Phantasmagoria - [Rina!]

[Anonymous]

Reagan woke up unhappily at 4am after a vivid dream.  She didn’t know who’s past she had seen in the dream, but she didn’t want to witness it. She figured it wasn’t too bad, relatively. It was one of the reasons she tended to avoid all of Hasdrubal’s old Candidates, due to the danger of reliving some of their experiences. She had been watching some of the Candidates today, maybe it was one of theirs. The dream had had a sordid feel to it, dark and grungy. She recalled, faintly even having just woken, the crunch of bone-

Never mind. She wouldn’t fret about it. She still got out of bed to write in her dream diary. Not because she thought it was important though, she just knew she wasn’t going to be able to get back to sleep. She opened the notebook up. She preferred writing to typing. All she ever did at work was type. And she liked the feel of paper. It grounded her after her experiences. Her sense of touch anchored her to reality. She wrote in the cool blue light of the approaching dawn. She finished quickly and slipped the little book back under her pillow. Finished books were archived in a bookshelf on the opposite wall.

But now what?

She felt a gentle inquiry from Autolycus. He didn’t need to use words, just slipped into the forefront of her conscious. Curious to know if it was another bad one. Reagan carefully pushed the dragon out. Not dismissively. He would know it meant she was fine. And Autolycus dropped away, returning to whatever he was doing at this hour.

She was glad she had a balcony. Just wearing a baggy t-shirt and shorts, she slid open the door before stepping out. It was a little chill, but pleasantly so. The tile were cool against her feet as she walked out of leaned against the railing that lined perimeter. It eased her, to look down, down, down into the expanse of the city. It gave her that odd feeling of being consumed by it. Of being a part of it, one of the skyscrapers maybe. Lights blinked near and far, unless they were engulfed by the darkness far below where she could not perceive Haviah’s end.

It always gave her an immense feeling of contentment. Because she loved her city. She loved Aedolis, passionately. Probably why being a Pilot was so easy for her. There was faint whoosh of a dragon flying, probably a little higher up near the aerie.

Another door slid open, a few balconies across, and she wondered who else would be up at this hour. She looked over curiously.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes Alaric wished he smoked. It would be so cool right now, standing out on his balcony at some ungodly hour of the night. He did have a nice cup of relaxing tea. Something to wind down after his intense raid with Gabe. Gotten some sweet loot too. Though Gabe wasn't going to ever let him live down that he had gotten killed by a minion.

To be fair, he had just taken a massive blow from the boss protecting another party member, but then the little bastard goblin had gotten a good hit in before Alaric could heal. He could still hear Gabe's howls of laughter over the mic. Bastard.

Taking a sip of the tea, Alaric grinned. He would get his revenge. Somehow. But for now, he just enjoyed how pretty the city looked at night. It reminded him why he was doing what he did. What he was working so hard to protect.

He paused, head tilting as he heard a door slid open. The alien glanced over, noticing another shape appear on a balcony one over. It was one of the Nobles, he knew that. But...the name escaped him. Regardless, Alaric gave a small wave, smiling at her.

[Anonymous]

Reagan continued to look, honestly because the other Pilot stood out against the night. And he was tall. In response to the wave, Reagan lifted two fingers to her temple and then flicked them towards him in an odd sort of salute. A little despondent, but it wasn’t because she didn’t want to be disturbed. She didn’t mind people. Nor did she mind being alone. More that there was no need to make the effort to change something she was content with.  She responded to the smile with her own- no need to look grumpy. It was Pilot Eftwyrd, right?

“Right Autolycus?” she repeated, closing her eyes and sending her sketchy perception to him.

“Yes. How could you forget? He has a tail.”

A psychic shrug. “Thanks anyway.”

She continued to examine the skyline, tapping a finger against the railing, arms crossed. What to do with time? She felt she held too much of it, grew tired of carrying it around and threw it away when she could. Maybe it just seemed that way because she herself had stopped. Instead of worrying about work, mentoring and things, she was given nothing. Not even the world was moving around her, giving her the illusion of moving herself. Stillness. Calming, but tiring as well.

She caught something at the edge of her vision. Something ghostly, translucent white, illuminated by artificial light. She straightened immediately, but it was just the steam rising from the other Pilot’s mug.

Now she wanted one.  A cup of something warm would be divine right now. But she didn’t want to walk into the interior of her apartment. It would seem so stuffy after she had been out here. A little suffocating. And being outside energised her.

Well, that was easily rectified.

Abruptly, she pushed off the railing facing the city and walked over to the one facing the Pilot. She rested her elbow on it, and then rested her chin in her palm. “Hey, you got one of those going?” she asked languidly. “I’m parched.”

