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The closest Columbina has ever gotten to the moon was soaring straight to its surface and grasping it right between her fingertips, and the closest Sandrone has ever gotten to it was having Columbina, the moon goddess herself, in her arms.
Throughout this very night, they drifted along the soft grasses of Nod-Krai, cradled within one another’s hold. Simply swaying, against the brushes of wind that hits their skin. Above her was the glistening moon, beneath her were dozens of beautifully bloomed flowers.. and under her parted lips was Sandrone’s collarbone.
It was a silent plea on Columbina’s part, to have even the smallest fraction of time to themselves. Just the two of them and the stars beyond, tangled in each other’s hold as if it were the last chance to do so. “Thank you for this.” She softly exhales, relishing in the gentle pulls that Sandrone initiates.
“Gh..” Sandrone always hesitated on showing vulnerability to everyone, and Columbina was no exception to that policy. Even something as small as this, even when there’s nobody there to witness their quiet dance. “You.. You practically begged for this. Don’t consider this as anything special.” She adds a scoff at the end, as if that could cover up the meaning of her real language.
Despite all of her brutal words, Columbina knows exactly what she feels. Sandrone’s hold on her waist is too strong for someone who didn’t want this moment, and her thumb caresses Columbina’s palm in a hidden showcase of love. Her breaths were cold, airy– her body language in general, contradicted just about everything that she could ever say, really.
That’s why she takes no offense to what she says, because she understands what falls under the radar of most. She knows Sandrone more than what anyone else could, she adores Sandrone more than what the universe could ever comprehend.
Soon, they reach a quiet, careful stop. Beneath them was a small collection of glowing flowers, a reminder of where they were, another hint of the moon’s gaze that drowns them in such pretty lighting.
The reaction is almost immediately, lifting her head up to stare up into Sandrone’s eyes. A flicker in her gaze, the shock of seeing Columbina’s eyes, she could only assume– but Sandrone didn’t even consider looking away. She simply stared until she slipped into the ocean blue, something that Columbina could do forever if she were to let her.
Another day long fallen in the past, and they were still existing together in a new night. The cold of the air was cut right off from the contact of their skin, then, it was her eyes that drew the atmosphere into the most adoring warmth.
Columbina pulls Sandrone’s hands up to her lips, placing a relaxed kiss against her knuckle. “I love you, Sandrone.” She confesses with a careful calmness, guiding her index finger forward.
“Are you seriously..” Sandrone falters for a moment, gathering words that quickly die on her tongue. Likely being unsure of what to say, she turns away from Columbina in a scoff. “You sure do enjoy getting a rise out of me.. don’t you?”
She smiles. “Awe. How cold of you, Sandrone.” Leaning further into the hold, she whispers again. “I know you’re at least thinking about it.”
“Thinking of what? Saying those words back to you?” She furrows her brows, releasing an audible tsk from the tip of her tongue. “We were only ever colleagues. Nothing more to our relationship than just that.”
And, still, she hadn’t gone even a full minute before looking back at Columbina. The softness in her eyes says it all, although, Columbina would never dare admit that– the contact lasts a second too long to not notice.
“Could that really be it?” She questions with a slight head tilt, too amused to conceal. “If you insist.. then.. your secret is safe with me.”
Sandrone’s breath hitches. “What secret? I have nothing to hide.” She defends herself too fast, it even catches Columbina off guard for a moment.
She draws back to where she was before, leaning against Sandrone’s shoulders and staring ahead at the small waves splashing against each other. The sounds of the surrounding nature became their song up to this point, and now throughout their short exchange, it was nothing more than the purest background noise.
Every aspect of this night was her version of everything.
“We all have something to hide, Sandrone.” Columbina answers with a light giggle. “You do love me.. don’t you?”
“Ghh..”
A silence buzzes between the two of them, and that alone, answers everything. Even if the words never slip from her lips, Columbina knows it all too well. Sandrone knows, too. That’s why she doesn’t pull away when their gentle dance quietly resumes, pacing carefully over the flowers and squeezing her hands tighter.
Something forever between them, and the moon.