“Smithsonian Brown? That’s some rocket science level shit. I’m more like, bottle rocket science. Or firecracker science,” Judah corrected. 

“I don’t think you understand me when I say gaudy. It’s pretty cringe-worthy. But it is a warm place with a bed. I just don’t know the price. Sorry, I know that’s no help. Besides finding this dude, what’s your plans anyway? You don’t wanna survive caveman style, fighting the raccoons for the half-eaten McDonald’s wrapper you got dumpster diving.” 

Cass nodded in understanding, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “I’m hoping there’s use use for that brand of science in a place like this.” 

She shrugged when he asked about what her plans were, having no clue really. She’d come here simply because she hadn’t known where else to start, so even a weak lead was better than none. “Being honest, I have no idea.” She stated flatly. “I just got out of prison and didn’t know where to go, so here I am. Fighting raccoons isn’t the worst that can happen.”

“I don’t know a lot. I just skim a lot. I work at a place that pretty much has any random assortment of items you can think of. So yeah, there may be a book about pandas in there somewhere. But trust me, I’m not some fuckin’ Encyclopedia Brown or whatever.” 

He sat there for a moment, face smirking in amusement as he tapped his feet against the pavement. “And I don’t see pandas as fat. They seem kinda flubbery. So, like, a lot of skin.” 

“Anyway, you got a place?” he asked, curious as to where she would be. “Housing here is kinda limited unless you like roach-filled trailer homes or gaudy cottage inns.”

“Sure, yeah. You’re more like Smithsonian Brown.” Cass joked as he insisted he didn’t know that much and then continued talking about how he saw Pandas and their physical stature. 

She shook her head as he spoke about the housing options in Muddy Waters. She had no idea where she was going to stay, having no idea how people even found living arrangements. Especially when they didn’t have any money. 

“Honestly, the gaudier the better.” She snorted, gesturing to herself. “I’ll figure something out.” How hard could it be? People did it all the time.

Maeven chuckled a bit. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you go to the doctor. Believe it or not, I hate check ups.” She shrugged. They were a vulnerable experience, and Maeven often rejected vulnerability with a force likened to a rhino.

She rested her chin delicately on her hand and thought for a moment. “Work? Have you checked with the mechanic in town, Sloan? Or perhaps the coffee shop here? Just to get you on your feet, I suppose.” She eyed Cass casually. She seemed nervous. That was good. “How are you currently making money? I mean, I believe I have a feeling, considering who set up this meeting, but I’d rather not make assumptions.”

A smile tugged at the corner of Cassie’s lips. “Is that why you decided to become a doctor?” She asked jokingly. 

She nodded as Maeven made suggestions for work. They all sounded...viable. She’d never worked a real job though, the idea of navigating the whole process making her stomach twist with uncertainty. She tensed further when Maeven spoke again, Cass trying to discern what Maeven was thinking about it. “I don’t... have a lot of marketable skills.” She offered awkwardly. “Who set this up? And why?”

“Derek? Maybe. Possibly. What’s it to ya?” Judah said, puzzled by the names she was throwing out. She clearly had some sort of plan of action coming here and asking around, especially if she appeared to be staying in this shit town. No one ever stayed in this shit town unless they had a reason and she had a reason. 

“Also, who would eat a panda? Maybe some rich fuck, but I feel like pandas would taste horrible. The analogy was more for chickens, but imagining a bunch of idiotic free range pandas is fun too. You know, they only eat bamboo and they fuckin’ suck at it. Isn’t that shitty?” he said with a genuine smile on his face. It felt good to laugh at such a stupid conversation, real good. 

 Cass shrugged a little when he asked what it was to her, unsure how to explain why she would be asking about Derek. “I’m guessing any kind of bear probably tastes... fatty.” She really had no idea but they looked smooshy, leading her to believe this. It was a weird conversation anyway, speculation seemed acceptable until Judah started dropping more NatGeo facts on her. 

“Why do you know so much about pandas?” She asked curiously, moving to stand from the bench. 

Although Maeven hid it well, she was a tad surprised by the face in front of her. The kid had a firm handshake, sure, but she was definitely - well… a kid. Maeven knew this, and yet seeing her right now made her realize that she didn’t really let that sink in. Still she smiled casually and nodded. “Yes, I’m a doctor at the clinic. Have you had a check up recently?” She winked, not really all that serious about the question. 

She observed Cassie’s appearance, trying to make inferences about the type of individual she was - and how much of a threat she might actually be. For now, she’d try to remain neutral on her, though.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I wanted to meet you. To be frank, I simply heard there were some new people lately within our tight-knit little community and I do like to meet and greet as needed. Make everyone feel welcome, you know.”

Cass made a face when Maeven asked if she’d had a recent check-up, thinking back to the medical care that she’d received in prison. It wasn’t ideal, to say the least. Still, it was hard to dislike Maeven even if her jokes were iffy.

