Athens Marina

After Jade had bid farewell to the group and Dorian had seemingly and begrudgingly followed suit, Risk found himself alone with three women. He looked between Madison, Lena, and Fawn and smiled pleasantly. "Well that was interesting." He popped a crab puff into his mouth and leaned back in his chair. "Too bad, though," he mumbled around his mouthful, "there's still so much food left. I expect all of you to take home your fair share." He smiled to show them nothing but good will, then said to Lena, "I think I may go check on Dorian. He seemed rather upset. A man-to-man talk may be just what he needs. Please, do not pack any of this up until I get back. I don't want you ladies doing all the work." He smiled and stood, adjusting his jacket and tie.

'See ya,' Fawn said curtly to Risk, casting the man a dismissive glance before she focused her attention on the remaining women. 'Soooo...' she said, her lips forming an 'o' in an almost comical manner, upon letting the metaphorical dust settle after watching whatever it was that just happened. 'Whose place is it that I'm supposed to maybe, possibly be staying?'

"Uh..she just left." Madison replied with an embarrassed chuckle as she smiled weakly at Fawn. "Jade should have plenty of rooms for you to stay. I can give you her address if you want to head over there yourself? Or you can crash on my brothers couch tonight if you like. I'm sure he wouldn't mind." She finished in a helpful tone.

'Whatever, I'm cool with whatever,' Fawn said with a half-cocked grin to Madison, sounding cool as a cucumber, as she waved a dismissive hand to the side. Pausing, she scanned the selection of food, and as she did so, casually asked, 'What kinda dance you going to teach?'

"A bit of everything I think..I have been training from a young age and I just want to pass my skills on to anyone that wishes to learn." Madison replied with an embarrassed smile. "So..if you feel like dancing, come check it out." She finished with a small chuckle as Lena laughed along.

'Mmmmmmm,' Fawn uttered flatly, keeping her mouth closed since she had popped a crispy fried noodle into her mouth. 'Thanks, but, like I said, I'm more... musically-inclined,' she said, after having swallowed, her delicate hands fluttering upward in a graceful, snaking manner. 'I make the music people dance to,' she said with a little smirk and a one-shouldered shrug.

"Maybe you could make the music for my classes.." Madison grinned before popping one last bit of food in her mouth and standing up. "Well thanks for lunch but I really should run. Lena will you tell Risk I'll call him later to arrange where we should go to eat tonight?"

"Sure no problem." Lena nodded with a grin then gave a final wave to the other girl as she turned and jogged off back towards town. "So whatcha gonna do now?" She asked curiously turning her attention to Fawn.

---

Noticing that the ladies had returned to their conversations and thus would most likely not miss him, Risk strode away from the picnic table and into the laboratory. He knocked, of course, a polite few raps on the door before letting himself in. He spied Dorian at his desk and approached it casually, hands stuffed into the pockets of his slacks. "Are you alright?" he asked pointedly.

"Not really," Dorian replied, the words dropping from his mouth in a huff of air. It wasn't anger. It was more like impatience, and it wasn't directed at Risk. "Jade is just.. I mean she just...." He made motions with his hands in the air that made no apparent sense other than to demonstrate how frustrated he was, then gave an explosive sigh and threw them up as if in submission. "Strong headed," he finished, letting his head fall back on his desk chair. "Ah, but that's why everyone likes her isn't it?" he asked rhetorically, tilting his head to offer Risk a defeated smile. "Strong, confident, and with an utter disregard for her own life- I mean, who really cares though, you know?" That was clearly sarcastic, but his next words weren't. "If she wasn't surrounded by people like the staff here making sure she followed safety guidlines, gets home safe, et cetera et cetera, I'm not unconvinced she would have died years ago. I'd hate for her to be alone to realize how much danger she actually puts herself in but- Well, never mind. That'll never happen." He sat up again, resting his elbows on his thighs and gave Risk a lazy little smile. "Sorry, was there something I could help you with? Oh, and sorry for the.. drama out there. I lost my calm-" He placed a hand apologetically flat on his chest, closed his eyes and gave a couple solemn nods, his lips set in the tiniest of frowns. "And for that I sincerely apologize."

Risk watched Dorian with interest as he explained himself and his face stayed pleasant and patient all the while. At Dorian's apology, he shook his head and eased himself to lean back against a nearby cabinet, crossing an ankle over the other. "There is no need to apologize for that. Very clearly you lost your calm because you feel something very deeply for Jade. It was out of affection." he said with an aloof shrug of one shoulder. "I would be lying if I said there wasn't a time or two where I blew up out of some preposterous combination of love and frustration. Of course, one two many times turned my wife into my ex-wife; of which I now have two."

"Clearly you have just not met the right woman for you," Dorian replied and leaned back in his chair again, crossing his arms over his chest as he observed the other man. He wasn't insulting, he was actually reassuring him. He frowned. Or, well, more like pouted. "I don't think it's unreasonable to be concerned when the woman you like nearly suffocates," he commented, but he wasn't arguing, he was trying to work it out in his head. "Still, I was out of line being over the top like that. I could SEE that, but it's so frustrating when nobody else seems concerned. People DIE from suffocation."

