After about half an hour of near-complete lack of progress, Naomi sank to the floor, and sat with her back leaning against a wall. Blake appeared from around a corner, and slowly sat down beside her. Gavin continued poking around in the distance.
     Naomi sighed deeply, almost sadly. Blake looked over to her troubled face.
     "What's wrong?" Blake asked quietly.
     "Nothing," Naomi replied quickly, almost harshly. After a moment, she added, "Well, besides the fact that we're on a strange planet, lost in some giant building, trying to accomplish the impossible..." She forced a grin, but it was so entirely fake that Blake immediately saw through it.
     "Is that it, though?" he asked, somewhat concerned, but he asked it lightly, in case that that was all.
     Naomi sighed again, more agitated now. "It's just... well... I don't know!"
     Blake looked a little taken aback - something was up, and he wasn't sure that he really wanted to hear it - he liked staying happy, unconcerned about problems...but wait, what had he learned from Dirand..?
     "Blake, I... I don't know. Just with everything that's been happening, and... I always thought I loved you, I mean, I wasn't sure it was like a romantic love, but I thought there was something there, but... then, after a while, it was like, I wasn't sure I wasn't just making myself think that, you know? It's like, I'd had a crush on you for so long, and I don't know if it's just that my mind got so used to the idea, I just automatically thought of you that way, and got jealous when you spent time with other girls, even just talking to them... but I don't know if my heart was in it, or if it was just my mind out of habit. And then, the Applebus, well... it's not like I've had a lot of selection, y'know? You always find someone to crush on in whatever place you're in, and most of the other guys here were taken, or are now, and between that and my feelings before, I've figured I'm in love with you. But what if there's someone better for me out there? What if..." She broke off, uncertain of where to go now, she hadn't entirely meant to say so much... "Blake... I don't know," she finished lamely. "I just... need time to think."
     "About Reûic?" he asked hesitantly after a slight pause, knowing that the encounter still troubled her.
     Naomi, in her current state of emotional turmoil, heard the words more than the tone, and mis-interpreted, placing it more along her current lines of thought. "Why, you jealous or something? Jealous that he was braver than you?" She had sprung up to stand, glaring at Blake as he stood up as well; she was getting worked up now, her voice sharper and louder and accusatory. "Why, is that what you think I'm thinking of?? Having dirty dirty sex with a demon?!?!"
     Replying did not even occur to Blake at this point - he'd never seen Naomi so upset... and wasn't sure where she was coming from on all this now.
     "Afraid I might've been happier with him?? Afraid I think he's better than you?? Maybe I do, I don't know! My body was a hell of a lot happier, I know that much!"
     Silence. A part of Naomi not quite believing she'd just said that (and to Blake, no less!), and Blake... well.. a little in shock, maybe?
     Noting Blake's continued silence, Naomi's anger resurged. "Didn't you have fun with Ráspia??" The words shot out like daggers, the name spat out with venom.
     "I... I... Naomi, I..."
     Naomi disappeared.
     Blake sat in stunned silence, then came the closest he ever had to swearing outloud.
     
     Naomi didn't notice that she'd even disappeared. Her anger clouded her mind, and she passed off the sound of a voice - Remember who you are, and your beliefs, morals. Inhibitions are often present for a good reason. - as a mental blip, just random phrases wandering through her mind. She stormed off down a corridor, not even caring where she went, just as long as it was away from Blake... had anyone asked, she couldn't have even given a reason she was so angry with Blake, she just was... though deep down, she knew she was really just frustrated with herself, her inability to know her own mind, and just pinned the blame on him.
     After walking for awhile, she began to calm down, and wonder where she was. Just then, she saw someone appear around a corner ahead. She instinctively looked for somewhere to hide, but there was nowhere, and all she could do was stand there helpless. The person noticed her, didn't appear startled at all, just smoothly walked toward the frozen Naomi.
     "It's alright," he said as he approached. "I won't bite." His voice was honey-smooth, with a trace of some pleasant accent, warm and...well...rather sexy.
