Leon Orcot (under_arrest) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-02-24 21:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, leon orcot, sharon carter |
Maybe we should follow him
Who: Leon, Sharon, and NPC!Chris
What: Leon and Sharon decide to tail Chris
When: December
Where: Near their apartment building
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete
While Leon’s relationship with Chris had been pretty good after only a couple of weeks of living with the boy, it seemed to have only gotten stronger ever since Leon had been able to hear him. And it sure took a weight off his shoulders now that he no longer needed to know sign language. Of course, he seemed to be the only one who could understand Chris, so it was best if his little brother continued his lessons so that he could communicate with others. Still, it gave Leon an extra few hours a week to do his work while Chris did his ASL lessons.
Sharon had come over for some pizza and movies, and Leon was glad for the chance to just relax with friends. “I’m getting another beer,” he said, standing up from the couch and crushing the can he’d been drinking in his hand. “You guys want anything?”
It was one of those lazy evenings after a long, boring day at work. After changing into some comfy clothes and throwing her hair into a ponytail, she accepted Leon’s offer to come over for dinner and movies. A great way to unwind. Leon and Chris were practically Sharon’s family, anyway.
Sharon had stuffed herself stupid with pizza and beer, and wasn’t sure she could fit anything else inside even if she wanted to. But when Leon offered she nodded. “I’ll have another.” She said, holding up the nearly empty can. “I’ll get the next movie started?”
I’ll have a Coke, Chris thought at Leon.
Leon opened the fridge and immediately pulled out a couple of beers. But after a moment, he pulled back from the fridge.
“Sorry Bud,” he said. “It looks like we're all out. You want a glass of juice instead?”
Chris frowned, showing his displeasure for the substitute. But then his face brightened. I could go get some! he thought cheerily.
Leon frowned. “You sure about that? It's pretty cold outside.” But Chris just smiled and nodded.
Leon wasn't too keen on the idea of Chris running out to the store himself, even if they didn't live too far from the corner store. But, well, it would probably be good for him to start gaining some independent experience. So, after a moment Leon said “Yeah, okay. Go get your coat.” When Chris hopped off the couch, Leon turned to Sharon, suddenly remembering that she had probably only heard half that conversation. “Chris is going to run to the convenient store to pick up some coke. You want him to grab anything else? Chips?”
This whole telepathic communication thing was new to Sharon, and she was a little confused by it. They were free to communicate in any way in front of her--she didn’t mind or judge or even think it was weird because hello Orange County--but it still caught her off guard. Like she was missing out on half the conversation. (Which she kinda was.)
She turned after setting up the next dvd and glanced over at Leon. “Hmm? Oh. Uh… sure.” She said, glancing after where Chris had gone to get his jacket. “...you’re sending him to the corner store? Alone?” She asked, leaning in and lowering her voice.
That was probably Leon’s fault. He generally forgot to mention when major changes, like a telepathic link with his brother, happened to him. It wasn’t that he intended to hide it, it was just that people would find out eventually on their own. Honestly, it didn’t seem all that strange to him, and probably wouldn’t have even if he wasn’t currently learning how to deal with all the strangeness that the Orange County brought to the table.
“Yeah, sure,” Leon said casually. “When I was his age, I ran around outside by myself all the time.” Then again, when Leon was Chris’s age he was also able to speak. It also hadn’t dropped below freezing back when he was a kid either. He frowned, then glanced at Chris who was humming happily as he put his boots. He couldn’t very well tell him he couldn’t go by himself now. He dropped his voice to a low whisper. “Maybe we should follow him.”
Things were a lot different now than they were when Leon was a kid--and there was Orange County crazy to deal with here, too. Lots of Orange County Crazy. Sharon wasn’t sure she’d trust a kid out there alone now-a-days. She looked skeptical.
Sharon leaned in and dropped her voice, too. “We should definitely follow him.”
Leon gave a slight nod of his head. As Chris finished getting dressed, Leon fetched some cash from his wallet and wrote a note with everything Chris would need to pick up - Coke and chips - and then put them in a ziploc bag. The two brother’s finished at almost the same time.
Leon tucked the bag into Chris’s pocket. “Alright bud. If there’s money left over, buy yourself a candy bar or something,” he said, adjusting Chris’s hat so it covered his ears and making sure that his scarf was wrapped securely around his neck. “Now go hurry up. We’ve got movies to watch,” he said. Chris left, and once the door closed behind him, Leon went to his closet and started pulling out what they’d need. Large aviator glasses, a couple of baseball caps. After a moment’s thought he pulled out a couple of scarves to cover the lower half of their faces as well.
