Rose Among The Grey

Posted on Fri Apr 24th, 2015 @ 12:57am by Lieutenant Commander Nicolao & Petty Officer 1st Class Drusilla Dupree

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Drusilla's Quarters

* * * Drusilla’s Quarters * * *

Drusilla’s homecoming had been a mix of companionable silence, tense wanting, and fear of falling…..falling and having no control over where he ended up. Already, she saw so much more in him than anyone had since…Anaar. Well, he’d seen how well that one turned out. Dru was right about one thing - his head was trying to contradict his heart. Fear pure and simple, not only of getting in too deep but screwing up Dru in the process. Those who moved in Nico’s world hadn’t fared too well so far.

After tucking in Drusilla, Nico had hit the sofa and fallen over into sleep almost before his head was down. Sleep had been scarce since her disappearance but now that she was back home and under his watch where she was safe, his body had simply given up.

I want….

The words echoed through him as he drifted down and suddenly the dark shifted. He was back. Back there where the world turned grey.

He was standing in the same spot on the hard grey ground. The tree was taller now, marking the passage of time in a way he’d never been able to do here. He knew that it was because he was on the outside now and no one was stealing his days, weeks, months away from him. It was still grey, however. This visit, the sky was a faint grey as well. Cloudy and overcast. He almost laughed.

A whispered voice reached him now, echoing in his mind. It was Mamu.

“She sees things in you that you cannot yet....you must try not to be afraid....”

“I want to but….”

“But nothing…” He could see only the woman’s eyes now, black as night, staring back at him. Unsettling, seeing too deep.

“Hurry, Nico, the storm approaches…Be good for her….” The voice faded away.

She was right. He could see, above him, the sky had shifted to a deeper, steel grey. The clouds boiled, deep charcoal fading to midnight as the wind rose. Beside him, the tree began to sway as the wind whipped his hair into his face and tugged at his clothes. A storm? Here? What....?

“Come back! Wait!”

He yelled but it was lost to the storm, the wind ripping the words from his mouth and scattering them to silence. It was growing darker, almost black now. Was he going blind? The dust swirled around him, stinging his eyes. Thunder rumbled in the distance, growing louder as it rolled closer and he realized now that there was sound here. All the long stretches of silence here, now it was deafening. What the.....?

A bolt of lightning flashed across the obsidian sky, stretching from horizon to horizon as far as he could see, brilliant gold against the void. It hit the ground and raced along, reaching Nico and searing through him, electrifying. He opened his mouth but the scream that filled him was silent. In the wake of the lightning, a deep red rose blossomed from the barren ground, then the world closed down on him.

A far off cry came and he sat up in the dark gasping for air, the room quiet around him. The cry had been his own. His heart raced at a breakneck pace, the tingling running through him head to toe. He was here, in Dru’s quarters. He knew that but was unable to move as the remnants of the dream gripped him still.

“Nico?” Dru woke with a start when she heard something from the living room. It had sounded like Nico but she wasn’t sure, especially since she’d not really heard a sound like that coming from him. Sliding on a robe she ventured out to find him.

“Nico? Was that you? Are you okay?” she asked, finding him now sitting up on the couch.

“Dru?” It seemed to filter in that it was, in fact, her. His arm snaked out with blinding speed, pulling her tight against him. “Dru?”

She sat, concerned with the way he was acting. “It’s me, Nico. Are you okay?” She put her hand on his face. “What happened?”

He breathed in her scent, finally convincing himself that she was real. “It was you. The color...you brought it...there was lightning...and Mamu...and….the storm...the rose. It was red, Dru.” His words were almost incoherent as he tried to get them all out. He fell silent, burying his face in her hair, his grip on her tightening.

“Easy,” she said. “You’re not making much sense.” She pulled him up to look at her. “Bad dream?” She didn’t wait on a reply. “Tell me about it. It’s always better to talk about it.”

“Let me show you,” he whispered. His dark eyes held hers. “So you’ll understand. Please. You….you changed it.”

“Okay, but...gently,” she said, waiting for the images to come to her.

Nico took her face gently in his hands, then reached into her thoughts. The dream began to replay for her, showing her the raging storm, the lightning as it seared across the landscape and into him. He could feel the sizzle as it passed from him to Dru and once more the cry rose in him and then….it was gone. There was just the rose. He remained in her thoughts but the grey began to fade. His breath was still rapid and he fought to calm it. Finally, he whispered her name once more.

She opened her eyes when she heard her name and sat silent a moment trying to take it all in. Shaking her head, she said, “I don’t know what it all means, Nico, other than that being one hell of a scary place. Except the rose, that was nice.” After a beat she asked, “What was all of that?”

“It was where I was lost those months in Elmspur. That is what Robin saw that day...But there was never anything but the grey. No sound, no color. The storm, the rose...they are you Dru. There is finally...color.” He squeezed his eyes shut and wrapped her in his arms once more.

Thinking about it a moment, she smiled. “I kinda’ like that,” she said quietly. “The Storm,” she then said in as deep a voice as she could muster. “I may make that my nickname now.”

He managed a smile at that. “Maybe it’s my head catching up with my heart.”

She kissed his forehead and relished the warmth of his skin against her lips. “I kinda’ like that, too. I don’t know how often you get that dream, or vision...or whatever, but maybe we can make the grey go away completely. And I’ll do everything I can to help.” Nuzzling her cheek against his she added, “And this is a good start. Openness, honesty and talking about these things, not to mention building on the way we feel for each other. That’s how we can do it. Together.”

“Should we tell Robin about this?” HIs words were only a whisper as he held here there. “Probably,” he answered his own question. Then he buried his hand in her hair, tilted her head back and covered her lips with his own, letting the kiss linger. “We won’t tell him about that, however.” He smiled once more.

Her eyes were closed, still. It was an amazing kiss. Her lips curled into a smile of her own. “I’m pretty sure he has a good idea that it’s happening anyway. But I don’t kiss and tell.” She waited for him to respond and, when he didn’t, she added, “Uh...can I get some more of that? It was...amaz--”

She couldn’t finish as his lips met with hers. The kiss flashed through him, blinding and overwhelming all at once. And he had to have more. Once more he reached into her thoughts.

I need you, Dru. More than I can say. I hope that in time I’ll get better at saying it out loud. The room seemed to have faded from around them...there was only Dru and him, lost in the aftermath of the dream. I can’t let you go.

They continued to kiss, but between breaths she told him, “Say it. Now. Out loud.”

He squeezed his eyes closed and then his lips brushed against her ear, his words the softest whisper. “I need you, Dru. I want you. I can’t let you go. I won’t.” And gods help her, he thought.

Stopping him, she stood while still holding one of his hands. Dropping it, she untied her robe and let it fall to the floor. “It’s been a while, Nico, but I want this more than I’ve wanted anything in a long, long time. And I’m glad it’s with you.”

She took his hand again and pulled him from the couch, walking back to the bedroom, her free hand unbuttoning her pajama shirt as they went.

He gave her no time to finish. In one smooth motion, he swept her up in his arms, his lips finding hers once more as he reached the bedroom. The fiery surge of the lightning burned through him again and this time, there was no fear.

I want…..you... was his last coherent thought.

****************
Nicolao
Finding the Fire...And The Words

PO2 Drusilla Dupree
The Storm of Elmspur
...and the rose. Don’t forget that.