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Post by somechick on Nov 7, 2009 20:49:30 GMT -5
For those around her, listening to his story, their tears would go unacknowledged. Silence was the only way she could truly express the way her heart broke in two at the scene, the scene she envisioned in her mind. For the longest of time they've been friends, entrusting her with this secret the pyro told no one else was very touching - yet painful for not only her but for him. She closed her legs tighter at the thought of vines, all of them squeezing and prodding into places they shouldn't, for it frightened her. She learned to admire Warren's courage, for she would have gone insane if something so horrid had happened to her. The image made her redden and cry.
She didn't cry so loudly that it seemed distasteful and overdramatic. She was graceful in silence. Her tears drifted in quiet, her brown eyes glimmering as those crystal blue streams glided down her baby-soft cheeks stained the gentlest crimson, an indication of her shame. She looked like a sympathetic child in that instant, though very wise beyond her years and made this fact evident as she straightened herself upright. Quickly dabbing her tears away, she cleared her throat and said in a surprisingly hoarse voice, "Thank you for entrusting us with this and not shutting us out. That's what family's all about - comfort. We're just one big o'hana, aren't we?"
Nani sat up and smoothed back her soft hair and said with forced emotion, "I think we all know some hot chocolate will do us some good, especially since it's cold this evening. How time flies!" although she sounded chipper, she really wasn't, which made her voice all the more abnormal in pitch. It was so high and irritably bouncy, it was obvious she was faking her sudden perkiness.
"I'll be back," she said, walking to the kitchen to make the team some hot chocolate. She walked away stiffly, forcing herself to part her legs as she walked.
Vines.
She shivered inwardly.
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Post by Will Stronghold on Nov 13, 2009 20:56:23 GMT -5
The young super smoothed Warren’s hair from out of his face, offering him the miniscule comfort of not looking as haggard with his brown locks hanging in his face, though it didn’t help by much. He needed a shave, his body was still hurt and bruised, his face was lined and worn, dark circles marked his red and puffy eyes from fatigue, and he was either so pale that he appeared ill or flushed red from embarrassment and tears. Will twisted the elastic into a low ponytail over the pyro’s hair, slightly damp from his tears, and he put his hand on his friend’s shoulder again in a simple gesture of comfort. He attended to his own tears with the other hand, rubbing them off his cheeks and quietly sniffing while he cried for him.
It was like watching Warren drown, and not knowing how to swim to rescue him. He knew that the pyro was afraid and suffering, but there was nothing he could do except throw him a line and hope that he caught it.
Will absently massaged Warren’s shoulder as he hugged his girlfriend, crying into her chest as she sobbed into hands. The youngest teen pressed his lips together and sniffed a little harder, his shoulders jerking as he began to break down into gentle sobs.
He wanted his best friend back, not the weakened and miserable Warren that was curled up in a fetal position and cocooned in blankets. Someone had stolen his friend from him and ripped open his tough shell, then took out his glass heart and hurled it to the floor. Everyone was doing their best to piece the crystalline fragments together again, but he’d never be the same, and Will didn’t want anything different than the pyro that he’d shared a quiet and slow friendship with before.
The worst part for Will was feeling useless as Warren desperately fought an uncertain battle against his depression and fear. Though he was upset and still so shaken, Warren was finally wearing his heart on his sleeve, letting his closest friends see into his soul if only for a while- and Will was terrified for him. Warren’s mind was infinitely complex to the young superhero, with motives and emotions that were rather dark and foreign, but it was clear that the pyro had a strong and wise mind buried deep inside him. There was also heartbreak buried inside his mind, a shocking amount for a teenager, and for the first time, Will realized just how much Warren felt things. He hardly ever showed it on his face or in his language, but emotion was something that he dwelled upon and felt as much as anyone, possibly more. Warren constantly carried around the pressure of being compared to and judged by his father’s reputation, constantly being watched for him to show signs of Baron’s psychotic menace, always dreading the times his temper would snap and he would lash out with anger. It was a tremendous weight, happiness didn’t seem to be an easy emotion for him, and the pyro’s self-esteem wasn’t the best, either, but he was proud of the intimidating image he’d created for himself. And he was cautious, cautious to the extreme over whom he trusted and who he interacted with, preferring to remain vague and introverted to protect his heart.
