Even when the starry sky dissolves at dawn

[brightlyshines]

WHO: Literally anyone and everyone
WHERE: The Town
WHEN: May 3rd, evening
WHAT: The town's regained both some aspects of evening and a starry night sky. Stargazing is clearly in order.
WARNINGS: All that good pure cute, probably.

The town is just a little bit different today. Color has returned to some objects, even phenomenon, and it has left others. Slowly but surely, things are changing.

In some cases, very big things are changing.

Maybe someone looks out a window, maybe they're out late in the evening. At around 6pm, the sky takes on it's normal hue, just for a moment. And later, as darkness falls....

The stars blink into existence, one by one.

Comments

[passio]

[ dextera grows calmer and calmer the longer they sit in this easy quiet, and eventually, the sky overhead seems entirely black with pinpricks of light crossing the whole world above them. there's no light pollution in this town, of course—nothing but space and air between them and the view. ]

...?

[ wishing on the stars sounds like a frivolous thing that he would have been scolded for by the archangel, or other members of the malkuth order, so he slowly shakes his head. even before his amnesia, the chances that he's ever done it are slim. ]

[messianic]

[It's absolutely a frivolous thing. Isn't that the best part about it?

Minato hums in response, a soft noise as he contemplates how to explain in a way that best makes sense to the both of them.]

I think it's a way to remind us to look at the stars. No matter how many things are happening, or how much is going on around us...

[There's always the sky to see.]

So we make wishes on the brightest star on the sky. Because maybe it'll come true.

[And if not, they still got to see the stars.]

[passio]

...

[ that's beautiful. dextera sometimes gets the feeling that minato could explain how to mail a letter and it would sound like poetry, though, just because of the soft, comforting way he seems to approach the world. when dextera needs to decompress, minato seems like such an ideal person to go to.

he nods, looking first down at his hands, and then up at the sky to try to find the brightest one amidst all these sparkling points illumining the night. ]

...hm.

[messianic]

[There's no need to rush wish-making, if Dextera even really wants to. But it's something that everyone should be able to do, he thinks--to wish upon a star, when it really comes down to wanting something, even if that something is just a shred of hope.

So he's pretty content to just lean back on his hands, watching Dextera search the sky for a moment, before he turns his eyes back on the stars as well.

Hm... the brightest star in this sky would be...?]

[passio]

Ah—!

[ dextera thinks he finds it, after a little time. it's impossible to check it perfectly, of course, but there's one he finds overhead that seems to glow brighter than the rest. out here, there are no planes or other distant lights to mix up with the stars, so this one must be it, or as close as dextera can find without spending the next three hours searching.

he points it out to minato, his eyes wide—almost childlike, in his excitement? ]

[messianic]

[... It's nice to see Dextera so excited over something, honestly. It's simple, but it's something precious, too--excitement without fear, excitement just for the sake of being excited.

Minato follows Dextera's pointing, blinking as his eyes fix on that bright point in the sky.]

Ah... it's so bright.

[!]

I think you found it.

[At least, Dextera found the brightest star in their current vicinity, and that's just as good--and so, almost gently:]

Make a wish.

[passio]

[ dextera would be content to have found this one even if it hadn’t been the brightest in the sky, because it’s twinkling and beautiful and he’s happy, which is foreign in his chest but not at all unwelcome. ]

...

[ but what to wish for? this, he doesn’t know. maybe he doesn’t even know how, and he glances sideways at minato for quiet guidance. ]

[messianic]

[He can't help you with this one, Dextera; wishes are things you make for yourself.

So instead, he just tilts his head at Dextera when he glances over, expression contemplative.]

It doesn't have to be the most poignant thing in the world, you know.

[Just a wish. Any wish that he wants to come true, no matter what it is.]

[passio]

[ any wish? even small ones are difficult, for someone who has never had anything to wish for, and his mind draws a blank in the need to choose something. he stares up at the sky for a long while, and then, finally, he nods.

okay.

something simple and straightforward—he wishes that the next bone he eats doesn't hurt him, and only then does a second thought occur to him. he jolts as if he can try to entreat the star to change his wish for the health and happiness of his friends, instead! that's a better one!! ]

[messianic]

[Both of those are good wishes, Dextera. Sometimes, you just gotta hope your bone eating doesn't choke you.

Either way, whatever Minato sees in Dextera (some certainty, some decision, some wish he really made--), he's satisfied with it. His lips curve upwards in satisfaction, and he nods.

