wwiii | Selkie Peak, Saturday Morning

Last night, Warren and Karla hadn't bothered to go back to the hotel room that he'd booked so that he could visit her for the weekend, no. They'd had their hot coffee and their cider and their blankets, and cold November night or not, they'd fallen asleep together, curled up in feathered wings and warming spells. It had been an excellent way to end an evening, thank you very much. And being on Fandom Island, it really stood to reason that this morning wasn't going to go near as smoothly.

It was Fandom, after all.

Warren was the first to stir today, troubled by the cool air and a sort of heaviness in his joints that left him feeling as though he was made of lead. And normally, he'd just wrap his wings more tightly around Karla and cuddle up to her even more closely, but today...

He sucked in a sharp breath as his eyes shot open, and he stared up at the sky above from the flat of his back.

"Oh no," he murmured. "No no no no no."

[For that girl!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

glacial_queen

She nodded into his neck, clinging tightly to him. If she kept her eyes closed, maybe she could pretend that they were still up on Selkie Peak and there was just no one around.

"I still have my other Craft," she said, more to herself than him. "I'm not broken, it's just a thing, it'll be back by Monday. I still have my other Craft. I'm not broken, it's just a thing..."

From:

wwiii

"You aren't broken," Warren murmured, right along with her as he led her inside. "This isn't permanent. This is the island being stupid. You're not broken."

And he wasn't grounded for the rest of his life.

They weren't broken. It was just a thing.

From:

glacial_queen

"It's hard to believe it from inside my head," Karla mumbled. "I mean, I know it's true--" Mother Night, it had better be true "--but the way it feels is that it's gone forever."

And that would be why they were drinking. Copious, copious amounts of drinking.

"You doing any better?"

From:

wwiii

Warren's shoulders lifted, just the tiniest bit. He made a face as they did- the gesture itself was lighter, easier to manage without the weight of his wings on his back, but his arms still felt wrong, all the same.

"I feel like I'm stuck in somebody else's body again," he admitted, frowning. "Like, I don't know who this is, but it isn't me. And this is almost exactly what my father wanted to do to me."

Except that he still healed when he bled. He wasn't quite human enough to suit his father's tastes, all the same.

He actually felt a little better, knowing that.

Spiteful son.

From:

glacial_queen

"I'm really starting to understand that feeling," Karla grumbled. "The way you feel about shapes. Forgive me, but I was really happier before."

Next time she saw Warren's dad, she was kicking him for wanting to saddle Warren with this slow, heavy body that he despised.

And maybe once for her, too. Not for any good reason, but being head-blind made her want to kick things.

From:

wwiii

"Before was pretty great," Warren sighed, heading for the elevator because he'd sooner bite back the claustrophobia than try to haul himself up all of those stairs when he kept wanting to pitch forward when he overcompensated his balance for wings that weren't there. "Fandom and Sunnydale are conspiring together against us, aren't they?"

Had to be.

From:

glacial_queen

"There's something wrong when I want to go home to Kaeleer for a relaxing weekend," Karla grumbled. She leaned away from Warren, trying to give him a little more space. "Home. To Kaeleer. Where Lucivar lives. Ugh."

From:

wwiii

"So help me," Warren mumbled, "I actually miss having him smack the hell out of me when I miss a step doing drills."

Warren missed steps far less often these days than he used to, at least?

"I wouldn't stand a chance against him today, though."

From:

glacial_queen

"You're whole...everything is off," Karla said, waving vaguely in his direction to encompass 'everything.' "Balance, weight, gravity...just all of it."

"And I feel like I'm walking around with my eyes closed and my nose plugged."

From:

wwiii

"Between the two of us, it's like the blind leading the clumsy," Warren sighed, waiting for the elevator doors to open and fidgeting a little. "I kind of wish I hadn't gone for a room on one of the higher-up floors, this weekend."

