Log Date: 5/3/97, 5/5/97, 5/6/97, 5/7/97, 5/8/97, 5/9/97, 5/10/97, 5/11/97 Log Cast: Paul Nighman, Shenneret Veery Log Intro: It is their second day on Corellia, and Paul Nighman and Shenner Veery have thus far spent it in pursuits both pleasant and not -- checking out the Gold Beaches for the former, and braving meeting Dr. Xavier Nighman, Paul's father, for the latter. The meeting has not gone well -- but then again, this hasn't been surprising. But despite the explosive words exchanged between the two Nighman men, Paul and Shenner have been permitted to spend the night at Dr. Nighman's home, with Paul on the couch and Shenner on the bed. This next morning, Shenner has had her first solo meeting with Dr. Nighman, who seems palpably dubious of Shenner's claimed position as Paul's 'assistant'. But the girl has come out of the encounter reasonably unscathed, and has found Paul off visiting the gravesite of his mother. After bringing him back to the house for a nap and some lunch, though, the two have argued, sparked by Shenner's fear of flirting... and her reluctance to talk with Paul about things bothering her. The resolution of this argument, though, has led to Paul making a startling decision: ignoring the appointment he'd made with his father to meet at the University, in favor of showing Shenner 'the Dreaming Tree'.... ---------- Paul suddenly stops and stares at the bag slung across his torso ... work, research, all of the stuff that he is deliberately leaving behind. He realizes that with Shen, he really has been ignoring his studies lately ... a lot. "Screw that too," he thinks to himself with a small smirk. Pointing at Shen, well, pointedly, he says, "Stay here for a sec, I need to change," and strides back into the house. He is only gone for a few minutes tops before he pops out again - he looks the same for the most part - wearing the soft green flannel shirt, sleeves rolled up, tan breeches, boots, etc. However, he has shed the satchel and traded it for the battered hat instead. "Okay, now I'm ready." Shenner blinks a few times, then smiles suddenly at the sight of the hat. "Um... okay," she replies, unsure for a moment at this impulse that appears to have seized Paul, but only a moment. "Show me this tree..." He points into the woods in a casual gesture. "It's a bit of hike, but not a hard one ... this way," and he fords his way into the woods. There is no path, no obvious way to discern where they are, but Paul moves along confidently, stopping occasionally to crouch down at peer at an unexpected flower. As birds fly by, crying out their little snippets of song, he mimics a few of them with surprisingly complex little whistles. There is at least one bird that he puzzles enough that it returns his call, frantically looking for its winged opponent and coming up empty. _Who is this man, and what did he do with Paul?_ Shenner thinks, stunned, but pleasantly so, as she trudges into the surrounding forest after him. The girl stifles a giggle at the exchange with the startled bird, and she whispers to Paul after, "You know how to talk to birds, too?" Paul tosses Shen a carefree grin over his shoulder. "Well, when I was a kid, some of my best friends were the birds ... at least they would talk to me, so it only seemed fair that I should try to return the gesture ... but I couldn't quite get the verb tenses down right." He then arches one slighty mocking eyebrow at the girl following him. Shenner's eyes are bright, though, and she just grins, moving after Paul and torn between moving quickly to keep up with him... and a little more slowly so that she can take in everything she sees, every green growing thing and tree she passes. "What do they say?" He shrugs and pulls back a large branch out of his way and then holds it back so that Shen can get by as well. "Most of the time I think they're saying, "Hey ba-beee, come check out my tail feathers", "Kill the intruder, save the kids!" and "Hey buddy, get the hell outta my territory," but I can't be certain. The girl snickers softly. "Sounds about right for Corellian birds," she murmurs, her tone teasing as she ducks under the branch. His corresponding laugh is bright and goodnatured, rolling out from his diaphragm. "Yeah, I guess so." He heads for a clearing that can be seen through the trees by the glowing green of the grass beyond. Shenner keeps on Paul's trail, saying nothing at the occasional scratch she gets from little twigs that snag at her; once she pauses to unhook her shirt from a clinging bush. Stepping out into the clearing, Paul glances about and then points at what must be -the- tree. "Thar she blows," he murmurs, as if pointing out a good friend rather than a massive tree. It stands, surrounded on all sides by forest, but somehow has managed to claim this field all to itself. It is huge, with many low lying branches, thick, with bark for gripping and perfect for climbing. The limbs are wide enough to lie on without fear of falling. The leaves are large and green, and even the slightest breeze causes them to rustle against one another, creating a soft sigh, as if breathing. He grins at Shen and then breaks into a run, heading straight for it. Shenner stops and stares at the huge tree, stares again as Paul starts running... then suddenly laughs aloud and hastens after him. "Paul...!" Breathlessly, she catches up, staring up past him with wonder filling her face. Paul doesn't even pause but runs up to and then around the tree, grinning contentedly. He then stops, and for a moment it looks like he is going to actually hug the tree, as if greeting a member of his family. However, he hesitates and then instead just lays a palm against the trunk, fingering the beautifully scaly bark and looking up into the sunshine that cuts through the gaps brightly and burns through the leaves, making the air above them glow in shifting patterns of green