Post by The Madness Menagerie on Dec 26, 2020 19:52:34 GMT -5
What is a dream?
Is it an aspiration from a young age to become something more?
Was it a figment of the mind, something the deepest corners of a brain tried to get the person to remember? Something from the past that was relevant to the future?
Was it nothing more than an interruption of sleep?
Ask Belle Silva her definition of “dream” and she’d have only one word to share, to sum up her feelings on it before brushing over the subject as she had trained herself to do throughout her years on this Earth.
“Repetitive.”
As a “young adult,” Belle had grown accustomed to the belief that she would never outgrow the same, repetitive dream that had interrupted her otherwise peaceful sleep, every night, for as long as she could remember. It always started the same, watching herself on fast forward go through high school. It wasn’t like she wasn’t popular, everything started that way and she had all the friends. She was THE girl in school, even had the most popular boyfriend…
It was here that the dream always took that dark turn down the road that left Belle gasping for air as she woke up drenched in sweat. As decisions go, Belle KNEW that she could have done better. At the time though, reputation was the most important thing to her and she had her boyfriend with her the entire time, what could go wrong at a party?
The details weren’t important, they never were. The feelings of being poked and prodded, having no one to turn to, no one to help her as people laid their hands over her, invaded her senses, and always forced her into a panic. Her boyfriend at the time had only encouraged it and she ended up running from the house. Things changed for her that day and instead of showing off her body, Belle hid it under hoodies and baggy jeans, hoping that she could just move away after high school and never look back again.
Plans happened, Belle made it out of high school and went to college to pursue a career in investigative reporting. Belle made a name for herself in Carnage and the rest, as they say, was history.
Then Zephyr happened and Belle’s world changed.
She had never believed she’d be free of that feeling of always needing to be protected but not trusting anyone to give that to her. Belle met Zephyr and saw that confused human with monstrous urges and she fell in love faster than Jane fell for Tarzan. To this day, she swears she just wanted to get an off-color interview to put her back on the map in Carnage.
Belle reminded Zephyr what it was like to be human, that it was worth it to stray away from the violence and bloodlust to experience life to the fullest. In exchange, Belle was reminded that not only she was worth protecting, but that Zephyr would be there no matter what.
Then there was Zephyr’s coma.
Belle knew, she KNEW, that Zephyr wasn’t going to stay away, that there was nothing that would keep her away from Belle. Sure enough, Zeph came back and while she was a lot more violent than before, she always made Belle feel protected.
Untouchable.
Zephyr made Belle’s recurring nightmare disappear so as the two lay fast asleep in each other’s arms, Belle lets out a small whimper as the dream intrudes upon her otherwise peaceful sleep. This one felt different though, it WAS different. As Belle was poked and prodded, the object of so much unwanted attention; a spotlight snaps on in front of her. The sight stops her dead and as the hands continue their ghostly dance along her body, but she doesn’t feel them anymore as she gets down on her knees and reaches forward.
Zephyr lies motionless, bleeding, bruised, and mangled in the middle of the spotlight. Her protector, her girlfriend and so much more didn’t move as Belle wrapped herself around her and started sobbing.
“Babe?”
Zephyr’s tired voice cuts through Belle’s dream as she opens her eyes, sitting up and then throwing herself into Zephyr’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Never good with affection, Zephyr has only gotten better at letting all of her walls down around Belle. She wraps her pale and scarred arms around Belle, wary of any signs of danger as her girlfriend manages to calm down.
Finally able to take one long deep breath, albeit shaky, Belle sits up, taking Zephyr’s face in her hands and kissing her lightly on the lips.
“Thank you.”
Belle rests her forehead against Zephyr’s briefly before pulling away and back on her side of the bed, sitting up against the wall and holding her knees to her chest. Zephyr props herself up on an elbow and looks up at Belle, “Yeah, of course; but are you going to tell me what that was about?” Zephyr’s eyes stayed locked on Belle, concern etched on her features as Belle steels herself.