     Naomi remained silent, her eyes taking in the gorgeous man before her. His hair was easily the first thing anyone would notice, was the first thing Naomi had, even from a distance. Some hung low before his eyes, then tapered longer away from his face, down to his shoulder-blades in the back. The colour stood out even more than the length, however - at the top, it was blue, a medium-bright blue that grew lighter in shade, though not intensity, as it went downward, until a few inches from the ends, where it made an abrupt transition into a vivid yellow-orange, which quickly became orange. His eyes were a strange dark red, red-violet markings (Naomi couldn't tell if they were make-up or tattoos) extending the corners out further, leading to an almost Oriental look. Two golden hoops hung from his left ear. Naomi saw his lips, full and almost soft-looking... and they were coming closer.
(bigger)      The mysterious man kissed her long and well, and when they pulled apart for breath, Naomi thought that she'd been right to leave Blake - here it was, not ten minutes later, and an incredible-looking guy had just kissed her! (And kissed her much better than Blake ever had.) She looked into his deep eyes, somehow not particularly perturbed by the fact that she'd never seen this man until about five minutes ago. He took a step back, and she was able to get a good look at the rest of him. He appeared to be about her own age, maybe a year or so older. He was wearing a very low-cut, loose sleeveless shirt, the same red- violet of the marks by his eyes, of some unidentifiable fabric that was rather like silk, but translucent. It showed off his decently muscular arms - not like wrestler-arms, but.. like drummer arms, Naomi thought pleasantly. His pants were a motley of warm browns, a more velvety texture, and belled out slightly at the bottom over his boots.
     "Well, I won't bite hard," he added, and kissed her again, deeper...his tongue gently sliding into her mouth...taking her lip softly in his teeth when he began to pull back.
     "C'mon," he said pleasantly when they moved apart again. He turned to walk down the corridor in the direction he had come, offering a hand to Naomi.
     "Where are we going?" Naomi asked, slightly hesitant.
     The boy shrugged. "For a walk... why, is there someplace you need to be?"
     She shook her head. "No," she replied, taking his hand.
     
     "Wow..." Naomi breathed in awe. "This's all yours?"
     Her companion shrugged, somewhat shy. "Yeah... a lot of it isn't very good..." He ducked his head and rubbed his neck, then glanced up to see her reaction.
     "Are you kidding me? This's awesome!" Naomi gushed, walking along each wall, in complete admiration of the mural-like paintings that covered them. The colours and details were hyper-real, more vibrant than real life. There were scenes of Roman-esque statuary and people in lush gardens; Indian-like intricate patterns that blended into harem-opulance; psychadelic patterns; designs that seemed surreal at first glance, though Naomi was certain they meant something personal to the artist; pretty-boys in makeup and glitter, kissing; landscapes of a paradise; fantasies of unicorns and dragons and faerie- angels...
     "Well, I myself am deeply jealous," Naomi said at last. "You're awesome."
     "Thanks..." the boy said, blushing slightly. "Though... I wish I could paint something as beautiful as you."
     Now it was Naomi's turn to blush. After a moment of silence, she moved over to the bed and sat down on the edge. [Note: not The Edge, the edge of the bed. *g*] "So... what is your name?"
     The boy-man sat next to her. "Whatever you want it to be," he said with a smile, caressing the side of her face. Naomi still hadn't been able to place his accent - it had the softness of Scottish and Irish, but with others mixed in somehow...
     "Whatever I want it to be?"
     "Sure."
     "What if I said... Sara?" Naomi asked with a mischivious grin.
     "Then so be it," he said, returning the twinkle in her eye with one of his own. "Even though I have kind of..annoyed-connotations with the name..."
     "Labyrinth? The movie?" Naomi asked quickly.
     "Yeah! You've seen it too?"
     "Yeah! I was a little wary at first, 'cos of David Bowie being in it - this was before I got to like him at all - but then... I dunno, I saw him, the hair, the outfit, the make-up, yeah.. an' decided it was alright." She grinned.
     "Yeah, I know what you mean... so you're not going to name me Sara, are you? She annoyed me."
     Naomi laughed. "No, I wouldn't - she bugged me too." She sat in thought for a moment, scrutinizing his face. "Hmmm... I think you're a Rai."
     "Rai? I like it... isn't that from a book?"
     "Yeah, actually, I got it from The Ground Beneath Her Feet, by Salman Rushdie?"
