Danielle sat in her kitchen with Pascale in her high chair, going through her phonebook of people she was supposed to be calling to invite to she and Riese's four year anniversery party. She skipped over a name briefly, subconsciously almost, and then stopped with her pencil, and moved back up to it.
"I can't believe I almost forgot him," she said to herself, not before getting pelted in the head with a Cheerio. She glanced up. "Pascale, no. No throwing." The small child wiggled in the seat and laughed, grey eyes lighting up as mommy scolded her.
She picked up her cordless and began to dial out Ash's number. It rang.
It was early in the morning, and Ash had been up late the night before trying to chase vampires out of the bar. They didn't close until after sunrise, considering who the crowd tended to be, and they wouldn't be opening until around 11 that morning. Of course, Ash wouldn't be tending bar himself, since he'd closed. Leander would probably have that shift, or maybe even Dave. Either way, he'd passed out the night before, not even bothering to go to his tiger form to sleep. He wanted to try without it, to see if he'd actually be okay. And he was dead tired, so why not?
When the phone rang, it was still only about two hours after he'd gone to sleep, so it wasn't a great wake up call. He answered though, sounding sleepy and a little out of sorts. It was probably the only time someone would catch him like that. He hated it when the phone woke him up. "Hello?"
Danielle had just been about to hang up when he answered. She could never explain why every time she spoke to Ash she felt flustered or tongue-tied. She'd had a crush on him as a girl, but when Marcus introduced her to Riese, that had been it. She was social and outgoing, and Riese was, too - they got along. They... worked. Obviously well, because baby Pascale Vida-Smoke sat in the chair right now, flinging Cheerios at everything in sight, and baby number two (who was either going to be Rafael or Violette) was two months along in her stomach right now.
"Ash?" she asked, sitting up in her chair for a moment. "Hey, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" She sounded so serene and calm, on the verge of laughter with every word. A hushed, "Pascale, stop it," could be heard over the phone.
Riese chose that time to come through the kitchen door, and swung down to give Danielle a peck on the cheek before scooping the little girl from her chair and flipping her over to run around the house with her.
"I swear to God, I live in a zoo," she muttered to herself, though even then in her irritation it was there - the light in her voice.
Ash frowned as he heard Danielle's voice on the other line. It wasn't that he was so shocked that Danielle had called him, but by her voice. It sounded so...happy. Danielle didn't exactly go with the 'happy' sort of sound. Ever. And who was she talking to, this Pascale? And what she said about living in a zoo, even that sounded pleased. Irritated Danielle was dangerous, so why was she so light in everything she said right then?
"Yes, but it's alright," he said, trying to clear his sleep-muddled mind. This didn't make sense. Was he dreaming? No, he couldn't possibly be. "Is everything okay, Dani?"
"Dani? Wow, nobody's called me that in ages, Ash," she said with a laugh. "Ah, you make me feel seventeen again." Well, she was only twenty-four now, but after being married for four years and already having one kid, besides Marcus, that was, and Riese from time to time, she felt so very much older.
"I was calling because Marcus is trying to help organize my anniversary party with Riese and he's too stupid to remember to send out half the invitations I gave him. Now it's too late and I have to resort to running up my phone bill." She chuckled.
Riese came back into the room with a laughing Pascale and nodded to Danielle. "That Ash? Tell him I said hey. Oh, and Marcus will be here in like.. fifteen minutes. We're taking Pascale to see Happy Feet. Again."
"PENGUINS!!!" the little girl screamed.
"Y'hear that? That is the fearsome cry of the heir of all that is mine, Ash." She laughed again.
He'd merely blinked when she said she hadn't heard anyone call her that in years, considering the fact that he'd ALWAYS called her that, and he'd just talked to her the day before. What was going on? The rest positively floored him, though.
Marcus. Riese. Anniversary. Heir.
Dave must have felt a sudden power spike or something, because he sprinted up the stairs to bust into the room, proving who was there to check the books that morning. Dave didn't leave Ash completely alone often, considering what had happened with Morfeus, but it still almost caused the triste to drop the phone.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"Nothing, I'm sorry," Ash told him, wincing. He really did look as though nothing was wrong, so the werewolf had to head back downstairs after a quick look around. The room was still orderly and neat, so he really didn't see the issue. Ash had to return to the conversation at hand, still not sure what was going on.