From:

glacial_queen

"Maybe standing on the balcony with the wind on your face might help a little?" Karla suggested. "I mean, it's not perfect, but at least it's something familair?"

From:

wwiii

"That... might help," Warren agreed, leaning against her as the elevator dinged and the door opened up to them.

He... really didn't want to go in there.

"Ladies first?"

From:

glacial_queen

Karla gave him a sympathetic smile and stepped inside and turned around. "Give me your hand," she murmured. "And close your eyes."

From:

wwiii

Warren nodded a little, biting his lip as he reached for her hand and obediently closed his eyes.

"Thank you," he murmured. "I know... this is silly, especially right now, but..."

Only a couple of weeks since he'd nearly been crushed alive in that frat house? Was still a couple of weeks too soon.

From:

glacial_queen

"Shh," she said. "I'm going to need your help soon enough."

She pushed the button for their floor, then drew Warren to her, twining her arms around his neck and bringing him in for a kiss. A kiss she could only feel, but that was good enough for her right now. A kiss that would hopefully keep him distracted until the elevator opened at their floor.

From:

wwiii

Really, that was an excellent way of keeping Warren's mind off of things like enclosed spaces. It felt as if the world was opening up on all sides with a kiss like that, and Warren let himself fall into it with a gusto, pressing himself up against her and desperately losing himself in the feel of her lips against his.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. His arms would have to do.

From:

glacial_queen

Though, for Karla, all it did was put into stark contrast what she was missing. She would fall into the kiss, then suddenly become aware of how she could only feel it; she was used to having the steady thrum of Warren's desire in the back of her mind.

The kiss was wonderful, as they always were, but she couldn't lose herself in it as she so often did, as Warren was doing now.

Still, a kiss was a kiss, and she was going to cling to him and keep it going for as long as she could.

From:

wwiii

And as long as she could was about as long as it took for the elevator to ding on the appropriate floor, jarring Warren back to the present, where he was in a tiny box and his wings had vanished overnight.

His hold on her tightened a little, his shoulders tensing as he opened his eyes. A moment later and the door was opening, and he was doing his best to keep from just dragging her out into the hallway.

Stupid elevator. Stupid ding.

From:

glacial_queen

Karla let him go quickly, not wanting to impede on his break for freedom. She followed after him quickly, to also avoid that whole 'getting dragged along' thing.

"Want me to go in first and open up all the windows?" she offered, sliding their keycard to unlock the door.

From:

wwiii

Warren stood in the hallway, staring at the elevator door as it closed, sealing away that enclosed nightmare and leaving him with just the wide open on either side. He wasn't doing much moving in the hallway, either. The one at the frat house had left a bit of an impression on him.

"Please," he murmured, nodding a little. "The fresh air would be great."

But the view would just make him long to leap out into the blue.

From:

glacial_queen

It didn't take long for her to open all the doors and windows in their suite. There was a bottle of wine in a bucket, surrounded by water from the melted ice. She poured two large glasses of it, then walked back out to hallway, holding the door open for Warren. "Here," she said, giving him a glass. "Might help."

By the time they had finished the bottle, perhaps.

From:

wwiii

Or two or three bottles. He was down a pair of wings, but he still had the crazy metabolism that a healing factor required.

"Thanks," he replied, accepting the glass all the same, giving her a grateful little smile as he stepped into the room. "The wine's a great idea."

Who cared what time of day it was?

From:

glacial_queen

NOBODY. NOBODY, THAT IS WHO.

"I'm going to take care of you," Karla said, all fiery determination. "Do my damnedest to keep your mind off...everything...as much as I can. Keeping busy. That's the key to this."

...Or being drunk. One of those.

From:

wwiii

"I... guess it is," Warren replied, blinking between Karla and his wine glass. He... wasn't sure he needed too much being taken care of, but he suspected a lot of that was her own need to throw herself into forgetting the power that had been taken from her, too. "So we're going to just... keep occupied all day? Play chess or something?"