Author's Note: This short story is a dream I had. It's mostly symbolic and potentially hard to follow, but leave feeback on it if you have trouble understanding or just have something to say about it.

Asylum

He awoke in the morning and manifested his armor in preparation for the day ahead. Just when he was about to command his shelter to dissipate so he could more effectively interact with others, he caught a whiff of an alluring scent. He looked out the window of his shelter and saw what appeared to be someone else's shelter. It had moved very near him, so he commanded his shelter to dissolve so he could further investigate. Her dark structure stood before him, partially shrouded in a thin mist. The mist was warm and enticing, nothing like what he would expect from such a formidable shelter. It's very presence was intimidating, and he knew there were few who would be brave (or foolish) enough to explore its contents. As he approached, he could see there was definitely some odd activity inside, though he only got glimpses from the wide-open windows and doors. Dissonant voices and haunting strains of music echoed from every direction to seem to warn him away. Rarely had he seen such a challenge, so he decided to look into it. Once he entered, his feet became stuck fast and his skin began to tingle and burn. Inside, it was a maze of stairs, doorways, ramps, and slides. He saw her large, shapeless mass off in a far corner. Her surface was constantly shifting; it's color and texture rarely the same. From time to time, she glowed softly, shot out beams of blinding light, or became so dark that she seemed to absorb all light. Where she touched the wall and floor, he could see tiny tendrils branching off, flowing into the building as veins. He then realized the veins flowed throughout the whole structure and had come up through the floor and entered his body. Shaking, he struggled to lift his feet and pull away, but the veins remained connected as he managed to shuffle toward the mass in the corner. He felt her squirming beneath his skin and knew a part of her would always be inside him, whether he left then or continued to navigate her maze and get closer. She sensed his approach and her surface reacted, erupting in a coat of barbed spikes. Carefully he reached between the spikes to touch her. Contrary to the visual impressions he had received from her so far, she felt kind and inviting, much like the feeling he got from the mist. He began to caress her surface and the feeling amplified. The barbs became smooth tentacles that surrounded him and pulled him into the mass, into her world. He saw her there, in her armor, sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her armor was scant in some areas, but heavy in others, and altogether very unconventional compared to normal armor. Wires uncoiled from her armored arm and reached for him. He stool still as they snaked across his armor, then squirmed through the cracks in it to touch his true form. The burning sensation was replaced with a sense of satisfaction unlike any he'd ever experienced. As she caressed him, he looked closely at her and saw that she was blind, her milky blue eyes staring off into oblivion. Where he could see her pale skin, he saw scars from previous encounters with the outside world. He reached his hand out to her, but she recoiled, retracting her wires as she expelled him. He emerged in his own shelter feeling shaken but complete, as if he had found a part of himself that he never knew was missing. He was no longer frightened by her mysterious presence, but awed by her strange beauty. Never before had he encountered a being so thoroughly integrated into her own shelter that it had become part of her. She had let it consume her in order to protect her in a way that her armor never could. He wondered if she had locked herself away in her own world for so long that she was truly blind to any affection directed toward her. Perhaps she had never truly felt any love at all. Could it be that the scars she bore were from times she had opened herself up to receive love, only to received lashings of rejection? What could have damaged her so deeply that she would go to such lengths to shut out the world? Was the effort of moving close to him her way of trying to find someone to help bring her around? Out of curiosity, he left his shelter, wanting to enter her world again, but her structure was no longer near him. Once he found her again, he entered, believing he knew the way since he'd been before; however, the maze had shifted. It was easier to find the way that time since the veins beneath his skin burned only when he took an incorrect path. Her barbs still formed at his approach, but she more readily pulled him inside when he reached between them to touch her. Again she probed him with her wires as he looked upon her, wishing to reach out to her and show her some sort of tenderness. An idea struck him; he put his hands together and dismissed the armor that protected his arms. Her head cocked to the side and her blind eyes blinked, sending two milky tears down her blushing cheeks. The music she emitted sounded slightly less discordant and the pleasing feeling she had given him before returned, yet seemed to be more specialized to his nerves this time. Again, he reached out to her. She flinched, recoiling her wires, but did not expel him. Her jester's cap faded to reveal waves of hair that flowed like a deep blue river out in all directions. He stepped forward, longing to run his fingers through it. She cringed and her locks struck out, banishing him again. Despite her unwillingness and the constant pain he endured from trying, he was determined to reach her. Several times he found her shelter, navigated her maze, approached and was drawn into her world. Each time he revealed more of himself, and he was brought closer to a feeling of symmetry as she revealed more of herself. The chords he heard from her sounded nearly in tune with his own now and their bodies were nearly bare as they stood before each other. Yet her eyes still did not seem to see him, and every time he reached for her, he was dismissed from her presence. How could she still not know his intentions were pure and his love for her genuine? He realized it was not enough for him to want her and be willing to come to her. He had to make her come to him. He could already tell she wanted to be with him, he just had to get her to want to break down the walls of her shelter. One last time, he found her in her new location, this time easily discovered. Instead of entering her shelter, he stood just outside the door, looking in. He heard her structure creaking, straining in anticipation of his entry. He closed his eyes and bowed his head as his own structure materialized behind him. He stepped backward into it, beckoning with his hands. Her shelter shuddered and seemed to melt down as it flowed over and into itself. He smiled as her shelter liquefied and shrank down to a gleaming crimson gem set in her forehead. Standing before him in her armor, she opened her eyes, fiery red and full of wonder. Again, he motioned for her to enter, stepping further inside. She moved up to the doorway and entered, her armor vanishing as she did. He held his arms out to her as his armor dissipated as well. Reluctantly she stepped up to him, still clinging to a shred of disbelief that anyone in this cruel world would actually go through so much trouble just for her. That doubt was washed away as they embraced. The sound of their union sang out, and all around them, everyone heard the rare music of a perfect harmony.