look i know a 16 year old boy doing laundry is improbable but

[gogoghostpowers]

Who: Stefan and Danny
What: Danny's just TRYING TO DO HIS GODDAMN LAUNDRY!!!!
Where: on the streets of Locke, near a laundromat
When: today? I guess???
Warnings: none that I can think of


Danny didn't want to do this. Honestly, he doesn't think he even knows HOW to do this. But it's gotten to be time. His car reeks, and he's pretty sure Karl would be disappointed in him if he were around to see (or rather, smell) this mess.

So he searches for a laundromat in the neighborhood and parks next to it. He grabs all the clothes he's got (which, thankfully, is enough that he can carry it in one armload) and shuts the car door with his foot. He starts stumbling his way over to the laundromat, but spills some socks along the way. Okay, so maybe it's a little more than an armful's worth of clothes.

Comments

[stefanged]

The socks were the first thing Stefan noticed on his way back from the library. He leaned down, picking them up and--oh. Oh god, they kind of stink. He can't even hide his scrunched up face as he holds them up, glancing furtively at the guy who must've dropped him. "Hey, I think these are..."

He'd know that face anywhere, even though it's been at least a couple of months since they've talked. "... I think they're yours," he finally says, faltering as he holds the door open.

[gogoghostpowers]

He doesn't immediately recognize the voice, not when he's so focused on trying to keep all his clothes in his hands, but when he turns his head in his direction, Danny realizes who it is.

"O-oh. Um. Yeah, they are." Wow, this is uncomfortable.

"It's okay, just, uh, put them on top of everything else, I guess."

Danny turns around and backs up a few steps to push open the door to the laundromat, but only ends up spilling more clothes in the process. He sighs.

[stefanged]

He feels like he could cut through the awkward with a knife, no matter how he'd try to (verbally) diffuse it.

Stefan reaches for the clothes, holding them carefully in his arms before he then glances over at Danny. He furrows his brow, before he finally says, "Lost track of time, huh? I've done that with my laundry before."

[gogoghostpowers]

"Uh, yeah." Danny nods. And then adds, mumbling: "Plus it's kinda hard to do laundry when you don't have a washing machine you can use."

[stefanged]

Had he... no, Stefan must've heard that wrong. He must have, because last he checked, Danny was living with a couple of his friends.

"Hey, did you just say... you don't have a washing machine?" (Maybe it was broken. Yeah, that was a logical conclusion that didn't jump to the worst-case scenarios he was automatically picturing.)

[gogoghostpowers]

Oh damn it. He really has to stop doing that muttering thing, because clearly it never works.

Danny decides to cover up his mistake with sass.

"Uh, no. Why else would I be at a laundromat with an armful of dirty clothes?"

[stefanged]

"You've got me there." Stefan raises an eyebrow, not even bothering to counter that logic as he takes another glance at the clothes pile. Does the kid have laundry detergent too? (And what about dryer sheets? Those are both kinda necessary.)

After a moment, he has to ask, "Did the one at your apartment break? I'm no mechanic, but maybe we could ask someone to get it fixed..."

[gogoghostpowers]

(Danny does not have laundry detergent. Or dryer sheets. He's a clueless teenage boy who thinks that the only thing involved in laundry is dumping your clothes into a machine and turning it on for a little while.)

"No, uh. Don't worry about it, it's--I mean, there isn't a washing machine at all where I'm, uh, living."

[stefanged]

"There isn't...? Most places have them." He's already furrowing his brow, even as he sets Danny's clothes down on top of a washer and reaches in his pocket to buy the small laundry packets the laundromat offers.

(Hey, someone has to teach this kid how to wash his clothes.) "Danny, where exactly are you these days?"

[gogoghostpowers]

He has half a mind to lie. It's on the tip of his tongue, really. But then he realizes that no matter what he says, it'd be easy enough to disprove. And after that, he'd have multiple people on his case about his current housing situation.

