Chapter 3

Belle, came back

eyes still closed, trying to hold on to a lovely dream.

Poppy was cuddling me, singing, soothing.

Filling my head with song.

Touching Belle, making me say embarrassing things..

the dim light of night, the warmth of a tent in the spring sun.

Belle finally opened her eyes, she was in a tent..

Some sort of tent made of wrapped vines.

Stroking the floor beneath her, warm
Heatedd

Comffyy

Soff

Stroking the ground, feeling really really good

all ripply and ropey, really stimmy.

Oh hello Darling

The plant around her projected

Her voice was emenating through all reality.

Belle was not just hearing reality as if in a physical realm,

The perfection of sound having no volume

No gap between thought and sensation.

Hello?

Good girl.         belle felt good in her feelings in her body temperature?

Sensation? pleased

Her head tilted.

She lifted her right hand 

touching a sphere of blue

The light penetrated through her fingers, a sensation of sensation.

Seeing the anatomical structure of her fingers, bones, joints and muscles. All in colour. Watching life flow through her veins.

Belle used to draw pictures of anatomy a bit

But she’d only ever drawn one anatomical hand.

The light that was belle’s element was the light of knowledge.

Light of permeable, solid light. Glowing hues
Colours/

The power of the light started to fade, dropping, dropping down 

The technicolour magic faded from her sight.

belle, her element is illusion.

She knows very little.

What there is but sensation?

What does she know?

What can she know for certain?

What is there?

belle fell head oer sideways

Images flashed through her mind with the vibrancy of neon colours,

gods of light

hiding in the formation of visual noise what can she say for certain?

Gosh, what can she say for certain about her mind, when 

there are moving wave patterns

Belle, walking through the garden of her mind, the Garden of Poppy’s

sitting

Where am I?
you are here, with Me, in My garden.

If you think you can control me, you should know that my me is the ability to perceive sensations,

That is the only fundamentally inalterable aspect of myself

but it is no thing to pin one’s identity on, because fundamentally that is what all sentient beings base their experience on.

the ability to perceive 

I wonder if the ability to perceive, the ability to have sensations, pain and pleasure responses.

seeking neither. avoiding neither.

they arise, they fade.

they breathe in, belle doesn’t feel ready for controlled breathing, that may be a little intense for know.

laying there, in her body, from whence she started.

What is this place?

It is a realm of dreams, the Affini answered. 

In my land.

I’m here?
Yes you are darling.

Can I clip out of bounds?

Poppy wrinkles her eyebrows and twinkles her eyes
Well, if you’d like to try to, go ahead, the Affini smiled.

Within a cucoon, not wanting to hurt Poppy, whether it was possible or not.

Could i go on the ground please, i think want to play around with dreams unless i feel like i am entirely unable to hurt you, regardless of the whole kidnapping thing.
Because I believe you are a sentient being who experiences suffering and pleasure, trapped within the cycle of disappointment, seeking fulfillment, seeking peak emotional experieces,

Well, yes darling.

you are Mine.

gosh.

Well,i don’t have to hmmm

hmm

well, i can be even handed with you, i will neither seek pleasure not push away pain.

And if you are going to play with me, for now atleast could you not go too intense with touching me or hypnotising me please?
I’m having a bit much, and i would like to slow down a little

I respect that little one. I don’t want to hurt your trust.

How much touching is okay? 30 percent of my body, non erogenous 

I will respect your wishes, sweet.

Thank you, Poppy, I appreciate that.

This is a dream realm?
Yes, honey

Looking at the soil. Very rich soil, damp and vibrant, but not leaving belle wet.

Thank you.

Belle sat with her palms facing upwards. cross legged

See what this realm is made of. belle watches the earth.

umm

illusions.

thats this right?

If it is it is, if it isn’t it isn’t.

huh

right.

belle sat, and listened with her eyes closed.

Thinking back on her guitar.

Her mind going back to the lowest G note of the guitar.

finding the G major hand position

the open G major chord shape

her body and mind holding the posture

muscle memory helping to remember sensation

Poppy’s eyes were drinking in her petalbelle with pleasure

an energy almost crackling with excitement from Big One.

Feeling when she played it
thumb strumming a note

her mind taut like a string

the third position of a 12 tone octave of the low E string.

Remembering the sensation.

harmonic sine waves composing the string vibration patterns

pythagorean ratios are the ratios behind our harmonic music

simple mathematical ratios composing the makeup of our strings.

One wave

Twoo waves

Threee waves

Foouur waves

Fiiiiive waves

6iiiiiix waves

7eeeeveeen waves

8eeeeiiiight waves

9iiiinnnee waves

10eeeeennnnn waves

*bouwwwwwwwwwmmmmmm* 

the string resonated through her mind. through the realm

*bouwwwwwwwwwmmmmmm* 

both sounding in her mind and outside it

playing the music in her imagination

but sounding outsoud 

A wave of pride and joy and appreciation and love crashed over belle

beautiful smile upon Poppy’s face

belles empty mind reflects the love she is shown

maybe it’s okay

Poppy leans forward, not in a way that’s too intimidating, almost asking permission to enter belle’s personal space.

belle doesn’t retreat

a Large Planty Hand reaches out to stroke belle’s hair

Thank you for sharing yourself with me, petal.

darling girl. blossom and nectar

I Am very proud of you, sweetness.

