Sidestory:
Downtime

When Rayya's sleep-clouded eyes finally found the red-lit clock display next to her bed, her first thoughts were "Shit, it's noon! I've missed my first two classes." Then she bolted upright. Her second thoughts were promptly vocalized, however, at the completion of her sudden movement... She screamed bloody murder. "Oh, damn, oh, damn, oh, damn. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts," she moaned, clutching her sides.

"What the-?" Julius snorted, himself suddenly pulled from his own sweet dreams. Hurriedly yet groggily, he rushed to his charge's side. "Rayya! Honey, are you okay?"

Having adopted a position that placed her face on her knees and her thick hair over everything, her voice came out muffled. "I think so... So long as you don't see my head rolling around on the floor down there?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Oh, right." Rayya sighed. "Then I guess I'm just healing." Gingerly, she raised her head and squinted at the pig sitting on her floor. "Think you could be a doll and get me my extra-strength aspirin?"

Almost an hour later, Rayya decided that she would indeed live. Aspirin, orange juice and ice, and a hot shower made all the difference in the world. So did realizing that today was Saturday and she hadn't missed her Gender Studies exam. With a sigh, she adjusted a new bandage over the angry red burn on her stomach. Wade was a complete sweetheart but he had a few things to learn about trauma first aid. Suddenly, she smiled. Wade. She owed him a proper thank you, one not interrupted by an angry pig. Smothering a faint grimace of pain at the pulling of healing skin, she rolled over and scrabbled on her nightstand for his number.

"What do you think you're doing?" Julius asked, disapproval clear in every syllable.

"I'm calling Wade," she responded simply. "I didn't thank him properly last night." Grabbing it by the card, she pulled the telephone to her, lifted the receiver, and began dialing. "You took it out of my head last night with your crankiness."

"My crankiness?" Julius' voice cracked in disbelief. Sullenly, he turned away, muttering, "Thank him properly indeed. Sure, Rayya. That's what we'll call it now."

Determinedly, Rayya ignored him. He was always rude when she did something contrary to his desires. He was such a demanding creature, jealous of time spent with her other friends or on dates... Suddenly, the other end of the line was picked up. Rayya snatched her attention back to her current task. "Hello," she responded brightly. "Is Wade there?"

The voice on the other end was just at the adolescent stage where it's stopped making those embarrassing cracks and had settled down into a nice bass tone, not unlike Wade's. "Wade?" he said, puzzled. "You want -Wade-? Uh - who is this?"

"Rayya," she replied lightly. "We met last night. Tell him. I'm sure he'll remember."

That was all the ammunition Danny needed. He moved his head away from the phone and bellowed. "Waaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaade!" he shrieked. "There's a -girl- on the phone for you who you met LAST NIGHT! Her name is Rayya!"

There was an answering shriek in the form of his twin Simon who just began laughing hysterically.

A very ruffled Wade came to the phone, after having to dole out generous noogies. "Sorry 'bout that," he puffed. "Evil brothers. Hiya, 'ayya. Feelin' better?"

Rayya giggled. "That was one of the twins, I assume?" Not bothering to pause enough to let him answer, she rushed on in her good-natured manner. "I'm feeling much better, thanks to you, you angel. I just wanted to call and thank you again." She paused minutely and, when she continued, even Wade could hear the warm smile in her voice. "And I was wondering if you wanted to hang out and chat today. I can buy you ice cream or a drink or something as a thank you."

"'Ank you nuthin'," he said firmly. "S'my job, an' my pleasure. I'll be buyin' you a drink t'get back fluids in your body." He blushed. "That is - t'say - yeah, sure, that'd be great, y'know..."

"Excellent!" Rayya's enthusiasm seemed to bubble over the phone lines and she grinned ear to ear on her end. "If you give me your address, I can pick you up if you want. I'd just need a bit of time to freshen up for it."

"I can pick you up if you're not hokay for drivin', but I'm at 129 Janisse Road. S'out near PH. Sure you don't want me to pick y'up?"

"Quite sure. I'm feeling better than I have a right to be." Rayya giggled. "Must've been that great on-the-spot nursing last night. Anyway, yep, I know where that is. Is a half hour, okay?"

Wade nodded fervently, although she couldn't see it. "Yeah, that sounds great to me! Half hour. Sure. Fine. See y'later, 'Ayya." He sounded positively terrified.

"See you in a few then!" With a final cheery goodbye, Rayya hung up the phone and rolled out of bed. Now her only dilemma was what to wear. Pulling off her shirt from the night before, she looked down to study the bandage over her stomach. Well, that rules out tummy tops, she thought wryly.

Rayya pulled her small, beat-up car up to the curb in front of Wade's house and grinned. Nice place, very suburby, she thought. It fits him. Subconsciously, she had already classed him into the white picket fence category of guys. Still grinning, she edged out of her car and sauntered up to the front door, inspecting the neat line of flowers edging the walkway. After pushing the doorbell, she gave herself a final once-over, smoothing her thick hair back in its braid and adjusting the v-neck on her sweater.

Wade opened the door as she walked up the path and blushed pink as soon as he saw her; it seemed to be a habitual thing. He was wearing jeans and a plain green t-shirt, though you could see a burn poking surreptitiously out of one sleeve, a sweater wrapped around his waist. His hair was in its perpetual ponytail, lots of pale blue and slight impression of curl. "Hey, 'ayya," he said weakly. "You look - nice. Feelin' better?"

"Very much, thank you." Rayya beamed up at him, glad she had worn platforms today. They made the overwhelming height differential slightly more bearable. All she needed was to get a crick in her neck in the middle of their bonding session. Suddenly, she frowned and ran a light finger over the faint burn on his arm. "Are -you- alright?"

He nodded feverishly, the blush quickly escalating from 'light pink' to 'dusky rose'. "O'course! I'm jus' peachy, y'know? Like tough ol' boots." He squirmed slightly.

Smiling gently at his obvious discomfort, Rayya withdrew her hand and slid it into the pocket of her painted-on jeans. "If you're sure then," she replied. She shrugged. "So is it off to wherever then?"

