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Things are calming down in Beacon Hills.
Well, things will probably never fully calm down in Beacon Hills, but there’s been a definite decrease in mysterious deaths, which is a plus in Danny’s book. He’d only found out about werewolves and all other supernatural happenings recently and it kind of knocked him for six – which is pretty understandable. Discovering that half the town has been involved in a minor degree of bloodshed allows for a certain degree of what the fuckery.
But after he’d taken a few deep breaths, Danny had done what he’d always done in times of confusion and trouble; Googled it. Even as they sit in the cafeteria for lunch, Scott, Isaac and Lydia are picking through Danny and Stiles’ latest research project (yeah, Danny and Stiles had kind of become research buddies – though, on no uncertain terms did it mean they could get matching t-shirts, Danny had warned Stiles of this and Stiles sulked all the way through their Selkie project)
“What’s a Green Lantern comic doing in the folder?” Isaac asks curiously, plucking up the offending article. “Do Selkies have terrible taste in heroes or something?”
Danny chokes on his apple and stares. Isaac blinks innocently – so another development for Danny had been his social life and ever expanding social circle. With Jackson still being in London (and, after the earful Danny had given him after he found out about werewolves, temporary exile) Danny had wound up hanging out with the merry band of werewolves and associating with people he never thought he’d even talk to.
“It must have got mixed in – and don’t you mean excellent comic book taste?” Danny corrects pointedly. Isaac raises an eyebrow.
“I stand by what I said.”
And he’s got this cocky grin and Danny’s desperately resisting the urge to smirk back or poke his tongue out or do something ridiculously childish. It’s bizarre; a year ago, Isaac was just this quiet, oddly threatening kid who always had a strange aura of tragedy and pity about him. Now he’s this dryly sarcastic, witty guy who’s slowing creeping in from the sidelines of Danny’s life.
Danny’s pretty sure he doesn’t mind at all.
[TO: ISAAC] hey, its Danny. Just thought you should have my number in case of emergencies.
[FROM: ISAAC] okay, how did you get my number btw??
[TO: ISAAC] mostly legal means, I swear
[FROM: ISAAC] oh. i just figured that you asked scott or whatever
[TO: ISAAC] sure, that works too
Two days later, Danny is sat in the library attempting some last minute cramming, when the chair to his right creaks with the weight of a visitor. He glances up to find Isaac staring back at him
“For your re-education.” Isaac slides over a couple of well-worn Spiderman issues. Danny takes them, flicking through the pages hesitantly.
“Spiderman? That’s a little…basic, isn’t it?”
Isaac huffs. “Total heresy coming from the guy who reads Green Lantern.”
“Ouch.”
Isaac taps the stack meaningfully. “I mean it. Read. Learn. Benefit.”
Isaac’s gone as quickly as he came. Danny skims through the comics briefly, a weird nostalgia burning in his chest. He gently slides the comics into his bag and pushes them to the back of his mind.
[FROM: ISAAC] have you started researching mermaids with stiles?
[TO: ISAAC] yeah, you need anything in particular?
[FROM: ISAAC] can you get mermaids, but like, mermaids with legs?
[TO: ISAAC] those are called people
[FROM: ISAAC] ..
[FROM: ISAAC] she has gills
[TO: ISAAC] probably not a person then
[FROM: ISAAC] shocker
[TO: ISAAC] give us five minutes, we’ll figure it out
The mystery of the non-mermaid is never exactly solved, but the gill-woman never makes a reappearance, so Danny counts it as a win.
After their little exchange, however, the texts with Isaac grow more frequent and friendly, and they meet up outside of school just – well, just because.
Danny slithers over a small, muddy hillock and curses for the eighteen thousandth time that evening. He’d been out walking the dog when the little brat had broken free of its collar and scampered off into the fast approaching dark.
“Rudolf!” Danny hollers out into the quiet. “Rudolf, here, now! Rudolf! Rudolf!”
