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Post by Warren Peace on Oct 6, 2009 19:06:46 GMT -5
His eyelids fluttered against the sunlight, waking up.
"Ungh..." he groaned in a zombie-like fashion, weakly stretching his battered form. Warren squeezed his eyes shut and arched his back, concentrating on the ache for a few painful seconds. Any change? Getting better? he thought groggily. Uh... ooh. Ow. Maybe check again later...
He yawned and opened his eyes, squinting. His brow furrowed in confusion as he failed to recognize the room he was sleeping in. Warren pulled himself up to a sitting position, wincing as his body complained. He glanced around the room. He definitely wasn't in Will's guest room anymore, possibly not even in Will's house...
His eyes flickered to a scrap of paper lying on the bed. He tilted his head to one side and picked it up, giving an exasperated sigh as he read it.
Busted.
Caught you zonked out on the couch downstairs with the X-box still running. You’re SUPPOSED to be resting. Not destroying the Patriots’ winning streak on Madden NFL.
I flew you over to Elisa’s so she can watch you while I can make up for your loss to Green Bay. Seriously, did you have to play on my file? I had New England 4-0, undefeated…
;P whutever.
I also got Mrs. Williams to tell Corbie to annoy you every time you try to get out of bed. That’s your punishment for dissing my football team. XD
Toodles – Will
Stronghold.
Warren rolled his eyes and placed the note on the bedside table. His attention flickered back to the part about Corbie. She would annoy him when he tried to get out of bed? Where was she, anyw--?
The pyro’s eyes jumped to the covers, which had just moved seemingly on their own. Something brushed past his sweatpants, and his cat’s head emerged from under the sheets. Corbie blinked her amber eyes and mewed.
Warren glanced between the door and the ebony feline. Slowly, he shifted and put one bare foot on the floor…
In a flash, Corbie had leapt off the bed and bolted over to Warren’s toes, licking them with generous amounts of saliva.
“Corbie! Hey, ow! C’mon! That tickles!” he yelled and withdrew his foot back under the covers. Corbie jumped back up on the bed and sat down on the opposite end. Warren could’ve sworn that his cat looked smug.
“Traitor.” He mumbled, then held his hand out and made a whispery noise between his teeth. Corbie sauntered over and rubbed her cheek against his wrist while he scratched her ears.
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Post by ~Elisa Maza~ on Oct 6, 2009 23:28:06 GMT -5
Elisa sat on her living room couch, her face buried in her hands. Lowering her hands, her red-rimmed eyes protested the bright sunlight coming in through the windows. She had been jerked out of her sleep at five in the morning by an urgent pounding on her front door, which eventually lead to said door slamming to the ground. Elisa had entered the living room just in time to witness this, and see a sheepish looking Will, mumbling his apologies. Elisa knew the superhero meant no harm, and certainly wasn't doing it on purpose, but honestly, how much of a beating could that door take?
She didn't have time to dwell on it, however, as her eyes fell on an unconsious Warren in Will's arms. The pyrokinetic teen looked terrible. Both arms had been broken, and were wrapped in casts. The rest of his arms were covered in bruises and cuts, and she didn't have to be a doctor to guess that there were many other such injuries being hidden by Warren's clothes.
Without another moment's hesitation, Elisa led a rather subdued Will towards the guest room. Covering Warren's form with the blankets, Elisa and Will walked back into the hall, shutting the door softly once Corbie had gotten in to join her human companion.
Coming back into the living room, Elisa turned to Will. The pain in his eyes was raw, and Elisa's anxiety grew as she asked what had happened. Her eyes grew wider as he spoke and her heart ached for Warren until the feeling in her legs gave out and she collapsed to the couch.
"Oh no... please no..." Elisa whispered.
She just couldn't believe this. Warren was like her brother, and she loved him as such. To know that this had happened to him, when the only thing he was guilty of was befriending a Goddess... Hades' actions, she could believe. Though God or not, Elisa fully intended to give him a piece of her mind when she next saw him. Consequences be damned.
But Persephone's actions... A broken arm would eventually heal, but what she did... She had been raped herself, she knew what it did, how it affected someone. How could she do something like this? The very thought made Elisa feel ill, and angry, and betrayed, and... She would never forgive Persephone for this. She was no better than her own attacker, if not just flat out worse.
