Blowing off some steam... (PRIVATE: Anime)

"Camp's fine," Riley responded to his mother automatically, choosing not to go into detail with such things so as not to worry her. Salone spoke of Alison and her start of school and Will and Riley made a face.

"Right, Riley told me she was starting school up again," Mrs. Peterson spoke as she put some more groceries away. "But she's making friends too? I'm glad," she spoke, making idle conversation.

"I don't know if you can say friend, that Will seems a bit too flirtatious to be considered a friend to any female," Riley said, and his mother raised an eyebrow. "I mean, I shouldn't care who she's getting involved with, and he seems nice enough, but he's just a little bit too charming," Riley spoke. He and Salone hadn't really discussed Will at all, so he really didn't know what to think of the boy.

Mrs. Peterson nodded, considering this. "Alison seems like she'd handle herself well enough, though," she said shooting Riley a look. "Don't smother her," his mother instructed. "Anyway, I have your suit and things all set up for tomorrow, so that's one less thing to worry about. Salone, do you have everything ready? If you need anything I'm glad to help you," she spoke, changing the subject and shooting the girl a smile. It was clear that his mother liked Salone, for which he was glad. She was generally an accepting woman, and so long as he didn't bring home anyone who was mean or vulgar in appearance he figured he was good. Mrs. Peterson began to prepare lunch, tossing some lettuce into a salad bowl. She was the type who liked to make things presentable even on informal occasions. Riley blushed at his mom's mention of the suit, because clearly he could have taken care of that stuff on his own had he gotten the chance.

"Thanks, mom. And I promise you, I'm not smothering Alison," was his response as he looked to Salone, giving her a look. Smothering Alison.. he almost had to laugh.

--

Alison blinked as she processed what Will had said. "Bigger problems in what way?" she asked after a moment, curious as to why he thought kissing her would give her more issues... because she may like him, or because this Elena girl would give her crap about it? Probably the latter. She laughed, examining him once more.

"That would be interesting, except she could take it the wrong way and think I was trying to seduce you or something," Alison said, rolling her eyes and leaning back into her seat. "And it's none of Riley's business who I decide to or not to kiss. I'm not going to kiss you, though. Too many complications could arise," she spoke. Namely, the complication that she already had a minor crush on him, and the last thing she had needed was to kiss him. It wasn't like Alison had never kissed anyone before, but when she had it'd been stupid. She'd fallen head over heels for a junior in her high school, and the three year age difference at the time had made a difference. He'd wound up being a jerk, a player, and while William seemed different, Alison had trust issues and didn't quite trust him. Her ex-boyfriend had exalted her when he was around, but when she wasn't with him he was doing the same thing and more with other girls. She'd been horrified upon finding out, and ever since she'd been wary about forming bonds with guys... which explained why she judged Will so quickly upon meeting him.

Salone stifled a grin at Riley's a bit too charming comment. Were Alison was concerned, Salone was willing to bet, Riley would find just about every guy too charming. Alison was going to be very beautiful when she got older, her brother was going need to wrap his brain about that. She tried to pass off the grin as a nose itch when Mrs. Peterson addressed her.
"Oh- yeah, I have got everything."
She offered the woman a smile. Salone leaned up against the counter and caught Riley's blush. When Mrs. Peterson turned her back the girl bumped him lightly with her hip and grinned.
Riley smothering Alison, as if.
***
Will laughed, a solid good natured laugh.
"I doubt I will ever be seduced," He grinned, his dimples flashing again. Several Aphrodite children had already tried to seduce Will but it never worked. He slid his homework back into his bag before looking directly at Alison with his startling blue eyes that stood out bright against his tan skin.
"Now, what if I kissed you?" He arched an eyebrow, "What would be your reaction."
He kept the tone casual and that is what astounded most people. Will could make things impossibly casual. He itched the back of his head, waiting for a response.

(why did I introduce riley's friends)


"Great, one less thing to worry about," Mrs. Peterson said, giving Alison a weary smile before looking to her son, prepping grilled cheese sandwiches for the stove as she was used to doing when Riley would come home. Riley sat down on one of the barstools at the kitchen island's counter and grabbed a washed cucumber and a plate, helping out his mom by peeling it for the salad. Hey, he was useful for something.

"Seriously though, how concerned should I be about this Will kid?" Riley asked Salone, and he could almost sense his mother shaking her head and grinning. She didn't get it. Riley knew something of Alison's past, and while he didn't know all of it he knew that she had issues trusting people, and while she seemed to get off fine with William he didn't want to see her have her trust broken once again. Usually he wouldn't take the concerned brother role, but this time he felt the need to. He listened intently for her response before the doorbell rang once more. "Who-?" Riley began, looking at the door in confusion as his mother cut him off.

"Can either one of you grab the door?" Mrs. Peterson asked, her hands full in lunch preparation. "I completely forgot to tell you, I had invited over some of the boys for a late lunch, I hope you kids don't mind!" she said, not paying too much attention to Riley's reaction. Who exactly had she invited? Sure enough, as Riley forced himself up and over to the door there stood three hulking 17 year old guys, one of which with a petite girl at his side.

"Hey, guys!" Riley greeted, brightening considerably as most did when company arrived at their doorstep- expected or unexpected, desired or undesired. Luckily, Riley liked these people, even if he hadn't seen them in quite a Riley. "Come in," he said, stepping aside and allowing the group entrance into his home.

"Long time no see, man. I thought you dropped off the face of the earth," one of the guys, Adam, of average height- around 5'11"- and Asian looking, with dark black hair and stark hazel eyes. "I heard you were back in town a few weeks ago, though?" he asked as the group took off their jackets and their damp shoes, as his mother was neurotic. Riley nodded.

