the ground could open, he could still say please

[slavophile]

Comments

[undermyfeet]

[Danny waits until Bonnie is out of earshot before pulling out his phone. From the look at the time, he knows he's going to have to go back to work, but at least he can make plans for when he gets out, and sends a quick text to his girlfriend:]

Can I come over after work?

[jockwitch]

As long as you promise not to completely distract me with your charming Britishness. Apparently in college they assign reading your first week.

Oh, maybe you could read out loud to me.

[undermyfeet]

Actually, I kind of need to talk to you about something.

[But she doesn't need him as a distraction, so he backs off.]

But if you're busy tonight we can talk later.

[jockwitch]

I'm only as busy as I decide and I decided for the both of us. I'll get my reading done before. But, next chapter you're all mine.

Like tonight.

I'll order in Chinese around eight? We can sit in the common room and make everyone jealous of our happiness.

( How many people come to school already in a relationship? )

[undermyfeet]

Sounds perfect. See you then.

[And he will head back to work, doing his best not to think about the giant decision that was dropped on him until then. But around 8 pm, he arrives at her dorm and texts up that he's arrived and she should come let him.]

[jockwitch]

( The elevator though modern is slow so it's a five minute slog to come down, let him in, and lead him back up.

Luckily, nobody has taken their spot since she's been gone. Great, because it's her Chinese and she paid for it.

She likes the common area, not just because all eyes that pass are on her, but because she doesn't want to ask Alice to leave every time she wants boyfriend time. They find it while she's out, but she doesn't want to keep asking. With Josie, she only really needed her time with Finch and then with Hope post humanity-loss. So, it isn't as if she doesn't find her own solutions.

Settling down, she hands him his disposable plate so they can pick at what they want.

She tries to mask her vague level of worry (10) because she never likes anyone just asking her to talk, but she also believes in her relationship as new as it is. Her guess? Witch business. She hopes it's witch business and not about them. )

So, what did you want to talk about?

[undermyfeet]

[Danny rubs at his forehead because yeah. Probably better to rip off the bandaid and get it out there.]

You know that witch friend of Bonnie's who's not really her friend but he somehow always manages to show up when bad shit happens?

[Because yes. That's the best way to describe David.]

[jockwitch]

The literal portent of everything falling apart. Let me take a wild guess. Everything is going to fall apart.

( How many dead hunters this time? )

This is about you, isn't it?

[undermyfeet]

[He nods, then pauses and shakes his head.]

It both is and isn't? Basically the Colony thinks I'm dead, so since there are no heirs left in Knightsbridge, they're making a play for it themselves. There's this thing called the Gauntlet, and it's basically a giant death match for the crown of the Colony. They have one more heir left to inform before it begins.

Unfortunately, that heir knows what the rest of the Colony doesn't - that I'm alive and what I look like. Remember Maura, the witch we met in Prague?

[He's not sure he's telling her all of this in the right order, but it's a good start.]

[jockwitch]

The shifty brunette.

( What's the Gauntlet? She's a little lost in the order, it's true, but the seriousness rings through. She remembers. Neither her nor Josie trusts the woman but they had no choice and everything happened so fast. )

Making a play for what, Danny? For you? Are you in danger?

[undermyfeet]

Well. Again, yes and no. The shifty brunette is Colony and she knows I'm alive but they're currently trying to find her so ... I don't know. I don't know what that means. But according to David as far as the rest of the Colony is concerned, I'm dead.

[He runs his hands through his hair as he leans back.]

They're going after the collective power. The coven power. So either I try to get it at the autumn solstice, or I might never be able to get it back.

[jockwitch]

What happens if they get to it before you do? It's theirs? It's not theirs. It's yours. It's your legacy.

( The Colony sounds like old school bad news. )

[undermyfeet]

Technically it's theirs too. The Colony used to be part of my coven, but they parted ways a long time ago.

[And it was a very messy divorce.]

So if one of their heirs tried to take it, they could, if they knew the ritual. The Colony's Inner Circle is offering it up as the prize for a giant witch bloodbath. So I could try and take it now, and really put myself on their radar, for better or worse. Or I could let them have it, and fade into obscurity, where I always should have been.

[jockwitch]

You're not a footnote.

( She doesn't date footnotes. )

You're meant for something. It would've been your sister's and then yours. It's meant for you. That coven branched off all on their own, you owe them nothing. And if you take all that power then they can't. It's yours and yours alone.

[undermyfeet]

And then I become a target in a bloody witch war. Not just me, you and your sister and Bonnie and Eliza and ...

[He huffs as he runs a hand through his hair.]

I never even wanted it. I don't know if I want it now. Right now all I know is that I don't want them to have it and I'm not sure that that's a good enough reason to take it.

[jockwitch]

Wasn't it going to be yours eventually? When you were ready. After New York.

( Why wouldn't he want it? )

Can you take it and hide it? Josie kept her magic in a coin back when she wanted to live without it.

[undermyfeet]

No, not really. It's not just a pour source, it's centuries of knowledge. And how is that fair to my coven if I do? The person who takes this is supposed to lead them.

[The person who takes it is stepping up and saying yes, I will keep you safe, and lead you in the right direction. He can't take it and turn it off, leaving his coven floundering until he decides he's "ready."]

Honestly, I've already waited too long.

[jockwitch]

So, David's forcing you?

( She's a little lost in all this. )

What happens if you take it? Am I dating a future walking bullseye?

[undermyfeet]

No. He wanted me to know the choice was there before it was taken away.

[David was making sure he was aware of how the playing field was changing.]

And maybe? It's not just about me. What does it say about me if I leave my coven in the hands of the Colony just to save my own neck?

[jockwitch]

I don't care what it says. I was the crazy Saltzman girl who could never regulate her emotions so don't ask me to care about what other people think.

( She was able to decide when she made her big transition, knowing it would end only one way with Hope. )

I care about your neck, not your coven's. But if you care, if you want to stand up for them, I'll be there with you.

[undermyfeet]

I care what you think.

[Of him. Given that she is his girlfriend, and he would like her to continue being with him. But she does answer the question, and he nods.]

I don't know what to do. I have a week to figure it out. But ... we should be prepared for a witch war, regardless of what I do.

[jockwitch]

Then it's a good thing you have a heretic for a girlfriend.

( Try her. Just try her. )

What do you want to do?

[undermyfeet]

It still doesn't feel like it's mine.

[Not his birthright, even if it is. He drums his fingers against his thigh and sighs.]

I want my coven to be safe. They've sacrificed a lot to protect me, I don't want that to be for nothing.

[But he also doesn't feel like he's ready.]

[jockwitch]

It won't be. It could never be, Danny.

( She flops back against the couch, arm over her forehead. )

First hunters who worked with witches and now witches who hunt other witches.

[undermyfeet]

Colony's always been ... messy.

[At least as far as the stories are concerned.]

You should talk to Hope's family. Make sure you have somewhere safe to go, just in case.