Vale's Water Deluxe

Arriving with the others Aeden notices Argent carrying Rory and rushes over to her. "Rory!" Aeden stops in front of Rory and quickly looks her over not seeing anything immediately wrong with her. He looks back at Argent with a look of worry. "Thanks for saving her Argent. I'm sorry we couldn't be there we got held up." Stupid locker. "What happened to them? We were with Rory and she just bolted off."

"She's fine." Argent said, giving him Aeden a reassuring smile. "She's only got a little bump on the head. Her friend too. They'll be alright after some rest, I figure." Looking around, he spots a large crowd building, curious park visitors eager to get a glimpse of what was happening. "Let's get to the infirmary." His voice hushed to make sure only Aeden and Lucina heard. "We can talk there once they're better." He added, nodding to the girl in his arms, walking towards the infirmary, people parting as they saw his face as he walked by.

Blinking as she realises what happened, Fanta for a second look serious enough to fire on the grenades and explode the van, before sighing, walking over and picking them up to put back away. Muttering, "Well I didn't see or know what happened..." Looking slightly down, she returns to the lockers and puts her stuff back away, heading back to the pool, she goes to the shallow end and just sits with her legs in the water.

"Thank you, really," Rory said to her rescuers, though her head hurt too much to say anything more.

Rory was relieved things had turned out alright, but she was upset of the damage and hassle she had caused. When she and Laura were finally patched up, she turned to Aeden and Lucina with a sad look on her face, her ears drooping.

"I'm sorry I ruined everything, guys," she muttered.

After going to the infirmary to get the two girls patched up, Celeste took a seat and waited for them to go out. Once they got out she noticed the gloom on Rory's face and listened in on how much she blamed herself for "ruining" their day. Being as she was, Celeste approached the girl and looked at her with a stern eye.

"Unless it was you who hired those mongrels to kidnap your own friend, I highly doubt that the blame is yours." Celeste interjected, a bit mad that the girl was blaming herself. "Besides," she said while putting her hand on Rory's head, "I had fun kicking their butts so you didn't really ruin anything to begin with."

Aeden had been patiently waiting for Rory to emerge from the infirmary was glad to see she had finally come out with not much treatment necessary.  Before he could make his way over to her a girl Aeden recognized as Celeste from the Hotel had beat him to it. Being close enough to hear their words Aeden waited for Celeste to finish speaking before making his way over to Rory. "Hi Rory, I hope you're feeling better." Aeden put his hand on her head and gave her a short rub trying to offer some comfort. "I see that Celeste already gave you some words of encouragement." Aeden looked at Rory and gave her a big smile. "I'm just happy to see you and your friend are okay." At this point Aeden had stopped giving Rory a head rub and moved on to a hug. "Rory please don't run off like that again. Remember you can always rely on me for help. You don't have to do it alone."

After leaving the girls in the infirmary, Claire left promptly and got herself around 5 drinks. Tucking herself away in a remote bench, she started drinking and slowly calming herself down, adding some breathing exercises to that. Goddamn scumbags...

"Don't be sorry for something that you didn't do." Argent said, leaning against the wall beside the door as Rory walked out of the infirmary. Claire had disappeared by the time he walked out after bringing Rory in so he had decided to find her once he knew the two were ok. "I'm just glad we got there in time. Who knows what could've happened." Walking over to her, he scratches behind Rory's ears like he knew faunus liked, hoping to cheer her up. "C'mon, we've had enough apologies for today."

Rory hugged Aeden back, her arms shaking, though she said nothing. She hung her head silently and waved bye to Laura as her parents were there to pick her up.

Her tail wagged when Argent scratched her ears from behind and she looked up at him brightly.

"Okay," she said. "And thanks again to everyone. I don't know what would've happened if you guys weren't there."

Since she knew no one wanted to see her down and that she had already brought most of the day down herself, she smiled at Aeden and Lucina, holding their hands like a child did in between parents.

"I don't want to ruin the rest of the day," she said smiling. "So let's continue having fun. Is that what you two want?"

Aeden looked down at Rory and gave her a cheesy smile. "I'm glad to have you back safe and sound Rory I really am." With his 'family' once again complete Aeden led them back toward the park's main attraction, though he had a large smile on his face inside he still had a feeling of unease. Better keep a look out just in case. Aeden turned back to the Lucina and Rory, "I bet the line would be short by now. How about we head to the slide? If you're feeling up to it of course Rory."

Rory beamed at her unofficial big brother and her tail wagged happily.

"I'd love the slide!" she said. And then nudging Aeden, "It'll be funny seeing you scream."

Lucina looked at Aeden as he hugged Rory and gave a warm smile thinking to herself, "It's so cute...it's like they're truly brother and sister..." She continued to walk hand in hand with the other 2 as she looked at the cheesy smile Aeden decided to put on. She managed to hoke in her laughter and said to Aeden as Rory mentioned how he would totally be scared on the slide, "Don't cry Aeden, it'll all be okay, remember I'm here if you need my support."

Smiling as he watched the 'family' walk away, he called to them. "Aeden! Lucina! If you're still up for that double date at the haunted house, you'll know where to find me!" He yelled at them as he turned around his arm raised in the air, waving slightly and his other hand buried in his pocket.

A few minutes of searching and he finds Claire sitting alone on a bench. Remembering what she had said at the start of the day, he sneaks up behind her and clamps his hands over her eyes, lovingly kissing the top of her head between her ears. "Hey sweet stuff, what you doing here all alone. How about I keep you company?" He said, proud that he'd remembered Aeden's exact words.

With Rory and Lucina treating Aeden like a child he pouts a bit though he knows they're just teasing. Might be fun to just go with the joke for a bit. Aeden makes a face that looks as if he were about to cry. "That makes me so happy, I really scared." Aeden plays his terrified act perfectly and not long after they reach the entrance to the slide. Just as he had predicted earlier there was no line and Aeden made a large grin. "Wooo! No line! Let's go!" Full of excitement Aeden rushes toward the water slide and makes it about half way when he realizes how much like a child he must have looked. Aeden stops dead in his tracks and forces himself to be calm. "I mean cool no line. We should take advantage of such a fortunate occurrence." 

Claire, too busy calming herself, didn't notice Argent's approach. When he covered her eyes, she almost instantly lunged her arms towards where his throat would be before hearing his voice and stopping with a sign, dropping them back down.

"If you want..." he said offhandedly before shifting on the bench to give him some space.

Argent flinches on instinct as Claire goes to strangle her but doesn't leave her despite the impending injury. Seeing her mood though, his smile quickly goes from goofing off to reassuring and comforting. "Heeey..." He cooed softly as he sat next to her, putting an arm around her waist and pressing himself as close to her as possible. " Rory and her friend are fine. No one's hurt except those creeps. What's wrong?" He said, gently holding her chin in two fingers to turn her to face him, giving a comforting smile.

"Nothing..." Claire sighed and leaned to rest her head on his shoulder, "Well... you remember when I told you how I got to Vale? Yeah... I just don't want others to go through those experiences..." she snuggled up to him, "A-And I snapped at Fanta, so I think I'll need to a-apologize and e-explain..." she started, her eyes watering before she dug her face into him and started sobbing.

"That doesn't seem like nothing to me." Argent said, hugging tighter and rubbing her back gently. "And I'm sure Fanta'll understand." Leaning over, he turns her head even more, touching his lips with her's, his other hand hugging her tight. A few seconds later, he breaks it, giving her his best smile. "Enough with the water works. I might join you if you keep it up." He said, rubbing her ears like how he knew she liked, trying to cheer her up.