Kindling [Macaria, W. Stronghold, Warren]

[Warren Peace]

Adore - Paramore





He didn't wake until evening.


Warren opened his eyes, just lying there for the moment. He felt so tired and sick, like he hadn't slept for weeks...

His mind seemed to be functioning much too slow. He couldn't quite remember why he was here, but he felt so melancholy and fatigued, he didn't feel like doing much except staring at the ceiling.

There was music coming from somewhere... a single acoustic guitar strumming out a Paramore song. Warren tried to listen, turning his head towards the sound. His attentiveness woke up slowly, and he tried to sit up in bed...

As soon as he bent his torso, he became aware of how much his body ached. Pain shot through his stomach and he fell back against the pillows, letting a cry escape his mouth.

Memories flooded back to Warren. He threw the covers off his chest and pulled up his T-shirt to look at his chest, dreading what it looked like, and why it hurt so much...

No...

It had been real. What she'd done to him... no matter how much he wished for it, it hadn't been only a nightmare. It was as real as the wounds and the pain.

He sniffed once, covering his face with one hand, looking as if he were about to start crying again. He gingerly laid his other hand on his abdomen. The bruises had darkened and finished forming, swollen and splattering a ghastly rainbow of black, purple, blue, yellow, and red splotches, darkest where Hades had constricted him. Persephone's vines had strangled the skin and raised welts around where they'd touched him. He felt more on his limbs, restricting his movement with how much everything hurt. He traced the delicate tattoo of a dove below his belly button. It had been turned into a crow.

He closed his eyes again, breathing heavily, his hand rising and falling with his stomach. He wished he could fall back asleep and make everything stop hurting...

[Macaria]

((methinks Macaria's wrath is worse then Warren's. After all, one of her parents is known for his temper, the other is equally as short-fused and also mercilessly zaps people who piss her off into plants.

....ee-yeah.))

Macaria had been bored the majority of the day. After sustaining herself with some sort of mortal-y food in the morning, she had pretty much fasted for the rest of the day (anything that wasn't nectar, ambrosia, or pomegranate was icky), lurking and wandering around the house, burning discreet holes in the walls where no-one would ever find them (behind furniture, etc. ((XD))). There were times throughout the day when she would drift upstairs to see if Warren had woken yet; the answer was always no and she's sigh and drift back down to burn another tiny lil' hole behind a chair or something. At some point in the day, the tedium grew to unbearable amounts and she poofed up a random scroll from her library at home (yes, the Underworld had a library. Persephone liked to read, and so did some of the other Underworld residents, although Seph was the only one who mattered) and buried herself in that for a few hours. At around six, the scroll was tossed to the side (she had finished it) and Macaria wandered back upstairs.

She leaned in the doorway and watched Warren sleep. Only after a few minutes this time, he had woken up.

Macaria said nothing as he cried out, remained silent as he threw the covers off himself and examined the bruises in a sad way. When his eyes closed, she had vanished from the doorway and reappeared on the edge of the bed that was opposite him, a corner of her mouth turned upwards in a little smirk.

"You're up, finally," she stated lightly, tilting her head with her smirk still on her face.

[Warren Peace]

His eyes fluttered to the voice, and he yanked his shirt back down so she wouldn't have to look at the bruises. He turned his head to meet hers, and his lips turned up in a smile.

"Hey." he croaked out. At least she hadn't been a dream.

Warren frowned a little as he got the context of what she was saying. "What time is...?" he began as he shifted to look at the clock on the nightstand. The digital display read 7:23 PM.

The pyrokinetic groaned. "I slept through the whole day?!" He sighed and gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry... Did I miss anything today? Or last night? I don't remember much after we..." His smile widened. "God, you're wonderful." Warren scooted a little closer to her.

He yawned and pushed his mop of bedhead out of his face. "I slept all day and I'm still tired... Mmph. How'd I end up in this bed, anyway?"

[Macaria]

Macaria nodded and smirked.

"You did," she told him, amused, still smirking, "It's no problem. We fell asleep at like 3 in the morning anyway. I just wake up early." She absentmindedly glanced upwards, trying tor ecall if he had missed anything. "Well, after we kisssed, you fell asleep, and then I fell asleep, and then I guess Will brought us up here.....and then I hung around the house all day doing nothing." Her smirk broadened into a grin. "You missed nothing."

