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

Riley took comfort in Salone's touch, experiencing a moment of pride in her companionship. Sometimes he had those moments where he couldn't believe how the hell he got so lucky as to be able to be with her, and this was one of them. They all filed out of the limo, Riley and Salone last, and Riley murmured something of an apology about the alcohol before getting out of the limo. He managed to do alright, even with his prosthetic, and he held out an arm for Salone like the chivalrous gentlemen he was supposed to be trying to emulate as they made their way into the venue. It was a high school gymnasium, but upon entering one would have no idea. The decorations were ornately hung and the lighting set immaculately to make the place look like some sort of upscale club. Apparently the theme was supposed to be a masquerade ball, but very few people actually wore a mask. The music was as loud as he'd expected, if not louder, and refreshments lined the wall. Groups of teenagers clumped on the dance floor doing crazy dance moves and bouncing around awkwardly, and Riley couldn't help but chuckle. "This should be interesting," he murmured to Salone. Christina ran up to them, apparently already drunk off of her two sips of champagne.

"Come on, guys! Let's get this party STARTEDDDD!!!" the girl spoke overenthusiastically, grabbing Salone's wrist and gesturing toward the dance floor. "Let's go!"

--

"Sounds... cool," Alison said after a moment, following Fabian's lead as he began to walk back towards camp. She would say that she would go but she hadn't necessarily been invited, and she did have a lot of homework to catch up on... plus, that girl, Elena might be there. Alison figured Will might be hanging out with her kind of crowd. She didn't know, though.

Salone closed her eyes slightly as Riley's fingers traced patterns on her arms and relaxed against him, not paying attention to the conversation until the limo stopped in front of, what she guessed was, the high school. She placed her hand on his back offering a small amount of support and Salone got out after him. Salone grinned crookedly at him, linking her arm in his, not caring if it didn't look lady like. Together they walked into the school, the other group ahead of them.
"As long as nothing disastrous happens we should be okay," She gave him a small smile. Inside the school had been decorated lavishly, with balloons, sparking hanging orbs, and over all it was, she had guessed, a massive step up from what the gym usually looked like. Out of nowhere Christina came and grabbed Salone around the wrist, trying to haul her away. She had a surprising grip.
"Come on, guys! Let's get this party STARTEDDDD!!!"
Salone's nose wrinkled in disgust, the idiotic girl was almost as drunk as a sailor.
"I think I will stay with Riley," She stated, not wanting to go anywhere with this mortal girl with absolutely no morals when it came to guys. Salone resisted easily.
***
Will nodded enthusiastically, "It is a ton of fun. You should go, I can help you with your homework if need be."
He grinned at her flashing his dimpled smile.
Fabian couldn't help but roll his eyes at William flirting with a pretty girl. Count on him to flirt with every female he came in contact with. Will dropped the baby lion and the lion ran ahead. Will trotted after him briefly to see what the baby lion was investigating.
"You should go," Fabian told her as soon as Will was out of earshot.

"Nooo, come on! We've got some punch that's not spiked and we're gonna go get downnn on the dance floor," the girl pleaded with Salone, who was surely shooting daggers at her. Riley grabbed hold of Christina's wrist, and the girl looked to him, desire clearly showing in her eyes. "Riley, tell her it'll be fun. You'll come, right?" she begged, pouting a little bit and leaning closer to him, releasing Christina's wrist and clearly not registering the fact (or not caring) in her drunken stupor that she was Riley's girlfriend as she shamelessly flirted with him. Her fingers grazed against his shirt, and he had to move her hand away politely so as not to have her cause a scene.

"We'll come over in a second, Christina," Riley spoke patiently, releasing her wrist and looking to her. "I just want to show Salone around for a few minutes," Riley spoke, and the girl nodded, taking what he said easily.

"Okay, Ri. Can't wait." She smiled sweetly before turning and moving away, stumbling slightly in her 6-inch heels. Riley grinned and shook his head, leading Salone away.

"We're going to avoid her for as long as possible," Riley said. "What do you think?" He leaned closer to Salone, glad to get away from his friends for a moment. The DJ came on over the stereo, announcing that all the couples should gather on the dance floor for the first dance of the night in that saccharine, hokey tone that DJs tended to use. Hokey slow-dance music came on and Riley fought the urge to groan, looking to Salone.

"Do we have to?" he asked her, a twinge of amusement and reproach in his tone as he anticipated being forced to dance as Salone had taught him. He was clumsy before he'd lost his leg, and now it was a thousand times worse.

--

"Working on homework at a concert. Sounds like fun," Alison said, rolling her eyes but smiling at him as he ran off. She let out a breath, still incredibly confused. Fabian spoke, surprising her, and she looked to him.

