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

(Where is Salone staying, in a hotel with Riley I presume? Haha)

Riley should have been more reassured by Danni's promise that she'd take protective measures, but regardless he was jittery and a bit on edge. He was grateful when the twins had been out to sleep and their guests had begun to filter away; Riley saw Salone on the couch with his cousin's newborn daughter and he smiled, sitting down beside her. "Babysitting?" he asked quietly, grinning at her. He touched the baby's arm gently, his smile growing as her tiny fingers locked around his long one. The baby was so fragile and innocent that Riley was made even more aware of his surroundings, but he trusted that everything would be alright. His resolve crumbled easily as the little creature curled against Salone, her tiny hands curling into the fabric of her t-shirt, and his face softened.

"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love and I shall no longer be a Capulet."

Alison spoke just loudly enough for Fabian to hear her, glancing up at the roof of Riley's house. She'd known where to find him, that's for sure. "I'm pretty sure our roles are reversed at the moment, aren't I supposed to be the one sulking on the balcony?" she asked, smiling gently up at him. "You want to come down, Tarzan? Or will I have to find a way up?"

((Are you thinking naughty thoughts liz? xD))

Salone smiled, looking up at Riley and resting her head on his shoulder for a moment.

“I understand why you have this infatuation for children,” Salone murmured softly as the newborn snuggled herself down, further, into the protection of her arms, lazily slurping on one hand while clinging to Riley’s finger with the other. She watched as the child removed her hand from her mouth and grabbed onto the fabric of her shirt. Salone turned her head slightly to catch the look on Riley’s face. He had such infatuation with the child that she felt vaguely jealous; it was the silly kind on not even a real form of jealousy.  

“How many?” Salone asked quietly. “How many kids do you want?”

It was a question that had never occurred to Salone as she never had thought about getting married until recently.  Her uncle and aunt already made sure that her dress was ordered, which Salone felt was rather silly since it was fall and the wedding wasn’t until the spring. She also rather felt that it was her small amount of family that was rather obsessed with the idea rather than her… but that was another conversation all together.

Fabian looked up from his hands as Alison came outside, grinning crookedly.

“Quoting Shakespeare are we?” Fabian said, stretching his long muscled legs out and peering down at her. “This is not a balcony,” He pretended to huff before reaching over the edge and hauling Alison up single handedly. She was rather light but Fabian did have the strength of a lion so he was pretty built.

“As for o Romeo, does that mean you’re secretly pining for me?” Fabian teased, arching an eyebrow and fixing her with his pair of blue grey eyes. “Because I wouldn’t complain if you were.”

There he went again, Fabian and his flirtatious banter, he couldn’t really help it but he tried to control it most of the time.

(Salone has an aunt and uncle I was not aware of this! And possibly I was confused for a moment LOL.)

"Hmm," Riley hummed, slightly surprised at his fiancée's question. He wrapped an arm loosely around her shoulders. Suddenly everything had become so real; he was marrying Salone in a matter of months, and her question just made their future that much more solid, more possible. 

"Let's start with one and see where we want to go from there," Riley spoke, smiling crookedly at her. "We're in no rush," he said softly, teasing her and pressing a kiss to her cheek. In a perfect world, he'd like to have two, maybe three kids, but their world was far from perfect. It was scary enough having to worry about taking care of one kid, but protecting more than one child, keeping them safe from monsters... Riley would be a mess. "What do you think?" he asked, meeting her eyes.

--

Alison was impressed as Fabian lifted her up onto the roof almost effortlessly. Her cheeks flushed as he suggested that she was pining over him. She looked to him, thinking for a moment before responding.

"It wouldn't be all that much different; I mean, Riley does hate you," she spoke softly, meeting his gaze uncertainly. "Romeo and Juliet die out of stupidity in the end of the play though, and I certainly hope our relationship isn't too relevant to theirs. But I didn't think my feelings for you were so secret, I've been pretty open," she said, offering him a demure smile. Yes, maybe she was pining over Fabian, but it wasn't necessarily something she wanted to act on. While she was sure about how she felt about him, she wasn't sure that getting into a relationship right now was a good idea.

