the light catches the eye but shadows have (moretosay) wrote in summerview, @ 2019-03-06 04:25:00 |
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Entry tags: | briar maeve naga, player: alice, plot, zdanny alejandro |
And I'm not here to fill her up, no
Danny was happy to be seeing Briar again. Sure, the sex had been incredible, some of the best Danny could remember in a long time, but there were other reasons too. Like how sarcastic she was, which Danny liked about people. How few shits she gave. How confident and sure of herself she was. Her secrets. He’d always been a sucker for a pretty face with secrets behind it.
They weren’t going to be lovers or anything - not that Danny would say no to another round! - He was much too in love with Xi. Still, they could end up being pretty good friends. Danny didn’t have too many of those, not ones who knew who he really was and who he worked for and still agreed to hang out. It was Valentine’s Day and Danny wasn’t going to not throw a kind of cheesy romantic spin on this. Friends were allowed to do that to friends, as far as he was concerned. Let other people misinterpret that at their own risk. The sushi restaurant was one of the best in Atlantic City and Danny was wearing his best suit, one that actually sorta fit his frame and didn’t sag off. Despite its better fit than his normal clothes, he still put sloppy spin no it, shirt untucked and boots scuffed up from years of wear. He’d gotten them the table by tipping the host a hundred dollars, which was one of the cheaper bribes he’d ever paid in his life. He had a pink rose on her place setting and was sipping on champagne that he hadn’t waited to open while she made her way there. In his phone was the PDF file from Xi to deliver to Briar, but he’d get to that much later. Maeve’s clothes fit awkward on Briar. She was skinnier, a bit shorter, and more muscular in the arms and legs. Years of climbing up buildings and weaving through back alleys had ensured that even before magic had gotten involved, and it was something she worked for and kept even now that Briar was, oddly, not her default. They were all her, but at this juncture — or at least, this decade — Maeve was more useful. Briar was always prepared though, the buttons on the jacket of her suit were buttoned to make it more presentable, a professional shiny belt made the pants more comfortable as well. Really, she had done a lot worse with men’s clothes twice her size and in less ideal circumstances. The restaurant wasn’t really Briar’s style, truthfully, more Tulip’s or even Maeve’s depending on her mood. But she could adapt, especially since it was oddly remnant of her last meeting with Xi to deliver results from her previous job, but that was, what? Fifteen years ago? Give or take? But Xi liked her nice things, and perhaps part of it was the boldness of doing something so scandalous not just out in the open but where the privileged were and she was being waited on hand and foot. Dragons. The hostess seated her with a flourish and she raised an eyebrow at the Rose even as she ordered a hot green tea for herself in Japanese, falling back onto the tongue with an ease that gave her a spark of mischief and pride in her eyes when they slid up to him, remembering their previous conversation. The flower was twirled in her hand as she touched one of the petals, “Elegance and appreciation?” Dry amusement in her tone, “Am I taking someone else’s seat?” It made some of the wariness ease, even if it was cheeky, it was better than a red one. Briar was fond of Danny, they had enough in common that it was hard not to be, but she also trusted him about as much as she trusted anyone who reminded her of herself — not much. Briar knew exactly what she was capable of, thanks. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy his company. It wouldn’t be the first sort-of friendship that she had built on business, and the fine dance of laughter and wariness. That, and she liked how expressive Danny was. Probably partly due to the Latin part, as he had said, just his natural personality, or the fact that his DNA screamed he was meant to be the top of the food chain and so, why shouldn’t he wear everything on his sleeve? For Briar with her dozen walls, defenses and knowledge of where she really stood in the world kept her from wearing everything out in the open like that. The side of Danny’s mouth curved up in a smile when he saw Briar. He didn’t try to be subtle about the way he checked her out, and when she sat down and joined him, he couldn’t help but comment. “Goddamn, you look good in a suit.” He found it amusing that she’d chosen a suit and not a dress, just another reminder and point that she wasn’t interested in a second go. He wasn’t offended at all, but did wonder if she thought him that big of an idiot. When she asked about the rose, his smile broadened. “Admiration. And you’re in the right seat. Strangely enough they didn’t have