#oc: Dani

[ray-gt]

sleep-in

I've been thinking about the girls again. A quick one because I love them.

___________________________

“Morning,” Lilah murmured.

Dani felt her girlfriend’s large nose nuzzle the length of her spine before her shoulders were enveloped by the soft cushiony press of her lips.

Dani simply groaned in response, rebelling against Lilah’s obvious push to wake her up. She turned further away, burying her face in the pillow and pulling the sheet over her head.

Lilah let out a breathy chuckle before flipping back down with a petulant whine. The bed shook from her movement but Dani was too sleepy and too stubborn to give Lilah the reaction she was hunting.

Just as she felt sleep tickle the edges of her consciousness, Lilah rolled over again in Dani’s direction, chasing it away. She felt the sheet being pulled off her head and she scrambled to grab it. It was laughable how hard she had to pull just to keep it from being pulled away any further. She knew this was just a game for Lilah. If her girlfriend wanted to, there would be no contest. Instead she was content to let Dani, sleepy and disgruntled, try and eventually give up.

“Fine.” She muttered. She let go of the sheet and flopped back face-first on the pillow.

Above her Lilah huffed.

“Dani.” She complained, drawing in out like a child. “It’s 8am! You don’t want to waste the morning. I’ve been up for an hour already.”

Dani didn’t reply. Lilah had a faulty brain that enjoyed getting up at the asscrack of dawn, but Dani’d been up until 2am the night before prepping a new case briefing for the partners at her firm, she didn’t have the same reverence. This sacred space of morning was hers to turn her brain off and indulge in the freedom of a semi-empty mind. The pure physicality of being tired.

When the silence endured long enough for Lilah to realise Dani didn’t intend on replying to or acknowledging her, she let out a long, loud sigh.

That’s ok, Dani could deal with Lilah’s fidgeting.

There was nothing stopping Lilah from seizing the day or whatever it was that people did when they voluntarily got up before mid-morning.

Dani was content until she felt the press of something indenting the pillow around her and then Lilah’s large fingers curling beneath her and meeting below Dani’s stomach.

With a yelp, she was airborne and watched as her precious pillow grew further and further away. As she watched her view was replaced with Lilah’s smug grin.

Her girlfriend looked the opposite to what Dani felt. Was it some magic in giants that meant their equivalent of ‘bed head’ was just slightly tussled? What would be a sagged, tired squint on Dani was a soft low-lidded stare from Lilah. When they made eye contact - Dani dangling above her girlfriend’s face - Lilah’s eyes shone.

“Li,” Dani groaned. Her voice was cracked with the disuse of morning. “You know I’m not a nice person until at least 10am.”

“I don’t mind.” Lilah shrugged.

Dani rolled her eyes.

“How kind. Can you please put me down? I need at least 10 more hours of sleep.”

Lilah pouted. “But I miss you.”

“I’m literally sharing a bed with you.”

Lilah didn’t reply but Dani saw an idea form behind her eyes.

“Ok, fine.”

The hand holding Dani began to move, but instead of it returning her to her pillow, she was lowered onto Lilah’s chest. Then Lilah drew the sheet up to her and rested back.

“You can sleep.” She said at last, grabbing a book and her glasses from her bedside table.

Dani wanted to protest. She felt like she should say something about agency and autonomy, but she was too tired and too comfortable to care. Lilah was letting her sleep-in (which she rarely ever did, regardless of size) so Dani decided to just take the win.

“You’re so needy.” Dani muttered by way of rebuttal. She felt Lilah’s chest vibrate as her girlfriend hummed in contentment.  

Slowly, the rise and fall of Lilah’s chest, the quiet turn of a page, and the rhythmic wash of Lilah’s breath coaxed her back into the sweet embrace of sleep.

(I've been writing a bit of Dani and Lilah stuff offline, and I'm having a lot of fun I fear. You can rad more about them here, or over one AO3 where I've been reworking the story a bit - ray xx)

[especdreamy]

PRIDE TIME!

(rbs appreciated!)

[ghoul--doodle]

Named him! Here is full doggie

[booksrbetterthanpeople]

… Let’s see if this actually goes anywhere

Also, does the shark from Jaws count as a slasher?… Let’s say yes

[fridaydevils]

Revamped my old Soul Eater oc! Her name is Dani California and she turns into dental equipment.

[bakartridge]

Sorta a follow up to an earlier drawing, but Rakka and Dani hang out again.

Also what's not shown is that Rakka camped out overnight to buy a copy of RB2 day one.

[iiilovebeam]

I FINALLY FINISHED

[roseofithaca]

Silent Comfort

Silver (my oc) pining over the greenskeeper (my oc Dani) at the hotel. Mention of @idiotwithanipad 's oc Amy.

-

Her shift usually starts at five am. Plenty of time before the course opens for her to pick up the litter and rake the sand in the bunkers.

Before she came, Silver's early mornings usually consisted of walking wistfully across the grounds and through the woods. When Mary was here, she used to be one of the first to rise. 'Farmers sleep patterns, little'en. I been wakin' with the birdies since I were knee high.' She'd join Silver on her walks or sit with her beside the lake, chattering away about all sorts, Mary often asking for clarity about modern things she'd seen on the telly that Silver could explain. She was happy to indulge Silver's curiosity about her own time, so long as the subjects didn't broach witch trials or dead husbands. Eventually Robin would come find them, or Cap on one of his runs.

