everyonelives | the ground could open, he could still say please

( Going toe-to-toe with two brother-in-law vampires is a worthy challenge and shockingly not a mistake. Klaus makes it clear he's been a friend to two of Rebekah's many suitors - and one after years of misunderstandings and diplomacy. But, Doc is Rebekah's husband and they have a child together, so Doc has skipped the formal vetting, the chiding, the general nuisance Klaus can be to a sibling's significant other. Henry is beautiful and Doc and his sister have carved out a nice life for one another. Contrary to what his siblings may thing, he always wanted his sister happy. And it looks like his sister is finally happy. That's all Klaus can ask for. They have a conversation about immortality and mortality. Elijah almost steps in but there is no goading, no mockery. It is a conversation of substance. Two men who love the same woman in very different ways come to an understanding. Elijah dares say he's proud.

Doc has only the lining of a hangover. It is nothing so debilitating that he would miss his morning call with his daughter. With Rebekah on a walk with Henry and aunt Bela and Elijah taking his tea on the terrace with a newspaper, Doc dials his daughter's number for their pre-lunch call to catch up properly - and to finally inform her of the preceding events. That is if her mother already hasn't.

As the phone rings, he hopes he isn't stepping a foot into a rattlesnake nest. He should have asked beforehand. Is she going to be mad at him? They are estranged enough... )

[She and Lizzie have been doing some bonding. Mostly in the venue of pop culture but also with some cool pampering options that she's never really had with a friend before. Granted, she's never really had a true friend that's a girl before, but if this is how friends who are girls hang she could get used to it.

That is, until her phone rings and Doc's face flashes on her caller ID that she winces and holds up the phone in Lizzie's direction.]

Gimme a minute?

[And once Lizzie acquiesces, she gets up to step out of the room, hanging out in the hallway. She takes a breath before accepting, trying to sound chipper but not fake chipper (14).]

Hi, Dad.

( Lizzie waves a hand so that her nails dry quicker than they would while blowing air onto them. She can be a regular college student, but she has priorities, too.

When Alice picks up the phone, Doc picks up - on something on Alice's end (12). Something in her tone. His wince relaxes because it sounds like she's happy to hear from him, which is a nice change of pace. )

Hello, Alice. Is this a bad time to get in touch?

No, it's fine. I was just chilling with my roommate.

[Who is pretty cool, she's starting to find. But she glances around to make sure no one is coming.]

Mom said you and Rebekah got attacked? Is everyone okay?

( So much for him keeping his daughter apprised. )

Everyone is okay. Henry was not home and your father can still hold his own. ( Human. ) I did not want to worry you before your big move. You were not on the list.

( He assumes Wynonna mentioned that little detail, now hopes she did. But, this is Wynonna, and she goes for the smash-bang when it comes to life events. She didn't. )

Yeah, Mom told me.

[Mom did not tell her, but she doesn't want to derail the conversation on that particular tangent (9). She's not very good at covering it though. She says it a little too quick.]

But I'm glad that everyone's safe. Seems like everything worked out for the best.

( Her quickness goes over his head (4) thinking she just wants to change the subject. )

We are staying with Rebekah's family in the city, not far from New York University.

( He doesn't want to push. )

How have the first days of your schooling fared?

They've been fine.

[She didn't miss that hint, and while she is on the fence about whether or not she wants to, she did come here for this, and he's making an effort.]

Do you want to do lunch one day or something?

( That took much more ease than he initially expected it to. But there is no world in which Doc Holliday says no to lunch with his daughter when they are in the same city. )

I would like that very much. Choose a day and I will be there with spurs on.

[She's not that stubborn a teenager. She knows that she's supposed to be giving her dad a chance, and she can't do that if she doesn't try to spend time with him.]

Okay. Um. I don't have classes until the afternoon on Thursday, so maybe we could eleven, and you pick the place?

[Since he's lived here longer so he probably knows the good places.]

I will send details.

( And consult Rebekah because as much as he has been in the area a little longer, he does like his haunts and his haunts are not father-daughter friendly lunch fare. He'd much rather break bread away from blind Willy in the corner. (Who is a top notch guy! But, he does not add ambience.)

Wynonna Earp, one-time disappointment turned absent mother turned doting (but still disappointing) mother is early for once as she exits the stairwell down the way. She's only twenty-minutes early and god knows how she got into their carded dorm but she shouldn't question how her mother can get access to anywhere. She's dressed like she stepped straight out of Purgatory having never garnered an appreciation for real fashion. The epitome of her best sense of fashion? Waverly's wedding.A gorgeous, romantic affair that should have cemented the two couples as forevers. But, Wynonna couldn't get it together long enough to not stop John Henry from cycling out of her life and Nicole and Waverly's love lasted as long as it did.

It was still a hell of a party.

"Hey kid. You ready?" )

[Alice glances over in her mom's direction, brow furrowing briefly in surprise because how did you get in when no one let you in, but she shakes it off to the side. Of course her mother got in. She gets in most places.

Gently tapping her finger against her manicure to test if it's dry, she nods in her mom's direction before nudging her dorm room back open again.]

Yeah, let me just grab my shoes.

[She leaves the door open so that Wynonna can poke her head in if she wants. When she does, Alice gestures to Lizzie.]

Lizzie, my mom. Mom, Lizzie.

