Spree Living Room, Sunday Afternoon

[wwiii]

What was a rich guy to do when he was stupidly bored, making faces at the fact that his normally four-person cabin was down to two and a hedgehog, and wanted to get his hands on something to help take the edge off?

Well, the cabins were named after candy, after all. And, while Warren had never really had the chance to indulge in, say, certain brand-names of candy while growing up, there was nothing keeping him from doing so now, right?

In spades?

Look, he had no frame of reference for things like, 'that is way too much money to spend on way too much candy.'

And that was why he was carrying a case of Spree into his cabin today. He'd been inspired.

This could only end in stomach ache.

[For the cabinmate! Unless you have some reason to be in Spree!]

Comments

[wwiii]

"As girls do," Warren echoed, nodding as though he actually understood these things.

It was a sad fact of life that everything that he knew about what girls did, he'd learned from watching television. So he was going to take Raven's word for it, just this once.

Because, truth be told, if Bobby had been around? He totally would have run to him to tell him about most of the date, too. "For all I know, you'll be back again later to give me a stern lecture about how to treat a lady, after all."

[trigons_child]

"Perhaps, though I suspect if she were truly displeased she would tell you herself," Raven said. "She is not one to remain silent. But if she were ever insulted, yes, I would have to do something."

She wasn't trying to make any sort of threat. It was just the truth. Only "do something" for Raven would probably be a stern scolding.

[wwiii]

Warren didn't tend to fare well in the face of a stern scolding, so that would work out nicely in Raven's favor, at least!

"Well," he mused, "it's a very good thing that I have no intention of insulting her."

[trigons_child]

"I can tell," Raven said simply. "I am an empath, after all."

And this really wasn't helping her sort out how she felt, dammit.

[wwiii]

"Right," Warren replied, blinking. "Empathy. So... you would have known my answers no matter what I told you, right?"

This didn't mean that he was going to start making a game out of lying, but it was kind of an intriguing power, he had to admit.

"That must be useful."

[trigons_child]

"There are some people who are able to shield themselves from me, so I cannot read their feelings," Raven said with a tiny shrug. Stupid Jedi. "Though I do not make it a habit of eavesdropping on the emotions of others. That would be rude."

Unless someone was in pain. Then their emotions and injuries were totally her business, thank you very much.

[wwiii]

"Rude unless you're asking somebody how they'll treat a friend of yours," Warren noted wryly. At least there was a smile to that. For as hypocritical as that statement seemed to him so quickly after she admitted that she could tell that he had good intentions, he kind of... appreciated it, too. That there were people who were looking out for Karla's well-being, and all.

"You're not going to make a habit of grilling me over how I feel about Karla, I hope? It's not likely to change any time soon."

[trigons_child]

"Not unless Karla tells me she is unhappy," Raven said. "We are very close, so I know she would."

She wasn't sure that she should be disappointed or not that as far as she could tell from now and the other times she'd spoken to Warren, he was pleasant enough and wasn't an evil demon or anything like that. (Oh wait, that was her.)

[wwiii]

Warren would have been sincerely surprised to hear about the evil part of that description. Really, now.

The demon part... Hey, who was he to judge? People kept confusing him for an angel, after all.

"It probably isn't any of my business," he admitted, "but now I'm kind of curious what she has been saying."

[trigons_child]

"She did not have to say anything," Raven said. "I asked, and she allowed me to feel it."

If Raven had been anyone else, she might've been smug as she said that.

[wwiii]

And if Warren had been anyone else, he might have even wondered why that statement wasn't smug.

"Oh." He pursed his lips, fidgeting with the top of another tube of Spree for a moment. "I'm glad that she's got friends that she can trust so thoroughly around here, then. She and I were both talking about how this place can completely redefine family."

He offered Raven a smile. "You must be one of those people who helped her to do that."

[trigons_child]

Raven couldn't help but smile back. "Yes," she said, inclining her head. "As she helped me. I did not truly have a family before I came to Fandom, and Karla did much to change that. We have become very close, and I am very protective of her now."

