AN: I received an idea from nalooksthrough on Tumblr and I thought I'd give it a shot since I like writing ideas that other people give me. I was going to write a little bit on an older Luna, and still plan on it, but I hadn't really had much ideas towards that direction, but I promise it's coming lol.
Since I'm writing this, I've gotten a few comments on how they liked Darren, and I was kind of starting to wonder why Darren is so likeable to people, despite being a fraudulent and a bit materialistic and hot-headed. Out of all 3 of the Cosma children, I always felt like Darren was the closest to Nora's personality so I wondered what the charm was with him. Idk. Let me know what you think.
Clutching his stomach as it growled lightly, Darren Cosma, or "Schnozmo" as he liked to go by, stepped off the Fairy World bus on a cold, twilight December night, with only the street lights and shops illuminating his path. After he heard the bus behind him shut the doors behind him, Darren began floating towards a building with a neon green "Bar" sign glowing, alongside a picture of a martini glass with an olive in it. As he had gotten closer to the bar, Darren also started to catch glimpses of a warm white light, and rock music that reminded him of his sister Chelsea's band, The Killer Fairies, with ear-splitting percussion and an excess of electric guitar solos.
Darren considered himself quite lucky that the state hadn't thoroughly gone through his pockets after he had to turn in his clothes. As he took a seat towards the bar, alongside some female fairies that were casting him strange looks, Darren dug around in his jeans until he found his secret pocket, pulling out a nice $40 bill and handing it to the bartender.
"I'll have a jack and coke.", Darren grunted, "And I'll have a burger slider with some fries."
"Sure. You wanna start a tab?"
"Nah. I'm only here for a meal and a drink."
The bartender left to give Darren's order to the chef as he lied his head down on the table, all the exhaustion falling on his face as he contemplated his next move, trying hard not to fall asleep. He heard whispers from the women sitting next to him as the music started to die down, with only the sound of clinking plates complimenting the whispers.
"Isn't that Darren Cosma?"
"Yeah, don't bother buying him a drink. He'll just use his good looks to charm you out of a few bucks. Hell, he'll probably order the most expensive drink and a shit ton of food."
"Who said I thought he was good looking? He's got that big ass, ugly nose. I mean, he wouldn't look too bad if he got a nose job, but even then, I don't date criminals."
"Yeah. He's got no respect for women."
"Hey!", Darren shot up, finally hearing a familiar voice coming from behind him. Chelsea glared at the women sitting next to him, clutching her ruby red guitar in her left hard, as if she were going to use it as a club. "You weirdos come here often, shit-talking men like that?"
"Uhhh…."
"Pfft..yeah that's what I thought. Leave him the hell alone, you freaks.", Chelsea snapped, taking a seat on Darren's left, opposite of the other two women. Darren stared at Chelsea with a keen interest, studying her immensely. She looks a bit older than what she used to when they were growing up, her eyes slightly baggier, and her face looked slightly aged. Her lime green hair was still a shaggy, long hairstyle topped off with a black beanie, complimenting her leather jacket and black jeans outfit, alongside maroon boots with gold spikes, reminding Darren of a skinnier version of a biker. Her jacket also had a patch of her band's logo on the back, written with a green-flame font.
"Chelsea? Damn, how long has it been?", Darren asked, smiling slightly at her. She shrugged.
"Lost count. How've you been Darren? Where'd you go?"
"Really? Have you been living under a rock or some shit?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't you ever read the news?"
"No. I've been way too busy to keep up with busy."
"Let's just say I've finally gotten a title for my reputation.", Darren started, "I'm officially Fairy World's first male prisoner since 10,000 years ago."
"Woooow go figure.", Chelsea frowned, rolling her eyes, "I keep telling you if you continued scamming people like that-"
"Alright alright alright, I get it! I didn't come here for a nagging fest. Damn…", Darren groaned, thanking the bartender that delivered his food, before taking a bite of his burger, feeling as if his tastebuds were finally getting the massage they deserved, "Oh my god..where have these been all my life?"
"Did you get the slider?", Chelsea asked, "I dunno why you think they're good. The meat's dry as hell even with sauce."
"Well, if you've had nothing but slop for the past 10 years, literally anything else tastes like heaven in comparison.", Darren said, practically inhaling the rest of his burger before getting started on his fries, feeling his throat starting to tighten up from eating too fast.
"Damn Darren, those fries aren't gonna grow legs and run away.", Chelsea chuckled, before looking at her older brother with a somewhat worried look on her face, "So for the past few years, you've been in prison? How's that been?'
"What do you think? It's been a living hell, but I don't think I'm ready to talk about it right now. I've got bigger problems", Darren complained, "I dunno where I'm going to be staying this evening. At this point, it's been so long since I've paid any rent that I'm pretty sure someone else is living in my apartment right now and probably got rid of all my stuff. I don't have anywhere to go."
"Eh..not necessarily. I know some apartments will let people sublease if the tenant is going away for a while. It probably depends on your contract. I'd try to find your landlord's phone number and ask.", Chelsea shrugged, "I'm actually staying at a hotel tonight, otherwise I'd let you crash. I'm sure Papa'll let you stay at his place though. I'm sure he misses you."
"Oh hell no, not after the 18,000 years of hell we've been through. I'd rather live out on the streets than go back to the scumbag we call a mother."
"Heh…funny thing about Nora actually. She's….gone."
"Gone?", Darren asked, ears perked up in interest, "Like, did she finally leave Dad or something."
"No. She passed away a couple of years ago in a magic accident, kind of like Grandma if you remember.", Chelsea explained, "Papa moved out of that old, crooked house, and is living in the apartments a couple of blocks down from here if you wanna head over there?"
"I don't know if I can face him right now, Chelsea.", Darren sighed, his usual cold, hard exterior melting somewhat, "I mean, I can't imagine how disappointed he must be in me. Hell, wouldn't surprise me if he flat out told me to go fuck myself."
"Oh come on, since when has Papa ever turned you down? I think more than anything, he'd want to reconnect with you. You are his first born child afterall.", Chelsea pleaded, "And It's not like you have any other choice…other than Cosmo, but you'd be staying with his family too."
"Family? Good lord, how much did I miss?"
"Quite a bit, but to be fair, I honestly really only know because Papa tells me. I'm not much more active in their lives as you are.", Chelsea explained, "You remember Wanda? Cosmo's girlfriend?"
"Yea"
"They finally got around to getting married, and they got knocked up with a girl. Think she's about 10 or 12,000 now or some shit, don't really remember. Papa also said he also overheard them thinking about possibly another child."
"Oh really now. What's the kid's name?"
"Cassia, I think. You'll have to ask Cosmo. I don't know a whole lot about his daughter myself.", Chelsea shrugged, before paying Darren's bill, who looked at her in confusion as he had his own money out, "Keep your money. You're gonna need it. Now come on, Papa's not a very heavy sleeper. I'm sure we can wake him up if we get over there early. Enough."