I Resist the Muses

The electrical blue lightening bolt ricocheted around Gwen Raiden’s bedroom as she was pulled out of her sleep. The edges of the dream barely hanging on to her waking mind. “Shit.” The word was mumbled as she reached for the ever present long gloves next to her bed.

She hated the feeling that accompanied the thoughts of her parents and she rarely dreamed of those years. It was only when her guard was down, when she was exhausted, that the incident of the first lightning strike came back to haunt her. Not the incident itself, since that was a grand adventure, but her parents reaction when they learned she’d been kissed by Mani’to, the Lenape god of lightning.

The large tree on the edge of the Minnesota lake, of the family summer estate, had been the focus of her dream. Gwen could feel the same excitement that she’d felt waiting to see the face of a god all those years ago. With the surreal landscape of a dream, the movie in her mind had taken an unexpected turn. She was no longer sitting in the comforting arms of the tree, instead Gwen found herself in an overstuffed chair receiving the typical disapproving lectures that her parents had perfected over the years.

It was the look in their eyes that brought back the feelings of inferiority that she’d overcome as an adult. Gwen had learned what the word freak had meant the day that she’d been first struck by lightning. Her parents had whispered it into the phone when they’d called Lydia Thorpe.

Shaking her head in self-disgust, Gwen slid the offending glove off again and felt the electricity crackle around her fingertips. Hell, if she’d let them ruin her life again. A satisfying large bolt of electricity flew from her hands and shattered a vase across the room. “I never did like that anyway.” It wasn’t her parents, but it was a satisfactory substitution for her anger.


Muse: Gwen Raiden
Fandom: Angel the Series
Word Count: 328

I want a hot cabana boy that’s shirtless and dressed in leather pants to bring me tall cool drinks with swizzie sticks in them as I sit on a white sandy beach under a tropical sun.

I want to dance the night away in some club in a nameless city with a lot of nameless men.

I want to spend hours in a smoky biker bar, playing pool and having fun.

I want to hike through the mountains of China, discovering places I’ve never been.

I want to steal the Hope Diamond to say I could.

I want to take my Harley and ride on 101 along the California coast.

I want to see Lenny Kravitz in person again and watch him make love to the guitar. The man’s amazing.

I want to see the Seven Wonders of the World. The old list not the new one because seriously… the Christ statue?

I want to spend a day snowboarding in Tignes, France.

What is your greatest fear?

Honestly? My biggest fear is getting hurt. Not physically. Been there and done that with one, but emotionally. Yeah, I know been there and done that, too. It's why the wall is where it is and the masks I wear are so firmly entrenched. I mean get hurt after opening myself up again.

I know myself well enough to know it'll happen. I might be cynical, but there's always the little girl inside of me that is begging for her parents to just hold her hand. Or smiling at Jimmie, the first person to reach out to her at the school. I'm human. I want companionship and someone to love me, faults and all. But, I also am a great student of human nature and know I'll get screwed. And not in the good way.

It's why I stay behind my wall and only have friends with benefits relationships. No emotional risk to me.



Muse: Gwen Raiden
Fandom: Angel the Series
Word Count: 153

What are your thoughts on love?

My thoughts on love? Better you than me.

Oh, I guess you want more than that. Okay, I know love exists, I have seen other people experience it. I just haven't been one, nor do I want to be one. I'm a friends with benefits kind of girl. Everyone knows going in exactly what to expect. No one gets hurt and everyone benefits. It's a win-win situation.

[Locked Private]

I've lived most of my life behind a wall, protecting me from getting hurt emotionally. It started when I was six and my parents looked at me differently. I saw the erosion of their love for me and I protected myself the best way I knew how. By hiding behind a wall and wearing a mask.

When you can't have human contact without killing, you realize you won't have a partner. Once you know your limitations, you don't look beyond them. Now that I have LISA, that hasn't changed. Sure I can touch, and trust me I've made up for it since I can. I'm also very aware that it is made by the government. Odds are, it will stop working, and soon.

I can't risk getting involved with anyone, knowing that I can revert back to a lethal touch. It's just easier to wear the mask and stay behind my wall. No one gets hurt, least of all me.

[/Locked]

Love is for other people, I'll stick with my benefits and enjoy the ride... literally.


Muse: Gwen Raiden
Fandom: Angel the Series
Word Count: 242



Comments/RP welcome

Family

Family? Let's just say that we put the fun in dysfunctional. My mother is a blue blood, stick up her ass, conservative old money minus the money. My father was a nouveau riche that had money even if it was second generation and from less than honest means. It was a match made in heaven. Mom got the money she wanted and dad got the conservative respectable wife he wanted.

Life was beautiful and they had a lovely little girl. She was their princess and hope for the future until said girl turned six and got struck by lightning. Then the electrical manipulating freak that couldn't have human contact came into their lives. Oh they whispered it, but the meaning was the same. Poor little girl wasn't a princess anymore. Three nannies and two gardeners later, my parents made a hefty bribe donation to Lydia Thorpe's Academy. They tucked their problem away in a boarding school with a clear conscience that they were giving me a normal life.

I have since developed a great talent for pushing buttons. Especially theirs. Family gatherings are entertaining... at least for me. It was the best after I had the L.I.S.A. implant put into my body that regulates me, letting me be normal. They thought they had their princess back until I showed them all the clippings of my 'jobs'. The look on their faces... priceless. Their princess had become a highly paid, top of her line, catburglar. Not quite the Mayflower Scandal of being a Madame, but it was close.

Family. The best way to hone your skills of being a smart ass and pushing the buttons to get the best reactions.


Muse: Gwen Raiden
Fandom: Angel the Series
Word count: 279


Comments/RP are welcome

"Who are you?"

Okay anyone else here humming the song by the Who? Because seriously? It's now stuck in my head... thanks for that.

My name is Gwen and I collect objects for clients. I specialize in hard to acquire items. The harder the job, the more I like it. Like in most things, the harder the better. Yes, my mind usually can be found residing in the gutter. I have a special talent. Ahh, I see a few of you took up residence in the gutter with me at that sentence. But, for once that wasn't what I meant. I can manipulate electricity at the subatomic level. Comes in very handy with my free lance job, and I'm fun at parties.

One more thing you should know about me. I look out for myself and that's it. Even with the Don Quixote complex brooding souled vampire doing a good deed for me. It didn't change my core. I may take clients now that I wouldn't have before, but I'm still in it for the commission and if I have to sacrifice you to save my own ass, I will.


Comments welcome.