Mistakes of the Great Beings
55. A peaceful evening
Nightmare let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't get it, love dove, why do I keep losing?" She laid down the eleven cards in her hand on the table so that the Senshi of Love could recollect them all and shuffle the deck for another game. It was evening now, the sun had already set, and the two girls sat at the table in the kitchen, playing a game of cards Minako had taught her Saurian guest.
"Heh. You gotta think ahead." The Senshi of Venus replied while shuffling the deck. "You need to think and decide which cards to play now and which should be saved for later." Having said that, she began dealing cards again.
"It's the pictures on the cards," Nightmare huffed, pointing at said images of various dinosaurs that were printed on the cards. "They're so distracting. Not to mention beautiful and nice to look at, I don't want to throw them away. Why can't the game be whoever has the most cards wins?"
Minako chuckled. "There are such games, I'm sure, but I don't know any. And you mustn't let the pretty pictures distract you."
"You picked this deck on purpose, Minako! You want me to lose!" Nightmare accused in mock-anger.
"Nah, I just figured out that you're not the one for pictures of cute little kitties or anime girls..." Minako said, putting a card on the table.
"These reptiles are fine," Nightmare confirmed with a nod. She looked over the cards in her hand with a smile. "They're very interesting. Some look familiar, and some don't. Ignika should see these, I'm sure he'd find them fascinating. Are they real or fictional animals, love dove?"
"Well, they're real enough, but they all died out millions of years ago due to an ice age. Now the climate is too cold for reptiles like these." Minako explained. "Come on, your move."
"That just sucks," the disguised Saurian female muttered, as she stared at her cards thoughtfully, no doubt trying to pick one to lay down.
"You mean that the dinosaurs died out, or your cards?" Minako asked.
"Both," Nightmare quipped, before finally putting down one of her cards on the table.
"Uh-uh-uh!" Minako said and shook her index finger at Nightmare. "Never tell your opponents whether you have bad cards or not. Don't tell about good cards, either. In fact, one should keep as secretive about them as possible." Having made that conclusion, she took both cards, turned them over and put them to the side.
"And why's that?" Minako's guest wondered aloud, a confused look on her face.
"Because otherwise your opponent will have an advantage over you." Minako explained. "If you let him know you have bad cards, it will lead them to do more daring moves, knowing you can't counter because of your bad cards. Likewise, if you let them know you have good cards, they'll try to be careful and make you play all of them so you're left with bad ones." She paused. "This is true not only for card games, you know."
"I suppose not," the black-haired girl muttered. She then gave Minako a disbelieving look. "A valid, wise point from you, love twit? What's next, ice burning you?"
"Well, if something is way too cold, you could get frostbite..." Then looked at Nightmare. "What?"
The Saurian of Fear just rolled her eyes. "You know that's not what I meant! I'm just surprised you said something so wise when you act so foolish and lightheaded most of the time!"
Minako chuckled. "Acting foolish doesn't mean one is foolish. Sometimes it's better to let people think you're stupid, makes them underestimate you. Your move, by the way."
"I need to get my ears cleaned, I thought I just heard you make another valid point," Nightmare said with a teasing grin. She then studied her cards again for a long while, until she picked one out and made to lay it down on the table. Just as the card was about to touch the table, however, the Saurian girl hesitated. "You know… I…" She struggled to find the correct words. Being nice, calm, gentle in her speech… It was all so alien to her, she had no idea how to do it. But with Minako, it now felt right to at least try to be so. "I… I've never done anything like this before…"
"Hmm?" Minako hummed her question as she looked at Nightmare's card and then at her own cards, thinking how to counter.
"Well…" Nightmare hesitated. Why was Minako so slow, she wondered annoyed. Didn't she notice this was hard enough as it was for her without her having to explain in detail? "Just sitting here with someone… playing a game that's not lethal and… well, just being nice and talk…"
Minako smiled. "Well, it's a nice change of pace, no? Besides, from what you've told, you never really had an opportunity or person to do so with."
The Senshi of Love's guest quietly shook her head, muttering a barely audible 'no'.
"Et voila." Minako nodded, grinning. "So enjoy it now that you can."
Nightmare smiled faintly and returned her attention to her cards.
After a few moments of silence and a couple of card moves, Minako said: "You know, I always suspected there's something like that in you."
"Huh?" The words had pulled Nightmare out of her analysis of her cards and she looked up from her hand in confusion. "What is in me?"
"A nice side." Minako explained cheerfully.
The youngest sister of the Saurian family almost gasped. "I do not!" she said in mock-rage, 'glaring' heatedly at her new human friend.
Minako laughed at that playful glare. "No, really, you do, and I knew it." She said, grinning widely.
Nightmare huffed, but didn't further deny Minako's claim. Uncomfortably, the young Saurian girl said: "Just don't tell anyone, Minako. I'll loose my face and my reputation if you do."
Minako studied the younger girl's face for a while. "Well, if you don't want to, I won't... However..." The blonde looked into Nightmare's eyes. "You you really think you need to keep such a reputation?"
"Why not?" Nightmare replied with a frown on her face. "I mean, just because I've let you in my heart, doesn't mean I'll suddenly be all sugar and rainbows! We're symbiosis partners, so you're different from all others. I… I don't trust others enough to let them in."
"Well, I don't expect such a radical change from you..." Minako said in a low tone. "But do you really want to continue hurting every single person who comes within your range? You're lonely, but you know, nobody would want to befriend a mean prickly hedgehog."
