Semi-normalcy

Who: Dylan and Leija
Where: Leija's house
When: Early afternoon

It felt strange to be walking around after what had happened the night before. It was safe but it still felt wrong. The streets were almost empty when Dylan set out from home in the early afternoon. He wasn't sure if this was because of what had happened around the town only 12 hours ago or if it was normal for a Saturday but the whole town felt abandoned. The only time he did see other people out, the rare car aside, were two policemen standing in the centre of a crime scene. The body, if there was one, had already been taken away and it looked like the man and woman were trying to work out what and how it happened. He watched them from across the street for a while but they didn't seem to have much of an idea and it was boring so he moved on.

Dylan didn't actually have a direction of sorts. He'd asked Nate for Leija's address but he was too new to the town and too used to counting on his brother for rides that he didn't know streets or places yet. He hadn't had much sleep; he had stayed up on-and-off until dawn but at least he was too tired from worrying about monsters that he didn't dream about them too. There was always that small mercy.

It was by pure coincidence that Dylan actually found Leija's house. He had spent the last hour wandering aimlessly, trying to find something although he didn't know what, and it took him a moment to realise he'd heard of the street he was on. He pulled out the paper he'd scribbled the address on to double check and even if it was probably the most obvious place he heard the name from, he decided he'd heard it somewhere else first. This excited him, those psychic books were teaching him to use his powers better and he'd found his friend's house! He'd have to stop by Nevermore and thank the guy from the book faire. Maybe he could even get some more and really get this thing under control.

Dylan stood outside the house for what felt like a long time but when he looked at his watch, hadn't been even longer than two minutes. After a quick glance up and down the street to make sure the monsters were sleeping, he headed up to the front door. He didn't even know if she would be home but there was no harm in trying so he knocked.

Leija had slept as much as she could, but it wasn't an easy sort of sleep. It was restless and filled with bad dreams that thankfully didn't really stick with her once she'd gotten up out of bed. Just the feeling of bleh and tiredness had. She'd talked with her dad for a while, gone over the night's events and what was going on in town. More and more, she felt that he wanted to leave the place, and she honestly couldn't blame him. She just knew that she couldn't ever turn her back completely on it. Not now, as much as she just wanted to pick a direction and fly until she couldn't anymore, then set up camp there.

She was in the kitchen when the knock came, cleaning things that didn't really need to be cleaned, and thinking about what to make for dinner in a couple of hours. Frowning a touch, she headed for the front door, wondering who it could be. Nobody'd called her, usually visits came with a warning. She opened it and looked surprised to see Dylan there. "Hi," she said, glancing behind him. No Nate. "Come on in, everything okay?"

Dylan was glad that she had opened the door and not her father or somebody else. He was okay when it came to dealing with parents but he still always felt awkward and flailed a little bit underneath the skin. He wasn't a bad kid and he usually looked pretty clean (aside from his hair which was always a mess) but he never knew what they thought of him and that uncertainty worried him. He didn't have to think about it this time though because in a flash of red, it was Leija. He smiled at her and followed her look over his shoulder but he doubted a monster would be out in the daylight when the full moon was already changing into whichever phase came next.

"Hey, yeah, everything's cool. I hope it's okay but I was walking around and Nate told me where you lived so..." He shrugged. He had actually been dreading seeing her again. He felt bad for it but it was only a little fear. He hadn't really had a chance to speak to her since he'd run off from lunch sometime last week when he'd almost slipped out all of his problems to her. He'd been sitting with Aaron and his friends since and had only texted her once; he hadn't had the courage to apologise for it yet and he was kind of hoping he didn't need to. He still wasn't sure if she was mad at him or not but it was probably better if he just got it out, right? "So, um, about last week... I'm sorry about running off and leaving you like that. I kind of scared myself too and don't be mad, okay?" He nibbled on his lip for a moment, his eyes on the ground and then he looked up again. "Kind of scared you are, couldn't tell from those texts."

Cue more surprise-expression from Leija's end. There was something for her to be mad about? Part of her almost wanted to laugh and tell him that his quick bailout was nothing compared to most everything else she went through on a daily basis, and not to worry about it. But that seemed too flippant, since he was really actually concerned. Instead she gave him a smile and shook her head, putting a hand on his arm for a second. "No way, not mad, trust me," she said with a quiet chuckle. "Nothing to be worried about at all. I've ... kinda been there, promise. You wanna hang out for a bit? I've got like ... coke and stuff." She made a gesture over her shoulder toward the kitchen in offering.

