Who: Dan and Penny What: talking/heading to Space Mountain Where: Disney World When: backdated to Tues. afternoon Warnings: low Status: closed/complete
Dan felt a bit out of his depth with how many people ended up on this family vacation. He still didn’t feel completely comfortable, given the last year or so of his life. His first day he went off to Hollywood Studios to go check out some Star Wars rides. Not weird at all, given he knew a few people lived in Madison Valley.
Tuesday morning he decided to sleep in for a bit and hit up the pool for an hour. He didn’t have anywhere to be specific until a little later when he met up with Trixie. After contemplating what to do, he veered off to get a slushie when he saw Trixie’s friend, Penny.
“Having fun?” he asked. He wondered where everyone else was, because he doubted Chloe or Penny’s guardian would leave either of the girls alone. Mare and Quentin, as mid-teens, could go off on their own for a few hours.
***
Penny had been a little wary of going on the trip with everyone, just because it was supposed to be more of a family thing for Trixie, but at the same time she absolutely wasn’t going to pass it up. She was still making up for all the time she hadn’t been able to really do anything, to go anywhere on her own.
Okay, yeah, she had the adults with her and Penelope was around somewhere nearby, but she was old enough to be allowed on her own within a certain range at any given time. It was close enough.
She grinned at Trixie’s dad when he spoke to her. “Oh, definitely.”
*** He wondered about the girl his daughter liked so much. While he still felt out of sorts at times, he wanted to like Penny, and decided to put in a little more effort to get to know her.
“I was going to grab a slushie. Do you want one too?” Dan asked. No sense in being rude. “So, what’s been your favourite thing here so far?” He honestly felt some excitement for the parade in a couple hours with everyone.
***
“Ooh, please,” she said brightly. “And… I dunno, I think my favorite so far is Space Mountain.”
She’d been on it twice already and, in the way of kids, she’d have no problem going on it several more times.
“What about you?” she asked, tilting her head and looking at him curiously.
*** Dan paid for two Cheshire Cat slushies and handed one to Penny. “I hope you like grape and strawberry,” he said as he smiled. He looked up places to get cold drinks which didn’t contain alcohol and this one stood out to him.
“I haven’t been on Space Mountain yet. I enjoyed Rise of the Resistance when I went yesterday. And, our hotel water slide is fun. I tried it out this morning.” He thought for a minute.
“Want to show me Space Mountain?” Man, this slushie was delicious.
***
“Sure!” Penny grinned, taking a sip of her slushie. “I mean, I gotta text Penelope so she knows I disappear, but I’ll totally show you.”
She liked Trixie’s dad and knew he had to be feeling a little awkward considering… well, considering. And since Trixie was one of her best friends, in Penny’s mind that very obviously meant she had to be helpful here.
Legitimately helpful, too.
*** Penny texted Penelope as Dan was about to suggest it, so instead he waited until she finished. “Good idea, texting her.” He shot a quick text to Chloe, in case she or Trixie looked for her.
As they walked, he asked, “How did you and Trixie meet?” He really did want to get to know Trixie’s friend. He found regular life things more difficult than he remembered, including a conversation with someone his daughter’s age.
“Penelope seems nice.” From like the ten minutes they’d spent together so far.
***
“School,” Penny replied. “We’re pretty much the same age and it’s not like there’s a whole bunch of kids our age, so.” She shrugged. “But we made friends really quick. Trixie’s neat.”
At his statement about Penelope, she grinned. “Yeah, Penelope’s awesome. I was super jumpy and wary and stuff when I first showed up, but she didn’t mind.”
*** Jumpy and wary certainly described Dan most of the time these days. Blame Hell and the other version of Madison Valley.
School made sense to Dan. “I’m glad she has you, Penny.” He meant it. Trixie needed friends. And to socialize with people so she slowly learned she couldn’t always get her way. Of course he loved Trixie and wanted her to succeed, but her interactions with Mare worried him sometimes.
They finally arrived at Space Mountain. A few people waited in line ahead of him, but not too many, which made him happy.
***
“She’s a good friend,” Penny said. “I’m kinda not sure what I’d do if I didn’t have her.” Because for all that she’d grown up in the past two years, she was still very much a kid -- and a kid who didn’t have very many people like her in town. Most of the kids her age were townies and the townies didn’t always like the refugee kids. Or the refugees in general.
It was nice to be able to make friends easier -- or not make them, ‘cause she didn’t really expect everybody to like her -- because with Secret Service agents constantly around, it’d been really really difficult.
Another cheerful grin in Dan’s direction as they waited. She liked that Trixie’s dad seemed to like her. He seemed like a nice guy -- the kind of guy her parents would’ve liked. Would’ve trusted with their daughter’s safety.
And considering that she measured a lot in life up against what her parents would’ve thought, that was a really good thing.