Exactly what it was about the whole situation that annoyed Enoch the most was hard to say. Everything just seemed to be going wrong, exactly as he thought it would and if he were a smaller person, or it was anybody but Olive, he would have said "I told you so" straight away . It might have been that the whole environment was so unfamiliar to him, having a much smaller family he had anything to do with than Olive did, it might have been that it felt more like a job interview than meeting a family. He couldn't care less about any of them actually liking him, because he didn't expect them too, he was used to being judged unpleasantly. So what? They were basically strangers to him and he didn't even care what most of his friends thought, let alone strangers.
Truthfully, they weren't all so bad. Olive's mother at least was more open to the idea of him than her father's side of the family. Things could have been worse...albeit not much.

After the awkward, thoroughly embarrassing meal, Enoch, having lost Olive to helping with the dishes, tried to keep to himself again. He'd been left in an uncomfortable, stifling circle of the small talk he despised with a man who would likely never think Enoch was good enough for his daughter, least of all after today, and Olive's uncle. Peter Densmore, Enoch had to admit, was at least trying to be a lot more friendly and even then Enoch was not a fan of that mindset and was only forcing himself to be civil or polite for Olive's sake.
How many times had it been in the last two hours that he'd had to bite his tongue hard to keep from muttering some sarcastic comment or telling someone exactly what he thought of them? Somewhere upwards of a dozen that was for sure.

He stared blankly out the window of the living room, watching the first, barely there drops of rain struggling to come down. The sky was dark and heavy with cloud that would almost certainly be pouring down by the time they left.

"Olive?"

Enoch turned his head in time to see the mauve hem of Olive's dress and the ends of her slightly waved hair disappear past the doorway towards the front door. She must have just swept right on through without him noticing.
Theo Elephanta had taken a few steps as if to follow her and was staring perplexed down the hallway. Enoch sighed and straightened up off the window. The frown that normally rested over his face, adding to the overall intentionally off putting appearance, deepened. He should probably follow her, right? Maybe it was just the excuse he needed to get away from it for a minute.

Without a word or a glance at anyone, he slipped around behind the couch and out into the hallway where the front door had just clicked closed.
The cold cut like a knife as soon as he stepped out of the door, which might have made him go back for his coat if it weren't for the sight that greeted him.

"Oli-"

A familiar little sniffle greeted his ears and his narrowed eyes darted around to Olive's cross-armed, head bowed figure by the wall beside him.
What exactly she had to cry about he had no idea, and his dark eyebrows shot up towards his hair as Enoch just stared at her for a second. Her back was to him but she definitely knew he was there as one of her hands quickly flew up to wipe her eyes. He knew that movement.

"Uhh..." The short, slightly frosted over grass crunched under his shoe as he took a few steps closer and sighed. "Olive?"

He wasn't good with a crying woman. It made him uncomfortable whenever Olive cried, and not just in the protective way that made him want to hit whoever had made her cry in the first place. But today was the day for discomfort right?

She turned her face towards him slightly and even a little distance away he could still clearly see a silver trail where a few tears had fallen.
"I'm...I'm sorry..." Her voice was barely a whisper.

Enoch clenched and unclenched his jaw and let out a little sigh as he closed the distance between them and tucked his hands into his pockets uneasily. He may know her better than anyone else, every little movement he'd seen before, but that did not mean he was any better at playing the supportive boyfriend and comforter. It just didn't quite fit somehow.

"Ya apologisin' for 'avin' feelings? Wouldn't be anywhere if ya kept doin' that would we?" Yeah. That was about his attempt at being reassuring. He wasn't good at it and didn't pretend to be. "What is it?"

"Nothing. It's nothing...I'm-" Olive turned around to face him and uncrossed her arms to toy with her own fingers in front of them. She forced a smile that didn't even come close to looking convincing and her green eyes he'd long since memorised, couldn't meet his as he stared expectantly at her. "I'm just being silly. I'm fine."

"I'll believe that when the dead start ta walk." He responded dryly before the prickles softened a little, as much as Enoch could do, "Why are ya cryin'? Ain't 'cause'a what the kid said is it? I couldn't care less."

