smash_logs | Academy Dreams

Entry tags:

Academy Dreams

Who: Eirika, Open
When: Nov. 11 - Late Night
Where: Academy Grounds
What: What happens when you wake up to a horse eating your hair? You wake up to a horse eating your hair.
Warnings: Not Applicable
Note: Action or prose! Your choice!

[It was Ephraim's voice that she heard. Asking her if she knew who he was. And after that, there was nothing. It seemed without an interruption that she was content to be left in sweet slumber beneath a fruit tree shedding its leaves for the autumn season. At least up until the white horse that stood patiently at attention suddenly lost its said patience and with its head stirred her to something more awake.]

...Ephraim?

[Except it wasn't Ephraim at all. Unless Ephraim had suddenly become a horse. And while she was sure nothing she saw could be real, she also believed that in any moment the dream that she'd been reunited with the academy would hastily end, leaving a reality she couldn't picture being warm or welcoming.]

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Stables...

[Right. Because the academy had stables. She'd seen them before. She knew where they were, right? Looking from Koujaku to her horse, she lifted her free hand to pat him down gently.]

I apologise, Aubrenard. You can't accompany me for now, but I can't imagine you would be too content tied up either.

[Turning her attention back onto Koujaku, she continued.] I have seen them here before. You do not need to escort me, as that seems troublesome to you.

Sorry, big guy. [ he teasingly said to the horse accompanying them. ] We'll find something for him, it shouldn't be too hard - this place is pretty big.

[ and if she knew where the stables were... ] If it was troublesome, I wouldn't have offered, right? I don't mind coming along, unless you're tired of me already.

No. I wasn't- [She shook her head in a rather quick protest, likely too serious for her own good. Drawing in a deep breath to keep her composure in one piece, Eirika attempted to better explain herself.] That was not the implication. Of course you may, if you would like to.

[And she said nothing of his company, for she hadn't tired of it. If anything, she thought it rather comforting considering what she'd seen before. And in some distant way, his jesting made her think of Ephraim and to be fair, he was probably the one who could bring such solace in her direction. That was just a thing brothers did.]

If I remember correctly, there was a clearing behind the wings of the instructional classes. [Which meant any of her leading was done mostly by muscle memory and not so much thought.] Thank you, again.

[ Chuckling softly under his breath, Koujaku gives her hand a reassuring pat, ] I was just teasing you, Eirika. [ she was awfully cute when she was flustered though.

He almost seems surprised when she mentions where the stables might be located, glancing in the general direction (he thinks) of the instructional classes. ] Do they give horse riding classes or something here, too? For them to have stables like that, I'd have to assume so... [ at least that was a ... semi-normal thing to have at a boarding school, right? Compared to some other things he had seen and heard since his arrival, it kind of was. ] You don't have to keep thanking me.

That... is a good question.

[She shakes her head.] That I wouldn't have an answer for. My learning and little of my tutelage came from here, but rather Father MacGregor, the instructor my brother and I shared.

[Eying Koujaku for a few moments, she finds herself curious over him. Just as she was the first time they crossed paths. What a coincidence that she would see him again. Or perhaps he simply left such a great impression on him the first time.]

Have you a fondness for horses?

[ Now that question throws him off quite a bit, and he glances down to her as they walk, brows raised, ]

I'm no expert on horses, but I like them just fine, [ did he have a deep, spiritual connection with horses? no, but he does appreciate the symbolism they hold. Strength, beauty, grace, freedom, blah blah blah. ] Back in Midorijima, we didn't really have a place for animals like that; in fact I think this is the first time I've seen one up close.

Why do you ask?

Well, you seemed interested in the concept of riding them. It seemed nature to inquire. I wasn't attempting to pry or anything of that nature. I just thought... It was an idle curiosity, I assure you.

[She smiles. Modestly, of course, and even offers something akin to a casual half shrug.]

I do believe there are other horses here. If it catches your intrigue, perhaps you ought to see about going riding sometime.

Ah... what I said before, about the classes? I was just curious. I didn't actually expect there to be stables around, but with how strange this school is already, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

[ not that he's particularly offended by the question or anything. he has nothing against horses or people that ride them, last he checked, ]

Hm. Are you offering to teach me?

[His question renders from her a pause. How to answer that... She's still not quite sure what's happening. But if it's not actually happening, then... Well. Is it really right to give into something like that? But how does she know it's not?

Eirika really only knows what she last saw and heard, and neither of those things equated to Koujaku or the academy in any form.]

It... If I could, I would not mind.

[That's an honest and simple enough way to reply. For now.]

I would like that. [ he says with one of his oh-so-charming smiles, though it fades just a little when he notes that pause and the slight hesitance in her voice. Something has to be up - but it's somewhat hard to judge when they've only spoken once before. He's not quite so good at reading her like he could someone like Aoba, ]

I don't mean to pry, but are you sure everything is all right? You seem a little ... troubled, I guess.

[Eirika's never been good at hiding her feelings. She hasn't learned how to do that. Yet. Well, sometimes she can. Or sometimes she doesn't hide them and simply refuses assistance. That's probably more accurate.

Koujaku's pointed observation does garner her attention, however, and she gives him something of a half smile. Something sheepish, perhaps.]

Not so much troubled. [Yes, she is. Don't lie, Eirika.] Just a little perplexed. It is very surreal for me to be walking alongside you and talking this way. Pleasantly surreal, I mean. It just doesn't feel as if it's genuinely happening. That's all. I'm sure that sounds odd.

Surreal? [ it does sound a little odd, and there's only a slight hint of confusion in his voice when he repeats the word. ] This is similar to how we met, isn't it? So maybe it's something like Deja vu.

