Clash

[Riven]

OOC: Occurs directly after the "I can see the future and I'm satisfied..." thread

After leaving Christine's room, Riven made his way down the hall toward his own dorm. It had been a hell of a day and he was exhausted. All he wanted to do was to kick off his shoes and relax. As much as he wanted to see Christine get back to her old self, Riven knew that he couldn't force her to do anything. Whatever she did or didn't do, it would have to be her choice. With an exhausted yawn, Riven knew that that meant it was only her business as to how she dealt with her feelings for Sky.

As his thoughts shifted to Sky, Riven felt his blood begin to boil. Even though logically he knew that Sky didn't have to be around for Christine and didn't have to treat her in any particular way, it didn't change his feelings that the guy was being a jerk. It wasn't a matter of whether he had to do anything; it was a matter of courtesy and manners, if not friendship. Christine needed him and his support, but did he care? Of course not. The selfish bastard only cared about what he wanted and what was easiest for him. Clenching his fists, Riven shook his head. Christine was in a damn wheelchair and all Sky could think about was that it was "too painful" for him to be around her because of his confused little heart. Idiot. He was an idiot. The pretty little prince actually thought he knew something about pain? He didn't know squat.

Rounding a corner, Riven felt his body slam against someone. Not in the mood to deal with anyone, he snarled without bothering to see who the person was, "Watch it." As he finally glanced down, Riven felt his body grow even more tense. Perfect. Just perfect. Of course he would run into Sky. Taking a step backward, Riven held up his hands as he said through clenched teeth, clearly trying to keep his composure, "If you know what's best for you, get the hell out of my sight."

[Sky]

Confused beyond belief at Riven's attitude, Sky asked as he pushed himself to his feet, "Hey, man, what happened? If it was something bad, I'm sorry and all, but you don't need to take it out on me." Seeing that his words seemed to have no effect on Riven, Sky asked nervously, "Uh . . . so are we cool?"

[Riven]

"Cool? Cool!" Riven repeated incredulously. "Where do you get off asking me if we're cool?" Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Riven then said flatly, "I don't think it's me that you should be asking 'are we cool' to, if you get my drift."

[Sky]

Sky let out an exasperated groan as he asked, "If this is about Christine, then please, do me a favor and keep your thoughts to yourself because, newsflash, whatever is going on between the two of us is none of your damn business! Got that, Riven? It's not your business and it's not anyone's business besides Christine's and mine. Tell me, why is that so hard for people to understand?"

[Riven]

"What did you say to me?" Riven snarled. Scathingly, he continued, "Correct me if I'm wrong, your highness, but did you just tell me that I shouldn't care about my friend's well-being? Because, even though this may be hard for you to comprehend, Christine is my friend and I look out for her. And you know what? She's hurt. She's hurt because of you and that's just not acceptable in my books. So I'm making this my business. Got a problem with it?"

[Sky]

"Yeah, Riven; I actually do have a problem with it," Sky snapped. "The way I see it, Christine is old enough to handle her own affairs; she doesn't need you hunting me down to give me some lecture about how I should feel about her. So you know what? Get the hell out of my face."

[Riven]

Riven looked down at his hands for a moment as he slowly clenched and unclenched them. Stepping back, Riven for a moment looked as though he was going to simply walk away; then, without warning, he swung his fist and slammed it against Sky's jaw. At the feel of bone contacting bone, Riven felt an odd sense of joyful release; determined to feel the sensation again, he swung his fist and once more, came into contact with Sky's jaw. At the sound of a loud crack, Riven smirked as he finally stepped back and observed his work.

Lifting his right hand so that it was eye level, Riven smiled as he said almost lovingly to it, "Thanks, baby; you haven't failed me yet." Moving to stand over Sky's body, Riven arched a brow as he said, "Keep pulling one over on Chris, and there'll be plenty more of that coming to you."

[Sky]

Temporarily stunned, Sky remained on his back as he looked up into Riven's scowling face. As the waves of pain began to swirl around his jaw, Sky closed his eyes, feeling more than slightly humiliated. After a few moments, he finally opened his eyes again and tentatively sat up. As his vision focused on his surroundings, Sky saw Riven's retreating back walking down the hall. Furious that Riven could just walk away after what he had done, Sky staggered to his feet. Riven had no right to do this to him. None. And if the guy thought that he could make him quake in his boots that easily, he had another thing coming to him.

He'd pay. Sooner or later, he'd pay.

Until then, though, Sky thought as he winced in pain, he had better get his face cleaned up. The last thing he needed was to show up to class the next day with a bigger bruise than absolutely necessary.

As Sky walked wearily down the hall toward his own dorm, he paused outside Christine's door. Taking a step forward, he started to lift his hand to knock before it slowly fell down by his side. Now wasn't a good time. Christine didn't need to see him like this - didn't need to know why he looked like this. It'd only upset her. And it was late. She was probably already asleep.

Sighing, Sky continued down the hall. There was always tomorrow, though. Always tomorrow.

Some excuse.