Darius Anderson

DARIUS ANDERSON ; THE INTRODUCTION

NAME: Darius Anderson

NICKNAME(S): N/A

AGE: Twenty-six

RESIDENTIAL AREA: The Drive

OCCUPATION: High School Principal 

LENGTH OF TIME IN VANCOUVER: August 2022 

CONNECTIONS SPREADSHEET & THREAD TRACKER & BIOGRAPHY

…

Hazal crawls into the front seat and plops herself in the passenger seat. Reaching over and pulling the seat belt over her chest, shaking her head as she buckles herself in. “At least I’ll get another chance tomorrow but I’m going to judge the person who didn’t know what Men In Black was.”

“You better get ‘em tomorrow,” he teased Hazal as she buckled herself into the passenger seat in the car. He turned the engine over, staring the vehicle up once more. “I would judge them too, I mean, I am,” he shook his head, “Where to?” He questioned with the raise of his brow? “Hungry? Want to get a drink? Need to go shopping?” Darius didn’t want his time with Hazal to end just yet. 

─────── · ·

Self dates were an important part of self care in Angelia’s book, and something she partook in often. Getting away from the drama of others was also a bonus and nice break. Plus, she needed some time to think about what was going on between her and Lochlan.

“Want to grab a table then?” Angelia saw no harm in offering to the handsome stranger when he’d spoken up. “Holiday season is upon us and with people starting to shop they’re eating out too.”

Without waiting more than a moment she parted and headed to have a word with the host and let them know she now needed a table for two. When she returned to her new dining company, Angelia smiled, “our table will be ready in two minutes.”

Darius was surprised by the woman’s offer, not expecting anyone to have said anything in return. Without a moment to respond, still processing her suggestion, when she returned with their shortened wait, he couldn’t help but smile. “Well, thank you,” he chuckled softly, “Darius,” he introduced himself, holding his hand out to the woman before him. He figured it would be rude not to introduce himself to his new dining companion for the evening. “And again, thank you,” he laughed softly, “I am starving and let me tell you, nothing sounds better than this food right now.” 

“Maybe I just want you to prove me wrong, in the end we both win even if I’m wrong.” Kaia responded with a laugh before her eyes wandered over to watch the man line up his next shot. Her eyebrows raised as the ball moved across the table, looking back up to him as it missed it’s target. “So the next round is on you, but I’ll let you choose whatever drink you’d like to make up for it.”

“The next round is on me,” he laughed at his own defeat. As competitive as the man could be, this was merely a fun game that the two of them were participating in. “Alright,” Darius nodded his head, “how do you feel about Sex on the Beach?” He raised a brow, “And not actually sex on the beach, but the drink. That sounds like the perfect mixed drink tonight.” 

“Darius,” A smile took to her lips, proud of that small fact that she actually got his name right this time. “Well, I’m debating which book seems more exciting. You can help me decide, or talk me out of it because I’m starting to get concerned about my brain turning to mush.” Nat had been going through a phase of reading just about a raunchy romance novel a day, which lead to her having next to no shame in browsing the section. She hardly gave him as much as a beat to respond before she held up the two novels (book 1, book 2). “Please tell me you’ve got a better recommendation.”

Darius nodded his head, not getting a chance to respond before she showed him the books. The man didn’t think the books she held up were going to be the two choices that he was going to have to pick between. “Alright,” he laughed softly, “I wasn’t not expecting this,” he glanced at both covers, his lips twisting in thought as he examined the both of them. “I’m thinking sword lady,” he gently tapped the cover of the book, “I don’t know how I feel about bridegroom? But sword lady sounds like it could have some bad ass elements to it.” 

Darius didn’t mind going out to eat himself and it seemed that everyone in Vancouver was out to eat with someone else. Holy Chow Asian Eatery was the busiest he had seen it since moving to Vancouver once and more all, but it sounded better than anything else he could imagine. “At this rate, I’m beginning to think I’d get a table faster if I was sitting with someone,” he muttered to himself, leaning against the wall as another group of people was called to sit down. He wasn’t particularly upset but he was beginning to wonder if he should give up and order take out instead of waiting for a table. 