and blue and gold. The girl watches her friend, then tentatively lifts her smaller hand to touch the tree, near where Paul's hand has already done so. She tilts her head back, her gaze rising to take in the crown of branches overhead; does she understand what she sees? Perhaps, if her expression is any indication. She doesn't yet speak, as she turns her head slowly, trying to see everything about this stately field king. Breathing in the sweet smell of spring leaves, wildflowers, and earth, Paul just absorbs the feeling of the moment for awhile. His eyes scan across the scab like bark that adorns the main trunk - a strange layered bark that seems to make patterns and designs more like it was crafted by an artist than by nature. As Shen's hand joins close to his on the body, he turns to look at her, watching her face as she takes in the majesty and power of this whispering giant, a knowing gleam in his eye. Shenner appears shyly awestruck now, her gaze still lifted into the branches above, as she seems to realize how this tree dwarfs her in size. Her face looks not unlike it had when she first saw the ocean on Calamari -- an expression she's been having more and more frequently in Paul's company. Impulsively pressing his larger hand against her smaller one, Paul grins at her in a quick flash. "Dreaming Tree," he informs her, and then just as suddenly, he grabs the nearest branch and hauls himself up, and, of all things, starts to climb the massive living tower. "Why's it -- Paul?!" Shenner yelps this out, startled out of her reverie, as she jerks her gaze around to the man. "What're you--" Paul keeps climbing until he reaches one of the main limbs - nearly twice the width of Paul's torso. Balancing himself easily on the broad beam, he looks down at Shenner. "Climbing," he answers to her incomplete question, and makes a face at her, as if to say, "Duh!" He leans casually against the trunk, which looks mighty odd, since it is more something you expect someone in a building to do with a wall. Looking rather as if Paul'd just replied 'Tapdancing naked in front of a squadron of stormtroopers, why?' instead of what he did actually say, Shenner stares... then, with trepidation, eyes that lowest branch he took to start his ascent. She swallows a little, nervously, lifting her hands to try to find the same holds Paul took to lever himself up. Paul watches Shen struggle with unfamiliar concept of climbing a tree, but unlike swimming, this isn't quite as hard a concept to grasp. Still, he observes her for a moment, just in case she is suddenly going to prove to be a complete klutz or something. Since this was a tree that he had been able to climb since he was six, he finds it hard to believe that Shen won't find it a simple enough task. He suddenly realizes as he watches her that she probably never really "played" as a child ... no trees, no ocean. These had been his best friends for years ... how had she managed without them? What kind of replacements, if any, did Belsavis have to offer a young girl? Shen's climb is not nearly as fast, nor as graceful, though indeed she seems to get the idea readily enough; still, though, by the time she hauls herself up near to where Paul has perched, she's sweating a little from the unfamiliar exertion, and still looks slightly uneasy. She casts a shy and almost apologetic glance at the great spreading trunk, then outward... and down, which makes her gulp when she realizes how high she's managed to climb into the branches. Paul seems to have handled the hike, the short dash, and the climb with ease, not even breathing hard. He grins at Shenner as she makes it up next to him. "Don't worry," he murmurs softly at her contrite expression. "Dream likes to be climbed ... you can't hurt her." He then peers down at the grass below them and shifts his gaze back to Shen. "You're not afraid of heights, are you?" "I..." The girl ponders this, still staring around and out and down in slow bemusement. But finally she looks back at her companion, her eyes still wonderstruck, and murmurs back, smiling a little, "I'm okay." Her green gaze continues to move, then, and she adds, "Dreaming Tree?" Whether to Paul or to the tree is uncertain. Walking a little ways along the branches length, Paul makes a graceful pivot and then sits himself down on the branch, one leg stradding each side. He pats the limb fondly. "Uh huh ..." he replies, and the tree rustles affirmatively, making Paul snicker a little. "This is where I used to come every day, to pretend and imagine and dream stuff up, so I named her Dreaming Tree, Dream for short ... she didn't seem to mind, so the name stuck." Shenner breathes, "Paul... she's beautiful." The girl still gazes at the tangle of branches surrounding her on all sides, rather than at Paul himself; in an amazed reverence, Shen gently pats at the tree, by way, maybe, of introducing herself. In a voice more breath than words, more awe than agreement he replies, "Yeah, she is." Carefully, cautiously, Shenner inches out along the branch on which Paul's now sitting, to at last settle down facing him. She stares out through the branches and catches her breath again at the sight of the clearing beyond... and how different it looks, from this vantage point. A smile spreads across her features, not stopping with merely lighting the lower half of her face, but instead continuing on up to illumine her eyes. "Feel free to do whatever you like," he invites her softly. Then he adds impulsively, "I'm glad you like her ... I've never shared Dream with anyone else before ..." He blinks, a little startled at the confession, and drops his gaze to the patterns of the bark in front of him, tracing them idly with the fingers of one hand. Shenner's wondering gaze flicks around to Paul as he speaks, and her head quirks a bit, as though she too is startled by his admission. She