Ed looked at his friend and favorite costumer and grinned.
"What?," he asked as innocently as possible, his snicker giving away the fact that he had way more devious plans up his sleeves.
"Don't give me that, Hill," Kevin growled at him.
"Indeed, Edmund. This isn't right!," Danté protested as he whacked Ed on the head with the latest issue of his comic book.
A new band of refugees had made it into the village that Ed's ragtag group of young people lived in. They were led by a character named Jenice. Jenice was an androgynous, but used female pronouns had a nurturing heart for the orphaned children she brought with her. But she wasn't above wielding a machete on anyone that she felt crossed the line with her or her group.
Mike was wary, but couldn't turn them away as they really did need the help. Skipper's group had rebanded with new leader, Dustin, and he was at least ten times worst than Skipper was. Anyone caught unawares was robbed and left for dead. Which explained the dozen or so orphans Jenice had with her. Her right hand man was a young foreigner named Dee, who was stuck in their land as the apocalypse had left him stranded. He was smart, capable, and was another strong arm they needed in protecting themselves from the bandits that roamed the land.
And they both were gunning for Mike.
But Mike wasn't paying any attention to them as Lindsay had apparently caught his eye. But she didn't have him on her radar as she was nursing the heart break of losing Mandy to Timothy, even if Mandy didn't know about the nurse's feelings.
So Jenice and and Dee were formulating a plane to get Mike's attentions by setting Lindsay up with Tony, a "reformed bandit" that no one trusted.
And Kevin and Danté couldn't believe any of this was happening.
"I'm just -"
"'Writing a story.' You've mentioned that," Kevin snarked as he ran an exasperated hand down his face.
"So let it play out," Ed said as he rung up their weekly purchases and brought out his sketchbook.
"You know, I'm all for free press," Danté said as he eyeballed the sketchbook in Ed's hands, "but now I see why people want to burn books they don't like.
Then he stormed out of the store.
"I like him!," Kevin said brightly.
"Of course you do," Ed snorted.
Kevin found Danté standing next to his car, an earbud in his ear as he spoke to someone in his native Italian.
"Ciao, Bella!," he all but sang into his device before opening the car door.
"You've got to teach me some of that," Kevin grinned at him as he loaded up his saddle bag.
"Oh, really now?," Danté asked flirtatious as he batted long eyelashes at Kevin.
"Yeah," the redhead said with that smirk and Danté went red.
"W-Well, how about lunch?," Danté asked shyly.
"When?"
"Tomorrow?"
Kevin made a face and Danté waved a hand in understanding.
"Dinner?"
"Where?"
"How about Tony's on 5th?"
"Tomorrow, right?," Kevin asked as he buckled his helmet on his head.
"Yes, at 730. And if you stand me up -"
"I would never!," Kevin exclaimed as he clutched his invisible pearls.
"I'm so sure," Danté smirked. "Also, Tony's has a jacket and tie dress code after 6, s-soo," Danté stuttered as Kevin cocked a brow and flashed him that smirk again.
"Are you trying to turn this into a date, Danté?"
"W-Well, no. That is to say, -"
"It's ok to call it a date, Danté," Kevin interrupted with a gentle smile.
"What?! Really?!"
"Why not?," Kevin shrugged as he threw one long leg over his bike and Danté squeaked. "That's what it is, isn't it?"
"I-I suppose."
Kevin leveled a look at him.
"I-It's a-a d-date," Danté stuttered as he flashed him a shy smile.
"Well, then," Kevin grinned as he started his Harley. "See ya tomorrow!"
Sy let lose the breath she had been holding and willed her stomach to be still.
"I know that it's only been a few months," Dr Davis said as he filled out the prescription order, "but maybe this will work better."
He handed her a piece of paper with his scrawl on it, but she recognized the word estradiol immediately.
"But it's still estradiol!," she yelled as she pulled on her hair in frustration.
"Yes, and you have to take it in order to transition, Ms Williams," Dr Davis said gently. "But this dose is low, it's a gel and thus easier to apply and get into your system faster without all the stomach issues you've been having and it won't counter act with your anxiety meds."
Sy looked sadly at Ang who smiled as she took the piece of paper from her and put it in her purse.
"Thank you, Dr Davis," the princess said with her best smile. "We'll go get this filled immediately."
"Good idea. And be sure to let Jay know that you need to cancel the shots and that pills are not an option," the doctor said as he walked them to the front of the office.
"Will do. Thank you again," Ang said as she held Sy's shaking hand in her own and made her next appointment for a hormonal check before heading to the Walgreen's in Peach Creek to pick up the medication that was slowly introducing Sy to the world, but making her crazy all at the same time.
Eddward counted his thundering heartbeat as he took as many deep breaths as he could without hyperventilating and waking Marie. Even with his eyes closed, he could see the bright white light of the lighting strikes outside of their bedroom window. The rolling thunder had him shaking, but Marie was dead to the world. Thunderstorms always made her fall into a deep sleep and tonight was no exception.
Except it was.
After spending the day in LA to support a friend's new gallery showing, they came back to Stanford and Marie spent an hour in the shower coughing her lungs up. Her sensitivity to smoke made it hard to breathe in the big city's smoggy air and any trips to LA left her feeling like a fish out of water. The doctors always said that she didn't have asthma, only that she was allergic to smoke.
So she took a long, hot shower, coughed herself sick, took some NyQuil Cough and promptly passed out, the raging thunderstorm outside only fueling her need for rest.
No matter how close he held her on nights like this, he still felt a sense of loneliness. He had already had his tea, let his white noise app play til his phone's battery went dead, and did all his homework for his summer classes for the week. He read the comic books Ed had been sending three times and scrubbed the bathroom and kitchen floors til they shined. But as the storm got closer, he hurried to bed and hid under the covers like a child, tears silently rolling down his face as it raged overhead.
He pulled the blankets and Marie closer and did what he could to let her soft breathing lull him into a restless sleep breaking his heart as he wished to be anywhere but where he was at right now.
