Stars Dancing [Dreams-To-Lovers Romance]

EURI

Treehouse day 3. Yep, we've christened every surface of the treehouse. Never doing the kitchen counter thing again. Shah fell asleep after we did a repeat of the sofa, so we were entangled on it, her on top of me, me running my fingers down her back. Having only five hours of nighttime dark was disorienting enough, but being life-long insomniacs didn't help matters, and I had no idea what time it was.

I sent my senses out. The wind was quiet and distant. I could feel it, though, and that filled me with peace. I let my eyes close and drifted, feeling the breeze far away. Somewhere it was blowing through chimes, tinkling, and then passing through a child's hair, then over a dog's lifted nose, and on it went.

I met a familiar mind: Ronnie, heading out of the city and towards me. Hey Euri.

Hey.

You coasting on the breeze? I could feel him smiling. He was happy.

Yeah, just for a minute. You have a good day, Ronnie? Mental nod. He was ready to leave Trinovar 34. Fine with me, Ronnie. We've just been enjoying a quiet, domestic treehouse life. We can do that on the Good Time, though.

I felt Ronnie's eagerness. He was really, really, ready to go. You wanna leave tonight, Ronnie? You seem eager.

Hesitation.

What? What's the matter?

Uncertainty.

That's not like you, Ronnie. Why uncertainty?

Rubbing the back of his neck. Unsure.

Something occurred to me. Something adorable.

Ronniiiieeeeeeee. Do you have a crush on somebody?

Gone. He was gone! Disappeared! Oh sands below! Sands and stars and all the fucking suns in every sky!!!!!

"Shah! Wake up!"

"What? Euri! What's wrong?"

"Nothing, baby! Hah! Ronnie's got a crush on somebody!"

"WHAT?! That girl from Mirtoux? The one he drew a picture of Frank for?"

"Mirtoux? What? NO SHAH! He's eager to get to EARTH! He was hemming and hawing about something, but he was so eager. Then I asked him if he had a crush on somebody, and he tossed me out of his mind like I was a day old shit burger."

"Shit burger?" She looked confused. "Wait, Ronnie has a crush on someone from Earth? Is that true, Euri? You think so, really?"

"I'd swear my left nut on it."

"Shit burgers and nut swears— must be Earth affecting you already. Ronnie— what?! He met someone on the mental plane? He's crushin' on someone he's never seen?"

I cleared my throat. "Wouldn't be the first time we'd heard of something like that, now would it? Remember how much he loved my Auntie's journals? All those records of her falling in love with Nayth in their dreams?"

"Fuu-uu-kii-iiing clouds, Euri! All these months! All this time! How long do you think it's been going on? I mean, it could've been years. . . Holy clouds, I feel like I don't know my twin at all. Is it a guy? A girl? Or, none of the above?"

"I got nothing, Shah. I just felt how eager he was to get to Earth, and then I asked him if he wanted to leave tonight. But that's when he got all hesitant."

"Well, come on, Euri! Let's get packed, for clouds' sakes! When's the next airship to the Transfer Station? Okay, I'm packing us up. You book the airship. Tell Ronnie we're leaving next flight up."

Euri: Two hours 'til we head to the Good Time. I already booked the airship.

Ronnie: Frank and I are ready.

"Let's never do that again," I said as I stepped off the Good Time and onto Earth's orbiting Transfer Station.

"Agreed," Shah said as Ronnie nodded once.

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Ronnie's mental presence was absent. Whatever he wanted on Earth, he was keeping to himself. But, he'd made arrangements for us once we got to the surface. We left the Good Time in the hands of the concierge and made our way to the airships at the Transfer Station where we boarded our flight for Athens, Greece.

The two-week trip from Andromeda to Earth had been looooong. Shah had finished book seven of Rilla and Rawl, and I'd finished episodes six through eight of Eclipse Chasers of Yester Rear. Then, we'd traded drafts and edited each other's manuscripts.

Ronnie had spent the entire trip illustrating the graphic novel versions of Rilla, and had started on the animations for my show. You could get a lot done in two weeks sequestered on a starliner. You could also go bat shit crazy.

Frank was the only one of us who seemed unaffected by the long indoor trip, and she was a girl rodent called Frank. The four of us stepped off the platform and onto solid earth, sighing.

Athens was a busy, busy place, and we located the porter Ronnie'd rented for us. Once we loaded our backpacks, we filed in, and Ronnie input the address into the autonav. We left the city behind and cruised out into the hills.

Alright, Ronnie, Shah's mental presence was no-nonsense. What's going on? We're here. We love you. We support you, but for cloud's sakes, what are we doing??!

Delphi isn't much further, Ronnie replied.

I perked up. Delphi? The belly button of the universe? It's in Greece?

Ronnie nodded once, but his mental presence was still closed up tight. What in the Cosmos were we going to do at some old ancient temple ruins?