"Yeah, I was back here on injury, though. I got into an accident and I had to end up coming home for recovery, but now I'm back and happy at school," Riley stated, shrugging. "I figured I couldn't miss this formal this year, though, especially when I have someone you guys should meet," Riley spoke, shooting a devious glance at Salone, who'd followed him out of the kitchen to the door. "This is my girlfriend, Salone. Salone, these are a few of my old friends from high school. This is Adam," Riley pointed out the boy who had spoken, "Jacob," he said, pointing out a shorter, nerdier brunette, "and Al, who appears to be dating one of my other friend, Christina," he concluded, eyeing them deviously. Christina blushed, a petite, very feminine girl under the arm of Al, a blonde who was nearly as tall as Riley and very well-built, like the football player he was.

--

Alison's cheeks reddened noticeably at Will's suggestion, but she met his eyes confidently anyway, holding his suggestive gaze. "If you kissed me... I might kiss you back," she said, shrugging and playing along with his casuality. "Why does it matter, though? It's not like you were going to kiss me anyway," she spoke lightly as the bus drew to a stop in front of camp, and she gathered her books in her bag and steadied it over her shoulder as everyone stood to unload the vehicle. In truth, she wasn't all so sure what would happen if he were to kiss her, but it would probably wind up becoming more complicated than she kissing him back, as she did harbor feelings for him. She couldn't tell if he had feelings for her, but he was pretty flirtatious whenever he was around her. Maybe he did, but Alison wasn't so sure.

"Not to worried if he has a girlfriend, he is pretty faithful... unless he is single, then he is a kissing bandit." Salone grinned at him, helping with the tomatoes for the salad. The skins were smooth and slick underneath her fingers. Then the door bell rang, Salone looked up and at Riley, a look of mild confusion on her face. Then Mrs. Peterson explained and a flash of panic flew through Salone. She didn't expect to run into any of Riley's mortal friends so soon. She finished with the tomato before creeping out behind Riley, who in turn hauled her in front of him so he could introduce her properly.
"Hi," She offered a smile and then examined each of their faces, the way she had done when she had first met Riley. It was a little unnerving with her amber brown eyes at first due to her unnatural eye color. Salone slid her hand into his and she squeezed it lightly. Salone generally wasn't shy unless she was nervous, this happened to be one of those occasions.
***
Will made a small noise of confirmation and then stood, as the bus was stopping. Swinging the bag over his shoulder , he got off the bus before responding to Alison.
"My curiosity matters," He flashed another smile, walking backwards so he could look at Alison. "Besides, you gave me the most curious of responses I want to think over. See you at dinner Ali," He turned around and waved over his shoulder before starting towards the library to go bother Penny. He looked over his shoulder to catch her response to him calling her Ali, a term of endearment she didn't let anybody use.

Riley realized too late that he'd made Salone uncomfortable by introducing her to his friends, forcing her into the spotlight, and he laced his fingers through hers carefully to let her know that he understood. The group said hello to Salone; they were pretty accepting with the exception of Christina, who eyed Salone apprehensively. It was likely that the "buahaha" t-shirt made her wary, as Christina was always very prim and feminine, her hair perfectly curled and her outfits plain but pretty. Riley didn't take notice of it as he told the guys to make their way into the kitchen, lagging behind for a few seconds with Salone. "Sorry, I didn't know they were coming. Honestly, I would have rather have seen them tomorrow, but what can we do?" Riley murmured as they made their way back to the kitchen. "They're nice, I promise. Christina can be a bit odd, but she'll be alright," he said, shrugging. He gestured for the rest of the group to sit down as he went to grab the salad they'd prepared, allowing everyone to help themselves. He took a seat next to Salone and made conversation with his friends about the past year or so, nothing major.

Christina and Al sat across from them and Christina contributed mildly to the conversation, not so interested in some of the boys' talk of old stories from middle school and freshman year. She turned hesitantly to Salone, eyeing her for a moment. The girl was intimidating to say the least, even though she seemed to be a bit odd- there was that "buahaha" t-shirt, to start. "Hi," she spoke, giving the girl a small smile anyhow. "I assume that since you're here, Riley has found a girl who likes him enough to tolerate his levels of bizzarity. How do you manage it?" the girl spoke jokingly, though her comment was was a bit pert. Riley's attention was absorbed in conversation with the rest of the guys and he paid the girls little attention at the moment.

--

Alison's heart flip-flopped in her chest. Ali. Very few people called her by that name, but when people used it in the proper circumstances it never ceased to strike her in some way. She paused for a moment as Will walked away before her impulsivity got the better with her and she stepped forward, moving quickly to catch up with him. In a spur of the moment decision she decided that she needed to find out what was up with this William guy no matter what the consequences.

"My response was curious?" she called after him, hoping he'd pause and allow her to catch up to him. "I just told you that I might kiss you back, if you kissed me. That's pretty straightforward," she spoke as he paused, looking at him curiously. Her eyes briefly landed on the group of girls that was getting off the bus, one of which was Elena, her new best friend. That was it. She faced Will, stepping forward and looking up at him. He was probably about a foot taller than her, and even if she wanted to kiss him herself she probably wouldn't be able to do it without stretching up high on her tiptoes.

"What's all this talk of thinking it over, though, William, when you could just find out now?"

Alison spoke challengingly, eyeing him. Some part of her mind screamed in protest, wary of the possibility of rejection and everything that could possibly result from him kissing her, but at the moment she didn't really care.