"Well, that's good to hear. Not him forgetting the invitations, but..." Yeah. His brain was still catching up to the fact that nothing was right. "When is it?"
She cleared her throat. "It's actually tonight. At six. We're going out to that huge ritzy restaurant on the dock - Marcus also forgot the reservations, but between a Vida and a Smoke, we got strings pulled. I know it's a bad use for our influence but I'd say we deserve it after making it through what we did."
That being Tamara and Celeste's deaths, respectively, not shortly after their 18th and 20th birthdays, respectively, but she didn't want to go in to any of it. One Vida dies, another arises. Pascale wiggled in her father's arms as Marcus beeped from outside in the driveway.
"Tell mommy you love her," Riese commanded as he helped the little girl with her shoes.
"Love you moooommmyyyyy," she said, looking extra cute in her mop of wheat-blonde curls. Danielle waved a small wave at her and Riese and continued her conversation.
"It's warm enough that we can take the party outside, and I know everyone will be drinking - well, except me. Again. But you didn't hear that from me... Riese wants it to be a surprise. Can you come? I'd really love to have you."
He would have found the fact that Marcus had also forgotten the reservations to be mildly amusing if he wasn't still in shock over the boy being alive in the first place. And the little girl yelling to her mommy from the background. And...AGAIN?! Was she talking about being pregnant? His Dani, having a child? A SECOND child?!
She was asking him a question. And expecting an answer.
"Well, uh, of course I'll come. You said six?" Yes, she'd said six. He had to be dreaming. Or he'd gone insane. Maybe someone was messing with his head? That's it! He'd slept in his human form, and this is what he got. That shadow thing had come for him, and it was weaving some fancy story in his head, driving him nuts. Wonderful. He wouldn't snap, he refused.
"Yeah, six. It's sort of a dressy place, too. I hate to do this so last minute, but I'm just pressed for time lately. Anyways, I need to run at the moment, but I'll see you tonight, okay?"
Danielle excused herself for the time being, and set to calling everyone else that she'd found had not yet gotten their invitations. Hours later, she was stepping out of the Porsche Cayenne S, the dark blue dress she wore not yet betraying what lies beneath, per se. She took the hand of Pascale, whose blonde hair was left to hang freely, and had found a dress of blue that matched the perfect shade of midnight Danielle wore.
"Wow," Riese said. "You know, you are more beautiful every time I see you." He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss, and then ran ahead to tell everyone they were there. She and Pascale took their time, stopping so that she could examine her shoes several instances.
Ash arrived at the location Dani had specified at 6pm sharp, and merely waited outside of his vehicle. He wasn't really a fan of 'dressy' occasions, but he suffered them when it was necessary. He'd ended up wearing a very dark blue dress shirt open collared (since he couldn't stand the feel of a bowtie for the time being, thinking only of the collar Morfeus had made him wear), with black dress slacks. The dark blue complemented his pale, icy look rather nicely and was in fact his favorite color, so it came as a bit of a surprise when he saw Dani approaching in a nearly perfectly matched color.
With the most adorable child he'd ever seen holding her hand.
"Mon dieu," he murmured to himself as they approached. He'd parked as close as he could, and where they'd have to pass him as they walked. He could have just as easily met her inside, but he didn't quite want to catch her with her...husband.
The sound of soft singing was now coming from the two blondes as they walked, swinging hands casually.
"S'en allait tout simplement
Routier pauvre et chantant
En tous chemins, en tous lieux
Il ne parle que du bon Dieu
Il ne parle que du bon Dieu"
It was some odd French song Danielle had heard, and though she had no idea what it meant - she knew it said God - she bet it was something morbid, but Pascale seemed to like it enough. For some reason there had been a sort of influence from the language in many things recently - including her daughter's name.
She almost didn't see Ash, busy tending to her daughter, but it was the small witch who paused and pointed at him, grey eyes wide with wonderment. She had never met him. "Eh?" she asked her mom, looking back and forth.
Danielle glanced up, and smiled warmly. "Ash, it's so good to see you," she exclaimed, though she did not let go of the small one's hand for fear the child would take off into the parking lot. "You look wonderful." She purred practically, lifting Pascale up in her arms. The child was dilligent in her efforts not to kick dust on mommy's dress as she -stared- at the Triste.
"Eh?" she asked again. She wasn't shy at all, though, and reached out with a small hand to poke at him.
