groovygamers.com

After the dance, Sammy feels the need to see some people.

For some reason, Sammy feels a little restless.  She puts on her flying gear, quietly opens her bedroom window, and sails out into the night.  She soars through the sky.  She stops at Elrod's house, but he's talking to Lisa. She writes a note with her finger in the frost on his window.  2 bad U R busy.  B back L8R.  Love U.

She flies away.  Nick?  He's probably still awake.

On her way to Nick's house, she flies past Donnie's home.  Hey! He never danced with me tonight.  He owes me a dance!

She comes down quietly and starts working her way around till she finds the right place.  Tap-tap-tap, she gently knocks on Donnie's window.

Donnie rolls over in his sleep, restlessly. Something about his mom knocking on his door. He buries his head in his pillow, pulling the bedspread higher over his shoulder. Gzznort.

Sammy knocks again, a little louder.  "Donnie," she singsongs,  "Wakey wakey. Pip?  Are you awake?  Up and at em, Dragon Lord."

Donnie rolls over and looks blearily at the window. He sits up straighter, blinking, when he realizes Sammy is floating outside his window. He slides off the bed and pads over to the window, wearing boxers and an oversized t-shirt with the picture of a beer-drinking dwarf under the phrase "I SPENT MY REWARD ON ALE AND WHORES".

He opens the window. "Sammy? Is something wrong?"

For the record, Sammy is looking pretty freaking awesome right now.  She's wearing the flying outfit that Elrod gave to her, and its form fitting and silver-shimmery in the moonlight, with all sorts of floaty bits moving randomly around her.  She's not wearing the cowl at the moment, but its hanging there, ready to be used if she wants it.

"Hey" she smiles, brightly.  "I couldn't sleep.  Too wound up.  I thought I'd fly around a little, maybe visit some people.  I was flying past your house and it hit me -- we never danced tonight!  I danced with everybody else, except Rhys, 'cause he and Alicia disappeared early,"  she rolls her eyes, "but not you.  So, unless you're angry with me or something, you owe me a dance, dragon lord."  She waggles a finger at him, school-marm style.  "Don't make me file an etiquette report with Uther.  I might not be his favorite, but I bet he won't stand for you insulting a young lady."

Donnie can't help it. His eyes roam the outfit, not having seen it yet in all her genasi glory. "Um. Cool costume. Let me put on some clothes first." Cool is not likely the first adjective he thought of. Donnie smiles. "I have a surprise for you too." He is still smiling as he closes the shade on her.

After a few minutes, he opens the shade again, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. He seems unoncerned with the temperature of the cold air whispering into his room. He removes the screen, dropping it onto the floor next to his window, then backs up into his room. He closes his eyes and breathes deeply for a few moments, summoning hylokka. When they open, they are the green of the Dragon Lord, but the smile is all Donnie. "Watch this."

He murmurs liquid syllables, fingers trailing shapes and runes in a golden glitter in the air in front of him. When the symbols are complete to his satisfaction, he reaches out with both hands and pulls them into his own chest as his rises from the floor.

Donnie is floating. His impish grin returns and he floats out the window to hang in the air next to Sammy.

Donnie is flying.

Out of courtesy to the neighbors, Sammy stops just short of squealing with delight.  She claps her hands over her mouth, not hiding the huge grin on her face or the way her eyes are sparkling with pure happiness.  "You can fly!  YOU CAN FLY!"   This thought sends her into such raptures that she does a little backwards spinning tumble.  She raises an eyebrow impishly at him as she reaches out a hand.  In a breathy little voice she says, "I am so happy for you!  Flying!  There are things that are so much better flying... like this..." Swiftly, she taps his arm.  "Tag!  You're it!"   She laughs and starts flying the obstacle course made by the trees and nearby houses, pushing faster as soon as she figures out how fast or nimble he might be.

Donnie laughs and tries to catch her, but he's a complete novice in the air, bouncing and jerking, sent spinning as he crashes through branches. He's not mad though. The more he screws up, the funnier it gets. Especially with Pip flying excited spirals around him.

As Sammy pauses long enough to let Donnie catch up, he flaps his arms like a turkey trying to take flight. "I keep having double thoughts, as if i ought to be using wings to fly. I can read currents and stuff, but this magical flying just barrels through it all. It's messing up my control and balance."

