Extra Lessons

[Michael Ellis]

For Your Consideration
.'Cause I'd rather stay here
Pawns: Michael Ellis, Emmer Brighton
.With all the madmen
Status: open, Concluded
.Than perish with the sadmen roaming free
Setting: At a quiet table in the reading area
.And I'd rather play here
Scene: Michael is loaning Emmer some of his history books.
.For I'm quite content they're all as sane as me

He walked into the library slowly. The back of his cape slid against the ground as he stepped across the carpeted floor, swishing slightly. The sound seemed amplified in the otherwise silent chambers. Students sat at tables and chairs, studying or reading for pleasure. Some of them looked up to stare as he passed. Michael just smiled and waived pleasantly. He'd gotten over the staring years ago.

His attire for the day was an English prince. He had tall boots, tight grey leggings, and an embroidered vest. Puffed white sleeves covered his arms and a cloak fell over his shoulders and to the ground. It gathered at the front, draping dramatically across his chest.

Over his shoulder was slung a messenger bag, completely out of context with the rest of his otherwise eccentric and otherworldly attire. He chose a quiet table, still in view of the door, and set his bag on its surface. He grabbed the edges of his cape and flared it behind him dramatically as he sat, making sure he didn't sit on it in the process.

He pulled the chair closer to the table and turned it so that his arm rested on the dark wood, the rest of his body facing away from the table itself. He crossed his legs, placing his ankle on his knee, and pulled out one of the books he'd brought along with him.

He'd told Emmer to meet him here after class. The girl had a very keen interest in history, and he enjoyed teaching her. He had promised to let her borrow a few books, but had forgotten to bring them to class. So, he'd asked her to meet him in the library instead.

Now it was just a matter of waiting. But that was alright with Michael, he'd spent years of his life waiting, and history wasn't going anywhere, after all.

[Emmer Brighton]

Emmer stumbled through the doors of the library, stopping for a moment to right her clothing and gather herself up again. She'd fallen asleep after school and had gotten too caught up in waiting to see if Senka had found her yet before waking up. She looked around and spotted Mr. Ellis sitting at a table off to the side. She smiled and waved, trotting over to the table.

"Hi Mr. Ellis! Sorry Im late. I fell asleep and got a lil' caught up in the Reverie." She blushed, sitting down across from him. "So...what're you today? Wait wait, lemme guess. Uhhh...English prince..." she studied the embroidery on the vest and the sleeves of the shirt. "Uuuuuh Elizabethan era?" She tipped her head slightly. "Yeah, looks about right..." She smiled shyly.

[Michael Ellis]

Michael put down his book and smiled at Emmer as she sat down, readjusting his position to face her across the table. "Yes, well, you're close at least. It's more of a renaissance era. Prince Henry, to be exact." He slid the messenger bag across the table toward the girl.

"Here are the books, as promised, sorry for forgetting them this morning. I must say, I'm rather embarrassed about it. Very scatter brained of me, and what an example to set!"

He sat back against his chair. She'd spoken of the Reverie. Just so offhandedly, as if she had been talking about going to the corner store to pick up milk and eggs. Michael furrowed his brow slightly. One hand sat across his lap, the other held his chin between his index finger and thumb, considering for a moment.

"The Reverie, hm?" Michael smiled. "I hope you don't mind my asking, but what is it like?" He shook his head, smiling, "You don't have to answer, of course. And I would hate to seem rude. I always want to know more about all of it, but never know when to ask or who to ask or what's appropriate."

He slid his thumb against his lip, obviously in contemplation. "I came here to learn more about the place beyond dreams, but it seems I'm not gettin any closer to finding the truth."

[Emmer Brighton]

She grinned and pulled the books across the table. She gazed over the titles, her head jerking up when he asked about the Reverie. "Oh...well..." she bit her bottom lip, sucking on the captive hoop there. "Sorry, Im not used t' talkin' about it with other people. Besides Kou and the scientists I mean." she paused. "Well my Chimera is in the Delusion. I've never been outside of there and neither has she; that she remembers." she paused to think again. "Come t' think of it, neither of us have ever really been very far from the shrine I guard." She shrugged. "Anyway, the part of the Delusion I have been too are like somethin' out of a fairy tale. There are elves and fairies and stuff everywhere and the forest is practically alive..." She smiled, her eyes slightly unfocusing.

