Suriya cast her still half-closed eyes to the window where the morning sunlight streamed in sharp rays through the closed blinds. While she loved the view of frost- covered, almost unnatural green in the dead of winter, she was still getting used to the early mornings this room brought about. She was overjoyed to be staying with her friend in America this winter, hoping for snow, but she couldn't help but wonder if she could sleep on the couch in the dark living room to avoid the eastern facing windows that were more effective than an alarm clock.
Rolling over, Suriya closed her eyes against the light. She had been having such an awesome dream. She had been in a spring field, wildflowers abounding in glorious bloom as a soft wind had swept the heat of the sun away with gentle fingers that grazed her skin in a luscious temptation. But toward what?
With a low groan she stretched her arms out of the cover in a superb stretch before her eyes flew open and she yanked her arms back in.
"Oh! God no!" she yelled to the echoing room, "Cold, cold, fucking cold!"
This was no time for stretching. This was the time to become a burrito. With another groan, Suriya gathered her blanket around her until nothing except her face and socked feet were sticking out of it before wriggling like a worm to the edge of the bed to stand up. She was surprised when something hard and heavy thunked to the ground next to her feet.
Leaning over, she risked exposing a hand to pick up the surprisingly warm, smooth stone. It glowed like an ember in glassy bubbles of deepest red to yellowish green. It almost seemed to fade as she held it, losing its shine and becoming cool, yet still seeming to pulse with a low red light. Its design reminded her of an agate, but none that she had ever seen.
Bringing her hand back inside of her cocoon, stone and all, Suriya waddled comically out the door and down the hall.
Paniz could hear her coming before she saw her as Suriya called down the hall in her beautiful, lilting accent.
"Paaaaaan," she whined sleepily, "Why is your house so coooold?"
Paniz laughed to herself as she continued to peel hard boiled eggs over the sink, waiting until the mass shuffling of blankets entered the kitchen behind her.
"It makes the coffee seem hotter," she retorted dryly, not sounding all that awake herself, "You wanted to come to the mountains in the winter, girl."
Suriya snorted, leaning herself precariously against the door frame, wrapped as she was. "I want snow," she pouted, "And I don't drink coffee."
With a chuckle, Paniz turned to face her friend, but a full-blown laugh escaped at the babushka-esque visage that surrounded the slim woman. "Snow will come," she chuckled, drying her hands before throwing her raucous, bright blue hair in a quick bun, "and I know you don't drink coffee, you health nut. The water for your tea is on the stove."
"I love you," Suriya told her, a smile spreading across her face.
"I know," Paniz replied, taking a bite of egg white.
"Most of the time," Suriya corrected, narrowing her eyes in false reprimand as she walked to the cupboard to get her tea only to be confronted by a tragically empty tin. "Ô caralho! I'm out of tea!" she exclaimed colorfully, "How am I already out?"
"I 'on't know," Paniz garbled out as she tried to swallow down the rest of her egg, "we have been iced in for 2 days, soooo….."
"Yeah, I was a little tea happy-"
"Health nut."
Suriya screwed up her face at her friend with a grin. "You are the one eating only egg whites and salads."
"That's because I am short and squat and have to actively work on not looking like an Oompa Loompa," Paniz told her, waving a hand at her small but curvy form before waving it toward Suriya, "You, however, are tall and beautiful always."
Suriya chuckled, risking reaching an arm from her blankets to hug her friend across the shoulders. "You are beautiful, too," she smiled down at her friend, "And I'm only a few inches taller than you. Plus, you are smart… so tell me what am I supposed to do about tea? I brought it from home."
"The interwebs are an amazing thing, Suri," Paniz comforted her, "It can even find your weird orange lion tea."
"Toasted mate."
"Whatever," Paniz sighed, rolling her eyes as she pulled down a pretty glass jar, "Try this in the meantime. Ren gave it to me."
"Ren?" Suriya asked as she popped the lid. Taking a whiff of the mystery tea she was hit with soothing notes of hibiscus and rose, and her face drifted into a smile. It smelled like some of her favorites.
"You know," Paniz answered her turning away again to meticulously peel an orange, "the chick that owns the metaphysical store I sent you a video of."
"Oh, how I wish we could go!" Suriya exclaimed, bouncing on her toes until the blankets finally fell from her head and shoulders. She could feel the chill permeate, starting with the shaved side of her head and down the column of her neck. Luckily, her dark brown locks, though still mussed from sleep, protected her some, but not enough. She immediately cupped her warm mug where the tea sat steeping, hoping to keep the chill from her fingers. How did Paniz stand it, she couldn't help but wonder to herself as she watched her friend open the back door to the icy air to throw her orange peel in the compost bin in nothing but a tank top and garishly bright pajama pants emblazoned with cartoon sushi. The woman was a pint-sized heater.
"Well, you are really going to love me today then," Paniz purred, popping an orange into her mouth with a mysterious smile.
"Oh?" Suriya asked, finally taking a sip of her tea and letting out a contented sigh. While flowery and light, it was somehow also earthy and oaky.
"Yup, because that's where we are going today!" Paniz told her with a big smile before tucking back into her orange.
"Yes!" Suriya raised both hands in the air in celebration.
THUNK
The pretty stone fell to the ground again from where Suriya had held it in the folds of her now discarded blanket, earning a hard look from both women.
"Why is there a rock in my kitchen?" Paniz asked dryly.
"I think it's a crystal, actually," Suriya informed her as she bent to retrieve it again noting that it still seemed to pulse with red at its heart, "Some kind of agate, maybe?"
"No clue," Paniz, the ever-skeptic, replied after shoving the last few wedges in her mouth, "That mumbo-jumbo is yours and Ren's thing. But I bet she can tell you what it is."
Turning the stone over in her hand, Suriya studied it like it had answers to questions she didn't know how to form. This was no ordinary rock, regardless of what Pan thought; she could feel it. "That is true," she murmured feeling her fingers tingle where they touched the stone.
"A'ight then, chika, let's get ready to go," Paniz said with a laugh, swatting Suriya on her rump with a kitchen towel.
"Okay, okay," Suriya said in faux submission before chugging the rest of her now tepid tea, "Let's do this!
.
.
.
"Do I need a scarf? I need a scarf!"
"You don't need a scarf."
"But it's so cold! And mittens!"
"You don't need mittens."
"It's winter, Pan!" Suriya ran around the house, gearing up for their adventure to Wanderlust… a whole grand 5 minute drive away.
"Its 30 seconds of exposure," Paniz deadpanned, watching her friend's erractic movements with a slight smile, "You'll live."
"Eu quase esqueci! Quase me esquecia do cristal!"
"English please, Suri!"
"Soooorry," Suriya keened with a shrug, "I almost forgot the crystal."
Pan let out a laugh, shaking her head at her friend's antics as she finally ushered her out the door and into the brisk air.
"I knew I should have brought a scarf!"
"Just get in the car," Paniz told her, opening the door of the car and feeling the heat already wafting out. Even she knew winter would be much less enjoyable without remote start. Turning on the seat warmer as Suriya climbed in, she turned a grin on her. "See, you would have been hot already if you had put all that on."
"Fair enough," Suriya agreed, nuzzling into the warm seat before blinking at the shining surroundings.
The ice may be off the road but the grass, tree limbs, and roofs still seemed to glitter with a frosty overlay. The sun light rendered one angle of the ground white while shadow showed the hidden greenery underneath. It may not have been snow, but it still could count as a winter wonderland. It looked as if the world itself was made of iridescent crystal and the air almost seemed to hum with a cold magic. If she looked hard enough it almost seemed as if-
"Earth to Suri," Paniz called cheerfully as she pulled into a surprisingly underwhelming strip mall tucked away on one of the only large streets in town, "We're here."
"Already?" Suri asked. Her mind had been so enraptured by the treelined area they had been on that she hadn't even registered the turn into a land of concrete.
"Yeah, I told you it was only 5 minutes," Paniz trailed off, looking at her friend with concern, "You ok?"
"Yes, I just… I just got lost in my own mind for a second I think," Suriya reassured her, shaking her head for clarity, "It's like my mind is on overdrive."
"Isn't your mind always on overdrive?" Paniz joked before shutting off the engine and pulling out her phone.
"More than normal," Suriya elaborated, poking Paniz on the shoulder.
"Maybe it was the tea," Paniz told her with a shrug as she went back to rapidly typing on her phone.
"What?" Suriya asked suspiciously, "It tasted like flowers! What was in the tea?"
"Cocaine."
Suriya laughed shortly but it faded as she saw her friend face never waver in expression as she continued to type on the phone.