It wasn't morbid at all, just....an odd choice. He cocked his head to the side in a rather feline manner, not even thinking about it, and looked at her curiously. "You...have interesting taste in music anymore, mon coeur," he told her, trying not to react at all oddly as his eyes met with the child's. She was beautiful, and it made his heart ache just to see her. Danielle's child...with someone else. It reminded him of the fact that he had once upon a time intended to have children of his own, before his entire life had been stolen from him.
"It's good to see you as well, and you absolutely look lovely. Both of you," he added, once again looking at the child, though this time he raised his hand so that the child could grab it if she'd like. He didn't quite know why she was reacting that way to him, but he didn't really mind.
Well, it wasn't like -he- could have kids. Danielle smiled at Pascale as she reached for him and took hold, yanking his hand around for a moment, before she leaned forward and buried her face at the crease of Danielle's shoulder.
"Aw, what's wrong, love? Is he a stranger?" she asked, voice soft, as she rubbed the child on the back. She looked at Ash, and raised her brows.
"Riese and I are starting to think she can pick up on people's auras through.. touch. Whatever genetics we had, we had good ones, 'cos they're already saying she's going to be amazing. I guess it just depends on what side she chooses to respond to.." she trailed off. "I hope mine appeals to her senses." Ah, a proud Vida woman would not see her firstborn daughter reduced to a simple healer so easily. With both magics, she would be remarkable on the field.
She blinked, and realized she hadn't even introduced her. "Sorry, Ash. This is Pascale Am?lie. Pascale," she said, using the 'tone' that made her daughter un-bury herself and look back at Ash. "This is Ash Leone, someone very important to mommy, and maybe some day important to you as well."
"...Hi," she said finally, a small smile on those cherub cheeks.
The irony of the French name was almost painful. The fact that child number two was brewing in there somewhere too was equally bad, although Danielle didn't show at all - in fact, she didn't look like she'd had number one, either.
It didn't quite make sense to him that Danielle had used an entirely french name for the child, but he thought it was beautiful. She was beautiful, and Dani was right. She'd be powerful. "She has a strong aura already, chere. Whatever she chooses, she'll do well," he promised, also already deciding that if he wasn't crazy, if this was really happening for some crazy reason, he'd keep that little girl safe.
"Hello, ma petite belle," he told her, hoping that if she could really read auras at such a young age, his hadn't been so bad as to scare her. He needed to figure out what the hell was going on here, though.
"Mm, I only wish mom was around to see it. After that close call with Marcus when we were kids... I don't know, things changed around the house. She suddenly started acting like a mom - before it was too late, I guess." She sighed wistfully and leaned back as Pascale tried to pull at strands of her hair. "Stop," she said.
Pascale stopped. One word commands were amazing, and Danielle didn't tend to use them so often that the child became a zombie - just enough for when she irritated her.
"Oh well, no reason to dig up the past now, is there?" She looked at him, grey eyes not so expressive as they had been once - where they had gone from shades of hematite to watery grey, to even a pale moon silver - now they were just a clear, smokey grey. No flecks of silver or white, like snow across a wintery sky. Nothing. Just.. a nice shade of grey.
So, Marcus was definitely the catalyst, but that still didn't explain anything to him. At this point, he was okay with just going with the flow and waiting for this craziness to end. For whatever reason, it hadn't yet, though he really didn't believe it was happening. He could be patient.
"No, I don't imagine it would help much to worry about it all now," he agreed, though her eyes completely threw him off. They looked so...dull in comparison to what he was used to seeing from Danielle, and it was kind of...frightening. What had happened to her eyes? Why were they no longer expressive and ever-changing, like he was used to? Was there a damn thing that was going to be the same as he remembered, or was this just supposed to confuse the hell out of him?
Danielle locked eyes with him for a moment, but it was very brief as she felt her heart beat rapidly down again, for approaching footsteps alerted her of an oncoming visitor. Riese.
"Hey sweetheart, we were standing up there like idiots thinking you'd already gone inside," he laughed, running his fingers through his spiked brown hair. He reached out to take Pascale from her, and the girl wiggled her hands at him menacingly until he did so. He smiled to Ash, but the two had never been close, so he wasn't really going out of his way to hug the man or anything. Ash had been closer to the Vidas than the Smokes.
Danielle smiled again, a demure thing, and shook her head. "Ash surprised me, so we stopped to talk. You go ahead with Pascale, we'll catch up." She pushed him off lightly and held her arm out to Ash.
"Shall we?"
