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 Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 5:13 pm
Rose glanced at Warren sideways, her brightly ruby-colored eyes glinting. He had this excited light in his eyes. She hoped he was happy with the space she'd given him. She realized how nice it would be to have a garden partner, so long as it was someone like Warren. So long as it was Warren.
And somewhere down the line, she'd also realized that he didn't want anything from her. That made it much easier to get along with him. Made her like him more.
"Store the buckets over there please?" she pointed to the side of the shed that was storage. "And then, I guess you can heat the water? You really don't have to do anything though."
But she got out the stainless steel tea pot, filled it with water, and set it on the counter next to the stove. She then began to rummage around in a cabinet, looking for tea.
"Are you particular to a certain kind of tea?" she asked, her voice a little muffled from her head being inside the cabinet. "I have more tea that I know what to do with. Earl Grey, Lavender Earl Grey English Breakfast, Black, Peach, Chamomile, Rose Hip of course, and the list just goes on."
She pulled her head out of the cabinet and forced herself to look at him, willing her cheeks not to turn red.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 8:40 pm
Warren did what she asked and started heating the water, well he put the water on the stove and turned on the heat and the stove heated the water. It would have been easy for him to heat the water himself but he didn't want to make Rose uncomfortable, and he knew his powers made people on edge. With anyone else he wouldn't have cared about making them uncomfortable, but Rose was becoming a friend and he didn't want to scare her.
Thinking on the choices of tea she had, Warren smiled slightly as she mentioned peach. It had been a favorite growing up, "Peach, if that's alright with you."
Turning back to the water, it still hadn't started boiling yet so Warren turned and looked to see if Rose was looking, when he realized she wasn't, he quickly placed his paw abouve the water and sent a little fire energy into the water to speed the heating process up. Once done he put his paw back down and tired to look normal.
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 12:51 am
Rose stared at Warren for a moment before sticking her head back into the cabinet.
"Peach it is then," she brought her head back out as the tea pot started to whistle. She glanced at it curiously before turning her attention back to Warren. She blinked, stood there for a few seconds before shrugging. If Warren didn't want to use his power around her then he didn't have to. She set the tea box on the counter and moved to grab the tea pot from the stove.
Once again, Rose came in very close contact with Warren. But this time instead of turning away her face, she made eye contact. She searched his cool gray eyes with her fiery red ones. She looked for signs of deception, treachery, and found none. She took a sharp intake of breath and then backed away, taking the tea pot with her.
Steady Rose, steady.
She pulled tea cups from the cabinets and, placing a tea bag into each one, poured the hot water into the cups. She carried these to the table, set them down and then went to the refrigerator, pulling out ham and cheese to make sandwiches with. Bread was on the counter and another look into the cabinet revealed plates. A couple of slices with a knife later, and the plate sat on the small table piled high.
Rose sat down and gestured Warren to do the same.
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Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 7:44 pm
Warren sat where Rose indicated. Taking a sip of his tea, Warren closed his eyes to savor the flavor. He really did love Peach tea but rarely did he drink it. Putting his tea down, Warren began making his sandwich.
Taking a bite of his ham sandwich, Warren looked over to his compainion. "This is really nice, Thank you for inviting me to your garden."
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:11 pm
Rose shrugged off the thanks.
"It's no problem really," she hesitated before admitting something she didn't like to think about. "As much as I love my gardens and being out there...you don't know how truly lonely it can get sometimes."
She looked away and blushed a bit.
But it was the truth. It did get lonely. Being around Warren brought up old memories. Things she'd fought so hard to squash.
Maybe she'd been wrong. Maybe she really couldn't live without being cared for, being appreciated. But that brought up more questions. Would Warren stay with her, even if it were just friendship? Or would he look at her with pity and disgust when he learned what had happened to her, even if it hadn't been her fault. Would she change in his eyes, would he treat her differently?
"Warren," she said hesitantly, still unsure. But she wanted Warren to know.