"Are you fucking serious?!" Suriya exclaimed in a high screech.
Message finally sent, Pan tossed the phone back in her purse with a loud laugh. "Of course I'm not serious!" she said, raising her hands in submission, "It was a mix Ren made for me to help me concentrate."
"What was in the tea, Pan!?" Suriya glared at her, pausing between words for emphasis.
"I don't know! It has some yuck herbs in it like Mysterica Gale or something like that… and bosola-"
"That's not a word."
"Bonobo-"
"That's an ape."
"Bacopa! Bacopa something. It's Indian. And apparently neither of them taste good, so she made it taste like flowers."
"So, you drugged me," Suriya deadpanned.
"No… I just guess it really does help focus. Huh."
With that realization, Paniz finally flung open the door with a big smile that softened Suriya's tense features and led them through another unbearable 12 second walk in the freezing temperatures, only for them to arrive at a darkened door with a 'Closed for Private Event' sign in the window. Suriya looked on as the sign did nothing to deter Paniz from knocking twice on the door before letting them in herself.
"Pan!" Suriya scolded her before scurrying in after, "Its closed… wow."
"Yeah, for us." Pan giggled as she shut and locked the door before calling out for Ren and heading toward the back.
Suriya was stuck in place as her eyes panned around the small but enchanting space. Warm light flooded the room from salt lamps and twinkling fairy lights. They showed through, in and around, the plethora of potted plants and winding vines that seemed to curl down from the tops of shelves to voluntarily frame crystals and orbs of all variety of colors. Both modern books and what looked like antique tomes (one even covered in glass) graced the shelves of a massive bookcase on one side of the room, hedged in by potted trees. Gauzy curtains shielded a nook on the other side of the room that was lain with cushions in more shades of green. Somehow the owner of this place, Ren, had carved out a spiritual oasis in the unlikeliest of places.
"Suriya?" a soft voice asked, jogging her from her awestruck stupor, "I'm Orenda, nice to meet you."
Before Suriya could process the woman in front of her, she was engulfed in a warm hug. When she was finally able to pull back for breath, she realized that Orenda, or Ren as Paniz called her, was as unexpected as her shop. From her well-worn tennis shoes, to her bootcut jeans, to her flowered turtleneck and ponytail, the woman more resembled a youthful soccer mom than the premier provider of metaphysical supplies and classes in the region.
As a matter of fact, if you were to put Orenda side by side with Paniz, in her black boots and leggings, gray oversized sweater, red trench coat and blue hair, most people would probably guess their entire personalities incorrectly, let alone their career choices.
But on second, and closer inspection, Suriya could notice the subtle bearing that Orenda wore with ease. Her face was smooth and unmarred by frown lines and almost seemed to glow with an aura of power. Her eyes held an unidentifiable spark. Paniz said that Ren would often talk about being a witch and how it was simply being attuned to the energies around you and in yourself. That it wasn't magic tricks and miracles. But now that Suriya had met her, she wasn't so sure this woman wasn't capable of whatever she wanted to do.
As surely as Suriya was reading her, Ren seemed to be reading her right back before she broke the spell between them with a smile. "Sorry," she said contritely, "I'm a hugger."
"You'll get used to it," Paniz grumbled playfully before growling at a plant, smacking a vine tendril that seemed to have moved of its own accord to tangle around her wild bun as she sat in a carved wooden chair in the shape of a hand.
"Pan, don't hurt the plant!" Suriya sounded aghast.
"She doesn't have ordinary plants," Pan said, expression pinched as she batted away a fern frond that seemed to want to settle in front of her face.
"And yet, you are still a sceptic," Ren sighed, "They are trying to share their energy with you, Paniz. It may cure that black thumb of yours."
"So you've told me," Pan rebutted with a smile, "but if I need plants, I'll just have my kids grow them."
"No faith, this one," Ren told Suriya conspiratorially, "Why do I keep her around?"
"Because I do your taxes," Paniz said dryly, pulling out an unfinished crochet piece and hook from her bag as she settled in for the long haul.
"There is that," Ren agreed, musical laugh ringing in the space and drawing a warm smile from the stoic Paniz. "Okay, Suriya, let me give you the tour!"
For the next half-hour, Ren led Suriya around the small space, showing her items and books, lighting incense, and even introducing the plants by name. Paniz followed them out of the corner of her eye, gauging how Suriya was doing and connecting with Ren. She knew Ren was doing the same. Paniz wasn't sure what inspired her to turn to Orenda for actual witchcraft- which she still thought was utterly fake. She didn't know what moved her to have such a crazy idea in the first place. But she did know that if everything didn't go off without a hitch, there was no chance at it working, regardless of her belief or not. However, Ren said she could do it- and Paniz had never seen her fail- so here they were.
"See anything you like, Suri?" Pan asked distractedly, counting stitches as they finally wound back around to where she was sitting.
"All of it," Suriya replied wistfully, "But there was a tarot deck that really just called to me. I think I will have to get it."
"This one?" Ren asked, holding out a black and silver box.
"Yes- that's- how?"
"Once you understand the energies around you, it's easy to spot where and when they are drawn to each other," Ren said cryptically. "Take Pan, for example," Ren continued, "Her energy is full of life and creativity; the plants are drawn to it. And in return they want to give her the essence of growth."
"There's a vine in my hair again, isn't there?" Paniz sighed out rolling her eyes and reaching to swat it away.
This time Ren stepped in the way of Paniz's arm and reached out gentle fingers. Suriya couldn't believe her eyes as the small curly tip of the vine sprout slowly uncurled from Paniz's bun to replace its grip around Ren's finger. "The more you can sense, and then recognize, the energies, the more you can do to alter them. Either by imposing your will, or by fulfilling what the energy is seeking," Ren followed up as she gently placed her finger next to a large citrine point. The tendril unwound again and instead coiled around the creativity-inspiring crystal instead.
"That's amazing," Suriya nearly whispered.
"It's something anyone can do," Ren said with a shrug but both Suriya and Paniz knew that wasn't true. Ren was special.
"The key," Ren continued as she opened the gauzy curtains, seeming to ignore the traded doubtful looks behind her, "Is to find and then channel your own energies to interact with those around you. And that starts with meditation."
"Here we go…" Paniz sighed, adjusting in her chair to face the duo.
"Even you can't argue the multiple scientific studies on both mental and physical benefits of meditation and deep relaxation techniques," Ren said with a raised eyebrow over her shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah," Paniz couldn't help but agree, Ren had her there.
"If you would like, Suriya, I would love to lead you on a guided meditation," Ren said, arm outstretched to indicate the cushioned area, "Your mind seems to be racing and your energy a little chaotic."
"Ooh, Pan! Do we have time?" Suriya bounced clapping her hands, "My mind still feels wonky and this is such a rare-"
Paniz stopped Suriya with a raised hand and a smile. "She always wants to do this. We have the entire day until we have to be home. Have fun."
"Won't you join us, Pan?" Ren asked sweetly, but Suriya didn't miss the lingering look between the two women. It was only a second there, but they seemed to be communicating without words for a moment.
"I don't sit on floors, girl, you know that," Paniz told Ren lightly, eyeing the disappointment on both of the faces in front of her, "But I will move the chair over and join that way. Deal?"
"Deal!" both Suriya and Ren exclaimed before exchanging wide smiles.
While Paniz put up her crochet and slid her chair to the edge of the curtained area, Ren gave Suriya a walkthrough of her set up for achieving a Trance state, the epitome of altered conciousness while still remembering and being attuned to the world around you. As they turned on a light rain soundtrack with a subtle drumbeat underneath and lit incense of lavender, palo santo, copal, and myrrh, Suriya filled Ren in on why she and Paniz thought she was extra antsy today.
"Paniz!" Ren's voice rang out in reprimand, "I made that tea blend for you! Myrica Gale and Bacopa Monnieri are very powerful herbs!"
Ren's lecture seemed to fall on deaf ears as Paniz just blinked blankly her, causing her to sigh and facepalm at once.
"You drink energy drinks like elephants drink water," Ren spelled out slowly, "I had to make it strong enough to conquer whatever else is in your system. Any healthy person would be feeling buzzed by that concoction."
Paniz only laughed and pointed at Suriya. "Health nut."
"Drug dealer," Suriya shot back, sticking out her tongue.
"Don't worry," Ren said, leading Suriya to a cushion, "It should be out of your system in a few hours."
Settling on a cushion, Suriya was surprised by a sharp pain in her hip. "What the…"
Reaching in her pocket, she pulled out the red stone from that morning. It still seemed to have a small, otherworldly glow in the center of it.
