Bench Warmer

    Maeve was not spending time at home. Not today. Instead, she decided to go somewhere public, mellow, calm, and just rest for a little while. So, here she was, sitting on a bench in the middle of the park. She had a thin, long-sleeved shirt on as well as a skirt and some nice shoes. Her hair was down today, hanging around her shoulders. She looked nice for all intensive purposes, as per usual.

    She was staring at the sidewalk in front of her, her gaze locked on something nonexistent. Her feet began to swing a little bit and she clasped her hands in her lap, locking her fingers together tightly. Today was just not a fun day for her. After Marshall witnessed her dad in poor, drunken shape the previous evening things had gone sourly. Today, however, was especially foul. Today was the anniversary of the accident that took her mother's life. It had been a long, long time, and yet she still remembered it clear as day.

    All that metal... She rested her hand on the metal siding of the bench, flinching when she felt it shift beneath her finger tips. "Ah..." She mumbled, shaking her head and wincing slightly, setting her hands back in her lap.

Zephyr knew a thing or two about car incidents. They ruined peoples lives and took loved ones. Well, yet another day had gone by, and life was much the same for Zephyr. He just didn't see much point in life, not that he'd take his own life. That would be foolish. The only things Zephyr ever did was get up, eat, buy more food, eat, and sleep. Occasionally he would hunt down a reaper, but most of the time he behaved like a robot. Until he found something to disturb that pattern, then that's how it would go. Occasionally he thought about going to find Thalia, but chose against it. She was probably happy with her new life. 

Zeph had walked to the park that day and sat down on a bench. Unfortunately it was occupied, but he could easily fix that. Just when Zephyr was about to tell the girl to scoot, he saw her expression and decided against it. She could sit there, as long as she didn't start talking. 

    Well lucky for Zephyr, Maeve didn't talk. Instead, she began to sniffle and rub her eyes, hoping to avoid crying... Especially in front of this stranger. After being punished the night before by her drunk father after making a new friend at random, she was doing her best to avoid talking to people she didn't know. It was difficult for her, given her natural urge to speak to people, but she was fighting it.

    Her lower lip began to twitch a little and her brow furrowed. Eventually she lifted her hands to cover her face, attempting to hide the fact that she was upset from the stranger. Maybe he'd just walk away and leave her to cry by herself? Then she might not get into trouble again. She dropped her hands again after a moment, tugging on her skirt a tiny bit before she completely turned her face away from the stranger, miserably trying to keep to herself.

Oh great, now this female was crying. This was why Zephyr didn't deal with people anymore. Once upon a time he would have jumped at the chance to comfort a beautiful girl, but a car crash and the calling had changed all that for him. After a good while of the awkward silence Zeph couldn't take her sniffling anymore. He turned to her and was about to tell her to go cry somewhere else when he thought better. "Are you okay?" The words sounded foreign and rather forced.

It was actually quite a surprise to Zephyr himself that he had even asked that. It had been ages since he asked another human being how they felt. Ages since he actually cared about something. This was weird, and rather uncomfortable. 

    Okay? "No..." She mumbled, rubbing her eyes some more and facing away from the stranger. "I-I'm n-n-not supposed to talk t-to people I don't know," She stammered before breaking into tears and ducking to hide her face in her sleeve, sniffling and crying. She was trying to do so quietly, but she ended up being really rather loud.

    Poor Maeve was a mess. She was usually so happy and chatty and bubbly but today just wasn't her day. She set her free hand back on the metal barring once more, molding it without realizing it. Her hand ended up causing it to bend downwards and she gasped in between sobs, trying to quickly hide what she'd done, shifting so her entire torso was turned away from the stranger. Now she was positively pathetic-looking, scrambling to fix the bench while sobbing.

Really? He was just trying to be nice. It honestly took a lot of effort not to reply with something like 'what, are you six?'. I mean parents told their little kids that, not... however of this person was. "You may want to calm down," He murmured quietly when he saw what was happening to the bench. "Its really not smart to display your gifts like that," It may have sounded a bit harsh, but that was Zephyr for you. He didn't want to be caught for being associated with this girl. Zeph was always very careful, and this girl was just obviously using her gift on a bench. 

    "I'm trying! Don't you think I know better?! Who do you think you are?!" Maeve snapped, tears rolling down her face as she managed to fix the bench enough, swinging around to face this stranger, no longer sobbing for the moment because she was busy being angry and loud about it. "I'm not stupid! I know to be careful! A-And don't you tell me to calm down! You don't know me! H-How dare you?!" She hissed, wrapping her arms around herself.

