Aberrant: Children of Quantum Fire - In the Pale Moonlight [Complete]

[z-The Morrigan]

Continued from In the Light of Day…

Jason reached out and took Morri's hand. This time, they appeared on a picturesque tropical island in the Pacific. This far east of the Congo, night had fallen, moonlight making the white-sand beach glow almost silver. It was silent save for the soft sound of the waves, and the salty smell of the ocean washed over them. Jason nodded towards the sleek, modern house sitting above the tide-line, designed to complement the lush surroundings.

“You want to sit down, or just continue walking while I tell you my own story of… my own story?”

Morri blinked at Jason suspiciously. Jason’s implication was clear, but Morri had heard no rumors that Jason had suffered as Morri had. Still, Jason was offering to help, even if that help was only talking. Personally, Morri just wished that someone could tell her exactly what to do or even to remove from herself, to take away this dread in the pit of her stomach. “Let us walk.” The physical activity would help her anxiety and leave her with something else to focus on besides pleasant thoughts of killing her way out of this situation. Killing had worked for almost everything else in her life; hadn’t been enough that all of her attackers had died messily? Hatchins in particular had gone gruesomely, screaming into the face of the fear she could inspire.

They turned and walked along the beach. The waves and the serenity of the place was calming to her, and for a moment, she entertained asking Jason if she could hide here. Surely if she got far enough away from the palace and the people plaguing her, she could find peace. But the moment she thought that, Morri realized that meant not seeing Ein as often. And that hurt more – the thought of never grinning up at him again or seeing him look down at her with that smile he wore only for her, hurt worse than anything else. She felt tears sting and angrily pinched her eyes shut to stop them. What is wrong with me? Why is everything so… hard?

Silently, she walked, lost in her own thoughts, only half-aware of the other nova that walked with her.

[Bombshell]

Jason studiously avoided watching Morri's eyes brighten with tears, giving her that bit of privacy even she began looking back inside herself, remembering how she had ended up getting involved with Lady Envy. She walked with Morri along the beach in silence, her long silver hair swaying behind her independent of the soft wind, like that lashing of a cat's tail. She bent over, picking up a piece of driftwood and casually began carving it, using nothing more than the strength and dexterity of her slim fingers.

Then Jason began to speak. Bombshell's voice was an instrument that knew few, if any, peers, and the ephemeral cadence and music of her words had Morri almost seeing what Jason had endured. And as Jason spoke, Morri began to realize see the strength Jason possessed, one that had nothing to do with the power hiding under her sleek limbs. She spoke of the terrible ordeal she had been forced to endure without flinching, wincing, yet not with a mechanical remoteness. She had faced her demons and now, they did not trouble her any longer.

Morri desperately wished to know how she had done it. She had killed the demon who had plagued her, yet he still haunted her.

"It began quite a long time ago. 2009. I had been a nova and a woman for only two years then, and been with Danielle for just over a one. Even then, few were as attractive as I was. Alejandra, Freya, Ausrine, Narcosis. And unlike all but the last, I was willing to do full nudity. I was the star of a new and very popular TV show. Bombshell was the new mega-babe on the block and my star was soaring." Jason snorted ruefully. "Many thought I had let it go to my head. And I let them think that, because the truth, the truth was something much more dark."

Jason glanced aside at Morri, arching a brow. "You've never heard about my youthful... excess?"

Morri shrugged. "I have heard people mention something about you and Ibiza and an orgy, but this all happened before Ein saved me, so..." Morri shrugged again.

"Yes, well, I'll get to that. Some of it. First though, it started with Meaghan Greer. She was a new production assistant on Valkyrie. Tanya, who had been with me for the first season had suddenly quit, though I never got a reason why. Back then, I wasn't too concerned, just chalked it up to her having had enough being around someone so, you know?" Jason gave an ostentatious shrug and wiggle that emphasized her voluptuous and enticing contours. "Maybe I was a little self-centered then, but I was still dealing with being... me."

Jason sighed. "Meaghan though, she was very enthusiastic. Kinda plain, with a squarish build, she was always asking questions about what it was like being me. Not just being a glamorous, beautiful nova, but switching from being a man to a woman, from going from baseline to nova. I wasn't something I wasn't already used to being asked, but unlike most others, she didn't sound the least envious. Just genuinely curious and impressed that I was handling it so well." Those perfect lips that hundreds of millions dreamed of kissed frowned, indigo eyes hardening at the memory. "How little did I know. Meaghan Greer had been a secret nova, called herself Lady Envy, a masterful and subtle manipulation.