Elisa promised Will to take care of Warren. She would do all she could to help heal him, physically and emotionally. Will left, after fixing the front door, and getting a promise from Elisa to get updates on Warren's condition.
Once Will had left, Elisa succumbed to her emotions and cried. She cried for what had happened to Warren, for the pain and anguish that he was going through, all of which she only knew too well.
Eventually, she had fallen asleep on the couch into a restless slumber. Waking up again around ten, she slowly sat up, the memories of what she had learned only hours earlier rushing back.
Elisa moved to the sink to wash her face, knowing that she looked like she had fallen asleep crying. She didn't want Warren to know she had been crying, such a fact would probably make him feel worse, like she pitied him. She wanted to save as much of Warren's pride as she possibly could.
Walking up the stairs and down the hall, Elisa knocked softly on the door and waited to see if Warren would respond.
"Warren, it's Elisa." She said. "Are you awake? Can I come in?"
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Post by Hades on Oct 7, 2009 5:27:00 GMT -5
((*REAL* Persephone: *sobs* BUT I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!!))
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Post by Warren Peace on Oct 7, 2009 17:02:38 GMT -5
There was a quiet rapping on the door, and Warren's eyes shifted from his cat to Elisa's voice on the other side. Corbie stood up with her ears erect, and padded off the bed to stand in front of the door. The pyro carefully tried to wriggle out of bed after her, but she whipped her head around and glared at him when he put his feet on the floor. Warren blinked, then pulled his legs back under the covers. Corbie stared at him for a few more seconds, then turned her head back to the door.
"Yeah, I'm up." he called to Elisa, rubbing his eyes with the back of his cast. "Go ahead in."
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Post by ~Elisa Maza~ on Oct 8, 2009 3:20:51 GMT -5
<<I'm not entirely sure if Will heard the conversation Maci and Warren had, so I'm writing as if he didn't and therefore Elisa doesn't know yet either. Even if Will does know, I think it will be better if she finds out from Warren.  And April, it killed me to write that about Seph. We'll have to get that cleared up, asap.>> Elisa slowly pushed the door open, glancing down at the floor at Corbie, who seemed to be guarding the room. "You remind me a lot of Cagney." Elisa said. He had succumbed to his old age a few years back, but she still missed him. She had been considering getting another cat for some time now. Perhaps she would in a few weeks or so. With a small smile, she knelt down in front of Corbie, holding out a hand to the feline, to let her know that she was trust worthy, and here to help Warren. Elisa looked up at him, her brown eyes expressing her concern. "Did you sleep alright?" Elisa asked. "I'm surprised flying with Will didn't wake you up at all." Not that she was one to talk. When Tulio and the others had rescued her from Mala Hide, Jim, still trapped as a dragon, but thankfully no longer under Maleficent's influence, had flown them out of that God-forsaken place and back to the Hacienda. Elisa had no memory of it whatsoever. A dozen different phrases flew through Elisa's mind, all of them she knew from experience was insanely stupid to say. "How are you feeling?" would lead to "How the hell do you think I'm feeling?", and "I'm so sorry." would lead to "What do you have to be sorry about? That doesn't make this all go away.", and so on. It was everything she wanted to say when the first phrases were said to her. "What do you need?" Elisa asked instead. "I can get you some breakfast, or if you just wanna talk, or... not talk... Whatever you need me to do." |
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Post by Warren Peace on Oct 8, 2009 19:05:38 GMT -5
Corbie mewed as Elisa entered, cautiously sniffing her hand when she offered it. Satisfied, the cat licked it and rubbed her muzzle against Elisa’s palm.
Warren rubbed his eyes and glanced up to meet Elisa’s face as she entered, but his gaze didn’t get past her abdomen. It was… bigger. Her stomach was protruding from her torso a bit more than normal, ever-so-slightly straining against the front of her shirt. Her job required her to be in peak physical condition, so the bump couldn’t be merely weight. There was a child under there.
He realized that he had rudely been staring at her belly, so he snapped his gaze up to her face and gave her a sly smirk, an eyebrow raised. “Having fun with Tulio?” he asked in a rather innocent tone.
