Karen Page takes (nobullshit) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2017-12-12 08:10:00 |
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Frank had stayed overnight at the base on Tuesday. When he went back the next day, he brought Karen with him to meet Cassie. Having the two of them in a room gave him the oddest feeling of worlds colliding: very literally. Home, and Mt. Weather. It had made Mt. Weather feel more real, less dreamlike, which was how the memories had felt since he’d gotten here. It had also given him a strange sense of rightness. Like maybe this would be a place worth staying if the both of them stuck around. He hoped he was right about that, this time. He’d always trusted his instincts about people, but they’d led him badly astray before. He couldn’t afford that happening again. He kept that meeting brief, because there was a lot he needed to do to get set up for Cassie. He’d already switched to a larger apartment, so that she’d have her own bedroom, but he needed to get it ready. Nothing extravagant; he didn’t think that was Cassie’s style any more than it was his own. But at the same time, he wanted it to feel… homey. The military had given him some money for her, and he still had some cash of his own, and Karen had lent him some. He could have easily done this shopping trip on his own. But Karen had wanted to come with him, and he suspected that was at least partly because she had questions for him, even though he was sure she also cared about Cassie’s well-being. So he let her come along. He offered to drive, and stayed quiet on the car ride over. It was a comfortable silence; there was just a lot going on in his head, and he wasn’t ready to offer any of it without prompting. He knew Karen would ask her questions when she wanted. When they entered the store, all he said was, “Bedroom first.” She needed a comfortable place to sleep, first and foremost. He figured she’d also want storage, maybe even something that locked - at the very least, something hidden. Probably anything here would be too flimsy and easily broken into, though. Maybe he should build her a safe in the wall or under her floorboards. He’d have to put some more thought into that. -- Karen had kept her questions to herself as she had met Cassie and then later, when she had actually let Frank drive her car to the store. She was still bemused by the fact that this teenage girl had somehow gotten to know Frank a while ago, and the fact that he was so willing to take on guardianship of the girl. In some ways, it wasn’t very surprising, just...odd, particularly after everything Frank had just gone through in New York. But maybe this was a part of what would help him settle, and she was okay with that. As she stepped into the bedding department with Frank, she headed over towards the sheets. “Does that second room have a bed already, or do we need to order that while we’re here? And do you know Cassie’s favorite colors?” Because she was a teenage girl - despite everything she’d apparently gone through, she had to have some kind of preference. -- “It does,” Frank answered. He was vaguely amused; he knew that wasn’t the first question she wanted to ask, but he appreciated that she was sticking to the task at hand. “It’ll do for now.” He paused for a moment. His memories of Mt. Weather were still a little fuzzy and dreamlike, although they felt more real now that Cassie was back. He remembered asking her about her favorite color, among other things - little inane questions that hopefully wouldn’t trigger any unpleasant memories, so that she’d be willing to talk. The rest of their time, especially out on patrol, had been spent in mostly companionable silence. But favorite color was one of the things he’d managed to learn about her, and so after a beat, he said, “Dark green.” -- “That’s a start, then.” Karen may not have experience buying things for a teenage girl, but she at least had been a teenage girl, and that meant that she knew a little bit about what might be wanted. Wandering down the aisle a little, she glanced back at him. “Did you two know each other long? In the mountain.” She was dying to know more in general about this entire situation - for her own curiosity - and she wasn’t going to let him off that easy. Stopping by the sheets, she studied the darker colors, then glanced over at the lighter ones. “What about basic sheets, and then some kind of dark green comforter set? She may not need them with the weather being this hot right now, but eventually there should be some cooler temperatures.” -- Frank smiled. “I wondered when you were gonna start asking questions.” He wandered after her, pushing the cart, looking both ways at the products on the shelves. He took his time answering, but not because he was debating whether or not to answer at all. “I wasn’t there long. A couple months, at most. She’d been there a while when I got there.” He reached out and picked up a pair of plain dark green sheets, then almost immediately put them back. It felt too… simple, somehow. Instinctively, he felt that she’d want some kind of a pattern, not just plain old colors, although he couldn’t say particularly what that would be. Except that it definitely wouldn’t be the superhero or make-believe animal sheets that little kids slept on. “Hm.” -- “I promise not to be too annoying with them,” she replied with a smile, moving away from the sheets to an end cap that held a few different comforter sets. “What happened in Mt. Weather, anyway? People have mentioned it, but no one’s ever really talked about it very much.” She wondered just what Cassie - and Frank - had gone through in that world. She knew it was in a post-apocalyptic future, but that was most of it.” Her eyes meanwhile were studying the bags, until a pattern caught her eye - it had a striped green and gold pattern, along with some kind of fancier print on it, and she lifted