After Mary left, there was a noticeable gap of time until the others awoke. The first time she truly noticed it, the absence, she'd sat down in the woods and cried for an hour. When she'd raised her head at the sound of padding pawprints, she looks up to see a large furry snout in her face. A bear. A fucking bear was right in front of her, snorting hot air into her face. She'd frozen. What the hell was someone supposed to do when facing a bear? It's not exactly something British girls are prepared for.

Turns out there had been nothing to prepare for. The bear had licked the tears off her face and leaned its forehead against hers. When Silver had dared to put her arms around the creature's neck, to nestle into its huge mane, her skin hadn't been clawed off.

"Oh, you meet old bear? Huh. She not usually leave den." Robin had explained to her later. He didn't seem to be as afraid of her as he had with most bears, which she took as a good sign. "Old bear must like Moonah Girl."

It wasn't the first time she'd connected with one of the animals in the woods. Living or dead, she often found it easier to spend time with them more than her ghost family if she was feeling down.

Robin had given her lessons on how to speak with animals, how they seemed to understand ghosts more than livings for some reason. And there were certain ways different animals preferred to be approached or made eye contact with.

She names the bear Lyla. Or rather, she asks the bear if she likes the name and one blink seems to say yes.

Lyla is no Mary, but she's more than decent company in those early hours. Silver rests against her side as the old she-bear lays down beside the lake, cleaning her paws. The teenage Pagan watches the swans glide across the water. She whistles at them, warning them to avoid some netting that's been carelessly left in.

She should be here by now. She'd notice something like that and clean it out quick.

She's really good at her job.

Where is she?

Lyla gives a soft grunt and nudges her, probably sensing her rising heartbeat. She reaches to rub her muzzle.

There's always the fear that, one day, she won't turn up for work. And it won't just be a sick day. It'll be forever. Deep down, she knows it's inevitable. No way she would choose to work here her whole life, even if she gets a promotion, she would probably be moved on. And that's good. How it's supposed to be.

"And I'll go back to being alone in the mornings again." She thinks aloud.

Lyla grizzles, offended.

"My bad." Silver snorts, leaning back into the bear.

The Captain jogs near them a while later.

"Ah! Silver! Care to join me in getting the muscles pumping this fine- uhh." He reels when he notices the bear beside her.

Silver smirks; "I'm sure me and Lyla could race you back together?"

"N-no, never mind, I concentrate better alone. I trust you and Amy will be present for Food Club at 1?"

Pm? Her gothic bestie might just be rising from her slumber about then, maybe.

Cap continues his run. A figure in green overalls passes the grey haired soldier without notice, holding a rubbish bag in one hand and a litter pick with the other.

A guy. Not her.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mama Bear. Gotta figure out what's happening." Silver gives Lyla a quick hug, the old bear poking her affectionately with that big wet nose.

She rushes back to the hotel, passing through the front wall and into reception. There are a few guests milling around, people eager to check in to start their luxury weekends.

"Ooh, someone's eager for aerobics! I think I heard Pat and Kitty on their way." Humphrey pipes up, already at his spot on the front desk.

"Morning...Have you seen Dani yet? I know she doesn't usually come through this way..." Silver asks. "Maybe you overheard her ring up to say she was sick?"

"Uh, no, they've only been taking calls for bookings and the old lady in Room 8 complaining about her loo not flushing. Nice."

So she hasn't turned up and she hasn't called in sick? Silver hugged herself. Dani was too responsible a girl not to let her work know she wouldn't be turning up.

"You sure she hasn't booked annual leave or something?"

"I dunno, Humphrey, it's not like I stalk her every move!"

Her friend's dad twisted his lips.

"....Not that bad, anyway." She blushed.

"Well I'm sure there's a good reason, love. Tell you what, I'll shout if I see or hear anything. Try not to worry till then, go take your mind off it, do something fun. Only four more hours till that daughter of mine is due to wake." He smiles.

Silver nods. He's right. She probably is getting anxious over nothing. Story of her life and her death.

Aerobics doesn't exactly appeal to her mood right now. Robin and Julian are in the Suite, deep into their morning chess game. She'd rather watch paint dry then spectate to that. Fanny is reading the book that Alison got her for Christmas; Fifty Shades of Grey. Watching her facial reactions as she reads it seems like the most entertaining thing on offer at the moment.

"Eh! Eh! Moonah Girl! It uhh, chair, on wheels, pushy pushy!"

"For God's sake, you know what a bike is!" Julian groans after his caveman friend leapt up to point at the window.

Silver glanced out, spotting a young woman in a orange polo and green dungarees, thick brown hair tied back, thick maroon gardening wellies on her feet. She locks her bike to one of the spots in the staff car park before sprinting inside the back door.

Unable to hold back from giggling like a smitten schoolgirl, she races downstairs.

"Oh, Silver, I just saw-!"

"Me too! Thanks Humphrey!"

"Good. Glad I could help...I think?"

She runs through the door and into the staff room, where Dani is speaking to her manager. A grumpy old git who barely gets his hands dirty but loves to criticise any mistake the gardeners make.

"I managed to get a cancellation slot at the last minute. I did try to call last night but no one answered-."

"Then you shouldn't have taken it. You can always book another driving test, Danika, but there's a limit to how many absences we allow." He chides her.

"It's Danita, you balding nutsack! You can at least learn her fucking name." Silver defends, standing at Dani's side, not that it makes much of a difference.

"This is my first absence in two years." Dani frowns.

"Second. Remember last March?"

"My grandmother was ill!"

"Yeah, leave her alone! Or do I need to get Alison to put a rotting onion in someone's locker?" Silver glares. She's sure she could convince Alison to do it, if persuaded right.

"You're just lucky one of the bellboys offered to pick up some of your morning chores. Let me down again and I'll ask if he wants to take your position permanently. Do I make myself clear?"