offers, appreciatively, "Never seen a tree like this... we had trees in Plawal... but little, yah know, nothin' you could climb... the corporations brung 'em in to try to make it prettier under the domes, but it just ain't the same as this..." "I'm surprised that more people don't come here." He looks around some more, his legs swinging idly, rather boyishly. "But I've never seen anyone around ... I used to think that Dream had a protective barrier around her that stopped anyone from seeing her, except for the few people that she liked." He sighs and leans backward onto his elbows, tilting his head upward again. "I guess the beach is a bigger draw around here." "They're both great," Shen murmurs, "but this is different..." Nodding in agreement, Paul sighs thoughtfully. "I love the ocean - I go there when I want challenge, energy, refreshment, and play. I come here when I want thought, dreaming, rejuvination, and relaxation." He leans all the way back so that he can not help but look straight up into the dancing sunlight. "I didn't really find the ocean until I was a lot older, so I guess Dream is more personal to me ... the ocean is a fantastic force of nature, but Dream is good company." "I still...." Shenner considers a moment, then goes on huskily, as if in this place, one can't help but gently murmur things, "I still feel a little funny just seeing.... sky." "If you climb to the top, you'll see a lot more of it," he notes casually, but it sounds like his thoughts are drifting elsewhere. Then he sits back up and frowns curiously. "What do you mean ... there's been sky on Palanhi and Calamari and Tatooine? Lots of sky." "Year and a half or so of skies... still ain't broke me outta sixteen years of domes, I guess," the girl murmurs. Paul peers at Shen sympathetically. "You didn't have much of a childhood, if any, did you?" Shenner finally looks back at her friend, then, and half-smiles. "Well... I-I guess it was kinda okay, I mean, up until I was nine... hadda place to stay and food and clothes and such...." Paul shakes his head. "I'm not talking survival here Shen, I'm talking childhood. I mean, I didn't have much of one either come to think of it, but I at least had the creature comforts and this," he says, splaying out his hands to indicate everything around them. "And what about after you were nine? What did you do then?" Shenner's smile drops off into a sheepish little half-frown. "Left the House," she answers, lowly. "Had to. Momma was dead." "How did she die?" he asks gently, leaning forward a little. "And what did you do?" The girl sighs, now echoing your own earlier tracings as she draws a fingertip across the gnarled bark of the branch beneath her. "She got sick. The House kept all her stuff, 'cause Momma didn't really make much money and it cost 'em to take care of her and I wasn't gonna hang around long enough to get old enugh that they'd make me hafta join the House," she whispers, without a tremor to her voice, but oddly distantly. "Or cause any ruckuses from anybody who liked 'em young." Paul wrinkles his nose distastefully at the idea that anyone would -force- her to join ... and the idea of making her available at that tender an age made his stomach roll. There is no way to subtly scootch closer when you're sitting on the branch of a tree, so Paul merely leans forward some more, placing a hand near to hers for support, both for himself, and oddly enough, for her too. "So you left," he surmises, "and went, where? Did what?" "Mostly went to alleys and got hungry and cold and stole stuff," Shenner mumbles, looking down at Paul's hand as well as her own. "And pretended to be a boy. I got left alone more if they thought I was a boy." "For eight years?" he breathes, his voice a shade horrified. He touches her hand gently with his free one, wanting to somehow offer belated comfort. He grimaces again, this time at the foolish futility of his gesture, which in his eyes means nothing ... how could it? Shenner looks up and just bobs her head a little, her expression bearing in it now a strange kind of embarrassed defiance. But her hand, touched, turns round and grasps Paul's. Paul grips her hand back tightly, his eyes shifting between hers as he struggles with a way to express his thoughts. Probably his face does a good enough job for him - astonished that she was able to survive so long on her own, impressed by that too, angry that her mother raised her in such a terrible environment, one that saw her only as a nuisance or future commodity. Most of all, there is a deep welling need in him to somehow fix it, the way a parent will sometimes place a kiss on a cut and proclaim, "There, all better." That frustration is the hardest ... when you care for someone so much that you want to be able to take on their burden, ease their pain physically. So, he does the one thing that he can do - return her grip, holding her hand and gently stroking the base of her palm with his thumb in an attempt to offer her -something-. For a long moment, Shenner stares at that expressively torn face, and finally offers, gruffly, "You... been helpin', yah know?" "And not," he notes equally. "Got you off that rock, only to dump you on a worse one." His brow crinkles in annoyance. "But you been helpin' since then," Shen replies. Paul shrugs at that. "And messin'," he mutters. He considers the three roles he sees that he is potentially playing in her life - father figure, friend, and romantic interest. But which one does she need the most? Sighing, he lifts her hand with his, examining it's fragile appearance against the size and strength of his own. Her skin is pale, and you can see veins tracing up between her knuckles, but there's an old scar, faint, between two of them; something must have scratched her there, long ago. There's not an ounce of extra flesh on those delicate bones, and most of what does make up the substance of