Who: Rick Grimes rick & Annie Cresta lifeisastorm What: Paths crossing by happenstance When: Last weekend of August Where: Farmer's Market Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Rick is a pretty sad guy. Annie has her own warnings. Status: Closed/Completed Partner Thread
~*~
Judith was getting fussy from the heat. Her face was splotched and her eyes were red from crying jags. She was almost listless in Rick's arms as he tried his best to soothe her while packing up a box of tomatoes for a customer. It would have worried him, but she'd been teething. It was all part of it. Carl was the one who was being more of a pest than normal. Rick could generally count on his boy to be too serious. Not today, oh no, he had to be running around like a crazed chicken while trying to play catch with himself, throwing his softball in the air and catching it, eyes in the sky on the ball rather than on the shoppers walking the Market.
He'd finished his sale when he saw Carl bump into a woman.
Letting out a sigh, Rick yelled out at him, "I didn't raise you in a barn! Carl Grimes, you apologize to that lady and get yourself back over here to find something productive to do."
If he had to, Rick would set Carl to taping together boxes. They had a lot of customers who didn't think to bring anything to carry their produce or purchases home in; the boxes broke down to flat spans of cardboard and taped together well enough to make them sturdy for carrying the types of things sold in the Farmer's Market. Produce, hand-made items, and custom goods didn't usually fit into the regular baskets people had set to carry around. Rick hadn't ever seen a personalized shopping basket -cloth even!- until he'd gotten to California. He figured at least they cared about their environment.
"Ma'am, I am sorry for my boy. Did he hurt you? He's excited about softball this year. We've only moved in the last year so this is his chance to show a team how he can handle himself. Unfortunately this means he's tossing that blasted ball without looking where he's walking. He meant no harm. I assure you."
Some people were incredibly laid back when it came to kids. Rick had encountered the other kind more than once all the same. Those were the type wanted to blame a boy for his actions as if he were a man grown and Rick didn't have much use for that kind. They always wanted to bluster and bluff on about who they knew, what they were worth, how they had a lawyer for every damn thing. Rick had taken more than one of those types to task for their presumption where his kids were concerned.
He hardly thought this woman was the type to start in on that line of talk though---she looked more startled than anything else.
"You are alright, aren't you?" Rick prompted, concerned she might have gotten injured somehow from the collision with Carl.
~*~
It wasn’t that Annie was usually this distracted. Oh no. Usually she was more aware of her surroundings, especially when she was set up in a crowded farmer’s market to do sales. It just happened that since they were in the last weeks of summer (at least in terms of the school year with students going back and not so much based on the calendar and equinoxes), that there seemed to be more people than usual. That was one way to get her senses on high alert and to be easily frazzled. Then there was the fact that Orange County had completely thrown her in the fact she had run into one Finnick Odair the day she had dreamt of his death and her pregnancy. So needless to say, the twenty two year old had been running on high emotions and trying to make sense of them ever since that run in at the beach.
As it were, she had already sold every piece of jewellery she had brought with her and was stretching by taking a walk when suddenly she collided with someone, which would have been fine. But then there was yelling in their general direction and Annie’s fight or flight instinct seemed to perk and she found herself rooted in her spot. Once she snapped out of it, she would realise how ridiculous that was and feel foolish but for now she needed to calm down and take a breath. She needed to focus.
Only when she was addressed by the person who had yelled and came over to them a second time did Annie finally snap out of being lost in her own mind.
“What?” Really. That was the most intelligent response ever. But then words started registering in her mind again and she caught up with what he was saying and she nodded. “Yes. Sorry. I’m fine, and really, it’s okay. I was distracted.”
Smile. Breathe. It was okay. Even if she absently reached for the cord bracelet that helped to calm her down. As was her usual manner, she had many bracelets on her arm, both as a means to display what she could make, but also to cover her scars. With the heat she had opted out of wearing ribbons as well, so it was mostly bracelets. She then turned her attention to Carl as she was better at dealing with children than adults most days.
“What position do you play?” Annie herself had been on swim team so she wasn’t exactly sure about different sports, but her general understanding was that the question could fit most of them.