( This is Wynonna, she has never met a room she hasn't - well, cased. Tossed. Searched ever so delicately. )

Hey, Lizzie. Wynonna.

( She never went to college. She has been in college dorm rooms but as a delinquent teen pretending she was of age. They haven't gotten any bigger.

Lizzie blows on her finger nails, still cross-legged on her bed. One hand is on her phone, nails dry and message sent to her boyfriend. She drops her phone down and pushes herself off her bed.

"Hi. I'm Lizzie Saltzman. It's nice to meet you, Ms. Earp." )

Nice to meet your formality, Lizzie Saltzman, but Wynonna is good. Not even my mother was Ms. Earp. ( Crazy and abandoning, but not formal. ) Appreciate what you're trying to do. You girls do your nails?

Yeah. Just doing a little roommate bonding.

[She finishes pulling on her shoes and grabs her jacket off her desk chair. Turning to Lizzie as she goes:]

I should be out for a while but text me if I should not come back for even longer.

[Aka let her know if the boyfriend comes over.]

( Wynonna is proud. Anticipating the proverbial sock.

Proud as she is, as they go through the campus dining hall line, she can't help but make commentary. )

Make sure you're not a pushover just because she has a boyfriend. A girl's only as good as the makeout spot she finds. And it's your room, too.

Oh, no, she's totally cool about it.

[For all of the week that they've known each other, anyway.]

We have rules and have set boundaries. Not that I have much use for the rules on my end yet, but Danny's a nice guy and totally doesn't like putting me out.

Trust me, kid. They're all nice guys. But, when it comes to the thing in their pants, it always wins out, even over understanding roommate-in-laws.

( But if she says she's got this! )

You know, any time you want, I have this tab at the place I'm staying at. We're talking big breakfasts and even bigger mini-bars.

And by tab you mean Rebekah is still paying for you to have a really nice hotel room because she wants you to like her?

[Which is a little uncharitable to both parties in this conversation, but it also might be true.]

How long are you planning to stay?

Less long after that.

( Whatever Alice puts on her tray, Wynonna snatches it away playfully. )

I don't need to know Rebekah's motives to take advantage of them. Anything I don't have to claw for.

( Shit was never easy for her. )

Another lesson. Always take advantage. Someone wants to extend themselves, that's on them.

Maybe it is. But it's not like this is some rando who you're never going to see again. One, this is a Mikaelson, and rumor on the streets is they're kind of scary, and two, this Dad's wife. Who wants you to like her because he loves you. Maybe not in the way he used to, but you're important to him.

[If there's one thing her daughter is good at, it's calling her mother on her shit. Maybe it helped, having her be raised by Gus for a little while in the way of Gibson women, where her mother was never completely portrayed as the hero that someone else might have.

Alice loves her mother, but that doesn't mean she doesn't want her to be better. She hopes that Wynonna realizes that Alice does accept her for all of her flaws, but sometimes Wynonna needs someone to stand up to her.]

Besides, part of my being here is making an effort, right?

Yeah, that's me trying too. I'm here. I got on a plane and I took advantage of your father's wife's hospitality.

( She doesn't have to be. )

And by the way, I'm not shaking in my boots because she's a Mikaelson. The Mikaelson's are notoriously lower key now, all about Always and Forever. And you, my baby girl, are a part of that. So, streets aside, they got your back. And maybe they have mine thanks to John Henry. It comes down to it, family covers family.

Fine. Forget I said anything.

[She also knows when to drop it. She finishes collecting her food and leads the way towards one of the tables.]

I have plans to have lunch with Dad later this week.

( She wasn't trying to have a contentious conversation. It's old hat for her now. Fuck up a social interaction. But, now it's with her kid.

Doc made better strides with Alice first, riding out of town and going straight to her. Wynonna followed suit leaving Waverly in wedded bliss. But, life isn't easy for estranged parents who can't get it together with each other. Doc cut and ran first and Wynonna was not a first rate parent. Until she could get her shit together, Gus asked her to leave. She deserved it.

She returned to town in time for Waverly's relationship unspooling. Nicole's PTSD and Waverly being overly fixated on Wynonna's mess made for a poor marriage. Nicole's ex came back into the picture on a case and things disintegrated from there. The beautiful and simple love they had at first had grown too complicated and too frayed. Nicole couldn't live up to the legend of Waverly and Waverly had never been an angel - except that one time - but not metaphorically.

That Doc has maintained their relationship, through letters first and then E-mails courtesy of Rebekah's influence, is something. He's worked hard the past few years, harder to be there, in spirit if not in person.

But everything has worked better with Alice ending up at NYU.

Wynonna had a far more difficult road in person, there for holidays and birthdays and weekends she could scrounge. But, never for more than a week at a time. Sometimes, never more than two days at a time.

Alice still had to be safe. It strained everyone on all sides.

She is trying. )

Great, baby girl. I think that's a kickass idea.

( It's overenthusiastic language, but said very casually. Because she does. )

I'm letting him pick the place, so we'll see what he decides to do.

[It's not like she knows anywhere around here anyway. And she's going to swiftly change the subject.]

And Lizzie knows about supernatural stuff, so I don't have to dance around that so much. She actually went to high school with Rebekah's niece.

( She will not make a joke about her father's taste, then. Probably better for the both of them. )

You live in Purgatory, you think, small world, but New York apparently gives Purgatory a drunken run for its' money. ...Is that weird for you?

( Again, she's trying here. )

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