Winifred "Fred" Burkle (i_figure) wrote in we_coexist, @ 2011-03-01 21:09:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | harry dresden, winifred burkle |
There's enough crime to go around for everyone. (Fred/Harry log)
Fred was still a little thrown by the taco stand and the man, but she’d managed to make her way home without too much trouble. It was strange. Life was strange, only it wasn’t. Her life had been so very odd since she first got to LA that really odd had become normal. It was when her life became “normal” that she felt out of sorts. She supposed it was a good thing that she was in the City; normal just didn’t happen in a place like this, right?
“Guess I should call Harry. See if Dinah’s okay. She probably is. You know, you should stop talking to yourself? I know, but it’s better than writing on walls....” She paused as she put the key in the door to the office, through which she’d get to her apartment. “Is it? Probably. Yeah. Though it makes you look crazy. Really need to work on that.”
Fred opened the door finally, but she didn’t go in. She’d spotted something. That hadn’t been there before. She was pretty certain the shop front had not been another private eye? She relocked the door and decided to make her way over and find out. It was just right next door, and it wouldn’t hurt to say ‘hello’. She just stared at it when she finally saw who the shop/office belonged to.
“Harry Dresden.” So, he had a last name. He’d probably had one before, but she couldn’t recall it. She knocked, rang the bell, whatever, and waited.
------
Harry had been pleased to find his office. He was even more pleased that it was a stand-alone shop, rather than the fifth floor of a building owned by the Red Court. More so, since the vampires had taken it upon themselves to wire explosives into his walls under the guise of an asbestos inspection.
He had discovered the office after a curious glimpse in the yellow pages had shown his ad, listed under Wizards. It provided an address, and Harry had sought it out. There was even a key to the place on his keyring.
He was just double (triple) checking his files when there was a knock at the door. He opened it, right hand concealing his blasting rod behind his back, and was thrilled to see a familiar face.
"Fred!" He immediately grinned. "How are you?" He opened the door wider, allowing her in.
-----
Fred had been staring at the door, waiting, and then there was a Harry standing in the doorway. It was magic. She giggled at the thought. "Hello, Harry. Fancy seeing you here. Well, of course, you'd be here. That's your name and everything. Unless it isn't and you broke in! But you didn't break in, did you? This your place. So you're really a wizard, and I'm not crazy."
Fred smiled up at him and then stepped forward without warning to give him a good hug. Of course, he could stop her, but she was going to give him a hug if he didn't. Maybe even a little kiss on the cheek, if she could reach. She'd been feeling rather touchy feely, with the right people, and Harry was one of those right people.
----
Harry might have flinched back, had it been anyone else hugging him. But he genuinely liked Fred, and felt right to share a hug with her. It warmed him, the simple touch electrifying against his skin. He didn't even object to the kiss.
Though he did wonder, vaguely, why he didn't object. But he could think of that later.
"I exist, and you're not crazy," he agreed. "And it seems that I'm not crazy either. But I already knew that."
He gestured inside. "Want some coffee? Looks like my coffee maker still works.”
----
“Coffee would be great.” Fred smiled as she finally let him go and actually went inside. “Harry, I’ve got a question for you. Actually I have a whole bunch of questions for you, but this one will have to go first. The others can wait. Maybe. I’ll have to give it some thought.” She started to look around his office. It was nice to know that there was a wizard close by, especially a wizard she knew to be a good guy.
“Do I look like the type of girl who’d let someone take advantage of her? If you saw me sitting at a bar, would you come up to me, order a drink, drink it, then walk away and tell someone I’d pay for it? I don’t think you’d do that, but do I look like the kind of girl it should or could be done to?” She looked at her wizardly friend, her head tilted slightly.
“Or do I look like a one night stand sort of girl?” Fred took a lean against whatever bit of furniture there was to lean against, her hands clasping before her. “Then again, that’s a dream, not so much something that happened. It’s a fun dream, but I don’t understand why I keep having it. Never with the same guy either. I’m a bit of a slut in my dreams. Wonder if that means something. Not that I'm really sleeping with anyone, or not sleeping with anyone. It's always about going for waffles and tacos and canoles, so I guess I'm really not that much of a slut. But I feel a little sluttish when I wake up.”
----
Harry shut the door after Fred entered, but the question came quickly enough that his back was still to her as he made sure the door was shut completely, one hand idly straightening a stack of pamphlets beside the door. He turned his head quickly, looking back at her with narrowed eyes. "Did someone try to take advantage of you?" he asked, suddenly angry at the thought. "Who was it? Where?"
