If they had been rattlesnakes, they would have bitten Darien a long time ago. He was so tunnel-visioned with his sketching that he might as well have been deemed legally blind. On top of being partially deaf in both ears, he had at least an excuse to his lack of awareness.

In his typical fashion of being late to about everything, his eyes dart over when he sees a man running like hell. In less than a second, he hears a woman yell out asshole and grabbing her nose. Darien could almost feel the pain himself, and seeing the young boy sitting at the very table all of this was happening - someone might have just punched him in the gut while at it. All of this had been happening and he was now noticing? He quickly reaches under his chair to grab his backpack, closing his notepad and holding it at his side. He speed walks to the scene.

He firsts asks the boy if he was okay and with a not so convincing yes, Darien told him to go sit where he was, that the corner was safe and quiet. Darien was confused and heartbroken to see children in this place, and he never really noticed how many were here. When the boy took his tray and was safely away, he looks at the man that had elbowed the woman with a disappointing expression. He doesn't say anything to him and instead, walks over to the mismatched woman still clutching her nose.

Silently, slowly, Darien walks over to her. He could see she was trembling and swallowing his nervousness, he says in his soft voice, "You alright?" He grabs a chair and sits right beside her, placing his notepad on the table and his backpack between them on the floor. Then it hits him that what he said was completely stupid. Of course she's not alright. She just got one planted in the face! "Stupid question to ask, I'm sorry. Fights happen here at the drop of a hat. I should start a gambling ring. I bet I could make enough money then to get out of here." His humor is dry and his blank face expression adds to it. "Actually, I think all we can bet in here is socks and gum on the floor. If we had money we wouldn't be here. And I am rambling as usual. You just got a shiner to the nose and now some weirdo won't stop talking to you. Just another day at the Homeless Shelter, right?" He actually gives a small smile, but he refuses to make eye-contact. "My name is Darien by the way."

Jokes and humor were not his strong suit. His leg nervously bounces out of control, he folds his hands on the table and taps with his fingernails. He knows what he wants to do, but he wasn't sure if he should. Fuck it. With his left hand, he reaches over to grab her wrist. Softly, barely even enough to call it a grasp. In an instant, he is flooded by all her anxiety and adrenaline. However, like an electrical current, he gives back to her an overwhelming sense of peace and stillness. He absorbs all her feelings of bad, and gives to her the calmness to deal with what had happen to her. "Better?" Well, better in one way. That nose of hers must sting like a son of a bitch. The awkwardness of this washes over him as he now takes in all her apprehension, so his touch returns to his own folded hands. His heart pounds a million miles and tears swell in his eyes, but he fights them back. He then sits up, grabbing his things and with a shaky voice that cracks, he stares at the door which looked a thousand yards away, "I'm sorry to have bothered you. And sorry about this place, it's not exactly paradise. You should make sure your nose isn't broken." He is kind enough to wait for her response, but he was doing everything to not just bolt and go. He bites his bottom lip, feeling everything and it was tearing him apart. He wanted to run and hide. He wanted to scream as loud as he could.