Flower in My Palm

My pleasure

My pet.

it wasn’t so bad to allow the Flora cup her cheek

it wasn’t so bad to lean into Her Touch

to let herself relax

face resting against the palm of Poppy’s hand

belle was smiling a small smile

shooting Poppy a meaningful look

Don’t think I’ve forgiven you for kidnapping me.

Mirth rose in the Affini.

If you say so my love.

teasingly

belle pulled a face at the fae

and promptly went about ignoring her

focusing on the sensation of touch

listening to the wind in the treetops

the hum in Poppy’s heart

it’s cozy and comforting

belle can’t say why, but listening to the sound, it soothes her

Makes her Feel at Home.

as if every minute spent listening lifts some minute burden from belle’s body, unties some stress and tie tangling up her mind. like a knot being loosened

My little princess.

Poppy’s vines eased themselves through belle’s hair

beneath her flowery crown.

combing out each strand, untangling each end without damaging a fibre

braiding the girl’s hair

Soothing her

Peace

Relaxation

Kindness

Compassion

these are the things the girl needs

immersing the little one in a pervauding sense of Acceptance

showing belle how it felt for Poppy to completely love and accept belle

that love and compassion the little one found so hard to give to herself, but so easy to give to others

their blurred minds and melded emotions

Sitting in the moment

feeling what it is

free from burdens

free from expectations

belle’s hair was braided, twisted entwined and tied with a flower stem plucked from a lock of Poppy’s hair

it was deeply touching, 

even though belle was trying to be annoyed at Poppy

Poppy was wearing a knowing, self assured smile, as if she had already won.

which was a little infuriating to belle

but Poppy could see feel and hear the contents of belle’s unguarded mind

so invasive

pouting internally

belle started imagining

trying to think in her mind’s eye about an equallateral triangle.

the interior angle is 60 degrees, right?

a square has four 90 degree angles, right

angles

90, 180, 270, 360

the four interior angles sum up to 360

equallateral triangles interior angles are

60, 60, 60

60, 120, 180

triangle interior angles always sum to 180 for some reason

180’s half of 360

so that means that 6 times 60 equals 360 degrees

6 equallateral triangles make up a full interior angle of 360 degrees

6 equallateral triangles arranged around a central point make up a hexagon

belle opened her eyes to see Poppy staring into her face, into her mind

she had been suppressing her delight so as not to distract belle

to let her little one reason out her little imaginary shapes :3

it’s so cute and so simple

flat little shapes on a flat little plane

belle wasn’t projecting her pattern out into the realm

but Poppy saw her visualisation.

the step by step of her logic

muddling along, feeling out blindly through half remembered reasoning from a while back

rediscovering what she’d thought before

Poppy was very amused about how her little one had attached her simple numbers and counting system to the measurements of her cute little shapes.

it all seemed so arbitrary.

360 being the full angle of rotation of a circle?

So odd..

it’s because of the Babylonians. belle thought back

they used a base 6 and base 12 and base 60 counting system

That’s why there are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, and two times 12 hours in a day.

Poppy scratches belle’s hair as belle tries to hide her head by shrinking her neck and raising her shoulders. Looking a lot like a funny little turtle :3

Darling, have you noticed?

hmm? Her little turtle hummed

Time. It doesn’t exist in this realm..

what? yes it does!

umm, the sun is passing overhead and turns into night!

Is that so, little one?
Yes!

Poppy looks down on belle with a playful condescention.

I’ll turn the brightness down a little for you.

The sunshine dims to a twighlight. belle looks up to the sky through the trees, onto to see the sun start moving in its opposite direction.

slowly gathering speed till soon it was night.

belle stared up at Poppy, eyes slowly adjusting to the dark, till a candle flame floated in the air without a wick between the pair.

petal. This realm is but a dream, you can not count time in a dream, nor count distance.

Poppy draws up a measuring device called a Ruler, placing it before belle.

Try and measure something.

belle picks up the ruler, and holds it to a leaf.

The ruler shrinking, the leaf expanding.

Hey! I’m trying to measure this! belle exclaimed

Poppy couldn’t hide her impish smirk.

The new dawn arose, bursting above the horison, speeding up, racing across the sky faster than the sun should ever move.

My little belle.

Her little one was really struggling to measure the leaf.

she tried grasping either end of the ruler, and pulling both ends like they are made of taffy

but the ruler remained firm as hard, cool steel. The ruler remained too small, and the centimetres too tiny.

belle tried willing the ruler to be bigger.

Poppy could feel the effort the little one was making

trying to pour her internal energy or emotions into the ruler, only to get frustrated.

My sweetheart, Poppy crooned.

Taking the little one into her lap

Wriggly little rascal 

You’re trying to do too much too fast.

This is a dream realm, but you’re stumbling around in the dark, wanting to do everything yourself.

