Work Text:
“You’re early.”
Planet smiled sheepishly as they walked towards Spoke, sitting beside him. They dragged their fingers around in the sand, drawing random shapes. Spoke doesn’t react, and he continues to fish.
They exhaled, their shoulders relaxed, watching a school of fishes swim in the glimmering lake. Nearby, a bright yellow fish swam up to Spoke’s fishing hook, and in a blink of an eye he was holding it in his right hand.
Planet, obviously impressed, smiled widely and clapped for him, as if they were reacting to a magic trick. Spoke simply unhooked the fish cautiously, lowering his hands into the water and letting the fish swim away.
“...Have you been doing this all day?”
“ ‘ve been doing it since lunch.”
“Didn’t know you like fishing this much.”
They simply smiled and shook their head, eyes returning to the ball of flame sinking into the horizon. The yolky sphere seemed as if it was melting, its rays of golden sunshine soaking into the sky.
Planet shuffled a little bit closer, resting their hand on their shoulder as both of them stare at nothing in particular. They kicked their feet in the water, ripples forming and seagrass waving around, tangling their legs with them by accident. They laughed, removing the plant from their legs and settled on swinging their feet instead of splashing wildly.
Spoke reeled in another fish, lifting it by the hook and showing it off to Planet. He smiled softly,
“Look, got another one of these bad things.”
“Oh, you caught one of those yesterday. It was.. the.. what’s it called?”
“I forgot.”
“Darn.”
“...”
“Can I keep it?”
“It’s too big, Planet. Don’t think you can keep one of these in a tank and expect it to live for more than three days.” He mumbled, holding the fish with his two hands.
Planet stared at him, before throwing back their head and laughing loudly, like a mad evil scientist or something that just found the world’s deadliest virus. Their teammate beside them furrowed his eyebrows in worry.
“What the hell’s gotten into you??”
“No, no,” they said between fits of giggles, “it’s– you look like those fishermen that– HAHAH!!–” Their words were absolutely incomprehensible.
“I look like what?”
“Like.. those people that hold fishes.. on dating apps– pfft– you know what, forget it– hahaahhh..” They turned away, trying their best to stop laughing, but like a disease, it quickly spread to Spoke, and he found himself cracking up as well.
Both of them stayed that way for a good minute, Spoke posing with the fish in hand, Planet roaring with laughter, their teammate slapping them with a fish telling them to shut up; they could go on forever.
But they eventually settled down, heaving and wheezing, their lungs aching from laughing so long.
Planet smiled, head turning, looking at Spoke.
They tilt their head, as if asking for permission. He shrugged, not really minding.
They rest their head on his shoulder, fluttering their eyelids, limbs loosening up. He patted their back, rubbing circles into their back, easing them into sleep.
Planet couldn’t sleep.
Not like they would in the first place.
But the tiredness was really starting to affect them. It was noticeable, the way they rubbed their eyes a lot, the way they staggered, legs so used to running it forgot the feeling of walking. The whole thing was wearing them out. They had no choice; it was either temporary suffering or death.
At times, they swore they felt death themselves breathing down their neck – sometimes watching from afar, other times right next to them, laughing maniacally as they fought for their lives. As if it couldn’t wait for their time to be over, for all of this to be over.
Planet’s eyes widened, almost tripping over and falling off a cliff. They frantically balanced themselves by hugging a tree, latching on it until the fear disappeared from their body, replaced with.. a sense of emptiness.
They felt so lonely. Occasionally they would see people, but they were either there to give resources or slit their throat.
Planet really wanted a break from all of this, to sit down, unite with Bacon and Jaron, and probably have a picnic with awesome sandwiches.. and... and.. Oh, no–
Planet wiped their face, only then realising that they were crying. No, no, no, they couldn’t cry now, not now, of all times!–
But they couldn’t stop the flurry of tears pouring down, and soon enough, they sat at the base of the tree, wailing their heart out.
