"Tell Sara I appreciate the updates," Daniel said after parking beside the Matthews' house.
"Thanks for the ride. I'll let her know," Nathan replied, stepping out after saying goodbye and heading toward his home.
Before getting out, Daniel leaned back and grabbed the two handheld consoles that had been charging, technological relics that, in that place, were worth more than gold.
Slipping the devices into the inner pocket of his jacket, he also picked up the vase with the bouquet.
He knocked three times on the door in a steady rhythm.
Tabitha answered, freezing mid-motion. Jim had already mentioned the "transformation," but hearing about it was one thing; seeing Daniel standing there, looking like an upgraded version of himself, was something else entirely.
She blinked a few times before recovering. "Come in."
The interior of the house carried a productive kind of tension. At the table, Jim and Jade had their hands over sheets of paper filled with calculations and diagrams of a tower.
Jade seemed to be in the middle of either a stroke of genius or a nervous breakdown, which, for him, was essentially the same thing.
On the couch, Ethan flipped through an old book, while Julie sat beside him, her hair slightly messy and her face marked by that familiar crease of someone who had just woken from a not-so-restful sleep.
The moment they noticed Daniel's presence, the atmosphere shifted. Ethan jumped off the couch, running in circles around him like he was inspecting a brand-new toy.
"You got even bigger. You look like Captain America after the serum."
"That's basically what happened," Daniel agreed with complete seriousness.
Julie stood up more slowly, rubbing her eyes. She took two steps toward him and studied his face with an expression that tried, and failed, to remain neutral.
His jawline was sharper. His skin looked... different. Too clean, like he was wearing makeup.
"What happened to you?"
"How rude, shorty. Not even a hug first? Going straight into interrogation mode?" Daniel teased.
Julie rolled her eyes at the new nickname and hesitated for a second, feeling the weight of her parents' and Jade's gazes on them. Still, impulse won. She stepped forward and wrapped him in a quick hug.
The warmth of his body was more noticeable, and she could feel the firmness of his new muscles beneath his clothes. Embarrassed by the audience, she quickly pulled away.
"Here. I brought your present," Daniel said, handing her the vase with the flowers.
Jade, who had been silent until then, let out a sharp laugh, tossing his pen onto the papers. "Oh, that's beautiful! Flowers? Seriously? We're already at that stage? Next thing you know, you'll be discussing mortgage payments."
Jim shot him a look that could have incinerated him on the spot.
Daniel casually draped an arm over Julie's shoulders, pulling her closer. "Well, since Jade opened the floor... everyone, I don't know if Julie already told you, but we're dating."
The silence that followed was almost cinematic. Julie's eyes widened, her lips parting. She had expected something more subtle, maybe a private conversation, but Daniel had a habit of tossing grenades and watching the explosion.
Tabitha forced a smile, though the lines of concern on her forehead didn't fade; Daniel's unexplained physical change still unsettled her.
Ethan broke the tension, hugging both of them around the waist. "Cool! Does that mean Daniel is part of the family now?"
"Congratulations to the lovebirds!" Jade started clapping rhythmically, sarcasm dripping from every word. "But Julie, friendly advice: keep this one on a short leash. With that new magazine-cover look, women in this town are gonna start popping out of the ground like the monsters at night."
Daniel ran a hand through Julie's hair, noticing how she relaxed slightly at the touch. "She doesn't have to worry about that."
Julie, remembering how he had rejected advances before, felt a flicker of reassurance.
Tabitha, despite her internal doubts, stepped forward to hug her daughter. "If you're happy, Julie... we support you."
Jim simply gave a short nod, a silent acknowledgment.
"Well, before this gets too sentimental," Daniel said, turning to Ethan and pulling one of the devices from his pocket, "here, Ethan. I'll lend this to you. It's already charged."
The boy nearly jumped with excitement when he realized it was a videogame. Daniel crouched for a moment, explaining the basic controls with rare patience. Then he handed the second console to Julie.
"And this one's yours. Figured you needed a distraction that doesn't involve staring at wooden walls."
"I was dying of boredom," Julie admitted, sitting down on the couch and turning it on immediately.
Daniel sat beside her, resting his arm along the back of the couch, subtly wrapping it around her. Completely unbothered by the presence of her parents, he watched her play, commenting on her mistakes with his usual sharp humor.
Whenever she "died" in the game, she passed the console to him, and he cleared the stage with irritating precision before handing it back.
Jade, observing from the corner of his eye, muttered to Jim, "Mental note: never have a daughter. The stress alone seems to cut your life expectancy in half."
"Focus on the project, Jade," Jim growled, turning back to the tower plans.
While pretending to pay attention to the screen, Daniel noticed that Tabitha wasn't obsessively digging a hole in the basement.
In the original timeline, she should already be trying to figure out where the electricity was coming from. That was what would eventually lead her from the basement straight into the cave where the creatures slept during the day.