that hand feels like callouses. But Shenner tells Paul, "But, see... you been... showin' me all this wonderful stuff -- I mean, gods damn, Paul, I wouldn'ta known what carbon dating was if it weren't for you..." She laughs a little. "And the ocean, and swimmin'..." Her gaze lifts out to the tree's branches once more -- "And Dream" -- then back to the man. "And new ways to play my guitar... and... just... thank you, Paul..." She finally trails off, ineloquently. Her words of praise sound strange, as if he felt unworthy of them. Intellectually, he knows that he has done more than anyone else for her, but emotionally it seems practically the opposite, like he hasn't done enough, and hasn't been careful with what he has done. Besides, except for a couple of trying moments, most of what he has shared with her has been a pleasure for him as well, not an effort. Unused to compliments, he doesn't know how to take them. His eyes focus on the small scar. "Well, it wasn't any hardship," he replies, negating her grateful adulation. "I mean, it doesn't count if I do it because I want to," he murmurs, and gently drawing her hand up, he places a small kiss on the scar. It's differnet than the teasing gallant kiss that he dropped on Shen's hand the previous day. This is a more heart felt token of affection. "Well, it means a lot to me anyway," Shenner answers back softly. "What, I'm s'posed to thank yah only if you didn't wanna do it?" She laughs, just a little, once more, falling silent a moment as her hand is kissed, before she finally murmurs, "I wish... I wish I knew stuff better, so I could share stuff with you, too..." Looking at her over her raises knuckles, Paul chuckles softly. "I guess that that is pretty silly," he murmurs, lowering her hand and his, but still holding it, with his thumb caressing her palm in a circular motion. "You do share stuff with me Shen ... you share yourself and your zest and desire for learning. You let me be myself ... not just one facet, but my whole person." Shenner's expression gentles, even as she tries to grin a little; her fingers rub a little against Paul's. "Well, that's how I like yah," she answers back softly, trying for a light tone. The sun slants across his face, catching one eye in its beam and illuminating the green therein, leaving the other in shadow, its darker hazel cousin. "Well, I'm not used to having the freedom of showing more than one face to people that I know ...." he murmurs. "And I'm not used to anyone caring about me and what I'm feeling or what I want," he adds again, his eyes fixing on Shen's intently as he realizes that it's true. He squeezes Shen's hand tenderly. "So, I guess I owe you a "Thank you" as well." Shenner's expression subtly brightens, and she returns that clasp to her hand. "Any time, pal..." Her voice strikes an odd balance between shy and companionable, and her green eyes meet Paul's, made all the greener by the surrounding leaves; she looks oddly at home on this branch, as though she were some sort of delicate tree sylph, an appearance completely incongruous with her earthy voice. "Guess we're even, then..." Paul's hand relaxes, allowing her the opportunity to slip her's free is she chooses. He shrugs and smirks. "Guess so ... so, what would you like to do? We can climb some more, or talk ... nap?" He shrugs again. "It's up to you ... I've been here a thousand times, so it all works for me." There is, perhaps, a kind of atmosphere to the moment... and as if she fears somehow straining it by hanging on too long to the hand she's holding, Shenner lets her own slip away, albeit slowly. Her voice, too, remains part gentle, part teasing, as she says, "You been nappin' all day, Paul..." Shenner giggles a little, then, throatily. "I wanna ask you what kind of tree she is... and how come the air is different under a tree... but I ain't sure that'd somehow... break it..." Paul allows her to remove her hand from his grasp, but continues to hold on ever so slightly, so that in order to pull it away, she must draw it through his first, extending the touch till the final moment of separation. He smirks at her rude comment and cocks his head to one side, tipping his hat back a little. "Nappin' on the job, eh? Yeah, well, that's one way to look at it." He doesn't look the least bit repentant. "Well, it's only fair, since I skipped the whole night," he shoots back in a playful parry. He then glances about them again and to her second comment replies, "I can only tell you that she is a deciduous tree ... but I don't know what type ... later successional, that's for sure ... and the oldest one around here, survived the great fire about 90 years ago if I recall correctly." He drops his gaze to Shen's face. "As for the air, that's partly because trees create oxygen and mostly because they're magical." "Paul," Shenner says, leaning forward and grinning sheepishly, "I dunno what 'deciduous' or 'succesional' are." Tipping the hat forward again, so that it nearly covers his eyes, he leans toward Shen, giving her a shifty look. He cups one hand near his mouth and imparts to her his answer, as if he were some disreputable informant, whispering into her ear, "Baby, decididuous just means that the leaves fall off, unlike conifers, or pine trees, which have needles, and which hold their leaves all year long. And the term successional merely indicates success - so a first or early successional tree is one that sets into new territory fast and grows fast ... but later successional trees will always win in the end, cause they grow up tall and bully the weaker ones outta the way." He then leans back and winks slyly. "And don't you forget it ... cause they'll bury you baby." Shenner arranges her face into an appropriately businesslike and neutral expression, and whispers back gruffly, "I'll carry it to my grave!" But she wrecks her own look by the sparkle in her