"Are you going?" she asked him, arching an eyebrow. She hadn't been planning on going, but she was considering it. She didn't peg Fabian as the "music night" type, but her judgments tended to be wrong. Hey, she'd thought Will was a complete jerk when she'd first met him. Granted, she might've been right about the romantic side of his, but even then she still wasn't sure what was up with him. Maybe Alison was a bad judge of character.

They'd made it back to the courtyard and Alison lingered, waiting for Fabian's response.

"I like that plan," Salone said, looking slightly pale.
That girl... her jaw tightened. That whole scene had been relatively disgusting. The girl needed to get dunked in ice cold water and come back to reality. The whole smell of alcohol was bringing back horrible memories that she had locked up in the back of her mind for years. She allowed Riley to lead her around the dance floor and he made a face when a slow song started. Salone sighed. The mildly panicked look on his face was mildly amusing.
"No, you don't have to if you don't want to." Salone answered gently, the corners of her mouth drawing upwards in a smile. She could understand his apprehension. "After this whole mess though, I expect you to dance with me more regularly," she teased.
A few lone guys walked by, eyeing Salone and her bare legs. The small blonde girl payed them no mind however, her dark brown eyes were fixed on RIley.
***
Fabian laughed, "Yeah, I kinda do have to go to this. They are using my guitar after all."
He ran a hand through his spiky hair, evidently thinking. His hair only stood up higher on his head, his grey eyes fixed on the fountain. He spotted Simba being tormented by a few Ares kids and he checked his watch.
"Three... two... one..."
Simba turned back into the large lion he was and he roared at the twelve year old boys. The kids shrieked in fear and ran away.
Fabian made a small noise, one of a combination of disgust and displeasure. "You think they would be smarter than that, not to attack something that could easily defeat them. Why do you think Athena children win so many of their battles? They know what they are going to do before they do it. Unlike Ares. Brain power is only half the battle." He sighed, shaking his head before sighing. Fabian was tired from the days events and would like nothing better than to sleep, but alas the day was not even close to being over. He leaned on his crutch.

(Do you want to maybe have chaos strike slightly earlier, while the dance is still occurring? It could make things interesting!)

Riley looked at Salone, deciding on a whim that he would dance with her. She had taught him, after all, and he wasn't going to let her lessons go to waste even if he probably would make a fool of himself. He grinned at her anyway, grabbing her hand.

"Come on," he urged Salone, who looked like she needed a distraction, and his grin remained as he led her onto the dance floor, resting his hands at her waist and swaying awkwardly in an attempt to slow dance; most of the other teenagers on the floor looked as if they didn't quite know what they were doing either. He was supposed to be leading, but as usual he was relatively subordinate to Salone. He happened to glance away for a second just as a couple of guys walked by, leering at her. He shot daggers at them with his gaze and pulled her closer instinctively, even though they clearly weren't going to make a move on her.

--

Alison couldn't help but laugh as Fabian ran his fingers through his already messy hair, strands sticking up haphazardly as he drew his hand away, but as he counted and the lion cub transformed into its previous shape, she cringed, stepping backwards. She was tempted to go hide behind a tree or something even though she knew he probably wouldn't hurt her.

"Provoking a lion probably isn't the best idea," Alison spoke. "But even the smartest of humans tend to think they're invulnerable. Clearly they didn't anticipate that outcome," she offered, shrugging. She thought for a minute, looking back to Fabian.

"I think I will come tonight," she offered lightly. "I could use a distraction. I just started school again, and even though I have work to catch up on I would really rather not think about it right now."

Salone laughed softly at Riley as he changed his mind very quickly and dragged her onto the dance floor. She had a sneaking suspicion that it was because of those freshman and sophomore guys circling like hawks. She took Riley's right hand and intertwined her fingers through his.
She smiled up at him and out of the corner of her eye she saw Christina huffing in the corner in anger. Her dark pink lips twitched in amusement.
"Generally," She said in a low teasing tone, "Men ask the Woman to dance before hauling them onto the dancefloor."
Salone cocked her head to the side and she flashed him a wide smile. Hopefully, tonight, Christina would be their biggest pest. Salone had brought weapons however, tucked safely into the Du'at.
***
Fabian shot her a sideways look, "Don't mock the porcupine hair."
Inspite of himself he smiled at the girl. It faded slightly as he saw her reaction to Simba.
"He really isn't that bad, sure if you went through a traumatic he is terrifying. In reality he is an overgrown house cat much like myself."
He started to move down the hill slowly, using his crutch so he wouldn't fall on his face. "You should go, you're too serious for your own good. You could lighten up just a teeny tiny bit."
Fabian said all of this light heartedly before simba gambolled over to him.
"Gently, gentle you-" He said attempting to dance away from a headbutting lion.