"What's a… hedgehog?" the blonde's guest wondered, her face bearing a confused expression. "And as for befriending people, I have you now, don't I? One good friend is all I need, really."
"A hedgehog is an animal. It's about this big," Minako showed the approximate size with her hands. "And its back is all covered in needles. When danger comes, it curls up in a ball, so nobody can bite or even touch it. Difference is that the hedgehog still moves around and lives well with other animals until there's danger. You're in a prickly mode 24/7."
The blonde sighed. "As for me... You do have me, and I am your friend, be sure of it, but... You're eternal thanks to your brother, and my time is limited." Then she murmured: "At least until proven otherwise..."
"That's no real problem," Nightmare said offhandedly with a shrug. "I'll simply ask Ignika to make you immortal too, and then I won't ever lose you." She said those words as easily as one talked about the weather, as if immortality was not a heavy subject, or reaching it was as easy as swatting flies.
Minako sighed and shook her head. "I know you don't want to lose me, but... I don't want to lose a lot of people... My family, my friends... How do you think it'll feel to see them all age and die before my eyes, while I remain the same?" The Senshi of Venus shook her head again. "I don't want eternal life. Not yet..."
Nightmare's good mood melted like snow under the sun. "I don't want to loose you, Minako," she said sharply, sitting up straight and tensed.
Minako didn't seem to listen, too lost in her own thoughts. "I still have my parents to take care of when they're old... Can't leave them on their own..." She muttered.
"I don't want to loose you!" the black-haired reptile disguised as a human snapped, looking at Minako with an expression that could best be described as pleading and panicking. "You promised me! You promised you wouldn't go, remember?"
Minako looked up at her and smiled: "Calm down, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. But it may very well be that someday I won't be able to stay by your side. And I want you to be prepared in case something happens to me." That was true. After they had symbiosis, Minako realized she cares for Nightmare, cares as much as she would for a sibling, if she ever had one. And she did want her to be able to live a life without the loneliness she had for hundreds of years before. "What if I get killed? I'll reincarnate, sure, but there's no guarantee it'll happen soon, and when it does, I may not have my memories."
"I'll protect you!" the younger girl replied determinedly. "I won't let any enemy lay a finger on you, won't let anything take you from me! I won't let you die! I won't!" And she meant it, every single word. The symbiosis had made her understand that she was not alone, that she could trust at least this one person with her own personal fears and troubles. It was an unfamiliar but all too welcome comfort and security, and Nightmare didn't want to loose it, not ever. She would let nothing, no enemy, no illness and not even time and age tear this warmth away from her. She had spent too many eons isolated in her own heart to allow that.
Minako stood up and went over to the black-haired girl. "Thank you..." She said and hugged her tenderly. "You know I promised to be there for you and support you. But, please, try to understand..." The older girl looked into the Saurian's eyes. "I don't want you to make me the only support of your life. That's why you need to talk with family, and... well, try to be nicer to people."
Nightmare clenched her jaw and said nothing at first. Then she let out an unhappy sigh and leaned back against her host and into the embrace. "I can't just change!" she whispered quietly, her voice shaking. The Saurian shut her eyes to prevent tears from coming out.
Minako nodded. "I know. But I'm sure you can try." She looked at Nightmare trying her best not to cry again, and sighed. "Poor girl..." She said quietly, as her hand instinctively began stroking her hair.
The guest of the Senshi of Love was feeling sad and vulnerable again, a feeling she was not used to and did not like. Crying was a sign of weakness, or so she believed, and she didn't want to cry again. She hated Minako seeing her like that, all snivelling and pathetic and useless. It was humiliating, for herself and for her new friend.
"I… I'm tired," she muttered quietly. It was both true and an excuse to get away from this situation that made her feel vulnerable.
Minako smiled. "Well, let's go to bed then. It's indeed getting kinda late..."
Nightmare nodded and reluctantly slipped out of the embrace, ready to drag herself to the couch where she was allowed to sleep. Normally, she didn't complain about it at all. The couch was soft and warm and all in all an excellent sleeping place. But at that moment, with her feeling so vulnerable and sad, and with all that had happened today, the idea of sleeping on the couch seemed lonely, cold and unappealing to the Saurian of Fear. Another idea came up in her head, and though she didn't think Minako would agree to it, she asked anyway. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, after all.
"I… Ehm… I mean… Minako…" Nightmare stuttered, feeling very stupid and embarrassed while her lips tried to form the words required to pose the question. "Can I… I mean… Can I sleep with you? I… I don't… I don't want to be alone again." There, she had asked it. No doubt her host would now laugh at her, or find the idea ridiculous, but still Nightmare had wanted to ask, as it was indeed what she wished for.
Minako seemed to be taken aback by such a sudden request, but after a few moments of thinking she smiled and said: "Sure! I don't see why not. Have to warn you, though, I'm not a very still sleeper... I might fall from the bed or push you out."
Nightmare managed to smile at that. "That makes two of us, love dove."
Minako laughed softly. "Okay, so we're sleeping in my bed, and expect to find each other on the floor the next morning, right?"
The Saurian girl nodded, a bit too eager perhaps. "Right!"
"Okay, let's go then." Minako smiled, took the girl's hand and led her away from the kitchen and then upstairs.
Next chapter: Human bathing rituals!
Review replies:
There were no reviews.