"How much about me...do you want to know?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:30 pm
Warren looked curiously at Rose, "I would be interested in learning anything you want to tell me. I consider you a friend, one of the few foxes I don't mind being around, so anything that would help me understand your view point and let me be a better friend to you is welcomed." Cocking his head sideways, "I would be willing to tell you about my past as well, if your interested."
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Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 7:48 pm
Rose gulped. But she'd offered. She couldn't go back on her word. She didn't want to anyways.
Deep in her mind she unlocked the door that held her most painful memories. How fast they came roaring back into her head startled her; she's thought she'd suppressed them better that that.
Still she'd unleashed her personal Pandora's Box and she couldn't close it now. She took a deep breath and looked at him.
"Don't interrupt me, once I start. I won't be able to continue if I stop," she closed her eyes, trying to start her horrible tale.
Her eyelids fluttered once and when she opened them again, she was far, far into the past.
"To understand my past fully, you need to know where I come from. I grew up in a small European country, so small that by now it's probably been added to England or maybe France. What matters is it isn't there anymore. We lived our lives by something called The Path. This created everyone's 'Happily Ever After' and for the most part it does pretty well. Ours was a world where things could, and often did, take a magical route. The Evil King whom gets tossed off his throne by the Good Wizard; that's The Path at work. But there are times when certain circumstances prevent someone's 'Happily Ever After'. And when it does, well it's one of the worst feelings in the world."
"When I was born, everyone in our small kingdom claimed that I was the fairest vixen they'd ever seen. Something amazing was sure to happen to me when I grew into my vixen-hood, that's what everyone said. Sometimes I wish they'd been wrong," Rose sighed quietly and continued her story. "I was different back then. All white and gold instead of ruby and ebony. I was happy that way; a happy milk and honey kind of girl. I was so sure that good things happened to good people and that bad people always got what they deserved in the end, so long as the good people stood up to them. I guess life had other plans for me."
"When I was 15 years old, I was betrothed to the Crown Prince of our kingdom. It was everything I could have hoped for, the world working in my favor. Even though the wedding wasn't for months, I moved into the palace without a seconds glance back. I wanted to start my new life as fast as I could. The Prince left me alone quiet a lot. I assured myself that it was only so that people wouldn't think lowly of me; if I hadn't been untried I would have automatically lost my chance at marrying the Prince. Later I learned that he actually had about three other maids who's company he preferred greatly over mine. Being alone gave me more time than I knew what to do with. I'd always been attracted to gardens. So I spent most of my time in the Royal Gardens, enjoying the fresh air and the occasional company of the gardeners."
Here she stopped and shuddered for a moment. But she continued on.
"The Prince had a group of young noble friends, who liked to stand at the edge of the garden and watch me. I didn't really think about it at the time. I should have, but I was too sheltered to understand what their looks meant. I just assumed that they liked the gardens as much as I did."
Her voice became low and hoarse, as if what she was now repeating caused her great pain to even think about. Which it did.
"There was a huge banquet that night, a feast. To celebrate my upcoming marriage. I was a little woozy from the wine I'd drank and I had fled to the garden, wanting a little peace and quiet before I threw myself back into the throngs of people. They must have followed me, the Prince's noble friends were standing in front of me. They were beyond drunk, I could smell it on them. They circled me, cutting off any escape route I might have had. They claimed that every Princess needed to be broken in, so that I wouldn't disappoint the Prince on our marriage night."
She couldn't look at Warren anymore. Thick tears fell from her eyes, and she took a shuddering breath.
"They...they took t-turns with me. And when they were done, they left me lying there as they laughed their way back into the party."
Rose lifted her head, and her eyes were full of hatred and anger.
"I went to him the next day, my so-called-Prince. Told him what his friends had done to me. I was so sure, even then, that he would do something about it. He shrugged it off. 'Boys will be boys' was his excuse. Then he had the gall to say that if I kept my mouth shut no one would know and I'd still be able to marry him."
