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Sylvia and Donnie made plans to get together before Seth's show to talk.

Donnie is sitting out front of the coffee shop, blowing on his own high-priced brew with a steamer or whatever Sylvia would like in the other hand. His hair is combed, and he is wearing his nice overcoat, the trenchcoat that the school frowns upon seeing on highschool students these days.

Sylvia shows up a few minutes late.  Her outfit is an expression of probability.  She figures, 45-percent chance of going to Seth's show with Donnie, so she's wearing a pretty dress Mitzi made her.  45-percent chance of walking home all alone, forever more, so she's wearing knee-length boots and a heavy coat to keep the chill off.  10-percent chance of some serious make-up smooching, so she's wearing deodorant.

She takes her steamer and kisses his cheek in one smooth motion, sneaking a hand up to straighten the edge of his collar so he looks more Bogey than Columbine.  "Hi," she breathes when she's close to his cheek.  Steam puffs the word out.  "Sorry I'm late."

Donnie has a small smile on his face. "I'd wait all night for you here. Of course, had you been really late, I would have suspected our archnemesis had once again come out of hiding and you were off fighting him alongside of Kel or something and had accidentally forgotten to call me and let me know." The smile grows wider. "What did you want to talk about? Every time I try to talk too deeply with you, somehow we seem to get distracted. Public place good. Cold weather good. Hot coffee better."

ooc: timeline-wise, is this after the demon-battle?

She looks cheerfully sheepish when he mentions their habit of distraction, and for a moment she looks up at his face and wants to come up with a reason, any reason, to forestall mentioning the whole Fenwick prom thing.  It seems so unimportant.  This is Donnie, after all--as he is when they're alone together.  Funny and sweet and smart.  There's no hint of that new darkness in him that comes around from time to time when they're at school.  "No archnemeses on the horizon, only a long story--"  She takes a breath.  "--that you might not like."

[As far as I know, it's after the demon battle.]

OOC: The demon battle was Monday?  This is Tuesday

"I have a something to talk to you about too, but you first." He keeps his face neutral, but not blank.

Sylvia's eyes wince up a little bit.  She should have waited, made him spill first.  Maybe he wants to break up.  Maybe he's fallen madly in love with one of those girls at the store he frequents, one of those girls with the dyed black hair and black Vampire tee-shirts, with the Clan Lasombra pins gleaming on their denim jackets.  She can see them leaning over the intimacy of a card table, haggling over the worth of a Yu-Gi-Oh! rare.  She hopes they'll be very happy together.

That's about two seconds worth of self-pitying fantasy, and then she speaks.  "A couple of weeks ago I met this guy."

Donnie goes still, then carefully puts down his cup of coffee. Now his face was utterly blank. "Go on."

"I was out walking.  Patrolling, really."  She makes a face.  "Well, kinda patrolling.  Really just walking, trying to see if I was tough enough for a tough neighborhood.  I got in some trouble, and that was when this guy came out of nowhere to save me.

"I thought I'd made him up, you know?  He looked so much like you--and like Kel," she admits with some embarrassment.  "And I thought it was just too weird to be real.  So I figured it was all in my head, especially when he kept showing up."

"I don't understand. He looked like me and Kel? You thought he was one of your illusions?"

Sylvia nods and then begins to spill the whole story.  How she met Dylan, how they met again in Oak Park, how he asked her to go to the Fenwick alumni benefit, how she accepted.  "I thought it was harmless.  I thought it was like a training exercise."  Then, because she's gone this far, she refuses to give Donnie less than the absolute truth.  "Well, he was cute, too.  That helped.  But I thought he was a total hallucination."

Donnie looks dumbfounded, gut punched and grows paler as her story unfolds. He pants a little, as if he had been running. After she tells him this Dylan guy was cute, he finally found his breath to speak.

"That helped? That helped you cheat on me? You-you've been lying to me all this time. Friday night with your sister was a *&^$ing lie? The constant 'distractions' were to keep me from finding out, weren't they? All this goddamn time, all those nights you didn't return my calls, you've been with someone else.. Was I right to be suspicious of you and Kel? You 'seeing' him too? Sneaking around with the cute guy with all the #&*%ing muscles?"  his voice gets louder and louder, and people are starting to glance their way.