(Poor Riley has no clue what he's getting himself into LOL)

Salone smiled at Riley, watching him think. Salone didn’t have a number in mind so she was content with Riley’s number. One sounded easy to manage and doable since it was dangerous being a demigod.

“I’m perfectly happy with whatever you want,” She murmured, feeling the warmth of his arm across her shoulders. Salone was startled out of their conversation when the baby girl waves a fist in the air and gurgled at her.

“Well, hello there,” She stated, after narrowly avoiding being hit in the nose. “Good to see you’re a lively one.”

Ani has realized a problem; Liz never gave the newborn a name. So to save time she dubs the newborn after herself, Annie.

The newly named child gurgled at Salone again causing the woman to grin slightly.

--
Fabian snorted and shook his head, “that’s putting in bluntly.” Then he sobered up a little bit before agreeing with Riley. “Yeah, I’d hate myself too… I do on most days.”

Then he listened to her finish before a crooked, dimpled grin flashed across his face. He leaned forward, tantalizingly close before saying, “So you are pining for me,” He teased in his low voice before whispering,  “no our relationship is nothing like theirs.”


Then, as if Fabian remembered his place, he pulled away, leaning back against the roof in a comfortable position. If it frustrated Alison to no ends then so be it but Fabian wasn’t so eager to cause a blood bath between himself and Riley… especially when he was marrying his ex girlfriend. Wow… things just got rather complicated now that Ani lays out the entire issue….

Riley grinned, pressing another kiss to her cheek and leaning his forehead against hers. "And I'm happy with whatever you want... you are the one having these kids, you know. I don't know how happy you'll be once we actually go through with this agreement," Riley said, laughing softly and watching the baby as she gurgled and gazed at Salone, intrigued. The baby's big blue eyes met Riley's, and, as if on cue, her face twisted and she started to fuss, tears welling up in her eyes. "Of course.." Riley muttered, stealing the baby away anyway and getting up, bouncing in an attempt to lull it back to happiness. It was then that baby Annie started to wail.

"Of course. Of course."

--

Alison couldn't help but grin as Fabian leaned in close to her, his voice going just a little bit husky as he spoke to her. "Thank the gods," she replied, laughing. She sobered up as she considered what he'd said earlier, reaching for his hand and lacing her fingers with his. 

"You shouldn't hate yourself," she said softly. "The past is the past. Riley's just stubborn and unwilling to accept the fact that you've changed, even when Salone has." 

She glanced down at their hands, tracing her thumb across his knuckles. She was tempted to assert the fact that Fabian could easily take down Riley, but given the nature of what he had done to Salone she thought better of it. 

"Maybe you're not Mr. Tough Guy anymore, but sometimes it's nice to be around a softie," Alison spoke softly, prodding at his ribs with her free hand and grinning wryly.

Fabian smiled slightly, “I’m a big ol’ house cat you forget. I’m lazy and rather cuddly until I’m not.”
Alison’s finger tracing the thin scar on the back of his knuckle was rather distracting. Then she prodded him in the stomach causing Fabian to flex underneath her touch, “Now look what you did, you bruised my stomach.”

Fabian sighed, lifting up his shirt (exposing a very nice six pack) and exaggerated looking for damage.
--
The rest of the day sped by quickly and within a few days Salone was back at camp. Trying to pack up all of her items and move into the new apartment. Finishing up high school had been fairly easy much to Salone’s surprise and she had landed a job quite quickly in the same city Sophie lived in... Somewhere in North Carolina.

The new apartment had two bedrooms and one bathroom, a huge kitchen and a front room. Not that big but good enough for someone first starting out. Stepping outside into the back yard, Salone could feel the heat in the air as spring was here. Salone fingered her new apartment key, it felt strange in her fingers and she laid her keys on the counter.


Then moving into what she supposed was the master bedroom she put down one of her boxes, Salone didn’t have many but the place was going to be exceedingly bare until she got her first paycheck. Then reaching into the du’art she pulled out several more boxes and she started to unpack. The extra house key would be for Riley, Hound had gone to fetch him.  It was hard to believe she would be marrying him in less than two weeks. Everything had already been done with great gusto and all Salone and Riley could do now was wait. Finally she came to the bottom of the box and she pulled out a dog door. She grinned to herself.