Every word of hers was a tool, a weapon, prying at my confidence, my self-worth, got me beginning to question myself, if only at a subconscious level. Only! Pfft. Even as she effusively praised me, a small part of me wondered what I was doing. Was I just being a typically boy, seeing a gorgeous woman as a sex object? That the sex object was in fact him - me - just allowed him to make her move and act exactly how he wished. And if that was how I saw myself, what about everyone else? The evil bitch even made me question my relationship with Danielle." Now, Morri caught the old pain in Jason's lovely eyes. "I had been adjusting and then she took my coping mechanism away and turned it upside down. She was so bloody deft at it, I didn't even realize she was doing it, Nobody was. And the worst part? I hid my doubts inside, stubbornly believing I could deal with it without letting anybody know."

Jason stopped walking, head turning up to the moon, eyes sliding closed, the half-carved piece of driftwood handing at her side. She took a deep, slightly ragged breath, impressively full breasts straining at the confines of her shirt. Even after all this time, though she could speak of it, it still wasn't easy. She exhaled, suddenly seeming a little smaller, almost vulnerable, eyes opening and fastening on Morri.

"When I was at my most dispirited - not even realizing how bad it was - Lady Envy struck." Jason instinctively wrapped her arms around herself, shivering recalling that terrible moment. "I was getting dressed in my skimpy little Valkyrie armour, fixing my hair, when I felt a touch between my shoulder blades. I saw Meaghan in the mirror behind me, eyes intent. I told her, 'Just gimme a minute, I'm putting on Valkyrie face.' Then I saw her smile eerily, didn't know what it meant and her heard say, 'Funny, so am I.'" Jason tensed her shoulders, arching her back slightly, the front of her shirt tenting in two distinct points. "Suddenly, an intense heat blossomed in my back, sexual and yet unpleasantly intrusive, right were she was touching me. I spun around to ask her what the hell, but she was gone."

Jason swallowed, nostrils flaring. Almost twenty years ago, but she remembered it to vividly. The smell of polish on her prop sword, Meaghan's mild perfume with suddenly disappeared, the murmurs of the director and extras already on set. And the way she hadn't immediately realized what had happened. "The hot flash was gone and I went to go out on set, see if I could find Meaghan - Lady Envy - when instead, I turned around and sauntered to the mirror, a smile I had never used before on my lips. My hands came up, cupping by breasts and the smile deepened. I had never used that smile before, but I had seen it, just a moment ago... on Meaghan's face. I.. I didn't feel any different, and yet, my body was moving on its own accord, no direction or volition from me. My tongue licked my lips, I could feel my body getting almost painfully aroused, though I was getting scared, then my own voice said: 'You were such a waste of a woman like this, Jason, so much beauty, grace, and the strength! I've never felt so powerful. But don't worry, Lady Envy will make sure Bombshell becomes the woman she was meant to be. The woman I was meant to be.' My body actually orgasmed as it caressed itself"

Jason turned, looking down at Morri, facing her directly. Though this was obviously not easy for her, there was an incredible equanimity in her eyes. She had endured something few could conceive of and had come to terms with it, without being lessened by it. Indeed, in some ways, she was strengthened. "For thirty-two days, Lady Envy possessed me. I was no more than a puppet, a costume she wore. I was a prisoner in my own skin as she acted out every fantasy she dreamed of. And she dreamed a lot, and in vivid detail. And I felt it all, was a captive audience of one, rattling the cage of my own flesh. Ibiza was only the most public of her excess. What I did... what she made me do..."

[z-The Morrigan]

Morri listened quietly, understanding and yet not completely. She knew what it was to be helpless. She knew what it was like to have someone do things to you that you didn’t ask for or want. Dr. Rast in particular had been like that; he’d once told her that he wanted her to enjoy it as much as he did. Whether that was his guilt or some other perverse quirk, she never learned. She hadn’t asked before she’d jammed a knife into his eye.

“Did it help to kill her?” Morri asked, never doubting that Jason had done exactly that.

Jason shrugged. “Her death didn’t make all that she had done to me not happen.”

“Didn’t you feel better for doing it?” Morri asked, her expression contemplative.

“For about a second,” Jason frowned considering. “It was too easy. All she put me through, and I ended her with hardly more than a tap. ‘Bout the only satisfaction I got was knowing she wouldn't ever do it again. But it didn't make me feel any cleaner for it.” She rubbed her arms, unintentionally deepening her cleavage. “It just made my hands bloody.”

