{EDCT} The Children of Tomorrow Dream Away

[Trevor Paige]

{OOC Note:  Takes place right after this thread}

This was much more fitting.

Trevor lazily floated about, his feet a few feet off the ground as he drifted through the trees.  He didn't know why his peaceful dreams always took place in a nondescript forest of some sort.  He assumed it had something to do with the freedom and openness of the terrain.  The traditional worries and concerns of life couldn't find him here.  It was like his own little subconscious hiding place he could run away to whenever he felt like things in the real world were getting too suffocating.  He could feel the pressure of his waking self melting away more and more the further into the endless expanse of trees and brush that stretched out around him.  For the time being everything was quiet and serene, exactly how he preferred his dreams to be.

Movement from the corner of his eye caught Trevor's attention.  He slowed to a stop, his feet gently coming to rest upon the soft soil.  The movement itself had been a blob of color and shape, like a picture that was dreadfully out of focus.  Quickly the edges of the shape sharpened and came into clear view and made a very familiar image.  "Of course."  Trevor said with a light sigh.  Even though he was fully aware of his dreaming and could manipulate the subconscious world around him there were still elements the deep parts of his mind inserted against his will.  Given how the previous night had gone it came to no surprise there were bits of his consciousness that would draw out an image of none other than Penelope Adams .

"Exactly what I wanted to dream about."  Trevor said dryly, casting an amused glance upward, as if addressing some higher power.  "More awkward traipsing around in the woods with..."  A sigh escaped and he waved a hand toward Penelope.  "Her."

[Penelope Adams]

Perhaps thinking that the herb she'd gathered would stop her from entering people's dreams had been a farfetched search. Though in hindsight, she couldn't really blame herself for wanting to try. However, the moment she felt her body being sucked out of its vessel and into the land of dreams, she knew that it hadn't worked.

The world before her slowly shifted into focus and the brunette let out a soft sigh. More trees. Exactly the thing she needed. She was surrounded by them by day and now apparently, during the night as well.

The familiar voice had the brunette's shoulders slumping and she turned, ever so slowly towards the source of it. She couldn't make out the words, but with the gestured hand towards her, she had an idea what it was about. Groaning, the brunette sat down, feeling every ounce of futile stubbornness wash over her. Then, as if giving in to her fate, she leaned back against the ground and closed her eyes. "I'm just going to lie here. Completely still. And wait for this nightmare to end."

[Trevor Paige]

With a shake of his head Trevor let out another resigned sigh. It was fitting, of course, to have Penelope show up in his dream. Tonight was the first time he'd actually gone to sleep with the girl on his mind, it stood to reason she'd make an appearance. Never before had he found himself so caught up in analyzing every word he'd uttered or every movement made during an interaction with someone. He recalled the evening walking through the forest with Penelope over and over, vividly reliving the entire night until he had fallen asleep. Why was he so worried about what he'd said and done? The answer to that was simple, and one he'd already admitted freely to her mere hours before.

"I guess this makes sense." Trevor said to himself, dropping his gaze as the Penelope in his dream took a seat on the ground. He scratched contemplatively at his chin as he continued his personal musings on what this all meant. "I've been thinking about her all night, of course she's going to show up in my dream." The admission came with a bit of a grumble as he mused about the situation as if Penelope wouldn't be able to understand a word he was saying.

[Penelope Adams]

Crossing her feet, still on the ground with her eyes fixated on the sky below, Penelope sighed. "Nope, this is turning into even worse of a nightmare than before," she muttered. He sounded like some sappy, love struck little puppy. Though, she couldn't really fault him for that. It was a dream, after all. Nothing people usually could control.

All she could really do was wait patiently for it to end so that she, for once, could get a sound night of sleep without any disturbances, but with all these people around, well, she figured it wouldn't happen. Raising her hand, she waved it idly in the air. "I can hear you, you know."

[Trevor Paige]

"Yeah, yeah." Trevor waved a hand dismissively. "Of course you can." It figured that the dream version of Penelope would be just as snarky and defensive as the real one. Hell, with his luck she'd probably be worse in his dream given the propensity for certain traits to be amplified by the dream state. That was exactly what he needed to break up what had been a calming, peaceful float through some trees.

