Donna Troy Will Rise to Meet Tomorrow (risetomeetit) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2020-10-01 17:19:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, donna troy (troia), winn schott |
Who: Donna Troy and Winn Schott
What: Reuniting
When: Early September when she first got into town
Where: Winn’s apartment
Warnings: References to NPC deaths
Status: Log | Complete
Donna had been in California for a couple of days and that was enough time to get a bit more settled. Which meant that it was time to reach out to her friends and family who had moved there before she had to surprise them with her arrival. And the first on her list ended up being Winn. Oh, she could and probably should have reached out to the others before she moved but the decision had been a bit more on the not planned side of things, but there were some people where such actions weren’t needed.
So picking up Winn’s favorite type of take out, Donna headed to his place. Given she knew he was working with his boss from New York, she hoped that his schedule was relatively the same as it had been there so that she didn’t end up just standing at his door awkwardly because then she’d need to go through the whole reaching out and not surprising him with take out and really, where was the fun in that?
Once at her destination, Donna took a breath. She knew eventually the conversation would end up on just why she had up and left New York, but she could hope that wouldn’t be the first thing that came up. With a nod, she knocked on the door and waited.
For the most part Winn worked a 9-5. Well more like 9 till 6 or 7. Winn never left the office before the rest of the team and there was the occasion where he would stay even later if the work called for it. Not to mention the times Mr. Xanatos called him in on weekends, which wasn’t often but still. His job was demanding but he enjoyed his work. And he was usually home for dinner. Luckily for Donna tonight was one of those nights.
In fact he had just been about to order some food, too tired to cook, when there was a knock at his door. Winn’s brow furrowed. Who would be stopping by? A brief sense of panic set in that it was Mr. Xanatos. It wouldn’t be the first time the man showed up at, or well in Winn’s apartment. Had something gone wrong? No. Mr. Xanatos would have texted or called he wouldn’t waste his time stopping by. Which led him back to, who could it possibly be? Well he wouldn’t know till he answered the door.
All worry disappeared from his face as he opened, a large smile taking its place. He wasted no time wrapping his arms around Donna in a hug, not even caring that he was smushing the bags of Chinese take out. “I didn’t know you were coming!” he exclaimed pointing out the obvious as he released her and stepped aside to let her in. Donna truly was the last person he was expecting to see, figuring his sister would have mentioned if she was coming out for a visit.
As the door opened, Donna held up the bag of take out, “Wok Hei Panda?” Not that there she was surprised by the reaction she got. Laughing some as she felt Winn hug her, the younger returned it, managing to save the take out so that it didn’t end up squished between them. After all, that would be rather tragic if their very delicious food was squished before they got to eat it.
Stepping into the apartment, Donna grinned, “Well, that is sort of the point of showing up on your doorstep to surprise you.”
The smile didn’t leave Winn’s face as he led Donna further into the apartment. It consisted of two bedrooms, one where Winn slept and the other he used as a home office (and to play video games). But Donna wouldn’t see either of those from the entrance area, just the kitchen with a sitting room off to the side, complete with a couch, tv and a few arm chairs Mr. Xanatos had provided. There was a breakfast nook that sat two people though Winn usually ended up eating all his meals in front of the TV. However it was perfect for him and Donna, he grabbed the takeout from her and began setting up on the small table.
“You flew all the way out here just to surprise me?” Winn asked, flattered. “I mean I know you missed me,” he added, grinning. But still it seemed like a hell of a long way to go for a surprise. Not that he was complaining.
Heading over to the breakfast nook after Winn, Donna barely missed a step at the comment. Because she knew that once she said it was more than a visit, personal or work related, that there would be questions. Questions she really wasn’t looking forward to answering even though she knew she needed to. But there would be work to bury herself in soon enough once she got her studio set up as well.
“Clearly.” Smirking some, the brunette took a seat. “I’ve actually moved here.” Well there was the opening. She couldn’t avoid what would come next.
Once the food was set up, Winn grabbed some napkins and utensils from the kitchen placing them on the table as well. He was just about to sit down when Donna answered his question. It shocked Winn enough that he froze. “You what?” he asked, his mouth hanging slightly open as he processed the information. Of course he was happy to have her here. But her life was in New York. Her family was in New York. Winn couldn’t see her leaving, unless… Had Donna gotten custody? That would definitely be cause for celebration.
If only it was a matter of Donna finally getting custody of Robbie. Of not having to rely on Terry’s whims on when she would actually be able to have a visit with her son. But that wasn’t the case. Instead, she just nodded. She could see Winn processing what she said, and so far, no questions. Well okay. No questions for specifics. Yet. “I do hope your job has health insurance. You might want to get your hearing checked. But I moved here.”
Mostly she was just trying to prolong revealing the reason why for just a bit longer. After all, if she’d gotten custody, the seven year old would have been there with her to see his favorite uncle.
That sarcastic comment was just like Donna. Winn had missed it. He would usually give his own witty response. If his brain wasn’t going a mile a minute processing the information. Which led to a bunch of questions tumbling out of his mouth. “You move here without telling me? What about Robbie? You got custody?” If Winn’s brain had been working properly he would have realized Donna would have brought Robbie with her if that was the case. But as it was he just went on with more questions. Not even taking a breath. “How long have you been here? Where are you living? Do you have an apartment? You can crash here.”
Maybe this was a mistake. No. It wasn’t a mistake. And Donna wouldn’t have been able to keep the truth from Winn anyway. How could she when he was her older brother? But she had just wanted to hold onto that moment where the real world didn’t hurt so much for just a moment longer. And then with all the questions going on, one after the other, she just took a breath to steady herself.
“I’m in Irvine. Just got here a few days ago...I….no, I didn’t get custody. There was a car accident and…” Looking down, Donna absently fiddled with one of the rings she had one. “There were no survivors. Terry, Jenny….Robbie…” Three lives gone, just like that. Her ex husband, step-daughter, her son.
Well that wiped the smile off his face. Thoughts of food were abandoned and he was at Donna’s side wrapping her up in a hug. It was the second time he had hugged her in the past ten minutes, but this hug was a lot different then the excited hug he had given her when he opened the door. “I’m so sorry,” he said, his arms still wrapped around her. He had more questions but with the way she hadn’t brought it up, hell hadn’t even told him until just now he had a feeling she didn’t want to talk about it.
He released her from the hug. “Well you’ll like it here I think. There’s tons to do. Although I gotta admit I haven’t explored all that much yet,” he started rambling as he finished getting the food set up. “Maybe we can go exploring together.”
For all the times Donna made sure those she cared about didn’t bury their pain and actually acknowledged it? She was really bad about doing the same. Probably because she was so used to being the one who was there for others that it felt almost foreign to do it herself. So she just took the hug and nodded against Winn’s shoulder, relieved that he wasn’t pushing for too much information.
“Yeah? Well that’s good to know. I figured it would be a good place. And clearly we’ll go exploring together.” As if that were ever in doubt. But if Winn hadn’t done any exploring, or much of it, how could they not take the opportunity to do so together? It made sense to her at any rate. Someone had to get Winn out of the house when he wasn’t buried in work.
“I might even be able to make some time this weekend,” Winn said, giving her a small smile. And by might he meant he definitely would. For one he just wanted to spend time with his sister. It had been too long. But also he wanted to be there for her. Take her mind off things, or be there to listen. Whatever she needed. For now though he would just do his best to enjoy the evening with her, even with that earth shattering news.