Riley grinned. "I don't think that you can easily generalize our relationship," he responded lightly, lifting his arm up to twirl her around. The gesture was always corny, but he went through the motions anyway, happy to get his mind off of the world. Unfortunately, they were only partway into the next song before there was a drunk Christina tugging on his arm, her eyes looking to him earnestly. 

"No, Christina, I won't dance with you write now," Riley spoke irritably, shoving her off and shooting Salone a look that said "Seriously?" Still, Christina tugged at his arm relentlessly.

"Rileeeeey, there's a lady here looking for you. She looks older."

She put emphasis on the word, and Riley raised an eyebrow. "Where is she?" he asked. He had no clue who she was referring to, but it put a pit in his stomach. "Is it my mom?"

Christina shook her head, tugging and pulling him off in the direction of an emergency exit door. "Come on!!!!" 

Riley looked to Salone, his eyes telling all, and he took her hand and followed Christina. He was about as happy as a caged bull at the moment, but what choice did he have?

Boom. A small explosion rattled the building, and fear spiked in Riley's mind. "Faster, Christina, faster!" he urged her, pressing through the temporarily frozen crowd, and the girl whined as fear crept into her own gaze, the explosion causing her to move more quickly even though the alcohol and her heels were not a good combination. He had to keep his nerves in check. It was just one small explosion. It was possible that nothing would come of it, but it still set off panic in his chest.

--

Alison laughed lightly, agreeing. "I'll be there," she granted. It was only a second before the lion, now huge once more, was bolting toward them. Alison tensed, taking a step backwards before stopping herself. She was at camp. It was safe here, even if enormous lions did romp around and devour deer. Tentatively she stepped forward, moving to stand over by Fabian, and she reached out her hand cautiously for the lion, now calmer, to sniff.

Salone laughed at Riley as he spun her, her dress flared out. Her laughter darkened as Christina came tottering over on her stilettos. She pestered Riley until her finally gave in, then she caught the last phrase of the 'Older Woman' and her eyebrows shot up into her hairline. Then she heard the explosion and beams fell down on the crowd, she darted forward and pulled a would be victim out of the way. She turned, frantically looking for Riley. Monsters. Again... and explosions.... Riley would probably have nightmares tonight... if they both lived. She fought against the stampeding crowd in the direction. She could feel her gun materializing in her grip. Tentatively she opened the emergency exit and poked her head around the door. 
***
Fabian flashed her a crooked grin, "Easy there boy." He said grabbing his ruff, turning his attention to the massive lion. Simba sniffed her fingers lightly before nosing her hand for a scratch,
"There that wasn't so bad," Fabian said lightly, starting down the hill and Simba dashed ahead. THe huge cat was a bit like a puppy.

In a stupid move, Riley had pressed forward without Salone, her hand having slipped from his in the chaos. He'd just turned the corner, only to find a hideous half-vampire demon woman coming towards him, and as he realized what'd happened panic fluttered insistently in his chest once more. Another explosion sounded and at this point this was the last thing he needed. Ash floated into the room from the small amount of debris that had thus far been created, and the last thing he needed to happen happened- the above-head fire sprinklers went off, spraying them all with water. The empousa hounded him, grinning churlishly. She, like him, had a prosthetic leg, although hers was all celestial bronze, and her other leg was that of a donkey.

"Riley Peterson," she hissed, stepping toward him. "We are alike, it is nice to meet you."

She reached out to cup his cheek with her palm, but in an instant he'd drawn his sword, slamming her wrist hard with the hilt of his dagger. He needed another plan. She was hurt, but that wouldn't stop her. His body tingled, dying to shift, and he shut his eyes for a moment, channeling his energy. The empousa shrieked, her energy draining as Riley aged her, drawing on her own energy for stength, preventing him from shifting for the moment. Quickly, he turned back toward the exit door, and just as he was about to open it she was there, poking her head around the door to examine her surroundings. 

"Salone," Riley spoke breathlessly, his energy draining quickly even as he drew on the demon's own to sustain him. He was tempted to tell her to stay back and let him handle it, but he knew that the empousa had reinforcements causing this chaos and he wasn't going to be able to do this by himself, nor would she let him. Instead he grabbed her free hand quickly, squeezing it in his own and lacing their fingers together for just a moment before letting go. Before he could lose his grip on the empousa's energy he stabbed her straight in the back, her form disintegrating into silver dust as he did and with it, the energy he'd been holding back from her. He nearly crumpled, stumbling to keep his balance and gripping the brick wall like he were a blind man and it was the only concrete thing in his world as he tried to recover. His whole body tingled and he knew that he was on the verge of shifting- after all, he was soaked- but he forced himself to resist, running on adrenaline as he heard a succession of at least 4 different bombs, going off in different corners of the building. Smoke billowed out into the air and the fire alarm blared, and he glanced back into the building, where he could hear the distinct hissing noises of more creatures within, seemingly not empousi, which he wasn't sure whether he was happy about. He had no idea where Christina had gone, but judging by the labored breathing and occasional hysterical shrieks that emanated from the mostly empty building, she and various other partygoers must still be trapped within. Riley let go of the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and looked to Salone. 