She was in good health by appearance, and had even a light tan. Blonde hair was still the colour of spun sugar and vanilla, though it was lightly curled as though she'd done it for the evening. She looked so much like Danielle, and yet, so amazingly different at the same time.
Ash met Riese's smile with a nod of his own, deigning not to say anything while the man was there. Really, what could he say? It made him angry just to think about the fact that Dani was with him, that he was that child's father. He didn't want to deal with it.
He took her arm with all the grace of the feline he now was, but with the confidence of a man who was well aquainted with the French court of long ago. France may have been nothing special now, but it had once been a marvelous place. His problem was that he really didn't know what to say to her. He still didn't know what was going on, or how to go about dealing with it.
As she strode with Ash in silence, she took a short breath, and watched the form of Riese as he made his way back to the rest of the people. "So, what gives?" she pressed. "We used to talk all the time. You know because I have a family now doesn't mean I'm invalid and can't come out of the house," she said flatly. Leave it to Danielle.
She glanced over at the triste, aware that something was wrong, but couldn't put her finger on what. This Danielle had not spent so much time with him, or in the field, and so she wasn't as seasoned as she could have been, to detect underlying things that betrayed the truth of the matter. Instead, she just sensed some sort of hesitation - but even still in this world there were dozens of reasons why.
Nobody had really 'agreed' to her marriage - the two mothers had finally come to terms with it after they announced the expectancy of their first child. They eventually warmed up to the couple, but each seemed to have their own designs about how to raise Pascale - and the child had designs on how she was to be raised, herself. Danielle had already stated that she was going to be quite powerful, but it wasn't really the half of it. She had already begun to demonstrate potential from both lines. Danielle couldn't have found a better mate, had it been some sort of genetic test.
Well, she could have. But some people just couldn't reproduce. Hence the second best option. And the furthest thing from this Danielle's mind, apparently.
Weeeeeeell, he didn't exactly know what to say to her when she asked him that, considering as far as he remembered, they'd stayed in rather close contact. The fact that they hadn't in this strange situation didn't exactly make sense to him, so he honestly couldn't explain it properly. The best he could come up with was the issue of Midnight, and he wasn't going to bring that up to her, especially on her...anniversary.
Her anniversay.
He still hated the sound of that. But then, he could hardly expect, even in the situation he was familiar with, that Dani would ever be able to make herself happy with him. He could see it right here, her happiness at having that baby girl, and that was something he could never give her. Certainly, she was different from the Dani he knew, but he couldn't quite tell himself that the witch he'd stood by since her brother's death would absolutely never want a child. She was young, and most young women aren't sure they want a family from the start. If she decided that in even just a year, there would be nothing he could do about it, besides remind her of the numerous fish she'd killed over time. This wasn't for lack of wanting, of course, since Ash would have loved to have a little girl of his own, but it was simply impossible. If he could have given up the power he had in order to give that to Dani, he would have, but it was still an impossible feat. Maybe the whole point of this was to show him just how much better off she'd be with someone else. Someone who was actually alive, and not in the limbo sort of state he had. Someone who could give her a sweet little daughter.
"I would never think of you as being an invalid, Dani, don't be ridiculous," he told her, shaking his head, though his tone was light and amused. "Things have been rather...hectic on my end, and I doubt your husband would have appreciated me dragging you into those situations. Especially if you're intending to give Pascale a sibling."
Danielle was picking up a strange mixed emotion from him even so, again, and simply said nothing as he spoke, choosing to listen instead. Danielle had always been rational, and tried to think her decisions and words through before she threw them at people, knowing that her carefree days of youth were gone and she had more responsibilities than she did years ago.
"Well, this one wasn't as planned, but we're happy nonetheless." Their genetic expiraments, she and Riese called them, albeit endearingly. She worried slightly at his words, no matter how much of a humourous twist he tried to put on them.
"Ash, you can come to me for anything if you need me. I am not a delicate flower - I will not break. I've been trying to beat this into Riese's head for the last few years, but I fear he'll never get it. For a Smoke, he is still a man." She smiled lightly at him, turning her head just slightly, allowing her hair to curl around her face in a sly sort of way.
She couldn't help feeling that there was something hanging in the air she did not know. She stopped suddenly, staring at him, trying to sort him out. Danielle may not have been as powerful as Ash remembered her, but she was still a mother, and had a natural set of instincts now that were on par with what she was missing.