~*~
Bouncing Judith on his hip, Rick was concerned as he waited on the woman to respond. She definitely defined 'distracted' in a different way from what he was accustomed to in his day-to-day life. He noticed the nervous tick as soon as she started stroking at her bracelets. They were lovely. She had a very modest look to her which was surprising for California. Most their girls were going for casually wealthy, effortlessly beautiful. He thought he had seen her around before which meant she likely worked at the market or was a vendor.
"Glad to hear you're alright, ma'am. I'm Rick Grimes, this is my daughter Judith and son Carl. Carl, go on and talk to her. You're not in trouble."
Rick had it rough with being an only parent. Sometimes he knew his voice got louder than he liked, sterner. His dreams made him into a man who shouted, didn't take no for an answer, killed. It was his goal to try to be a better man than the one in his dreams. He tried to always make certain his children knew they were loved enough for two parents even if they had to settle for only the one in him. Carl got the brunt of his frustration from time to time, but Rick tried to even things out by admitting when he'd been in the wrong with his son.
Fathers could make mistakes. His own had made some and he'd been man enough to own up to them. Rick could do no less for his own son.
He was proud of the way Carl straightened up, no longer a cowed boy, but a young man prepared to take on whatever imaginary army was marching his way.
"I play catcher for now, but I'm hoping to take up shortstop. That's a hard position to earn, but I'm working on it. Gotta catch the ball between second and third while guarding second at the same time. It's tough. I like the challenge. You play? Softball has teams for girls too."
~*~
“It’s nice to meet you three, I’m Annie. I usually sell jewellery. It’s nice to see families here.” She still felt awkward, but it at least seemed to focus her attention. That was the most important thing for Annie at times, just getting focused on the present and what was in front of her as opposed to memories of the past or memories of the dreams. Both were filled with trauma that left their marks on her. Some were physical such as from the very cold basement in New York and her attempts to die. Others were in the nervous ticks that seemed to have increased following the horror of the arena. She did her best to stay in this world and not let the past define her, to let fear control her… but some days were more difficult than others and unexpected contact with people usually was a cause of needing to reground herself.
It was strange how the dreams could affect someone so. She knew it was frustrating, knew she wished she were stronger. But loud noises now would always remind her of the cannons announcing the death of another tribute. Physical contact would always burn her if it was a stranger or someone she wasn’t used to and had given permission to. The water at least hadn’t lost it’s calming capabilities, not anymore at least. Though the circumstances that had led her back to the ocean and water had been terror and anxiety.
Instead she just smiled and listened as Carl explained what he played in softball, trying to envision what he was talking about. She sort of remembered what the baseball diamond looked like.
“Challenges are always fun. No, I don’t play. I used to be on swim team, though.” There had always been jokes about how she was basically a mermaid, and while she hadn’t dreamt of being one, she had still survived her own games because of her ability to swim, to stay above water the longest and not drown from exhaustion like the others in her year. The year that was considered ‘dull’, as if watching children kill one another was entertainment. It was in the Capitol though, they ate it up.
~*~
"I can sorta swim. We don't go down to the ocean a lot. Judith is too little and---we stick close to home."
Carl looked down at the ground, studying his feet.
It wasn't like him to cut himself short. Rick figured it was on account the woman, Annie, seemed the skittish type. She wasn't the kind of woman they were used to dealing with at home. Lori had been brash, bold, bright. There hadn't been a man alive who would have stood up to her when she was in a temper. Shane Walsh himself had backed down for his Lori which had never ceased to amaze Rick seeing as Shane had never been one to grant women the benefit of the doubt under any circumstances.
Some things were hard to mention to strangers. Rick knew he couldn't very well tell this nice jewelry maker about how his wife had passed in childbirth so he was protective of his two surviving children. It was more information than any polite conversation would ever be made up of in the normal world. His dreams showed him a world where people didn't act normal any longer because they lived a new normal in which it was survival of the fittest. The living fought the dead for the right to stay living in his dreams.
Rick wondered sometimes if he wasn't more awake when he was sleeping than when he was waking. Which man would be the better one to raise his son and his daughter? The one who'd do anything to give them a normal life or the one who'd do anything to teach them how to survive? Would he be a better man if he was willing to kill for his family? Was that what it took to be a good man? He wished his father was still alive so he could ask his opinion, or, for that matter, Hershel because that fellow had been a good one.
