You smacked your head, that's why. (SNIGGY)

The boy lay unconscious on a cot in the infirmary. His blonde hair was plastered to his forehead by the sweat he was putting off. The sweating wasn't really worrying, Ben thought as he pulled off three of the four blankets the young Apollo trainee had covered the boy with. It wasn't that cold, not in the infirmary, anyways. He felt around on the boy's head, locating the goose egg bruise the blonde gotten when he had slipped on the frozen lake and knocked himself out and laying an icepack under it.

There was a faint sound, a beeping of sorts, that played softly in the back of his head. Beep, beep. A cardiac monitor. The noise was fuzzy, unfocused, out of reach. But slowly it grew closer, and Landon could feel his head swimming.

It wasn't him, he determined. The noise was echoing down a hall or something, but it wasn't him. Thank god. The sound was strange. Familiar, yet foreign. He felt himself resurfacing as more noises began to sound. There were occasional scuffles and squeaks of shoes against tile, a shifting of glass or metal utensils, a generator buzzing nearby.

He could see the color under his eyelids. Black lightened to gray, then to red. He opened his mouth a crack, let out something of a squeak. It was meant to be an uncomfortable groan, but a meager squeak was the only thing he could manage in his state. His eyes fluttered open, and everything was hazy. He could feel something cold on the backside of his head, and heat radiating from his forehead.

A figure seemed to be looming over him. He tried to focus in. It was a boy. Tall with blonde hair. Landon squinted to try to make out facial details, but it was futile. He could see a mouth and shadows for two eyes, but nothing more. What happened? He tried to ask, though it came out as a strange, mangled noise from his throat.

Ben glanced down at the boy. He was moving. "Hmm. Alright." That was good, he supposed. The boy had been unconscious for quite a while, and no one had ID'd him yet. "Welcome back to the world of the living. Try not to move your head to much, you probably have a concussion." He pressed a cool towel to the boy's forehead, then paused. He needed to get a name on this kid, or he'd be calling him boy forever. That wouldn't be very good, considering figure on the cot appeared to be his age, give or take a few months. "I'll be right back." and with that he left the boy on the cot alone, walking out the door and down the hall.

Ben returned about a minute later, glass in hand. He set down the water, before gently lifting the boy's head with one hand and propping it up with a neck pillow. Returning the water to his grasp, he tilted it into the boys mouth.

"Drink." This was not a request.

Once the most of the water was in the boy's throat, and the rest of it had dribbled out the corner of his mouth, Ben set down the glass and dabbed up the liquid on the boy's chin. He leaned in close and spoke kindly, quietly. "Can you talk? If you can, please tell me your name. I'm Ben, by the way."

By the time the guy had returned, objects were coming into focus... if at least temporarily. The white lights were painful to look at, and he felt his eyes strain as he tried to figure out where he was. Everything was white. The walls, the tile floor, the cabinets. His heart began to pound. Crap, crap, crap crap crap, no. He was foggy, had they sedated him with something? Chiron probably saw how much of a freak he was. Probably had him sent back sometime a few days prior.

The boy leaned in close and said something. All Landon got out of it was "Ben." He jerked upright, and, unfortunately, did so too soon, smacking foreheads with the other boy. Crap, that hurt. He fell back unto the pillow with a groan and rolled onto his side, hiding his forehead under his skinny hands.

The boy sat quickly, smacking Ben on the forehead. He swore as he reeled backward. "FU-AUGH!" He backed into another cot, which he tripped over comically and fell on his back. "Owwwwwwwwwwww..." He stood back up rubbing his forehead, and looked at the boy. The poor kid was freaking out. "Geez. Calm down. You slipped and hit your head. You need to rest. Who are you?"

Landon just shook his head. No, no they wouldn't get his name. If they didn't know his name then they couldn't go into his history and if they couldn't get into his history they couldn't realize how much of a psycho he was. If they didn't know that, they couldn't send him back.

