Backdated Log: Alison and Bobby

[x-coldhands.livejournal.com]

Oops! Forgot to put this up. Backdated to a few weeks ago, Alison finds Bobby shortly after he and Terry discover the identity of Tommy, and checks up on him.


The rec room was a mess, the pool was still drawing a crowd, so Bobby had sought and found some solitude in the sunroom, a college course catalog open on his lap--and a paperback open in the middle of it, the latter which he was reading avidly.

Interrupting Bobby's obviously avid reading wasn't exactly what she'd had in mind, but still - checking up on him after talking to Terry had been the plan, and Terry talk done it was now Bobby's turn. And she wasn't sure at all he'd be any calmer, all things considered. "Hey there, popsicle."

Bobby looked up and gave Alison a warm smile. "Hey. Just thought I'd find somewhere quiet to..." He glanced down at the catalog beneath his book and cleared his throat. "Read." And avoid seriously thinking about college again so soon, although he felt guilty about it. "I'm actually looking forward to classes starting again. It'll be quieter without everyone constantly trying to entertain themselves."

The book nestled in the course catalogue brought a faint smile to Alison's face, though she didn't comment on it. "Sounds like things are smoothing out for you here after being away," she said, without a single hint of censure regarding his extended absence. "Which classes are you thinking of taking?"

Bobby shrugged and closed first the book, then the catalog. "I dunno. None yet, really. Just something I'm trying to keep in the back of my head." He sighed and stretched, grinning. "God, I missed this place. It's nice to be home again."

Well, if he was planning for a January class sign up, he should be okay. Anything earlier and he'd have serious fast talking to do - though she suspected it might be workable considering the school's academic reputation, at least. "I imagine it is." People came and left and came back again, but Alison had realized a while ago that she had yet to do that, which was odd considering that she would have thought she'd be the first to run off at the first sign of trouble, when she'd first arrived. "I came to check up on you."

"To check up on me?" Bobby tilted his head, looking puzzled. Everything's fine here, no need for checking up. "Any particular reason?"

"We have a new guest in the medlab." She tilted her head to the side, then moved to sit on one of the nearby couches. "Jean told me that you and Terry had been downstairs in the medlab and got a look at him. Terry recognized him..."

Bobby tensed. Oh, that kind of checking up. "Yeah. FoH," he said flatly, staring down at the cover of his paperback. He shrugged. "It's not like he's in any shape to do anything." He remembered belatedly that he wasn't supposed to say anything about Tommy, but if Terry had already talked to her, Alison was probably in the loop anyway. Why else would she be here?

"No, he's not." Alison looked towards the window deliberately, and continued. "In fact, he won't be for some time." She let a few moments pass in silence, then continued, as though speaking out loud to herself. "There's a world of irony in this, isn't there? Him turning out to be what he's spent so much time hating."

"Or karma," Bobby replied darkly. He sat forward, arms crossing over his stomach in an unconsciously defensive pose, elbows resting on his thighs. His lips parted, but he managed not to vocalize his next thought: He deserved what he got.

"Isn't it though? Can you imagine what it'll be like for him when he wakes up?" Still staring out the window, Alison shook her head a bit. "Beaten up by his own, probably rejected by his family and all his friends, forced to rely on those he's looked down on and done terrible things to... It's going to be a rude awakening for him."

Good.. "Yeah, sucks," Bobby mumbled half-heartedly. He hated feeling this way, hate was so against his nature, but--the kid was FoH. And he'd hurt Terry, and Jay, one emotionally, one physically.

"It'll suck even more when his family and friends try and kill him again, I'm sure." Alison shrugged at that, then rose to her feet. "Want to stay updated on his condition? I can do that at least. No clue what'll happen later, but for now I can do that."

For Terry's sake, Bobby nodded. "Yeah, keep me posted, thanks," he said, looking up at Alison, glad that she wasn't a TP. The thoughts running through his head at the moment were ugly, to say the least. "Do you think he'll stay here?" he asked softly, frowning. "If he wakes up, I mean." For himself, Bobby couldn't really see what else they could do, personal feelings aside.

"I have no idea, Bobby. It depends on how his fear and prejudices will balance out with common sense. Really? He has no other place to go. None. And even here won't be easy at all, with everything he's done already. Elsewhere means he's an open target. Here means he'll have the constant reminder of what he is and what he did - and what was done to him when he manifested. Every single second of every day."

Bobby nodded thoughtfully, looking away to gaze out the window, pity now warring with hatred. Fun.