>>5271148You catch sight of your own reflection in Gina’s luminous eyes, and it’s the sight of your—or rather, Sam’s—face that prompts your answer.
“I think I’ll check in on the newest Dream Daughters. I’m not even sure if the Dream Team’s had the chance to touch base with them yet.” You inform your girlfriend, and before the next words are even out of your mouth her fingers are already on your lips yet again.
“Say no more.” She smiles with a quick nod towards the four-poster bed. “Lie down, and I’ll yank you back to the waking world if Mother gives us a call.”
You oblige with no small amount of reluctance, and as a narrow needle of bone slips from Gina’s wrist and into your own to usher you from the waking to dreaming worlds, you release her earlier words may hold more truth than you’re comfortable admitting.
It’s a thought you adeptly push to the back of your mind along with all the other ones you’ve told yourself you’ll deal with ‘after’, focusing on the task at hand as the door to the Dream Team’s communal coffee shop materializes before you, the sounds and smells of the cozy space filtering into your ears. Gently pushing it open, the gentle aroma of oolong tea is interwoven with the sharp tang of alcohol that wafts towards you from the pair of strangers at the bar, the latter you almost miss due to the size of the first.
The one closest to you has a level of muscle that would put even Johanna to shame, the girl’s jet-black ponytail practically sandwiched by her powerful shoulder blades. The tiny teacup she brings to her lips looks almost absurd with how daintily it’s held between her thumb and forefinger, and it’s as she brings the vessel to her lips (pinky out, of course) you catch a glimpse of the slight girl behind her as the smaller of the two slams a bottle of bourbon into her face like a weapon, crushing a third of the bottle in a series of sharp, desperate gulps…and judging by the empty bottles around her chair, she’s been at it for a while.
The smaller girl’s ruddy complexion darkest with a scowl at your approach, and her massive companion almost sputters out her delicate sip when she pokes the other girl in the ribs to inform her of your arrival.
“O-oh! Hello there!” The powerfully-built young woman greets you, rising from her barstool with surprising grace and speed, placing the cup and saucer on the counter with one hand and moving to shake your own with the other. “The others told me and Zuè you’d be coming by! I’m Sval, it’s a pleasure to finally put a face to the name!”
“Well, it’s a pleasure to know both of yours.” You reply with a smile, and Sval shoots her companion a grin. “See? They said she was a charmer!”
Zuè just fixes her companion with a withering glare as she finishes her bottle, saluting you with the empty container before lowering it to the floor.
(Continued)
