Trance of Nature (OPEN)

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Lyra sat at the very edge of town square, her feet dug into the cool sand. the Town Square of District 8 was located on the edge where the two lakes meet. The water was a murky brown colour and moved violently in the strong winds. As winter was just leaving the Districts, the water was still ice cold and patches of ice still lingered on the water. The weak amounts of early morning sun shine did nothing to the temperature of the water. It did give the people of District 8 some smiles on their faces. It seemed like forever since the sun shone through the grey winter clouds. Not many people spent their time at the beach when it was still cold like this. But in the summer time, mothers would take their children to the beach for some fun. It also made most of the people in District 8 reasonable swimmers, Lyra included. This beach shore was one of her favourite places to go; for an entirely different reason. This is where the water was shortest and just across the water Lyra could see the wilds. Not just the wilderness between each District, but the true wilds. Lyra is quite sure that not even the Capitol has explored past the District boundaries.

Lyra gazed at the Wilds for a moment long, letting her imagination wander what could be out there. Shaking her head of these childish thoughts, Lyra took a few paces close to the water. Just enough so the waves would brush against her bare toes. Lyra let herself fall to the sand, her feet placed under her in her meditation pose. She wasted no time straightening her spine and laying her hands on her knees before she feel into her meditative trance.

Meditation was a precious thing for Lyra. In her world that constantly spun out of control, meditation kept her grounded like gravity. Lyra tried to meditate daily but it was never really the case. Today was the first time she had meditated in about a week. It was like breathing in a breathe of fresh air after being stuck inside for a long time. Lyra felt a shiver of delight go down her spine as her mind slowly sync with the waves brushing up against her gently.

[Alyssa :)]

Roger walked up behind his wife, stopping a couple yards behind her. He had just got off work, so he was carrying his small drawstring bag. All it carried was a few empty containers that had held his lunch.

For once, he hadn't had a very good day at work. One of his workmates had got his hand cut open in a machine, and much of the day was spent getting help and fixing his hand up. Roger hated to see his friend hurt like that, eyes wild with astonishment and pain. It had ruined his day really, even though the man was going to be fine.

But when he looked at Lyra, beautiful in her peaceful meditative state, these grim thoughts dropped from his head. All he thought of now was her and how much he loved her. He quietly dropped his bag to the ground as he looked lovingly at his wife. He closed the distance between them and sat down behind her, wrapping his arms around her and moving forward to kiss her cheek. "I love you, Lyra," he whispered in her ear, not caring that she was trying to focus and meditate.

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Lyra gasped slightly when she felt arms wrap around her waist. Still somewhat in the trance of meditation, Lyra didn't react to Roger's words of love. She shook her head, her pale gold hair followed the motion. Lyra's hands shot into the sand and clenched the grains to avoid their automatic reaction to throw Roger's hands off of her. Despite the nineteen years since the incident with the peacekeepers, Lyra still was as jumpy as a rabbit at times. She could still faintly feel the crack of the whip against her back and the ripping of flesh from her back. Lyra felt her breath hitch at the memory but quickly relax back into her calm mind, post-meditation state.

Her pale eyes sought Roger's, a hint of panic in their depths. She gently pushed Roger's arms away and gave him a stern look. "Roger please," She started in her musical voice. Lyra shifted in the sand, feeling the grains irritate her skin despite the thick pants she wore. Her legs unwound and stretched out in front of her to regain feeling in them. "Don't bother me when I'm meditating." Lyra leaned back on Roger's chest, maintaining her stern look.
It was rare she had time to meditate in the first place, between all the things she had going on in her life currently.

Meditating was a sacred thing to Lyra. It kept her grounded and calm. She also learned her meditating techniques from a very special person; the old man she had saved from the peacekeepers so long ago. After all these years she knew roger knew what meditating meant to her, so in her mind the small amount of annoyance was justified.

[Alyssa :)]

Roger immediately felt bad for coming up behind her like that. He knew she was easily frightened, and for a good reason too. He himself would probably be super jumpy if he had gone through what she had, too. He rubbed her arm to comfort her, brow furrowed in concern.

"I'm sorry," he said, brushing a strand of hair off her cheek and behind her ear. He sat back and watched her meditate as she leaned against him.

While taking in every detail of her perfect face, he thought about their life together so far. Starting with her coming and giving him roses all the time, sometimes his favorite chocolates too. He didn't even know how she'd figured out which chocolates were his favorites, but he had thought it was charming and adorable. Then the period where their relationship had gotten serious, and Roger's dad had pushed him to propose. The look on Lyra's face had been priceless. And now this, living happily together with the woman he loves. He wouldn't exchange it for anything in the world.

