[PRP] What dreams are made of [AIM-log]

[Asparegus]

[AIM RP: Felyn & Ume]

Orifiel was not very good at being external. Perhaps this was because those he cared dearly for were usually wrapped up in their muses with little time for him. It only encouraged him to turn inward and think a bit too much. But at least, he told himself, he had used his muscles. Today, he scaled the cliff-side the hard way, the way a long time ago three others had climbed. At the top though, they had found him, sick and pathetic. But it was the beginning of a new start, a new start he would like to think he had yet to near the end of. From the top of the cliff, there were many things he could see as though he were near the gods. Of course, the sky still looked too far away. But the grandeur of the height he could not help but appreciate. And the breeze it brought was refreshing and clean, the best one could get in east Africa. There was nothing he could think to worry about up here.

Rani was never one to really sit and muse, to think too long about anything. She didn't really have many things to think about, when it all came down to it, and she preferred to simply act on a whim - she found that things really felt more true then, as if the less you thought, the more apt you were to simply act on feelings. She had been heading home, honestly, when a wift of air carried her constant protector's scent closer. She was tired from staying up all night, as was often the case, but she did what she was best known for - acted on a whim and decided to head towards where she felt he would be. In this area, it was likely there was only one place.

A little while later found her crawling up in the same manner she had as a cub, when she first found him with her brothers. She was greeted with a very similar sight, though she simply sauntered over (breathing heavily herself) and sat down calmly at his side. "You shouldn't come up here alone," she said softly, all too aware of what could happen if something went horribly wrong.

Ori looked at her and smiled. "But I'm alright as you can see. I'm a big boy even if disadvantaged compared to other lads." He of course appreciated her being concered for him as he was for her. Not that he would have cared if she seemed uninterested, just that she didn't mind him caring. It seemed sometimes that he followed her around like kit. Sometimes he found it embarrassing, but she encouraged him not to think so, so he didn't. "Besides, you should be napping."

She forced herself to smile, which was something rather strange for her, as she was always ready to smile at any moment - it always came naturally. Staring at him now, she realized just what could happen if he had hurt himself climbing up here, if he had gotten stuck up here with no one around. An unfamiliar twist of worry and fear struck her gut, and she knew half the reason she was feeling it so strongly was because she was exhausted from the night before.

"I probably should," she said with a weak smile, stretching out her limbs and laying down at his side comfortably. It always felt better to be near him, even when she should be catching up on some much needed rest. "I caught your scent on the way back home, though, and I knew you had to be up here," she said softly, turning to look up at his eyes.

He drew in a breath at her perceptiveness, that she was able to catch his scent and believe it important to find him. Although he had no reason to think that he needed to worry about climbing. They had accomplished it as cubs. As an adult he should be more capible. And wouldn't he not be a man if he could not accomplish such a simple feat. Well, it had to be simple right? "Very nice of you to look after me." He laid down next to her. "If you'd like to take a nap here, I wouldn't mind. I can look out for you while you sleep." He'd always be there if she called of course. Well, he cared for her more than he cared for himself if he did say so.  

[Asparegus]

"I do it because I care," she said softly, "not because I think I have to." She simply nuzzled her head very lightly against his shoulder, her eyes drooping slightly as the scent of him mingled with that of the ocean breeze, drawing heavily upon her senses and making her more aware than ever that she needed to sleep. She refused, in that moment, however, and pulled her head away to look up at him again. "I might do that," she said softly, "but I want to talk to you a while first." Her voice was low, though, as if she didn't want to ruin the moment by speaking too loudly. Her eyes drifted out to the horizon, drooping as she drew in a deep breath and filled her head with the scents surrounding her.

He leaned his head on top of her's in that moment, enjoying it for the short while it lasted. "Thank you." He drew his head back to look at her as she stated she would talk to him a while. Not that she could want to talk to him about anything out of the ordinary. It was mainly because he was so used to her being busy listening to the stars. "Oh?" Of course, if she wanted to talk, he was all eas. He worked better as a listener than a talker anyway. The sun still colored the sky with multiple hues but the stars were gone. Still he suspected she might still be listening to them.

The smile on her maw could only widen as he leaned his head on hers, his breathing ringing in her ears. She truly enjoyed moments like these with him, when it was just the two of them, and he wasn't worried over something she was doing or somewhere where she was going. She let out a long, relaxed breath and snuggled herself up closer to his side, taking her sweet time to speak. The stars had gone to bed by now, and all she could hear were what sounded like mumbled whispers, jumbled static too hard to make out. "Will we always be like this, you think?" she asked calmly, eyes lidded slightly as she listened to his breathing.

He blinked and looked at her. He didn't ever really think they wouldn't be able to do things like this. In truth he hadn't thought far enough ahead. Ori supposed he had always assumed that no matter what he would be able to watch over her and protect her. "Of course," he told her. "No matter what happens. Even if you take a mate." That was the thing. Rani had love to go around so while she was sweet to him and endeared to him in everyway, he didn't know if to her he was anything more than family or a friend. He wanted to be or to at least prevent someone from mattering so greatly to her so that he could selfishly keep her to himself. But he couldn't leave it out since it was still a possibility. And if it still happened, he'd still fight for some time with Rani. Because she meant everything to him ever since the fateful day she appeared announcing that she had heard of his arrival in the stars.

