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Chapter 36: The Hero

Geoff moved back into a starting position as he finished the Kung Fu form he had been working on as a cool down after his morning workout. He found he was really enjoying the addition to his physical activity during the day. He was often very restless, to the point it made it difficult to sit still during school, but his new morning routine, hopefully a permanent routine, really helped with that. Wake up and have sex with Nathanial as a 'warm up', then, once they separated, go workout, and cool down by practicing some Kung Fu. After school was more Kung Fu or soccer, well there would be more soccer once they found a new coach. Ms. Paul and Mrs. Davis would be taking turns trying to fit practices in when they could. He'd still like the opportunity to get some more exercise during the school day; he took Physical Education thinking it'd scratch that 'itch', but it was a lot of class work and not enough moving. The lunch period just wasn't long enough for that, either, not since he'd need to shower after, and Nathanial wouldn't be able to use that drying spell without raising too many questions. Granted, he'd only had two classes with 'Si Jo' Liam, so far, but it was fun. He hoped it was still fun when Liam started to add stuff like meditation and Chi focusing to the mix. He watched Nathanial finish the form, just after him; he loved watching Nathanial move around like that while naked. It wasn't sexual, but it was really sensual the way the body moved and the way the muscles played beneath the fur and skin. Nathanial added a very sexy element to it, because it was Nathanial and his pup was sexy no matter what he did, but Geoff enjoyed watching Faelen, too. Faelen's larger muscles and ripped body made the motion of his muscles very visible as he moved. Nicholas was on the cross trainer, doing a little more cardio work; he was visibly jealous as he watched them practice Kung Fu. He was extremely pleased, yesterday, when Garret had asked him if he wanted to take Kung Fu with him. It was obvious Nicholas had wanted Liam as his 'master', the pup occasionally dropped hints that he wanted Liam or Nathanial to dominate him, sexually, again. Nicholas was even more excited when Garret said a contractor was coming out tomorrow, now today, to examine the basement area the fitness room was going to be built in. Geoff couldn't help but get excited, too, it was going to be incredible. It was going to have two bikes and two elliptical cross trainers, enough free weights and benches for four people, and a space for up to eight people to practice Kung Fu. That space would also double as an area for other fitness uses: four heavy bags could be hung from the ceiling, there was jump ropes, resistance bands, mats for stretching and push-ups, among other things. All in all, the three households could probably use the room at once, as long as they used a different section- weights, cardio, and general fitness. Garret had also planned to have a shower area built onto one side, closed in and well ventilated, but it had six shower heads, shelves for people to put their clothes in, and a bench to sit on.

He noticed Nathanial smiling at him, "What?"

Nathanial's smile grew, "That's what I should be asking." He stepped over and kissed him, as he wrapped his arms around Geoff's neck, "You seemed to be staring off into space and grinning, while your tail was going a mile a minute."

Geoff blushed, "Ah, sorry. I was thinking about that gym your Da is getting built." Nathanial's face lit up, Geoff chuckled, "Yeah, I know. It sounds great!"

Nathanial let his boyfriend go, letting his paw gently rub along Geoff's neck and down his chest as Nathanial stepped back. "I promised Dad that I'd have breakfast with him, so I'm taking Nick back with me and showering at home. I'll meet you back here to walk to school with you. I already let Dirk know."

Geoff raised his eyebrows, "That spell, the telepathy thing, didn't you say it was line of sight, at one point?"

Nathanial grinned, "I break lots of rules, but this is more of a loophole, I guess. I do use it that way; it says 'sight', not 'eyesight'. My ESP counts as sight, it seems."

Geoff shook his head, and looked back over his shoulder as he walked with Faelen to the washroom, "That is a loophole, but a handy one. I'll see you soon, pup. And I'll see you later on, Nicholas." Nicholas raised his paw and stepped up to Nathanial as his brother opened a portal. Geoff froze for a second, just as the portal winked out. He could have sworn he saw something vaguely familiar moving around the edges of the portal. He shook his head and stepped into the washroom as Faelen got the water going.

