InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I got mad skillz"

Sophie Devereaux [Leverage] (worstactressevr) wrote in utr_logs,
@ 2010-05-07 23:11:00

Entry tags:

eliot spencer, nathan ford, riley garret, sam ford, sophie devereaux

Who: Sophie Devereaux, Riley Garret, Sam Ford, Nathan Ford, Eliot Spencer - possible others
What: Yay hospital!
Warnings: I don't think so?

Sophie had, as promised portkeyed to Florida right away, finding Riley and explaining the basics of the portkey system to her, waiting until they were in Chicago to slip into a convenience store for some chocolate milk and a snack, the whole time keeping up a friendly banter, wanting the girl to be comfortable.

When they got to the hospital she smiled, leading her into the main entrance. "We're just going to visit a few folk before going home and setting settled, alright?" And with that she went about finding Nate, smiling a bit as she saw him sitting in a waiting room.

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thatswhatido
2010-05-10 07:49 pm UTC (link)

Eliot frowned when Riley told him about her mother having an IV. He didn't dwell on it, though. Her mother wasn't around, and they had more important things to talk about.

"When I left, your mom and I, we weren't really friends any more. I hurt her real bad, and I'm sorry for that. But I can't change what happened, I can only do better now, right? And I'd like to start by taking care of you. Will you let me do that?"

He'd never considered himself father material. He had no intention of settling down, getting married, having kids. He figured he'd be dead before he was 40, anyway. But now Riley was there, and he wanted nothing more than to be her father.

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little_riley
2010-05-10 10:28 pm UTC (link)

Riley listened carefully, all of her attention on Eliot. She didn't feel angry at him for hurting her mother. Maybe she should, and maybe she would later, but it wasn't registering now. She nodded when he asked if she would let him take care of her, smiling a little. She wanted to stay with him.

"What's your favorite animal?" Her voice was still a little hushed when she asked the non-sequitur, but she was smiling now. She wanted to get to know stuff about her dad.

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thatswhatido
2010-05-10 11:20 pm UTC (link)

"My favorite animal?" Eliot looked thoughtful, though he knew the answer without question. "A horse. I used to work in a stable, where they trained horses that ran in the races." His tone turned a little melancholy, those days were long past.

"What about you? Do you like horses too?" he asked, giving her a little playful poke in the belly. He couldn't move too much because of the IV and the heart monitor he was hooked up to, but Eliot really wasn't the sort of man to sit still for long.

He couldn't help but think if he'd known about her all along, she would probably have her own pony by now. He'd have fostered a love of horses for her, made her an equestrian, if she had any interest in horses.

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little_riley
2010-05-11 12:26 am UTC (link)

Riley's eyes lit up. "Ooh, I love horses!" If he hadn't said that, she might have mentioned dragons or unicorns. But all of that went out the window when horses were mentioned. "That sounds so cool!" Working with horses all day seemed like a lot of fun.

She giggled when she was poked. "Yeah! I wanted a horse, but mom said no." They couldn't afford it and they didn't have the room to keep it anyway.

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	thatswhatido 2010-05-11 01:04 am UTC (link)
	"A horse is a big responsibility. You have to find a stable to board them, and good people to care for them." Eliot reached over to finger Riley's hair, moving it out her face. "After I get out of here, when I can walk again, what do you say we go riding?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	little_riley 2010-05-11 02:53 am UTC (link)
	Riley's face grew serious as he talked about the responsibilities. She nodded. "Well, maybe I can work at a stable and take care of the horses." If she owned a horse, she would want to take care of it instead of letting someone else do it. She smiled when he mentioned riding. She'd never ridden a horse before. "Really? Yeah! Do you have a horse?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thatswhatido 2010-05-11 03:16 am UTC (link)
	"I havne't had a chance to find one lately," Eliot replied. "But I know a good stable, and I can't wait to take you there." He smiled a soft, comforting smile. He couldn't wait to get her on a horse, show her how to ride. He just hoped the injury to his leg wasn't that serious, and that he'd be on his feet again soon. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

little_riley
2010-05-11 02:59 pm UTC (link)

"Okay!" Riley said, grinning. She was louder than she had been all night, obviously excited, but she was restraining herself at least enough to keep from jumping around all the medical equipment and stuff. "I can't wait either." She giggled. "Don't let me fall off, okay? Mom always said I would fall off." She stuck out her tongue, clearly not believing that excuse.

"What's your favorite food? And color? And what's your middle name? And can I stay here tonight? I wanna stay with you."

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thatswhatido
2010-05-11 05:01 pm UTC (link)

"I promise aI won't let you fall off, sweetheart." He smiled a little smile. Being on a horse could be scary. Eliot had conquered that fear a long time ago and it seemed silly to him now, but he could see that a seven year old would be worried about that kind of thing.