Dylan was still tense when Leija laid her hand on him but he breathed a sigh of relief and began to relax. She wasn't angry with him, she didn't hate him for how he'd just ran away without so much as an explanation. Not that he really expected her to, she was too nice to actually hate anybody but it still played on his mind and he felt guilty over it. He nodded at her offer and smiled. "Yeah, yeah, I'd like that. Thank you." He took another quick glance around to make sure that there weren't any werewolves left lurking around then stepped inside to her house. It was the first time he'd been there and he looked about, a little curious to see what kind of place this red-headed angel lived. It wasn't exactly what he expected but it was comfortable and friendly, or it seemed to be to him anyway. He reached down to take her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Whether he was doing it to let her lead the way so he wouldn't get lost or if it was something more, even he didn't know but he liked it. "Coke's fine if you've got it. Um, how've you been? Were you okay last night, it was pretty crazy out there."

The house was roomy, with higher-end sort of furniture that still managed to look comfortable. Her father made a good living as a professor, and they weren't exactly suffering in the financial department. Leija closed the door behind Dylan and locked it out of habit, and then her hand was being taken. It made her wonder, kind of. Not that she minded it, really, it still just made her wonder. She squeezed his hand back, in any case, and gave him a smile, indeed leading the way toward the kitchen. "I've been okay," she said quietly, even though it was more or less a lie. It just wasn't the sort of question she could be truthful about with 99.9% of the population, even if they were very sweet. "I was fine last night, just ... stayed in and listened to the sirens. Were you? I know you and Nate kind of took to the attic ... is everyone you know okay?" She looked at him as she dropped his hand to open the fridge and pull out two soda cans for them. Leija handed one off.

Dylan was a little disappointed when she dropped his hand but he didn't let it show. Instead he opened the can she handed over and took a drink. The walk hadn't been very long but his throat felt dry as if it had been. He set the can onto the counter and leaned back against it. "Yeah, yeah everyone is okay. I don't know anybody who was hurt. Dad was working late in the office so Nate and I hid upstairs, the animals couldn't get us there." He paused for a moment, wondering just how much she knew about everything going on but he was too scared to ask outright. She'd think he'd lost the plot! He'd even thought he had until his family admitted they believed him. It was crazy how such a little thing helped.

Dylan was quiet for a moment and stared down at his shoes. He took a breath. He didn't want her to think of him as some weird skater rat who had read too many comic books and he couldn't see any wound marks but he had to ask. It would just send him crazy if he left it so he said, "You weren't bitten or anything were you? It sounds crazy but it's more dangerous than you think. I'll help you though, if you were and Nate too. He won't tell anybody either and he'd know what to do. He knows about that stuff."

The animals. What a fucked up almost-laugh. That was the insane part of it; they were people. They were real people down deep in there, just overtaken by ... animal insanity. However one wanted to put it. Unlike other encounters she'd had with murderous supernatural things, she couldn't hate them. She saw what they could do, but she couldn't hate them. Her eyes refocused on him as he asked her the question and then went on to reassure her, and there was that urge to hug him tight again. He was just so ... sweet. As it was she just gave him a little gentle smile. "No, I wasn't bitten. It's okay, I know about them. What they are and how dangerous they are. Thank you, though, I really appreciate that. And you ... y'know, risking even saying it." She reached out and put a hand on his arm for a brief moment before taking it back.

Dylan stared at Leija. His eyes widened and he had to repeat her words in his mind before he could even make sense of them. She knew? She knew! She didn't think he was creepy or weird because that would mean she was too. She knew! He wanted to ask more, like how she knew or what else she might be able to tell him about the supernatural but he held back the onslaught of questions rushing to come out. Werewolves were enough right now.

"That's really cool," Dylan murmured. He hesitated for a moment, took the time to consider the risks of his next move, then decided they were probably worth it. He leaned across to her, wrapped his arms around her waist and snuggled his face against her shoulder. It was meant to only be a friendly gesture but he could make out a gentle scatterings of freckles along her neck and her hair... It smelled like bright, summer berries. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of her fruity scent. He stayed like that for a little too long and if someone had asked him why it mattered so much, he'd have struggled for an answer. Maybe he missed the comfort of his mother, maybe she reminded him too much of his crush in California or maybe she was one all on her own. He didn't know but he had stayed against her too long for it to stay as a friendly gesture. He did know that much.