Cleaner? That wasn’t something Morri had ever felt. The act of sex made her feel awful – she knew that others enjoyed it. She couldn’t understand that, but Jason’s off-hand comment gave her an idea of how that could be – the first glimmer of difference. Filing that away to ask about later, she sadi, “I felt good when I killed them, even Vyse, even though he didn’t touch me. I felt strong, like I’d taken their power away. Their blood felt good.”

“Would you like to tell me the whole story?” Jason asked softly.

No, Morri didn’t. But she’d come to Jason for help and Jason said to talk about it. Either she could reject Jason’s help, or she could try to do as suggested and see if it worked. She thought of Tahir’s hurt, scared blue eyes and steeled her resolve. “Vyse found me and put me in a cage. I don’t remember how or where or why. Miner told me he bought me. She said she saw the records.” Morri hadn’t thought of her in a long time either. She’d helped liberate the Congo but had angered Ein somehow – Morri had never learned all the details. After that, the pilot had been ‘asked’ to retire with a sizable pension but everyone knew that Ein had effectively fired her. The choice had been to leave or leave without the money, so she’d retired to an island somewhere.

“He put a shock collar on me, with sedative in it,” Morri said, her voice getting shaky. “When they wanted to handle me, they drugged me. Sometimes, the doctor did things.” Her voice cracked and she stopped, hugging herself. Jason was a silent presence next to her. “When he didn’t wait long enough for the sedative to take effect once, I killed him. The next doctor tried to protect me, but he failed. There was a pilot… he would come in and sedate me… hurt me.” Morri clamped down on the pain as hard as she could, trying to distance herself. “When Ein came, he took me to both Vyse and Hatchins, and he let me kill them.”

Her arms had gone white around her gripping fingers. “So when Khatar raped me, I knew what to do to him, too.” Her voice had an angry growl to it – rage shone in her eyes and Jason sensed the girl was on the edge of lashing out. Anger was how she’d dealt with this all her life – anger and repression, and now she couldn’t even talk about it without the need for violence. “I bled out his body and took his hide. And I was glad. It felt good.”

[Bombshell]

Jason regarded Morri sadly, arms folded beneath the thrust of her breasts, not shying away from the aura of impending violence Morri was radiating. She didn't fault her for killing the man who raped her - she had lashed out at Lady Envy with the same results. And while she hadn't done the same with the men she had been forced to be intimate with - as far as they knew, she had come on to them - she hadn't been comfortable around the ones she met again for some time. Still, the blood-draining and hide-taking seemed a bit excessive.

Khatar - that's the name for an Indian punch-dagger - an elite maybe? Morri didn't say how long she had been caged, abused, but Jason sensed it was longer than her month possessed. Oh, Morri... violence can be used to protect, defend, proactively end a threat, but it can't heal, not even yourself... Ein didn't do you many favours in this regard, in some ways, he's terribly damaged too..

Jason gave Morri a short nod, then gave her a sympathetic smile, her eyes glowing with compassion. "And how do you feel now?"

Morri hunched her shoulders, so tensed Jason was half expecting muscle tendons to snap, though she didn't pull away from her. Morri snarled, her shoulders slumping as she bowed her head, rubbing at her eyes with the heels of her palms. "Not good," she muttered. She looked up at Jason, red eyes begging and repeated, "Not good! How do I get better?"

"Just talking is the beginning. A release so it's not all pent up inside." Jason shook her head wistfully, then nodded down the coastline and began walking again, hoping Morri would follow, that movement was slowly help ease the tension. She did and it did. Jason began to idly carve the piece of driftwood once more. "I was lucky, y'know. I tend to bottle things inside - heh, not at much as I used to, nowadays - but Shen wouldn't let me." Jason snorted, a surprisingly melodious sound. "Especially not after I met Kyle again after... the incident."

Jason glanced over at Morri, so see if she knew the name. "Kyle, you might know him as Borealis, the leader of Northern Shield, the Canadian Nova Team. Ever since I erupted, he had wanted me. And with Lady Envy in control, I gave him a night he would never forget." There was a hardness to her indigo eyes that clearly said: A night I can't forget, too. "After Envy had her orgy in Ibiza and Shen had freed me, Kyle came to meet me at my home in Whistler."