There was an evil glint in her eyes.
"I screamed at him that he'd let this happen, that he should have done something to protect me. He got angry and moved towards me, telling me that no one spoke to him like that and to stop being a silly little vixen. I reached over to his desk, took his letter opener and stabbed the paw he held out to me in offering. While he lay curled up around his paw and screaming insults at me I left. Left all of my precious belongings, left the tower that had been given to me, and never looked back. I spent years in the wilderness. That changed me, made me look the way I do now. Then I ended up here. And that's it."
She fell silent, locking the memories firmly away again. Rose turned her face away from Warren, waiting for him to judge her.
"So now you know,"
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Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 9:57 pm
"Don't interrupt me, once I start. I won't be able to continue if I stop,"
Warren simply nodded and stayed quiet as she explained her past, but inside he was in a rage as she began to explain how she had been hurt. How dare someone hurt her like that. Anger filled his eyes causing them to flicker with an internal fire that desperately wanted to come out. He clinched his paws tightly, smoke streaming off them as he fought the urge to hunt down and kill every last one of them that had hurt Rose, the prince included.
"If I ever find those responsible, they will beg for death before I am done with them," Warren growled.
He saw Rose no differently then before, she was still the closest friend he had and any thought of someone hurting her caused his blood to boil. He had no qualms with the thought of killing foxes responsible in hurting Rose. It might have been part of his father's blood showing itself, who had been notorious for his vicious behavior, but Warren didn't care. In his mind, they deserved to die and in the most painful way possible.
Getting up, Warren paced angrily in the small room, muttering what he would do to the no good, dirty, rotten, waste of spaces. Finally calming himself down enough that he wasn’t likely to burn something down or hurt Rose, he made his way over to his friend. Warren wanted to reassure himself, that what happened was in the past and Rose was fine now, so he did what anyone would do. He hugged her, tightly, muttering promises of revenge, “…if you ever see any one of them again, let me know, and I will take care of it. Wont allow it to happen again, can’t let it happen again. ”
Bringing up Rose’s past had unsurprisingly brought up his, and thoughts of his father hurting his mother where at the fore front. It wasn’t until he grew up that he fully understood what all had happened to his sweet, caring mother while he had been unconscious, but when Warren finally figured it out, he ended up blowing up a tree that happened to me near bye. Warren couldn’t blame Rose no more then he could blame his mother for what had happened to them, nor would he pity her. There was no need for pity, yes something horrible had happened to her but she had survived. Maybe a little rougher around the edges then before, but she had survived, and that was what was important. She was stronger then her past, in a way his mother hadn’t been and if hardening herself was the reason for it, then he couldn’t fault her for it.
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Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 5:59 pm
Rose watched Warren warily as his paws began to smoke with barely contained fire. He frightened her only because she was still in a very emotional state and his rage was unpredictable. She smiled faintly as she heard him say what he would do to the bastards of her past. His loyalty was comforting, more than she ever though it would be. Still his hugging her was unexpected.
Her first instinct was to tense and she did; it had been years since she'd been embraced and it was an odd sensation. She was hard as stone in his arms. But, oh, Warren exuded an internal warmth she'd never felt before and she melted like putty. She pulled herself closer to him and buried her head into him, until all she could sense around her was Warren. She breathed deeply and took in his scent: warm leather, roses, and wood smoke. She took another breath and let it out in a great shuddering sigh, half mental exhaustion and worry and half excitement. She shivered from the pain of her memories and snuggled closer to Warren, if that was even possible. She smiled through the tiny tears that appeared in her eyes as Warren muttered reassurances to her. It was nice to be cared for again.
It took her a while, but Rose finally calmed down. They'd probably been in that position for minutes but Rose didn't mind and Warren didn't seem to either. She pulled her face from his chest and put a paw to his cheek, cupping it.
