'Yeah, if she's not swamped with urgent care patients...' said Ryder. He began to drive out of the industrial zone, while the other vampire shifted back into a bluejay and took flight.

At the house, Owen spoke up again, sounding more relaxed than before.

//Hey, you two, it's going to be OK. We've just found Armin at the old factory. He's hurt and unconscious, but he's alive, and will make a full recovery. We also found Alicia lying not far from him. She's dead.//

Dianne: "Oh, thank the gods...he's damn lucky I can't stand, because I would punch him really hard when he comes back....."

{Despite her words, she was very relieved that he was ok.}

Rex looked almost faint with relief, letting out a long, quiet exhalation. 'He's alright... And he killed Alicia? Well, I'm glad his worrying us wasn't for nothing...'

Ryder drove up to Fred's house. Upon seeing the car approach, Fred approached Pythia to address her.

'Pythia. Ryder just arrived with Armin. He's injured, but being a vampire, it's not life-threatening... Are you able to treat him, or are you too busy with the others?'

{Pythia had just finished with her last patient.}

Dianne: "If it's not life threatening, then it should be quick. No one's bleeding to death today, thankfully. Bring him in."

Fred telepathically called Ryder in. The dragonshifter climbed out of his car, easily scooping Armin up and carrying him inside, over to Pythia's work area. Armin was still unconscious, his shirt and jacket torn and bloodstained. 'Stabbed in the side, and gashed across the arm,' said Ryder. 'He's been in a scuffle.'

Dianne: "That is good....Jeeze, but does he have to get himself hurt in the process?..."

(Is that the jacket he bought in Alexandria?)

Rex shrugged, giving Dianne a momentary glance. 'I'd recommend getting used to it. He doesn't focus much on his own... wellbeing during fights. I don't mean he throws his life away, but he tends to prioritise subduing the enemy over avoiding wounds.'

(Yeah, I think so.)

Pythia: "Not a problem. Jacket's ruined, though."

{Pulling off his jacket and lifting up his shirt, Pythia starts to clean his wounds.}

Armin tensed slightly when Pythia cleaned his wounds, seeming to feel it on some level, even while unconscious.

'Shame. That was a nice jacket.' Ryder looked at Armin, amused. 'Beginner's mistake, boy. You don't wear your best stuff to a brawl.'

{Dianne scowls as she lies there.}

Dianne: "...Now I know how he feels when I go fight stuff....now that I know he's ok...I'm hungry....what should we do for food?..."

Rex glanced towards the kitchen, considering. '...I know how to make that pan-fried fish you sometimes do. I heard Esme likes it. And Armin might want some, if he's awake when they bring him back...'

Antonio: "Yup. I've left my best hat at home, because I didn't want it to get destroyed. He'll learn, I'm sure."

{Having cleaned the wound, Pythia quickly healed him.}

Pythia: "All done. Send him home so Dianne can yell at him."

Ryder laughed at that. 'You think she'll do that? I wouldn't be surprised.'

He carefully picked Armin up and carried him back out to the car.

Dianne: "I'll take it....I'm so hungry..."

Pythia: "I know I would. Drive safely now."

{She calls in the next person, who was afflicted by boils, much like the last one that forced Fred over the edge.}

Pythia: "Really? Another case of the rat boils? What is this city's health department even being paid for?"

Rex quietly went into the kitchen to start making food. He still felt shaken by the emotions of the last few hours. //Dammit, Ar. I know you'll never change, but gods, I wish you wouldn't worry me so much...//

Esme remained on the couch with Dianne.

(Frederick: *backs away 100ft*)

After putting Armin in the car, Ryder turned to Antonio. 'Will you be heading off now? Heh, I bet you're pi.ssed that you spent all day looking for that elf only for Armin to kill her,' he said jokingly.

{Dianne pulls Esme closer, closing her eyes and drifting off.}

{Antonio chuckles lightheartedly.}

Antonio: "No. My job is to protect innocent nonhumans from hunters like this. As long as Dianne and her family is safe, I'm happy."

Ryder nodded approvingly. 'Good man. Well, I'd better take Armin home so he can finish recovering. Have a nice night.' He climbed into his car and drove off down the streetlamp-lit road.

Rex took his time preparing the food, wearing a pensive expression. Cooking both soothed him and brought back a lot of old memories.

When the fish was done, he brought out two servings. Esme immediately jumped onto the floor to eat hers. 'Wake up,' said Rex to Dianne, a little brusquely.

{Dianne stirs slightly, opening her eyes.}

Dianne: "Hmmm....Oh, thank you..."

{She tiredly and laboredly sits up, accepting the food from Rex.}

{As Armin slept in the back of the car, Barnabas appeared next to him.}

Barnabas: "Aaaaarrrrmiiiiiin.....Wake uuuuup."
{He says in a sing song voice, while placing a small spider on his forehead.}

Barnabas: "There's a spider on your face."

