People are people (Philip)

[Marina Anne Sinclaire]

Sitting under a tree had been something she did because Frankie had insisted. The other woman had stated she was looking pale and sad and needed to get out of the house. Truth be told, Mari did not have the energy to fight about it any more and on a rare day off she'd grabbed her kindle and found a bench under a tree in Griffith park.

She was only half reading a book she had started. It sucked when you had so much on your mind you couldn't even focus on a book but there she was. 'This is stupid. I'm leaving.' she thought to herself as she stretched and sighed. She placed her kindle in her purse and rose. Her jeans allowing the grass to slide right off as she dusted herself and then put her purse over her shoulder. Time to go home and do some good. There were dark circles under her eyes but she didn't notice.

She dug around in her purse and pulled out the sheet music she had for a performance that she'd been asked to do for one of her favorite charities. The wind caught one of her pages and tugged at it. There was an irony to that given that she was doing a cover of Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away."

[Philip Aeren Ravid]

Philip had been doing his best to keep his attention of thinking too much about Mari after they had slept together, but this time he kind of tried to keep it reasonable if he gave into other women, but mostly he just, very frustrated at time, focused as much as possible on other things. Tonight he had gone drinking, and after having been thrown out, laughing and just barely keeping himself in, he had already gone into a fight which is why he was thrown out, so he just shrugged it off and started walking along the street. It might have been a bit early for a burst like that, but it was better than just wanting to rip someone apart, or just doing something else stupid.

He had also spent a bit of time continuing his search for a special artifact in his quest to win Mari back, and maybe if he could at the same time show these authority figures in this city what he thought about them in the process.

When he had caught onto Mari's scent eventually, he had quickly made his way there, intercepting her on her way to her car, holding onto her wrist, yet gently and quickly showing that it was him before he scared her to death. 'Hey, I was hoping I'd see you soon.' He said, keeping himself from saying something else of his other thoughts. He smiled slightly with that and tilted his head to the side while looking at her. 'What's been wrong? It's been more than obvious you've been living in isolation... You're not back in a situation like with your father or something are you?' He asked before raising an eyebrow but changing that in a worried look when he thought of something. 'Or do you regret and/or blame me for what happened?'

[Marina Anne Sinclaire]

She did startle when she saw him and felt his hand on her wrist. The heat of it something she wasn't used to, "Philip. You spooked me." she said as she calmed herself down and looked at him, "I got called away. Things have been kind of busy. There are bad things coming to L.A. I've been trying to study up on it to know what needs to be done." she admitted as she looked at him. She exhaled softly and and bit her lip, "I got really sick the morning after. I didn't want you to see me like that or think badly of me. The shift back was...gross. I didn't want you to be disappointed in me." she shuddered with the memory of it all.

"I was really out of it." she rubbed her temple and flushed her cheeks, "I know we did something but I can't really remember it, Philip. The shift back to what I am kind of fragged my memory." she did flush crimson and blushed down to her toes. "I think there was just too much going on for me to recall everything. I mean I know we did something, it was kind of obvious but the details were hazy." she stepped back to get a better look at him and to get a better grip of her bag, "I didn't know what to say. I mean I didn't want to insult you by going "Hey I know we slept together but I got recalled to heaven and they wiped the memory from my brain. Oh and I'm sorry I ran around your apartment acting like a dog." I mean...well crap it sounds really bad and I don't mean it to...."

She rubbed her temples, "I got in a lot of trouble with Trent because of it. He's kind of pissed at me right now." she said as she looked down at the ground, "Nothing is working out the way I wanted it to. Everything is kind of a mess for me right now. I'm a train wreck and I didn't want to drag you into it. You deserve better than someone whose burning the candle at both ends doing endless research and performances to help folks out and blow off steam. That is when I'm not learning how to walk again and do all that stuff that non disabled people do."

"Dammit, I always sound like a lame fan girl around you. I hate it. I just gahhh. I just never know what to say. Its just been crazy. This case with Pyriel has me biting my nails and wanting to tear my hair out. You'd think an asshole with an attitude and wings would stand out like a sucking void of doom in a city like L.A. but the bastards cloaking himself from us." she rubbed the back of her neck and looked annoyed. "I should get home. Its getting late and you probably have plans and I've got a wicked migraine that is making me want to chew glass." she said as she pulled her keys out of her pockets.

She was babbling like an idiot. She really was a mess. She was scatterbrained and had too much going on as always. Some things never change. She'd been that geeky college girl at 19 and here she was trying to do it all and act like none of it was too much. She just knew she had charges she had to help and she had to find Pyriel as well as learning how to be an angel again. It wasn't that she wanted to be that busy but it beat being miserable about Trent and the 101 things she had no control over. The breeze blew over her and ruffled her hair gently as if to say "Its okay, kid." it seemed to sooth her anyway. Almost as if it spoke to her.

She no longer was wearing the braces. Her disability was gone and in its place was a woman who could stand tall with the best of them. Her personality and the quirks of growing up in an abusive home could not be erased however. Some things just shaped you too much. She was still socially awkward no matter how hard she tried.

[Philip Aeren Ravid]

Philip just smiled and tilted his head to the side when Mari told him that he spooked her before he shrugged for a moment. 'No need for that darling, and usually I'd say that if someone spooked you I'd deal with them, so I'll be sure to punish myself.' He said as he smirked and looked at her while keeping his head tilted to the side for a moment. 'I know.' Philip couldn't stop but say simply with a slight smile about the bad things coming to L.A, yet not letting anything else shine through of his intentions and what he knew exactly. 'Mari...' Philip then started a bit more serious as he stepped closer and looked at her straight in the eyes when he looked up. 'Just stop, I'm not your dad, I'm not Trent, or whoever, you don't have to apologize if you didn't feel good, it hurts me more that you didn't give me the chance again to prove myself that I wouldn't have judged you, or be disappointed in you.' He told her honestly while looking her in the eyes and then shrugging again.

