Sylvie nervously brushed her blonde hair away from her face. "Why did I ever let it grow?" she wondered out loud.
A hand gently took hers. "I think you said once that you were jealous of your roommates." She laughed, turning to face Carlos, who looked stunning - if uncomfortable - in his court dress. "Did I tell you that one of them was the one that nearly got you killed?" He chuckled. "No, I can't say that you did." Her other hand reached up, and he captured that one, too. "Leave it. You look beautiful." She blushed. "Thank you, oh hero." She eyed the medal resting on his chest. "So, am I here to be your escort, or are you here to be mine?" she teased. He laughed, his cheeks tinted pink like they always were when she called him hero. "It's a mutual thing. How's your leg?" She shifted slightly, and hid a wince. "Well enough to walk this hall." "Trey would have let you ride, you know. He offered." Sylvie shook her head. "I'm not that incapacitated. Besides, how good will that look if I have to be carried down the hall? Trey's advisors would take one look at me and refuse to have a branch of the school here." An odd sensation, if a familiar one, slid up her arm, her neck and into her ear, interrupting the flow of her argument. Quicksilver extended from the ear piece to create a small microphone for her to talk into. "Chameleon," she said sharply. "I'm sorry." Andros' voice was a little tinny. "You're needed." Sylvie smiled tightly. "I'm sure Trey will understand." Carlos let her hands go, a sad smile on his face. "I'll explain." Sylvie nodded her thanks, and limped toward the window. "Where, and who?" She'd morphed before she'd reached the window, and was out it before Andros had given her all the specifics. It took her a while to find her window when she returned. She landed ungracefully, demorphing as she did, and collapsed. To her surprise, she didn't land on the floor, but into someone's arms. She was too tired and in too much pain to care who it was, just glad that someone was there. That someone lifted her and carried her gently to her bed, where she finally lost consciousness. When she awoke, there was sun in her eyes. The downside to waking was that the pain was back, if muted. She groaned low and tried to get up. It took her two tries to sit up, and the cup of water on the table next to the bed looked really good. Once she'd drunk that, she looked around again. Her dress, a gift from Trey's wife, lay across one of the low, comfortable chairs that sat before the fireplace, bloodstained and ripped and completely unwearable. At the foot of the bed, in the large, overstuffed arm chair, Carlos sat, slumped like Delilah when Sylvie had played with her. He was asleep, looking like the teenager he'd been when she'd first met him. It was his eyes that made him look old. She sighed and moved to actually get out of bed, and that elicited a louder groan from her. Carlos started awake and was at her side in an instant. "Hey, you're not supposed to be up," he said, firmly pushing her back onto the bed. "Don't you have your own quarters?" she teased as he made her sit back down. "Yes," he said, "but Andros told me you were pretty beat up, and I know the Rangers you've hung out with. Stubborn will seems to be inherent. I think it comes with the powers." She smiled as he made her lay down. "Was Trey angry?" He chuckled, pulling the blankets up to her chin. "No. Some of his councillors were not too happy, but there isn't much they can do, with Trey on one side and Kyeri on the other." "Are they going to allow us to have a branch of the school here?" "They haven't decided yet. They still want to talk to you." She crinkled her face. "Oh, great. And I don't have a dress to wear any more," she lamented, gesturing to where her ruined one lay. "I should probably just go in my uniform, anyway." Carlos kissed her forehead. "You stay put. I'll find you a large breakfast." She grabbed his hand as he started to move away. "Thank you. For being there last night," she said softly. "It's great to have a friend like you." He smiled. "Of course," he told her, just as softly and a little wistfully, and left the room. "I Wonder What it's Like...."