Harry had very definite ideas on how to treat the fairer sex, and even knowing that his views on the matter were outdated enough for Murphy to call him a chauvinist pig, he still believed they should be respected by every male. "What you do in your head is one thing. I happen to know that my subconscious self is a bit of a jackass. When I'm awake, he doesn't get a vote."
The question bothered him to the core. Harry was enough of a chivalrous type that he couldn't even imagine what he might look for in a target like that. The idea of it left a bitter taste in his mouth. He stepped closer to Fred, unconsciously shielding her from the door, eyes looking her over as if he could see just how she'd been wronged. "Tell me what happened, Fred. I'll take care of it." The words were out of his mouth before he could even attempt to think about it.
---
Fred wasn’t ready for that sort of reaction. She really hadn’t meant to alarm him, but she was curious if what happened seemed like something that should happen to a girl like her. Maybe she was too nice or to gullible.
“It was nothing. I mean, it was something. Just made me wonder if I was the kind of girl who looks like she can get used. I don’t think I am, but I do seem that way, maybe I should change. I’ve told people they shouldn’t wait for others to save them, and here I am, maybe the one who needs saving. Or I don’t see that I need saving. I should be able to take care of myself, but how do I know if I need to be taken care of, right?” Fred looked up at him, her lip tucked in a little tween her teeth.
“Do I look like someone to be taken advantage of, Harry?” She looked at his face a little longer, not able to look him in the eye, though. Then, her eyes dropped to her hands resting on her thighs. “It’s nothing bad, Harry. Just someone skipped out on their meal at one of my waffle places, and they told the waitress I’d pay for it. I did. I would have paid for it if she needed the money or something, but I just wondered why someone would do that.” She peeked up at him. “See? It’s not that bad. My dreams are a little weird, but I just needed to know. That’s all.”
----
His rage deflated when she mentioned it was a woman who had taken advantage of her. He couldn't exactly forgive and forget the advantage-taking, but he didn't feel the need to storm off and teach someone a lesson. A thread of sympathy for the woman started to emerge, and Harry let out a sigh. I'm a chump, he scolded himself, and moved closer to lean on the desk beside Fred.
"You don't look like someone to be taken advantage of. Not to me. To me, you look kind, caring, smart, and pretty." Then he shrugged. "But my perceptions might be a little skewed. The deadliest person I know is a 12 year old girl who likes sea otters, cats, and math." He gave Fred a glance. "There must be something deadly about math. I know physics, but serious math is a little beyond me. I only have a GED, though."
----
Fred relaxed a little as soon as he did. She even gave him a little shoulder bump once he was beside her. It was sweet that he'd care so much, but then he seemed like the protective type. She looked up at him, and just decided to take a lean against him while he was there. She didn't always have the largest personal space bubble.
"You think I'm pretty?" Fred blushed a little as she peeked up at him. "You're just being nice. It's probably in your rule book that you gotta be nice. And, so what if you have a GED? You can know stuff without having a degree. I know lots of people who know stuff who don't have degrees or even diplomas, of course, some of them are too old to have worried about going to high school and others didn't come from a dimension that needed high school diplomas. So, GEDs are good. And, really, math is a very serious business." Fred nodded.
"Did you know I work.." Her voice softened as if someone were listening. "And live next door?" Her voice went back to normal. "Angel Investigations. It's not really my place, but I didn't think Angel would mind if I stayed there until he got back."
----
That was... different. Harry shifted away slightly when she leaned against him. Touch was a personal thing, a private thing, and she was becoming just a little too close, with the leaning. "What? Of course. I mean, you know you're pretty, right? You've got to know. And I don't have a rule book. I know physics. And I think I lost where we started." He looked at Fred, tilting his head and looking down at her. "Can we try one topic at a time? I think I'm starting to go a bit cross-eyed with all this."
He focused. "Angel Investigations? So.... another detective agency?" He was frowning. "I wish we weren't in competition here, Fred."
----
Fred blinked as he moved away. She hadn't meant to invade his personal space like that, at least not if he didn't want it. She shifted a little and decided to move completely instead. Just a little look around the office would keep her from invading again. Right?
"I don't know why I'd have to know that. Harry, I'm just Fred Burkle. Boring old crazy Fred Burkle." She looked at him and gave him a little smile. "Not fishing for a compliment either. I have been around pretty. I'm not really that. I'm more cute." Her nose wrinkled a little. "Than I am pretty. It's the Burkle curse." She sighed overdramatically, trying to make a joke, but failing probably. Thankfully he picked a topic that wasn't so touchy.
