Better Days Then Yesterday

[Isabella Black]

The glowing hue of the midday sun, warmed the street, making it appear more friendly than it actually was. Isabella wasn't entirely liking the fact the sun was actually out. It irritated her skin. Making it seem like it was burning, yet having no real effect. Peering out, to the side of her, Isabella watched Frank, her violet eyes never actually fully leaving his form.

She was worried. And that, in itself, was an understatement.

The location of Frank's old house was easy enough to find. Now it was just the task of walking. Something that was becoming unbearable, for Isabella didn't look 'normal' that went for Frank too. The locale's stares told her this much, as with the occasional cough in someones conversation. Making it known that they were being talked about.

It lead to Isabella quicken her step. As for Frank, Isabella could only take a guess of what he was thinking about all this. If he even knew what was going on around him in any case. With everything else going on in his mind

Frowning, Isabella grasped onto Frank's arm. Pulling him closer toward her. Wanting to be out of people's conversations, and their eyesight. It was lucky, that the house was now in view.

[Frank]

Danny's steps were quick and stiff, he could hear the people they passed talking about he and Isabella but their words to him were as meaningless and mindless as the simple chatter of bugs.
The noise slipped past his mind and he didn't even bother to try to grasp at the frayed ends of sentences and conversations.
He was completely focused on what was coming into clearer and more vivid clarity ahead of him with each step.

He gasped a small, soundless 'Oh' when Isabella grabbed at him, stumbling a little in his step but complying and allowing their bodies to be dragged closer together. Casually he threw an arm over her shoulders and dragged her even closer, never breaking his stride.

The door to the little house was nailed shut, though by who, and why, Danny was oblivious. He slipped his fingers behind the piece of wood and pulled, easily dislodging the nails. The door creaked ominously, swinging open with the lightest brush of his fingers. The dark, gaping mouth of the doorway barely allowed in enough light to illminate the blood-stained and leaf-strewn floor, the peeling wallpaper and disintergrating furniture.

It had been so well-kept when he had lived here. It almost wasn't the same place.

He stepped into the house, allowing Isabella to enter after him.
"This, Isabella, is my home"

[Isabella Black]

It wasn't nearly as decomposed as it felt it should of been. Isabella thought, letting her eyes roam from the cracks in the ceiling to the paint, that had been torn away by time on the walls. The floor wasn't much to look at either, grime, dust, leaves, and the sight of blood. Dried, yet it's tell-tale aroma still managed to make itself known. Even so, it was just being in a place Frank had once called Home, that Isabella felt this odd sense of comfort. Not the warm sort of comfort she felt at her own home, no. This comfort brought forth a chill.

Exhaling, Isabella wrinkled her nose. She would have to do something about the mess. It grained on her nerves, after all, they would be here for a while. Why not make it at least, livable?

Talking a few steps forward, Isabella grabbed the first door she saw. Attempting to pull it open, it really shouldn't of been a surprise when the handle decided to come clean off. Making her take a step back. Raising an eyebrow, Isabella turned to Frank. Hoping he didn't mind.

"So far," Isabella began to say, moving away from the door, the handle still in her hand, "I have to say, I'm not very fond of it." She stated, a half smile, half grimace on her lips. She couldn't help it, the place kind of creeped her out.

[Frank]

Danny wrinkled his nose and frowned at Isabella.
"It is what it is" he shrugged. His voice was gruff and blunt. Although he had resumed talking, his words were few and far between. He only spoke when he felt he needed to.
He kicked at the mountain of mail which had been scattered across the floor when he opened the door. Some stupid mailman had kept shoving letters through the slot even after the place had been boarded up, There were years worth of mail here.
Thinking twice, he bent down and picked up a handful of letters, flicking through them with his thumb.

"I bet I could learn a lot from these" Danny mumbled to himself, dropping into a sitting position on the floor.
He looked up at Isabella and raised an eyebrow.
"You can take a look around if you want" he said, absent-mindedly shoving a handful of flyers toward her, most of which had been newly added to the mail-mountain.

[Isabella Black]

Dropping the handle, Isabella casually dusted her hands. Already making her way over toward Frank, in time to catch a bunch of fliers. They added a ting of colour to the place, whether that was a good thing or not, Isabella didn't know. Keeping a careful eye on Frank, Isabella peered down at the letters on the floor, noticing most held a strange mark on the left side of them. Probably some government group. Before turning them onto the bundle of flyers in her hands.

