the dara sequences. intro. chapter 1.

in which I write about Dara.

(There is no real plot or plan here. I miss Dara, and I want to write about him more. So I will be sharing little stories about Dara here for my paid subscribers! Some will take place before Dara and Noam met. Some will take place during the events of The Fever King. Some might take place after the events of The Electric Heir. But all of them will be Dara. :)

Without further ado…an introduction. And below the cut: chapter 1.

(content warning: Lehrer, suicidal ideation)

(chronology: the fever king)

Once, when Dara was five or six, he declared—as many children declare at that age—that he was going to marry his father.

Dara’s recollection was poor now, memories eroded by the passage of time, but he remembered that Lehrer had laughed. He remembered long fingers slipping through his tousled child-hair and Lehrer saying something like I think I’d be a bit old for you, darling.

Lehrer had called him “darling” back then.

But then Dara grew older, and Lehrer stopped saying it.

Maybe that was the problem.