Before she can even form a response. Donnie stands up, throwing his coffee to the ground and his hands in the air.  "I never said we'd be exclusive, but you &*%$ING LIED TO ME! Sneaking around for MONTHS! RAAAGHHH!!!!" the last is impossibly loud, almost a bugle-like roar that rattles the windows of the coffee shop behind them.

It pauses Donnie in his tirade, and he stands there, panting, eyes raw with pain and emotion. The iris swirls, emerald green and cornflower blue. Tears snake down his face.

Sylvia's jaw tightens.  Her fists clench.  She tells him what happened, and he starts to bring Kel into it, starts to impugn the time she and Donnie have spent together.  She would so like to krav his ass right now.


Here it is again, the scary part of him.  She feels her pulse rising and a thread of something like fear, but if she's learned anything from Carolyn, she's learned to hold her ground--rock solid and stone cold.  "I lied to you about being with my sister last Friday.  Nothing else.  I thought he wasn't real.  And it's not like we kissed.  We just went to a stupid dance together."  She is so angry.  So very angry.  But she's trying to hold it in, trying not to let it leak.  She can almost see it boiling around her, ready to smash into someone like a wave.

[Someone wanted me to roll a Will save (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=883608).]

Donnie slumps at Sylvia's words. She's right. If they haven't done anything, then there is no reason to get all worked up about it. Why am I so jealous of Kel? It's got to be the cocky attitude and the muscles.  

Donnie looks up to her to start apologizing, when he rocks backwards as if something struck him, some sort of wave of feeling, a tsunami of emotion. That emotion is fury. It boils around Donnie and he is suffused with it.

Pigeons explode from the trellis alcove above the coffee shop, and there is a crack of thunder that rocks the square. Glass shatters, and car alarms start screaming. A bugled roar echoes in the square and all who hear it automatically think of the Tyrannosaurus Rex from that Jurrasic Park movie. It is quickly followed by the snap of wings and the sound of something heavy striking the ground.
 
A dragon has landed next to Donnie, colored a brilliant pale blue, like the sky on a clear summers day. Exactly the shade of Donnie's eyes. It's blunt head, frilled with nearly transparent membranes and white bone, hangs low between Sylvia and Donnie, and the dragon's long frilled tail curls around him protectively. It growls, looking for a threat. In Donnie's hand is the sword, point down into the sidewalk. Runes glow along its length and a mist seems to seep from around the handle and up Donnie's arm.

At Sylvia's shocked expression and with a cold and furious glare, he spits out these words, his eyes bled entirely into an eerie and glowing green. "You were mine Sylvia. You gave yourself to me in so many ways, but you hid behind walls of your own making. The walls of your self delusions and lies. You have been stolen from me, and no-one steals from the Dragon. No One."

The wings lift and snap downward, buffetting trees and knocking over trash cans. At the base of the dragon's neck, Donnie sits proudly, back ramrod straight as the powdery-blue dragon lifts into the air, carrying it's master and leaving behind stunned and upturned faces.

The square is filled with the sound of car alarms and the flapping of frightened pigeons.

Sylvia stares.  A minute goes by.  Another.  And then the word that rips out of her might be another thing she's learned from Carolyn.  In fact, the subsequent syllables that fly from her lips would make Carolyn, and the US Navy, right proud.

But there are tears in her eyes as she runs away.

One second John is at the table, and the next second he's not.  It's a subtle transition, no one really noticed at first, except Megan who can perceive things at a faster rate then everyone else.  He's outside, having made his way to the door through the crowd with a speed and agility that are scary to behold.  He stands there, looking in the direction of Sylvia and Donnie with his head cocked like a dog listening to a strange sound.  Then he comes back inside and walks back to the table.  "She's pretty upset, I'm not sure she should be alone."  he says to Megan, then he puts a hand on Sammy's shoulder, saying into her ear, "Hate to do this, but Donnie just took off on a flying dragon and he seemed pissed.  Can you go check on him, see if he's okay?  He and Sylvia just had a fight."

Megan just tries to keep focusing on Seth’s singing as John is suddenly gone.  Once he is back and whispering to her, she nods and gets up, slipping out of the crowd quickly and once she is sure she is out of site, she if moving full speed, being faster than John, she is outside and off down the road as a faint blur of motion.