"You're overthinking it.  Just like John."  A flicker of something passes over her face, but then it is gone.  "You need a distraction so you can just fly.  I can help with that."  She reaches for a disguised pocket and pulls out an iPod with a Y connector splitting the audio out.  She hands one set of headphones to him and puts the others on herself, then queues up some slow and highly rhythmic dance music.  Then she reaches out a hand.  "Dance with me.  Keep flying, and don't worry about messing up.  Think about the music and moving with it and me.  That's all you have to do.  Let the rest go."

She holds one of his hands and puts the other against her waist, putting her own free hand at his waist.  She starts out slowly and vertically, on one plane, and gradually works in some movement that the third dimension makes available to them, trying to let him begin to gain some confidence.  She's not holding him up at all; her only purpose is to serve as a safety net if he needs one.  After a little while she smiles and says, "OK, now you lead."

Donnie gradually relaxes, knowing Sammy is there to catch him if he falls. He remains stiff and formal, a small smile quirking the corner of his mouth as he takes her on a ballroom-like waltz hundreds of feet in the air. His hours of practice getting the right spell perfected start to show as they air-waltz. Remaining stiff and straight seems to get over his sense that he needed to flap wings, and he even takes them upside down a few times, the many rides on Althea inuring him against most vertigo.

Pip circles them, chirruping excitedly.

Sammy laughs at Pip's antics.  "I know!  I feel the same way!  I just want to whirl around him and say 'You're doing great, Donnie!  Keep going!'"

They do this for some time.  Then she puts the music away.  "Do me a favor.  Close your eyes if you need to, and trust me.  You're starting to get the confidence, but you're not letting yourself taste the freedom.  Come on, Pip!  Let's play follow the leader!"   She wraps her arms around him for reassurance only -- she isn't holding him up.  Then she takes them on a wild aerial tour of Oak Park, working in all kinds of aerobatics, using small touches here and there to guide and adjust Donnie's maneuvers, much like a gymnastics coach would do with an athlete.  The faster and wilder she flies, the happier she seems to be.  "Want to fly past Sylvia's house and check in on Sleeping Beauty?  Does she know yet?"

Sammy doesn't wait for an answer.  She takes them off in that direction.

Donnie, acutely aware of Sammy's softer parts pressing against him, is suddenly reminded of the comments he made to John just weeks before. He gently disengages from Sammy's loose and comforting embrace, thankful the hylokka is keeping him from flushing madly like he usually does. He's glad he wore jeans.

Spiralling away, he says "She knows I have been working on it, but not that I had completed it. With all the preparations for the dance I forgot to tell her."

With what she said earlier this evening, I sure as hell ought not to show up in Sammy's  arms.

She spirals down next to him and Pip, so they're flying in formation like a trio of Blue Angels.  "You forgot?!"  She laughs at this.  "We really are different."   She splits off and races around in a big loop, coming up again behind him and Pip.  "I bet she'll be excited.  You should take her flying.  Ooh, you should put a spell on her so she can fly too!  That would be so awesome."  She indulges herself in some more aerobatics.  "Maybe you ought to start practicing flying with John."

Donnie flies sedately along, arms out like wings of a plane. He looks back at Pip, who lands on his shoulder and curls around his neck, claws digging into his shirt and flesh. Donnie tucks in his arms and shouts "Woooooo!" as he pours on the speed, pushing to see how fast he can go. "Keep up, genie!"


ooc: Flight of 6, so whatever speed that provides..

OOC: Sammy should be able to keep up easily.

"HA!" she says as she sneaks beneath him and tags him by wrapping her arms around his torso.  "Too slow!"  She has an expression of unholy glee on her face as she laughs in triumph.  "You don't stand a chance unless you outsmart me.  I can fly from here to Seattle in just a couple of hours.  I did it last night and came back this morning!"

Donnie purses his lips as he rolls around until Pip climbs off from his neck and pounces on Sammy, needle-like claws pricking her skin. "I'll just use my resources then."

Pip starts licking Sammy in the face as he massages her with his claws, like a cat preparing a place to sleep.

Sammy starts laughing really hard between mildly protesting eeps and ouches.  Forced to choose between releasing Donnie (and LOSING) or holding on tighter and enduring Pip's eager attentions, she holds on tight.  Between gales of laughter she manages to gasp out "Pip! Are. you. hungry?  My. mom. always. has. emergency. lasagna.  Mmmm.  Lasagna. in the. freezer. for surprise. visitors.  Bet. clever. dragon. like you. could. get it. all. for. yourself.  Mom. good. cook!"  She squirms some more, wrestling for a better hold.