He smiled, keeping up the amused facade, though he found any humor in this situation to be merely ironic. The Dani he'd been so fond of really WAS a person he could go to with issues, even if she had a habit of EXPLODING over them. This woman? It was Dani, but...not. He knew he would never tell her what had happened in Midnight, so it was good that he was fairly certain this was all in his head. It was a mindfuck, it had to be.
"I know you're anything but delicate, you're a Vida," he reminded her. Just her name stated that she was no pushover. But this still wasn't HIS Dani, not really. "I'll keep your offer in mind."
He leaned in to give her a chaste kiss on the cheek, as simple as that. "Happy Anniversary."
Danielle had chosen that moment to turn her head, hearing someone call her name. Her lips brushed against his, and she took a visable step back, eyes wide with surprise. And Danielle didn't surprise easily - she blinked a few times, and then started laughing, almost nervously.
"You'd better watch out, triste," she said, shaking a finger at him. "Trying to get fresh with a married girl," she chided. She played it off like a joke, but the truth was, there was something strange going on her.
As they reached the restaurant on the harbor, she left Ash's side to go to Riese, taking Pascale's hand as the group walked into the establishment.
Marcus hung behind, waiting for Ash to catch up. "Hey, man, long time," he said, holding out his hand with less reluctance than Riese behaved. Marcus had, well, grown up around Ash. As firstborn and male, Ash was sort of a rolemodel to him since their father wasn't around.
She wasn't the only one startled by their lips brushing like that, and he too played it off like a joke, but his nervousness didn't come from the 'kiss' being a forbidden thing. His problem was that he should have been allowed to, and that was something he was still getting used to when all this was thrown at him. "I will try to behave myself, then," he told her, smiling slightly before they reached earshot of Riese and Marcus. Here came another hard part.
Marcus.
Ash had always been close to both children, but he hadn't taken a truly active role in Dani's life until she'd fallen apart over Marcus' death. And here was Marcus, alive. Ash took his hand in a firm shake, rather serious about this. Mindfuck or not, it was good to see Marcus. But it's not real...
"Far too long," he agreed.
At the shake, Marcus reeled Ash in for an unexpected hug. "It's good to see you again," he said, a rare moment when he wasn't being a usual precious shit and joking with everyone. He released him for a moment, and gestured to his sister, olive eyes wide as his brows raised.
"So yeah... Danielle married Riese, and I got screwed out of a best friend and a sister - literally." He laughed, giving him a shove on the shoulder. "Did you see Pascale yet? That little girl, man.. she's got me spooked. Danielle seems firm she can train her magic to run both ways. The little brat already gives me a hard time when we play hide and seek.. she's learned to 'hide' herself."
Ash had to agree with Marcus on that one, though he couldn't really tell the man why. All he could do was merely agree with him and move on. "It's definitely good to see you as well, Marcus. You're right about Pascale, though. Danielle may actually be able to train her in both magics, at the rate she seems to be advancing."
Or she would... If all of this was real, which he was doubting. "But then, being able to hide herself from you isn't all that difficult," he teased, smiling ever so slightly.
"Hey, hey. I've mellowed out a lot since then. That little scare back in the day made my mom realize that she wasn't going about teaching us stuff quite the right way. Spending that year with Aunt Dominique was good for... something." He chuckled.
Ah, so more of the pieces were put together. Evidently things had still happened in a severe way, but not with quite the.. grave outcomes. Celeste must have finally given in to Dominique's 'parenting from the side' and handed the teenagers to her for a year of -real- training. Celeste wasn't a bad mother, but she had never been able to balance out her blood when it came to arranging her children's magical teachings.
"Anyways, enough about that. How's the triste thing been going for you?" he asked, fussing with his shirt as they walked. Marcus had never been a 'proper dresser', as in, he preferred ratty jeans and flip flops to whatever the HELL Danielle had talked him into tonight. Button down.. ugh.
Ahh, that made sense, then. Hearing that they'd spent time with Dominique explained things rather well, considering Marcus hadn't died, and Dani was still somewhat dangerous, just not like she should be. "Really, tell me how that went," he said, honestly preferring to keep the subject of conversation away from him. He didn't want to get into what his life had been like, and he didn't want to end up mentioning something that had happened in this 'timeline'.
"I've been keeping busy, really. The Hollow is time-consuming, and I was hired to lace a vampire's home with firestone," he said, leaving out the details. No need to tell Marcus any of that.