But Warren’s pride had been hurt and his emotional stability was broken to pieces, and his young friend could see how much it hurt him to simply come clean. Warren had to torment himself far outside his comfort zone to recover. It made Will want to rush over and force his friend back into comfortable silence, but the young superhero prevented him from getting better at the same time. He was stuck in the middle, and watching Warren struggle made him want to scream and cry with frustration and apology. The pain was contagious.
Will hiccupped and rubbed his eyes, startled a bit by Nani’s sudden enthusiasm over hot chocolate. He hugged his knees to his chest and absently looked around the room with moist eyes, randomly settling on Quasimodo. The hunchback was smiling a little through his own teary, blue eyes, and it was no mystery what gave him the small comfort. The young superhero’s gaze traveled to Macaria, then to Warren, then looked upon them as one. He’d seen their shared affections work in healing wonders before… maybe it would happen again…
Will sat up and suddenly, but gently, took Maci’s head in one hand and Warren’s head in the other. He carefully tilted their heads to opposite sides and slowly posed them like china dolls in his powerful grip, so that he touched their faces together by the lips.
“You calm each other down.” he remarked simply and innocently in a whisper.
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Post by Macaria on Nov 13, 2009 22:39:48 GMT -5
It was like all of a sudden everyone was crying and Macaria couldn't blame them. It was all heartbreaking, it really was. And seeing Warren break so badly made things even more heartbreaking. The goddess offered what little comfort she could to him; she was crying, too, and it was hard to be a steady support when you weren't steady at the moment yourself.
As Nani got up and, in a bright, cheerful tone, declared that she would fetch everyone some hot chocolate, Macaria sighed, and forced herself to stop crying, wiping at the tears with the back of her glowing hand. She sniffed a few times, dejectedly, and sighed again.
And then Will had taken ahold of her and Warren and, without an ounce of effort, twisted the both of them to each other. Their lips met because of him and with Will's whispered words ringing in her pointed ears, Maci kissed him just a bit harder, hugging him tightly as she dared, not caring that there were other people in the room. Will was right - they did both have a calming effect on each other and that was certainly what he - and what she - needed. Stroking his now tied-back hair, Maci pulled away gently and snuggled against him, letting a sigh escape her black lips.
Maci opened her violet eyes, which had closed when Will had placed their lips together, and glanced back at the floor.
"I'm glad you told us," she said finally, her voice painfully quiet, yet entirely truthful. Better to cry out loud then to cry inside, all to yourself...
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Post by Warren Peace on Nov 14, 2009 22:29:37 GMT -5
His heart broke gently as he felt Macaia sob and tremble against him. He understood her embarrassment perfectly: weren’t both their fathers villains? But it made him feel just miserable for her that her mother had done something so awful as well, and how upset Maci was because he was hurt. He lost his grip on controlling his sobs as she croaked out how sorry she was for him. A rough and inarticulate sob escaped his lips, and he fought to keep himself from losing it completely. Hiding his ashamed face, he pressed his forehead to her shoulder, taking a hand off of Maci to clutch at his chest. The sobs were hurting his bruised torso, his lungs crying out for a proper breath of air. The pyro gasped a breath, feeling lightheaded and sick.
