Oh mai... This is new...

(Duel: I didn't do anything like that! I swear! ono')

(Suuuuuuure.... eue)

(Chase: D-don't cry! oAo *freaks out and gets over his awkwardness to hug her* Don't cry... please don't cry... omo'

Oh my gawd... XDDDD

Marie: *stops her freakout and gawks at Sil* O~O

She is afraid of ideas you might have for her now... XD)

Trying not to start laughing when Roy smushed his face against her belly and purred like that, Laura covered her mouth with one hand and giggled softly to herself. She certainly didn't mind being Roy's teddy bear for as long as he needed, and found the situation rather cute.

---

"Sleepy... and kinda drugged..." EJ replied honestly, then smiled a bit at her and reassured her, "I think I'm okay." As okay as he could be after yesterday, and he couldn't exactly freak out while on medicine that not only numbed his physical pain but made it kind of hard to focus on the emotional distress.

(Duel: Shut up Blueh! DX

Pippa: o///o' I-it's ok...*hugs him back* )

(Marie: I swear we haven't! o//A//o

Ruth: *glaring at them*

Marie: Ruthie, I swear!

Chase: .... *just focuses on petting Pippa's hair without freaking out about hugs*)

(Duel: I won't do anything Marie hasn't agreed to Ruth!

Pippa: <3 ^///^ I love you)

(eue Hurhurhur....

Anyway, Chirp, how is the second chapter of Pantheon going?)

With his rather keen hearing, the bat's ears twitched when he heard Laura's little giggle. In his groggy state, he didn't really know what it was. But it didn't really necessarily wake him up, either. However, slowly, he opened his eyes to darkness, as his face was smushed up against Laura's belly. Groaning a little, the bat leaned away, not really noticing where his face really was as he propped himself up on his elbow. Roy rubbed at his face, mumbling something that didn't really sound English to Laura-- it was his attempt at a very tired "good morning".

---

"Good...." Rachel didn't want to think about when the medicine wore off, and EJ was much more alert. She then just snuggled back against EJ, mumbling, "I don't want to get up..." Or really do anything, for that matter.

(Ruth: I swear to God if you get pregnant--

Marie: Ruthie! ;A; </3

I wrote like three or four pages before having to eat dinner, and I'm gonna try to pick it up again. I'm gonna start showing you guys the chapters via private message, probably, in case I do decide to self-publish it. ouo)

Not quite understanding what Roy said in French, Laura gave him a quizzical look and just said, "Good morning..." She was still laying next to him, gazing up at him with eyes that were bright and wide awake, as opposed to his extremely drowsy, barely conscious state. 

---

"Neither do I..." EJ murmured back, yawning as he cuddled Rachel. He was still stiff and careful when he moved, aware of his cracked ribs even with the medication dulling the pain.

(Rp some Pipase, Maruel, and Ronnie meeting Celeste. Maybe Sasha seeing how people bully Vera? Also I love my bat <3 I feel like he and EJ could be friends.)

(Um, sure, I guess. *shrug* o3o Though I'm not sure how much Sasha would care about bullies... she can kind of be a bully herself. XD What's your new bat's name? owo?)

(Okay. owo)

Roy was really tempted to just fall back asleep, but he doubted he could now, especially since Laura was right there next to him. He suddenly felt a little more awake when he looked at her after lowering his hand from his face, "'Ey..." Roy would have said something else, but he broke out into a yawn as he sat up to stretch.

---

"I deedn't zink so...." Rachel admitted, her voice muffled a little against the cat she loved. She tried to stifle a yawn, but it was contagious from EJ, and she yawned anyway.

(Calvin Campbell is his name 030 I can start if you want. I don't know if Sasha would actually use Vera as an armrest though XD)

(It doesn't matter who starts. ^^' You can if you'd like to.)

"Did you sleep well?" Laura asked, shifting to sit upright as well. She stretched a little, then twisted herself around and grabbed the headboard of the bed. When she heard a popping sound in her back, she let out a sigh and then straightened out again, releasing the headboard and facing Roy.