“Okay, we’ve got to stop running into each other like this,” Darius teased as he approached Nat with a grin on his lips. He was picking up a Secret Santa gift for work, preferring to start early rather than later when it came to gift giving when he spotted Nat down another aisle. “What brings you out here tonight?” 

“Are we bettin’ on the game tonight?” Darius questioned, looking up at the television at the game that was playing. “At least drink betting,” he teased, figuring they’d be up for a little friendly betting against one another. “It’s been a pretty rough season so I don’t know if I should be betting but hell, it’s the weekend, what do I really have to lose except a few hours of sleep tonight?” 

“Okay, favorite ice cream, go.” Darius challenged her as they waited in line at the ice cream shop. Despite the winter rolling into Vancouver, Darius couldn’t shake the craving for a sweet treat and good company. They had been hanging out for a while now, but Darius didn’t know if it would go anywhere or if they were just becoming good friends. 

open: @vancitystarters​ location: any bar with darts or pool table

“Ten dollars says you can’t make it a clean shot to end the game…how about the money and another round of drinks? Add in whatever you want, it’ll never go straight.”

“Ten dollars?” Darius blew air over his lips, “Drinks and a round of shots?” He raised his brows, looking over at the other. “You really have that little faith in me, huh?” Not that he could blame her, but he was at least going to give it an honest effort, lining himself up at the edge of the pool table to line up the shot. And like she thought, Darius’ ball did not make the clean shot. “Well shit,” he was still grinning though, finding himself a good sport despite losing in that moment. 

IN YOUR MUSE’S CAR w/ @vancitystarters​

“I was on the phone for twenty minutes trying to get those tickets and the caller they picked didn’t even know that was the movie Men in Black! The audacity.” 

Darius had been sitting with Hazal, waiting for the twenty minutes that she had been trying to get ahold of the tickets on the radio station. “They should have picked your number to go,” he told Hazal, “you knew it the whole time!” 

“Darius, oh my god,” DJ says with the sincerest amount of fanfare. Despite Darius having lived there for a minute now, and himself having been back for over half a year, the novelty of his childhood friend who had always been passing through being a permanent fixture had yet to lose it’s shiny new appeal. 

“You know I’m literally never going to turn that down,” He grins, starting a slow stroll towards the nearest port were they were selling booze. He was transfixed on acquiring the weirdest cocktail possible, and hope he wasn’t just stuck with beer. 

“This place is bumping. One of the djs is fine as hell, I’ve been swooning.” He angles himself more towards Darius than his front facing pathway, certain he could pull out a memory or two that would confer with that. “If tonight’s really going to live up to those days then something simply batshit, borderline bone-chilling has to happen.” 

“I did not think that you would,” he laughed as he began to follow DJ toward where the alcohol was being sold. He knew the would not have turned down the same offer. “I’ve heard that they have Halloween themed cocktails and I’m definitely intrigued.” Darius admitted to his friend. 

—

Jordan hadn’t ever heard that but she could understand what he meant. Not that she suspected that she would be getting taken anytime soon. They’d likely realize how much work it would take to keep her and discard of her because she was an handful. “I’ve been in pretty sketchy situations and I feel like if it hasn’t happened already, then it probably won’t.” Especially not with this guy even though she was still creeped out by him. “Did you just happen to know that or are you a fan of true crime?”

“Well, hey, that’s a positive way to look at it,” Darius nodded his head at her question, “yeah, true crime is something I’ve recently started getting into.” It was sure a lot different than sports and sports podcasts but he had listened to one and instantly was hooked. He was honestly a bit upset he didn’t get on the trend sooner rather than later. “It’s a new finding for me, but I figured with Halloween season, it was worth listening too and well,” he chuckled, “they stuck.” 