Silver could see the fire hidden behind Dani's eyes. She wanted as badly as she did to punch this guy in the teeth.

But instead she held her tongue. She nodded.

"Yes, Trevor."

Silver spits at him, her saliva shooting through his smug face.

"Eat shit, Trevor."

She follows Dani as the girl leaves to head outside, her head held low.

Silver reminds herself to ask Robin to give this guy an electric shock when the opportunity arises.

"You had your driving test today? Wow. I didn't even get to start practicing, except for when I was eleven and my dad let me reverse out the driveway. I nearly ran over the old woman next door. She was fine. She was waiting to get a new hip anyway." Silver chats as she walks beside Dani, who's heading for the wheelbarrows.

One of the old golfers whistles at her as she passes, her expression morose.

"Smile, lovely! It can't be that bad!" Him and his mate chuckle.

Rage burns inside Silver. Why couldn't she have her own ghost power? Like Robin's electricity or Amy's shadows or Julian's finger? She'd be happy just to poke these dickheads in the eyes.

Dani has to hold her tongue. One complaint would probably be all it took for Trevor to fire her.

What Silver wouldn't give to hold her hand...

All she can do is talk to her. Tell her what kind of powers she wishes she had and what she would do to men like Trevor or any of the misogynistic pricks who think it's okay to treat women like this.

"Possesion would be cool! Imagine that. I'd get them to do all sorts of humiliating stuff and see how they like having the piss taken out of them."

Obviously nothing she says brings a smile to Dani's face. It's better if Silver imagines how she would react. In another time, another life. A life where she wasn't dead and got to meet Dani like a normal Living.

After she's cleared the brambles and weeds, filling the barrow before it can overflow, she dumps it into the skip and then goes to check the woods.

She always checks Silver's memorial first.

It's been a while since it was last vandalised, Alison having paid the hotel to put up some cameras and a fence with a gate.

"Thanks for that, the dirt was making me look like I had a mustache." Silver says when Dani wipes Alison's sketch of her nailed to the tree next to her bed.

Just as she's cleaning the statues of Artemis and Persephone, her phone rings.

"Hi, Mataji." Dani answers, a sharp voice calling her name on the other end. "Maiṁ kama kara rihā hāṁ."

She usually switches between English and Punjabi when talking to her mother. Silver has managed to pick up a few words while observing their conversations. She often thinks of asking Alison if she can set up something on the iPad to help her learn the language.

"No. I failed." Dani sighs, sitting down on the grass at the foot of Silver's bed; "Yes, Mataji, again....I went 25 in a 20 zone....Well I didn't mean to, I must have missed the sign!"

"Aw, shit. That's all they need to fail you? I would have stood no chance, I could barely ride a bike." Silver settled beside her.

Her heart broke at the devastation on Dani's face as her mother laid into her. Silver couldn't translate what she was saying but her tone said enough. Each word made Dani winced as if she were being stabbed with a tiny knife.

"Yeah, I know...Well, I can pay for the rest of my lessons myself, I..." She sighs, "It's not like I'm not trying my best, Mataji."

"Well your best clearly isn't good enough!" Dani's mother had been content to speak that in English.

Silver bit her lip; "Just hang up. Tell her you have to get back to work."

"Mum, I have to get back to work, I'm sorry. I'll see you tonight. Alavidā."

Pocketing her phone, Dani sighs and rolls her head back, staring up at the treetops before curling forward, her arms around her dirt stained dungarees.

Silver shuffles closer; "Hey. Your mum only yells because she cares. When I told my mum I was dropping out of college, she just rolled her eyes and left the room. I would have loved for her to shout at me, just so I knew she gave a shit. Sorry. I shouldn't make this about me."

Dani sniffles and wipes her nose. She picks up the statuette of Artemis and holds it before her.

"That was my second attempt. I didn't even mention all the minor faults I got. Was just so fucking nervous."

Silver doesn't know if she's talking to her or the Goddess. She knows Dani doesn't believe in the same gods as her...but Sikhs also believe God is everywhere so, maybe she is talking to the statue.

"Only your second attempt. My sister needed six before she got her license and hit a pole a week after. You got this, babe."

"This is the best job I was able to get without being able to drive. And most days I like it fine. I get to make everything look so pretty, I get all this time to chill to myself...but then I have to put up with fucktards like Trevor and those posh blokes." She wrinkles her nose in a way Silver always finds adorable. "I don't wanna be stuck here forever. Can't imagine anything worse."

That stings. It takes effort not to take offence.

"...It's not that bad. It has its ups and downs." Her friends being the ups. Robin, Amy, Kitty, Pat, the others, Alison when she visits...and of course, Dani.

The downs being this all there is. Her curse to miss large chunks of time each month. Dani not being able to hear her voice or even knows that she exists beyond a sketch hanging on a tree.

"But you deserve better. One day you're gonna get your license and you're gonna be able to go as far as you want....You're gonna get to live."

As much as Robin and Amy would joke about Dani accidentally dying on the property and becoming a ghost, Silver never desired it beyond a selfish indulgent fantasy. Who is to say Dani would even be attracted to her?

But there have been too many quiet, lonely mornings where Silver has felt the regret of never being able to travel the world beyond the cheap family holidays to Spanish resorts. Never being able to visit Athens and see the Parthenon. Never being able to see the Pyramids. Never going to Comic Con in San Fransisco. Never having a real life.

She would never want that for Dani. This was clearly a girl as desperate for freedom as she had been. She deserved it.