“Yeah, it was a dream. Uhm… Heh…” Belle sniffles and shakes her head, burying her face to try and avoid another attack from her feelings. Zephyr sits up and pulls Belle in tight.
“It’s ok, shhh… I’m here.”
Zephyr’s voice is quiet and filled with warmth as she wraps Belle up. Belle smiles despite herself and sinks into Zephyr’s embrace. The two remain for several unmeasurable moments, not saying a word as Belle recovered. Finally, she manages to speak and when Zephyr offers to pull away, Belle only shudders and pulls Zephyr closer. Her voice is muffled, but Zephyr’s presence did wonders to make Belle feel secure enough to let Zephyr in this close.
“I’ve always had the same dream up until I met you. Reliving my high school years…” Zephyr nods into Belle’s head, giving her a light kiss to urge her to continue. “I thought I had it all. Looks, popularity… Had the boyfriend to match it all.” Belle knew this was all territory Zephyr hadn’t experienced, but to her credit, she remained silent and supportive as Belle spoke. “There was this party, which was supposed to be the biggest one of the year and so, of course, I was going to be there. No parents, no supervision, just high school kids drinking alcohol, what could go wrong?”
Belle shivers and Zephyr pulls her in closer, “You don’t have to keep going if you don’t want to Belle. I can’t imagine…” She’s cut off as Belle shakes her head in Zephyr’s chest.
“No, I need to be able to tell you. If I can tell you, then I’ll know I’ve become stronger to move past it all…” She clears her throat and wraps her arms around Zephyr, pulling her head up so she can look Z in the eyes, “You give me strength. If it wasn’t for you, I can’t tell you where I’d be…”
Zephyr smiles as she looks down at Belle, “Well, I’m no fortune teller, but what I DO know is that I don’t think I’d be here without you either. You’re my canary in a coal mine…” Belle looks quizzically at Zephyr and Z can only laugh lightly, “Back when coal mining was a thing, miners would take canaries into the mines with them, right? They would treat them like pets and when the canary started getting sick or dying, the miners knew when they had gone too far and could evacuate without suffocating on carbon monoxide. You’re my canary, that one little piece of my life that I can look on and just… Know what happiness is because I have you in my life. You’re how I know if I’ve gone too far or not and my light to guide me back to where I need to be.”
Zephyr’s voice got softer as she watched Belle, the two feeling as close to each other as ever as Belle reaches up and brushes a stray hair from Zephyr’s brow. “Well, that’s kind of what my dream had to do with.” Belle sighs, “So this party, right? As you might imagine with no supervision and everyone wasted, there was a lot of… Inappropriate touching.” Belle felt Zephyr’s body tense but to her credit, let Belle continue without reacting more, “My boyfriend, he… He never really protected me and it kinda ruined the rest of my high school experience. Having you in my life changed that, you made me feel like I was worthy enough to be protected.” Zephyr opens her mouth to add her two cents, but Belle raises her hand and presses a finger to Zephyr’s lips, “Shh, I need to finish while I still feel like I can.” Belle takes her finger away as Zephyr nods, remaining silent her gaze focused intently on Belle.
“Thank you. You made that dream disappear Zeph. You made it so that I can fall asleep in your arms and wake up the next morning wrapped around you. As much as you say I complete you, Zeph, you do the same thing for me…” They both knew what was coming next but neither of them was going to say it. Held to her word, Zephyr refused to interject and instead repositioned, stretching her legs on either side of Belle and having Belle rest her head against her belly. Stroking her hair, Zephyr stayed silent as she waited for Belle to continue.
“But… I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t worry. When you were in that coma, I was beside myself and had no idea what I was doing. What I was going to do if…” She shudders and Zephyr starts stroking her hair slowly, carefully, taking in what Belle is saying. “But you didn’t and you came back thanks to whatever Mia did, as much as I don’t get it. That’s ok though because as selfish as it sounds, you came back and the first thing you did was make sure that I was ok.” Belle sighs and Zephyr continues to stroke Belle’s hair, the movement soothing to both of them.