(so much touchinnggg like rubbing her arm and brushing her hair away :D it's so weird, especially after posting with Aidan and Felicity XD)

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Lyra settled herself more comfortably against Roger's chest and let out a content sigh. She placed her hands delicately back on her knees and shifted about until she was comfortable once more. Lyra gave her husband a light smile. "Don't be," She said softly, looking up at Roger from her position on his chest. "I find it easier to meditate with you around."

Lyra gave Roger another sweet smile before turning her head back to the lake once more. Her pale eyes watched the water once more before slipping closed again. It was true, with Roger's heart beat in her ears Lyra found herself relaxing much easier than before.

Lyra sat like that in silence with Roger for a few minute before she started to feel twitchy. It started with a scratch on her leg, then the uncomfortable feeling of sand rubbing against the bare skin of her leg. Lyra shifted again, letting out of huff of irritation and flicking her pale hair more properly over her shoulder.

Suddenly Lyra smacked her hands into the sand and her eyes flew open. "We should make a sand castle." She declared loudly, her eyes already evaluating the malleability of the sand around her.

[Alyssa :)]

Roger shifted under Lyra, also trying to make her comfortable. When she looked up at him, smiling, he grinned back at her. Then his eyes were on her face as she continued to meditate. He examined each line, each shadow of her face. Then he himself gazed out at the waves, wondering what it was like to meditate. Looking at Lyra, he understood it was peaceful and calming. But was it like sleeping? Could you control what you dreamed...or thought? Roger decided he would ask Lyra sometime.

The man jumped when his wife suddenly slapped her hands on the sand. He laughed softly at her suggestion to make sandcastles. "Mmm, we should," he murmured in her hair. He reached around her and scooped up a pile of sand, mashed it and shaped it until it was a crude cube, then set it down in front of them. He plucked a leaf out of the sand nearby and poked it into the top of the poor excuse for a cube. "There," he proclaimed proudly, grinning at his creation.

[Error]

Lyra laughed in delight at the sight of Roger's sand castle. She carefully adjusted the leaf so it stood a little lopsided. "Well there is one thing for sure." She said with mock seriousness. Lyra carefully extracted herself from Roger's arms so she could turn around. Now face to face with the man Lyra leaned into his personal bubble, her nose but a few centimeters from Roger's nose. "I most certainly did not marry you for your sand-castle-building abilities." Lyra joked, a grin quirking the corner of her mouth.

Lyra didn't move away from Roger, her pale grey eyes stared unflinchingly into Roger's own familiar, safe, warm, comforting blue eyes. Feeling her insides melt at the sound of Roger's deep, brass voice and bright smile, Lyra reach a sand hand from its place at her side onto Roger's shoulder to steady herself against the feeling of her shaky knees. After all these years Lyra could still get butterflies in her stomach just from seeing that megawatt smile of Roger's.

[Alyssa :)]

Roger started to breathe a bit heavier from his proximity with Lyra. That grin might've been the cause, too. And those eyes. He was pretty sure those beautiful eyes were going to be the end of him. His lips spread into a small smile at her comment. Then, he couldn't help himself. He closed his eyes and kissed her on the lips, savoring the taste of them for a few moments before pulling back. He didn't go far, though.

"Well I most certainly did marry you for your ability to take my breath away," he whispered in her ear, left hand sliding down her arm until he was holding her hand in his. The other arm was somehow still wrapped around her.

[Error]

Lyra closed her eyes as Roger kissed her, unable to get rid of the smile on her face. She pulled back rather dazed, still grinning stupidly. Lyra couldn't help but turn red and laugh softly at Roger's words. She locked her fingers with Roger and squeezed his hand lightly. Lyra tilted her head forward and carefully rested her forehead against Roger's.

"As much as I would love to list all the reason I love you," Lyra said softly, brushing her hand gently through Roger's hair with her free hand. "I think it would take a few years to get through it all." She murmurer sweetly.

With one last squeeze of Roger's hand, Lyra carefully pulled away from Roger, a more coy smile lighting her face. "That and I actually do want to build a sand castle." Lyra added childishly, grinning at Roger playfully. Lyra spun on her heel and scooped up a handful of sand and added it to Roger's pile of sand.

Lyra held out her hand for Roger to take and gave him an over exaggerated wink. "Come on, we have all the time in the wold. Let me teach you."

[Alyssa :)]

Roger smiled when he saw the goofy grin on his wife's face. He loved when he could affect her that way, since she did it to him all the time. Of course it didn't happen nearly enough to make up for how much she did it. Roger decided he would fix that.

He smiled, taking Lyra's loving comment in his heart and keeping it there. He would remember it next time they had a fight. They didn't fight often, but that seemed to make it worse when they did. Remembering this moment would comfort him when Lyra would make him sleep on the couch.

