Stars Dancing [Dreams-To-Lovers Romance]

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EURI

"You fled well, brother. Found yourself some friends. Picked up where you left off? I had a nice video conference with Ashten," Dwin smirked.

"I didn't escape the parental canoodling only to hear about your stream time with your girlfriend," I retorted.

"Careful, brother, or they'll be putting you in a kurta and calling you 'stodgy.' Better relax a bit while we're traveling," Dwinlyn said waggling his eyebrow at me. Like, what, I was just gonna take Ronnie and Shah to my cabin and have some disgusting twin thing?

I punched him in the gut— hard. He grunted and narrowed his eyes at me like he was about to tear into me.

I smiled politely, "Take what you're owed, brother. There's a good fellow."

I said it with 100% kindness and sincerity. We had family principles, after all. "Be kind" was Principle #1.

The door opened, and I forgot all about Dwinlyn because a gust of wind blew snowflakes into the starliner. And the scene before us had me, Shah, and Ronnie stopped in our tracks. Their breaths caught just like mine. They froze on the spot just like I did.

"Welcome to winter, Crieve-Madranos," said Borden. I made my legs move. One step. Another.

Say nothing! Shah's mental voiced whipped through my mind.

Another step. Down the exit ramp, towards the snowy ground. The grey tundra. And the open space beyond it. With dry patches of grass. And hills to either side. And a cold sky.

Everything exactly like our VR world from seven years ago except it didn't have Ronnie's bulb-shaped building off in the distance to the right.

Another step. I could hear snow crunching as our families reached the bottom of the ramp and started walking around. My cheeks were already frozen in the wind, and my nose hairs felt weird. Were they freezing? Was that what cold weather was like?

I was so cold inside I wasn't sure what was weather and what was shock. For we were standing on the grey frozen tundra that Shah, Ronnie, and I had created virtually seven years ago.

Don't say anything! Shah repeated, whipping it into my mind, painfully.

Annoying. That was annoying. I had my mental curtain wrapped so tight around me already that my brother would think I was wanking. That was the way to keep telepathic family members out of my head: wank. Foolproof strategy.

So why for sands' sakes was I getting a lecture from Shah Sloan about keeping quiet? I felt it, then, a little thread coming off of her. Not her thoughts. Not her mind. Her emotions. She was scared. As though this was a new thing for her. Did she not know that glimpses of the future were normal for us? That my dad wrote songs that came to pass and that my Aunt Ryst and Uncle Nayth were made of dreams?

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It's going to be okay, I reassured Shah and Ronnie, including a sent feeling along with the words. The feeling of being cozy on the couch under a blanket, all warm and tucked in with nothing to worry about. I felt both of them relax a little.

Then it was time for me to wonder what the heck I was going to do. Shah didn't want me telling the truth, so what was I gonna do? Well, obviously, it was ridiculously cold, and I had very little interest in empty, boring, frozen Five Spheres, so going inside and making a hot chocolate was a reasonable next step. Why did the Sloans think anyone would want to live here?

Mets had sent all kinds of equipment out, and Muse jogged ahead of all of us. When he got a decent distance away, he shouted, and it echoed back. He'd found an echo spot in the hills, and Dwin ran over to him so they could start riffing, of course.

I had to admit it sounded really good. They were fucking yodeling. Ronnie and Shah broke out in peals of laughter, and it was the prettiest laughter I'd ever heard. Mets cracked up too.

I turned and watched Shah laughing, her blue eyes sparkling. She looked free and happy, all of her fear forgotten. I wanted her to keep looking that way, so I got over my grumpiness about Dwin. He could do whatever he wanted with Ashten and tell me all about it if he kept yodeling and making Shah and Ronnie laugh.

SHAH

Ronnie and I had no trouble stripping off our winter garb and suiting back up into the VR minutes before Euri came in. We were already well into our city designs when he plopped down next to us, his mind ratcheted tight, just like mine.

We built cityscape after cityscape, but obviously, none of the three of us was inspired because nothing looked good. It was all crap. Then suddenly the whole scene shifted, and it was a perfect recreation of our VR world from seven years ago. The one we had walked through in real life just a few hours ago, except it had Ronnie's pretty onion building shining in the background.

Ronnie hadn't built it this time, and I sure as hell didn't do it. Euri must've done it.

I didn't want to see it. I didn't want to remember it. I didn't want to be reminded of that weekend. Me and Ronnie just lying on the daybed with Euri. None of us saying a word for four whole days. Eating weird food and playing in VR and no one saying anything about how strange Ronnie and I were.

I didn't want to know that we'd made a virtual world that had actually been a real sphere none of us knew existed. I didn't want to find out what any of it meant.

Who had done it seven years ago? Ronnie? Euri? Me? Some combination of the three of us?

It's going to be okay, Euri's words were a soft caress on my mind, and there was a warm feeling accompanying it. Too warm. Heat zinged through me.

I threw off the VR and stomped away, down the hall to the kitchen while my brother sighed behind me. I heard the mental convo he had with Euri.

She hates it when people know how she really feels, Euri.

What, that she's afraid of something? She doesn't want me to know?

She doesn't want anyone to know anything.

Okay. I can forget.

Ronnie chuckled. Are you as weird as we are?

You tell me.

More chuckling.

Can we play in our old city and just pretend that nothing happened? Ronnie asked

I wish we had pizza crust with cheese and hot pepper flakes.

Yum. What else is there?

Does seaweed wrapped around avocados with spicy peppers and tamarillo sound good?

Interesting.

The ingredients are all in the kitchen.

I looked around and found what Euri was talking about. I also found some lettuce which I shredded and layered with sliced avocado, tamarillo, and spicy green peppers. Wrapped it up in nori, sprinkled a little sea salt, and wow, it was good! I made a huge stack and took a tray of sushi cigars to Ronnie's room.

That was how we spent the remaining five days of our trip to Five Spheres. In our VR world, pretending that everything was normal and eating whatever Euridyne suggested I wrap up for the three of us to eat with our fingers. No one paid us any attention, and I kept looking at Euri's hands. And his ears. And lots more of him when he didn't know I was watching.

He gave me plenty of material for my private fantasy life. I didn't tell him goodbye when the trip was over. I just handed him his tech, and he left as he came aboard: following his brother who was humming to himself.

You should've kissed his hand again, Shah.

I'm not into repeats, Ronnie.

But I was lying. I couldn't help wishing I'd taken Euri's hand, pressed my lips against it, and flicked my tongue over his skin.