Can We Kiss Forever? (Wattys 2022)

SUNDAY MORNING

Last night felt like a dream.

Not a fever dream, but a surreal dream that didn't quite feel real. But was very pleasant. Ethereal.

Coming back down to earth from his high wasn't what he wanted, but he had to do it.

Get breakfast. Brush his teeth. Get dressed. Clean his bedroom. Clean the lounge. Clean the empty dishes in the sink. Go out for a run. Come back and read some more of the Medium Guide and send the container back to Yelena (without the brownies in it, of course. They were going in the fridge where they rightfully belonged).

The switch back to the boring routine was starting to annoy him.

No amount of music could take that fact away.

After he'd finished running his errands, he sat down on the sofa.

It was his favorite place in the whole house. It was comfortable, and you could sink into it without a care in the world. Big enough for three people to sit on, and one large person to lay across. It complemented the other smaller two-seater well.

He decided to flick through the channels and see if there was anything worth watching. Lombard joined him and sat down beside him.

Julio turned on the TV to the Sports Channel and looked at the Hurdles and yawned. "Ayo, they should just dump the hurdles, and make 'em run like greyhounds."

Lombard sighed. "Then what's the point in hurdles as a sport–actually why am I even arguing this? You're a guy who thinks that a catastrophe is punctuation for cats."

"It's a simple mistake to make."

"Is it? You don't even like pussy—"

"—Ayo!"

"—In more ways than one, and you know it's true," Lombard smirked. "Don't try and deny it."

Julio smirked back. "See? They all look dumb jumping over the hurdles."

Lombard looked at the screen. "You could just watch the 100m sprint if you don't want hurdles. Problem solved."

"But it's not on, and I want to make fun of how stupid Hurdles are."

"Whatever." Lombard winked and rubbed his hands over Julio's head. "Loser."

"How come the other dimension works on Mirror Logic? That's so weird."

"Maybe because it's not the real three-dimensional world, and it doesn't go by what we know and understand as laws?"

"So, it doesn't have to obey them?" Julio nodded. "That actually makes sense."

"Says the guy who likes to collect and count jars of mold under his bed."

"For an experiment."

Lombard shook his head. "An experiment isn't lifelong. It has to end and conclude at some point."

Julio glared and nodded back. "I know right? It will end on September 31st."

"September?"

Julio smirked. "Aka, October the 1st in the real world, but according to the Julio Scientific Calendar, it's September 31st. It will run on for an extra day and be counted in the month of September because I said 31 days in my original hypothesis."

Lombard chuckled. "You're either the smartest dumbass or the dumbest smartass. Can't figure it out."

"Well, you might have plenty of time to figure it out, at the rate things are currently going."

"I see." Lombard's hand hovered over the remote. "Have you heard any more news about... me? Any updates?"

Julio shook his head. "I have been keeping an eye out."