At high speed, she checks all the nearby streets around the stunned crowd outside the coffee shop, running up the walls and along the roofs of a building before she finally spots Sylvia.  In a flash, she is in front of the running girl.  “Sylvia, wait!”  She says, a very concerned look on her face.

(ooc, if SO wants Megan to make a search roll, I'll edit and make the roll, though with such a small area at the moment, she might be able to take 20 on it  :))

Sylvia, angry and distraught, is trying to coil herself up again, trying to wind all those ragged emotions into bolts and pull herself together.  When she hears Megan calling her name, she wants, at first, to ignore it and keep going, but her sense of responsibilty nags at her.  What if there's something wrong at the concert?  What if Colin's getting beaten up again?  She wipes the tears from her eyes and stops where she is, trying to look like nothing's wrong.  "Need something?"

"Cr@p!"   Sammy stands up quickly and grabs her coat.  She leans over and says to Elrod, "I'm sorry about this." Flash of deja vu, back to the party at the beginning of the school year.  Funny how some things don't change.  "I have to go, right now, can't wait.  I'll explain everything later, or... John, you explain.  Give me a call later, okay?"  She kisses him on the lips before he has a chance to say anything, then she's off, a woman on a mission.  Once she gets outside, she ducks along the side of the building to get out of sight of the crowd, then takes to the air.

Sammy scans the night sky, looking for shadows against the clouds or moon or stars.  Donnie?  Pip?  Where are you guys...

She calls out "Don-nnnnnnnie!  Piiiiiiiiiiip!"

Megan looked at Sylvia as she wiped tears from her face, tying to act as if everything was okay.  “Just to be sure you are okay.”  The blonde teen said.  “John heard the end of the argument and I thought you might want to talk.  I take it that things went as badly as you were afraid they might.”  She said sympathetically. 

Sylvia clenches her jaw so hard the bridge of her nose goes white.  "Someone should find him.  He's lost his mind."  At first she says it in jest, and then she begins to wonder.  The Dragon?  The hell?

“Sammy went after him.  Hopefully she can find him.”  Megan replied, though she was a bit concerned how Sylvia said he had “lost his mind.”  “But what about you?  Are you okay?  Do you want to talk?” 

Sylvia still feels this emotional turbulence around her, that kind of hot-skinned rage that seems to seethe and breathe like a living beast when there's no place for it to go.  She's holding onto it for all she's worth.  "Maybe later.  I have to go . . . I have to go and be alone."  She's afraid that, if her control slips, she'll hit Megan with it or, perhaps worse, the surrounding neighborhood.  She's got her own dragon to ride, and it ain't Puff.

Megan looks at Sylvia a moment, the concern evident on her face.  Finally, she replies, “okay, if your sure you want to be alone right now.  But when you want to talk, call me, we can talk over the phone, or I can be there quickly.”  She gave a faint smile, but was sure it would likely not help all that much.

Sylvia nods and stalks off, head tucked down under the weight of her personal demons.

Sammy zips in an ever widening circle, concern for Donnie growing. Finally, she sees a strange form on the roof of a brightly lit building: the museum of Contemporary Art. Zipping throgh the cold night air, she sees a pale blue dragon curled atop a curved roof. The wings open for balance, then wrap back around.

A new friend?  I haven't seen this one before.

Sammy has no idea how the dragon will behave, but she can't just leave.  She slowly floats down in full view of the creature, and calls out softly to it as she drifts closer and closer.  "Hello?  My name is Sammy.  I'm looking for Donnie.  A friend told me he might be hurt, and I need to see if he's okay.  Do you know where he is?  Please?  Do you know the dragon Pip?  Pip knows me.  He'll tell you I'm not a threat.  I've protected Donnie before, you can ask him.  Please?  Will you take me to him?  He went flying without me.  It gets so lonely flying around without a friend, and here he finally gets wings and poof! he leaves me behind.  Its really not fair, not one bit, especially when his flight partner is so gorgeous.  You remind me of a star sapphire, or a perfect piece of blue turquoise..."  She keeps up the soft coaxing talk until she is within arms reach of the great blue lizard, knowing full well that one snap of its jaws would mean instant doom for her.  "Please?"

A surprisingly high voice speaks from the blunt head, it's neck frills fluttering in concern. "Master weeps. Master not hurt, but he broken inside. I can't fight inside. You help?"  The mottled white and blue wings open, and curled inside the protection of slender front legs is Donnie, huddled in a ball and shaking.