Sharon finished the last of her drink while Leon was preparing the little bag for Chris. She set the bottle on the table, then climbed to her feet to see Chris out the front door. She tucked her hands into her pockets as she moved to the closet, and raised both eyebrows. Sunglasses and aviator specs? She couldn’t help but grin a bright, playful grin. Then she accepted the costume from him.
“Incognitoooo.” She sing-songed, and pulled the hat on her head. “You don’t think this is going a bit far?”
“If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do this right,” Leon said firmly, pulling the baseball cap decisively over his head. “Anyway, he’s seven. He’s way less likely to notice us if we have our faces covered than if we don’t.” Even if they would look fairly suspicious to anyone else on the street.
Sharon knew this was relatively serious. Chris was a little kid, and it was important to keep him safe. At the same time, the glasses and hats and scarves and things? It was like dressing up and having fun. She nodded. “Absolutely. Gimme that scarf.” She took the scarf and wrapped it around her neck, then lifted it up to cover her nose and mouth. With the glasses and the hat, and the scarf… she probably looked like some weird version of The Invisible Man. It completely hid her bright grin.
“Okay, I’m ready. Let’s go stalking.”
“We’re not stalking him,” Leon said. He tucked his long hair under his cap,wrapped the scarf around his neck, and donned his sunglasses. “We’re tailing him. Totally different. We can consider it practice for real life.”
He gave Chris another moment to get ahead of them, and then headed out of the apartment building, following Chris into the snow.
Sharon shrugged. He had a point about it being tailing instead of stalking, of course, but she liked teasing him. “Sure sure. Let’s go.” She followed him out of the apartment, tightening up her jacket once they were outside in the cold air. Chris wasn’t that far ahead of them, so she turned to follow after, keeping a good distance behind.
“We don’t step in unless he’s in danger,” Leon said sternly. Though he was pretty confident in that his little brother would have no problems getting too and from the store. He was a smart kid. At least, that’s what Leon thought until Chris veered off into a back alley.
“What the hell is he…” Leon started, quickening his step so he could peer around the corner, only to see his little brother squatting in front of a stray cat, scratching under its chin. He’d barely left the apartment and already he was getting distracted.
Nah, Chris was gonna be okay. Sharon didn’t have any doubt about that. The only thing she’d really worry about was other people thinking the poor kid was out and about on his own, and calling CPS or something. So she was glad that they were going to be with him, even fifteen yards behind and incognito.
Sharon kept up with Leon, eyes never leaving the kid in front of them. “He’s probably just--” but she stopped and quieted when they caught Chris petting the cat. “Aww. Maybe you should get a cat.” She added, playfully, turning to Leon with a grin behind her scarf.
“I do not have time for a cat,” Leon said. He didn’t even have enough time for Chris. Chris saw his teachers and his babysitters way more often than he saw Leon. “There’s no way I could take care of -” he broke off suddenly, and then hissed “What are you doing? Don’t follow the cat.”
But sure enough, Chris had apparently forgotten about his quest to go to the store and was instead following the now meandering cat through the alleyway.
“Aww, he’s an animal person.” Sharon said, only slightly teasing. Maybe that was the reason that she didn’t think it was a good idea to send a child off alone to run errands. One stray cat might lead him off the right path.
“You think he’s completely distracted?” Sharon asked, following Leon as he followed Chris. “Or do you think he’ll get back on track?”
“At least one of us is,” Leon said, and then frowned thoughtfully. “Though, I guess animals they are better than people.” Not that it was particularly hard to be better than people. Leon liked his friends fine, but he knew what people were capable of.
“He’d better get back on track,” Leon grumbled. He didn’t want to have to be out here all day. He liked spending time outside when it was 70, not when it was 30. But Chris seemed to be enjoying himself. He had a giant grin on his face he followed the cat. At least until he slipped on a patch of ice and went down on his behind. The boy bit his lower lip, tears welling in his eyes.
Sharon had to bite down on her lower lip when she saw the boy fall. A small part of her wanted to laugh, and another, larger part of her wanted to run over and help him back up onto his feet. She knew that Leon wouldn’t want her doing either of those things right now. She silently took hold of Leon’s forearm with her gloved hand, perhaps to hold them both back.
