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The cheers seems to drown out the sounds of cricket by the outside: as light coat of snow fall from the dark cloud above—Dream Journey found herself staring out, zoning from the chaos happening right Infront of her.
Her eyes shifted to the presence beside her—the calm traveler: that now returned to her side seems to hold her amused chuckle, as her eyes lay on the chaos sight sprawled Infront of her as well.
“Journey? Are you not joining them?” Stay Gold’s voice arrived, cutting cleanly through the quiet corridor of Dream Journey’s thoughts. It was not loud—she had never been one for raised tones—Dream Journey’s eyes shifted at once toward the traveler, who was watching her with a gentleness that felt, in that moment, almost accusatory. “You don’t need to be so observant all the time, you know,” Stay Gold added, the reminder offered with the casualness of a habit impacted Dream Journey more than what Stay Gold's eyes could've seen.
For a heartbeat, Dream Journey did not answer. She allowed herself only a thin smile—one that mirrored Stay Gold’s in shape, if not in ease—before turning her gaze back toward the source of the noise that filled the room:
Orfevre was there, of course—still draped in that tyrant’s composure she wore with such theatrical consistency, even as the edges of it frayed beneath the pressure of her juniors’ antics: With Goldship trying to nudge her to laugh—whilst she herself was occupied to rile Fenomeno to edge of her patience all at the same time.
Dream Journey watched them, and her smile bloom across her fair complexion. A reluctant amusement she can't hide to the traveler who sees through her. She tilted her head slightly, as though adjusting her perspective
Words, as ever, required a moment of negotiation before she allowed them to exist: in which Dream Journey was sure Stay Gold noticed that about her too.
“Or seems so happy,” she murmured, her voice low enough that it seemed intended more for the air than for Stay Gold. Her hand rose almost automatically to her glasses, nudging them back into place—before her attention returned to the ginger-haired tyrant, who was now scoffing, the last shreds of severity abandoned in the wake of yet another whatever foolish stunt Goldship has pulled. “I’ll stay afterward,” Dream Journey said “They can create such a ruckus.”
Hearing that: Stay Gold raised her eyebrow, as if contemplating the choices Dream Journey has made. "Ah, no, it won't do. I'll stay after to help you." Stay Gold insisted—pressed, perhaps. Rather than to offer it. "It'll be hard to tidy it all alone." She added, before the same thin line of smile painted it way's on her face yet again.
"For now, why don't you indulge yourself in a drink or two? Not like they could have a taste yet." Stay Gold suddenly murmured, before she pulled out a bottle of wine—sloshing the bottle in her grasp before pouring it to the glass beside Dream Journey.
For a fleeting moment, Dream Journey could only stare into the glass before her, the surface catching faint glimmers of light—while Stay Gold had already drained hers without hesitation. But it seems like Dream Journey is caught in the spiral of what if:
For she had long loved the woman seated across from her—And still, the fear clung to her: that the truth might slip from her lips due to the state of intoxication.
She knew too well how easily her words unraveled when her senses blurred, how little control she truly held once the warmth settled deep within her veins:
What if she accidentally blurted it out wasn't a closed possibilities, what if she just confessed wasn't an impossible occurrence.
Dream Journey gulped down her saliva: that fear seemed to root itself deeper—until it became something heavy, something inescapable.
Something that only the state of intoxication can drown out: the choice lays between two oppurtunies, but due to the pang of that said root, Dream Journey later then brought the glass to her own lips.
The taste bloomed across her taste buds: in which—Dream Journey continued to savor it, Stay Gold hummed in response, a sign of satisfaction. "What do you think, Journey?" She questioned.
"Wine from faraway is a lot stronger, no?" Stay Gold added, chuckling beneath her breath—as she wiped off the excess spills on the edge of her lips, she was right about how strong it is. "I bought it just to have a little bit of fun—but well, Journey, Don't quite blame me if you ended up passing out tonight"
Dream Journey measly replied with a thin smile as she nodded in understanding, "I'm sure such thing aren't going to happens, Anego."