Donnie squirms, trying to get free as he jets across the sky. "Fine then. I'll have to play dirty."

He reaches down and tickles her beneath both arms until she lets go.

She squeals and pulls away.  "No fair!  I'll beat you there!"  and she heads pell-mell towards Sylvia's house.  She's pretty darned fast.

When he catches up to her -- when she lets him catch up to her -- she's in Sylvia's yard, drifting around upside down, hair floating in a golden cloud around her head, trying to peek in through the windows of Mitzi's workroom without being caught.

"She's making a Las Vegas show girl costume for me, but I haven't seen it yet," Sammy whispers loudly, then flips upright.  "All glittery and sparkly and leggy and feathery, with extra padding here and here if she's feeling generous."  She gestures at the corresponding spots, then points to a gap in the window coverings.  "I think that's it, there, on the mannequin.  Come here, come look!  Shi-neeeey!"

When Donnie appears, it's in a glitter of golden light as his invisibilty spell releases. Let her wonder if I did beat her here.

"Nope, not going to go peeking in Sylvia's house windows. Good way to get my ass kicked by Carolyn. You want to wake the Sylvie, that's her window right there." He points to the darkened window, muffling a yawn with his other hand. He drifts over to the big tree between the Stilley house and the Avery-Vaughn residence, coming to rest in the crook where he knew Sylvia and Kel had spent many a night talking as kids.

God she's energetic. he thinks, watching Sammy flit and flutter about.

She's not like this when she's earthbound.  Not so happy either.  More like a bird in a cage.

"Oh, cool!" she exclaims.  "You can be invisible too?"  She floats up past Sylvia's window, and hears the yawn from behind her.  She turns. "Oh.  You're tired, aren't you?  Sorry, I've been flying a lot with John.  We race everywhere.  He never seems to get tired."  She drifts over to perch on one of the branches forming the crook and sits facing him, straddling the branch.  A shadow of sadness sneaks out past all the flying-happy-joy-joy.  "If I ask nicely, do you think Dylan will go flying with me?  Its not a good idea for me to be around John right now.  For me more than John, probably."

Donnie smiles, a bit sadly perhaps at Sammy as she perches on the branches near him. "I am sure he'd be quite pleased to go flying with you."

Donnie closes his eyes for a moment and calls out to his soul-brother. Dylan, Red Flametongue. The genasi wishes to fly with you. Waken, brother, or find us at Sylvie's house.

"I've called him."

Donnie stares up at Sylvia's dark window, fingertips tracing glittering runes idly in the air.

Donnie feels a ripple of lust pass from Dylan to him.  Kiss her for me and tell her another time.  I'm entangled in a mortal at the moment and it would be rude to leave her in such a state.

Donnie nearly falls from the tree. Hylokka is surely gone, and he shivers at the cold as well as the emotions from Dylan wash over him. He most certainly has a sudden physical reaction to Dylan's current 'activities'.

He is damn glad he wore jeans.

He regains his balance and says. "Um, Dylan is currently.. occupied. He wishes to tell you another time, he will take you up on that offer."

Donnie leans forward (mostly to hide his sudden erection), rubbing his hands briskly across his bare arms as he tries to regain his center and evoke hylokka.

Jeez, this is the entirely wrong moment for that. Especially after Sylvia's brush-off and my dashed hopes for some after-dance activities.

He keeps this inside his head, not projecting it to Dylan.

Sammy kind of expected Dylan to be busy.  "Another time," she says, almost indifferently.  "You cold?  Spells wear off?  This will help some."  The heat conserving bubble suddenly enveloping the two of them is rich with the scent of air after a thunderstorm, of destruction and life.  "I can take you home pretty fast, too.  Its not far."  She smiles guilelessly and then is hovering in the air in front of him.  Arms outstretched, she says "Jump.  I'll catch you then get you home, all warm and cozy under your blankets before you can count to a thousand."

"Um. Give me a moment. I just need to re-center myself. Getting Dylan's emotions meshed with mine is always a bit messy. His control is usually, ah, much better.." Donnie still leans over. Come on, dammit, relax.