He's been cornered. There's no way to come out of this with the secret intact.

"I'm, uh...on the move, I guess."

[stefanged]

There was no other way to interpret that - not after the hours he'd spent at the church. Stefan's silent for a few seconds, his gaze falling on the five dollars he had pulled out to pay for the detergent and fabric softener, before he looks back at Danny.

A few months ago, he wouldn't have even dreamt about doing this, because while Olette may have forgiven Danny... Stefan couldn't. He couldn't, and yet, he knew exactly what he should do.

So, he takes a deep breath before he says, "Yeah? Well... if you don't want to be on the move so much, my house is always open."

[gogoghostpowers]

Danny stares in shock at Stefan for a few moments. Him, offering up a home to the guy who broke up with his little sister? It's...generous to the point of making Danny feel kind of bad about it. Not to mention it would be incredibly awkward.

"Thanks, but--I'm fine." He drops eye contact again to open one of the washing machines and begin shoving all his clothes into it. "Living out of a car isn't so bad once you get used to it."

[stefanged]

Part of him's stunned he even offered, because he couldn't imagine this a few months ago (but then again, he muses, Danny's sister was alive a few months ago too).

"That's not something you should get used to," Stefan says, opening up the detergent packet and dumping the contents into the machine. From a quick glance, he can tell that they're gonna need a delicate cycle (just to be on the safe side), so he goes ahead and also pays for the use of the machine.

"Look, I - my roommate and I won't mind extra company, so just think about it for a couple of nights? However long you need to get back on your feet."

[gogoghostpowers]

Danny almost protests, but before he can say anything, Stefan's already paid for the cycle. Danny crosses his arms, annoyed. But then the offer catches him off-guard and his arms slide back to his sides limply.

It's--it's a really nice offer. Too nice, Danny realizes. There's no way that this can work out.

"Stefan..." He starts gently, as if treading on eggshells. But then his tone hardens to one of skepticism. "I'm a high school dropout without a family. There is no getting back on my feet--not anything better than I've got right now, anyway."

[stefanged]

He figured. Stefan wasn't exactly an idiot - considering Danny's circumstances, the kid was going to remain with him far longer than a few days if the offer was accepted. No matter how he would couch the offer (because in pastoral counseling, Stefan knew he couldn't just outright say hey come live with me), they would inevitably come to this point in the conversation.

"I know," he says, allowing a faint smile to come on his face as he presses start on the machine. "Which is exactly why I expect this to be a long-term kinda thing."

Which isn't exactly how he ever expected any sort of interaction with his sister's ex-boyfriend to go. He had kind of expected a few punches, and maybe a couple of choice insults for the zift who broke her heart, but... put another way, it also felt like a test from God, to see how Stefan would handle things.

And he wasn't exactly going to let a kid stay homeless under his watch. "I figure, you can pay me back in good karma and... I don't know, not getting my sister involved in any of this."

[gogoghostpowers]

"I..."

Danny looks away and averts his gaze to the washing machine for lack of anything better. The offer is nice...really nice. He'd love a bed to sleep on again, somewhere to put what little he has left, somewhere to get some peace and quiet for once, instead of just laying down in the backseat of his car and staring up.

But he can't just accept the offer. It just feels wrong, especially when he can't really give anything back in exchange. Sure, Stefan said to pay him in "good karma", but Danny has no idea what that's even supposed to mean.

Although he is slowly wearing down, and is visibly wrestling with the decision.

[stefanged]

He should give the kid some space. Stefan's first instinct is to reach out for his phone and check his messages, just so it doesn't feel like he's waiting on an answer - what else is he supposed to say? Beyond re-directing him towards resources for homeless kids in Locke (which he has, because it's technically part of his job)?

Instead, he hastily folds his arms. "At least spend the night. Have dinner with me and Xander, and then you can figure out if you want to stay longer. It's not exactly a decision that expires immediately, you know...?"