Sara lay beside Chloe, the steady rise and fall of their breathing synchronized like waves against a quiet shore. A sheen of sweat shimmered at her brow, glistening faintly in the low glow of the recessed lighting. She hadn’t moved for a long while, didn’t want to, but her thoughts drifted like embers in a fading fire.
Chloe had told her she loved her.
Not casually. Not performatively. But in a way that had reached something in Sara she hadn’t known was still unclaimed. Her body still hummed with the memory of the intimacy they’d just shared, but it was the truth in those words that echoed inside her now. Never before had she surrendered so wholly, not just physically but emotionally, layer by layer, armor peeled away, until all that remained was her. And Chloe had seen her. Chosen her. Loved her anyway.
“I’m just gonna check on the Littles,” Sara whispered softly, pressing a lingering kiss to Chloe’s shoulder.
Chloe gave a sleepy nod, her smile warm and laced with satisfaction. She curled slightly into the duvet, watching as Sara rose.
Sara’s silhouette passed through the soft light spilling from the window, bare, unhurried, and stripped of all pretense. She moved with that same innate control she carried everywhere: fluid, precise, each step intentional despite the gentle hush of her bare feet against polished hardwood.
The top of Chloe’s dresser sat still and quiet beneath her. A colossal platform in miniature proportions, scattered with mundane artifacts that, to Jordan and Kelli, were monoliths of a much larger world. A hairbrush with rope-like strands of golden hair spilled over the bristles like hanging vines. A pair of earrings, each the size of a round end table, glittered under the room’s subtle ambient lighting.
Sara leaned in slowly. Her eyes softened the moment she saw them, Jordan and Kelli sitting shoulder to shoulder, their backs resting against the base of a perfume bottle nearly twice their height. They looked like they’d run a marathon through a dreamscape, physically exhausted, but emotionally fuller somehow.
Without a word, Sara reached out and gave Jordan a single, tender pet across the back of his hair, her fingertips brushing with just enough pressure to make him relax a fraction more, as though she had plucked tension from his spine like a string.
“Let’s get you two to sleep,” she murmured.
Neither resisted. There was no witty retort or declaration of independence from Kelli this time. Just a shared nod between them and a heavy yawn that Kelli tried, and failed, to suppress. When she stepped forward, her foot caught on Sara’s knuckle, tumbling her softly into the center of the outstretched hand.
“Careful, sweetie,” Sara said, glancing down.
She didn’t reach to help, didn’t scold or tease, she simply waited, allowing Kelli the space to recover her dignity. She knew girls like Kelli. Knew her pride like she knew the shape of her own breath.
Once they were both nestled safely in her hand, she turned and made her way back to the nightstand beside Chloe’s bed, her side.
Chloe propped herself up slightly on her elbows, watching.
“I can grab one of the proper habitats if you’d prefer,” she offered. “We’ve got three in the storage wing. One of the newer prototypes even has voice-responsive climate controls now.”
Sara shook her head gently, her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s okay. Just for tonight. Kelli doesn’t like being boxed in, and Jordy’s been on enough travel with me to sleep anywhere.”
She opened the drawer with practiced familiarity and retrieved two of the compact Little beds, an indulgence in both craftsmanship and comfort. These weren’t the sterile utilitarian models distributed by government shelters or mid-tier Guardians. These were Gracewood creations: plush mattresses with microspine thermal regulation, soft-cotton canopies dyed in muted hues, and a faint aroma of lavender infused into the stitching.
Sara placed the beds onto the flat surface, setting them down with reverent care.
Jordan walked to his without hesitation. Kelli lingered only for a moment, casting a glance toward Chloe’s slumbering form, then followed.
They sank into the beds as if into clouds. Kelli’s eyes blinked slowly, her usual alertness melting under the weight of real rest. Jordan had already turned on his side, one arm tucked beneath his cheek.
Sara remained crouched at the edge of the nightstand a moment longer. She studied them both. Jordan, the man who once wandered frightened through her backyard, now resting comfortably as her little man. And Kelli, Kayla’s prideful older sister who had bristled at being touched or controlled, now curled under a blanket with no resistance at all.