Sammy nods.  "I'll try."  Pretend its just a big horse... with wings... and sharp teeth... She drops to the ground and runs a reassuring hand along the dragon's neck.  She crawls in next to Donnie, and pulls a pocket pack of Kleenex out of her coat.  She puts a tissue in his hand, sets the rest in front of him, and puts her free hand on his shoulder.  "Donnie?  Donnie, what happened, talk to me. Do I need to kick Sylvia's @ss for you?  Girl fight, no rules, tomorrow after school, you get a front row seat with popcorn and a six-pack?"  Despite her gallows humor, she's filled with compassion at the sight of the sobbing boy; boys just don't cry like that unless something is broken or dead.  "Aw, hell."  She wraps her arms around him and pulls him close.  "Just go ahead and cry."

Donnie turns his face towards Samantha. "Sammy? Oh god. I don't know what happened." He scrubs at his face and blows his nose. The dragon trills like the call of a bird, crest flaccid and tight against the pale head. "Sammy, this is Althea. Althea, this is my friend Samantha."  Althea rubs her jaw alongside Sammy's cheek, rumbling deep inside. "Sammy Samantha flies like me!"  peeps the dragon, eyes a swirling milky blue. Her scales were soft, and the dragon was surprisingly warm.
"I lost my temper, Sammy. I said some things I shouldn't have, but when I started to apologize, she hit me with something. I'm sure of it. I was going to say 'I'm sorry', but I didn't get it out. She was glaring at me, her jaws clenched, and I felt a wave of anger, fury, roll off her. I think she has more mental powers than we know about. She just slammed me with her anger, and I lost it."  Tears course down his face again.
"I withered inside of that rage, I was trapped. Part of me stepped up, the part that connects me to the dragons." He places his hand against Althea's head, and the dragon preened, ruff flaring up in happiness.

"That part of me is cold, Sam. Angry, righteous, and cold. I think I lost her completely. When I left, the only thing I could think of was hunting down this Dylan guy she's been seeing on the side and challenging him, as if Sylvia were some sort of prize to be won. Then, as the air whipped around me the anger faded, like water draining away from the tub. It was so odd. Then I realized how frickin cold I was."  Donnie shivers, and Althea pulls Sammy closer to Donnie with her wings. The tent of her wings and the breath of the winged dragon made the alcove of her wings almost warm.

"Sammy Samantha make things better, yes?"  Althea seems to be easy to please. Donnie smiles and sniffs before wiping his nose.

Sammy hands Donnie another tissue.  "Let me get this straight... Sylvia's been dating somebody else on the sly, and told you about it?  But you were okay with that, until you got hit with this anger.  Are you absolutely sure it came from her, or at least started with her?  That its not the dragon part of you that started it, and she just bounced it back at you?"  She pushes some hair off his forehead, and half smiles.  "I just want to know before I go kicking her butt, just in case she's not the only one who needs a butt kicking, you know?  You might have gone dragon lord on her which isn't exactly cool, but she dumped her guilt on you to make herself feel better, which caused you pain.  The dragon part of you might have just been trying to protect you.  If she felt bad about something, she should have made it up to you in some way, not just go and make you feel bad too.  That's not fair."

She snuggles into the Althea wing alcove, and reaches up to stroke the dragon's jaw.  "Megan went after Sylvia.  I don't know if it was cheerleader sisterhood, or just that she was the only girl left after I took off after you.  I'm sure Megan has things under control on her end, and that Sylvia is with friends.  Do you want me to call them to tell them about the anger,  so somebody can check her out, get her help if she needs it?"