"I worry about Judith getting too overheated. The sun doesn't agree with her too much and, truth be told, I worry about the ocean. None of us come from around here. We're from mid-state Georgia, no ocean near us. My kids already lost their mother. I already lost my wife. Our family can't stand to lose more. I do think about finding a nice pool to take the kids over to on good weather days."
~*~
“That makes sense.” Even if Carl was being unusually shy or cutting himself off, Annie didn’t notice and it was easier for her to talk to him anyway. Which did tend to be a thing, even before the surprise pregnancy dream which she still had yet to process thanks to Finnick’s arrival. She just found kids to be less threatening and easier to talk to. Though, Rick seemed nice enough. Carl and Judith’s presence there just made it easier for her not to try and bolt at the first available opening. Which would be rude.
Not that Annie was one to talk about her own traumas. Peeta got it out of her because he had asked about her scars and that was months after knowing one another. Shared dreams helped because they understood the world of Panem, just like Johanna and Portia did. God she wasn’t looking forward to when Finnick would dream about it, because while the other two respected Annie’s lack of desire to discuss the dreams if at all possible, she wouldn’t have that luxury with Finnick since they were both from District 4.
Then Rick was speaking and Annie turned her attention to him.
“I’m so sorry to hear about your loss.” She wasn’t going to pry. That was a lot of information, but she could also respect it. “I would think there are nice pools as well here.” As she was no longer on a team, Annie was a bit more able to choose where she swam, but there were swim teams in California so obviously there would be pools as well as the ocean. Annie just wasn’t picky when it came to what sort of water she swam in, be it lake or ocean or pool.
~*~
Apologies had become reflex phrases for people. They said 'I'm sorry' more than they said 'I love you'. Rick could tell Annie meant it when she said it. There was a sincerity to her tone which made him wonder who she'd lost. People who had experienced loss themselves? They were the ones who could say the words without them sounding routine. It came from the heart with them seeing as they, too, had lost.
Rick wouldn't ask about Annie's life.
They were strangers who happened to peddle their wares in the same location, nothing more, nothing less at this stage.
"I'll be sure to look into finding them an option for a pool. I don't suppose you'd know anyone who taught swimming lessons, would you? Seeing as you were on the swim team, I figured you might have had a professional teacher at some time or another who might still be working."
His statement inadvertently implied she looked young. Rick was glad the heat of the day would hide the flush of his skin. He meant no harm by it. Annie was simply a young woman to him in spite of how her eyes told the story of an old soul. Those eyes were the kind Carl had now thanks to the loss of his mother. Rick couldn't do a thing about the loss of Lori, but he could get his boy something to do with himself other than work at being a shortstop. He could try to get him some more friends, help him learn some valuable life skills, do his part to make sure Carl enjoyed being a kid while he still was one.
Death had taken Rick's wife, but Rick would be damned before he'd let the Grim Reaper steal his son's childhood.
Not in this lifetime.
~*~
The question on what Annie had lost was a complicated one, one she wouldn’t have been able to answer had she been asked. A dream husband who was alive here. A life where she’d been innocent of the dark side of humanity, a loss of her sanity and a loss of people thinking they could treat her as someone who was completely put together. She had come to California to escape the pity and eggshell walking, yet people knew. Or they knew who she was in the Dreams. The mad girl from District 4. All because she didn’t conform to how the Capitol wanted her to appear and they discredited her reactions as madness instead of what happens when you put children in an arena to kill one another.
“Not in the area. I only moved here a year ago. I used to live in Massachusetts.” And New York for a semester but that was a time of her life she would sooner block out than acknowledge. That was where she had been changed for life and would carry those scars with her until she died. “So I fear I can’t help you with that unfortunately.”
That was something that seemed lost these days. Children getting the chance to be children. Not that she really knew or saw it. She would have just graduated college had life gone the way she’d planned. Instead she had grown too fast in a way no one should have to. Just as it seemed Carl did from the loss of his mother. Then there were the children who couldn’t wait to grow up, not realising what that meant. Annie didn’t know much of the area or what there was to do it. But he already had softball and she was sure that there would be swim teachers.