Alison blushed, grinning and grabbing his other hand as he lifted up his shirt. She was similar to her brother in that it was easy to fluster her; however, she was just a little bit quicker. 

"Oh, you poor baby, you want me to kiss it?" Alison spoke, grinning and failing to stop herself from cracking up. She released his hands, settling instead for wrapping her arms around his torso and leaning into him, shutting her eyes. "No more thinking about Riley tonight, okay?" she asked, meeting his gaze. 

They were sat there, quiet, for a while, content just to sit there together.

"Thank you for today," Alison spoke sleepily.

--

Riley had no idea how he'd gotten to this point. 

The past few months were a blur of work and blissful normalcy, Riley had been working and trying his best to pass all of his classes in the midst of moving, finding a new job, transferring schools and wedding planning with Salone. It was all a little insane, but he didn't mind much, because all of the pieces were finally falling into place. They'd finalized on their apartment deal, and Salone had called him to tell him that she would send Hound to pick him up after his last shift at his job in New York, which he had. They were finally moving in together permanently, just before they were supposed to be getting married. Riley grinned at the thought. He'd gone back to camp quick to gather the last of his belongings, and when Hound arrived he didn't hesitate to take off with her, shouldering his duffel bag and getting off. 

Within moments Hound had transported him all the way to North Carolina, and the apartment door was wide open, beckoning to him. He grinned, an idea crossing his mind, and he turned to Hound, eyeing her and attempting to ensure that she wouldn't ruin it. He stepped in through the door quietly, setting down his duffel and moving as stealthily as he could through the apartment, looking for his fiancée. It wasn't hard, as she was right in the master bedroom. He grinned as he saw her, lunging forward and wrapping his arms around her waist. 

"Hey," he breathed, grinning at her. There were belongings strewn everywhere, and they had a lot of work ahead of them. But for the first time they were blissfully alone, in this house that was theirs and theirs only. To say Riley was ecstatic was an understatement.

Salone had moved the dog door into a pile of items she would deal with later. Standing she pulled out some sheets on the bed, beginning to make it. This bed was way more comfortable than the beds at camp and it had been delivered yesterday. Something collided with her, knocking Salone flat on her back onto the bed.

“Riley!” She groaned, as he grinned crookedly at her. “Good to see you too.”
He was kind of on top of her, squishing the air from her lungs and had her trapped with arms encircling her waist. Riley smelled good as she buried her nose into his shoulder for a few seconds while giving him a brief hug.

She rolled over, pushing him slightly, so she was half on top of Riley and gave him a quick kiss, “You’re going to have to let me go. I’m in the middle of making this very nice bed.”

After a few moments Salone managed to disentangle herself and kick a very disgruntled Riley off the bed.  Finishing within a few minutes, Salone handed Riley the dog door. Her lips quirking up in amusement, “I got yah something.”


She was referring to when Dog had interrupted their mush fest on the couch because he had needed to go use the bathroom. Unpacking took the rest of the day and eventually exhausted, Salone ordered pizza, feeling too lazy to cook.

Riley grunted as Salone shifted on top of him, in halfhearted protest. He was in the process of saying that they shouldn't even bother making it when she finally disentangled herself from him, nudging him away. He attempted to grab her again, but she squirmed away and he poured at her until he sighed exaggeratedly and stood, helping her finish making the bed. 

"A dog door?" Riley asked, confused until he saw the look on her face that said all. "Oh. Oh," Riley said, grinning and laughing at her. Riley nudged her, kissing her quick before beginning to go through their boxes. He even managed to assemble a few things- including a particularly nice bookshelf, which Alison would appreciate- before they both called it quits for the day and resolved to order a pizza. Riley collapsed on the cozy, slightly used couch that they'd inherited from his mom.

"I think I'm going to die," he groaned, feigning weakness. He was sweaty and gross with disheveled hair, but he couldn't bring himself to get up and take a shower-although they did have a rather nice bathroom, with a shower and tub and everything- and so there he lay, lazy as anything.