He moved closer to her, and she beamed, correcting with another little smirk, "Gods," before leaning over and kissing him.

Macaria grinned and sat back up. "So now you have a goddess for a girlfriend," she said with a smile and a raised eyebrow, "That makes you pretty special, y'know." She practically beamed, reaching out and playing with a lock of his hair, "You were already special, though."

[Warren Peace]

He inhaled sharply through his nose and felt his heart go wild as she kissed him for the second time. Warren’s eyelids closed halfway, and he briefly wondered if he would melt into a lovey-dovey mess every single time their lips touched. He hoped so. The feeling was bliss.

Warren found himself amazed at the simple fact that she’d stayed with Will and waited for him. She could’ve gone somewhere else and poofed back within seconds of his waking. Instead, she opted to be bored all day and listen to him snore. He was touched.

The pyrokinetic tried to sit up again and groaned when his stomach started aching. He tried raising his arms and grabbing the headboard to pull himself up, but the position was too awkward and his biceps seemed to be just as whiney as his abs. Warren gave an exasperated sigh and arched his back, stretching, then flopped back down on the bed. He decided instead to snuggle closer to Maci, and he scooted his head and shoulders onto her lap.

“And how does that make me special?” he asked, contented and laid-back.

[Macaria]

Macaria winced automatically when Warren tried to shift himself into a sitting position, resulting only in a failure and pain.

"My parents'll be lucky if I ever look at them again," Macaria muttered under her breath, casting a furious glance at the ground (or under the ground...). She glanced back upwards after a moment and Warren moved himself into her lap. Macaria smirked and her hand fluttered to his hair. She was petting him as she answered his question.

"Because it's a rarity for a mortal to be in a relationship with a goddess," she explained, her head tilting to one side and a smirk still on her face, "Most gods won't even talk to mortals. Sure, there are some who'll date/kiss/etc. anything that walks, e.g. Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon, Aphrodite, but most of them..."

Her smirk grew.

"You're one of those lucky few who caught the attention of a divinity."

Macaria giggled. "Lucky you," she teased.

[Warren Peace]

He smiled back and reached up to touch the glowing arms that stroked his hair. But as he did so, he caught sight of his own bandaged arm. His smile faded, and he dropped his hand back to his side.

"Lucky me." Warren echoed, chagrin seeping back into his voice.

Maci was right in more ways that she implied. He was lucky enough to attract the attention of a divinity. Three divinities, to be exact. One had snapped his arms like toothpicks and injured his pride. The second had sliced those wounds deeper, stolen his virginity, squeezing where he was already hurt and ripping his emotional stability to pieces. The third was both healing and salt in the wounds. Maci was everything he ever wanted, but every time he looked at her, he could also see her parents... eager to dance on his grave. Lucky him.

Warren dropped his eyes and swore to himself. He'd ruined the moment.

The pyro swallowed, listening to the faint music from downstairs, which he guessed was Will on his acoustic.

Warren spoke up again. "Maci, can I ask you something? Just... why? Why did you pick me?"

He pursed his lips, frowning, and continued. "Maci... I'm a mortal. I'm going to die one of these days. And if I'm real lucky, I'm going to get old before I do... You could've done so much better than me."

He winced at how harsh he'd sounded, and stammered to recover. “I… I can’t tell you enough how much I want you here with me, but… It just… It doesn’t make any sense. Your parents want me dead, and you could’ve been with a god… Thanatos, Hypnos, any of those guys back in the Underworld. But you chose me… I don’t understand.”

[Macaria]

Macaria was silent, her hand still moving over his soft mop of hair, and she listened quietly to his words. Warren dying.....they had barely been together but the thought was horrifying to her. It sounded strange and obsessive and just weird (they hadn't even been together for a DAY, for Zeus' sake), but Macaria was dreading losing him to the depths of the Underworld.

When he was done speaking, she was silent for another moment, and then she spoke herself.

"So you're a mortal and I'm goddess," she stated with a shrug, "Did it matter to Echo when she fell in love with Narcissus that she was a nymph and he was a mortal? Did Zeus care when he fell in love with Maia that he was a god and she a titan? Did Pasiphae cast her love aside because she was a mortal and her love was a bull?"

Macaria answered herself.

