3143/I Dreamed a Dream

I Dreamed a Dream
Date of Scene:	14 November 2017
Location:	Foggy's Apartment - Hell's Kitchen
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Elektra, Foggy Nelson

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Elektra has posed:
They'd gone to Foggy's apartment. He'd suggested it, and she had not declined. In truth, Elektra wsn't sure why she was allowing herself to be this vulnerable. She'd created a lifetime of precision and control. It ruled her. It wasn't so much that she didn't feel things - she did - as she didn't allow such things to rule her. Didn't allow others to see them. She was, in all things, only what she wanted others to see.

Which begged the question: What was it she wanted Foggy to see?

And that Elektra had no answer for.

Once at his apartment, the woman looked around, taking a slow pace around the livingroom before finding herself a space to occupy. She didn't sit - not yet - but she did settle. It was clear in the lines of her body. The way she stood. How she ceased the look of constant expectant motion.

"So. This is where you live." A nodding appraisal given. "If you don't mind? I'd like something to drink."

False courage. Another thing she'd never needed before. Indeed, drinking clouded judgement, and threatened to impair her abilities. It was all caution she was throwing to the winds, it seemed.

Foggy Nelson has posed:
Foggy had invited her. But he was a little embarrassed. His apartment could use a good cleaning. THere were newspapers on the coffee table, piled up. There was even a bowl from breakfast that he had forgotten to put in the dishwasher. He moved as quickly and subtly as he could to pick them both up, folding the newspapers and putting them in a recycling bin in the kitchen, and the bowl into the dishwasher.

"Please, make yourself at home," he offered. "Sorry about the mess." There were legal files, briefings, but that was to be expected, and he didn't touch those. Moving to the fridge, he said, "okay, we've got OJ, purple stuff, soda, and Sunny delight.... and I might have a bottle of wine." He'd been saving it for when Matt and he won a big case. It was expensive. He could probably afford another bottle. So, maybe they could have it, if she wanted it.

Elektra has posed:
Elektra directs a distracted look his way. "Oh. I've seen worse than this. Please hardly trouble yourself." And it was true. She had seen worse. She'd spent more time than she'd admit to anyone in worse. There were things about her past that might not be believed were she to share them. But ultimately, she had barely given his housekeeping a second glance. There were just too many other things on her mind.

"Wine, please. If you can find it." Not that she knew it was one he'd been saving. She might have asked for something different if she had. She merely assumed there would be wine. She would have it at her home..

After another quick perusal of the room, Elektra elected to take up a perch on his couch. It was as good a place as any other. None of the spaces here were going to be entirely comfortable. ..And still, she didn't know why she was going through with this.

It was almost like she was punishing herself.

Foggy Nelson has posed:
Finding the wine buried in the back of a cupboard, Foggy had to wipe the dust off with a nice wet rag. He then grabbed, well, a salad bowl actually, and filled it with ice, then slipped the wine into it. He brought that around to the living room, setting it on the table, then fetched the wine glasses, one for each. "I hope you like it. It's from Terra Nueva, before the occupation." He was of course referring to how Atlantis, one of them, Foggy had trouble keeping track, had occupied a small area of Argentina, which had been redubbed Terra Nueva. The Atlanteans didn't seem too willing to give it up, just like with Mazikhandar in the Middle East. But those things were so far off, and had little to do with a lawyer from Hell's Kitchen. Joining her on the couch, "sorry, it's not chilled. Might take a little time. But, mi casa es su casa. Make yourself at home." And then he noticed the chalk from her outfit rubbing against the couch, "it needed a nice clean anyway."

Elektra has posed:
Elektra shrugs negligently. "Well, white does need to be chilled to its best advantage. I suppose I'll just have to be patient." Her gaze drifts, following his down to where she's left chalk marks upon his couch. Not that chalk won't come off easily enough - with a damp cloth as it happens. "I'm sorry. Do you have something I could wipe that off with?"

She's quick to rise from the couch, smudging the mark as she does so. Most of the chalk is smudged now. On her. On the couch. It mostly shows on her because of the dark colour she wears.