"Oh yeah," Suriya stopped Ren before she walked away, "I found this crystal this morning. Do you know what it is?"
Ren took the stone and paused in thought for a moment before handing it back. "That appears to be a Fire Agate. They are very hard to find of that quality and aren't native here. I think, more accurately, that crystal must have found you."
"But what do I –"
"I think that might be something to meditate on," Ren interrupted her cryptically, "It is clearly connected to you for a reason.
Suriya hummed to herself in contemplation, cradling the gem in two hands as she settled herself on the cushion again. What did this crystal hold for her? Breathing deeply, she tried to calm the buzzing in her head, but it seemed the more she tried to release it the more she felt it. It almost seemed like some of the buzzing was from the crystal itself.
After a moment of shuffling in the background, smudging the space lightly with sage and grabbing what she needed, Ren took her seat across from Suriya at the head of the room, taking a calming breath herself. Of all the people to request a true spell, she never thought it would her long-time friend Paniz. More rode on this than even Paniz realized, as Ren saw that this may finally, FINALLY, be the breakthrough of Pan's skepticism. Paniz had never tried to convince her out of her beliefs, just as she had never forced them. It worked for them. But Paniz could be a force if she embraced the world around her…
This was make it or break it time. A rare feeling of stress creeped into Ren, but she pushed it down, feeding that negative energy into her own personal set up to absorb it. If her own energy was off and rampant, this wouldn't work either. And she really wanted this to work.
She wanted to do this for Suriya, too. She may have only just met her, but she could sense a soul akin to her own: a wanderer, an explorer, a curious mind that valued connection. How wonderful would it be to create a tailored adventure, an experience that could be gained no other way? This was a gift that she could give. The remaining tendrils of stress drifted away, overwhelmed by joy as Orenda took a deep breath of her own.
"Suriya, she asked lightly, are you familiar with breathwork?" Ren asked quietly, trying not to knock the other woman completely out of the focus that she had already seemed to gain.
"Some," Suriya replied, just as softly.
"Excellent," Ren encouraged her, "We are going to begin with the very basics of pranayama with ujjiya. Just breathe gently, in through your nose…"
The slight sound of light inhales could be heard over the music.
"and light exhale through your mouth…"
Again, Suriya's breathing rang out.
"And pause. Even more gently now," Ren coached, "In through your nose."
Silence.
"And exhale- pause," Ren continued, "Perfect. Again."
Paniz watched with a critical eye as Ren led her friend through the gentle breathing. This was just the beginning.
Suriya hadn't seemed to notice as Ren began another recording as they went, deep chanting tones now interwove with the drumbeat and rain in a hypnotizing beat. It was like nothing Pan had heard before and it gave her goosebumps.
"Now breath deeper, less pause," Ren instructed, delving further into her session, "In through your nose, out through your mouth like ocean waves. A cycle of give and take. Awaken your own energy and build your life force."
The women's breathing echoed in and around the background noise.
"Again."
Ren opened her eyes, her crystals seeming to glow behind her and the brown of her eyes took on a golden glow. She had connected to what she needed.
"Now tilt your head to sky, open your airway and breath in the life. Deeper."
Suriya did as instructed as Ren flicked her eyes to Paniz. Having kicked off her boots, Paniz padded on silent feet to place the totems and crystals Ren had given her precisely around her friend.
A pendulum of Chalcopyrite to the North to find her way.
Rainbow Fluorite on a bed of ginseng to the South to keep her grounded.
A Lapis sphere to the East for the inspiration to create something new like a new day dawning.
Amethyst in a ring of salt to the west to bring her safely back home at the end.
This was fucking insanity. Paniz could help but shake her head at the ridiculousness of all of this as she drew a white chalk line between the items and towards an absolutely huge Clear Quartz pillar in front of Ren… until a brisk breeze seemed to hit her in the face. Raising her eyes in the direction it came from, Paniz could see Ren's eyes tightened in a hard look. Positive energy and thoughts, Pan, she could practically hear her lecturing. With a deep silent breath, Pan calmed herself. It could work. It would work.
Silently, Ren opened the large grimoire in her lap, one Paniz had never actually seen her touch. Paniz had gotten it for her when she had been on an antique book-buying binge in Massachusetts. No sooner had Pan pulled it from her bag had Ren frozen in place, eyes locked in the tome. She had had Paniz set it on a stand in the backroom, and the next thing she knew, it was locked under glass. Now though, Ren had freed it, opening the cover with a deep breath.
One hand on the first page of the book and one hand on the Quartz that had to be a foot and a half tall, Ren breathed out a single word. "Somnum."
With a large gulp of air, Suriya's eyes shot open before she fell directly backwards onto waiting cushions.
"Oh… oh fuck- what-!?" Paniz exclaimed quietly, racing up to Suriya's prone form, heart beating out of her chest. She had killed her! She had fucking killed her! Two goddamn friends in this world and she had killed one of them.
"Now, Pan!" Ren yelled at her, jogging her from her panic.
"But-"
"She's fine," Ren reassured her soothingly, "But you have to do it now."
Shit! Pan shook her head, grabbing the next bag Ren had prepared for her without worrying about stealth. It was now or never.
Start at the head, Paniz instructed herself, free her before we root her.
Carefully, Pan dripped Ylang Ylang essential oil onto 3 fingers, using them to draw 3 consecutive lines from the crown chakra at the top of Suriyas head. Dripping more oil down her hand to keep the lines continuous, she spread her fingers, branching the lines to end at the third eye chakra and Suriya's two actual eyelids. In the center of the 3 on her browline, she gently placed a small Labradorite.
Time to travel, Suri, she thought wistfully as Ren began to speak softly in Latin behind her.
Focusing on the words she and Ren had rehearsed, Paniz waited for her cue.
"Dea, neque vero temporis et spatii,
aperi oculos tuos et novae."
Paniz couldn't believe her eyes as she saw… glowing. It seemed to spread, so slowly you barely noticed it, up from the Quartz pillar and down from Suriya's head.
"Et cor tuum loquetur verum amicus."
Carefully mixing the Ylang Ylang Oil and Sage oil, she then continued her route of the oils from the third eye chakra to the throat chakra, pausing to place a small turquoise in the hollow of Suriya's throat
"Lassum solitus mandare caput viator manum tuam.
Est tamen in domum suam,
nondum notum novum."
Sure enough, the glow began to spread further. Wasting no time, Paniz gently crossed Suriya's hands over her heart, enfolding in them a Rose Quartz disc and the mysterious Fire Agate. The heart chakra and Suriya's hands were next, anointing them with the oil and the stones they held.
"Regina imperare regnum tuum
difficile est, verum est, in via tua et itinerantur."
With careful precision, Paniz dropped a line of cloves from Suriya's heart to her stomach chakra where she placed a dog rose for confidence. Pursing her lips, she pulled off her own wedding ring and placed it in the center of the flower, just in time to see the large diamond in it light up in an array of colors.
"Amans tui emittam furorem stupro divulgavit,
quid desideres receperint."
Wasting no time, she continued the line of cloves to Suriya's pelvis and placed an oblong Carnelian across the breadth of her hips.
Immediately, she hefted a Tourmaline pillar, nearly as large as Ren's Clear Quartz into the hollow Suriya's still crossed legs, anointing it with the same sage oil that would link it back to her heart.
Stepping quickly form Suriya's circle of power, she turned her eyes on Ren in concern. Her breath was heavy, her eyes glazed, and a bare trickle of blood was just beginning to drip from her nose. Ren shot her a quick pleading glance before gripping the clear quartz with all her strength. Paniz crouched next to Suriya's legs, chalk in hand.
"Cum peregrinatione est,
Cum vici bello,
et cum amor
fit regnum emit,
Profugus venit in domum suam!"
Wind whipped the room as the Clear Quartz pillar lit up like the sun. Shielding her face with her hand, Paniz quickly drew the chalk line from Tourmaline to Quartz. The glow spread out into an elongated cocoon of light and wind, condensing on itself until halfway opaque until surrounding Suriya alone.
"Holy fucking…" Paniz couldn't even believe her eyes. This was- this was…
"You believe now?" Ren asked wryly, allowing herself to fall back into a comfortable recline on surrounding cushions.
"I may just have to cave after this," Pan said with a small nod, running to grab Ren a tissue from her bag for her nose. Plopping down on a cushion next to Ren, Paniz handed her the tissue with a concerned look. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm good," Ren groaned, "Just tired. Its hard work manipulating energies rather than working with them. That's why I channeled the book after hodge-podging a few of its spells."
