Dream a dream, take me anywhere you please~ (Takoda Vega and DoctorRed)

[DoctorRed]

Robert stood and watched her, his eyes rolling over her body as if seeing her for the first time, narrowing at her words and stepping forward into her apartment, his feet planted firmly and moving from her shoulder to bunch up in her shirt, pulling her to him coarsely, the way a bully usually grabs someone weaker and smaller, towering over the woman, his body reeling from the tension and his mind racing at the wonder of what she was saying. "There's... More." He growled, his teeth grinding a bit as he spoke, his eyes narrowing down as he leered down at her form under his grip, his fist loosening a bit but not yet letting go as he scowled down at her, his fury not abated.


"I feel... Something when I look upon you," he grated, his voice halting and jarring as he spoke, his head tilted to one side as he looked down into her face. "What aren't you... telling me?" he asked. "I feel it. I know. There's more to what you said before, and you're not... You're not just someone I've seen around, or noticed in the halls here. I've never seen you before, but... I know your face." he said to her, moving and standing closer, his head craning to look down over her, his palm flattening on her collarbone and drawing away shakily, though he didn't step back.

" What can you teach me?"

[TakodaVega]

Miranda remain still beneath the rolling seething aggression. She was half afraid that anything she did would set him off in some way as she kept her breathing even. The grip on her t-shirt, though less than it had been didn't hide much of anything beneath his gaze. The fact they recognized each other was no surprise in the dreamer world, considering her desire to make sure the creativity came back and the frustration he was feeling would abate hopefully to nothing. She worried if he didn't feel anything for too much longer there would be no point.

Moving her hands along his arms, up to his clenched fists, her gaze didn't leave his as she gently tried to sooth him. "Maybe you've seen me in your dreams?" She answered casually, though the truth was sitting in front of him the whole time. If he remembered the dreams that is. She could only hope, and maybe the door for her could crack and she would bring back the beauty of creation to his life once again. "I can teach you many things, it is a question of what you would like to learn. The mind is a creative thing, as your drawing indicates, but even in life nothing is simply just black and white. Even here, you and I are in color. So what color brings what you wish now?"

[DoctorRed]

"I don't... How could I have seen someone so vividly, even in a dream? Even without that... There's something more to this. You're.. not like that. I feel... more. Like I know you. And the things you know. You know too much about this," he said, his body seeming to grow as his agitation stirred and he tilted his head, considering her. "Tell me straight-up, and don't screw with me. Who are you, really?" He asked, his palm still flat on her chest, letting her move her hands or touch him as she would.

"Not just anyone could.. No one could know anything that you know, and the things you say... maddening. Nothing could be stranger," he said, his voice deepening and then faltering at the end, his eyes loosing something as he watched her with a strange look. "What am I missing?" he asked, pulling his palms away from her flesh, and clothes, leaving her hands upon his as he leered down at her, not sure what to do. Not sure where to move, or how to respond. "There is.... no color."

[TakodaVega]

"It happens sometimes, it's a weird phenomena, where we have deja vu moments of meeting someone we've never met before." She spoke evenly, though she was starting to think he was so out of touch with his dream self it may be too late to save it. "I haven't hid anything from you, Robert. I'm a friend, or at least I like to think I am. My name is Miranda Greene. Nothing out of the ordinary really." She said as she stroked her fingers along the back of his palm until she was sure he was actually relaxing enough to release her.

When he seemed to look at her with eyes unfocused she kept her hold on him and tilted her head. "As in you don't know what color to choose or that you see no color?" Well if he was colorblind that would certainly be different considering how vivid his dreams had been. She gently pulled him more into the room before shutting the door behind them and watched him in concern. "Color is a sometimes representation of our emotions. For example in rage or frustration things would be red, but different shades can mean different things. Like love, or devotion."