"Oh!" she reached down and dug into her bag, coming up with her Dream journal. "Here. I write in this every time I wake up. Whatever I did in the Reverie, I write down in there. I draw my surroundin's and creatures and people I meet and stuff like that." she smiled. "It sort of...serves as a reminder. So that I remember it's real and not just a dream." 'so I don't hurt anyone on purpose again.' she thought. "I have others. Back in my dorm." She hesitated. "If you want I can bring 'em in and you could read 'em. So you could sort of experience the Reverie I guess."

[Michael Ellis]

Michael listened closely, trying to take in what she had to say. It was all very interesting and he wished more than anything to be a part of it. He leaned his elbows on the table, placing his chin in his hands, nodding slightly to what she had to say.

He'd known from the start of classes that Emmer wasn't one for eloquent words, but he'd read a lot of her essays and stories, a lot of her writing. It wasn't that she wasn't good with words, he'd decided, but rather that she was unsure of her own voice.

Michael had been teaching teenagers for years. He'd learned the different types, and the different class of individual. He also knew not to let stereotypes make his decisions for him. Teenagers were still growing, still learning, and still figuring out who they were. He would never judge them for that, just grade their papers.

He blinked and took the book from her, opening it and flicking through the pages, catching a word here and there, looking at the drawings as one transfixed. "These are amazing, Emmer!" It was like looking at the professional work he'd seen in hundreds of history books. He looked up from the book as she mentioned him borrowing them.

"You'd let me read them? Let me see into the world?" He looked at her, awestruck, unbelieving. "You've no idea how much it would mean to me, Emmer." He smiled "This is the book, I've been looking for. In all my life and all my searching and reading of history, you've given me something I've never been able to find. I can't thank you enough, if you'd really let me read them. If you're really willing to allow it."

He was almost shaking with excitement, smiling wider than she had ever seen. "Thank you, so much." He was finally silent, sitting with the book in his hands.

[Emmer Brighton]

Emmer smiled. "Course. Anythin' if it means -someone- who isn' already a Dreamer might understand." she stood up slowly. "Ill go run back to my dorm and get the first couple. That one's not finished yet. I only started it a few weeks ago." she got up and grabbed his books and her bag. "Ill be right back ok? Wait here." She got up and rushed out the door, getting a sharp reprimand from the librarian, though she hardly even slowed her strides. Mr. Ellis had seemed so excited about reading her journals and to be honest, she was excited about him reading them. She was excited to share her world with him.

She skidded into her dorm and nearly ripped her desk apart pulling the journals out. She grabbed the first five and stuffed them into her bag after she emptied it over the bed, carefully setting his books on her nightstand. She needed to hurry and get back but she wanted to make sure she grabbed every book she could.

[Michael Ellis]

Michael smiled at Emmer's excitement. He appreciated not only that she was so willing to share, but so eager. He watched her walk away a moment, then turned back to flipping through the book he'd left her. He actually started reading passages, imagining events and landscapes. He felt absorbed in the world completely, just from the words of the young girl.

Emmer could have been gone for hours and he wouldn't have noticed, just kept reading as he waited. She had said it wasn't finished, but he had a sneaking suspicion it didn't matter if he read the journals in order or not. He glanced up at the door. Students were starting to leave, it was beginning to grow late. The library would stay open several hours more, but Michael was starting to worry slightly. He was unsure of exactly how much time had passed, but it had to be an eternity. After all, he'd gone to a completely different world and back.

He started to feel something strange. An itch in the back of his mind. An idea or thought not fully formed. He scratched the back of his head, as if it could physically be disrupted, then shook his head and closed the journal.

While going into the Reverie was something Michael had craved since the first word he'd heard of it, he feared he would never want to leave it. And while the thought terrified him, it was an exciting sort of fear.