Marcus shrugged. "Well, isn't my favourite memory, I guess, but you were gone a lot during that year so I guess I can offer a recap. You know how mom used to always... kind of put me and Danielle against eachother? But it was obvious she always favoured me? I think it had something to do with dad... Anyways. Dominique? She didn't play favourites. As soon as Danielle figured out how to kick my ass, she did it, and she did it over and over again. Don't let her fool you, she learned the mommy act from Dominique." He fell silent and shrugged.
"She's a good girl. She's just... a Vida woman," he said suddenly with a lopsided grin. There was absolutely no other way to explain that particular breed of female - something like a Spartan woman, one could guess. Proud, strong, defiant. Yeah.. that's Danielle.
"Anyways, it's all ancient history. After I learned that it wasn't the end of the world if someone didn't tell me how precious I was, I got a lot better, too. Riese and I stopped fucking around and all of us.. well, here we are. And man.. he's amazing, too. I don't know how he and Danielle can co-exist like they do, but he's got some power, too. Tamara wasn't ever quite that notable, but maybe.. I dunno. Maybe it skips a generation, like with Monica or something. No idea."
He shrugged again. "Whatever it is, if I didn't know any better I'd say it was planned."
Riese called to them from the entrance of the restaurant then, waving them inwards to sit down.
Planned, right. By some vampire who felt like fucking with Ash's head. That's who planned it.
Ash had remained relatively silent while Marcus talked, making the appropriate noises at the right times to show that he either agreed or understood. That was all that was really necessary, since the boy hadn't asked for Ash's opinion, and then Riese was calling them inside, so it didn't really matter.
Ash took the seat he was apparently supposed to take, wondering what the hell all of this was getting at and why he was there.
It was amazing how well-behaved Pascale was being, for all of her cereal throwing at Danielle earlier. The child seemed to deduce her surroundings rather quickly and had a very base level of right and wrong behaviour - IE anything that would make mommy spank her.
Danielle sat next to Riese, talking in a low tone to him so that nobody could really hear what they were saying, but the restaurant was so full that it didn't really matter anyways.
Marcus sat next to Ash, and then there were random friends scattered about from both families, some that knew Ash and some that did not. They all seemed stunning though, as a witch tended to do - the natural aura around them seemed to glow, making their table set apart from everyone else's.
"Okay," Riese said. "Before we begin, I'd like to say thank you all for coming. Danielle and I never would have made it this far without some of you. We also have a small announcement to make," he explained. "Danielle and I just found out a few weeks ago we're going to be expecting our second child."
There were cries of surprise and a brief applause, and Danielle blushed. "Aw, thanks guys. This means another 8 months of pampering and catering to my every demand, hahaha," she said menacingly, taking a sip of her water.
"We don't know what it is yet, but I'm sure you'll all be the first to know. I dunno if the world is ready for another Vida-Smoke, but I guess it doesn't have a choice."
Well, that was marvelous news. Ash smiled for Dani, but he was torn on this particular bit of information. He still believed that it couldn't all be true, but if it was....then he'd lost her. Of course, it it was somehow true, then he'd lost her long ago. The second child in her marriage was hardly a shocking blow to him, not like finding out about all of the rest had been, so he was somehow able to take it all better.
He was still horrible confused, but he could play along.
Danielle as a mother still...surprised him, he wasn't going to deny it. She seemed better adapted than he'd known her to be, though. Marcus was still around, an obvious difference that had to have been the catalyst, and Riese was there for her. Apparently, in whatever strange timeline this was, those two had essentially taken his place. It left him unsure of what his place really was here.
Whatever Danielle had begun to say seemed to blur suddenly, and turned oddly enough into the sound of an alarm clock. There was a banging and a shuffling, and her voice came loud and clear as the lights dropped.
"ASH. WAKE UP! YOU SAID A CAT NAP, NOT A DAMN SLUMBER!"
Danielle was kicking him in the side lightly, standing on top of her bed, with the alarm clock blaring and every light on. She looked like she'd been there for quite a while, judging from her tone. She dropped to her knees and jabbed him in the side.
"I'm going to get the catnip if you don't get up!" she threatened.
He woke up rather suddenly, thanks to the violent measures she was utilizing, but there was almost no comprehension as to where he was and what was going on. The last thing he remembered was sitting at a table watching Danielle and Riese announce their second child, with Marcus sitting beside him. Now...Dani was screaming and kicking him, and he was...in a bed.