“Danny?”
Danny resolutely did not scream in shock and turns morosely to Isaac, who leans against a tree and watches Danny with a look of concerned curiosity.
“You okay?”
Danny shakes his head. “Rudolf ran away.”
“Have all of the other reindeer been giving him a hard time again?”
Isaac’s sense of humour tends to crop up when Danny least expects it. It’s kind of awesome.
“Rudolf is a dog. A stupid, bratty, ratty little dog who doesn’t understand the meaning of ‘heel’.”
“Come to think of it, I did hear somebody screaming ‘heel, you little bastard!’. I take it that was you?”
Danny nods, appropriately abashed by the vocalisation of his total ineptitude in handling his brother’s pet hellion – sorry, dog.
“Need a hand finding him? It won’t be hard for me to track.”
Danny’s too tired to answer using words, so he just gathers Isaac in a grateful, full body hug and nods against his chest.
It takes hours. Hours. Total darkness has fallen by the time Danny hears the promising rustle of foliage and small, muffled barks.
“Is this him?”
Isaac comes up and over a mound of earth, a bedraggled Rudolf clutched in his hands. Danny sighs; one long, relieved gush of air which instantly uncoils all the panicked tension that had been building over their search.
“Oh God thank you. I owe you Isaac, seriously, anything you want just ask. Homework answers, tech stuff, sexual favours - ”
The tail end of Danny’s sentence tapers off into an awkward stutter. Isaac grins wryly, but Danny spies a slight pink tinge to his cheeks.
“Joking.” Danny mutters awkwardly. Isaac clears his throat and hands Rudolf over.
“I know.”
[TO: ISAAC] I just broke into the sheriffs office
[FROM: ISAAC] am I an accessory to crime now that I know??
[TO: ISAAC] unlikely. I only broke in because Stiles was locked in. I was just proud of breaking in undetected
[FROM: ISAAC] youd probably make an excellent criminal
[TO: ISAAC] thats all I needed to hear
The thing is, Danny knows himself. Not on a deep philosophical/psychological soul-searching level, he just knows the stupid stuff he’s prone to do - like falling for guys who are really bad for him. He’ll hold his hands up and admit that he’s kind of been charmed by Isaac, but that’s as far as it can go because if he lets himself get in further, he’ll start to like Isaac.s
And Isaac – werewolfy, dangerous, gorgeous Isaac can only mean bad news. Right?
Right.
[TO: ISAAC] just admit that the art style in Green Lantern is good
[FROM: ISAAC] well of course the art style is good, doesnt mean the story or hero is.
[TO: ISAAC] you just need to read between the lines
[FROM: ISAAC] I can barely tolerate reading the actual lines. and you HAVE to agree the that film adaption was a crime
[TO: ISAAC] travesty.
[FROM: ISAAC] … listen danny, weve been talking for a while but I think were avoiding talking about something in particular
[TO: ISAAC] I know, I know
[FROM: ISAAC] so
[TO: ISAAC] so
[FROM: ISAAC] marvel or DC??
The storm howls and darts through the trees of the preserve, alongside the wolves. Danny watches his friends strip past and continues squirting honey everywhere, only pausing for a second to reflect how weird his actions were.
Faeries had taken up residence in the preserve and faeries were about as far from pleasant as Danny could imagine. Childhood tales of sweet, meek beings that only existed to grant wishes were soon destroyed by the sight of the scaly, winged beasts that were slowly approaching the literal honey trap.
Faeries were roughly two foot tall, thick skinned and thick limbed. Their wings were almost like their fictional counterparts; blackish gossamer like things protruding from their gnarled backs. Their faces were pinched and unfriendly and their teeth were unnervingly sharp.