"Yeah." He managed to get back his cool and beam at her. "Jus' go where the wind takes us, eh? I'll buy you an ice cream or somethin'."

"No way. I told you already. Today is my treat." Friendly as always, she took his arm and led him towards her car. "How about the park first?"

He nodded. "Park'd be great." Wade's face lit up with a slow smile. "There we can talk, y'know?"

"I can talk," Rayya nodded, giggling. "Julius swears it's my primary talent."

Rayya handed Wade his ice cream cone, pocketed her change, and accepted her own cone from the vendor with a particularly fetching grin. Mmm, chocolate chip cookie dough. Licking away an impending drip quickly, she looked up at Wade. "So how long have you been doing this then?" she asked.

"Since I was sixteen," he responded, delicately biting at his cone and attempting not to look at her lick hers. "Livvy - s'my guardian, Livia - came to me then, jus' before I turned seventeen, so that'd be two years an' a bit. You?"

Thoughtfully, Rayya caught another drip on its bid for freedom. He's only eighteen? Geez, I thought he was older. Then she shook her head and replied, "Well, Julius was my going to college present when I was eighteen." She grinned. "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had picked the parakeet instead. But, no, I thought he was just the cutest little piggy I'd ever seen. Which leads to about three years of snide remarks and sarcastic humor."

The blue-haired boy blanched, swallowing a mouthful of ice cream. She was twenty-one? Oh, -no-! She must think he was such a baby! _Idiot - how old did y'think she was, going to the college? Super Dumbass Strikes Once More!_

Wade nodded, attempting to keep his cool, which never really worked. "Same here - only I gotta put up with ten million accents and frequent bouts of the 'chills'."

Rayya giggled. "She does accents? Oh, cool. I love those things. Much better than Julius. Wanna trade?" Before he could answer, though, she pulled a napkin from her pocket, reached up and over towards Wade, and wiped a drip of ice cream from his chin. Then she continued, "The hypochondria, though, I think I could live without."

He blushed even harder, eyes downcast. "Y-yeah. Thing is, turtles can't even get chills, eh?" There was a sinking feeling in his heart and he knew for sure she felt he was a complete loser. And she was so nice and pretty and a team member, too! "Silly little thing, but I love her, y'know."

Rayya shrugged. "I'll take your word on the turtles and chills things," she replied. "I'm useless at biology." She smiled brightly. She had noticed his discomfort and, puzzled at just what caused it, decided to go for compliments as a sure-fire counter-attack. "It's a good thing one of us knows something about guardian's health concerns. She's lucky to have you."

He beamed. "Aww, I hope so.... Anyway. So, how many Romanus have you known? Fought any Graikos? Or the others, y'know?" Wade looked at her, concerned; he hoped it wasn't many, as it wasn't good for her to fight alone.

Rayya flicked her fingers outwards, counting her meager experience out visually. "Romanus, two. That would be Sailor Fortuna, my silly Gwyn." She directed a charming smile up at him. "And you, of course, my knight in shining armor. As for actual fights... Well, there was a Graikos girl who so very much did -not- want to fight, an Angelus who was cuter than he was vicious, and, uh, you know. That Hyperion guy and his girlfriend, Aphrodite." Her hand reflexively went to her stomach in a protective gesture.

He nodded. "Yeah - Hyperion was the first guy I faced. Ended up facedown in an alleyway. Not nice... but then again, I know who he is in real life, so I guess he's a bit panicky..." Wade sighed. Zach should indeed be panicky. He brightened. "But I also met a lot of others - there's Cupid, I met her in hospital, an' she's real nice, and Aesculapius, who's a bit..." Wade searched his brain for a nice way to say it. "...Disgruntled, I think's the word, but he's cool too. An' you, of course." He beamed at her.

Rayya returned the look with her own 100-watt smile. "And I'm just as pleased to meet you, Wade." Then she sobered. "I don't know if I'd want to know who they are normally, though. I'd be so afraid that it would turn out that one of my best friends is really an enemy." Suddenly, she spun on her heel and looked up at Wade. "Which, might I add, sucks big time. I never had any enemies before this. Honestly. I don't want any! It's not the kind of lifestyle I want." Just as quickly, though, her mood changed again and she yelped a “whoops” as she righted her ice cream cone and made a few, hurried passes at it with her tongue. Noticing Wade's wide-eyed look, she grinned. "It was melting," she explained simply.

Wade nodded weakly and took a bite of his own. "Bad stuff, meltin' ice cream." Attempting to ignore her own again, he nodded at her earlier statement. "It was awful to find out one of the guys on my swim team wanted to kill me, y'know? Jus... not right. I'm totally 'gainst this war... usually." He sighed and swallowed thoughtfully.

Rayya raised a delicate eyebrow. "Usually?" she asked. "Let me guess, you make an exception in Hyperion's case?"

He nodded glumly. "Yeah... I wanted t'be his friend, so badly, I offered an alliance... but... he's just got the wrong idea 'bout everything. It'll only stop if we kill each other."

Rayya stopped dead in her tracks and stared up at Wade with huge eyes, pale under her tan. "Kill?" she gulped. "You've got to be kidding, right? Please tell me we don't have to kill anyone. Please?"

The blue-haired boy laughed wryly. "I'm never gonna kill anyone in my whole entire life," he said steadfastly, "but there are a lot of other people out there who're gonna try to do it to me. Hyperion, for one. Jus' look out for yourself an' run away when you can. This stuff is -dangerous-, y'know."

Suddenly losing her appetite, Rayya tossed her ice cream cone in a garbage can as they passed. "I'm starting to get that idea now," she said softly. "He was the first one who really seemed to want to hurt me." She paused, thinking, then looked up at Wade. "But he didn't seem particularly out to kill me." She reached out and ran a hand lightly over his arm. "It was more you," she murmured. "Promise to be careful?"

He blushed again, azure eyes downcast. "I promise. Cross m'heart and hope to die. But only if you do the same, hokay? I don' want you patrolling any more by yourself."

