Kieren, AU

[stillplaysball]

Soulmate!verse: Everyone has one, a name that appears like a tattoo one day. The person who's supposed to be your soulmate. Some people find theirs. Most don't, most settle for who's there. That name can show you things you never expected about yourself, could be someone you can't stand. The idea of belonging to someone can bring just as much pain as it can joy.

Kieren is a new transfer to BHHS, halfway through senior year. Kieren is the name on Danny's wrist. Kieren is also dead. Mostly. After a week of friendship, Kieren and Danny have just learned about the names on each other's wrists, and Danny has just learned Kieren's secret. He's still trying to process it all.


[[Thread continued from here:]]

Almost twenty-four. Okay. Five, six years age difference isn't that big a deal. He's dated lots of older guys. It definitely isn't the biggest hurdle here. He just...doesn't think about the lack of change, what that will mean for Kieren's future, just like he doesn't think about that missing three, four years or so. He assumes. "How old were you before?" It's not like the answer is going to have the biggest impact on what he does next, just...it's safer than the other questions. And regardless of all this, he still wants to know more about Kieren. They've only known each other a week. Maybe if Danny learns more, knows him better before they leave, he'll be able to figure this all out.

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[partiallydead]

"Eighteen," he mumbles. It's still an adjustment for Kieren. He watches his little sister turn into his big sister. She's growing, with whatever troubles she has, but she still has a shot at living a normal life. Even if Kieren could pass as human all of the time people will eventually catch on. The boy that never changes.

[stillplaysball]

"I'm eighteen in another month." Yeah, definitely not thinking about what that's going to mean for the future. That is, assuming this is a thing that's actually happening and not just some elaborate prank. God. He's not sure which one he's hoping for more. Bizarrely, guiltily, selfishly, he's been hoping for something, anything to wake him up. It feels like he's been sleepwalking for years now, and he just...is it wrong of him to think this might be that thing? Just his luck.

He can't help the little laugh that escapes him at the absurdity of the situation, how he's already talking like it's fact. How it figures that his soulmate is a zombie, or some bizarre sentient equivalent. And maybe the worst part is, he genuinely likes Kieren. "Sorry. Just...sorry. Guess that was your family's reason for the move, huh? Why force you to go through high school again, though? The whole...not aging thing?" It makes sense, to him at least.

[partiallydead]

"My parents want me to have a normal life," he answers after a moment. Kieren doesn't even want to think about Danny growing old. That opens up a whole world of problems, but more importantly, Kieren doesn't know if they have a future together. As friends or something more, it all feels very delicate right now.

"Back home, ah, back in Lancashire everyone knew. They didn't like it, but they knew, and it was fine for a while... No, it was never fine. It was dangerous." All it'd take is one wrong move and a townsfolk would be more than happy to put a bullet through his head.

[stillplaysball]

Normal life. He can see the lure of that from their perspective, he guesses. How sometimes pretending everything is normal and fine hurts less. He's seen his parents do it for years. But there's something to be said for accepting that things have changed, that they aren't at all what you hoped or wished for, and finding a new way to be. Maybe he believes Kieren after all. He's never been very good at denial, and there's a lot of fact starting him in the face, a story too intricate to be a lie. Maybe he just wants to believe because it's Kieren, and they're friends, no matter how short a time it's been.

At the mention of danger he squeezes Kieren's hand again, shifting slightly closer as they talk. Yeah, he can also see where people might really not like the dead not staying that way. Dangerous, wrong, terrifying, he'd have thought, but that was before he knew Kieren. Even after a week, he knows this boy next to him isn't any of those things. Just sad, lost, lonely. He understands. "Hey, there's some perks to high school, at least the whole graduating part. You could go to art school. Focus on your painting. Be an artist. It doesn't have to be a bad life, here." And Danny's here, but...he can't say that. Doesn't have the right to say it, not until he's sure he can handle everything Kieren is.

[partiallydead]

"I was going to go to college, before, and study art," he says, rambling, because talking is better than over thinking things. "I haven't done any painting since... well. My hands don't quite move the same as before."

He's also afraid of what he'll paint. It's always been a release for him, painting. There'd always been a melancholy to his works from before and he'd come to accept that. After what he's been through, after what he's seen and done, Kieren doesn't want to know what he'll end up showing the world through a painting.

