Leon Orcot (under_arrest) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-11-01 15:53:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, leon orcot, logan echolls |
Who: Logan Echolls, Leon Orcot, and NPC!Chris
What: Logan and Leon go to drop Chris off at his new boarding school in LA
When: August
Where: LA
Rating/warnings: Low/none
Status: Complete
Leon hadn’t really expected how much Chris would have grown on him over the last few weeks. He obviously knew that he loved his little brother and always had. But he liked kids about as much as they liked him, which was not at all. He wasn’t exactly a paragon of responsibility, didn’t know the first thing about children in general, and had been really unsure about taking care of a kid he barely knew who couldn’t talk to him.
Somehow, they’d managed to make it work. Probably because of all the help Hazel had been giving him in watching Chris when Leon was at work. Even so, he was still glad to see Chris go. He didn’t feel it right now, but he knew he would. It was the right decision. He maybe didn’t want Chris to go, but he wanted Chris to get the help he needed to have the best life he could have. And Chris just couldn’t have that if he stayed with Leon.
“Thanks for coming with me,” Leon said, glancing away from the road for a brief second to look at Logan. Chris was sitting in the back seat, staring out the window. “I know that driving to LA probably isn’t how you wanted to spend your day off.”
“You don’t have to apologize to me,” Logan answered. He was getting a day off himself. There were no babies that wanted him. Who knew one baby was such a huge job, and still, he missed that little guy with the huge smile and blonde hair. Little Liam could suck anyone right in and have them eating out of his little fist.
He looked back at Chris, who seemed to be in his own world. He could try to will that kid to talk, but he wasn’t sure how either. He was just getting the hang of being a parent to an infant that couldn’t speak at all. What would he do with an older kid who had suffered a huge loss. Leon was probably less equipped than Logan. Still, he wasn’t entirely sure if this was the right thing. It seemed more like something his father would do. Out of sight, no problems. Chris needed help though, and it was more than they could provide. “He still hasn’t said a word?”
Leon glanced at Chris through the rearview mirror. Chris didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the adults in the front seat, but then, Leon had met enough kids in his investigations to know that the tended to see and hear more than the adults in their life let on. There was a part of him that felt like talking about Chris’ difficulties would make them worse. Maybe if he never brought them up, the whole thing would just resolve itself.
Still, it was a fairly innocuous question, and maybe Chris really wasn’t paying attention. “Not one,” Leon said quietly. “Barely smiles either. I really hope this school’s as good as they say it is.”
Logan cast a glance behind him. He had no idea what to do for the kid. If they found a id like Chris on the street, he would be on his way to a special school, or place that could help them. Why did this feel wrong. “I wish you could tell us what you want. Are you cool with going to school, or do you think it’s a really shitty idea?”
He didn’t expect an answer to the question, but at least he put it out there. Maybe Chris felt like his life was out of control and his input didn’t matter so he wasn’t going to talk. Logan had seen worse out there on the job. “If you want to stop, or need the bathroom, that would be good information. If we stopped for ice cream, I don’t know if you like Rocky Road or Pistachio.” He looked at Leon and then back to Chris. He was trying to get anything out of the kid.
Leon watched Chris turn his listless eyes from out the window to Logan through the rearview mirror. He seemed to contemplate the question for a moment, reached out his hand toward Leon, hesitated, and then brought it back to his lap. Leon carefully made sure his feelings didn’t show on his face, trying to make it seem like he hadn’t seen anything at all. It wasn’t like Leon wanted to send Chris away any more than Chris wanted to go, but he was doing what was best for Chris. Kids made stupid decisions all the time, and Leon was the adult here.
“I think this is it,” Leon said, slowing the car and turning into a large, gated driveway. The gates were opened, probably to let any parents who were dropping their kids off through. Beyond the gates was huge, though sparce yard. At the end of the driveway was a small parking lot in front of a huge, and obviously old building, which seemed well-kept up though he noticed some crumbling spots in the facade and one of the windows on the upper floor had been broken and boarded up. He’d read that the dorms were behind the school, and he could see a play structure off to the side, some weeds creeping up from under the rubber stones that surrounded it.
“Pretty big place, huh bud?” Leon asked over his shoulder. He kept his voice light, though there was a look of barely concealed concern in his eyes when he glanced at Logan. Chris nodded, his eyes wide.
Logan also watched out the window as the school loomed in the distance. A few horror movies came to mind. It was old, and pretty creepy. He wasn’t sure if Chris was feeling it too, but he was definitely paying attention. “Here we are. If you got something you want to say, now would be a really good time.”
They were detectives. Part of their job was to read into what people were thinking and feeling. It was essential when questioning someone. Chris was definitely with them, even though he didn’t speak. That much was in his eyes. Logan was here for help and support, and he was going to try. “I might tell you about Spumoni on the way in. It really is delicious, even though it doesn’t sound like it. Don’t confuse it with wine either. You are too young.”
He got out of the car, still looking up at the school. Yeah, it was creepy. He opened the door for Chris, and waited for Leon to come around.
Chris gave Logan a questioning glance as he hopped out of the car. Spumoni?
Leon got out a little more slowly, letting out a long breath. Now that the time was here, he wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing. Maybe Veronica was right and what Chris needed most was family. And his gut was telling him that Chris was supposed to stay with him.
But he pushed down the doubt. Following his gut was a good way to solve crimes, but it wasn’t how you raised kids. With kids you had to put down rules, and stick to your word, and do what was best for them whether either of you liked it or not. And professionals were what was best for Chris. Consistency was important, and how would he look if he suddenly backed down after telling Chris about this school for the last couple of weeks.