eyes. "They won't get nothin' outta me!" Paul snorks indelicately and laughs. He tips his hat back and tugging a leaf free, he reaches over and tickles the side of Shenner's neck with it. "Not even if they torture you?" he asks fiendishly. The girl squirms, eyes widening, and she gasps out, "They won't break me!" Scooting closer on the branch, he dips the leaf into the neckline of her shirt and drawing it across her flesh in slow teasing lines, looking for a point of reaction to indicate where she might be susceptible to even more tickling. "Brave words for such a delicate creature," he growls evilly. "Let's see if you are able to withstand the ancient Corellian Tree Torture Test ... it's broken many a courageous man and woman before you, I'll have you know!" "I'll never tell," declares the girl boldly, visibly trying very hard not to burst into giggles, "and I won't tell yah where I hid the plans to the battle station, either!" Her mouth twitches, though, as the leaf reaches a point _right_ at the hollow of her throat. Not one to miss an opportunity, Paul continues to tantalize her flesh there, at the hollow of her throat ... her achillies heel as it were. "Oh, you'll break," he taunts her breathlessly, leaning closer with a cruel smirk. "You -and- your Rebel friends." Shenner's features start twitching, a jerk of one corner of her mouth here, a rapid blink on one side of her eye there. "N-never, uh, Grand Moff -- what the kark's a _moff_, anyway? -- Grand Moff Paul! I'll never tell!" "A moff? Those are those little winged insects that fly around and batter themselves against lights, but that's beside the point." He snaps off another leaf and leans forward, using this one on the other side of her neck, starting just below her ear and teasing it downward while continuing to harry the dip between her collarbones. "It will do you no good to try and distract me, my dear," he rasps flagitiously. Shenner grabs hold of the branch and clings to it, stoically; she's starting to quiver, and ever so slightly, she scoots backwards along the limb. Any good Rebel ought to be trying to escape, right? Problem is, it's very difficult to deliver appropriately heroic lines while pretending you're not about to break into laughter. "Now look here, pal, ain't there some Imperial law against unnecessary, uh, torture?" she pants. Paul hisses and scootches after her. "There's nowhere to run, my fortress is impenetrable," he cackles, gesturing to the limbs about them. "Escape is futile." He finally traps her, as Shen's back impacts with the trunk of the tree. "As for the Decency Act of Alderaan," he hisses villanously, "well, let's just say that there isn't anyone to report indiscretions to any longer." Shenner squares her jaw, as she has occasionally seen good heroes and sometimes good heroines of holo-thrillers do, and says as heroically as she can manage, "Do your worst!" While continuing to attack her collarbones with just the barest touch of the tip of his leaf, he brings his face closer to hers, his eyes intense, his lips curled in a mockingly cruel grin. He drops the other leaf, which doesn't seem to have quite the effect that he is looking for and instead drops his hand and reaches for her side ... to a spot that he recalled as being rather ticklish during a certain pillow fight. "Oh no dear lady, I'll do my best," he assures her barbarously. Shenner actively squeals at that, and bats at the hand darting at her side! "Whoa, hey, no fair!" "All's fair in love and war," he reminds her innocently, and his hand darts past hers anyway in its not so sneaky attack. The girl starts to giggle in sharp, short gasps, even as she tries to simultaneously fend off the tickling hand and get in a retaliatory strike of her own. Abandoning the leaf, Paul keeps his now free hand ready to stop any unfriendly fire. "Resistance is useless," he crows trimumphantly, as his hand leaps and jerks, trying to reach her side and that tender spot. "Tell me now, and perhaps I will show you some mercy." "No, no, a thousand times no, you, uh, villain you!" Shenner shrills out laughingly -- then she shrieks as that tender spot in her side is reached. She begins squirming on the branch, calling out "Quit it!" between breathless giggles. Paul grins and leans closer to trap her against the trunk. "Make me," he challenges her, reaching for the opposing ticklish spot on her other side. "Ain't gonna" -- *giggle!* -- "spill my" -- *pant!* -- "guts to the enemy!" Shenner continues to squirm. Probably a good thing the girl's cornered against the trunk, because the way she's fidgeting now, she's liable to lose her balance at any second. With a hand on either side of her, the trunk at her back, and the limb between her legs, it is unlikely that she can fall ... not that Paul didn't take that into account before his final assualt on her senses. "Foolish woman," he hisses. "Don't you realize that a full confession is the only way you'll ever see the outside of a four by four cell ever again? Not to mention the daily tickling, I mean, torturing sessions." He leans forward and whispers in her ear. "You can scream all you like, but on one can hear you in outer space." "Then I'll hafta take you down with me, Imp!" Shenner chortles, aiming one of _her_ hands to tickle Paul, now. Letting out an undignified squeek, Paul tries to twist away from her plundering hands and quickly grips the branch with his thighs as he begins to feel himself slipping off to one side. Shenner grabs at Paul and does her best to tickle mercilessly, now. But she's less used to being in a tree, and is paying less attention to how she's sitting, as she lunges at her friend. Focusing on retaining his balance, Paul's tickling hands falter on Shenner, giving her the opportunity that she has been looking for, and her hands make contact with Paul's sides. He finds that without the support of the