Who: Grayson Wilder & Kitty Davenport What: Grayson goes to collect his belongings from Kitty When: Super duper backdated Where: Jack's Diner Rating: Low Warnings: n/a
Ever since Grayson had left the safety and security of Billy's home after that totally embarrassing and mortifying misunderstanding he had been living as he had done for years, on the street, but it was better that way. Not just for him but for everybody else as well. Of course the cop that had found his phone, the same phone he'd loaned to one of the other's, hadn't helped matters especially as he'd gone and freaked people out.
Grayson was fine, it was the other guys on the streets that weren't as fine, something was going on and he was doggedly determined to get to the bottom of it.
Mostly because they were vanishing quicker than you could blink an eye and that wasn't okay.
Of course things had been more difficult ever since the cop had handed his belongings off to Kitty and Grayson had been hoping to keep avoiding her as he dealt with all of what was happening and not pull her into with him especially as he didn't really know her despite her best attempts at becoming friends. Friends were complicated, messy, and something Grayson didn't need.
Still he needed to get his shit so he'd arranged to meet her at Jacks and was now waiting for her to show up.
Kitty Davenport was not good at letting things go. She wasn't good at letting people go. Or problems. Or injustices. Or... well, anything, really. Grayson was her friend - whether he wanted to be or not - and that meant that she'd been worrying about him ever since Detective Wyatt Kane had spoken to her, since she'd grabbed Grayson's things and kept them safe for him.
She hurried into Jack's, his backpack over her shoulder and sliding into the booth opposite him, bag beside her near the window. She wanted to hug him, she really did, but she didn't, so she settled for reaching across the table and catching his fingers gently, squeezing once before letting go.
"I'm so glad you agreed to- Jesus fuck, Grayson, where've you been? Are you okay? What happened? What's going on?"
"I'm fine," Grayson stressed as his gaze tracked away from Kitty to the familiar backpack and he was grateful because she could have easily told the cop to do one but she hadn't. Of course he still hadn't learned to process Kitty and her attempts at friendship, mostly because he'd never really had friends or people that cared. Period. "I've just been busy." His shoulders lifted into a shrug. "Been looking for people."
Not a lie, he had been looking, pretty much everywhere.
Kitty's expression shifted when Grayson said he was looking for people. She reached out across the table again and caught his hand, making sure that his attention was on her as she spoke. "If you- if you need help looking for people, I know someone who's really good at it. Like, I mean, really good." She wet her lower lip. "He'd help you."
"He'd help me because you'd ask him to help me," Grayson pointed out. "Not because he gives a shit about me or what's going on." And that was the crux of the matter. "So, I'd rather not."
Honestly though it would be better for all involved for him to take the help that was being offered but pride was and would always be one of his greatest pitfalls and as it stood he was most definitely teetering on the edge.
"He's a good man," Kitty retorted. "If what's going on is wrong, he'd want to help. He-" she didn't to say too much so she erred on the side of caution. "He knows what it's like to be powerless and to need help. To be stuck at the whim of someone else. He's made a career out of trying to stop that from happening to other people." Which, he sort of had. A lot of the cases he took on were those that needed him to help people. To find missing people. "If he knew what was going on, whatever it is, it's possible he'd want to help anyway."
She sighed, "You don't have to do this alone, Grayson."
Problem was that Grayson had been doing things alone for so long that he honestly had no idea how to ask or or even accept help. He also didn't trust help and the last time somebody had tried to help him he'd gone and totally fucked that up.
"It's better if I do."
For all involved, if he stuck his nose into something and it got him into trouble then at least he was the only one who got hurt.
"Why?" Kitty asked, "If you don't have to be alone, it- I want to help you, that's what friends do, isn't it? Help each other?" She smiled, but she recognised that pushing would make him distance himself again. "At least let me get you something to eat before you leave?"
Grayson had been about to say something to argue with Kitty but thankfully she seemed to leave it alone and he was grateful for that because if she'd kept going then he would have left, possessions be damned. "Fine," he agreed with a nod. "I can do that."
He was pretty hungry.
Kitty breathed out a visible sigh of relief and she nodded her head, "Okay- I- yeah, let's do food and then you can take your stuff but- but you gotta promise you'll stay in touch? Please?"
Grayson pressed his teeth together before he exhaled a breath and nodded. "Okay, fine. And the only reason I slipped out of touch the last time was because I loaned my phone to a friend and he-" Well, he went missing and Grayson hadn't been able to find him.
“Went missing,” Kitty finished with a nod, “Yeah- I figured. Detective Kane is looking into the disappearances you know. Maybe- maybe you could talk to him? Let him help?”
MJ the Marvellous07/06/2019 "Maybe," Grayson said reluctantly. He didn't trust cops or detectives, never had. Billy was... well, different. "I just don't like cops." Or anybody in authority.
"I mean- I could talk to him? If you wanted? And then I could just... ask you what he wants to know? If that'd be better?"
Grayson stretched his arm out across the back of the booth and tapped his fingers against the leather. "Yeah, that would be better." He blew out a breath and scratched his fingers across his chest as it felt tight and all kinds of uncomfortable at the thought of going anywhere near a police station.
