Of all the things he’d seen since he looked up from his prayer and found himself in this place, nothing shook him up quite as much as seeing Zoe look like she was close to tears. Something that shook a woman like that, wasn’t a little thing. Book was at a loss, just for a minute, unsure how to respond. Wasn’t like he could hug her; she’d touched his face and that was as demonstrative as he’d seen her with any other than her husband.
Then she gave him the answer herself.
“I’m alright,” he nodded, the smile returning to his face. “But I could sit. Been walking awhile. I think the streets have gone and changed on me again. Bit of a challenge, isn’t it?”
He didn’t need to sit, wasn’t so frail as all that. But the way he saw it, she knew that and wouldn’t have asked unless it was something that was already on her own mind. So if it took him sitting to get her to sit as well, then he’d sit. Given the surroundings, he didn’t have much in the way of options, but he wasn’t fussy. He sat down on the curb and waited for her to join him.
“Haven’t been here long, no, but it’s a learning experience. Had a good talk with somebody that explained a much, though a lot of this is,” he paused, trying to find the right words to explain it. He could only come up with one. “Overwhelming.”
Then he smiled again. “But good friends, those always help. Now. I think it might best you to explain why you haven’t seen me for some time. You been here that long? The way the boy explained it, I suppose it’s possible that you could’ve been here longer than me, though I remember seeing you before I turned in for prayers. Then I opened my eyes and was here. Bit mindbending.”
Once he got her a bit settled, got a few answers, then he’d ask about the others. But if the answer wasn’t a positive one, it’d be better if she was on an even keel. Zoe was not the sort of woman you wanted to see upset.