The Frankie Goes to Hollywood song Relax pops into Donnie's head and he can't help but snort in amusement at the apropos mental selection.

"It's okay, just give me a sex-SEC! Second!" Oh my GOD. Why the fuck did you just say that?

Donnie flushes madly and huddles down further. Control. Control. Control.


It didn't help that down the mental line to Uther, he feels nothing but smug amusement.

Sammy hears the slip, and an eyebrow raises.  The left corner of her mouth quirks up in a tiny sympathetic smile at his embarrassment, but she doesn't laugh.  The air around him shifts, and slowly lifts him from underneath.  She slowly extends one hand toward him.  "C'mon.  It's cold out here.  You need to go someplace warm.  I don't have to touch you if you'd rather not, but we can get there faster if you're closer to me -- less wind resistance or something like that."

Donnie just nods his head, face flushed with embarrassment as he takes her hand. They float slowly away from the tree and Donnie mutters something unintelligible about 'dragon sensibilities'.

Pip watches from a branch above, luminescent eyes whirling.

Before they go too far, Sammy turns toward him.  "I could leave you here, let you knock on Sylvia's window," she says, quietly.  "I don't want her to hate me.  I don't want you to hate me either."

Donnie doesn't look at her. "No. When Sylvia is in a snit, there's nothing that I can say to knock her out of it, and I don't hate you. I could never hate you. You've done nothering to earn the Wrath of Sylvia anyway. Why would she hate you?"  

"You're right.  No reason for her to hate me.  I haven't done anything," she says, echoing his words.  "Come on then."

She lifts him higher, and positions the two of them so that they're inches apart, not touching, with him standing behind her.  "Smaller bubbles are warmer," she says off-handedly.  She leans into her flight, tilting them both forward so that she can see where she's going and make their profile more streamlined.  "Hang on.  Or not.  Either way, you won't fall."

She heads back to Donnie's house.

They fly quietly for a few moments, then Donnie says "Sammy? What's wrong? You've totally lost the good mood you were in. Was it something I said?"

Sammy answers morosely, "Don't worry about it.  It's been a rough week."

"DAMMIT!" Donnie's eyes blaze green and he yanks himself out of her bubble, plummetting towards the ground until his flight spell clicks back in place. Then he shoots up and snags Sammy's hand, pulling her along to the island where they had so long ago shared a night of tears and friendship. He twines his fingers in with hers, not wanting to br abusive, just compelling. The quick flight there is filled with Donnie growling out "I am SICK and TIRED of people NOT TELLING ME things! Why can't PEOPLE just BE HONEST instead of HIDING everything they are going through! Sylvia is sick full of secrets, and I am DAMN tired of EVERYONE hiding their feelings and troubles!"

They are there, and Donnie clasps Sammy on her upper arms, pressing her down to sit on the collection of logs that surround the sand filled fire-pit. "Sit, please, for a moment." Donnie throws some tinder and logs into the pit over long-cold ash and coals. He grits his teeth as he concentrates, and green fire flickers at the corners of his eyes as his hand starts to steam in the cold February air. He thrusts it into the tinder and after a few seconds, smoke begins questing out from the assorted wood. By the time Donnie sits down across from Sammy, his eyes have stoped blazing, but still hold the green. The fire is flickering to life between them.

"Samantha, you and I are elemental beings. We feel emotions and passions often much stronger than others, and it causes us to harm ourselves and those around us. Can we be honest with each other? I will not judge, I want to know what is on your mind. Why have you been avoiding the US table? What is going on in your life? Please, tell me. My parents have kept secrets from me my entire life. My mom about her grandfather and her own connections with the fey, my father about his crap with the mafia and the US government, not to mention his long-time affair. Sylvia, with her sneaking around, not including me in many parts of her life. Sarah, quietly learning new things about the voice in her head. Rob, with the spirit of Menlo buried inside him. Everyone has secrets, powerful things that they keep bottled up inside. Secrets can kill if they stay deep to long. They turn bad, rot you from the inside. It's why my home is such a cold, barren house. You seem to be suffering, and only happy when you're in flight, because in the sky, there is no worries, just clean air, slipstreams and wind. But you have to come back down and it feels like a burden to you. Why? Can't you tell me?"

Donnie's tirade/plea leaves him drainedd, and he slumps, as if exhausted.

Sammy doesn't argue on the way out.  She could probably get away without too much trouble, but she doesn't bother.  She lets him vent.