As if that wasn't obvious.

[wwiii]

Oh, Warren totally hadn't noticed. Really.

"She did a lot for me, too," he noted, carefully. "She... She understands things, on a level that most people don't even bother to consider. And then from there, she makes whatever it is you're afraid of... seem maybe not so bad."

[trigons_child]

"It is part of what she is as Queen of her land," Raven said. She knew exactly what Warren meant because she'd experienced that from Karla as well. "She is a healer, as am I, of the body and heart and mind, though our gifts work in different ways."

[wwiii]

"A good person is a good person, no matter what power they have or where they come from," Warren decided with a shrug. "I respect what she is, and that there are things that she can do because of that, but I think I'm more inclined to just let myself believe that Karla is as understanding as she is because she's Karla, first and foremost."

[trigons_child]

"I did not say that she was not," Raven pointed out, a tiny bit testily. "Her gifts enhance who she is."

[wwiii]

"No," Warren countered, "they enhance what she can do. They might help her demonstrate who she is, but I don't really know if that's the same thing."

He sighed, shaking his head a little.

"Maybe I don't understand the way you do, because I'm not a healer," so far as he was aware, "I just grew up being told that a person shouldn't let themselves be defined by their abilities, no matter what the people around them choose to think."

Which had led to a lifetime of hiding his. Gold star, Warren.

[trigons_child]

"I am quite certain I know Karla much better than you do," Raven said defensively, but she did concede, "Though I am not always able to communicate clearly because I was raised in a very different world. But do not attempt to correct me on what I do or do not know about her."

If she stopped to think about it, she'd agree with Warren, but she was already on the defensive and also had her own issues with defining herself by what she was. Just a bit.

[wwiii]

"I wouldn't dream of it," Warren sighed, running a hand through his hair awkwardly. "And I'm not suggesting that anyone here knows her better than anyone else. I think... Maybe I was just doing a poor job at saying that she'd be an amazing person, no matter what her powers were."

And a shrug. He didn't want to put anyone on the defensive. He wasn't entirely certain what Raven was defensive about. But he did know a soured mood when he saw one, and was, at least, bright enough to figure out when he was the root of it.

Or at least full of enough guilt issues to believe the same.

[trigons_child]

"I think we both can agree on that," Raven said, relaxing a bit. She didn't mean to become so cranky -- and yes, for Raven that was Terribly Cranky -- and she understood it just about as much as Warren. "She is...quite amazing. And beautiful and kind."

[wwiii]

"All of that," Warren agreed, relaxing slightly as he noticed that Raven was. "Really, it's a wonder that you're the first person to come here to make sure that I'm not taking advantage of her."

Warren should watch what he says. If he tempts fate enough, he'll end up with a procession of suspicious friends demanding to know his intentions.

[trigons_child]

"Karla is close to several people who possess the skill of telepathy," Raven said. "It is quite possible they have already investigated and were satisfied." Way to incite paranoia there, Raven. "Or perhaps they already knew you, whereas you and I have only spoken a few times in the past."

[wwiii]

Oh, Warren already had a bone to pick with one such telepath. For all the good that it would do him, trying to call out Emma Frost on anything.

"My thoughts are mine," he said, with something almost actually resembling a backbone creeping into his voice for a moment. "If anybody who doesn't know me wants to know anything, they can ask. There are things about me that I don't need to see thrown about just because it suits somebody who had the means to take it."

[trigons_child]

"That is why I asked you about your intentions toward Karla instead of merely pulling your emotions from your heart," Raven said. "Sometimes I cannot help it when people are projecting strong emotions, but I do my best to shield myself against them."

At least until she decided she liked you and then she'd pester you endlessly if she picked up on any emotional turmoil or physical pain. Just ask Chuck!

[wwiii]

Warren watched Raven for a moment, and then nodded and sighed, relaxing again.

"I appreciate that," he admitted. "I'd like to think that the majority of the island's telepath population is just as considerate."