Darker London

When Cai and Zoe arrived on Danny's doorstep, Zoe was grinning in pure nerves. Sure, they had demon bodyguards was hanging close but in order to relax Zoe would have to have faith that someone like Rosa could keep them 100% safe and since nothing in the world could do that Zoe didn't think relaxation was really on the cards.

Cards, however, were on the cards. Cai had packed some. "Gonna park my butt under the air conditioning unit and play some poker!" Cai was trying to make up for Zoe's nerves by being overenthusiastic about everything and talking about his butt a lot.

Although currently he was poking his head through Wolf's dog door. "Dannyyyy!" he called. "We're heere!"

Zoe looked down at his butt, sticking out of Danny's door, then back down the road to check she could still see the bodyguard car.

After the service let out, Cai saw Alex break away from her mother while Ellen talked to their priest. His first instinct was to bolt through the elderly and plant himself in front of her, but she looked like a harsh breeze would blow her over, as Dom used to say. She was dressed neat, her skirt just long enough for church but just short enough to let her legs breath in the heat, the crochet lace cardigan long enough she could pull it nervously over her hands but airy enough she wasn’t dying. There was a pinched look on her face and she looked entirely alone. Cai restrained himself to some extent, and sidled over with a casual motion he felt must look altogether false from the outside, because it certainly felt false from the driver’s seat.

She spotted him; Alex was on the lookout for any kind of approaching movement. Cai pushed his hands into his pockets and smiled at her. She had not been at church since Indigo had put her in hospital and it wasn’t like she’d been a faithful every-Sunday attendee before that, but her absence since the massacre had been notable. Her mother’s presence in the congregation radiated even stronger, ever since, and Ellen had made sure that her daughter’s name was mentioned, every service.

( ... )

Alexandria had been through many variations of her name as she grew up. From Alexandria to Alex to, last year, Xan. She wanted to be the kind of person who could pull of Xan, it was way more unique than the other variations, short and powerful. But it felt like it took a lot of work maintaining a persona that fit the name Xan, and she’d slowly abandoned it. She was getting older now anyway, she’d turned seventeen recently and wanted her seventeenth year to be one of effortless coolness. Trying too hard to fit into a name like Xan reeked of effort, so Alex rolled her eyes whenever anyone called her Xan now.

She’d thought about going by her last name, Tai, for a while. She liked that too – it was pretty, but it just drew too many ignorant comments from people who assumed she was Thai.

( ... )

( And since the world is a shithole I will put the entire thing behind a cut just in case okay! )

It was Danny's first time out since he'd been at Priory and before then he wasn't exactly hitting the town every night. The trip to Robert MacGavillary Memorial Hospital felt strange and by the time they arrived, Danny was just glad to be inside again.

Having arrived early, Danny sat in the waiting room, willing his friends to show up soon. He couldn't get his mind off what he was about to do. He hadn't told any of his friends his plan because he knew they would stop him. It involved getting closer to Greg than he ever hoped to be again, and just the thought of it was weighing on him. He hoped it would work out and he could get the information he needed. Without it, this was all going to be for nothing.

It had been over two months, but finally Dylan had been released from hospital. It was little wonder he had been in for so long, since he had been hit by a car, and his injuries had been terribly severe. Lydia had been there for her boyfriend as much as she could, though it had been more difficult once school had gone back. She missed seeing him in the hallways of London College so much. They had been nearly inseparable for over five years. Being without him had been like missing a limb.

Or a lung.

( Love is a funny thing )

Danny never had a clue he was being followed and it might not have mattered at all, were it not for the car.

Rachel had been through so much lately, and whether they still went to prom on the 19th or not, Danny wanted to make his girlfriend happy if he could at all. He figured with or without prom, if he showed up at her door all dressed up and carrying flowers, he could put a smile on her face. Which was why he jumped at the chance to go shopping with Dylan the moment his mother mentioned she needed to speak to his father alone, just the two of them.

( Well shit )

PLACEHOLDER FOR DANNY TO FIND OUT EVERYONE IS DEMONS

While Danny was really glad he had met two people on campus who seemed to actually understand him, his best friend Dylan was still the person he texted when he needed someone to lean on. Danny had his mother, sure, but sometimes it was nice to talk to a friend and not a parent.

( This is pretty shit, but I wanted to write the boys together )