"It's not like I have any work friends. I know they just think I'm the quiet bookworm, which I am. I mean it is kinda pathetic the only one I speak to is a girl who died nearly thirty years ago."

Silver blinks at her.

"And who's to say if you're even there listening? You're probably already in your next life." Dani tuts.

Silver rolls her eyes; "Fuck, I wish."

A half-truth.

"I dunno...something about this spot. It's the only place I don't feel...alone." she admits.

"Because you're not. You're never alone here, especially not during the full moon." Silver assures her; "I mean...except when you're having like private moments, I'm not Thomas! Or Mary...Or Julian..."

Gods, her ghost family had a lot of pervs.

Dani reached for her satchel and pulled out a book with a burnt orange cover, the picture of a woman sat at the bottom of a set of stairs, wearing a red sari.

"I thought you might like this. It's been blowing up on TikTok. Apparently it's an enemies to lovers story between a princess and her handmaiden who's a witch of sorts." Dani explains.

The Jasmine Throne.

Silver's interest is already piqued. She barely got to read any sapphic books when she was alive and misses Alison bringing her some and turning the pages for her. This is much better.

"I got a few moments until Trevor starts wanting to check I'm working. Might as well see what the hype is about." Dani rests back against the mound of grass and cornflowers, opening the first page.

Silver shuffles in beside her, leaning her head in a little, nearly resting it on her shoulder, as she read the opening words along with her.

Robin told her that he often finds Dani sat beside her bed, reading, on her break, while Silver is asleep. She wonders if Dani ever feels the difference when she's awake to sit with her.

[briarborealisocs]

some more vigilante outfit design ideas?? it's dani!! since dani's powers are super speed and she emits light when she does said super speed, she would need sunglasses or eye protection of some kind when doing her vigilante work. at first i just did a sunglasses + balaclava type head covering combo, but then i started thinking about biker helmets. dani is new to using her powers to their fullest extent and she's DEFINITELY rammed into walls at high speeds before. having a helmet of some sort to protect her head would be nice!! plus a biker helmet is something she could buy or thrift easily. so i think her vigilante outfit is going to be a stylized biker outfit. many thoughts!!

[arklay]

DANI HAINES x CARLOS OLIVEIRA / template.

[soppsop]

oc doodles 🥳

[ray-gt]

Close Quarters

Some more Dani and Lilah. In my head this one isn’t too long after the original events in Something’s Shifted - maybe only a few months after. They still have no idea what’s causing the shifts and are well and truly over their heads, but try their best to continue on with life as normal. Lilah’s shifts are just as unpredictable as ever and she’s getting used to the fact that Dani knows. Dani, for her part, is still coming to terms with the fact her girlfriend is a giant and is trying to navigate what it means to be Lilah’s anchor.

***

Dani parked the car in front of the national park welcome centre. She had the pick of the lot as it was well after operating hours and all the other staff had gone home. Over the last few weeks, it’d become more common for to Lilah work late but Dani didn’t mind. It was nice to not be the one sneaking in at all hours for once, dinner well and truly cold.  She’d come straight from the office and the lukewarm Thai sitting in the passenger seat had been taunting her stomach throughout the drive.

She parked as close as she could to the front door, marvelling at the way the blustering winds shook the car. Even though she was only a short distance away from the door, she doubted she’d get inside before the weather made a meal of her.

Shrugging, she grabbed the Thai, her phone and keys and slipped her feet into her Birks, having left her heels in her desk drawer. Then she muscled the door open and was immediately met with the winter winds trying to strip her of it. The door flew back on its hinges to full extension and flooded the car with biting cold. Dani grit her teeth against it, got out and closed the door with a definitive bum of her hip. She locked the car, knowing there was little need and hurried to the building, regretting she hadn’t tied up her hair before leaving the safety of the car.

Once inside, she was met with the glorious warmth and stillness of the centre, lit only by the greenish glow of the exit signs. Outside, the weather raged on like a beast knowing its prey was just out of reach. She shuddered at the sudden shift in temperature, keen to lose her thick coat and reacclimatise to heat.

She wandered through the visitor’s centre, which marked the public-facing part of the building, with the ranger offices through the back. Usually the building would be locked at this hour, but Lilah knew she was coming and had left the front open.

With the wind beating at the windows and the trees outside blocking any other lights, the usually joyful welcome centre, full of bright colours, huge murals of local wildlife, and, of course, a gift shop was now dark and shadowy.

Still, Dani continued. This was far from her first night at the centre and would be far from her last. If anything, the eeriness made her smile. Lilah told her once that, during closing one day, she’d screamed after mistaking one of the t-shirt manakins for an intruder. She’d shot up another meter in height before she was able to get it under control.

Dani nodded in reverence to the manakin in question as she passed it.

When she got to the back, she jabbed in the key-code she shouldn’t know and used her shoulder to open the glass doors to the offices. The rangers’ office was at the end of the hall. The door was open, spilling yellow-gold light into the hungry dark. From where she stood, it looked like the gentle glow of a fireplace and it beckoned to her.

Despite Lilah knowing she was coming, and knowing her ETA, and there being no one else in the building, Dani made a point to make herself known as she walked down the hallway and knocked on the door to the rangers’ office, peaking her head in to spy her girlfriend.

Lilah, who’d been feverishly typing at her desk, looked up and immediately grinned, whatever stress that had her brows planted was gone. Dani’s chest glowed at the sight.

“I thought I said in the delivery notes you could just leave the order at the door?” Lilah said, standing and making her way towards Dani, who’d dropped everything in her hands on the nearest available surface (a small round table near to the centre of the room) and was shirking her coat, enjoying the blessed heat.