"I'm glad you don't think I'm crazy," he whispered. He hoped it was enough to justify the abrupt hug without her asking too many questions. He pulled back reluctantly and shuffled further back to the counter so she wouldn't feel weird. His throat was dry, he licked his lips and looked down at his sneakers. One was untied but he just stared at it. Were things awkward now or were they just him? He licked his lips and shrugged. "Are you going to Kavin's party tonight?"

Like so many things he did for some reason, Leija was caught off-guard by the hug. It's closeness and depth. She guessed she just wasn't accustomed to people initiating affectionate contact with her. Usually she was the huggy one, when there was huggy at all. After a heartbeat or two, she hugged him back, settling into it. One hand ran over his back lightly and she gave him a couple of gentle squeezes. He seemed to be needing it, so she gave it to him. Given what had happened to the poor guy, on top of recent events, she didn't read into the clinging too much. People were traumatized, and traumatized people sometimes just needed that physical reassurance. "Of course I don't," she murmured in response before he pulled back.

She was about to say something about how her eyes were open, but then he was pulling away and looking ... kind of embarrassed. He did that a lot. Which made the subject change not really that surprising. Oh yeah, Kavin's party. "I don't know, I might," she said, twisting her lips to one side a little bit. She wasn't exactly in a partying mood. And she sure as hell wasn't going in costume. "Are you?"

At least she hadn't shoved him away the moment he laid his hands on her, Dylan thought. Not that he really expected Leija to be the sort who would. Even if they weren't friends and she wasn't comfortable around him, she was way too nice to be rude. Maybe a subtle wriggle out of the hug and some comment about it that sounded more like a joke than an insult but she'd never actually be cruel in her rejections. He felt sorry he'd even worried about it, ever doubted her, and he wanted to reach back to touch her hands again. He didn't though, the moment had passed and it would just feel strange. "Yeah, I think so, Nate's going, obviously. They'd be boyfriends if Kavin was gay but Aaron says he's not so..." he said instead. He gave her a small smile and took a sip of his coke again. "I don't know if I want to. The whole thing is really morbid, you know? Like, people died so what's there to drink to? You should come though, even if it's just so I'm not alone all night because I won't know anyone."

Some part of Leija 'wtf'ed over the boyfriends comment, but it didn't show outwardly. She was good at that. But ... Nate was gay? Had she missed that somewhere? Or was she just oblivious? And why was that sort of disappointing? It really shouldn't be. She pushed the thought aside and refocused, because it wasn't her business and she shouldn't care anyway. "I wasn't really sold on going either, I just ... yeah, don't feel very celebratory," Leija said, looking at Dylan and taking a sip out of her drink. But he wanted her to go, so ... "I might, though," she said, giving him a little smile. She'd just have to see how she felt later on; even she couldn't bet for sure on any of her own moods most of the time.

Dylan didn't catch Leija's look of confusion but if he had, he might have been a little too glad of it. The joke about Nate's sexuality wasn't even an intentional one and he hadn't noticed that either. He would have brushed it away with a laugh, told her it was a joke, but of course he hadn't thought to ask. He was glad that she was coming though and his smile grew a little wider. "You should. It's going to suck if you don't. I'll just be sitting on the couch hoping Nate takes pity and loses cool points hanging out with his little brother for at least some of it. You don't have cool points to lose so..." He paused. It had made sense in his head but when he said it, it hadn't come out right at all! He laughed nervously and shook the hair out of his eyes. "Shit, um, I just mean that it's not geeky for you to hang out with me because we're not related and I don't know. I think you're pretty cool though, like way up there on the points system."

She laughed a little, shaking her head. "Nah, don't worry about it, I really kinda don't have any cool points to lose," she said with an eye-roll. It wasn't like she was exactly popular. She was the chick known for dating the un-dateable Thom Harkin, and then bouncing right to 'eloping' with the weird Lockwood kid. "Prrrrobably not going to be voted prom queen anytime soon," she told Dylan with a little smirk. She could honestly give a shit less about all that, really. She'd found that she preferred to have just a handful of close friends. Which might have something to do with how good she was at crashing and burning shit. Just maybe. It seemed to be an innate talent. "But thanks anyway, you're not so bad yourself."

