Entry tags:

!complete, !partner thread, nina pickering, rick grimes

Who: Rick Grimes rick & Nina Pickering inner_wolf
What: Location Scouting for a Potential Dispensary
When: Early September
Where: Shopping Center Near Fullerton Arboretum
Rating: Audience Discretion is Advised
Warnings: Discussion of the legal distribution of medicinal marijuana which might be upsetting to those who do not support the use of cannabis. Rick thinks pretty horrific thoughts about his Dreams from time to time so those who don't like zombie horror, gore, or violence even in memories/thoughts should bypass anything with him in it.
Status: Partner Thread/Complete Upon Posting

~*~

Gabe had sent Rick a location for a place which would rent out to them with foreknowledge of their intentions to set up a legal dispensary for medicinal cannabis. It was near Fullerton Arboretum where Gabe still worked and the energy of the surrounding area was peaceful, quiet and calm the way Rick loved things to be. He was a simple man with simple needs. Life was growing more complicated only because of his own hang-ups. The law was on his side in all his endeavors from his relationship with Daryl to setting up this dispensary with Gabe as a business partner.

All Rick had to do was learn how to think beyond the prejudices he'd been raised around.

"Beautiful country out here. I never would've believed I could say that about California before I came here to see it for myself. Seeing is believing they do say."

He'd started speaking thinking it was Gabe coming in when the door creaked open. Rick couldn't help an expression of surprise -eyebrows raising high on his forehead as he stopped talking- at the appearance of a woman behind him. There was no doubt she knew where she was and she fully intended to be there. She must be Nina, Gabe's lady. Rick couldn't recall ever seeing a picture of her though Gabe had brought her up in conversation before. It didn't surprise him to think she'd take an interest in their business venture.

What they were planning to do was controversial to say the least and Rick was aware they'd have to be prepared to defend themselves at all times; it made sense the people closest to them would want to be involved in the decision-making process.

"My apologies. I thought you were Gabe, but I'm thinking you're Nina? I'm Rick."

He stepped forward to offer her a hand to shake.

~*~

Being a nurse and Gabe’s girlfriend meant that Nina definitely took an interest in what he and Rick were setting up and she’d told Gabe that if they needed medical endorsement or assistance in any way she’d do what she could. When he’d messaged her to say he’d found details of a place to rent she hadn’t been able to stop her curiosity. She hadn’t thought that anybody else might be here. But she recognised Rick.

“Oh don’t worry” she told him with a smile before nodding and shaking his hand, “You’re right I’m Nina and you’ve caught me coming to be a bit nosey” she added with a grin, “Gabe texted me about this place so I thought I’d come take a look once I finished my shift. Let me know if I’m in the way Rick and I can come back another time”

~*~

"No, no, not at all," Rick assured her, "I've got no eye for sales. I was standing in here thinking how I'm nothing more than a simple man. How am I supposed to know how to do all this?"

Rick knew Nina was a nurse from passing conversations. He wasn't certain what kind of medicine she worked in though so he thought he'd ask. She looked in good spirits for having come off her work shift; Rick took that as a sign she enjoyed her work. In his opinion, only the best kind of people could love the kind of work involved in nursing enough to still be smiling following a 12-hour shift---or maybe she was one of the rare ones who only worked 8's since Rick knew there were a few who still managed to wrangle a regular schedule.

He knew the law where dispensaries were concerned. Rick had consulted more than one legal aid before applying for the proper permits. His goal was to be able to help people get the help they needed safely and while being treated with dignity and respect. It meant a great deal to him to be able to offer assistance to those who were going through one of the worst things which could happen to anyone. Cancer was its own Hell. Rick had seen it break down the strongest of people. That being said, he couldn't sacrifice his family's financial security on a dream.

"I know I care about it. This seems to be a good place to me. Peaceful. If I were to find myself in need of help because of the kind of illness people get a card for to buy what we're going to sell? I'd want to come to a place like this to shop. Where it felt like going to the grocer's or the pharmacy---not some back alley because it's legal. What I want. What Gabe wants. It's legal and it's just hard to wrap my head around how people can protest it, but they can, you know?"

~*~

“Oh don’t worry, I think everybody who starts a business goes through that at some point. But I have no doubt that you and Gabe will make it a success” Nina assured him.

Nina was definitely lucky, she mostly did 8 hour shifts unless it was really busy and they were short staffed. Being a senior nurse had its perks sometimes and Rick wasn’t wrong when he suspected Nina enjoyed her job. She loved being able to help people, either short or long term. It was all worth it.

“I know, but you have to remember that those people simply don’t understand the pain the people you help, suffer every single day” Nina said, “Anybody who feels that would never object to them getting help. And this kind of place is exactly what they need, somewhere that they don’t feel like they should be ashamed of needing the help they do”

~*~

If only everyone was as kind as Nina, Rick imagined the world would have very few fights much less wars breaking out.