Foggy Nelson has posed:
Foggy smiles, and takes a couple of the ice cubs from the salad bowl, and wraps them up in the napkin he had wrapped around the bottle. He used it to wipe away the marks from the couch, and held it up to her, since, it'd be inappropriate for him to wipe the marks from backside. "Easily done."

Elektra has posed:
She holds out her hand to take the cloth from him. Her fingertips touching his with a casual negligence as she takes it. It's held in her hand just long enough to let more of the ice melt onto the cloth before using it to wipe away the worst of the marks from her climbing outfit. When done, she hands the cloth back. "Thank-you. I'd change, but I didn't bring a second set of clothing." All that had been left back at the club. Well, it would have been collected by her driver now, as he saw to paying the establishiment after their departure.

Foggy Nelson has posed:
Taking the napkin back, he puts the ice back in the bowl, since it's still cold, and won't be actually touching their drink, and re-wraps the bottle, again, since it's fine. Problem solved. "Oh, uh, well, er, if you wanted to borrow a robe or something, that'd be fine. Or that's fine. Want me to get a towel?" He was trying to tend to her needs, though he was probably focusing on the small things to avoid the unspoken.

Elektra has posed:
Elektra declines. "No. I still have to go home at some point. It would hardly make sense to undress into a robe only to redress into this outfit. I'll survive, I'm certain. As will your couch." And to prove her point, she retakes her seat.

Foggy Nelson has posed:
Nodding his head in understanding, "yeah, that's true." Checking on the wine, he thinks it's ready, and proceeds to pour her a glass. Patience is a virtue. "And yeah, my couch will survive. I just wish it were nicer."

Elektra has posed:
The wine is taken gratefully, the glass sufficing as something to do with her hands while they visit. Well, more like she works on gahtering herself together to tell her tale.. unless he's already forgotten. There's always hope of that. If he has, far be it from her to remind him..

"Your couch is just fine. There are no springs poking up in all the wrong places. The cushions are cushy. The colour isn't even bad. As far as furnniture goes, it's sufficient. Rule of thumb, Foggy, never apologize for things you needn't. You ply an honest trade. Your home is exactly that - a home. And you're a decent, upstanding citizen of the world. Not everyone can say that."

Foggy Nelson has posed:
"You flatter me Elektra," she actually said it matter of fact-ly, but she did say something that was nice, even if it was also true. He took a sip of his own wine, and he still didn't pry, he didn't press. He listened, he looked, he was there, waiting for her to tell her story. He had not forgotten, but he also wasn't about to change the subject either. Patience was obviously a virtue he possessed, or at least he had enough strength of will right now to wait.

Elektra has posed:
She sips her wine, letting her words lie between them, enjoying the silence after he speaks, even as she knows it's him waiting for her to tell her tale. Once again, she wonders why she agreed to this. Why she hadn't merely lied to him and told a blythe story he'd have believed, because it wouldn't occur to him that she was lying. There were enough places about the world that she could have taken him without thought, and he'd have been happy.

So why had she done this to herself?

Elektra had no answers.

It took another sip of wine before she began. "I believe I agreed to tell you about the place why I was happiest. You must know it was a long time ago now, and I was a different person then. I think I believed in different things. Believed I could be different. That the world was a different place." She looks over. "It's true, you know, that you can't go back. You can visit, but you can never go back."

Foggy Nelson has posed:
He nodded his head in understanding, but he kept quiet. He sipped his wine again, which may have a been a mistake, but he was there. She was safe with him. She could tell him anything. She was safe in his apartment. He was normal. He was homey. He was another world for her. And perhaps that's why she had indulged his request. He tried to make her feel at ease.

Elektra has posed:
Elektra's gaze drifts Foggy's way, noting his silence. Probably rightly assessing much of it. Still? Still she carries on, determined to follow through. At least until it becomes more than herself. Though for this moment it is still a thing she owns; controls. It's merely a thing she'd tried to forget and failed to do so.

Elektra Natchios was unused to failure.