Armin stirred slightly, not waking up immediately. Then, all at once, he jolted awake, throwing the spider off with a startled yelp. 'Barnabas, you a.ss...' he muttered tiredly. Ryder just chuckled.

'Well, we're here. You feel up to walking in?'

'Yes... maybe...'

As Dianne and Esme began to eat, Rex heard the car approach outside. He went over to open the front door, anxious to see Armin and make sure he was really alright.

{Barnabas just howls with laughter. Dianne caught on quickly, putting her plate down, anxiously awaiting Armin's arrival.}

Armin eyed Barnabas sourly. Ryder parked up, then got out of the car, putting an arm around Armin to steady him up to the house.

'Hey, Rex,' said Ryder lightly, as they went inside. 'And hey, Dianne. We got the big guy back just fine. He'll be tired for a bit, but he'll be OK.'

He patted Armin's shoulder as he supported him. Armin gazed around warily at everyone, as if braced for some kind of explosion.

{Dianne looked momentarily relieved to see that Armin was ok. That relief turned to a thinly veiled expression of anger. She looked like she wanted to tear into him, but seemed unwilling to do so in front of Ryder.}

Dianne: "Thank you, Ryder...You've been a great help..."

Ryder just smirked. 'Well, I'll be off now. My job's done.' He carefully sat Armin down on the couch, then started to walk away. 'Don't be too harsh with him, alright? He was only trying to help you.'

Looking amused, Ryder left. Armin edged along the couch, away from Dianne. He didn't even bother saying anything, expecting her to want to talk first.

{Once Ryder walked out the door, she began.}

Dianne: "What the hell were you thinking? You leave to go fight Alicia, without telling anyone, not even me or Rex?! Why didn't you tell me? I don't care if I'm asleep, if you're going to go out to fight hunters, you damn better tell me! Rex and I were sitting here worried sick about you!"

Armin winced slightly. 'OK, maybe I should have been more clear about what I was doing. But if I'd told you I was going to look for Alicia, you would have forced me not to go. Don't pretend otherwise.'

Dianne: "Armin, if you think I'm going to stop you from doing something, then maybe you shouldn't be doing it! You didn't know if she had backup, or how skilled she was! What if she killed you, or seriously injured you, then where would we be, huh?! None of us knew where you were! How can we help you...How...."

{Her posture slumps a bit, as all the excitement seems to have worsened her condition, forcing her to catch her breath, while making a frustrated expression.}

Armin looked frustrated as well, along with slightly hurt.

'I wouldn't have gone if I thought there was /serious/ danger. I was stronger than her, faster than her, could heal better than her, and her light magic couldn't hurt me. I knew I was capable of defeating her, so I took the opportunity to go out and do it, before she had time to hurt anyone again. ...I know I've been pretty useless at protecting you, but I didn't realise you thought I was /that/ incompetent... she was only a light mage...'

Dianne: "Armin, I don't think you're incompetent....This has nothing to do with whether or not you ound beat her, because you obviously did.....This has to do with being safe, when you have people who care about you...I don't care how good the odds are, you need to tell me when you do things like this....At the very least, I would have sent you with Barnabas, so we'd know where you were and you'd have someone watching your back.....Armin, you're not useless....we were just worried about you..."

Armin rested his head on his hands, closing his eyes briefly. Pythia's healing had left him tired.

'If you'd sent Barnabas with me, then he would have killed her in an instant, making my presence redundant. There would have been no point in me going at all. I didn't mean to worry anyone, I just thought it was easier this way. At least by going alone, I actually got the chance to /do/ something...'

Barnabas: "Actually, I would have let you do it...one swipe of that blade, and I go bye bye for a while..."

Dianne: "Armin, I get it....you just wanted to feel like you did something...and you did, you killed her....I'm safe now...but, next time, just tell me where you're going, just in case...don't worry us like that..."

Armin leaned back, resting his head against the back of the couch.

'...Fine... sorry... I'll warn you next time...' He sighed slightly. 'I wish it was that easy for me to tell /you/ to stop worrying /me.../ You get injured every single time you fight someone... do you have any idea how stressful that is for me? I think that's one of the reasons I felt so driven to kill Alicia myself... I was sick of people threatening you...'

Dianne: "I know...I know..."

{She wavers a bit, falling against the couch.}

Dianne: "I'm sorry to have put you through that...this is why I typically fight with draugr....you also have to consider the matchup...Light magic counters my entire kit...still, I'm sorry....no more stress...no more surprises..."

Armin said nothing for a while, just leaning back and closing his eyes. 'I promise I'll tell you before I do something like that again... but if I do... don't try to stop me. I'm not a complete idiot. I wouldn't fight someone if I thought I might die in the process. Believe it or not, there are some enemies I can fight better than you... light mages being one of them...'