Salone grinned slightly at Riley’s confusion before it clicked into place. She laughed at him slightly before placing books on the shelf, including Salone’s battered copy of Harry Potter. Then she would have flopped down next to him except he currently smelled of sweat.

“You sir, need to take a shower,” Salone notified him before sitting on the arm and well out of reach. “As for dying, please don’t. We are getting married in less than two weeks and your death would put a damper on the occasion.”

Indeed it would. Then Salone would have to return a whole bunch of things and it would be bad. Pizza came and the two ate with gusto, not a slice was left but it left the whole apartment smelling quite nice.

“I am going to get ready for bed,” Salone announced, stretching and picking up the now empty box to put in the trash.  

The next week and five days rolled around quickly, the night before the wedding Danni had kidnapped her for girl’s night and made sure Salone spent the night at her hotel. She even went as far as to confiscate Salone’s cell phone which she was not happy about. But before she knew it the dress was being laced up her back and Salone looked at herself in the mirror, quite surprised at what she saw. Her hair was in a half up half down style, the dress tight up at the top but the skirts all flowwy
 ((http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/5d/aa/aa/5daaaa8c16adc38c22355c8307b776ec.jpg  ))  .

Danni smiled up at her, helping Salone down off of the pedestal, butterflies erupted in her stomach. Her friend seemed to be picking up on her nerves and she rubbed Salone’s shoulder. With that they existed the door.


 The wedding was in a garden, filled with roses of many colors. Jance would be standing in as her father and before she knew it she was walking down the aisle. Her brown eyes fixed on Riley and a shy smile on her lips.

Riley was nervous as all get-out. 

He was also excited, but at the moment his happiness couldn't quite quell his nerves. He stood at the alter in his tux, feeling stifled. He just wished things would move more quickly, there was barely anyone in the wedding party and still it felt like an eternity as they walked out down the aisle. Finally their two devilish ring bearers made their way down the aisle, and before Riley could blink, she was there. It was as if all of the nervousness vanished from him, he straightened, unable to stop himself from grinning back at her as she offered him her smile. Maybe it was just that she was in that wedding dress, but she looked even more gorgeous than he'd expected her to; he had to stop himself from kissing her and ruining her makeup- and the wedding ceremony- when Jance gave him her hand. Riley laced his fingers with Salone's, grinning like a fool before the officiant cleared his throat, indicating that the ceremony was supposed to begin. Riley laughed as he met her eyes and attempted to sober up.

Salone felt Riley’s callused hand against hers and her smile became slightly wider. With that everything began, the ceremony wasn’t long and before she knew it Riley was kissing her, signifying that Salone was now Mrs. Peterson (yeah a strange thought… Salone agrees) and Riley’s wife.
The two twin boys shrieked showing, “EWWW!” Causing all of the adults to laugh, including Salone. Not many people were there but the ones the counted were.  To her surprise a massive pile of boxes rested in the corner, covered in shiny wrapping paper and bows.

“I didn’t know we got gifts…” Salone mused quietly to Riley. She had never been to a wedding before so this was all quite alien to her.  “Also, are we going to take Hound out of here or are we going to take the truck and not deprive everyone of decorating it?”


But she didn’t have time to answer since they were suddenly ambushed by a horde of well wishers.

When the horde of crazy well-wishers finally dispersed at the call of an attendant announcing a cocktail hour, Riley snagged his girlfr- wait, fiancée- no, wife around the waist. Wife. Wife. He could get used to that word. 

"Of course we get gifts, silly," Riley whispered, brushing a curl out of the way of her face. [/color]"We can take the truck, so as not to terrify the mortals here."[/color] He grinned and kissed her gently, so as not to muss up her makeup too badly before they took a few pictures. Their ceremony and reception were modest, but his mother had insisted upon having a photographer, and since Riley didn't think he would mind looking back at this date years from now he didn't really protest. "But for now, unfortunately, we must stay and be stared at all night. Also, did I tell you that you look completely gorgeous today? Because you really, really do," Riley murmured, grinning like a fool once again. 

