Thomas had a nice smile. That simple thought made Tatum smile, one hand lifting to cover her mouth.  It wouldn’t do to draw Carol’s attention any more than they already had. It always felt like the old woman was watching, trying to catch her messing up somehow so she could run to the Mayor, the Sheriff… or worse, the Preacher.  There had been a time when she had tried to befriend the woman, thinking it would help things.  It hadn’t. And now here she was, sitting sandwiched between her friend and her sort-of friend and attempting to have a pleasant conversation.<br/><br/>She was grateful for his offhand comment regarding the Great Sin of casually touching a man.  It did mean a lot that he spoke up to defend her honor.  Already she could sense the tension in the air start to dissipate as the various couples around the room sank back into their chairs and resumed their “private” conversations.  Even Carol seemed to relax a little but there was still that vague sense of being watched, of being listened to.<br/><br/>The women listened attentively as their friend filled them in on what Wullie had been up to.  Tatum couldn’t help but bite back another smile; the older man was always trying to fix things.  The sad part was that there didn’t seem to be fixing whatever it was that had gone wrong with the world.  Whatever had done it, whatever had caused it, all the amazing new technology the new millennium had brought no longer worked.  And they couldn’t quite figure out why.  There had been many nights where Tatum had laid awake in bed, trying to figure out exactly what could have caused this death of technology but after going too long with far too little sleep, she decided it really didn’t matter. If Thomas, an electrician, couldn’t figure it out then how could she?<br/><br/>“No, no one tells Wullie what to do,” she murmured quietly enough that she hoped Carol didn’t hear. She nodded in agreement about poor Wullie’s head and the wall.  It was a battle the foreigner fought constantly and every single time, the wall was declared the winner.  She did admire the man’s tenacity though.  Despite his grumblings about the sheep-like nature of the people and the way the ruling triumvirate did things, he was the person who had helped the town adapt to the changes.  He was the one who made them realize that this wasn’t the literal end of the world. It was just the end of the world as they knew it.  And they would be fine.<br/><br/>While the story about the persistent desire to create a generator was mostly amusing, it was the story about Wullie going to talk with the mayor that turned her lips downward. Stockpiling food for the winter and the time afterwards while they waited for their crops to come in was important.  Taking on the mayor singlehandedly was a surefire way to draw unnecessary attention to himself.  Tatum should know; a simple friendly touch had dozens of pairs of eyes burning holes in her.  Cancelling the feast that the people for which the people were excited was not going to go over well.<br/><br/>“Thomas, you didn’t try to – “Tatum started to question the man.<br/><br/>“What do you mean cancel the feast?!” But Beth interrupted her.  The blonde was the sunny sort but sometimes she had the bad habit of not thinking before she spoke.  Choosing her words carefully was a habit that Tatum had cultivated carefully in college and law school.  A hot-blooded lawyer rarely won cases despite what was shown on television.  It paid to be careful and methodical with one’s thoughts, especially with the way the people had changed since the Event.<br/><br/>“Beth.  This isn’t really the place to discuss that.”  She put her hand on her friend’s arm.  It didn’t matter that she had already been chastised once for touching.  Sometimes a calming touch was needed.  Carol didn’t seem to mind as she continued her conversation with the couple next to her but she did glance over, something Tatum didn’t miss.  Apparently platonic touching was okay while anything that could be misconstrued as romantic was frowned upon in this establishment.  “Let’s talk about something else.  Anything, really, except for where you were when It happened.  I’m so tired of hearing everyone’s stories about that over and over.  Let’s talk about high school.  Remember when we’d all go to the hockey games and then sneak out into the woods and drink the liquor we stole from our parents?  Or do you remember that time Jeff got so drunk that he stripped down and skated around the pond naked as the day he was born?” Jeff had been the token “wild child” of their group, always willing to play a joke on someone or do something crazy just to earn a laugh.  It was strange to see him now, married with two small children and another on the way.<br/><br/>Beth immediately took over the conversation, prattling on about old high school memories.  She yammered about Jeff, she chattered about gossip, she talked about their old teachers.  Every so often, Tatum chimed in with something but mostly she just let Beth talk.  There were moments in the mostly one-sided conversation that she couldn’t help but glance at Thomas.  Unwilling to deal with Carol’s chastisement again, she did her best to keep her smiles at bay but the amusement in her eyes was quite apparent.  Beth had a way of brightening up the room with the simplest of topics.<br/><br/>Before long, she had managed to pull in others from the circle to join in the walk down memory lane. Tatum took advantage of the distraction and leaned closer to Thomas, turning her head to face away from him so their cheeks were almost touching as she whispered in his ear.  “Is Wullie really going to try to stop the feast?  Didn’t you try to stop him?”