The worst thing about meeting someone kind these days was knowing how they'd fare in his Dreams. Rick couldn't help thinking about the walkers, Woodsbury and The Governer, Alexandria with its idealists. All those people were ones he could relate to, had to consider, keep in mind, couldn't forget. They cropped up every night he slept. He wasn't a good man anymore in those so-called Dreams. Rick had become a man who did what was necessary in order to survive.

Survival came at a cost.

That cost was high.

Surviving in a dead world meant killing off all the kindness one could.

"I wish there were more people who thought the way you do," Rick said aloud, his smile worn, tired from a lifetime lived in the hours between sleeping and waking, "We might have a shot at that whole World Peace thing if that were the case."

In the world where Rick came from, someone as kind as Nina would be the first to go unless she trimmed, snipped, cut and tore away all the best parts of herself until she became as hard as he was---then she'd survive but she'd be dead already.

"Gabe has a good eye. For more than real estate. What kind of nursing are you in? Do you see a lot of people who have these sorts of needs? I've met so many now it's become my passion to help them. Any way I can. Some pain can't be eased. Luckily, theirs is the kind I can at least offer a little comfort for along their journey along whatever road life has put them on."

~*~

“Thank you, I wish they did too but so many people just see drugs and think the worst immediately. They simply don’t understand the need, it’s not even a want. Most of the people you’ll help would rather not take it but it simply isn’t an option if they have any chance at a pain free existence” Nina said, it was such a shame.

Nina’s own dream life wasn’t perfect, she was a werewolf after all but a zombie apocalypse definitely trumped it. It sounded awful when Daryl told her about it and she did feel bad for them having those dreams. At least here they had each other and understood where they were coming from.

“That’s sweet of you to say” she smiled, “I can turn my hand to most aspects, they like me in the emergency room at the hospital but my specialty is end of life and terminal patients. I’ve done a few counselling courses to be able to help those who need to talk and I’ve been told I have a nice calm manner”

~*~

"You were told right. You're the kind I'd want to be looking after me if I were at the end of the line."

Rick nodded as he shoved his hands into his jean pockets. He couldn't quite meet Nina's eyes while thinking about how hard it was to imagine an end of the line in this world. People had doctors and nurses and still they died. Cancer was as horrible an end as the walker disease from Rick's point of view. It ate a person alive from the inside, hollowed them out until their bodies were nothing more than shells holding their souls back from whatever eternal rest there might be waiting in the hereafter.

He wasn't much for religion, but he was thinking on it as he considered how to plan for his own inevitable end.

Just because a man didn't have a terminal illness didn't mean he shouldn't plan on dying.

People were born dying. It was the living part which made them forget that fact.

"I've been real grateful for Gabe and his help in the people aspect of all this. I like this space. I can see us working here. Offering peace and a little light at the end of the tunnel for those who are---mostly expecting a train. I figure if we can ease a few journeys? That's enough. You two," Rick paused, looking at her finally, "You planning on marrying? Working on a place like this has me planning all sorts of things ahead. I never thought I'd consider another person being with me after my wife died. Now? I can't imagine being alone. Funny how death can take someone away and life can bring someone right in to say a hello to you in exactly the way you need to hear it so you don't feel as if Death's got the last laugh, isn't that right?"

~*~

“Thank you, I try to make things as easy as possible while not coming across as condescending or insincere” It was important to her that her patients maintained as much dignity as possible and garnered as much respect. It wasn’t their fault some terrible illness had chosen them after all.

Nina knew it wasn’t always an easy topic for people and never pushed them to talk if they didn’t want to. Rick was obviously thinking about it and she wasn’t going to pry.

“He’s very good with people” she said with pride and affection, “And he’s very passionate about helping others where he can” It was part of what drew her to him. She blushed a little at his question, “Yes, someday we’d like to marry and have a family. I think life breaks through every now and then and gives us a little hope even after something terrible has happened. Death may win out in the end but I still think we can claim a little victory if we embrace life and enjoy the time we have with those we love”

~*~

People should marry for love. Rick didn't judge anyone for choosing to be with their lover before walking down the aisle together. He'd chosen to marry his wife before they took things physical. It'd been his choice and her choice and their business. Period. No one else had a right to say anything on the subject as that topic was closed for public discussion as far as he was concerned. He liked the idea Nina and Gabe were planning to be together for the long haul. She flushed pretty enough he figured she was telling the truth on that.

"I apologize if I overstepped. I only think people like you and Gabe? You're hard to come by in this world. The fact you found each other? That can't be a coincidence as I see it. I think it'd be a shame if you two were to let go of one another. That's all. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one making plans. I---uh, I found myself a new person to love. In the last place I'd have imagined looking. I'm not letting mine go. This place? It's going to be a new start for us. You and Gabe should come by my farm. You can meet my kids. Meet Daryl. He's my---new start."

Rick nodded affirmatively once. His face burned as he struggled not to say more, explain how he could have fallen in love with another man. The OC was a strange place. People who lived in it didn't always have to say everything for everything to be understood. He was learning that. Slowly.