trunk, and with Shenner's hands tormenting him, that his sense of balance is growing more and more unsteady. This coupled with the fact that she lunges at him causes Paul to reach out rapidly to find something, anything, to grasp onto for balance. One hand grabs one of Shenner's arms, and the other reaches forward to connect with the trunk. Taken aback by Paul's sudden shift, Shenner yelps, and instinctively grabs at him again before _she_ can go slipping anywhere. She peers around him, _down_, suddenly realizing that while arguably she's not all _that_ high up in the tree, still, bouncing groundward through several large, wide branches wouldn't be exactly pleasant. "Eep." Waiting a moment to make sure that they are both balanced steadily, Paul remains pressed against Shen, one arm supporting them against the trunk, the other her waist. He then slowly draws back, her clutching arms around his torso making that motion fairly minimal. He looks down at her, all grins and giggles gone, his eyes a little bright. "Well," he murmurs, licking his lips nervously. "I should know better than to horse around too much when I'm twenty feet off the ground." "We coulda... bumped our heads," Shenner agrees, her voice turned husky, her grip slowly lessening as she realizes she isn't actually going to fall. But only a little. Paul just stays there, looking at her almost gravely. "Coulda broke our necks," he corrects her gently. The muscles beneath her hands, which were tensed in reaction before, relax ... slightly. "Good thing we both have fast reflexes," he rumbles, his voice dropping in pitch. Shenner pales a little and squeaks, "Really?" at the notion of neck-breaking. She risks another look downwards, and re-tightens her grip on Paul even as she manages to agree, "Yeah... good thing..." Swallowing slightly, Paul nods, but can't seem to take his eyes off of Shen's. They glitter ever so slightly and in a voice husky and warm as mulled cider he murmurs, "Dream wouldn't let anything bad happen to us." The girl looks up into Paul's face, her own dappled with leaf-shadow. "Never... had a tree look out for me before..." "Well, she's no ordinary tree," he breathes. His hand, no longer requiring the services of Dream's trunk, drops away ... but there is nowhere to go except Shen's waist. It slips from the trunk and across her side to stop there. Shenner does not appear to mind the relocation of that hand, as she remains there with her own arms still lightly embracing the man before her. Indeed, her attention seems raptly focused on his face. Shenner murmurs, "She's magic..." Somehow, the childlike statement avoids sounding ludicrous, coming out of Shen as it does in a simple whisper, without too much emphasis, as though she'd just commented that Paul's eyes are hazel. Magic. That was an apt word. Bewitching was a better one, and not in regards to the tree. "She is," he murmurs in agreement, his face dipping closer toward Shen's, his hands gripping her delicate waist slightly, as if testing the span of it. There seems barely more to Shenner than many of the lesser branches of the tree that currently cradles both the humans... but then, the girl is rather warmer and softer than the branches. Shenner watches Paul lean in towards her, entranced, her mouth parting slightly. Taking in her expression he continues his descent, his eyes growing darker and more green as he draws close. One hand slides to her back and pulls her closer to him, sliding up between her and the trunk to pause at her shoulders. The other hand remains at her waist, fingers to her back, thumb to her stomach. His mouth stops a breath away from hers. Shenner's breath flutters for a heartbeat or two; then, shyly, almost chastely, she touches her mouth to Paul's, before pulling back a fraction. Quickly, startledly, as though she hadn't expected herself to do that. The hand at her waist grips her gently, almost as if in approval. His eyes shift to her lips and back again and leaning forward he merely brushes his lips against hers, once ... twice, as if teasing or enticing. Shenner draws in a long breath, and quivers a bit within Paul's arms, her mouth parting slightly at that answering brush. Taking advantage of her unconscious invitation, Paul's hand slips up to the nape of her neck to press lightly, his lips brush hers for a third time and then dip to claim her lips in an exploratory kiss. Again, this is different from the other kisses - not wildly passionate like the first, or coaxing like the second, or desperate and then soothing like the third. This kiss is gentle, curious, as if he were sampling the taste of her lips to see how they both liked the flavor of it. The girl trembles, lightly but noticeably, but she makes no move to draw out of the embrace. If anything, she seems to try to mimic what Paul does. His one hand continues to cradle her head, and the other rises up to cup the side of her ribcage. He keeps the kiss easy, tender, giving her the chance to explore if she wants to, letting her set the pace. For a moment, that is exactly what the girl does; she tries another shy, hesitant kiss, then brushes her cheek briefly against Paul's jawline before she seems to suddenly catch herself. She lifts her head and pulls back ever so slightly, looking up into his face, her own nervous, unsure. "S'alright," he murmurs, his hand sliding from her nape to the side of her jaw. "Does this scare you? Do you want to stop?" Swallowing, Shenner starts to nod, then shake her head. Finally, visibly torn, she whispers, "Paul...? Are you... sure we won't get in trouble?" Stroking her cheek with his thumb he observes her conflicted emotions. There is a decidedly strong feeling that she just isn't ready for this yet, which is fine, he assures himself. "Trouble?" Now that confuses him a bit ... is she refering to safe sex or the law? ... but she is of age ... and it's not like