[Emmer Brighton]

Emmer rushed back into the library, gaining another sharp glare from the librarian. She jogged over to the table Micheal was still seated at, setting her armload of journals on the table and then set her bag next to them, sliding out the notebooks inside. "There we go." she chirped brightly. "They're all numbered. I figured if I wanted to go back later I'd need to go through them again Id need to know which ones went in which order." she grinned.

"The first one is pretty non-descriptive until about halfway through. That's when I started realizing that maybe they might help someone someday, you know? Maybe like some kid who doesn't quite get it or something." she sat back down, starting to arrange the books in order. "I wish someone had told me their experiences first. I...hurt some people because I thought it was just a game." she fidgeted, scratching her arm and running her fingers nervous through her hair. "I lost my Chimera an eye too..."

Emmer was silent for a long moment, thinking about the events that had lead up to the loss of her eye. She shook her head, clearing the thoughts. "Sorry. Anyway, I hope they help you or at least give some entertainment." she smiled a little bitterly. "I did a lot of blundering about to begin with."

[Michael Ellis]

He blinked in awe of the massive pile of literature placed before him. Michael wasn't sure he'd done so much research since he wrote his dissertation what felt like centuries ago. Perhaps I'll end up writing something on this. Emmer had certainly given him a wealth of knowledge to start with, and he could only imagine what mysteries she'd untangle for him in the abundant experiences and descriptions that were in these journals.

"Emmer, if I have any questions, you wouldn't mind if I asked you, would you? About anything in the Reverie?" He handed her back the latest journal and sifted through the books until he came across the book labeled with a bright 1. He flipped through it idly.

The books that were finished, marked and sealed gave off such an odd sensation. They felt like living, breathing entities. So much more than just the ramblings of a seventeen year-old girl. It wasn't just that the prose was beautiful and descriptive, seeming to come to life from the page. No. It was more than that. It was...

He thought he heard a voice. Something whispering in the back of his mind. Was that his name? Whispering... It seemed like the harder he tried to listen, the more difficult it seemed to be to hear it. His brow furrowed in concentration, his eyes obviously staring at nothing.

He shook his head, pulling himself back from the teetering edge of his own thoughts. Michael cleared his throat and blinked, his eyes feeling dry and as though they hadn't had moisture in far too long.

"Emmer. Is your Chimera a different entity? A different... personality as it were. Or do you share the same thoughts and the same being?" He wasn't sure exactly how to ask the question. Or why he had the urge to ask it. He blinked again and started to put the journals into his own bag while waiting for Emmer's response. Perhaps it would be best if he read more of them later.

[Emmer Brighton]

"Well, she's...." Emmer frowned and tapped her bottom lip thoughtfully. "How do I explain this....You know that little voice in the back of your head that tells you that the thing you're about to do is incredibly stupid? The one we all ignore anyway? It's kind of like that. Only instead of tellin' you what you're doing wrong it tells you other thin's..." she paused. "I guess it can tell you what you're doin' is wrong too. Anyway, for me Coatl feels like she's always at the back of my mind. It took me ages to figure out how to concentrate on here rather than on what she has to say." She laughed.

"But we are essentially the same person...er, panther...panson?" Emmer shook her head, getting off her tangent. "Anyways, we're the same. She's me and Im her. We act the same, although she's a lil more reserved than I am, but she was kinda raised like that, guardin' the shrine an' stuff." she gestured towards the journals. "I talk about it in there some where. I think I did a better job describin' it there than anywhere."

[Michael Ellis]

He listened intently, nodding as she explained. He allowed the conversation to pause, allowed his thoughts to sink in. Then glanced at his watch. He could have sworn it had to be telling lies. He couldn't possibly have been here talking to her for so long? Michael sighed and stood, lifting his bag with him.

"Thank you Emmer, very much. I can't begin to express to you how much these mean to me, really truly." He indicated the messenger bag of journals as he slung it over his shoulder. "And, as much as I'd like to stay and chat, I really ought to be off, back to my room. We should talk more often. It's really quite enlightening."

He smiled and headed toward the door, nodding at the remaining students and heading down the hall. He had a lot of things on his mind now. And many things to sort out. He had too much to think about. Far too much.