She sipped her wine before continuing. "There is a misconception about wealth. Many think how wonderful it must be to travel the world and see so many fascinating places. To own properties in far flung corners of the world. When in reality, it's a very small, sad thing. Look at this space around you. It's you, Foggy. And that is a thing I have lacked."

She gives an almost apologetic smile, though what she has to be apologetic for is uncertain. "There was one small space in all the realities I knew growing up, that I felt I could call my own. It wasn't even at the most ornate or expensive of our properties. In fact, I'm not even certain how my father came to own this particular piece of land. Nothing more than a small cottage-type home upon it, and what seemed to me at the time, endless gardens surrounding it."

Knowing Elektra, and the wealth of her family, her idea of 'cottage' might be skewed. Or.. it might be entirely appropriately guaged.

Foggy Nelson has posed:
"I can understand that. Things... hold more value to me. The personal touches. When I buy a shirt, I remember picking it out, the person who sold it to me, why I decided to get this one over the other one. When you want a shirt, you just get a personal shopper to get you one, have it delivered to wherever you are, and you might never wear that shirt again. But mine, I remember when I spilt coffee on it, how I went out and bought a Tide stick to try and get it out, how I scrubbed it under the tap. The looks I got when I did that in a public men's restroom, as I stood there, bare chested, washing my shirt as if I were homeless or something. Everything I own holds memories for me. But to you, they're just things. Am I reading that right, or completely out to lunch?"

Elektra has posed:
There's a throaty little laugh at his commentary, Elektra smiling his way. "Somewhat so. There are some few things that I've occassionally wondered if they held any meaning. But ultimately you learn everything can be discarded." It was a harsh lesson, and one she continued to learn. Like with Matt. She'd thought they had something, only to find she'd been discarded..

"It's the gardens I remember. I'm certain that they were much smaller than my memory tells me that they are. Much like you return to old haunts as an adult and find they aren't these huge places they way your mind told you they were. And you wonder how you ever fit those spaces. Much like that, only in my mind, I remember them as being vast. Endless, almost. I could lose myself in them for hours and pretend there was only myself in the world."

She smiles again, though it is a distant thing. Another sip of wine taken. Taken - not enjoyed.

"There's a certain irony in that. In all my father's homes I felt invisible. And yet, my most fond memory is of being alone in the world."

Foggy Nelson has posed:
"Not everything," Foggy corrects, and he seems to fully believe that. "There are some things that can't, or at least, should never be discarded." But he continued to listen, nodding his head in agreement at how past perceptions don't always match up to newer ones. He set his wine down on a coaster, he had some manners after all, and leaned back on the couch. He'd had quite a bit to drink. "Thank you for sharing that with me."

Elektra has posed:
There's a moment of sudden surprise from the woman as she realizes he believes she was done. And now she's left with a quandry: Does she leave it there, or does she continue on. Either choice leaves her with things less than desired. Her indecision buried in another sip of wine, finishing her glass.

Elektra reaches over and pours herself another.

Foggy Nelson has posed:
"More to that story, huh?" He added, listening. He found the couch very relaxing. He could wait her out, assuming of course he didn't pass out from the alcohol he'd consumed tonight. It was getting late. But he was enjoying her company, even if he wasn't saying much right now.

Elektra has posed:
She really hadn't been hiding it, that there was more to the story. Elektra just hadn't decided if she were going to tell him or not. Especially if he hadn't noticed. But he had. "Some. You did ask."

She smiles to show it's okay. Or could be okay. It's hard to tell. Smiles never really reach her eyes. At least not most of the time, and this is no exception.

"There were sections near the back, I suppose they ran the property line, where things had been left to grow unfettered. There was a hole in a hedgerow that I found I could crawl through, and on the other side was something of a clearing. No larger than that kitchenette in your office. Maybe smaller. I used to spend my time there, lying in puddles of sunshine, watching the green shadows play along the ground. In my mind there were flowers, only I sometimes wonder if I imagined those. Green and yellow are what I remember best. I used to believe that if I lay there still enough I could hear the earth speaking. I spent an entire summer trying."

