Fun and Games

Relieved that she’d been right and he had picked it up fairly quickly she just wrapped an arm around him and closed her eyes “A curious loophole” she was unsure herself if Lana had overlooked this or not if this was on purpose or by mistake, either way if it was a mistake Dani wasn’t about to let her hurt her Jory again. It wasn’t’ quite the same but it beat him being in pain and dying from the poison, they would adapt to it and things would keep going along like usual, privately she didn’t have much faith that the old shadow master would be able to help them, not the most positive thing but it beat getting her hopes up and then having to deal with the emotional pain if Jory was unfixable. Briefly kissing his head she stood “Hungry?”already walking towards the kitchen as the effort of taking an extra person with her when poofing had made her rather ravenous. She got to work on some potatoes intending to make savoury baked potatoes, she hadn’t made them in a while and it was something different, humming one of their songs as she worked, microwaving the potatoes before starting to dig out their guts.

She was tired, and couldn’t quite remember when she’d last slept, the demon had been less than helpful after all of that time wasted hunting her down and the twisted bitch had refused to say anything no matter how much she’d tortured her. In the end Dani had lost her temper, something that rarely happened and killed the demon after mocking her that her attempts to kill Jory had failed as he could still play other instruments. Her usual well-groomed appearance was different, covered in dirt and blood that wasn’t hers she pushed open the door and walked into the house listening to the sound of her piano ring through the small dwelling. Closing her eyes she didn’t move to go into the living room where he was, staying in the short entrance way wrestling with herself until everything in her mind was neat and tidy, she would need to have a shower and be as normal as possible, slipping through the house silently and escaping into the bathroom she turned on the shower as hot as she could stand and after shedding her clothes stepped under the hot spray shuddering briefly at how hot the water was. Standing with her eyes closed, she didn’t move for a while letting the hot water wash away the dirt and blood that covered her, the hot water made her feel clean like the searing warmth burned all of the sins that crawled through her. If he had been anyone else she would have just vanished and never returned, but he wasn’t and she’d been foolish enough to let him in, and now whether she liked it or not, no matter what she did to protect him, she was going to loose her. Her mind was so filled with thoughts that autopilot took over and by the time the water ran cold she couldn’t remember washing but obviously she had as things in the shower had been moved. Stepping out of the shower and onto the bathmat, Dani reached for a towel and briefly dried herself off before wrapping the towel around herself, she didn’t know what to do now that Lana was dead, she didn’t have much of a path in mind except for looking after Jory as best as she could. Standing leaning against the sink, Dani stared at herself in the mirror, studying her features, she was going to wind up alone. Before him she hadn’t minded being on her own, had liked it even, and now the thought of being alone was difficult to swallow, steam had filled the room and billowed around her like white shadows. Overcome with the urge to slam her fist into the mirror at herself, she held back , now was not the time to mourn or loose herself it’d only hurt him, she had to wait, hang onto what moments left she had with him if they were lucky he might have several years but she’d never been one to put much faith in luck. Stepping out of the bathroom and barely remembering to flick off the lights, she made her way into their room and got into her pyjamas choosing winter ones that were soft and felt like a hug and instead of going to bed like she wanted, Dani made herself walk back out she had to eat still, flicking him a smile she slipped some toast into the toaster and made a hot chocolate, standing holding the mug in her hands once it was made, she waited for him to speak as she herself hadn’t really anything to say. The melody of the piano song he had played swirled around her mind making her heart ache, instead of saying anything she just blew on the hot drink.

Glancing over at him when he spoke she scowled and shook her head “Nothing, and I interrogated her for hours” eight days, three hours, sixteen minutes to be precise before she’d finally lost her temper, something that didn’t really happen very often anymore. Dani didn’t want to waste time thinking or talking about that piece of filth “It doesn’t matter. She’s dead now, for good, she won't be such a waste of fucking oxygen” her unusual use of a swear word highlighted just how pissed off she was, swearing was for people that couldn’t articulate properly like that annoying redhead her father was so fond of. All she wanted to do now was to just sleep for a few days, it’d been a while since she’d last slept, reaching out and taking his hand Dani’s gaze softened, in the way that it only seemed to just for him “I’m tired, come with me” it was the closest she felt comfortable to demanding snuggles from him. Once she got her answer she headed for their bedroom still not having let go of his hand, ditching her shoes and jacket somewhere along the way, instantly content once she was under the covers and snuggled close to him with their legs tangled, Dani rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Here, in his arms she was home, it didn’t matter where they were, they were still alive, and together. Sure he couldn’t play his guitar around her but there was a huge array of instruments he could learn, she was away with work for ice a lot so he could play then right? A Ukulele wasn’t too different from a guitar, perhaps that could work, feeling the anxiety start up again she shoved it away by leaning up to kiss the idiot that somehow without meaning to she’d fallen in love with.

