Meaningful Things

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

Title: Meaningful Things
Location: Stacy; The Sensoriums





The nightmares had woken him up again. For the third time in what was supposed to be his current sleep cycle, Renne had woken up literally screaming. He'd become familiar with these nightmares in the last three years but this was certainly a case of familiarity breeding contempt. Or, more aptly, familiarity breeding hate.

In his third time screaming awake and finding himself crying into his plushie, Renne had paled, the blushed, fearing he might have woken his roommate. That wouldn't do.

That wouldn't do at all.


Wandering aimlessly around the ship for a while, Renne eventually finds himself within a Sensorium chamber. Still clinging to his plushie, he sits down in the "blank" room to think. To think of his heroes, his enemies, the betrayers and the saviour.

When his mind calms enough, Renne smiles a little to his plushie.

"Rrrr-enne ma-ke prrres-ent fohrrr Bee."

Comments

[morphitudinous]

That night, Billy awoke with a start to find Renne gone. Was he wandering again? Was he safe?

The tinge of the feelings he'd picked up suggested that not all was right. Determined to figure out what was wrong, Billy tossed his robe over his pajamas and set out to walk wherever their bond led.

Pointedly ignoring the people giving him strange looks for walking about in sleepwear, he followed Renne's invisible trail to a Sensorium door. Ah---so it was here.

Smiling a little to himself, Billy slipped inside. "Hello?"

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

Blink. Ear-twitch.

Ah, the object of his nightmare-fleeing thoughts. Chirping quietly, the Renne calls up something in the dark. It's a place only his kind had ever been to, only his kind had ever seen or even built.

The city of L'Langiniar rises from the floor and the blood-red sky paints all things above with a glorious, successive sunrise of four oriting stars. The city itself sprouts with spiraling buildings constructed of something that looks as liquid glass, shining in the dawn. The streets are of cobblestones polished into an improvised tile.
Smaller buildings shaped like domes, spheres and pyramids denote residences. The shops, business districts and even some of the eateries however, rise resplendent with spires, towers and seemingly gilded turrets.

At the edge of the city, a park stretches with a nature trail, winding through banfa'al trees and singing plants interspersed with strange, multi-layered, iridescent blooms of all sort. Here, the air smells a little sweeter than the clean sterility of the city. The grasses shine blue, green, violet and a few bush-like things bear thorns with their warning colour of bright, neon-like green.

Only after the final fruit trees are in place, does Renne turn up the lighting. Welcome, Billy, to the city of L'Langiniar.

"Hell-loww, Bee."

[morphitudinous]

Darkness?

Well, he thinks he can hear Renne, and he doesn't sound harmed. That's a good sign. Billy takes a few stumbling steps forward in the dark, wondering if they should be nearby. Luckily, the magnificent city lights up before his eyes before he can cause any damage to himself or others.

When his eyes catch sight of everything before him, from the towering spires to the vibrant plant life in the distance, he nods.

"Renne. What brings you out here?"

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

"Rrrr-enne....noh wahn-t wa-ke Bee uhp. Ahn-d th-en Rrr-ene wahn-t ma-ke Bee prrres-ent."

There's that blush coming to his face. The shame of waking up screaming from nightmares he's had for the last three years hasn't ever really gone away. Still, even that had become a catalyst to think of the Human...and in some way, he hopes Billy can't see the dried tracks on his face.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

She'd woken up with a start herself. Unlike Billy, Katara didn't know off the bat that Renne was the reason, but she still felt that sense of unease. In a way, she understood why: Billy was linked with Renne, and in one of their encounters she and Billy connected as well. Through him, she could sense there might be something wrong with Renne, and so she was up, her mind alert. It was one of the things that was an asset traveling with Aang: she could get up at a moment's notice and be ready. She had hastily thrown on a robe, still in her water tribe underwear.

She closed her eyes, and a moment later she was walking towards the Sensorium and opened the door. She wasn't sure what she expected, but figured it might possibly even be as bad as the last time.