"I'd vote for you," Dylan mumbled. It was meant to be just a thought in his head but it had slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it. His eyes widened and his cheeks went a little brighter. He looked at her to see if she'd heard but it was quiet and he hoped she hadn't. He nibbled on his lip for a moment then decided that it was probably better to change the subject. He looked around the room for something he could bring up but it was a kitchen, unless you were into cooking there wasn't that much. "Anyway, um..." His mouth suddenly felt too dry so he took another drink. "Uh, so are your parents home or anything?"

It was kind of impossible not to hear, and though the blushing was slightly adorable, Leija wasn't sure how to take it. He couldn't be flirting, that was just ... no. That didn't happen to her -- shouldn't, anymore -- and he was just ... Nate's brother. And she knew this huge thing about him that made her want to cuddle and protect him from everything. But maybe he just didn't have a lot of experience talking to girls, and he blushed a lot. Some people did. There seemed to be a subject change at hand, so she rolled with it. "Yeah ... my dad's back in his study, I think," she said, eyes flicking toward the entryway that led to the living room as she took a sip of soda herself. "... it's just me and him," she added belatedly, not sure if he remembered her telling him that she'd lost her mom as well. "But Daddy ... y'know, gets absorbed. If he's really concentrating in there, a bomb could go off and he wouldn't know it."

Even though her father was home and Dylan felt like he was no good at meeting parents, at least the man was probably too busy to worry about his daughter’s skate-rat friends. He did catch the mention of her mother too, or rather the lack thereof. Since his own had died, he had paid too much attention to things like that. He had even noticed how most of them were absent in Disney movies or died within it, something he had never considered before. He tried to remember it Leija had ever mentioned her mother but all he could remember was something about her aunt instead. Her aunt had died recently and she had been like a parent, he remembered that much, but nothing about her mother. He didn’t want to ask though, he decided not to. It was safer not to bring up things like that when he was trying to be a normal boy with friends and happy things to do; the werewolves running around the town were making it hard enough without depressing conversations of monsters killing mothers too.

Instead, he just nodded and said, “My dad too, just me and him and Nate now but Dad checks out a lot too. Like, even if he’s at home he isn’t really there if that makes sense. I don’t know, I didn’t really know him before I moved here and I think we’re all trying to make sense of it all. It’s cool though, about you and your dad. It was just me and my mum a lot so I know what you mean.”

Definitely not wanting to focus on either of them losing their mothers, Leija nodded with a little smile at him. "It has to be hard, suddenly being part of a family that you didn't know at all," she said, a bit quietly, watching his expression. She wasn't sure that she could handle it, especially on top of her mother just dying horrifically. But she guessed people did what they had to to survive. That was just how life went, everywhere. "But you seem to be doing well with it. And at least they're not complete assholes, Nate seems pretty cool." She took another sip of coke, not wanting to dwell there too much either, lest anything get back to the older brother. But it was an opener for Dylan, and some encouragement. "I'd be totally freaked out," she added.

Luckily, Dylan barely even noticed the way Leija steered the conversation back to his brother instead. Instead, he gave her a grin and nodded widely. "Yeah, he really is. He's Dad's favourite too but I guess that's just because they've lived together all of his life." He paused and his smile faded a little, though it didn't go away. He stared over the top of his can to a random spot on the floor, shrugged, then flicked hair from his eyes and looked back up at her again.

"I was... This sounds so wrong but I was the product of an affair my mum had when Frank was still married to Nate's one. Dad would come around to California every few months and stop by Berkeley but one afternoon together three times a year isn't, I don't know. He's weird but Nate, he's cool. I always wanted a brother, didn't know I already had one until I moved here and I thought he'd hate me but he doesn't." He paused again, this time to look at her. "Do you think it's weird; that he doesn't, I mean? I keep thinking he should. I'm glad he doesn't but I mean if I was in his situation and found out my dad had been cheating on my mum and had some random kid three years after I was born... Yeah, I don't know."

Leija listened to his story as he spoke. She'd never met their dad, and really only had her own to go off of, who had never even had a girlfriend -- despite the urging of her aunts -- after her mother had passed. That she'd known about, anyway. No, he'd put all of his attention into her. So the concept of a married man having an affair for real and fathering a child was just ... she didn't know. It kind of instinctually made her not like the man. In a vague way. At the question she shook her head just slightly. "No, I don't think it's weird. I mean ... he probably knows that all that's on your dad, not you. You can't help what you're born into, you know? And you're blood family, and that probably means something to him. So I wouldn't worry about Nate hating you," she assured him. And halfway wanted to ask how he felt about being the affair-kid. The one that got left behind by their dad. But that might be probing too much, and she really needed to work on being a nosy bitch.