it, looking back over at him with her eyes raised. “What do you think of this?” -- Frank’s lips twitched in amusement, but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t mind her questions. It was hard to begrudge her when that same drive to find the truth had been what started him on the path to finding out what really happened to his family. “Not too much while I was there. I’m not sure I remember it all. What I remember is that it was a fortress in a mountain with a bunch of shit that kept trying to get in at us.” He glanced at the comforter and immediately shook his head. “Too fancy.” He looked around at the others, and his eyes landed on a dark green plaid. He stepped away from the cart and picked it up, considering it. “This is, at least, more her kind of green.” He still wasn’t sure whether she’d like it. He knew she liked the green in the outdoors, the trees that gave her cover and shelter. But there was red and a real dark blue in there too, and he didn’t put it in the cart just yet. He brushed one thumb over the edge of the plastic covering, and said thoughtfully, “She talked to me when I first arrived. We did guard duty together. Didn’t talk a whole lot… but I guess she started trusting me eventually.” -- “That had to be horrible,” Karen commented softly. She couldn’t even imagine being in that situation, despite all she’d gone through in her own life. Being trapped underground and having things attacking you to probably try and kill you? It sounded terrifying, and it made her sick that Frank - and especially Cassie - had gone through that. Setting the bag she’d picked up back down, Karen followed him over to the plaid set and studied it a moment, before looking at his face. It was obvious his own thoughts were far away at the moment. “Well, you’re a trustworthy kind of guy. She probably felt safe with you. I know I do,” she told him, looking over his shoulder at the set he held. “Why don’t we get some sheets that’ll accent this? Blue maybe, or burgundy? A solid color.” -- Frank shrugged. “It was a different kind of war. It suited me fine.” Sometime he would have to tell her about the other Matt and the other Foggy. He couldn’t remember if he had even mentioned it. He’d been thinking about them a lot lately. He felt Karen move over towards him, and held out the comforter so she could look at it. “You think she’d like this?” He knew she’d only just met Cassie, but he still needed a second opinion. Although he supposed they could just return it if for some reason she ended up hating it. He had a better feeling about this than anything else he’d seen, at least, so he gave a slight shrug of agreement. “Could work.” -- “Maybe it did, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Karen gave a nod at the comforter. “I do. And if not, we can exchange it for something different later.” Picking out a set of sheets in a shade of burgundy that matched the stripes in the comforter, she passed it to Frank. “What next? Curtains or rug? And have you given any thought yet into clothes? I doubt you want to pick things out...but if you want, I can take her shopping after she’s released from quarantine.” -- “I don’t think you did like it,” Frank said. He didn’t know if she knew that she’d been there. He hadn’t meant to keep it a secret, but he also hadn’t come out and said it. “You were there when I showed up, too.” He put the comforter in the cart and took the sheets. He set them next to the comforter and considered them. It would do, at least. Part of him felt that really Cassie should be the one making these decisions, but it would be nighttime when she got out of quarantine and this store wouldn’t be open. He wanted her to have something to start out with, at least. “There’s already shades on the window. I don’t know if she’ll like ‘em or if she wants a rug.” As much as he liked the idea of decorating her room the way he’d decorated his kids’ rooms, it really wasn’t the same situation. She wasn’t quite an adult, but she certainly wasn’t a kid anymore either, and she wasn’t his kid. “I think I’ll let her figure out the rest when she gets out. But - she should have some pillows, and a towel, and something to sleep in the first night.” His mouth quirked up on one side. “And a toothbrush, since we’re both out of extras.” -- “I thought someone mentioned I had been - last year, when I first showed up here. But I never really got the chance to find out more. It’s a little strange knowing that things happened and I was there...but don’t remember it.” Shaking her head, Karen looked down into the cart and smiled at the set together, then looked up again. “Pillows…I think they’re on the next aisle. And it’s good to let her decide some of it. It’ll make it feel more like her place.” Karen shot him a grin at the toothbrush comment, and fell silent again as they headed back down the aisle to move over to the next, before finally continuing on with her questions. “What about her family? Were they in Mt. Weather?” -- “I can tell you what I know,” Frank said. “But it’s not everything. I… was keeping my distance.” He rubbed a hand over his head. “It was… a lot earlier, for me. Maybe a year ago.” He followed her over towards the pillows. These were easy, at least - he picked a couple of ones that looked pretty well made, but not too expensive, and put them in the cart. Cassie was used to sleeping rough; she wouldn’t be too picky. Still, he wanted her to be comfortable. At the next question, he shook his head. “That’s a long story, and I’ll let her tell it to you if she wants. But she’s gonna ask you about looking for her brother, to see if he’s here anywhere.” -- “You can tell me if you want to - it’s probably not a big deal that it’s something I need to know now.” After all, it didn’t really have any bearing on the two of them here. She was just glad that they were both in Tumbleweed right now. Karen glanced at the pillows he picked up, then