     "I remember it now, that was a good book."
     "Yeah, it was..."
     "So... may I call you Vina Apsara?" he asked, leaning down to kiss her again.
[For those who haven't read it, Vina's also a main character in Ground... Rai is the narrator, he's been in love with Vina his whole life, but can never really have her, first 'cos he's too young, then 'cos her "true love" is this other guy, Ormus; she still, ah, comes to him, though, from time to time, thus earning the book its waaay beyond 'G' rating..]
     
     Sometime later, Naomi awoke, her head on Rai's chest, their arms around each other. They'd fallen asleep together in their clothes, after just talking and listening to music for hours... Her stomach was growling. As she moved to get up, Rai awoke as well.
     "Hungry?" he asked her, putting a hand to her back, helping her to sit up.
     Naomi yawned and stretched. "Mmm... yeah."
     He motioned for her to remain where she was, as he left the room. Naomi sat, still half-asleep, taking her time to slowly wake up. She had no idea what time it was - she'd left her watch at the Applebus-home, seeing as it was pretty much useless when they were out on different worlds or universes or whatever. Not that she cared... She didn't really have to go back to the Applebus crew just yet, did she? There wasn't much she could do to help find Neo or anything, and she didn't want to see Blake again just yet, or explain things to anyone... besides, they had just been brought here, it stood to reason that when they left, they would all just be sucked away together, there wasn't any way she could just get left here...
     Rai walked in with what Naomi decided was breakfast - chocolate chip pancakes (her favourite), bacon, and orange juice - enough for both of them.
     
     After breakfast, they sat down in the living room. Rai put on some music he said he wanted Naomi to hear, he thought she might like it... and she did. It was partly like '60s psychadelic music, sitar and guitars imitating sitar, and massive tribal drumming, but with a bigger, fuller sound to it, orchestral-rock like Rush, but trippy as.. she couldn't think of a band, but, hippy music.
     And then, something inexplicable began happening to her. The colours in the warmly-lit room began to jump out at her, even more hyper-real than before...she was there, but she wasn't there...she was disconnected from herself, but connected with everything, including herself, but differently than ever before...she felt her mind being pulled, no, not quite pulled, more like the constraint of her skull had been removed, and her mind stretched out over the entire universe...
     "RAI!!!"
     "What is it? Naomi, what's wrong?" Concern lept into his warm eyes as he gazed into her shock-widened ones of now-bright blue.
     "I, I don't know! Rai, what's happening?! I'm not here, I've left myself, I'll be lost forever, I can't come back in, inside my own head! Rai!"
     "Ssshhhh, sshhh...." he comforted her gently, pulling her close, one arm around her back, the other around her head, pulling it close to his chest, kissing her hair.. "It's alright, trust me. You'll be fine, believe me, trust me, it's okay, it's more than okay... you're truly alive, now."
     His gentle accent soothed her near-hysteria, and her still- frightened eyes stared into his face. "Huh?" [Brilliant statement, eh? *g*]
     "It won't hurt you, it'll help. This is the way life is supposed to be... you've talked yourself, about how much society ties you down, works its arse off trying to repress imagination and creativity? Well, it works better than you thought, you were more under its control and constraint than you knew. This...what I fed you this morning in your food...it brings out senses that you didn't even know you had. I think you suspected they were there, you've been strong enough to tear down some of the walls they'd built around you, but now.. you're truly free. Naomi..." He pulled her still closer, his body pressed against hers, they could feel each other's breath quickening, he rubbed his cheek against hers, kissing her... "..you can be anything, anyone you want to be now..." He pulled back just enough to be able to gaze into her eyes, which were calmer now, shades of blue shimmering like a pool as her body warmed to his. They kept a steady, deep exchange of souls through their eyes for a moment, then Naomi kissed him, leaning into him, her tongue almost immediately sliding into his mouth as they fell back onto the floor...
(bigger)..aaand the Rai desktop pic! (yes, Ananda needs a life!)
