Private Tales Head in the Clouds

[Dorian]

Dorian's shoulders jolted, and he slowly turned to face Chasmine, regarded her for a moment, smiling.

"Yeah," he said, tone hushed and guarded. Then, idly, he gripped the strap across his chest and slid his hand down to the satchel at his hip, "Something like that."

A beam of moonlight casted through one of the many narrow windows along the wall separated the two. Dorian rocked on the balls of his feet.

"I'm going out. Care to walk with me?"

 

[Chasmine]

Chasmine blinked patiently at him as he looked her over, her own eyes following the motion of his hand on the strap down to the bag. Seemed he was packed for something. The invitation came as a surprise and the gentle raise of her brows said as much.

"That's very kind, yes." She did not bother to ask where he was walking, because the where never seemed much the point. He'd offered to walk, and she did so like her nighttime strolls.

The spectral girl moved across the grass to join him on the path, her glowing figure making no noise and disturbing nothing along the way.

"I may be slow to keep up," she said after a few moments, "time and space move differently in this form."

 

[Dorian]

"Does it?" he stopped and looked back at Chasmine, "Well, I'm not in any hurry."

Now out in the open, moonlight diffused through the girl's incorporeal form, adding an extra subtle element to her glimmer. It was eerily beautiful, and though a bit unsettling, Dorian didn't want to look away.

"You're pretty," he flatly remarked, sniffed, and turned to continue.

"Have you been like that all night?"

 

[Chasmine]

Not being in a hurry suited Chasmine just fine. She rather lived her life not in a hurry as it stood, but given her current predicament, being in a hurry at all simply would have complicated matters far beyond any novelty. Dorian's footsteps echoed alone along the walkway, and while he was watching her, she was wonderingly watching the wisps of clouds above in the sky as they passed overhead. The night was otherwise clear and promised lovely weather for the forseeable future days.

With the moon big and round and silver, she wondered if Proctor Basmarc was out in the woods.

"You're pretty."

Chasmine's moony, geistly eyes blinked in surprise at the statement, turning to look at Dorian inquisitively. There was a thought in her mind but it didn't quite make it to her mouth before he changed the subject entirely.

"Yes," she replied shortly, "I had a bad dream and phased in my sleep down into the catacombs. Normally it is difficult for me to stay like this for very long but every once in a while I find I can't come back." Whatever smile or bright expression on her face slowly sifted away for something distant and vaguely worried, "Sometimes I wonder if I'm not supposed to."

 

[Dorian]

Thinking about it, Dorian couldn't remember the last time he had a dream, good or bad. Sleep came in brief windows for him, and the odds of a good night of rest were about the same as him besting the likes of Edric or Ralene in swordsmanship.

That is to say in over a decade of training, he'd never excelled over either of them.

"You always come back though, don't you?" Optimism was uncharacteristic of Dorian, so he added on matter-of-factly, "I'd be bothered if you didn't. I've been enjoying your company lately."

 

[Chasmine]

If his optimism was oddly placed, Chasmine did not note it. Optimism was usually her deal but she tried to believe everyone had their own way of effecting positivity. She nodded, "Eventually, yes. Just not on purpose. Usually I wake up that way, but it's very hard to fall asleep like this and I don't ever remember doing so."

Memory also had a strange way of itself between the corporeal and spectral realms.

A small smile grew again on the ghostly girl's face, "I am glad to hear that. I always enjoy your company, Dorian. You're always so nice to me."

 

[Dorian]

Dorian's gut churned, and fighting the want to vomit, fell deathly quiet for the next several steps.

"Niceness is Sable's thing," his bitter wit broke the silence at last, "Not mine."

That aside, it was nice that somebody liked to be around him. Of course, he'd never admit it, but hearing that from Chasmine in particular made him happy. In the kind of way that makes you feel floaty.

Reaching the end of the walkway, instead of entering the next building, Dorian turned off into the courtyard and made straight for the gate.

 

[Chasmine]

"Mm," Chasmine nodded in agreement, "Sable is very nice, but I think that's because it is in his nature. It may not be your thing, but you do it very well when you want to." Her smile was earnest despite having just told Dorian in a rather nice and round about way that, no, he wasn't a nice person, but he could still be nice when he tried.

She followed him through the courtyard to the gate and stood there, glowing and curious as he made his way through, casually holding the gate open for her when he had no need to. See? He was nice.

