Lavender Snow

Stars

Techno was never good with children. Even as a kid in the End he was aggressive and hostile towards anyone he didn't know well, and he didn't really care enough to make friends on Earth, so he didn't know how to handle the traumatized child in their house.

Tommy was confusing. He opened up when they went to the park, showing an energetic, boisterous personality. Everyone was encouraged by his sudden positivity, but by the next morning he was back to being flighty and withdrawn.

Phil and Kristin talked to Techno, noticing that Tommy clung most to him, but he didn't have any advice or ideas about why Tommy was acting quiet again. He tried asking the voices about it, but they were. . . unhelpful, to say the least.

Wilbur seemed to be the only person in the house that had some idea about what was going on. He'd pulled Techno aside after one particularly tense and awkward lunch and encouraged him to spend more time in his room with Tommy, even if he was just reading or playing on his Nintendo Switch. Techno thought it weird, but hung out on his bed instead of going to fencing practice, and noticed Tommy was slightly more relaxed after a while.

Relaxed wasn't exactly the way they wanted him, though. The Tommy at the park was loud. He was bouncy and funny and annoying. He was confident. And now. . .

Techno sighed into his cup of coffee. He could think about this later when it wasn't two AM. He stirred some creamer into his mug and stepped outside, clutching his blanket closer. It was a chilly night, and his breath puffed in the air and mixed with the coils of steam rising from his coffee. The only sound came from the porch squeaking as he sat on the wooden steps and turned his gaze upward.

The voices were few, this late at night. Or early. Whatever. They muttered nonsense about the family and tomorrow and Tommy. Mostly Tommy. They were fucking obsessed with the kid, always worried about his physical and emotional health.

"Guess that makes two of us," Techno murmured. The voices protested, and Techno rolled his eyes. "Three hundred of us, then. Or however many of you there are."

Techno's child therapist had once suggested he count the number of voices. He lost track after two hundred fifty four. He had asked the voices themselves, but the numbers fluctuated and changed like the voices were coming and going. It was usually between three hundred and three million.

He liked to think that the voices were the stars whispering down at him.

The back door opened and then Tommy sat down beside him.

Neither of them said anything for a while, then Techno spread his arm, inviting him into the warmth of the blanket. Tommy stared for a minute, then seemed to understand, scooting over and pressing against Techno's side.

"Couldn't sleep?" Techno asked.

"Nightmares." Tommy rubbed his wrist, then looked up. "What are you looking at?"

"The stars," Techno grunted. "Here, they aren't really used for anything. Not in modern days, anyways. Apparently back in the olden days, they would make up stories about the shapes they saw in the stars."

"They don't use the shapes for navigation?"

"Well, they used to. Each shape has a name and story with it. See those five stars in a zigzag there? That's Cassiopeia. According to Greek legend, she was a queen that boasted about her beauty so much that Poseidon, the god of the sea, attacked her city. Her husband chained her to a rock to save his city, but Perseus, flying by, rescued her. Poseidon thought she hadn't been punished enough, so he sent her to the stars." Techno scratched his head. "That's the very basic version of the story."

Tommy blinked. "How'd you get all that from a sideways W?"

"It's her chair, see?" Techno pulled out his phone and opened Sky Guide. When he pointed it at the constellation, a ghostly rendition of Cassiopeia appeared on the screen. "She's cursed to always be upside-down."

Tommy let out a soft "wow" and took the phone, pointing it at another section of the night sky. "What about that weird animal one?"

Techno peeked at the phone. "That's Pegasus. Pegasus was a horse with wings that was born from the beheaded monster Medusa."

"Medusa?"

"Yeah, remember that guy Perseus?"

Techno told Tommy the stories of the constellations long after his abandoned coffee had gone cold and his phone had run out of battery. Tommy listened to each with wide eyes and quiet questions, not about the world, but about the characters, where they came from, how they died, which gods helped which heroes. He was especially enthralled by the story of Theseus, but by the time Techno was done telling about Pirithous and Eurytus, Tommy's eyes were drooping and he was putting all of his weight against Techno.

Techno hesitated, then turned and leaned down, picking Tommy up and slinging him over his shoulder in a fireman carry. Tommy wiggled around weakly, but was unable to do more than dangle limply like a sack of potatoes as Techno picked up the mug and blanket and headed inside.

"Wait— I want to hear more— Techie—"

"Techie?" Techno snorted, carefully stepping down the stairs. "That's a new one. Look, Toms, it's four in the morning, we can talk more later. But you're tired, I'm cold, and my voice is getting sore. I think the only way I've been talking for so long is because I've been using my powers."

Tommy's head bobbed. "That's why. . . some of the stars were purple. . ."

Techno smirked and threw Tommy over his head, dumping him on the mattress. Tommy blinked sleepily up at him as Techno blew lavender particles across his face.

"Go to sleep," Techno said. He walked over to the hammock and picked up a tangle. The purple light slowly faded from his veins, and a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over him.

Tommy adjusted himself to be under the covers, then turned to look at Techno. "Why did you call me Theseus when we met?"

Techno huffed softly. "He was a great hero. Protected his city, killed monsters, all that. But in the end, the city was corrupt, and the king exiled him despite all the good he had done."

"But. . . I haven't done any of that stuff."

Techno closed his eyes. "Hm. Maybe Athens was never Theseus's home."

"What?" Tommy said, clear confusion in his voice.

"Just go to sleep." Techno said, rolling over.

Tommy began snoring not too long after, and the voices lulled Techno to sleep with tales of the stars and stories of watching gods, worlds away.