Nathanial showed up early, intentionally early, to set out for school. Geoff wasn't surprised. He knew the pup was really nervous about today, and, honestly, so was Geoff. Nathanial was going to be the centre of attention the entire day. Geoff had seen some of the news broadcasts, on several different channels, yesterday, and Faelen told him about more. The twenty-four hour news channels had spent several hours with non-stop coverage of the event, with overblown analysis of every fictitious detail Jay had provided. Psychologists and psychiatrists talked about the trauma and psychological damage Nathanial must be suffering. Criminal analysts were going over what groups may be behind this latest attack and why, and so on. Geoff found it completely baffling; Faelen was extremely worried about how it was going to be drawing more attention to their group, and making his job harder. Nathanial just seemed overwhelmed.

Geoff set the pace a little fast, for Nathanial, he was trying to slowly get Nathanial built up to a pace Geoff found comfortable. His pup's dawdling walk was incredibly frustrating. They met Liam at the corner. Liam bowed to them and quickly ran his paws over Nathanial, "Satisfactory. You obviously had sex with Geoff again this morning. You are still producing Yin aligned Chi; it will take time before your body can adjust the balance of the Chi it produces, but that is to be expected and is being mitigated by the energy you receive from merely being in Geoff's presence. I am also pleased with the physical recovery you are making from this recent crisis, but you are stressed, again. You are not looking forward to school, today?"

Nathanial shook his head as they set out for school, "No. I saw some of the news last night, and it's absolutely ridiculous the way they were going on about the whole thing. On CBC's The National, the first seven minutes were dedicated to it, as well as another twenty minutes later in their hour long newscast. They almost never spend that much time on a single story unless its some major thing, like a huge riot on Bay Street, or something. School is going to be crazy! I'm... I, well, I don't know how to deal with whatever is going to happen."

Liam shrugged, "If you do not know what to expect, then do not worry so much. You know what the worst case scenario is, and the best case scenario. You can do nothing to influence the scenario that will occur, nor can you do anything to prepare for either, so relax. Allow what will happen, to happen, and ride out the storm. If you become flustered, or try to fight in futility, you will only make the matter worse. We will be with you, as much as we can."

Nathanial smiled weakly, "Thanks. I just hope there aren't any news crews there. I'll have to try to sneak in, if there are."

Geoff shrugged, "There might be, Mom said several tabloid 'reporters'," He made air quotes around the last word as his muzzle twisted into a disdainful snarl, "flew out from London yesterday afternoon, only two hours after the story first broke. Mom's talking about coming out after we get home from Kung Fu to see if Garret will let her interview you. It'd be a huge coup for her, and she'd be very gentle, she knows the real story and would work to keep the one Jay made plausible. She'd probably want to work with him to make sure it all fits."

Nathanial's eyes were wide and he shivered. They switched the conversation to the gym until they got closer to the school. They were still two blocks from school when Nathanial stopped in his tracks, "Oh, Zeus have mercy." He made a warding gesture as he closed his eyes.

Geoff pulled him into a hug, "Hey, what's at the school?"

Nathanial buried his nose into Geoff's fur. The gesture made Geoff feel protective and invincible, "There's reporters there. Thirty or so news vans, and well over a hundred reporters practically blocking the gates. The police are there trying to keep things in order, but any students walking are getting jumped by reporters." He focused for a minute, "No one's watching. I can open a portal to under the bleachers, there aren't any security cameras there, and that'd put us past the reporters. Can we do that, please? No one's watching us right now. I checked." Geoff let him go and glanced at Faelen. Faelen paused before nodding. Liam seemed all right with the idea, too. Geoff nodded, as well, and Nathanial sighed with relief, "Okay, let's hurry." The portal opened up and Faelen quickly stepped through and looked around. He nodded and motioned them to follow. They did, with Nathanial going last. The portal closed behind them. "Thanks, guys. I just wish I could open one right into the school, but the whole thing is covered in security cameras. It'd raise too many questions if they caught us leaving a washroom we never entered."

