Stars Dancing [Dreams-To-Lovers Romance]

PEYDRAN

Ryst had her eyes closed when started her story. "Remember when I told you about when I first got to Shurwinn, and I cried for hours and thought I'd never stop?"

I nodded. I remembered. I wasn't looking forward to the future day when everything came crashing down on me. But I would face it. I had a reason.

"Well, Paulo, the mirka, came to my house and fell asleep in my hair." Ryst said "Paulo" lyrically, differently than I would have said it, with exaggerated syllable up front and clipped ending: "Powwwwlo."

"Then I had this dream. The best dream. There was a man, standing with his arms open. I went over and hugged him. And when he hugged me, I felt something I'd never felt before. It was home, Peydran, home. Like I've never felt. Complete contentment. Belonging."

She opened her eyes and looked straight at me. "I didn't make it up. I didn't know how it could be real, but I didn't know how I could've made it up either because my brain could not have generated that feeling. I didn't even know it was possible to feel that way."

"I believe you, Ryst." And I did. Body and soul. She had been in my body and soul. She was something special, and I'd experienced it first hand. She didn't make things up; she was the most genuine, thoughtful person I had ever known. We had more research to do.

"What did he look like? Sound like? Clothing? Accent? Language?" I asked her.

She closed her eyes again, "I didn't see any clothing."

"Was he naked? He's definitely male?"

Her eyes popped open. "Are you seriously asking me about his penis?" she asked, incredulous.

We both laughed. Good, we needed a reason to keep laughing. "I'm looking for data, Ryst. If we're gonna find this guy, we need stats. Info."

"Well, he wasn't naked that time. I don't know what he was wearing," she started.

"That time." So there were other times, and nudity was involved? The day was getting better and better.

"Skin color? Long hair?"

"I haven't seen his skin. Not sure about hair." She closed her eyes again.

There had to be something. "Wait, you hugged him, right? How tall was he?"

That got her attention. Her face came alive. "Tall, tall, maybe— umm. . . 6'3''?"

"Build? Heavy set? Skinny?"

She closed her eyes and held out her arms like she was hugging someone. "Hmmm. Weight. Not fat, but not lean as Denten. Sturdier built."

"Muscular? Like a martial artist?"

"I didn't feel muscle particularly, but yes, he seems to feel. Umm. Solid, maybe? Strength. A lot of strength. Could take Denten. I'm sure of it. Yes, Peydran, keep asking questions! I get clearer when you ask questions!" She was jubilant.

I started taking notes on my pad. "What happened next? After you hugged him?"

"I woke up. And then ever since I've been— experiencing him. Sometimes in dreams. Usually in dreams. Like something bad happens— how I told you about falling through fire or being buried by an avalanche. I start flailing and reaching and then he grabs me and holds me, and I'm not scared anymore."

Her eyes closed again, and she let a small laugh escape. "The night I figured out the whole Warrior Nun thing with the ankh symbol and the temples? The quote about 'Know thy self?' Well, I went to the hot tub," she looked at me, and I nodded that I knew it.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"So I was floating in the hot tub looking at the stars and thinking about the Ancient Earth Sybils and just so full of happiness. And then there was this happy presence with me. I felt his arm around my waist, and he was behind me, pulling me to him. And I had— feeeeeelings," she opened her eyes and looked at me wickedly, "in my female bits. Because when a woman loves a man very, very much—"

I let out a horrified roar of laughter and put up my right hand, "Sands no! I do not want to hear about bits. There is no discussion of bits in this room!"

"Well, since I actually do not have a penis, and I am an obgyneca, I am qualified to tell you what happens to a woman who is in love…" We laughed too hard for her to complete that sentence.

She pulled it together and continued, "No, no, I was in the hot tub in public. So I thought to myself, 'I'm not going there right now.' And he knew, Peydran! He was laughing. I could feel him laughing, and he started teasing me, nipping at my earlobe. We just laughed, and then he was gone."

Sweet. It was the sweetest thing I'd ever heard, and it broke my heart a little. I wanted it. I wanted it too. I'd wanted my own Ahtah for a long, long time. Images started flowing through my mind. Metal hand taking another man's hand. Metal fingers on bare skin. Sands, I didn't know how I was going to bear it. I didn't know how I was going to get to the point that I could ask someone on a date.