a color for one-night stand business associates.” Danny shrugged at that, then diverted with, “You gonna order for both of us in Japanese like that? ‘Cause that was pretty hot.” He raised an eyebrow over the rim of his glass of champagne as he took a sip. Danny had spent his afternoon at the spa and was feeling exceptionally relaxed after all that pampering. It had been well worth it. Danny wasn’t usually one for nice things, but with Lily coming soon, he knew he could look forward to a lot more of it. “Champagne?” He lifted the bottle, ready to pour for her. “You’ve gotta drink something besides green tea.” The compliment had her popping her collar before smoothing it down again, “You clean up nice yourself.” She was too Fae in nature if not blood (a little at least, depending on your perspective) to say thank you outright, but he was clever enough to catch that most like, but a genuine compliment in return was even better anyway. Most people who knew what to look for were confused by her, but were generally lead somewhere in that direction. That worked just fine for her, though she had gotten lucky that most of her employees were young and undisciplined enough that they were pretty in the dark and didn’t know what to ask. His crassness garnered an equally sincere laugh, “If I was from just a little more north it would be a bottle of maple syrup and a Tim Horton’s gift card, at least these days.” Her head tilted, another laugh just under the surface making the corners of her eyes crinkle, “I can. The last time my mouth earned a comment like that from a former liaison, it was a very different skill.” Because Danny was fun to play with, even if it didn’t go past winking innuendos tossed out across the table. Champagne did sound nice, if a little odd with sushi. But at least for now she grabbed the extra glass clearly set out for her and slid it to him, “Sure. What are we celebrating?” Danny stopped himself from adding a comment along the lines of you would know in regards to the gifts from a one-nights stand north of here. He was crass, but not suicidal. Besides, he liked Briar and their shared night enough to not want to think of her that way. He cleared his throat in absence of the words and poured her champagne. The sound of her laugh made him smile again. He was quite pleased with himself that he was able to make her laugh, having a feeling like that didn’t happen all that often in a genuine way. “What are we celebrating?” He looked up at her incredulously, then gestured around them at the hearts and couples. “Fucking Cupid’s Birthday, clearly. Funny little chub that he is.” Danny smirked. “And maybe we’ll toast to a little bit of business, too, if you’re feeling like a sweep and burn in the next couple of nights.” Danny sipped again while pulling his phone out and thumbed over to the PDF file. He’d read it and it hadn’t meant much to him, which he knew was just another reason why Xi wasn’t sending him on this mission. He clipped the file to an email and sent it on to Briar. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” he grinned. The fact that he didn’t have a response to that surprised her, and she wondered for a moment if she had actually managed to offend him. Because she was fairly sure it wasn’t embarrassment. With his vulgar mouth and the way he hadn’t felt much shyness in that alley the latter seemed unlikely. It was a hunch that had her leaning forward like she was whispering a secret, “I read it in a book once. Also a good gift for accidentally losing an heir to a throne.” Before leaning back again, cheeky smile stretching across her features, though with an air of fondness lurking not far beneath the surface. Briar snorted as she sipped at her champagne, “I don’t even celebrate my birthday, what makes him so special?” Not even before she was changed, really. Why would you celebrate coming into the world she did? But she visibly lit up as he finally gave her something solid about the job, “Always.” Her phone, which had been in her pocket out of politeness, was pulled out just as it vibrated, and she went through the pages of material at a quick pace, eyes and mind so used to having to consume information quickly that she only lingered on a few of the images for longer than a few moments. She was finished just as the waitress came back with her tea, and with a glance at Danny to make sure he really didn’t object she rattled off an order for one of their Sushi Boats, some edamame for them to share, Miso Soup and some Yakisoba for them both. Once the waitress was gone she flipped back a few pages in the PDF, “This is a very nice security system, but it’s all mundane. At least, as far as her intel is showing, he’s also clearly trying to not flag it on their internal reports for power draw. It’s interesting that whoever he was buying these specimens from didn’t offer magical security, you’d think they cared about their customers and ability to keep paying.” Her tone