"That's the first time I've seen you pull that thing out," Paniz told her, "Is it really that powerful?"
"Bitch, you got me a grimoire from just outside Salem, Massechusettes and you ask if it's powerful?" Ren laughed out, no malice in her tone, "Why do you think I keep it under glass?"
"Because it's old?" Paniz replied with an easy smile, deliberately obtuse. Turning her eyes to the now glowing Suriya, Paniz nodded to direct Ren's attention. "You think that's gonna work?"
"Does it not look like it's working?"
"No- I mean, it does but-"
"If it doesn't send her on your grand adventure, then the worst that happens it that she gets a hella nap with some weird dreams," Ren said stretching her arms behind her head, "but that- that worked."
"What will she find?" Paniz asked, voice small and raw with a worry not many people were ever allowed to see.
"That is up to her," Ren said cryptically, before nodding to the diamond- Paniz's diamond- on Suriya's stomach, "but she's ready for anything. You made sure of that."
She always talked about wanting to adventure… may this one be your best one yet, Suri.
.
.
.
"Let me out!" Grimmjow yelled at the empty sky, banging his fist against what seemed to be an invisible barrier, keeping him from leaving the area he was in. He followed the edge of what turned out to be a sizable square twice now and there was no weakness. He had even released his zanpakuto, trying as Pantera and taking to the skies only to be shoved right back down. He had launched every attack at the wall he could think of.
With one more fruitless bang, Grimmjow let his eyes pan the horizon he couldn't reach before he sat down in a huff in the grass. Yes, grass. This place was fucking full of it. Grass and flowers. What the hell? There were even clusters of trees and the edge of a forest in the distance, their dark depths contrasting with the light brightness of his meadow prison.
And it was bright! It was so damn bright it was almost too much for his sensitive eyes born of the Las Noches night.
As far as cages went, it wasn't unpleasant, he guessed. A little frilly for his taste, but the cooling breeze carried the floral scent on the air, the earth was springy beneath his bare feet.
At least had my pants on when I fell asleep, he grinned to himself as he propped an arm on his knee and leaned his bare back oddly against a solid nothingness, if I napped like I slept, I'd be running around this damn place buck-ass naked.
Popping his neck with just a quick stretch, Grimmjow sighed deeply. This prison was more like a spa retreat. While his intense gaze never wavered from scanning the horizon, Grimmjow allowed himself to relax into a slouch. This all started off as a nap anyways, he might as well rest.
It was an odd nap though, Grimmjow realized as he thought about it. He may be a cat, but he wasn't a lazy one. Things had just been so damn slow in Hueco Mundo since the war ended, there didn't seem much better things to do than sleep. Technically Hallibel was now the queen of Hueco Mundo, with he and Nel running as her right and left hand in establishing some semblance of order, but they were all still hollows. They still tended to be loners, aided only by their faccions- and his was gone.
In the absence of Aizen, the desert and forest below it simply drifted back in to how it naturally was. How it had been since before he had even existed. So, with nothing to do, Grimmjow had trudged off into the dessert. Maybe he would find something, maybe he would meet someone, maybe he could get in a fight! Maybe SOMETHING would happen to break the monotony!
Instead, he just remembered getting tired. He had been so damn tired… he had made his way to an outcrop of rocks for shelter and had given happily into sleep, not questioning its pull.
He knew why he had been so willing to sleep, though. There had been no doubt in his mind why he ran to sleep with abandon today: Her.
He wasn't prone to dreaming. Never had been. Guess that subconscious shit went away when you had no soul, or so he thought. But last night he had dreamed, if only for a brief second. A pair of large, brown eyes, warm and happy had glanced at him. A smile parted pink lips that he just knew he should be tasting. He had felt the warmth of her hand in his. For one brief glimpse, he had felt whole in a way no hollow could ever be gifted.
And when he woke up, he had felt more hollow than ever. He had jumped on patrols with gusto, wanting to destroy something- anything- to pay for what he didn't have while awake.
Looking down, Grimmjow eyed a pink flower with an odd wariness. It reminded him of her somehow. Pink and soft, like her lips and the blush that had covered her cheeks.
CRRRRRRACK!
Grimmjow was on his feet in an instant, a cero already in his hand as he saw the massive bolt of lightening retreat from the center of his cell. He expected char, burning, fire. Instead, he saw a figure.
He held the cero at the ready as he approached on silent feet, but the figure didn't stir as he closed in. He fought the roll of his eyes at how easy this was. He could destroy whatever had landed here with him in one fell swoop… but his breath caught and eyes went wide, the cero fading into nothing as he finally looked at the newcomer.
On approach, he had seen tight dark pants, black ankle boots and a fluffy cream sweater, cowl neck rumpled, obscuring the face of the wearer. Now, though- He reached gently with shaking fingers, lowering the collar from her face. Her.
She looked relaxed and sleepy and he simply stood there admiring her. Her mouth curved in a slight smile, even as she slept, cushioned on elegant hands with perfectly done nails. In electric blue. Perfect. Her delicate curves were half hidden in warm fabrics. The delicate blush on her cheeks seemed highlighted by the dark fringe of lashes the graced them.
She was softness embodied… but not. A quick glance at the insulated combat boots, light calluses on her palms, variety of ear piercings, and punk rock hair style of long curls with a shaved side showed she wasn't all soft. She had an edge. It was intriguing.
In his wonder, Grimmjow ran the tip of a calloused finger lightly down her jaw, marveling at the delicate perfection of her. He stilled as she moaned lightly, breathing deeply of the sweet wild meadow. Slowly she stretched up revealing a key tattooed on one wrist protruding from the chunky sleeves. The best part… the best part was her eyes opening, revealing a warm chocolate hue, lit by the sunshine.
Until her eyes flew open at the unexpected sight of him and she screamed, the piercing pitch cutting through Grimmjow's reverie like a knife.
"Shit! Woman! What the hell?" he growled out, rearing back on his heels to cover his sensitive ears. That was worse than the time Nnoitra got ahold of a dog whistle! Fuck!
She scuttled away in an awkward crab walk from where she had woken, eyes wide and fearful. "What- why- you-!"
Grimmjow would have laughed at her sputtering, red faced and a little crazy, if it didn't hurt him so bad. For a brief second there he had forgotten who he was and the monster she would see. Oh, he sure as hell remembered now, looking at her fear painted across her features.
"What?!" he barked, anger quickly placing a bandage over the hurt in the hopes of making it keep from cutting deeper.
"I- No… no no no…" Suriya kept repeating to herself, "You are not real, you are not real, you are not real."
"I don't look fucking real to you?" Grimmjow snarled, taking a step closer to her spot on the ground.
Suriya slammed her eyes shut. It's not that she didn't want to stare upon the gloriously shirtless visage of one of her favorite characters brought to life, but this couldn't be real.
That's it! This was a dream. This was a dream… she reassured herself letting out a slow breath and opening her eyes. So… was this the lucid dreaming she had always heard of? And it landed her here. With him. One of the sexiest men ever drawn. Half naked.
Okay, she thought with a shrug to herself, this has possibilities.
At least, it seemed to until she opened her eyes to meet glaring, unearthly blue ones. His body was tense and he seemed almost shake holding back anger but his mouth- the downturn of his deliciously full lips looked oddly sad. "You," she trailed off.
"Oh, you're acknowledging me?" Grimmjow snarked with a low scoff, "Am I real now?"
"No, yes… I think so," she stuttered out unable to break his piercing gaze.
"Probably ought to make your mind up, Woman," Grimmjow grumbled, backing off of her a step and grimacing as she seemed to relax at the distance, "We're stuck here together, so it would probably help if you got out of your head.
"My name is not 'woman'," Suriya snarked back out without thinking, before remembering that he was also one of the most dangerous creatures to ever hit print as well.
"Then what is it?" he asked, feigning disinterest.
"Suriya," she replied distractedly, looking around at their surroundings in wonder, the familiarity washing over her. She was here last night. This was her meadow from her dream.
"Alright, Suriya," he growled out, "Then put your big girl panties on, because I wanna break out."
"Break out of what?" she asked, rising to her feet and brushing off her knees. She looked around again, before ducking with a yelp as Grimmjow let a cero fly far too close to her for comfort. She turned to see the cero crash against what could only be described as an invisible wall before quickly fizzling out into nothing.
"Eita, Porra?!" Suriya yelled, wheeling on Grimmjow, "What the fuck!"
"I know, right!? Grimmjow asked, snark gone and replaced by dubious outrage, "It's a fucking cage!"
