Rigorous Relationships

It's Not What It Looks Like!

Clouds. Clouds and clouds and clouds; that was all Serena could see, a tumbling, twirling and swirling mass of clouds that completely engulfed her field of view. She didn't mind the cotton like company though for little bits of light danced through the water based mass, and created a serene display of lights that winked in and out of existence like a rainbow colored starry painting on a white canvas. As she watched the spectacle of light Serena thought to herself, "What a pretty dream; it's a shame I'm the only one who'll get to see it."

Serena just watched her private light show for the next ten minutes, reveling in the majesty and beauty of nature, until she heard a loud slurping sound a ways past where she thought her feet were. At first Serena thought she was just hearing things and returned to her clouds, but a moment later she heard the noise again this time followed up by a content, "Ahhh."

No longer able to dismiss this noise Serena sat up and emerged from her cloud cover, like a submarine rising from the depths of the ocean. She didn't have to look hard to find the source of her dreams disturbance, for a few feet away Dena was sitting under a scarlet red tent, slurping from a silver thermos, as she started out to the wispy landscape.

When Serena had emerged from the whiteness Dena practically chocked on her drink; thinking her to look like a vampire rising from their coffin to suck the blood of mortals, and finding it freaking hilarious.

After a moment of watching Dena laugh through a coughing fit, Serena asked. "Why are you drinking so loudly in my dream?" Which only caused Dena to laugh/cough even more.

"Well that's one way to greet your cousin in the morning." Dena said through a beaming smile, after she had finished laughing.

Serena really wanted to go back to her clouds and just went along with Dena's antics. "Good morning, Dena. Now why are you in my dream?"

Dena stopped smiling and looked at her cousin in confusion. "I'm not in your dream." She said with absolute certainty.

"You most certainly are. I was dreaming about a breathtaking light show in the clouds and now I'm having a dream conversation with you." Serena said defensively.

"No; I woke up, made myself a cup of tea and decided to watch the fog roll along the ground in the twilight, when you pop out of the fog like the living dead and accuse me of being a figment of your imagination."

Serena took a second look of her surroundings and saw that she was sitting in a thick bed of fog that was rolling in prismatic waves, caused by the early morning light, a foot above the woodland ground they had camped at the night before. She was still a little unconvinced with this not being a dream, until she felt the cold morning air move along her cotton covered back; only with the chill seeping through her pajamas did she accept that this was reality.

"Eh, sorry Dena. The fog confused me and I thought I was still sleeping." She said slightly embarrassed by her misconception.

"I figured as much," Dena said with an accepting bob of her head. "But I have to ask. What are you doing out here in the first place?"

Serena looked down at the warm blanket covering her and followed it, with her eyes, to the hazy silhouette of her sleeping sweetheart. A tinge of hot pink embarrassment sat on her face as she realized she'd spent another night sleeping next to Ash and now Dena might find out.

Her flush faded though as she realized she could just tell Dena she'd come out to make sure Ash didn't catch a chill and had simply fallen asleep after having a short talk with him. (She wasn't going to tell Dena what they'd been talking about, considering that it was a ghastly secret that was better known by as few people as possible.