     
     All sense of time began sliding away in a slipstream of drug- induced dreamery and music and anarchist-independent-nonconformist-rebel-talk and sight and smell and touch; Naomi could not have told the difference between days and minutes. She had managed to somewhat reconcile with these "new senses" Rai had brought her, she was able to stay grounded in herself, in her body, but would wander off unless she deliberately took care not to, or Rai's touch pulled her back. She sat in wonder at the new thoughts that wandered into her mind, the gorgeous paintings that covered all the walls of Rai's apartment and what she saw in them, around them, hiding behind or jumping out of them. They played music for each other - Rai had everything Naomi had had at home, everything she had ever heard, as well as enough new stuff to keep her entertained for a long time to come. He had several instruments lying around, a drumkit and flute, among others. Rai told her of his dreams and plans and desires, of saving the world, tearing down society, freeing it from its self-made constraints and unneccesary frivolities and airs, helping people find life again, bringing life back into music, somehow gaining a position where he could help people, not keep money for himself but use it to help others, who needs a big-screen television and $200 pants?...
     Wow... Naomi thought. He's just like me... same interests, same loves, same dreams, heck, I think he loves U2 and the Monkees as much as I do! He doesn't laugh at my liking David Bowie, he thinks face paint/make-up's fun too... He's an awesome drummer, he loves my flute playing... He understands everything I'm into, everything I think, he can follow, he has so many of the same opinions and thoughts, from music to art to love to daydreams to, well, wet dreams and other things...he's got a gorgeous voice, singing and otherwise...and damn, can he kiss!!!
     Why did I keep on with Blake for so long? I should've known there was someone more like me out there...
     Her chain of thought was broken by Rai's re-entry into the room. "Hey babe," he said, coming close, standing directly in front of her, his face not an inch from hers, his eyes locked on hers. "Why'd the music stop?" he asked, mock-accusatory.
     "I was thinking."
     "No."
     "Shut up. I was too... I do, occasionally, y'know... but maybe you wouldn't know, 'cos though I may only think occasionally, that's still more than you do." She was in full teasing-mode now, her eyes sparkling from more than the glitter that surrounded them.
     "Oo, you got me, stabbed me right through me 'eart." He scrunched his eyes in pseudo-agony. Naomi giggled. "But," he added, opening his eyes and gazing back at her, desire growing apparent in them. "Why think, when you can feel?" He kissed her deeply, their bodies seeming to melt together...
     "What were you thinking about, anyway?" Rai asked several minutes? later, his arms still tight around her, not yet finished.
     "About how obnoxiously persistantly nosy you can be."
     "Thou doest pierce my very soul with thy razor-sharp tongue, m'lady." He kissed her. "C'mon, what were you thinking about that you're so evasive now?" He kissed her again, slightly longer.
     Naomi slowly drew back. "About you. About how much we're alike, how much more I have in common with you than I did with Blake... about how much happier I think I could be with you."
     Rai looked almost ridiculously pleased with this. "Really?"
     "Yes, y'bleedin' eejit!" She laughed, gave a peck-kiss to his lips. "I wonder sometimes if you're as dense as he is?"
     Rai smiled more softly, his eyes shining. "I try not to be... I love you." He decided this was a good time to finish what'd been started, kissing her so deeply, she hadn't even time to respond before he was on her, pulling her so close...so close...hardly any part of their bodies seperate now...hands moving down and around, caressing, searching- exploring-discovering...his kisses wandering down as well, growing tougher, longer, involving more than just his lips...hands ignoring the constraints of clothing now, somewhere in some small still-thinking part of Naomi's mind she was glad that she had been able to make herself thinner and her figure nicer (though she'd never been dissatisfied with it before)...Rai not doing it all, she did her share too...she couldn't believe how wonderfully perfect his body was...his hair was so soft and beautiful...his arms and chest just right...lower Rai, lower...he slid his body lower down hers...kissing her neck and lower, lower...he moved her hand down lower, lower, to where he wanted it...she really did love leather pants...she could feel the warmth and pressure growing against her palm...his lips and hands hit a particuarly pleasurable combination, a gasp of pleasure escaping her, her hand suddenly grasping, a gasp of pleasure escaping him as well...oh Rai, closer, closer, I don't want any part of me not against him now, not pressed against him becoming part of him, damn these breasts they just get in the way, I wish I was a guy, I could be right up against him...
