safe from morning light | {andy/dane}

D A N E
in some sad way
i already knew

When night danced across the earth of District Ten, when the shadows whispered secrets and the cold left its mark, one would find Dane Allore and Anderson Da Monte. Dane didn't like sleeping. He didn't like seeing his lost brother's face or the faces of his lost friends. They all left him behind and now he was there, in a home with a family that loved him. And when he slept, the dreams made him question such things-- did they really love him or had he just tricked himself into believing something again to come crashing down.

He had to walk with his feet on the ground if he was going to allow his head to be in the clouds. So, he planted them firmly into the ground and prepared for a sprint. Running was oddly pleasant in the dark. He suddenly got the feeling that something other than Andy ran along his side sometimes, or felt like he was running to get away from something rather than to get to it. This time it felt... different. Almost as if he were running toward the danger instead of away from it.

He squinted his eyes through the 2 a.m. light and, "Watch out!" he managed to stammer out before tackling Andy to the ground. Just as they hit the ground, Andy on his back and Dane on top of him, a heard of cows stampeded past them. Hooves and dust rained around them and Dane let the word "Fuck" escape his mouth more than once. One misstep from one of those damn meat packages and he might not ever walk again, or speak, or breathe.

But once the crowd of cows was gone and he was able to roll off of Andy to check for any bodily injuries, he began to breathe. He could still breathe. He wiped his brow and offered Andy a hand and things were almost too serious and then--

"Holy cow."

He laughed and pulled Andy in for a quick kiss on the forehead. "I think we should count ourselves lucky, yeah?" He listened as the heard trembled further and further away until they eventually were just a distant rumble. And he knew for certain, he was supposed to be there. He was supposed to belong to the Da Monte family.