The first few held nothing of interest, Isabella began to think most were just for people who cared about the town's funding. Yet she continued to look through them, stopping when one with huge bold lettering declared it was on that same afternoon. The date written clear throughout the flyer. It was an advertisement for a carnival. Showing animals, freak shows, Ferris wheels, rides and most of all, it had free ice cream. Smiling to herself, Isabella dropped the other flyers, already knowing that this carnival was something she wanted to look into, if only to pass some time. It started in only a couple of hours. What harm would it be?

"Frank, check this out," Isabella muttered out, holding out the flyer toward him. "I think we should go." She declared, as if it wasn't up for debate.

She felt it was time the both of them did something to take their minds off of, well, everything.

[Frank]

Danny carefully put aside the letter he had just opened and instead drew his attention to the flyer that was thrust boldy towards him. It took him a few seconds to focus past the garish colours and curling lettering.
He stared at it for a moment, taking in just what Isabella was showing him. A carnival? Really?
It seemed impossibly absurd, but he knew he could never argue with Bella, not when her voice took on that tone.

Then his eyes caught something else.
"Free icecream?" Of course. That was so Isabella. It was probably the only thing she saw on the whole flyer.

The name of the travelling carnival was familiar to him. It would visit yearly in his childhood, and every year Danny would sneak out of lessons to go see the flashing lights, tallented performers and mountains of cotton candy.
It would make sense that they would be here today of all days, the day he came home to answer questions about his childhood.

What harm could it be really?
After some consideration, mostly centering around the fact that Isabella was unllikely to take no for answer, Danny simply nodded at her.
He agreed. They would go.

[Isabella Black]

Silently, without her gaze wavering from Danny, Isabella watched as he mulled over in his head whether they should go. His facial expressions weren't much to go by, but Isabella could tell that he felt it pointless, if only a little. Although, even if he did, Isabella knew they were going. She wouldn't want it any other way.

The comment about the ice cream make Isabella's lip's twitch, growing into a smile that barely hid the childlike display of amusement the words held for her. Which was a dramatic change, being who she was, and what she had been through and seen. To even begin to put those things aside to be, as it seemed, like a child.

Still keeping her eyes on him, Isabella kicked aside more of the letters, noticing the nod in agreement from him was something she had nearly not expected. Yet she wasn't about to jump in the air, like Lelouch would, given she had gotten her way. No, Isabella just nodded back, making sure she wasn't about to make a big deal over it.

"Now that's agreed with, how about we fix a room up? We're going to have to make it look as if we've at least slept here. Or the neighbors are going to get suspicious." Isabella pointed out. Already aware that people had seen them enter the house. Paranoia was something she couldn't ignore. Not now, not ever.

[Frank]

Danny grunted and shrugged, pushing himself onto his feet effortlessly. He didn't really want to clean the place up. He didn't want to change it. Somehow, it felt like a betrayal to the house, to his parents.
He shook off the thoughts that did nothing but confuse him and turned his back on Isabella.

He had a sudden pulling, a thought, a feeling that tugged him down the filthy hallway. He followed it with long, measured footsteps to a door at the end of the hall. It stood slightly ajar, with a single, faded hand print on the off-white paint. He placed his palm over the print, mimicking the sprawl of the fingers.
I don't even remember.
He shook his head.
He slipped into the dark room and closed the door quietly behind him.
The curtains were closed. The room was pitch-black. Even if he had no immortality to aid his vision he would still be able to navigate this room. He knew it so well, even after all this time.

The small metal frame of the bed groaned as Danny clambered onto it, searching with roaming hands and fingertips for what he was sure would be there. His hands grazed over an uneven shape, soft fabric, a bead of cool plastic. He drew the thing into his arms and held it against his chest.
It had been so, so long since he had been home.

He pulled his knees up and tucked in his head, forming a loose ball around the figure.
In the dark, when he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend he was a child again.


I can even almost hear my mother's footsteps...

[Isabella Black]

Isabella lowered her head. Sensing the disrupted atmosphere that came in waves off of Danny. She could feel it, and it bothered her more than she was letting on. She was trying to move past the pathetic emotions that seemed to want to crush everything. Making it difficult to put one foot in front of the other and finally enjoy what both of them still had. Glaring at her arm, Isabella stared at the tiny teeth marks Lelouch had made by accident. Scarring her. An event that seemed entirely unreal to what had occurred after it. To how much they all had changed, as if different people inhabited their bodies. Or they had morphed into something else. Shifting her eyes, Isabella glanced at the ends of her dark purple dress, that didn't look as if it ever had a spec of dirt on it.