Warren sniffed and tugged at the blanket Elisa had draped around him, wiping his eyes and nose with it. His lips quivered and he whimpered as Maci raised her head to meet his eyes, whispering comforts to him. He raised his head from her shoulder to convey some sort of thanks, understanding, praise, or a combination of the three. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he realized that he wasn’t ready to speak, and he settled for holding her gaze until she hid her face in her hands. He wished she wouldn’t- even though her eyes were watery, her face was streaked with tears, and she was so sad that his heart tore, she still looked lovely. Warren let go of her hand and wrapped his bandaged arms around his abdomen, his mouth contorting into a grimace as he ached. He dropped his head to her shoulder and gasped in quick, uneven breaths.
The pyro almost shouted in surprise as someone grabbed him by the back of his head, but he was silenced as Macaria’s black lips touched his. Warren let a few tears drip down his cheeks and gave a soft, shaky whimper under her lips before he kissed her back, Will’s powerful arms dropping back to his sides. The other people in the room vanished from his mind, and it was only him and Maci for the moment. His shoulders released their tension, and he slowly reached out with trembling and bandaged hands to touch her cheek with one, and curl the other around her waist. He hugged her back somewhat weakly, feeling ill, tired, and cold, but Maci was warm to his touch, and she and everyone else kept at bay the desolate feeling of loneliness.
He sniffed and breathed deeply when she pulled away, still cuddling him tenderly. Warren shuddered a sigh and kissed her once on the forehead, then removed his hand from her face and withdrew it back under the covers. He gingerly rubbed his abused torso and wiped his face with the covers again, tugging the blankets closer. The pyro sank down on the bed to lie on his side, curled in a fetal position with his head on Macaria’s lap. His other hand hadn’t moved from her waist, and his face seemed to relax somewhat as he snuggled against her, the tiniest hint of a smile playing about the corners of his lips.
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Post by ~Elisa Maza~ on Nov 15, 2009 15:51:39 GMT -5
Elisa wiped her eyes with trembling hands and rested them against her forehead, propping her elbows on her knees. She gave Nani a sidelong glance with half a smile as her Polynesian friend excused herself to go make hot chocolate for everyone. Elisa released a shuddering sigh. It had been a very long day, and the emotions of those around her were tense.
Bringing her chin to rest on her intertwined fingers, she watched silently as Will placed both of his hands on Warren and Maci's heads, gently bringing them together until their lips touched. His soft spoken explanation was enough to bring Elisa to tears once more, though this time they were quieter and gentler than before. Will was right. Warren and Maci did seem to calm each other. It showed in everything they did, from the way they hadn't broken physical contact since her arrival, to the gentle and tender kiss they shared now.
She listened to Maci's words, agreeing with the goddess wholeheartedly. She wasn't able to find her voice to add to it, so she smiled gently in response, nodding her agreement. She was relieved that Warren had managed to let everything out. She knew that it would be a long time for Warren to get better, and while he'd never be the same again, this was the start to his recovery. He was gonna okay.
Elisa winced sympathetically as Warren slid down to the mattress, pain etching in his face as his bruises protested. He moved closer to Maci, lifting his head to lay it in her lap, curling as close to her as he could. The movement caused the blankets to bunch up around Warren's legs, exposing his bare feet to the chill in the room.
Elisa stood up to adjust the blankets for him, but got distracted as her eyes fell on the plastic cuff around the pyrokinetic's ankle. She gazed at it curiously. It seemed amazing that such a tiny little thing had enough energy to hold back a super's power. Elisa sighed. She knew that if Persephone wanted to... rape Warren, there would have been nothing that would have stopped her. If anything, Warren using his powers to defend himself would have just angered her, and made it that much worse for him. But still, being able to create and control fire was such an important part of who Warren was. To hold that back from him was just... wrong.
Elisa reached for the cuff, squeezing the two small buttons together to unclasp it. She smiled at Warren gently, tossing the power cuff to land on the nightstand before moving the blankets to cover him again.
"It's who you are." Elisa said simply. "You shouldn't have to hold it back."