She stared with obvious hesitation as Maeven spoke again, Cass finding herself dangerously tempted to want to trust Maeven. 

“I- Okay. Thanks, I guess.” She spoke awkwardly, shifting her weight to the other foot. “If you know of anyone who needs extra manpower I’ve got a ton of time. Looking for work.”

“I feel like I’m the only person who thinks pandas are cool, but they are,” Judah said, with a mock amount of offense in his voice. “They can climb like, really fucking high and swim. Bet you didn’t know that.” 

It felt good to talk about something stupid and mundane after the high tension that had been the last few days. For some reason he felt at ease with this stranger, Cass, as if they had known one another longer. 

“Buses suck,” Judah agreed, though his only expirience had been the shitty school buses he rode from Kindergarten to high school. He brushed some dirt off of his shoes which like everything else he owned, were slowly falling apart. An apt description to his life as well. “I mean, whether you’re a free range animal or kept in a box, you’re still devoured. So what does this guy do you’re looking for?” 

Cass didn’t know that about pandas, but she was also sure that information wasn’t ever going to be useful to her- a thought that was silly but maybe comforting in and of itself. The only reason she would care if they could swim and climb was if she ever found herself running from one and that seemed like the least of her safety concerns here. 

“Nobody eats pandas.” She paused, rethinking that statement. “Nobody should eat pandas.  Just make sure you’re too endangered to ethically devour.” She teased. 

“Nothing, maybe. Not if he’s gone now.” She shrugged when he asked about the person she’d been looking for. “Regardless, it’s probably irrelevant to me if he’s not here. You know a Derek by any chance?”

Harper didn’t like to pry, she’d always felt if people wanted to talk about something, they’d eventually bring it up themselves. So she bypassed a myriad of questions she could have asked about this mysterious friend and the circumstances of Cassidy’s visit. Instead offering her limited knowledge of town and a friendly smile.

“Yeah, it can’t hurt to stick around a while. Hell you might even get some more info on where he’s run off too” Harper offered with a soft shrug, followed by a soft smile as Cassidy took up her offer. “I don’t know of anyone that is necessarily looking for help. But I bet if you walk into half the places in town they’ll give you a job, always looking for extra hands to cover the shortages around here.” Not to mention the people that had died in the collapse probably left job vacancies in their wake. 

Cass nodded as Harper suggested that sticking around could be beneficial. Honestly, at this point she was out of money for bus fare and didn’t have a lot of options aside from looking at the bright sides of staying long enough until she could figure something out anyway. 

“Okay.” She glanced around them, checking out the signs of the shops on the street where they currently were. “Any tips on which half to try first? Anyone a particular kind of asshole?”

Harper was quick to realise that nothing stayed a secret long in Muddy Waters, the curse of a gossip driven small town. Though it kept the locals mostly busy and out of her hair, so she couldn’t exactly complain. It was a nice change to meet someone who didn’t seem so interested in the whispers of it all.

“A friend of a friend huh? Sounds like there is a story. But i’ll just say, i’m sorry to hear you missed him. Planning on sticking around for a while anyway?” she asked, with a raise of her eyebrows in intrigue. “I’m not. But i’ve been here a little over a year, so if you ever need a tour guide, i’m happy to help”

Cassie’s lips quirked into a small smile as Harper bypassed the question that she’d left hanging in the air, appreciating what seemed like understanding. Cass knew she was a soft touch and she could feel that familiar feeling which left her with nothing but the realization of what a goddamned sucker she was.

“Yeah,” She nodded but there was hesitation in her voice. “I need to kinda reset before I chase him any further.” She perked up at the offer of Harper showing her around town. “Yeah, that’d be cool actually. You know of anyone who’s looking for help? A job would be a good place to start.”

“Born and raised here, of course,” he told her. “Just think of it as an endangered animal born in a zoo. But I’m not a cool animal, like a tiger or panda, I’m just a shitty one. Probably wanted for some bullshit Chinese Viagra.” 

He paused, finally looking up at her as he pushed his hair out of his face. “Sorry, it’s been a long few days and this is probably the weirdest conversation starter you’ve ever had. I promise the rest of the town is okay-ish. Or at least better than what I’m putting out right now. I’m Judah.” 

Cass had no idea what his comment about Chinese Viagra was supposed to mean but she decided not to ask about it. The last time she’d discussed dick drugs with a dude it’d ended with her being written up for something entirely unrelated.

She hadn’t expected him to apologize, appearing genuinely confused as she watched him try to backtrack. “I’ve been on the bus for days. An actual zoo. At least you guys are free range here.” She nodded towards the street with a level of optimism that could be considered unusual in Muddy Waters. “I’m Cass.” She offered. “And the weirdest thing you’ve said so far is lumping tigers and pandas in the same bucket of cool.”

Eddie almost laughed. He had never heard the tiny little place that he called home referred to as a ‘party town’ before. The only real parties that usually went on here were retirement parties. “Perhaps a little more of the latter, although I’m not sure I’d be so disparaging towards our workforce.”