But there were no signs of that.
Daniel rested his elbow on the back of the couch, thoughtful. Either she hadn't reached that point yet... or he had already changed enough to disrupt that event.
He was leaning toward the second option.
Changing events without knowing what would happen next would scare any reasonable person, he thought, letting out a quiet breath through his nose.
But for him... it felt more interesting than it probably should.
"Julie," Daniel whispered, leaning closer to her ear while the beeping sounds of the game masked their conversation. "Do you still want to live with me?"
Julie paused the game, her fingers freezing over the buttons. She stared at him, the blue glow of his eyes seeming deeper than before.
"Before that, we need to talk about a few things."
"About?"
"About the gun that appeared out of nowhere. And about your appearance changing in a few hours..."
She got distracted for a moment, lost in the perfection of his features, forgetting what else she was going to ask.
"Earth to Julie," Daniel snapped his fingers in front of her eyes.
She looked away, slightly flushed.
"I know I'm handsome. You can look as much as you want, the privilege is all yours, but focus."
Julie gave him a light pinch on the stomach. Daniel let out a dramatic "ow," pretending to be in excruciating pain.
"Be serious," she said, though a smile was trying to break through.
"I am being serious. You should feel honored, I'm a work of art," he winked. "But fine. We can talk about whatever you want. Just not here. Let's go to the motorhome."
Julie stood up and told Tabitha she would be going out with Daniel for a while, using the excuse that they were going to visit Fatima and Ellis at the clinic.
Tabitha agreed, but with one condition: "Be back for lunch. And you're invited too, Daniel."
Daniel responded with a nod.
As soon as they entered the vehicle and the door closed, the atmosphere shifted. They sat down on the leather couch.
"First of all," Daniel began, his voice losing its playful tone, "there are things I can't tell you right now. Not because I don't trust you, but because there's a reason. When I can, I'll explain."
He knew he couldn't talk about the TV show or the System. At least not until she had some kind of mental protection.
He needed more points to buy an immunity necklace from the Shop or to master the second rune.
"I have something... different," he continued, deciding to use a half-truth. "It's like a storage space. Something I can use to keep things."
To demonstrate, he extended his hand. In a microsecond, the Glock appeared in his palm and, just as quickly, vanished into thin air.
Julie let out the breath she didn't even realize she had been holding. "That's... insane."
"And about my appearance... that's one of the things I can't reveal right now."
After asking a series of questions and testing his inventory, Julie stared at him for a long moment, searching for any sign of a lie. "That explains why you don't get shaken by what you see. The bodies... the blood. Is it because of these 'powers'?"
She found it strange to say that, but there was no way to doubt it after seeing it with her own eyes.
"Not just that. I've seen bodies before." Daniel stared at a fixed point on the wall for a moment. "In extreme sports, accidents happen. Some of them are fatal."
Especially the kind of insanity I used to do, he thought.
"But what really affected me wasn't any accident." He ran his thumb over the lighter once, without opening it. "I had a friend. He was dating a girl he'd been in love with since childhood, first girlfriend, that kind of thing."
"In the end, she cheated on him."
Julie squeezed his free hand, feeling the tension in his fingers.
"We were fifteen at the time. His parents were traveling. I found out about the cheating and went straight to his house, because it's the kind of thing you don't let a friend go through alone."
He paused briefly, remembering. "The door was open. I walked in, calling for him, until I reached his room... and he was there, hanging from a rope."
It wasn't a topic he wanted to touch, but he chose to be honest with her, remembering that she had also opened up about her brother.
Julie let out an audible gasp, gripping his hand tightly.
"I don't understand," Daniel muttered, irritation rising in his throat. "If you get to the point of cheating, it means you don't love the person anymore. So why not just end it? Be honest and go be with whoever you want, but don't destroy someone out of cowardice."
"And what happened to her?" Julie asked, indignant. "She didn't get away with it, right?"
Daniel gave a cold smile. "Don't worry. His parents and I made sure she got a fate worse than death. Some debts are paid with interest."
Julie waited for him to continue, but Daniel ended the story there. The silence lingered for a few seconds.
"That's all I can tell you for now," he said, looking back at her. "Regretting dating someone this problematic?"
She pulled him into a tight hug, hiding her face against his neck. "Don't say that. I'll never regret it."
After a few moments, Daniel gently pulled away. "Well, let's head to the clinic. Since you used that excuse with your mom, we might as well keep up appearances."
Entering the clinic, they spotted Kristi walking back and forth across the reception area, a clipboard in hand as she checked something.
When the doctor saw Daniel and started asking questions about his change, he deflected smoothly without actually answering anything.
"Congrats on the relationship, you two," Kristi said after realizing she wouldn't get anything out of him. "Kenny already told me the news."
