i: why not take the shorter way home.

[tender]

WHO: Derrica + Holden
WHAT: Just bros being pals.
WHEN: Timing (backdated, covering a span, etc.)
WHERE: Drakonis
NOTES:

It isn't difficult to divine what happened: Naomi Nagata is a regular presence in the infirmary, and then she's not. Derrica understands what that means. She doesn't need Holden to tell her in so many words.

But the absence had lingered in those first moments of Derrica on his doorstep, drawing him out. It's still there, in the way Derrica had linked their arms on the ferry, but Derrica hasn't nudged him to do anything more than—

"Madame de Cedoux recommended something outdoorsy," she is explaining, as they walk along the market stalls. "But I'm not sure exactly..."

A pause, a little shrug. She glances over to Holden, expression a little embarrassed.

"The first thing I thought of was fishing poles, but I don't know if that's what she was envisioning."