Dylan nodded. Leija always had a way of making him feel better, of putting things into perspective or distracting him enough from the little problems to do it for himself. It might have been why he liked her a little bit too much, she just made sense. "Yeah," he murmured, more to himself than her. "Yeah, I guess that's why things have been tense at home. Not with me and Nate but him and Dad. And me and Frank too, I guess, but I don't know... It's weird. I'd rather be back in California with my aunt except for you and Nate. You guys are the best part about living here."

If she'd been able to listen to his brain, she probably would've laughed about herself making sense. Surely not many people thought that about her. But as it was, she just gave him a gentle smile for what she saw as a high compliment, and couldn't blame him at all. Marquette had become Traumatizing Capital of the World, and if she weren't attached to the people in it, she would have been gone a long time ago. "I know what you mean, believe me," she told him, and reached up to brush some hair away from his eyes. He was cute, and she didn't think she'd ever felt all big-sisterly at someone before. "Things might even out at home the rest of the way, at least. Can't make any promises about the town, shit seems to be going downhill." She pulled a bit of a face, not looking happy about that. Not happy at all.

Dylan's eyes widened a little as she moved closer and for a moment, he thought she was going to kiss him. He wanted her to anyway but when she didn't, he thought about being the one to do it. He stepped a little closer and reached out to catch her wrist. He stroked the inside edge of it with his thumb and smiled at her. He almost leaned in, almost pressed his lips against hers but backed out. It wasn't right, not now, not when her father was only in the next room. He did move his hand though and slipped his fingers in between hers. That was okay, that was easily explained if anybody walked in and almost entirely innocent. He squeezed her hand and shrugged.

"I don't know, it's not too bad. I mean, like, the people and everything but..." Dylan shrugged again, he didn't have the courage to add what he was really thinking. At least my mother's monster can't get me. It was one thing to believe in werewolves, there was enough proof of that around here, but a flesh-eating monster? No, the coroner's report said it was an animal and that was what everybody believed. Safer to keep it that way, he didn't want to scare her into thinking he was crazy. There was always the risk of that enough as it was. He leaned in and gentle kissed her cheek before he stepped back a little, hand still tightly in hers. "Whatever. Whatever happens, you're a good thing. Don't look so sad, okay? We're alive, at least there's that."

Unaware that she'd almost gotten kissed, Leija let him take her hand. There was a slight hesitation before her fingers tightened on his in return, just the slightest bit. She was sure that in a house full of males, though, that he was starved for affection. Especially if it had always been him and his mom, and she didn't want to deny him. She was touchy too, when she liked someone. It was something about herself that it had taken moving to Marquette and actually making friends for her to realize. She was opening her mouth to respond to the first part of what he'd said, and then there came the cheek kiss. Which brought a little color into her own, and she wasn't quite sure how to respond to for a second. But god, he was so twitchy, saying something would just make everything all ... weird. So she covered it up with a smile and a chuckle. "Yes, at least there's that," she echoed. It was true, of course, but that nagging voice in the back of her head couldn't help but remind her that that could change at any time. Wanting to divert both of them, she gave his hand a squeeze and tugged on it a little bit, backing off of the counter. "C'mon, let's go see if there's anything good on TV and pretend life is normal for a little while, yeah?" she suggested. Teenagers did that, right?

Dylan didn't catch any of Leija's hesitation and instead, he misread her blush as a sign she didn't mind his affection. This helped him feel better about it. He had gone out on a limb, made a move he wasn't sure she'd accept and she hadn't shoved him away. She hadn't even dropped his hand! He gave her a friendly grin and squeezed her hand back before he let her take control and followed after her. His eyes wandered down to her backside for a moment before darting back up, his cheeks red again. It took him a moment to figure out that she had said something and then he nodded. TV, TV was good. It was normal and they didn't have to think about anything dangerous, like werewolves or people who killed them. "Sounds good, we can watch The O.C. or something stupid and pretend we're spoilt rich kids with huge problems. Like Daddy didn't get the convertible in the right colour or something. Hey, Leij?" He rolled his eyes but stopped again. He pulled Leija back to him, spun her around and gave her a tight squeeze around the middle. He whispered, "I'm glad you're safe. I was so worried last night." Before he could let her have a chance to answer he had pulled away again and headed into the living room. "Come on, put on a movie or something, lady's choice."