Faelen clapped him on the back, "I thought the same thing, and I would've pointed that out if you suggested it. Smart. Let's hurry inside before someone wonders why we're huddled under the bleachers. We should probably poke our heads into the front office, if it isn't swarmed by reporters. Mrs. Davis is probably going to want to talk to you if she's working today. Mr. Gomeche will be happy to see you, even if she isn't here." Nathanial reluctantly nodded. Geoff saw Faelen's point, it was better to seek her out, rather than have Ms. Paul pass the message on in home room. This way they could be there with him.

Nathanial closed his eyes for a second. He opened them as he swallowed heavily, and nodded with a little more confidence. "U-um, this way. We'll go down by the music room. It's the quickest and quietest, even if it isn't the most direct route." Nathanial led the way, his ears kept twitching around the whole time.

Three minutes later they walked into the front office. Ahmed jumped up, his hooves making a loud clatter on the tiles, "Nathanial! We weren't expecting you in, today! How are you, are you all right? Come in, please! Mrs. Davis wants to talk to you."

Mrs. Davis practically ran into the office, "Nathanial! I heard Ahmed, we really are surprised to see you. I wanted to thank you. I heard that I'm alive because of you. You risked your life to save me, I'm grateful. Thank you." She had tears in her eyes as she pulled him into a tight hug. She held him close for a few minutes, before letting him go and turning her back to blow her nose. "I saw you leave on a stretcher, you were unconscious when Ahmed and I came to. We spent a good part of the day being examined, but we suffered little damage, other than some memory problems. The doctor told us that the lost memories may or may not come back, but not to push it. We were lucky that's all we lost, we could have suffered irreparable brain damage from the chemicals. Ahmed only lost several minutes, but I seem to have lost large chunks of the last few days. What about you, how are you?"

Nathanial smiled timidly, "I-I'm fine. I woke up really disoriented sometime between ten and eleven in the morning. I don't remember much after Ms. Paul told me you wanted to talk to me about something. Just isolated flashes of stuff. A noise, part of an image, a smell; nothing coherent. I was told not to try to hard, either. If it comes back, it comes back, otherwise I should just count my blessings. It could have been much worse."

Mrs. Davis hugged him again, and stepped back, "The reporters didn't give you any trouble, did they? I was watching the cameras for you, and only saw you as you left the soccer pitch. How did you get back there?"

Nathanial blushed and lowered his head, "I saw the reporters and snuck around the school to come in from the back. We jumped the fence behind the stands, I noticed the cameras don't cover there, in case the reporters somehow hacked into them, and we walked under the stands to the point closest to the school. I know they all have my name and picture, so I didn't want them to see me. I just want to go to class, and go about my day quietly." Geoff surreptitiously adjusted himself; Nathanial looked too cute when he blushed like that.

Mrs. Davis smiled and nodded to Nathanial, "I understand. I've been harassed non-stop by the reporters for interviews and statements. I've made several complaints to the police about them trespassing on school property and for harassing your fellow students, but my authority ends at the gates to the school, and the police can do little unless they break a law. I recommend you continue to come into school the way you did today for the rest of the week, or get your... Who's your guardian, now? Your father? Our notes say he's rarely in the country, and we were to contact your brother Nicholas at George Montagu-Dunk Junior High if we were unable to contact your mother. We should probably update that, if possible."

"I am the primary caregiver for my brothers, but add my father to the list. He's going to be home much more often, now." Nathanial gave them Garret's number, and Ahmed added it in. "Nick is still a good person to call; he'll know if Dad's around, or who to call if he isn't. Probably one of my friends' fathers, um, since Dirk works for Conor, I guess Conor McDougal would be the best person to have as a third contact, if needed. He has permission to pick me up or to authorize Dirk O'Conall to, if he can't make it." Geoff was a little bit surprised at the subterfuge, he assumed Nathanial would've given his Da as the third contact, not Dirk. He knew he asked Nathanial to keep their relationship quiet, and the way he worded this implied that Nathanial wasn't any closer to Geoff than Faelen. His pup was becoming as careful and cunning as Faelen.