    "I didn't ask you to sit here! You could just leave, you know," She griped, wiping at her face for a moment before she started to sob again. "I-I'm sorry... I... I don't usually snap at people I'm just... I'm sorry," Maeve practically wailed, as if a switch had flipped and she was being all polite and pathetic again rather than aggressive and angry.

Zephyr just sat there and let her rant about whatever it was she was talking about... he had kind of tuned out. "Are you finished yet?" Zeph didn't really do emotions anymore. Maybe at one point, but he just kind of forgot how to feel. Even though he could easily get up and leave Zephyr chose not to because he had no where better to be, and this girl was rather curious. Perhaps if she hadn't shown signs of a gift hen he would have left her there, but now he was interested in her if only in the slightest.

"You let your emotions cloud your reason. Emotion doesn't always have to negate rationality you know," Zeph pointed out matter of factually. It was easy for him to say though, because he didn't really have anything to care about any more, so it was very easy to shut off his emotions. 

    Maeve did not have to sit here and listen to this, not on a day like today, but she felt weak, very weak, so she didn't get up. Instead, she stayed seated. Her face was rather red now and a little puffy, tears still rolling down her cheeks. "Please, I can't talk to you," She said, her voice crackling a bit. He was so rude. Couldn't he just respect that she didn't want to speak to him and leave her be?

    Okay, so she did want to talk to him. She wanted to talk to anybody, just spill her guts, tell them how she hated her gift, how she was miserable, how her father was a mess, how she was absolutely miserable today. Everything was a disaster, and here she was, fighting her natural tendencies, trying so hard not to talk to him. He probably would just tune her out anyways. Everyone always did. Nobody actually listened to Maeve, she talked too much. She knew they didn't listen but... It would just make her feel better.

Well Zephyr could always help her out with a different approach. He wasn't about to sit there and listen to her pour her heart out to him, but he could distract her from what was bothering her. "You can't talk to me? What, are you six?" Making her angry might work, it worked on most people, however he wasn't used to dealing with girls like Maeve. Maybe just walking away would be better. Ah well, he was committed now.

There were so many things he could do or say to distract her, but for now he would leave it at that and see where it took him. Who cares if she hated him, in the end she may realise that he was actually helping. People didn't like to admit the hard truth, so he didn't bother explaining his actions. 

    Six? Six?! Her jaw dropped a little and her hands balled up into fists in her lap. "Excuse me? W-What is your problem? You are being so rude!" Maeve said, looking rather disgusted by his way of speaking to her. "I'm not six, I'm seventeen for your information and you know what? Even if I was allowed to talk to jerks like you, I wouldn't want to, because you're absolutely rude!"

    Well his plan was working, she was more angry than she was miserable, the tears beginning to stop flowing. Instead, she was just getting worked up, her lip curled a tiny bit, her pupils narrowed in irritation and agitation. How could he talk to anybody like that? He didn't know her, he had no right!

Zephyr actually found this kind of amusing. "Oh, apologizes, you are a big girl are you? So why are you out here all alone?" He moved a tad bit closer to her. "You don't know who you might meet," Zephyr was really close to her now, but before doing anything else, he pulled away, a hint of a smile playing on his face. 

Smiling, that was something he hadn't done in ages. He may be scaring the girl now, but oh well, she wasn't crying, so it was all fine by him. Anger, sorrow, fear, what else could he do? Well, no happiness, Zeph and happiness didn't really go together anymore. 

    Well Maeve was absolutely fuming now, going completely rigid. She was now upset, livid, and very uncomfortable. She was tense, much more so than before. "I'm alone because I was hoping not to have to deal with creeps like you. I just wanted to be alone. Is that too much to ask? Can't you just leave me to be miserable in peace?"

    How could he be smiling at her while being such a jerk? It was despicable. He was despicable. Maeve was not pleased in the slightest, and it took a lot to upset her, but right now she was just losing it.

Zephyrs stopped smiling and just looked at her curiously. "If thats what you really want," He had been helping her, but she didn't realise it yet. Ah well, if she didn't want him around then he may as well just leave. "It was nice to meet you..." He trailed off, waiting for a name. Zeph wouldn't be surprised if she didn't respond, he had been a jerk, and now he was acting all civil. 

    "Oh, you want my name? You want my name now? After you were rude and creepy? No, I don't think so," She muttered, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back. Well she wasn't crying anymore, she was just sulking, which seemed to be better. "You don't care anyways," She muttered sourly before she slowly glanced in his direction.

    "I suppose I shouldn't stoop to your level though..." She said softly before sighing heavily. "My name is Maeve," She said, her gaze returning to the sidewalk in front of her again. Maeve was very close to ignoring her father's demands again and just talking to this guy. She basically had already. Way to go Maeve, couldn't even make it a day without talking to strangers.