A moment went by before a dreadful thought slowly crept into Trevor's mind. With a narrowing of his eyes he shifted his attention to look at the girl. She looked out of place, sitting with a mixture of frustration and boredom. It wasn't at all how a construct of his subconscious mind would react to being manifested in a dream. Another sigh escaped as Trevor closed his eyes. Now everything was making perfect sense. They were locked in his dream, yes, but she was not made of his subconscious mind.

"Oh. So now you're taking up residence in my head?" He asked with a bit of a chuckle. "What's wrong? Our awkward bumbling in the real world wasn't enough for you? Had to go invading my dreams in hopes of doing it again?"

[Penelope Adams]

Sitting upright, the brunette glared at the boy, throwing his witty comments her way. "Oh, ha ha, you're hilarious." She wondered then if he at all knew it wasn't something she could control. Then again, it wasn't as if she cared to explain either. It'd simply sound like she was trying to make excuses. And no, she wasn't about to make him think he was anywhere near to having anything to hold over her.

Thankfully, most of the dreams she entered, people didn't remember. So she could be as rude and possibly dreadful as she wanted. "Oh yes, because I'm just longing to repeat that poor excuse of a kiss." She waved her hand in the air again. "I've had shell fish that was softer."

[Trevor Paige]

"Oh, wow." Trevor turned now to face Penelope with more than a hint of contempt creeping into his entire demeanor. His arms folded across his chest as he regarded her with an expression of incredulous annoyance. She'd immediately started in with the gloves off, sending verbal jabs his way and escalating the situation with ease. That, too, happened to be another sign that she wasn't part of his dream, but rather an outsider.

"You're going there already?" He said with a laugh and a shake of his head. Of course she was. Why wouldn't she? Those defensive walls of Penelope's had to stay up lest she tip her hand and reveal an actual human being underneath her snark and sarcasm. He took a few steps forward, closing the distance a bit between the two of them. "That's funny. If it was so bad then why weren't you going to stop me the second time I tried to kiss you?"

[Penelope Adams]

Staring up at him, her head planted against the soft ground, the brunette shrugged. "I didn't have the time," she said. Though, it wasn't wholly untrue. Though, it was more that she hadn't had the time to react one way or another because of the drunk boy who interrupted her from breaking the poor guy's heart. Yep. Because that was totally what she'd meant to do.

With that, the brunette returned her gaze back towards the sky. She moved her hands to rest them behind her head, making herself comfortable. This dream couldn't last that long, could it? She wasn't quite sure how time worked in the lands of dream. It wasn't as if she'd ever really tried studying her power as much as wanting to get rid of it.

[Trevor Paige]

Trevor gave a snort at Penelope's excuse. He didn't buy it for a second. She was no shivering lamb. He'd never once seen her without a retort, reply or reaction no matter what had been thrown at her. Even though the first kiss may have been a surprise there was no mistaking his intent the second time, especially given Penelope's well known wit and self-assuredness. Nope. Trevor simply didn't believe it.

"Didn't have time?" He repeated with an incredulous laugh. "I was telegraphing my intent a mile away. You knew exactly what was going to happen and you would have let it happen if not for that drunk asshole getting in the way." Trevor's head shook again, his arms folding across his chest again. "There's no way you're going to convince me you didn't see it coming."

[Penelope Adams]

Shrugging again, the brunette's gaze remained fixed on the sky. "Believe what you want. It surely doesn't make me the fool." Still, the boy had a point. She had noticed something in the way he'd looked at her. She had known what was up, but being honest, she didn't know what would have happened hadn't the drunk boy come between them. It was such an uncharted area for her and she was clueless.

And if it was one thing the brunette hated, it was not knowing what was ahead of her. And that seemed to be rather common around the boy. He made her uneasy in a way she couldn't quite explain. As if she had to constantly be on her guard and watch over her shoulder.

