Early Birds

Time's Up

The last week of the holiday break saw stormy weather move in, so Worm was sad that there wasn't the opportunity to go hiking. Down in her IT room, there were no windows, so she was pretty isolated from the outside. She did have her worm light which had a soft warm glow, making her smile and giggle whenever she glanced at it. It reminded her of Ghost and how, unexpectedly kind he had been to her. 

The week was pretty monotonous sleep, breakfast, work, lunch, work. But Worm really enjoyed the relaxed easy evenings, sitting with Ghost watching random stuff on the TV. After their deep conversations, both had spent time reflecting on their life experiences and the after effects of opening old wounds. The mood wasn't depressing, but thoughtful and reflective, so the conversations were light and less challenging.

Worm was curious as to whether Ghost ever had any hobbies or interests. He's mentioned going hunting and wild camping, but apart from that, he never spoke of anything else, so Worm was determined to get him to admit to something. Digging for tit bits in conversation, Ghost wasn't giving anything away, so she took a more direct approach.

'So Ghost, when you're on duty, you always are so focused, what do you do to relax?' she asked.

'Training in the gym or shooting range' he responded nonchalantly. 

'No, Ghost, that's still work, what else do you do?' she pushed. 

'Not interested in much else' he replied flatly. God, she thought, this man is either really chatty or you can't get an answer out of him. 

Okay... 'Do you socialise, you know, down the pub with the guys?' she tried. 

'No, too noisy' Ghost replied. 

'Do you have any hobbies, then?' she prodded. 

'Nah' was all he said. 

Okay different tactic. 'So you come back from a mission, how do you unwind?' she asked hopeful.

'Just debrief, clean my weapons before heading to bed', he said.

Worm sighed, apart from going for a hike, she had no idea what this man was interested in. 'Do you listen to music or like to read?' she tried again. 

'Only listen to classic rock when I'm in the gym, helps me keep a good pace' he replied. Okay, Worm though, he likes classic rock. 

'What about books, do you like to read?' she queried. Ghost pondered before responding 'I used to read a lot of the classic authors, Charles Dickens, Bronte Sisters, you know, historical drama type of stuff. We read it in school and I liked the stories and the characters'. 

Worm smiled feeling she was getting somewhere. 'Do you still read them?' she questioned. 

'Not so much, can't always concentrate.. why do you want to know?' he asked. 

'I was interested in finding out what makes the Ghost man tick', she answered honestly. 

Ghost scoffed 'Nothing interesting about me love'

Worm rolled her eyes at him in disbelief, she found him interesting, but wasn't going to admit that. So she changed subject. 'when you were on leave, where did you used to go camping and hunting?' 

'I like the forests in eastern Kentucky, great for hunting, not many people, haven't been for a couple of years though'. He said with an air of regret. 

'How come you haven't been back?' Worm asked curiously. 

'Hmm' Ghost pondered 'I used to find being there helped me calm my thoughts, but last time I was there, it was hard to stop my thoughts from overtaking, with the PTSD I sometimes get nightmares, and they got worse on that trip, so...' he trailed off.