Danny was a nervous wreck. Chrys had let him know she'd be stopping by to say hello and he'd immediately begged to get off his shift at Boudin, claiming illness, in order to make it home with enough time to clean. Chrys hadn't given him much warning and his place was very messy. For it only being a couple hundred square feet, Danny had made a mess fit for a three bedroom condo.
He darted around tossing clothes under the foldout couch, which he remembered to fold back together and put cushions back into place. He hadn't gotten around to buying hangars, so inside his closet was another pile of clothes, most of them clean. The kitchen area - a corner, really - was covered in empty Cup-o-Soup containers, tortilla packages, and several empty bottles of Valentina picante sauce. All the empties, including several empty bottles of tequila were shoved into a trash bag and he had to make two trips to the dumpster to clear it all out.
One thing that was definitely in every corner and on every spare surface was his huge collection of buttons. One in every color, just about. None of them made it to the trash.
He wasn't afraid of Chrys, per se. He just didn't want her to get a bad impression of him and pass it on to Xi. For all the loyalty and devotion he had for Xi, he knew the other dragon valued and respected Chrys more than himself. That was why she was number two and he was not. It was something he could live with, for now. He'd have to work for it and he was prepared to do so.
Danny's copper colored eyes were showing and he'd worked up a sweat - something he realized and hurriedly rushed to change his shirt and comb back his hair. All in all, Danny liked Chrys. It was just that tinge of jealousy that kept them from being as close as they probably could be. Maybe that would change now that Xi had called her to Summerview. Danny had several types of tequila for them to try together and though he didn't know what the fae preferred to eat, specifically, he knew about the whole nature shtick, so he'd bought a bag of mixed vegetables and a pot of blooming purple and white winter heather to set on his paint-chipped coffee table. Sheets hung from the windows on one end of the space to serve as curtains and natural light filtered in during the day, streetlights at night. The view looked out on Main Street, which was why he'd chosen this particular shithole to live in.
Danny paced around the small apartment, running his fingers through his hair as he impatiently waited for Chrys to arrive. He glanced at the flowers that brought with them a pleasant earthy floral odor, and then stopped in his tracks.
"IDIOT!" he slapped his forehead and sighed heavily. Why had he gone with the Heather and not chosen Chrysanthemums? He stalked quickly to grab the flowerpot and throw it in the trash but by then the bell rang and she was here.