07-30-2023, 07:41 PM
Nimeda had a child’s enthusiasm for exploration, undimmed by her long and strange years. She touched everything they passed in absent greeting. The towering walls undulated like red and orange waves, and she followed their sinuous lines like the grooves were made for her fingers. A breeze occasionally followed them through, ruffling the skirt around her shins or tugging on her curls. It was her own doing, for it was often her way to invent such games and company from her environment. Sometimes the way ahead squeezed narrow, but a steadfast faith kept her moving fluidly. Nimeda didn’t believe in impossibility.
She laughed at the comment about wings, and glanced up at the narrow strip of sky following them like a pale blue ribbon above. “You should bring them next time. We will visit the stars.” Not that he needed them for that, but most dreamers found themselves beholden to the rules of their waking bodies, and Adrian did not seem the sort to enjoy instruction.
He stared at the poppy for a long time before he handed it back. The lines of his frown seemed as ancient as the surrounding rock, yet his irritation washed over her unheeded. She lit up radiantly, for no other reason than she enjoyed the rare novelty of gifts. Scent wafted as she plucked it back from his hand and twisted the stem between her fingers, stirring with it the idea of a pleasant memory. One that said home. “Suits me better,” she agreed with a grin, threading it into her hair.
“You can call me as you wish,” she added after a moment to consider it. There was a push and a pull to him she had never experienced with another. The resonance was as strong as with Mara, but whereas the other girl felt like the twin of a sister, Adrian felt like a puzzle that might bite in the solving. Or maybe it was just the way he said Aletheia that shivered her through with uncertainty. “That one feels like an old name, but I have many of those. Most here call me Nimeda. That’s the name Jon gave me, since I had none I remembered before it. But if you spoke to me, I would know it was you whatever name you used.”
She laughed at the comment about wings, and glanced up at the narrow strip of sky following them like a pale blue ribbon above. “You should bring them next time. We will visit the stars.” Not that he needed them for that, but most dreamers found themselves beholden to the rules of their waking bodies, and Adrian did not seem the sort to enjoy instruction.
He stared at the poppy for a long time before he handed it back. The lines of his frown seemed as ancient as the surrounding rock, yet his irritation washed over her unheeded. She lit up radiantly, for no other reason than she enjoyed the rare novelty of gifts. Scent wafted as she plucked it back from his hand and twisted the stem between her fingers, stirring with it the idea of a pleasant memory. One that said home. “Suits me better,” she agreed with a grin, threading it into her hair.
“You can call me as you wish,” she added after a moment to consider it. There was a push and a pull to him she had never experienced with another. The resonance was as strong as with Mara, but whereas the other girl felt like the twin of a sister, Adrian felt like a puzzle that might bite in the solving. Or maybe it was just the way he said Aletheia that shivered her through with uncertainty. “That one feels like an old name, but I have many of those. Most here call me Nimeda. That’s the name Jon gave me, since I had none I remembered before it. But if you spoke to me, I would know it was you whatever name you used.”
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