“Well, we like to go above and beyond for our most loyal custo-” She said, but before she could continue, she felt Lilah’s hands slip around her waist from behind and turn her around. The taller girl’s lips found hers and any other joke was forgotten.

Lilah pulled back, her arms still firmly wrapped around Dani. She was dressed in her usual work clothes, all shades of greens, browns and kakis. Her long hair was braided back away from her face, and Dani could feel where the keycard at her hip dug into her stomach.

“Your skin is so cold!”

“I know!” Dani said. “I was only out there for a second and still I feel like I need to defrost.”

“Let me help.”

She laughed as Lilah enveloped her. Her girlfriend rested her head on Dani’s shoulder and Dani rolled her eyes, smiling as she ran her nails up and down Lilah’s back.

“Long day, love?” She asked.

“A million years, if you’d believe it.” Lilah replied, her voice muffled by Dani’s shoulder.

“I do. I’ve brought Thai.”

Lilah hummed, it was a sweet, low sound that unravelled Dani from the centre. “You always know how to make it better.”

“It’s my job. Now, get off me so I can reheat it.”

Lilah whined as Dani shrugged her off. She grabbed the Thai and took it over to the small kitchenette. It was a skeleton kitchen (the more elaborate being in the shared cafeteria) but the rangers were content with a kettle, fridge, and microwave, seeing the rest as an unnecessary expense. It made Dani think of the barista her firm hired to make their coffees, the elaborate “back-up” espresso machine they had for when the barista had gone home for the day, the instant hot and hold taps, the snacks left out in the kitchen. Looking at the kettle that needed a pep talk in order to work and the microwave that looked like a vintage prop in what was otherwise a newly-renovated facility, she smiled.

Lilah said her boss James had insisted they didn’t waste money on “any new-fangled fancy appliances” during the renovation when their old stuff “worked just fine”. She’d been surprised to find most of the rangers agreed with him.

“We don’t spend a lot of time in the office. We pop in and out throughout the day. If we can make tea and reheat our lunch, that’s really all we need.”

She put the Thai in the microwave and turned around, resting back against the bench top. Lilah had wondered back to her desk and was bent over her laptop, frowning again.

“So,” she said, shaking Lilah’s focus. “What made your day so bad? Was it the intern?”

Lilah started some meandering protest but Dani cut her off. She’d heard this before. They’d recently hired an intern who was more useless than pulling a name badge on one of the trees outside and putting it on the payroll. At least the tree would add some value.

Lilah, with a level of patience Dani would never mirror, routinely took time out of her schedule to help him, telling Dani she wished she’d had a superior look out for her when she’d first started.

Dani, whose first boss had thrown her in the deep end and told her to learn to swim or drown, thought there was a difference between mentoring and hand-holding, but had given up pushing the point. Lately, Lilah’s tack had changed and Dani’s seen her become more and more agitated at and about work.

She’d realised, long after everyone else on her team except their boss, that their intern TJ was not stupid or naive, he just didn’t care. And that, to Lilah, was the true cardinal sin.

“Ugh,” Lilah groaned, leaning in her chair and lolling her eyes back. “He’s useless! I can’t stand him. And no matter how much we raise it with James, he doesn’t do anything. According to him, TJ’s only here on student placement so we should just see out the semester. But I don’t know if any of us can last that long.”

The microwave pinged behind Dani and she started unloading it.

“You should just shift and scare the shit out of him. Or better yet, leave him at the top of a tree and let him find his own way down.”

Behind her, Lilah laughed.

“Tempting. But I’m not that mean.”

“You could be, that’s my point.” Dani said. “I feel like you’re not using your abilities to their full potential. The way I’d abuse that power to get my way -“

“You say that,” Lilah said. “But you’re such a bleeding heart, love, you wouldn’t know how.”

“For TJ, I’d find a way.”

She took the Thai, now pleasantly steaming, over to the round table. It was intended to be a lunch table though most of the rangers preferred to eat outside (except for the truly terrible weather like today). Most of the time it was empty, and the chairs around it were decorative.

“Now, come eat.”

---

Lilah looked up at her girlfriend from her desk. They’d eaten and caught up about their respective days, talking at length about nothing in particular in the way they often did. Just Dani’s presence had a way of calming her heart, refocusing her. She’d spent a long day gritting her teeth, her body near-constantly on the brink of a shift. Everything TJ did and said seemed to drive her closer and closer to explosion. At one point, she’d had to exit the building and shadow herself in the trees in a desperate attempt to stave off a rapid shift.

By the end of the day her body was exhausted and her mind drained. The moment TJ left for the day was only second best to Dani’s arrival.

She walked through the door and suddenly, the stresses of her day were no longer these huge herculean beasts, they could be picked up and tucked away in their proper place and left alone. She wondered if Dani knew the implicit effect she had, or if she walked about the world oblivious to the fact she made it that much easier to live in.

After dinner, she’d apologised. There were a few tasks that needed doing before she logged off. Dani didn’t mind. She’d wandered back to the car and grabbed a book to read. It was a rare sight and she was surprised to see she hadn’t used the opportunity as a chance to continue with her own work. That was until she admitted to Lilah that her laptop was on the fritz and she’d had leave it with IT overnight.

So instead of working, Dani was curled up on a chair in the corner, quietly reading, letting the time pass by unbothered. She could have been at home, showered, in bed, prepped for an early start in the morning. Instead she was here, keeping her company.

“Ok,” Lilah said, almost regretful to break the peace. Dani looked up from the page but otherwise didn’t move. “I just need to check one thing and then we can head.”

“Whenever you’re ready, love.” Dani said and returned to reading.