"Oh! No, we don't have to be competition! We can work together. Plus I got a possible side job that could keep me busy and out of business for a while. Your friend Dinah offered me a job of sorts." Fred smiled and shrugged. "Not sure if I'll take it full time, but I am gonna try and give her a hand."
----
Harry nodded, listening. He was still of the opinion that she was pretty, but he was willing to take pretty cute. "If you're sure," he said. "I mean, I don't know who was here first, but investigation's the only way I really make a paycheck. Wizarding doesn't pay too well." Especially since he had no idea if his paychecks from the Wardens would continue. "I just don't want to take business away from you, either." Which was more the danger. He would toss jobs her way if Harry thought Fred was worse off than he was.
His ears perked up at the name. "Oh, you met Dinah? That's good. She's one of those hero-types you like. Crimefighter and all. I watched her stop a bank robbery." Yes, he was going to heap the credit on Dinah, because she was the one who went out of her way to stop the crime in the first place. Harry was just there for support.
Oh. Yeah. Coffee. Harry headed into the small alcove where the file cabinets and coffee maker were. "Coffee," he said, heading that way so Fred wouldn't wonder why he was walking off. When he nudged the door, there was a grunt from the other side. It was cool in the alcove, and Mouse was taking advantage of the tiled floor. "Get up, lazybones," Harry murmured playfully. "We have a guest."
While he prepared the coffee, Mouse, the 150 pound grey shaggy Tibetan Mastiff, got to his feet, stretched, and walked calmly up to Fred. He wagged his tail, showing that he was friendly, and looked at her with soulful brown eyes.
----
Fred looked back at him; she didn't really have any particular thing she wanted to look at in his office, but she was trying to avoid leaning on him. Her hands touched this and that; she was the curious sort who often touched things she probably shouldn't. She knew what would come of touching the wrong thing, and yet, she still touched whatever she saw.
"Actually, she came by the office. Something was wrong with her phone." Fred gave him a little smile. "I think I remember you saying you have some electronics problems? Or I could have imagined it." Her nose wrinkled a little. "I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it. She said you had been around, so I guessed you fritzed it." Fred turned to look at him, giving him her full attention. "I know I'm a good guy. I'm pretty certain you're a good guy, but you should watch who you tell what about when it comes to saying who's a hero-type. Course, I don't know what she looks like when she's being a hero, but you know, it could get her in to trouble if people figure it out. It always gets Batman into trouble." She was trying to abide by the law. "Course, you could be pretending to be a good guy. I could be too. That gets into a whole other ball of icky sticky nastiness."
She smiled at him, grateful for the coffee scrounging. She didn't know who he was talking to when he mentioned having a guest, but she was more than pleasantly surprised to see that it was a pony of a dog. She didn't squeal;no, she just just looked into those eyes and smiled.
"Hello. I'm Fred." Fred put her hand out for the dog to sniff; she was definitely not a threat to the huge beasty, but she wanted to give the dog a chance to refuse or accept her. Though, the tail wagging sort of suggested he had already accepted her.
----
"Can't I be a neutral guy instead?" he asked. "Being a good guy tends to get me beat up a lot. I mean, not as much as the bad guys that I beat up, but still. It kinda hurts." He poured out the coffee, dumping plenty of milk and sugar into his, then balancing a small paper plate with her cup and the condiments in his left hand. It was easier to simply hold the plate in the wounded hand than to get the right grip on his coffee, but it was still a little unsteady. "Anyway, you're nice, and Dinah's good. If I had any worries about either of you, I wouldn't be discussing them."
Mouse trotted over to where Fred was offering her hand, smelled it, gave it an approving lick, and then lowered his head in a demand to be petted.
Harry shook his head in amused wonder. Mouse had better people skills than he did. "That's Mouse. He's a good judge of people too. Sometimes better than me."
The dog let out a huff of breath.
"Okay, usually better than me."
Again, the dog snorted.
"Don't push it, buster."
Mouse wagged his tail and batted his head under Fred's hand again
----
"Animals aren't caught up in the facades and games humans have to be. It's not built into them to worry about making sure they act the right way, other than keeping their heads outta the toilet, licking themselves at the wrong times, or getting on the counters." Fred crouched down to put both hands to work on Mouse's head. She gave him a little petting before she started in on the scratching carefully around his ears and along his neck. Maybe a little around his jaws and under his chin.
