Vera looked at the bottom of the cup, swirling its contents, letting it shimmer in the lighting the bar set on against the smokey wooden tables. Half empty was the cup, begging to be filled once more. Yet her lips would grace the glass, tracing its rim, pilfering the last tidbits of flavor it could offer before setting the Black Russian back down. Vera smirked before letting her head collapse on the table, her intellectual thoughts taking a train ride to oblivion. The lights from the ceiling took long strides towards her, seemingly to split into shards to have a monocolored gradient. Suddenly a flash of light assaulted her eyes, and a devious laughter filled her ears.
“A rare sight for the eyes, the both of you in such a state before my arrival. I’ll keep this for the record.” The warmly dressed woman giggled. With a playful smile planted on her face, she lowered a film camera.
Occa clutched his head, still passed out on the table. Whereas Vera peered over towards her, eyes bleary, grimacing at the exceptional tardiness, but shoved away any resentment, "Anastasia, you wicked, wicked soul, let not your antics be the reason for me to grow a desire to bite instead of bark.”
Anastasia shrugged back in response, stowing the camera back into her bag before reciting a quote, “The price of remembering is to carry the weight of the memories. The cost of forgetting is to deny its existence, forsake its presence, as if it never occurred.” With a smirk, Anastasia leaned down to boop Vera’s nose, “the burdened human mind can manipulate memories over time, but photos can’t lie, it removes the effort needed to remember and chance of tarnished recollections."
Vera snorted as she brushed her hand away, “you aren’t old enough to have such weak tenacity on your mind just yet. Besides, a memory’s temporality is what gives it value. It establishes an ephemeral treasure that is cherished at a much higher degree, profoundly sought after even when it can leave your grasp in only a moment.”
Then, Vera stood up with staggering speeds as she wished to stand together with her as she spoke, unaware of Anastasia’s hovering over her, and bumped her head against Anastasia’s chin on accident, leaving the both of them reeling. Vera furiously rubbed the top of her head while Anastasia whimpered softly from the impact on her jaw, shedding a few tears. Vera saw her cry and her heart lurched. Guilt overtook her, causing her to sober up immediately. She ignored her own suffering and tended to Anastasia. Now each droplet that fell from Anastasia's eyes only found its way in Vera’s mouth as she kissed the pain away despite the raging headache that erupted from her skull.
“I’m so sorry my dear Anastasia- that was not my intention.” Vera murmured, she hugged Anastasia tightly, forehead against hers, until she calmed down.
Only once Anastasia snuggled in closer to Vera’s warmth with a small smile did Vera continue her explanation, “I had sought to refute your comment, but this predicament may serve to prove my point. If a photo was taken of us in each other’s arms, one could only assume tender care, but not the emotions that lead to the situation.”
Vera began to brush Anastasia’s hair as she spoke, “Even if you were to take a photo of every single moment that passes, it would be rather arduous to carry each image, nor would you experience the occasion in full capacity with undivided attention.”
She then sat back down on the stool and had Anastasia sit on her lap. “To atone for my error, you may serve me any form of punishment.”
Anastasia grinned mischievously and leaned forward. But then she faltered slightly, her eyes mildly unsure, constantly glancing away from the direct eye contact with Vera as she finally tried to take charge for once. Anastasia put a finger to Vera’s chin and lifted it upwards. Immediately her confidence reinvigorated as her eyes glinted with the pleasure of seeing how easily Vera melted into her hands, how the weight of her head leaned into Anastasia’s very palms, how her eyes closed to ensure that the focus was purely on the sensation she was given. Anastasia’s hands traced the bag where her camera resided, but this moment was too precious to end. So instead she burned the image into her mind and gave Vera’s cheek a quick peck.
Vera let out a soft exhale while Anastasia retreated, blushing and becoming flustered with the innocent intimacy. So she reached around Vera to grab her drink, taking a small sip before reeling backwards, nearly falling off should Vera not have held onto her attentively.
Vera’s eyes snapped open, clenching her firmly, “hold fast, what perturbed you so?” First with a glance to check up Occa’s peaceful slumbering body then back at Anastasia’s hands, cheekily clutching the drink with both hands. A passing icy stare flickered through her gaze and was replaced with an impassive expression, “indulge alongside with me, refrain from purloining my own pertinence."
She laid her head on Vera’s shoulder in response, murmuring another line of which she memorized, “Devoid of substance, white noise in metaphysicality. A difference in reality that will simply disappear on its own once its time is done. The fate of which is reserved to the inactionable.” Anastasia then chuckled, “just let it go.”