The red head didn't respond at all for a minute, only lowered her gaze to her hands. Enoch followed her and absently reached out and ran his fingers over hers as she wrung them together. Her skin was warm to the touch even in the crisp air.
"Olive?" He tried again. "Ol?"

"You don't want me to bore you with it..."

Enoch couldn't help scoffing and rolling his eyes as he dropped his fingers. Women.
"Then why the 'ell did I ask? Are ya gonna say or not?"

"I..." She hesitated again and Enoch raised his eyebrows expectantly until she eventually let it out. "I just wish they'd give you more of a chance." Then it was like the floodgates had been opened and words kept coming out in one pent up stream that took Enoch by surprise for a second. "No one gets that you're just...you and it's not fair they keep saying you're weird and not a nice person-"

"I'm not a nice person but that's beside the point." Enoch couldn't help interjecting but it did nothing to ease Olive as he watched another tear slip from the corner of her eye down her face.

"I just want someone to like you..."

She trailed off and lifted one of her hands to her face like she was annoyed at herself for crying in front of him. Enoch was not good at making her feel better. At least he failed to see how he could with the awkward, uneasy movements and muttered words that came out when he tried half-heartedly to.

"That all it is? Why do ya care?" He certainly didn't care.

"Because they're my family, Enoch, they're people that I love," Her voice squeaked a little in the middle, "And I want them to love you too like I do-"

Enoch just gave her a look to say 'really?' as Olive finally lifted her eyes to his face again. Despite her tears, she seemed to get it right away.
"Alright well not exactly like I do but you know what I mean...it's not-"

"Not fair, I got that." Enoch interrupted again and just shook his head a few times slowly, holding eye contact until she looked away first. "Olive...I don't care. Ya know that."

"You made that pretty clear, Enoch..."

"And you shouldn't either then. What does it matter what they fink? It's us in the bloody relationship, ain't it? 'ow's cryin' gonna make it betta?"

Harsh? Not intentionally, but he didn't need to say it any softer for her to know exactly what he meant. She always knew. Well, almost always, unless he was intentionally concealing something. Like how much he actually hated it when she was upset and how, under all the mess of unfeeling stoicness, he really wanted to take that away so Olive didn't have to feel like that. He'd never say that.

Olive's green eyes met his again and her lips twitched a little into a poor attempt to smile again. Her fingers unthreaded themselves and came to rest on his shirt a few inches away.
"How can you not care that they don't like you?"

" 'Cause I don't like people, duh. S'a lot easier than you fink-oh, we're doin' this now? Okay..."

Olive had slipped her arms around his waist and drew herself close to his chest in a warm embrace that left Enoch standing with his arms out awkwardly for a second as he felt her every breath. "Olive?"

"I just want someone to be happy that I'm happy at least..."

Slowly, and a little stiffly, Enoch lowered his arms and let them come to rest just lightly around her. Maybe things would change. But the chances were relatively slim given that he had neither the intention nor the chance to see these people often enough for that to happen. Nor would be likely to act any more pleasantly given the opportunity.

They stayed there, silent save for Olive's occasional shaking breath while she composed herself, for almost another minute before Enoch cleared his throat and patted Olive's back awkwardly.
"Not that I'm keen ta go back into that tea party or anyfin', 'cause I'm not...but I'm freezin' out 'ere."

She laughed and the sound reverberated through his chest before she let him go and hastily reached up to wipe any evidence of tears from her eyes. "Yeah. Granny will know something's wrong anyway without taking any longer to come in."

" 'Course she will." Enoch muttered and then Olive was stepping around him and watching for him to follow. She was smiling again now, so it actually reached her eyes, and save for the hint of redness still ringing them, wasn't half as visibly upset as she had been when he came outside.

The door closed with a soft click behind him and he heard someone say something like 'There they are' from the living room before Olive's cousin, whatever her name was Enoch didn't really care to remember, stuck her strawberry blonde head around another corner at the end of the hall.
"You took your time, Granny's been waiting for you for ages, Olive. Come on already."