"Love doesn't discriminate. So we're not from the same species, so what? I love you, and you love me and that's all that should matter. Sure, I techinally have my pick of guys from the Underworld, but..." Macaria scowled for a second, "But I've been with them all and there's nothing interesting in that department. There's nothing to love. They don't even care about me, they're all just pigs out looking for a good time." She laughed shortly, in a clipped way. "Hypnos and Thanatos, hah, I was just a sibling rivalry thing. One of them wanted the Princess of the Underworld hanging off his arm....and so did the other. I was in the middle of tug-of-war." Macaria scowled again at the memory. "And it's the same for everyone else out there. I'm not a person, I'm a thing to have, no-one loves me and I haven't loved anyone."

She paused.

"'Til now, of course. You're different from them. You have the looks, the personality, the powers, you've got everything, and I love you for that." Macaria paused again. "A god is a god, but a person is a person, and to be a person, it doesn't matter what species you are."

Macaria was still stroking Warren's hair, a steady motion throughout her monologue. She continued.

"And do you think I care what my parents think? If I cared, I wouldn't even be on Earth. Ever. Rebellion is a part of me. Inheritence. And my parents either don't care what I do or make up stupid rules that I don't bother to follow. I don't care about their opinion. In fact, when I go home, whenever that may be, you'll be able to hear my temper tantrum from up on Earth."

Macaria cast her eyes downwards and reluctantly she stopped petting him and folded one hand with the other in her lap. Her eyes still on the floor, she said softly, "I...I still don't know what they did to you, exactly. I...I mean, I know, but....."

She bit her lip.

"If you don't want to tell me, I understand, it's no problem. Traumatizing and all that. But I'm here for you." Macaria lifted her hand and stroked him again.

[Warren Peace]

He closed his eyes, his expression thoughtful and pained at the same time. Love doesn’t discriminate. It sounded like it was straight out of a fortune cookie, but it was true. The way she petted his hair like a kitten was tangible proof. His face relaxed, his mouth upturned and curling at the corners of his plush lips in a smile.

I’m special to her. His joy at the simple thought was nearly giddy. I’m the person she wants.

He cracked his eyes open and looked up at her, afraid that he would fall asleep again. He was already lethargic, and Macaria’s gentle stroking made him placid to the point of drifting off.

“Still…” he said, a glint in his eye. “Pasiphae and her bovine beau… can you imagine how awkward the sex would be?” Warren’s sense of humor was usually one of three things: dark, sarcastic, or just plain sketchy.

His eyes lost their laughter as she mentioned what had happened to him. Warren swallowed. With Maci around, it was so easy to forget. He bit his lip and shut his eyes for a few seconds, trying to delay his answer if only for a moment. Will’s guitar had stopped, adding to the silence. He couldn’t say no to her; it was obvious that she dearly wanted to know exactly what her parents had done, and she deserved to know the truth as well. But it was a hard subject.

“Please… Can we talk about this later?” he asked, pleading. “I… I want you to know, and you should know, but I just… can’t right now. I don’t want to start crying again. Please.” Warren stopped talking, for his voice had wavered at the end of his sentence. He gulped again, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. His throat was tight, and he was horrified at how easily the tears had almost come.

He chewed on his lip in the uneasy silence that followed.

But the silence was rather short. Warren jumped as a tremendous boom shook the house, as if someone had dropped a piece of furniture. A furry, black shape whizzed through the doorway and shot onto the bed: Corbie, out of hiding from the screaming and crying the night before. The cat stalked over to Macaria, positioning the goddess between herself and the door.

Will’s shouts came from downstairs. “MACI, WHAT THE HECK?! I KNEW I SMELLED SOMETHING BURNING!!”

Warren looked at his cat, then at the door, then back up at Maci. “What did you do…?” he asked, slightly accusing.

[Macaria]

Macaria laughed at Warren's comment.

"That didn't stop her," she told him, "She was so in love with the bull that she got Daedalus - this weird crazy inventor genius guy - to build her a fake cow that she could crawl inside and spy on the bull and....do other things." She couldn't help but smirk. "How do ya think the Minotaur was born, after all?"

Macaria bit her lip as he shakily spoke.

