14th Combo - [Dream]

[redcladidealist]

The dream starts off simply enough, with the figure of a glowering forevveraglub standing with arms crossed. The scenery around him is indistinct, perhaps a field or a forest. rainbowpalette, a girl, is standing in front of him. Neither one looks happy, but the girl is particularly upset. Eridan snaps something at Kanaya, who looks like she's almost in tears.

For a moment, the dream fuzzes and goes out of focus and...

You know what? This sort of dream is best represented with a series of horribly drawn MSPaint pics~




THREATEN THREATEN THREATEN



Lloyd leans forward, smiling at Kanaya as he holds her protectively. "Don't worry," he says. "I don't care what Eridan says about the future. I'll make sure it never happens."

"Thank you, Lloyd." Kanaya smiles back, arms around his neck. "You're a really good friend."

And watching them draw close, seeing how happy they are, the only thing Eridan can do is sob. If only he'd been nicer to his friend, that could have been him in her arms!

Comments

[rainbowpalette.livejournal.com]

Hi, Lloyd!

[She smiles and waves back as she stands, also happy to see him, and... and he's wearing his hat. The hat that she made him.]

[That's really, really sweet.]

Are you ready to go find some feathers?

[redcladidealist]

As ready as I'll ever be! I even brought the hat so we could see what feathers look good on it!

[He heads up the path to her house until he's right there with her.]

So, you ready to lead the way? You said you knew where some nests were, right?

[rainbowpalette.livejournal.com]

I certainly do! Right this way.

[She flashes Lloyd another quick smile before starting off into the woods. She's walking a little more quickly than normal--she doesn't know exactly when Eridan is coming back and doesn't want to risk a chance encounter.]

[Before long, she's hidden under the canopy of the trees, where the light is soft and dappled, and she starts scanning the ground for feathers, keeping her eyes alert for a spot of red.]

[redcladidealist]

[Lloyd's legs are long enough that he doesn't mind the faster pace. In fact, he barely notices and doesn't think anything of it. Eridan is far from his mind, whereas Kanaya is right there. And you know what? Despite her gray skin and dark, dark hair, she looks like she fits in the forest as much as he does. Okay, maybe he's biased, since he's only seen her in a few settings and he prefers the outdoors in general, but he likes the way the sunlight lands on her. And maybe she likes it, too. Maybe that's part of her smile.

Turning his attention back to the task at hand, Lloyd searches for any bits of out-of-place color or hints of feathers moving in the breeze. Nothing so far. At least, not until...]

Hey, I found a blue one. Do you want it for your collection? [Since he's not looking for blue for his hat.]

[rainbowpalette.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I would!

[Since she still has hope that one of her other friends will show up in Somarium desperate, whiny mun hope and he likes blue, she takes the feather from Lloyd. And maybe she lets her fingers linger juuuust a little longer against his than is strictly necessary, but who is keeping track?]

[As she takes it and holds it up to the light, getting a better look at it, she catches a glimpse of something bright and out-of-place out of the corner of her eye.]

Look, a red one!

[redcladidealist]

[Lloyd's not keeping track, but he still notices when their fingers touch. He wears his gloves so often that actually touching someone's hand doesn't happen all that much. So maybe he doesn't draw his hand back so quickly, either, once Kanaya has the feather.

The moment is broken when she points, though.]

Hey, you're right! Wow, it's a really nice one, too! I don't think it's been rained on at all. [He picks it up and takes his hat off, holding the feather next to it.] What do you think?

[rainbowpalette.livejournal.com]

It looks really nice!

[She reaches out and moves the feather slightly, so it's more centered on the hat, touching his hand again as she does so. This time, it's totally by accident. This is fashion, Lloyd, and therefore serious business.]

Let's see if we can find more like this, so we can put another one on the other side.

[So it looks like he has horns For symmetry.]

[redcladidealist]

[Normally that touch would have gone over his head, accident or otherwise. He doesn't pay attention to those things, they're not on his mind. This time, though, he has been thinking, on and off, easily distracted, but still there in the background of his mind. It's enough to make him hesitate and blink at her hand. That didn't mean anything... did it?

Oh, right, feathers.]

Another red one?

[Because he agrees that they should match.]

Oh, yeah, I've been thinking about the green and yellow ones, too. If we can't find any, maybe we could soak some white ones in dye.

[Yellow ones right at the base of the red would go nicely for reverse-colored horns~]

[rainbowpalette.livejournal.com]

Yes, it definitely needs another red one.

[She's going to trot blithely off now, in search of more feathers, her arms swinging loosely from her shoulders.]

I'm sure we can find some yellow and green ones, there's plenty of birds that color in the forest.

[Reverse colored horns YES]

[redcladidealist]

[Lloyd stoops to pick up another feather, a fluffy brown one he's not certain he'll use but that could easily be given to Kanaya if not, then jogs to catch up with her.]

I know I've seen a couple before, but I didn't realize they were that common. Back in the forest where I lived in my world, most of the birds were brown, and maybe a few blue or red ones. I didn't see green or yellow until I started traveling. I guess I thought it might be like that here.

[He's still looking for feathers... but his eyes drift back to her hand.

You know... Maybe there's a way to find out without having to ask...

Suddenly feeling extremely self conscious, he drops his arm to his side, matching his pace with hers and, cautiously, uncertainly, tries to take her hand.]