Kitty nodded, "I don't mind being like, the middle-woman. But also if you wanted we could meet him somewhere together? That way you're not alone and he can't do anything 'cause we'll meet somewhere public."
"If it's gonna help then sure," Grayson agreed but reluctantly. He'd never had a good experience with a detective and he knew it was paranoid of him but he was worried that somehow the LAPD had gotten wind of his being a wanted fugitive in a whole other state and were just looking for an excuse to bring him in.
Not that he'd shared that bit of his history with anyone and never would if he could get away with it.
"It might?" Kitty offered, wanting to reach across the table again but he was retreated fully on his own side so she laced her fingers together on the table. "But if it'll help, I can meet him again first? He did... he did seem nice."
Grayson rolled his eyes. "They always seem nice until they're not." Again, Billy seemed to be the exception to that, but Grayson kept that thought to himself and remained tight lipped.
Kitty nodded, "I'm lucky," she admitted. Being a relatively well off, white young woman without a visible supernatural ability, the law tended to favour her unfairly. Grayson, however, having been homeless for a while and he probably had a record along with his distaste of authority, had every right to be suspicious of people that she would never dream of being.
"I- You know I'd do everything I could to make sure nothing happened to you, right?"
"Why?" Grayson asked, directly. "I mean, you barely know me and honestly your life would be a lot easier if I wasn't in it." He figured it wouldn't hurt to ask because he was confused, Kitty confused him. Like a lot.
"Because you're my friend?" Kitty countered. She hadn't known Grayson for long and she hardly knew him at all but she knew when someone had been knocked around a lot by life and needed a break. And Kitty was nothing if not heavily compassionate. And heavy-handedly compassionate at that. "Because everyone needs someone to help them out when things get tough and I don't like the idea of you being alone."
Grayson's eyes narrowed as they always did when he was trying to ascertain how sincere somebody was being but if there was one thing he'd learned about Kitty was she was genuinely sincere most of the time. It could get her hurt if she wasn't careful. "I've been alone a long time, Kitty. It's not something new to me."
"That doesn't make it okay," Kitty pointed out softly, "just 'cause you're used to it doesn't mean that you shoulda ever been in that position." She wet her lower lip and smiled a little. "You don't gotta be alone."
Grayson lifted his shoulders into a shrug, uncomfortable by the earnest expression on Kitty's face and how she probably did mean what she was saying. He had no idea how to process let alone accept that kind of attention because honestly? He'd never had it. "It is what it is," he settled on as he picked restlessly at some stray skin on his thumb. "Can't change the past."
Would be nice if you could considering how his past was haunting him.
"I'm not really good at the whole friend thing in case you hadn't noticed."
Kitty wet her lower lip, expression shifting into something approaching understanding. "You can't," she agreed quietly, "All you can do is try and move on but that can be hard."
She rubbed her fingers against the inside of her wrist and she glanced at him with a shy smile. "It's okay," she reassured, "we can start slow. You're doing okay so far."
"I'll take your word on that," Grayson remarked wryly before he glanced at the clock because at some point he was going to have dip out on Kitty as he had to be somewhere or rather with somebody.
He blew out a breath. "Sorry for worrying you."
Kitty nodded, that smile widening a little. "I- yeah, thank you Grayson." And she meant it. "Just don't feel like you have to be alone, okay?"
She flagged down a waitress and ordered the express breakfast as she'd spotted Grayson looking at the clock a few times. She also slid his bag off the booth on her side and nudged it under the table towards him so that it knocked his leg.
"Try not to lose it this time, hm?"
Grayson snorted quietly as he leaned down to retrieve his bag and pull it up onto the seat beside him, resisting the urge he had to check through everything because rationally he knew Kitty wouldn't steal from him and why would she? He had nothing of value to her, but it was a habit that was hard to shake off.
"I'll do my best."
He worried his lower lip for a moment. "So, uh, what's been going on with you?"
In fact, when Grayson later went through his bag, he'd find that she'd added things; energy bars and a new waterproof jacket as well as having fixed some of the threadbare socks and she'd washed his clothes. She'd slipped a few new pairs of underwear in there, too based on the size of the jeans she'd repaired and a first aid kit. She'd also been very careful to make sure that they didn't touch anything that could have possibly smelt like Jesse, either, because she was aware that she didn't want him to be uncomfortable.
"Nothing much," she admitted with a little shrug. The anniversary of her mom's death had come and passed the same way it always did; she was with Kyle trying to stop him from working out just how much alcohol would give a hellhound alcohol poisoning. He hadn't found his limit, but they'd just curled up together after visiting her grave and watched movies and talked about her until it hurt too much. "I've been working," and she and Jesse had started... dating? Was that the right term? They were taking it slow. "I'm really not that interesting."
"Nothing wrong with life not being that interesting," Grayson offered with a small lift of his shoulders. Sometimes it was nice when things weren't happening all the time and you didn't have to deal with drama day in and day out.