She was definitely going to find Renne, but for the moment, her eyes widened at the sight before her. This city was far beyond anything she had even dreamed of, and took a moment to gaze at the sights, the gleam that seemed to come from everywhere, and she lingered especially at the stars.

When she ventured she came upon Renne and Billy. She wanted to ask what they were doing here, buts he was still a little tongue tied at everything she was seeing.

"What IS this place?"

[morphitudinous]

"Katara?"

Billy turned to her with a somewhat embarrassed face, clutching to make sure that his robe was closed. Once he saw that she was in a similar state of being underdressed, he smiled sheepishly. Renne, of course, would have nothing to do with all these human goings-on.

Turning his attention back to Renne, he nodded. "I believe this is a city from his world. And...Renne, don't worry about that. I want to help you, no matter what I might need to do. But then you went and created this illusion for me?"

It was...cool. And he wouldn't mind exploring it with Katara one bit.

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

"Rrrr-ene wahn-t do fohrrr Bee -- Tarrr-tarrr?"

That's a surprise and his blush brightens to that glow-worm state. Squeaking bashfully, he crawls to offer each a brief and yes, apologetic, nuzzle.

"Rrrr-enne wa-ke Tarrr-Tarrr uhp too?"

He's thinking his screaming might have done it.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara gladly snuggles him back, still looking concerned. "I felt something...not right somehow, I guess. Did you have a nightmare?"

She turned a little red here. How would she possibly know if he had a nightmare or not? That seemed pretty presumptuous, but it was the impression she had. She was still trying to figure out what the bond with Billy and Renne brought out.

"Hi Billy," she greeted her friend, giving him a hug. "It's really beautiful. I could stare at the stars all day, honestly."

[morphitudinous]

It's nice, Billy thinks when he's finished nuzzling Renne, to see how cutely he and Katara interact. He doesn't dwell on it since they have the situation (addressed by Katara's question) and this awe-inspiring illusion around them, but it's a pleasant thought. He needs more of those in his life.

"We might not have all day to linger here, but I'm feeling adventurous tonight," he says with a smile, returning her embrace and quite easily forgetting any embarrassment.

Billy had had the impression of a nightmare too, and that had brought him here. But how did Katara know? He decided to shelve that question for later, focusing instead on figuring out if Renne is all right.

"What happened?"

::eats the comment eating!::

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

"Eee.....eey-ess. Rrrr-enne do. Haow yeu know? Rrrr-enne wake uhp yeu?"

That's slightly embarrassing. Blushing furiously, the oddity dips his head down amid a flash of shame. Had it been him screaming himself awake? It's the first conclusion that comes to his mind.

Mention of the city though, brings a faint smile. Indeed, he'd re-created this city as a gift, wishing to let a certain Human's curiosity be able to run wild without risk to life or limb.

Re: ::eats the comment eating!::

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara tried to phrase her answer. "It wasn't like I heard it with my ears. I don't really know how to explain it, but I felt it: one moment I was fine, the next I felt a seizure of fear that wasn't mine. After that...I sort of followed my impressions, and found you."

She was pretty sure that it was the worst explanation she'd ever heard: she didn't even think SHE would believe that as an outside party. Had something happened to her when she had that meld with Billy, or was it something that happened with Negi? There were way too many times where she had encounters that were far from normal.

"Not that it matters if there's something wrong. So...you are all right Renne-chan?"

Yes, now SHE was saying it.

[morphitudinous]

"I felt it too," Billy adds. "In the back of my mind, where we're linked, I felt a faint tug pulling me toward you."

He kneels, curling one of his arms around Renne's shoulders. Katara's use of an honorific is surprising to him, but there are more pressing concerns right now. "Don't worry about waking us up---it was completely unintentional, and I'd feel terrible if you were in trouble and I couldn't help. Now what happened?"

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

Squeak.

Seems like he's not going to lose that blush for a while, isn't it? Biting his lip, the Renneresponds like a little kid afraid to confess "the boogeyman" to a pair of older siblings. Still, he can't lie.

"Is drrrream ah-gain. It wake Rrr-enne uhp."