had distinctly changed, dropping a met of the merriness as she focused on what he had given her, rather detached considering that the specimens were parts of Supernaturals, harvested by unknown means. “No iron either, she really put together a neat package for me.” Which Briar clearly wasn’t sure how to feel about, expression twitching from distaste to resignation from one drink of champagne to the other as her tea cooled. Danny watched Briar pour over the file, cocking his head in a mixture of amusement and fascination. He’d not seen her work before, or at least not like this. Danny had no clue what Briar had ordered for them other than catching the word “miso” in there, but he wasn’t worried. There wasn’t much he wouldn’t try, food wise. “Yeah, that’s what I thought when I looked at it,” he cleared his throat and nodded. Of course, Danny hadn’t the slightest clue of security systems or power draws but he didn’t want to look incompetent. He studied her expression and saw a subtle shift. She wasn’t exactly eager looking, but he could tell she was hooked enough to be interested. Danny wondered why that was. If it were him and Xi had given him a job like this, even without his obvious hero worship of her, he’d be thrilled. It clearly showed that Xi believed in Briar’s abilities. It was a challenge and a compliment. Why didn’t Briar feel that way? It was something interesting enough to take note of and take back to Xi. Precision and detachment. Maybe this was what that looked like. No iron, which all but confirmed what he’d felt of her magic aura the last time they’d been together. He couldn’t imagine what that would be like, having such a glaring weakness and allergy to iron. Dragons, of course, didn’t have glaring pathetic weaknesses, a fact he congratulated himself on with another sip of the champagne. “So, you good?” Briar reached out for her tea, sipping it as she went back in the files looking for something specific. Having an audience didn’t bother her so much, she had worked on a few teams and often looked over information a client gave her while they were still there. Discussing something that danced on gruesome at a nice restaurant was a careful dance, but she was fairly sure both of them were tactful and clever enough to manage it. Besides, odds are most who could overhear would assume they were off their rockers, or discussing DnD. “Yes, I’ll do it.” Briar glanced up and met his eyes before nodding, “It’s just odd. The Fae have Iron, the Weres and Sanguine have Silver, there are dozens of wards and protective charms he could use to protect the place, but none.” The pdfs were slid into a protected folder in her phone before the screen was clicked off and stowed away again so she could lean back, hands wrapped around her mug to soak in it’s warmth as she focused on him. Her eyes were lit up with his gift of a puzzle and a goal, “Don’t you think it’s odd? He knows enough about us to harvest and experiment, but not protect against himself?” The question was clearly nagging at her, as zen as she was about it, though the expression was replaced by a generic friendly one as the waitress came back and set a bowl of edamame in front of them and an empty one beside it. One last sip and the tea was set down so she could reach for one of the peas, “I have more security on my house than he does on his lab. Then I have security to hide the security,” A wink, and the playfulness was back just like that, “Wouldn’t do to have my guests hair stand on end, would it?” It was definitely a joke, but only because she really didn’t have guests. Briar went through a few of the edamame pods with a happy hum, took another sip of tea and glanced back up at him, “Can I ask what your stake is in this? Normally I would assume money, but that’s not the vibe I get from you.” Danny shrugged and hazarded a guess. “Maybe he’s got something bigger protecting him. Something or someone that makes him that fucking cocky to think he doesn’t need to use anything else.” For a smart guy, this human was pretty dumb, that much was clear. Danny was eager to hear about Briar’s mission’s success, though. He’d love to have a bite of the guy, but had to content himself with waiting on the sidelines. She said she’d do it, though, and that was going to make Xi happy. He chuckled at her playfulness returning and imagined her house like something form a sci-fi spy cartoon. People walking through tunnels and having machines search them and, if they were found with a weapon, fried on the spot. Danny was going to voice his imagination when she asked what his stake was. He shrugged and looked down at his glass, watching the bubbles cling to the sides. “It’s the right side to be on.” He took a drink that drained his cup and then refilled it with a sigh. “They’re not the only ones living and taking up space on the planet.” The they he meant were the humans of course. “And yet for some reason we’ve let them force us into hiding