And now she laughs at herself. "Of course the earth doesn't speak. But I wanted it to."

Foggy Nelson has posed:
"Oh, what it would say if it could," he inclined, as he reached for his wine, suddenly feeling thirsty again. He was listening to her. He was sitting there beside her. He was making her feel comfortable and relaxed. He looked out at the window for a moment, seeing the way the night sky was dark, but lit up with thousands of little stars, lights from apartments, lamp poles, cars, signs, he had a decent view. Of course, he didn't exactly live in the most expensive area of Manhattan, but he could see all the way to Gotham from there. Turning to face her, he smiled again.

Elektra has posed:
"I was a precocious child. I have no idea what I thought it would say." She shrugs, a finger tracing the rim of her wineglass. "My father must have sold the property. I never found the records for it when his holdings became mine. But I did go back once, looking for it. There was an apartment complex on the site. A little strip mall next to it. This mockery of the one place I'd held innocent and dear."

Foggy Nelson has posed:
"So, you're not a precocious adult?" He asked, curiously, "can someone be a precious adult?" But her story, coming to an end, makes him feel sad. He leans forward, eyes making contact with her own, "That's terrible. I'm so sorry. Yeah, wow, just wow. He never knew."

Elektra has posed:
Now she drains her glass of wine. "No, he never knew. Of course, I never told him." The bottle is regarded, and another glass poured. The bottle nearly empty, she offers the remainder to Foggy. "I don't think one can be a precocious adult. I believe most would say we're assholes. That or something worse."

Foggy Nelson has posed:
Accepting the bottle, Foggy pours the rest of it into his glass, and takes a nice long sip. It was good wine, at least according to Foggy's admittedly limited palate. "Well, you're my kind of asshole, if it means anything to you." He had thoroughly enjoyed his time with her. It was exciting. He felt so alive around her. And he never knew what was going to happen next. "Oh, I'm a lawyer. Believe me, I've heard worse."

Elektra has posed:
Elektra laughs throatily. "You say that now. You hardly know me, Foggy Nelson." Her head inclined to him. "Though I am curious about something."

Foggy Nelson has posed:
Grinning and nodding as he sipped more of his wine, he said, "true, but I like what I do know." That was something he wouldn't have said before their recent encounters. Raising an eyebrow at her leading question, "oh, ask away? I have nothing to hide."

Elektra has posed:
"So you say now," Elektra muses, smiling over a sip of wine. She's moved so that her feet are up on his couch and she's mostly lounging. Not lying, just a relaxed posture that isn't quite upright sitting either. "You've been watching me all evening. And more than this evening. When is it you were going to work up the nerve to ask to kiss me?"

She seems mildly amused by her observation of his attentions towards her. And has had just enough wine to bring the thought to bear between them.

Foggy Nelson has posed:
"I... oh, I... didn't think it was um, proper," yeah, he was blushing, cheeks taking on a rosy hue, "to ask. I mean, with your past, and... well, I never thought it'd be an issue. Girls like you don't usually want to kiss guys like me." He was so torn. On the one hand, he wanted to. On the other hand, he didn't want to ruin his friendship, partnership even, with Matt. But she was here, Matt was not, and he had consumed a large amount of alcohol. Hardly a defence, but at least it was an explanation should anything happen between them. "But... if, and I do mean if, you wanted to... do that... with me. It would be consensual."

Elektra has posed:
A brow arches delicately. "Did you just say it would be consensual? You are such a lawyer." There's an amused chuckle from the woman, Elektra sitting up more fully, drawing her feet nearer to herself and pointing to the other end of the couch. "Come. We talk. Though I feel obligated to say I'm not girls like me."

Foggy Nelson has posed:
"Yeah," he smiled sheepishly, "I guess I did." He was. He sits up when she does so, and he'll move closer to her when she points at the other end of the couch. "What kind of a girl are you, Elektra Natchios?"

Elektra has posed:
"What kind of girl am I," Elektra ponders. "I don't know, Foggy. Mostly I'm not a nice girl. Certainly not a girl you should be thinking about kissing. I hurt people and I don't let that stand in my way of getting what I want. People like me break the hearts of people like you. And then we sip our coffees and ponder what to order for lunch. Matt would tell you to run, and run fast."