----

EJ purred a little, admitting in an amused tone, "I feel really weird... kinda drowsy and dazed... but at least my chest doesn't hurt."

(I will start then.)

Pippa was finally able to leave the infirmary. She had been there for a while since she had been getting bad headaches, but they stopped at least for a while. She smiled at Chase who sat next to her and said, "I'm going to change I'll be back soon." she had been in more of a patient garb when she arrived. She grabbed a bark blue jean shorts, a green tank top, a green bow to tie back her hair, and a buckle with a heart on it since the jeans had some small pink hearts on one side. She went into another room and quickly came back out when she was changed. "Where should we go?" she asked.

---

Duel had been spending a lot of time with Marie, he did feel a bit guilty that he never told her what his life was like before he came to the Devas.

---

In the meantime Vera wasn't happy. Why, two guys were bullying her. One took her whiteboard and marker and was trying to break them while the other one kept her at bay by putting his arms around her. Vera couldn't really defend herself that well since she wasn't very strong.

"Like a rock." Roy admitted, before a popping noise in his back joined Laura's after, "Whaht about you....?" He was still sleepy looking, but a little more alert and aware than what he had been when he first woke up.

---

Rachel moved back so she could look up at EJ; she smiled a little tired smile, "I can tell... buht zat's good." Well, for now, at least....

Chase wasn't dressed in nearly as interesting a way as Pippa, being in a pair of battered jean shorts he must have owned for years, and a plain white t-shirt. The canine was wary of Pippa's still-healing head... sure, she was allowed to leave the infirmary, but a concussion took a while to fully heal. He frowned worriedly, "Home...? You really should take it easy for a while, even though you're allowed home."

----

Marie was tired after taking the early morning shift at the infirmary, and was back at the apartment with Duel. She had started work around midnight and gone home at about eight in the morning for a rest, since the younger healers had since gotten up and took over. Sleepy, the mouse stirred her cup of hot tea, then glanced up when she noticed Duel acting nervous, "You've paced around the kitchen three times now... What's on your mind?"

----

"Yes, I slept alright," Laura replied, then crawled over to him and gave him a good morning cuddle. She kissed his cheek, then asked another question, "How do you feel? You should still take it easy today..."

----

"Are you okay...?" EJ asked, just to be sure. He wasn't so drugged that he didn't remember what happened yesterday. "And Roy...? Where is he?" He lifted his head, realizing for the first time that the bat was no longer in the room with them.

Roy returned the cuddle, and purred for a moment, before falling silent at her question. He thought for a moment, before saying, "I don't know, to be 'onest..." He wasn't really in all that pain, and emotionally... he was far better off than EJ, "I'll take eet easy today, zough... don't worry."

---

"Roy ees wiz Laura, and my mozair and fazair.... 'e's alright, for ze most part... I don't know about me, zough...." Rachel admitted as she was still curled up close to EJ.

"I know your worried, but I'm fine Chase." Pippa said and gave a reassuring smile. She went over and held his hand. She didn't know a lot about concussions, but she believed she was ok. For now at least.

(I had to put her in the outfit Skarua drew  for her because she looks so cute in it <3)

----

"Just thinking about my childhood and stuff." Duel answered.

(You mean Sakura, Sil? XD)

Laura held onto him for a long moment, unable to let go, especially when he mentioned that he wasn't sure how alright he was. She just wanted him to be okay, and be happy... The marten nuzzled the side of his neck, "We can go check on your sister and EJ later, if it'd make you feel better..."

----

EJ's ears tilted back at that, and some of that guilt and grief from yesterday came back as he half-covered his face with his hands, "I-I'm sorry..."

----

Chase was not convinced, and frowned as he took her hand, "We can go for a little walk if you want, but then we're going home, even if I have to carry you there. You're still recovering." He didn't want Pippa to be hurt again.

----

"Oh..." Marie smiled faintly, thinking back at her own childhood, "I was practically raised by Ruthie... She's over ten years older than me, and we left our parents when we were young."

