Dream Actually...

[Paa'lee]

G l a d e o f F r a g r a n c e
D r e a m S e q u e n c e

(Actually placing her in a dream...we can play it out however really.)

Spoiler

[youtube]https://youtu.be/KegOBMIZRho[/youtube]

She found herself in the Glade of Fragrance...unbeknownst to her was the actual time or how she even got there. She just knew she loved this place, and so she excepted this moment for what it could potentially be. The scent was everything...and the grass was smooth and cool to the touch, especially near the lake which cut her off from the pink trees. It was therapy...but through it all she wished one person could be here.

The last time she saw him, it wasn't the outcome she expected in the slightest. At that point she felt...naive; completely. Really she had only been knowledgeable about the things before her and ever beyond...but still she just couldn't understand, and she wouldn't. She just felt like a fool, and that maybe his intentions were to do that in the beginning.

Regardless, she wanted to leave...to follow him, to learn of the world beyond all she had ever known.

She was just stuck, confused.

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

Ask and ye shall receive.

"What troubles you, Huntress?"

Was he really there? No, but the construct of him that her mind created would be more in depth than her conscious mind could have recalled. He appeared standing not far from her, orange eyes regarding her while his face smiled. She wanted him to be there and yet she felt confusion at his presence, but he did not seem to notice this fact as he moved towards her and wrapped his arms about her.

"It must be something important, so why don't you tell me and we can discuss it."

The fact that the conversation would really be with herself would be lost to her mind. He was her in as much as he was who she wanted him to be. And in reality, he already knew what troubled her, but she didn't want him to know that so the dream construct of him did not act as if he knew, but waited instead for her to explain it to him. That was what she wanted. She wanted to tell him everything about how upset and confused she was.

And so he stood, waiting for her to explain everything while holding her in a way she liked.

[member="Paa'lee"]

 

[Paa'lee]

She heard his voice, and then from the corner of her eye she saw a silhouette. Taken back she looked up at him...

He came back...

"I..I..." she couldn't make out words, her mind jumbled up everything she wanted to say, but her mouth could not process them. He wrapped his arms around her, and she fell into his embrace.

No...

She pushed away, and backpedalled a couple of feet. "I don't want to see you..." in reality she did. She started to walk away...but "You used me didn't you?" she asked while stopping in her tracks before turning back around to face him.

"Why?"

He had said all of those things.

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

"Is that what you believe, or what you're choosing to believe because it's easier than facing the truth?"

Though she pushed him back away from her, he didn't go far, and his expression didn't change much. He still seemed to be in good spirits. Of course, as part of her dream it was hard to say. He could disappear at any moment. Her mind did remember that he could play tricks of illusion, however.

"Do you see me as this?" He turned into an Akul briefly; a monster that destroyed her people. "Or do you see me as this." The vision of the two of them in the garden talking, him showing a clear affection to her.

All was relative. Most was memories called from her mind. Some was the truth her subconscious knew that her conscious mind had chosen to reject.

"Was I ever anything but honest with you, Huntress? Would someone who wished to use you be so honest as to tell you what I did?"

[member="Paa'lee"]

 

[Paa'lee]

She wasn't facing the truth...she knew that. When he said that it became obvious that she was only trying to make her love for him seem as if it were temporary. She looked away...bitting down on her lip while folding her arms and embracing herself. She hated the fact that he could get into her mind...

She saw him for the love and affection he displayed; the latter. But when he explained who he really was she saw a bit of the Akul as well. The root of her confusion, how could he be like this and then have the goals and methods he did elsewhere. "I see both Leos...but I don't know if I could love both, or if both would have such affections for me." she said while taking a breath.

She felt almost light...of course she wouldn't have thought anything of him changing forms because he seemed to be able to do such things regardless.

"But your also mysterious, and i've yet to figure you out. It scares me..."

"I want to see this Galaxy...I want to know what it is you've sought to change. Maybe then I can understand you...and maybe have you..."

