Sickly Sweet

Love

Sophie sat down to a luscious breakfast of pancakes and waffles. Breathing in the smell of fresh bacon, she grabbed a plate of eggs and began to greedily pile them up on her plate, Martek chuckling in the background.

"I never would have guessed that you'd be the type of person to be a.... How shall I put this... Foodie."

Sophie frowned and licked her lips.

"Now what's wrong with liking food? It's what makes the world go round."

Martek laughed a deep, heavy laugh. He put a black, rough hand on Sophie's back and whispered in her ear;

"Well now sweetheart, it's also what makes us grow round." He laughed and laughed, and Sophie couldn't help cracking a smile. She grasped a light pink plate stocked heavily with bacon and sausages and put three of each on her large plate. Finishing off the meats, she moved on to the main and had two full waffles with strawberries and cream. The pancakes were chocolate chip, and with four of those in her stomach she leaned against the chair and let out a deep sigh.

Closing her eyes, she thought about what Briel and Deandra were eating. Maybe it was dinner there, and they were hungrily gobbling up chicken wings and fries from takeout. Or possibly lunch, which meant finger sandwiches with salsa and chips. Or maybe, since Sophie had seen them in the arena, they weren't home at all.

Could they be here? But if they were here, that would mean that.... They are monsters. The thought finally sunk in and Sophie felt tears struggling to erupt from her closed eyelids. Sweet Deandra... Emotional Briel... and Mom. Dad. They were all... Monsters.

"Sophie?" Asked a small voice from behind her. She opened her eyes wide and whipped her head around to find Princess Lana.

"Oh. It's you."

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I just have a stomachache and really bad cramps. I'm going to go lie down." Sophie gave a weak smile and rubbed her stomach for effect. Pushing out her chair, she walked away from the table and sat on the uncomfortable sapphire couch. Was there anything in this house that wasn't made of gems?

Wait. Martek's man cave. Maybe he'd let her in...

She jumped up and ran to the stairs, pausing at the bottom. Hadn't she seen a mysterious scarlet door, just to the right of her bedazzled one? Sophie jogged up the stairs and skipped to the door. Clasping the brass handle, she slowly turned it to reveal Martek staring at her in shock.

"Sophie! Hey, um, I was just leaving. What do you need?"

Her eyes suddenly filled with tears and Martek's eyes clouded with recognition.

"Homesick?"

Sophie nodded and wrapped her arms around his thick neck. Breathing in his smell of vanilla and spearmint, she smiled. Martek was like a father to her. Even though she had only known him for a few days, they had a special bond.

He scooped her in her arms, causing a giggle to escape her mouth. Taking large steps, Martek deposited her on a soft, cotton, blue couch that was more comfortable than anything else in the house, even the light beds. He put a pillow under her head and brushed the hair out of her face.

Sophie opened her eyes and pored over his coal black face. It was such a rich, deep, shade - with so much contrast to the bright red heart tattoo on his neck. She placed a soft finger on the mark and whispered,

"What's this?"

He stiffened but relaxed after a few moments and leaned down to answer.

"It's my birthmark. Everyone has one. It symbolizes my pardoom. Love."

Sophie was confused. "But I thought it was war."

He frowned and his skin wrinkled. "Love and war aren't so different. Think about it. In Greek mythology, who went hand in hand? Aphrodite and Ares, love and war. The Trojan war was caused by forbidden love. Romeo and Juliet, that story was caused by forbidden love. Love and war are brother and sister, one causes the other. I am love and I cause war."

Sophie grimaced. Her bright brown eyes questioned his black ones. "But what about the soft kind of love? The kind where you take each other out to Denny's, you share smoothies and - well, everything. You have inside jokes and go to the movies. You watch Breaking Bad together until dawn. You share guilty pleasures and every once in a while, do something naughty like skinny dipping, to liven things up. That's love. What you're talking about - that is not love."

Martek's features hardened and he got up from the couch. "Well what should a guy like me know about love anyway." And with that he left the room.