"I think you should stay with Sophie tonight. Hospitals aren't much fun. I have to stay here tonight, but you don't. And I bet you'll have lots of fun with Sophie. She'll probably let you stay up late and eat ice cream and maybe Sam and Nate will go over too. I know you know Sam, and nate, he's the other guy that was here just a minute ago. He's my dad, did you know that? And he's Sam's dad too." Eliot kept an even tone, he didn't want his words to influence how Riley felt about Nate.

She'd asked some other questions. His favorite color, his middle name. He didn't think they were pressing enough to answer, unless she asked again. He was more interested in making her want to go home with Sophie, and not stay at the hospital all night.

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little_riley
2010-05-11 06:14 pm UTC (link)

"Okay." Riley pouted a little when Eliot said she shouldn't stay there, but it wasn't a long pout. Sophie was nice, too, and that could be fun. "Okay. You just gotta get better." She didn't want her dad to be in the hospital. It was scary when your parents were in the hospital, and she didn't like it.

"So.. He's my grandpa?" she asked, after thinking about that for a minute. It was harder to figure out Sam's relation to her, with the reference point so far removed. If Eliot was her dad and Nate was his dad and Nate was Sam's dad.. It was like a word problem in school. "Sam's your brother? So.. he's my uncle?"

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thatswhatido
2010-05-11 08:36 pm UTC (link)

"You got it." Eliot told her. "I have another brother too and he looks just like me because we're twins." That still felt weird. Finding Lindsey again was almost more weird than Nate's confession that he was their father. He'd thought Lindsey was dead, all these years.

"Maybe you'll meet him too. He was here earlier, but he had to leave." Eliot offered a slight smile. "So you're going to stay with Sophie, right? And have fun with her. And tomorrow maybe I'll get out of here and then I'll take you home." Even if he had to use crutches for a few days. Riley was a big girl, he was certain they could manage.

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little_riley
2010-05-11 08:54 pm UTC (link)

"I have a lot of family here," she remarked with a smile. She'd only ever had one grandmother before, so this was new. It would be fun, getting to know everybody. What if she got her dad and her uncle confused? That would be embarrassing.

She nodded. "I'll go with Sophie." He didn't talk like her mom. Her mom would've told her to go with Sophie and behave for her, not 'have fun with her'. That was kind of different. She still wanted to stay with her dad and talk more, but she would do what he said. She smiled when he mentioned getting out tomorrow. She could probably wait that long.

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thatswhatido
2010-05-11 09:15 pm UTC (link)

"Good. That makes me feel better already." Eliot smiled. He fingered her hair once more. "You're being very brave, you know that? I know this is a lot of change for you." He knew her mother didn't have much family. That was one of the reasons she'd made an easy target. Looking at Riley then, her sweetness, her innocence, he willingness to trust him without question, he hoped he never had to tell her just how he'd gotten to know her mother, or the circumstances of her conception. She was a child born of a con. there had been no love involved, no feelings at all from Eliot's point of view. He liked to think he was not that guy any more. When he conned now, it was for a reason, thought out, and designed to help people and punish the ones who took advantage of them. Someone like him ought to have run a con on him eight years earlier, to make him pay for what he'd done to Riley's mother.

"You can stay with me until either Sophie comes back to get you, or the nurse comes to check on me, and kicks you out. Okay?" He didn't want to face the truth of what he'd done in the past, but he also didn't want Riley to leave right away.

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little_riley
2010-05-12 03:08 am UTC (link)

Riley smiled, scooting to rest her head lightly on his shoulder--not where the stitches were. "I am? I guess so," she said, shrugging. It was still sinking in. Oddly enough, she'd gotten used to the idea of Eliot being her dad pretty fast, but the whole 'different world' thing, and her mom not being around didn't seem quite real. Waking up tomorrow would probably be weird.

"Okay," she said, smiling up at him. "Will you tell me a story?" she asked.

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	thatswhatido 2010-05-12 07:43 pm UTC (link)
	"I'm not sure how good a story I can tell you, but I'll try." Eliot offered a small smile. Okay, this was the awkward part. He really didn't know what kind of story to tell her. All the stories he knew probably weren't the best sort of story to tell a little girl. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	little_riley 2010-05-12 10:37 pm UTC (link)
	Riley smiled, seeing her dad was a little out of his element and decided to help. "There should be a princess. And a unicorn." Princesses rode unicorns instead of horses. "And maybe a witch or a dragon." She watched him, hoping that would help. "Once upon a time.." She started for him. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thatswhatido 2010-05-14 01:09 am UTC (link)
	"Once upon a time," Eliot echoed, and picked up the story from there. He wasn't a natural story teller as such, but he tried not to worry about it. He just kept talking, making up a crazy story about a unicorn riding princess and her pet dragon, that the witch wanted to take for her own. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	little_riley 2010-05-14 03:25 am UTC (link)
	Riley smiled, enjoying the story. It wasn't like the ones in books, but it was pretty good anyway. After a few minutes, Riley's eyes started to close and she drifted off to sleep on her dad's shoulder. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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