"I...o-of course, go ahead, take as long as you want. I don't care, I'd just like to know at some point." She smiled at him, reached out and stroked him again, but stopped abruptly as there was a crashing noise, a streak of black, and then Will's shout. She blinked, looked sheepish, then glanced at Warren. Her eyes went back to the door.

"Unless your parents enjoy moving furniture for fun, they're not gonna see!" she called back to Will indignantly. Macaria turned back to Warren.

"Uh, you know how some people have, like, nervous habits? Y'know, biting your fingernails, playing with your hair, chewing on your lip, etc. etc....well, I have a nervous habit like that, too," she explained, again sheepishly, "I, uh, burn stuff into walls. Y'know, like, little circles, or little hearts, or tiny little holes..."

She glanced the otherway, then grinned apologetically at Warren.

"So, there are some....little holes scattered around Will's house." Macaria shot another sheepish grin at Warren, and glanced at the cat that was on the floor near her.

"Good kitty," she said to it flatly.

[Warren Peace]

Warren rolled his eyes.

"Someone's gonna have to fix those." he deadpanned.

His attention drifted to his cat. Warren held his hand out to the feline and emitted a whispering noise from his lips. Corbie padded over to Warren and rubbed her muzzle against his hand.

"Oh, yeah. Maci, Corbie, Corbie, Maci. She's just my cat." Warren scooped the black cat up and held her up above his head for Macaria to see. Corbie mewed and twitched her whiskers.

The pyrokinetic set his cat back down on the bed, and Corbie wriggled under the covers next to him, her tail sticking out.

[Will Stronghold]

An exasperated Will appeared in the doorway, clutching his guitar for comfort.

"But my dad DOES rearrange the furniture when my parents get tired of looking at the same thing..." he whined softly.

He took in the scene between Macaria and Warren with a bit of a delayed reaction. Will blinked, then blushed as he took in exactly how they were positioned... Maci was petting Warren, who was lying half-awake on her lap. The young superhero blushed a little.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" he asked tentatively, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

He shrugged sheepishly at Warren. "At least you're up... I was starting to think you'd gone comatose or something..."

[Macaria]

((*sings* COMATOSE....I'LL NEVER WAKE UP WITHOUT AN OVERDOSE, OF YOUUUUUUUUUUU.... AHEM. Anyway....))

Macaria stared at the black cat with a somewhat disgusted look on her face. It faded after a second andwas replaced with a smirk and a snicker.

"Pretty funny that I have a dog called Cerbie, and you have a cat named Corbie, don't you think?" Macaria snickered again, "See, we're Fated."

She glanced up from Corbie to Will, who had appeared in the doorway, clutching a guitar.

"Well, then you're screwed," she said, raising an eyebrow as he informed her that his parents did in fact rearrange the furniture, "Fly down to a store or something and get duct tape." She grinned and smirked practically at the same time, blinking in a mock-innocent way, "Duct tape fixes everything, I've heard."

Macaria looked down at Warren, smiled, started petting him again (she had stopped when Will came into the room) and looked back up to Will. "We're not doing anything," she said, blinking, and beamed down at Warren.

[Will Stronghold]

“Right…” Will said, rolling his eyes and smirking a little as he entered and sat on the bed. “And duct tape does fix everything… but it’s really noticeable when you use it to fix stuff.”

He sighed, throwing Maci a look, then directed his gaze to Warren. “How’re you feeling?” the superhero-in-training asked.

“Dead-tired, achy… Otherwise, really good.” The pyro answered. Will nearly giggled as Warren looked back up to Macaria as she stroked his head.

Will nodded, setting his guitar down in his lap and leaning on it. “Yeah…” he answered Warren. “Can I take a look at the bruises?” Warren dropped his gaze and frowned, then lifted his shirt back up to expose his chest. Will grimaced apologetically as he eyed the swollen marks on Warren’s stomach, then pulled his T-shirt back down for his friend. “I wouldn’t strain those…” he said quietly. “Maybe you should just stay in bed for a while?” Will pretended to ignore Warren’s protesting groan.

“Stay, or I tie you to the bed.” Will mock-threatened. “It’s getting late, anyway…” He glanced at the clock. 9:47 PM, and Warren needed to sleep.

“Maci, do you want to stay another night? I can give you my bed, if you like.”

[~Elisa Maza~]

*dies laughing* Poor Will. He'll have fun explaining this to his parents.