[Public] When Frodo/Fire wakes up in Rivendell/the Hospital

When the first call went to voicemail, Riley didn't think twice. Dani's phone was probably dead; it was late after all. But the second, third, Fifth? The anxiety and worry felt like rot in their stomach, gripping it as they wondered what had happened.

Was Dani mad? Had Riley done something? Maybe she lost her phone? What if she was hit by a car? Or what if they found her?

The Moth was on their way towards Firebringers place when someone at the hospital finally answered the phone. It stopped the twilight dancer in their tracks.
            In Critical condition
    Multiple gun wounds.
                Acute blood loss.
They withered into a stream of distant noise, ringing like a swarm of insects deep in their ear canal. It caused their equilibrium to twist and shift, their balance weakened.

Riley doesn't recall how they got to the hospital. They vaguely remember shouting at a doctor when they weren't able to see Firebringer in Critical care. They reflect the taste of cold coffee and the flickering florescent light in the waiting room. The Moth couldn't stay there every day waiting, work had to be done, but they visited again and again. At night they crashed at Archie's house. They were distracted at work, off-balance. But who could they tell there? Who would listen. They had Archie; they had Linden.

It wasn't for a few days before Riley finally could visit.

Riley was sitting next to her bed, on their phone looking at something. At their feet was a canvas bag and and on the night stand bouquet of sunflowers mixed with wildflowers and sprigs of lavender.  
When Dani made sounds of awakening, Riley sat up and put down their phone. 

"Hey," The Darkling said softly there was a quiver in the usually confident Wisps voice.

Danica blinks a few times and tries to sit up a little, but finds herself in a deep bit of pain, "Oh god, fuck, shit." This was worse than the Desert. She didn't think that would be possible. She lets out a sharp breath and looks over to where she heard the voice and she finds Riley next to her. And Riley is a beautiful sight. There has been a giant wad of confusion and pain and they were the only clear thing she's seen in the last few days.

There is a warmth that spreads throughout her chest and she smiles faintly, "Hey." Her voice is quiet, in stark contrast to her groans from before, and there is a sweeter quality to it. Even her orange eyes seem a little less like lava and more like a fuzzy warm. Her eyes soon scan around a little and she takes a breath, "How long have I been...?" 

She catches shifting colors from the corner of her eye and a large wrapped box. Kai. Her eyes move towards her. God, this is so weird. Is this what it felt like for everyone else in the desert? Waking up with people coming to look at you? It feels weird. Nice, but weird. 

"Hey, Kai. Uh," she looks at Riley before looking back at her, "You're fine, now. Thanks for visiting." Though, she's still trying to remember entirely what happened. The exhaustion from it all is weighing on her a bit, but she's going through it. She doesn't want to sleep anymore anyway. 

"I'm so glad to see you're okay, Dani. I took the liberty of ordering a pizza? Double pepperoni...?"

Hospital food was so blasé. She offered a hopeful smile, 

She accepted the chair by taking a seat in it and placing the box on her lap. She didn't immediately move to pass the gift along. There would be time. She reached out to Riley, placing her hand on the moth's shoulder. Her fingers were long and slender, coming to points that hadn't been there when last the pair had spent. The touch was gentle, emotion charged in every tip. Her colors glowed a little, golds and warm crimsons speaking of the depths within. She radiated camaraderie and warmth as she whispered, "Hey... it's over. You're here now, Riley. You're both here, and you're both safe..." The words weren't what was important. Perhaps it was a little jarring, the way the Polychromatic simply drank in emotion, but connection was everything at a time like this. Subconsciously, the colors matched Riley's feelings and pulsed outward, as if to simulate release.

"Pizza? That's great, thank you," Riley said, flashing a smile to Kai before looking to Firebringer. She was apologizing again; the Moth Reached out and patted Dani's hand.



The Moth typically was skilled at presenting a good face. And for a moment, they were able to keep that up for Firebringer.


Riley's eyes went back to Kai, who looked different; her form was longer, stretched, sharper than before. It was clear that the Wizened was more than she was the last time they met. It caused the Darkling's hair to stand slightly on end. The kaleidoscope of colors of the polychromatic glinted and shimmered in the black wells of the Moth's eyes.

Riley could fool the best of people with a smile. The Moth could dance around most, letting them only see what they desired them to see. But Kai, Kai was similar to an arrow. She could see beyond the guise and the smile.



The Darklings shoulder tensed and then relaxed as Kai places her hand upon it. Riley opened their mouth and then looked back to Firebringer. For a moment, they were comforted, reassured by the gesture and kindness that Kai offered. But her words, her words, hit something.

"Safe?" The Moth asked, looking to Kai, then back to Fire.

"Over?! " Riley voiced raised emotionally, cracking slightly at the nod. As the Moth tried to keep it together.

"It was over before even I knew it had started, Kai! " Riley's hand was shaking; they looked away from Kai and back to Dani.

"What happened, Dani?!" Their voice was quivering now.