     Then Naomi was. Flat up against him, her? chest pressed to his, nothing to "get in the way"...they could feel each others hearts beating...Naomi felt a pleasure in a new place...Rai didn't miss a beat, his hands moved...his pelvis began to move, swaying, rubbing, pressing against hers...
     Somewhere in her mind, something cried out in protest... Who are you now? Naomi ignored it, body still locked in movement with Rai's. You're not yourself anymore. .. Yes I am! My thoughts are still mine, I'm still in control! Control, control, something she was having a harder and harder time holding over her body... How can you be you? You've changed who you are, you've let drugs and a demon take control, you've even changed your physical appearance! .. So what, I look different? It's what's inside that counts!...oo, inside... She was having trouble maintaining her deviant arguement, being considerably distracted by outside occurances... You've always refused make-up, saying that God created your face, He must be happy with it, and what was good enough for God should be good enough for man? And this is not just your face, but your whole body! .. ...my whole body... .. You've given in to what you know is wrong, you're letting your self slip away, you who have always prized your uniqueness, your individuality, who you are, or, at least, were You're no longer thinking for yourself, just blindly following another, this creature you should have run from at first sight...
     Naomi tried to pull away from Rai, back off just a little at least, but he held her tighter, his hands on her upper and lower back, forcing her up against him, not letting her get away at all...
     "No, Rai...!" Naomi resumed her normal physical appearance. He wouldn't let her go. "Rai..." She began struggling to get away, and he finally, grudgingly, let her go.
     "What's wrong, Naomi?" he asked, a combination of annoyance, confusion, and concern.
     "Rai... I can't... no. This is wrong, it's all wrong..."
     "What do you mean, what's wrong? Naomi, I love you, you know that, you were fine a minute ago..."
     "Rai, I was a guy a minute ago!!! Doesn't that strike you as wrong?!"
     "That's what you wanted," he said softly. "That's who you wanted to be. Remember, I told you, you're now freed from all constraints, you can be anyone you want to be."
     "But I'm not free of my conscience, Rai. And I don't want to be free from who I am, which is what's been happening..." She trailed off as she caught the song that had just come on the stereo, and sang along: "'If you think we're gonna make it, you better hang on to yourself', that's one of the things I've always liked about myself, is that I can stay true to who I am..."
     "But you're still you, Naomi, just with a greater ability to express that."
     Naomi shook her head. "No... it's... this isn't me, Rai. You're not me, I know that now... my morals, my beliefs, are too deeply ingrained, and they're totally against this. The drugs - I don't care what you say, that's what they are, I see that now. And those are wrong, Rai, screwing with your mind and your body like that... And then where things were headed just a minute ago, when I...changed...and that didn't bug you and 'cos of you I let, hell, I made it happen and it was wrong, Rai, it's in the Bible, it's wrong..and speaking of the Bible, I've not seen one in here at all, despite the fact that I thought you were identical to me ..I may still be fighting some of that other stuff, that area's still a little uncertain for me, but me being a guy..and you..and..no, I *know* it's not right!! ....And I love Blake. I don't even know if anything romantic will ever grow between us, it might, it might not, but I still love him and want to be with him. Same with the rest of the Applebus crew, I can't just keep staying here and forgetting them. I'm sorry, but..."
     Just then, the image of Rai melted away into a dense, dark cloud... and re-materialized as Reûic.
     Naomi gasped.
     "Yes, Naomi, it's me," Reûic said, his voice low. "What does one say in a situation like this? I was the one granting your dreams, your wishes. You truly see what power I have over you... I can make you forget everything, alter your reality, change you into anything, do anything I want to you, with you... I am the three-l lllama, I have powers beyond human comprehension... and you have nothing to stop me from what I want, Naomi, nothing... and on top of that, I can make you want it."
     "No, you can't."
     Reûic looked at her in shock, then in condescending amusement. "You poor child... the drug must have damaged you worse than I had planned, I should have controlled its effects closer..."
     "No," Naomi repeated. "It's not the drugs. Haven't you noticed, you've tried this twice now, and each time, I've snapped out of it, woken up, resisted you? You haven't complete control, some corner of me always stays free, my music and my conscience and my God keep me from losing track of myself. So I'm afraid I've disproved your belief in your complete power."
