[19:50] The world around Avelin grew darker and darker rapidly. Swirling. Shifting. Changing as she felt her mind compelled to join the realm of dreams. Her surroundings all changed within the blink of an eye as her eyes went shut. One moment she was awake, the next she found herself in the middle of a large, large room.

The interior pulled from her memories. A frozen castle from her homeland would serve as the setting for what she was experiencing. The air was cold, and yet her body was warm. Far warmer than usual, yet not as warm as the one who stood before her. A familiar face that remained silent offered no more than a smile as a step forward guided her back. And another. They had been... dancing?

It sure seemed like it with the gentle lighting provided by candles around them, the nearly empty room and the half-finished supper at a table of four.

And yet such a situation would quickly escape Avelin's grasp. Not only would she feel the need to breathe but she would also be assaulted by two half-sized little monsters. Their hair slightly away from her own blue shade. Their eyes carrying Hypnos' own expression. Their tiny arms wrapped around her legs.

'Mommy! Can we go outside? I wanna build a snowman!'
'Lame! We should build a fort to protect everyone!'
'You're lame!'
'No you're lame!'

Children bickering, demanding direction and permission from the woman in this new life of hers. If this was a dream it was a sweet one. If this was a nightmare it must have been the most bitter one of them all.

'Kids! Don't bother your parents, let's go make this snowman together. We'll make it the prettiest snowman!'

Bon Bon's voice could be recognized echoing through the halls as she called the children over. Soon enough they would be right out of Avelin's grasp. Running off to play in the snow as you'd expect from her progeny.
(Hypnos Valentino)
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[19:52] {LONG DISTANCE FROM: Jianyu Xi}: Mousey II, Mousey,Come home. I will brew you potions.With nothing but love,Mother
[19:58] It had to have helped that Avelin lost focus before the world grew darker and darker. It swirls, it shifts - but her vision is already unclear. The fatigue of weeks and months spent trying to learn how to rule helps to compel her mind into the realm of dreams. Her surroundings change in one moment. One moment, she is awake; the next, she finds herself in the middle of a large room.

The interior is familiar. Gray and white stone coats the inside of a frozen castle, one frequented for the famous bloody parties of Apropriya. Never a participant, not truly, but there to save face. The air is cold, and yet she is warm. It's warmer than usual, even with the consumption of the blood of fire earlier that day. A familiar face remains silent with no more than a smile - a step forward, a step back. They had been...

Dancing. That's right. That was what it was, with gentle lighting provided by candles. A half-finished supper at a table of four-... four?

Such a situation would escape her grasp quickly. A deep breath is taken in as if having to think about it for the first time in years, being assaulted by two-half sized little monsters. They look so similar to her. Is this a craving that she never knew while alive? Their tiny arms wrap around her legs.

A moment is seized before she seems ready to provide direction and permission, the vampiress' cryomancer's mouth opening - before the voice of Bon Bon calls out, echoing through the halls as she calls the children over. Soon, they are out of her grasp.

A silent glance is cast towards Hypnos, face surely full of life and eyes surely full of confusion. Bittersweet, then, how she rests. Avelin's head tilts for just a moment.

What was this?
(Avelin Alricht)
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[20:09] "I know. You want to go play with them. But... they're growing older and we have to let them spread their wings for a while. At least for tonight." Hypnos said. Or whoever stood before her. He... spoke, didn't he? Those were words coming out of his mouth. A voice she knew not, yet one she knew who it belonged to. It... fit him. It fit his face. It fit his smile. It fit his appearance as he leaned into her once more, pulling her closer and...

.. Kissing that doubt away.

"This. All of this is not real." The same voice said, speaking right into her mind in the midst of a kiss. Interrupted. The world around her froze up completely, the fire atop the candlewicks stuck in place. Shades of grey drape the entire scene.

"This is what you and I could have had, Avelin. You... could have remained alive. I could have found you. We could have had a family. A cozy life. Without worries. Without thrill. Without a Queendom to lead. Our biggest worries would be their grades.

.. But this reality, this... dream.

It isn't for either of us, is it?
We're different, you and I.

From the world.
And.. from eachother."

The reality surrounding her began cracking up. Like a massive mirror keeping away the world it shattered into pieces, sending the woman tumbling, falling, tripping into a complete void of darkness.

"Even so."

She felt her hand gripped. Pulled. Brought all the way up to stand in pure darkness with... Hypnos.

".. Even so, I love you. You have earned my trust. You have opened my heart as I've opened yours. You have been here whenever I needed you, and I hope I've done the same.

In this world everything is possible.
In this world... I've got words of my own. Real words.
In the Dreamscape you and I can do anything we want.

.. And yet you'll agree that it wouldn't have any meaning, won't you? That it's... not quite living. It's a lie. Worse than when you find yourself breathing or when you feel your heart beating.

... Still, I wanted to take you here for a reason."