"We can't just leave," he said grimly, peering back into the smoky blackness of the party. "In we go."

He sounded less than thrilled. 

They didn't need to wait long; however, before they were attacked once more.

--

Carefully, Alison reached out and stroked the lion's fur, which was surprisingly soft. Her hand wasn't bitten off and the creature seemed indifferent as it galloped away merrily. She just laughed and shook her head, coming into step besides Fabian and walking with him back to the cabins. She'd no idea where Will had gone, but he was nowhere in sight. she figured that he'd probably gone back to the cabins already. He had other business to take care of.

"It wasn't bad," Ali agreed, though she still gazed at the lion with disdain. 
"I'm still not sure I'd like to have one as a pet, though," she spoke with a wry smile. It didn't take long before they were left back standing in the courtyard. Alison shouldered her knapsack of books.

Salone dashed to Riley, pulling of her heals as she went. She chucked them across the room and they vanished. She pulled out a pair of tennis shoes and slid them on, wasting a few precious seconds. Better safe than sorry in spraining an ankle. Her hand returned to Riley's and she squeezed his hand. She began to hear the calls of the dead and her face paled. She called for Hound and the beast materialized almost instantly. She growled faintly before stalking back into the hole that used to be the school gym. Salone glanced at Riley, picking up on the faint age lines and the parenthesis that had developed around his mouth. 
"You okay?" She asked quietly. She was glad she had missed most of the empousa battle.  After hearing his response she went into the now crunched down gym first. Some of the lights were still flickering and she was able to make out a few bodies, she couldn't tell if they were alive or dead.
In the distance she was able to make out the sounds of sirens. A male empousa lashed out of the darkness and Salone ran him through with her sword. The glittering emerald Anubis head glowing in the darkness. 
***
Fabian chuckled, "He's okay but massive lions are not the pet for everyone." 
He caught her grin, "So, she does smile."
He teased in his low voice, his face relaxing slightly, by this time they were in the court yard. The boy kinda wanted to go pester the Apollo cabin to see if they had anything for his busted leg. 
"Catch you later tonight?" He asked, flashing her a crooked grin.

"I'll be fine," Riley murmured, squeezing Salone's hand in his. She broke his grasp and delved into the darkness, and Riley had to stop himself from calling out in protest. He knew that Salone was capable of defending herself, but he didn't like being separated from her, and he still felt the need to go in before her, mostly because he didn't want to see her get hurt again. He followed after her, nearly tripping over a body but managing on his prosthetic. He swore, recovering only to be slammed into by a heavy body. Grunting, he tried to shove it off of him, but girlish arms clung to him and he caught a whiff of champagne breath. 

"Riley, what's happening?" Christina breathed, shivering. He could smell urine, and he was pretty sure she'd wet herself, which was pretty darn disgusting. Regardless, he untangled himself for her and lifted her in a fireman carry, and even while she flailed her made his way to the door in the dim light and shoved her outside, shouting "Get away!" before slamming the door shut between them. Suddenly he felt the hands of two more lady empousi running down his shirt and another bomb exploded somewhere in the distance, and there wasn't much he could do before he wet his own pants. At that moment; however, the emergency generator whirred to light and the gym's fluorescent lights flickered on, disorienting him for a moment but illuminating the tatters and gore. He avoided looking at it; he was too busy fending off the empousi who seemed to want to suck at his neck. He was struggling a bit, but he managed to look off for Salone. His eyes landed on an empousa in the center of the room, lighting a match and incinerating a string attached to a large bomb. He knew that kind of bomb. Were it to explode, it would do a lot of damage. He had to stop himself from panicking, and he was almost too busy parrying the empousi's advances to find Salone. She stood behind, far too close to the bomb, fending off a couple of male and female empousi. In a desperate attempt to get her away from the creatures, he drew more attention to her, sending more monsters her way. 

"SALONE!" he screeched, his voice growing hoarse. "What are you doing over there? Get out of the way, there are more coming for you!" he shouted as loud as he could. He tried not to draw attention to the bomb, and it worked. More creatures, not all of them empousi, bombarded the area, but Riley knew they'd all be bits soon. He trusted that Salone would realize, and all he could do was pray and run for the outskirts of the building, back to the doorway. 

The bomb exploded.

