A brief smile concealed perfectly the small ray of disappointment that it was Beth who ended up on hooking up with him. Not that there was anything wrong with the bright blonde, and not that he didn’t want to have somebody hooking up with him, but the target was wrong. And the subtle grunt of Tatum, which Thomas couldn’t help to notice with his secret glance at the lawyer, didn’t make him feel any better about it.<br/><br/>The crafty cloak of dusk had crept upon them. Once again it was the time of the year when bright day passed swiftly by with its quick spurts, and the dark nights took their long ageless steps with no particular hurry in mind. Darkness was something what humans had forgotten in the era of artificial light and nearly endless power, but now it was back to remind them from their vulnerability and limitations.<br/>The familiar view had changed into a strange, and dark, world where Thomas couldn’t really spot the buildings he knew were there. Big buildings that beset the now empty street covered behind the veil of darkness. Only few flickering candles every here and there revealed the hiders. It was a strange world they found themselves in. Everything was the same, but yet nothing would ever be the same.<br/><br/>Beth’s sudden question tore him out of the pond of ponders. She pointed straight at the elephant in the middle of the black street, which everyone else had seemingly avoided. Except Wullie - and Tatum too.<br/>Tatum said what Thomas thought, and an apprehensive glance was exchanged between him and Beth. He couldn’t hide his concern from the bright blonde. Beth squeezed against Thomas’ side, and the owner of a now-useless-profession released a subtle sigh.<br/><br/>"Wullie was right", Beth said.<br/>Yes, Thomas thought. Wullie was seldom wrong, especially if you asked Wullie about it. Yet another glance was thrown over the gulley between Thomas and Tatum. “Well..”, he took a deep breath to give himself time to answer.<br/>“.. it’s not completely wrong to have a feast, you know.”, he chose to take walk down the golden middle. “I get the idea behind it. Everything’s getting dark, and bleak and cold and people are scared. We need something to remind ourselves that.. life goes on and that we can still celebrate. But.. I think that Wullie’s right, too. We need to prepare for the worst and tighten up our belts. I mean there’s still plenty of moose out there, but.. it’s getting scarcer alright. I’d say that we kiss the Christmas moose goodbye, too.<br/>Spring’s the worst, ya know. That’s when most people starved. Not that we are going to starve!”, he quickly tried to patch up the horror-images he blurt out. “But.. statistically, it’s not the winter that actually starves people out. It’s the spring, when all the reserves are gone.<br/>So.. I’m not very sure about the clerical feasts.. People should take a more.. rational look at the situation we have at hand.”<br/><br/>It was a bold thing to say. Or was it? Wasn't it something what was supposed to be<i>normal</i>? Then why was he suddenly very concerned that he had said it out loud? Did he just make a dire mistake?<br/>He launched a distress signal in the form a quick glance over Beth's head to Tatum's receiving eyes. The red flare of Thomas' glance was enhanced with his wiggle of brows. Help me, his eyes begged.