"Noooo," Suriya drew out with anger, "You almost shot me with a cero! You- you- ugh!"
"Oi! You think I'm some newbie? I can aim for a fucking demo, a'ight!" Grimmjow bit out.
"And I didn't need a demonstration like that! We could have walked over!"
"But this was so much more fun!"
"Just because you live for destruction doesn't mean I do," Suriya griped, brushing her hair behind on ear as she righted herself again.
Grimmjow was impressed with her spunk. Those first moments, he didn't think she had it in her. She was glorious, standing with her hands on her hips, eyes practically glowing in the sunlight. It almost made him forget that she apparently already knew him. His eyes narrowed in suspicion, but she had already turned to plod off toward where the cero had exploded.
"You never asked my name," he drawled lightly, leaning with one arm up against the invisible barrier as Suriya tested it with her hand, pushing every few inches as she worked her way slowly to him.
"Because I know it already," she replied, not breaking concentration before pounding her fist on the wall. "Why am I trapped in my meadow!?"
She had meant to ask it accusingly. She had tried to turn another glare on him. But her eyes were stuck on his muscular figure where he reclined. Travelling up from the hanging waistline of his pants, his Adonis belt seemed to frame his hollow hole just as much as it led her eyes into forbidden territory. The hole did nothing to take away from the sculpted abs and chest to biceps as large around as her own legs. His curling smile topped of the package and Suriya very suddenly wishing this was a wet dream instead.
Grimmjow tried not to be distracted by her heavy gaze, blown pupils giving away how much she liked what she saw. Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Grimmjow leapt forward in a sonido, pinning her to the invisible barrier by her shoulders.
"You did this," he snarled. He tried to put more anger in it, willed himself to move his hand up to her neck but for some reason he couldn't. He could feel her fluttering heartbeat, hear her shallow whimper that she tried to hide and all he wanted to do was make her fear go away.
No! he fought with himself, as surely as tough a war as with Kurosaki. He fought between this strange innate need to protect and the vengeance he wanted to carry out for being trapped here.
"I- I didn't," Suriya stuttered in shock. She wracked her head for everything she had learned about lucid dreaming, about controlling it, and came up with nothing in the face of his rage.
"It's your meadow," Grimmjow hissed suggestively, "and you know who I am. So, it only makes sense that you had a hand in putting me here."
"But I didn't," Suriya whimpered voice catching.
Grimmjow's eyes widened in surprise. Not at her answer, any guilty person would deny shit, especially to an angry espada, but the way she said it. Sure, yet vulnerable. And she smelled like truth.
"Then how do you know who I am?" he growled, not letting up his hold.
Suriya blinked at him a few times. That was a loaded question.
"Books," she answered shortly.
"Books," he repeated dryly, doubt lacing his words. The answered still smelled like truth, but less so. "What do you mean 'books'?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Suriya groaned, relaxing in hold with surrender. He was going to kill her. Or think she was crazy. Or both.
Probably both.
Grimmjow just looked at her a long moment. "Try me."
"Do you want to let go of me first?" Suriya asked dryly, causing Grimmjow to bark a laugh, jawbone clattering, at the returning edge of her attitude.
"Not particularly," he drawled with another heart-stopping grin.
Suriya couldn't actually say she minded that. It was a little disconcerting, sure, but his hold had gentled. Sighing softly, she pursed her lips before finally deciding to explain. Or die trying at least.
"You are in a series of books- a manga- called Bleach," she said softly, not looking in his eyes, "And that was turned into an anime TV show, so I know you from that, too."
Truth. He could smell it on her even though her answer made no sense with references to words he had never heard.
"Uh-huh," He hummed, as if he understood, "so these are- what?- about my life or some shit?"
"Some shit," Suriya snorted, "but- but they aren't real."
"Back to thinking I'm fake already?" He growled.
"No," Suriya replied with a chuckle, knowing if she didn't laugh she would probably have a mental breakdown, "Hell, I can feel you against me right now, but in those… They're fiction. Its not real and you are not… In my world- I guess."
"Then where is this if not your world?" He asked with narrowed eyes. She did say this was her meadow, after all.
"I don't-" Suriya cut himself off with a wince. He wouldn't like her answer but it had to be said. "I dreamed about this place last night. Exactly this place."
"Huh, so I'm your dream man?" he asked with a smirk that made Suriya's knees go weak.
It sounded as if he practically purred while he stepped closer to her. Trailing his fingers up from her shoulder, he traced the column of her neck with the lightest touch. He couldn't help the rush that went through him of feeling her bare skin, chaste as it may be.
"Thought- I thought that your concern was how to get out of here," Suriya practically whispered back, swallowing audibly.
Her reply was like a bucket of ice water and he dropped his hands from her stepping back. He could almost hear her whimper in protest, but that had to be his imagination. She didn't even think he was real. And even if she did, beauty would never fall for the beast.
"Fine, wise one, how the hell are we supposed to get out?" he shoved his hands in his pockets, anger bubbling to the surface again.
Suriya took a shaky breath, trying to figure out a reply but her mind was still jumbled. He had been so close she could smell the dessert wind in his hair. His fingers had sent trails of goosebumps tickling over her skin. She had literally whimpered when he pulled away! He was like a magnet, and she really wanted to cave to that pull.
It was her dream! Why shouldn't she?
But something seemed to hold her back. Something that felt a little too real and a little too raw.
"Maybe we can get over the barrier?" she mumbled turning to face the wall again even though she could feel his eyes burning into her.
"Tried it," he replied mirthlessly.
"What about a stronger attack? You could do a Gran Rey-"
"Tried that, too."
Suriya narrowed her eyes at the solid nothingness before turning the glare on her unhelpful cellmate. "Maybe if you-"
"Did that too, doll," Grimmjow snarked, leaning against the barrier once again next to where she stood.
He knew her mouth said she didn't want him- which hurt like fuck!- but the way those beautiful expressive eyes roamed his body and face screamed that she liked what she saw. Hell, it was downright territorial, and he was here for it.
"You don't know what I was going to say," Suriya told him petulantly.
"If you know me like I think you do, then yes I do," Grimmjow said, closing his eyes and simply sensing the woman next to him. The heat of her blush as it crept up her cheeks, the pounding of her heart. He could feel the movement of her eyes and the way she bit her lip as she watched him, thinking he wasn't looking.
He knew he should reel it back. All he was going to do was break the damn dream he had of her into crystalline shards at his feet if he kept plunging headlong into rejection but it's like he couldn't resist. Every cell of him screamed to get closer, to touch, to tease, to be… more. But-
Grimmjow's eyes flew open as a soft hand landed on his bare bicep. He tried to hold his sneer firmly in place as he looked down at the woman who was clearly going to be taking up residence in his mind for the next millennium. He really tried. But he couldn't.
"What?" he asked, surprisingly softly.
Suriya simply shrugged before replying simply, "Then we try again. Together this time."
"Ha!" Grimmjow couldn't help the laugh that came from him, "You got a zanpakuto hidden under that sweater or something? You're human. What are you gonna do?"
Fighting a blush of embarrassment, Suriya glared at the impossible hollow. "No," she snarled, "But-" Well hell, what could she do? He wasn't wrong, she was just a human with no freaking clue of what was going on.
Grimmjow snagged her falling hand before it could even fully leave his skin, loathe to part with her touch. "Sorry, sorry," he rushed, "I just- I didn't think. We can do it all again. It can't hurt."
He could read the confusion on Suriya's face at his quick change. He didn't know how to explain. Not that she would understand. Not that she would believe him. But that slight unsurety crossing her features and the sadness that had tipped her brow in that one second was worse than death. It was as if his heart was being ripped from his chest that he had been the one to cause that in her.
"Okay," Suriya breathed out. She didn't understand what had just happened in Grimmjow's head but what just happened- the apology, the turnaround- that was not the Grimmjow she knew. The Grimmjow she thought she knew. "You take top and I take bottom?"
"Hell yeah!" Grimmjow agreed with a wide smile, taking her caught hand and running it down from his chest, over his sculpted abs and to his waistband, "Any day, doll."
"Oooh."
The sound escaped Suri unbidden as she was basically led to pet perfection. Grimmjow released her hand to trail his fingers up her forearm and under a billowy sleeve while she looped her fingers through the front of his hakama pants. There was that damn magnetism again, sucking her in.
"But the- the, um…"
"The what, doll?" Grimmjow asked, tilting her chin upward with a finger hooked under her chin.