--

"I did say I'd come, didn't I?" Alison spoke, a snarky grin on her face as she turned away, turning back once. 

"See you!" she called before making her way back to her cabin to get some work done.

 Salone spun around and spotted Riley, holding a struggling Christina. She gave him a wan smile before slicing through another vampiric creature, she saw another kid, his leg was trapped under a beam and he was out cold. 
She struggled past the nest of empousa; dark blood dripped off her face and ran down her neck to stain the edge of her silver dress. The lights flickered on and she was momentarily blinded. As soon as the bomb was lit the creatures screeched and dove for the exit. There was no way she was going to make it; Salone for a brief second made eye contact with Riley.
"HOUND!" She called, and she directed all of her thoughts and emotions at the hound of anubis. Hound understood and her jaws clamped around the back of Riley's tux. Then Hound vanished with him and Cristina. Salone dashed over to the unconscious boy and heaved the beam up, being a demigod had its perks. 
The boy groaned and Hound reappear only to vanish with him. Salone looked at the bomb... she only had seconds.
BOOM!
Salone screamed and covered her face, she waited and... Nothing happened. Hesitantly, she looked up, everything had been frozen and bathed in a strange blue black light, with what looked like swirling stars. 
Slowly her heart stopped pounding and she dashed to the exist and raced up the hill. Then she blinked again and world was back to normal. The school exploded in a fiery inferno. Her visions darkened and she crumpled to the ground, the grass coming up to meet her. A thin cut ran from the right side of her left eyebrow, down over the bridge of her nose and a few millimeters across her cheekbone.   
Fabian grinned and limped off to the Apollo cabin, finding one of the magical healers. They in turn scowled at him and scolded him for ripping open his leg. It took an hour and multiple healers to put it back together properly, even then it was a little sore and his natural limp was a little more pronounced.  

Will had gone back to the mess hall, grabbed a few muffins and made it back to his cabin. He sat on his bed finishing homework and offered Alison a muffin when she came in.

Riley wasn't particularly sure what had happened before the building exploded as he watched from atop a hill nearby. It almost clicked a couple seconds later, but he couldn't process anything besides the fact that Christina must have consumed even more alcohol because now she was blowing chunks all over the place and his panic after the whole situation from before. He glanced around. Christina was there, along with a boy who appeared to need a lot of medical attention; his leg was all distorted. Nearby, teams of firemen and medical personnel and police had arrived on the scene, treating other partygoers, but there was someone missing: Salone. His eyes fixated on the burning building, and it took him a moment before his eyes landed on Hound. 

"Where is she?" he asked, fear pitting in his stomach. Hound had pulled him out of there, probably on Salone's command, and she had to have gone back to get the other kid who lay there groaning. He'd been useless, so useless. He'd thrown Salone to the wolves by yelling at her, and instead of being able to fight more Salone had pulled him right out of there like he was defenseless. Would he have done the same with her? Maybe. Could he have done much more? Maybe not, but he would never know now that it was over. Anger and frustration washed over him as he stumbled back down the hill, but before he could even make it down Salone had come sprinting out, only to crumple and fall once she'd made it up the hill. He made his way over to her, kneeling next to her and resting a hand on her shoulder. 

"Are you okay?" were the first words that made it out of his mouth, but so much more threatened to bubble to the surface. His frustration remained, but it was clouded by concern. She was unconscious, and he immediately remembered the issues she'd been having with her heart. He grabbed her wrist gently, pressing his fingers into it in an attempt to take her pulse. Her face was gashed, but he figured that would be more fixable than anything internal. He glanced at Hound in desperation. She needed medical attention, and it would be a struggle for him to try and carry her over to the medical crews on his prosthetic. He'd gotten a couple cuts himself, as well as some burns that ran up and down his forearms, but he was mostly okay physically. Mentally, he was on the verge of having a large-scale anxiety attack, but he had to force that away for now.

--

Alison stole a blueberry muffin from Will before finishing up her homework. "Is there a dress code for this shindig?" she asked him after a while, a small grin framing her face. Shindig was a funny word.

Salone was tired, so tired. Then she was aware of a familiar form picking her up, he seemed panicked. She mumbled something and buried her head in the crook of Riley's neck, her fingers tightening on the front of his, now ruined, jacket. Honestly, she just wanted to curl up in sleep in his arms. She regained consciousness completely when a large, cold, black nose touched the back of her exposed neck. 
"Ahh," she said, jumping slightly. She was silently grateful that Riley didn't drop her. "You can put me down now," She said softly, as he did so she tightened her grip on his shoulder so she wouldn't fall over. "Come on, lets go back to your house."
Hound sniffed Salone's hair and a look crossed her face, though she didn't say anything. 
"I just need sleep, come on." She moved do Hound and managed to get on without little trouble. Salone waited patiently for Riley. She figured that leaving the hurling Christina here would be a good idea. 
***
Will grinned also at her use of verbage, "Not really, just don't go naked."
He finished his calc homework before looking up. "So, what did you think of Fabes?" 
He stretched back against the wall, he seemed not to realize what that sentence meant in girl language, after all, he was a bit thick.