"I'm ok now Warren," she said, though she didn't just mean this moment. She brushed his long hair from his face, tears of happiness and wonder in her eyes. "Thank you for caring so much. And you should know," she closed her eyes for a moment. "That I care about how you are too."
And she meant that. Surprising as it was, Rose really did care.
"I want you to be able to tell me anything you need and want to," she hesitated, not wanting to push him. "You know, about your past."
Her face was very close to his, open and trusting as it had never been before. Her heart fluttered once, twice, and she batted her eyes slightly, shyly. Flushed, her cheeks colored slightly, making her stunning to look at.
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 8:54 am
Looking into Rose's ruby eyes, Warren could tell she meant what she said. He hadn't really been close to another fox since his mother, so it was good to know his affection were returned. Satisfied Rose was okay, Warren reluctantly headed back to his chair.
Closing his eyes, Warren thought back to the beginning, trying to pick where the best place to start was...
"When I was younger, I was a happy carefree fox. It was just me and my mother at that time but that didn't bother me, my mother was my world. I would spend hours just helping her in the garden as she took care of her roses," Warren stopped for a second remembering all the different rose bushes she had. "She had so many different types that it took a while to water them all but it was never a chore for me. How could it, when my mother was right there next to me, singing and telling me stories. For many years this was the norm, her and me working in the garden, just having a good time, but one day it all changed."
Warren's voice cracked a bit as he started remembering the one day that changed a happy niave fox into a somber cynical one.
"It started out like any other, the sun was shining and the atmospher between my mother and I was light and playful, but then he arrived. While we were working, a stange fox was heading our way. It took a while for me to place him since I had only seen him in pictures, but when I did, I was excited. It was my father and I had thought he had come home to us and we could be like a normal family."
Bitter laughter broke out from Warren, "It's amazing how stupid you can be when your young. He wasn't there to be part of our family but to destroy it. All the time he was away, it turns out he was in prison and not away for a job like I had been told and now that he had escaped he wanted revenge on my mother. Aparently he thought she was the one who had turned him in to the police and when he got free he came for her.
When I realized he was trying to hurt her, I tried to stop him but only ended being thrown aside and knocked out. When i woke up again, I was in the hospital with my mother and my father was in jail again. "
Warren's tail twitched angerly as he remembered, " It only took a few day's for me to heal but my mother was never the same after that. In the time I was at the hospital, I was quiet and many of the doctors and nurses would talk about my mom's injuries in front of me, since they didn't realize I was in the room. I didn't really understand it at the time since I was still too young but it turns out my father wasn't just happy beating her, oh no, he wanted to put her in her place as well. He had...he had...he had raped her, while i lay uncontious and the only reason he hadn't killed her was because the police had showed up before he could. "
"For year's after that, I took care of my mother. What he did to her, broke her, she never was the same after that." Looking up into Rose's eyes, "You know how amazing you are? They hurt you just like he hurt my mother, but they couldn't break you. You were too strong for that."
Turning back away, Warren continued, "I looked after her until she finally gave up totally and passed away while she sleeped. I couldn't stay there after she was gone, so I sold the house and the garden that meant so much and traveled for a few years using the money I had made in the sale. Finally when my money ran out I had found my way here, and Jay offered me a place to stay. With no where else to go, I accepted."
"and that's my story."
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 3:08 pm
Warren took his seat again and his warmth was gone. In those short minutes Rose had become to dependent on that warmth and the cool air in the shed was a sort of shock. She pushed back the urge to shiver and watched Warren's face attentively as he told his story.
She paid attention to the whole thing and understood his pain. But the thing she focused on the most was how he looked as he talked about his early days with his mother. The happy look on his face was blinding and it was painful for Rose to watch it disappear.
When he described what had happened to his mother, Rose understood why he'd been especially furious about her own past. It had hit home too closely.