It wasn't his.
Was this real? Or another mess like the last one? Was Riese going to show up to see what all the yelling was about, or Marcus? Maybe a vampire, to really screw with his mind?
"Where am I?" he asked, glancing quickly around as his power spread out over the room and then onward. He wanted to know if anyone else was in the apartment. No surprises.
Danielle stopped kicking, and dropped down onto her thick down comforter in a seated position almost effortlessly, like she was a teenage girl again. She sighed and flicked back short blonde strands of hair, rolling her eyes.
"Duh, Ash? You're in my apartment. We went for lunch then you said you were tired, so I told you to come lay down. I got busy doing shit in the other room and I realized that you told me to wake you up at six, which was like, two hours ago. So. This is me. Waking you up. Get up."
She nudged him with her foot again, the sock dangerously close to his face.
He still stared at her like he didn't think he believed her as she explained, trying to find the flaw, whatever was wrong with the situation. Was this really the right time? It wasn't another trick?
There was no way that was just a dream.
"Pascale? Where is she?" he asked, still not entirely sure. That had seemed way too real to be a normal dream, but it was starting to look like it might have been. He didn't want to just assume right off the bat, though. He had to pull his face out of the way of her foot, though. He was not getting smacked in the face with her sock, whether this was another mindfuck or real.
"Um, what?" she asked impatiently, kicking at his face a little more. He moved away, and she settled for mashing her foot onto his back, enjoying the idea that she was putting her nasty socked feet all over the Triste and getting away with it.
"I think you dosed a little too hard there, buddy," she said, pulling her feet away and swinging her legs off the side of the bed to sit up like a normal human being. "Come on, Darren's been blowing your cell phone up. I think he's really interested in leaving work at some point since you said you'd come in to relieve him, oh, an hour ago?"
Fortunately, he wasn't obsessive compulsive or anything that would have minded having her dirty socks on him, so long as it wasn't his face. He'd lived through the French Revolution, so he definitely knew what dirt was. Modern hygiene was so much better, but that was really beside the point of his whole situation. She didn't know who Pascale was? Did that mean?
Oh, shit, he remembered telling Darren he'd take the bar for him, and he groaned, sitting up. "I'll call him in a few."
What the hell had happened? He never slept so deeply that he wouldn't have heard the phone, and that had been such a strange, vivid dream. It wasn't something he was going to forget anytime soon. Was Dani better off with someone else? Yes, he knew that. She could never have children or a real life with him, just as Aimee hadn't been able to. She hadn't minded so much, but she was certainly not Danielle. He couldn't imagine Dani getting it into her mind that she wanted something and settling for anything else.
He wanted to ask her about some of the things from his 'dream', but bringing Marcus up wasn't ever a good idea, and Riese would no doubt make her think of her brother. That narrowed down his options some. "Danielle, what do you want out of your life?" he asked her, not even using her usual nickname for once. "Don't you eventually intend to settle down?"
She stared at him for a moment, that way a cat stares at you and you know it's looking at you and thinking about just how stupid you are. She blinked a few times, trying to wrap her head around the idea that Ash had not only finally learned her full name but also hit her up for information about her future.
"Uh... " she said. She cleared her short blonde hair behind her ear before she began again. "Listen, I don't know where this is all coming from, but if you're asking 'Will I ever get bitten by the baby bug?' the answer is no, and I have a doctor's note to prove it. I'm going in to get fixed in less than a month, thank Macht, so even if I ever do try and change my mind, past-Danielle will be smarter than future-Danielle and lock the trapdoor."
She tilted her head and eyed him. "Why?" she demanded suspiciously.
He frowned, not sure what he thought of that news, but he couldn't say he was against it. It was her choice, and it wasn't like he would have ever been fathering a child of hers. If she couldn't ever have children of her own it also saved him the awkward sort of jealousy he'd been feeling when he saw Pascale.
Her far simpler question was one of those loaded ones, and he really didn't even want to bother with it, but he couldn't foresee her just dropping it. He could lie, and he wasn't bad at that, but he didn't make it a point to be dishonest with her, so he rubbed at his face, pushed his hair out of his face, and opted for the truth. Most of it.
"Because I had a strange dream, and it reminded me that I can't offer you any semblance of a normal life. I want to be selfish and disregard it, but at the same time, I don't want you to be missing out on something you may someday want. Have you really thought that procedure through?" he asked, though he wasn't at all trying to talk her out of it. He just wanted to know that she really wanted what she was doing.