"Do you often take these midnight walks?"

 

[Dorian]

"Being kind here just paints a target on your back for the Proctors. I'm not good at many things they value, so I don't need to be nice on top of that." At least, such was the case in the past.

Dorian leaned against the gate to keep it open, and as Chas passed him, he pushed off from it, the hinges whining as it swung shut behind them.

"Ah, well, kind of. I don't sleep lots."

 

[Chasmine]

"Oh..." she supposed she never thought of it like that. Chasmine understood kindness to simply be a novelty within the halls of the academy. A rare occurrence that some were easier to come by than most. To her, the target it painted was no greater than every other target that already existed - if niceness could make them a little easier to bear then she'd gladly take and offer it where and when she could.

"Well, in that case," the ghostly girl gently hugged at her own arms as she waited for Dorian to step onward along his nightly walking path, "I will not tell a soul, living or dead."

His niceness could be their little secret.

"I have trouble sleeping, too. I make tonics for that, if you ever want to try one."

 

[Dorian]

"Doesn't make much a difference to me if you do or don't. Not like anyone would believe you," he hadn't intended to snap at Chasmine as he did and immediately felt guilty for it, "But that's very thoughtful of you."

Thinking about it, there were a couple that might believe her. Kristen Pirian, for one, but only because they'd never exchanged many words in the past. Perhaps she has his character mistaken - he'd caught her stealing glances at him in the classroom. The girl wasn't right, but in a way that differed from the other girl behind Dorian.

The other person was Sable. She should absolutely not tell fucking Sable. Ever.

"Nah. No, thanks. My daytime naps make up for it, I guess."

Several smaller buildings were scattered outside the gate, and Dorian brazenly followed the cobbled path that trailed between all of them. He followed it a short way before turning off in the direction of the cove, and when the pair fell silent, Dorian would occasionally check over his shoulder to make sure he hadn't left Chasmine behind.

After some walking, they reached the cove's rocky shoreline, and Dorian pointed over the rolling waves to the towering cliff across the way.

"I like to walk up there on nights like this."

 

[Chasmine]

Chasmine made no comment on the aspect of belief. There were very few things that most others believed when spoken by the lips of Chasmine Grey. She was the source of oddities and strange subjects, and despite her penchant for speaking absolute truths the majority of the time, very few gave such things credence here.

What did truth matter next to power and strength?

She followed in a state of content silence. Pleased enough to be walking rather than simply waiting for the inevitable. Chasmine was an adventurous spirit who so rarely was given the chance or opportunity to sate a budding wanderlust. She liked the Academy well enough, but seeing the other Initiates go off and travel to distant places and lands on missions while she was kept behind ... well, made one feel isolated.

By the time Dorian paused to illuminate their destination, she was already feeling the weight of fatigue setting in on her spectral self. Chas was grateful for the moment of respite, stopping at Dorian's side to follow the line of his outstretched hand upwards to the cove sitting under the shine of moonlight.

"I imagine it's quite a lovely place to die..." she mused to herself at all the spirits and ghosts that would be connected to the location due to fulfilling the cliff's namesake.

 

[Dorian]

"Well," Dorian's lips drew a hard line, "I guess it's as good a place as any."

The boy gave Chasmine's translucent self a quick once-over with those glittering eyes of his. They were beautiful to some and creepy to others; the intensity and vibrance of many hues of blue swirled about his irises.

Dorian always wondered if there was something remarkable about them, but aside from having keen eyesight, they were just for decoration.

"It's quite a ways. You don't have to come if you don't want to."

 

[Chasmine]

A wistful expression agreed with him. Good a place as any, though she supposed she'd rather have the moonlight on her face if given the choice. The ghost Initiate calmly returned his look, the faint air of expectation filtering over her general aura. Even in excitement, Chasmine was placid as a sleepy lake.

"I've come this far," she replied gently, "I would like to go all the way with you."

 

[Dorian]

"You- uhm," Dorian cleared his throat. Good grief, it was a chilly evening, but heat rose into the tips of his ears like steam in a teapot, "O-o-kay, let's go, then!"

As a rosy blush filled his cheeks, Dorian quickly turned to continue. Then, after a few steps and steady breaths, he calmed himself down. In a place that housed dangers around every corner and constantly tested one's abilities to survive all manners of life-threatening situations, to be rarely startled and quick to compose oneself was an underrated talent. At least, it was if you asked a particular white-haired, blue-eyed Initiate.