"You're not wrong, and you were not completely out of line. But let me tell you a little trick, Dorian," Risk said, withdrawing a hand from it's hiding place and running his finger along the crease where his chin and bottom lip met. "It is easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission. Rather than fighting her for the permission to have a doctor look at her and ensure her well being, call the doctor, have him come and inspect her and then discuss with her why you did it and request forgiveness."

Dorian hummed a bit dismissively. "I already planned on doing that," he replied and let his head fall back on the chair again to resume staring at the ceiling. "Sabastion will care," he mused as if convincing himself. Sabastion was a doctor, he knew better than anyone how dangerous it could be. "I don't like if Jade is mad at me, but it doesn't stop me from doing things. If it did, I wouldn't get half my work finished and she'd work herself into a coma by now. I still don't get why she hired me if she's under the impression she can get it all done herself. Should just take those vacation days..." he half muttered in finality. "I'm taking my own research excursion tomorrow," he informed the other man, though his mind was partially far away, thinking out what he would need to do, worried about Jade, but at least half of his focus was still here with Risk. He was kind of a hard man to ignore, he admitted that. Especially alone like this. "Let's hope she's still fine when I get back."

Risk smiled crookedly down at Dorian. He liked this kid. "I'm sure she's more than capable of taking care of herself for a day without you. After all, didn't she do just fine before you came along?" he asked with a wink. He pushed off of the cabinet and sighed, looking around. "Well, if you ever need advice, about anything, please feel free to ask me."

"Before I cam along she was in college," Dorian muttered, but he sighed and stood, taking Risk's beginnings of a farewell as a hint to let the conversation go. "I appreciate your desire to help," he assured him and held out a hand to shake goodbye. "It's fun to hear what you have to say, Mr. Risk, even if it doesn't help me at all." He smiled in return and chuckled softly, hoping Risk would take it for the joke that it was. Cash was his friend and they were in cahoots against this man, but it was a friendly competition. They were, at the end of the day, all adults and there was no room in the small town of Athens Harbor to be petty. "Perhaps we can have coffee some time, just you and I. No drama, I promise."

Risk took Dorian's offered hand and shook it with a firm confidence, holding the other man's gaze and giving a single nod of his head. "I would like that very much. It sounds refreshing," he said honestly as he released Dorian. "And if you ever need anything not related to personal affairs--anything to do with business, or finding a new job location," he chuckled, looking around the lab once more, "please give my office a call. I'll help you out." He smirked at him again and gave another nod, this one of farewell, and turned on his heel, striding back outside to find Lena. They needed to get back to the office.

He approached the outdoor picnic table at an easy jog and smiled at the two remaining women. "Oh, Madison has left? Pity. Oh well, I'll see her tonight anyhow." he commented, then looked between them. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Miss Fawn, but Lena and I really must be returning to work now." He turned his charming smile on Lena. "Ready to go?"

'See ya,' Fawn said to Madison with a jerk of her chin in the woman's direction, and to Lena, she gave a lazy, lop-sided shrug. 'Dunno, guess I'll...' she paused and glanced up at Risk as he approached and raised her eyebrows, '...go sit on the side of the road and be an enemy to mankind.' Apparently everyone was vacating the area, so, she honestly didn't know what she was going to do.

"Madison said she'd give you a call later to discuss your dinner plans.." Lena informed Risk as she stood and wiped off her hands before looking at Fawn with an apologetic smile. "Why don't you head over to Jades house? See if she still has a room available for you to stay..Or you could be adventurous and explore the rest of the town. I saw this big farm on my way into town that had the best looking produce..you could go sneak a peek, maybe meet someone new." She finished playfully.

Risk nodded at Fawn in agreement with Lena. "Yes, and if nothing else works out, just give us a call," he said, offering Fawn his business card, "and we'll put you up in a nice hotel until things get sorted." He smiled at her kindly, gathered up some of the leftovers and then added, "is there anywhere we can drop you off before we part ways?"

Fawn shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. "That's alright. I think I'm just going to stock up on supplies and head on out of town." Rising to her feet she slung her bag onto her shoulder and gave them a small wave. "It was nice meeting you all." And with that she turned on her heal and left, never to be heard from again.

Lena had waved quickly to Fawn during her departure then turned to look at Risk with a smile. "We should get going. The work isn't going to do itself, right?" She smiled playfully before she finished tidying up the lunch things then turned to head back to his car.

While Risk did think Fawn's exit was rather extraordinary and perhaps something to be concerned about, he was pulled back by Lena's words and he gave a nod and a two-fingered salute towards her. "Right you are, dear Lena! Let's get back to the office and finish that filing. of course, we'll both get off early this afternoon so that I have time to prepare for my date with miss Madison." he winked. He picked up the bags of leftover Chinese and helped carry them to his car.


BotO Athens Harbor
Blood of the Olympians