[Anonymous]

Alaric returned the nod, not pushing any attempt at conversation. Years of self hatred and distrust of people made him hesitant to make the first move with people. It was probably rude of him, but he had been burned enough he tended to just avoid new people until they approached him.

Leaning his slender hip, girlishly rounded under the loose pants he wore, against the ledge, Alaric's three eyes watched the city. He had very good night vision and it being night out didn't effect him much. He wished there were stars, he liked stars. Not space though. Too open, made him nervous.

He was glad Kazef was asleep or other wise occupied. Nothing made the dragon happier then picking at Alaric's insecurities. He took another sip of tea, savoring it. It was still too hot to drink fast, but he could still enjoy it.

The woman's comment started Alaric, enough that he tensed in the effort to keep from startling. His three-eyes turned to her, puzzled at first, then he grinned, "Oh, yeah! Did you want some of this? It's like a lemon...sleepy tea...thing. I've got a mandarin orange spice on and a wildberry one and....well...I've got a lot of tea. What kind do you like?"

[Anonymous]

“Mmmm, enthusiastic,” Reagan commented blithely. She smiled a little, eyebrows raised in vague amusement. “About tea.”

Autolycus hummed in agreement. That’s what she liked about him- he seemed as diverted by small things like that as she was. Sometimes he would sync himself and look through her eyes when she was people watching, garnering all her perception and thoughts along the way.

She pursed her lips in mock thought. “Oh, I don’t know,” she said. Shrug. “Surprise me. Just make sure it doesn’t taste like pond water.”  Like dandelion tea. “Please and thank you.” She gave him two thumbs up, chewing the side of her mouth.

“Demanding little cow."

“Oh?"

“And rude. Not going to introduce yourself?”

“No. It’s just tea. Now if it were coffee-"

The communication dropped. He was ignoring her then She couldn’t blame him. She clicked her tongue once and looked over the balcony and the general space. That was a thought. How was she getting her tea? “Hey, you’re telekinetic right?” She leaned over the banister as she spoke, hands clasped together. In an indulgent moment of childishness, she considered jumping across the balconies. Nah, I’m not that good. She looked down at the expanse of the city below her, endless and eternal. “Or do I have to move?”

[Anonymous]

Alaric flushed slightly, glad the darkness helped hide it, "I drink a lot of it. Too much coffee will make me get jittery." He took a sip of his own tea, hoping to hide his embarrassment, "Um...no pond water. Check."

Ducking inside, Alaric rummaged around his tea stash, grabbing a nice, caffeine free one. Some hot water, little sugar and it was ready to go. There wasn't much to making tea really.

Heading outside with the mug, Alaric paused at the balcony. He had more then enough strength to lift the cup to her, but he wasn't sure he had the control too. Might shatter the cup, might lose the liquid everywhere, "Uhhhh. I don't think that would be the best idea."

The distance wasn't far though, and Alaric could easily cover the distance between the balconies, "I can bring it to you if you don't want to come to me."

[Anonymous]

How sweet. She liked sweet. It suggested the disposition that meant they would do what she said. She really liked that. Eftwyrd was amusing her. She was nice like that, being able to laugh at people feeling uncomfortable. Then again, she was able to find mirth in a lot of things.  Reagan watched him retreat back inside for a moment, pondering over the as of yet unexplained smugness rising in her. Maybe that just came from exercising power. Hardly, actually. He was just being accommodating. It wasn’t an order. Awww, no foundation for being smug. She’d just have to stop then.

“I’m going now. Be nice.”

“I’m always nice. Good night.”

She didn’t like it when he was asleep and she wasn’t. Her head felt uncomfortably empty. It wasn’t buzzing with Autolycus’s constant activity. It made her feel oddly sluggish, like she just had to slow down. She inhaled heavily, shoving her fingers into her hair and pulling at the knots that had formed while she was sleeping. Just for want of something to do.

 Alaric came back and Reagan smiled, eyeing the cup of tea. “Ah! That would be wonderful if you did,” she nodded. She felt a little bad she couldn’t offer a biscuit or something like that. She didn’t spend much time in her apartment. Apart from sleeping and playing WoW until her eyes hurt, she wasn’t there for a significant amount of time.

[Anonymous]

"No problem." Alaric held on to the two mugs carefully and with quick jump was balanced on the railing. Psionics had never come easily to him, but the physical was easy. A few easy hops and he was on her balcony, hold out the steaming cup, "Here. And I promise it doesn't taste like swamp water."

Taking a sip of his own cup, Alaric tried to think of a polite way to ask for her name. He really didn't want to ask Kazef. The dragon would probably lie anyway. And he knew she was a higher rank, he just really couldn't recall her name.

"Um. How is the tea?" He glanced over at her with his three eyes, "What has you up so late anyway?"