Tom hadn't been expecting a hug, but that was really nice. His face lit up in a bright smile, arms wrapping around her shoulders. One of his hands set flat against her back, but the other was still holding that flower carefully. He didn't want to crinkle it.
"Hullo," he said cheerfully, giving her a little squeeze. Hugs weren't something he was overly familiar with before coming to Night Vale. Here, his friends (well, Dob, mostly) had made him slightly more familiar with the concept of it all. This felt different, though.
"Oh, I, well, here," he said as he pulled back and gave her the flower, lifting it between them and offering it out. "It's a desert rose, which don't look like a rose at all to me but I suppose they're different in the desert. Like how a desert fox don't look like a regular fox."
His accent was very thick and not at all posh, the kind of British that made absolutely no one think of the royal family in any way.