[u]Holly Gabrielle Baless[/u]

The restaurant was certainly bustling with activity-Holly smiled softly to herself, thinking about her earlier musings on fate. Well, Holly wasn't entirely sure she believed in fate-if anything, fate was a mere extension of the divine (just as luck, Holly believed, was a little leftover residue from design). Was it the Lord's will that boy had not enough to change to pay his meal? Holly wasn't arrogant enough to speak on behalf of God, but she attempted to keep an open mind. Cliche and trite as it may be, it wasn't very often He acted in overt ways. Perhaps coming up a few quarters too short to cover a drink would have far more serious repercussions. Or maybe they'd just cross paths later and have a conversation starter. Regardless, Holly was happy to have helped, and sipped her cocoa eagerly.

"I'm doing great!" Holly replied to Deborah. "School's-well, school, but it's not too bad. And soccer starts up in the spring. And the gym sounds lovely! I've never been to one before so you might have to show me the ropes. Oooh, maybe literally! Do they have ropes in gyms? Or was that just in the movies?" Clambering up a rope seemed like fun. For the male onlookers, it was also quite enjoyable. Fun for everyone! "Oh, I'm rambling again. Silly me." Holly cupped both hands around her, uh, cup, as she listened to Deborah's plans for the evening. "Jago and Newt! It's been too long since I've seen them! How are they doing? Not to invite myself, but I'd love to tagalong and see them if you don't mind. I-"

Oh! The boy she'd bought coffee for had returned. Poor thing was a bit awkward and uneasy. Well, Holly assumed, perhaps he was just shy around strangers. Perfectly understandable. Holly'd never been one to be shy, but she could understand it. The less naive idea of Lenny being off-put by approaching two attractive girls went over Holly's head entirely, as did the idea that he had subtly left her his number-Holly simply wasn't one to think of such things, and it was maddening to anyone who ever tried to hit on her. "Thank you!" She said to Lenny, offering him a wide smile. "Merry Christmas!" she said to him as he fled. "Oh, poor thing. So nervous. Nothing to be ashamed about, everybody gets a little short on change sometimes."She read over the coupon for a moment. "Well that was nice of him! I didn't know electricians hired so yo-ah, that explains it! A metahuman! Maybe that's why he was shy, he was afraid we would be discriminatory or something." Holly folded up the note tucking it into her purse-and someone with a keen eye would note she was, in fact, glowing just a tad bit. Scarcely anything noticeable, more akin to "the glow" that pregnant women have (although that would NOT be the same glow Holly had-how scandalous!) "Meta-humans. Such a hot topic. I don't get why people can't jus-"

Once again, Holly was interrupted-however, she didn't view it as such. When one had to change the channel from one's favorite show to see that they'd won the lottery, was that an interruption? Or when a car crash on the interstate forced you to take a far more scenic and prettier detour, was that an interruption? Or when a man showed up with croissants in the middle of a conversation, was that an interruption? Nothing was an interruption to Holly. Just an unexpected twist that offered something new. Her almost unnerving optimism was hard to damper, and to some seemed contrived-but Holly was resolute. To her, life was too beautiful to worry and fret about it. You did good deeds where you could and enjoyed it (wholesomely) where you could. Nothing more to it! Everyone always trying to control the world around them. No sense in that. No sense in that at all. "Why, thank you! In the spirit of Christmas indeed. And for a total stranger, how kind." Holly smiled to herself. And to everyone. (Holly smiles a fucking lot, have I conveyed that yet?) Ah, nice to see others going out on a limb for strangers. Perhaps it was the Christmas spirit! Or perhaps Hobbes was just rolling over in his grave. Holly took one of the croissants and broke off a piece of it, swallowing it. "Mmm! Deb, why didn't we get croissants? These are delicious. Thank you! And you may have seen him on a, oh, what are they called...crime scene investigation?" she glanced at Baron to make sure she was speaking correctly. "At least, I think that's where I recognize you! You were doing a forensic analysis of a killer a while back. I think psychology must be so interesting. Helping people through their problems and fears and such. Probably lots of good stories." Holly took another bite of her croissant. Ah. She wasn't the type to curse, but if she were, its buttery warmth may have elicited an obscenity. She wondered if she'd been too forward identifying Baron. Would he be creeped out or anything? She hoped not. But if so, that was okay. Sometimes things just didn't work out the way you wanted. No sense in being disappointed when they didn't. No sense at all.