"You probably shouldn't say that to anyone else, by the way," he said plainly.

 

[Chasmine]

Patiently she waited for him to lead the way, and followed silently and serenely after him as he did. He seemed slightly ruffled and she wondered if it was cold. A breeze clipped by them, blustering Dorian's hair and sending her ghostly figure roiling in and out of view like fog billowing in the wind.

His words caught a confused curiosity out of her while she wandered along this path she did not often take, "I shouldn't?" He could be so odd sometimes, "Why not?"

 

[Dorian]

Dorian crossed his arms and scrunched his shoulders against the breeze.

"Because, uh, people could... misunderstand your... the intentions behind your words," Gods above, how did Mars Pallatrix talk about this subject so easily in class, with that stony face of his? "Y'know... Going all the way. Isn't that kind of, I don't know, suggestive?"

 

[Chasmine]

Her intentions? She thought she'd been perfectly clear that she intended to see this journey through with him. What else could she have possibly meant?

A particularly strong gust whipped down the path as they neared the cove and Chasmine briefly fluttered in and out of view again, "Sugges-" her voice faded in and out, "-f what?"

 

[Dorian]

Dorian inwardly groaned. The weather had seemed so calm, but perhaps he ought to make a habit of bringing an extra layer from now on.

"C'mon, y'know, of sex," the word came out awkwardly, almost hushed as if just its mentioning was taboo.

 

[Chasmine]

"Oh." Said a disembodied, echoing Chasmine voice. There did not seem to be any ounce of embarrassment to it, merely the same appointment of surprise at uncovering an unexpected bit of information.

Chas thought that, contextually speaking, her words made perfect sense given their present journey and situation. How he could have construed it as anything relating to sex was beyond her. Sex on Suicide Cliff did not seem appropriate. Besides-

"I cannot have sex with you on Suicide Cliff, Dorian," she replied, appearing again on his other side now, a glimmering haze of a geist, "I am a ghost."

 

[Dorian]

"Oh, just forget it!" Dorian said, flustered.

The boy huffed and quickened his pace, stomping ahead a bit before calming down.

Circling the cove brought them to the base of Suicide Cliff. Where there were tiny holds and cracks in the rock, Chas would be able to see the faint remains of white, chalky smudges. Hands on his hips, Dorian looked up and shook his head.

"We'll find a walkable path."

 

[Chasmine]

The ghost blinked after him, fleetingly alarmed as he hastily stomped off. Not to be put-off by his outburst, Chasmine followed again at the same slow and steady pace she'd kept thus far. It took her some time to catch up to him once he'd reached the base of the cliff, her glow having grown more faint.

She followed his gaze and looked up, staring at an impossible task. At full energy, she might've been able to make her way up there, arriving as a ghostly apparition after floating, unseen, from the base to the top. Her present state would never allow for such a feat. The cliff face seemed to climb for miles.

"It's much bigger than I expected." Her voice echoed distantly.

 

[Dorian]

Dorian shot an icy glare at Chasmine, who was still looking up. If he didn't know any better, he'd think that she was making a fool out of him.

"I've been climbing it for years," he cleared his throat and began walking to find the start of a footpath.

After ten or so minutes, Dorian found an old beaten path.

"It's still kind of steep here," he said, unsure if the warning was necessary for Chasmine in her ghost form.

 

[Chasmine]

If Dorian had been climbing this monolith for years, Chasmine could not presently imagine it in her mind. It seemed unreal to her in such a way that leaving the Dreadlord Academy did. She stared upwards in awe for several long moments after he departed to find a path, thinking it must take great stamina for such a harrowing climb.

Ghost Chas joined him shortly after he announced his finding and watched as he began the much easier but still challenging climb up the steep path. Her gaze slowly shifted from him back to the first step on the path, and then with care she began to pick her way up.

"This will take me some time."

 

[Dorian]

Dorian frowned and turned back, "Well, just do your best."

Making the walk and climb was usually a way for Dorian to sneak extra physical activity into his routine. It was perfect since nobody could watch him do it. By the time he'd reach the top, he would always find himself fighting for breath. The view would be a small reward for his efforts as he rested.

Slowing down for Chasmine was a break in his routine, which was annoying, but it also offered the chance to spend a bit of time with her.

Less annoying.

"We've got all night."