Aster and The Leopards

Darkened room

The smoke filling the room looked a lot like the dry ice that flooded the stage before Austin Swift's silhouette cut through it earlier. Now, Austin was resting his head against Finlay's legs, nose stuck in a poorly stapled screenplay. Aster was trying to peek around his shoulder to see what the screenplay was about.

"Don't bother. It's probably some obscure 90s musical you've never heard of," Finlay told her when she noticed her curiosity. Austin turned his head, frowning, and she caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a dialogue between Mia and Sebastian.

"No, it's La La Land. Pretty mainstream if you ask me," Aster pointed out, earning a little smile from the boy sitting beneath her. Maxine rolled her eyes.

"Maybe he's learning to live in society, then."

After the show, they all went back to the dressing room. The band was too tired to party, after an entire weekend of, well... partying. But they were also finishing the long-ass planning necessary to begin another country-wide tour, that would probably precede their first world tour, and that's pressure enough to make you resort to a joint in a silent darkened room occasionally. Aster followed them after a security guard pulled her from the crowd, probably at Jesse's orders, but Jesse was nowhere to be seen when she reached the corridor. When Aster opened the door and found only Finlay and Swift laying on the couch, she wondered if she would be thrown out of the room immediately. Despite her worst fears, Finlay only frowned briefly and then shrugged her shoulders, as if accepting her fate. "Jesse is out there snogging someone. Make yourself at home."

They were silent for a while, but after watching the siblings exchange a few inside jokes and kick at each other for the dumbest reasons, Aster felt like she was back home with her hyper-active sisters. Maybe it was the smoke intoxicating her, or Finlay's musky perfume, but something kept her mouth shut and made her relax next to the girl on the couch, and she did not dare break the fragile balance of their mutual existence, especially considering she never spent that much time with her before.

That was until something poked at her ribs and she was forced to open her eyes. Finlay was holding the joint in front of her face, and Aster promptly took it, trying to lift it to her lips fast enough that her mind would not have the time to process where that cigarette had been before. The other girl watched her with curiosity for some time, staring at Aster's lips as if expecting her to cough, but that did not happen, and the joint returned to her pale fingers.

Aster took her turn to observe, then, feeling a little braver after the friendly demonstration – which she repeated throughout the night –, and noticed Maxine had already taken off her make-up, leaving behind only a few accidental smudges of red lipstick on her cupid bow. Her hair was curlier too, probably because she was sweating so much on the stage. She was tired, but somehow still managed to look like a rockstar.

Austin looked a lot like her, too, at least physically – he was way less reserved and did not mind sharing his thoughts. After Aster mentioned La La Land, he went on a rant about how musicals are the best human creation, and that he dreamed of a musical based on The Leopards discography.

"Finlay certainly has a talent for story-telling," Aster remarked, and he nodded in agreement. The topic died there, but the blush on his sister's neck took a few more seconds to fade.

After a few minutes, Finlay kicked lightly at Austin's legs, calling his attention once again. "Hey, don't you think it's time you go find Jesse?" Her tone was off, somehow, but Aster did not care. It was not worry tinging her words, it was intention. Austin bit back a chuckle before answering.

"Are you sure, big sis?"

"Just fucking go," she said, kicking harder this time. He laughed louder and stood up to exit the room.