Don't do this. This isn't about you. She needs rest.

This isn't how Riley wanted to handle this, But it all was starting to fall out. The Moth was grappling, trying to keep it together, but it was like a stone in their wall had been moved, and the foundation was collapsing.

The darkling had made been working on theories of what happened for the last few days. Their hunch had been either, Firebringer had got caught in the crossfire between gangs, or it had been some damn foolhardy Ironspear shit. So when they heard it had to do with Feds, Riley was thrown off.

The story wasn't very straightforward, and Riley was trying, really trying to follow along. To let their anger not race their mind to their own thoughts, to be present and hear.
Feds? A Beast Girl? Someone else was shot? Where the fuck was she?

"The feds? Fuck Dani-" It was amazing winter wasn't knocking already.

Riley reached out to grasp Fire's hand, their own quivering. The emotions and adrenaline coursed through them. Dani began to cry, and despite Riley's best efforts not to, their own eyes started to grow wet. The story fell apart at this point, leaving more questions than answers.

"Stop! Stop apologizing.." Their voice still echoed with frustration but also sorrow and confusion.

Firebringer apologized too much; it drove Riley crazy sometimes. But at this moment, the wisp almost wanted her to apologize. To say she was sorry for letting this happen, for being in this state.

This isn't about you. This is about her.

Riley tried to remind themself, but they were still so angry; what were they mad about. The moth looked to Kai, frustrated for a moment for having this vulnerability in front of someone else. It was embarrassing.

"Dani, why didn't you contact me?" Riley knew it was unfair to ask that.
"It took over a day to figure out what happened. You could have been dead; you could of behave stolen. Who was with you? "

"Were you there!? Did you know?" Riley looked at Kai sharply,  as they asked accusingly of the other summer. There was a flash of regret in their eyes, at their tone.

Dani opens her mouth and then closes it again. She feels cornered as if somehow she had the ability to fix all of this. Did she? She was barely conscious when Finn was done with her. She couldn't have done anything, could she? Her heart starts palpitating, her eyes dilating a little as the stress begins to eat at her.

Maybe it is just this whole situation, but watching Riley look like this makes her feel like she's completely failed. Riley should never look like this. They should never look this terrified, this angry, this... whatever this is, because clearly she doesn't know them well enough to have been ready for this earlier. Fuck.

A tear slips from her eye and she grips the blanket and looks down at her lap, "I just- I don't know, Riley." There is some exasperation to her voice, a defensiveness beginning to creep up and take over.

She shakes her head and moves her hand to wipe away the tear, "I've barely been conscious the last couple of days," And you weren't the first thing on my mind the moment I woke. Oh dear god. That thought terrified her. It made her tense. Did that make her a bad partner? Isn't that what you're supposed to do? Think of them first? But, but then how is she supposed to worry about herself? She can't leave that all to Riley.

"Don't yell at Kai, it isn't her fault. She didn't know. Rowan did, but..." What is friendship? Had he even been here? Probably not. Why does that make her want to cry? It isn't because she wanted him to be there, right? No, it's the principle of it. Being cared about enough to- but then, this is why Riley is here. This is why Kai is here. They're here because they care. Riley is pissed and all kinds of other things because they care.

Fire swallows and lets out a long sigh, trying to figure out how to explain it better, "We were at a diner. We met a member of our club. She was being pursued by feds, though I'm not even sure how accurate that is, for some reason and I just... jumped in. I wasn't going to let one of our own get nabbed by god knows what right in front of me. Once it started, there was nothing I could do, okay?"

It felt like a shit excuse, but it wasn't really an excuse at all. It was the truth. It's what happened. And Riley should know enough about Dani by now to know that she did exactly what she'd expect her to do, whether wanted or not. Best not to go into exactly how close to being dead she was. One wrong move...

Her heart begins beating faster and she purses her lips, trying to take breaths through her nose slowly, worried she might start... something. Panicking? Stressing out? She's already at that point, so what's one more set of stabbing emotions on top of it. "Would it have even made you feel better if I called? With-I..." Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

"What was I supposed to do, Riley?" It was a question that covered so many topics in this conversation. What was she supposed to do with the Alecto situation? What was she supposed to do about being shot? What was she supposed to do when she got taken to the hospital? What was she supposed to do? What could she have done that would have made Riley not feel like this? 

Is this supposed to be about Riley or about you? They're not the one sitting in a hospital bed. She blinks, hardly able to process that intrusive thought.

"You're angry because someone shot her. It's okay, Riley. It would honestly be super weird if you weren't." She chuckled gently. "Blame the shooter. They're responsible for it, for her injuries and your feelings right now. It's okay to be angry at them. It's okay to want justice."

Changelings had to deal with normal people feelings too, including when they were victims of violent crime.

"If you had interfered with a legit Fed, I think you would be in custody. You aren't, so... you did good. For someone you don't even know. There is nothing to second-guess. Sounds like a hero to me."