A Handful of Stardust

FLOWERS

CHARACTERS: Comet Andromeda, Casper Oscuro, Gwendolyn Oscuro

TAGS & TRIGGERS: flowers, suburbia, lgbtq, wlw, f/f, angst, 2000s

Comet's phone blinks as she checks it again. The screen illuminates her tired face, casting it in white as it displays the time: 02:40. She tucks the phone under her pillow as if she's a child scared to get caught, but the urge to check it again, see if there are any new messages, is still strong as she lays her head down. Wilbur should have texted back by now.

She rolls over, adjusting back to the dark that seems blacker with the absence of blue light. Gwendolyn's eyes are shut, mouth open slightly, breathing deep. There's still dark eyeliner on her cheeks which has run slightly in her sleep due to the heat of the room. The duvet feels sticky, and Gwen's hand is burning hot, too.

The time is 02:43, and Wilbur hasn't replied to her. Comet's throat is parched, dry. She knows he's not asleep, so what's keeping him?

Her girlfriend's hand rests on her own. She eases it out from under Gwen's, their palms ungluing uncomfortably, so she can slip out of bed. The carpet is cold and worn under her feet, once fluffy, but she can feel every tear where wood makes itself known. She reaches out a hand before her, finds the doorknob, and waits until she's left the room to turn on the little flashlight-slash-keyring she detached from her bag. It's shaped like Hello Kitty.

The tiny beam of light from the torch allows her to see the stairs in front of her, which she walks down extra carefully just in case. The wallpaper in Gwendolyn and her brother's house is sixties-style, orange and blue and brown, with paintings of people she doesn't recognise watching disapprovingly as she makes her way down the steps.

The kitchen tiles feel cold under Comet's feet. There are no curtains in this room, so the front lawn is clearly visible, with the neat fences and flowerbeds. She lingers by the window, as though confused about what she came downstairs to do; then she blinks, switches off the plastic torch, and turns on the kitchen light.

She takes a large glass from the cupboard and walks past the central table to reach the tap. The water is freezing under her fingers as she tests the temperature; she lets it run over her hand a little, before realising it's the one Gwendolyn held so close and drawing it away to fill her cup.

What time is it now? The clock reads 3:50, but that can't be right, because it was only just ten-to-three, not four. Maybe it's just broken.

Either way, it's late. Comet downs the rest of her glass in one gulp and sets it down. Someone clears their throat behind her.

She turns sharply, heart fluttering to her throat and then back down again. "I didn't hear you come down," she half-whispers apologetically. Casper laughs.

He doesn't look tired or like he's disturbed at all, despite the time. In fact, he looks entirely unruffled, grinning with bright white teeth, good-natured.

"Was I being too loud?" she ventures. Her body is tense and she doesn't know why; he's been nothing but sweet, making her and Gwen dinner that evening and accepting her immediately into their house. Maybe it's a reflection of Gwendolyn acting similarly, even unconsciously as Comet is doing now.

"No, not at all. I was coming down anyway," he replies kindly. She smiles, relieved.

"I was just going to..." Comet trails off, nodding at the door behind him.

"Of course." Casper smiles again, the light shining off his teeth and making them the bleached, unhappy colour of an old skeleton.

His eyes reflect the red in the vase of flowers on the table in the centre of the room. She bought the roses for Gwen, and she insisted on putting them on display here. And they did look pretty, just not in the faded yellow lighting of the old kitchen, when it was devoid of sunlight and they made Casper's eyes the colour of old blood, hungry and off-putting. How he could look so different and yet so like his sister, even in her tired hazed mind where everyone felt like an enemy, Comet would never know.