She had been smiling in a rather content manner, the smile widening as he said his first words. However, at the mention of a mate, that smile seemed to falter slightly and she turned her eyes away from him to look out at the horizon instead. After a few moments of silence, she glanced back at him, staring at his eyes with her own tangerine orbs. "Why would I want a mate if you're going to stay with me forever?" she asked, her voice wavering between confused and.. something else. She had never wanted another soul apart from Ori, it was just shown in a rather strange and Rani-like way.  

[Asparegus]

Ori managed a smile, a sort of grin-and-bear it look and waited for her answer. Only to blink and his face to look confused at her answer. Not that he was confused. It was quite clear. But the answer was just too perfect that he wasn't quite sure he was awake or that his ears were working properly. How many were able to accomplish their big dreams? He certainly didn't know many. Yes it was small but for him, it was big enough. "Well, I don't know," he said with a light laugh. "I kind of hoped you wouldn't want one. Well, um, I mean... I hope you want one but... oh er..." Ori let his stuttering trail off into silence and looked away nervous to get his bearings and hope she would overlook his words. He was a little embarrassed of what he had been trying to say.

She had simply listened to him as he tried to speak, following his stumbled and jumbled words with a slight crease of her eyebrows. It was hard to make out what he meant - she had never really tried to find the meanings in words, but took them at face value more often than not. Even she realized there was something to be dug at from him. "I want one," she said slowly, glancing at the sky as if she could see the stars through the cover of daylight, "who doesn't want love?" She smiled slightly, staring up at the sky, almost able to imagine those glittering stars, all together, all with one another. "I just thought that.. maybe you would be with me, like the moon and the stars." She tilted her head back towards him, watching him even as he looked away from her. "That is love, isn't it, Ori?"

He sucked in his bottom lip and managed to sneak a glance overat her as she spoke. He laughed a bit at her statement, a soft laugh that was directed mostly at himself. "Like the moon and the stars," he agreed. "I'd like to think so." He managed to look at her and smile. While he was embarrassed, he still couldn't shake the feeling that this had to be a dream. Real life wasn't supposed to be this perfect. His mother had always told him it was full of mistakes and hardship that only got better when you died. And while life had been so kind to him here, he wasn't sure that it would go so far as to promise him total and complete happincess. "That is to say, it is on my part." And then his face began to burn.

Rani had never imagined that life would be cruel. She knew the muses could have tempers, could grow angry, but in life she thought that you seemed to get what you gave. If you were kind, good things happened to you, and if you were cruel, it was likely that you would find yourself down on your luck. She had always been sweet, gave what she could, and though she didn't quite expect the muses to hand everything to her, she found that her luck seemed to be going her way. "On my part too," she said softly, staring at him with a serene expression, her tail flickering behind her as she snuggled herself closer to him. "That means you will be my moon, right?" she said softly, nuzzling her head against his shoulder, "the stars are not as beautiful without the moon."

He smiled down at her. "The stars always outshine it with their beauty." And though he hadn't said it, his answer was most certainly and affirmatively a yes. He would be by her side as long as she would let him and that was that. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, nothing could take him from her unless it would save her life. He bent his head down so that his forehead pressed against her's. "And the moon is always enraptured." There was nothing ugly about her, no flaw that he did not love nor any perfection that outshone the rest. She was as perfect as they came and she was even more perfect because he belonged to her.  

[Asparegus]

She let a soft purr flow from her jaws at his words, letting him lean his forehead against hers as she stared up into his eyes. Something in her felt relieved, released, as if she had been trying to get to this moment forever. He had always been with her, in this way, but now it finally felt like things were meant to. "But the stars would be lost without the moon to guide," she whispered softly, her eyes lulling slightly as she felt his warmth against her. This felt more right than anything ever had, even the stars couldn't comfort her the way Ori did.

He smiled. "Then I guess they really do need each other." He wondered then, in such a wonderfully perfect moment, where he would be now if he hadn't disobeyed his mother and ran off with a lion promising grand adventures. Where would he be if he had listened to his mother and stayed beside her sleeping form. He had given up his mother and grew up away from her. Ori was sure it had broken her heart but she always claimed to be strong so he was sure she was still alive and thriving. She had always thought him a disgrace so he was sure she was happy now. And with Rani, he was perfectly happy himself. So he thanked the gods right then. Thanked them that they had permitted him to be dragged through pain, to earn this perfect happiness that he was sure he'd die without, now knowing what it felt like. "If you don't mind, I think I'd like to remove the new moon from my cycles," he joked.

"I think so too," she said with a smile, looking up at him with her lulled eyes. She was thankful to the muses for bringing him hear, even if he had had to go through so much pain to finally find their lands. She knew the muses had meant for her to find him, for them to be together, the stars and the moon forever. She never understood the plans of the muses, but then again, it wasn't for her to understand. She just thanked them for this, thanked them for making their plans benefit her in such a way. Now she knew what her mother was thinking when she looked up at her father with such adoration. She knew what love felt like. "I wouldn't want that to be part of your cycle either," she said with a soft laugh, her whispers carried away by the soft wind around them. She snuggled herself closer and leaned her head on his shoulder, letting her eyes fall closed. Now that she had been relieved of her thoughts, she found her exhaustion creeping up on her.

His eyes were soft as they took her in. He lifted his chin and stuck it on top of her head so that she could use him as a pillow. Ori knew her well enough to know that she was normally sleeping now and that the climb had probably taken a lot more out of her. "Good morning," he said to her softly much like one would wish another good night. He looked up into the sky where the sun had yet to journey and facied he saw a star wink back at him. Smiling he adjusted his head so that it was nearly laying on top of hers, comfortable enough that he too could probably go to sleep. This was the stuff that dreams were made of.