The Kids Aren't Alright

We toy with disobeying Mac's orders more often than we should. No, I haven't disobeyed and talked to Dani. It's driving Dani nuts. Unlike Ryodan, Dani doesn't need to be in total control; she just needs to know what's going on, have her finger on the pulse of the city. In the six months since the "major players" have vacated the city, the fae have resumed acting like spoiled children who've just gotten their favorite toy back from being grounded from it. It's killing her because those "toys" are her people. It's not as bad as when the walls fell but for Dani, all fae are bad fae. In her eyes, the light court are just being sneakier than their counterparts in regards to what they're doing to humans.

I snicker a bit. The fact that Mac is the new fae queen and she feels similarly to our girl is hilarious. With a sigh, I slink through the shadows, following my target. When she was younger, she'd be moving super fast all the time, cramming whatever food she could find into her mouth while she rubbernecked the events going on around her. She no longer takes food from people; vendors or those that buy their food from them. If anything, she's almost always giving away supplies she's finding or bartering for.

Mac's parents and those similar to them are doing everything in their power to bring the city back. Hell, even Ryodan did his part to try and get shit back on track. Dani's not a part of any particular group but she's a face that people recognize and she brings people's spirits up.

Today she's checking on how Rainey's pet projects are doing. There are dozens of community gardens that are thriving and due to the unnaturally mild weather brought on by Mac this year, growing has been extended and Dani has been dropping off packets of seeds from the abby's harvest. Earlier, she'd been rotating stock around; sheep, chickens, and a couple of cows. From what I can tell, the soup kitchens and clothing drop offs are next.

Today is going to be boring.

So very vital and necessary for the city, but boring for me.

Though it's getting dark, Dani shows no sign of getting ready to settle in at one of her cribs or head back to the abby. Every once in a while, I think she attempts to pull the normal act. None of us every tried it, we loved being what we were, but Dani's young. She's still thinking a term like normal applies to her.

She'll go to one of two clubs most likely, they don't welcome Fae and since there's no quick satisfaction to be gained by those that refused to cater to them, they never bothered to go to these small places of humanity. I could relax my guard just a bit, the music and lack of light in addition to her own desire to be distracted keeping me off her radar. She never drinks, but she dances with wild abandon and normally dances through most of the night. I think she sometimes shops around, looking for someone to get with, but in the end, she mostly gives up and goes to her loft to dance.

Pulling out my phone, foot tapping to a Heart song, I let Kasteo know he's spelling me tonight. Tucking my phone into my back pocket, I make bedroom eyes at a fresh young blond and smile. No club needed with this one. I'd rub my hands together but the eager little thing's already plastered against me.

The months continue to flow in this pattern. Visits to Barrons become more sporadic, stops at Chesters more frequent. WIth Ryodan gone a year, there's less keeping her away from the once packed club. Dani's wandering more and more towards the fae club too. I'm silently rooting for her to go in. If she does, I'd have to back her up.

But she behaves and I lament. I think she subconsciously knows that Ryodan hasn't left. She has no idea he's pretty much a mindless beast right now…I turn my face towards Barron's place and bare my teeth in Ryodan't general direction. He's probably losing his fucking mind buried so far under the ground; no killing, no sex. Nothing

How much longer is the Honey and Ryodan going to stubbornly ignore one another? How hard is to dial a damn number? Dani has Ryo's mark on her once more, the minute she hits send, he'll be there. A bit of a mindless monster but then Dani, along with Mac and a few other sidhe's now know something of what we are. I doubt she'd mind. As long as it's Ryo.

How much longer can this go on? We're used to living in the shadows, manipulating the world from behind the scenes, but for the past few years, it's been nice to be out in the open, known as the biggest bad asses out there. Now I've been reduced to hiding. From the kid.

I wonder if I should just drag Dani down to the basement of Barrons Books and Baubles and force them to pull their heads out. I snicker. That'd be hilarious until Ryodan snapped out of it and snapped my neck or some other unpleasant bullshit he could do.

Now we're a year and a half in. I cannot believe two people can be this fucking stubborn. Yeah. I get Ryo being a stubborn bastard, he's had three thousand fucking years to practice. Dani's what? Maybe twenty three? At the very least nineteen. Why's she digging her heels in? I want to fuck out in the open. This is driving me fucking bug fuck.

She's fucking dancing again. Maybe if I find a way to video her and show it to the boss, he'll stop this ridiculous nonsense and let myself, Fade, and Kasteo blow out of this town before Honey's thirty.

Fuck. Could I do seventeen years like this? Maybe. Fade and Kasteo though? That's a little harder to tell. If they left, I believe they'd come back, but I'm not sure if it would be for days or years at a time. I do know that I'd be royally fucked without someone to spell me for the brief times I need to eat and fuck.

Kasteo opened his fucking mouth today. I think he was almost ready to cuss either Dani or Ryodan out. Probably both. His mouth slammed shut.

I rolled my shoulders into a shrug, giving him a look that clearly said,"Yeah. I know brother."

Magic rocks Dublin. Not Fae, not Mac's version of their magic. While Dani dances, I eat as fast as I can then go and check it out. Or I was. It's gone.

That's a head scratcher. Sticking my hands in my back pockets, I rock back on my heels and look up. Laughter bubbles up in me and I let it loose into the night, scaring several small animals and a few people.

Finally, something's changing. Been fucking long enough.