The last part of that was shaky...the emotion was in her voice.

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

"Even if you see both I only have one heart."

Now she was starting to get somewhere. First she didn't want to see him as anything but a monster who had preyed on her. Now she gradually changed to realizing that maybe she'd been a little hasty given her lack of understanding of the galaxy as a whole. Her subconscious mind was pleased with this.

"I believe I said before I left that you should see more and understand the galaxy, and then it all would make sense to you."

He approached her once emote, a hand moving to rest against her cheek.

"What's stopping you from doing that if it's what you wish to do. Out there you can find answers and you can find me. Out there is where you should be."

[member="Paa'lee"]

 

[Paa'lee]

She didn't fight back his touch...it felt just like it always had. She wasn't sure she wanted to find the truth...and what if she did and it didn't align with his views? What would become of them? Little did either of them know they'd soon be drawn back together regardless...there was something budding within her that was of them both.

"What if...what I find doesn't change anything Leos?" she said pressing against his hand. "What if still...our views differ?" she was scared of finding the truth for herself.

"Then i'd be out there alone...by myself. I just..." she didn't know, she couldn't see beyond then.

She wondered if he thought of her the way she thought of him, his real figure and not this apparition. Of course she thought this was the real him but...

"Did you think of me when you were gone? Is that why you came back?"

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

"You would be, but you'd always have this place to return to if you don't like what you find."

That much was the truth that neither her conscious or subconscious mind could deny. In the end, she would always be able to return to Shili. She also knew that even if their views differed, she'd always be welcome with him.

"Even if your views differ from mine, you could stay with me. Just because we love each other doesn't mean we have to agree on everything."

Simple truths were sometimes the best truths. She pressed into his hand and he leaned in to kiss her forehead lightly.

"If I hadn't thought of you, I wouldn't have returned. I told you before I kept your heart close while we were apart."

When she awoke from this dream she would no doubt end up disappointed, just as he would have if this was his dream. But for now she could enjoy his presence without the ramifications of everything that happened within the galaxy.

"If you want to settle your fears and worries, you must venture forth."

[member="Paa'lee"]

 

[Paa'lee]

He was always pushing her...pushing her to overcome some sort of obstacle. There was always a lesson with him. She lowered her head a bit so to accept his kiss in full. The last time she saw him, she didn't expect it to end that way. She didn't really want to send him off, but she was angry. in some ways he knew that would happen...that's why he had the device. As time went on she struggled with herself not to press that button.

This felt like the perfect moment, but she'd be heartbroken again when she realized it wasn't all real. But she would know that she needed to do this not for him, but also for herself. There were things in the wider galaxy that she just needed to see and experience. She was much too sheltered and it was manifesting in her view of things.

She wrapped her arms around him, and pulled herself up in an attempt to kiss him, she slowly closed the gap and just as her lips touched the surface of his she woke up from her dream.

-------------

Her body sprung to life, a sudden gasp of air. She sat up and looked beside her thinking that maybe he...but no. She felt a pit in her stomach and buried her face in her knees as she was overcome with emotions.

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

They embraced, she leaned for a kiss, and then there was nothing.

Across the galaxy Leos awoke from his own slumber. He didn't know what it was that caused him to do so except for the incredible feeling that something had happened. He checked to see if Paa'lee had activated her signal, but she hadn't. There was no call from Maelasi that something was wrong either. Nobody was knocking at his door or calling him on his comms. It was utterly quiet everywhere around him.

But still he felt as if something important had happened aND he'd somehow missed out on it. Whether that was good or bad wasn't readily known, but the feeling persisted nonetheless. He tapped out a few commands on his data pad to request food and drink from the kitchens as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed and rub his face with his hands. It was still dark out, which meant it was too early to be awake, but there was no changing it then.

Whatever had happened, he hoped it was a good thing.

[member="Paa'lee"]