#thread: waiting

“It’s… not all bad, really.” Dennis pulled his legs up onto the seat with him, hugging his knees to his chest. “I’d rather be waiting here than running around out there.”

“Waiting here while the ‘stronger’ wizards—”

Midway through the thought, Fleur turned back from where she’d been bustling restlessly through the kitchen and trailed off at the sight of him — curled so tightly into himself, he looked smaller than ever. The sudden reminder of how young their guests were brought her up short.

It was understandable to bemoan the uselessness she felt to her husband. Unacceptable, though, to put her tirade on this boy.

"Mais.... Laisse tomber," she mumbled mostly to herself, with a softness that hadn’t existed in her a moment ago.

JARVIS watches zeke silently. as the young man sits in tony’s living room playing games on his phone. 

it’s been this way for a few weeks now. ever since obadiah stane’s betrayal and death, things have been awkward. busy. they’ve been rooting out mr stane’s supporters from the company, but that still leaves the question of zeke. of how much he knew. whether he was in on his father’s plans. if he was, he hasn’t said a word about it. JARVIS hopes not, and Sir is refusing to talk about the possibility aloud. master zeke has been a constant in his life, much like ms potts and colonel rhodes and mister hogan. ( obadiah stane had never spoken much to the AI. JARVIS still doesn’t know what to think about that. )

The drive to the hospital had been agony. The speed Laslow drove was breakneck but it wasn’t fast enough. Not for Rayne. She was in shock and terrified. She didn’t really have a lot of friends. She wasn’t even sure she had any beyond Ash, if she was being honest. Most people averted their eyes and skirted around her but that was because of the way she carried herself and fear she cultivated, friends though? Did she have them? Probably not. Ash, though., Rayne was sure Ash was her friend. When she doubted the longevity of others, Ash had never wavered. Rayne had never known a friendship like Ash’s. She couldn’t lose that. She’d never find it again. 

She wrapped her fingers through Laslow’s that rested on her knee and stared out the front window as the scenery blurred past. She would have been there by now had she used her vampiric speed, but she couldn’t chance it. Even in the face of Ash’s injury Rayne had a duty to the only town she had truly felt home in. She nodded when he spoke, reassuring her that Ash would be alright. Yes. Yes, of course, she would be. There was no other option. 

When the car stopped, she had to force herself to slow down. She was trying to be better at controlling her emotions. She was not one that found it easy to ignore anger, which was how her fear often presented itself. It was better to get angry than it was to sit around feeling scared and helpless. She’d done that before, never again.