Dianne: "Of course I know that....look at me....I'm the idiot....I'm supposed to keep myself safe, and here I am....always getting hurt....I don't think you're an idiot...and I'm grateful to have you in my life..."

'You're not an idiot either. You're just unfortunate - and have a lot of enemies. If the last few weeks are anything to judge by, we're going to have a dangerous life together. You never know when someone might threaten you, or me, or both of us. So I'm not going to spend my life hiding behind you, letting you risk yourself while I do nothing. I'll fight with you, even if it means getting hurt sometimes. Besides, most injuries really aren't a big concern to me...'

Dianne: "To be honest...this is nothing new to me...but it will be nice to have a fighting partner this time around..."

{Reaching out, she take his hand in hers.}

Dianne: "Let's stop worrying each other for a while....and just be here, together...."

Armin stayed quiet, wrapping his fingers around hers. After a short while, he spoke up.

'...I need to go drink some blood, and then I'm gonna go upstairs and crash... I'm exhausted. Will you be coming up with me...?'

Dianne: "...Yes...After I finish eating...Can you still carry me, or will I need to crawl up there myself?..."

'I'm not sure I can carry you up a flight of stairs right now, but I'm not going to just leave you to get up there by yourself. I'll support you as best as I can.'

He continued to sit there, patiently waiting for her to be ready to go.

{After an extra serving of fish, and a few minute later, Dianne was ready.}

Dianne: "Ok...How do you want to do this?"

'Hold on a minute...' Opening his eyes, Armin got up and tiredly dragged himself into the kitchen. He retrieved some blood and drank about half of the bottle, before going back and standing beside the couch. 'Put your arm around me, and use me to pull yourself up. I think I can support most of your weight.'

{Dianne reaches up and hefts herself to her feet. Her legs are shaking a little, but she was able to stay upright by heavilly leaning on Armin.}

Armin shifted a little, momentarily struggling to keep his balance. Once he felt stable, he put an arm around Dianne and started to climb up the stairs, leaning heavily against the banister on his other side. Esme ran past them, up into the bedroom.

{Dianne did her best to climb the stairs. However, once they made it through the bedroom door, her legs gave out entirely, threatening to drag Armin down with her.}

Dianne: "Sh!t...Sorry....give me a second..."

Armin grunted, attempting to hold her upright, but finding himself too tired. He let himself sink down as well, so he was kneeling beside her. 'Urgh... both of us being weakened at the same time is a terrible idea...'

Dianne: "...Should we make Rex help us? He's not feeling under the weather..."

'Maybe... actually, where are we going? To the bed? Don't we need to change first? I'm sure you don't want Rex helping you with that.'

Dianne: "Right...Here, get my clothes from the dresser and put them in the bath...Then come back and help me over there..."

Armin got up, retrieving her usual sleepwear from the dresser and doing as she asked. 'Alright, come on,' he said, wrapping an arm around her and trying to pull her upright, to see whether she could stand or not.

{She seems to have recouperated a bit, as she was able to stand this time.}

Dianne: "Alright, set me down somewhere, and help me out of this dress..."

Armin helped her into the bathroom, closing the lid of the toilet seat so she could sit down. He then undid the zipper at the back of her dress, and started to slowly and tiredly help her get it off.

{Dianne unfastened the belt around her waist, letting the dress slip off, onto the floor. Taking her shirt, she starts to put it on.}

Dianne: "Help me with the shorts...I can't reach my feet at this time..."

He helped her with her shorts, and when she was done changing, he curled an arm around her and pulled her to her feet. 'Alright, let's get back to the other room before I run out of energy to keep you upright...'

Dianne: "Let's...I'm starting to get cold..."

{Dianne walks with him, headed for the bed. Once they got there, she tiredly flops on her front. However, she doesn't seem to have the energy to do much else.}

Armin paused to fumble with his jeans, taking them off, followed by his shoes and shirt. He then climbed into bed, too tired to look for another shirt to wear. He pulled the blanket over them both and snuggled up to Dianne, trying to keep her warm.

{Dianne feebly pulls herself into a ball, welcoming the warmth from Armin.}

Dianne: "...Hold me..."

Positioning himself behind her, Armin embraced her tightly, pulling her back against his chest. He let out a long breath, seeming to enjoy the warmth and proximity.

{Dianne let out a relaxed sigh, feeling warm, comforted, and safe in Armin's embrace. She very quickly fell into a deep sleep.}

Armin rested his head against the back of her shoulder, and let himself drift off as well. The excitement of the day, hunting down Alicia, the blood loss and being healed had left him exhausted.

(Do you want to skip to morning, or shall I?)

(You go. She's not waking up easily.)

(OK, I'll post a new room first)