She reached out, adjusting Kelli’s blanket so she would be a bit more comfortable. She didn’t flinch at all.
Sara smiled. Then quietly stood.
Behind her, Chloe extended a hand without looking, and Sara slipped into it as if by instinct. They came back together in the bed, limbs finding one another in a practiced tangle.
The lights dimmed. The hum of central air was the only sound that remained.
Outside the window, the distant city lights twinkled like stars below.
Inside, the night wrapped its arms around them.
And for once, everything felt exactly where it was supposed to be.
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This was a nice conclusion
Maybe because I am from a different time being Gen X but I have never been on a date that I end up with her at the end of the day that I didn’t a least spend then night in the same bed cuddling. If this is normal now it sounds very cold. No wounder our birthrates are down lol.
1) “They looked like they’d run a marathon through a dreamscape, physically exhausted, but emotionally fuller somehow” That sounds right after the big night they had.
2) “Neither resisted. There was no witty retort or declaration of independence from Kelli this time.” she’d have been too tired for that.
3) “Careful, sweetie,” Calling her sweetie felt weird, especially since the rest of the scene is about Sara trying to let Kelli keep her dignity.
4) “I can grab one of the proper habitats if you’d prefer,” if she knew that Jordan’d be here, she could have prepped one in advance.
4.2) “We’ve got three in the storage wing. One of the newer prototypes even has voice-responsive climate controls now.” This from the girl who suggested setting Jordan up in “that old fish aquarium I had in my room. You know, that 20-gallon one.” (247)
5) “It’s okay. Just for tonight. Kelli doesn’t like being boxed in, and Jordy’s been on enough travel with me to sleep anywhere.” and the fabled decline of said habitat.
6) “She opened the drawer with practiced familiarity and retrieved two of the compact Little beds, an indulgence in both craftsmanship and comfort.” ok, so she did have something prepped.
7) “These were Gracewood creations: plush mattresses with microspine thermal regulation, soft-cotton canopies dyed in muted hues, and a faint aroma of lavender infused into the stitching.” I love how everything’s fancier with chloe.
8) “Kelli lingered only for a moment, casting a glance toward Chloe’s slumbering form, then followed” Damn Chloe fell asleep quick.
9) “She reached out, adjusting Kelli’s blanket so she would be a bit more comfortable. She didn’t flinch at all” Damn Kelli’s trust for Sara sky rocketed.
10) So will there be posts next week? Or another dream sequence? Or a gap between this and Saturday’s chapters?
3) I think Kelli is understanding that Sara does care like she is Jordans mother and that would make Sara trying to be sweet and caring tore Kelli which I think means Kelli is growing into being a little and not looking at everything as a attack. I am glad because I think Sara is being super nice.
1) It seemed fitting they both did more then they normally would mentally and physically as littles.
2) That was my reasoning as well.
3) It was more reactionary as Kelli fell and Sara does view them as a bit delicate plus its Kayla’s little so she doesn’t want anything to happen to Kelli under her watch. It was just a natural reaction was the intent. But i do agree with your reasoning.
4) Well she did make arrangements she just didn’t have a habitat in her room to be fair.
4.2) well that is because that comment was showing chloe’s true side. She appreciates practicality. LIke while she does have designer clothes she also will go thrifting with Sara and Mallory and find vintage pieces she likes as well. So using something she has and converting it into a habitat would always be more appealing to Chloe then buying one. But they do have habitats at the house from various meetings and virtual meetings.
5) that is correct. Just as was prophesied earlier has now been written.
6) Yup, they had things prepped for Jordy. They just weren’t planning on Kelli being there.
7) Yup, Chloe knows what she likes. The little bed is equal to her own. As she doesn’t think the little should sleep on anything less then what she would demand.
8) It was a long day for her as she also had to prep the party, host and entertain.
9) Well she has seen how Sara operates and know she is more skilled than Kayla. So while she has some disagreement with sara’s beliefs she doesn’t doubt her skill having seen it first hand.
10) It will be surprise.
3) It seemed normal for Sara, just out of place in that scene.
4.2) I see, but from what Little habitats can do, they seem like a much better option than a refurbished fish tank, unless Chloe was intending to give it the climate control and other features like the real habitats.