When he finally eases up, she looks at him and shakes her head.  Her voice is tight.  "Maybe you should learn to listen better, or at least make it more clear when you want to hear more.  Didn't you wonder at all about me saying I flew to Seattle last night and back this morning?  Or why it is I really don't want to fly with John even though I spend the days between flight school looking forward to the next session?"  She stabs savagely at the fire with a long stick.  "I haven't been avoiding the US.  I'm avoiding John and Laney, ok?  I can't stand to be around either of them right now.  It's easier to be elsewhere.  And its nothing anybody but me can fix."

"I knew it was a part the reason why. You didn't give me much of a chance to ask before we began to play tag. As far as John, he seemed to make a point to dance with you. Do you feel kind of proprietary over John? Is that why you can't stand to be around them?"

"Proprietary?  Do you mean do I have a thing for him?  Yes, then.  But hell, I have crushes on... nevermind.  It's part of being me.  Part of my djinn heritage."  She pokes at the fire again.  "Everything has been so unbalanced since she showed up.  Things aren't normal, so it was just one more thing when he started paying sooooo much attention to her.  I was trying to let it go -- that's why I disappeared.  I mean, if you're afraid you're going to say or do something mean, or feel like you're going to throw up when you see somebody talking to somebody else, and its your problem not their's, that's what you have to do.  Its what I have to do anyhow.  It was cool until" she mumbles "Captain Clueless" then speaks up again "-- John showed up at the costume fitting last night and kissed me.  Somebody gave him the bright idea that friends kiss like lovers on Valentine's Day."  She rolls her eyes.  "All that work, all that heart surgery... poof.  Undone.  Reset.  Back to the beginning.  For nothing, because he didn't mean it.  I gave him hell, started flying, and wound up far away, totally lost and confused a couple hours later."  She kicks an errant ember back into the fire.  "I like kissing.  But not when the kisses aren't true."


**minor edits to text

Donnie leans elbows back onto a log, nudging another piece of wood back into the fire as he rests on the sandy ground around the fire pit.

"Maybe he did mean it. I don't want to throw more gunpowder into the fire here, but maybe he is attracted to you. I mean, you kissed him long ago before Speedy the Wondertramp got her digs into him. I pointed out to him that your flying lessons/trips, whatever, were as much dates as anything. You two have spent a lot of time together over the last few months. You are not the only person who could be interested in two people at once, Sam."

Donnie holds his hand out and Pip spirals down from where he had been watching. The dragonet lands in his wrist and primly walks down his arm, nipping at Donnie's nose before hopping off and stretching lazily near the fire.

"It could be my fault. I sort of pointed out to him sbout the flying trips being dates when he was giving me shit for yelling at Alicia. Perhaps he gave some thought to it and realized he does have more-than-friends feelings for you. Especially if you showed up in that oufit. We're all teenage boys, afterall." Donnie grins and tosses a twig at Sammy.

The twig is diverted away.  "Nope.  He said the words himself.  He said I've been his best friend, but he doesn't have... girlfriend thoughts about me.  I'm his traveling adventures buddy, and it stops there for him.  He seemed honestly surprised that I thought more..." She tosses that thread away with another twig aimed for the fire.  "He thought maybe Laney, but... maybe it is Laney.  He likes the way he feels taking care of her.  He mentioned being interested in... some other girl too."   She follows Pip's example, swiftly shifting off the logs to stretch out parallel to the fire.  "And he has never ever seen me in this costume.  Not that I know about anyhow.  That privilege has been reserved for Elrod, who had it made for me, Sylvia, who had to divert Mitzi so it wasn't bedazzled beyond recognition, and now you, because I remembered you didn't dance with me."

Donnie makes a raspberry. "I think he's full of shit. He's lying to himself, and to you, in my humble opinion. Who else is he interested in?" Donnie idily looks at the snow melting around him. The reflection of fire flickers in his blue-green eyes.

Sammy rolls over to look at the fire.  With a hint of discomfort disguised as irritation she replies, "Just another girl he thinks would make an ideal girlfriend for entirely stupid reasons, but at least you're listening.  I'll give you a point for that, but refocus.  We're talking about me, remember?"  A little extra oxygen finds its way to the fire and makes the flames momentarily burn brighter.  "Unless you're thinking oh shit, too much information, there's a reason I don't ask, I shouldn't be hearing any of this, I don't even want to know about any of this! in which case, we can talk about you.  Who do you let loose with?  I mean, who do you allow yourself to totally be the magic wielding dragon lord with, no holding back because you don't have to, no fear of hurting them or of them being hurt trying to keep up with you?  Dylan I guess?  It's good to have somebody like that." 