"No I was totally not okay with it. I did lose my temper and yelled about it. She lied to me. Lied to my face about last Friday. She went to some dance at Fenwick with this guy but then she said she hadn't even kissed him."  Yet, Donnie thinks. "She said she thought he was some conjuration of hers, some illusion becaue he looked like a mix between Kel and me. It did not make much sense. But the mention of Kel just set me off. Hel's done nothing personally to me, but he intimidates me because he just oozes self confidence, like showing off his athleticism and muscles. Just pisses me off. A guy thing I guess. Well, let's say you had an acquantience that constantly accentuated the oversized breasts of hers. Not talking about it, but just constantly sticking them out, reminding everyone that she has big breasts. Wouldn't it just grate on you?"  Donnie realizes he's in perilous waters talking to a girl about breasts, especially one with her arm around his shoulders, and flushes. "Off subject. Anyway, Sylvia is secretive. She hides things from me, won't open up. There have been many nights that she won't answer her phone, then I hear through the grapevine she is out 'patrolling' with Kel or something. How do think that makes me feel? Then I find out she has seen this other guy, this 'cute' guy, (her words), who has been in her bedroom late at night because he can fly or some shit? I am not allowed in her bedroom with the door closed, and he's in there in the middle of the night?"


"I think the dragonlord side of me came through when I couldn't handle the anger. I don't know how much you know, but I have a dragon counterpart on the other side of the rift, in the Dragon Realm. He is their equivalent BorderLord. I think we share a bit of each others' soul. When I am stressed or angry, part of him bleeds into me. Sylvia said something was wierd with my eyes the other night after the football game thing. Maybe tonight was the full blown affect. About her new powers, she needs to know, but I can't be the one to tell her. Right now I can't think of her without getting mad, and if I get mad near her, it might just multiply again."
Donnie's eyes grow wide. "Oh god. What if she can affect other emotions besides anger? What if all this besotted puppy love we've been sharing is simply her manipulations? Has all this been a farce?"  Donnie rubs his forehead with both hands, looking shellshocked. Althea begins humming, as one would to a fitful child, trying to calm him.

Althea's not the only one trying to soothe him.  Sammy's hand ruffles the hair on the back of his head.  "Shhh, shh, its okay.  It'll be okay.  Listen... if she is doing things with emotions, I don't think its on purpose.  Like you said earlier, maybe her powers are way stronger than anyone, even her, ever suspected.  So I bet what you felt was real, just... amplified.  Extreme.  Like being 14 and twitterpated isn't extreme enough.  I don't think she manipulated you, not on purpose, not about that.  I'll bet she even felt something, feels something for you, and she might be caught up in the amplification too.  I... I wondered about it the other day after the football game.  Wondered if it wasn't the cheerleaders that everybody was looking at, but just her, and she didn't even know it.  But I think there had to be something real to build on in the first place, or it wouldn't have worked.  So what you felt was real, okay?  It was yours to feel, yours to give.  Its still yours.  That's how come you hurt so much now.  Fake feelings wouldn't do that to you.  They'd just fade."

She pulls her arm down from around his shoulder, and sandwiches his cold hands between hers.  "As far as the other business... if any of it is a deal breaker, that's all you need to know.  All you need to do is move on.  If its all something you can get over, then we'll figure something out.  I was out with her and Kel, and nothing happened between them except for maybe a shared thrill of the hunt.  She was out for the adrenaline rush, and Kel was her dealer.  The lying, the secretiveness, the non-exclusive dating... that you'll have to reconcile, or not, for yourself.  I don't know why she does that; maybe its self-defense?  I mean, she's adopted, right?  And she has two mommies?  She must have had to duck under a lot of radar, pretend a lot growing up, just to try to pass for normal.  I don't know.  It's not my place to make excuses for her, or to make you feel like you shouldn't be angry.  I'm just saying there might be more to the story, and if there's any part of you that wants to forgive her, or to ask her to forgive you, then you need to be able and willing to hear her side without letting the dragon soul get out of control.  Even if you don't want to deal with her, you'll stll need to learn to control it so it doesn't control you."

She reaches inside her coat and pulls out her cell.  "I'm going to call Megan and let her know what's up.  She might be with Sylvia, and who knows what's going on at that end, so try to stay calm, okay?"  She holds the phone with one hand and grabs one of his hands with her other.  "It's cool.  You're not alone."


Megan's phone rings.  Caller ID tells her its Sammy.

Megan pulled out her phone quickly when she felt it vibrate, seeing it was Sammy on the ID.  Sitting up from John’s shoulder, she was getting up as she said.  “It’s Sammy.”  She then made her way back towards the door quickly and was outside in time to answer.  “Hey Sammy, did you find Donnie?  Is he okay?”