Jason smile with old, self-bitterness. "I verbally tore him a new and my knee to his crotch almost killed him. And even as I was yelling and my knee was coming up... I knew he wasn't at fault. I had been a man too, I could easily see it from his point of view. The girl he had the hots for had come up to him one night, in a pair of stilettos and a skanky little dress and no underwear and had herself at him, giving him a night a pornstar couldn't match. And when he sees her again, she practically accuses him of rape, when it was almost the other way around. It was Lady Envy who had done this to me, not Kyle or any of the other men - many men - and women she had fucked. And Lady Envy was gone."

A small flick, and the piece of driftwood was driven for half its length into the sand. Jason turned to face Morri directly, and though Morri was still coiled tight as a spring, she placed her hands on her shoulders. The physical contact was necessary for what she wanted to say next, to let Morri know she wasn't alone. Her smooth, strong hands were firm, but not restraining, indigo eyes intent.

"You see, Morri, what was done to you, to me, to countless women - and men too - it wasn't the physical part that was is the worst, it's the mental, the emotional. Flesh heals, the trauma, it lingers and takes far more effort to recover from. You can kill the perpetrators, the corporeal cause of your troubles, but killing the mental and emotional memories is a far harder thing to." A shuddering breath slipped through those perfect, oh-so-kissable lips as they tightened. "And don't go thinking a Mind-Bender can do it for you. The flesh remembers the scars in the mind - you'll just react instinctively, and have even less clue as to why. I'll admit, they can help, some, but it's up to you to stop picking at the mental scabs and let the scars fade."

Indigo eyes glimmered with tears - not for herself and what had been done to her, she had long come to terms with that, even if clips of the Incident in Ibiza still made her face grow hot. No, they were for Morri and her tribulations, hoping she wasn't destined to descend into a feral ball of rage and hate, and instead recover, grow into something more. Jason's hands began sliding around to Morri's back, to pull her into a heart-felt embrace.

"This is the thing that is hardest to understand, hardest to accept Morri, but something you have to come to know, fully, if you want to move past this," Jason said, exquisite voice a soothing, captivating whisper, as sincerely inexorable and without artifice as the waves murmuring across the sand. "It wasn't your fault. It didn't happen because you weren't strong enough, or weren't smart enough, or didn't fight back hard enough. It wasn't your fault. They did it to you, you didn't let it happen. It wasn't your fault. They manipulated the situation, had the opportunity, and when you were most vulnerable, they struck. It wasn't your fault. You were the victim of the abuse, not a collaborator in it. It wasn't your fault, Morri. You can't let yourself keep believing that, you got to let go of the false sense of guilt and shame. You didn't do anything wrong. They did. It wasn't your fault."

[z-The Morrigan]

Morri held herself stiff. You didn’t hug after talking about the things like this. It just wasn’t done. You didn’t talk about it at all; you went and you killed. And when you were done, you never mentioned it again.

Yet, Jason’s words were penetrating. Morri had done nothing wrong, though she wanted to argue that with Khatar, she hadn’t been wary enough when the animals were acting strange. But he could have just killed her; he didn’t have to rape her. She wanted to say that she should have fought off the drugs she was being given when Hatchins had violated her. But she didn’t argue with Jason. Instead, she did what she always did when she wanted to remember something: she quietly repeated it to herself, so she wouldn’t forget.

It is not my fault.

I do not feel shame for it.

The silent mantra went on for a bit; Jason seemed to want to hug her, so Morri let her. There was no relaxation in her deceptively slender, dark shoulders as Jason held her. It wasn’t entirely uncomfortable; Jason was a friend, and more than that, she was a pretty friend whose scent had long mingled with Morri’s – in friendly settings – and Ein’s – in far more friendly settings. Many times Morri had smelled Jason on Einherjar, her scent deeply intertwined with his. Morri knew what that meant, and though it had scared her at first, she’d gotten used to it. Sometimes, Morri wondered what it would be like, to have her scent mingled with someone like that. She had an inkling of it, when Ein had let her sleep on his bed when she was younger. But sharing blankets with someone didn’t smell the same as when you had sex with them.

A sudden thought occurred to her. Sex and rape didn’t smell the same. They were, somehow, every different. That thought finally unwound the tight muscles in her shoulders, and Morri considered that fact. After all, she knew what sex was – it was, physically, the same act as rape. She’d indulged her curiosity that much, to know that the mechanics were the same. But what Einherjar did with women wasn’t rape; it was sex and that was different in every way.

When the silver-haired woman felt Morri relax, she released her. The red-eyed feral looked up at Jason. “So I should talk?”

“Yes,” Jason said, smiling and rubbing the younger nova’s shoulders. “Getting it out allows the healing to begin.”

Morri nodded. Her expression became very intense and she suddenly asked, “Should I have sex now, too? Does that help with the healing?”