Salone squirmed slightly under the attention, especially under the girl's. Give Salone a weapon and she could do fine but being... charming... it wasn't her thing. She sat down and Riley sat next to her. Salone ate her food quietly, focusing on the foods that were high in iron and then eating everything. She halted eating when the girl, Christina, asked her a question.
"He isn't that odd compared to some of the things I have seen. How I managed it?" She bit her lip and thought about when she first met Riley. Hades, that had been almost eight to nine months? Salone couldn't remember exactly when she had met him. "It was sort of an accident. I am pretty sure neither of us planned on falling for each other."
Riley had been kind and sweet, especially with the scars. Salone was pretty sure Riley had first captured her when he had traced those scars without looking at her in sympathy. She gave the girl a soft smile and went back to her plate of food.
***
Will was still walking when he spotted the group of girls, Elena included. She was watching Alison chase after him. He grinned to himself and then he snagged Alison's wrist and pulled her close, he bent over and whispered, "Maybe I will."
Will's minty breath tickled her ear. He moved his mouth over and kissed her lightly, experimenting.
Several feet away, the girl, Elena, came to a stand still and was openly glaring at the two. It frustrated the girl to pieces because she could see the attraction between the two. Will's hands came to rest lightly on her waist and he ended the kiss, "Happy?"
He breathed out.

Christina analyzed the girl cryptically, interested in her story. "An accident? That sounds romantic," she said with a tentative smile. "What kind of an accident was it?" she asked. An accident... sounded like Riley. What Salone didn't know was that Christina had dated Riley for maybe three months in the eighth grade. It hadn't worked out all that well, as Riley had been an ignorant fourteen year old boy, but Christina had always kind of liked him. She was happy with her current boyfriend, but she wondered how the hell someone had even caught Riley's attention. Then again, he seemed to have changed... her attention shifted to the boy at Salone's side as she spoke. He continued to converse with his friends, and one wouldn't necessarily see the changed right now, but she could tell. He was certainly less carefree and uncalculated then he had been before. Mrs. Peterson brought in some sandwiches for everyone as they talked, choosing not to bother the children as they conversed. Riley glanced over to the girls, and noticing Christina's intense gaze he reached over and grabbed one of Salone's hands under the table, squeezing it quickly before releasing it. It was likely that Christina wouldn't even notice. The girl looked to him, though, later on as the group conversed, and he met her eyes for a moment. She made him kind of uncomfortable, and he hoped she was happy with Al. He didn't need any issues from her during this trip.

--

Before Alison could take another breath, Will's lips were on hers and she'd wrapped an arm loosely around his neck, leaning up into him. Their kiss deepened slightly, while it was short, and Will managed to leave her breathless, her head spinning. What the hell had she just done? It felt great. She tilted her head down for a moment, having completely forgotten about that Elena girl before he spoke to her. She didn't give the other girl any satisfaction by looking at her but instead tilted her head up, looking to Will. "I- I think so," she managed, her flirtatious attitude dwindling a bit as she fell back to reality. What had she just done? Most of her euphoria remained, though, and she forced a smile pretty easily. Did he like her? She had no idea, but all she knew now is that she'd fallen headfirst into this guy and if he didn't catch her she was taking a one way trip down a steep cliff. Behind her, where she couldn't see, Elena shook her head and stalked away, a couple of friends trailing apprehensively behind her. "Is she gone?" Alison breathed, a mix of emotions as she watched Will, trying to determine his own. If she could kiss him again she would, but her confused still wouldn't be cleared up and that wouldn't be helpful. She waited for his response to lower her arm from his neck, taking a small step backward, away from him.

"An accident were I was teaching a self defense class, Riley somehow got mixed up in it. Ah, I remember, He accosted me asking me why I fought dirty. I don't remember the exact conversation. Just that we got into a sparring match and he lost the feeling in both of his arms for 15 minutes." Salone grinned and squeezed his fingers lightly, knowing full well that he was paying attention. "I don't see anything romantic in that."
Her lips twitched in mild amusement as she cast Riley a sideways glance, one that was slightly mischievous. For the remainder of the meal, Salone was relativity quite... until the sandwiches started ringing. At that point she had to excuse herself from the table, claiming she had an important phone call. She slipped out the front door and waited for about ten minutes, draped across Hound's back. Then she did get a phone call.
"Hi Danni." She said as Hound walked down the road slowly. She had no idea what the mortals were seeing as they drove by, all she knew is that they were gaping. She chatted with her friend for about fifteen minutes before realizing Riley would be worrying. She hung up and went back inside. She gave Riley a small smile before sitting down, the sandwiches were mostly gone. Salone was still worried about Danni's unnatural behavior but she didn't let that show.
***
Will's lips twitched, "You think so? Yeah she is gone..."
He sounded amused as the girl pulled away. She seemed flustered, confused, and slightly worried. He let her take a step back and he watched her, Will's facial expression was calm as his brain worked furiously. Had he done something wrong?
"Alison? You okay?" He asked, he seemed to be picking up on her chaotic emotions... WHAM! A snow ball hit the back of Will's head. He spun around, all romantic tension gone.
"JACK FROST! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" He called, good naturedly.
A boy with dark brown hair was hanging by his legs from a tree, was holding several snow balls in his hands. Oddly enough, they weren't melting.
"You'd have to catch me first, Romeo." The boy called back, dropping from the tree and landing on his feet. The spot were he had been hanging in the tree was covered in frost.

Riley grinned, having been eavesdropping on the girls' conversation, but he didn't look in their direction. He continued to talk with his guy friends, and it was nice that he could catch up with them after so long. Christina accepted Salone's answer and joined the boys' conversation after the other girl left to accept her phone call and they were all pretty content, though Riley wondered where Salone had gotten off to. He felt guilty, as he'd brought her here and she didn't know anyone, but it was alright for the time being. They would be leaving soon, he assumed, and they did, as they all had school stuff and preparation to handle for the following day. They made their way out about two hour after arriving, briefly after Salone's return, and once the door was shut Riley heaved a sigh, shooting Salone a look. "A little warning next time, Mom?" he called, feigning exhaustion as he made his way back to the kitchen to help clean up.

