Beau Sanders (NPC)
???
Cloud's Cross, Exiting the Sports Field @FedoraChar

Well that could have gone better, Beau thought as he reached the outermost ring of bleachers. His hands trembled slightly, and he was starting to feel sick as he remembered the way Colin had pulled Ava away from him, the look of confusion and distrust on both of their faces. Oh yes, that could have gone far, far better.

He should have known better--he’d known the Clearwater twins since they were all in diapers. Heck, they might as well have been triplets, for all the time they spent together growing up, but that only made the fact he should have known better more apparent. He knew both had always been smarter, more curious than him. He knew they were almost always the first to ask questions when given the opportunity, and that both of them could spend hours poring over textbooks and other materials in the library when a certain subject caught their fancy. He should have known that when he decided to show up again that they would ask questions that he couldn’t give them the answers to.

Mentally, Beau kicked himself--how could he have been so stupid?

Of course, he already had the answer, and he’d given it to Colin. He couldn’t stay away from his friends, he couldn’t stay away from his team--he should have been out there on the soccer field with Ava today. Now instead, he was on house arrest.

He’d at least wanted to cheer her and the rest of the team on...and he’d wanted to prove he hadn’t disappeared. Only, now he’d dug himself into a hole that he wasn’t entirely sure he’d be able to dig himself back out of. At least, not without answers he’d promised not to give. His parents had insisted he not tell any of the other kids, and considering he was the only one who had been told thus far… Well, if he told anyone and word got to someone who was too loose-lipped… Beau cringed at the thought.

He’d calmed down enough to hurry back home again when he heard a somewhat familiar voice call out behind him. “Hey, Sanders!” He froze. A series of faces flashed before his eyes before he connected the voice to the right face, and Beau found himself torn between staying and lying his way out of whatever Shawn Armstrong had to ask and bolting. It wasn't as though the stocky bodybuilder of a girl excelled at running.

He, on the other hand, had been playing soccer just as long as Ava.

Then again, running might make things worse. He struggled for a few moments to force his usual lazy grin back onto his lips, and turned towards the girl.

“Hey, Armstrong,” he replied, glancing towards the exit again. “Was there something you needed?”

Ava and Colin Clearwater
Athena and Hephaestus
Cloud's Cross, Sports Field @Saraibre Ryu @marth141

The groove Ava had had before the match and throughout had all but vanished following her return to the field. Colin watched with worry as she allowed one of the kids on the opposing team to steal the ball from her, and groaned as another snuck past her on the field and made his way towards her team's goal. He looked up as another girl he only vaguely recognized joined him on the bench, but his attention was pulled away from her as the supporters of the opposing team cheered.

He looked up in time to see Ava visibly deflate, a look of frustration on her face. She shifted back into her usual position for the return kick, but it was obvious her mind was elsewhere, especially when she didn't move as the ball arced over the field. Much to Colin’s alarm, the ball was headed straight for her. Look up, Ava, he urged mentally, but the girl didn't move. Across the field, kids tried calling to her, but she remained frozen as the ball plunged dangerously close.

“Ava!” he shouted, shoving himself up and stumbling forward. Suddenly his sister returned to life, jolting and looking up.

Just in time for the soccer ball to connect with her face, and the girl crumpled.

Immediately, players across the field dropped to one knee, almost in unison with the collective gasp that seemed to weave through the stands. Before Colin knew what he was doing, he had grabbed his cane and was limping his way across the field as fast as he could go.

Ava, meanwhile, couldn't remember how she had ended up on the ground. Groaning, she rolled over and spat out her mouth guard, ignoring the frenzied questions she knew the ref would be asking her. Her face throbbed, and she caught whiff of a metallic scent before something warm and sticky began to roll down her lips to her chin.

Great, just great. She had a bloody nose.

“Ava?” She turned her attention to where she’d heard her twin’s voice, and grinned back at him. There was worry written all over the boy’s face, and it bothered her more than anything else--even the throb of her face.

“I’m fine, Col,” she told him before the ref snapped in front of her face, drawing her attention back to him.

“I don’t know where your head is, Clearwater, but go park it on the bench and stay there. I’m sending Bellatrix over.” Ava groaned again as Colin offered her a hand. That was the last thing she wanted--more attention. It wasn’t like she’d never gotten a bloodied nose from soccer before, there was really no need for the doctor to come look her over. Instead of taking her twin’s hand, she shoved herself up as the ref called for Bellatrix, waving the doctor towards the team bench Colin had been sitting on. Clearly displeased, Ava began making her way back to the bench with her brother in tow.

“You’re thinking too hard about Beau,” Colin murmured as soon as they were far enough away from the rest of the players. Ava frowned, glancing over at her twin, who wore a knowing look on his face edged with a bit of worry.

“I’m thinking about a lot of things, Col,” she replied softly, turning and dropping onto the bench with the grace of a newborn giraffe.

“Doing it on the soccer field isn’t exactly the best idea,” he told her as Ava reached over and grabbed the towel she know was hers, then began to wipe the blood off her face.


“Obviously, dear brother,” she fired back, keeping an eye out for the doctor.

Norman and Persephone
Hades and Persephone
Cloud's Cross, Schoolhouse Rooftop

“And it looks like Ava is out of the game, folks! The doc’s headed over to check on her now, but hopefully she’ll be okay--” The commentator had really picked up speaking speed in the last few minutes--from what Norman could actually process of Fausto’s speech, Ava had taken a ball to the face. That in itself was unusual, he’d seen Ava in action before numerous times--among his hiding places, he’d spent a great deal of time watching the sports field. It was one of the more active places in Cloud’s Cross, and when he found himself wanting to be more sociable, he ended up there...not that he’d interact with any of the kids he saw.

Sometimes he just preferred to be around more of the living than the dead, and wished he could bring himself to interact with them, could bring himself to trust them.

Well, at the very least, he had Persephone and the few animals inhabiting the bunker town. His personal favorite among the animals was a cat that seemed to return to him time and time again--a calico he’d named Emily. Next to him, Persephone sighed. “Well, it’s not life-threatening.”

“You can sense that from here?” he asked, tilting his head, allowing the thoughts that had come to mind to dissipate. Persephone nodded, though her eyes were focused on the field in the distance once more.

“Yeah--when you have ties to death, you learn to sense how close others come to it...among other things. It’s an ability you’ll develop soon enough, I’m sure,” the goddess replied, smiling a little. “Just as you’ll be able to send the dead on, step between the boundaries of worlds, and more... “ Norman found himself smiling a little as well--at the very least, being able to step between the boundaries of the world of the living and dead would come in handy, if only for the invisibility he knew it would provide. At least then he wouldn’t have to worry so much about hiding places.

Maybe then he’d try staying closer to people, try seeing who wasn’t putting on an act, who he could trust.