Rayya grinned wryly. "Even if the pig forces me to?" Sobering at his serious and worried glance, she nodded. "I promise. Especially now that I have both you -and- Gwyn to call on. I don't fancy getting my out-of-shape butt kicked around like that again." She meant it, too. There was no way on earth she was going to risk it again when she had such wonderful teammates to call on. She smiled to herself. Wade's a sweetie, she decided. Suddenly, her gaze shifted around the area and she pointed excitedly. "Hey, swings!"

Wade smiled indulgently. She was just too cute! "Yeah. Y'like the swings? I preferred the seesaw, m'self, but swings're fun."

Rayya laughed. "I think the seesaw is out of the question with you and I, Wade," she responded as she dragged him towards the swings. "In case you haven't noticed, you could lift me one handed. I'd have to get at least two of my best friends to help on my end of the board!"

He laughed and nodded. "True. I'm a big lug. Want me to push you?"

"Of course! I'm lazy, didn't you know?" Giggling, she slid into one of the chain and plastic swings, kicking her small feet. "Just watch the hands!" she cautioned with a wicked twinkle in her eyes.

Not quite getting what she meant, Wade very gently pushed her back, being careful not to push her too hard. "Jus' tell me if you fall off and break your neck," he advised.

Rayya responded simply by giggling and kicking her legs out to gain height. Fall off and break her neck indeed. She'd been doing this since she could walk. It was the closest to flying that a human could get. Leaning back into the swing, her braid swung behind her, barely missing her voluntary push-starter.

Wade chuckled behind her, beaming just to see her; he reminded her of the days when the twins were little and he used to do the same thing. He'd forgotten how much fun it was, just pushing. "Having fun?"

Rayya nodded fervently. Suddenly, she launched herself off of the swing as it reached its apex and landed with hardly a stumble in the loose sand, even with her platform shoes. Practice did after all make perfect. Then she spun and grinned brightly at him. "Swings make the world a better place," she declared honestly. "Just you and the sky at your feet. You forget all about the enemy trying to off you."

He laughed. "I should install one in my backyard, then. Wish I could forget. Life just seems to be one big reminder, y'know? Oh, well. S'all karma and stuff."

"And karma likes to run over dogma," Rayya quipped. At the answering blank look on Wade's face, she shrugged. "I had the best swing back in my old house. A huge tire that my dad hung from this great big old oak tree. Sturdy as anything."

"What a cool dad," he beamed, blue hair trailing in the wind. "I sorta don't remember mine, y'know? An' my mom's not the swing sort. I jus' remember stayin' in the backyard playin' tag. It was fun, though."

"Tag, huh?" Rayya looked him over, head to toe, calculatingly. "Fun game. Very much so." With a smile, she edged over to Wade and looked up to meet his eyes. "Keeps you in shape." Suddenly, she swatted him lightly on the arm and took off running. "Tag, you're it!" she called over her shoulder, barely coherent through the giggles.

He grinned and lumbered after her, his smile in his eyes, going slow so as not to catch up too quickly. "Hey, unfair! You gotta headstart!"

"But you've got longer legs!" she shouted back, skipping carefully and quickly around various park debris. "Completely fair!"

He soon caught up with her, doubling around and touching her on one shoulder lightly, as if he feared that if he touched harder she would break. "Tag. You're it, y'know." Wade chuckled. "Now, here's the bit where if you're my brother, you argue for ten minutes 'bout how you were really 'safe'."

"Well, I'm not your brother so that option's out," Rayya chuckled. "How about good old distraction instead?" She pointed towards a clearing littered with easels and crawling with people. "How about an art show until I can get my breath back and chase you properly?"

He nodded. "Sure thing." Inside, he was deeply relieved; chasing Rayya had distractions. "Hopefully y'can sit down, too. Don' want you gettin' tired, eh?"

"I'll be fine if you stop chasing me," she smiled. Even thought that definitely has its high points, she thought mischievously. Carefully, she placed a hand on his arm and balanced herself on one foot, reaching down to dislodge a branch from her raised shoe. "Thanks," she added. Then she grabbed his hand and led him towards the nearest easel.

Wade was content to be led. He swallowed the last remains of his ice cream cone and obediently walked over to the artists with her, although she seemed much more interesting to look at than a picture. She had the biggest violet eyes he'd ever seen in his life... Swallowing that thought embarrassedly, he moved forward.

Weaving through the artists in a seemingly random manner, Rayya pulled the more than willing boy behind her. Occasionally, she'd stop and stare at a picture for a minute and then comment. Nine times out of ten, the artist would respond warmly to her words and beam at her. Then they'd share the smiles with Wade. After a particularly odd collection of Dali-esque paintings, Rayya sighed. "That was just a bit trippy. I think she was doing acid." Not noticing Wade's reaction to her matter of fact words, she continued dragging him. Suddenly, she came to a stop so fast that he bumped into her. "Hey! I know him!" she squealed, dropping his hand and running over to the tall, dark-haired artist calmly doodling on an over-sized notebook. "Jack!"

Wade surveyed the boy with calm horror. He was good-looking, all dark hair and green eyes, and, most importantly, he was not so tall as to make Rayya look like a Smurf. And he was most likely older, too. He put on his best smile as he walked over, just so it had no chance of growing sickly.

"Jack! I didn't know you presented." Reaching the thin, intent artist, Rayya yanked him to his feet and threw her arms around him in a split second hug.

Jack blinked owlishly and looked down at his attacker. Finally, he placed the face and exuberance. "Oh, hey, Rayya," he drawled. "I didn't know I was gonna either. Guy at work signed me up."

"Glad he did." Rayya studied the closest sketch and then beamed up at Jack. "Your stuff is as good as it was last. Better even." Suddenly, she seemed to remember her manners and spun back towards Wade. "Oh, geez, Wade, I'm sorry," she apologized as she took his hand and pulled him forward. "This is Jack. Jack, this is Wade."

"Hey, Jack," Wade said hesitantly, sticking out his hand. "So, you an artist, huh? Wait, dumb question, eh." He blushed, feeling like a gauche adolescent.

Jack responded with his usual half-smile as he shook Wade's hand. "Well, I like to think I am." He motioned towards the easels. "Could be worse."

"Jack!" Rayya shook her head and stuck out her tongue childishly. "They're great and you know it. You're just fishing for compliments."