I admit, when we got to Delphi, there was something uncanny about it. Maybe it was two weeks on the starliner, maybe it was all the mystery I associated with the place since I grew up with tales of my Aunt Ryst seeing the temple when she was in a coma, but the quiet calm of Delphi sank into me, and lifted something in my spirits that had felt cramped by the long trip.

Shah and Ronnie seemed to breathe easier too, and Frank scampered around the dusty grounds, exploring and scenting the new world. Not long after we arrived, a tour bus pulled in and loads of people gathered together to listen to their guide.

We made our way to the concrete belly button— yep! An actual outie, right there for everyone to visit. Seemed pretty simple for all the hullabaloo about this being the navel of the universe— supposedly the spot where the fabric of reality was so thin the ancient sibyls could best see between realms.

We took a photo of the three of us holding our shirts up, belly buttons exposed. Ronnie spun on his heels and started running. Not having any clue what was going on, Shah and I ran after him, shirttails forgotten.

A tiny woman with dark black hair ran at Ronnie, and he caught her, spinning her around. Shah and I stopped in our tracks, mouths agape.

Ronnie set the woman on her feet, and looked into her face, both of their chests heaving. His fingers traced her face. It was a pretty face, delicate. She was less than five feet tall, just a wisp of a thing. Small, thin, fragile, but very, very pretty. Dark black hair cut in a pixie cut, pale, porcelain skin, and petite frame.

She beamed at Ronnie, running her hands along his arms and shoulders and up behind his neck. She pulled him to her, and his mouth covered hers.

Shah and I grinned at each other, and I leaned in for a kiss. Then all hell broke loose.

I felt the presence of something vast, and it laughed. The ground shook with the depth of it, and the air whipped all around us. Ronnie clasped the woman's hand and ran towards us, towing her next to him.

Euri! he demanded, Still it!

I tried. Ronnie pushed Shah and the other woman down to the ground, and we covered them, but dust was blowing ferociously, and the earth was shaking. Everything felt unsteady and upside down. I breathed. I remembered my forms. I am the breath of life.

Dirt pelted my skin. My hair felt like it would be ripped off. It was too much.

Ronnie! We need help! Your dad! Now!

I tried to pull out my pad to contact Borden, but the wind was too crazy. I felt Ronnie's mental presence focus and calm. Then I felt Shah's join him. I added my own, and then there was a fourth presence. The woman I didn't know, but it was like treacle. Pure sweetness and light.

With all of their presences steadying me, I reached for the wind again. It was more than wind, wasn't it? It was more than an earthquake, wasn't it? It was vast presence of two people I loved dearly. And they were in Delphi for a reason. I felt the intent of it on the wind.

Auntie, I love you. I miss you. But you are destroying us.

Euri! You hear me! You sense me! I love you! We love you! We cannot do this again! We love you so much! Tell them we love them! We are on the breeze. We are in your hearts! We love you. We will not do this again. You must live your life, Euri. Live it for yourself. Make your life your own. We love you, Euri!

The presences dissipated, but the wind and shaking continued. I reached into the wind, and it felt like a friend now, no longer made of something foreign. Oh wind divine, friend of mine, join me here in this space and time. Let us be calm. The ferocity in the air disappeared, yet the earth trembled beneath us.

Ronnie pulled out his pad and seconds later, the earth stilled. He sighed, We can thank my dad later.

So, Borden had been the one to stop the earthquake.

Panting, we all paused. The five of us, for Frank was cradled against the petite woman's chest, and Shah had her arms around her new sister. The shock began to fade away, and we climbed to our feet, looking disheveled and filthy, but very much alive.

We took inventory. No, no one was hurt. We looked around, and the tourist group looked much the same as we did. The ruins of Delphi still stood.

Euri, Shah, meet Cyn, Ronnie said.

We all grinned at each other, but Cyn's mental presence had left my mind as soon as I'd talked to Aunt Ryst.

We'll catch up with you later. Enjoy Greece, Ronnie said as he took Cyn's hand, and they skipped off to the parking lot.

"What, really?" Shah asked. "He's just gonna go waltzing off into the sunset with his space girlfriend? That's how this is gonna go? What the fuck kind of story does that give me for my next book?!" she complained.

I cackled, "Oh, come on, Shah, let's give them their good time. Stars only know how long they've been waiting for it. Sands below, the whole world nearly ended when they kissed, so maybe it's better if the four of us aren't anywhere near each other for a bit. Whaddaya want to do? Go back to the city? Find someplace to stay?"

She shook her head, "Nah, let's find something fun to do. Go have an adventure. Oh, look, a guy handed me this card when I came out of the bathroom at the Athens landing platform. See— it's a tour on a hover train to Cairo. Want to do it? Just hop on a train and go?"

I looked at the card. Life and Death Tours: Murder on the Orient Express Digital Scavenger Hunt. The artwork was perfect. I grinned at Shah.

"Let's go catch a hover train to Cairo."