Mrs. Davis frowned, "Unfortunately, you don't have the authority to give them permission. Only a legal guardian can, your personal home situation, notwithstanding."

Nathanial shrugged, "You can call Dad, but he's probably driving to work right now. Or I can try to get him to call, later. With all of this... fuss, it's probably best to get this straightened out with several contingencies planned for as soon as possible."

Mrs. Davis nodded, "I agree. We'll call him after nine. Now, you should get ready for class. Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you weren't seriously hurt trying to save me."

Nathanial bobbed his head as he blushed and left the office. As usual for this time in the morning, there was a large crowd moving around the office, and one student noticed him and cheered. Suddenly, the whole corridor broke out in cheers and clapping. Nathanial tried to turn and run back into the office, but Geoff and Faelen took his arms and let Liam take point as they escorted him to his locker. Geoff hated being the centre of attention, but he was used to it. Nathanial was obviously not used to it, or enjoying the stares of the other students, as well as the occasional resurgence of cheers and attempts at slapping his backs and such. Geoff and Faelen had to leave him for a minute to get to their own lockers, and Nathanial was constantly interrupted by people trying to shake his paw and see how he was feeling. Geoff and Faelen started to make their way back, but they were slowed down by the crowds, even though their lockers were only a dozen paces away. Geoff saw a half dozen other students start to try to keep the crowds back from Nathanial. One tiny Ferret, barely five feet tall, planted herself behind Nathanial, and scolded people when they got too close. Nathanial turned to thank her when he was ready to head up to home room, "Um, th-thanks for helping me. I'm not used to people paying me any attention, well, good attention. I'd rather, um, well, thanks."

She smiled up at Nathanial, her black mask reminding Geoff of Micah's white one. Her whiskers twitched in amusement, "Yeah, I figured you were used to being bullied, not congratulated. Gay kids usually are. You should come out to the Gay-Straight Alliance sometime, meet some more students. I'm on the board, trying to fight this bigotry for when my little brother comes here."

Geoff's stomach clenched; if people knew Nathanial was gay, would they guess that he was dating him? Nathanial stepped back, his book bag making a loud clang as it hit his locker, "Wha'? Why? Um, why would you think, um, I was gay?" Geoff slowed down to see what she said, Faelen would tell him what he missed because of the noise, if anything.

She looked really surprised, "You're not? The whole school knows you have the hots for that foreign student you always hang out with. Rumours have been flying around about your sexuality since the first day, well, some from even before that. Some people even say he raped you in one of the washrooms when you flirted with him. I don't believe that, but people are saying it. You guys seem pretty close, not that I could blame either one of you, if you're gay. You're both really good looking, I'd ask either of you out in a second, if I thought I had a chance. Oh, I'm Michelle. Michelle Eiklenboom, by the way. Hope to see you out, sometime." She slipped through the crowd and vanished as Geoff and Faelen reached him.

They made a bit better time on their way to homeroom. Liam's obvious annoyance and the force of his personality made people subconsciously step clear of his path. Ms. Paul greeted them as they walked in, "Hello, Smith, Geoff. Nathanial! I didn't expect you in today! How are you feeling?" She smiled as she continued, "Feeling annoyed with that question, I bet. Mrs. Davis was hoping to see you, if you showed up today. Hello, Faelen. Now, step clear of the door, would you?"

Geoff grinned, "He is, Ms. Paul. Annoyed with the question, I mean." They paused to let her greet some more students, "We figured Mrs. Davis would want to talk to him, so we went there first, when we got to school. Yes, he's fine. Like Mrs. Davis and Mr. Gomeche, he has some memory loss, but only several minutes worth. Mrs. Davis suffered the worst of it." Ms. Paul adjusted her skirt and smoothed her top as Geoff talked, he noticed she was sitting a little taller when she faced him. "How long do you think these reporters will be camped out at the school?"

