Patty Spivot (pattyspivot) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2017-12-13 09:54:00 |
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Patty had never been a guardian before, and truthfully she wasn’t sure what all needed to be done. She had read all of the available books at the library about guardianship and all that came with it, but it never told her about the interaction with her ward. She was only eight years older than Allison, and yet Patty felt that they were probably on the same footing when it came to experiences. Allison had been through a lot, and Patty was determined to make sure that the young woman didn’t feel alone. She knew how that felt, and it was terrible. She had made arrangements to have lunch with Allison after the guardianship paperwork had been completed. They had a few things to sort out, and it was better to get it out of the way sooner rather than later. “Hey,” she said brightly when she saw her ward entering the cafe. “Over here!” She waved her over to the table near the window she had reserved for them. “Thank you so much for coming.” Allison was still trying to adjust to all the weirdness of being in a different world in general, especially since when she arrived, she knew absolutely no one. None of her friends were there, her dad wasn’t there, and she wasn’t really sure what had happened back home. She’d spent more than one night up for hours, worried about Stiles and Lydia and if they were okay, and thinking about Scott and Isaac. If she had died and was here now, did that mean that this was all just some new life after death? Allison wasn’t sure. One of the first things she’d had to work on after getting out of quarantine apparently was to find a guardian. She had also been told she could apply for emancipation since she would be 18 in just 5 months, but Allison didn’t know if she even met all the qualifications, so really? The guardian thing was easier. On meeting Patty and learning that she was a police officer, she felt a little more at ease with the idea. She reminded her of Stiles’ dad, who’d been the sheriff of Beacon Hills, and that was slightly comforting, so she’d agreed to the situation, then sat back and waited. After the lunch had been set up, Allison had decided to put aside her own insecurities that had come out while talking to Zelda and Joan and had made her way to the cafe to meet Patty. As she stepped in, her eyes were drawn by the call, and the teenager smiled and headed over. At least Patty seemed nice? “Hi,” she replied, sliding into a seat slowly, before shaking her head. “No, it’s fine. Thank you for doing this, I appreciate it.” Was it weird that this was their first “hangout” meeting? Well, meeting that was outside of an office where they were sitting on opposite sides of a table to go over paperwork. Everything up until this point was very formal, and while Patty was used to it as a detective it certainly was no way to foster any sort of real relationship. So a lunch was best. Casual. Relaxed. Food always managed to ease up any awkwardness, right? “Well I wanted us to get to know each other outside of an office,” Patty said with a sincere smile. Everything about Patty was sincere when it came down to it. She was the nicest person — not by her own admission — but others that knew her would say as much. At least back home in Central City. Unfortunately she hadn’t made any close connections in this new place, but she was hoping that would change. Eventually it would have to. “So,” she said with a grin. “I’m thinking we need to order some food first because i’m starving.” Patty locked eyes with a server for a minute to indicate they were ready to order. Drinks at least, because she was starting to feel a little parched. “That’s a good idea,” Allison replied. All the moving around before Beacon Hills had left her generally shy, though that trait hadn’t really made an appearance in a while, considering they had finally settled down in one place. Now, it showed again, but she was trying to push it away so that she could focus on Patty and and their lunch. Looking down at the menu as the server walked over, she studied it curiously, but ordered an iced tea to start with before looking down once again. “Have you been here before? What’s good to eat?” There was a time, after her father’s death, that Patty secluded herself so she understood where Allison was coming from. But it was far better than what Patty had done, put on a cheery front while a darkness raged underneath. She was ready to kill the man that had taken her father’s life, and she would have had the Flash not intervened. But that was a story for another time. Now, she smiled brightly at Allison. “I’m a sucker for the grilled cheese and tomato soup,” she replied. “Really all of the soups are good, and the burgers.” Let it be known that Patty Spivot did not shy away from food, and had a voracious appetite if left unchecked. “The fries are really good, too.” “Fries would be good. And a cheeseburger,” she said after studying the descriptions, looking up when the server returned with their drinks, and she gave her order. Once that was done, Allison finally shifted her attention back to Patty and picked