Closing her eyes, Suriya took a deep breath. If this was a dream, why would she care about fucking him? Hadn't she herself wished this was wet dream? But this feeling…
In her limited experience with a few lucid dreams, she was aware she was dreaming but no one else was. Even mentioning the unreality shattered it. All of the events happened without feeling in the moments they were happening, like a script you are moved by only in hindsight. But this. This was now. This was something else.
"The wall," she responded with a gulp, lowering her lashes so she didn't have to meet that intense sapphire gaze, "we have to break the wall."
"As you wish," Grimmjow said, releasing his hold on her and again stepping back. He was different this time, so much so that even she could see it. There was no hurt to heal over. He could feel how much she wanted him. He could scent her confusion and her arousal. He could play ball for a little while.
For the next hour, the duo tested the wall, trading barbs and jokes and stories as much as they levied blows. Grimmjow hit it with everything he had, releasing Pantera and letting loose. Suriya went at the bottom with all she could muster, puny human though she was. She even resorted to digging at one point. Finally, both of them in a sweat, Grimmjow landed gracefully on feline feet in front of her, staring down at her from an impressive height.
"It's useless," Suriya groaned, laying back on the grass to take in the pristine blue sky.
"Giving up already, Woman?" Grimmjow asked with a smile, showing off his fangs as he leaned into her view.
"Not giving up, just thinking," Suriya pouted, "And it's Suri. Not 'woman'."
Releasing his zanpakuto, Grimmjow plopped in the grass beside her as she sat up rubbing her eyes. "I thought it was Suriya?"
Without thinking, Suriya reached out to ruffle some of Grimmjow's hair, surprised by its softness and completely bypassing his wide-eyed confusion at the touch. "Hmm… I can't decide if I liked it better long or not," she said wistfully, playing with a strand before registering his question, "And my friends call me Suri."
"Does that mean I'm counted as a friend now?" he asked softly, leaning into her gentle touch.
"Well, we are stuck here together," Suriya said with a shrug, "and you are pretty cool. It'd probably be better if we were."
Grimmjow nodded, not sure if he liked that turn of events or not. He had never had a friend, not really. And what he wanted from her wasn't friendship. "What if I don't want to be your friend?"
Suriya only gave a non-committal shrug. "Tough shit."
"So, you saw me in my full hollow form and want to be my friend?" He almost grimaced around the word despite his disbelief and… was that hope?
"A smart person knows it's still you behind all those claws and teeth," she replied lightly.
"A smarter person knows I'm a killing machine regardless of form," he huffed, flopping back from her touch and onto the grass next to her.
"Huh," Suriya said thoughtfully, a twinkle in her eye as she tapped her finger to her lips and relishing how his pupils dilated and looked grew heated at the simple move, "I don't think you are a machine."
"Mmm." Grimmjow only rumbled as he forced himself to squint into the bright sky and away from her bewitching gaze.
"There's a stream in our little square here, right?" Suriya asked, earning an odd look from the espada despite his reticence.
Raising his finger to point toward a far corner, Grimmjow sat as Suriya took off and headed that way. He froze in shock, however, as she peeled off her hot, bulky sweater and revealed smooth, tanned skin beneath it. More tattoos pieced on her left arm, dark art on a sea of golden skin glowing in the sunlight and only marred by the black bra she wore underneath. "What the h-"
"It's hot," Suriya cut him off with a smile over her shoulder, "and some of us didn't come here in next to nothing. So, I'm going to cool down."
Grimmjow was transfixed as he watched her start to step away only to bend down and yank at the laces of her combat boots just to kick them off, followed quickly by her socks. His show of her ass ended far too soon for his liking, but her stretch and sigh of relief as she wiggled her toes in the grass was just as glorious. God, but she was beautiful.
Beginning to walk toward the stream in the corner again, Suriya paused to give him another coy look over her shoulder. "You coming?"
Fucking tease. He couldn't even think of a response as she turned toward him, beginning to walk backwards.
"I know you are hot, too."
Yeah, hot and bothered, Grimmjow thought as he watched her turn away again.
"Fine, have it your way," Suriya said lightly with a wave.
What the hell had come over her, she wondered. She had always been adventurous but not like this. There was something about him. Plus, if this was her dream, why couldn't she have what she wanted? If she was stuck here with him, she was going to make the most of it.
She felt oddly strong, like a queen ordering her kingdom, like a goddess determining her path, like a lover that just… wants what she wants.
Foda-se.
Before she was out of viewing range, Suriya undid the top button on her black jeans, shimmying the pair down her hips as she walked, pausing only kick them off her ankles.
Grimmjow had had enough. As long, tanned legs and a small pair of black underwear concealing the most perfect ass he had ever seen entered into his vision, he shot up like a rocket. He sonido'd in front of her of at speeds her eyes couldn't hope to process. From afar she had been a tease but up close she was heart stopping.
Her dark brown hair brushed her shoulder as she cocked her head to look at him without pausing her steps. With a confidence she didn't know she had, Suriya grabbed his hand, smiling back as she pulled him toward the stream only a few yards away.
That look. That goddamn look, Grimmjow realized, was his dream. It was what had been consuming his mind every moment since waking up that morning. He followed willingly, unable to speak again. Even as her backwards gaze turned questioning, he couldn't even muster his trademark grin.
She was so focused on him that she didn't even seem to realize that she had hit the edge of the stream, slipping on the wet rocks. Time slowed down and Grimmjow could see flashes in his mind of broken bones and blood spattered across the pristine rocks. His body reacted without thought. Banding an iron arm around Suriya's waist, he pulled her bodily to him and kept her from falling.
He clearly hadn't though the move through, however, as they were now pressed chest to chest- skin to over-sensitized skin. Her light breath came in soft pants, fanning across the hollow of his throat. Her skin was supple and smooth beneath his fingertips. Her arms had wound instinctively around his neck as righted herself.
He wanted this. He wanted her so badly he could scream, but this was almost too much for him to bear.
"Would you watch where you're fucking going?" he growled. Anger was always a good route. Anger shielded him. It led to predictable outcomes.
"Oh, you're talking to me again?" Suriya asked coyly, twining her fingers in his hair and relishing the shudder he tried and failed to hide.
That… was not predictable. His anger only ratcheted up. "You could have died, Suri!"
Suriya bit back a smile. She didn't know what it was, almost a pressure in her forehead, but she could see through this shield he was putting up so clearly now. She could see the anger for what it was. Fear.
"And I'm Suri now too? Look at you opening up!"
"Goddammit, woman! Do you have no-"
No sense of self preservation was what he was going to say. It really was on the tip of his tongue until she brushed gentle fingers down the exposed bone on his jaw and lit his body on fire in a single touch. His fingers dug into her sides where he held on for dear life as she dragged them back again the other way. She didn't care about the teeth, didn't care about the monster. She was doing it for the fun of it.
Taking advantage of his lapse in ability to function, Suriya stepped lightly from his grasp, wading out into the knee-deep stream. Perching on a wet rock near a small burbling waterfall, Suriya slowly lifted a cupped handful of the clear water to pour over her face. She watched Grimmjow's transfixed gaze follow the drip trails of water as it spilled over her breasts to her lap.
"Have no what?" she asked lightly, dragging his hot eyes back to her face.
Slowly, Grimmjow woke up to the reality of the bathing princess in front of him and a curling, predatory grin spread across his handsome face. "You," he said, emphasizing each work with a step forward into the water, "have no idea what you are doing to me."
The intensity of him was enough to make Suriya quiver in anticipation, and she thanked every god she prayed to that she had worn nice underwear that day. Not that it was doing anything to disguise the wetness that just his heated glances had aroused.
"Actually, I think I know exactly what I'm doing," Suriya replied huskily, biting the edge of her bottom lip before looking up at him through thick lashes. "Is it working?"
Slowly, Grimmjow lowered himself into the water, kneeling in front of Suriya to look up at her. Reaching out with the back of one finger, he caught a drip of water in its tracks before trailing his knuckle up the line of moisture it left behind, up her stomach and over the swell of her breast.
Her little gasp as he dragged his finger gently over collarbone would have brought him to his knees if he weren't already there. Trailing his fingers up across the buzzed section of her hair, he could see goosebumps break out on her skin and her nipples pebble beneath the thin bra.
"It was working long before you took of your clothes," he crooned.
A quick glance at her wanton look, lips parted and eyes hooded, he reached around to pull her to the edge of the rock. Her legs splayed on either side of him and Grimmjow closed the distance between them. The tip of his warm tongue ran lightly up the valley between her breasts before he moved to suckle her nipple through the damp fabric.
Her hands traced his shoulders as he switched to lave the other nipple with affection us well, nibbling gently.