"Yes, I'm with him now.  He'll be okay.  He just needs some more time to cool off."  She gives Donnie's hand a reassuring squeeze.  "Listen, he said something about Sylvia... he thinks maybe her psychic powers might be stronger than she can control.  He said that when they were arguing, it was like she hit him with something, like a wave of anger, and that's when he really lost control of his own anger.  She... she might need help, Megan, and I don't know where to find it.  Maybe Jack knows somebody?  You will have to get her to go with you; I'm going to stay with Donnie, and its not a good idea for him to be near her right now.  Can you do that?  I mean, is she okay enough now that you can talk to her and know she'll hear you?"

At first Megan was glad to hear that Donnie was okay, but before she can say anything, Sammy mentions that Donnie had told her that Sylvia might have some other powers they did not know about, and that they had effected him in some way.  She feels a slight chill run down her spin as she realizes Sylvia is out there somewhere, and probably still upset. 

She looks off in the direction of where she had found Sylvia, and tried to recall the direction she headed off in.  Stepping down an alleyway, she was then off at full speed, though she knew that now it was probably pointless, Sylvia could be anywhere.  “Sylvia did not want to talk when I found her, she said she ‘needed to be alone’.  She seemed upset, but not so terribly so that she couldn’t get herself home.  Based on what Donnie told you, I think she knows what she might be doing at some level.  Don’t tell Donnie!  He doesn’t need this right now.  I will try to call her and look for her.”

"Uh, yeah, I understand.  I can do that.  Let me know how things go.  Later..."

Sammy looks brightly at Donnie and says "It'll be handled.  So... you want to stay sitting on this cold rooftop all night, or do you want to let Althea fly around and warm up some?  I have a target practice island out in the middle of the lake; boaters use it for picnics, but there's not a whole lot there.  We could light a bonfire and yell at the sky.  Or we could go inside somewhere, go to the movies or go back to my house or your house to watch tv, something that won't require you to think very much.  If you're feeling really brave, we can go hear the rest of Seth's show; she's not there.  What do you say?"

After Sammy hung up, Megan had already passed where she had seen Sylvia last and was off in the direction she had been going, but there was no sign of her.  Holding her phone up in front of her again, she dialed Sylvia’s number and put it to her ear.

"The island sounds good. Pip hasn't been out to play today, and Uther probably would like to visit as well. We can do that on the island."  Donnie pulls out gloves from his jacket and pulls the hoood tight to his face, carefully climbing up onthe Althea's back. She was nearly vibrating with glee, making bird-like trills of excitement and gently butting her head into Sammy's chest.
"Okay, I think I'm ready. Lead the way."
"SammySamantha fly yes yes?"
When Sammy smiled and floated up, Althea dove off the side of the building, wings snapping outward. Donnie gives a surprised yelp and holds tightly to a couple long protrusions from Althea's shoulders. With a powerful beat of her wings, she lifts into the sky, calling "SammySamanthaSammy fly!"

"Hold on Donnie!"  Excited to finally have a flight friend who could keep up with her, Sammy took off, occasionally indulging herself in air maneuvers usually restricted to pilots of small planes.  She rolled and dove and spiralled, playing tag and racing with Althea as she led the way out over the lake to the small island.  She trusted that the blue dragon would keep Donnie from falling, and that the dragon part of Donnie would keep him from getting airsick.

The island itself is nothing much to talk about.  Scattered scrub pines grow defiantly in the mostly sandy soil, and wild birds nest there.  There is a wider beach area which is popular with recreational boaters in warmer weather, as is evidenced by the litter they left behind, and lots of drift wood to burn.  Sammy's practice area is on the north side.

Sammy hits the ground laughing, and starts pullling together some driftwood for a fire.  "The water is shallow around here, maybe 10 feet deep," she says, "So your friends might be able to catch some fish if they're in the mood."

Donnie had held back Althea from trying to match Sammy's maneuvers, but the irrepressable dragon was still ecstatic to be flying. After they landed, Donnie called forth Pip, who was meeping with excitement as he zipped around Althea's head, and the two trilled and spoke to each other in what sounded like birdsong. Pip landed on Sammy's shoulder, taking a mouthful of her hair and tugging playfully before leaping to the sky again. Donnie then called forth Uther, who spoke with grave courtesy to Samantha as Donnie introduced them. "It is a pleasure, mistress Samantha. Master Donald has spoken highly of you."