he would let it go that far anyway. If he did, then that -would- be trouble. "What do you mean?" "I don't wanna mess up... getting the things you came to Corellia for," Shenner murmurs anxiously. Paul leans forward again to her lips with a negligent shrug. "You worry too much about messing things up ... I told you we were going to play hooky ... so relax." He doesn't even touch the question of "trouble", because he knows full well that there will be trouble, but it's nothing that he can't handle or that will jeporadize his assignment. His father might be a powerful man at the University, but Paul knew that he could get what he wanted with or without his old man's cooperation ... it would just require more work on his part. Shenner gives a little gasp, but doesn't turn away, or slip her arms away from Paul. Despite whatever conflict she might be experiencing, her body is evidently voting for continuing this Kissing Business, for she quite involuntarily presses a little closer to him. Paul doesn't heed the small dissenting voice in his head that suggested that she might not be ready. Tilting her head to the side, he kisses her again, a little more intently this time, probing her mouth actively, seductively. He bites her lower lip and teases the corners of her mouth. The hand at her side strokes up and down, from breast to hip and back again. That's definitely a tremble of response in Shenner's slim frame. Her head bends towards Paul's supporting hand, and as she awkwardly tries to figure out how best to answer the attention to her lips, one of her own hands strokes softly against Paul's back. Remembering her question uttered back on Calamari, of "so what's wrong with me?" to which he had growled, "Practice," Paul now gives her that opportunity. With some women, kissing and sex come naturally - there's nothing to it, instinct leads the way. With Shen, this is obviously not the case, but Paul is surprised to find himself patient ... gentle. His tongue rims her lips suggestively, seeing if he can perhaps teach her something else by example, though teaching her -this- was not something he had thought was appropriate between a mentor and his student. That gentle patience seems to soothe the girl even as she shivers lightly in response to those little enticements planted abouther mouth. Shyly, tentatively, she tries to mimic them... and slowly, she seems to get the idea. A small approving noise emits from Paul's throat, and his hand shifts to delve into her hair, while his other hand strays up to caress the other side of her neck, drawing lines of ice and fire along the underside of her jaw and the length of her throat. Shenner draws in a breath and holds it, as if she's forgotten to let it out again. The girl draws a hand around to brush fingertips to Paul's features, trying to match his own delicate touch. Breaking off the kiss, Paul draws back slightly, not releasing her, but assessing the situation. His hand still traces patterns against her jawline and the other slips from her hair, down the length of her spine, slowly. Shenner quivers again, and draws in a slow breath as Paul puts a bit of distance between them once more. Her eyes open, and are very green, very deep in her leaf-shadowed face; her face has darkened a little, too. For a moment, she appears rattled, before she lifts a shy and wondering regard to Paul. Just a little, and unsettledly, Shenner manages a smile. She is rewarded by a small smile in return. "Hi there," says the lean Corellian in front of her in a light voice that seems to ask, "everything okay?", though he doesn't word it that way. The hand trailing her down her spine stops as it reaches the small of her back and then begins to trace back upward again. The girl catches her breath, and, almost dreamingly, bobs her head. "H-hi..." The thought of saying "Want more?" seems ludicurous to Paul, yet that pretty much is the question on his mind. Instead, he uses his hands to ask her for a cue. The hand on her back strokes up the line of her neck to sink into her hair again. His other hand roams over her ribcage on one side, stroking it with tantalizingly feathery fingertips. Shenner's head tilts back towards that hand behind it, and her own hands clutch involutarily -- perhaps she fears falling, still? -- at Paul's shoulder and back as she trembles in response to that slow wandering touch. Her eyes drop closed again for a moment, before she looks shyly up once more; she brings her hand off Paul's shoulder and back around to lift it to his face, tracing a fingertip or two along the planes of his features, trying for that same lightness of contact. Her eyes remain very deeply green. Her delicate touch on his face causes Paul's eyelids to flutter for a moment as a deep rush of affection and something gentler than his usual fiery attraction surges in response. His hand trails down to her thigh and he runs it along the side before grasping behind her knee and lifting it over his own to bring her closer. He trades positions with his hands and repeats the same action on the other side and then once their legs will no longer collide, he shifts himself closer on the branch and well as urging her torso closer as well. Finding herself practically in Paul's lap, now, Shenner re-wraps her arms about Paul's back, then pauses there, her pulse beginning to skip in interesting rhythms as she registers exactly how much of her own front is pressed against Paul's. A blush suffuses her cheeks; she considers cradling her head on one of those shoulders immediately before her, but is dissuaded by the feel of warm breath against her face. Pressing a kiss to the corner of one eye, Paul's lips roam Shen's face, dropping a smooch here, a nibble there. Her nose, her ears, the curve of her neck, the tip of her chin, the corner of her mouth are all given equal time in his exploration. He presses a fingertip to a