     Reûic didn't say anything. He just stepped closer, began kissing her, taking her body as he chose... but Naomi just stood there, not giving anything back, unable to completely hold her body back from reaction, but coming pretty darn close. After a minute he gave up, pulling back abruptly and in disgust. Flame lept back into his eyes, and a canvas by the wall suddenly caught fire. Naomi gasped, and looked for the door... but Reûic stood in her way.
     "Naomi," he said, commanding but breathily. His eyes were on fire now, in a strange combination of anger and desire. "I chose you, don't you see? You. Not any of the others, but you. I can give you anything, anything in the whole universe and beyond. You're unique. I want *you*."
     "No," Naomi replied quietly. "Yes, I am unique, or at least, I choose to believe so, but.. you don't want me the right way. You want me to prove you can conquer me, or just to keep me away from the rest of the Applebus, I don't know why, but..."
     A look of almost fear? flickered across his eyes, but it passed in a fraction of a second. "Naomi... your destiny is here, with me. Everything tells me so.. don't you feel anything?" he asked, Rai's accent sneaking back in as he caressed her face.
     Naomi looked up at him. "If it is my destiny, nothing can keep me away, I won't be able to leave. But..." she pulled back. "I can leave. God can't have meant for me to be eternally lost in this dream-world of yours."
     "How do you know I'm not God?"
     Naomi's eyes widened in shock and anger. "'Cos you're not!!! You're a demon, Lucifer, you're Chamcha's transformation, you're MacPhisto, the devil in guise of a rock star, you're... *no*! You know you're not, I know you can't be, so don't even try it!"
     Reûic almost looked hurt. "You feel nothing at all for me, then? I'm just some nightmare come to haunt you?"
     "You're a sexy nightmare, I'll give you that, a wet dream come to life, but just that, a dream, trying to keep me from waking up back into reality. My body feels, but it can't help it, it's an automatic-reaction-thing, would do the same with almost any guy, I think... I almost felt a bit sorry for you just now, but..." She thought of Gavin, of what he had been put through by this demon-in-man-form, what had been done to him, what the poor innocent boy had suffered... and thus steeled herself against anything Reûic might say.
     He was silent for a moment. "Naomi... I'm a dream that will never go away. That longing for something that never goes away. Those nights you wish for something more... that will all be me. Your demon-lover will never leave you." He gave her one last long, deep kiss, and a look designed to haunt night-dreams for years to come.
     But Naomi kept her eyes and body cool. "So you assume." She walked past Reûic and out the door.
     
     It was close, Naomi... but you succeeded.
     
     I knew they were strong.
     Yes, but Reûic almost had Naomi. My side is stronger than you think. It doesn't take long before the teenage body can override the teenage brain.
     But I don't think Reûic will have the same power over her anymore. It may be difficult at times still, but she's realised it's wrong.. and has overcome her doubts where her friends are concerned.
     So you assume.
     No... so I know.
     
     Meanwhile, the alotted hour had ended. A worried Blake sent Gavin back to the meeting place to check in with the rest of the group, while he remained at the spot where Naomi had disappeared.
     Gavin found the others already waiting for them, having returned early after acertaining the whereabouts of Neo's room. They hadn't gone in yet, having decided to wait to meet with the others first. Gavin told them that Naomi'd disappeared, presumably for her test, and the group hurried back to where Gavin had left Blake...      They arrived just as Naomi suddenly came into view, as if stepping out through an invisible doorway. She immediately fell, to be caught in Blake's arms. Blake laid her gently on the floor, and a few moments later, her azure eyes fluttered open.
     "Blake..." she whispered, reaching up to caress the side of his face with her hand.
     Blake smiled. "Shh... rest for a bit, if you think you need to, I'm not going anywhere.." He took her hand in his. "I'm glad you're back safe.."
     "Me, too.." Naomi's eyes suddenly darkened with the memory of what had happened..a sense of triumph, but tinged with..regret? She tried to banish the thought, concentrating on Blake's relieved face...those beautiful ice-blue eyes...
     Naomi's eyes closed again, as she fell asleep.
     "Don't tell me she's gone narcoleptic again..!" Ananda sighed.