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Post by Warren Peace on Nov 15, 2009 22:24:31 GMT -5
He started as he felt a tug on the cuff, propping himself up on his elbow and craning his neck to stop her. But before he could protest, she tossed the band of white plastic on the nightstand and pulled the covers back over his feet.
Warren blinked, staring at Elisa with a blank face, traces of uncertainty flickering across his eyes. Hesitantly, he glanced at Will. His arms were still healing, would powering up hurt like it had in the beginning? Will smiled sadly, then rolled his eyes and smirked, the boy's usual cheerfulness returning. Oh, go ahead, ya pyromaniac.
Warren's gaze flickered to his arm that he wasn't leaning on, staring at his hand. Quite suddenly, his temperature surged and a small but healthy blaze of orange flames erupted from his fingers, the remaining part of his hand that wasn't wrapped in a cast. His eyes widened a little as he stared at the flames, enticed by the dancing, luminous shapes and the searing heat that felt comfortably warm on his skin. Warren's eyes slowly closed, and he relaxed back against Macaria, sighing.
The pyro touched his burning fingers to his face, his lips parted in a silent moan as he rubbed his eyes. Damn... he'd gone far too long without powering up. He cracked his eyes open and curled the corners of his mouth into a smile, moving his hand to his lips and inhaling the flames down his throat, feeling the warmth creep into his belly.
His forearms tingled noticeably, like how one's foot felt when it fell asleep. It wasn't overly painful, but it was annoying. Warren sighed again and took his hand from his mouth, watching the flames again as he held it in front of his face. He carefully flared a little more, building toward the powerful blaze that usually coated his hands when he powered up. He frowned as the tingling started to hurt, quickly shrinking the flames back to his fingers. The pain in his arms faded back to the irritating tingling. He still had a ways to go with healing.
Warren's face softened again, and he looked up to meet Maci's violet irises. He let his shy and modest smile spread over his face for her, then reached up to touch her cheek with his smoldering hand.
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Post by somechick on Nov 19, 2009 1:06:15 GMT -5
It was time for the contents to settle. Wisps of smoke rose from the pot leaving her with a sweet aroma. In just a matter of minutes she knew it would be ready for Elisa and the boys. A great feeling of wretchedness flooded her very soul, though relief spread to every pore in her body within the aroma’s tender embrace.
A practically manicured feminine hand switched off the stove. The tenant of the kitchen grabbed the silver pot with an air of casual elegance before having placed delicate teacups on the table, each containing a heavy amount of marshmallows for the kids to eat. The curvy Polynesian wore the tiniest frown and looked out the window, where the sun was just beginning to set.
She sighed quietly, feeling utterly dejected for having failed the youth she had come to adore so. If she had been there, she could have protected him. Yes, she was powerless, small, but the effort would have sufficed somehow. She scoffed bitterly at the idea that Hades had the nerve to harm the boy. And what made it worse was that his wife joined in on the torture, it was as if the two decided to team up and make the Asian’s life a miserable hell.
You’re really helping now, she thought sullenly, referring to her quick escape. She jumped at the opportunity to leave the room so they wouldn’t see her cry; but even that in itself was cowardice, she believed. She finished pouring the pot’s contents and slowly brought the aforementioned teacups, handing each one their drink. She never looked them in the eyes. Then, instantly, did she turn around to hide her face. She forced a smile, though she knew it wasn’t a very visible one.
“I hope you like them,” she explained in a high-pitched whisper, “I – I even made the marshmallows take up the shape of a mouse. Y – you know, so they’d look cute. I mean, who wants boring chocolate? I thought a little creativity was needed.” She cleared her throat harshly.
“Drink up,” she ordered quietly, unusually firm.
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Post by Macaria on Nov 28, 2009 9:18:12 GMT -5
Macaria stroked Warren's hair as his head fell to her lap, her eyes focused down on him, a little smile on her face. She was here for him, and so was everyone else...
