Heaven Descending and Hell Rising

Oren was happy that his thoughts hadn't made Riel angry. However, he was still worried as to why Riel never looked at the mirrors. He wanted to ask desperatly if what he thought was correct, but he was sacred. He didn't want to make the only person he knew here angry with him. Oren didn't know how he would be able to handle that. However, Oren needed to know. Riel.....do you...do you not look at the mirrors because of your..... Oren asked, not wanting to say the word. Riel would know what he meant through the Bond.

In their minds, the image of the massive tree of his Twisted Wonderland flashed, and his grip suddenly went tight on the handle of his caddie. "Oren, I'm going to the room," he said, aloud, shoving his current back and heading back towards the door as his heart hammered, eyes haunted and hands shaking whenever his grip loosened even the slightest bit. He gave no other answer, no rhyme or reason besides the initial image.

Oren felt the panic in Riel's body and instantly regretted asking. He should have known better than to pry like that, but his stupid curiosity got the best of him. He knew he had to make this right. He followed Riel back into the room. Oren didn't care about anything else except for Riel at the moment. He went over to him, but didn't grab him or anything. He didn't want to overstimulate him. Please don't be angry at me. I am so so sorry. I only asked because.....because I can heal them Oren whispered mentally. The image of the tree still burned in Oren's own mind, and he desperately wanted to fix it.

Riel practically whirled back at him, a pick up of a wind surging that shouldn't have been possible, would have seemed false if it weren't for the fact that his hair had gone more than a little crazy as a result. His expression was unreadable, and one could almost literally hear gears turning in his head, with or without the Bond. Literal gears, cogs twisting in old, rusted machines, trying to work without proper instruction, parts missing and some replaced improperly. The boy's eyes watched the other's, silent and studying, the full magnitude of his scars revealed with him standing how he was. Completely in the light, no hair or hood, no shadows or disguises to hide the nasty remnants of torments long since passed. No words came from his lips, but the haunted torment of that damned old tree hung like a storm cloud before a hurricane.

Oren's heart broke at what Riel was feeling. So many people had broken him, and it tore Oren up. He did finally reach out, not caring about the world around them. Through the Bond, he sent all of the comfort and peace he could muster. He cradled Riel's face in his hands, his thumbs rubbing over the vicious scars. In those mangled wounds held so much pain and anger, and Oren wanted to do nothing more then to remove those vesicles off of Riel's face. Please, Riel.......let me help you. You saved my life, so let me save yours. Oren begged.

It seemed as though every gear ground to a halt at once, freezing every piece of him from the outside in, stilling even the adrenaline surge that had sparked the alarm to his inner madness. Not a word left his lips or his mind, even when he made the barest shift of movement, the slightest nod, easily missed by the mere blink of an eye.

Oren summoned all the power his body could muster. The more deep set the wound, the harder it was to heal, and age of the wound was only one factor. Those scars were tied up in a sea of emotion. Oren would have to drain that sea in order to fix them, but his determination was so strong. He felt like he could move a mountain with a simple command. Oren would need his violin to work power this great. He moved quickly, running to his room to grab the instrument and returning in a flash. He stood firm and drew the bow across the stings, eliciting a beautiful note to ring through the room.

Oren played as if he had only one song left in his heart. He poured his care, his worry, his passion, and his soul into the music, and he focused it all on Riel. The magic in the music wrapped around Riel, smothering him in power. The music weaved in and out of the boy, allowing the healing to run along his skin and onto the damaged tissue. Like unplugging a dam, Oren felt wave after wave of painful emotions burst through the Bond. It was almost unbearable, but Oren persevered and played through the roiling turmoil.

The tsunami eventually died down into a trickle of emotion. Oren knew that he wouldn't be able to fix everything, but he made the feelings manageable. He also did the greatest thing he could have done for him. When Oren opened his eyes, he saw a face the once marred look whole. Oren felt so tired, but it had been completely worth it. Before he dropped, Oren went over the the vanity and grabbed the little mirror it had on it and came back to Riel. He held it out for him to take so he could see himself.

The young boy's initial reaction was more than justifiable; he flinched, instinctively, habitually, shying away before his nerves steeled once more. Looking up slowly, his strangely soft-hued green eyes met their reflection, and slowly, the pupils dilated, eyes widening. With one hand, he reached out to the glasses, fingers of the opposite grazing against the nearly mended flesh. It seemed so much softer than he remembered, and very obviously far cleaner, as well. Tears formed at the edges of his eyes, though he fought them back without even realizing his actions.

In a sudden flurry of movement, he'd batted the mirror away, pulling Oren tightly into his arms and repeating his thanks time and time again. His words became jumbled quickly, his muscles twitching as his body fought down the excitement and pleased sobs that raked through it.

"Hey, it's okay. You don't need to thank me. You deserve to finally be a peace." Oren whispered. He squeezed Riel tightly, enjoying the hug. He was physically and mentally drained, but he would not trade it for anything. He had done something truly amazing for someone who had helped him in his lowest hour. He would have rendered himself unconscious in order to help Riel move past the pain in his heart. He knew that it wasn't completely over yet. The darkest pain still clung to him, but, with his new found sense of self and with Oren's help, even those shadows could one day fade away.

Even the Bond didn't feel effective enough for him to explain or express his gratitude, and though he could vaguely make out the words that traveled from the Muse's mind to his own, he still fell like the boy didn't quite know. How do you thank someone for something like this? He didn't know, wasn't sure of much of anything right now other than the sheer joy the filled his usually fluttering and guarded heart. Stringing curses in his mind as he tried to find a solution, he settled for merely jumping, knowing, without any hint of a shadowed doubt, that the other boy would surely catch him at the fall. Pulling back slightly and struggling to wipe the tears from his face, slowly psyching himself out in the process, Riel observed his strange friend's expression, noted the weariness in his eyes; maybe, in theory, he would be too tired to remember if things went wrong anyway. Right? He hoped so, but the longer he waited, the more he risked showing his hand without playing it, and so, he jumped. Leaning forward quite suddenly, his pressed his mouth to the boy's, lips pressing carefully if not a bit harshly.

Oren's eyes shot open as he felt Riel put his lips on his. He hadn't expected for the boy to do anything like this. It was true that Oren liked to be with other men, but he hadn't thought that Riel did, However, he would not deny that a lot of him had wanted Riel to kiss him. He had taken a liking to him. He blamed it on the fact that Riel saved him, but it felt like it went further than that. The emotions of both boys tangled and tied together due to the Bond, and Oren started to kissing him back wholeheartedly.

The explosive result in his head had been far from expected, as Riel, having acted on impulse, had not taken the Bond into consideration at all. His heart hammered and fluttered all at once, face heating just slightly as he pressed back against Oren, finding him more than receptive to the gesture. He didn't move his hands or change his posture or position in any way, giving the recently traumatized boy room to control the situation as he saw fit.