Foggy Nelson has posed:
She was being honest, and it had a profound effect on Foggy. He nodded his head. "Yeah, maybe it would be better to run. And run fast. But they don't call me Guts Nelson for nothing." He wasn't sure about the hurting people. He didn't know she meant physically. He assumed she meant emotionally, and really, who hasn't hurt someone else? Some more than most, but everyone hurts other peoples, knowingly or unknowingly. It was a fact of life. And he was rationalising why he shouldn't run. "And I'm still here." The conversation had neatly distracted him from the fact that it seemed like a kiss was on the table.

Elektra has posed:
"Guts Nelson," she repeats. "And yet, you still haven't done anything about that kiss other than state it would be consensual. As though you were presenting a case for deliberation." She's amused, a thing that has her smiling at him over her wineglass. "You really shouldn't be here, but for the fact this is your home. That and you likely think I'm joking. When in fact, I'm sitting here wondering if I should tell you something or not." Which seems to remind her, "Those papers, any chance you ran them by Matthew yet?" Though the odds are he hasn't. It's not like he's had them in his possession very long.

Foggy Nelson has posed:
"No, I haven't. I'm a lawyer. I'm also Matt's partner. And," he finished the last of his wine, "despite your considerable past with him, I have a considerable present with him. If you think I'm going to kiss you first, then you're flat wrong. It's not about guts. It's about, well, bros..." and he wasn't going to finish that one. He didn't want to insult her. He was being candid. "I like you. I like you way more than I expected. It's really surprised me. But, I've told you it would be consensual. That's about as far as I, as much as I've had to drink, am willing to go on my own. I'm already on more of a ledge than I'm comfortable with. Give me a dollar, and you can tell me anything you want." Meaning, he would be her personal lawyer, and she'd be covered by attorney client privilege. "As for the papers, I'm still looking them over before going to Matt with them." She wasn't the only prospective client.

Elektra has posed:
Elektra sits with that, a brow lifting. "I see. So that's where it's at. Though if you were in my employ, that would negate any ability of mine to deliver that kiss, now wouldn't it?" It's all so casual, as thought she's considering both situations rather seriously. "And what if I said kissing you could destroy your relationship with Matt, regardless of who initiated it? Would it still be consentual then?"

While she waits for his answer, she sips at her wine. It's a third of the way gone now.

Foggy Nelson has posed:
"Ah, but you forget, I did say, beforehand, that it would be consensual, and... lawyers aren't strictly in one's employ. I'm not your employee, I'm your advocate. I work with you, more than for you. For example, if you said that you were planning to commit a crime, that wouldn't be covered by attorney-client privilege. I would be duty bound to inform the police of your criminal intentions. If you told me after the fact, that would be covered. It's a funny business, but that's the industry I'm in." She was casual, and he was business as usual, despite being somewhat inebriated, and even swaying a bit.

He was working on the answer to the first part for so much that he almost missed the second. "It could. I know it could. And still, I said it would be consensual. I love Matt like a brother. He, he was with you. Now you two aren't together. There's a lot of risk here. And I don't know why I'm saying this. I really don't. But, except for the fact that I enjoy spending time with you. I well and truly hope it doesn't come to it. If anything were to happen between us, I have no earthly idea how I'd explain it to Matt. But... it's a risk I'm... I'm willing to take. You have to try for the things you... want."

Elektra has posed:
Elektra wasn't precisely inebriated so much as she'd let her guards down. Guards. Plural. She was so many layers. And even so, there were layers that were still under lock and key. "Semantics," she mutters, looking over. "I'd be paying you. It still smacks of something rather illicit and tawdry. As for Matt, he's already threatened to disolve the partnership over the Foundation. I'm not sure why he felt it should sway me, unless, of course it was some twisted kind of test from the man. There's a reason I went to such lengths with the paperwork. And despite all the kinds of despicable I am, I'm not sure I'm the kind of woman who does that to the two of you."