Wade nodded wistfully. "They -are- good. Don' be so down on yourself." Great, now the guy was the next Donatello or Raphael or Master Splinter, too. And he was just an oaf. Ugh!

"Hey, thanks." Jack nodded and shrugged at the same time, conveying acceptance and doubt in a unique melding that was pure Jack.

Rayya slid her arm through Wade's and tugged him towards a full-color pastel sketch of a little girl on a swing. "I saw his first sketches on this one," she explained. "When Wilma and I first ambushed him." She grinned.

He blushed crimson, but examined the sketch. Maybe she just didn't know a gauche oaf when she saw one. "Heh... a swing. Looks like you," he teased gently. "Y'know?"

Rayya giggled. "Except about a decade younger and way beyond cuter," she responded lightly. "Kids have that magic in them."

"Oh, I dunno," Wade said lightly. "I think you still have that magic 'bout you." Then he smiled weakly as he mentally hit himself for saying anything like that out loud.

He was rewarded, however, for his comment by a glowing smile from Rayya and her hand tightening affectionately on his arm. "Thank you," she murmured. "That's one of the best compliments I've gotten in a while."

Wade scratched his head, blushing again, but slightly proudly this time. "T'anks," he muttered pinkly. "S'true." He looked embarrassedly at Jack.

Jack felt the other boy's gaze on him and looked up from his sketchpad. "Oh, hey, again," he said softly. "Do you guys really like these doodles?"

"I love them!" Rayya gushed, her smile overtaking her face completely.

"Doodles?" Wade scoffed. "They ain't doodles. This stuff is art, hokay? Doodles are what I do on my music-books. This is the real thing. Jus' believe in yourself."

"If you say so." Quickly, Jack tore the top page out of his notebook and handed it over to Wade. "Here you go then if you like it. You and Rayya. Enjoy."

Wade stared at it a long time before he was able to speak, and because he wore his heart very obviously on his sleeve, Jack was treated to an entire range of Wade expressions before he settled into a bashful blush. "Oh... oh wow," he said softly. "That's just 'mazin'. I'll keep it always, y'know!"

Rayya pressed close to Wade and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, it's great," she added, her face breaking into a huge, warm smile.

"Glad ya like," Jack replied with a nod. "Sorry there's no color. I left my pencils at home."

"I think it's perfect," she reassured him. As if to prove her point, she skipped over to Jack and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Rembrandt."

Wade folded up the piece of paper carefully and smiled to himself. He was beginning to get fully used to Rayya; she was obviously the sort that hugged on a whim. "Yeah. T'anks, Jack.”

"No worries." Jack nodded graciously, sliding his pen behind his ear.

Rayya beamed at him. "We have a festival coming up at the school. Do you do caricatures?" At his affirmative nod, she pulled a small lavender notebook from her back pocket, pulled the pen from behind Jack's ear, and handed the whole lot over to him. "Then scribble down your phone number and I'll get you a job." She cocked her head to one side and grinned. "If you want, that is."

Jack shrugged. "Sure," he responded offhandedly. Quickly, he scrawled his name and number and handed it back. "There ya go."

"Thanks!" Rayya pocketed the notepad again and refocused on Wade. "Are we done here then? What next?" She giggled. "I've been so pushy so far today that it's not fair to you."

He shook his head earnestly. "No, s'all been great. Why don' we just keep on walkin'? Lovely day today an' all that, y'know." Wade blushed. "If you want to, that is."

With a huge grin, Rayya looped her arm through his, standing a bit closer than might be completely comfortable for someone newly met. "I'm up for whatever," she replied. "I'm having fun."

She was treated to that nuclear blush again, but he didn't pull away. "Well, why don' you tell me a little more about yourself?" the blue-haired knight suggested. "'Bout what you take at school and things."

Rayya laughed merrily and shook her head. "You don't really want to know about that stuff," she argued. "I'm boring when I'm not getting the crap kicked out of me."

"Nuh-uh! I bet you're real interesting. Don' put yourself down like that, y'know?"

"Oh, fine then." Rayya shrugged as she gave in to his eager look. "I go to Hollins and I'm majoring in Communications. You know, media and all that fun stuff. Mostly I live on campus but my dad lives in town so I get to visit him lots. I also get to keep
all my SCA stuff there, too." Suddenly, she pulled away and giggled. "Gawd, I sound like a personal ad." She leaned against a nearby tree, striking a pose reminiscent of the better class of ads found in men's magazines. "And I like sunsets and romantic dinners and back rubs," she drawled in a sugary-cute voice.

Wade blushed again, but nodded, slightly teasing. "An' long walks across the beach?"

"You betcha." Rayya eyed him appraisingly, a twinkle hovering in her wide eyes. "Is that an offer?" she added mischievously.

Once more he went bright pink, but gathered up his courage and nodded nonchalantly. "I love the sea. It's my senshi element, y'know? Livvy makes me train on the beach at night sometimes... So yeah, I do enjoy it when I'm not bein' forced to scare the fish." Wade laughed. "We could train there sometimes... I guess... If you wanna."

"I'd love to." Rayya crossed back to him and again looped her arm through his. "Julius is always after me to practice, anyway, and I'd much rather do it with someone who won't push me around and order me about." She smiled brightly. "You just name the night and I'll be there with bells on."

"That'd be - nice." He squeezed her arm gently inside his. "When did you find out you were a senshi and stuff?"

"When I was 18." Rayya sighed, remembering the traumatic day when her new pet pig talked. "Julius was supposed to be a harmless going-to-college present from my dad... How did you take the news?"

"Badly. I thought I was goin' insane. I was only sixteen at the time an' suddenly this fishbowl's talkin' to me... next thing I know I have armor and I'm wearin' spandex." Wade gave a theatrical sigh. "The spandex was the worst part."

Rayya looked up at him, her mouth twitching as she tried not to giggle at the complete dismay in his tone. "You wear spandex?" she asked. "I didn't..." She cut herself off suddenly and grinned. "Oh, that's right. I was unconscious when you were transformed."