“You came back Zeph, but you came back ready for violence and blood. That match against Trent at Ultimate Carnage, your challenge to LRK, babe, I KNOW you’ll be fine but I’m scared. What happens if you’re not able to come back here after that match? What happens if he snaps your spine or… I don’t know, but you saw everything I did at Ultimate Carnage and it hasn’t slowed you down at all. If anything it’s only made you…”
“Want it more.”
Zephyr finishes Belle’s thought and the two fall silent. They both knew the truth, that Zephyr wanted to be the one that defeated the monster in his domain, showing that even with a little bit of humanity, Zephyr could stand toe to toe with the worst of the bad. Belle saw the potential for Zephyr to do anything that she wanted, but Belle didn’t think that she was personally ready to watch the carnage.
Turning, so Belle could once again make somber eye contact with Zephyr, the reporter hugs Zeph around the waist, “I don’t doubt you an ounce Love, you know that. But what I don’t know if I can deal with is the collateral damage that is left in the outcome. You have proven time and again that you are my one and only; a fact that I will gladly accept. With this thought, you have to accept that I worry that the more violent that you get; you won’t be able to come back to me, that you’ll become… Something that isn’t this.”
She falls silent as Zephyr holds her close, “You know I would never do anything to jeopardize us.” She falls silent as Belle shakes her head, burying her face into Zephyr, her voice muffled.
“Silly girl, of course, I know that. The image of you lying motionless… That’s how my dream ended this most recent time. You lying, motionless, unable to come back to me…” Belle shudders again and Zephyr does her best to comfort her.
“You know I wouldn’t put myself in a position I couldn’t come back to you from.”
“But you don’t know the future Zeph. I need… I don’t know, advice? I want to be able to love you Zephyr, all parts of you, but I don’t know how. You’ve been great at giving me the space I need to figure this out, but now?”
Zephyr’s gaze narrows, “You need help from someone that has been through this. Someone, not me?” Zeph did her best not to sound hurt, but she knew Belle picked up on it. It was the nature of their relationship though and Belle knew that Zephyr didn’t mean anything by it, she was just trying to understand.
“Yes. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to work this out together. You and me Z. We’re going to go into the new year together, we’re going to become stronger as a couple, and we’re going to leave the year better than before. Wait and see. You deserve to be recognized on that roster as much as I do backstage. We’ll show people that there is nothing the two of us can’t do.”
Zeph smiles and then stops as she suddenly remembers a memory, “Grace. You need to find Grace, that was her name wasn’t it?”
It took Belle a moment before she realized that Zephyr was talking about the mysterious woman that confronted King at the end of Ultimate Carnage. “Yeah, I think that’s her name. Should be able to figure out a number or something to give her a call. Are you ok with me meeting the girl of your soon-to-be opponent though?”
Zephyr shrugs and smiles, “We’re stronger together and you’re only looking for a way to help us move forward. Yeah, I’m ok with you meeting with her if you get her info. Honestly? If she can help us be a better couple, I’m all for it. Not that we need any pointers right?”
Belle falls silent, her gaze far away from Zephyr’s face, long enough to make Zephyr doubt her words. However, Belle’s musical giggle reassures Zeph and she grabs Belle, bringing her in for a deep embrace.
“You know, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious to see you bring some of those more animalistic qualities into the bedroom… You won’t hurt me you know…”
Belle bites her bottom lip suggestively as Zephyr looks down on her. With an animalistic grin, Zephyr shifts her weight, pinning Belle to the bed before ripping her nightgown off and flinging buttons everywhere. Belle giggles as Zephyr takes an ear into her mouth, nibbling at all the right parts.
“Haha, mmmm… You realize that you’re going to have to owe me a new nightgown now right?”
Zephyr only grunts in response as her mouth moves to the nape of Belle’s neck, “And that you’ll have to come with me shopping?” Zephyr pauses and Belle laughs, “Cause and effect my little monster. Now come and conquer your prey.”
