John - Post Asylum

[london_spy]

He'd woken up in his own bed. Alone. Safe. Normal. Danny didn't understand why or what that meant. His first instinct was to call Greg, but his phone wasn't working at all. the screen was shattered and when he plugged it in there was no sign of life.

He supposed he'd have to go get a new one.

Coffee in hand he found himself just walking, past the hospital where Greg should be checking in for his shift, past the flat Hex shared with Flynn and the others, then past the hotel where John had been staying. He could have gone into any off those places, but he just wasn't brave enough to see who was there and who remembered him.

He stared at John's hotel a beat longer, then began to walk again.

Comments

[london_spy]

Danny laughed, smiling as he gathered their plates and started to wash up.

[petty_dabbler]

"What about you? What'd you get up to when you were a lad?" John asked as he debated going outside again.

[london_spy]

"Drugs, mostly. Left home when I was fifteen, came straight to London. Drugs, fucking, more drugs," Danny said honestly.

[petty_dabbler]

"I do love a good tale of misspent youth," John smirked.

[london_spy]

"Mine would have been much worse if I hadn't met Scottie. He took me under his wing, took care of me even when I was hell bent on ruining myself," Danny admitted, looking somber for a moment.

He missed Scottie, missed having someone to look out for him.

[petty_dabbler]

"How's taking care of yourself working out for you now?" he asked, leaning back comfortably and tilting his head to look at Danny.

[london_spy]

"Fine. I mean- I suppose I'm doing okay. I'm back in school... I'm working. That's good, right?" Danny shrugged.

[petty_dabbler]

"Sounds...safe," he nodded. "Ambitious, even."

[london_spy]

"You think?" Danny asked, sitting back down. "No one's ever described me as ambitious," he snorted.

[petty_dabbler]

"When all your life has been fucking and getting high? Yeah, I'd say going to school and starting a business are ambitious," John said thoughtfully.

[london_spy]

"I just wish I'd done it sooner. I wasted so much time," Danny confessed.

[petty_dabbler]

"No, I don't think so," John said. "Things happen when they're supposed to Danny. Trust me on that."

[london_spy]

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure of that?" Danny asked.

[petty_dabbler]

Oh, you know. I had tea with Destiny of the Endless and I got to take a peek in his Eternal Book...

"Just a hunch," he said. "There more coffee left in the pot?"

[london_spy]

"Yeah, help yourself," Danny nodded, pulling out his phone to see if he had any messages. ...Well, messages from Greg, to be exact. Though he didn't see one yet. Must have been a late night.

[petty_dabbler]

John got up to pour another, not thinking until he was actually pouring.

"You want me to top you off?" he called.

[london_spy]

"No, that's alright, you can have it," Danny smiled. "I don't drink much coffee in the morning," he admitted.

[petty_dabbler]

"I drink too much," John chuckled. "I'll never turn down a cup."

He came back and saw Danny's phone and just knew.

"Did he message you back yet?" he asked.

[london_spy]

"No. Must have been up late with James," Danny said quietly, his thumb hovering a little over the screen before he turned it off and put it down. He didn't want to be a pest.

"His partner's really ill. Cancer. ...Untreatable," he explained.

[petty_dabbler]

"That's a bitch," he said, thinking of the tumours that riddled his own lungs. But the significant other would eventually die. John didn't get that luxury.

[london_spy]

"Yeah," Danny said softly. "Yeah, it's miserable."

[petty_dabbler]

"So, uh..." he started, then paused. There was no good way to ask. "You just waiting around for him to drop?"

[london_spy]

"What? No- God, no, it's not- It's not like that," Danny replied, looking upset. "I know what it's like to lose someone you love. My last boyfriend was murdered, and I- I'll never recover from that. If I had it my way, Greg would never go through that, even if it meant I'd be alone forever."

[petty_dabbler]

"I didn't mean to...it's rough losing people you love. I just wonder if waiting for a guy who doesn't text back is what's going to make you happy."

Jesus, John. Shut the fuck up. Leave him alone. Walk. Away.

[london_spy]

"Greg's been really good to me," Danny said softly.