"Of course he did," Daniel commented, dryly.
Julie thanked her and asked about Fatima and Ellis. Kristi pointed toward one of the recovery rooms.
Inside, the atmosphere was calmer. Ellis had his foot elevated, while Fatima stayed by his side.
Both of them looked at Daniel with surprise, but didn't ask anything right away; some gossipers had already informed them about his transformation.
"How is he?" Julie asked, taking the empty chair.
"A bad sprain, but no fracture," Fatima replied, in the tone of someone who had repeated that sentence enough times for it to start sounding like a blessing. "A few days of rest and he'll be fine."
Ellis looked at Daniel with curiosity. "You look different."
"That's what people keep telling me," Daniel agreed. "I'm still deciding whether to feel flattered or bored."
"The second," Ellis said without hesitation.
"Right on the mark."
"Are you guys going to the funeral?" Fatima asked, peeling an apple.
Julie nodded for both of them. "Of course."
Daniel wasn't a fan of funerals. The ritual, in a town where death was routine, felt like cruel irony, but he didn't argue. He simply asked what time it would be.
"Near the end of the afternoon," Fatima replied.
After talking for a few minutes, as they were leaving, Donna walked into the clinic.
"Donna," Daniel called. "I saw Victor at Colony House. I offered him a ride, but he refused to come into town."
She let out a relieved sigh. "Thanks for letting me know. I'll go talk to him."
On the way back to the Matthews' house, Daniel kept his eyes sharp. He was looking for Rick, eager to test level 2 of his appraisal skill and see if he could detect anything suspicious, but the man was nowhere to be found.
"So," Daniel asked as they approached the door, "have you decided if you really want to move in with me?"
"Yes," Julie answered firmly. "I do."
"Great. We're about to have another interesting conversation."
When they stepped inside, Jade was already gone. Ethan came running over to show the Crash Bandicoot game on the handheld console. "Look, Daniel! He jumps really high!"
"It's a classic, kid. Try not to break the buttons," Daniel smiled.
He then turned to Jim and Tabitha, who were in the kitchen. "We need to talk about something serious."
The couple stopped what they were doing. Daniel didn't waste time.
"I invited Julie to move in with me in the motorhome. And she accepted."
Tabitha dropped the dish towel, her expression shocked. "Don't you think you're moving too fast? Yesterday you weren't even officially together!"
"Mom, we don't have time for 'normal' here," Julie cut in.
Jim stepped forward, his voice firm, searching for a way out. "I don't agree with this. It's a vehicle, it's not as safe as a house."
Daniel gave a slight smirk, that familiar tone of superiority creeping back in. "Jim, my motorhome is the safest place in this town. It has heavy armor that can withstand high-caliber gunfire and even explosives."
[You are blatantly lying. A concentrated charge of C4 would turn this 'safe place' into metallic confetti.]
"I didn't specify the explosive, you cynical piece of code. Even a kid's firecracker counts as an explosive, technically," Daniel shot back mentally.
[Your ability to twist the truth is practically a max-level passive skill. I'm impressed.]
Jim and Tabitha exchanged a look. Daniel's motorhome really did look like an impregnable fortress.
"I can park it right next to the house," Daniel offered. "That way she stays close to you."
Tabitha folded the dish towel and pulled Jim aside to talk in private.
She started arguing in favor of the decision. It really was the safest place, and Daniel had proven more than once that he could act when needed.
"It's better for her to be close to us than trying to run off somewhere else." Despite everything they had talked about and the moment they had shared, Tabitha didn't want to take risks; she had been that age once and knew how impulsive it could be.
When the two of them came back, Jim looked defeated.
"Alright," he said at last, facing Julie. "But not because I think this is ideal. But because, right now... I'd rather know you're close."
His gaze shifted to Daniel.
"Then the motorhome stays right next to the house."
Julie hugged her parents, radiant.
Tabitha then pulled her aside, starting to talk about "precautions" and "responsibilities."
Julie turned red instantly. "Mom! I know, I learned that in school!"
When they returned to the living room, Jim was asking where Julie would sleep.
"On the sofa bed," Daniel replied with mock seriousness. "It's very comfortable, I guarantee it."
"We need to go to Colony House to get your things, Julie," Tabitha said.
"Actually," Daniel interjected, "most of her belongings are already in the motorhome."
Jim and Tabitha looked at both of them at the same time.
"At Colony House, the girls share clothes, everything's communal. Daniel let me store my stuff there so it wouldn't be at risk," Julie quickly explained.
"Well, I'll go prepare the space for the 'move,'" Daniel said, heading toward the door. "Julie, call me when lunch is ready."
He left the house with a light step. He had gotten what he wanted. Now, with privacy secured and Julie safe under his roof, it was time to focus.
He entered the motorhome, closed the door, and sat at the table.
Let's test what it's like to create a rune.
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