"Don't act like you weren't happy to see them, Riley," his mother spoke, and he shrugged.

"I was, it was nice. But I could have been indecent," he spoke, using Salone's word from before. His mother rolled her eyes discreetly. "How was Christina?" he asked Salone, grabbing paper plates and stacking them to shove into the trash can. "I hope she didn't harass you. She was my friend, but we also dated for a couple months in the eighth grade and she was rather clingy," he spoke with a chuckle.

"Be nice, Riley! She's a nice girl, and she's dating Al now," his mother spoke chidingly, and he just laughed. "You were barely even fourteen when you dated her."

"She's still clingy," Riley said, shrugging. "Tried to seduce me the last time I came up here, and that didn't work," he murmured. Mrs. Peterson's eyebrows raised at this unknown fact but she said nothing.

--

"What, I'm not allowed to second-guess my decisions?" Alison asked, recovering and forcing a smile. She still couldn't tell how he felt, and it disconcerted her, and she didn't know what she was supposed to do now because she liked him more than before and gods was that a bad decision on her part. He asked her if she was okay and she was about to answer when all of a sudden he was smacked with a snowball. Wait... Jack Frost? What the hell? A boy stepped out from behind a tree, and somehow he was holding snowballs even though it was about 70 degrees in camp. Well, she'd seen stranger things. "Your father must have had a sense of humor, naming you Jack Frost when your mother is Khione," was what she managed to say, a wry smile forming on her lips. This was a welcome distraction.

Salone arched an eyebrow at the word seduce.
"I am extremely thankful for the word tried," She notified her boyfriend sliding her arms around his waist and giving him a brief hug. "I'm sorry I left. Your mother was eating a meat sandwich, it was making noises..." She drifted off sheepishly. Ever since she had died her connections with the dead had grown stronger and more distracting. She wasn't sure if Riley could tell yet but it would become more evident sooner than later.
"Christina was... nice?" Salone wasn't sure how to put it, she was not used to dealing with mortal girls, so she gave Riley a look that said it all. The girl was polite but did not seem to be interested in Salone as a person.
Salone sighed and scratched her head, tilting her head back and sighing. The next twenty four hours were going to be interesting to say the least. She moved away to clear away the lunch and she scratched dog as he trotted past.
***
Will grinned at Alison's reaction to Jack's name. Jack grinned, "No my dad did not choose my name. Khione did, she has always been infatuated with the Jack Frost myth... Didn't help the fact my fathers Last name is Frost."
With each breath Jack took, the air rose like on a foggy day. He also had patches of frost on his short sleeve t-shirt. Unlike Will, Jackson had dark brown hair, slightly rosy cheeks, and the darkest pair of brown eyes on the planet. He was clearly muscled too, not as much as Will was but there was definition.
The boy chucked the last two snow balls at Will lazily before a cold wind blew through the trees. Jack's hair seemed to whiten momentarily.

Riley laughed, leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. "Don't worry; I wasn't interested in being seduced anyway," he said with amusement in his town. "It's not my fault she was hopelessly in love with me," he joked as he listened to her, nodding in understanding. Right. Meat. Dead things communicating with her. It made sense, but it didn't make anything less bizarre. He pulled away from her, finishing with the dishes along with her and letting his mother take some time off.

"Christina's alright. You probably want to take her in small doses. We were close friends in middle school, but she's changed a lot," he said, shrugging. "I suppose I have, too, but it doesn't matter." Riley noticed that Salone looked tired and he looked to her for a moment. "Are you alright?" he asked, slight concern lacing his tone.

((do you want to time skip or something? we're kind of not going anywhere with this at the moment.))

--

Alison laughed, watching the boy curiously. She shook her head lightly as he chucked more snowballs at Will, shouldering her backpack and making her way up the hill. Elena had gone and she didn't really know what her purpose was here anymore. She had kissed William, but that hadn't helped clear anything up for her. She'd prayed it would help her to deny her feelings for him but it had only done the opposite, and she hadn't been provided with any insight into his emotions. Why did guys have to be so elusive? She watched the two boys with amusement, wondering what her place was. Did she even fit in here? She felt a heavy wave of homesickness wash over her, and while she knew she would make friends with she'd already messed things up with the first one. She wasn't supposed to like Will... why did he have to be so flirty and charming all of the time?

too lazy for color hooray

((Otay, I shall fast forward))
Salone smiled softly at Riley, "So, out of curiosity, was falling for me an accident?"
She dried dishes as they stacked wanting to hear his answer. It was an interesting topic to say the least. Her brain flicked back to the memory and she smiled.
The rest of the day continued like this, a lazy day. No monsters showed up, Salone and Riley were not attacked, and Hound taught Riley the basics of Du'at fetch. The stick would vanish at a certain point in the du'at and then hound would have to go get it. This required a lot of brain power but it gave her one legged boyfriend plenty of exercise. Salone sat underneath the tree watching the display next to Dog. Her fingers stroking his ears as she watched. The day came to an end and soon Salone was curled up in the guest room and her head hit the pillow, the girl was surprisingly exhausted. Ever since The Angel Hospital, Salone had been plagued with nightmares and often woke up at one in the morning screaming. Danni had taken to hiding a baby monitor in the Egyptian cabin so she could hurry over before Salone woke any one up. Like clockwork Salone bolted up right in bed, a hand covering her mouth, and trembling all over. She could never remember the dreams only that they left her scared, trembling, with tear tracks down her face. The girl wasn't sure if she had screamed or not.
((Meh, lazy fast forward))
***
William managed to shake Jack off and he hurried to catch up with Alison. He slid his fingers underneath her bag straps and removed them. Swinging it over his shoulder and out of the girl's reach. He considered his feelings for her, Will liked Alison, she was smart, fun, talented, and very pretty. Then he thought about her older brother, who was going to try and murder him as soon as he found out William had kissed Alison in his absence.
"What are your thoughts?" He asked abruptly, hades, he wanted to kiss her again.