Leon appreciated Sharon’s steadying hand on his arm, and he raised his other fist in a silent show of support. C’mon, Chris. His brother was more of a crybaby than Leon would have liked, and he hoped that he wasn’t going to get discouraged and give up right in the middle of the alley.
The stray cat had returned, and meowed as it butt its head into Chris’s arm. Chris stared at it in surprised. Then, he set his mouth into a stubborn line, and wiped the unshed tears from his eyes with the back of his gloves.
Leon let out a whoop and then, realizing what he had done, grabbed Sharon so they could hide behind the dumpster before Chris turned around.
Sharon almost yelped when Leon grabbed her and tugged her behind the dumpster. It was freezing cold and slippery, and she stumbled into Leon as they both scrambled to hide from view. She clung to his arms so she wouldn’t fall to the ground, and held her breath--a bright grin under her scarf. This was so much fun.
Leon took a step back when Sharon fell into him, bracing himself against the dumpster as he held onto Sharon so she didn’t fall further. This was kind of fun. When he’d been a kid, he and his best friend Harry had sometimes made a game of trying to tail people, in particular Leon’s dad, who always seemed to catch them at it, but since he’d become a police officer he’d only ever done it for work. He didn’t really do a lot for fun these days.
He peered over the top of the dumpster. Chris was on the move again, still following that damn cat. At least for a few steps, and then the cat veered off, jumping over a wall with barely a look over its shoulder at the boy. Chris watched it for a moment, and then continued in the same wrong direction he’d been heading before, a jaunty bounce to his step.
Sharon had to clasp a hand over her mouth so that she wouldn’t giggle or chuckle at their predicament. She righted herself and lifted up just enough so she could peer over the dumpster as well. Chris was moving again, but in the wrong direction. Sharon frowned just slightly, then turned to climb out from behind it.
“Fucking kids… attention spans of goldfish,” Leon was grumbling to himself as he stepped out from behind the garbage can. He'd definitely never been this bad when he was Chris’s age. Though, by Chris’s age he had already been walking to school by himself. Kids these days had no damn responsibility. But it wasn’t like he could fault the kid. For being a cold, snowy day, it was actually kind of nice, and Chris was probably just enjoying his newfound freedom for a while, and who could blame Chris for that?
Chris emerged out the other side of the alley, and then looked both ways as if to get his bearing. Then he turned right, which, in fairness, was the kind of general direction the store lay, even if Chris was a couple of streets over.
Sharon nearly snorted, but somehow managed to swallow it back. She moved to take up pace behind Chris, giving him space but staying close enough to keep an eye. “He’s doing great. Now he’s just got to get back to the store.” Several blocks. Hopefully he’d stay on track? Unless a cat or a butterfly came along...
“He’ll make it,” Leon said, determination in his voice. He knew if his brother could just focus on the task at hand, he could do this. Luckily, with no more cats to follow, Chris seemed to be back on task. Eventually, after walking at possibly the slowest pace imaginable, he made it to the store.
Sharon nodded. He would make it. She knew he would--Chris was a strong kid. He was still really young, though. Really young. That was the biggest concern--not that Sharon didn’t trust him, she just didn’t trust the world around him. She let Leon take the lead, following behind him.
Then Chris moved into the store. Sharon gave a little yelp of joy and punched her fist into the air. “Yes!”
“To think in just a few short years he’ll be making beer runs for me,” Leon joked. Of course, by the time that Chris was old enough to buy beer, he’d probably have his own place. There was a part of Leon that wanted to go in the store after Chris to make sure that everything went well once he was inside, but they’d be way too conspicuous dressed they way they were inside and there was a pretty good chance that Chris would catch them.
So, waiting outside it was. Leon leaned against a wall and uncovered his face so he could light a cigarette while they waited. “You think he’ll get distracted again on the way back?”
Sharon snorted. “More than a few.” She said, and bumped her shoulder into his. “Don’t try to make time move so quickly. Enjoy his youth while you still can.” Then she turned to watch through the window into the shop, wondering if he’d be able to see her, if she’d be able to see him, too. She took a step back from Leon as he lit the cigarette. “I don’t know. Maybe. He’ll have a heavy bag to remind him of what he’s doing.”