With a slight parsing in time for consideration, she raised the drink to Vera attempting to feed her a sip. Vera gently pushed Anastasia’s hand away from her face before taking back the drink to place it behind her much to her disappointment. Vera then pulled out a seat beside her for Anastasia to sit before finally shaking Occa awake from his drunken slumber. Once Anastasia hopped off her lap when he came to and sat down in her stool, Vera excused herself to the restroom.
“A rare sight for the eyes, the both of you in such a state before my arrival. I’ll keep this for the record.” The warmly dressed woman giggled. With a playful smile planted on her face, she lowered a film camera.
Occa clutched his head, still passed out on the table. Whereas Vera peered over towards her, eyes bleary, grimacing at the exceptional tardiness, but shoved away any resentment, "Anastasia, you wicked, wicked soul, let not your antics be the reason for me to grow a desire to bite instead of bark.”
Anastasia shrugged back in response, stowing the camera back into her bag before reciting a quote, “The price of remembering is to carry the weight of the memories. The cost of forgetting is to deny its existence, forsake its presence, as if it never occurred.” With a smirk, Anastasia leaned down to boop Vera’s nose, “the burdened human mind can manipulate memories over time, but photos can’t lie, it removes the effort needed to remember and chance of tarnished recollections."
Vera snorted as she brushed her hand away, “you aren’t old enough to have such weak tenacity on your mind just yet. Besides, a memory’s temporality is what gives it value. It establishes an ephemeral treasure that is cherished at a much higher degree, profoundly sought after even when it can leave your grasp in only a moment.”
Then, Vera stood up with staggering speeds as she wished to stand together with her as she spoke, unaware of Anastasia’s hovering over her, and bumped her head against Anastasia’s chin on accident, leaving the both of them reeling. Vera furiously rubbed the top of her head while Anastasia whimpered softly from the impact on her jaw, shedding a few tears. Vera saw her cry and her heart lurched. Guilt overtook her, causing her to sober up immediately. She ignored her own suffering and tended to Anastasia. Now each droplet that fell from Anastasia's eyes only found its way in Vera’s mouth as she kissed the pain away despite the raging headache that erupted from her skull.
“I’m so sorry my dear Anastasia- that was not my intention.” Vera murmured, she hugged Anastasia tightly, forehead against hers, until she calmed down.
Only once Anastasia snuggled in closer to Vera’s warmth with a small smile did Vera continue her explanation, “I had sought to refute your comment, but this predicament may serve to prove my point. If a photo was taken of us in each other’s arms, one could only assume tender care, but not the emotions that lead to the situation.”
Vera began to brush Anastasia’s hair as she spoke, “Even if you were to take a photo of every single moment that passes, it would be rather arduous to carry each image, nor would you experience the occasion in full capacity with undivided attention.”
She then sat back down on the stool and had Anastasia sit on her lap. “To atone for my error, you may serve me any form of punishment.”
Anastasia grinned mischievously and leaned forward. But then she faltered slightly, her eyes mildly unsure, constantly glancing away from the direct eye contact with Vera as she finally tried to take charge for once. Anastasia put a finger to Vera’s chin and lifted it upwards. Immediately her confidence reinvigorated as her eyes glinted with the pleasure of seeing how easily Vera melted into her hands, how the weight of her head leaned into Anastasia’s very palms, how her eyes closed to ensure that the focus was purely on the sensation she was given. Anastasia’s hands traced the bag where her camera resided, but this moment was too precious to end. So instead she burned the image into her mind and gave Vera’s cheek a quick peck.
Vera let out a soft exhale while Anastasia retreated, blushing and becoming flustered with the innocent intimacy. So she reached around Vera to grab her drink, taking a small sip before reeling backwards, nearly falling off should Vera not have held onto her attentively.
Vera’s eyes snapped open, clenching her firmly, “hold fast, what perturbed you so?” First with a glance to check up Occa’s peaceful slumbering body then back at Anastasia’s hands, cheekily clutching the drink with both hands. A passing icy stare flickered through her gaze and was replaced with an impassive expression, “indulge alongside with me, refrain from purloining my own pertinence."
She laid her head on Vera’s shoulder in response, murmuring another line of which she memorized, “Devoid of substance, white noise in metaphysicality. A difference in reality that will simply disappear on its own once its time is done. The fate of which is reserved to the inactionable.” Anastasia then chuckled, “just let it go.”
With a slight parsing in time for consideration, she raised the drink to Vera attempting to feed her a sip. Vera gently pushed Anastasia’s hand away from her face before taking back the drink to place it behind her much to her disappointment. Vera then pulled out a seat beside her for Anastasia to sit before finally shaking Occa awake from his drunken slumber. Once Anastasia hopped off her lap when he came to and sat down in her stool, Vera excused herself to the restroom.