She got up, just as he had, and stood at his side. Taking his paw, she tugged gently to get him to get up. Opening the shed door, they walked into the late afternoon sun. The roses in the gardens gave off a fragrant smell that was calming to frazzled nerves.
"I'm glad," she said as she led him outside. The shed had suddenly become stifling. "That you ended up here."
She led them both over to a large tree on the edge of their gardens. She sat down and pulled him with her. She leaned against him, still holding his paw.
"You're nothing like him, you know," she said, when they'd gotten comfortable. She knew that Warren must worry that he was like his father often. "You wouldn't want to protect me if you were like him. And what happened, wasn't your fault. You were too young to be able to do anything. Try as she might, your mother just didn't have the strength to fight what he'd done to her."
She sighed.
"There have been times when I've wanted to fade. But if I did, it would mean that they'd won. And I was always too stubborn to let them," she looked at him, and leaned closer. "Maybe now I have another reason to stay here. Maybe you do too?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 9:13 pm
Letting the sweet smell of flowers sooth him, "I'm glad I ended up here too. I never thought I would be close to anyone again but being here let me get to know you and I wouldn't trade that for the world. To feel close to someone is amazing and I thought I wouldn't get that feeling ever again. Everyone in my travels were always too niave for me and it felt like I had to struggle to even have a conversation with them, after a while I gave up and started avoiding them."
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 9:44 pm
Rose smiled and ducked her head a bit. Spending time with Warren made her feel more at peace than she could have ever imagined.
"I hardly stand anyone," she murmured. "You at least tried. I just refused immediately. Even my family, Taelence and Ariston, are hard to stand sometime. They can offer all the comfort they want, but...it's just not the same."
She snuggled closer to Warren, anything to feel that warmth of his. It was intoxicating.
I could get way too used to this, she thought happily. Provided Warren wanted to stay. Goddess, I hope he wants to stay.
"They don't understand us, not really. We're..." she struggled for a word and settled with something that didn't fit but was a close as she could get. "Damaged in a way that they can't understand. So...we find others like us." Here she smiled at Warren, happy and safe. "That understand completely. And we build new lives."
She sighed.
"I've been called damaged for so long, but I don't feel damaged. I just feel different from what I was. I'm not so sure that it's such a bad thing. What happened was horrible, but I get a take on life that most don't. I can say, personally, that I've seen enough of the bad to be able to actually tell what's really good in life."
She held up their entwined paws.
"Like this. This is good. Very good," she smiled up at him, ruby fire meeting cool steel.
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Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 6:44 pm
Giving her a barely noticeble smile that only Rose has seen in a long time Warren nodded, "This is very good. "
Warren didn't speak for a few minutes simply enjoying the moment, finally he looked over to Rose," I don't think damaged would be the right word for us, hardened maybe but not damaged. We just know the world isn't all sunshine and butterflies but rather a mix of the good and the bad. The other's haven't realized that yet and if their lucky they never will have to."
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 7:12 pm
Rose gave Warren her own smile, which for too long had been a smirk. Gave it to him whole heartedly and completely, and kept his for herself. Slowly, Warren was melting the frost that had slowly coated her inside all of the years past. Whether she actually admitted it to herself or not, she was tired of hurting, tired of being a perpetual frost queen. Warren made her feel like none of it mattered. Which to him she supposed it didn't. That meant something to her.
She cupped his cheek with her free paw and closed the distance between them. His lips were soft, softer than she'd ever remembered anyone's being. The heat that he gave off consumed her and filled her to the brim, until she felt like she'd been placed into a hearth and set ablaze. But it didn't hurt. Nothing ever did. Not when she was around Warren.
She finally pulled back and gave him another of her smiles.
"Maybe we won't have to be constantly reminded of what life is like anymore...if we stick together?" she blushed a little, forgetting what it was like to be open and interested in someone.
"Maybe there'll be a chance for us to stop it from happening to someone else. Maybe we'll be strong enough that time. Together."
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