#gangs of ny and co: darcy

[ch4mb3r-blog]

Gangs of New York & Co. // Darcy & Jono

@darcyfuckinglewis

Jono Starsmore was at the mall, and instantly regretting his life choices.

His venue selection was his first mistake -- Jefferson Valley was probably the yuppiest option within a reasonable distance from the academy, and while he wasn’t poorly dressed Jono still stuck out like a sore thumb with his black and leather. His timing was worse, forcing him to face crowds which he tried to weave through by touching as few people as possible, his hand self-consciously resting against the scarf that draped over his bandages.

Further regrets included not waiting until Jubilee could come with him, since they’d had their fair share of mall trolling whenever Emma and Sean had let the Gen X kids loose on holidays. Those times Jono remembered with actual fondness, and while he nearly considered turning right back around, he reminded himself that no, he’d burned through another shirt this morning, and it was time to bite the bullet.

Not particularly paying attention to where he was ending up, Jono ducked into the first clothing store that seemed like a good enough candidate, i.e. one that had a sizeable section of black clothing on the men’s side as well as a women’s section. They always had the fluffier scarves for hiding behind.

It also seemed to be mostly empty, which was of course Jono’s first choice. The last time he’d been here -- maybe a month or two ago? -- he’d had one of the bizarrest run-ins with a human who, for reasons he was beyond figuring out, wouldn’t stop badgering him. And it wasn’t even the usual staring or offhanded unkind remarks, this was a woman who seemed to want to… be his friend, or so it had seemed. It was difficult for Jono to tell what was genuine anymore, so even as he started to sift through one of the racks of dark shirts he only marginally let his guard down.