With that, Belle is tackled by Zephyr, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Is it an aspiration from a young age to become something more?
Was it a figment of the mind, something the deepest corners of a brain tried to get the person to remember? Something from the past that was relevant to the future?
Was it nothing more than an interruption of sleep?
Ask Belle Silva her definition of “dream” and she’d have only one word to share, to sum up her feelings on it before brushing over the subject as she had trained herself to do throughout her years on this Earth.
“Repetitive.”
As a “young adult,” Belle had grown accustomed to the belief that she would never outgrow the same, repetitive dream that had interrupted her otherwise peaceful sleep, every night, for as long as she could remember. It always started the same, watching herself on fast forward go through high school. It wasn’t like she wasn’t popular, everything started that way and she had all the friends. She was THE girl in school, even had the most popular boyfriend…
It was here that the dream always took that dark turn down the road that left Belle gasping for air as she woke up drenched in sweat. As decisions go, Belle KNEW that she could have done better. At the time though, reputation was the most important thing to her and she had her boyfriend with her the entire time, what could go wrong at a party?
The details weren’t important, they never were. The feelings of being poked and prodded, having no one to turn to, no one to help her as people laid their hands over her, invaded her senses, and always forced her into a panic. Her boyfriend at the time had only encouraged it and she ended up running from the house. Things changed for her that day and instead of showing off her body, Belle hid it under hoodies and baggy jeans, hoping that she could just move away after high school and never look back again.
Plans happened, Belle made it out of high school and went to college to pursue a career in investigative reporting. Belle made a name for herself in Carnage and the rest, as they say, was history.
Then Zephyr happened and Belle’s world changed.
She had never believed she’d be free of that feeling of always needing to be protected but not trusting anyone to give that to her. Belle met Zephyr and saw that confused human with monstrous urges and she fell in love faster than Jane fell for Tarzan. To this day, she swears she just wanted to get an off-color interview to put her back on the map in Carnage.
Belle reminded Zephyr what it was like to be human, that it was worth it to stray away from the violence and bloodlust to experience life to the fullest. In exchange, Belle was reminded that not only she was worth protecting, but that Zephyr would be there no matter what.
Then there was Zephyr’s coma.
Belle knew, she KNEW, that Zephyr wasn’t going to stay away, that there was nothing that would keep her away from Belle. Sure enough, Zeph came back and while she was a lot more violent than before, she always made Belle feel protected.
Untouchable.
Zephyr made Belle’s recurring nightmare disappear so as the two lay fast asleep in each other’s arms, Belle lets out a small whimper as the dream intrudes upon her otherwise peaceful sleep. This one felt different though, it WAS different. As Belle was poked and prodded, the object of so much unwanted attention; a spotlight snaps on in front of her. The sight stops her dead and as the hands continue their ghostly dance along her body, but she doesn’t feel them anymore as she gets down on her knees and reaches forward.
Zephyr lies motionless, bleeding, bruised, and mangled in the middle of the spotlight. Her protector, her girlfriend and so much more didn’t move as Belle wrapped herself around her and started sobbing.
“Babe?”
Zephyr’s tired voice cuts through Belle’s dream as she opens her eyes, sitting up and then throwing herself into Zephyr’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Never good with affection, Zephyr has only gotten better at letting all of her walls down around Belle. She wraps her pale and scarred arms around Belle, wary of any signs of danger as her girlfriend manages to calm down.
Finally able to take one long deep breath, albeit shaky, Belle sits up, taking Zephyr’s face in her hands and kissing her lightly on the lips.
“Thank you.”
Belle rests her forehead against Zephyr’s briefly before pulling away and back on her side of the bed, sitting up against the wall and holding her knees to her chest. Zephyr props herself up on an elbow and looks up at Belle, “Yeah, of course; but are you going to tell me what that was about?” Zephyr’s eyes stayed locked on Belle, concern etched on her features as Belle steels herself.