"Yeah. I better try an' keep all self-respect by never transforming in front of you again." Wade smiled crookedly at her. "S'awful."

"Not fair!" Rayya argued. "You've seen me and that's beyond embarrassing. It's like the costumer for the Playboy channel designed my get-up!"

He chuckled, deep bass voice reverberating in his throat. "Aww, that's not fair to say. I think you looked cute in it."

Rayya raised an artistically arched eyebrow with a faint smile. "Just how long was I out?" she asked teasingly. "And how long did you take to reach that decision about my appearance?"

Wade pretended to ponder that. "Hmm... Five seconds after seeing you?"

Rayya laughed, beaming up at him. "Beyond sweet, that's what you are," she declared as she gave him a quick, friendly hug. "But I'd still like to know how long I was out."

Wade thought back to bringing the girl home, timing it carefully. "Half an hour," he guessed. "Maybe forty-five minutes. Hyperion hit you badly."

Falling silent, Rayya merely nodded. After a minute of quiet wandering, she made her way to a bench under an ancient oak tree. She shrugged as she sat down. "But at least he didn't..." Her voice caught and she had to shake it off quickly. "He didn't kill me," she finished softly, raising her gaze to Wade's open face.

He fell on one knee in front of her, his dark blue eyes burning. "And he won't, ever," he promised. "Not when I'm here. He won't even get near you. If I haveta... finally... make sure he don't do anything ever again, I will." Wade practically smoldered in his fervent promise; obviously he and Hyperion had big issues.

Hurriedly, Rayya reached down and grabbed one of his large hands in both of her own small ones. "Wade, don't do anything rash, okay?" she pleaded. "Please?" She squeezed his hand tightly and her violet eyes shone with worry. "He didn't hurt me
that much, really, and it's not worth you getting... Hurt." She bit her lip anxiously.

Wade laughed slightly, but he calmed down a little, his big hand almost dwarfing her own two. "Don't worry 'bout me, 'ayya. We've scrapped before - he ain't that powerful. Just ruthless." He sighed. "And it's a pity I know who he is in real life, y'know."

"Which sucks in every possible way," Rayya finished for him. With a sigh, she tugged on his hand, coaxing him up onto the bench next to her. "I'm sorry, Wade, really I am. This whole business... Well, it pretty much equals the shit end of the stick, doesn't it?" Suddenly, she grinned and ducked her head. "Sorry about the language," she apologized. "Guess I'm more frustrated than I thought."

He patted her back soothingly. "Hey, don't worry. Makes me wanna swear too, sometimes. Jus' try not to let it get y'down, hokay? You have me and the other Romanus and stuff. I won't let you or them get hurt."

She smiled up at him fondly. "And we won't let you get hurt. I won't let you get hurt." She leaned back against the tree, trapping his hand on her back inadvertently. "It all has to work out somehow and I'm hoping for the best here, you know?"

"It'll all work out." Wade smiled at her, making no move to free his hand. There was a slight blush on his cheeks; he'd managed to control it. "Promise-promise, y'know."

"Promise-promise," Rayya repeated softly, her eyelids drooping over her violet gaze. "I like the sound of that."

"I do, though." He grinned. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Nope. No dying," she murmured. "I'm not allowing that in my life." With a sigh, her eyes closed and she relaxed backwards, almost completely boneless.
"Which is far too busy as it is at the moment."

"Okay." He nodded steadily. "You ain't goin' out and fightin' for a good long while. You're wounded and I bet you have work and stuff to do. I'll cover for you, y'know."

Rayya opened an eye and smiled at him. "Again with the sweetness, Wade," she chuckled. Then she continued, "It wasn't really the senshi stuff only that I was talking about... Believe it or not, this is my last year in college." Suddenly, she winced
slightly. "Oh, yeah, and I do have that nice bruise-slash-burn on my stomach."

He looked embarrassed for a moment. "I haven't even -started- college, y'know." However, Wade made a quick comeback and nodded. "Which is 'xactly why you
shouldn't fight as much. Can't afford to put your marks'n things in danger with wounds."

Rayya chuckled, closing her eye again. "I don't need help with endangering my grades, that's for sure," she commented lightly. "Not with end of the year parties coming up."

Wade laughed at that. "Yeah, gotta be your best for the parties." He smiled at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling up slightly. "Thanks for bein' with me today."

“Silly.” Rayya’s eyes slid open and she turned her head to beam at him sunnily. "It's my pleasure," she answered. “Anyway, I asked you out, remember? Wouldn’t have done that if I didn't want to spend time with you." She angled her body more so she could view him better, once again noting absent-mindedly that he was quite the cutie. Suddenly, she giggled and added, "But I just thought of something, Wade. Why don't you join me at some of those parties?" Her eyes twinkled as her smile grew from ear to ear. "There's a party for a non-specified occasion this weekend.”

He went slightly crimson again. "S-sure," Wade stuttered slightly. "If you want me there. I'd love to."

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want you there," Rayya pointed out.

Wade blushed and smiled at her. "Then - yeah, 'ayya. That'd be really great. I'd like to get to know you. Teammates an' all that."

"More than teammates, I hope," Rayya replied firmly. She reached out and took his hand, squeezing it affectionately. "Plenty more. I want us to be friends, okay?" She smiled sweetly. "Can we?"

This time, the blue-haired boy went positively cranberry, nodding fervently. "Yeah, 'ayya. That'd be - nice."

Noticing his complexion, Rayya bit back a giggle and dropped his hand. Don't want to give the boy an aneurysm, she thought. "Beyond nice," she agreed with her own nod.

"Yeah." They remained quiet for quite a while; the hot afternoon sun was beginning to dim, the sun dropping lower in the sky.

"Been a pretty day."

"Yep, and wonderful company just adds to it, you know." Rayya relaxed against the back of the bench again. "Thanks."

"No, thanks t'-you-, y'know," Wade said firmly. "It's been really great. I jus' wish I could've introduced you to Asa'n Jamie'n Lissie."

Turning back to him, she continued, "But it was better getting to know just you first off. I think it's a law somewhere that damsels in distress must spend copious amounts of time with their knights in shining armor... But we should all get together some time. I could bring Gwyn and we could make a party of it."