"Y'all don't have to worry about any of the stupid stuff that humans do. Social norms are for the birds, or they would be if birds really cared about social norms. They probably don't seeing as they just do whatever they want to statues and cars and buildings and all that." She seemed to be talking to Mouse and Harry at the same time. Fred had no problem talking to something that didn't talk back, but then Harry had already seen that.
"So, why did you think we'd be in competition? The City has enough strange and such that we could probably work all the time and rarely bump into each other. Not that I wouldn't wanna bump into you. Well, bumping sounds weird, but you know, not that I'd wanna do anything violent to you. Pretty certain I wouldn't. Though there are things that aren't bad, yet they're sort of violent..." Fred had looked back at Harry as she talked, but soon turned her attention back to Mouse. "He doesn't keep you locked up here all by yourself? Does he? Cause that would be really bad. Oh! Have you seen the park? You should go to the park!" Not once did she talk to Mouse as if she were talking to a baby, or an animal for that matter.
"It's very big, and you could run around. Maybe there will be other dogs there. You are a very big dog!" Fred was still rubbing, petting and scratching.
----
Mouse was letting his eyes half-close while he petted her, leaning into her fingers when he liked where she was scratching. His tail never stopped wagging.
Harry was thinking about what she was saying. Mouse was more intelligent than your average dog. He didn't get into the toilet, lick himself inappropriately, or get on the counters. Harry was positive that the dog understood human speech, and only wished that he understood Canine better. When Lea had turned them all into hounds, he had understood Mouse perfectly; Hell's bells, Mouse even talked a lot like Harry did.
"Angel Investigations sounded like a PI firm. That's what the bulk of my business is. I used to get commissions with the Chicago Police Department, but they're not here for me to get any work from. But if you say there's enough work to go around, that's fine by me. Maybe we could even help one another out." Harry shrugged. "I know my way around violent things. That's why I wear my coat all the time."
When Fred mentioned the park, Mouse perked up, raising his ears. He twisted his neck to look back at Harry, and wagged his tail once. Then he leaned past Fred and delicately picked up his leash in his jaws, glancing back at his master.
Harry rolled his eyes. "We walked here. We're going to walk home. You'll get another walk after dinner. And before bed. And now you want to go to the park?"
Mouse wagged his tail. Harry sighed. "Only if she wants to go for a walk, too," he said, indicating Fred. "You know it's not polite to leave a lady on her own like that." Mouse turned his head to look up at Fred again, leash still held in his mouth, his tail wagging hopefully.
----
"I don't know if there is, but I don't see why there isn't. It's a city. Cities always have people who need help, sometimes they just don't know they need it." Fred smiled at the dog rather than the human. She wouldn't say that Mouse was stupid; she wouldn't know one way or the other. What she would say is that she liked having someone/thing to pet on. The tail wagging certain lifted her spirits; she was coming down from a taco high after all.
When Mouse moved, she did a little, not knowing what he was going for. It was only mildly surprising that Mouse certainly did seem to understand what she had said. She supposed it was possible. The dog was larger; although larger sometimes meant stupid not smart. She rocked back to standing as she listened to the light admonishing from owner..or more human to dog. There didn't seem a full on owner/owned relationship. Then again, the animal owners she knew were more owned by their pets than the other way around.
"I could use a walk. Not feeling very tired, and I could certainly use the exercise. Do you have any travel mugs? I hate that you made coffee, and now we might leave it. Plus I should really wash my hands." She smiled at Mouse. "Sorry, big guy, but I'd expect someone to wash their hands after messing with my hair and giving me scratches about the ears. So, I should probably do that after giving you some too. Oooh! Do you like frisbees? We could get you a ball or something and throw it. Or do you like to walk like a dignified dog? Not that running after things is undiginified. I don't think it is. Is it?" She shrugged. "Travel mugs and sink?" She looked at Harry expectantly.
----
"Styrofoam cups," Harry said, tapping the small stack of them on the other side of the coffee maker. "Environmentally unfriendly, but you'll have to forgive me on that one. They were on sale." He picked up his own mug and dumped what was left into said cup, topping it off with the fresh stuff. "There's a sink just there," he said, pointing towards the indicated area. "He's got some toys at home, but there should be a tennis ball in my desk, at least. Mouse can be a goof when he wants to, but he's usually on the leash. He seems to think people react better to him if they think he's restrained."