“You’re new here then, I’m assuming.” 

“It’s more on the people writing their checks.” Cass amended in vague apology, genuinely uncertain why she was having any conversation with a cop that she didn’t have to be talking to. It was a bad plan considering she was fresh out of prison and fresh out of cash.

“Yep.” She confirmed, more or less masking the lack of ease she felt around him on account of his occupation. “Here to visit family in town.” She lied.

“Noah? Uh, I did...” Derek trailed off as he paused to give her another look, wondering what she might want with a former Rascal– the former Rascal. “I think he’s in Seattle now. He moved a couple months ago.” His expression turned sympathetic before lighting up once more, grinning proudly at her remark. 

“Hey, a lot of people love their moms. And we always have food.” As if to make a point, he fished out a package of chocolate chip cookies and tore it open before offering it to her. “I’m Derek, by the way. Sorry about Noah. If you want to keep looking for him, you’re probably going to need a plane ticket.”

Cass did nothing to disguise her disappointment at the news that the Noah she was looking for might have moved to Seattle some time back. She was barely listening to Derek anymore until he mentioned his own name, her hand in the package of cookies when she froze and looked up at him. 

“Not Derek Roman, are you?” She asked with renewed interest. 

Glancing back as the other has gestured, Harper spotted the elderly who were clearly have a chat about the adult prom. “Had they shown, I totally would have voted for them.” she joked with her own laugh following. Trust the old folk in town to be sharing the gossip of Spring Fling around. “Metaphorically rigged and literally. But I do need to know, are you new in town, or smart enough to just skip the whole disaster of adult prom?”

Cass followed Harper’s gaze to the old folks before looking back at her, grateful to have found a friendly face and hoping that it wasn’t too good to be true. After too many of the encounters that Cassie had experienced she should have been far more suspicious than she actually was. 

“New.” She gestured to the sign for the bus stop. “I came here looking for a friend of a friend, but it seems like he might have already moved on. Are you from here?” She asked, eager to change the subject away from herself.

“Noah,” Judah said to himself, testing out the name. He shrugged, never entirely meeting her eyes as he stared off tiredly into the street, not really focused on anything. “No, I don’t know him, but I’m sure someone does. Its like 3 degrees of Kevin Bacon here, cept no one knows Kevin Bacon.” 

He sat up straight, cracking his back in a stretch. “I don’t know who your guy is, but coming here was probably a mistake,” he said, “this place is a shithole. Nothing to do and everything is falling apart- literally and figuratively.” 

He sighed. “Sorry, that’s probably not the answer you want.” 

Cass found it refreshingly easy to openly watch him when he was avoiding looking at her, appreciating the avoidance rather than finding it off-putting. She didn’t mind when he told her that she’d made a mistake either. For all she knew she probably had, since Cass would be the first to admit that she had no idea what she was doing. She’d be lying if she said that she wasn’t half-heartedy looking for a ticket right back to prison. 

“It’s fine.” She shrugged. “I didn’t come here for the opportunity or scenery.” She looked forward for a moment before looking over at him again. “So why are you here then?”

“Police duty.” Eddie sighed back, as he scribbled down another note in his pad and turned the page. Unbeknown to him, the name Wyatt Hartman, underlined three times, was clearly visible as he did so. “I’m not so sure it was really a prom by the time I got there, either. More of a…”

Grasping at straws, he guessed, “A ‘rager’? I think that’s the right word.”

The sigh said it all but Cass was too distracted with peeking at his notes, committing the name written there to memory. Her face split into a smile as he finally found the word he was looking for, her gaze raising towards his face. 

“So it’s a party town?” She looked out towards the main street, the town appearing beyond sleepy. “Or just a lot of bored, hopeless folks looking to rage their socks off and forget that minimum wage isn’t a living wage?” Either would be good for business. 

“Really? Where’re you from?” Derek asked, expression not a little surprised. He couldn’t imagine anyone voluntarily moving to Muddy Waters at a time like this. Tragedies and scandals dominated the news, and the thought of someone willing to live in a place with a climbing body count seemed incredibly brave, or uninformed. “Are you visiting family?”

At the comment about his food, Derek beamed as if she’d expressed a genuine interest in charity. “You know, I’ve always thought about it, but I’m sorta scared about someone poisoning the food.” He gestured to his bags, pocketing his phone after confirming that he’d gotten everything on his list. “This is for my friends. I’ll be out of town for a week, and I don’t want to risk them getting scurvy.”

Cass shook her head when he asked about family. “I’ve been in transit, but I’m here looking for some old guy named Noah. Know any?” She asked curiously, guessing that Derek was finally someone who might know people. He seemed likable. 

She stared in response to his fear of someone poisoning the food, wondering if he was paranoid or if there was a good reason for he would be concerned about someone doing something so heinous. “So you’re the mom friend, huh.”