"Just so long as I don' haveta wear the armor," he teased back gently. "An' so long as you promise just to be a damsel and not get in any more distress."

"Wimp," she teased fondly. "Don't worry. I'll see you in the spandex sooner or later." She chuckled. "As for the distress portion... Well, I'll do my best but any of my friends can tell you I'm a walking disaster zone waiting to happen." She lifted up a small foot and pointed down to her platforms. "Wanna bet how many twisted ankles I get with these things?" she asked playfully.

"Ye gods!" Wade mock-gasped. "Those things're walkin' deathtraps. I should just carry you around all the time so you don't fall over, y'know." He realized what he'd said and flushed pinkly, but kept on smiling.

Rayya smiled back brightly, very pleased with his response. My gods, she thought, he's just about flirting there. Taking his hand, she continued as if there had been no pause, "Haven't I warned you already that you should be careful of what you offer a girl?"

"You're too nice to try and be careful to, y'know," he countered back, seemingly now in the rhythm of things. His complexion had settled around to 'dullish pink'.

Winking dramatically, she retorted, "What about the saying that appearances can be deceiving?"

Wade smiled at her ingenuously. "Then you've prolly deceived a lotta people."

Rayya laughed. "Oh, you've got me! I'm actually a fifty year old spinster secretary from Des Moines." She leaned close and stared up at him with her best puppy dog expression. "Forgive me?" she almost pouted.

Wade gulped, but nodded weakly, looking sort of glazed. "You're well-preserved, miss secretary, y'know."

Thank you very much, kind sir." Suddenly, Rayya's gaze shifted from Wade's nervous face to the horizon in front of them. "Oh, wow," she breathed. "Look at that sunset." With those soft words, she leaned closer and pointed. "Isn't it gorgeous?"

He nodded, breathing labored, but not so much that he couldn't look at it. "Yeah. I-is. I love sunsets." The light from the fading sky muted both of their colors, turning Wade's hair pinkish and Rayya's even more coppery than it was before.

Minutes slid by as the two just stared ahead at the colors, caught in their own thoughts. Finally, as the blue of oncoming night was darkening the sky, Rayya shivered. Despite the warmth of Wade's frame so close to hers, the chill was descending rapidly
into her skin. "Mmm," she hummed as she wrapped her arms about herself. "That was... Perfect."

Wade immediately divested himself of his sweater, handing it to her kindly, revealing a slightly tight old green t-shirt that revealed he was very much a swimmer. "S'gettin' cold. Take this. Don' want you gettin' flu'n stuff on top of everything else."

Eyeing him as she accepted the sweater, Rayya offered a smile in return for the loan. Then she suddenly leaned back and lifted her shirt slightly to reveal the white square of bandaging over her stomach. "Flu and this?" she teased. "It actually
feels a lot better, thanks. I had excellent post-battle care." She grinned mischievously and dropped her shirt back down, pulling the sweater over her head in a flash.

He looked slightly shocked, then flushed just like the sunset. "Looks... nasty?" he tried.

"Guess it might," she agreed. "But it's healing up and hasn't bothered me much at all today." Her full mouth quirked in a rueful smile. "Just hoping it doesn't leave a scar or that ruins bikini season."

"If it does, I'll take y'to Asa," he promised. "He can heal up anythin'. You just have to not mind shiny gray goop."

"So long as it clears up my stomach, I'll swim through it sans dress," she giggled. "I've managed to avoid scars for 21 years and I'd like to keep it that way."

"When you're a senshi, that begins to get a little hard," he chuckled, then stretched a little. "Man. Day's gone by so fast."

"It has." Rayya smiled. "Spending almost half the day in bed doesn't help that result much, anyway... But it's been so much fun, Wade. I've been having a blast."

"Pity to end it. But I guess we'll see each other soon anyway 'cause of the senshi biz, right?" He looked hopeful.

"I want to see you other than that," Rayya replied firmly. "I don't want the only time I see you to be when you're saving my butt... Anyway, I invited you to a party this weekend, didn't I?" She grinned brightly. "And I'm sure we can come up with other
things to do together."

"Yeah," he agreed shyly. "Yeah, that'll be great. Good for takin' the mind of everythin' else, I 'spose."

Rayya giggled. "According to Julius, that's exactly my problem. Can't keep my mind on anything -important-."

"Sounds like Livvy. If I've heard, 'Yoo can't think about ANYthing impohtant OR provoking too the TEAHM' I've heard it ten million times, y'know."

"Provoking? What's that? She wants you to stick out your tongue and go 'Nyah, nyah, nyah" to people? Or rather think about it?" Rayya's twinkling eyes crossed in mock-confusion and she stuck out her tongue. "Like this?" she mumbled around it. "Huh?" It was obvious that she was fighting an attack of giggles in maintaining her tongue-out position.

Wade very gently moved her chin up so that her lips closed and her tongue retracted. "You'll catch flies'n things if y'do that," he warned, grinning. "I did once. I still have nightmares 'bout it."

Rayya stared up at him for a second before repeating, "You did once?" She shook her head. "You're kidding, right? You didn't really swallow a bug, did you?"

"It was a mosquito. I choked for ages."

"Oh, you poor thing!" Rayya's face shone with concern at the revelation. "It didn't sting you or anything, did it?"

He giggled. "No, just tasted bad." Wade smiled ruefully. "No wonder so many people call me dumb."

"That's not dumb! Unless, of course, you ate it on purpose." Rayya smiled back. "Did you?"

The blue-haired boy laughed at that. "No way! It just flew in, y'know! Tasted gross!"

Contemplating the purpose of bugs in silence, Rayya leaned back against the bench, taking a second to stretch luxuriously. Then she looked skywards and smiled faintly. "Hmmm, the stars are starting to come out," she commented. Suddenly, she slapped at her neck and made a face as she drew her hand away. "The bugs, too!"

Wade laughed, standing up sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Bad-mannered of me. I shouldn've left you out here so long an' let you get eaten. It's gettin' cold, too."

"It's not that cold," Rayya smiled up at him. "You've loaned me your lovely sweater... Which probably means you're freezing your backside off... And, anyway, I don't mind. I like sitting out here with you. It's peaceful."