[Trevor Paige]

Another flippant reply, another sigh. Trevor's head shook and he let his arms fall to his sides in a sign of abject resignation. He was caught in a horribly frustrating conundrum. Even though she had given him endless amounts of grief, Penelope had proven to be even more evasive and deflecting than him, especially over the last few hours. This was proving to be a headache on so many levels. And yet, it was that exact part of Penelope's nature that had drawn Trevor to her in the first place. He wasn't sure what to make of the thing that attracted him to her happened to also be the thing that would probably see him with an ulcer.

"I kissed you and that makes me a fool?" Trevor moved to take a seat on the ground beside Penelope. He gave her space, though, and remained sitting up for the time being. She may have been trying to absolve herself from any responsibility over what had happened earlier in the evening but that didn't make her words any less true. Maybe Trevor was a fool for doing what he did. "Well, fine." He said curtly with a shrug of his shoulders. "I've been called worse for less."

[Penelope Adams]

"You said it, not me." She had to smile at that, though. Because it was foolish of him. To seek out the one person at the school who put her future, her career, in front of anything else. Even personal relationships. She had thought of him as some kind of kindred spirit, but the more she got to know him, the more she realized they weren't.

"That," she said, turning her head to look at him. "That I can believe." Evasive people usually got the reputation for being shady and having something to hide. Which wasn't necessarily untrue. Although, they normally had something quite different to hide than what people seemed to think.

[Trevor Paige]

Trevor just gave a shrug of his shoulders. Whatever it was that he was or wasn't being foolish over didn't matter much anymore. It had been let out now and there was no going back. Even though Penelope seemed like she was hoping they'd be able to move on like nothing had happened, Trevor debated whether or not that was possible for either of them. Sometimes, he thought with a shake of his head, life was much easier when you preferred to walk through it alone. It was a had lesson learned.

"You of all people would know." He replied with a chuckle. It wasn't only that Penelope did know of the reputation he'd garnered but it was no secret that she may have had one herself. People like them were always surrounded by an air of mystery. In Trevor's case it was addled with rumors and curiosity due to the visible way in which he moved about on campus. Penelope, however, opted to remain in the back, quietly observing and studying. Just because she happened to keep a lower profile, however, didn't mean she wasn't looked at with as much curiosity as Trevor. "But I thought we were passed all this... vague back and forth." Trevor groaned, lowering his head and pinching his nose. "Isn't there something to be said for objective honesty? Even in a dream?"

[Penelope Adams]

Quirking her brow, the brunette watched the boy with a sense of amusement. "So, that's what this is all about," she said, nodding. "You want me to be more upfront? Stop being so evasive and secretive?" She supposed it made sense. She knew exactly how frustrating it could be, talking to a wall of a person who didn't respond with anything but with. He was exactly the same, whether her wanted to admit to it or not.

Sitting up, she faced the boy. Her hands rested in her lap as she pursed her lips. "Or maybe, this..." She moved closer then, placing the tip of her index finger underneath his jawline, pushing his face upward as she rose to stand on her knees. "Maybe this is what you would prefer instead?" she asked curiously, though her expression was blank, giving nothing away. 

[Trevor Paige]

"Isn't that the exact same thing you got pissed off at me for doing?" Trevor asked, glancing to the side to her before letting out a low sigh and turning his eyes to the ground in front of him. He was starting to feel like they were playing a repetitive game of cat and mouse although instead of attempting to hide from one another they were doing little more than running in a circle. They were going back and forth about the same thing and even here, in his dream, it was something Trevor was growing tired of.

Trevor had more to say but the words didn't come out. His brow furrowed curiously as Penelope spoke, presenting a vague question that could almost be considered a challenge of sorts. He glanced in her direction when she pushed up off the ground and reached out to him. Trevor remained silent, the feel of her fingertips against his skin causing a chill to run along his spine. He looked to her, studying every nuance of her gaze and committing it to memory. "Is it about what I want?" He said finally, his tone low yet unwavering. "I think I've made my motives clear." He paused a moment to gauge whatever reaction he could find in her eyes. "What is it that you want?"