Again a sigh escaped his lips as Marina went on and he kept quiet in order to wait for the best opening to get something in between the somewhat rambling that was going on in front of him. 'Look, the running around the apartment acting like a dog was kind of to be expected under the circumstances, and it was actually kind of cute, I'm just happy I got you to turn back quickly enough.' He said before he looked down and bit his lip temporarily. 'At least you remember that it did happen, that saves a little bit of trouble having to tel and explain that... But wiping your memory seems a bit overdoing it of your angel buddies, even if it was under complicated circumstances, isn't it a point in your life that you should have been able to hang onto? To further form you into the person that you are?' He asked her as he smiled charmingly as he said it, wanting to see if she'd think about it that way or how she'd react.

Philip rolled his eyes when he heard what she told him about Trent, then couldn't stop a short sarcastic laugh from leaving his lips because of it too. 'And here I thought the little guy was going to blame me for it, instead he chooses to do the illogical thing and blame the person that couldn't really just simply snap her fingers and ignore what it means to be a werewolf, especially if it is with someone you have a history with like with me.' He said as she sighed, then looked at her sympathetically. 'But you are not anymore, you are now even more capable of taking care of yourself, of making people see the things that you see, of making your own choices, standing by them and your opinions, you are not under the control of your father anymore, and Trent should be happy to with you, and if he's acting like this, what does that say of how much he's willing to fight for you? But you have to stop selling yourself short like this Mari, because you are not, you have to start thinking about yourself, coming up for yourself.' He told her as he grabbed her hands and pulled them up to kiss one of them and then squeeze her hands softly as he lowered them again. 'Because even if I did deserve someone better, even if I don't make it that obvious, there is no one else I want besides you.' he told clearly as he looked at her straight in the eyes again.

Again Philip quickly enough rolled with his eyes when Mari told him how she thought she always sounded like a lame fan girl around him, and how it was so hard to track Pyriel because of how he was cloaking himself from them. 'Mari...' He started as he shook his head with a small laugh and then scooped her up from the ground and kissed her. He stopped after a bit and looked her straight in the eyes again with his head tilted slightly to the side again too. 'Just for a moment, if everything is such a mess, why don't you turn it off? If you go home now, all you'll do is think about it more, like I told you before, start thinking about yourself love.' He told her softly, smiling charmingly and caressed through her hair for a second with one of his hands, before he held onto her even better again, before he also kissed her again to empower his point even more.

[Marina Anne Sinclaire]

"You don't have to do that." she giggled softly. She shouldn't be finding humor in the situation but the idea of him trying to beat himself up was funny.

"I judge myself, Philip. You know this. I always have." she said with a quiet shrug of her shoulders, "I never felt good enough for you." she admitted, "I'm just a kid from the barrio whose dad hit it rich by selling his soul. It doesn't make me on the same caliber as you."

"Philip, I'm not allowed to be normal. I have to save the world. Besides, I didn't know what to say. I mean I was sick and cleaning up from the night before and I was embarrassed because I'd never done anything like that before. I'm not impulsive like that usually." she turned crimson, "It was all overwhelming and confusing. Maybe it wasn't right of them to do it but they didn't want me to lose focus and be distracted."

She flushed and looked down, "I'm not good enough for you. You should be singing in palaces and doing amazing things. You deserve that. You shouldn't be saddled with a girl who is scared of her own shadow. You deserve to have mind blowing amazing sex with someone that knows what they are doing not a clod like me. That's why I never said anything about the girls. I mean they were pretty and you had fun and got to experience so many things. I'm j-just me." she stammered softly.

"I hurt him. Like I hurt you. He has just as much right to be mad as you do." she said softly, "I hurt everyone I'm around. P-people would be better off without me." she tried to blink tears away from her eyes and exhaled.

She looked at him as he kissed her hand, "But why? I've just caused trouble for you. I don't want to be a werewolf, Philip. I'm not like you. You're wonderful and I just let people down and get them hurt. I try to do the right thing and keep the world safe because I can't seem to do anything else right. They let me be able to walk because I didn't hurt anyone as a werewolf but it means things are going to come after me now. I can't stay here in one place out in the open for long. Its not safe."

Feeling him scoop her up she gasped and closed her eyes as he kissed her. Holding onto him for balance as she felt dizzy with his emotions pouring through her. She moaned softly as she tried to find herself in the wave of emotions that were threatening to overwhelm her. She tried to focusing on separating herself from him but it was hard when he was projecting at her. When he broke the kiss off she panted from the heat of it. He said she should be thinking of herself but it was kind of hard to do that when he was kissing her. She closed her eyes like a cat when he ran his hand through her hair. "Philip I..."

Then he was kissing her again and she squirmed gently against him, trying not to loose herself in his kiss. It was hard when she was pressed up against him like she was and she was trying to catch her breath, "Philip, I can't think about myself if my empathy is picking up on you. Its hard. Because the minute you kiss me or look at me a certain way I completely melt. I just stop thinking and being coherant completely. I don't know how to put it into words. I'm attracted to you for you but I'm attracted to you because I can pick up on your attraction to me and that is so flattering. You make me feel pretty, but what you don't understand is, the things you like about me are because I'm an angel. Because of what I represent. Its not because of me as a person." her thoughts were jumbled and she shook her head to clear it. So many people wanted what they thought she was. They wanted to change her. Make her into what they wanted her to be. A fantasy. It wasn't real.

If it was one thing she had figured out it was that people liked her till they realized she wasn't the fantasy they created. Then they got angry or violent or both. That was what really scared her. "You overwhelm me. I lose myself when I'm around you and it scares me." she said softly to him.