up her glass to take a sip, then set it down again and smiled at the woman. “How long have you been in Tumbleweed? Have you been a police officer since you got here?” “Oh gosh,” Patty began after she gave her order as well — a bacon cheeseburger with onion rings and a small salad — “You know, it’s been a couple of months now.” She probably should have done a better job about keeping track of that sort of thing, but it had somehow slipped her mind with the whole “travelling across universes” thing. She smiled at Allison, and shrugged a little. “I guess other things have been keeping me occupied,” she added. “But yeah… yeah… as soon as I could I joined the sheriff’s office. I was a detective back home, in Central City. I was actually just about to continue on with CSI school when I was brought here.” The memory of that day came back to her, and of the Flash — Barry — and everything that happened between them. “I was thinking of taking that up again. You know, once things are a little more stable.” Because for some reason Patty felt as if the other shoe was going to drop at any minute. “So tell me about your world,” she said. “I mean, if you want. You totally don’t have to and if I’m prying you can just ‘totally not your business, Patty’,” the young detective began to ramble a bit. It happened when she was a little nervous. “But, I mean, we can totally talk about those things, if you want.” “My world…” Allison trailed off with a slight laugh, and shook her head. “I guess it’s not too different from this one, if this one didn’t have all of the superheroes and everything. But uh -” she hesitated, then shrugged and continued. “We have werewolves and shapeshifters and things. I just found out about them a few years ago, before that I never knew any of that existed.” She absently used her straw to stare her tea, while meeting Patty’s eyes. “Like you saw, I guess - a lot has happened recently. It’s just taken some getting used to, even back there, you know?” “Yeah, I did see. I am sorry that it happened, but I can relate to it on some level. I mean, I don’t need to have had the same experience to know that it couldn’t have been easy.” Patty sighed, the sincerity evident upon her features. “And I don’t want to say that it’s going to get easier, you know? But I think that if you give yourself time, and you surround yourself with a good support network that it can help.” Patty hadn’t allowed that for herself. After her father’s murder she drowned herself in school and the police academy afterward. She wanted revenge. She wanted to find Marden and take his life for the one he took. She was bright and bubbly on the outside while filled with rage within. It was the opposite of what she was preaching to Allison, but because she had gone down that dark path she knew that it was not the best one. “This place is almost like a fresh start, and that’s something.” She paused briefly. “And we can help each other get through this. We’ll be stronger at the end of it all.” Allison nodded slowly at Patty’s words. “Yeah - it’s just, I guess it’s weird because the people I’m used to having as my support network...aren’t here. I mean, some people have been really nice, especially you, and I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me, and that you’re willing to do, but you didn’t go through what I did. I’m not really sure yet how to adjust to a lot of it, not yet.” She picked up her tea to take another long sip, looking down once again. It was true that she knew what it was like to have that rage inside - she had, in fact, for a little while there, and her grandfather had helpfully fueled it, using her as his pawn to try and hurt her friends, her schoolmates...and she’d done it, until she realized what he was up to. And just recently, dying to save her friends - she wasn’t angry about it of course but she was still sad. She wished she knew how they were and she really wanted nothing more than to be able to see them on a daily basis, and hug them again, and just be there with them. “It’ll take time, and I just wish there was something I could do to speed it up, you know?” Patty sighed, and reached across the table to take a hold of Allison’s hand. “I do understand,” she said. “I wish I had my friends here, too.” Which… what would she do with them here anyway? The last memory she had of her world was leaving Central City, and having The Flash there in front of her and knowing that it was Barry. Knowing that he lied to her about his identity, and that he was willing to let her leave without a second thought. What was worse was learning that so much time had passed in her world since she was brought to Tumbleweed, and that she had missed it all. “Until we find a way to do that,” she started to say. “Let’s just take it one day at a time, and just enjoy our lunch.” And Patty meant it. She wasn’t going to rush Allison into being okay or ready to move on when she wasn’t. It didn’t do anyone any good to push forward like that despite wanting so badly to make it all okay in an instant. And just then their food arrived at their table. Hot, fresh, and it smelled divine. Patty took a deep breath, and smiled brightly at her companion. “I hope you like it.” |