Relax, little one. 

you will learn what you need to learn when you are ready.

you’ve already come so far, My precious pet

Let Me Guide you

I Am your Teacher, My love.

belle’s agitated mind started to calm.

Poppy draws the star from the sky. Floating it above their seat in the forest, twinkling happily with soft light.

Small and content with its place in Poppy’s dream.

There is no struggling to control a dream. 

No tensing a muscle in your mind.

No effort to force the world to be the way you want.

Effortless.

A vine brushes against her pet’s cheek

effortless

Soothing the little one through their bond

Brushing her hair in calming strokes

little one, there is no time in this realm

No need to rush

Things will happen when they happen

you don’t need to make anything happen

Hang on Poppy

If we are in a dream, why do I feel tired sometimes?

How do I fall asleep in a dream realm

Ohh, that’s simple my precious 

you are so adorable when you’re sleepy

I like holding you and cuddling you while you sleep <3

a vine gives petal’s nose a little boop

staying there, touching her nose tip

before drifting down over belle’s lips

her chin

her neck

resting the vine against the centre of belle’s collarbone

oh

the little one blushed.

and it’s not fair that you just get to tease me and control me and boss me around

Oh?

And why isn’t it fair?

Because I’m my own person!

I have stuff and personality and interests and stuff

I’m not just you student or toy or whatever you think I am 

The air took on an atmosphere thrumming with charged energy

Poppy looking much more imperious than she’s ever looked before.

My little darling.

you are in My dream.

I could dream that you are anything I want you to be, and your weak little spirit would just be held within which ever form I made you take.

belle gulped and shied away a little

but darling.

you are my partner

I could take whatever I wanted from you

Taking also the budding trust we are growing together

little one ~

you are only a timid small thing

a flower in my care to nurture and love

Poppy opens her palm 

a flower with closed petals

bare roots

still developing

little one

I could make this small flower blossom.

but I am going to let her flourish when she is ready

nurtured by me

sharing her beauty when she is ready.

Poppy gently turns belle’s hands upwards

placing the flower in her palms.

a few strong green leaves.

a bud hidden and closed, with just the peak of white petals with yellow highlights peaking through the protective green pistils

My little one

Poppy kindly projected

her ever present voice a balm on belle’s mind

Lets plant this together.

Poppy takes belle’s hand in hers

holding her

tracing her vine tips across the back of belle’s little olive hand

wrapping her palm, her fingers

Growing green blunt nails made of vines

Poppy gently led belle’s hand to the ground, scratching the soil

easing the earth apart, the decomposing plant matter, the sticks and bark, leaf litter

moving the small critters who feed on decomposition 

Poppy lets belle have enough agency to decide how she will dig together with Poppy’s help

but does not let her have the agency to decide not to dig with Poppy’s loving hand.

together the scratch out a home for the roots of their flower

it’s comforting, giving life back to the earth

helping something to grow

supporting a life, loving it

helping it thrive

belle, she takes the flower in her left hand by its stem

roots going within their little pit in the soft soil, aerated and full of organic matter

a perfect home for plants

belle places the roots in the hole

holding the flower stem upright in her left

while sweeping soil to fill it pit with her right

pressing the soil down to be a little firm

belle

she reached out with a fingertip, stroking petals and pistils

“Good luck with growing, little one” belle blessed

A swell of admiration filled Poppy’s core

belle felt Poppy’s warmth of affection rising through her body, like feeling the heat of a bath slowly climbing from her legs, up her thighs, waist, tummy and torso, shoulders, neck and up to the top of belle’s head

Why can I feel that?

it feels so gooood

My bluebelle, we have already started bonding

We share our feelings, our thoughts, it is part of our closeness

Blending our selves, blurring our bounds

I didn’t think this was going to happen to me

you should have asked

it was really not nice for you to just take me without umm, communicating openly about it

i was just chilling on the floor

apparently i cast a spell, fell asleep

and woke up with a giant beautiful lady standing over me

promising to teach me magic

My little one.

There is no going back

but I am sorry that you are feeling hurt by my decision.

I smelt the taste of your spirit

its playfulness, innocence, creativity

you drew me in

So adorable

What would have you done if you met the most cutest kitten in the whole wide world, that was barely taking care of herself?

and the little kitten is just so friendly and lovely and sweet

I know you, if you fell in love with a little cute animal, you’d want to take care and cherish them

Share your love

Help raise them in a happy home

Play and give lots of cuddles and pets

belle was very focused on looking at the bottom of Poppy’s planty ribs

colour blooming through her cheeks

That’s all I am to you?
A cute little thing to take and tame?

You are, precious.

That and so much more.

You are my love

My care

My laughter and the song on my lips

belle turns in Poppy’s lap, facing her dumb perfect and beautiful face

cuddling the dumb idiot kidnapping dumb plant

Don’t think I’ve forgiven you just because you made me fall for you

you snuggly warm soft idiot

Poppy strokes her hand down belle’s back

She is here for belle

Never going to leaf her magepet

going to care for her forever

protecting their bond

cherishing her love

you’re here now

I have you <3

belle nuzzles closer

peace

acceptance

touch

caring dumb plant <3