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex was no stranger with nightmares, having been suffering from quite a few of them himself a night. He really couldn't remember a time where they weren't a normal occurrence, but the stress of the ship had brought them back with a vengeance.

Alex had taken to wandering again, considering summoning up Mikel's apartment in the sensoriums and sleeping on the couch as he commonly would back on his Earth. He hadn't expected to find Renne talking to a plushie, let alone to find Renne up so late.

What bothered him was that there was still that tier 4 shadow that hadn't bothered attacking him last time. Was it like his? He had never seen his own- it was impossible to see your own shadows- but Mikel had told him about it. That it always sat on his shoulders, and almost seemed to somehow be smiling without having a face when Alex was suffering the most.

Alex walked towards Renne- fortunately no longer smelling like blood- stepping carefully so as to not wake the rat asleep in his hood. "R-Renne?" He sat down next to Renne, looking at the plush.

Hadn't he once had something like that? A long, long time ago? He winced as a pain split across his forehead. He shook his head slightly, knowing that as a warning; push harder, and you will remember something, and you usually don't want to remember these things.

He looked at the shadow instead, as it's grandiose form loomed around Renne. "S-something wrong?"

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

"Eee..?"

The voice surprises him, especially this time of night. Still, even as his ears twitch upward, the fear from the nightmare still lingers. Backdrops of alien beauty notwithstanding, Renne cannot speak an untruth, even to virtual strangers. So, his reply comes out in a quiet, somewhat shamed whisper.

"Drrream."

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

"Y-You too?" he asked. A happy dream would not be something 'wrong', nor would it keep someone up at night.

Alex sighed, sitting next to Renne. He wondered what had caused that terrible shadow he was carrying with him. What terrible past had the little guy suffered? He knew how bad his own past was- enough that he couldn't remember most of it, and that what he did remember made the violence his father inflicted upon him seem okay.

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

"Eey-ess. Rrrr-enne did ba-d thin-g."

That dream again. Although with reluctance, the oddity offers a vision of the dream and brings it into 'holographic' life.

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex jumped at the first bang and both jumped and yelped at the second. He turned away from the seeming holograph, chilled. It almost sounded like his house. Occasional gunshots on the streets outside, the buzz of electricity, the sound of the TV from the other room, with his drunken father laughing or cursing depending on what he was watching.

Alex bit his lip. He really hadn't enough information to go on, but he couldn't imagine Renne trying to hurt someone. "I d-don't think y-you meant any of that. Y-you didn' w-want it to h-happen."

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

"Rrr-enne noh wahn-t. But it do."

His answer seems resigned; his tone of voice that of one who has simply accepted, even internalised, some nasty things.

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex furrowed his brow and took Renne's hands, "Th-that doesn' make you a bad person then! I-it's not y-your fault, Renne, an' you c-can't keep blaming yourself."

Alex thought of his father, "If you could just listen for once I wouldn't have to keep trying to teach you to listen." The voice echoed in the sensorium. Sure, he could program computers, but the sensoriums were something different. As much as he liked them, he didn't have the same control there as he had with code.

He shook his head, "you c-can't let people l-like that tell you things like that. You c-can't just- y-you're a good person!"

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

"Haow yeu know?"

His tone isn't demeaning or accusatory -- it's the tone of someone asking a logical question, seeking a logical answer. It's the tone of somene who has known the ways of the worlds and has hardened against them.

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex took Renne's hand and put it on his own heart. "H-here. S-some s-sense in here tells me y-you're not. B-besides, y-your shadow, it's one of pain. I know b-bad people. If they h-have a sh-shadow, it's a-anger. They don' r-regret what they do. Y-you do."

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

Squeak.

He doesn't really know what to say to that. His face turns a rather bright shade of electric blue -- blushing like a kid, he is.

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex smiled and gently squeezed Renne's hand. "Y-you c-can't let these things h-haunt you. They'll drive you insane." Alex was honestly concerned. He knew how much his shadow ate at him, and he knew that it couldn't be easy on Renne.

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

"It do."

Two little words but they carry a lot of meaning. Specifically, in those words, Renne confesses the one thing of himself he loathes -- he already had gone mad years ago.