She shrugs, and takes a deep swallow of her remaining wine. "I'm not even certain why I'm telling you any of this."

Foggy Nelson has posed:
"Dissolve the partnership," Foggy repeated. What she suggested was fanciful, and yet, there was a ring of truth to it. Matt could be a stubborn bull at times, and Foggy wasn't sure how much he meant it, but it did worry Foggy. "You're not despicable. And whatever happens between Matt and I, will happen. I don't want to see our partnership end. I don't want to see the end of Nelson and Murdock. But, if it happens, it happens. Nothing lasts forever. He's going to do what he thinks is right, and I'll do the same. God help me," Foggy wasn't a religious man like Matt, but did say it now, "I hope we agree in the end."

Elektra has posed:
Oh, that she doesn't believe. "And avacados at law, Foggy? Where's the man who said he couldn't entertain the notion of the Foundation without talking to his partner because you were avacados at law, and nothing should come between you?"

The remains of her wine are downed. She's become impatient with it, even it if is a shitty way to treat a decent wine. "And just what kind of woman would I be if I threw all caution to the wind and said I didn't care what happened between the two of you?"

Her empty glass is set down. "You realize that would make me every inch the heartless bitch he already thinks I am, don't you?"

Foggy Nelson has posed:
"The thing about Matt is, he gets on his high horse. If you'll pardon the somewhat inappropriate metaphor, he's a very black and white guy, when the world is painted in shades of grey. He says a lot of things. He can usually be talked down. I fully believe that we will remain partners until we're old and grey, and ready to hand the keys to the firm to the next batch of up and coming lawyers, to take over the good fight. But, it's the nature of the beast. Law firms merge, close, change names, lose partners, gain partners; they are ever changing. We could dissolve tomorrow, and become partners again next year. Whatever is going to happen, is going to happen."

Elektra has posed:
"The thing about Matt is.." Elektra minces after Foggy's words. "Except he may be right about some things. I don't lie when I say I'm not very nice, Foggy. And I'm not sure why I'm even telling you any of this, except perhaps I like you. We've spent some good times together. You've surprised me. I don't surprise easily."

"I need the two of you together for the Foundation. Or at least I'd like the two of you to be together. It hardly seems right to try and do something halfway to decent only to start with an act so callous as to break the two of you apart."

Foggy Nelson has posed:
"These three things, you and I, Foggy and I, the firm and the Foundation, they shouldn't affect each other. No matter what happens between you and I, I will support the Foundation, providing it meets my approval on the details. If Matt doesn't want to have any part of it, or if he gets upset at us, if there were and us, then so be it. I think it would be... an overreaction. It's not as though, uh, he hasn't seen other people since you..."

Elektra has posed:
Oh, that was rich. Elektra laughed. "You think that's what this is? Worriing he might see me sullied because I was with someone else besides him?" She shakes her head. "Oh, Matt wasn't the last lover I had. He's just been the most memorable. Falling for someone does that, you know." Even more so when she'd never allowed herself to fall so deeply before, if ever. "As for Matt, I'd be disappointed if he were pining for the fjords as it were. No, I think that ship sailed, sadly. I had hoped that maybe, but if I've learned nothing since I returned to New York, it's that he really doesn't care anymore. And I can't say as I blame him. We've too many irreconcilable differences. He wants someone who doesn't do things he finds reprehensible, and I want someone who loves me for me. As you say, some things really have little to do with one another."

Foggy Nelson has posed:
"And... do you think that could be me?" It was simple, but it was direct.

Elektra has posed:
It was the directness that caught her off guard. "You hardly know me," Elektra says affter a considered pause.

Foggy Nelson has posed:
"I'm here, and I want to know you better. And, I would like... what we discussed earlier, that consensual thing." And he grinned at her.

Elektra has posed:
Elektra chuckless, "You're over there, and I'm not moving. So you decide just how serious you are about all things fall apart eventually. As for the other, there are some things I don't think you're ready for, Foggy. I'd hate to disillusion you before we've even had our first kiss."