Darkest Night [DragonSong] [M]

Zero · May 05, 2019, 05:46:29 PM

"You keep asking me to stay." Cole said softly, turning his hand under the one she had laid over it so that he could hold her hand yet again. It sent such warmth through him when her small hand was tucked into his gentle grasp. "I want to stay, and I want to see you happy. I don't entirely know why I care so much, but I do."

He didn't understand it, and he was afraid of those feelings, but he wanted them. They felt good. It made him feel like there was something good and beautiful in the world. Something besides all his pain.

"No one has ever made me feel the things you make me feel." Cole admitted quietly.

DragonSong · May 06, 2019, 07:18:15 AM

Zahra looked down at their hands, flexed her fingers and watched the bones move beneath the skin, the way tanned bronze contrasted with soft gray, healer's callouses set against the callouses of a fighter.

She squeezed his fingers softly and leaned back to lay down beside him, flat on her back, her eyes now tracing absent patterns through the dream-stars above them.

"Maybe...we don't have to figure it out," she mused quietly. "Not right now, anyway. Maybe, for a little while, we can just...accept it."

Zero · May 06, 2019, 08:02:48 AM

"I don't know how to just accept it. I don't know what that even means." Cole remained on his side, facing her, watching her as she looked up at the sky. He didn't know how close to real any of this even was. She as so beautiful, it was hard to take his eyes off her now.

"I just wish I knew where to even begin." The drow was helplessly lost. He didn't know how to simply live. Everything he had known up to this point had been so twisted and violent.

His life had been so cold.

DragonSong · May 06, 2019, 11:33:43 AM

"Well." She turned her head to the side and smiled at him gently. Her fingers laced through his and squeezed. "I dunno about you, but I feel like this might be an okay place to start..."

She looked back up to the sky. Quite abruptly, she reached up with her free hand and cast a vague gesture toward the stars. The oasis morphed around them, suddenly lit with a reddish dawn glow, sunlight sparkling off the water and shining through the palm leaves to scatter soft shadows around them.

Zero · May 06, 2019, 02:40:42 PM

It was exhausting, mentally and emotionally, to continue thinking about it all, so Cole remained silent and just enjoyed the feeling of their fingers twined together as they laid there together, watching the dreamscape around them.

"Beautiful." Cole commented as Zahra shifted their sanctuary from night to a breath-taking dawn. It was glorious to see. He wondered if this was how she remembered her sunrises back home.

"I wonder what time it really is." His voice was soft and he didn't look particularly happy asking. He wasn't ready for morning to really come. Cole didn't want to wake up from this dream, it was much more pleasant in here, sheltered from reality, just the two of them and not a care or problem to worry about aside from their own thoughts and feelings.

Out there he had to worry about keeping them safe, fed, and moving so that he could keep his promise to her. Cole would help Zahra find a new home.

DragonSong · May 07, 2019, 01:53:28 PM

"I'm not sure," Zahra replied softly, almost sleepily. That was odd. Could one get tired in dreams? How did that even work? She smiled a bit to herself and turned her head to look at Cole again, feeling the soft grass tickle against her cheek.

"I suppose we'll have to find out eventually." She sighed and closed her eyes, just taking a moment to enjoy the warmth of the rising sun over her skin. "I don't think time moves the same outside of dreams. You know how you can have a dream that seems to last hours, or a whole day, but when you wake up you realize you've only been asleep maybe an hour?"

Zero · May 07, 2019, 06:13:11 PM

"Yeah, I know dreams and time can be weird." Cole thought back to those nightmares that seemed to last an eternity, but had only plagued him for a few hours of restless sleep. "Part of me doesn't want this dream to ever end. It is a lot nicer in here in several ways."

Out there was full of uncertainty.

DragonSong · May 13, 2019, 11:58:52 AM

Zahra huffed a quiet laugh as her eyes traced out swirling wisps of cloud above them. "I know what you mean," she murmured.

Unfortunately, she knew that staying here wasn't really an option. They would get hungry eventually, for one thing-- while she could conjure up a feast with her newfound abilities in dreams, it would do nothing to sustain their actual physical bodies.

Zero · May 13, 2019, 03:44:20 PM

It was a little relieving, to hear her say that. Of course they both knew why they couldn't, it was just a dream. All dreams eventually came to an end. At least it was a good dream, while it lasted, and being here with her in this dream kept him out of the bad dreams.

"What kind of home do you want? Can you...make it? I mean, could you make this dream look like the house you want to have when we find a place for us to call home?" Cole was very curious to see what it would look like. He couldn't imagine a home, but he hoped she had even the smallest shred of an idea. If the drow knew what she was hoping for it would be easier to help her find it and make it a reality for her.

DragonSong · May 14, 2019, 06:44:17 AM

"I-- I don't know." Zahra frowned, looking at the oasis around them as she considered it. "I can try..."

She closed her eyes and concentrated, pushing herself up into a seated position as she did. Around them, the oasis blurred, colors and textures blending together into a wild kaleidoscope. Then suddenly, it stopped, solidifying around them once again. Zahra opened her eyes.

