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.

( ... )

"I just don't understand why you didn't seek out treatment sooner. You must have been experiencing pain-"

( Life is strange )

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.

( ... )

Peter's children usually announced their presence in very loud, distinctive ways, which was why when Peter heard a heavy backpack drop onto his office floor, he had a fair idea it was Lydia before he even looked up. She tended to drop it anytime she could, and it was always full to nearly bursting with school books and leisure reading and everything else a teenager apparently feels the need to lug around on her shoulders. He looked up from his computer and smiled warmly at her. "Hello, Lydia. Everything okay?" She didn't usually come to visit him at the hospital, but she didn't look sick or injured.

( It's a thing that is happening )

The decision to have their family Christmas in the hospital had been Tasha's own. She was still lucid (still!) and Peter had suggested that she might come home for the family celebration. He had, however, only hesitated for a second when she admitted she wasn't ready but they could come to her. It was still a huge step in a hopeful direction and Peter didn't allow himself to be saddened by the fact that she was afraid to return home. She had very purposely used the word 'yet' and so Peter clung to that word with a vice-grip, and set about decorating his office within an inch of it's life.

( The Kringle Touch )

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 )