Lilah nodded.

She’d told TJ a week ago that there was an 8th birthday party happening tomorrow and he needed to prep for it - arrange the itinerary, flag with the high-ropes course staff, allocate a ranger to lead the “wilderness adventure”, organise the goodie bags, ensure waivers were signed before the day, clean and decorate the events room, etc. The usual motions for when they hosted children’s birthdays. In an ideal world, that wouldn’t be the job of the rangers to organise but apparently all the funding had gone to the building upgrade rather than hiring any other staff.

She’d reminded him the yesterday and he’d waved her off (almost causing another shift). She just needed to check that everything was good to go.

She looked on the ranger allocations tomorrow and found they were all fully allocated for the day (including herself) but there was no one on the birthday. Her heart stopped and then picked up again in double-time. She closed the spreadsheet and looked at the high-ropes bookings - fully booked, no birthday group. She closed her eyes and forced a shaky breath in and out of her lungs, she could feel her body heating up.

“Shit.” She muttered. She thought it was quiet but it was loud enough that Dani frowned and looked up again.

“Everything ok?”

“No.” Lilah said, she stood up from her desk, blood pumping loudly. The signs were creeping up on her but she was took angry and stressed to notice. “I have to check something.”

She stormed out of the office without another word, barged through the welcome centre with a fury and entered the public cafe. On the other side of the cafe was a door leading to their private functions room. It was a beautiful space, with walls of floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on the trees. For children’s birthdays, should be brightly decorated with goodie bags ready and waiting for the kids. There should be the “Ranger for a Day” badge awaiting the birthday girl alongside an adventure passport for each of the kids.

It had better all be there.

She slammed her hand down on the door handle and opened the function room to find it a blank and empty canvas - not even a single chair had been pulled from storage. Outside the stormy weather picked up ferocity and the trees were raging in the wild winds. But all Lilah could see was her own reflection staring back at her, deadly. The blood was pounding in her ears and her skin pricked. He hadn’t done it. Any of it. She told him, time and time again and he hadn’t done it. She’d been patient. She’d explained the process. This was the only task she was actually willing to give him on and he still hadn’t done it.

She took a few steps into the room. It was big enough for small functions, big enough that the thud of her books echoed on the floor and bounced off the walls. By the time her slow walk had taken her to the centre of the room, her clenched fists had left deep crescent moons where her nails dug into the skin. Her jaw was tight, despite the cold in the unheated room, she sweated beneath her uniform. She could feel her body begging for release and it was all she could do not to let it.

“Nice room.” Came Dani’s voice from the doorway. “I don’t think I’ve been in here before. Oh wait, yes I have, right? For the Christmas party. It looks so different empty.”

Lilah didn’t look at her, she could only stare forwards as her anger compounded. But she could hear Dani make her way into the room and walk towards the window. From her periphery she was aware of Dani spying out the drop below.

In order to attract more bookings, the events room overhung a small depression in the landscape. The room was suspended about 15 or so metres over the drop counter-levered by the rest of the building on the ground. The effect was that anyone in the room would feel as though they were truly immersed in the wild.

“It shouldn’t be empty.” Lilah managed, jaw tight.

“What?”

“It shouldn’t be empty.” She repeated, this time louder, with more force. Her fingers tingled. “I told TJ. I told him so many times. We have a birthday tomorrow and each time - EACH. TIME. - he blows me off, like ‘it’s fine, Delilah, I know’. But guess what? He’s done shit all. They’re coming at 9am tomorrow and the room’s not ready, none of the rangers have been told and we’re all at capacity, the high ropes is fully booked and won’t be able to take a group of 20 kids at the last minute - obviously!” Her face was getting hot. “And I just know he hasn’t had any of the waivers signed by the parents. And now I have to stay back even later to fix it! What a fuc-“

She grew. Only a metre or so but it was enough to shock her out of her rant. Her heart trembled as her blood got hotter and hotter. Despite herself, there was a cruel relief in the sensation.

She looked at Dani whose eyes were wide. Obviously, she’d noticed too. It’s hard to miss when your girlfriend is suddenly double your height. Lilah’s head now only just missed the ceiling.

This was all still new for both of them. Lilah was unused to being seen in a shift, to looming so far above anyone - let alone Dani. For Dani’s part, she was determined to prove the sudden shifts - Lilah’s unexplained and unexpected growth of anywhere between a few inches to a few metres - didn’t bother her. But Lilah knew. She knew Dani. Already she was on high alert.

Her girlfriend was taking small steps towards her, hands out in either a placating or defensive gesture (maybe both).

“Li,” She said, caution flooding her tone. “I know this is stressful, and really frustrating. But this isn’t your fault. You don’t have to fix it. Let TJ deal with the consequences of his mistakes.”

Lilah put her head in her hands. She hated this part - the pounding in her head. She needed to get it under control, but she was struggling to focus. Whenever she attempted to calm herself down, the image of TJ’s smug indifference and the eventual conversation she’d have to have with parents in the morning would set her body alight again.

“But why should a child on their birthday have to deal with the consequences of his mistakes? How is that fair?”

Her head hit the ceiling and instinctively she dropped to her knees.

She felt a tiny hand on her thigh. She opened her eyes and there was Dani, already so small, looking up at her. While she was doing her best to keep them level, her girlfriend’s eye betrayed her.