Salone's question took Riley by surprise. He thought for a moment, shelving some dishes and looking to her. "I don't know if it was an accident, but I didn't know how I felt about you when we met. I thought you may have been a bit insane to be honest, but you fascinated me," he said, shrugging. "So... yes and no." Riley blushed slightly.

They proceeded about the rest of the day, his mom content just to have him home. They'd wound up going to bed pretty late, but Riley still had trouble sleeping. He'd drifted in and out of consciousness a couple of times, but when he woke up at three that morning with phantom limb pain and he knew there was no going back to sleep. His nightmares had subsided significantly, but Riley had insomnia at times, his subconscious unwilling to let him fall asleep lest he experience another. He'd sighed and heaved himself out of bed, fumbling with his prosthetic before getting up and making his way downstairs slowly; he was alert, but he didn't want to wake anyone up or manage to fall down the stairs due to his inability to balance properly. He finally made his way to the kitchen where he began to brew himself a mug of hot chocolate, standing in front of his mom's fancy coffee maker and fumbling with it for a bit before it started to hum, preparing itself. He nearly jumped out of his skin when someone screamed, but it was only a second before his mind kicked into overdrive. The scream hadn't been very loud, but he was able to hear it in the lower level of this house. That had to have been Salone. He paused for a moment, listening. Nothing. So either there was no monster, or Salone had died.

Well, that was comforting. He forgot about his cocoa and made his way over to the guest room door, knocking lightly and waiting a moment before opening it. Salone looked afraid, like she'd just woken up from a nightmare, but there was no monster in sight. "Everything's okay, right? No monsters?" he asked, looking to her for validation as his panic faded. He thought for a moment before holding up a finger and making his way back into the kitchen, grabbing the mug of cocoa and pouring another, bringing them back to the guest room without a spill, which was surprising. He set his down on the side table before sitting on the edge of her mattress and offering the other to her. Chocolate made everything more dealable.

"Nightmare?" he asked, though he already knew. He brushed a strand of hair away from her face gently. There was no sound from the rest of his house, and so he assumed his mom hadn't awakened, for which he was grateful.

--

Alison was surprised as Will approached her, slipping her backpack off of her shoulder and carrying it easily along with his own. She might have protested or tried to grab it back had it been anyone other than Will, but Will was Will and she'd only embarrass herself trying to grab it, anyway. She looked to him as he spoke, surprised yet again at his words.

"What are my thoughts?" she asked, eyeing him. She had to be careful with her words. She wasn't going to let herself get hurt again. "I'm thinking about many different things, one of which being that I wish you hadn't grabbed my books. I'm also wondering whether or not I should just go home, being that I've clearly messed things up here already in my first day," she spoke with a sad chuckle, trying to conceal her confusion. She looked at him for a moment, wondering why he'd asked. "What are your thoughts?" she countered.

Salone leaned forward and buried her head in the side of his neck, after placing her own mug next to his. Her pulse was racing in her neck like a set of humming birds wings, her breathing shallow and quick. What ever she had dreamed about had spooked her greatly. Her arms snuck around his middle and held him close. She remained silent for several moments before speaking.
"Yes." Her pulse began to slow, "I never remember what they are, I just wake up terrified."
Her voice was slightly muffled and so she pulled back, leaning against the headboard, her long fingers knotting the sheets. Her hands were still trembling so bad she guessed she couldn't hold the hot chocolate mug without spilling. Salone looked at Riley before asking in a quite tone, "Why are you up?"
She guessed there was a reason for him to be wandering about and creating hot chocolate. Salone strained her ears, to check and see if she had woken anybody other that Riley.
***
Will saw her eye the bag and he shifted so it was out of reach, arching an eyebrow at her.
"I don't think you should go home," He said lightly. "I would be utterly bored without you."
There Will went again on his flirting tangent. "Besides you just got here, have you even seen the Pegasus here? They are amazing."
Will turned her question over in her mind, "My thoughts... my main thoughts are torn between wanting to kiss you again and worry about your brother going to kill me if I do."
There, he had said it. Now he just had to wait for her reaction.

Riley hadn't realized how shaken Salone was until she set down the mug and latched onto him, shaking like a leaf. He wrapped his arms around her comfortingly, holding her close to him and running his fingers through her hair gently. She pulled away from him and he let her, though he moved closer to her and grabbed her hand as she leaned against the headboard, his steady fingers secure around her trembling palm. She still seemed shaken, and Riley just wanted to help her. She spoke and he was reminded of what had kept him awake in the first place, and with his free hand he popped a pair of pills in his mouth and downed them with some hot chocolate. Then, he spoke. "I woke up, I guess from a nightmare, too, but I was having bad phantom limb pains and I knew I wasn't going to be able to go back to bed so I came down here," he said softly, shrugging. "I decided to make myself some hot cocoa, and you scared me half to death when I heard you scream," he admitted, wrapping an arm around her shoulders lightly. "Are you alright?" he asked, looking to her carefully. He would offer to leave and let her sleep, but she was shaken and she was probably scared of having another nightmare and he felt like it was pointless.

--

"Pegasi? Those exist?" she said in a moment of brief wonder. She shouldn't have been surprised. Riley had neglected to tell her about those, but it didn't matter. She snapped herself out of it. Will wanted to kiss her again? She raised an eyebrow at him, trying not to let her expression change too much. She didn't even have her backpack to hold onto now, he'd taken even that away. All that was keeping her grounded was her will. Oh gods: will, Will... Alison was ready to give up.

