.” He frowned sightly, thinking about his mother and sister again. “I was supposed t’be headed back to Ireland this afternoon,” he admitted to Abi. “But no flights are goin’ in or out due to the snow. This’ll be the first time I haven’t been with me ma and sister for the Holidays since me da passed away…” Kellach felt so bad about that. He’d promised his mother that he’d be back in time for Christmas. He shook his head. Abi didn’t want to hear about that! Not while on her vacation! “Ach, but you don’t need to hear ‘bout alla that,” he said, giving her a smile. “Let’s getcha inside where it’s warm.”
“No, I don’t mind at all!” Abi said quickly, though she let herself be herded on toward the door back to the warm indoors. “I mean, I do want to get inside where it’s warm, but I don’t mind hearing about the sad stuff. And I’m sorry you won’t get to be with your family and go home for the holiday. Even if you reschedule the visit, it’s not the same as Christmas.”
That was what Kellach’s sister had said. She had sounded so upset when Kellach had talked to her earlier that morning. Their mother, also on the line, assured both of her children that neither of them could control Mother Nature and that she far preferred knowing that Kellach was safe where he was. They would have more chances to be together again soon. The fact that they wouldn’t be together didn’t mean that they couldn’t still celebrate. Corrine, Kellach’s sister, hadn’t been convinced. The call had ended with her muttering how Christmas was ruined.
Kellach was trying hard not to think about it. He couldn't see how he could do any celebrating on his own in a foreign country where he barely knew anybody. He shook his head again. “It’s alright,” he assured Abi. “I plan to stay as busy as possible the next few days.” Hopefully he could stay busy enough that he wouldn’t have the chance to even think about Christmas or home or how lonely the holiday truly was on his own.
They’d reached the lodge by this time. He gave her a smile. “Should be easy enough with this storm goin’ on,” he said, opening the door.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Abi walked through the door, smiling back gratefully. She wasn’t used to men her age being so polite; it was a very pleasant change. She decided then and there that she didn’t want this to be the last time she got to talk to this man, so she’d better get moving on making another meet-up happen.
“Hey—” That was where she realized that they hadn’t introduced themselves, and she laughed. “I was just about to invite you to dinner, but I don’t know your name. I’m Abi. Abigail Blyg, but Abi is what everybody calls me.”
“Kellach Donnallen,” Kellach introduced himself in kind. “I’m happy to meet you, Abi. I wish it hadn’t required ya fallin’ into the snow.” He laughed faintly. Then the other part of her statement – the part about inviting him to dinner – registered with him. “Ye want to have dinner? With me?”
He was truly surprised by this. He was one of several maintenance workers employed by Mushroom Hill, a crew of men and women who were mostly invisible to the lodge’s guests. Oh, sure, he’d been flirted with a few times (the other people in maintenance told him it was his accent), but he’d never been invited to dinner. Would it be rude to turn down the offer? Would his boss be upset if he accepted? “Would the other people in yer party mind?” He asked.
“I’m actually a party of one,” she said, just as it occurred to her that asking Kellach to dinner might have been completely inappropriate. “But you don’t have to say yes! I just realized that I asked you out while you’re at work, which is a completely uncool thing to do, and it’s all pressure-y and weird, and…you know what, change of plans, I’m actually just going to sink into the floor and disappear. Cool? Cool.”
They were just inside the lobby now and Kellach came to a stop. The air around them was warm and inviting, a fire crackling in a fireplace not too far away. Mission to get Abi inside and out of the cold had been accomplished, but Kellach had pretty much forgotten all about that. He couldn’t help but smile at the poor girl’s embarrassment. “Nah, it’s alright,” he assured her. “Ye just caught me off guard, is all. It’s really nice of you to ask me to dinner.” And why shouldn’t he accept her invitation? He’d be off duty in a few hours, so it wasn’t like he’d be fraternizing with one of the guests while on the clock. It was just dinner, right?
“Aye, I’d like to have dinner,” he said with a nod. “Seein’ as we’re both alone, we may as well be alone together.”
Relief washed over Abi like a wave as she realized that she hadn’t accidentally been a total creep. Her smile returned and she looked up at Kellach instead of looking for the nearest escape route. “How about I give you my number, then, and you text me when you’re done for the day?”
“Alright,” Kellach nodded. He glanced around the lobby quickly before digging his phone out of his back pocket. The last thing he needed was for one of the other members of maintenance catching him getting the phone number of one of the guests and snitching back to the boss. Though, honestly, there was a part of Kellach that didn’t much care if he got caught or not. It wasn’t the lodge’s fault that he was stuck in Serendipity Hills when he was supposed to be going home, but what did his boss expect him to do? Just hole up in his room until the storm passed? Fat chance of that!
He entered Abi’s number into his phone. “Why don’t I give ya mine as well?” he offered. If he was going to have her number, it only seemed right that she have his as well.
“Perfect,” Abi said. She handed her phone over for him to put his number in; the background photo was a cartoon of a bat swathed in Christmas lights and wearing a little Santa hat. “All I have to do is dry off and make myself look human again, which hopefully won’t take that long. Whatever extra time I’ve got I can just spend with hot cocoa in the lobby, since the actual freaking Crownkeepers are busking down there like they aren’t the biggest deal in indie rock.”
Kellach’s phone had selfie of him with his mother and sister at the seaside as the background. His sister was giving him rabbit ears as their mother laughed. They looked very happy together.
The little cartoon bat on Abi’s phone was adorable and Kellach made a note that Abi must really like bats. He remembered the gift shop having a little bat ornament a few days ago. As he typed his phone number into Abi’s phone, he wondered if it was still there.
“Ye like the Crownkeepers?” He asked as he handed her phone back to her.
“Love them!” Abi lit up at the realization that he might know the music, too. “I just learned about them…two years ago, I guess? It was one of those times when you hear one song and then you’re like ‘Now I have to listen to everything these people have ever done.’ Are you a fan?”
“I only just found out about’em recently,” Kellach admitted. “I wish I’d heard’em before, I really like their stuff. I’ve been listenin’ to their third album, I think, a lot the last coupla days. I didn’t know they’d actually show up here. I’ve never worked at a place that actual famous people would come to.” The Crownkeepers may have been indie performers, but they were known well enough! That was good enough for him! “Hey, maybe after dinner if they’re still playin’ in the lobby, we could go an’ have a listen.”
“Perfect!” Abi beamed, then got hit with another shiver as someone opened the door behind her. She laughed as it got her and huddled a little deeper into Kellach’s jacket. “I guess I need to get upstairs and change. But I’ll, um…I’ll see you later! And I promise I’ll give your coat back at dinner.”
“Aye,” Kellach nodded. “Ye best go get warm now.” Talking with Abi, even for those few minutes, had been nice and he was reluctant to stop, though he knew they had to. She was sweet and he found that he was really looking forward to seeing her again. He almost told her that there was no rush in returning his coat, but remembered that it was the only one he had. So instead he smiled back at her. “I’ll give ya a call when I’m off duty.” He glanced at his watch, frowning seeing that he still had a few hours left to go.
“Great!” Abi took a step back, still smiling brightly. “I’ll see you soon!” She took another step backward without turning away. What could she say? Kellach was nice to look at, and she didn’t want to turn and go yet. “And, uh…Merry Christmas!”
Right, she had to go. Abi flashed him one last smile and turned to take off, hoping she didn’t look completely ridiculous. But really, who cared if she did? It was Christmas. A little ridiculousness was allowed.