It was at that moment that their attention was snagged by the photographer, and after maybe an hour of tedious posed photos they were finally allowed to enter the reception. It was great, actually. There was good music, he managed to dance without falling over once, everyone he wanted was there-and not to mention the food, which was amazing, although Riley didn't eat much, since his jitteriness from earlier hadn't quite left him- and Salone was his wife. A few toasts were made, including a noteworthy toast from Danni, which left Riley quite red in the face- of course, that one was the most embarrassing one- and before he knew it they were smashing cake in each others' faces as was custom and the night was winding down, the music fading to a lull as he and Salone made their rounds, thanking and goodbye-ing all of their friends and preparing to leave.

“You have lipstick on your face,” Salone murmured after Riley pulled away from the kiss. Indeed, her husband had dark pink smudged on his face. “Seems to be a horrible habit you’ve developed. That and calling be gorgeous… though I can’t argue with you right now because a bride is supposed to knock people’s socks off. ”

She arched her eyebrow and grinned crookedly, ignoring the camera flash before the photographer claimed their attention. The entire picture session, though rather tedious was rather funny. Salone busted up into laughter on some of the more serious pictures and it caused a chain reaction in most of the people around her.

Several hours later, Salone pealed her heals off her feet since they were kind of killing her. The cake was fabulous but a few crumbs had vanished down the front of her dress causing some discomfort. Riley laughed slightly before shielding Salone so she could de-crumb herself.  The toast was even more funny especially when Danni handed Riley a bedazzled fedora… which Salone did not quite understand but she assumed it was an inside joke as Riley turned scarlet. 

By the end of the night, Salone was exhausted and she waved half heartedly to the last person out the door… leaving Riley and herself with the cleanup crew, which consisted of close family. Sophie, Jance, Alison, Riley’s step dad, Jance’s dad, and Danni… who was bickering with Jance to a new extent. Salone rolled her eyes at the strange flirt fighting… if those two got married… oh sweet hades, it could spell possible disaster.

After saying goodbyes, Salone shared her thoughts outside the truck… The truck itself had been perfectly demolished with oreos and silly string to say just married.


“I think… your cousins had waayy to much fun with this,” Salone mused, resting her hand on the edge of the truck.

"Just a little bit," Riley spoke, grinning crookedly at her. He rested a hand at her waist, stealing yet another kiss from her now that they were- finally- alone. This time they didn't have to worry about her makeup, or lipstick on Riley's face, it was just them and nothing else mattered. In spite of this, Riley pulled away, his hand lingering at her side. 

"We should probably get back home, Mrs. Peterson," Riley spoke softly, laughing slightly. It was so weird to hear her called the name he had heard his mother called for so long, he didn't think he could deal with it. They planned to head off on a short honeymoon vacation in the morning; their bags were all packed and Hound was raring to go, but they had both agreed that it would be better if they were both (relatively) well-rested before they left. Riley opened Salone's door for her, despite her protests, before getting in the driver's seat and making his way back to the apartment.

“Oh, that makes me sound old,” Salone stated with a slight laugh before sliding into the seat and giving Riley a dirty look at opening the door for her. The drive back was short and Salone beat him to the door, even with the mass amount of skirt. But Riley was faster than Salone gave him credit for, sweeping her up.


“Ah!” She squealed.  “Sneak attack much?” She teased him planting a kiss on his lips before he carried her over the threshold.  Salone wriggled out of his grasp and made her way towards the bedroom, her hand unbuttoning the dress…. However after a few moments Salone called to her husband. “Riley! I’m stuck! To many dratted buttons on this dress!”

"Maybe," Riley admitted, leaning into Salone's kiss before allowing her to be free. Riley slid off his suit jacket, unbuttoning his vest and untying his tie, left in only his starched white button-up and much more comfortable than before. It was then that Salone called to him from their bedroom, and Riley went inside, laughing as he saw her futzing with the buttons at the back of her dress. He set his suit jacket down on their dresser before attending to her. She'd only managed to undo the first few buttons, but his fingers worked nimbly to unhook the rest.

"You know, I kind of like you in this dress; maybe I shouldn't be helping you out of it," he teased, pressing a kiss just below her ear and getting the last button, taking her hand and allowing her to hold the dress together. 