"But seriously William, you wouldn't be that bored without me. I'm sure you'd find someone else who'd be happy to kiss you on a whim," Alison spoke challengingly, amusement in her tone with her poker face remained straight. "As I said before, my brother has no business worrying about who I choose to kiss and who I don't kiss. I, on the other hand, have the power to make that decision," she said, shrugging.

"I could kiss you to make up for the fact that I practically just forced you to kiss me for the sake of pissing off that girl, but as you claim to have enjoyed it I don't think that's necessary," she said deviously, but she was serious as she spoke about his romantic endeavors. "I'm sure you have plenty of other girls jumping at the chance to kiss you, though. You don't need to worry about kissing me," she spoke. She disregarded him, but she wanted to see how he'd react. Someone had warned her that loved to flirt with girls, and she didn't need to get invested in him and then have her neck wrung, even though she felt as if that was inevitable.

Salone pulled the blankets aside to let Riley in, snuggling up to him as soon as he did so, leaning into his embrace. She entertwinded her fingers with his and after several minutes she stopped trembling all together. Her eyes flashed up to his face when he asked her if she was alright.
"I doubt I will ever be alright again," She answered honestly, sometimes Salone wished she could go back to still having her scars on her face. Almost anything was better than living in constant fear, looking over one's shoulder all the time. Salone massaged Riley's hand, sighing softly. Her fingers traced the lines in his hand, he had killed somebody with those hands. The thought struck her, that thought was chased after by the fact Salone had killed five men. She closed her eyes and leaned against him. Trying to find sleep... it didn't come. She opened her eyes again.
"How badly do they hurt?" Salone inquired about the phantom pains. The noise of bullets ripping through the air rippled through the back of her mind. How does Danni deal with this? The answer was simple, Danni had grown up with it, she never felt safe.
***
Will looked amused by her statement, "Yeah, I will take you later to go see them if you want to."
Then he listened to her talk, slightly amused, slight taken aback. He made a mental note to ask Alison if she played poker later.
"Fine, then I won't kiss you again for the time being if that is what you wish. " Will said finally, he didn't sound upset. "But I can't make an promises," he added naughtily. He knew what she was getting at and Will felt slightly pleased with himself that his reputation proceeded him, but he didn't let it show. During their walk Will had altered their course of direction towards their cabin. He held the door for her and dumped her bag on her bed. Then he sat down on the edge of his bed and began pulling out books.

Riley settled against the mattress, comforted as Salone's trembling ceased. He simply nodded at her response; he understood what she was going through to a certain degree. Thankfully, the pills he'd taken to alleviate his pains were working, a little bit too well. Riley was supposed to take higher dosages depending on how severe his pains were, and he'd taken a slight amount more than maybe he should have because he really didn't feel like dealing with the pain at the moment. Plus, when taken in higher dosages, it'd make him drowsy and stop him from having nightmares, which was always a bonus. He didn't do this often, but tonight had been an exception. He'd really been hoping to get some sleep. And so now he drifted off toward sleep, comfortable with Salone in his arms under the warm comforter. She spoke and drew him from his reverie, and he spoke tiredly, though alert.

"It depends," he responded, taking a breath. "Sometimes, it feels like it's unbearable, but that hasn't been the case lately. It was really bad when I first lost my leg, but I've learned ignore them to some degree without meds. Usually it's just a weird tingling... I can't really explain it properly. Before they were keeping me awake, but the pains were still pretty dull," he explained, not going into too much detail because he was too tired to do so. "Nothing really hurts so much compared to the pain I had waking up after the explosion," he said, shuddering slightly at the memory. He forced himself to push it out of his mind and let his meds do their work. He willed himself not to shut his eyes; he didn't want to fall asleep until his head was clear.

--

Alison wasn't all that surprised at Will's easy dismissal of her denial to kiss him, though she was a bit disheartened. She'd thought that maybe he was different than the other conceited, studly teenage guys she knew, and he was, to a certain degree. But he was still a girl-crazy teenage boy who seemed to be very interesting in kissing random girls just for the sake of kissing them and then never seeing them again. And that was fine for some girls, but Alison wasn't into that sort of thing, and when she liked someone she liked them, not just wanted to kiss them and then leave. And, at the moment, she thought she liked William, which was altogether problematic. Still, she would see how things went, but she would try to avoid growing attached to him. She had to remind herself that there were other fish in the sea, and she didn't even know how Will truly felt about her at the moment. He left, dropping her knapsack on her bunk with a suggestive statement and she couldn't resist countering him as he went.

"I never said I didn't want to kiss you!" she called after him with a smirk before she turned to her bags, fishing through them for a new set of clothes to change into.

"By the way," she continued. "Going to see the pegasi sounds like an utterly awesome idea," she said, making fun of his choice of words as she exited the cabin with a grin. She might as well tease him, even if she wasn't sure about him at all. Then, she went off to the showers to rinse herself off and change after the coffee incident.

Salone listened to him talk, the hot chocolate forgotten on the bedside table. Riley looked exhausted and, Salone guessing what those pills were, that medication was probably making him even more sleepy. She decided not to ask him any more questions and to just let him sleep. She tickled his arms lightly for several minutes before she began to feel tired herself, with his arms around her, Salone felt considerably safer. She leaned up and kissed him lightly.
"Good night, Riley."
After several minutes she was asleep, her head resting on Riley's chest, with her fingers still tangled up in his.
***
Will grinned lightly and called back to her, "Well then, I shall keep that in store for future reference."
Then he heard her make fun of him and he stood snagging her around the waist. For a fraction of a second he was tempted to kiss her again, he compromised and tickled her lightly on the ribs. Then he let her go and sat back down on his bunk, pulling out an AP book and opening to a marked spot. After Alison had gone to take the showers Will had pulled out his homework. After Alison came back he stood.
"Before we go look at the pegasi do you wanna go grab a snack?" He asked, his stomach had been making noises and the teenage boy wanted some banana bread.