And yet that reason was left untold. To be guessed.
(Hypnos Valentino)
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[20:25] Whoever stands before her is him. Yet, in a sense, he isn't him. She wants to go play with them - after all, she always does, they're her darlings - but at least for tonight, their wings need to spread. A reluctance to admit it causes that silence to remain, a voice she knows not yet trusts so much. It fits him. His face. His smile. Doubt is kissed away,

and then it is restored even more so.

Perhaps she knew he was right. That same voice says it, speaking right into her mind. Interrupted. The world around her freeze, shades of gray coating what her world is right now. This is what she could have had. This is what she could have done, had she remained alive. A cozy life. Without worries. Without thrills. He could have found her - and yet by now, she would have been an old woman, wouldn't she?

But this reality. This dream.

It isn't for either of them, even if it hurts.

They're different, her and him; from the world, and from each other.

Reality shatters around her like a massive mirror, the world kept away up until the very moment that it isn't. Tumbling, falling, tripping she goes. 'Even so', he proclaims, grasping onto her hand... of course, he speaks. He loves her. She has earned his trust. Opened his heart, been here whenever she needed him, and here...

"You're right. In this world, everything is possible.
In this world, you have words. We can do anything.

And yet it is a lie. It wouldn't have meaning to remain in a lifeless torpor, in such a world in pain. You would waste away in a century or so, and I would remain here forevermore. Alone.

I may be used to lies, but such a kind thought from something fake is one of the ones that hurt the most of all. You have earned my trust more so than any before, in a way different than Annete or Kali.

You have a reason for me being here in such a realm."

And yet, it is untold. To be guessed, perhaps, but - the attempt to do so is bitten back, almost as if expecting the worst. Almost as if expecting loss.
(Avelin Alricht)
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[20:34] He nods. A slight, small nod delivered before her as the void around them shifts. His hands depart from hers, and yet his smile never fades. The void surrounding them turns into... a beach. The place they met. The same beach they bonded upon and grew one step closer to what they possessed today. Her fears were held back.

Why would they go back here if not to end things where it begun?
His hands did leave hers, after all. Though they had a reason. They had to reach into his coat and hold it up.

Up from where he was down on a knee.
Down from where she stood in all of her beauty.

"Avelin Alricht, will you marry me?"

Hypnos had always hated those who wasted their words, and so his were right where they needed to be. There wouldn't be explanations, theories, declarations of love, or even a deep gaze into how he felt towards her. She knew it all already.

She'd been nervous at the idea. She had poked it when Kali mentionned it. She hadn't been sure that he could bear her burden, had she?

His plans to ruin the church from within would be ruined, surely, though he'd found someone worth disappointing his mother over. As much as he hated to call her such.

A ring made with silver metal adorned with a sky blue topaz was kept up for her to grasp. To accept.

One of the few things that were real in this world.
(Hypnos Valentino)
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[20:56] He nods. A slight shift makes that void disappear - his hands depart from hers, even as that smile never fades. The surroundings turn into... A beach. The same place that they'd seen each other for the first time, and had talked the second. They bonded here. Her fears had once been vented, her worst nightmares realized.

Where would they go if not here to end things where they began? Of course, his hands left hers - but there was a reason. They go into his coat...

And he drops down to a knee.
And then those words come out, down from where he rests in all of his kindness.

There are no explanations, theories or declarations. There's not even a deep gaze. She knows it. Of course, there's a smile - it's genuine, and it is warm despite the coldness that would normally slide over her existence.

"... yes I will, Hypnos Valentino."

The ring, then, is taken - for her to grasp, to accept, and to put on thusly. Perhaps she knows of his plans, though... there's a glance over towards him. A smile, albeit awkward.

"Of course, if you have other plans, I won't go gloating around about it. I won't stop you from executing them, and if that requires secrecy, a head and hands held in private?

I suppose that I may live through it," she muses, obviously in good humor from this sort of thing.

Silver metal and a sky blue topaz look astounding on her hand, actually - on the proper ring finger, right where it belongs.
(Avelin Alricht)
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[21:05] He slid the ring upon her finger as she accepted such a thing, shaking his head as she readied herself to make such a sacrifice. Even at the peak of their relationship she was ready to bite the bullet for his sake. Oh, how much she deserved it all.

"I wouldn't have proposed if I weren't ready to accept what comes with it. Making the Pelleaux suffer is a ship that has long sailed away once I lost touch with Arista. At least in the manner I had thought of. Ah... but they'll be angry, for sure.

The moment those fools from Osrona hear of it they'll be furious. Arista may even swear revenge upon you.

Not to mention the burden of being Queen is not one made fair without a King."

A weakness. A strength. Expressed with a voice she knew was his in this realm of endless possibilities the two of them kept close.

"I will survive Achyon's march. For your sake. You... should feel free to pick a date for our wedding. I'm sure it'll be most... interesting."

A slight tilt of his head followed.

"What do you think?"
(Hypnos Valentino)
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