Who: Nate and Navi Where: A limo What: Two friends, snuggling, talking, caring When: Friday, the 14th of March, later in the day Warnings/Rating: PG-13 for talk of insanity, and other weirdnesses. Status complete
Nate bounced when he arrived to pick up Navi. The limo waited at the curb as he hurried to her door and bounced. He knocked and grinned, dressed up in black jeans and silly purple and gold and silver polkadot shirt. And his red shoes. Because.
He bounced, eager to see his friend again.
When Navi answered the door, she didn’t even bother looking at Nate before flying forward and hugging him. Literally flying. She lifted him off the ground, bump and all, beaming. “Oh my gosh I’m so glad you’re back eeeeee,” she squeaked.
Nate blushed and hugged her tight. He held on for dear life and smiled softly, kissing her head. “Thank you, Navi. It’s good to be back.” even if he was depressed, he smiled a little. “Hi!”
He grinned a little. “I made cookies, they are waiting in the limo.”
His hug was welcome, so was his kiss. But he felt ... different. Maybe it was because in her dreams she travelled through time, maybe because she was a fairy, but she looked into his eyes. “You’re ... different. What happened?”
“Too many years. I dreamed of being raised in a post-apocalyptic future for 17 years, then I fell into a coma, my mind was sent forward to an alternate future, and I lived in one for 17 years or so.. And it was not a peaceful one.” He shut up then and smiled softly. He sighed. “Then I came home, my mother went crazy, and now doesn’t remember I exist, for the sake of her very sanity.” His smile was rather forced this time.
“It’s been a bit of a month.”
Navi hugged him tightly. “In my dreams, I ... yeah. My boy went through something like that.” She just held him for a moment. “No kid should have to go through that. You should get your childhood sequentially.”
Nate hugged her back and smile softly. “My life is like this in all worlds, and times. It’s part of who I am. I don’t think it could be any other way.” he then nodded. “Come on. The limo is waiting and there are fresh chocolate chip cookies.” Her hugs were nice, though. he nodded.
She walked to the limo with him, not worrying too much about her wings. Once back inside, she wrapped her arms back around him. “Still. If I could do something for you, I would if I could.”
He settled in as the limo moved out. “I know. Because you’re awesome. “ He hugged her back, smiling a little. “I dunno that there is anything anyone can do. I’m a Dreamer, so my life is weird.” He nodded and opened his package of cookies, so she could have one. He took one and munched. Sometimes, cookies helped.
She went little for a moment, just because it seemed like an appropriate moment to do so. Nesting in his hair, she flopped onto her stomach. “Dreamers here have problems, huh.”
“I think they do anywhere, everywhere. It is how the world keeps them in check.” He thought so, anyway. he chuckled at her sprawling in his hair and reached up to gently pet her head and back around her wings.
“Here, it is more complicated.”
Navi sighed when Nate scritched her wings. “It is. Did you go forward with anyone else?”
He grinned, happy to talk to her. “ My dad, and a woman, who in the dreams, is a lover to a grown up me. "
“Oh, that must be so sad if you still see her.” Fluttering closeby, she went human sized again. “I’m sorry. Maybe you can grow up really fast?”
“Sometimes. I see her around. It’s sort of sad and sort of awkward.” He paused, then sighed. “We had a child in the future. And then we changed reality, and that future won’t ever happen now.” Things were already different.
He nodded, and shrugged. “I dunno. Sometimes, I think that would solve everything. Sometimes... I’m not so sure.”
“That’d be a hard thing to lose, even if you’d stayed in the future, you know?” Navi stroked his hair, holding him. She was a mother, always had been even before she’d gotten pregnant.
Nate nodded, and smiled at her, and hugged her back. He sighed a little. “It is. It’s weird. I feel like I’m several people, in one, and several ages, in one. One the outside, I’m ten, but I’m also seventeen, and twenty seven, and sometimes, maybe about forty-something. And it drives me a little mad when I don’t know which I am supposed to be.”
He shivered, on the edge of tears.
“Sorry.”
Navi pulled Nate into her lap, petting his hair and rocking him. “In my dreams I’m four-hundredish. You’re all of them at the same time and none of them. You’re just Nate. It’s kind of like people who age sequentially - if they’re sixty, they’re still the same ages they were before. You’re you.” She kissed his forehead gently.
He shivered and hugged her, feeling awkward and yet comforted in her lap. He snuggled against her and sighed, but this time some of that sigh was a release, letting go of some of that tension.
“Thank you, Navi. You’re going to be a great mom.” he nodded.
“I’ve been a mom a lot of different times. I’m glad you think so.” She smiled and kissed his forehead. “And you’re going to be awesome too.”
Nate blushed. “Do you like movies?” He hugged her close and smiled, snuggling. She was a great snuggler.
“I do! Why?” She smiled at him, squeezing close.”
“Well, I wasn’t sure what to do, but hanging out and watching a movie with you might be fun! What kind of movies do you like?”
Nate smiled at her.
“Kung-fu.” Navi’s voice was entirely serious.
Nate raised an eyebrow. “The classic movies theater is showing Rush Hour 1 and 2. Does that work?”
“That’ll be fine!” She smiled and bounced a little in her seat.
He grinned and did a little dance in his seat. “Everybody was kung-fu fighting Those cats were fast as lightning In fact it was a little bit frightening But they fought with expert timing
They were funky China men from funky Chinatown They were chopping them up and they were chopping them down It's an ancient Chinese art and everybody knew their part From a feint into a slip, and kicking from the hip”
Navi laughed, ruffling her hair. “You, sir, are silly no matter what age you are.”
Nate grinned. “What fun would life be if one did not have fun with it?”
He leaned forward and pressed the mic button on the intercom. “Frank, please take us to the classics theater on Rome. “
“Yessir.” The mic firmly shut off, Nate sat back. “Yay!”