"Night," Riley murmured after Salone, drifting easily into sleep with no worries. He dreamt, but when he woke up he couldn't remember what about, just that they were good. The sun streamed into the room through the blinded window and he opened his eyes, glancing at the alarm clock on the nightstand. 10:00 AM, it read, or maybe Riley was wrong, because sometimes his dyslexia did act up. He adjusted himself beneath Salone, brushing a strand of her blonde hair away from her face. He would maybe have gotten up, but she was still sleeping and he was content to let her do so.

--

Alison returned from the showers in fresh clothes and smelling faintly of vanilla due to the use of her favorite scented body wash. She'd managed to dump her other clothes by the laundry and she made her way back to her cabin, thinking about what'd happened before she left. Will had nearly tried to kiss her again. Alison didn't know what to think. He bombarded her upon her return; she was about to get started on some homework when he stood, looking to her eagerly and suggesting they go eat and see the pegasi. She was open to the idea; she just didn't know what she was going to do with Will. It wasl ike she was being slowly tortured. She shrugged, organizing her things. "We can do that," she said, looking to him with a slowly-forming smile. "I suppose you'd need to eat after kissing me. I tend to drain people with my passion," she spoke with a smirk. She wasn't usually so flirty, but William was an exception. He kind of brought it onto himself.

Salone slept next to Riley, their intertwined fingers rested on her stomach. Her blonde hair fanned out behind her and her cheek rested on his chest. She stirred faintly when he adjusted his position underneath her but she didn't wake up for about ten more minutes. She blinked and looked around the room blearily as if she had forgotten were she was.
"Oh, hello-" Her voice was cut off by a yawn and she covered her mouth before tilting her head up to look at him. It was about ten in the morning.
***
Will grinned and poked her in the ribs as she passed him, "Don't tempt me, Ali. Or I just might kiss you."
He pulled his shoes back on and got the door for Alison. Then he walked with her down to the mess hall. He had just found the banana bread when he heard a commotion outside. He poked his head outside and saw a gurney speed by and Danni hurrying after it. Her face was covered in dirt and her lip was split, a Kevlar vest sported a few bullet dents but other than that she seemed fine. Will caught her by the wrist, vaugly away that Alison was somewhere behind him.
"What happened," he asked, trying to keep up.
Through Danni he learned that her charge, Fabian had been shot. The son of Bast often helped Danni on cases and was used to this kind of thing. Will had to come help with removing the bullet out of the guy, by holding down the hurt leg. Danni held his head away from the wound sight, so he couldn't see. The bullet was specifically designed to explode inches from the skin. The healers worked quickly and managed to get the shrapnel out of his leg.
Will wasn't sure were Alison was during this process because he was focused on the task at hand.
Several hours later, the over grown cat had regained consciousnesses and he was looking at the wall. Danni and Will had both left to clean up.

Riley laughed as Salone was struck by a yawn, meeting her eyes as she looked at him. "Morning, gorgeous," he spoke with a smirk, his voice still kind of thick from sleep. He didn't feel like getting up, and after a moment it struck him that his mother must have gone to work. Had she noticed them? He hoped not, but he'd probably find out soon enough. His cheeks reddened. It wasn't like anything had gone on, but she didn't know that. Maybe Riley hadn't made the best decision falling asleep down here, but he'd been exhausted and so very comfortable. Lying there now, though, he didn't really regret it.

--

Alison laughed, rolling her eyes slightly but squirming as he poked her. "Is that a threat?" she asked as they made their way to the mess. They arrived and Alison grabbed a bottled water, taking a sip and waiting for Will. It was then that she heard a commotion, and Will was talking to Danielle, who must have just returned, and they were making their way somewhere. It wasn't until they'd arrived at the infirmary that she processed the grave expressions of the demigods around her, and against her better instincts Alison stepped into the infirmary a few paces after Will and Danielle. It'd been a bad idea. There was blood all over the place, and the boy's leg wound looked pretty severe. Alison had had to fend off nausea as she forced herself from the room, stepping outside and taking in a gulp of air. The scene had been all too familiar, while less severe than the scene of the explosion when Riley had been dragged from that building, looking as good as dead. She didn't even want to think about it. She'd only known him for maybe a couple weeks, but he was the only family she had in the world, and she couldn't bear to lose him. She forced herself to detach from the infirmary situation, fleeing to her cabin like a coward and taking up her history homework.

Maybe an hour or two later, Alison grabbed her books and timidly returned to the infirmary to check up on the situation and see how Will was doing, but the commotion had died down and he was nowhere inside. She stepped out, taking a breath, when someone called her from within. "Are you here to help?" a girl called, and she couldn't have been a year older than Alison. "We called for people, but I suppose everyone's busy. Come on in; we could use it," the girl beckoned her, and Alison's face flushed for a moment before taking a step inside the medical building. She couldn't very well run away at this point and so she put on her best air of confidence and entered, shouldering her book bag. "We have other people to attend to, so if you could just sit with... Fabian over here and make sure he's alright, that'd be great." The girl went on with a longer spiel, but Alison was in too much discomfort to process it.