Danny squirts the last of the honey on the ground and steps back, watching the faeries flock. Two other things were kind of a surprise about faeries – one, they were addicted to honey and two, they were magical pranksters. Big time. The only reason the pack had been alerted to the faeries presence was the sudden spate of mysterious – occasionally hilarious, but most dangerous – occurrences. Allison had temporarily sprouted bunny ears. Stiles barked instead of talking (which Isaac claimed was mostly an improvement) and the Sheriff – well, the Sheriff set fire to everything he touched.
“They’re here.” Danny mutters, hoping that the wolves’ ears pick up his voice over the ferocious wind. The faeries are feasting on the honey mushed into the ground, mud and leaves mingling with their sticky meal. Danny watches in grim fascination.
And then one of the faeries spots him and starts to creep closer. Others soon spot it and they join in, advancing with surprising speed.
And Danny doesn’t know what to do.
Seriously doesn’t know what to do. He can’t leave them, he has to keep them all in one place - and if they’re going after him, that counts, right? Faeries are omnivorous, he researched this. He also knows they’ve been known to eat lost travelers. He also knows that he’s screwed.
“They’re here!” Danny calls over the cacophony of the storm. “Back up would be appreciated!”
Danny prides himself on his ability to keep a level head, but right now, that seems kind of a big ask. He’s about to be eaten by faeries. Someone will have to explain this to his parents. Danny stumbles in reverse away, his back hit a tree with a firm thump. The faeries edge closer and closer, mud and honey around their jaws.
A dark hulking shape comes hurtling up and Danny realizes it’s Isaac – and even thought Danny grown pretty pleased to the sight of him, right now, Isaac is like a celestial apparition. Isaac slots himself firmly in between the faeries and Danny, snarling threatening, his grip vice like around Danny wrist as if the tether him in place. The faeries seem unfazed by the display, pointed fingers reaching out and grabbing thin air. Danny flinches slightly, the honey bottle in his hand spurting out a few droplets which sends a few of the smaller faeries into a frenzy.
“I think they want the honey bottle.” Isaac hisses between low snarls. Without further ado, Danny hurls the bottle to the patch of honey and immediately, the faeries follow, clambering over each other to feast on the sickly remnants clinging to the inside of the bottle.
“C’mon.” Isaac tugs Danny hard. “Everyone else knows what to do.”
The stumble and run, Isaac half hauling Danny over the slippery turf.
“You okay?” Isaac asks grimly, steering Danny towards their fleet of cars. Danny can only offer a pained, drawn out groan.
“I was nearly eaten by faeries.” He shakes his head. “Seriously, when did my life become this?”
“Technically they didn’t nearly eat you. They might have bitten your hand off for that honey bottle, I guess - ”
Danny looks to him beseechingly. “A little pity would be nice.”
Isaac squeezes his wrist sympathetically, “I wasn’t gonna let them hurt you.”
And then Danny realizes that throughout the small scale rescue mission, Isaac hadn’t let go once.
Suddenly, Danny is a little more comforted.
Isaac takes Danny home and they sit in his room, sipping drinks and chatting late into the night. The storm outside is still howling, but its oddly peaceful and strangely safe to be holed up inside with Isaac.
“Did you ever read those Spiderman comics I leant you?”
Danny shirks, grinning guilty. “Um, no.”
Now, Danny knows it was a little rude to have forgone Isaac’s suggestions, but he has an excellent reason for doing so – Isaac, however, seems to take Danny’s rejection of Spiderman to heart. His face falls and he almost deflates on the spot. Sometimes, Isaac’s reactions are totally unpredictable.
“Oh.” He says quietly. “Well, it’s just I kind of wanted them back, so - ”
The guilt at the sight of Isaac’s face actually hurts. Danny stammers out an apology before he’s actually consumed by the feeling.
“I promise you, I didn’t ignore them or anything. I have a reason, I swear.” Danny sighs, meeting Isaac’s eye. “This is going to sound pathetic, but Spiderman is the only comic I could ever get Jackson to read and – yeah, I just really miss him. So this is just me pining for my best friend and being a little bit pathetic about it.”
“Oh.”