[Bombshell]

Jason blinked, enticing lips parting in utter surprise. Her heavenly face bore a more completely flabbergasted expression than when then-Prince William had proposed to her, with his then-girlfriend Kate right there. It had been completely unexpected, even though in hindsight, she could easily see how the situation had come about. Just like now.

She met Morri's intense eyes, striving to keep her gaze grave instead of uncertain. "Uh... um... well... it could...," Jason hedged, chewing on a succulent underlip before continuing, patting Morri on the shoulder and urging her down the beach. "You might want to give it a bit more time. And If it was someone you trusted implicitly and who understood what had - has happened to you. "

"Like Ein?" Morri asked in a low, oddly soft voice.

Jason's head snapped around, but when she saw the... the closest she could call it was expectant look in her wide-eye gaze, her heart went out to her. What she did know was it was one a daughter shouldn't have been giving a father, even a foster father. Oh, honey! I don't know if Ein will ever see you the same way, and if he does, he'll be so conflicted...

She took Morri's hand and gave it a sympathetic squeeze, the partially carved piece of driftwood in her other hand cutting a line through the sand as they walked. "I'm... not sure if Ein would be the best person, Morri. He, hmm, I'm not sure he'd be ready..."

[z-The Morrigan]

Morri gave Jason a look that said, That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. “Ein is always ready for sex,” she said flatly, in the tone of voice that Morri had been using all her life to express both disapproval and correction. “I have never seen Ein not ready for sex.”

Jason’s mouth opened, then closed. Finally, she said, “I mean… Ein may not be ready for sex with… you.”

“Is something wrong with me?” Morri asked, and for the first time, she looked a little hurt. Jason didn’t see that look from the feral often.

“No! No, no,” Jason quickly corrected, wondering how the hell she’d gotten out of her depth so quickly. “He sees you as a daughter, and that precludes sex.”

“Oh.” The hurt look was gone, replaced by one of understanding.

“Are you… alright with that?” Jason asked, unsure if she’d really just headed off the issue that quickly and easily.

“Yes,” Morri said simply. “He is Ein and that is how it is.” Morri always had been able to accept life for how it was, rather than how she wanted it to be. It was an enviable trait, if sometimes a little sad. “I will wait until I find someone I trust.” A name was in Morri’s mind, but after getting her first suggestion shot down, she wasn’t willing to try again, particularly when the subject was right there. “How long will this take? This healing?”

[Bombshell]

"Oh, Morri..." Jason released her hand, sliding up her arm to pull her into a brief, one-armed hug, as they walked along the beach and flowed up a small bluff. "This kind of healing, it isn't like flesh and bone. I can't tell you how long it'll, only you can. And it's different for everyone. What I can tell you, is that as long as you're asking others if you're better, you probably have a ways to go yet. You'll know when you're making progress. The hurt might never go away, not fully, but you'll know when it's something you can live with, something you can bear. You'll feel it inside..."

Jason sat on a large, flat-topped boulder she had placed on the small bluff years ago, absently continuing to carve the piece of driftwood with her fingers and nails while she looked over the rippling, night-shrouded ocean, the stars above reflected in the water below, the breeze stirring the argent tresses of her hair. After a moment, Morri sat down beside her, a small space between them, and Jason glanced over at her with a smile.

"Until you find someone you can trust and feel ready for... whatever, you've got me, an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on, for as long as you wish, Morri. And if you like, you can come here whenever you want." Jason gestured at the island behind them, the ocean surrounding them, a complicated smile on her face. "You know, it's kinda funny - It was from this island I first ended up the Congo. At that time, I would never have imagined I would ever have wanted to go there, but in the end, I'm kinda glad I did. Even if the whole reason I was sent there was to try getting me killed."

She finished the carving, placing it between them, turning to focus a firm, twinkling eyed gaze on Morri, a proud smile on her lips. "I wouldn't be worried about how long it's gonna take, Morri. You're a strong woman who doesn't suffer illusions of what she wants to be, but sees what is - just never be afraid to dream. You're aware of the issue now, that's all, and now, you can start dealing with them."

Morri looked down, eying the wooden statue, about a foot and a half high, then picked it up. It was of a woman, her hands fisted at her side, head tilted up to face the sky, her hair storm-tossed, her dress blown back, revealing the shape of her legs. The facial features weren't distinct enough to say it was anyone person, but ever inch of the posture conveyed a fierce pride and unyielding dignity, passion and an edge of primal allure. The weathered wood added to the sense that the woman had suffered, yet still, remained unbowed, and the eyes looked upon the world, and the world beyond unflinchingly.

