The... other world. It’s just ours

The... other world. It’s just ours

Sauna lounge, early evening

Warm, cedar-scented air wrapped around them like a blanket. The lounge was dim, calm—just the gentle hiss of the rocks and soft instrumental music from hidden speakers. Steve and Bumbly were stretched out in the post-steam glow, sipping cucumber water. Bumbly’s fur was still slightly damp. Steve, towel slung casually low, leaned back into a beanbag chair, utterly relaxed.

“You know,” Steve said, voice lazy but sharp, “I’ve seen one picture of her. One. And I’m still convinced you’re hiding a whole romantic subplot from me.”

Bumbly didn’t even open his eyes. “We’re close. That’s all.”

“Close?” Steve echoed, raising a brow. “You disappear for whole weekends. Come back smelling like fancy soap and smiling like a monk who just found inner peace. If that’s just ‘close,’ I must be hallucinating from the eucalyptus.”

Bumbly gave a low, rumbling chuckle. “You’re dramatic today.”

Steve leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “C’mon, man. You’ve told me about every festival disaster and travel mishap we’ve ever survived—but when it comes to her, it’s like there’s a velvet curtain. She does theater, saunas, erotic writing, retro treasure hunts… and you act like she’s some kind of dream girl who only exists in another timezone.

“She kind of is,” Bumbly said quietly, staring at the wooden slats on the ceiling. “Not the dream girl part. But the... other world. It’s just ours.”

Steve blinked at that. “You’ve never met her friends. She’s never met me. And you’re both cool with that?”

“We don’t need an audience,” Bumbly said. “She moves fast. I move slow. Somehow we meet in the middle. That’s enough.”

Steve whistled low. “Man. That’s either the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard... or the saddest.”

Bumbly finally turned his head. “You’re curious because you care. I get that. But this one’s... private. Not secret. Just sacred.”

Steve sank back again, nodding. “Alright, I’ll shut up. But if I ever do run into her by accident? I’m gonna ask her everything.”

Bumbly grinned. “She’d probably flirt with you just to mess with me.”

Steve laughed. “I’d let her. Then I’d tell her you blush every time you talk about her, and watch what happens.”

They both laughed quietly, steam curling between them. Outside, the sky was turning dusky blue. No words for a while. Just the comfort of two old friends who’d been through everything—except this one thing that Bumbly kept tucked close to his chest, where it mattered most.

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