"Did I will him to disappear like that?" Dusty thought aloud. "Or was it an act of his own will, a change of heart...was he simply a mirage? An illusion of the mind all along?"
"Who are you talking to?" she heard a boisterous, laughing voice say from directly behind her, accompanied by a palm cupping her right shoulder, followed by a full one-armed embrace across both shoulders. And just as quickly as he had vanished, there he now stood, standing at her side, overlooking the same vast area he had just occupied. She was not startled or surprised; she simply stood and gazed into the landscape as well, as if they had rehearsed this meeting multiple times.
"Myself, as usual," was her slightly snarky reply. He only smirked knowingly.
"Mind if I join in?" he inquired innocently.
"As long as we can sit down." And they did, his arm still resting firmly across her shoulders. "Good. I could talk to you forever." She turned towards him, raising an eternally skeptical eyebrow. "You always were a liar," she sighed, shaking her head. "Come ON--you 'could TALK to me forever'? Would you listen to how silly that sounds? You know what talking always leads to."
He grinned. "Exactly."
She could feel her cheeks flush, coloring her cheeks as if directly inspired by a clown. Simultaneously she felt her eyes well up with that old familiar salty liquid, and she said very softly, just a notch above a whisper: "I don't even want to talk. It's not enough. It's never enough..." and her voice trailed off as his face eclipsed hers, and his lips softly smothered her lips, and all that was left in this strange, ethereal world was this unique chemical reaction between the two of them.
"Who are you talking to?" she heard a boisterous, laughing voice say from directly behind her, accompanied by a palm cupping her right shoulder, followed by a full one-armed embrace across both shoulders. And just as quickly as he had vanished, there he now stood, standing at her side, overlooking the same vast area he had just occupied. She was not startled or surprised; she simply stood and gazed into the landscape as well, as if they had rehearsed this meeting multiple times.
"Myself, as usual," was her slightly snarky reply. He only smirked knowingly.
"Mind if I join in?" he inquired innocently.
"As long as we can sit down." And they did, his arm still resting firmly across her shoulders. "Good. I could talk to you forever." She turned towards him, raising an eternally skeptical eyebrow. "You always were a liar," she sighed, shaking her head. "Come ON--you 'could TALK to me forever'? Would you listen to how silly that sounds? You know what talking always leads to."
He grinned. "Exactly."
She could feel her cheeks flush, coloring her cheeks as if directly inspired by a clown. Simultaneously she felt her eyes well up with that old familiar salty liquid, and she said very softly, just a notch above a whisper: "I don't even want to talk. It's not enough. It's never enough..." and her voice trailed off as his face eclipsed hers, and his lips softly smothered her lips, and all that was left in this strange, ethereal world was this unique chemical reaction between the two of them.