[rainbowpalette.livejournal.com]

Really? Most of the birds in my world were very brightly colored, and...

[And her voice trails off as she realizes Lloyd has wrapped his hand around hers. It's an unexpected gesture, but... but it feels nice. She likes it. And so she's just going to blush quietly and not take her hand back and enjoy the sensation.]

[redcladidealist]

[She's not pulling away. Lloyd darts a glance at her, trying to gauge her reaction. She's not pulling away, and her face is a little green. Green is a blush for her, he remembers that.

That's an answer. Smiling, he lets a little part of himself relax that had been tense and anxious and man he'd had no idea if he was doing this right. He adjusts his grip subtly, to make it more comfortable. Her hand feels... really nice.]

I think I'd like to see that. Do you think maybe someday I could come see your world?

[rainbowpalette.livejournal.com]

[Oh. Oh, her world. Alternia...]

I'm sorry, Lloyd, but my world was destroyed. We can never go and visit it because it isn't there anymore.

[And that thought makes her kind of sad, so she tightens her grip a little around his hand.]

[redcladidealist]

Destroyed? [All thoughts of hands disappear from his mind, replaced with a horrified look. He stops in his tracks.] Your whole world? What happened?

[rainbowpalette.livejournal.com]

It's a long story.

[One that she'd rather not get into right now, since they were having such a good time just a few moments ago.]

What about your world, though? What was your world like? Why didn't you learn about red until later in life?

[Because red is one of the best colors. True fact.]

[redcladidealist]

Oh.

[He gets the hint that she doesn't want to talk about it and simply squeezes her hand back. Now he has more than one reason to hold her hand, even while he lets himself be distracted.]

Huh? What do you mean? I've always liked red. It's my favorite color.

[rainbowpalette.livejournal.com]

[Thank you for understanding, Lloyd. And thank you for squeezing her hand; it feels really nice.]

Oh, really? I'm sorry, I guess I got confused by what you said about birds earlier.

[Mun reading comprehension fail, d'oh!]

[Shy smile.]

Red is my favorite color too.

[redcladidealist]

[Sweeps the comprehension fail under the rug and helps shift all the blame on Kanaya and Lloyd.]

Oh! [He grins and shakes his head.] No, I just meant there weren't very many red birds around. There's lots of other red things, like fruit and cloth and flowers.

[He becomes especially pleased when he hears that last remark.] I guess we have something in common!

But as for my world... Well, I grew up in a forest, so I'm used to lots of trees and plants. Not everywhere is like that, though. There's deserts and snow fields and cities and mountains, and some places in the ocean where you can't see land at all. It's like the whole world's turned blue, even the air.

I think I'll always like the forest best, though.

What about you?

[rainbowpalette.livejournal.com]

[Yes, this is much better.]

I grew up in the desert, so I like that best. Remember when it got so hot in Somarium, and everyone was complaining?

[Bright, tinkling laughter.]

I didn't mind at all! It reminded me of home.

[redcladidealist]

Yeah, I remember that, but it didn't bother me that much, either. Where I'm from, our houses don't stay cool all day like they do here. It's as warm inside as it is outside.

[No such thing as air conditioning.]

And even if it got hot, you're right. It wasn't as bad as a desert. At least people still had shade and water, right? [That's better than the desert by far!]

[rainbowpalette.livejournal.com]

And it made all the flowers grow, and...

[Her voice trails off as she spots something out of the edges of her vision and turns towards it. Her eyes widen; it is the MOTHERLOAD of feathers! The birds must have had a wild rumpus dance party to lose that many feathers in one place!]

Lloyd, look!

[Hurrying towards the cache now, pulling him along by their still-clasped hands.]

[redcladidealist]

Holy cow! [Lloyd's eyes widen when he spots all the feathers lying around, then excitement starts bubbling up inside him. He doesn't mind at all that Kanaya's pulling him along. In fact, now he's trying to match her pace!]

Kanaya, this is amazing! Look at all these feathers! You could make hats for all your friends and still have feathers left over!

[But there's going to be a slight problem, and he can already tell what it is just by looking at their hands. However, it's a problem that can be fixed. Grinning, he reaches up with his free hand and pulls his hat off his head.]

Here. We can carry them all in my hat.

[rainbowpalette.livejournal.com]

I know! We'll be able to make the best hat for you now!

[She stoops to start picking up the feathers, unconsciously reaching for them with both hands... until she tugs just a bit on Lloyd's arm and suddenly remembers they're still holding hands. She looks up at him, a little surprised, then smiles warmly and turns back to the feathers, only using one hand to reach for them this time.]

[redcladidealist]

[Something inside him flips nervously when she looks up and meets his eyes, maybe because she's smiling, smiling at him, maybe because he still doesn't know if he's doing this right. He gives her hand another light squeeze, smiling back. Then he sets his hat on the ground. There. That frees up his hand again so that they can both work together - and so that they can still hold hands.]

I think... I think it's going to be the best hat anyway, no matter what. Because you helped me make it.

[Auugh, that didn't sound too stupid, did it? Nervous all over again, he starts picking up feathers and putting them in the hat.]

[rainbowpalette.livejournal.com]

[Kanaya glances over at him again; he looks nervous, like he said something stupid.]

[Which he didn't. He said something very sweet.]

Thank you.

[Aaaaand now she's nervous and paying very close attention to the feathers.]