"More."
Suriya's high pitched breathy moan was barely more than a whisper, but it rang in Grimmjow's head.
"Please, Grimmjow."
It was the first time she had said his name despite clearly knowing who he was. Who was he to be so gifted to hear his name pass her lips like that?
"As you wish," he groaned against her soft skin, reaching behind her to unclasp her bra in a fluid motion. He couldn't help the sigh that escaped him as she was revealed to him. Perfectly palm sized breasts and dusky nipples called to be touched just as her lips begged to be kissed. He would happily indulge both.
Pulling her even more flush against him, Grimmjow rolled a nipple between calloused fingers until she gasped. Taking advantage of her open mouth, he wasted no time in pulling her down to him, finally pressing his mouth to her own.
His movements were so tentative at first, giving her every opportunity to stop. His soft lips were insistent against hers before his tongue explored and tasted. She was sweet and light, sunshine and sugar, and utterly fulfilling.
Suriya explored right back, arching into his touch and winding her arms around his neck to keep him close. Gently she cupped his jaws, fingers teasing the edge of a skeletal tooth until he pulled away gasping, his grip on her almost painful, yet ruthlessly restrained.
"You are testing the limits, woman," he growled against the sensitive skin of her throat.
Suriya looked up at him from a haze of lust so strong she was amazed it was coming from her. Sure, she liked sex as much as the next girl… that hated being hit on, assaulted, harassed, and demeaned… this was different. This was an urge to be given as much as was taken. A lover choosing to love. She wanted him so bad she could taste him, could beg.
Instead, she slid a thumb across his swollen lips before kissing him lightly. "Fuck the limits," she whispered in his ear, earning another growl that could leave her panting by vibration alone.
"You're human," Grimmjow managed to choke out as he panted, predicting the worst case of blue balls in the history of ever, "I don't want to hurt you."
Gently, Suriya cupped his jaw to bring him face to face with her.
"Then don't."
"But-"
"I want you, Grimmjow."
He didn't break eye contact as he strained against every need to claim her right on the damn rock. "I'm a monster, Suri."
"Then be my monster," she replied without missing a beat, snapping every last bit of control he had.
With a growl, he stood, scooping her up like she weighed nothing and crashing his lips into hers. Her brightness and his dark melded between them like a brewing storm. Two long strides took them to the wall of their cage where he braced her against it, hips grinding into hers as he looped his thumbs in the hips of her panties, edging them down insistently.
Not to be outdone, Suriya drifted her hands down to the tied waist of his pants, skimming her nails down his sides on the way and feeling him flex deliciously under her fingers. Before she could pull the string however, Grimmjow, broke their kiss with a growl and lifted her up higher with one arm, the other freeing her from the last of what hid her from his view.
Gripping her thighs, he moved her to straddle his shoulders, back still braced against the airy wall. She opened to him like a flower, her weeping slit right in front of his mouth. Exactly where he wanted her. And he was gifted with a high keening moan as he ran his tongue from bottom to top.
"Holy shit," Suriya moaned out. Its was the only words able to come to her addled brain as Grimmjow did wicked things with his tongue that most likely weren't humanly possible. Teeth nipped her clit lightly before his tongue plundered the depths of her, curling up to hit something amazing and impossibly deep. She bit back a scream at its intensity before whimpering as he seemed to purr over the sensitive flesh.
"You told me not to hold back," Grimmjow crooned, kissing his way down the inside of one thigh before working his way back up the other, "you don't get to either."
Suri met his eyes with a nod, breathing deeply before he replaced his whole mouth over her clit, sucking and licking in turn until she squirmed in his arms and finally rewarded him with a loud cry. He smiled against her, nipping her clit as he brought one hand around to tease her entrance.
"Grimm!" she gasped as he toyed with her, barely inserting a thick finger as he traced her lower lips with the tip of his tongue.
Fuck the limits, she said, and he was going to obey. He wasn't going to let up until she came for him. He wanted her spilling down over his tongue to drink her down- the taste of her out shining any soul.
He treated her like the ravenous beast he was, sucking and licking and teasing and flicking until she was shaking in his arms, and moaning his name with every breath. Then, only then, did he finally push a finger fully inside her, curling it up to hit her g spot right as he sucked her clit into his hot mouth again.
She came with a scream that seamed strong enough to shatter the wall, his grip on her hips the only thing still keeping her aloft as pleasure ripped through her body like a tidal wave. Still Grimmjow didn't let up until she slumped over panting, cradling his face in her hands.
Slowly he lowered he back down, palming her ass in a large hand while he swept stray hair from her face. He relished the sated smile she gave him, and he couldn't help but give back one of his own.
"Giving up already?" he asked playfully as she closed her eyes and leaned into his caress.
"I'm not giving up," she replied with a pout, "I'm savoring."
"Savoring?" he questioned with a self-satisfied smile, adjusting his grip so that their hips lined up again. The friction and heat from the core of her rubbing against his sensitive erection nearly froze him in place for a moment.
It did the opposite for Suriya, spurring her on to move and grind for even more of him. "Savoring over," she declared tightening her legs around him, "I want more of you."
"How much?" he asked playfully as he leaned his hips up into her again.
"I want you inside me," she whimpered into his chest, hand drifting to the waist of pants again.
He shivered as her nails dragged delicate trails over his hip. Pulling her tight to him, Grimmjow launched into a sonido. Suriya couldn't even process their speed enough to scream before she was deposited on her own fluffy sweater spread in the grass.
"Scene change?" she asked breathlessly, stretching out languidly to his appreciative gaze. Smiling at the warm grass tickling her legs, her eyes travelled over the well-muscled man leaning over her. His electric blue gaze was intoxicating and she traced her own hands over her curves just to see him rove it over her once more.
"I wanted- I wanted to see you," Grimmjow stuttered in a rare and unexpected moment of vulnerability, "I've been seeing you in my head the whole day."
"What do you mean?" Suriya asked, sitting up to cup his jaw gently.
"I mean you aren't the only one who dreamed last night," he confessed, "It was only a snippet, a glimpse, but it was you. I know it and I felt…"
Grimmjow trailed off, unable to continue. Why the hell was he pouring out his non-soul to this girl who wouldn't understand. She couldn't understand. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to look into those big brown eyes, expecting doubt or awkwardness.
Instead, he was only to see something that looked an awful lot like what he was feeling himself, glowing back at him.
"I felt whole," he finished quietly, "not like- like this."
Suriya watched him gesture to the hole in his abdomen with a compassion and understanding that only a human could embody. He didn't see that he had filled so many blanks in just a few hours that had been written on her heart for years. His antics at the wall had made her laugh harder than she had then even with Pan. He turned her on in ways she didn't even know she could be. His admission both broke and filled her heart at once.
"Hollows are not the only thing that can be empty," she replied to him, earning an odd look.
His brow lost its furrow and shoulders their tenseness.
"Then I guess we have something to fill, huh?" He joked, thumbing the edge of his pants.
The levity did nothing to lessen the silent understanding that passed between them in that moment. She got it. He knew it.
"Yes, we do," Suriya replied huskily, reaching in a flash to pull the damn tie that had been taunting her since she saw him.
Grimmjow gasped right along with her this time as she exposed every painfully glorious inch on him to her probing eyes and hands. Her hands barely circled him as she ran her fingers over the hot length of velvety skin. The low growl the rumbled in his chest was as much an aphrodisiac as the feel of him.
"Suri." Her name was a prayer on his lips, a carnal beseeching.
She gripped him more firmly and arched up to gently brush his lips with her own.
"Suri…" This time it was a growled warning. He wanted so badly he could break. Her touch was almost too much. The taste of her too good to be true.
"Please, Grimmjow," she whispered against his lips, "I need you."
Laying he back down, Grimmjow covered her body with his own, feeling her legs wrap around his hips again. Slowly he pushed into her, stretching her tight- so fucking tight- around him. He was relentless as he closed his lips over hers, pushing until he heard her soft moan when he bottomed out inside of her.
"As you wish," he whispered in her ear.
Nuzzling into the crook of her neck, he breathed deeply of her fresh floral scent, before pulling back out. He traced her curved with reverence as he set a slow but intense pace. He smiled as he felt her legs pulling on him. Her body begged for more even as she arched and moaned pleasure beneath him.
It didn't take long for a firestorm of heat to build with in Suriya. He was able to move so deeply, so surely that the orgasm seemed to sweep up from nowhere until she was about to fall off its edge. He didn't waver, though, as he watched her build up. He knew the more it built, the better it would be for her.
"Look at me."