[stillplaysball]

Not quite the same. Yet another fact he files away, waiting to connect it to all the rest. He can panic at home, once he's done his research, once he's done whatever digging there is to do. Kieren deserves better, and for the moment he's just treating those tense 'before's as 'before we moved's. Danny nods, glancing up at Kieren then out across the waves.

"You never did bring your sketchbook to school. Can I still see your art sometime?" He genuinely means it. Both the question, and the implication that they should hang out again. As long as Kieren isn't lying, as long as his mind can stretch without snapping...He wants this to not be the last time they see each other. Names or no names, it's been a long time since he's had that sort of easy friendship.

[partiallydead]

Kieren nods as he follows Danny's gaze towards the waves. Sometimes he wonders what would have happened if he had died differently. If there was a way he could have died forever. It's a dark thought he tries to ignore but he's seen the pain and suffering he's brought to his family. Sometimes he wonders if a second chance at life was worth all of this.


"I'll bring one of my old sketchbooks on Monday." If he makes a promise perhaps Danny will still want to talk to him then. Maybe they can forget all this, continue on being friends like the previous week. He doesn't want to hurt Danny and Kieren knows anything more than friendship will eventually.

[stillplaysball]

For what it's worth, Danny will always think second chances are worth it. It's so easy to screw up, and knowing that he was so close to never knowing the person that name belonged to at all...Even with everything, he can't help feeling grateful for it. Even if it isn't what he'd thought it might be. Even though thinking about it too hard makes his head hurt and his heart pound. The sheer fact that he's gotten a chance to know Kieren...that has to be worth something, and the memory of those not-quite-scars on Kieren's arms keeps him remembering that. That he was so very close to never having this at all.

"Gonna hold you to that this time," he says, and though there are shadows in his eyes when he looks back at Kieren, his smile is real. Maybe with that, they can keep being friends. Maybe he can pretend just as well as Kieren that everything is normal and fine. He wants to do more, really, he just...doesn't know if he can. Not yet.

((ooc: Man, this is gonna be complicated. I really like them together, though. It's nice having Danny not be the shy one for once. I'd def be interested in continuing things with them after this scene if you are!))

[partiallydead]

There is a brief flicker of something sad in Kieren's eyes when he looks over at Danny, but he soon returns the smile. He can't believe that smile is directed towards him. Someone Danny's only known for a week. Someone that's unnatural and will always be on the fringe of society.

He gives Danny's hand a squeeze, unaware that the warmth from his friend's hand has warmed up his own. "I'll show you, promise."

(ooc: I really like the slow buildup these two are getting so far, they certainly have a lot to work through and a lot of potential! I'm all aboard doing more scenes after this.)

[stillplaysball]

That promise warms something in him, loosens something tight in his chest as he breathes, salt air cool on his lips. A promise means something, means that this isn't the last time. Kieren will bring his sketchbook on Monday, and Danny will have the whole story, or at least a part of it, and they can be friends. This can be just that, because anything more would be complicated enough even if Kieren weren't...what Danny's pretty sure he is. The ink on their arms doesn't have to mean anything more than a bond, and a bond can be anything they want it to be.

He notices the warmth of Kieren's hand like he notices the sadness in that smile, and makes himself a silent promise to not add to the latter if it's the last thing he does. Kieren doesn't need more of that, and Danny doesn't want to be the cause. "Promises are important, you know. No going back on it." He pauses, carefully thinking, then adds something else. "You know, any time you wanna come back out here, let me know. You're always welcome. This cove is almost always deserted, so you don't have to worry. If you want somewhere to go, you know?" Where he doesn't have to pretend.

((I'm all about the slow build, makes things more interesting and realistic, and they've got a lot to figure out for sure. Let me know what you think you'd like to hit on next?))

Life got busy again D:

[partiallydead]

"I made a promise to my friend, Amy, that I'd make friend here," Kieren admits almost shyly. "I didn't think much about it, she's bossy, but... It did make me think. Sometimes it feels I'm not ready for new friends but I suppose that's me being nervous."

Kieren looks away, off at the scenery right in front of them. "I know. I just might take you up on that offer."

(ooc: Hmm, we could have Danny dig up some info about the zombie stuff. Kieren hasn't really told him that before, when he initially rose, he was violent. He had killed people. It's definitely something Kieren still struggles with.)