He reached up and scratched at the side of his neck.
"Not when it's never interesting," Kitty pointed it with a little smile. "But honestly, not much has happened in my life recently. My brother's busy with his case-work, Jesse's got his job and pack stuff. Kenzie looks after Fisher a lot and I think my boss is coming down with something so he's pretty tired all the time."
The use of 'Kenzie' drew a slightly interested twitch of Grayson's eyebrow as there had been this lingering scent, one he idly recognised from a brief encounter in a dark club, but what were the chances of that?
"Sounds like you have a pretty wide network."
Kitty tilted her head, curiosity flickering at the twitch of Grayson's eyebrow and the slight tone of his comment. She wet her lower lip. "Not- I mean, I'm- I'm lucky? I grew up with their pack so I'm pretty much just another member. Even though I'm not a werewolf."
Grayson had no idea how this whole wolf thing worked but it seemed like it was really big on large groups and being pack orientated which honestly he couldn't really relate to. He'd run with a couple gangs back home but it had never really felt like family so he did idly wonder what it must be like to be with people that you felt like you belonged with.
He'd been about to say something but then food arrived and he said thanks to the waitress.
Kitty thanked the waitress and then returned her attention to Grayson again. "Have you met many other werewolves since you arrived?" she asked, around munching on a couple of fries.
"Uh, one," Grayson said with a nod as he helped himself to a fry. "But that was in a club when I was looking for somebody so I don't know if that counts."
"It totally counts," Kitty told him with a little grin. "What was their name? I mean- did you manage to even get that far if you were looking for someone else?"
Grayson had the guy listed as 'Curls' in his phonebook but that was the nickname he'd given him rather than his actual. name "Yeah, actually. His name was McKenzie." He ate another couple of fries, ignoring the twinge of regret that he hadn't been able to find Ryan even though he'd set out to find him come hell or high water.
Kitty's eyes widened. "McKenzie?" she asked, "My Kenzie? That's so awesome!" Her excitement was palpable, "Man this place is so small sometimes."
Grayson sat back a little as Kitty's excitement exploded out of her and lifted his eyebrows. "Your Kenzie? Is he, like, your boyfriend or something?"
"Kenzie? No- he- he's part of the pack, so he's totally like family." Jesse was a different story, of course, but Jesse was always a different story. "He's really nice, I love him. But- but not like a boyfriend."
"Gotcha," Grayson said with a nod. "Figured I'd ask ." Because he did that, asked shit straight out. He didn't believe in pussyfooting around stuff because fuck that noise. "But yeah he seemed like a cool guy when I met him."
Kitty hummed a little, filing that information away for a later date and dipped her fries into her milkshake. "He is. I mean, the whole Pack are pretty awesome."
Grayson helped himself to a bite of his burger and nodded his head, waiting to swallow before he spoke. "I'll take your word on that. I've been an, excuse the over used expression, a lone wolf since I was turned."
Kitty's forehead creased. "How long ago were you turned?" she asked, "That must suck. For your wolf, I mean, 'cause even if you're okay being alone I wonder if- y'know, your wolf feels lonely."
"Four years ago," Grayson supplied as it was difficult to forget the moment his entire life had changed. "I was twenty three at the time." He shrugged his shoulders. "I wasn't really close to anyone before then but it was different. More keen."
Kitty tipped her head. "More keen?" she asked, sipping at her drink.
Grayson picked at his food and pushed a breath out. "I was before my turning mostly okay with being alone. Like I preferred it to spending time with people, but after my turning? It suddenly became this monster with eight legs and five arms, really fucking hard to ignore."
Kitty nodded, "I get it. Well- I mean, I don't get it, but I kinda understand. Jesse's explained it before. It- You know, sometimes even just having another person around can help. Do you feel a bit better now?"
He hated to admit it but he did. He really did. Grayson cleared his throat and just nodded his head. "Yeah, I guess." It was a hard admission especially for somebody as fiercely independent as Grayson was.
Kitty smiled. "It's okay, I won't tell anyone." And she wouldn't. "But maybe- since you've already met Kenzie, you'd like to meet Jesse? Not today, but maybe in a couple of weeks? It'll just be good for you to know a few more people, then when it gets bad, you've got us to call to meet for coffee." Until he was ready to join a pack, of course.
"Yeah, sure," Grayson said with a shrug of his shoulders. What could it hurt, right? He wet his lower lip as he was about to say something else when he noticed the time. "I uh gotta go. I'm meeting somebody." He shouldered his backpack and as he got to his feet he looked back over at Kitty. "Thanks for looking after my shit for me and uh, food."
"Any time," Kitty said with a bright smile. "Just... don't forget that I'm around to help out and we'll get breakfast again soon, yeah?"
Grayson's jaw twitched and he just nodded. "Yeah, I'll uh remember that." And with a parting smile he headed out of the diner and in the direction of a waiting car where after a brief conversation at the window he slid into the passenger side.
Kitty watched him leave and - out of concern - quickly scribbled down the number plate on her napkin before getting up to pay and make good on her promise to reach out to that detective. It was all she could do right now