so we don’t upset their fragile little mortal fucking lives.” Danny leaned back and his eyes darted around the room at the other diners, hating them all. “I just think it’s about time they realize it’s not all about them.” The theory had merit, even if it lacked some layers of daring intrigue that would make it more fun. Danny didn’t seem as intrigued by the puzzle as she was, which was fine. This was her life or it had been until Maeve had taken priority. Dissecting companies, people, layers, motivations and looking at a situation from every possible angle. Maybe it was just how her mind worked, or because she was used to being at the bottom of the food chain, but it was damn hard to turn it off. Probably why she had such trouble maintaining friendships and hadn’t been in a romantic relationship since 1915, “Occams Razor. I can appreciate that.” For a moment, as he spoke, the edamame was left alone, and she put her elbow on the table so she could cradle her head in her hand, watching him with genuine interest. It was surprising to see someone in their sort of circle actually answer instead of dodging or becoming defensive. Refreshing, though. A low, quiet whistle echoed between them, paired with a grin, “Wow, you’re really a believer aren’t you?” With that, the image of Danny in her mind shifted slightly, pieces rearranging themselves as new ones were added in. Made her glad that she had chosen not to pursue anything with him. Believers were dangerous, especially for a cause like this. She respected it, but it was definitely something she had tried and shucked off already, “Goodness, bosslady is lucky she stumbled onto you. Don’t get real ones very often without a number of stunts like this.” She patted her jacket pocket where her phone was before she went back to munching on the peas. Danny smirked to cope with the way her comment made him feel somehow childlike and naïve. She didn’t seem that much older than him, as she’d implied more than once, and yet she came off a lot worldlier at times. Maybe, he thought, if he’d paid more attention to the nuances and not given them his middle finger and fucked off on his own way, he would be more like her. But he was a dragon. Nuances were for those who were easier to kill. “Yeah, well,” he chuckled and reached for an edamame pod himself, popping a seed out of it into his mouth to munch. “She saved my ass when I was in some deep shit once. Weren’t for her I’d be dead, and the world would probably be better off for it but she saved me anyway. Risked her own neck, actually.” He shrugged and ate another seed. “I can get behind someone like that.” A brief narrowing of his eyes at her, and he hedged a question, “Is it just the paycheck for you?” “Ahh.” Of course. That made even more sense. Well, not the Xi risking her own neck part, but the rest of it. Even those that didn’t follow the old traditions had some written in their blood, and saving a life was a big deal. A debt hard to repay. Especially when there was risk involved. It also explained some things about the passion he held for his job, “So it’s not the cause, it’s the woman you are loyal to?” Her tone made it clear neither possibility particularly bothered her, she just wanted to understand. Well. Yes and no. It was the paycheck. It was the challenge, the curiosity, The reputation that she had built didn’t come easy, and still required her to keep it strong. It was also Julius and his irresponsible, naive sister. But you know, the paycheck was nice. “I like the challenge. The money is nice, but the former is better.” Briar paused, staring at her glass of champagne before trading it off for her tea, “I’m not really one for causes anymore.” In answer, Danny simply shrugged. Maybe he was only loyal to Xi and not the cause, but the cause suited him and his hatred for humans and what they’d done to his family over a century ago. No matter how many he’d killed over the years, he never felt like that grief had ever healed. If anything, it had only gotten wider in his heart so that there wasn’t anything left of it, just one big lacerated tissue. In many ways, Xi validated his feelings and his existence when he was already at his lowest point. Feeling needed and wanted had motivated the copper dragon into activism and deepened his commitment to Xi. Life debt notwithstanding. Danny couldn’t possibly articulate all of that to Briar, even if he’d wanted to, so he moved on. “Anymore?” Danny prompted. His hazel eyes tracked her switch in drink preferences and flickered up to her face. Briar contemplated how to answer the question she had accidentally opened up the door to as the warmth from the mug seeped into her hands. At the moment, her and Danny were on the same side, mostly at least, since she was more of an independent contractor than anything else. It could change if the situation changed but at least if they did end up on opposite sides...Well, he would know she wasn't an easy target. “I