"T'anks, 'ayya. More peaceful than other things, I bet." He looked at her keenly. "Feelin' no ill effects from last night - other than the wounds, I mean...?"

Rayya shook her head quickly and then froze. That might not have been such a good idea, she thought as her head swam a bit from the sudden movement. Maybe she was more tired than she thought. But damned if she was going to worry Wade with that detail. So she just smiled and replied softly, "Maybe a tiny bit off tonight. If you believe it, I'm usually far more charming than this."

He immediately looked worried anyway, searching her face, nervous about her pain. "If you feel just a little bit tired, I'm gonna drive you home," Wade threatened gently. "Never forgive myself if you conk out or somethin', y'know!"

Rayya giggled, grinned, and reached out to brush her fingers over his cheek affectionately. "Then you'd just have to haul my sorry butt home manually," she
responded lightly. "Which might be a problem considering I drove."

He grinned at her. "I may be jus' eighteen an' naïve to the wonders of the world, but I can drive, y'know. If I couldn', my brothers wouldn' get anywhere. So don' make me have to strap you in an' get you home."

"What? You're going to steal my keys and tie me up in the car?" Rayya's violet eyes sparkled with mischief. "Never figured you for that sort." After a slight pause to see if he'd pick up on the implications, she continued, "But then you'd have to walk home and that's way too far."

"Better you in bed an' me walkin' home than you hurt." Wade reached up with a large hand and tremulously patted her shoulder, his touch deliberately gentle, as if he was afraid to break her.

"No dice but that's one of the sweetest offers I've had in a while." She hugged him tightly. "Thank you."

The blue-haired boy flushed pinkly, but the corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled, embarrassed and pleased at the same time. "Y'welcome, 'ayya. Any guy would do it for y'."

Sobering a bit, Rayya nodded her agreement. "Probably but none of them would be as nice and selfless as you, you know," she pointed out. "You're one of a kind, Wade."

He squirmed a bit at that. "Sure they woul'," he reassured her. "Any guy would jump at th'chance to do somethin' for you, I bet."

"I guess I'm not gonna convince you otherwise, huh?" Rayya smiled faintly. "Sweet." She looked skywards and inhaled deeply, forcing herself to not wince as the expansion of her abdomen stretched the healing skin. "Do you ever look at the stars, Wade?" she asked suddenly.

"Yeah," he answered quietly. "I do. I love 'em." Wade blushed a little. "I'm a bit soft, y'know, but I just do."

Rayya glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Touch of low self esteem there, she thought with concern. But such a sweetie that it should be easily fixed. Suddenly, she poked a finger into his flat stomach. "Not soft at all," she giggled.

"Ow," he giggled back. "Hey, that tickles, y'know."

"Oh, does it?" She smiled up at him brightly and poked him again, more gently. "This does?”

He giggled, stretching comfortably. "Hee... yeah, it does... hey, dooon't, y'know! I'm really ticklish there!"

She withdrew her hand and grinned up at him. Then she wiggled her fingers in front of his face. "No more?" she asked innocently.

"Nope. Or I'll be gigglin' like a schoolgirl."

Rayya giggled herself, sounding like a remarkably knowing, flirtatious schoolgirl. "You've got to be kidding! Not with that sexy bass, you won't."

He snorted at 'sexy', but grinned anyway. "Wanna take a bet? I can go up falsetto when someone tickles me'n stuff."

Taking a second to contemplate the notion, she finally shook her head. "Nah, I'll pass on that," she replied. "Just in case you lash out when you get tickled. You could really send me flying!"

He nodded. "And that'd be awful. I'd be so ashamed."

"Well, you'd just have to make it up to me then," she teased.

Wade shook his head gravely. "I wouldn' want it to happen in the first place, y'know. Never hit a girl in my life, not gonna start - not now, not ever."

"Of course not... Knights in shining armor don't do that sort of thing, right?" Rayya smiled sweetly. "Anyway, fighting or hitting is not a good thing in my opinion."

He laughed a little. "I'm not a shinin' knight or anythin'," he explained gently. "I'm just a guy. All guys should respect women."

She joined his gentle laughter and touched his arm lightly. "Geez, I should bring you home to my dad," she declared. "He'd adore you and demand you marry me on the spot!" She winked melodramatically to indicate she was joking. Just in case, you know.

"Sounds like my mom." He grinned at her. "Jus' show her any girl who still wears a skirt an' don't shave their heads and she'd get me engaged."

Pulling her heavy braid over her shoulder, Rayya shook her head. "Never happening," she said as she displayed the length of her chestnut hair. "It's taken me years but it's finally down to my butt and it's staying that way. No shaving of the head for me," she grinned.

He admired the long rope of dark hair, sitting back a little. "Must've taken you ages to get it that long. Took me forever to get mine an' mine's only a little bit long. Shavin' off that hair would be a crime."

"Actually, that's what one of my friends said about the highlights I put in," she replied. After a quick to check where the best sort of light was coming from, she angled the braid so the red streaks caught fire. "A crime and a shame," she repeated, grinning at the memory of her friend's horrified voice. Then she dropped the heavy tail onto her shoulder and reached up to touch Wade's hair briefly. "And your hair's long enough, handsome."

Wade blushed, his light ponytail in her hand, the blue of it easily seen in the encroaching dark. "Sure it doesn' make me look like a girl?" he teased.

"Not a chance of that!" Her hand slid from his hair to rest on one of his broad, square shoulders. "Not with these," she added with a smile.

Wade laughed. "True. So if y'ever want me t'go undercover as a lady, it won't work."

"No fear there," Rayya giggled. "I think you're perfect just as you are and, anyway, how can you be my date at parties if you're two feet taller than me in pumps?"

He laughed at that. "Aww, you're jus' the right size. I'm a beanstalk. I hit my head on roofs an' things."

She immediately stood, pirouetting for effect, and then balled her fists on her hips, facing him. "I'm short!" she retorted. "My dad's huge and you tower over me, too." Then she paused and giggled. "But I can see where the hitting the head thing would be worse than having to wear platforms to fake height."