"Ah well then, nonetheless, I should held you accountable anyway if it does happens—as a role model." Stay Gold laughed it off—as she poured herself some more: whilst the distance laughter echoed still—filling the room, and yet: never the quiet abundance between them.
As the alcohol sets in: Dream Journey sloshed her glass in her palm—looking down on it as her thoughts slowly spiral to only one thing: or rather—one person, The glassed uma then would steal glances at the traveler— face was painted with nothing else but relax.
The price of her quiet serenity felt nameless, something she could neither hold nor fully understand; as the traveler’s gaze lowered, Dream Journey could only let a soft, hollow chuckle at the quiet absurdity of it all. Stay Gold had been the one to insist on watching over her—and yet, she was already slipping, her senses half-lost to the gentle haze.
That thought lingered just long enough to blur the edges of everything around her, dulling the world into a distant murmur—until she felt it: the rough, calloused touch brushing against her. It drew her back like a tether, slow but certain, and she lifted her gaze once more—returning it fully to Stay Gold
"Journey, don't you get tired of waiting for me to comeback? From an unclear goal .." Stay Gold slurred, clearly—The alcohol was taking a knack, hearing that: Dream Journey pondered over a sentence which she should've just walked away from. "Lack of clarity must be your most hated thing."
Stay Gold wasn't wrong: but to indulge herself into her half drunk babble was reckless—ridiculous, and nothing short of stupid. And yet: Dream Journey still does, with a reason she has yet to know.
Stay Gold's eyes remained on her, waiting for an answer ever so patiently. "Anego .. it's just, how you're, right? It's a normalcy of a habit of you—A free spirited soul like you shouldn't be tied down." Dream Journey murmured.
Stay Gold's eyebrow raised, before she let out an airy chuckle: her gaze shifted to the chaos that dimmed with how much has she averted her attention to Dream Journey—and her only.
Dream Journey isn't the type to be outright with how she feels: Stay Gold know that far too well—like the path she engraved, like the back of her hands—The traveler long remembered how the glassed girl process her thoughts before she could even sorts hers.
"You put others before you quite easily—It's nice to have something of your desire." Stay Gold whispered, sultry, she brought her glass once again: relishing in the quiet abundance it gave for a temporary borrowed moment.
That struck Dream Journey with something she never quite acknowledge:
She had long known that she was see through for Stay Gold—but to hear Stay Gold pressing down on the matter, insisting for her to have an object of her desire was strange:
Especially that something she desire was the very person insisting that.
Dream Journey barely chuckled, swallowing the bitter taste: "I do have exactly that—, although, I do not own it at the moment—perhaps much later in the future." Dream Journey admitted, with a tone no louder ran a whisper.
Stay Gold nodded anyway:
As the traveler brought her glass back to her lips, she followed with another question: ".. what about you, then? Shouldn't an all knowing soul like you be tied to uncertainty?" Stay Gold later then returned the question.
".. does waiting not make you feel unwanted?" Stay Gold followed with right after.
Dream Journey had no answer to that: knowing that they were both heading nowhere except than down to a rabbit hole—Based on how the conversation progress.
And it is the truth: waiting does send pangs of ache she would never admit—Dream Journey averted her eyes, escaping the confrontation laid ahead of her.
"Who cares about normalcy? I'm not the type to be tied with any terms." Stay Gold snarked: and seeing that Dream Journey had shifted her attention away, her hand squeezed Dream Journey's—before pulling her ever so slightly closer: with her breath clearly panting. "Do you?"
Dream Journey's breath hitched in her throat: as she found herself unable to bring her hands back—and yet, the temptation linger still: as if it was trying to make Dream Journey succumb to her utmost desire—To return the need to be each other's for once, for a borrowed moment that will surely end too soon.
Her hands twitched: as her mind rushed to endless possibilities of how it could possibly go from here—and what could be the risk of all—but, yet again, her selfish needs to relish her bitter thoughts was far stronger: she gripped on the edge of the table, the colour white burned itself to the surface of her knuckles.