There was a splash, and Althea was wriggling into deeper water, mouth diving with precise bird-like movements as she tried to capture the panicked fish.

Sammy gets a decent sized fire going in the fire pit, wishes vainly for some hot dogs and marshmallows, and leans back against a log.  She's glad the dragons seem to be enjoying themselves.  She looks over at Donnie, who seems to be mostly under control even though his face still bears some of the marks of his earlier distress.  "So... is this the first time you've had these three out at the same time?  How does it feel?  Can you sense any of that 'otherness' you feel when you're under stress?"

Donnie is resting in the Curve of Uther, the mottled brown, bronze and green scales flickering in reflected firelight. Uther's head was up as the scanned around. Althea could be heard splashing in the water at a distance, and Pip flew back every few minutes to check on everyone and drip water on Donnie and Sammy.
"No, I feel exhausted, drained. No feeling of lizard-like coldness. This is the first time Althea has come. My dragons seem to pop into existance when I need them the most. I wonder how many more of them that existed only in my fantasies and stories are true dragons, waiting for their opportunity to come here."  
He sighs, poking at the fire with a stick.
" I'm sorry to drag you away from Seth's club concert."  

Sammy shrugs and grimaces.  "S'all right.  This is more important.  I don't know how I'm going to explain that to Elrod though, since I invited him to meet me there.  I'll deal with that later.  Pip... oh no you don't... do NOT..."  She shrieks as Pip drops a cold wet fish on the back of her head for fun. Cold water runs down into her collar.  "Aaaah!"  She threatens Pip with a snack of pop rocks and Coke, and unzips her coat to let in heat from the fire.  Smiling, sort of, she says "Think he likes me?  Little brat!"  She leans towards the fire and continues. "I'm almost afraid to ask this, since you're exhausted, but maybe that's the best time since we're out here in the middle of nothing but water, with nobody to hurt... have you ever tried to reach the Dragon part of you on purpose, just to practice holding on to it?  Its bad enough that Syl seems to have dumped her anger.  God knows how many couples might have broken into jealous fights around you if what you suspect about her power is true.  The thing is, you lost control pretty bad back there: broken glass, car alarms going off, and a dragon materializing out of nowhere weren't exactly part of the plan for tonight, were they?  Maybe these guys can help you so that you have a better chance of being the Master instead of the mastered?"

Donnie nods. "Normally I would, but I'm still mentally wiped by all this. I feel a lump in my throat making it hard to swallow and my eyes feel raw. Maybe we can try it another night."  He leans his head back against Uther's side as the dragon hums a rumbled tune. The clearing vibrates as Uther sings a song that one would expect mountains to moan to each other; of continents rubbing together and stone sliding down gravely slopes . Donnie closes his eyes as the dragon sings, and Pip and Althea listen respectfully from the waters edge, their jewel-like eyes swirling in color and reflected firelight.

The song ends abruptly, and Sammy blinks, realizing how hypnotic the song was. Donnie seems less pale and more relaxed. He stands up and says "Cover your ears." There is a crack of thunder and a flash, and there is a sword in Donnie's hand, glowing with runes. He holds it high and eyes it critically. "My 'changes' began to escalate after this was delivered to me. Colin said he saw a protective aura around me with ephemeral wings when I wield the Sword of the BorderLord. This is my destiny, Sammy, and it scares me sometimes; the responsibility I hold that grows greater every day. I am the Guardian, He who Stands at the Rift. I protect the entrance to the Dragon Reaches, the world beyond ours where the dragons removed themselves to long before much of the written history was begun. People know of it, and attempts were made in World War Two to pierce the rift and bring dragons back, as weapons of war for the Fuher. People stopped them, and a Guardian was appointed and given this sword as a badge of office. Now it is mine. I can't &%$* this up, because these magnificent beings need me." He lays his free hand on Uther's flank and Pip flutters to his shoulder. Althea cranes her long neck over and rests it on Uther's back.

"Supposedly someone is to come and teach me what I need to know, but right now I am flailing in the dark. I don't even know where this rift is or how to get to the Reaches. With the constant threat of the witch coven threatening my friends to the constant maddening wierdness at school, plus my magical self-study, not to mention a girlfriend who is a cheerleader and one of the hottest freshmen in the school, next to you of course " Donnie winks and smiles, finally flickering back to the old Donnie. "I am overwhelmed sometimes. I snapped, and Sylvia's anger made it worse. I need to be in control of myself, and she takes that away from me. I don't know if I can do that anymore. I can't go apeshit and threaten the anonominity of the dragons like I did tonight."