"Yeah, Dylan is about it, though he really has trouble understanding concepts like guilt or regret. If something doesn't work out for them they just don't worry about it. Lesson learned. What's next? I am mostly open with Sylvia, but there's just something that scares me a little about her. Imagine having a telepathic girlfriend! I never know if she's looking in my head or not. Like tonight, I did everything I possibly could to mollify her about Jessica dancing with me and giving me a surprise goodnight kiss, but she was pissy the rest of the night, despite dancing like five dances with Logan."  
Donnie shifts, pulling out a stone from beneath his rear anf flinging it over his shoulder.

"I missed you Sammy. It seems that since the whole Elrod, Nick thing started we haven't spent much time together as a group or otherwise. I mean, I know your heritage is coming in stronger and some of the results are going to make life difficult, but if you can't rel;y on your super-powered friends, who can you rely on? I asked about how you are doing because I care. We're friends, and I want you to feel you can talk to me."

Donnie seems to be getting a little choked up and goes silent for a moment.

Sammy lifts herself up onto her elbows and stares into the flames.  "I'm sorry.  I..."  She shifts a little, hesitantly, and puts her head down on his knee, still staring out at the fire.  "I didn't used to be like this.  Before my powers woke up, I used to be sane, happy, reasonable, all that.  Now... well, you see it.  I'm always wrestling something inside, and its getting stronger.  The only time I get to let it go is in the air, and sometimes when I make music.  Sometimes I go away from everybody because I feel like I'm going to explode."  Restless, she flips over to face him.  "Jessica kissed you?  That's funny.  All I've been wanting to do all night is kiss boys.  Elrod and Nick were just to remind me that I was stupid to stress out over John; at least that's how it started out.  But then, it was all like, hey, lets make what he did into no big deal, so I started kissing some other boys too, made a big game out of it."  She looks down at the sand, and traces a circle with her finger.  "I'm pretty sure that's another djinn thing; my mom told me... it felt almost as good as music and flying."  She smiles a little.  "I would've kissed you too, except I'm scared of Sylvia, and I was afraid you'd go all strange at me on top of that.  But Jessica kissed you?  Wow."  She looks back up at him.  "Did you like it?"

Donnie stares into the flames.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did. She was dressed pretty snazzy tonight too, and I think Sylvia read my head and saw that I liked it. Therefore I got the cold shoulder. What guy wouldn't? I go from being the pale fat kid with glasses, to dating a cheerleader, summoning dragons, casting spells, saving the school time and time again and having girls are interested in me! It's literally a dream come true. What's wrong with enjoying attention from the opposite sex? I'm glad you shied away from kissing methough. Not that I wouldn't have enjoyed it, but Sylvia's head would probably assplode."

He smiles and shakes his head. "I know what you mean about wrestling inner emotions, I am doing it all of the time. The emotions of dragons are so strong, so pure and powerfully undiluted. It fuels their magic. I share a taste of that thanks to the whole 'Chosen BorderLord' thing, and it makes it hard to cool those fires with human intellect and self restraint. Oh, and I have no idea what you mean by 'going all strange on me'. I never do that."

The smile turns into a broad grin.

"Punk."  She sticks out her tongue, and restlessly shifts position again, stretching back out on the sand.  "That's why I was asking about Dylan.  John was... I could do anything with John.  I could use every bit of my powers and I never had to worry about hurting him because of his powers, and I never worried about him hurting me either because I'm pretty sure my powers would protect me enough.  I never had to hold back.  That's what I got from him that Nick and El can't ever give me; then again, they each give me stuff the others can't, so it balances out.  Balanced.  I can't ever be every bit myself with him anymore, because now I'll always be holding something back."

She sighs.  "You ever think that maybe you ought to take it back a few notches with Sylvia?  Loosen things up?  Relax a little?  Try not to be jealous about her dancing with boys like Logan with the understanding that in return, she can't be up in your face about you being kissed by girls like Jessica?"

