Who: Kristof and Eve What: Eve checking in on Kris about Savannah When: Shortly after her talk with Paige/Savannah’s arrival Where: Kristof’s place Rating: low
Eve was a mixed ball of emotions as she walked briskly towards Kristof’s house. She wasn’t exactly sure what all the emotions she was experiencing, but was damn confusing and that confusion pissed her off. Leave it to the Dome to bring in her daughter who was no longer her little girl. Paige hadn’t elaborated much, but Savannah came from a tough time which was even harder for Eve to bear. The selfish part of her had always hoped Savannah would show up as a little girl the age she had been when Eve had died and Eve could try to pick up where she had left off, but that was wishful thinking. The fact she was also about to turn back into a ghost weighed heavily on her as she reached the front door of Kristof’s place.
She almost reached for the doorbell, then remembered there might be sleeping kids so she knocked and then texted him that she was at the door for good measure. It was still chilly outside and she stood there tense, hugging herself as she tried both to warm up and to figure out how what to do with herself.
–
As grateful as Kristof was that Savannah was back, he was also… nervous. Worried. Concerned. Some combination of all those and more. He wasn’t entirely sure how she would react when she found out he was there, considering how things had played out between them. He wouldn’t dream of pushing her for anything, but at the same time? The absolutely selfish part of him wanted to have at least some sort of a relationship with her despite knowing there was the possibility that she might not want it.
He’d face that when it happened, he supposed. What else could he do?
The knock at the door caught his attention and then so did the text. Oh, good, it was Eve. They could angst and flail together.
“Get in here, it’s cold,” he said as he answered the door, because focusing on that was easier at the moment than acknowledging the minimum half a dozen things running through his head.
_
“It’s too cold for March. What the hell is wrong with this planet.” She knew the answer, but it felt better to complain as she stepped into the house and felt better instantly. She let out a breath and shrugged out of her jacket as a way to deal with some of the extra energy she felt. She even took it upon herself to put her coat away to eat up an extra moment or two before she turned around to look at Kris. She paused, then exhaled. “So, I’m sure you saw the network by now.” If not Sean or one of the others had had to have texted him. It didn’t make any sense that he’d be kept in the dark.
–
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “I don’t know what to do. I know what I want to do and I know what I should do, but this is one of those cases where those two are not the same thing by any means.” Because he wanted to see Savannah as soon as he could, to talk to her and try fixing whatever problem it was that had her so upset.
What he should do – what he was going to do – was leave her be, let her come to him. She had a lot to adjust to and he wasn’t going to do anything to add to that, at least not in the first few days. She deserved time to at least start wrapping her brain around things, if that was possible.
-
Eve sent Kristof one of her no-nonsense looks. “Yeah, well, no matter how either of us want to see her or hug her or ask her what’s going on, I told Paige we’re staying put until Savannah comes to us.” Even if it was killing Eve inside to do that. She still remembered how she spent months following her daughter as a ghost to keep an eye on her.
She sighed and her shoulders sagged a little before Eve went to find a chair to sit in. “I guess we should at least be happy she’s alive. I mean, I already knew that because of Adam, but it’s good to see her actually still alive. It’d be stupid to think her live has been easy though.” Eve paused, her hands in her lap turning into fists. She looked over at him with the sort of vulnerable look she only let a few people ever see and live to tell the tale of. “What if she doesn’t want anything to do with us, Kris?”
–
“Then we’ll have to respect that.” The tone of his voice communicated just how much he didn’t like that idea. “I can’t imagine Savannah not wanting anything to do with you, though.”
He wasn’t as confident when it came to him, however. She’d been freaked out and clingy as a twelve year old, would she be even remotely the same at the age she was now? He wasn’t sure, and as much as he was telling himself to not worry about it until worrying became necessary? Yeah, that wasn’t working so much.
–
Eve did not like that idea at all. She'd rather die all over again, thank you. She ran her fingers through her hair. "What happened with you isn't your fault. If anything I shouldn't have kept her from you - though we both know why I did." She looked at him. It was complicated, but in an ideal world she'd have stayed with him and been his wife, but being a Nast complicated everything. "Plus she's an adult now. She has to know we love her… I just wonder if she'll be pissed at the amount of times she'll find out we were around as ghosts and didn't make an effort to make contact.. which is really more my fault than yours." Since he wasn't dead yet.
–
“Only because I haven’t gotten to that point in life – such as it is – yet,” Kristof said. “Otherwise I’d be just as much to blame, because like I wouldn’t check on her as much as I could?”
He loved all his children, daughter included, and the idea of not worrying about them in the afterlife was pretty much unthinkable. He’d never been a typical Cabal member, in a lot of ways, and that concern for his children had been one of them. He’d always strove to give Sean and Bryce as normal a childhood as he could manage – genuinely normal, not just what passed for it to the Cabal children.
-
Part of Eve hoped he never would, or wouldn't die for a long time, but there was no denying that the selfish part of her wished they were on the same page. At least they were about Savannah - that put her at ease. It made her feel better that not only Kristof felt the same about their daughter, but he was equally as worried about how Savannah would react to them.
"Thanks, Kris." The thank you was for a lot of things and she was sure she didn't need to explain most of them. "This is easier with you here… especially when March is almost done and I'm looking at being incorporeal again soon."
–
“I’m sorry you’re stuck being incorporeal for a while,” he said. “It’s… probably not easy for you.”
But maybe it’d be easier this time around because she’d figured the whole ghost thing out a little more. He didn’t know, but he certainly hoped so for her sake.
“I’m wondering how it’s going to hit Savannah,” he admitted. “Having you like this for such a short time and then having you as a ghost.” Part of him wished Savannah had shown up sooner, so she would have more time with her mother while she was still corporeal, but another part of him wished Savannah had showed up just a few weeks later so she’d have all that time to adjust to her mother as a ghost before anything else.
–
“The worst part is I could have predicted a little how she’d react as a kid, but as an adult? I’m not there yet. I’d like to think I know what kind of woman she’s grown up to be, but your guess is as good as mine.”
She stood up, straightening her skirt as she did. “I’d ask if you wanted a drink, but you probably have to do some parenting.” Maybe she’d see if Alex or Nick wanted to get a drink so she could process, even if she’d rather stay here.
–
“Even I can’t manage a guess and I did get to know a more grown up version of Savannah here once.” He quirked a sad smile. “Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
He nodded at her words. “Brie’s going through that whole not wanting to sleep thing. I love my daughter, I really do, but there are times I’m strongly tempted to hand her over to the nanny until she’s through it. Not nearly the worst thing K-Mart would’ve dealt with.” Hell, it wasn’t even the worst thing solely from his kids.
–
Normally that would get some quip about how many sleepless nights she had with Savannah, but tonight it didn’t manifest. Instead she gave him a most sympathetic smile. “You know if you need anything, Kris, you can ask, right?” She knew it might be awkward, but she might as well make it clear that she still was extending the offer. Together or not, the man was important to her and she liked his far-too adorable children. “If I speak with Savannah first, I’ll let you know how it went.”
–
“I know,” he said with a nod and a slight – but genuine – smile. He appreciated the offer, especially since he knew she didn’t really have to make it. Not that she would be vindictive against him, but she still didn’t have to offer up the help.
“And thank you for letting me know,” he said. “I… I hope it goes well.”
For Eve’s sake as much as his own. Possibly moreso.
–
She gave him another nod before turning. Even if she wanted to stay, she had no idea what they’d do except drink and lament and Kristof had other commitments to kids much younger than Savannah. Eve would do the drinking for the both of them. “See you later, Kris.”