She looked back at him from her position with a purring Corbie, and Warren bit his lip as he read her anxiety. “No, I slept fine…” he said in a more reserved tone. “Will’s better than a luxury jet. No turbulence, no nothing… And I could sleep through the apocalypse if the world decided to end when I’m unconscious.”
He sighed quietly. So Will had told her… Surprisingly, he didn’t feel any resentment towards his best friend. Elisa was someone he could trust, he felt sure of it. But he was embarrassed and uneasy, ashamed to be the victim, not used to being worried over or pitied. It made him feel weak, and the wounds he’d received only reminded him of that constantly.
“Breakfast would be nice. And we could talk, I guess… if you want.”
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Post by ~Elisa Maza~ on Oct 8, 2009 20:47:33 GMT -5
Elisa smiled at Warren's gentle teasing. Now that she knew that Tulio was truly the father of her baby, her fears regarding the subject had completely vanished, and she was so looking forward to being a mother. She couldn't wait to put her hand on her stomach, and be able to feel her son or daughter moving against her.
"We found ways to spend our spare time, yes." Elisa said, still smiling.
She knew Warren felt uneasy, and she wasn't about to add to his anxiety by making him talk about anything he didn't want to.
"Breakfast it is then." Elisa said. "And we don't have to talk if you don't want to. That's your call, not mine. Just let me know."
Leaving Warren alone again for the moment, Elisa walked into the kitchen, pulling out eggs, bacon and pancake mix from the refrigerator. In a few minutes, said breakfast was ready. As an afterthought, Elisa pulled out a small can of tuna fish for Corbie too, figuring the feline had to be hungry as well.
Elisa came back upstairs and into the guest room, setting the tray down on the nightstand beside Warren, and the tuna down on the floor beside it.
"Keeping Warren in bed must be a pretty tough task for you, Corbie." Elisa joked. "Enjoy your breakfast. I'll keep an eye on him."
She turned to sit in the armchair facing the bed, eating her own breakfast. Though in place of syrup, her pancakes were currently being doused in Tabasco sauce.
She looked up, knowing Warren had to be confused by her choice in condiments.
"This is nothing." Elisa said. "Yesterday I made Tulio go to the store to get pickles and rocky road ice cream."
Elisa was trying to keep the moment light, in case Warren had decided he didn't feel like talking about what happened. It still killed her that this had happened to someone she cared so much about, and the fact that someone she had considered to be her best friend was the cause of it was worse.
She did however, know how Warren was feeling. Weak, helpless, dirty... She hoped he'd let her help.
"After you're done eating, I've got some herbs for your wounds too." Elisa mentioned. "Mostly tea, but it's soothing, and it helps. Esmeralda had left a lot of it here for me."
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Post by Warren Peace on Oct 9, 2009 16:52:47 GMT -5
He gave her a small nod as she left. Corbie followed her out, sensing that food was on the way.
Warren sank back down against the pillows and drew the covers up to his chin. He honestly didn’t want to talk about that night at all. It was haunting to remember, a nightmare that had seeped into reality. He hated himself for being afraid of her – fear was a natural response, sure, but it was paranoia to know that she could materialize right beside him and do it again…
But the story had to come out one way or another. Elisa, Will, Macaria… they were just trying to help him, and they needed the details. He reluctantly acknowledged that he did, in fact, need help. It was almost exactly the same as his battered body – he’d been beaten on an emotional level, too.
The aromas of bacon and maple syrup hit his nose, and Elisa returned with breakfast for the both of them. He blinked as she attempted to drown her pancakes in Tabasco sauce, tried to imagine what pickles and ice cream might taste like… then shook his head. The male species wasn’t meant to understand things like that. Besides, he never ate ice cream, anyway. It was like deliberately giving yourself a freeze headache.
He hoisted himself back up into a sitting position, grunting when his abs hurt. Warren gave Corbie a scratch behind the ear as she wolfed down her tuna, and he moved his own tray onto his lap. His fork was proving to be a problem… It was awkward to hold with his casts. Warren attempted a bite of his eggs, slowly trying to shovel them in his mouth, but he fumbled and swore briefly as the fork clattered to the floor. Corbie wasted no time in licking the dropped utensil.