But I would. I would bear it. I had a reason.

Ryst looked wistful. "So, it's always these vague things like that. And I had one dream where I heard whispering, but I couldn't make anything out until the very end. One word."

Word? Words were good. We could do things with words.

She continued, "'Melthena.' It doesn't translate. It's not Shurwinn. It's not anywhere I can find it. I can't find it, but I know I heard something whispered."

"Say it again," I directed.

"Melthena."

"How did you spell it?" She told me. I could work on that. There were endless possibilities.

"What was the meaning of the word? You said you feel things like laughter. Was it playful? Was it a name? Was it a shout?"

Her eyes closed in remembrance, "Melthena. No, it was soft. Affection. Like how I say 'Ahtah.' Affection. Tenderness."

Oh, sands, I my heart broke a little more at the wistfulness in her voice.

"So, a term of endearment then, like 'Ahtah', or 'darling'?" I asked softly.

She nodded, "I think so. And then, I've had other encounters. Sometimes… sometimes. Well, this is pretty personal, but I'll tell you anyway. Have you ever studied any of the Tindin erotica?"

"You mean like the Art and Practice books? I haven't read the female one, but I read the male one. I thought it was pretty bogus myself."

She was smiling wryly. "Yeah, after signifiant self-study, Denten agrees."

My eyes bulged, aghast, "What! He told you he did it? Wait, he DID that?"

She nodded, "The Durstahngnat. Yeah, he did the whole book. That's actually what we talked about when I merged with his mind during our big sparring session where I went all out with my Talent."

My eyebrows shot all the way off of my forehead. "Isn't that— isn't that blechhh?!" I made pukey faces.

"No, it isn't what you're thinking. Well," she cocked her head and looked at me. "I don't know what you're thinking—"

I was pointedly NOT thinking of Denten Moreland in a backbend, naked, with an erection. Yaaaackh. Bleach my brain. Labotomy, now! I do not want to remember this conversation!

Ryst continued talking, oblivious to my internal horror. "But I knew what he was thinking. It was actually the most intimate thing I had done with another person up to that point in my life, and it was really freeing for me. Because there I was, a young woman, alone in a dojo with a stronger, more experienced male opponent. And instead of it being a threatening experience, I was at ease. Because I could feel that all he was saying to me was that he was willing to talk about the book. It was only a matter-of-fact discussion about a book."

"He wasn't ashamed that he'd read it and done it, and he wasn't afraid for me to know. Sex was a fact of life, and he had children. He was a man and a father and had no shame. I didn't get any feelings or images about what he's done sexually or his intimacy with Lirin, his wife. It was just about the book."

"So, I felt really free and safe. I think it was very good for me to feel intimacy like that with someone who had no intentions towards me other than genuine support. And I developed a theory about my Talent after that experience. Because I wasn't seeing everything. I was only seeing what he would allow me to see— there were limits. I don't know if he set the limits or if I did, but there was some unspoken agreement about what would be and what would not be shared. So it was safe and nonthreatening. Does that make sense?"

I nodded, thoughtful, "It does. And wow, I'm still not sure what to say. But that is more data. So what does that have to do with your Ahtah?"

She grimaced a little, "Well, let's just say I've been working with the content in the books. Thinking that if I can connect to this mystical force, this force of nature, maybe I can reach him. You follow? I'm being discreet here."

"I understand. I am a man. There is no shame. Sex is part of life. The bits feel the erotica…" We both laughed.

"So, I have had some feelings of his presence." Her face fell, and she looked truly distressed. She looked like she was about to cry; no, she was crying. Her face contorted. What the sands?

"Last time," she whispered. "He was so sad. And I can't take it. I can't bear it. I don't want to be alone anymore."

I reached out and touched her knee, crying too, "Then let's be alone— together," I said aloud.

And I had two reasons then. I had another quarry: Her Ahtah, we are coming for you. And maybe someday, someday, she'll help me find my Ahtah too, I thought.

Ryst didn't hear it.