It is how we met. [She nods.] Except you were new and I had meant to show you around. Instead we spoke of hair and idle talk.

And now it is as if our positions have reversed, save for the idea that I am still no master of hair and mine has grown so that one day it may very be unmanageable. But the sensation I have is not... akin to that. Only that it has been a good deal of time since I have seen you, and yet it would seem you saw me just yesterday.

[A figure of speech. Let her just keep confusing you, Koujaku.]

That's true, but that idle talk wasn't a bad thing either. It really helped me calm my nerves a bit after ending up in such a weird place - plus, I got to learn more about such a fine lady like yourself. [ just so she's aware that he really enjoyed that talk. ]

[ what she explains though is kind of confusing, and Koujaku tilts his head a bit to accent that confusion, ] More like a couple weeks, but I think I get what you mean. What is the last thing you remember doing before you ended up under that tree?

[At first she smiles, because there he goes again with all of his kindness. Yet she does seem to freeze up a bit when he continues.

What does she last remember? The man who was once her best friend standing over her, no longer the man she knew him as. The man who deceived her. The concept that her heart is more likely to get her into danger than out of it.

And she doesn't want to say any of that.]

My homeland. [Something succinct to begin with.] It was important to do what I could there. So I suppose that is where I was, though the explanation of how has escaped me.

You went home? [ since she already said she doesn't know how, he won't bother asking. He has to wonder though, if she really did. He hasn't been here long enough to be able to recognize the signs - though her hair did get just a little bit longer since first time they spoke. Did that really mean anything? ]

Are you sure it wasn't some kind of dream? You said you didn't know a way back when we talked before, and to just return so suddenly after that... it seems a little strange.

This. [She takes his arm and very gently squeezes it.] Feels like a dream to me. I am still not certain or positive it is happening. I do believe I will wake and you will not be there. Or here. Whichever the case may be.

[Eirika shakes her head.] I am very well aware of what I witnessed and experienced in Magvel. What I will continue to witness and experience. I came here with things I did not have before. Aubrenard, for one.

Still, your point is valid. How do I explain my ability to see my home, or my people? My brother, Prince Innes, or any of the others I knew? I'm unable to, Koujaku. So I can only say that this continues to feel like a dream. Unreal and fleeting.

A moonlit walk with a gorgeous woman on my arm? I think that's a dream any man would have, [ his tone is light, teasing, as if it will help to dispel any tension or worry in her. He has no idea if it will work, but god damn he's going to try. ] This whole place feels like a dream sometimes, but I'm pretty sure it's not, if you'll believe me when I say that.

[ he hums thoughtfully, not entirely sure what to make of it all, ]

Is there a chance you actually made it home somehow? It's a pretty big 'what if,' but if it wasn't a dream, what other explanation would there be?

[It takes all of... moments for Eirika to turn a few shades of pink. He does manage to catch her attention very easily with just such a string of words. A very trivial and simple string of words. And she's at once certain that he's only being kind.

But still. To use such words only for the sake of kindness... A part of her is stirred by it. Her grasp loosens to something a little more comfortable and her expression softens.]

Hm... I don't believe anything I did or saw was a dream. I know it wasn't. I just... I know it. There's not a part of me that would think so. It happened. It all happened.

[ another low hum of as Koujaku considers her words. ]

When you say it like that, then I think you really did go home. I don't know how, nor do I know why, but... if it felt real to you, then it must have been. [ he's not sure if that's reassuring at all, but she seems so insistent that it actually happened. whatever 'it' actually was, ]

It's strange that you would just come right back here, though. [ come to think of it -- ] Clear mentioned timelines and some other weird stuff. I didn't quite understand it, but maybe that would explain why it feels so strange for you to be here? How long did you think you were gone?

[He thinks it's strange. Eirika seems to understand that with what she's endured in her homeland that once the war began, the academy and its people (save Eggman) were the only things that could give her even a remote sense of peace. When she thinks about it like that, coming back to the academy makes perfect sense. But that's a lot of information to give him at once, so she refrains.]

When I was here last, it was shortly after my name day. And when I did depart, half of a calendar year had passed. If I were here truly, I would wonder nothing changed in my absence.

[Although the talk of timelines does catch her attention. She wonders what Clear possibly could have meant. Unless this is akin to the time difference between her and Innes. The possibility causes her head to tip with some thought.]

Hm... I once knew someone from my home who had come here. He was here before I was, actually. And he came from a different time. Perhaps that was what Clear had thought.

I wonder what the reason behind it is then, if you really did go back and forth like that... [ unless someone was messing with her - that seemed to be a common occurrence in this place from what he had seen thus far. ]

The same thing happened with me and Clear; we're from the same world, but from completely different timelines, apparently. [ he furrows his brows slightly. Clear had been serious about all of that, he knew that, but Koujaku was still a little wary about all of this, ] I don't really understand it, but I guess I'm not supposed to. [ WHATEVER. ]

You think maybe resting for a bit will help?

Edited 2013-12-05 22:03 (UTC)

[Eirika shakes her head. She wouldn't even know how to begin thinking of that. She's certain it all happened, however. She knows it did. There's no way her dreams could turn like that. And she's downright positive about it.

Thankfully, he pauses her thought process with his question, though her mind goes back and forth between timelines, Innes when he was the academy, and things of the life.]

Perhaps. My brother would agree with you, and say yes. I should honour that. Tomorrow I can go back to trying to understand what my next plan of action ought to be.

[Go back to Magvel? Wake up? It's not a dream, she guesses. But it could be. There's a lot that needs to be done, but she only has two hands and can barely do them. And she must remain strong. That's the hardest part. Being faced with an adversity that she cannot win and having to keep her head high.]

You were going to come with me, yes?

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Academy Dreams

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