pressure point at the base of her neck as his other hand shifts to her back to trail lines across her back, paying strict attention to points of attraction and reaction - essentially trying to discover what it is that turns Shen on. It doesn't appear to take much -- Shenner is already quivering in reaction to the simple contact of her body to Paul's, and her breath has sped up. But she audibly gasps at kisses to her jawline, and the paths laid down on the backside of her slender hips by Paul's roving hand. A flare goes off, both in warning and in excitement, inside of Paul's mind. He forges forward, breathing lightly against her ear and then placing a small kiss below it followed by a tender bite. He trails these nibbling kisses to the dip between her collarbones, which he recalls was rather receptive to the leaf torture. He bestows a kiss there, removing the hat with a callous fling of one hand to get it out of the way. As enamored of the hat as she is, Shenner completely fails to notice its removal -- or at least one might think until her left hand lifts to bury itself in Paul's hair. Her right tries to find its own path along his body, as she trembles harder. Moving up to the other side in symetrical fashion, Paul finishes once again at the reactive point just below her ear. He then pulls away again to gaze down at her, his eyes heavy lidded in arousal despite himself. He blinks a few times to try to clear his head and decides to go for something safe. He pulls her against him in a hug - simple, affectionate - and takes the time to breath for a moment, to slow both of them down. Shenner is trembling now as though she were one of Dream's leaves buffeted about in a strong breeze; the girl releases a shuddering gasp, then, and as she's hugged, she abruptly buries her face against Paul's left shoulder. Reducing his hands to gentling strokes Paul continues to hold Shen to him. Feeling his head clear finally he takes one last deep cleansing breath, and tries to ease her violently trembling form. "Shhh," he urges softly, "You okay? Easy, Shen, easy." He rocks her ever so slightly. It takes Shenner a moment before she shakily nods, before she begins to relax in Paul's embrace. "I'm... okay..." she whispers huskily. "Good," he murmurs, still holding her, still rocking her. He leans his chin on her shoulder, confronted with the sight of Dream's stately torso. He stares at the bark patterns as he assimilates the feeling of Shen against him - so small and delicate that he feels rather like he were nearly Dream's size in comparison, and yet there is an energy in her that denies the idea of fragility. She feels good .... right somehow. Shenner's tight hold begins to relax till it is merely firm, and after a time, she raises her head to peer up into Paul's face, her own very tender, her eyes very full. A hint of a smile curves her mouth as she whispers again, "I'm okay..." "I would say that you were more than okay," he replies with a warm smile and an engaging gaze. "I'd say you were pretty damn fine," he teases her fondly. His arms loosen slightly, holding her, but not trapping her. "You're... pretty karkin' marvelous yourself, pal," Shen murmurs back, grinning a little more now, lopsidedly. She lifts her free hand to his face, tentatively cupping his cheek, and considering the feel of light stubble under her palms. "What now....?" Flushing under her compliment, her question, and her touch, Paul's fingertips connect with the back of her hand for a second before trailing along the length of her arm to stop at her shoulder. He looks up at the sky for a moment and then down to his wrist. "It's still light out, but it is getting late ... I suppose it would be good to head back, maybe rustle up some decent food to appease the ogre?" Shen purses her lips at the mention of Paul's father, but the brief tenseexpression fades after a moment, as she smiles again, casting a slightly nervous glance groundward. "I, uh, guess this means we gotta climb, uh, _down_." Patapatting her shoulder in a reassuring manner he carefully disengages their entwined limbs. "It's no different than climbing up, just backwards," he comments helpfully. The girl bobs her head, considering this, then with one last soft look in Paul's direction, she turns her attention to the task of returning herself to the ground. It takes her only slightly longer to climb down than it did to climb up, as she tries to grasp how to hang on with her hands while seeking out holds for her feet and going _down_ rather than up. Paul watches her descend and when she reaches the bottom, he follows her, a little more quickly due to his physical reach and his familiarity with Dream. He drops heavily off the final branch to land near to Shen and glancing around, he finds his hat and scoops it off the ground with one hand and drops it on top of his head. He turns away for a minute to pat the trunk in farewell and then turns back to Shen. "You ready?" he asks brightly. Shenner touches the tree quietly in imitation of Paul's gesture, then turns to him and nods steadily. She smiles a little at the hat back in its place, before answering, "Ready!" With a nod and a grin, Paul heads off back toward the woods, only to pause and offer his hand to her in a companionable gesture. A light wells up in Shenner's eyes, and her hand promptly closes around Paul's offered one. They backtrack their way through the forest, although this time Paul remains pretty quiet, letting the birds make their small talk with no interruptions from him. There is a curl to the corner of his lips and his expression is comfortable and contented. He occasionally swings their joined hands back and forth and smiles down at the redhead. Shenner for her part seems radiant in the late afternoon sunlight, pleased to simply be walking, and pleased to have Paul's larger fingers curled about hers. [To be continued....]