[DoctorRed]

He shook his head slowly, blinking a few times before he reached out and plucked a bit of her shirt up with his fingertips, showing it to her and sighing. "This isn't something else, it's just Green to me. Like, I don't know. I was never much of an artist or anything, but before... it was always more than that. Like, the sky was more than blue, it was... something I don't know now, but... There was something in it, that made it special," he told her, sighing a bit. Frustration blew through his nose and he looked back to her.

"I wasn't colorblind before. But now... I don't know if everything is in black and white to me, or if I just don't know the colors any more. I can identify most of them, but I... I don't know." he said, watching her shut the door and draw his palm over his face slowly. He moved to sit on her couch and leaned back, his eyes following her silently as he sat, not sure what to say. "Is... being colorblind bad? I mean, like this? I don't know that I feel a color, but I don't think it would be anything special even if I did."

[TakodaVega]

She mentally wanted to kick him. Not much of an artist her butt, but that was another story all together. If he doubted his artistic ability she wondered if that had anything to do with his inability to dream. As he tugged on her shirt, she subconsciously smoothed it back down her hands moving her breasts a moment before settling on her hips.  "Colors have meanings, or at least those who study psychology like to think so. So there is a bit of mean to color. The red and the golden arches for a certain fast food chain are supposed to promote desire and hunger. It's a mental thing."

She watched him practically prowl through her living room, thinking before answering his question. "I wouldn't say you are colorblind, you're just absent of the meaning to it. Feeling in general is important. It's what makes us human, and obviously you feel something or you wouldn't feel this frustrated over it and come knocking on my door." She moved to sit on the coffee table across from him, the classical music still playing low in the background. "Have you always been like this? Or did something happen? If you had the ability to see more into things maybe there is a reason you don't now."

'And maybe we can change it before I lose you forever,' she thought to herself her steady gaze watching him intently.

[DoctorRed]

Robert sighed and shook his head, brushing his palms over his head and pushing his flat fingers and palm across the bald and smooth surface of his head, shaking it slowly from one side to the other and then looking up at her, laying his eyes upon her face and watching her in silence. For a few moments he fixed her with a stare and then nodded, slowly, patiently, though he still looked like he was close to grinding his teeth.

"I know that. I know that they should mean something, and I can tell what colors they are, to an extent, but.. they don't mean anything to me. I feel nothing when I see them, or hold them. I can't.. I can't make anything of them, or communicate anything to paper without... feeling empty," he said, his eyes sinking and looking away from her, his voice low and quiet.

"I'm not... No, before.. Before I could paint, but one day I came home and couldn't look at any of my paintings any more.. I burned them all and never painted again. I burned my hands years ago doing it, but I never thought to stop and move away," he said, staring off into space, his bandaged hand rubbing his healthy one absently. The lie was there, in a way, but it was closer to the truth than he liked. "I feel... alone."

[TakodaVega]

"Well we should try to make them have meaning then, Robert." She was quite intent on him, she could see the frustration rolling off of him and took a minute to rise from her seat on the table slowly making her way towards him to sit on her knees in front of him. Her genuine concern came back before she tilted her head in a different thought, "Perhaps the reason you feel empty is because you don't have a living canvas from which to work on." She contemplated that idea a moment. Could she trust herself to be at the hands of his barely concealed frustration?

She let that sink into her a minute, though she already knew that she already had. That door needed to go away as soon as possible, she would hate to see what would happen to him. Sliding one of her hands up his leg to comfort him she listened to his talk. "I think there's more to it than you want to tell me right now. It's okay, I don't have to know," 'Though I want to,' "I just want to be here for you. We'll get through this together." She reached up to grab his hands, careful as always with his bandaged one. "You don't have to be alone, I'll be here as long as you would like me to be."

[DoctorRed]

Richard watched her and sat up a bit straighter as she knelt before him, shifting a little in his chair before she settled her palm on his leg and he sat still, as if worried she were made of glass and moving at all would destroy her forever. He held still for a moment and listened to her, his brow furrowing at her words. "A living canvas? You mean to paint on a person?" He asked, tilting his head a bit.