“Yeah, it was a dream. Uhm… Heh…” Belle sniffles and shakes her head, burying her face to try and avoid another attack from her feelings. Zephyr sits up and pulls Belle in tight.
“It’s ok, shhh… I’m here.”
Zephyr’s voice is quiet and filled with warmth as she wraps Belle up. Belle smiles despite herself and sinks into Zephyr’s embrace. The two remain for several unmeasurable moments, not saying a word as Belle recovered. Finally, she manages to speak and when Zephyr offers to pull away, Belle only shudders and pulls Zephyr closer. Her voice is muffled, but Zephyr’s presence did wonders to make Belle feel secure enough to let Zephyr in this close.
“I’ve always had the same dream up until I met you. Reliving my high school years…” Zephyr nods into Belle’s head, giving her a light kiss to urge her to continue. “I thought I had it all. Looks, popularity… Had the boyfriend to match it all.” Belle knew this was all territory Zephyr hadn’t experienced, but to her credit, she remained silent and supportive as Belle spoke. “There was this party, which was supposed to be the biggest one of the year and so, of course, I was going to be there. No parents, no supervision, just high school kids drinking alcohol, what could go wrong?”
Belle shivers and Zephyr pulls her in closer, “You don’t have to keep going if you don’t want to Belle. I can’t imagine…” She’s cut off as Belle shakes her head in Zephyr’s chest.
“No, I need to be able to tell you. If I can tell you, then I’ll know I’ve become stronger to move past it all…” She clears her throat and wraps her arms around Zephyr, pulling her head up so she can look Z in the eyes, “You give me strength. If it wasn’t for you, I can’t tell you where I’d be…”
Zephyr smiles as she looks down at Belle, “Well, I’m no fortune teller, but what I DO know is that I don’t think I’d be here without you either. You’re my canary in a coal mine…” Belle looks quizzically at Zephyr and Z can only laugh lightly, “Back when coal mining was a thing, miners would take canaries into the mines with them, right? They would treat them like pets and when the canary started getting sick or dying, the miners knew when they had gone too far and could evacuate without suffocating on carbon monoxide. You’re my canary, that one little piece of my life that I can look on and just… Know what happiness is because I have you in my life. You’re how I know if I’ve gone too far or not and my light to guide me back to where I need to be.”
Zephyr’s voice got softer as she watched Belle, the two feeling as close to each other as ever as Belle reaches up and brushes a stray hair from Zephyr’s brow. “Well, that’s kind of what my dream had to do with.” Belle sighs, “So this party, right? As you might imagine with no supervision and everyone wasted, there was a lot of… Inappropriate touching.” Belle felt Zephyr’s body tense but to her credit, let Belle continue without reacting more, “My boyfriend, he… He never really protected me and it kinda ruined the rest of my high school experience. Having you in my life changed that, you made me feel like I was worthy enough to be protected.” Zephyr opens her mouth to add her two cents, but Belle raises her hand and presses a finger to Zephyr’s lips, “Shh, I need to finish while I still feel like I can.” Belle takes her finger away as Zephyr nods, remaining silent her gaze focused intently on Belle.
“Thank you. You made that dream disappear Zeph. You made it so that I can fall asleep in your arms and wake up the next morning wrapped around you. As much as you say I complete you, Zeph, you do the same thing for me…” They both knew what was coming next but neither of them was going to say it. Held to her word, Zephyr refused to interject and instead repositioned, stretching her legs on either side of Belle and having Belle rest her head against her belly. Stroking her hair, Zephyr stayed silent as she waited for Belle to continue.
“But… I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t worry. When you were in that coma, I was beside myself and had no idea what I was doing. What I was going to do if…” She shudders and Zephyr starts stroking her hair slowly, carefully, taking in what Belle is saying. “But you didn’t and you came back thanks to whatever Mia did, as much as I don’t get it. That’s ok though because as selfish as it sounds, you came back and the first thing you did was make sure that I was ok.” Belle sighs and Zephyr continues to stroke Belle’s hair, the movement soothing to both of them.