She’d been gone a while this time and when she finally returned home she was tired and not in the best mood, she was sick of going off on these stupid petty jobs Ice kept making her do when all she wanted to do was stick close to her idiot. Having swung by her parents on the way home she’d brought some fudge back with her, for once thinking of someone other than herself she’d made sure to bring enough some to share with him. Stopping in the entrance way when she heard the sound of the piano playing, Dani closed the door behind her and leaned on it just listening and closing her eyes. As much as she had been trying to stay positive there was a part of her, her common sense, an instinct told her that he was going to die and leave her all alone, how pathetic of her that she felt so devastated by that. As the sound of the music washed over and she began to pick up on the words, gritting her teeth did nothing against the tears that wanted to fall, hating how many conflicting feelings she was feeling at once Dani stayed in the entrance way feeling like she couldn’t move without completely breaking down. Eventually the song was over and the sudden cease of music freed her enough to wipe her face dry and allowed her to walk into the living room as if everything was fine and she wasn’t hurting on the inside. Walking over to him she reached into her pocket and produced the box of fudge sitting it down on the keys in front of him “Renee sends her regards” her voice was shakier than it normally was, she wanted so much to push away the part of her that told her the truth that she was going to wind up alone again, and wanted to push away the harsher piece of her that berated her for getting so close to someone in the first place, this served her right, she deserved this for letting her walls down. Turning on her heel she didn’t think she’d make it to their room so she aimed for the couch and sank into the simple two seater, lifting her feet up onto the couch with her she hugged her legs to herself, trying and failing to deal with the storm of emotions inside her. This was so stupid, he wasn’t going to die, and even if he was she should be relishing what time they had not wasting it feeling sorry for herself, pathetic.

How did he do it? With his simple movements of pulling her over so he could snuggle with her, many of her thoughts that were so cruel to herself melted away for now. Closing her eyes, Dani just nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck and was quiet for a while, breathing him in and using the familiar scent and warmth to calm herself so she could talk without feeling like she was about to crack. Finally, she moved her head enough to rest it on his shoulder “Worrying about us, apart from that fine” what was she going to do without him? Instantly a sense of being pathetic settled over her again, what a dumb question, she wouldn’t be pathetic and wallow, being pathetic was beneath her, she would just have to adapt. Drawing a shaky breath, she wrapped her arms around him tightly “Told Ice that I’m not doing any more jobs for a bit” it’d taken a bit of manipulating but she was slowly gaining more power over the cold bitch every time they interacted, and right now she just wanted to stay with him. Unable to bring up the future that was any further away than a couple of weeks she went quiet again, sniffling quietly “Playing can wait until later, I’m tired” her voice was gentle “Besides, I’m quite comfortable here and don’t feel like moving” lifting her head enough to kiss his cheek she resumed resting her head on his shoulder “Boney” the longer she remained snuggled into him the more she started to feel like herself again, enough to tease him.

Words couldn’t describe how he somehow managed to soothe the constant thoughts that were always racing around her head, pleased when she felt his arms tighten around her, the shadow master sighed with a contented air. At the question about how much longer she had to serve Ice for, Dani resisted the urge to shrug “Another five years or so, I might be able to make it shorter, the manipulation is starting to work, she’s so desperate for an appropriate heir and I'm the best one she’s got” she fully intended to wrap Ice around her little finger, she’d be able to make life easier for her father that way and it’d be useful having Ice as the official runner of the whole program while she stayed in the shadows out of sight which gave her more freedom. Lifting a hand she brushed it through her Jory’s hair gently before pushing it back out of his face, the song he had played had been enough for her to know that he loved her as much as she did him even if he struggled to say it. He didn’t need to, his music spoke louder than words, “How did this happen, that we wound up being together like this, it's not something I ever anticipated happening, not that I regret this in the slightest” she hated the term boyfriend and girlfriend that was so juvenile, what suited her more was partner, they were life partners. At moments like this she could drift from thought to thought, safe and not having to deal with everything else, he somehow brought her peace, and she didn’t know how they got to this moment in the slightest. At what point had an amusing pet of sorts become so important, important enough to have become her world although she also struggled to let him know just how much he meant to her, it often felt like words weren’t enough and that was when she let music speak for her.