don't know how much you know about human history but, I'm not particularly surprised by this,” She tapped the spot where her phone was pointedly, “Because I saw what humans could do to one another during the second world War and if they can do that to one another… “ The words ‘what could they do to us?’ were silent yet could not be louder even as she sipped at her tea in a careful, measured rhythm. Honey eyes flitted back to him, “I was captured smuggling them, I bled for them, killed for them, and for what? Another war to start a short while later, and a few more attempted genocides.” Captured was a pretty word for tortured, and her voice held a practiced sort of detachment, “History is cyclical, Danny. That's why I don't get invested anymore. Every cause is temporary.” The calm but cynical air was offset by their waitress returning with their sushi boat, telling them their yakisoba would be out shortly. Danny popped a piece of sushi into his mouth and waited for the waitress to leave before he commented, the pause giving him a chance to choose his words more carefully. He considered himself a pretty cynical person, but Briar took it to the next level, a level where she was even cynical about her own kind ever rising up and winning. It made him angry. Not at her, but at the world that had made her this way. The humans that had made her this way. And she wasn’t the only supernatural person who felt this way, that he knew for sure. Humans had damaged them as a community so much that they didn’t even believe in themselves. The Malcontents were trying to change that but getting people on board who felt like it was just another passing phase was possibly going to be the death of their cause. Death by people who’d rather just stand aside and be complicit in their own subjugation. He fixed a look on Briar when they were alone at the table again. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe we are doomed to repeat history and we start this big fucking war with the humans just to lose as soon as we begin, or years from now. But fuck. Spending the rest of life kicking back and not standing for anything, not even the people I give a shit about, not even for myself? That’s some bullshit that I’ve done for over a century already and cyclical or not, temporary or not, fuck, I’m all in for once.” This wasn’t the sort of conversation that Briar felt was needed to be rushed. So it didn’’t bother her to pause, to thank the waitress and sip at her tea, watching Danny even as she popped a piece of ginger in her mouth before eyeballing the sushi boat. If it was odd to have a conversation where she was hired to commit this sort of ‘crime’ at a nice restaurant, slowly switching it to almost philosophy sort of fit better. Danny was a good listener. And he didn’t watch with the spark in his eye that she had in some jobs in the past, where she listened because she was planning on twisting and using the other person’s words against them. It cut down any budding regret and frustration at herself for revealing that much. It was even more detail than Julius had. Though she had danced around it with him, she had purposefully not gotten that detailed. Calluses and scars or not, there were certain rougher sides of her that she was hesitant to show him. She had been wrong. He wasn’t just in it because he was enamored with Xi, though that was surely still part of it. It had her watching him closer, taking him a bit more seriously even as she chewed on a bit of sushi, “I gotta admit Danny, you’re inspiring, more than your boss is. At least to me,” Lest he think she was insulting Xi, because some people spoke better to certain types than others, it wasn’t personal. She respected Xi, but had been careful about keeping a certain distance at the same time. One had to know where they stood on the food chain. “Maybe you’re right. You know, sometimes I think it was a mistake for me to live this long. Is it possible to live the way I have and not become,” One hand waved vaguely as she searched for a word, “Worn?” It was a fruitless speculation, maybe, and a bit more of her playfulness she had sat down with as she contemplated it, because what was done, was, well done wasn’t it? Danny shrugged his shoulders and shook his head almost sadly. He didn’t know. There wasn’t an answer to her question that he could give that would change anything about how she viewed her life or her future. And maybe that wasn’t what she was looking for him to do. Some questions were better left unanswered because the answer was more depressing than the question. At least she’d liked what he said, Danny thought. More inspiring than Xi? That was hard to beat, but Danny would take the compliment for what it was. “I’ve never talked to anyone about any of this,” he admitted quietly. “Not even Xi. Not really. So, I’m no expert and I’m not that old. One hundred thirty-nine this year,” he looked up at Briar and smirked. “I’ve fought in human