It's good work--but Minato's not going to ask him what he wished for.

What really matters is just that he made that wish.]

[passio]

[ still, dextera feels a little guilty for being selfish. either one is fine, he thinks, but maybe the star will allow him both—he realizes that it's not a real thing, as if god might check the stars nightly for any wishes made on them, but he doesn't want to take advantage of this evening anyway.

he holds up two fingers, with a wince, asking for some support from minato's gaze. ]

...?

[messianic]

[... Huh. The clear request for support in that gaze is something that Minato can parse easily, and that in addition to the fingers--]

Oh, did you make two?

[(In truth, that kind of makes him happy too. If Dextera can have two wishes he wants to make... that's really, really good, isn't it?)]

I don't think the stars mind, honestly. Besides, you've never wished on a star, right? Some people do all their life, so... you have plenty of wishes to make up for.

[passio]

[ he doesn't think the stars mind.

hearing it phrased like that, silly as it is, is reassuring to dextera—and he lowers his hand, sheepish, but he seems to relax with minato's explanation for it all. that is true, isn't it? if he wanted to, he could finagle a lifetime of wishes right here, right now, but he doesn't think he has any more in mind besides the two he's just come up with.

there's plenty of time, though. he hopes. ]

...hm.

[ a breath, and he shifts, his body language easing somewhat now that his wishes have been established. ]

[messianic]

[Sometimes people need reassurance, silly or not. Minato's entirely unbothered by that--so long as Dextera relaxes, he doesn't care what it takes.

Each quiet, peaceful moment Dextera gets to have here is one more than he seems to have been able to have in his own world. That counts for something.

So Minato falls silent as well, settling back on his on hands to stare up at the sky. Wishes, huh...Maybe it's a little childish, but it eases something in his own chest to think about something this simple, about making wishes on the absolute brightest star in the sky, no matter where they are.]

[passio]

[ minato cares too much about dextera... he doesn’t warrant any of this kindness, this comforting silence, even though he appreciates it more than words can say. minato just has something about him that makes him easy to be around, no matter what, and dextera wants to spend more and more time with him. ]

...

[ after a while, he shifts just enough to get minato’s attention, the body language equivalent of clearing his throat or breathing with the intention to speak.

once he has it, he cocks his head minato’s way. did he make a wish? ]

[messianic]

[...Oh.

He wasn't actually expecting that question, somehow. Minato blinks slowly, expression contemplative. He... didn't make a wish. Of course he didn't--he's dead, and somehow, wishes feel like they should be the domain of people who will be alive to receive them.

(It's not really fair; Minato's heart is beating right now. But some associations are hard to shake, and he had a solid month to come to terms with dying.)]

... No, I didn't. [Still, he's honest.] I couldn't really think of one.

[passio]

[ dextera is not one to judge for being unable to come up with a wish—it would be hypocritical, of course, even though he scrambled and ended up with two at the last minute.

he nods, quietly considering minato’s answer. living or dead, it’s not a bad thing to have a wish. wishes, desires... they’re the things that make people want to keep going. ]

...

[ he reaches for minato’s hand, expectant. another writing adventure! ]

[messianic]

[Writing adventures! Minato doesn't mind, naturally; he hands over his hand willingly, expression more curious than anything.

Dextera's always so quiet; he can't help but be curious when there's something he finally wants to say.]

[passio]

[ there are any number of things he wants to say at any given moment—strangely, he likes to communicate, but it's so limited by his lack of voice. his lack of resources, here. writing in palms, too, is not especially easy, but it works.

T... A... ]

Take your time.

[ a simple phrase, for a simple desire. minato doesn't need to come up with a wish now ]

[messianic]

[... Oh.

Is that how it is...? Minato wasn't expecting that sort of reassurance, but... it's nice, too. He's quiet for a moment--and then his lips curve into a small smile, and he nods.]

Got it.

I'll think about it a lot, and... next time, I'll have a wish ready.

[... That's part of living too, right? So long as he's here, shouldn't he do his best to live, regardless of what awaits at the end?]

[passio]

[ dextera nods too, letting his hand come back from minato’s and rest over his stomach again. it’s not the first time he’s been curious about what kind of life minato has lived, but he’s sure it will come out when it’s ready to come out—just the same as his own life will, in return.

and if they never share those things, that’s probably okay, too. ]

...

[ for now, though, he’s happy just to be able to watch the stars with such a good friend of his. ]