All the while listening intently to the silent footsteps of Danny, making his way, Isabella was sure, into a room. Probably his own, as that would be her first choice if she had come home after years of neglecting it. Breathing out in an attempt to restrain herself from becoming overly annoyed by his touch of nostalgia, Isabella placed her right foot in front of her left and followed Danny's previous steps.

Hearing the slight groan of metal, Isabella silently placed a hand on the door handle, gently turning it. She only opened it a little, while leaning her body on the door's frame. Violet peering through the darkness that embraced the room Danny was currently in. Seeing the small, yet utterly childish toy crunched up between Danny's chest and knees, Isabella couldn't help the sympathetic twitch of her eyebrows form, although, she did wonder why the thing could be of any importance. It didn't move, or talk, or even appear as if it was anything but a toy Lelouch had once wanted. Useless. Yet, as Isabella watched him, she felt that maybe it was significant for the children that had them. They seemed to serve as a replacement for human beings. Or so Isabella thought.

"What's it's name?" Isabella questioned softly. She wanted to comfort Danny, but she didn't want to go into the room that served as Danny's room for most of his childhood. She also didn't like how much Danny looked like a child the way he was, or the fact that she was reminded of how much she couldn't handle situations like these. Isabella just wanted him to know that she was here, and that was all. She wasn't Lanor. And she could never be like Lanor. And that's who Danny needed, yet also he needed to discover that life moved forward and that means he had to, aswell.

[Frank]

Danny's pupils dilated and contracted as he focused on Isabella through the dusty light that filtered around her silhouette. A small well of embarrassment swelled in the pit of his stomach. He forced it to dissipate before daring to open his mouth.
"Abby". He answered Isabella's question simply, his voice as soft and musical as it had always been.

He felt weightless at that moment, not entirely attached to reality. He had been drifting in and out his own private version of the world since Lanor died, disassociating with a reality that had become too painful too quickly.

He uncurled the tight ball of his body, making sure that his arm stayed securely around this one intact and untainted piece of his childhood. He slung his legs over the small bed frame and sat up properly.
Danny patted the bed beside him, encouraging Bella to take the spot next to him. His mind was a delicate fuzz, jumping between ideas and emotions in a blur so incomprehensible that he could barely draw his own actions into perspective.
Perhaps Isabella had the right idea about going out tonight. It would do him some good to leave the madness of his thoughts behind.

[Isabella Black]

Isabella wasn't clued into the fact that Danny might of been a tad embarrassed. Holding his piece of childhood, as if wanting to surrender to those childhood years. Where everything seemed to make sense and nothing was ever so wrong it couldn't be fixed. No, Isabella couldn't necessarily come to the conclusion of why anyone would find themselves embarrassed. So when he answered her, Isabella just remained silent. Acknowledging the name, but not intending to view the toy as anything other then what it was.

Moving a step forward, and successfully entering the dark room, Isabella hesitated briefly. Noticing the hand gestures made by Danny to sit beside him. It was difficult to take in the way he would act, whether that be completely zombie-like, or back to his old self again, Isabella was finding it hard to distinguish just who Danny was. It was like he was a stranger sometimes, somebody Isabella felt didn't want to be known, then he would become himself again. Like now. But slightly different.

Without further thoughts, Isabella silently joined him on the bed. Eying the toy-Abby- for she didn't know where to place her eyes.

"So... This is pretty boy's room." Isabella mused. Taking her eyes from Abby, to gaze at the room. It was a lot nicer, in a somewhat childish way than the previous rooms she had been in. But she supposed it was because it was Danny's room.

[Frank]

Danny chuckled roughly. What a thing to say.
"I guess it is" he mumbled. The sound of his own voice startled him a little. His words had been restricted to no more than necessity since he had began speaking once more. Now he spoke out of less than that.
Perhaps for Isabellas' sake.
Perhaps for his own.

"I never really spent too much time here. I think it was my mother that decorated it. She always liked the house to look fancy, 'together'. She was all into matching wallpaper and furniture and drapes. It was kept in order. This room was never really 'lived in', I guess".
He shifted on the bed, make it groan and creak in protest.
"For all the unusual aspects of my family, my mother was close to normal. I think it was her way of making up for everything else. My father, he was very focused on the job. He was the one that pushed all of us into it."