"I don't know how to just give something a meaning, and I... I want you to be here, but I don't understand. I feel connected to you because of something I don't know, but why.. why are you helping me?" he asked, frowning again, but letting her take his palms and hooking them in hers, ignoring his bandages or the slight protest of pain. He winced but only a moment before folding his fingers and lacing them with hers. "Why would you go so far out of your way?" he asked, his eyes boring into hers, almost accusatory in tone.

[TakodaVega]

"Exactly, they've developed paint that can be used on skin." She tilted her head, "Would you be interested in such things? I'd be happy to volunteer if you want to try. I've done some body paint before, it's not so bad." She shrugged carefully although her attention noticed how he seemed to freeze a moment as though she was the glass flower that could break. But she knew that she was no delicate petal but a rather intriguing wildflower at that moment. She was trying to appeal to that long dead creative side of him, hoping, and praying to make his dreams could come back once more.

"You won't know until try, it may work." She remained where she was, her fingers gently stroking along his hands, "I like to think that you and I are friends. Friends are there for each other, and for me helping people is what I do in life. Even if it takes awhile, I'll still be here for you." She was truthful, moving to get up from her seat and bringing his injured hand to her lips to leave a gentle kiss. "We'll get through it together." She released her hold on his hands before walking over to the kitchen area, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Would you like something?" She asked, glancing around a wall between the living room and the kitchen, "I have soda, water, tea and a few Yuenglings left if you would like one."

[DoctorRed]

Robert watched her and tilted his head. "Are you sure you'd want me to paint your body? It wasn't the paint, I mean... acrylic could work, but... why would you let me paint on your body? To learn colors again? I don't even know how I would do it, or where to begin," hes aid, his eyes dismayed and tilting up to her as she kissed his hand. "You are a friend,  but.. This is more than friends do. Why are you trying so hard? You understand me.. but it's almost too much. Too well." He said, his eyes on hers, but no longer accusatory, though his muscles did seem to shift a bit under his clothes, still tense. His mouth parted slightly as she kissed his hand and he let it go, though his eyes had locked on the gesture.

He watched her go and followed her with his eyes, rolling them over her patiently and then back to her face and narrowing once more. He waved a hand dismissively at the idea of water. "Is there something you're not telling me? What is this..." he said, gesturing to the space between them, his head spinning as he pondered it.  "I feel like there's something missing, but not like with the colors. Something I should know, like normal."

[TakodaVega]

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" She asked carefully tilting her head in surprise. "Painting can be a way to express your frustration, a frustration that seems to be etched into your very being. If I would say you were a color I would say red, with hints of the sadness in blue. You can destroy paper fairly easy, but destroying a human being without feeling remorse would take some skill in itself." She mused lightly as she went about to grab the water, unscrewing the lid of the bottle carefully as she thought of how to reply to him.

"I've been completely honest with you," 'Sans some of the obvious omitted details,' "I just want to help. You seem so tense that I just want to help you relax. I thought maybe it would help." She brought the bottle to her lips and took a sip of the cooling liquid that acted like a balm to her suddenly tight throat. "What do you think it might be? Obviously something that bothers you a great deal to cause such tension." She added gently before taking her seat back on her coffee table. "What caused the fire?"

[DoctorRed]

The man was uncomfortable, and that in and of itself was a bit disturbing. He found himself troubled by it, his body shuddering a bit as he tried to calm down, to relax, his whole being shifting a bit as he pondered what she was saying to him. He looked her over in an appraising manner and wondered what he should say to her as he watched the woman. " But how.. could I paint you? You'd run short on clothes fast if you thought to do it.. until I was... better." he said, struggling a bit. "Even If we only did it once a week, it'd still be... costly," he said, his eyes moving away from her as she sat and then back to her face.

