No. 89

Prompt: American Gods, Shadow Moon/Harry Dresden/+ Any, A wizard, A Demi-God and a ______ walk into Mac's.
http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/693535.html?thread=91303967#t91303967

I didn't know what to think when Shadow brought a third wheel to our date. She was cute, skinny, done up like a goth kid, all pale skin and black clothes, heavy eyeliner with a curious swirl beneath her right eye. She had fluffy black hair - it looked genuinely black, for once - and the big silver ankh bouncing on her chest made me a little nervous. The guy who slept with Excalibur under his mattress was nervous about a necklace.

I'm a wizard. I see things, sense things other people don't.

And something about that girl was hinky.

She wasn't flirting with Shadow, which was an embarrassing relief (and something I worried about more than I cared to admit, because he'd been married once). She wasn't afraid of him, either, which was a surprise, because I was a big guy, and Shadow made me look like a scarecrow. And he didn't even need a giant leather duster to do it.

But she was very cheerful, for a goth girl, smiling at people as they passed. Except for that moment when a boy walked by, and she looked inexplicably sad.

"Hey Chad," she said.

He blinked at her.

She winked. "See you later."

"How do you know my name?" The boy wanted to ask more, but his friends chivvied him along.

Yes, she was seriously hinky.

"Hello, Harry Dresden," she said when she saw me. Judging by the glint in her eyes, she knew my full name. My skin crawled.

"Harry," Shadow murmured. He dipped his chin at me. He wasn't ashamed of us, but he wasn't about to get all PDA-happy on the sidewalk with me either.

"Shadow says the food here's really good," the girl said.

"Some of the best," I promised. She was so damn cheerful and nice. It was freaking me out.

Mac's was pretty empty, because it was a Tuesday night. There were a couple of young guys in the corner wolfing down food and talking in low voices. Mac was behind the bar, playing chess against himself.

I stepped up first, reached into my pocket for my wallet so he'd know I was good for the meal.

"Hey Mac," I began. I never expected a response, because he was Mac.

He didn't answer me.

He looked at the girl and said, "You."

"Me," she agreed.

"Is it time?"

"Not quite. But soon. You have time to get your affairs in order," she said. "In the meantime, I hear your food is awesome." And she grinned.

Mac turned an accusing glare at Shadow, who sighed and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, which wasn't all that reassuring from a guy his size.

"She followed me here," he said.

"It's not like I wouldn't have come if I hadn't run into my old cousin," the girl said.

"Cousin?" I arched an eyebrow at Shadow. "You never mentioned any extended family besides –" I made a vague motion that encapsulated the entirety of Norse mythology.

Shadow sighed. "Harry, this is Death. Death, you already know him, because you always already know everybody."

And that hinky feeling slammed into me a hundred fold.

Death plunked herself down at the bar and placed her order like she had the menu memorized.

Mac nodded - he never wrote anything down - and fired up the grill. Shadow sat down beside her and didn't say anything.

I'd like to say I was a brave little soldier and sat down too, but I didn't. I froze. Because...Death.

But then Shadow curled his fingers through mine, tugged me down beside him so I could feel the comforting warmth of his bulk, and I smiled at Mac for quite possibly the last time, and asked for my usual.

No. 78

Prompt: American Gods/Dresden Files, Shadow Moon/Harry Dresden, There are more things in heaven and earth...
http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/691366.html?thread=90943654#t90943654

Harry thought he was ready for anything, had seen it all, but a demigod who kissed like the filthiest of mortals was a new one for the books.