Elisa moved fowards to them, to adjust the blankets that had shifted, Maci guess, but instead she removed the little white cuff around her boyfriend's ankle. It was the thing that had restrained his powers when Persephone had hurt him. Macaria found her smile widening as Warren tested out his powers for the first time in a long while.
He moved flaming fingers up to her face and she raised her hand and clasped his, flames springing up from her fingers as well.
Nani returned with hot chocolate for everyone and hesitantly, Macaria accepted hers, holding it gingerly by the handle like she was afraid of it. In reality, Macaria wasn't fond of anything besides nectar and pomegranate juice; that included hot chocolate. When Nani wasn't looking, the cup vanished in her hands and she returned to petting Warren like nothing had happened.
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Post by Quasimodo on Nov 28, 2009 11:27:20 GMT -5
He was probably not much of a comfort, but for Quasi it was perhaps way too late to break his own silence. He`d never been particularly outgoing nor talkative, and the sensitiveness, the downright cruelty of the matter that had lead to this meeting in the first place did nothing to help his speechless state; the hunchback simply had no words to utter that no one else hadn`t already thought of. Though, as everyone else in this room he was completely on Warren`s side.. Well, Warren and Macaria`s.
If they`d believed.. or more importantly if he had believed himself, that he had something to offer the couple to reduce the misery they both were going through, they wouldn`t even have the need to ask. But who was he fooling? He was nothing special.
Pausing his his intwining lines of thoughts in an attempt to clear his mind a slight bit, Quasi met Will`s gaze that split second, his already present smile upon the thought of the blooming love between the two pyros, changing nature only very slightly, to a tiny gesture of acknowledging, and if he`d been able to read the younger boy`s mind, it`d be of approval as well.
What had happened was no less than unforgivable, yet something beautiful was about to rise from the ashes, a miracle, how small as it might be. And though he once again experienced the sweet sorrow of standing outside love at its purest, the deformed gypsy seemed incapable of real jealousy. Al he had was his wishes, his desires..
Not allowing himself to dwell too much on it, but instead making room for natural curiosity, Quasi watched as Elisa unattached the clasp that had somehow, unknown to the bellringer exactly how, had disabled Warren`s extraordinary firepower.
It wasn`t much he`d gotten a glimpse of the teen`s power in action, and watching it now, at least kept his thoughts occupied for a moment, rather dwelling on the wonder that a certain few had been granted such unusual abilities as magic or superpowers, and how he still failed to tell the exact difference despite being well accustomed to both Esmeralda`s and Merlin`s practicing of the art of magic.
Again, his thoughts was interrupted, as Nani returned, bringing a brief breeze of fresh air along with her. Or perhaps it was just the pleasant smell of chocolate. Either way, when presented with the foods and drinks of this century, he didn`t at all miss his own time, fact aside that it wasn`t much to miss anyway now that all he`d ever cared about was to be found right here.
Relieved for this excuse to tend to his own comfort rather than focusing on his inability to help a friend in need, he gladly accepted the cup, when offered, a tiny smile playing upon his lips at the adorable result of the Hawaiian`s creativity.
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Post by Jim Hawkins on Dec 13, 2009 0:00:21 GMT -5
The scent of chocolate slowly dispersed through the air, noticed first by his sensitive nose as Nani made their cocoa downstairs, a welcome lift in the room’s mood. Jim watched with interest as Warren lit his fingers, and for the first time, the adolescent dragon agreed with the pyro in the thought that fire was relieving. He’d recently noticed that powering up seemed to feel good to the older teen, and how Warren seemed to be drawn to warmth like a fireproof moth to a candle. Now a creature of fire himself, Jim understood. The scalding heat was oddly comforting. And the rest of the world was so freezing cold compared to the temperatures they could thrive in. Jim wondered if the rest of the world felt so chilly to Warren, too. It must’ve: the poor pyro was wrapped in blankets, though he seemed to draw them around his battered frame mainly for comfort.