Having fallen asleep not long after he did, Dani slept peacefully for a couple of hours in a fairly dreamless sleep, waking up at some point in the early morning and unable to keep still enough to stay in his arms there despite how nice and comfortable it was. Making herself something to eat in the kitchen, Dani wandered out and over to the piano brushing her fingers over it quietly she hadn’t had much muse for playing the piano, preferring to leave it to Jory sitting down on the piano stool her shadows brought her her guitar, quietly brushing her fingers over the strings and listening to the soft noise that the instrument made. The song that wanted to be played made itself known and although it was primarily a piano song over a guitar song, she believed the guitar would give it the softer music that she wanted to play right now after all she didn’t want to wake up the sleeping beauty curled up on the couch having already stolen her spot. Shaking her head at him, Dani started to play humming along until she reached the part of the song where the words began.

Once the song was done she set the guitar down and leaned against him resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. Part of her just didn't want music in her life at all, there was nothing to celebrate, little to be happy about it, her Jory was dying and she couldn't do a thing about it. Things were complicated and sure felt complicated, slipping an arm around him to hold him tightly, she made sure he couldn't see her face not wanting to let him know just how scared she was of loosing him. This was her own fault, it had been foolish to open herself up to anyone, stupid even, if he died then she wouldn't open up again. Silently berating herself for letting herself wind up in this situation she dug her teeth ruthlessly into the side of the cheek ignoring the coppery taste of her blood whilts she did so.

He asked a question that made her pause, the answer was complicated so she did her best to summarize it for him "After I know creatures exist, the bad things in storybooks exist, I'd be a fool not to believe in it Jory, or at the very least be undecided and unbiased." speaking quietly she didn't bring up the fact about her mother. Ice had brought Sofia back from the dead at a cost, there was a chance she could do something similar for Jory if she made it worth Ice's while. There were several reasons why she would go down that path, Ice would be easily manipulated once she had her trust, and she'd be able to take over the entire operation, Ice had wanted her for her successor for quite some time now anyway. All of that ran through her head quite quickly, and if Ice couldn't bring him back well it'd give her something to do that wouldn't be rotting away in a corner like some pathetic being. The smarter part of her self suggested that she leave Jory now before it really hurt, shoving that away not wanting to think about that. Her arms tightened around him not wanting to let him go.

Flicking her gaze to the guitar, she chastisized herself for how she felt about the dust that had built up on its case, yet she still flicked a finger and sent a shadow to hoover the dust up and deposit the grey matter elsewhere. Happier once that was done, she turned her head enough to kiss his cheek softly "No. I told Ice to shove it" well, she'd had a conversation with ice about a few things that she wasn't willing to talk about. Closing her eyes she nuzzled into him "I don't know how this happened between us, how did you become this wonderful person, who's everything I need" whispering softly, she was thankful that she'd close her eyes lest they fill with tears. What would she do without him? The sensible part of herself instantly got its back up and snapped in her mind that she'd get along fine, she'd get over it and grow up. Swallowing the lump in her throat, trying to push that voice away and tell herself that there was no point mourning him while he was still alive she inhaled slowly "Avoiding that, I'm home for a while so we can do things or nothing at all if that's what you'd prefer" it was rare that she left it up to him to choose but this was one of those times.

Snuggled into him, everything else was slowly packed away in her mind and stored away to pick through later. Whatever she wanted to do? Well there were a few options, they could go for a wander, stay here or move to their room. Deciding that for now she was content to just cuddle into him, "Hm maybe we just stay here for a while, later we could go out somewhere to find food" it was a relaxed plan that meant she could be selfish and keep him all to herself. reaching up to brush her fingers through his hair gently, her eyes opened to study him quietly, hers, he was hers, and she was his. It was such a simple concept that meant the world to her.

His constant companion, the mothering bird rested comfortably on his shoulder, preening one of her wings as he wandered through the park she stopped however when she heard music. It was coming from the north end of the park where there was a bandstand, rather curious about it, the bird turned her head to look at her charge questioningly unsure if he was in the right space to go and investigate. She was aware he'd been ruminating over things and knew he was missing being able to play, she also missed music, it'd been woven into her everyday life when looking after him.

The bird was privately pleased that he went towards the music, it'd learned to love music just as much as both its master and mistress. The group on the bandstand seemed to be a band of youngsters that were preforming trying to get somewhere with their music. The question about Dani made the bird sigh softly 'She's alright. The person she's interrogating isn't giving up their secrets so she's having to get creative and it's taking longer than expected' the best thing about being an older shadow meant she had control over who could hear her words. It'd be fairly irritating if everyone around them right now had heard what she'd had to say, looking at the band that was performing; the bird tilted its head to the side 'You used to do this sort of thing, do you miss it?' in her opinion music was the lifeblood of both Jory and Dani, and even if he couldn't play for her, the shadow hoped that being able to play for others might give him some comfort