Happy New Year [Will; TR]

The new year was always a cause for celebration and while Helen would have preferred for it to be held within the walls of her sanctuary and surrounded by family and friends, she couldn't entirely be upset with dancing with Will while wearing a gorgeous gown and being kissed at midnight to ring in the new year. She hadn't entirely expected it to be such a kiss and Will had surprised her there, but perhaps it was a prelude of things to come.

Helen had drunk a little more than she would have liked but she had always managed to sober quickly, especially when she was drinking because of a festive occasion and not because she was trying to numb her emotions. Her heels had pinched her feet at the party and she and Will had snuck down to the clothes box to get a softer pair for the trip back to her hut (atrocious little boots, but very warm and soft). They didn't normally stay at her hut, opting instead for the relative convenience of the compound and its kitchens and showers, to the point where Austen usually just walked up with Helen when she went to the compound to settle for the night.

But tonight Austen was curled in a corner in Helen's hut and they were staying there. Helen thought it prudent, given she was a little tipsy and less inclined to reserve herself the way she had to when they were sharing Will's bed in the compound. She tossed off the comfortable, yet completely unfashionable boots she was wearing and sprawled back onto her bed with a laugh.

"I shouldn't have put so many damn pins in my hair. It's going to take ages to take down, isn't it?"