—

Sawyer lifted her head from where it was bent over her phone at the calling of her name, eyebrows furrowed in confusion until she caught sight of the familiar man with his hand lifted in her direction. A smile found its way to her mouth, the way it always seemed to anytime she was in his presence. That first date with Darius hadn’t been bad–it was probably one of the nicest first dates she’d ever been on, each one after it just as nice…but despite the niceness, she wasn’t sure if there was a spark, wasn’t sure if the pit in her stomach was simply nerves or butterflies fluttering around…but she was happy to see him approach anyways, the wave she sent in return beckoning him forward. “Darius, hi.” Did she…hug him? Was that weird? Not wanting to be rude, she slipped her phone into the back pocket of her jeans, gaze following as he gestured towards the haunted hayride. “Spookier than hundreds of teenagers?” She teased, before shaking her head. “No, I haven’t been on yet. I’m supposed to be meeting someone but…” She had half a mind to pull out her phone again and double check for a response, but refrained. “Are you? Here with anybody?” It wasn’t like they were exclusive, and the carnival was as good a place for a date as any.

“Spookier than hundreds of teenagers, which surprised me.” He chuckled, “I didn’t think that was a possible feat.” Darius admitted to her with his teasing tone. As she mentioned that she was supposed to be meeting someone, he realized that he very well might be interrupting. “Oh, shoot,” he blew air over his lips before shaking his head over her question. “No, I’m not here with anyone. I don’t want to interrupt though but I can keep you company until your -” he trailed off for a moment, was it a friend? A date? Sure, their date had gone over well, but he wasn’t sure where it had gone after that and if he was crossing any lines. “I don’t want to interrupt,” he settled with, giving the woman a small smile. 

—Starter for @dariusxanderson​ Spooky Season: The Oracle

Nolan had a certain healthy skepticism when it came to matters of the great beyond. He would never go so far as to say he bought in to all the various forms of superstition, but he also didn’t rule them out as a distinct possibility. All of which was to say he didn’t know what was to come from the night’s festivities, but he was keeping an open mind.

“You ever done this kind of thing before?” he asked Darius as they mingled around the lobby filled with various ‘supernatural’ objects. He wasn’t sure if it was otherworldly spirits, or just the energy from other guests, but there was definitely something strange about this place…

Agreeing to go to with Nolan, he found himself wondering if anything did exist that would require any of the supernatural objects that were placed around them. “I can’t say that I have ever done anything like this before.” In high school, he imagined he would have run away from anyone that participated anything that had to do with this. Mostly because he would be nervous that something did exist and the last thing he wanted was to have a curse placed on him or something wild like that. And now? That he was in his mid-twenties? There was still a bit of a feeling that the objects around them could be used in a purposeful manner but did he really want to buy into it? Give him more of a reason to be afraid. “It’s definitely got a weird vibe in here but I’m not sure if that’s planned or if it’s real.” 

— 

“That’s always the plan. Who’s going to protect you if you can’t protect yourself.” Jordan teases but she probably was the type to stand and stare if it ever came down to a situation where her fight or flight needed to be tested. She nods when he gives her his name and she shakes his hand. “Jordan. The one willing to sacrifice anyone. Is this your plan? Putting a name to the face so I form some sort of connection and then think twice when the guy comes to off us because you’d be shocked to know I’ll still be ruthless.”

Darius chuckled, “Hey, you make a good point there.” The principal had never been the one to get into many fights but in high school tensions could get high after football games and he had been involved in a few. He didn’t know if he could still hold up in a fight now, but he had been able to back in the day. Darius laughed and he nodded his head. “Is it working? I’ve been told that works, you know, like if you’re ever kidnapped, right? You want them to feel bad enough to just let you go.” Darius shrugged his shoulders, not sure if that actually worked but he figured on the haunted hayride, it was worth a shot.

…

Hazal presses her lips together to hold back the fit of laughter as she walks with him towards the food trucks. “It is called horror night for a reason, Darius.” She turns her head to look over at him, a cheeky smirk dancing across her features as she slips her hands into the pockets of her sweaters. “I would never do that on purpose.” She teases as she walks close to him, glancing over at him as she presses her lips together. “Sure, I could smash back some tacos.”

“Yeah, but I thought that it would just sound scary and not be scary,” clearly his hopes were high on that one and considering horror movies were not exactly his forte, he had been given a run for his money. “Oh, really?” He raised a brow in her direction, not entirely believing the woman wouldn’t do that on purpose to him. “I’m not sure I believe that after all the shit I gave you growing up. That felt like the perfect revenge.” He teased her, nodding his head to her taco request. “You speak my language, Hazal.” Darius found himself grinning at her once more, often unable to wipe that grin off his face when he was around her.