Salone's pulse seemed normal, but Riley couldn't tell. It was a relief as she regained consciousness, curling into him, but he could tell that she was a bit foggy. He kissed the top of her head gently and set her down; her face was still bleeding, and despite her suggestion, Riley really thought that she should go see a doctor to make sure she was okay. He allowed her to mount Hound but waited before getting on himself. 

"Don't bite my head off for suggesting this, but I really think that you should see a doctor first. My mom is a nurse and she can probably get your face cleaned up, but if there's something else wrong with you and your heart gives out again, she's not going to be able to help you," Riley spoke, his eyes pleading with her. 

--

Alison laughed, shaking her head and shutting her chemistry book. "Fabes?" she asked incredulously, giggling. She thought for a moment, twirling her pen in her fingers before responding. 

"He seems nice. He understands me," she spoke, adding in the last part on a whim. She realized that it sounded strange, as if Will didn't understand her or she liked him so much more because he understood her. Blushing, she looked away. She would explain what she meant, with the war and how she'd realized that Fabian had taken action against her captors, but she knew that she couldn't do that. Will was blissfully ignorant, and he should stay that way. Plus, if anyone were to find out what she told him, it might cause more issues.

Salone sighed, she could understand his anxiety about all of this. She leaned back into him and sighed, "Fine. But you get to be my pillow because I am exhausted." She slid off of hound and waited for Riley to get off. Then she took his hand before moving over to the nearest paramedic. The paramedic took one look at her and made her sit down on the back of one of the ambulances. She leaned her head against the cool metal wall on the vehicle, letting her eyes drift closed. Her body ached, she needed to get back into shape, most of her muscle had faded away from herself sitting on her butt all of the time.    The paramedic came back with the classic grey blanket and draped it over her shoulders, asking easy yes or no questions. After about a minute the questions stopped and the man got into the ambulance and came back with the first aid kit and began cleaning up her face. Then when he was done, he vanished again into the back of the car, bringing back a pair of tweezers to pull splinters from her fingers. Salone hadn't even realized she had them and her fingers throbbed as they were removed. Salone guessed Riley had been snagged by another paramedic to address his wounds. 
**
Will chuckled, "Well it's good you found a friend."
He flashed her a crooked grin, showing her a dimple in his cheek. He seemed delighted at his accomplishment in helping Alison find a friend. Yes he was indeed blissfully ignorant, but maybe his ignorance would make her life easier or harder, but that would depend on were the cards fell.

Riley barely paid attention as the paramedic gently tended to his wounds, which were minor, for which he was grateful. It didn't take long, but he was aching to get away from the school, which was still burning hopelessly. He couldn't bear to watch the firemen drag out bodies from beneath the rubble, and so he averted his eyes, trying to keep his breathing steady. Finally he was permitted to go, and he thanked the paramedic before quickly making his way back over to Salone. His breathing had started to come faster; he needed to calm down. He found her where he'd left her; her wounds were still being tended to. She seemed exhausted, her eyes heavy with impending sleep. Riley approached hesitantly, brushing a strand of hair away from her forehead. 

"Hey, sleepyhead," he murmured, wrapping an arm around Salone's shoulders loosely. The paramedic seemed mildly annoyed, but at this point Riley didn't care. "How are you feeling?" he asked her, taking a breath. He still couldn't look at the school, and the sirens were driving him insane. How many people were hurt? This had been a bad, possibly fatal idea on his part.

--

Alison shrugged, closing in on herself. "I guess," she spoke. His smile burned into her, and she opened another textbook to distract herself from him. She was still confused after everything that'd happened earlier with the kiss and Elena. She knew he could probably care less about her, but he acted so interested around everyone and it bothered her.

Salone jumped slightly as Riley sat down next to her, she gave him a sleepy look that translated as the stink eye, before snuggling into his side. Her hair was coming down out of its braided twist and she reached up, pulling the pins out.  Her hair, now curly from being held in that position for so long, tumbled down over her shoulders. The paramedic answered Riley’s questions.
“Her face is going to have mild scarring but the burns on her arms should heal without a scar, other than that she is exhausted. Have no idea why though, as soon as your guys’ parents show you are free to leave.”
Salone cracked an eye open after the paramedic had left, “I feel fine, I really just want to sleep. Maybe hibernate with the bears… I’m really not sure what happened….”
Will looked up from his text book and arched an eyebrow, “You guess? Either it’s good or it’s bad.”
He guess there was something bothering Alison and he looked at her expectantly, “Ok, what’s on your mind.”
He closed the book and laid it by his bedside table, his blue eyes fixed on her face, concern written across it.