When Riley woke up the next morning, he had a very strong urge to stay in bed forever, but as the sunlight streamed in through the curtains he squinted, realizing that they had a day of traveling ahead of them. He glanced to Salone, his wife, who was still tucked beneath his arm, asleep, and for about the millionth time in the past twenty-four hours he was smiling stupidly. He considered getting up and cooking breakfast, but he couldn't quite bring himself to leave her just yet.

Sleepily, Salone opened her eyes. Her cheek pressed against Riley's chest, his skin warm against hers. 
"Morning," She murmured, shifting so she could be more comfortable before stretching and wrapping the blanket more securely around her and pulling her blanket to her chin. Within a few minutes however Salone was dressed in her running shorts and t-shirt, trying her shoes as well. 
"I am going for a short run," She murmured, resting her forehead on his shoulder for a moment before going out the door. The run felt good, like she was stretching.
Upon returning she wrapped her arms around Riley.
"So what's the game plan for today?" Salone asked, arching a blonde eyebrow. "I am in the mood for an adventure."

Salone stuck her tongue out at Riley, “Well then, if you’re going to be picky on how I smell like after a run.”

Salone opened the freezer and nipped an ice cube down the back of Riley’s shirt before dancing away and out of reach. After a brief game of lets Chase Salone Around The Kitchen, Salone surrendered and stated her approval.

“It will be fun, I think we will arm ourselves properly this go around,” Salone smiled brightly up at him. She hadn’t fought a monster in months which she found a little odd but she wasn’t going to complain… maybe there was a monster attacking age limit, like hunting? Younger and older are easier to kill and you stay away from the healthy strong ones?


“Now, I’m going to go shower… and when I return I will smell much better and hopefully there will still be some breakfast for me.” Salone teased him lightly. The shower was quick but it felt wonderful, rinsing all the sweat off and soothing aching muscles.  She returned dressed for the day but slightly damp and ready to eat breakfast with her husband before they left for Disney.

Riley finished cooking breakfast quickly, and he covered the food with pot covers so it would stay warm until Salone emerged from her shower. It wasn't long before she did, coming out and sitting across from him. They ate, keeping up their usual banter, and Riley hooked his good ankle around one of hers deviously. While she finished up, Riley brought their bags outside,  glancing at Hound who gave him a sort of doleful look for making her go back to Disney. She seemed to be protective over Salone, which was understandable. Still, Riley readied himself for their trip. Secretly, he'd already gotten a deal on a room he'd booked through his mom's friend at Disney's nicest hotel, the Grand Floridian. He was up and raring to go; now he just needed to wait for Salone.

((Ah the Grand Floridian is SO NICE and it is weird to look at in photos because I stayed in the hotel in California that it was copied from and it looks so similar on the outside!!))

Salone slid up behind Riley and pressed her cold fingers to his neck before taking their luggage and flinging it into the Du’art.

“Well, I’m ready to go.” Salone smiled, Hound wagged her tail slowly, sniffing Salone the once over. “That tickles!” Salone announced as Hound nosed her in the stomach.

“Not my fault you pink little humans are so ticklish,” Hound sniffed, lowering herself to the ground, allowing Salone to climb on. After Riley was situated the world began to blur and soon they were sitting in front of and off to the side of a Hotel, labeled the Grand Floridian. Salone’s eyebrows shot up and she twisted around to look at Riley. It was indeed a very nice hotel and it looked very expensive. The heat made Salone lean back into Riley as she had to enjoy the sensation; the one thing she was going to miss about California was the heat.


“How?” Salone asked, sounding slightly breathless, tilting her head to look up at Riley.

((Feel free to fast forward as much as you wish))

Riley grinned at the look of awe on Salone's face as she took in the place. Hound lowered to the ground and he slid off, giving Salone a hand even though she clearly didn't need one. He kissed her quick, before pulling back to admire the place himself. 