Ms. Paul shook her head, "I don't know. Not too long I hope. But, now, take your seats, please, the bell is about to ring. I'm glad you're well, Nathanial." Geoff led his friends to their seats, he noticed Betty was looking even more petulant and angry than normal.

Geoff heard her whisper, none too quietly, to one of her friends, "Why don't any of these idiots realize that mutt is putting all of us in danger? The attack was aimed at him, and there'll probably be more! He should be kicked out of the school, not called a hero. The fag probably tried to hit on a gangster in a washroom, or something."

Geoff could hear Faelen and Liam growling softly, he heard himself snarl in anger. He stopped and said in a loud stage whisper, "Nathanial, it sounds like Betsy still hates you. She's upset people are paying attention to you for saving Mrs. Davis' life, and not paying attention to her for... um, well, why would anyone want to pay attention to her?"

Liam answered Geoff in the same tone and volume, "I don't know, either. It sounds like she still hasn't found anyone desperate enough to bed her, yet. She's probably the one hitting on gangsters and keeps getting turned down as flat as her chest." Geoff swallowed his laughter, Betty wasn't very well padded, that way. He could tell Nathanial didn't like Liam's comment, though.

Ms. Paul cleared her throat, "Stop it, the three of you. Betty, Nathanial risked his life to save someone else. It doesn't matter who the target was, it's still a very brave and heroic act. We don't kick someone out of school because they're the victim of a crime, we try to protect them from any further criminal acts. Also, any further homophobic comments like that will earn you a suspension. As it is, you have detention after school. Geoff, Smith, behave yourselves." The bell rang to start school.

Geoff was glad today was one of the days that he shared all morning with Nathanial. He actually shared five out of his eight courses this year with the pup and Liam; Faelen was in all of his classes, of course. Liam and Nathanial shared six, the sixth one being Canadian History. Geoff didn't pick that one when he chose his course load because he assumed he'd be back home next year, or possibly sooner. Now he hoped he stayed in Nova Scotia until graduation. As the morning wore on he noticed Faelen and Liam were getting... twitchy. The same way they got after the food fight ended last Friday when they thought Betty's clique and Mr. Harpers fans might start trouble, nothing happened then, but it might've. He made sure to stay close to Nathanial. People were still coming up to him in the halls, but he wasn't being mobbed the way they were this morning. That Ferret girl, Michelle, waved to Nathanial and grinned at him when she saw Geoff was with him, when she passed by in the halls, too. Nathanial blushed cutely as he waved back. Geoff was really tempted to kiss him when he did that.

Now, however, it was lunch. Liam slipped away as they dropped their books off at their lockers. He had a packed lunch, as usual, so he made sure he claimed 'their' table as quickly as possible. Geoff was really tempted to start bringing in a lunch, just to avoid the bloody line up at the cafeteria. Geoff grabbed Nathanial's shoulder as they walked in to the lunch room, "Hey, pup. Go join Liam, I'll get your food for you. No need for both of us to suffer the line." His pup looked grateful, and gave him a weak smile. Geoff tried to keep his concern off his face; today seemed to be really wearing on Nathanial, he didn't look all that well. Faelen's ears were twitching as they joined the line. "What?"

Faelen shook his head, "Nothing, sir." Geoff cleared his throat, "Geoff. Sorry."

Geoff stepped in front of his friend, he knew Faelen preferred to stand behind him in lines, something about sneak attacks. Faelen was obviously distracted by what he was hearing around them, whenever he looked back Faelen's brows were creased, his ears twitching around, and a slight snarl would occasionally creep across his muzzle. As he stepped up to place his order, he asked the server, "Hi, could I get two of the special? I'm picking up one for Nathanial, too."

The Rabbit looked up, with a flirtatious smile, "Oh, hi, Geoff. Nice to see you, again. Your friend not well... Oh!" The brown bunny actually jumped in surprise, her wide eyes growing even wider, "Nathanial, that's the dog, oh, right. Jeepers, I never connected him to, sure." She quickly dished up two large plates and gave him two cartons of milk, "Here, your tray might be a bit heavy, but you look like a big, strong, Wolf. Pretty bad, too."

