bea & danny; end of the night.
It was creeping towards the tail end of the evening. On any other night, Danny would’ve kept an eye on the clock and started considering winding down, going to bed early, refueling on all the hours of sleep that he knew he needed to keep going and going and going, like some human Duracell bunny that never quite stopped.
But tonight, he’d stopped.
The young man (boy, really, he felt more like a stupid boy than ever) had been drinking heavily, and so was in a surprisingly bright and sloppy mood by the time he found Bea, looking bright as a bumblebee in her yellow Honey Lemon costume. He’d submitted to the Big Hiro 6 costume with feigned reluctance, but in reality was pretty pleased about the group outfits.
“Hope this means I’m not gonna die in a fiery inferno,” Danny said mock-seriously as he pulled up beside her, nursing his Solo cup.
Bea was happily tipsy and also high on a sugar rush from Halloween candy, all signs that she’d had a good evening. There had been some disappointments throughout the night (like Jason blowing out her decorative candles, which was so rude) but overall she was pleased with the party.
Her brows scrunched together as she looked at Danny and gave a sharp shake of her head. “Don’t say stuff like that, you idiot,” she said, scooting a bit closer to him and leaning her head on his shoulder. “This is my party and I say it’s not allowed.”
“Your party?” he echoed in fake shock. “I thought Sof helped make it too. And it’s Pinky’s birthday, so technically, might be hers.”
Danny was looking quizzically into his cup as if it held some question he’d forgotten to answer, but he seemed to relax slightly with Bea beside him, shifting to allow her better use of his shoulder as an impromptu pillow. “You did good on it, though. Almost looks like something before—”
His mouth shut. He’d accidentally let that second sentence slip; he hadn’t meant to say it.
All too often Bea found her thoughts wandering to what might have been if the zombies hadn’t come but it was never productive and always left her feeling worse than she had been before. She couldn’t blame Danny for going there, but it still made her frown for just a moment before she pushed those thoughts aside (just as she always did) and nestled into him further.
“Fine, you’re right. I’m being unfair. Sof and Etty helped. And it is Pinky’s birthday. She brought ghost cookies. Did you see? They were so cute,” she babbled happily and let out a content sigh.
“I didn’t. If I have any more treats, though, I’m probably gonna have a sugar high on top of this drinking and nobody wants that.” His glance slid over to the girl propped up against him, wondering for a moment.
They’d always been physically close, though. It was easy, it was nice—she draped herself on him as casual and unthinking as Etty might, and Danny had always been accustomed to Bea being in his life ever since their parents decided it would be so. She was just there, and it’d have been stranger and more unnatural if she wasn’t.
“Someone’s gonna have to be on hangover duty tomorrow,” he said wryly, but in ironic counterpoint to what he’d just said, Danny punctuated it by taking another sip of his drink, earning a giggle from Bea. He was wavering slightly. He’d had quite a very lot already. It was obvious in that slight muddle to his voice, the blush to his cheeks. He did not hold his liquor well.
“Look at you and your Asian glow. Pretty pretty princess,” she said through laughter, reaching up to poke at his face with her index finger, the heat from his cheeks warming her skin. It wasn’t as if her own cheeks weren’t flushed from drinking, but in the years that she’d known Danny, she’d never seen him quite like this. In a way, it was refreshing.
Keeping her eyes trained on him, the laugh lines eventually faded to a normal smile, obvious adoration behind the gesture. “I’m glad you’re having fun tonight. I think we all needed this.”