“You came back Zeph, but you came back ready for violence and blood. That match against Trent at Ultimate Carnage, your challenge to LRK, babe, I KNOW you’ll be fine but I’m scared. What happens if you’re not able to come back here after that match? What happens if he snaps your spine or… I don’t know, but you saw everything I did at Ultimate Carnage and it hasn’t slowed you down at all. If anything it’s only made you…”
“Want it more.”
Zephyr finishes Belle’s thought and the two fall silent. They both knew the truth, that Zephyr wanted to be the one that defeated the monster in his domain, showing that even with a little bit of humanity, Zephyr could stand toe to toe with the worst of the bad. Belle saw the potential for Zephyr to do anything that she wanted, but Belle didn’t think that she was personally ready to watch the carnage.
Turning, so Belle could once again make somber eye contact with Zephyr, the reporter hugs Zeph around the waist, “I don’t doubt you an ounce Love, you know that. But what I don’t know if I can deal with is the collateral damage that is left in the outcome. You have proven time and again that you are my one and only; a fact that I will gladly accept. With this thought, you have to accept that I worry that the more violent that you get; you won’t be able to come back to me, that you’ll become… Something that isn’t this.”
She falls silent as Zephyr holds her close, “You know I would never do anything to jeopardize us.” She falls silent as Belle shakes her head, burying her face into Zephyr, her voice muffled.
“Silly girl, of course, I know that. The image of you lying motionless… That’s how my dream ended this most recent time. You lying, motionless, unable to come back to me…” Belle shudders again and Zephyr does her best to comfort her.
“You know I wouldn’t put myself in a position I couldn’t come back to you from.”
“But you don’t know the future Zeph. I need… I don’t know, advice? I want to be able to love you Zephyr, all parts of you, but I don’t know how. You’ve been great at giving me the space I need to figure this out, but now?”
Zephyr’s gaze narrows, “You need help from someone that has been through this. Someone, not me?” Zeph did her best not to sound hurt, but she knew Belle picked up on it. It was the nature of their relationship though and Belle knew that Zephyr didn’t mean anything by it, she was just trying to understand.
“Yes. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to work this out together. You and me Z. We’re going to go into the new year together, we’re going to become stronger as a couple, and we’re going to leave the year better than before. Wait and see. You deserve to be recognized on that roster as much as I do backstage. We’ll show people that there is nothing the two of us can’t do.”
Zeph smiles and then stops as she suddenly remembers a memory, “Grace. You need to find Grace, that was her name wasn’t it?”
It took Belle a moment before she realized that Zephyr was talking about the mysterious woman that confronted King at the end of Ultimate Carnage. “Yeah, I think that’s her name. Should be able to figure out a number or something to give her a call. Are you ok with me meeting the girl of your soon-to-be opponent though?”
Zephyr shrugs and smiles, “We’re stronger together and you’re only looking for a way to help us move forward. Yeah, I’m ok with you meeting with her if you get her info. Honestly? If she can help us be a better couple, I’m all for it. Not that we need any pointers right?”
Belle falls silent, her gaze far away from Zephyr’s face, long enough to make Zephyr doubt her words. However, Belle’s musical giggle reassures Zeph and she grabs Belle, bringing her in for a deep embrace.
“You know, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious to see you bring some of those more animalistic qualities into the bedroom… You won’t hurt me you know…”
Belle bites her bottom lip suggestively as Zephyr looks down on her. With an animalistic grin, Zephyr shifts her weight, pinning Belle to the bed before ripping her nightgown off and flinging buttons everywhere. Belle giggles as Zephyr takes an ear into her mouth, nibbling at all the right parts.
“Haha, mmmm… You realize that you’re going to have to owe me a new nightgown now right?”
Zephyr only grunts in response as her mouth moves to the nape of Belle’s neck, “And that you’ll have to come with me shopping?” Zephyr pauses and Belle laughs, “Cause and effect my little monster. Now come and conquer your prey.”
With that, Belle is tackled by Zephyr, and the rest, as they say, is history.