"You're important to me too - words don't really express it." Says Avalon in a rush, his face stained faintly pink. "I've lost so many friends, I don't want to loose you guys. I don't think I could take it."

He gives a nervous laugh, then says "Its why I'm so protective. I know that all of you are competant and can hadle yourselves on missions.. but.." he sighs, "I can't loose you guys too."

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Henry smiles. "You won't." He gives another squeeze, then starts to release the hug. "We'll be okay."

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"All will be well." Agrees the winged teen as he pulls back from Henry and grabs his milkshake. "Josh reminded me of that the other night. You remind me of it now." He then says, "I am blessed to be near so many whom are already so attuned to Hope."

Ava gives a happy sigh then, and says "Its so nice to live in the same world everyone else does. Naltor is so different. The people there don't live in their waking lives; and I can't access the Dreamtime where they really exist... its nice to.. to know that this is really real and not just another dream."

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"Dreamtime?" Henry shakes his head, not getting the reference.

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Avavalon blinks once, then ooohs as he realizes that Henry's probably never heard of it.

"When we dream at night, we actually go somewhere. Its called the Dreamtime." He explains. "Most Naltorians can access the Dreamtime and enter it like a realm.. I can access it too, but not quite the same. I can Dreamwalk and visit others in the Dreamtime."

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"So... you can enter my dreams?"

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Avalon grins then, and reaches out to poke at Henry's side playfully. "I can, but it's a lot more fun to just go climb into your bed." He teases gently.

"That and.. its kind of dangerous for me; I have no power over what happens, so if someone is having a bad dream.. I could get hurt." He explains. "On top of that, it's kind of an invasion unless there is a need, y'know?"

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Henry seems slightly relieved. "So you haven't, like, come into my dreams or anything."

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Avalon takes a moment to square off in front of Henry, and looks him in the eyes as he wears a serious expression. "It's an invasion of privacy that I don't care to visit upon you, Henry." he then says softly. "I've not Dreamwalked in a long time - it's just not something that I do often unless I need to."

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He considers. "No, it's okay," he finally says after a long moment of thought. "You can come in. Just... don't get mad at me if my dreams bring up stuff... you know."

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Avalon just gives Henry an odd look, and then he shrugs a bit as he says lightly "If you mean naughty dreams, then I'd be disappointed in you if you didn't have them."

Avalon can't keep a straight face for long, he snorts then and goes to voer his mouth with a hand as he laughs softly, his tone still amused as he says "Henry.. really.. you don't have to be so worried about that stuff. I accepted you for how you are long ago."

He then winks, his smile wide as he says "Anyway, why would I think that was a bad thing?"

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He shrugs. "Dunno. Just... you know. If you saw anything..." He shakes his head. "I have strange dreams sometimes."

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Chuckling some now, Avalon takes a long drink from his milkshake and then says softly "Dreams are not so much something that defines us, so much as it's our mind and soul's way of.. unwinding. Everyone has strange dreams, Henry. But, I do promise that I will not visit unless I need to."

"Really, there is little in the Dreamtime for me." he then confesses, "I'm too grounded in reality to want to spend much time there. Plus.. I had enough of it growing up. I am content to be here - really here - with you. It makes little sense for me to come to your dreams when I can simply walk across the hall and be with you."

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He smiles. "Well... yeah," he agrees. "But sharing dreams... that's kinda cool, isn't it?"

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That makes Avalon consider things for a moment, then he nods his head as he says "Yea.. it is pretty cool. Maybe sometime we can plan for it so that you can see what it's like. I've been told that the dreams are especially vivid and real before in the past.. They're no different for me though; I always dream like that."

His milkshake is finished by now, and he goes to get a spoon so he can fish the rest out of the glass like a glutton. "So what's this about playing Rock Band? How did that all come up?" he then asks, smirking.

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Henry finishes his shake as well. "We were at breakfast, and Josh admitted that he'd always wanted to sing in front of people. But he's always chickened out. So... I figured Rock Band would help him warm into it."

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"Oh brilliant!" replies Avalon as he comes to perch next to Henry, his expression bright and smiling. "I'm totally down - that sounds like fun."

He pauses, then takes on a sheepish expression as he says "I.. ah.. have a dance recital coming up in a few weeks. I was wondering if you guys might like to come, but I wasn't sure if that was your sort of thing.."

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Henry looks at Avalon like he's grown another head. "Are you kidding? Of course we'll come."

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That just makes Avalon scratch at the back of his head and give a rather half embarrassed little smile. "I wasn't sure that you'd want to come. It's all going to be rather boring.." he then says softly.

Sighing, Avalon flops onto a stool and says, "I'm actually kind of nervous, they have me doing this really hard part and I'm having to play catch up to the rest of the students.. It's been really brutal."

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"You're going to do great," Henry replies. "You've been working hard. And I want to support you. And besides, there'll be some really cute people there dancing. I mean, besides you."

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Avalon can't help but roll his eyes at Henry, his smile smirking as he replies "Of course you want to go watch the other dancers, Henry. It would be remiss of you to not make sure and check everyone out in their leotards!"

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"Yes, and I can rank them on a scale of 1 to 10 on the hotness ranking." He winks. "Of course, you're off the chart."

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