~*~

Neither Nina nor Gabe held any beliefs that meant they would refrain from being together physically before marriage, though she absolutely respected those who did. It was absolutely a personal choice. But they did both believe in marriage and were planning to do the deed someday. They both agreed that marriage before children was a thing though.

“Oh no, not at all. Thank you, that’s very sweet of you. I definitely have no plans to let him go, he’s going to be stuck with me for a long time to come hopefully” Nina smiled, a smile which brightened when Rick spoke of his new partner, “That’s wonderful, I look forward to meeting him and the kids. Gabe’s told me all about your place so I can’t wait to see it”

Nina reached out and squeezed his arm briefly when he looked a little self conscious, “I’m so glad you’ve managed to find someone to love, even if it was unexpected. I have no doubt you’ll both be incredibly happy. I take it you’re thinking of marriage too?” she asked.

~*~

"Yes, I've been trying to see about legal things. Marriage between---two men. That's legal now. I don't know much about it except it is legal and I've met a fellow who has done it. He was married out of the country though so---"

Rick wasn't comfortable saying anything. Quiet was a way of life so much as it was his way. There was something even more sordid to talking with a woman involved in what he saw as a 'normal' relationship while trying to reconcile his own situation might be normal too. Some people considered it normal. Orange County was the home to a lot more unnatural acts than being homosexual. His discomfort came from being a man from a small town filled up with small minds and small ideas of what was 'normal' in life.

Consideration was something Nina appeared to offer naturally. She didn't strike Rick as a good enough actress to feign compassion. They'd already talked about her kindness along with her reasons for it where patients were concerned. People with her level of kindness were unique enough Rick wondered what Nina really would think if he spoke with her seriously about his situation. They had been getting to know one another as they'd be seeing a lot of each other once this business got off the ground.

Taking his hand out of his pocket, Rick scraped it through his hair with an uncomfortable sound, "I'm going to try. Daryl means more to me than I can say without betraying his trust. I never have been the type to play around. It's, as you said, unexpected. I want him to have the rights he deserves. I want him to be the one who has all the rights I got to take care of my kids. Our kids. He's a good man. He deserves me to treat him good."

~*~

“If you need any help researching into that I could see what I can find” she offered, being British the rules were a little different here to the UK but google worked the same and might give some leads about who to talk to in the OC.

Nina was incredibly open minded when it came to relationships, she’d never understood people who took issues with who somebody else loved. Honestly what business was it of anybody? People should just live and let live in her opinion. But then she happened to think she’d been brought up well and it all stemmed from that. There was nothing more ‘normal’ about her and Gabe than Rick and Daryl and she would argue with anybody who thought there was.

Perhaps it was being a nurse which helped Nina be as genuine as she was, perhaps it was simply her nature but she didn’t really see the point in faking anything. She was who she was and people would either like her or not. She was more than happy to talk to Rick as openly as he wished to, she could keep his confidence if it was anything he didn’t want repeated.

“You both deserve that. Respect, love and trust are some of the most important parts of a relationship, as long as you have those I think that’s a solid foundation. He should have all the rights that go along with a marriage, you’ll be spouses after all”

~*~

Rick chuckled as he took her in. She was a breath of fresh air in his lungs he desperately needed given all his nights were filled up with the stench of the walking dead. This place offered peace as much as it had served up pain to Rick on a silver platter. It would be a mistake to take for granted what he was being handed with Gabe, with Nina, from other friends he'd met. Too many mistakes littered the path of destruction which mapped Rick's journey from a small town in Georgia to this place and time.

He didn't want to make any more.

"Thank you, Nina. I might take you up on that. I never imagined I'd see the day I was considering having a husband, but I never imagined getting to this place either. It's a whole other world from where I come from and I'm just trying to keep up. I need all the help I can get."

It was the absolute truth. Rick was certain he could count on those who'd offered him help to follow through. None of them had offered up something as light as swinging by to purchase his excess produce on market day. No one had given him a generic offer of friendship. Everyone who'd said they wanted to be there for him? For Daryl? For his kids? Every single one of those people had offered from their hearts and Rick Grimes would testify to that with his hand on the holy bible.

He knew the smell of lies as well as he knew he smell of death.

"How about I give you a tour of the place and you convince me not to panic about how much of a down payment I'm going to be making for Gabe and me to set up shop here?"

~*~

Nina was glad to be able to offer any help, Rick was a nice guy and she was glad Gabe was going to be working with him. Between the two of them she was sure they’d be a success. He seemed sincere and that was a positive trait for her. Especially since from what she recalled Gabe saying his dreams weren’t the easiest to handle.

“You’re welcome. We may not have the same background but we can all be in it together and help each other out. That’s what friends are for” she smiled, pretty glad she’d popped in when she did. Getting to know Rick better was a good thing and she was much more relaxed about the venture, even more excited by it for Gabe.

“I think that sounds like a great idea. I’ll try and rid you of your worries” she told him with a grin as they moved to begin the tour.