Leon rubbed the side of his head and chewed on the filter of his cigarette. “I’m not his dad, I’m his brother,” Leon said. “I didn’t sign up for this.” Technically, that wasn’t true. He’d literally signed the guardianship papers. “The sooner he can take care of himself and I can act more like a brother and less like a parent, the happier I’ll be. Maybe that makes me a terrible person.”
Maybe that was part of the reason that Leon had been so willing to let Chris go off and do this errand by himself. Chris didn’t have parents, and with Leon’s job,there was no guarantee he’d be around until Chris was an adult. The sooner he could learn to be independent, the better off he’d be.
“Still.” Sharon said, shaking her head. “He’s your brother and you love him, right? You should be enjoying the time you two have together.” She leaned over a little, going up on her toes, so she could see into the store through the window.
“Ooh, he’s finishing up.” She said, giving Leon’s shoulder a gentle tap. “Getting his change from the cashier.”
“We’ll have tons of time together,” Leon said. “But he’s my brother. Brother’s drink beer together and talk about women, they don’t tuck each other in and read each other bedtime stories.” It was one of the reasons that Leon had been so embarrassed when his mother had told him she was pregnant. By the time Chris was old enough to do brotherly things, Leon’d be pushing forty. It wasn’t that Leon hated reading Chris bedtime stories, or tucking him in, or having Chris come crawl into bed with him after a bad nightmare, but it had never been how he’d seen the next decade of his life going. He’d wanted kids, someday, far off in the future, but he’d always thought that his future wife would deal with all that kind of stuff.
When Sharon spotted Chris again, Leon quickly butted out his cigarette on the pavement and pulled his scarf back over his face. He turned his body away from Chris as the boy walked passed, but Chris didn’t even glance at them. He was really going to have to talk to the boy about looking out for suspiciously dressed characters.
Sharon was thinking the exact same thing. She waited for a moment so Chris could get ahead, then turned to Leon as they started walking. “...you’d think we were background scenery or something.” She wondered how aware Chris was of his surroundings.
It was cold, though, and the scarf over her face was getting damp from her breath. She was ready to get back inside.
Leon sighed. “I’ve got a lot to teach him about being a detective,” Leon grumbled. Not that Chris had expressed too much interest in being a police officer, but he always seemed really excited to hear Leon’s stories and Leon was sure that by Chris’s age he’d already been certain about his future career. Obviously if Chris wanted to do something else, Leon wouldn’t stand in his way, but there was no harm in preparing him for the most likely job.
Luckily, Chris didn’t get distracted on the way back to the apartment. Leon gestured silently to Sharon to take the back door inside.
Sharon was wondering how they were going to get back inside the apartment before Chris got there. She ended up picking up the pace, jogging, and moving around the back of the place as Leon suggested, pulled open the back door, and let him in before following. It was easy and quick to tug the disguise off, and tuck it under a sofa pillow. She flopped down just in time to see Chris coming in through the front door.
Leon likewise was taking off his winter gear as they rushed up the stairs to the apartment, and quickly tossed it all into the bottom of the cost closet, not bothering to take the time to hang it all up. Luckily, Chris didn't seem to notice and instead just tossed his coat and gloves on top of Leon’s.
“So, how was that, bud?” he asked, taking Chris’s bag of goodies. “You go straight there? No distractions?”
Chris nodded. Yep! Straight there and back, he thought, a bit of a guilty look on his face.
“Right,” Leon said, dragging out the word. “No distractions at all. Good job, kiddo,” he said, shooting a knowing look at Sharon.
Sharon caught the knowing look and returned it. She then smiled over at Chris. “You’re growing up so fast! Don’t grow up too fast, you hear?” It was mostly teasing, but it was also true. As much as Sharon understood he wanted to grow up for more freedom and more responsibility, part of being a kid was being a kid. Those were important experiences, too.
“While you’re up, though? Can you grab me another beer from the fridge?” She asked, grinning brightly over at Leon and Chris. Her boys.
Chris gave Sharon a nod to show that he had no intentions of growing up too fast, and Leon let out a sigh. Well, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he acted like a kid for a while longer. “Go on,” Leon said, waving Chris toward the couch, and Chris came over with the chips he’d picked up while Leon put the Coke in the fridge. Then Leon grabbed a couple of beers and a Coke, and went to sit on the other side of Chris. “Alright,” Leon said, grinning. “Let’s get this movie started.”