The Three of Us

Part 16 - Five Little Words

CONTENT WARNING: DISTURBING LANGUAGE

It was a dinner party, set for twelve. There were only female guests, dressed in all manner of finery. Malcolm sat at the head of the table, which was groaning with all manner of provisions and was decorated with an ornate candelabrum and beautiful table runners. The whole thing felt very much like the Middle Ages.

"You're forty-four today, sir," said a wench sitting nearby. She leaned over, showing an abundance of cleavage. He peeked, and not too discreetly. The women – not all of them human – laughed.

And then, one by one, they met knights in all sorts of colored armor. The colors were even odd for armor, like Kelly green and fuchsia. The helmet masks were down and he could not determine who the men were – they may even have been strangers or aliens. There was no way to really tell. The women took their knights' hands and began to disappear. Malcolm, a knight in blue, or perhaps he was more of a knave, sat there and watched them go, and did nothing to stop them from leaving, and did not even protest. And then the serving girl came over. She held in her hand a chess piece – a castle.

"Show me why I want to castle," she said, and it was Lili's voice.

He stared at her. She was dressed in rags and the chess piece changed to a king. "It's to gain an advantage," he said.

She looked at him, and said, "What would you have me do?"

She was suddenly in finery, but her rich gown was black. She was standing, facing away from him, next to a knight in black armor. They were in front of someone – an officiant. He tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned. "What would you have me do?" she asked him again.

"I, I," he hesitated. The officiant proceeded.

He got her attention again. He gazed at her, and she seemed to be encouraging him to speak. "You don't, you don't have to do anything," he finally said. "Any, any imperfections, they don't matter. Any hesitation is; it's mine alone. It has never been because of you, because of any way that you might, might be lacking. You are not lacking. The, the imperfections, if there even are any – they don't matter. They never have."

She smiled, and her gown transformed from black to white, a rich off-white brocade. Suddenly he was the one standing with her, in front of the officiant, who was, inexplicably, T'Pol.

Then the dream jumped, and he was in bed with his bride but they were just lying there. He had a key in his hands, an old-fashioned skeleton key. He held it out to her in his open palm. He stated, "Nothing matters but, but this."

She touched the key and suddenly the dream changed again, and they were in the midst of lovemaking.

He climaxed as the alarm went off, and he awoke.

"I have to tell her that it; that it doesn't matter. That anything that seems wrong or off or incomplete – it simply doesn't matter."

=/\=

Malcolm Reed's Personal log, September second, 2039 (Preliminary)

I have never had a more straightforward dream in my life. The dream I have been having for two weeks straight has finally progressed, and I finally figured out how to vanquish the Black Knight. It was not through battle or guile. It was through telling her that anything that is wrong or off or not preferred no longer matters to me.

The key symbol – I know it means that this is truly key, and truly important, and that I can no longer hesitate.

=/\=