Statue

If anyone has ever read it, I based the appearance of the statue on the one called Spirit that Richard carved of Kahlan, from the Sword of Truth series.

Carved of driftwood, somewhat similar to these two pics:

[z-The Morrigan]

Morri was silent for a long moment. Nothing Jason had said was really helpful and yet she felt better for having heard it. She felt better for having spoken to Jason, yet the thought of speaking to Ein made her feel nervous and uneasy. This worried Morri; she’d always been able to talk to Ein about anything. But this was different somehow.

It would hurt him. It would hurt him to hear about this. That sudden insight explained her reluctance. Morri would do much to spare Einherjar pain, even hurting herself. She wasn’t sure why she had thought this, but she had and now the idea was embedded in her head.

“I will think on what you said,” Morri said to Bombshell, more because she sensed the woman wanted something from her rather than silence. “I just wish to know when I’ll be better.”

“The best advice for that is listen to yourself,” Jason told her. “You are strong enough to do this, and you should just take your healing at your own pace. Don’t let anyone else push you into something before you’re ready. Including Einherjar or me.”

“Ein wouldn’t do that,” Morri told her. Ein was very good about not pushing her; in all the time they’d known each other, he’d never forced her to do anything she didn’t want to do. It was part of why they’d worked out so well and for so long. “He’s never pushed me.”

[Bombshell]

"I don't know about that..." Jason said, lips curving in reminescence. At Morri's nonplussed look, Jason chuckled, the impossibly rich, smooth sound rippling with the lapping of the waves. "I remember when I first met you at Jael's Fuck-It Fourth of the July Extravaganza. Pretty or not, I don't think the white dress was your idea."

At a moment, Morri smiled, conceding the point with a nod. That had been long ago, when she had been more feral than not. Looking back on it now, she could find many of the situations she had fallen into after Einherjar had rescued her amusing. "You may have a point. But it isn't the same."

"I know," Jason agreed with a sigh, eyes growing distant as she flowed to her feet. "There is a fine line between encouraging someone and pushing them. I worry about it with my daughter. I want her to develop into her own woman, with her own values and ideas, yet want to raise her well also, with values I hold dear."

Morri stood up with near equal grace, holding the carving at her side, realizing what Jason meant. For the vast majority, just seeing Bombshell in person was a life-changing event. Meeting her could change one's entire world view, from nothing more than a smile and several kind words. A tough balancing act indeed. :I understand."

Jason's indigo eyes danced, full lips curling into something that was almost a smirk. She might, but it's an entirely different thing when you hold a child in your hands and realize you have the power to mold it into almost anything, by intention or accident, and it's a power that isn't beholden to quantum manipulation of existence. "You will."

The two women, one traumatized many years ago but having learned to overcome it, the other also traumatized long ago, and more recently as well, and only now beginning the process of healing continued walking along the serenely beautiful island. They conversed, the peaceful surroundings absorbing their words without judgement.

Glancing sidelong at the woman walking at her side, Jason pondered if the Morrigan would find following a different path suitable to her. Jason had chosen precious few of her own students - she didn't advertise the discipline she followed, prefering to wait for others to make inquiries, which few did. Though she believed Qi Meng would be a long journey for Morri - though to be fair, it was a long journey for anyone - she thought it could be one that could offer her a great deal.

Maybe a bit of sounding out could be in order. And at least I'm pretty sure she won't make any Jedi jokes like Ein... but is can wait for another time, another talk...

"... regain a balance between mind and body, and soul, spirit, or whatever you want to call the intrinsic sense of self. You'll find it, Morri." Jason and Morri had circumnavigated the island, the night sky perhaps having grown a touch paler after their talk. Jason held out a graceful hand towards Morri. "This has been an excellent start, but maybe we should head back now, hmm?" She arched a dark brow with wry amusement. "Any longer and people might start to talk, eh?"

Morri took Jason's hand, feeling the inherent strength under the incredibly silky skin, wondering if there would ever be something between them for people to talk about, and if she wanted there to be. "Thank-you, Jason."

Jason nodded graciously, giving her hand an encouraging squeeze, and with a flex of quantum muscle, sent them back to the gardens of the Congolese Palace.

Complete?

I think we can call this complete. Carv, PM me or catch me in chat if you want me to change or add anything.

[Quantum Fire]

End of Thread

XP: 2 Baseline, 2 Nova, 3 Standard