Geoff just grinned, "Thanks, ma'am. Have a good day." She flirted with Faelen a bit, too, when she served him. In short order they were making their way back to their table. He stifled a groan as he noticed that his table was practically swarmed. Granted, no one else was sitting at the table, other than Nathanial and Liam, but the surrounding tables, which were normally occupied by the shyer and less popular students, were crowded. The regular Betty groupies were sitting in the centre of the lunch room, as normal, along with most of the jocks and cheerleaders, but the rest of the more popular kids had moved from her 'area' to his. Betty looked as happy as he felt. Their eyes met and they snarled silently at each other. He sat down in his chair, "Here, Nathanial." He handed over the Akita's food and milk, "It looks a bit crowded today."

Nathanial nodded glumly, "Yeah, thanks for getting me lunch. I'm going to go to the library once I finish eating; this is too much. I'm really tempted to go home, but I've missed so much school already this year. I'm still worried about getting to Kung Fu after school, trying to get past all of those reporters, they're still out there. Three more crews showed up during chemistry."

Liam slapped the back of Nathanial's head, "Stop worrying, Healer's orders. We will leave as we came, the backside is preferable this week." His voice was kept low as he spoke.

Nathanial smiled "Isn't it always? That's what Geoff says whenever I ask him where he wants to put it." His voice was even quieter; Geoff doubted anyone with normal hearing would've been able to hear him, even if they were sitting right at their table.

Liam merely chuckled, softly, "No, not for me, even if it is the normal way for you. But, joking aside, Nathanial, please, keep calm." A very disgusted tone entered his voice, "We will find a way to avoid the parasites out front."

Geoff growled, "My mom is a reporter, Liam."

Liam raised an eyebrow, "And she ambushes kids in this fashion?"

Geoff looked away, "No, not that I know of. Certainly not willingly. She's an investigative reporter, she tracks down crooked businessmen and politicians. She's even done some stories on organized crime. Never any tabloid stuff." He knew there was several 'types' of reporters out there, and his Mom hated the paparazzi with a passion for giving all reporters a bad name, but the scorn in Liam's voice touched a nerve.

Faelen smiled, Geoff bet he was going to try to defuse any potential conflict, "Avery would be revolted by the circus out front. She tries to ambush her targets in private, and avoids these scrums or feeding frenzies whenever possible. If we leave the way we came, we can probably skip the bus ride altogether, right?" Nathanial nodded, he looked a little relieved, Faelen continued, "Then, why don't we take our time after school, and let things quiet down a little. Geoff and I have Phys. Ed. last thing, so just meet us inside the gym. There isn't much point in us showering if we're just going to get all sweaty again, is there? Heck, we might as well do our warm up here, and kill some time."

Nathanial looked nervous, still, "I, um, only have my Kung Fu stuff, I don't have any shorts or anything. I don't want to exercise in my uniform, and, well..."

Liam shook his head, "You don't want to be teased about wearing unusual clothing? I will also change out of my uniform should we decide to warm up here, and I imagine Geoff and Faelen will, as well, since the change rooms will likely be locked not long after school closes."

Geoff nodded, "We'll get all the stuff we need from our lockers before gym class, and just change into our Kung Fu garb right after. We'll figure out what to do, then."

Nathanial smiled, more sincerely than he had since early this morning, "Okay, we can get home the same way, too. We have to meet the contractor at four thirty. Um, that's Dad and I, not you guys. This way will make sure I'm home on time. When's your next soccer practice?"

Geoff shook his head, "Ms. Paul said they haven't found a permanent coach, she's going to be trying to get practices started, regardless. Mrs. Davis will be running some, Ms. Paul will do the rest." He opened his mouth to say something but a commotion just outside started up.