He burrowed under the thin cotton blanket and pulled it around himself in hiding. "No.." He whimpered, just above a whisper. "Please, please no." It had been hell getting out of there, convincing everyone he was okay. Simply hell. There was no way he'd go back. He couldn't deal with another half a year of people prying into his life, stripping him from all rights and personal thought.

Ben pulled the sheet away, and for the first time got a clear look at the boy's face, unobscured by bangs or blanket. His eyes widened. He knew this guy. He'd been in the Hera Cabin, prior to the construction of Khione's. He'd always been a bit of a loner, but Ben had gone out of his way to be kind to him. He knew what it was like not to have anybody. "Landon. Landon! It's me, Ben! From Cabin 2! Do you remember?"

Landon heard his name being called. They knew, they knew, they knew oh holy hell they knew. And now he wasn't going to be allowed to stay at camp. He curled up on his side and squeezed his eyes shut. "Please, I don't want to go back! I don't want--" He was cut off at the mention of Cabin 2. He quieted down and opened his eyes, staring at the wall. You know, he did recall some kid name Ben living in the cabin with him for a little while.

Landon turned onto his back and stared at Ben silently. So, why was he here, then? Wait, Ben wouldn't take him away, would he? Landon thought they got along okay... Why would he do that? There had be another reason. "Why am I here...?" He asked, slightly above a whisper. As he mumbled the words, he looked around the room frantically, just in case somebody else was watching or...something.

Ben smiled slightly. He was getting through. "This is the camp infirmary, you're safe here. You slipped on the ice outside you cabin and hit your head. You've been unconscious for about two hours. How are you feeling?" He placed a hand gently on Landon's shoulder. "Don't be scared. I'm your friend, remember?"

"Oh," Landon breathed out a sigh, followed by a nervous laugh. "Oh god. I thought I was taken away." His heart was pounding in his chest, but he tried to regain his composure. "Yeah, I remember. Ice? Kind of funny, being a Khione kid and all..." He let out a quiet, strained chuckle. "Mom never much did like me." His head was fogging up again, the drama hadn't done much of anything for the pounding migraine. "So..what are you doing here?"

Ben laughed. "I suppose that is kinna ironic. As for why I'm here, my dad's the god of doctors. It's kinna like my job." He pulled a stool up next to Landon's cot."It's been a while. How are you doing? Aside from the obvious, I mean."

Landon nodded, shrugged, and closed his eyes. "The new cabin is...cold." Putting thoughts together coherently was becoming a challenge, he found. "I'm okay, though. Met a girl." He half smiled, eyes still closed, thinking about her. When he opened his eyes again, he glanced to the side at Ben sitting on a stool. "So, how about you? What have you been up to?"

Cold. Imagine that. Ben chuckled. "Lucky." He thought for a moment. Hmm, let's see... I found out i had a brother, almost died saving him, then hooked up with him. Hmmmmm... "You know, same ol' same ol'. I did find somebody though."

Landon grinned at the younger boy. Funny, how unshy he was being. But he got a good vibe from Ben, and Ben had never done anything bad to him back in the Hera cabin. He raised one eyebrow and prodded for information. "Oh, so who is the lucky girl?"

Ben blushed and glanced off to the side.
"Uhh, oh, it's, uh, it's no one you'd know, uh..." He started to get flustered. AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-

Landon's smile faded. Ben didn't trust him? The guy suddenly seemed unable to keep himself together. Landon opened his mouth to speak but got distracted when the door to the infirmary opened. He turned his head to see who the unfortunate victim was.

Charlie slid through the door and closed it shut with her foot, a sheepish grin on her face. She scanned the room for anyone who might be able to help her. The first person her eyes rested on was a tall, muscular guy sitting on a stool with short blonde hair. Funny, he resembled a guy Torin had once mentioned to be someone he liked. Word on the street was that they made out...maybe more. She grinned, raising an eyebrow. "Yo. You're Torin's boyfriend, right? Wanna help me out?" She raised her swollen red arm and gestured towards it with her other hand. "Bent it back ziplining. It was that or crash face first into a tree." Her shoulders rolled in a light, care-free shrug.