"How? Does it matter?" Riley asked, grinning and tugging her along towards the entrance. Soon enough he'd checked them in and they were off on the next shuttle boat to the Magic Kingdom, and Riley wasn't really sure what'd hit him. They spent the entire day monster-free, hopping on and off rides and poking fun at each other in the queue lines, even if the heat was making them a little bit crazy. Riley insisted upon buying matching bride and groom Mickey ears, although neither of them kept them on for long. By the end of the day they were completely exhausted. They had eaten at a little restaurant with a patio outside, and now they sat waiting for the fireworks to go off. Riley pressed a kiss to her cheek, closer to her ear.

"Having fun?" he whispered, his arm around his Salone's waist.

The entire day was a bit of a blur, checking into the hotel and being silly with Riley. The hats were absolutely ridiculous but luckily it wasn’t a requirement of the honeymoon to wear them the entire day. At one point Salone took her mint chocolate chip ice-cream cone and mashing the end of it into the end of her husband’s nose.

Later that night found Salone and Riley sitting in a little café, legs dangling through the bars. She glanced over at Riley, a smile on her lips and eyebrow quirked.

“What if I said… yes?” Salone questioned leaning in for a proper kiss. In the middle of the kiss the fireworks went off, causing her to jump and look up. “You know what,” She joked, “I think you’re the one. Fireworks just told me so.”


The next day went by similarly, but packing up and then chucking things into the Du’Art. Salone got really excited at all of the stuffed elephants she found and couldn’t help but get a tiny glass one as well as a stuffed animal which Salone was careful with when putting them into the du’art. Then they visited all of the Disney characters which Salone found very thrilling as she had never really watched Disney movies as a kid.

The next few weeks went by so quickly that Riley barely had time to blink.

It was great.

He was just finishing up his second semester of college, on a scholarship to UNC, while working every day to pay the rent. It was a Friday today, though, and his last class for the day had ended and he was free for the night, thank the gods. He had been hoping to take Salone out and do something tonight, but she woke up this morning feeling awful and he figured that that was off. He was just a little bit disappointed, but after his long week at school and work he was grateful for any time he got to spend with his wife, even if she wasn't feeling well and they just lounged around at home. He unlocked the door to their apartment, walking in and dumping his bookbag on the floor. 

"Salone?" he called, making his way into their kitchen and opening the fridge, completely oblivious to the fact that Danielle was sitting at their kitchen counter on a barstool, watching him with a smirk on her face. He ran a hand through his air, grabbing a can of Sprite from the fridge and popping it open. He turned, about to take a sip when all of a sudden-

"BOO!!!" Riley spotted Danielle sitting at his counter just as she shouted at him. He nearly jumped out of his skin, and his soda fell from his hand as he shouted, his hand moving to his sword hip even though his sword wasn't even on him at the moment. Instantly the floor was coated with the sugary beverage, and Riley swore. "What the hell, Danielle?! Where's Salone?"

A slight sense of panic washed over him, but he knew that she was okay or Danni wouldn't be messing with him. 

--

Alison had just about reached her breaking point. 

If she had to suffer through one more minute of this AP Calculus work, she was going to have an aneurysm. English was her forte, and this math really wasn't processing. She was good at math, too, but today it just wasn't working out for her. She'd holed herself up in her cabin, forcing herself to study and get some work done, but in all seriousness she was dying to do something, anything else. She considered calling for Fabian, but she knew that would lead her to be even less productive. Lately, they'd spent too much time having frustratingly enticing conversations about the most random things, and they always seemed to occur just when she was supposed to be getting something done. To make matters worse, no matter how heavily Alison laid on the romantic gestures, Fabian refused to get it. She knew that this had nothing to do with her and everything to do with Riley and Salone, and it infuriated her.

Still, Fabian was incredible at math, and so it seemed that in this case she had no choice but to wake the beast.

Literally, as it turned out, because when she padded over to his cabin she found him dead asleep, curled up in his blankets. It was kind of adorable; she could tell he'd fallen asleep just after showering, as his hair was still slightly damp. She almost didn't want to wake him up, but she knew that if she didn't she was going to fail her test tomorrow and if she failed her test tomorrow odds are that her grades would drop and she would fail the class for the semester and that would put her in a downward spiral and she would-

"Fabian-" she hissed, taking a seat on the edge of his bed, hugging her Calculus book to her and shaking his shoulder through the covers.