<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/Mtx59.jpg)</div><br/><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Name:</strong> Allison Leclerc<br/><strong>Title:</strong> The Brains<br/><strong>Location:</strong> Foulweather Bluff<br/><strong>Tags:</strong> Taras, Tipene, Adriano</span></span><br/><hr/><br/><strong>"Don't worry. However bad it might seem, I'm still here for ya."</strong><br/><br/>Allison knew that it was true; she would have known it even if Taras hadn't said a word. Not only was his unconditional devotion one of the most precious gifts that a person could give, but with her parents gone, it also represented the only safety net in her life. Ally appreciated it more than she'd be able to put into words, although knowing that she was undeserving of it did sent a pang of guilt and sadness through her.<br/><br/>Thankfully, there were more distractions around to help keep her mind off things than there had been in her car when the two of them were all alone. They ran into a few other racers or people otherwise affiliated with the underground racing scene and exchanged greetings while making their way around the area in search of their friends. Ally got a couple of prolonged glances, but nobody dared let their eyes wander too blatantly with the built-like-a-tank and somewhat infamous Taras walking at her side.<br/><br/>Not that she really noticed any of that. Allison's choice of attire was primarily an outlet for her to channel an idea or an emotion that was currently at the forefront of her mind, not something that she consciously employed to garner a reaction from people. Especially not to try to entice or seduce boys (or girls), as that was an endeavour that was well out of Ally's comfort zone. The few instances in the past when she'd attempted to seem beguiling had ended up being so clumsy and awkward that she decided to leave the arts of seduction to those who had the proper instincts and mindset to employ them without embarrassing themselves.<br/><br/>Of the fact that most people who didn't really know them too closely immediately assumed that she and Taras were a couple, however, she was quite aware. Neither of them made any effort to correct anyone who made the mistake, though they didn't intentionally try to play it up either. Ally had always just laughed it off when she was younger - in fact they'd often joked about it together after the fact - but recently it was more prone to make her wonder than to make her laugh. And that stirred up all kinds of conflicting thoughts and feelings which she wasn't prepared to deal with; not for the last six months, and certainly not minutes before the summer's inaugural race.<br/><br/>Ally scanned the surrounding area before she got too carried away inside of her own head, using that as busy work to keep herself distracted. She suspected that she'd recognized the headlights from one of Adriano's rides and modified her course to take her towards it with Taras still following right beside her like a shadow - albeit a big, muscular shadow.<br/><br/>As soon as she spied the other man whose silhouette vaguely resembled Taras' in a particularly dark shadow cast by the only nearby building, it was as if Ally's stomach had caved in, leaving nothing but a deep, hollow void. <em>Rurik</em>. She didn't know him personally (thankfully), but he was still unmistakable. It was something about his demeanour, or maybe it was that thickly menacing aura that seemed to emanate from him. Whatever it was, it made all kinds of warning bells sound off in Ally's head, and every instinct in her being told her to run the other way. <br/><br/>With most people that worked directly for the Triads - and she knew for an almost-fact that he not only worked for them but that he was even somewhere pretty high up in the hierarchy - you were afraid of the affiliation with the crime syndicate first and the individual second. With Rurik, you were just afraid of Rurik from the get go. Or at least Allison was. She'd avoided him whenever he was present while the crew delivered cars, she avoided him before the races, and she sure as hell did her best to avoid him <em>during</em> the races most of all. Even so, he'd still managed to sneak his way into a few of her dreams from time to time...dreams which subsequently turned into nightmares shortly following his arrival.<br/><br/>A particularly vivid flashback from the last one made Ally shudder. The next thing that she knew, she had an arm interlocked with one of Taras' and she'd pulled herself closer, probably clinging to him more tightly than she'd have liked. Her uneasiness wasn't completely dissipated, but she still came away with an instant and substantial feeling of relief nonetheless. It was like finding a flash-light with full batteries during a power outage where you happen to find yourself all alone. Even the smell of him was comforting. For half a heartbeat, Ally was tempted to place her other hand on Taras' chest and rest her head against his shoulder, but then all of the usual doubts and questions came rushing back, putting a swift end to that idea.<br/><br/>Wordlessly, Allison headed towards the spot where she thought that she'd seen Adriano park, pulling Taras along with her while hoping that he'd react to everything in his own typical fashion: with stoicism and silence. Ally didn't know if she could bring herself to lie again and pretend that she was simply cold or something, but she didn't want to provoke her friend's incredibly fierce defensive streak either to make sure that he didn't go and do something stupid (like confronting Rurik because he gave her the creeps), so it would make things much easier if nobody said anything. Then they could safely chat with Adriano for the few minutes that remained before it would be time to form up on the starting line and all would be well, or at the very least well enough.</div>