Burning 🔥 Love

f+tm starters || open

“Noo honey, why would you think that?”

She sets a hand lightly on the young King’s shoulder. He had drunk a little too much the night before, but far be it from Shirley to outright tell him. He seemed like he had been having fun and, honestly, the poor kid could use a little more fun in his life.

Shirley removes the hand on donny’s shoulder and touches it to his forehead, frowning. 

The words are delivered in a matter-of-fact tone, which is ruined slightly by the fact that he’s muttering them into his hands. He’s vaguely afraid that if he lifts his head he’ll be sick all over Shirley’s nice clean bar. He appreciates her reassurance, though, and the hand on his forehead is nice and cool.

“I’m... I’ll be okay.”

She notices the women, in the peripherals of her vision, and Charlotte makes a very brief mental note to keep an eye on them throughout their lunch. It’s one thing if a few girls notice and recognize Donny- gossip can be somewhat helpful in her line of work- but it’s another thing entirely should they opt to approach him. 

Charlotte offers Donny a sympathetic frown as he slides deeper into the recesses of the booth. “Unfortunately, the attention is something you’re going to have to get used to- or at least learn to handle a little better. I don’t think it’s a matter of not being safe- I think your powers just need a little work; I honestly believe with a little training you’ll be perfectly okay in public spaces. Oh-”

Finally, a server approaches their table, setting a couple glasses of water before the two. Charlotte gestures between Donny and the server.

“A busy restaurant at lunchtime is a good place to start.”

“Can’t I just... save people and go home?” Donny mumbles under his breath, both hands rubbing at his head, eyes on the table. “Nobody acts like this about like, firefighters...”

He peeks up at Charlotte as she speaks, his face still completely incredulous. Being “perfectly okay in public spaces” sounds like a pipe dream to Donny; he’s been a danger to those around him since he was a teenager, and the first accidental fires had started. Charlotte hadn’t been around to see those. And, yeah, regular training has been helping him get a handle on his powers - he can almost always bring forth the flames at will now, and his control is improving - but he’s a long way away from feeling like he’s safe around other people.

Or comfortable around other people, really. Self imposed isolation hadn’t exactly been fun, but at least it was familiar.

“I just don’t kn-” Donny glances up again, and starts when he realizes there’s someone else at the table. The server is here, and Charlotte wants him to talk to her. Oh God.

i found this post from five years ago and decided to do something about it @sunny-burn

i found this post from five years ago and decided to do something about it @sunny-burn

the good place || open

Max erupts into a fit of laughter, hugging an arm around her side as she doubles over. The bottle being held in her other hand threatens to spill as she giggles, but even drunk, Max can keep an eye on her drinks. 

“And maybe that’s why you ended up here, hm? Just a thought.”

She giggles again, bringing the bottle to her lips for a sip. A beat and her eyes widen with realization.

He can’t help it, he always turns into a mess when he drinks, but just at the moment he doesn’t even mind.

“Hah, god, no.” Donny reaches for the bottle when Max holds it out to him and gets it on the first try. “I was... it uh, it sounds really fucking dumb... I was trying to enlist. Like uh, in the army.”

Whatever’s in the bottle makes him cough when he tips it back, but it burns pretty nice while it goes down. Like fire spreading out into his fingertips.