The marten was practically sitting in his lap as she held onto him, not that he minded all that much. Roy wrapped his arms around Laura, and returned the little nuzzle, before saying, "I would like zat..." Especially EJ. The cat had been quite gilt ridden, and convinced it was his fault Roy got shot the other day.

---

No... Rachel's ears angled back to, as his moment of rather peace was coming to an end, "Don't...don't say zat.... Please... eet's not your fault..."

(Yeah, I can't spell still XD)

"A walk would be nice. I could use some fresh air after spending so much time in here and then you can fuss on me all you want." she teased slightly.

---

"I was mostly raised by my second mother, Pele whenever I went to school. I never even saw my parents until I was two I think. Oh yeah, whenever lava people are born the first parent they see they get more attached to and they will be attached to both if they see both. However, if they don't see their parents for a year they don't get attached to either of them." he explained.

"I know... I'm sure they will, too," Laura replied, then slipped away and got off the bed, standing upright and stretching one last time, "I guess I'm going to get dressed and brush my hair." She was pretty sure one of Roy's parents was in the shower, so the bathroom was out of the question when it came to changing. The marten looked up at him, asking, "Um... could you turn around and not look? I think one of your parents is still in the bathroom, so I have to change here."

----

"Y-yes it is..." EJ replied meekly, his ears flattened to his head. He thought about all the people who had been hurt trying to protect him... They could have just let the Sect take him, and they'd be fine. Nobody else would have been hurt.

----

Chase blushed a little, "I'm not fussing! I... Okay, I'm fussing, but it's serious fussing..." He walked out of the infirmary with Pippa, keeping an eye on her just in case.

----

"Oh..." Marie thought about that for a moment, then asked, "That won't happen with our children, will it...? I mean, we'll be able to have children like any ordinary non-lava person, right?"

Pippa laughed a little bit and her tail wagged as she walked with her boyfriend."I don't mind if you fuss a little bit."

----

"It depends on the whole gene factor. Usually lava dominates over flesh, but we can still have flesh kids. Just to be safe when it does happen I'll ask Amigo to give you a full fire resistance potion to also protect you on the inside. If we do have a child that is a lava person then I will be the only one to feed it since it feeds on my lava and also learns what temperature its body should be." he explained.

(Hurhurhur.... eue

Roy: U-um.... o////o")

Roy was a bit hesitant to let her go, but forced himself to. As much as the bat didn't really want to get up, he wanted to see how EJ was doing... and hoping that Rachel was coping okay, too. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Laura mentioned that one of his parents were in the bathroom, and his face went red, "U-um, sure...." Quickly turning around, Roy tried to not blush as he ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to get rid of the knots, not that it really worked all that well.

---

Rachel suddenly sat up straighter, "No, eet's not!" She didn't mean to raise her voice, especially at EJ, but she didn't want to hear this again. The bat fell silent, her ears flat against her head as she heaved a breath, now not trusting herself to speak again.

Still a little red in the face, Chase gave a little cough, "Th-thanks... b-because I kind of do that a lot..."

---

"Oh... that's, um... interesting..." Marie was suddenly more cautious about the idea of ever having children with Duel. Maybe, if they didn't have any biological children of their own, they would just adopt. That would be alright, maybe... they would need time to think about it.

---

(Had to throw the awkward in there... XD It's Lauroy, and Roy needs to stop being mopey. So now he can focus on not imagining Laura without her clothes on. XD)

Once Roy was facing the wall, Laura pulled her clean clothes out of her bag and started to get dressed as quickly as she could. Though Roy couldn't see her changing, since she trusted that he wasn't the type to peek, she was still embarrassed that he could hear her changing and knew that she was right behind him.

(It is really awkward. XD I've had to get changed in the back of a car before, and it's hard to trust the other people not to think about you changing...)

----

EJ winced a little when Rachel raised her voice, and stopped arguing. He just looked at her with those wide, expressive eyes-- the cat was an open book with his emotions, and everyone knew it. All Rachel had to do was look at his face and see the lingering fear and guilt he was feeling, and the way he felt haunted by the Sect who wanted to take him back so badly... and the hurt, because Roy had been hurt in an attempt to protect him.