Cloud Chasers

eight | another night together [pt. two]

He played a few of his songs. His style had a distinctive indie rock influence. With his guitar alone, he was able to make her feel like she was at a concert.

She wasn't too surprised to find the lyrics rather sad and melancholic. She wondered if the Peter Charming book she lent him had been of any kind of inspiration for this.

His face as he sang told more than his lyrics could. It was clear to her that he felt what he sang; that like her, he put a lot of himself into his writing.

Joyce clapped and smiled at him every time he finished a song, and he scratched either his hair or his stubble as she did.

"Well, that's all I've got," he said.

"I loved them all," Joyce said.

"Thank you. It means a lot to me."

"I don't know if it's your songs that gave me chills, but I'm a bit cold," Joyce said, hugging herself.

"Yeah, maybe we should go inside. It's getting dark, too," Chase said as he put his guitar back in its case.

"Or maybe we should go somewhere else," Joyce said, flapping her vaping device in her hand.

Chase smiled and agreed. He got out his own vaping device and they both blew out the purple clouds that soon devoured the dark Okin skyline. As this happened, Joyce feared she would find herself in the Cyberspace again; that she had now destroyed the Lobby, and that dark place was all that was left.

She'd omitted this part to Chase, but not to hide it from him. She was still unsure whether the Cyberspace was real or not. When she was there, it all felt like a nightmare, a feverish one. But, at the same time, it seemed real, like a frightening reality you'd never want to see.

When the clouds dissipated, she took a sigh of relief. They were in the Lobby, still on the rooftop, and it was nighttime but all the neon lights from the buildings below them made everything brighter. Under their feet, Edysium's ground had become a huge computer screen like the last time, only this time it informed them of the music playing in the mystical air: Late Night Delight by Luxury Elite and Saint Pepsi.

It didn't hurt the eyes to look at the ground-display. Though unrealistic, it seemed somewhat natural. It was as if everything in the Lobby was meant to be pleasant.

Chase squinted. "Boy, it's been a long time."

The city didn't look as colorful as it always did. This time, the dominating color was a dark blue, still somewhat fluorescent, but a bit more natural. Joyce rubbed her eyes twice because they seemed to have processed the skyline before her in low quality. As if her eyes had turned into a camcorder from the nineties, the skyscrapers had this perceivable outline common of VHS tapes. This bothered her at first, but relaxed her soon after, when this sight mixed with the music evoked a familiar feeling inside her.

There was no trace of the wind that blew in Okin a few minutes earlier. The temperature was as pleasant as it would've been indoors. The only thing Joyce didn't find pleasant was that constant smell she was never able to identify. There was something uneasy about it, contrasting with the comfort offered by everything else.

She wondered if this was the smell Chase referred to, though she didn't ask him. "Helios," she shouted instead.

"Welcome to the Lobby," Helios appeared before them. She caught Chase jumping with the corner of her eye. "Nice to see you again, Chase," Helios said.

Chase cleared his throat. "Yeah, uh, nice to see you too, Mr. Helios."

Joyce snickered.

"Please, just call me Helios," the marble bust said.