It was much heartfelt plea as command. It forced Suriya to control her flailing body, dragging her to the teetering knife edge of control again. As her gaze met electric blue, she felt herself finally plunge of the edge of oblivion. Stars seemed to shoot of behind her eyes as she clenched him impossibly tighter until she dissolved into panting beneath him.
Still Grimmjow did not waver his pace. He simply traced her brow gently before cupping her jaw and kissing her slowly and languidly, only to part with a smile.
Suriya could feel herself, oversensitive as she was already building again. Was that even possible?
Grimmjow's wicked grin gave away that it was as he looped an arm behind her knee and pulling her leg to his shoulder. The more she came for him the faster and harder he went until Suriya could barely tell up from down or if they were separate orgasms or just one unending one that she was riding in waves of varying intensity and endless bliss.
Finally, lowering her legs, Grimmjow pulled her up close to him, cradled against his chest as he moved in her. His breathing was labored, his thrusts erratic.
"Suri, I-"
She already knew what he wanted. Holding her limp hands steady in his hair, she met his eyes with a smile born of ecstasy.
All Grimmjow needed was that moment. Those chocolate eyes warmed his soul. He couldn't hold back anymore. He crashed his lips into hers as he came, and she could feel his roar echo through her before it dissolved into an exhausted growl.
They collapsed into each other in a tangle. Suriya didn't think she could move her legs if she wanted to.
"Wow," she whispered toward the blindingly bright skies before turning to look at where Grimmjow had curled beside her.
"That good, huh?" he asked with a sly, proud smile, before lifting Suriya to lay on his chest as if sensing she couldn't do it herself.
"It's that it was you," she replied, propping herself up on her arms to look at him, eyes shining with truth.
Grimmjow raised a hand to gently brush her tousled hair back from her face, touch lingering in a gentle caress on her cheek. "Ain't that the truth," he seemed to muse almost to himself, "I'm kinda hoping we never get to leave this place."
"If you keep saying sweet things like that," She smiled at him as she twined her fingers with his own, "I think I might fall in love with you."
"You're already late to that party, doll," Grimmjow told her seriously, "I loved you the minute you turned to look at me in my dream."
Suriya could do nothing but gape at him. That isn't how it worked. That's not what one does!
But it was her dream. Why couldn't it?
"Say it again," she ordered him softly.
"I'm in love with you, Suri. I was yours before you ever even came here."
The words were like a bombshell They were so full of feeling she wouldn't have thought a hollow could muster that it nearly brought a tear to her eye, and she had to blink them back. She had needed this so badly, she realized, needed him. Needed to feel like a goddess, a friend, a traveler, a queen, a lover. She needed to realize that she didn't just feel these things, but was them.
Is them.
Perching forward on her arms, Suri kissed the man she knew had probably ruined her for all others with all the passion she could muster. Her smile said she didn't care.
And in that heart stopping moment of perfection, the earth shook beneath them and the sound of the wall shattering…
.
.
.
... woke Suriya up with a gasp. She bolted upright, crystals falling from her body as she looked wildly around the room. Her eyes alit on a relaxed looking Ren, reclining on cushions as she read a book, and a very concerned looking Paniz who dropped her crochet on the ground and almost fell as she tried to jump to her feet from the same hand-shaped chair she had been in before.
"I told you she would break my Quartz pillar," Ren said without looking up from her book as she blindly felt around her for a bookmark.
"I'll buy you a new one," Paniz grumbled, tossing a cut yarn end to Ren for her to use before she dropped to her knees beside Suriya.
"Holy balls, dude," she said feeling up Suriya's arms as if for injury, "you were out for hours! Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm…" Suriya trailed off as she realized what was happening, "It wasn't real."
"It was to you," Ren said lightly, "And it was… somewhat real. We sent your whole conciousness…"
Ren trailed off as Suriya looked between the two women in disbelief, silent tears trailing down her cheeks.
"Wait- no- hold on," Suriya stuttered, shrugging of Paniz's hand on her shoulder, "So it was real or it wasn't?"
"Well, um," I was Paniz's turn to trip over words as she shot a desperate glance at Ren, "We don't know."
"What do you mean you sent my consciousness somewhere?" Suriya bit out, voice rising in anger as she finally turned her eyes to trace the chalk outlines and scattered herbs and crystals around her, "You did a spell on me?!"
"Yes," Ren started, "I-"
"Without my consent!" Suriya yelled before Paniz wormed her way into her line of sight.
"I did it-"
"Ha!" Suriya coughed, "Are you trying to tell me that the consummate skeptic worked a fucking spell?!"
"I don't believe in it… didn't," Paniz corrected, "But you do!"
Suriya's glare didn't lessen.
"Look, you wanted adventure and travel and you needed…" Pan paused biting her lip as she thought out her words carefully, "You needed something to fill your soul. You needed… something. So I had a hairbrained idea and went to the only person I thought could make it happen: Ren."
"And you were okay with this," Suriya asked hollowly of Orenda, slowly turning to gaze at her, "Why would you go along with this?"
All it took was a flick of Ren's eyes to Paniz to show her reason. She would do anything for her friend. She would do anything to give Paniz a belief outside of shouldering everything herself.
Suriya acknowledged her with a nod. She could understand that. Slowly she turned back to Paniz to see her friend rifling through the strewn debris of her waking. Suriya's anger fizzled out as she saw Paniz pull her own wedding ring from the flotsam. Suriya knew that it was Paniz's most treasured belonging; her husband the most important person to her in this world and beyond.
"I know I tricked you-"
"The tea!" Suriya exclaimed as realization damned on her.
"Yes. It was to induce lucid dreaming and memory," Paniz explained, "The meditation to induce a trance with holotropic breathing. Even the Fire Agate. I flew Ren to Tuscon months ago to get it to trap your dreamscape and create a safe realm for you to go to."
Paniz turned watery eyes to Suriya, cradling her wedding ring in her hand before slipping it back on her finger. "I wanted you to find joy again in an adventure that only you could have."
"I found it, Pan," Suriya said through freshly flowing tears, "and it was beautiful."
"So you aren't mad at me?" Pan asked hopefully.
"Not really, just… why didn't you tell me?"
"Would have been able relax enough for us to send you to a-whole-nother plane?" Paniz asked honestly, making Suriya smile.
"Probably not," she admitted with a shrug, "but can I- do you think I can ever go back?" Her gaze into nothing was wistful. She wanted to go back. To Him.
"That would be difficult," Ren said, finally making her way over to the pair. She bent down to pick up dark red shards. The Fire Agate lay in pieces in her hand, it's warm glow extinguished. "This was where you went."
Suriya slumped. It was gone. Her haven was reduced to broken pieces and she fought against allowing her heart to follow it. It wasn't just a dream. He really had loved her. She really was a queen. A goddess. A lover.
Head held high, Suriya reached out to pull both women into a hug.
"Thank you." It was all she could say as she stood and straightened her clothing, wiping oil from her brow.
"Hey Suri," Pan called out as she walked to get a broom, pausing infront of Ren's large picture window with a smile, "It's snowing."
.
.
.
My Dear Suri(ya)
When clouds overhang you
And you are feeling down,
When anxiety surrounds you,
When you feel like you may drown,
When your beautiful smile
Is buried by a frown,
Remember who you are,
And straighten your fucking crown.
Love you! -Pan
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Epilogue
Grimmjow woke with a start, shooting up to his feet in a flurry of sand.
Where did it go? Where the fuck did she go?! It couldn't- It couldn't have been just another dream. He could still smell her scent clinging to him. His lips were still warm from their last kiss.
Patting himself down as if to check that he himself was still real, he paused when he hit something hard in his pocket. Reaching in, he pulled out a small smooth stone. Warm to the touch, it seemed to glow with an inner light that bubbled out in shades from darkest red to yellowish green.
He didn't know how, but he knew this was significant. This was his answer.
He reached the palace at Las Noches in record time, bursting through the doors of the throne room so quickly that he barely managed to skid to a stop in from of an alarmed Hallibel.
"Do we- do we have a new science officer yet?" he managed to gasp out in desperation.
"Actually yes," she answered calmly despite the concern shining from her eyes, "They came in while you were gone today. Why?"
Grimmjow held out the still glowing stone. "This."
"And that is…?"
"I don't fucking know," Grimmjow answered honestly, "that's why I need a science-y person."
"Very well," Hallibel said with a nod, "let whatever you give them be their first test."
Grimmjow fisted the stone, giving a little bow before sonido-ing straight back out of the room. He had found his joy and he would be damned if he didn't find his way back to her.