And so that was how she wound up sitting on a stool beside this boy's cot and playing nurse, pressing cool damp rags to his forehead and attempting to force feed him some nectar. It was a bit of a failure, and she figured that when the boy woke up he was going to be a bit confused. He looked to be a bit older than her, maybe Will's age, and he was rather attractive in a more scruffy sort of way than clean-cut surfer William. She didn't know the boy, though, and it was a bit uncomfortable tending to him. She balanced spooning him ambrosia and monitoring his pulse (apparently, camp couldn't afford to use simple heart rate meters for such an injury) with reading her schoolbooks. She was caught up doing that when he opened his eyes, and she she didn't even notice, just kept one hand tethered to the rag she held against the back his neck and one hand on her textbook.

Salone rolled off him and mumbled something, pulling the blankets up over her head. The bed was incredibly warm and soft, the girl had no desire to get up and Salone was incredibly cuddly when tired. She came back up and snuggled into Riley's side before glancing at the clock again.
"Please tell me it is not that late," She grumbled, sitting up. Salone spotted the abandoned cocoa mugs and she smiled slightly.
***
Fabian opened his eyes and took a trembling breath. Pain lanced up his leg and Fabian shut his eyes again, the veins on his neck standing out as he gritted his teeth in pain. His eyes, unlike Will's were a blue grey, much more darker, almost black. His hair had gotten darker as well, more of a pale brown rather than that odd dirty blonde mix. His face turned away from Alison's touch at the back of his neck, his forehead covered in a light sheen of sweat. After a few moments he turned his head back towards her, his eyes looking intently at her face.
"What happened?" He asked, his voice cracking. The most he could remember was pulling Danni way out of the line of fire. They had been chasing down a few angel hospital rouges who had escaped, not that Alison knew that. Most of them had vanished to Hong Kong or Canada. Another pain rocked his leg and he squeezed his hand on the cot, the veins standing out ridged against his muscled arm.

Riley grinned as Salone snuggled into his side, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She moved away from him, sitting up, and he let her, even though her really didn't feel like moving. The meds seemed to be affecting him still, and he was sluggish. Maybe brewing a new cup of cocoa would help. "It's not that late," he spoke. "Have any more nightmares?" he asked, looking to her more seriously. Thinking about it, he really didn't feel like going to this dance tonight, even though he enjoyed seeing his friends. He just had a bad feeling about it.

--

Alison startled as the boy, Fabian, spoke to her, as she hadn't noticed he was awake until that point. She removed the cloth from his neck, dunking it in the bowl of ice water that stood on the cot's side table and wringing it out carefully before applying it to his forehead gently. "Sorry," she murmured. "I got caught up in my schoolwork," she admitted, looking to him with some genuine concern as his hand clenched against the cot. It was clear that the boy was in a lot of pain, and this brought her to wonder how much pain medicine they had administered him, if any. "You were shot," she spoke, looking to him and wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I don't really know the details, but it was in your leg, clearly, and it looked pretty bad," she spoke, shrugging and giving him an apologetic look. "I'm Alison, by the way. Do you need any help, food, water, more pain meds? I have nectar here, but it wasn't easy to get it into your system before," she admitted, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

Alison wasn't the type of girl who played nurse, but when Riley'd had his leg amputated she'd become quite good at it. She knew that what she was doing with the damp cloth wouldn't make things much better, but it was what the supervisor had instructed her to do and she did it, making a point of avoiding glances at the boy's bloodied, bandaged leg.

Salone stretched and heard her back pop. Sensing Riley was still tired the girl leaned over and started playing with his hair lightly.
"No, I generally have one per night."
Salone sighed and gave him a light kiss before sliding out of bed and pulling a change of clothing out. She walked into the adjoining bathroom, shut the door, and changed. She came out with her hair in a ponytail and looking refreshed.
"You alright? You seem slightly concerned." She sat on the edge of the bed.
***
Fabian looked at her for a few seconds, his pain filled mind processing what she said.
"Well that is nice," He muttered, shutting his eyes briefly. "Shot in the leg by a bullet that splintered into a tiny million pieces by the feel of it. The nectar would be nice."
He opened his blue grey eyes and stared at the ceiling before takings the stuff, he sat up wincing. The blanket fell down around his waist, reviling the grey v-neck shirt he had been wearing, now in tatters and anybody could view the muscle and the bruises up and down his rib cage. He took the cup of nectar and watched the girl from over the rim, with his grey eyes. When he was finished he handed it back to her.

"I'm fine," Riley said, shaking his head and wiping the sleep from his eyes. There was no need to subject her to his meaningless worries. He'd fallen asleep with his prosthetic on, and while he hadn't cared at the moment it was rather uncomfortable now, and to distract himself he stood up, stretching carefully. He went into the bathroom and splashed some water on his face, stealing a new toothbrush and some toothpaste from the stock his mother kept just in case and brushing his teeth before emerging from the bathroom, resolving to shower once they ate breakfast and he got upstairs to his own room because he really didn't feel like climbing a flight of stairs. "Do you want to try and cook breakfast?" he suggested, leaning against the bathroom door's frame and looking at her with a devious look on his face. This could go well or very wrong. He grabbed the two mugs of cocoa from the nightstand and made his way to the kitchen sink, where he dumped them out.

--

"That's what it looked like," Alison spoke, handing him the cup of nectar. "I didn't want to freak you out too badly, though," she said, shrugging. She felt slightly self-conscious as he analyzed her, and she averted her eyes from him, as his muscled torso was mostly uncovered, bloodied and covered in bruises. "I would tell you to lie down again, but I'm not going to argue with you if you can sit up," she said with a small grin, setting the empty cup of nectar down.

"Is there anything else I can get you? Food, Advil, a new shirt, some privacy?" the girl asked with a small laugh, glancing around the infirmary. She felt vaguely uncomfortable with this guy, but somehow more open than the would with another stranger. She supposed that when you're helping a wounded guy it was different from talking to a stranger.