He could read the unease in Logan face, or maybe he was just seeing his own. “It’s got really good reviews,” he said as an aside to Logan, taking Chris’ hand. “I mean, I tried to read up as much as I could on it and there weren’t really any major complaints.” That counted for something, didn’t it? Even if they could use a groundskeeper or something.
“We’ll look around,” Logan nodded, but his focus was on Chris. The kid was listening. He could tell that he was listening. “We will look around, and then we will talk about it.” He emphasized the word talk. This was your chance, Kiddo.
He refocused attention on Leon, walking next to them, putting Chris in the middle. He reached for the boy’s hand himself. He was going to keep trying over the entire visit, hoping for just one word. “I’d tell you Knock, Knock jokes as we look around. I know a million of them. You just let me know. It’s no fun unless someone says Who’s there,”
They made their way in the door, waiting for someone to greet them. It really wasn’t so bad, Logan supposed. He could have easily been sent to a boarding school, but he wasn’t. He was right here, and his dad had been an asshole. They weren’t similar situations, other than both parents were absent. Maybe Logan just saw a lost little kid who needed a hand.
Chris hesitated, and then put his small hand in Logan’s. Leon smiled at them. “The doctor’s said he’d start talking again when he was ready, but we shouldn’t push it,” he said in a low aside over Chris’s head. He knew Chris could probably hear him, but he liked to pretend that if he spoke quietly enough that children couldn’t hear. The whole thing drove him nuts though. Sometimes all he wanted to do was take Chris by the shoulders and shake him until Chris told him what he wanted.
“Hello,” a woman said cheerfully, approaching them. Her blonde hair fell straight to her shoulders. She wore a beige suit jacket and a matching pencil skirt, and had managed to come across looking completely together. Leon introduced himself, and she checked his name off a list and threw a curious look at Logan, but didn’t ask any questions.
“Welcome to Allbright Academy. We’re glad you could make it. We will have a tour around the campus in about,” she looked at her watch, “ten minutes, if the three of you would like to take a seat. We would love to show you around our state of the art facilities.”
In the years as a cop and a detective, Logan had the opportunity to interrogate a few people. Some of them were locked up pretty tight, but there was a technique that Logan was good at. He just talked a lot, jumping from subject to subject until the person in question forgot themselves and just answered. He’d keep talking to Chris, sharing things with him, asking him questions until maybe the kid decided it was time to lose that control and just answer him. So he hoped anyway.
“So, what do you think, buddy?” he asked, pushing forward. “She seems nice. This place could be good. I’m sure you will make a lot of friends. There are also schools back where we live. I’m not sure what you like though. I didn’t like school that much. It was pretty boring and I always got in trouble. I even pulled a fire alarm once. My dad was not happy. I don’t think you would do that, but I’m telling you now - bad idea.”
Logan smiled down at the boy, just chatting away. He glanced up at Leon occasionally, which was a silent invitation to join in. He didn’t want to put any more pressure on Chris, or at least look like he was. He was just talking, and talking, and talking.
“Definitely don’t pull the fire alarm,” Leon said sternly to Chris. He chatted with Logan, mostly talking up the school, but it would be fairly easy for anyone who knew Leon well to know that his heart wasn’t in it. He was glad that Logan was good at keeping a conversation going though. It kept things from falling into the awkward silence that probably would have ended up happening if Leon had just come here alone with Chris. Leon didn’t know his kid brother well - over the last six years he’d only met him a handful of times, and during each of those times Leon had to pretend to be his cousin - but he had the idea that even if he could talk, he wouldn’t be talking now. Instead, he kept staring at his feet. He’d look up at Leon every now and give a weak attempt at a smile. And Leon was uncomfortably aware of how some of the other parents would glare at him every time he accidentally said “fuck”.
He wanted Chris to be happy, and he was almost certain that this would have been the place to, well, make Chris happy again. And he knew, logically, that even if Chris wasn’t happy now, he probably just needed more time to adjust. He knew, logically, that Chris couldn’t be happy living with Leon. Leon spent most of his time working, even if he wasn’t on the clock. And when he wasn’t working, he was drinking. He just didn’t lead a child-friendly life. The school would be the better choice for both of them. It would be the smarter choice for both of them.
“Thank you for waiting,” the woman said, returning to them ten minutes later. “You’re tour’s about to begin, if you’ll just follow me.”
Leon didn’t move for a moment, frowning to himself. “Actually, I think we’re just going to go home. It’s a nice place and all, but I think we’re going to keep Chris closer to home.”
Even if Logan had gone along with it, he obviously hadn’t agreed with Leon, and Leon generally trusted Logan’s opinion. Besides, something in Leon just didn’t want to let Chris go. With the way Chris’s face lit up, and the way he flung himself into Leon’s arms, he evidently agreed.
Logan considered this a job well done. He thought Leon was good for Chris, and Chris was going to be good for Leon. They would have to adjust, but they had something better than Logan ever had with his dad. That was important. He reached out and scratched Chris’ head. “Hear that, kiddo. This way I can teach you to surf.”
He nodded at Leon, from behind the boy. He didn’t have to say he told him so. It was a good thing.
He turned back to the director, holding a hand out. “Thanks for your consideration,” he told her politely. “I don’t think they are ready just yet.” He didn’t take long to start pulling the brothers towards the door, hoping they didn’t change their mind.
Chris nodded eagerly at the idea of Logan teaching him to surf. Chris was obviously much happier now than he had been even two minutes ago, and Leon felt a little more certain about his choice.
Leon didn’t resist when Logan started leading him and his brother out the door. “I’ll call you about the deposit,” he said over his shoulder, grinning. He turned to his little brother and best friend. “Now, how about that ice cream? My treat.”