Olive turned around and Enoch's eyebrows shot up again. She wasn't leaving him to the awkwardness again already?
"I'll only be a few minutes, promise. You'll be okay right?"

Despite his thoughts he was slightly offended at the question and scoffed a little. "I can take care'a myself."

And with that Olive was gone after her cousin and Enoch was left shaking his head to himself in the hallway trying to pluck up the will and resolve to walk back into awkwardness.

Salvation literally came in a cherubic form so it happened and just as he was about to walk through the wide arch and into view, there were footsteps on the stairs beside him and a flash of pink caught his peripherals. Claire was leaning over the banister staring down at him with her doll like curls and blue eyes. If he'd thought Olive had been the picture of innocence years ago, that was nothing on this little girl. She could have been the poster child for heaven. It was quite sickening really.

"Do you want to see my Christmas presents, Enoch?"

In any other conceivable situation, however unlikely, the answer would have been an unshakable 'no'. While he had no interest whatsoever in a child's toys, the promise of getting away from the rest of the house made the offer slightly tempting.

"Pleaseeee? Just for a minute. Come and play!"

Something pricked his conscience like a pin as he stared blankly at the hopeful little girl who had so wanted him to pull a Christmas cracker, much to his disgust and surprise. Did he not give off enough dark, 'leave me alone' vibes for children to want to stay away from him? Apparently not for this one.

"I ain't playin' no games." He took a step closer to the foot of the stairs and laid a hesitant hand on the banister. It was the lesser of two evils for now.

xxxXxxx

So that was how he'd wound up sitting cross legged on the floor in the spare bedroom that was clearly meant for Claire at her grandparents, watching an eight year old comb a doll's hair. How long had they been upstairs? Ten-fifteen minutes? What on earth had happened to him today? Talk about letting a guard down, this was not Enoch.

"I think her name is Esme."

And Claire was chattering away happily, rattling off names of her teddies and dolls, most of which weren't around anyway and trying to get Enoch's opinion on what to call her new Christmas present, a porcelain doll in a 1940s dress with a painted smile and short brown hair.
"Do you like the name?"

"What?"

"Esme. Do you like it?"

"Where the 'ell did a kid your age 'ear that name?" He said without thinking and the blonde girl looked up with wide eyes to stare at him.

"Mum says I'm not supposed to say that word."

"Don't say it then. Wha-no, I don't want it-" Enoch's sentence dissolved into a sigh when Claire straight out pressed her doll into his hands. He could hardly throw a porcelain doll to the side. He wasn't that mean as to break a child's toy.

"She wants you to name her."

"..." Enoch just blinked, unamused at Olive's little cousin and shook his head in disbelief. Were all little girls like this? Were most children imaginative enough to talk to their dolls? He didn't even remember having enough of a childhood to play with games and toys at all. Or he'd blocked that part of his life out of memory. Not that they would have been dolls anyway.
But damn it all, there was something so naively, charmingly sweet about Claire Densmore that made him not entirely despise the situation. But he still wasn't going to play dolls with her.
"I'm not gonna nam-"

"Do you like Olive very much?"

"Do ya ever stop askin' questions?" But that caught Enoch completely off guard, almost, but not to the extent, of the 'are you married' incident at the table. He hoped he'd shut that door pretty hard.

"She thinks you're very handsome, you know. She told me once."

"I'm sure she did..." Enoch muttered and focused his eyes on the carpeted floor instead as he tried not to let the blood rush straight to his ears. He was not talking about love with some little girl he'd barely just met, he didn't talk about it with his girlfriend.

"I think you love her, don't you?"

" 'ow..." Blimey, kids were observant...or just stupidly imaginative and hopeful. "Go back ta talkin' 'bout toys already. It's none of ya business."

"Grown-ups always say that." There was such a pouting, annoyed huff to her voice that it made Enoch's eyebrows lift and his lips twitch up into a smile before he remembered to look a little more annoyed.

"It's usually right."

She was a cute kid, as far as children went in his limited exposure to any miniature person less than half his age.
But even the Tin Man got a heart in the end didn't he?

But Enoch was definitely not enjoying her company in the least.