“If you don’t, I can probably help teach it?” Not that she had the credentials, but she’d been really good, had gotten a scholarship for her ability in a pool.
~*~
Carl was giving Rick a look which could have cut glass as he continued on with Annie.
"That'd be real nice of you, Annie. I wasn't sure I could recognize your accent or not. We're Southern which is obvious. It's other folks we have a hard time identifying. I could pay you for your time? I can check to see if we can get enough together for a real class or you can do something private with my two on your schedule. Only days I'm busy are when I'm here weekends and twice a month when I deliver supplies to a medical company I subcontract with since they can't seem to find my farm."
Rick was perfectly fine with that arrangement, too. He'd just as soon deliver rather than have people coming to disturb his peace. Their family had been disturbed enough over the years. It was nice to have some peace and quiet which was all their own; the knowledge the only people who'd be coming up their drive were invited guests was priceless to Rick. He liked the sense of safety and security he got from the place. His world felt chaotic at times and some nights he dreamed of a world where there was no peace anywhere.
He wouldn't trade his quiet life for all the world at this stage.
Some days he was lonely for the company of another adult, true enough. There were times he thought he'd go crazy because he realized he had been talking to his teenaged son as if he were a man his own age. It felt weak to Rick to need to talk to someone, but he hadn't yet found a way to suppress the urge. All he could do was keep himself busy or look for some options on the network which had become an escape from the turmoil inside his head. It was a good way to remind himself he did have peace in his life.
~*~
Annie was aware of the look Carl was giving his father, but she couldn’t quite place the reasoning behind it. Still, it did make her feel slightly awkward, though that wasn’t exactly hard. So instead she just focused on the conversation at hand, nodding some. Southern accents did seem to be easily recognisable. Not that Annie was good at placing accents regardless.
“It can be difficult to place at times.”
Then they were discussing swimming lessons, and she shrugged.
“I don’t mind it just being the two. As for payment, it doesn’t really matter to me? I work with a movie studio doing jewellery designs as well as creation so I’m flexible.” She wouldn’t turn down fresh fruit but really, it would just be nice to do something in the water again. While she went swimming in the ocean, it was more for calming purposes and less for anything productive like preparing for meets or teaching. It would be good to get more focused on swimming again, even if she didn’t plan to compete anymore.
~*~
"I could offer up some fresh produce if you'd rather the barter system? That seems to work best in the South, but I am learning it can work here, too. I am much obliged you would take time out of your schedule to help us."
Rick had gotten used to being a part of a community at home. He was learning the OC was its own form of family. There was something interesting about being a part of it all. They couldn't count on anything the way one would think one could, but it was worth it to him seeing as he still got to give a good home to his kids. They were safe. They were happy and healthy. It was a better life than the one they'd been after in Georgia living in the house their mother no longer occupied with them.
No one did well being raised in a house of the dead.
"Here's my card with my personal number. You let me know when you're able and I'll see about getting my two over to learn something useful for a change."
Carl muttered, "Hah hah."
"You know what I mean," Rick said, rolling his eyes, "Teenagers. They're all this way. I swear it."
He gave Annie his card, a little rumpled but still legible. Rick had to wrestle them away from Judith at times. She hadn't tried to chew on them yet, but she did try to chew on everything else. It was part of her growing pains. He gave the young woman a smile and a nod as he headed back to his own stall to get back to things.
~*~
“I may take you up on the fresh fruit offer. It’ll be fun, though.” Well, if he was willing, she wasn’t going to turn it down. Because who didn’t like fresh fruit? Smiling, she took the offered card and nodded. “I will definitely do that.”
Orange County was.. something. The network definitely did bring people together though. Be it because they shared dreams, or just because they knew what it was like to dream of things that were unexplainable and who else could understand? Those unaware would think they were insane. It was a community, just different than most would think of when they thought of such things.
As Rick headed back to his stand, Annie placed the card in her purse and headed back to her table so that she could break it down and then head back to her apartment. She really needed to decompress with the latest developments that had happened recently.