Athens: Two Weeks Later

"The two have always been this way. I imagine they were worse before I met Donnovan and he brought his brother to me. I must say, though, Donnovan may have been my original target, but Will has certainly shown that he is worthy of my time, even if he may get a bit obnoxious. The boy fights with purpose, and I respect that."

"Well I didn't have brother to fight with. I had my fellow students. Can't tell you how many times I ended up in my room fighting with the boys. I learned to hog tie people at a early age."

Sodom nodded and looked back to his book, flipped the page, and wrote on the margin.

Will appeared on the branch in front of her, shaking his wet hair and grinning. 'He's not listening anymore, you know. It's like when old people turn down their hearing aids, only he does it with books,' he whispered conspiratorially. He glanced over his shoulder into the valley and laughed boisterously. 'Having fun?' he yelled after Donnovan, who he'd left to catch both of the horses again.

She was looking at the boys when Will disappeared. Two seconds later he was in front of her. She accidentally let go of the branch she was holding on to and fell. She hit the ground with a little thud. "Well thanks for informing me on what I already knew," she stayed on the ground fora bit. "You know that hurt but not as much as I thought it would. I figured it would be worse."

He chuckled, offering her a hand. 'Sorry.'

Monica took his hand and pulled him down. "I think the world is a much better place down here."

'Oof!' Will landed on his back with a thud, then grinned up at her slyly. 'I like to think it is.' Without warning, he pulled her to the ground. 'Figured I'd share the splendor of lying in the dirt.' He stuck out his tongue in a childish gesture.

She was pulled down by Will and ended up next to him. The ground wasn't that bad. She grabbed his tongue. "Got it," she laughed then let it go. She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Why thank you for pulling me down in the dirt."

'Anytime.' He grinned, tugging her hair playfully. 'I'll be around whenever or wherever you require annoyance.'

He tugged her hair a little bit. She messed his up in return. "Well then this is going to be fun," she poked him in the side. "Are you ticklish?"

Will made an exaggerated face. 'PSH. No.' He paused. 'Maybe. You may never know,' he added ominously.

Monica got to her kness and started to try to find Will's tickle spot. She tickled his tummy first. "I'll find it if you do have one."

He grinned. 'Oh, no you won't.' Then he was gone. He hung upside-down from a branch and grabbed Monica by the shoulders. 'Come on. You knew I was faster than you.'

She sighed and felt hands on her shoulders. "This is true you were," she looked up at him. She grabbed his hands and yanked him down to the ground again. "But I never said you were smarter."

Will landed on his back with a thud. 'Touche.'

He chuckled. 'Heads I run, tails we continue this lovely conversation?'

Monica smiled. "But where will you be running to," she stood. "You can't just leave me here."

'Of course I can. I don't see why not.' He jumped to his feet and smirked. 'How're you gonna stop me?'

She moved closer to him. "Do you really want to know," she gave a half smile. With her foot she swept his feet out from underneath him.

'Not fair!' he called from the ground. 'If I slow down for you, you've gotta dumb down a little bit.'

She smiled down at him. "Well maybe if you tell me where you are going."

He chuckled. 'But that's half the fun!' He flashed a smile, standing and looking down at Monica. 'Besides, it's not like I'd leave you for too long. I mean, Donnovan's got a stick up his ass, and Sodom ignores half of what anyone says. I'm the only entertainment around here.'

She looked up at him. "So you won't tell me but I know you'll come back," she pondered that for just a moment. "Still though I want to know where you are going."

'Why don't you try to guess?' He winked, eyes sparkling with amusement.

"But I don't know here at all," she said. It was true she wasn't use to this place, she nearly got lost on her way here. "I'm going to say it is safe to assume you would stay in the city."