Donnie shugs. "In some ways, I can't. I'm possessive. I've come a long way though. I know for a fact that Sylvia has lunch with Logan often, and she's been over to his house on a number of occassions. Occassions she's never told me about. She seems to be spending more time with Rob. I don't know why. Again, she hasnn't mentioned the fact that she's doing so. I would think that after the whole Dylan thing she might be a little more open with me, but I think it's made her more secretive. She holds back, but seems to expect complete honesty from me. It's BS, but the plusses outweigh the negatives."

He sighs. "The old me would have confronted her about that stuff, but I'm trying blank trust. It's so hard though. She wasn't up in my face about Jessica, but she sure knows how to make me feel like shit with a few phrases and a cold shoulder."

"Maybe I should have made you knock on her window after all," Sammy muses.  She sits up again, next to Donnie again.  "Probably would have backfired though.  You, um, sort of sound like you think there's more to her and Rob, or her and Logan, than just being friends, and you're jealous.  She's most likely picking up on that whether you say it or not.  If she's feeling penned in, like she's being walled off by you, and she isn't ready for that, and on top of all that she can pick up that you enjoyed being kissed, it'll seem awfully unfair... "  She stands up abruptly and walks to the other side of the fire, tense.  "We should go back now.  You're still new at this flying thing; I'd feel bad about you flying alone, but I'm not sure we should fly together -- call Uther, or Althea."

Donnie seems taken aback by Sammy's abrupt change. "I don't. That's the thing. I know Rob wouldn't move in on Sylvia or anything. We've been friends for far too long. Sylvia isn't cheating on me, which is probably why she got all angry at me for letting Jessica kiss me."

Donnie looks like he's about to say something but bites it back.

"I don't trust Logan. Why a junior who is the coolestdude around and on the minds of half the girls in school seeks out and hangs with a freshman girl is a little confusing to me. He seems to calm Sylvia though. Something I have no talent for. I will set aside my insecurities and jealousies as much as I can for that."

Donnie stands, facing Sammy from across the fire. "Why, Sam? I thought we were being open with each other and I was just erlaxing again when you suddenly tensed up. I won't call Uther because he thinks you and I should be together. If you want to head out, I will call Althea, but she will regret not flying with you."

Sammy gazes back at him through the flames.  "I don't want to give her an excuse to break up with you," she says sadly.  "If she's innocent and feeling put upon, or even just insecure, it won't necessarily take much of an excuse.  And for god's sake don't ask her what in the world a guy like him sees in a girl like her!  Why does El stick with me?  He has plenty of other options, but I caught his interest and god help him, I kept it.  So if Logan isn't just taking a friendly interest, and she breaks up with you over something stupid and avoidable, that opens her up to--"  her shoulders sag, "all kinds of possibilities. You'll be miserable.  I told you, I don't want that weight on me.  Yeah, I'm a little -- ok, a lot-- afraid of what she could do to me, but I'm more afraid of what would happen to you.  It might be unavoidable"  she flinches a little when she says that, "but if I'm not the source of your misery, I might be able to help you then.  If she blames me, and you start thinking about how I said I thought about kissing you"  she turns slightly and the wind muffles her words "and maybe jumped around a whole fire to keep from thinking about it some more." She turns back out of the wind, "You might blame me too, and then I might even start blaming myself.  I can't allow that."

Donnie turns and looks into the night. The glow from the fire seems to meld oddly with his aura, nearly looking like his aura flickered and sputtered like the flames behind him.

"I understand. I'd better get home then. Thanks for the flight and the talk. Let's not be strangers okay?"  He turns back to Sammy and smiles sadly. "I guess we'd better stay in groups rather than sneaking off to our island for late night talks. People might start wondering."

He draws a glittering rune in the air and pulls it back into his chest. "We can talk on the phone, Sammy. That way we can still stay open but not risk anything happening that could cause us heartache later. Call me, okay?"  Donnie rises slowly up and Pip launches into the air after giving Sammy a face-lick.

Dragon and dragon-boy float and flutter away into the night

Sammy throws some more driftwood on the fire, and gives Donnie a good long head start.  She lays on her back and stares up at the night sky, tracing patterns of dragons and genies and odd tattoos in the stars.

After a while, she cruises back home.  She stops by El's window, long enough to give him a good night kiss (she did promise she'd come back when she wrote on the window) and then goes back home.


OOC:  this is done now unless you have something else

nope! Good end to it!