Roger laughed when his wife said, "That and I actually do want to build a sand castle." He loved her one-tracked mind. He took her outstretched hand meant to help him up, but when he got up and moved over so he had a better angle on the sandcastle, he made sure not to put too much pressure on her hand. He was just a gentleman that way. "I'm ready to learn, Teacher," he said, sitting obediently and waiting for directions.

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Lyra gave Roger an amused smile before turning her attention back to the sand castle. Still holding Roger`s hand, Lyra knelt before the sand castle. She used one hand to flatten out the area around the sand castle. She made sure to remove any rocks or stick and place them to the side for use later. As she continued to flatten the sand, Lyra made a point to keep up some commentary.

"Let's start at the beginning. First we need flat ground to work with. If the ground isn't flat, our entire framework might end up lopsided. The first few steps are the most important because the foundation is what the entire structure will be based off of." Lyra started, her eyes transfixed on the movements of her hand. Dusting the stray sand from her hand on her pants, Lyra craned her neck to inspect the quality of the sand around them.

"Similarly, the quality of the sand is important. If the sand is too wet or too round then the sand gains won't stick together. The entire structure would collapse under the combined weight." Lyra paused to scoop a handful of water onto the sand. Using her new sand mixtures she touched up the sides of Roger's sand castle until they were straight and even. "Its somewhat a team effort from all the grains of sand to keep everything together." Lyra mused, flicking her hair over her shoulder and shooting Roger a wise smile.

((I feel like there is some sort of metaphor in this building of the sandcastle.))

[Alyssa :)]

(hoohooo Error you smartypants with your metaphors, but i think i'm gonna keep Roger clueless :3 oh and in the first paragraph, i'm pretty sure 'seamstress' isn't the right word but i'm using it xD)

Roger listened intently to Lyra's teaching, a smile slowly forming on his lips. "Are you sure you're a seamstress?" he asked, laughing. "Not a construction worker?"

Deciding he wanted to try this out, he rubbed down a patch of sand next to the first sandcastle until it was flat. Then he picked up a clump of what he thought was good quality sand and shaped it into a rectangular prism this time instead of a cube. He had it so it was sitting on its long side, one end connecting with the perfect cube that Lyra had touched up. He finished polishing up the sides of the prism, and then looked at it, grinning with pride. "How's that for a sandcastle?" he asked, though he didn't wait for an answer as he started up another one.

Roger swept at the sand next to the end of the prism so it was smooth, then scooped up another clump of what he thought was nice, shape-able sand. However, when he had molded it into another cube and placed it down at the end of the prism, chunks of it came apart. He turned to his wife, an astounded look on his face. He was appalled that this sandcastle would just fall apart on him like that. So much for being nice sand.

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Lyra let out a puff of mock irritation, her eyes glaring at Roger with the same playful, pretend offence. "Oh please, Roger." She purred. "Of course I'm a seamstress. Everyone knows how to build a sandcastle." Lyra paused thoughtfully, mirth in her eyes, as she paused. "Or I thought everyone knew how to build a sandcastle." Lyra put her hands on her hips, not minding the sand on her pants. This was one of Lyra's favourite places to visit in District 8 and it was not unusually to find sand all over their house. Lyra tracked enough sand through the house to build their house out of sand.

"To think! We've been married for all these years and I never knew the most important fact about you!" Lyra continued dramatically and cupped a hand over her face with mock hurtful look on her face. "You cannot build a sand castle? What else is a lie about you! You are not the man I married!" Lyra grinned as she leaned down suddenly and pressed a powerful, teasing kiss to her husband's lips. Just as suddenly she pulled back and looked at his sand castle critically, as if nothing ever happened.

"Its a good start." Lyra said innocently as she stood to get some more water. Looking over her shoulder she gave Roger a coy smile. "Could use some more water though."

[Alyssa :)]

"Hey!" Roger protested, going along with the joking.  "I know how to make one now, don't I?  So you just be quiet!"  He laughed at their silly play-fight about sandcastles.  It was one of the many things Roger liked about his wife--she was so carefree, she could get caught up in any little joking conversation and keep it up just for fun.

Roger smirked as he listened to Lyra rant jokingly about "important facts" that she didn't know about him, such as the fact that he couldn't build sandcastles.  By the time she got to the "You are not the man I married!" part, Roger was grinning, chuckling a bit as well.

Of course, that stopped when she suddenly unraveled him with a teasing kiss.  He stared and maybe gaped a little as she pulled away and got up, continuing to talk.  What was she saying?  Roger didn't care, he just wanted another taste of those lips.  So he shoved himself up off the ground and came up behind her, grabbing her around the waist and swinging her around to face him.  He hugged her to him as he pressed his lips to hers.  This kiss was a quite a bit longer than the one Lyra had given him, since Roger needed his satisfaction.  When he finally pulled away he grinned at her.  "That's what you get for teasing me, sweetheart," he said, joking again.