He slowly extended his neck forward to nuzzle Quasimodo, both of them feeling a bit distanced from the rest of their friends for their appearances, though Jim never quite saw what was so odd about the redhead’s looks. Compared with some of the alien life forms that stopped by the Benbow, the hunchback looked quite ordinary. His blue eyes flickered to the door as Nani returned with hot chocolate, and the young dragon’s mouth watered at the scent. There was even a cup for him, though the contents amounted to a tiny swallow. Pulling away from Quasi, Jim licked his chops while Will took two cups and dumped the contents of one in the dragon’s mouth. The marshmallows melted into gooey mess inside his warm mouth, and Jim watched as Warren did something similar, fishing individual, sugary puffs out of his cocoa and toasting them with his fingers before popping them into his mouth.
The dragon sighed as he reluctantly acknowledged the setting sun outside, and he tapped his tail in annoyance. His new form had come with a few animalistic instincts; one of them being the complete inability to stay up late. Like clockwork, he fell asleep around the same time every night. If he didn’t get back to his barn, he’d probably curl up right there beside Elisa’s house.
It’s getting late; I have to go… Jim said silently to Warren, nuzzling him with his nose in a sort of goodbye hug. Try not to be so hard on yourself… You’re stronger than you think. Jim breathed a bit of flame on the pyro, who smiled as the scalding warmth touched him. In spite of the calm, Warren looked exhausted. Jim pulled away and bid everyone else goodbye with another nuzzle, then disappeared out the window. The sound of flapping, leathery wings announced his departure for the night.
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Post by ~Elisa Maza~ on Dec 14, 2009 18:19:30 GMT -5
Elisa took a small sip of her hot cocoa, sighing as the liquid warmed her throat. The group had settled into a quiet melancholy reverie. She gazed at the contents of her cup, seemingly fascinated by the marshmellows slowly melting. A small smile quirked her lips as she looked at the gooey mouse shape. Nani tried so hard to cheer her friends up.
She laughed softly as Warren ignited again to roast his marshmellows before eating them. The action reminded her of a conversation she had with the pyrokinetic and Will, in which they told of a classroom assignment that consisted of caring for marshmellow peeps as if they were children. Warren's peep lasted for less than a day before meeting the same fate as his marshmellow just did.
She returned Jim's gentle snuggle by wrapping her arms around his muzzle in a hug.
"Good night." She whispered, knowing he was getting tired. Everyone was looking drained as a matter of fact, Warren in particular.
Elisa stood up, giving Warren another small smile.
"You should get some rest." She said softly.
She moved towards the door, but stopped, crossed back over to the bed, and embraced Warren again, as tightly as she could without hurting him.
"You're strong." Elisa whispered softly, keeping her voice low, wanting to keep her words for Warren's ears. "You're gonna be okay. We're here for you."
Elisa moved back toward the door, waiting patiently for all of Warren's friends to say their goodbyes.
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Post by ~Angela~ on Feb 25, 2010 20:23:52 GMT -5
Angela soared through the night air, grateful for the breeze that managed to keep her in flight. She smiled as Elisa's home came into view. The detective had a lovely home surrounded by fields of green, a far cry from the apartment she had in the city. Angela missed having Elisa so close, but she did seem happy here with Tulio. She hadn't met the Spaniard, but she could clearly see in Elisa's eyes how much she loved him.
Angela startled slightly as a huge shape moved away from Elisa's home, flying away across the fields to enter the barn. She could have sworn it looked like a dragon. But why would a dragon be standing outside Elisa's home? Angela considered following the creature, but it didn't seem to pose any threat. She was more curious about it's presence than anything, but decided she'd check on Elisa first.
Angela landed gently on the roof of the Hacienda, her heightened senses picking up several people in the room with Elisa. Not wanting to frighten anyone, she waited quietly outside. Through the open window, she could hear several voices, and they all seemed very somber and sad. Angela hoped everything was alright.
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