Riley asked the paramedic to borrow her cell phone, and she obliged him. He really should have carried one around, but he figured that he didn't need to attract more monsters so he didn't. He called his mom, who had- of course- heard about the accident and was on her way over. Riley thanked the paramedic and returned her phone, and she offered him a quick smile before making her way to her next patient. 

"What do you mean, you don't know what happened?" Riley asked, concerned as he met her eyes. He reached for her hand; he needed to know that she was there right now, to distract himself. He was still on the verge of freaking out, and he willed his mind to calm down temporarily so that he could make sure that nothing else happened to either Salone or himself. 

--

Alison just looked at him for a moment, guarded and careful not to reveal her emotions. 

"Not everything is as black and white as you try to make it seem, Will," she spoke, choosing her words carefully. "But making friends is usually a good thing," she admitted. She pretended to lose herself in a trigonometry program, her pencil scrawling random figures against her loose-leaf notebook. She wasn't sure she wanted to broach this subject with Will right now. It would only make things more complicated, and she didn't want to lose the friendship she had with him.

Salone cracked open an eye again to look at him, "Riley, I was standing right next to the bomb when it went off, everything just kind of froze, I just remember booking it out of there and then when I was standing on the hill everything went back to normal... at least... I think it did... I'm still a little foggy about what happened.”
  
Feeling Riley’s hand on her arm she looked up at his face before sliding her arms inside his jacket and around his middle, holding him close.  She could feel his rapid heart through the thin fabric of his shirt. Silently she was conveying that message of calm and everything was okay.
***
 Will arched an eyebrow, “Ok, spit it out instead of chewing on it like a goat.”
Alison was going to be difficult and so was he; this is what happened when two stubborn bone heads got together. Not that anyone was calling Alison a bone head; rather Will was being the thick one at the moment. Or he appeared to be at the moment. Nobody could tell what exactly was going on inside Will’s head. He did indeed like her but something was holding him back.

Riley leaned into Salone, allowing her to carry his weight- figuratively, for the most part- for a little while before pulling away, meeting her eyes. Her face would once again be marred by scarring, but this one would likely fade to be mostly unnoticeable. It was a battle scar, and at least she had a heroic story to tell, unlike with her previous scars. Somehow, she still managed to look pretty; her hair fell over her shoulders in loose curls, and her dress was mostly intact, if singed in places. Her makeup hadn't smeared either, which astounded Riley. He too still looked decent, although he would have to do something about his suit, which was also singed and torn. His hair was still damp from the sprinklers, but he was just grateful to be uninjured. Still, he couldn't watch as more people were pulled from the rubble, and his pulse rate seemed about the same as before.

"Don't pull me out of there like that again," he murmured, his voice soft. His anger from before had subsided, but he was still frustrated. "I don't know what I would have done, and I know you probably had the best of intentions, but...." He trailed off. He was kind of getting a taste of his own medicine, although he would never admit it to himself; Salone had gone off impulsively and tried to be the superhero, while he'd been off worrying on the sidelines. 

--

"What do you think is wrong, Will? Why does there always have to be something? I'm interested now, since you're looking at me as if you know something that I don't even know." Her tone was sharp, and she forced herself to look up from her math book. She'd never really known a guy like Will; he was almost girlish in the way that he seemed to sense people's feelings. It infuriated her in ways that it shouldn't have. She was so used to being left alone with her thoughts that it was oddly frustrating to have someone prodding at her to share them. If he hadn't provoked her previously, she probably wouldn't be so pissy at the moment, but such was the way of life.

Salone gave him another stink eye, "Listen here Casanova, you play super hero all the time. It's my turn."
 Most of the serious injured people were receiving most of the attention so nobody seemed to notice as Salone grabbed Riley by the front of the slightly singed tie and kissed him to keep him from arguing with her. He was prone to doing that but Salone happened to know one of his weaknesses, kisses. Sure it wasn't the most romantic scene, with flashing blue and red lights, the strangers milling about. But they weren't paying attention to a couple of teens as their attentions were occupied. 
***
Will scowled and he stood, took a few steps, and sat on the edge of Alison's bed. 
"Your mad at me, most likely for kissing you," His strange blue eyes searched her face, looking for some sort of answer. He was good at reading people, you kind of had to be if you had been popular at some point in school. "Look, I can't help resolve the issue if you don't give me something to go on."