Uther says in his rumbling voice "We are here to help you and protect you, Master Donald. We volunteered. It is our duty and our joy. We have watched you from afar since you were an infant in your mother's arms, and see you as brother and son."

Tears well up in Donnie's eyes and the sword dissappears in a sparkle of light. "I don't know if I'm worthy."

Sammy gapes at him in awe.  This is the first time she's been treated to the whole show.  Then he says something and *poof* magic's gone.

"You had me till you called me hot.  Don't tease, Donnie.  It isn't nice."

She stands up and walks over towards him, then walks around him like she's looking for dents or scratches or wrinkles.  "I was sick for a week a year ago, and I learned a lot from Dr. Phil and Oprah.  You say you don't know if you're worthy?  You have a goal then; make yourself worthy.  There must be something in you that is enough, or has the potential to be enough, or else these dragons wouldn't bother with you.  Your job is to find it.  Ask for help if you need it."

She walks away, then turns back towards him to face him, and gets blunt.  "If its all too much to deal with at once, then maybe you need to cut back some.  It probably wouldn't hurt to ease up on the relationship thing with Sylvia, if you intend to try to stay with her at all.  Give both of you some space to learn and grow.  I know that's not the most fun choice, but it might save what you have between you.  If she dates other guys, you date other girls if you want to.  Or take the time off for your own purposes.  Easy, right?"

"Don't knock yourself Samantha. I've been doing it for years and it never did me any good. You are attractive."  Blushing furiously, he is once again a fouteen year old boy." Look, I happen to know that one of the most eligble and well connected bachelors of the Senior class happens to be courting a freshman girl in the band. Why would he be doing that if there wasn't a reason? Beauty is skin deep. Attractiveness goes way beyond that. All I'm saying."
Donnie leans back on Uther's side. "I know I have potential, it just feels suddenly like that the road of my life went from a side street to a eight-lane highway. You're right. If I was not worthy they wouldn't be here."

"Yeah I think I need some time away from her to make sure the whole emotional thing is there. I don't want to have my emotions played with and pushed like that. Things were so intense sometimes, and now I know it was her own intensity feeding off of mine and multiplying my own again. It was awesome, but frightening. I have to let the jealousy thing go, or I will have real problems. Dragons can be real territorial sometimes, and I think it was feeding off of my own worries about dating a really attractive cheerleader, you know?

"Yeah.  I know.  But you're the one who had to say it out loud, not me.  It had to be your idea, not mine.  Self-honesty gives you the power you need to change yourself.  Yay Dr. Phil."  She takes a few steps and gives him a firm hug.  "Things will work out okay.  Just give it all some time.  The offer for front row seats at the girl fight still stands if you discover you need it after all.  All I ask in return is that when the eligible and well connected Elrod Janush breaks my heart, you drop by to help me find the pieces, um-kay?"

"Any time, Sammy, any time."  There is an awkward moment a secoond after the hug, then the two teens break apart, Donnie blushing again as usual. Uther begins another song and Donnie settles in against his bulk, breathing in the musky and dry smell of the Dragons. Uther smelled like freshly-tilled earth when happy and and hot desert sand when enraged, but now he smelled of cracked stone, the smell of contentment.

As Sammy moved to sit back in her log, Althea rolled it away into the mud, eyes whirling sapphire. Pip meeped and flew in circles above Donnie, who  looks as if he were drifitng off to sleep. Althea waddles forward, nudging Sammy to sit next to Donnie and then circles around them all, her spender body and long tail more than twice the length of Uther. The cold is quickly replaced with warmth as Althea settles in, her quiet trill and dragon-song adding to Uther's sonorous rumble.

Pip settles down atop Uther's broad head and stands watch.

What seems like moments later Uther wakes both teenagers. "Master Donald, Mistress Samantha. The night is waning and it may behoove you to retire home to alleviate any worry from your broodparents." Sammy sits up straight, realizing she was slumping against Donnie (as he was to her) and pulls out her phone. Donnie is doing the same. "Holy crap! We are so gonna get in trouble."

The time was about quarter to 3.