"You shouldn' have to fake anythin'," he remonstrated. "You're perfect. Right height, right everythin'." Wade didn't even blush.

Rayya blinked at him for a minute, a slightly evil smile curving her full mouth slowly. Did he just..? But I bet he didn't mean it like -that-. Sure he didn't. But she could still tease the poor boy. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing -ever- wrong with teasing someone. Smiling coyly now, she slid back onto the bench beside him, her hand brushing his lightly. "I like to think that the concept of 'faking it' is beyond me," she murmured a bit huskily. "I do my best to be genuine all the way."

Wade just beamed sweetly at her, innocence all the way. "I bet you do," he said cheerily. "Nice girl like you's gonna be natural."

Biting back a giggle, she replied softly, "You bet." After studying his open, innocent face, she smiled and leaned against him. "You're all natural, too, I bet."

"Hope so. No colorin's, preservatives, flavorin's, etc."

"No flavorings at all?" Rayya raised an eyebrow and finally released the bit-back giggle.

"Maybe salt'n chlorine, but otherwise, I'm purely organic Wade, y'know."

"Swimmer, gotcha." She nodded wisely. "Kinda cute how it works out that you're both a swimmer and Neptune, isn't it?"

Wade nodded gravely. "I always thought both of 'em had somethin' to do with each other. What about you and Bacchus?"

Rayya grinned. "Bacchus and me?" she repeated. Then she giggled. "He was the party god and, gee, guess what I enjoy. The whole wine thing..." She shrugged. "I like a drink, too, every now and then. But it's the parties that sums it up, I guess."

He nodded. "Yeah. Almost everyone got somethin' in common with their senshi theme. S'natural!"

"Interesting theory." Rayya trailed off, staring skywards as she contemplated his idea. It was baffling when you thought about it. Did you come first and then the senshi stuff or were you created for the senshi role? Oh, yeah, I must be getting tired, she thought. I'm thinking deep and meaningful thoughts. With a sigh, she leaned against Wade's shoulder. "I'd hate to be the god of sleep," she murmured. "Probably get narcolepsy in the deal."

"Wouldn' mind bein' the god of money." Wade grinned down at the head on his shoulder. "Or the god of food or somethin'."

Rayya nodded. "Though the party thing isn't too bad, I'll admit," she added. "Especially if it predisposes me to going to the very best ones."

"But I 'gree - wouldn't wanna be the god of sleep, or the god of bad luck, or sheep, or somethin'."

"Sheep? What on earth..?" Her amusement remained unexpressed, though, as a small yawn escaped her. Covering her mouth and giggling, she apologized, "Sorry about that."

His large hand rubbed her on the back sympathetically. "Tired, huh? Wouldn' be surprised."

Rayya nodded, smiling faintly and rolling her shoulders back into his touch. "Yeah, kinda," she replied. "But not too bad. Don't worry about it, okay?"

"I -always- worry," Wade said sternly, still rubbing. "Like I said, I'm th' Worryin' Knight, who worries a lot, and stuff. Y'know. So don' try to pull that on me!"

Rayya turned her head to gaze up at him with her most innocent expression. "Would I -ever- try to pull anything on you, Wade?"

He chuckled at that. "I'm sorta gullible, so anythin' you say, I'd believe."

"Oh, great. Make me feel guilty, why doncha?" Rayya smiled and leaned back against his hand. "If you want the truth, then, yeah. I'm a little tired at the moment."

He beamed triumphantly. "You shoul' be in bed, recoverin'. It's not healthy to be up like this, y'know!"

"Oh, I don't mind. It's a Saturday night which means I can be indulgent and just lay in my bed until a positively ungodly hour." She grinned.

Wade mock-sighed. "Looks like I'm not gonna be able to get y'safely back into bed, eh?"

She just simply couldn't resist. Who could with a set-up line like that? Grinning mischievously, she edged closer and murmured huskily, "Oh, I can think of one way to get me into bed."

Wade immediately went very red and his eyes glazed over momentarily before returning to his normal color, scratching the back of his head shyly. "Uh,
hot milk gets me into bed. I mean. Um. Yeah. And. Y'know," he added inanely.

Nodding as much to agree as to spare him further ramblings, Rayya smiled sweetly. "Hot milk works, of course," she agreed. Then she stifled another yawn and rested her head against his shoulder again. "But I'm thinking a nice soft bed is more the order. All the props I'll be needing tonight."

Wade smiled at her sincerely. "D'you want me to drive y'home first? I can walk back, no biggie, an' you prolly wanna get t'bed as soon as possible."

"Nah, I can get you home safe and sound. After all, I invited you out. It'd be very wrong of me to make you walk it." She cocked her head to one side and grinned. "Anyway, you'd totally screw up my mirror placements."

He burst out laughing at that and grinned at her wryly. "S'the problem with eatin' all your vegies. Well, if y'wanna do that, I say we start off now. It's dark and..." Wade's tanned features drew together in the dim of the park lights. "... There may be Graikos'n stuff out patrollin'. Hyperion knows me on sight an' I wanna get you right out of it."

"You're sweet. You're also right. I don't want to run into him again any time soon." She frowned, hand unconsciously straying to the wound on her stomach. "He's too abrasive for my taste." Slowly, she smiled then. "So I guess my chariot awaits then if you think we should head out."

Wade stood and held out his hand to help her up. "I jus' don't wanna take any chances." He blushed suddenly. "Though... I wanna keep in touch with you often'n stuff... I'll drive you at night in the future if it's dangerous."

Rayya smiled as she stood and squeezed his hand affectionately before releasing it again. "Don't worry about losing touch, Wade," she reassured him. "At the very least, we'll be seeing each other for the party this weekend. And, anyway," she tossed her braid over her shoulder with a giggle, "I don't plan on losing teammates as soon as I find them!"

He just blushed, steadying her on her feet. "That's good, then. All good, y'know."

"You bet." Pointing off into the shadows, Rayya added, "To the car, kind sir." With that, she slid her arm through his and started them off in the correct direction. "Good friends are hard to find some days," she commented softly then, almost to herself.

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