"I don't know. I feel like we know each other, but it's not... I never met you. Not anytime I remember. There's something... missing inside. Oh, the fire?" he asked, his eyes on her as he watched her and then held still. He was moving his eyes over her face and then tilted his head. "My father caused the fire, and that's why my brother is..." He covered his mouth with a hand, horror on his face, as if he'd never said the words. He hadn't. He stared at her, eyes wide and face slack, not sure what to do, hands still over his mouth.

[TakodaVega]

She shrugged at his comment, "I never mentioned anything about clothes, m'dear. Body painting is more of a paint to skin sort of thing. Have you not seen it before?" She asked gently swirling the water in her bottle before taking another sip, but her eyes never left him. He seemed so anxious and now exceedingly uncomfortable. "And cost is nothing to me, supplies I can take care of easily enough so long as you are willing to at least try and see if that will help. Any idea is worth a shot don't you think?" The quest ion would ultimately be if he could handle seeing her mostly naked if he was acting like this now. His mind wanted so much to remember her, but the destruction of the fire seemed to haunt that memory.

Happiness was illusion to him right now and she sorely needed to make him remember that he wasn't subject to that sorrow forever. "Maybe, like I said, it was a dream. Dreams can be funny like that sometimes." She focused on him completely though, moving slowly from her perch on her coffee table to the other side of him on the couch. "Did your brother die in the fire? Or if not dead, something you believe is worse than dead?" Miranda sent a gentle stroke along his cheek before dragging his hand away from his lips. "The first step to getting better, perhaps, is to tell someone what happened, or even that what happened was not your fault and you can do more than what you think you are doing to live like he couldn't, or can't, now."

[DoctorRed]

The man watched and held still at the words, though his mouth curled upwards as he watched her. He had to give  half of an embarrassed laugh as he watched her, tilting his head to the side as he situated himself a bit on the couch, his eyes fixing on hers. He let his eyes settle there before speaking and making a bit of a warm grin. "Are you sure you want someone like me to see you without clothes on?" he asked her, his voice darkening a bit, to get his point across. "You'd have to... teach me. I don't know anything about body paint." he admitted, watching her before taking a sip of his own water.

His face tightened with his brother came up and he moved as if to rise, before settling himself down and watching her with a guarded expression on his lips as he sat, relaxing a little and forcing himself to be still. "I.. I don't want to talk about my family right now, or that... the fire." he murmured, though he pressed on quietly. "My brother isn't dead. He's ... alive." he said, his voice hushed. He turned his eyes away, his face tightening once more as he looked away, though this time in shame and anguish, rather than guarded expressions.

"Sorry... I..." he floundered for words and looked to her, wordlessly. "I don't... talk to anyone much, and about this a little left.

[TakodaVega]

"Why not?" She inquired as those gray eyes followed him. She knew that he was tense, and that if she didn't weave this idea for him right he may pull away from her entirely. So she moved and reached for the shelves that hung in one corner with various types of paints and placed them on the table. She pushed incense burner to the side so that she could sit on the table in front of him. Her hands reached to grab his to pull his attention back to her so that he didn't focus on the fire.

That explained a lot, trauma could cause so much pain that people couldn't see the light in things. She reached for his bottle to place on the table next to her making soothing noises. "Shh," she released her hands only to reach for the hem of her shirt to pull it off leaving her still in a plain bra that plunged between her breasts. There were intricate odd tattoos that seemed to shift and move if one stared at them too long but blinking would show that they hadn't moved at all. Her guardians that protected the Muse from those who sought her harm.

She inclined her head to the paints, "First lesson, use your hands. Don't think about it  just move on instinct let the colors talk to you, and talk for you. If you are scared about hurting me you won't. I promise." She wasn't about to take the bra off just yet, not unless he asked her to. Right now he just needed a blank canvas to focus on, and maybe if he actually touched her for prolonged periods it would help him. She was his Muse afterall.