Ben's face went blank. He slowly turned to face Charlie, mortified. And scared. This girl was trouble. He glanced back at Landon quickly, unable to gauge his reaction. "Uhh, yeah, that's me. Sure, I'll help you out." He turned back to Landon, blushing bright red and not holding eye contact. "I'll, uhh, I'll be right back!"

Charlie strolled over casually, oblivious to Ben's obvious discomfort. "Chill out, no need to get up. Arm's messed up, not my legs." She winked and moved in, plopping down on the edge of Landon's cot.

Landon blinked, and stared at her in surprise.

She turned and looked at him, smiling. "Yo." She waved her good arm, before turning back to Ben. "So, I hear you hooked up with Torin. Did some...stuff. Dirty boy. Got some, eh? Congrats." She laughed with a light heart, still not aware of how scared Ben was.

Landon absorbed her words. Then he blushed, remembering how he'd said, "How's the lucky girl." Crap. Crap, crap, crap. Landon didn't know Ben was gay! He'd never mentioned it before! His cheeks turned tomato red and he stared blankly at Ben. Through him, practically. His jaw dropped. "I, uh...uh..."

Ben was, by this point, flushing so hard he thought he was going to pass out. "Umm, I think I have some painkiller in here, maybe a splint," He leaned over to the small table he used as a station and grabbed the items he needed; straightening up too quickly he smacked himself upside the head on the tabletop. "Owwwww..." He applied the splint to Charlie, then turned back to Landon. The Khione boy's was blank faced. "Uhh, yeah... I guess that tells it..."

Charlie looked at her wrist, now braced with the splint, and grinned. "Nice. So, I can get out of here then, yeah?"

Landon shook his head vigorously, then flinched at the rush of pain it brought. Right, concussion, dumb idea. He bit his lip and looked back up at Ben. Ben seemed petrified. "It's not a big deal, you know. I-I'm sorry I said girl...that m-must've...yeah... sorry." He laid back in the bed and pulled the blanket up to his chest, almost retreating under it. He need a barrier between Ben and himself. Ben was probably frustrated now. It must've been why he had been stuttering earlier. Didn't know how to explain it to Landon and was too annoyed by his offensive comment.

Ben whirled on Charlie. "Yes, LEAVE!" He hoped he hadn't sounded too forceful, but at the same time doubted Charlie would care if he had. He turned back to Landon. "You don't mind?" Relief was clear in his voice. "Oh thank gods. I was scared that you'd... yah know... Most people here are open minded, but you never can tell."

Charlie blinked. "Well, Christ, I didn't think I was that much of a problem to deal with. Who the hell are you, anyway?" She folded her arms over her chest and bit the corner of her lip to keep from punching the fool. it was like, hi! How are you! Now GET OUT. Mood swings much?

Landon was about to speak but Charlie managed to speak first. She seemed irritated and, well, he couldn't blame her. Ben did seem a little on edge...But that couldn't be helped, either. Instead, he didn't say anything, just shrugged to the Asclepius boy.

Ben muttered a sorry to Charlie. "'Was rude of me..." He turned back to Landon. "I'm glad it doesn't bother you. You're a really cool guy, yah know that?" He grinned awkwardly.

Landon gave Ben a small smile. Well, it was always nice to be called cool instead of a complete freak. He eased himself under the blankets, his head beginning to throb painfully.

Charlie rolled her eyes. That was probably the worst apology she had ever heard, but she clearly wasn't going to get anything better. Still pissed, she wriggled her arm out of the splint, wincing as she did so, and threw it at Ben before stuffing her good hand in her sweatshirt pocket and moving to the infirmary exit.

The splint smacked Ben on the head. He whirled on Charlie. A small cut appeared on his finger, and a tiny jet of blood shot out, splashing onto the crotch of her shorts. "GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR PERIOD, BY THE WAY." He yelled that last part loud enough for most of the Infirmary to hear. He felt bad immediately. "Ok yeah that was mean..."