wars, too. Seen what the little shits do to each other, seen what they do to us.” He fidgeted briefly with the chopsticks next to his plate. “I’ve seen other supernaturals who are so beaten they actually believe what humans tell them, that they’re just wrong because they’re different. I’ve been pretty damn low myself,” he grunted and reached for his champagne, taking a big swallow. “After Xi saved my life, though, after she told me about the movement, I don’t know, I felt powerful. Like, powerful enough to stand up for those supernaturals who’re so low they can’t even look up from their own goddamn feet. I mean I’m no fucking hero,” he chuckled and shrugged again. “But the beaten down, the worn?” He gestured to Briar with his glass and cocked an eyebrow. “I’ll stand up for them because they can’t do it for themselves yet.” The sushi was good at least. It wasn’t fresh in Japan level, but it was worth coming out to Atlantic City for, and it was always gratifying when something expensive was actually worth the money. Briar had that jaded sort of outlook on expensive things of someone whose envy had turned bitter very early on, and more importantly had been disappointed once she finally did get to walk on the other side. That got a dry laugh out of her, “What is an expert in this anyway?” She sipped at her tea, enjoying what was left of the heat of it, contemplating the swirls in the green liquid before setting it down, “Those who are learned or those who fight?” Another rhetorical question really, but she gave him a real smile at the admittance that this wasn’t something he discussed often. The mug was placed at the edge of the table so the waitress would see it so she could pop another piece of ginger in her mouth, “Me neither. I’m 169 and I think I’ve gotten worse at anything resembling — “ A pause as she searched for the right phrase before shrugging and settling on, “Real talks I guess?” Well. That was better phrasing than heart to hearts probably. Her head tilted as she chewed on another piece of sushi, listening to him with a sharp focus. It was hard to blame him for wanting to feel powerful. In fact, she had taken an incredibly vague deal to claw her way up from the back alleys of New York, and she would never have advise someone to do the same. It was risky, and irresponsible, but one did desperate things when they were at the bottom. A skeptical look transformed her features as she leaned back against the booth, “You think I need someone to stand up for me?” “Yeah,” he replied and popped another roll in his mouth to say the rest around it. “I think you do.” He chewed and swallowed, disregarding the ginger, though he did dab some wasabi on his next roll. Before tossing that one back, he gave her a shrewd look. “Why, you don’t? You don’t think you’ve given up?” Dipping it into the soy sauce, Danny finished off the tuna. It wasn’t as good as feeding from a freshly downed deer, but it was okay, for fish. Danny smirked. “You can thank me after the Malcontents have put supernaturals on the map again.” The waitress returned, refilling her tea, setting down their individual orders of beef yakisoba noodles and checking to see if they needed anything else. Any hint that they had been having a serious conversation that was possibly dipping into morose flitted from her face in a blink, all relaxed merriment as she passed on their compliments. Briar shrugged once they were alone again even as she finished off her champagne, “I haven’t given up on myself. I prefer pragmatic, personally.” One thing she definitely didn’t need was someone thinking she needed looking after. And she sure as hell wasn’t going to be thanking anyone for anything anytime soon. Another bite of ginger before she started in on the noodles, though her order wasn’t a full size like his was, “You know. With my particular career and skillset, I much prefer to be off the map.” It worked better when humans didn’t have any glimmer of what she could do, or that it was even a possibility really. “Fair enough,” Danny shrugged. He could respect that, the belief in oneself. It was never a place he’d ever been at. Not for long. But he could respect people who could get to that mentality. He didn’t think pragmatism had anything to do with it, not necessarily. Not when an entire species that dominated the planet in terms of population would rather you didn’t exist. There was nothing pragmatic about taking care of only yourself and only for your own reasons if there would come a day when you’d be the only one left. Dragons tended to be lone creatures, living solo for decades and centuries before ever bothering to go in search of one of their own kind. But even he understood that sometimes community meant survival. Still, he respected Briar’s decision. She was a grown person and could take care of herself. And in the meantime, she was helping the Malcontents, so Danny couldn’t complain. “Hey, do they make those crab rangoon things here?” |