Nathanial's eyes went wide before narrowing in anger. He jumped up, knocking his chair flying and dashed out the door; Geoff quickly followed with Faelen and Liam. Nathanial was moving surprisingly fast, and he was already shoving his way through a crowd. The crowd moved apart when Nathanial shouted, "Move!" Geoff felt a shiver of fear dance along his spine, his pup was furious. The crowd was circling three students, a large male Horse, Michelle, and a pudgy chocolate Lab. The large piebald Horse had a bit of blood on his knuckles as he faced the little Ferret, Michelle. She was standing with her arms out between the Horse and the Lab, who was sprawled on the ground, holding a bloody nose.

The Horse grabbed Michelle by the shoulder and shoved her aside, sending her sprawling, "Move it, bitch. This is between me and the fag." Nathanial ran between the two and punched the larger student in the face, Geoff heard Liam make an approving noise. The Horse reeled back a few steps, blood dripping from his mouth. He spat out a wad of blood as he said, "Who the fuck are you, punk? I said..."

He didn't finish as Nathanial shut his mouth with a right uppercut, quickly followed by a left and then another right. The stunned Horse staggered back again, and Nathanial snarled as he shifted his left foot forward. Geoff almost burst out laughing, Nathanial looked like he was going through the first part of that form Liam was teaching them. Yup, his pup just followed up with a punch to the throat, the solar plexus, and then the groin. Then, Nathanial left the form and grabbed the Horse by his shirt and lifted him off the ground. His quiet voice carried across the silent courtyard, "I don't like that word. I don't like bullies, either. You call another student a fag, or try to beat someone up because you think they're gay, and I'll..." Nathanial was the one cut off this time, but by a voice, not a fist.

Mrs. Davis' shocked exclamation seemed to cool Nathanial's anger, a little, "Nathanial Marks, release him at once!" Nathanial snorted and tossed the bully away, as he turned to face the principal. The Horse only flew back three paces before his hooves hit the ground, but he tumbled over twice before laying in a heap on the ground. The crowd was now deathly silent. Liam ran over to check on the Lab. Mrs. Davis' eyes went wider than Geoff thought possible, before she managed to say, "Nathanial, I want to see you in the office, now. Geoff, Faelen, take those two to the nurse." Her voice shook, as did her hand when she pointed to the two lying on the ground. Her bristled tail twitched as she turned and went back inside. Nathanial looked like a cold-faced killer as he purposefully strode after her.

Liam helped the Lab up, as his Ferret protector ran over. She patted the Lab on his arm, "You okay? Wow, I heard the rumours that Nathanial beat up Mr. Harper and threw him against a door, but he's so small. Well, soft. He's a lot bigger'n me, but so is everyone else. Who'd have thought he had it in him?" She laughed, the sound making everyone jump a little, "Looks like we got a new protector to beat up those homophobic bullies, now, eh, Jeff."

Geoff twitched, "Pardon? It's Geoff, actually."

The Lab had opened his mouth but closed it when Geoff spoke. Michelle laughed a little harder, "Oh, sorry, I was talking to Jeff, this Jeff." She pulled the slightly taller dog to her side, her arm around his waist. "Relax, girlfriend, he's not going to beat you up." The last was said to Jeff, as he tried to pull back from the much bigger Wolves. "He's, ahem, with that Nathanial who punched Derek silly." Jeff gaped at Geoff, but was cut off again as he tried to say something, "Guess you guys should help Derek up, and get him to the nurse. I'll bring this silly pup with me, as I tag along."

Geoff glared at Michelle, "I have no idea why you keep saying that Nathanial and I are together. He's my friend. But, anyway, I better get that thug to the nurse's office." His insides squirmed, he hated implying he wasn't in love with Nathanial, 'Sheesh, dumb ass. For someone who's supposed to be supporting gay people, you sure are lacking in discretion and tact. Just run around outing everyone you suspect of being gay, then watch them get bullied. Yeah, that's helping.' He reached past Liam and hauled the bully to his hooves, "Move it, bastard. I was told to bring you to the nurse, so that's where you're going. You can walk or I'll drag your carcass." The Horse shook Geoff's paw off his arm and staggered into the building.