But at last: Dream Journey was no better than Stay Gold: as she swallowed the last bit of her drink—She leaned closer, with the sound of now empty bottle clashing on the table:
".. aren't you supposed to be the good role model here?" Dream Journey murmured, before she smiled tightly. ".. we'll forget, it won't matter.—maybe that's the best part." She added, as she scooted herself closer.
Her question was answered with a low, quiet chuckle—soft, almost amused. And then, without warning, she was pulled forward:
Dream Journey barely had time to gasp before the distance between them vanished. The breath was stolen from her lungs as Stay Gold crashed into her space, her presence overwhelming, sudden—and yet, it was almost addictive.
Dream Journey's Lips met hers in a fleeting—unsteady moment, carrying the sharp alcohol taste beneath: For a heartbeat, Dream Journey tensed—caught between instinct and restraint, between pushing away and holding on.
But the moment stretched: seconds morphed into minutes, as Stay Gold find the enjoyment to embrace Dream Journey—with her fingers digging in, and with her breath coming as pants:
And with that—slowly—Dream Journey let go.
The resistance slipped from her shoulders like a forgotten weight, and she stilled, allowing Stay Gold to close the distance entirely. Whatever protest lingered dissolved into acceptance—as she let herself be held there: suspended in a moment she no longer tried to control.
Stay Gold occasionally pulled back to breath: "Role model? We could learn how to kiss each other till the morning fall." Stay Gold murmured—snarky, between their overlapping gasp. "I could teach you so much more."
Dream Journey measly smiled thinly at that: her cheeks must've gathered it's tint of pink—as she held Stay Gold closer. " .. perhaps I should defy normalcy more, if I've known they held heaven beyond." Dream Journey murmured, before initiating in a kiss that Stay Gold later replied.
Subtlety had long since been abandoned:
The haze thickened—until even the far corners of the room seemed steeped in it. The sharp trace of alcohol: it was just a matter of time until anyone notice.
Stay Gold’s hand found Dream Journey’s waist, while the other lifted her chin—tilting it just enough, as if to claim every inch of space between them. Her breath was nothing short of desperate and wavering—as it overlapped with Dream Journey's equally desperate one.
The contact came again, and again—unhurried. Whatever careful polish Dream Journey had worn was long gone now; her gloss smeared, leaving its mark behind in careless streaks—that surely would either stain, or smudged by the time they're sober.
And neither of them cared: normalcy was nothing but a thing of the past now.
They had already slipped too far into the moment to pretend otherwise—to tidy it, to name it, to make it something presentable:
What was there left to hide, anyway?
Dream Journey thought, as she found her chin getting tilted yet again: the rough surface of the traveler's hand no longer registered in her mind—as she simply drown it out by the utter press of her lips.
So maybe this—this unraveling—this quiet kind of desperation—was inevitable.
Maybe it was never meant to be contained.
The moment Stay Gold pulled away: the slightest string of saliva could be seen intertwining their lips—creating a fragile bridge in between: perhaps a little too similar with their relationship by definition.
Their eyes met—unflinching, unguarded—neither touched by even a shade of regret.
Stay Gold’s gaze lingered, slow and searching, tracing the rise and fall of Dream Journey’s breath—the way it came uneven now. The faint sheen in her eyes caught the warmth of the light, making something usually so composed seem: .. undone.
Dream Journey was alive in a way she had never been allowed to be before.
And for a fleeting moment, Stay Gold realized:
She had never seen her like this— it was a side yet to be acknowledge:
Fulfillment suits Dream Journey well.
As if, for once, there was nothing left for her to chase. Nothing left to prove. Nothing left to yearn for.
The sight struck something deep within her—ab overwhelming tenderness painted across the traveler's expression: So this time, when she closed the distance, there was no urgency in it. No edge.
As she pressed one last, lingering kiss to Dream Journey’s lips—it was softer: tender, just as Stay Gold had expressed, it was as if she was memorizing the moment before it could slip away.
Stay Gold's hands still grip desperately: still on Dream Journey's chin as the both of them collected their thoughts—That was surely nothing but a mush by now:
And with a still shaky breath: "Well, Journey, I think we have to delay the clean up."
Safe to say Dream Journey never been happier to procrastinate.