Mouse let out a muffled bark, keeping the leash in his mouth. At the exchange, he plodded over to Harry, who clipped the lead to his collar. He set items aside for Fred's coffee, giving her time to wash her hands, before he started to rummage through the desk. The first thing he found, unsurprisingly, was a .38 snubnose revolver that he stuffed in his pocket, along with a handful of bullets. His .45 was at home, but even with his staff and blasting rod at hand, sometimes you just needed to shoot something.
Pushing aside a range of pamphlets, miscellaneous office supplies, bits of chalk, packets of salt, a silver belt buckle in the shape of a bear, and some random bits of paper with spell calculations on them, Harry finally found the tennis ball. He bounced it off the desk, letting it hit the wall before Mouse caught it on the rebound.
----
"Yeah, you probably should get some mugs. Though, if you fix coffee for your clients, it makes sense not to have mugs. We have mugs. I like mugs, they make people feel less in-and-out-ish." Fred kept talking as she went to wash up. She was back soon enough. Her head tilted as she caught the bit about Mouse and leashes. "I don't see why they would. He's a good dog. Of course, he is a big dog. And, how do you know he thinks that?"
Her question held more curiosity than anything. She settled in front of her cup, pouring it into the offered styrofoam, then dosed it with a little sugar and cream, if he had it. She stirred it then nodded. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go."
She smiled at the two of them. A big dog for a tall man. Harry would look a little odd with a tiny little dog. Maybe she should think about getting an animal; she had thought of it before, but she was always afraid she couldn't keep it going. Or she'd be whisked off somewhere. She did seem to get whisked places...
----
"Someone else with better people skills than me. I generally don't want my clients to hang around too much. And I hate doing dishes." Harry shrugged. "As long as they pay my rates, I'm not that concerned with what they're drinking my coffee out of."
The curiosity in her voice made Harry grin. "Mouse understands people. And I don't just mean he's good with people, he understands what they're saying. I've heard him talk before. Granted, I was a hound too at the time, but he can understand English perfectly. I never taught him to heel, but he doesn't leave my side unless he has to. But he always insists on his leash when we go outside. I've forgotten about it plenty of times, but he doesn't." He rubbed Mouse behind his ears before picking up the staff that was leaning by the front door. "A lot of people get nervous around big dogs. Even if they're good. He doesn't like to make people nervous."
Mouse shook his head with a huff. Harry gestured vaguely at the dog, giving Fred a look that said, 'See?'
----
"Smart pup." Fred nodded. "And, yeah, guess it makes sense. Then again, humans are a little silly, aren't they?" Fred shrugged, almost apologetically to Mouse. They always seemed a little odd to her anyway. Then again, she was often seen as the strange one rather than the normal one. So, maybe that was part of the problem.
"You know, he may have better people skills than I do. I just tend to go on and on about things. You know I think I say stuff people don't like. Or more it makes them uncomfortable. It's not like I'm telling them I want to take over the world. That's not me anyway. I don't need the world, although it would be nice to have maybe an island. Then I'd be all alone. Not sure I wanna be all alone. Actually I don't because that isn't fun at all." Fred was already heading to the door. "Can I walk him? May I, not so much can. I bet he'd walk me."
Fred laughed softly at it all, especially the mental image of a very big dog pulling her along in some strange cartoonish way. "I had a rabbit once, but he was a stuffed rabbit. Dreamt he was big and he chased me. Woke up here. I don't know where he is anymore. Don't know where anyone is anymore. At least I know you're next door, for now anyway. The City does like to move things." Fred got to the door and opened it before Harry got a chance.
----
Harry chuckled a bit at her darting past him to open the door. It reminded him of the unspoken game between him and Murphy, to try and get to the door before the other could. Harry, to open it for Murphy, and Murphy, to prove that she didn't need it opened for her. But since Harry's hands were full of his staff and Mouse's lead, he didn't have much choice at letting Fred take over. He passed the leash over to her as he exited the office. "Be my guest. Or his guest. He'll stay with you." Unless anything tried to hurt one of them. In that case, Harry knew Mouse would be doing whatever he could to protect the both of them.
"I don't mind listening to people ramble," he commented. "Not that you're rambling. But go ahead and talk. I don't get to listen as much as I'd like." It was a bright, sunny day, and Harry paused only to lock up the office behind him. Going to the park with his dog and a friend might just be a nice way to spend the rest of the day. Harry was willing to give it a chance to be a fun time.