"Yes," she answered sharply. "I have. I'm not a child." That was all she felt necessary to even comment on. She knew Ash wouldn't try to talk her out of it, but she still didn't like discussing it with a great many number of people. Sarah actually had tried to con her out of it when they'd spoken on the phone previously, and Danielle had threatened to find her and kill her on her own for the offense.
"Anyways, I thought you didn't dream. I mean, I guess it makes sense, I just... I don't know. Figured you immortal super-magical types ran out of them eventually." She began tugging at the blankets, trying to make the bed around Ash.
He snorted at her comment, though not because it was particularly amusing or offensive. Compared to his years, she WAS a child, but he wasn't going to force his opinion down her throat. He'd learned long ago to offer advice, and then let people do what they wanted. For the most part, anyway.
"I wish I didn't dream, chere. I've had more nightmares in recent times than I can ever remember having before. Tristes behave mostly like humans, though. Vampires don't dream, but I am not a vampire," he explained, and he finally sighed and stood up so that she could make the bed, rather than remain there while she tried to tug at the blankets like that.
"That sucks," she commented absently as she finally was able to make the bed when he released the covers of his bodily hostage. She smoothed it down and then turned to look at him. "I guess I don't really talk to you a lot about the dreams and stuff like that. It's actually never come up before now." She arched a brow. "You dream about me a lot?"
She wasn't necessarily fishing, although there was some intent there somewhere behind all that sarcastic humor she bore him in the question. She folded her arms, raising her chin a little to look at him. "Cos, really, that's kind of cute. And I don't think you want the word out that you're behaving 'cute', do you?"
"Sometimes, it does," he agreed, though he had to hesitate and watch her carefully when she continued. No, they didn't often talk about things such as dreams, though he thought that was mostly because he didn't think she needed to know what plagued his dreams, and she didn't seem to want to share her own dreams with him. Neither had a habit of prying.
"I dream about a lot of things," he informed her easily, meeting her gaze as though her 'threat' didn't bother him. Really, it didn't. Even if 'the word got out' that he was doing something 'cute', he didn't think most people would make an issue of it. "But yes, I suppose I dream about you often enough. Is it really 'cute' to dream about the people you care about?"
Yes, he'd just freely admitted that he cared about her, but it hardly mattered to him if he said it. He obviously DID care, so it wasn't like it was a huge surprise. She'd already known that for quite some time.
"Okay, I didn't expect you to go all serious with me," she said, obviously a little surprised by his answer. She was still coming to terms with a lot, although things had definitely settled down some since the last few encounters they'd had. She wrapped an arm around him nonetheless.
"Listen, dream about whatever you want, but try not to think too hard on them, okay? Come on, after a billion years, even you should know a dream is just a dream. Now get your lazy ass to work before Darren quits." She rolled onto her toes to plant a light kiss on his cheek.
He really couldn't help being serious right then, considering the weirdness of that vivid dream, but he smiled nonetheless about her reaction. "A billion years? I must have slept later than I thought," he mused, considering making a move to take her lips for a real kiss, but hesitating enough that she'd already withdrawn from her peck on his cheek. Why, he couldn't really say, but he got over it quickly enough that he dropped a kiss on her lips before withdrawing to splash some water on his face and make sure he didn't have horrible bed head.
If he did, Darren would never let him live it down. He wasn't going to tell the young shifter that he'd come in late because he'd taken a nap and overslept, or he'd be hearing old man jokes for the rest of the shifter's time there.
"He won't quit," he called out conversationally rather suddenly, having been thinking about it. That whole situation was amusing, actually. "He'll just whine at me until he leaves, decide that he doesn't mind getting the extra hours, and then go home and do relatively little for the rest of the evening. I guarantee it."
She smiled a little at his returned kiss, and followed him to the bathroom, leaning against the door frame as he fixed his hair, taking the moment to smooth some of her own unruly strands back down. She was enjoying the shorter haircut, but the problem of it being in her eyes had not been fixed. She supposed she was destined to fail in that regard.
"Well, whatever the case, I have things around the apartment that need to be done, so you go do that, and I'll meet you down there later for some company."
She gave him a swift hug before he left, and then became quickly involved in re-organizing her DVDs, of which she had roughly 300. Danielle was an impulse buyer.