They were sitting in some sort of meadow. The details were a little fuzzy, as Zahra had never seen anything but deserts, plains, and oases in her life, but the softness of the grass and occasional pop of color from wildflowers was clear.

A few steps away from them rested a little cottage of sorts, just barely big enough for three rooms from the look of it. Again, details were soft and fluctuating-- one moment it had window boxes, the next blue-painted shutters.

Zahra bit her lip and shrugged, glancing sidelong at Cole. For some reason she was...a little embarrassed by this.

Zero · May 14, 2019, 03:31:52 PM

Cole didn't mean to put her on the spot, but he was curious and he did really want to know. Even if it wasn't concrete in her dreams, something to go off of was definitely a start. Zahra certainly delivered too.

There was a moment of vertigo as everything morphed around them. When things cleared back up the drow sat up and looked around with a thoughtful expression. A meadow, with wildflowers, might be hard to find until they got out of the Draconi Forest. His eyes were drawn to the cottage, it was very small. It was probably more cozy that way. Cole imagined a large house would end up feeling empty, not that he would know much about houses or homes and how they felt.

"I really like it." He said softly, turning to look at her with a smile. "I'll see what I can do. You don't need to worry about deciding everything now, but having an idea is nice."

DragonSong · May 14, 2019, 05:26:12 PM

Zahra found herself flushing slightly when Cole said he liked the little cottage— which was of course ridiculous, the whole thing was imaginary, and still very vague to boot. She smiled a bit and drew her knees up toward her chest and wrapped her arms loosely around her legs.

"Well, it's not all on you," she chuckled softly. "If we're going to do this together, we should...look together, don't you think?"

Zero · May 14, 2019, 05:56:04 PM

"We will look together, Sweetling. It's nice to see what you're hoping for and imagining, though, it helps keep us on the same page, you know?" Cole looked away sheepishly, not sure what he was even really trying to say. "At least you have an idea of what you'd like some day. I can't really imagine someplace called home."

They would work on that.

DragonSong · May 14, 2019, 06:40:52 PM

Her hand slid over the grass to find his, touch gentle and almost questioning as she tried to meet his eyes with another small smile.

"That's okay," she murmured. "One day, when you know what you want...we'll look for that too."

Zero · May 15, 2019, 05:15:56 PM

Cole let his fingers wrap gently around hers as she touched his hand. Even in this dream, her hands were so warm. He really did enjoy the way it felt, even if it made him feel guilt and shame as well.

"Thank you for making me come." He flicked his eyes in her direction, smiling very faintly.

DragonSong · May 16, 2019, 07:33:22 AM

Zahra's smile widened just a bit when his finger's wrapped around hers and she risked leaning a tiny bit closer, letting their shoulders brush together.

"Thank you for agreeing to come," she replied quietly. "Cole...you saved my life back there. You got stabbed and poisoned trying to protect me." She let her head come to rest on his shoulder and closed her eyes with a soft sigh. "Thank you..."

Zero · May 16, 2019, 01:05:03 PM

Why did it feel so nice? Cole sighed softly and leaned his head down so that it rested against her head, which was perched on his shoulder. He had told her so many times not to thank him, but the drow realized she would, no matter how many times he objected.

"I didn't care what happened to me if it meant you were safe." It was all he could really say, and it was the truth.

DragonSong · May 16, 2019, 02:33:02 PM

She sighed. It wasn't as though she'd really expected a different answer, but his words brought affection and something close to grief rising up in equal measure.

So instead of trying to argue with him about the value of his own life yet again, she simply murmured, "I know."

Her eyes fluttered closed, and the shifting meadow around them began to fade away. With each slow, sleepy blink it faded further, until Zahra opened her eyes once more and found herself lying in bed, curved toward a still sleeping Cole, her hands drawn up between them and tucked against his chest.

Zero · May 16, 2019, 03:06:39 PM

Cole noticed the dream beginning to fade and subconsciously pressed himself closer to Zahra, gripping her hand that much tighter because he didn't feel ready to let go. Of course it was useless, because the woman and the dream both faded to nothing. She must have woken up. Did that mean it was morning?

The drow still slept, not realizing that he had rolled to face Zahra, or that her hands were pressed against his chest. His arm had moved to drape over her waist in the night. A few moments after she had opened her eyes, Cole's did too. It took him a moment, and several blinks, to realize they were awake and cuddled together on the single bed. His grey skin flushed darker and his breath caught in his throat, but he froze instead of jerking away.

"I'm sorry." He was still too scared to move, or maybe he didn't want to. Zahra was warm and it felt nice to be so close to her.

DragonSong · May 16, 2019, 03:32:01 PM

"I, um--" Zahra blinked up at him, his blush bringing a flush of heat to her own cheeks. "You...don't have to apologize," she mumbled, ducking her eyes quickly. Despite the sudden awkwardness, she made no move to pull away. It was...nice, to be held like this, to feel the warmth of another body close to hers, and not just in a dream.

"Um...Morning?" She tried for a smile, tilting her head slightly to the side.