“Li,” She said again. “It’s not fair, but that’s how we learn. That’s how he has to learn. Let’s just calm down and -“

“No,” Lilah interrupted, more forceful than she meant and Dani took a step back. Lilah swallowed. “Wait, sorry, Dani, I meant-“

Before she could finished, her body took over and she started to grow again. Except this time wasn’t a small burst. This time she just kept growing, watching in horror as the space around her grew tighter and tighter. She had enough control as to fold in onto herself to stop her from crashing through the roof, but if she couldn’t stop it, there was not much she could do to prevent that from happening. Plus, what would Dani -

Behind her pounding headache, her thoughts stilled.

Dani.

It was all Dani could do to scramble away in time, her back pressed into the glass corner where two of the windowed walls met. Lilah lifted her head as much as she dared to check she was ok. Her chest was moving rapidly and occasionally, Dani’s glance shifted to the drop outside but Lilah watched in relief to see she was unharmed.

But there was no guarantee that would last.

“Dani, are you ok?”

Before her girlfriend could reply, Lilah’s head swum and she doubled back down, pressing her forehead into the floorboards of the events room. She could feel the walls pressing in as her body hungrily devoured any available space.

“I’m fine!” Dani said in delayed answer, though her voice was strained.

Lilah turned her head (now unable to lift it) and saw her hand was now pressing against Dani’s body, sandwiching her against the glass.

She needs to get out of here.

They were suspended over a drop in a room that was not designed to carry this kind of load. Of course, at this size, the drop would mean nothing to Lilah, but for Dani…

And then what if the room could hold the weight? She might crush her girlfriend if she couldn’t get it together.

“Babe, you need to leave.” She managed. “You need to get out, I can’t stop.”

This was as large as she’d ever shifted in the human world. Usually a bad shift would see her double in height, sometimes triple. But now, she was almost half her natural height and didn’t look to stop.

“Ummm, ok.” Dani swallowed. “Well, love, that might be an issue. You’re blocking the exit.”

The realisation calcified her stomach. Of course Dani was right, if she focussed on it, she could feel the doorway pressed against her other shoulder.

“No-no-no,” Lilah began to mutter, feeling her breath go shallow.

“It’s ok!” Dani called up, though it was obvious to both of them she was lying. “We’re both fine. I’m sure I could find a way to squeeze thr-“

Despite the constantly creaking and groaning of the forest outside, they both heard the new sound. It was the terrible complaint of the building below them. In the stilled silence of the moment before, the two shared one knowing glance. Dani, pale and still, looked so small against the writhing dark behind her.

The building creaked again, this time louder. Closer.

When the floor shifted beneath them, Lilah reached out.

As the private function room collapsed over the gap, Lilah continued to grow to her full size, while in her fist, Dani seemed to shrink smaller and smaller. Naturally, Lilah brought her hand to her chest and curled herself into the foetal position protectively around her cargo. It was all over in a few seconds when Lilah felt her side land roughly on the earth below. Thankfully, the drop was clear of any mature trees that would have done significant harm. Other than the awkward ache of a fall, she was fine. Thankfully, she couldn’t feel any glass in her skin, the full-coverage of her uniform offering her blessed protection.

Now outside, the wind whipped at her like a pack of frenzied animals descending on a fresh kill. The trees, dark and much smaller now, were bending their canopies this way and that, bullied by the fierceness of a clear winter night.

The cold, biting and hungry, was almost a relief against her burning hot skin and her lungs happily welcomed the air as relief. There was truly no feeling quite like returning to her natural height. She’d tried to explain it to Dani before. Even though she never felt constricted when she’d shift to human size, returning to normal height felt like stretching after a long day bent over hard labour.

Still holding her fist to her chest, she used the other to prop herself into a seated position. Doing her best to shelter Dani from the onslaught of wind, Lilah opened her hand. There was Dani, her suit crumpled, her hair a messy. There was an immediacy to her stare as she re-oriented herself with the world. When she looked at Lilah, her expression was unreadable.

“Are you ok?” They said in unison.

Lilah waited for Dani, who very quickly waved her off.

“I’m fine.” She said. “I just fell out of a collapsing building and, if not for your quick reflexes, would have died, but I’m fine. Are you ok?”

Lilah looked back at the welcome centre, at the gaping hole where the function room used to be. It was now about level with her head. Around and beneath her, the remnants of it were scattered - bits of glass, concrete, wood and other infrastructure lay broken and useless. Off in some of the nearby trees were other pieces of it carried off in the wind.

It was then that the horror sank in, and her eyes boiled over. She couldn’t help the rapid, frantic sobs that escaped her chest.

---

“Hey! Hey, love.” Dani tried by she was fighting a losing battle against her girlfriend, the wind, and her own panic wanting to tamp her voice dow. The shaking of Lilah’s fist was making her disoriented. “It’s ok! You’re ok. I’m ok. Ok?”

But the wind stole the words away. Her hair whipped around her face in wild tendrils. Lilah’s fingers curled around her, making her heart race.

“Oh my god, I’ve destroyed it.” Came Lilah’s pained voice, ignoring or not hearing Dani. “What if someone was here? What if I couldn’t reach you in time? What if…”

She descended into another fit of sobs, but this time Dani’s stomach lurched as she was pulled suddenly flush against Lilah’s rapidly moving chest. In the moment, Dani’s mind first went to the image of a small teddy bear being cradled by a child for comfort. As much as the idea softened her heart, the combination of the movement, being suspended in the air and Lilah’s haggard breathing covering her from above had her feeling nauseous.

Plus, she knew they still had to deal with it.

Lilah’s thumb stroked the back of her hair, though it was neither as soft nor as considered as her girlfriend’s usual touch. They were still getting used to each other at different scales and these were the situations where the newness really showed.

Dani grit her teeth and endured it, promising herself she’d raise it when cooler minds prevailed.