He let out a thick breath. Isabella knew a great deal about him, but these intricate little details he had only ever revealed to one other. Often they were spoken of on warm nights that turned into cool mornings, bare ribs and skin pressing against one another, in words that lasted from the nights darkest until the rising of the sun.
It was a weighty thing, to let these things up to anybody else, even if it was Bella.

He pinched the soft fuzz of the toys fur between his fore-finger and thumb, twisting it and running it over the pads of his fingers. He almost lost himself in that simple gesture.

[Isabella Black]

The soft, yet rough melodic tone of his once familiar voice made Isabella actually look up at him. Taking in the words as if he was reciting some ancient prophesy, for it had been so long since she had heard multiple sentences strung together leaving his mouth. It wasn't easy for him, and she wondered why he felt the need to explain his parents, although she was grateful, Danny had never even brought them up before. Except that they had died. She knew little of them, just as Danny knew little of hers. Strange.

It was probably difficult. To have been his mother, dealing with the fact her husband was involved with death, and willing to bring his only son into it. It made one think of what a life one had to lead, that would make them want to be apart of such a life. Did they have a choice, or was it different for them? Didn't matter, it ended with tragedy, it always did.

Letting the concern slip onto her face, Isabella gently reached out her hand, taking hold of Danny's. Wanting to stop his mind from zoning out, as it couldn't necessarily be good thoughts. Not when he seemed to be patting his toy.

"I'm sorry you had to lose them like you did. Your mother sounds like she would of been great." Isabella didn't even know how he could hold up such a strong demeanor, while being in the house his parents died in.

"Did you love them? Your parents?" Isabella just wanted to know. It seemed like a thing to ask. After the childhood he had, it seemed like you would hold a certain hate, but it was Danny, and everything was different with him.

[Frank]

Dany stared at Isabella's hand holding his own for a long while before he opened his mouth to speak. It wasn't often that people touched him these days, and when they did he took little notice of its sensation.
Now he did. He felt all the lines and grooves of her skin resting against his. Her hands were unfathomably soft. Her hands were tiny too, in comparison to his. She looked fragile now that he noticed. She was small and delicate, and she looked so fragile. Why hadn't he ever noticed before?

He flicked his eyes away from her and back to the toy in his lap.
"I...I don't know" the words slipped from his lips, revealing none of the thoughts behind them. He didn't know, really, if he loved anyone. He had loved Lanor, he knew that. And Isabella? He cared for her greatly. He worried for her, and missed her when she was gone; he supposed he loved her too. But now he neither missed his parents nor mourned for them. They were never really good to him, but they weren't always cruel to him either.

"I was too young to love them, I think. They weren't always kind. I was more like a pet than a child to them sometimes, I think." He stared into the floor, but his eyes were unfocused and his mind was elsewhere. "I'm not sure that they loved me. If they did it was out of no more than obligation."

He sighed and dropped his head, as if the words he spoke left a heaviness within him. It still felt oddly painful to speak.
He did wonder, for more than a fleeting instance, what Isabella thought of his confessions, of these details of his childhood that had been so carefully hidden mere minutes ago.

[Isabella Black]

The words seemingly slipped carelessly from his mouth, indicating that he really didn't. As a daughter or son, you could almost without thought say you loved your parents. It was meant to be the simplest thing to acknowledge. Danny didn't know, and Isabella felt her heart ache with an odd numbness. Her finger's tightening, enabling a sense that even if he couldn't feel the love between himself and his parents. He was able to love, and he had proved that. Friendship wasn't without love.

The more he talked about his parents, the more Isabella grasped onto the fact that Danny felt as if he hadn't been worth his parents 'love', or that was how his parents made it. Isabella, slowly shook her head, long strands following the movement. While she tentatively shifted, so she was facing him completely.

"Danny... I don't think they would even deserve your love." It was said with as much force, words from Isabella could have, while still being light on the ears.

"They missed out on loving you, that was their first mistake." Isabella muttered softly, using her unoccupied hand to gently stroke her fingers through his dark locks. A tiny smile craving itself onto her lips. As her violet eyes were seemingly captivated by the movement.

"The second was letting you name a piece of sewed fabric, Abby."