Waking Up

(( I'd like to say something about the player behind Darth Ragious before you read the next few posts for Aittera's story. I have found it to be a very rare thing in RP and/or storytelling to find someone who can listen to me explain the vision behind a story mechanic, then write it so adeptly, so...well, really there is no way to convey how impressed and grateful I am for the way this is turning out and for his permission to continue to post the results here. ))


Aittera stood at the balcony railing, overlooking a stunning silver-blue ocean that could be made of diamonds for the way it sparkled and shown beneath the brilliant red-yellow sun. She pulled the thin white silk robe up from where it had fallen from her shoulder and re-tied the sash at her waist.

Stepping out of the door leading back into their suite, Kol moved up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist as he took in the smell of the ocean combined with her scent. She leaned back against his muscular chest, indulging in the security of his arms around her, the way she felt utterly at peace here. It was as though they had found the one secret place in all the universe where no one could find them.

Turning her in his arms, he looked down at her with an affectionate smile before he bent to press his lips to hers in a soft, but increasingly passion filled kiss, his hands at her ass pulling her against him, his muscular chest pressing against the fabric of the robe. She slipped her arms up around his neck as he drew her into the kiss, tracing delicate patterns just beneath his hairline as she murmured a contented sound against his tongue, and once again, time stopped.

Finally, she ended the kiss without pulling away, smiling against his lips. "More already?"

"Can't help it.  It is that amazing body of yours."  He grinned against her lips.  

"I wish we could stay just like this...here...forever."

Kol placed kisses along her neck, whispering to her, "We could you know?"

Her eyes slipped closed as the warmth of his mouth caressed her neck, leaning her head back to absorb his attentions. Something tugged at the back of her mind, though, and she frowned slightly. "I don't think we can. There's something I'm forgetting..."

His lips moved to hers again, placing soft kisses between the words. "Nothing important I'm sure.  I always just let the galaxy melt away whenever I'm near you.  Because no one and nothing else matters."

He was right. Nothing else could possibly matter but the way he makes her feel whenever he holds her.

Aittera sat in the galley of the Wanderer with a cup of caff clutched between her hands as the most recent dream replayed itself in her mind. Was it possible that they were becoming more vivid, more...palpable? It was as though her very skin remembered his touch, the heat of his breath, and the absence of those sensations was somehow painful.

Curled up in his lap as he sat with his back resting against the headboard of the suite's bed, she rested her head against his chest, listening to his heart beat, his hand caressing her hair. "I don't want to leave."

"Where else would we go that could be as perfect as here?"

Where indeed? A sudden ice cold realization stabbed its way down her spine, and she sat up suddenly, looking around the lavish suite.

"What is the matter my love?"

"This isn't real."

Sitting up with her, Ragious looked around, shaking his head as if coming out of a daze. "No, it's not.  This is a dream.  Another shared one I imagine."

She scrambled out of his lap and across to the foot of the bed. "Why the hell does this keep happening?"

He frowned at the way Aittera moved so far away from him. "Don't look at me.  You've seen what my subconscious looks like.  If this was me, we'd be aboard the Avenger and you'd have an Imperial uniform hanging in the corner."

She glowered back at him. "You think this is me?"

"I don't know!"

Seething, she moved off of the bed, becoming fully clothed in the process - a deep blue dress with an uncharacteristically high neckline. "This has to stop!"

"You didn't seem to want it to stop a few minutes ago."

"It was a DREAM a few minutes ago!"

For his part, Ragious appeared to have the pants on again, though he stayed on the bed, reclining in that relaxed position without any sign that he shared in her irritation. "And what is it now?"

"A nightmare?" Aittera challenged, infuriated at him for being so undisturbed.

"You can say that all you want, but I know better.  A part of you wishes that this was real right now."

"If that's true, then part of you does too."

"And at least I admit that."

Her eyes grew wide with disbelief. "No. This..." She waved her hand at their surroundings. "ALL of this...this is because of that mindfuck or whatever that's been making me see you."

"I haven't been causing any of this, Aittera.  I know that it would be so easy to just blame it on me, but if this is a dream, and we're both sharing it, you'll know I'm not lying when I say that I'm as much swept up in it as you.  That last one - that admission that I could need you?  I was so kriffing angry after that."

She nodded emphatically as she gestured toward him in response. "Right? I was ready to kill you for that damned uniform!"

"Because it was there, or because a part of you could actually see yourself happy in it?"

She glared at Ragious, biting off a retort, her nostrils flaring. "That's not the point! We need to make this stop!"

"I'm not sure why.  It's not like they're doing us any harm or aren't generally enjoyable."

Another thought occurred to Aittera, and she rubbed her forehead with two fingers as she sunk into a chair with another realization. "I'm in bed with Selus right now."

"And I'm in bed next to someone important as well. I suggest not telling him."

She looked up at him with an incredulous expression. "You think?"

"Probably a good idea."  He was almost teasing her now.  "I suggest we learn to enjoy them when they're good like this."

"I don't---we...no. This is not---" Ragious's non-reaction was getting to her as she realized further that he was enjoying this.

"Wake up then.  If you really don't like this, then why are you still here?"

"Good point." With that, Aittera willed herself awake, disappearing from the dream.

And that was just what she planned to do the next time, she told herself firmly.

(( Added to The Next Chapter ))