blend in

Why the hell did the British drive on the other side of the road? Most importantly why didn’t no one warn him before he landed? Mind blowing, especially when it came to crossing the road and he would automatically look the other way. His reactions were quick, but not quick enough to avoid a car coming in the other direction. Obviously it caused quite a scene in the middle of London when he hit the hood of someone's car. The woman behind the wheel was traumatised, but even more so when Lawrence stood up, snapping his wrist back into place. His compelling words calmed the woman down though.

That was only the start of his misfortunate though because an hour later Kit sent him flying into the River Thames after Lawrence grabbed a stick off the floor, threw it down the street and asked Kit to play fetch. Guy clearly didn’t know how to take a joke and here he was thinking him and Kit had finally become friends, but next minute he was swallowing the filthy water from the Thames. No one rushed either, leaving him swimming to the bank whilst trying not to get swept away to sea. That would have been a perfect end to his holiday, trying to navigate his way back to the shore.

He hauled himself out the water and back up to the street, but then realised a few minutes later his phone was in his pocket. He quickly grabbed it out of his pocket, but it was long gone. No amount of rice was saving it. Now he had no way of texting the group, his sister or Teddy.

He found a man sitting alone outside a bar and told the stranger he was to swap his clothes with Lawrence. The t-shirt was a little tight and the jeans just about fit, but the shoes were crippling him and as for his boxers? Well, he wasn’t about to slip into a stranger’s boxers so he threw his own in the trash. Hopefully his hair would dry on the walk.

But without his phone he was completely fucked, so he had to wander the streets of London aimlessly in his squleching shoes, until he spotted a sign for Chinatown. That was near Hector’s place, right? He weaved his way through the mass of people, trying to see if, by a stroke of luck, he could see the others when something glided over above his head. He just about caught sight of the tail before it disappeared behind some buildings. No one else seemed to have noticed though. Fuck. Was there some kind of parasite in the Thames water that had him seeing things? Nonetheless, he rushed off towards wherever the tail went.

Wait. Was that an earthquake? Surely not. They were way too far from those plate things. No. It was Penny. She was standing there in the alley, partially naked, quickly trying to get dressed. Sadly he didn’t get there in time to catch a glimpse of her completely unclothed, not that he hadn’t seen it all before.

Already she was accusing him of following her. “Don’t flatter yourself… I’m here on vacation.” He was about to ask her why she was in London, but he didn’t want to seem interested in what she was doing. “I told you, I have a new daylight ring.” He raised his hand, flashing the ring on his middle finger at her with a smile on his face. Technically it wasn’t his, though. Hector had let him borrow it for the vacation. As soon as they landed on American soil it had to be returned. “I fucking knew you were a dragon!” He quickly added, unable to hold back for a minute longer.



PENNY BARTLETT

Penny wasn’t the last person he was hoping to see, but she was certainly up there, however seeing her half naked made it somewhat better. Watching her pull her trousers over her ass had him holding back a smirk. The same way she rushed to get into her clothes after they’d slept together, clearly itching to get away from Lawrence.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have flashed his new daylight at her because there was a chance she’d steal it. Slip it into her pocket and claim she hadn’t, leaving Lawrence to feel the wrath of Hector. Whatever, it was worth it. “I’ll try my best.” He flashed her a sarcastic smile as she threw her bag onto her shoulder, ready to leave, but he couldn’t let her walk away after he’d just watched her fly over the city of London.

A sigh rolled out of Lawrence as she batted back his comments, denying them. “Sure… and I’m not a vampire.” He wasn’t going to let her bully him into thinking he’d got the wrong idea. He knew exactly what he saw. A fucking dragon. A smirk slipped through though and that was all he needed to confirm the truth.

“No. It’s mine.” He let her play with the ring for a few seconds, but he was on edge the whole time, waiting for her to snatch it from his finger. If she did, he’d disappear into the night and start a new life in London rather than heading back to Hector’s. They’d probably look for him for half an hour then head back to America. He pulled his eyes away from the ring and caught Penny’s gaze. It felt like standing in the dark alleyway made everything seem more intimate. “I guess not… but it does the job.” He could just about see the ring in his peripheral vision, refusing to let it drop out of his eye line. Even though he was worried she was going to steal his ring he still didn’t pull back from her touch, “Are you here on vacation as well then?” Screw it if he seemed interested; he wanted to know why she was here.



PENNY BARTLETT