picked up a contour one and passed that over to him as well. “Just in case - if she’s lived as hard as you say, she probably doesn’t want anything too soft right now, right?” Reluctantly Karen nodded her acceptance at his refusal to tell her about Cassie’s family, though her reporter’s instincts perked up at what he said next. “I’ll help her look, of course. As soon as she’s ready. Do you think he might be here, without having come through the portal?” Karen was sure if he was one of the Displaced, someone would have spoken up by now. -- “Mostly, I remember that you’d shown up the day of a big battle,” Frank said. “And you were arguing with Murdock a lot.” He paused. “And then you disappeared.” He had, somehow, been the first one - at least of the people he knew - to notice that. He remembered worrying that she wasn’t gone but actually missing, kidnapped, hurt, dead in a ditch. “And then I must’ve disappeared, cause I don’t remember a lot after that.” He shrugged at the pillow; he really wasn’t sure. He supposed giving her options wasn’t a terrible idea. “Unless by some chance this is her world, I doubt it. But he could have popped up somewhere.” -- “Arguing with Matt...some things never change,” she said lightly, shaking her head with a soft laugh. She’d argued with him off and on when he’d been in Tumbleweed, and she still missed being able to do that anytime she wanted. The laugh faded after a moment, and she nodded a bit at his words, accepting what he said at face value. Sliding the pillow into the cart when he didn’t say no, Karen led the way over towards the bath department so they could pick up a towel and whatever other necessities they came up with. “I know that there’s been talk of a possible second portal… there was one incident where this guy came into town who was a fugitive in our world, and could set people on fire. And I’ve heard about some flying monkeys recently, but I wasn’t here for that so I don’t know the whole story on where those came from. But I’ll look into it,” she promised. -- A second portal. That was definitely something Cassie would want to know. It was something Frank wanted to know, too - although at the same time, he didn’t want to know it. He didn’t like the possibility of another portal out there that might spit enemies out without him knowing it. The idea made a little cold shiver track down his spine. He distracted himself by looking at the towels. He found a large dark green one, and put it in the cart. “Thanks,” he said. “You’re really the best one for the job.” -- “You’re welcome - it’s my pleasure, Frank,” Karen said honestly. “Now let’s pick up the rest of the stuff and get back. Do you want me to go down to the base with you tomorrow, when she gets out?” She was willing to give him a ride, of course, but if he wanted she’d let him borrow her car. It wasn’t as though she didn’t know where he lived, and Karen didn’t think he’d drive out of town with Cassie in tow. “I’d like to find out more about her brother, if I do come with you. Anything she can tell me.” -- “PJs and a toothbrush,” Frank reminded her - and himself. He headed back to the main aisle and started back towards the clothing sections. “I think you should come back and meet her. Ask her your questions. She really wants to find him, I expect she’ll be willing to answer.” -- “Right,” she said with a nod, following him out of the bath area and over to the clothes. She pictured Cassie in her mind to try and judge the teen’s size, and gave Frank a small smile. “I’ll do that, then - I’d like to get to know her, anyway.” As they reached the sleepwear, Karen studied the different displays, before glancing at him. “I’m thinking something light that isn’t too restricting. What do you think? Did she come with any clothes?” -- “Yeah, something she can move in, but heavy enough to hold up if it’s the clothing she ends up in the next world in,” Frank said, a little wryly. He was aware that anything in this kind of a store would probably not sell girls’ pajamas that would be the kind of quality he’d have chosen for a kid like Cassie. But he moved through the racks, eventually finding some that were more like sweatpants, that could be worn outside. “Like this, maybe.” They only came in light colors, but they would work better than the others he’d seen. He shuffled through the rack to try to find a size that would fit, and found one in light blue. -- There was something strangely adorable at watching Frank shop for a kid, even one that wasn’t his own. She followed him through the racks, studying them herself, then tilted her head at what he picked out. “That works, but I think we should get her some shorts, too. It hit the nineties yesterday and today, and if it stays that way we don’t want her to get too hot.” And saying such, she grabbed a dark grey pair that she was pretty sure would work, and handed them to him. -- Frank shrugged. He knew Karen had a point; he also felt that the shorts were a little flimsy, that Cassie might care more about protective covering than heat. Especially since heat wasn’t likely to last too long. But he also didn’t think she’d mind having the choice, so after he shrugged, he gave a slight nod. “Sure.” -- Karen smiled when he gave in and dropped them into the cart along with his choices. “Alright, now we just need a toothbrush and we’re done for now.” She was still determined to take Cassie shopping herself later, but obviously she’d wait for the teenager to acclimate a little more to Tumbleweed. As they passed a stand with decorative pillow and blanket sets - the velour kind that were super soft - Karen picked up a dark green set and slipped it into the basket. When Frank eyed her, she made a face at him. “I’m getting this for her.” That determined, she led the way towards the rest of what they’d come to get, satisfied that Cassie would at least have enough to get her through her first night out of quarantine. |