And then. Isaac starts laughing.
See? Totally unpredictable reactions.
“God,” Isaac wheezes, oblivious to Danny’s befuddlement. “Since when did Spiderman become such a source of sentimentality? The reason I like Spiderman is just – is just because Camden used to be so nuts on him.”
The weird, giddy, shouldn’t-be-laughing-at-this-but-its-weirdly-funny hysteria is catching and Danny is joining in though he seriously doesn’t know why.
“We’re sleep deprived.” Isaac takes a deep, calming breath and visibly unwinds. He rolls his head, stretching out a crick in his neck and spies the clock. “We’ve been up talking all night.”
His voice has lost all giggly hysteria and is suddenly soft and unguarded.
“Oh.” Danny blinks, suddenly aware of the sleep grit in his eye. “I didn’t even notice.”
“Yeah.” Isaac says quietly. “Neither did I.”
[TO: ISAAC] for sale: one spoilt, yappy, annoying dog
[FROM: ISAAC] want me to come growl him into submission?
[TO: ISAAC] is that some kind of animal cruelty?
[FROM: ISAAC] i hope not, or else ive been traumatising the annoying dog that lives next door for weeks now
[TO: ISAAC] well please come and traumatise this one. he just ate my first issue Green Latern
[FROM: ISAAC] good dog
Valentine’s Day is a pointless, vapid, commercialholiday which has absolutely no redeeming value or meaning. It’s simply there to give couples a chance to be smug and couplish and –
Okay, so maybe Danny’s a little bitter about being single on Valentine’s Day. Whatever. At least he has vague plans for the evening.
With Isaac.
Not the sort of plans he’d like to have with Isaac, but close enough.
Oh God, he’s pathetic.
Their vague plans are a quick drive around the perimeter. It’s the standard security drive, carried out every week and its only by sheer coincidence that their shift falls on Valentine’s Day. They drive goes on as it normally does – easy chit chat, comfortable silences, gentle teasing. Danny honestly loves it and, like always, he’s a little heartbroken when they begin their journey back home.
“Danny,” Isaac begins quietly, breaking Danny’s loved-up angst. “Can I ask you something?”
Danny shrugs. “Sure.”
Isaac fidgets in his seat and the anxiety building in the confined space of the car is starting to affect Danny too.
“Isaac?”
“Do you want to go to dinner?”
So Danny has been hoping to hear words like those for weeks. Months. And still, he can’t quite contain the giddy grin and the quavering voice as he shifts in his seat.
“You mean ‘dinner’ dinner?” He asks, aiming for breezy and casual but probably coming across as ridiculously thrilled. Isaac cocks his head.
“Is that your way of asking if I ‘like’ like you?”
“Kind of.”
Isaac’s smile looks almost guilty and he nods, “well yeah, Despite the fact you’re reducing my skills of romancing to that of a second grader. I ‘like’ like you, Danny.”
“’like’ like.” Danny repeats seriously. “I’m touched.”
“It’s what every guy wants to hear on Valentine’s Day, I’m sure.”
He reaches out – because he can – and slowly slips a hand to cup Isaac’s jaw and brings him in for a soft, lingering touch of lips. Isaac’s hands curve around his waist, holding him closer and he sighs into the kiss.
Danny and Isaac have been together for nearly six months – which must mean it’s been about a year since Danny first started to get his little crush which turned into full blown love. He allows himself to indulge in some giddy, lovesick bliss and rolls over to face Isaac, duvet twisting around him.
“Do you ever just sit back and think about how much everything has changed?”
Isaac smiles sleepily. “Sometimes. It’s a lot to think about, I guess. I have a pretty amazing boyfriend, no-one is actively out to kill us and I’m really…happy. A lot has changed, really, but it definitely all for the better.”
Danny coils his hand around Isaac’s and leans into his cheat and it’s the perfect moment - right up until Isaac hums thoughtfully and says.
“Green Lantern still sucks, though.”