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Post by ~Elisa Maza~ on Oct 9, 2009 20:44:32 GMT -5
Elisa knew she told Warren that he didn't have to talk about it if he didn't want to, but now that he had returned to his trademark silent brooding, she wished that he would say something, anything. She knew it was in his nature to hide his emotions, even from the people he did trust. But try as he might to keep his face calm and indifferent, there was nothing his eyes could do to hide what he was feeling.
She worried about him. He couldn't keep all of this to himself for so long, or else it would consume him like a fire that even he wouldn't be able to control. Yet she would not - she could not - force him to talk to her.
Elisa watched as Warren struggled with the utensil. She had figured the casts would make it difficult, but she wanted to give him the chance to try before feeding him herself. Not that she would mind in the slightest, but once again, she had been trying to save as much of his pride as she possibly could. Unfortunately, in this case that was no longer an option. Warren couldn't just starve until it was time for the casts to come off.
"I'll get you another one." Elisa said, making a quick exit so Warren wouldn't see the tears glistening in her eyes.
She blinked furiously to fight them back as she went to retrieve a clean fork and walked back upstairs. Coming back into the room, Elisa gazed at Warren, once again wondering how she would phrase what she wanted to say. The moment for light hearted jokes had passed, and all she could do now was offer Warren her support.
She held up the fork as she crossed the room to his side.
"Let me help you?" The tone made it seem more like a request than an offer.
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Post by Warren Peace on Oct 9, 2009 21:09:35 GMT -5
Warren sat perfectly still on the bed as she fetched him a new fork, trying not to feel sorry for himself. But he felt so helpless all of a sudden, and her eyes had been shining as she rushed out of the room…
He felt his throat tighten as he tried to swallow. No… Don’t cry, please don’t start… he pleaded with his body as Elisa returned and offered to feed him. He looked up and met her gaze. She was so worried over him, and he didn’t know how to respond. He faltered, accidentally loosening his restraint against his emotions.
His lower lip wobbled, and he bit down on it to keep it still as tears rolled out of his eyes. Warren sniffed once and nodded his response, unable to speak. He opened his mouth for her and shoved his dignity aside for the moment. She understood, and that was all that really mattered.
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Post by ~Elisa Maza~ on Oct 10, 2009 2:49:08 GMT -5
Elisa could tell that Warren had been trying hard to keep from crying, so when the first few silent tears began to flow down his cheeks, she felt her heart constrict with pain for her brother, and it was all she could do not to break down and cry with him.
She focused on feeding Warren, the only sounds in the room coming from the fork scrapping against the plate. When he was done, she set the dish down on the nightstand and turned to face him again. Suddenly the pain in his eyes and the gut-wrenching silence was too much for her to take anymore, and the words she had been wanting to say to him all morning suddenly came rushing out.
"Warren, I know I said you didn't have to talk, and I won't make you if you don't want to." Elisa said, her voice tight with emotion and a desperation to make Warren understand. "But I need you to listen to me, please.
"What you're going through... I understand. I know the... the pain you feel, the helplessness. You feel like... like you'll never be safe again, because the one who did it is waiting to come and do it again. But... but this... what happened... it wasn't your fault. You didn't do anything wrong, you can't blame yourself for it.
"And... and you can't think that the people who... who love you will believe that you're weak, or that they'll think anything less of you. Because we don't. We never will."
The tears now spilled out of her eyes, and she couldn't stop them. What happened to Warren wasn't fair, it wasn't right, and there would be a part of him forever scarred. But he wouldn't face this alone. That was the one thing she wouldn't allow him to do.
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Post by Hades on Oct 10, 2009 7:43:21 GMT -5
(( ;-; heartbreaking...))
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Post by Warren Peace on Oct 11, 2009 18:25:37 GMT -5
The food calmed him a little. It was warm and delicious, but the small happiness was short lived – the quiet tears didn’t stop, and their salty taste was just another constant reminder for him, just like his bruises and his arms and his fatigue and his shame at being helpless. He lay back down and wiped his eyes with the back of his casts. Warren pulled the covers up to his chin, shivering a bit and wishing he hadn’t eaten the whole thing. Crying always made him feel sick and cold.
Elisa broke the silence, and something about her voice made it difficult for Warren to keep his gentle tears under control. The pyro felt an unexpected surge of anger as he understood the hidden context she was trying to tell him; she’d been raped once upon a time, too. His lip began quivering again, realizing that she knew how much his heart was hurting. It was like every beat would make it burst with its own misery.