(if you want you can have mrs. peterson intrude in your next post, if not i'll do it in mine! we'll see how things flow)

Just as Salone had anticipated, Riley was about to argue with her when her lips landed on his. He was caught off guard, but he kissed her back for a moment before pulling away, taking a breath and meeting her eyes.

"Just warn me next time, okay? I understand why you did it, but we're supposed to be working as a time. By now I've learned that trying to be superman isn't usually the best idea, especially when I have you to answer to afterwards. If you had died-" Riley cut himself off purposefully this time, shaking his head. Salone dying wasn't something he wanted to think about. He had had only a taste of what Salone must have felt many times over when he did something on impulse, and already he wanted it gone, even though he knew it was inevitable. 

--

Alison sighed before shutting her math book completely and looking up at him. Somehow he still seemed to tower over her while she was seated, and she couldn't understand it. "I'm not mad at you," she spoke, a slight edge to her tone. "I'm just... confused," she admitted after a few seconds. She trusted Will enough to speak her feelings, but she knew that in doing so she was either ruining their friendship or opening up room for something new. Since she had no idea which way things would go, it took her a while to open up to him, but eventually she did so.

"Well, you've kind of been flirting with me all day and I don't know what to make of it. You kissed me once and almost tried to kiss me again, and I know that you probably have a lot of girls you flirt with, but I wasn't sure what to make of it." Her words were measured, but they were out of her mouth more quickly than she'd expected. Her eyes flicked up to meet his for a few seconds before she looked back down at the math book she was holding, tracing a finger against its cover.

"Riley,"She said softly, running her fingers along the nape of of his neck and jawline. "It was a split second decision, I'm sorry." 
Her brown eyes searched his face and she rested her head against his shoulder and wrapped her blanket around his shoulders too. She let her eyes drift closed and she was asleep when Mrs. Peterson pulled up, looking not pleased at her midnight phone call.
***
Will sighed, "Alison, I really do like you, it's just..."
He made another noise of frustration, recalling her brother's look of disgust when he saw Will and Alison sitting together on the bench earlier that week. 
"If I hurt you... I'd never be able to forgive myself... same with your brother too... he would pound me to bits..."
William seemed to have trouble conveying how he was feeling so he leaned forward and kissed her, unlike the other one which had been abrupt this one was soft and sweet. 
"Your making it very... difficult..." he told her with a laugh matched with a crooked grin.

Riley didn't realize it, but he trembled slightly beneath Salone's touch. "I know; I forgive you," he said softly. He knew that it was better off that she had pulled him out of there. If he'd still been inside of there during the explosion, he had a feeling that he would have lost it. He thought about this for a while before realizing that Salone had fallen asleep, and he looked up just in time to see his mom approach from the parking lot, her eyes scanning the crowd for them. He waved- hoping to let Salone sleep- and she made her way over to them. She seemed tired, but grateful to see that he was okay, and not in the least bit surprised. Riley managed to hug her awkwardly while still keeping his grip on Salone. 

Before long they made it out to the car; Riley lifted Salone with little difficulty and carried her. He figured that she would probably laugh at him if she woke up, but he didn't think she did before he laid her down in the back seat. He sat beside her, and Mrs. Peterson started up the car. After a moment of silence she asked him what had happened, and he explained willingly. She managed a dark chuckle when he described Christina's drunkness, but her worried expression didn't fade.

"Eventually it was too much, and Salone had Hound pull me out of there before the explosion. I wasn't too happy about it, but I don't know what would have happened if she hadn't. She was inside when the bomb detonated; thankfully she seems to be alright, if tired."

Mrs. Peterson glanced at them through the rearview mirror, Riley had draped the blanket over Salone and she lay with her head in his lap. He blushed, feeling much calmer than he had been at school, and she smiled, just nodding and pulling into the driveway. Riley hated to wake Salone up, but he would probably have difficulty balancing if he tried to carry her sleeping form up the steps into the house. He shook her shoulder gently. "Salone," he probed, his voice more firm than before but not all that loud.

--

The gears in Alison's head hadn't yet clicked before Will kissed her, and all she could do had been to lean into his kiss before they had. And just as soon as she'd started kissing him, she pulled away, gaping at him incredulously. 

"If you are so confused and bent on trying not to hurt me, then why the hell are you kissing me on a whim and hoping for the best?" she asked, shifting away from him uncomfortably. Her gaze had moved from his, and now she found herself staring into space as she thought. Her breath came in soft, anxious gasps as if she were about to start crying, but she just closed her eyes for a second to allow herself to calm down a bit. 

"I'm sorry," she murmured, forcing herself to meet his eyes. "I just- why are you so focused on this idea of hurting me? Riley shouldn't have anything to do with this; he just happens to know a bit about my past and is overly concerned with my safety."