desiderium | m. o'hara

seven

"Ow."

"Sorry." Miguel offers me a half-smile. "It's got a pinch. Ready for your tour?"

I look up at him. "Right now?"

Miguel nods. "We'll just start with my home, Earth-928. Besides, I've got someone I want you to meet."

My brows scrunch together. "Ominous," I comment.

He huffs and gestures to the tiny yellow screen on the face of the Gizmo. He shows me what buttons to press to open a dimensional portal, and when I type them in, sure enough, a hexagonal, red split between earth and space time opens right inside the very lab I didn't know my home had.

Miguel salutes me as he steps backwards into the portal and disappears.

I stare at the glitching atrocity of light and colour and hesitate. Is this really a good idea? I can only picture Miguel expecting more and more of me after this - he's attached, which isn't a bad thing. I'm inevitably attached, too, as I would be to any version of the man I married. Going to see his home dimension is a big step in any kind of relationship. It's a milestone.

I just hope he doesn't expect from me what his Y/n gave him.

"I guess we'll have to find out," I mutter, and step through the portal.

It's like walking through a sheer curtain made of static, sending buzzing all over my skin. My eyes close at the bright assault of light and my stomach feels like I just did a drop in a roller coaster. My feet don't touch the floor. There is no floor, and I'm thrown.  

I stumble right into Miguel's arms. Blinking wildly, I squint against the pristine light of 928's Neuva York. There is no smog here to dampen the bright rays of the mid-morning sun.

"Welcome to Earth-928," Lyla's voice greets. "Properly, this time."

I lift my head and feel myself grow stunned once again. I forgot how the city is entirely tall, white, clean. The buildings just keep going up and up, as if challenging each other to reach for the stratosphere. The train to the moon still shocks me. I've never seen such blue in a sky before.

"Steady on your feet?"

Miguel's question makes my focus slam right back into me, and I realise I'm still leaning all of my weight into his chest. I pull myself away and stumble backwards. Lyla hovers atop his shoulder, sitting like a little angel - though the smug look on her face makes her resemble that more of a devil.

I turn my face to the city so Miguel doesn't notice how flustered I am by our prior proximity. My skin still burns.

He probably already knows, anyway.

"Yeah." I clear my throat and look around. We're back on the same balcony overlooking the city that Miguel took me to the first time I dimensionally travelled. "Where are we? Specifically?"

"My place," Miguel answers.

My eyes jump to him, before turning to look through the balcony's windows in interest. The inside, from what I can see, is just like the rest of the city; pristine, clean, neat, orderly. My intense curiosity to explore his place has a foot stepping forward.

Miguel hums in amusement. "You want a tour?"

I try to reel my intrigue back into something a little more nonchalant. "If you're offering."

He smiles at me, eyes lidded and head tilted. I turn away, but not before my cheeks begin to pinch with heat. Lyla notices first; she snickers and disappears, the sound of her laughter lingering. The balcony's doors slide open automatically for us to enter.