He grabbed one of the pillows and hugged it to his chest, trying to hang onto Elisa’s words just as tight. Warren was so used to keeping his distance and bottling up his emotion. It was how he’d survived the label that he’d been branded with when Dad was taken away. He wished he knew how to respond to Elisa, who’d told him that it wasn’t his fault at all, that he was loved, that he was strong. He blinked a few more tears out of his eyes to clear his vision, and he cuddled the pillow a little tighter as he saw Elisa’s own tears sparkling on her cheeks.
He gave up on fighting the sobs back. He jerked his shoulders and hiccupped into the pillow, comforted a little by the fact that she wouldn’t mind. He only wished Maci was there so he could hold her instead of the pillow. She always hugged him back.
(( Invite Maci? She might want to hear this... ;3 ))
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Post by ~Elisa Maza~ on Oct 13, 2009 1:47:00 GMT -5
<You bet ^^>
Warren reached for a pillow and brought it to his chest, hugging it tightly. The pyrokinetic suddenly reminded Elisa of a frightened child cuddling a teddy bear after waking up from a nightmare. His quiet tears had given way to hard sobs as he buried his face into the pillow, his shoulders shaking. Elisa rose from her chair to kneel beside the bed, her hand reaching for one of Warren's as she gingerly laid her arm across his body, pulling him into a one-armed hug. She hugged him gently, not wanting to put too much pressure on his bruises.
Elisa didn't realize she had been biting her lip until the coppery taste of blood touched her tongue. Warren was only sixteen years old, he was barely old enough to drive. He had already had enough heartache in his life, with what his father had done, and being branded the way he was after the fact. And now this...
"It's okay..." Elisa whispered in his ear, trying to gain control of her own tears. "Go ahead and cry, it's... You'll get through this, I know you will. You won't be alone, I promise..."
"Damn you." Elisa thought viciously as Hades and Persephone crossed her mind. It wasn't even Hades she was most mad at. She couldn't get over the pain Persephone had caused Warren, pain that he would never fully recover from.
Shaking her head slightly to push the Goddess out of her mind for the time being, Elisa instead focused on Warren. She continued to hold him, trying to offer what little comfort she could. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she eventually released the teen, reaching for the tissue box on the nightstand, grabbing a few and offering the box to Warren as well.
"I need help..." Elisa thought as she wiped her eyes. There had to be someone he would open up to. She desperately wanted Warren to talk, to let everything about that night come out, but she wouldn't involve anyone else in this without Warren saying it was okay. She wasn't even sure who already knew. Will obviously did, and she had gotten the feeling that there was something important the young superhero had left out when he gave the story of what had happened this morning.
"Is... Is there someone you want me to call?" Elisa asked. "I... anyone you want to have here?"
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Post by Warren Peace on Oct 13, 2009 13:54:26 GMT -5
He focused on breathing as Elisa held him, trying to calm down. It was unsettling how easy crying had become. His eyes were tearing and spilling on a regular basis, and the sobs locked away his voice. Warren wished it would just stop already – the damn event was already over. It annoyed him that his emotions insisted on living in the past.
He calmed, squeezing the hand that held his. She let go, and he took the box of tissues and dried his eyes. For a second, he wished he could flare up and burn a few. Setting fire to tissues was always fun to watch. Stupid power cuff.
Warren set the pillow in his lap and resisted screaming something along the lines of ‘HELL, YES’ to Elisa’s question. God, he wanted Maci here. He needed to hug her badly. And she did want to know what had happened… Warren supposed that if he was gonna lay his bleeding heart out for everyone to see, he might as well do it only once with an audience.
“Maci…” he croaked, then cleared his throat and corrected himself. “Macaria. She’s… Hades and Persephone’s daughter, and… my girlfriend…” he winced a little, knowing how screwy his love life was. Still… Girlfriend. It felt good to be able to call Maci that. His girlfriend. “And if you think anyone else can help, I can talk in front of them, too.”
Warren twisted the pillow in his hands. “Maci’s number’s in my phone.” He pointed to his cell, which was currently being batted around the floor by Corbie.
(( Quasi, Nani, possibly Esme want in, too. Mass-comforting ahoy? ))
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