Right now, needed to stop this before it got worse.

She pressed on Lilah’s tightening hold around her centre forcefully and it was enough to get Lilah’s attention.

“Dani?” She asked, though she seemed to already know to let up as Dani felt the vice loosen just slightly.

Dani had to do everything to top her teeth chattering in the cold.

“I’m fine!” Dani repeated, with a more level voice than before. She still felt the same level of panic but was better prepared this time. “I’m ok!”

Lilah studied her with a terrible scrutiny, but when she was satisfied, she looked at the space where the private function room used to be.

“But-“

“It’s a building.” Dani stopped her before she could spiral. “It’s just a building. Actually, it’s part of a building. And you know it’s insured to high heaven.”

“But-“

The giant fingers twitched around her making Dani’s heart rate soar.

“Lilah, look at me.” She almost had to yell to get her giant partner’s attention.

She had to crane her neck to meet Lilah’s stare. Her girlfriends eyes were raw and her cheeks smeared with long wet trails. Dani hated that she couldn’t hold Li close and tell her it’d be ok. She couldn’t let her girlfriend collapse into her arms, she couldn’t run her fingers down her back. She was too powerless to cup her face and make it all go away. She couldn’t fight off the feelings, but she could fix them.

“Here’s the plan.” She said. The words alone had a soothing effect on her own heart. They let her brain settle and work through each thought. “Are there cameras?”

“Not on this side of the building. They didn’t think it mattered - the only thing this side is the drop.”

“Ok, good. We need a cover. We’ll keep it as close to true as possible. You were working late. TJ forgot to do the one thing you asked him to do and so you were preparing to (as always) pick up his slack. The room collapsed, and…”

At this point, Dani wasn’t even talking to Lilah, she was just piecing a story together and Lilah happened to be there.

“And people are going to believe I survived that unscathed?”

Dani shook her head. She chewed her cracked lips.

“No, of course not” she hummed. “Maybe you were in the room and you looked up just in time to see  one of the trees falling towards the building, uprooted by the wind. You escaped just in time.”

“But there’s no tree here?”

Dani looked at Lilah. “There are plenty of trees here, Li. If you could push one over onto the centre that, plus the wind, would be enough of a cover-up.”

Lilah pulled back, her face guarded.

“Dani, some of these trees are over 100 years old. I’m a ranger, I’m not going to kill one just to cover my tracks.”

“But-“

Lilah’s eyes flashed. “No."

Dani bit down on her tongue. There was no use pushing this. She knew it would be a hard line for her girlfriend. Dani didn’t love the idea of pulling up a tree for no reason, she knew how much Lilah cared about nature, but there was a reason - hiding the secret of giants from all of mankind seemed like a good one, even if it was environmentally questionable.

But this wasn’t the time to push Lilah or upset her more than she already was. She needed to pivot.

“Fine.” She took a long breath and shrugged. “Then we rely on uncertainty and bad weather and we call it an unfortunate Act of God.”

Lilah frowned. “And that would be enough?”

Dani pursed her lips, “The tree thing would be better but,” She added as Lilah’s fist inadvertently tightened around her. “You’d be surprised how often these kinds of things happen. When emergency response get here, you’re going to tell them you felt the room giving way under you and you sprinted for the door just in time. You’re lucky you were able to react. Actually, we may even be able to claim worker’s compensation -“

“Dani.”

“Fine, goodie two shoes. I’m going to say I found you in shock. You’re going to admit you have no idea what caused it - you suspect the bad weather over the last few days. You’re going to say you were looking forward to the clear forecast tomorrow and you’re going to make a throwaway comment about how nature is wild and unforgiving. The police and insurers will realise there is no obvious or provable blame and National Parks shouldn’t have an issue making the claim. It should be enough. But!” She looked Lilah right in the eye, nearly daring her girlfriend to look away. “Before any of that, you need to shift back.”

---

It took nearly 30 minutes of gentle coaxing and breathing for Lilah to shift back, which was faster than usual but not great from a timeline point of view. But Dani needn’t have worried. As far as emergency response was concerned, a ranger and her partner almost died in a wild weather incident. There wasn’t any discussion of blame, and if there was, what would they say? At least as far as the two of them were involved. The insurance company would want to speak to Lilah, but Dani would prepare her for that, she’d teach her the right things to say, how to act. When to joke and when not to. She’d make sure they’d have no reason but to pay out the claim to rebuild and with that, Lilah’s guilt would vanish. Dani would fix it.

From where she was sitting, ambulance blanket over her shoulders, she caught Lilah’s eye as her girlfriend was being interviewed by the police. Lilah nodded and smiled.

Dani let out a long breath.

One day.

One day she’d be able to control it.

One day they’d be better prepared.

-

(inspiration can strike anywhere. In this instance, it was useless people at work. - ray xx)

[especdreamy]

🦑 Sparring time! 🐙

(rbs appreciated!)

Timelapse!

[endless-oc-creations]

🎃Oc Halloween Challenge 2023 🎃Day Four: Twisted

In this twisted turn of events, what if Dani became infected and was starting to turn into a clicker?

💕 Forever Taglist: @bravelittleflower​ @sunlitscribe​​​ @eddysocs​​ @raith-way​​ @waterloou​​​ @decennia​​ @hiddenqveendom​ @aaronhotchstuff​ @foxesandmagic​ @booty-boggins​​  @asirensrage​​  @connietheecunning​​  @lucys-chen @arrthurpendragon @daughter-of-melpomene @thccraft💕

[booksrbetterthanpeople]

More people

[citylighten]

DANIELA MORALES