They hugged their knees to their chest, sobbing and sobbing, hands still trying to wipe the fat tears away. Their heart ached, like an invisible hand had grabbed hold of it and was twisting it in their palm. Terror, fury, rage, despair – they cried all of these feelings that they have been holding in their heart for so long.
They were so scared. So, so scared, and so, so terrified. They weren’t ready for this, they weren’t ready for any of this at all!
Planet heard a couple of shouts in the distance. Taking in a shaky breath, they helped themselves up, legs still a little wobbly. Seeing the people in full netherite speeding towards them made them so nauseous they wanted to gag and vomit out all their organs on the spot.
Still, they willed their trembling legs to run.
“The sun’s turning pink,” Planet said, so softly that Spoke had to strain his ears to pick up what they said.
“Huh?” His eyes went from his fishing rod to the fading ball of light. “Guess it kind of is a little pinkish.”
“Like cotton candy. Man, I’m so hungry. It’s making me hungry.” They grumbled, lifting their head up, letting their chin rest on their hands, “it looks so tasty.”
He chuckled, hand weaving through their unkept, messy hair. It felt like the clouds in the sky, soft and fluffy. What he wouldn’t give, to lie down in it right now.
“Genuinely don’t know what you’re talking about. It looks like normal clouds.”
“You just don’t have the creative mind for it.”
“Wow, okay. Whatever.”
Spoke tugged at their hair playfully, earning a high-pitched “HEY!” from Planet, and they bonked him with their head. It almost turned into a full on fistfight if he hadn’t backed down, allowing them to calm down.
“Geez, you’re such a hothead.” He mumbled, running his fingers through their hair again – the feeling was addictive – but then took it out when he realised Planet had their hair tied up (he hadn’t realised they had tied it up, honestly). Spoke instead brought his hands back to his fishing rod, searching in the box for bait.
Planet noticed, and commented, “Since when did you like fishing this much?”
“...”
“Didn’t take you for someone who would sit here and fish all day.”
“It’s therapeutic.”
“True...” They reached their hand out to grab the fishing rod from him, placing it beside them so he couldn’t reach it. “But fishing? All day? You need to take a break, man.”
Planet carefully took Spoke’s calloused hands, frowning at how rough it is.
“Look at what you’re doing to yourself.”
“...”
“Take a break.” They suggested, caressing his hands, but Spoke pulled away, mumbling a “I’m fine” and shoved his hands into his pockets. Planet could only sigh. They did want the best for him, but this wasn’t good for him at all.
They tumbled onto the side of the stream, euphoria filling their body at the sight of clear water at last. They cupped water to their cracked lips, soothing their parched throat. They even dunked their head underwater, quickly rubbing their dirt-stained face and washing their hair.
Planet raised their head out of the water, breathed a sigh of relief, and–
Jumped back in surprise, for a figure was on the opposite side of the lake, sitting cross-legged and smiling at them.
“You!” They pointed a finger at Spoke, immediately tensing up. “Oh, no, no, no–”
“Hello, Planetlord!” He waved, like it was a normal sunny day and everything was perfectly fine. With his stupid innocent blinking eyes. The nerve of this guy was insane. “You look like a sopping wet cat, dude.”
They narrowed their eyes, choosing to ignore his taunts and instead to run in another direction to continue to gain distance from all the hunters.
If he was here, surely the others were as well.
Spoke gasped at how he got absolutely ignored, and flew beside Planet like a reporter who wouldn’t stop chasing them for their stories.
“Planetlooooord!! Bro, that was so uncool. Why did you just ignore me??”
“I have no time for your shit!!” They said hurriedly, combing through their hair and tying it up, then annoyedly getting their floating hair out of their face. Their legs never stopped moving as they kept their pace steady.
“Are they near?”
Spoke watched them run through the plains, amused. “No.”
Seeing that they were still running, he repeated, “I said, they aren’t here!”
“If you say they aren’t here, that means they are!”
“I’m serious, no one’s here except you and me.”
Planet’s feet skidded to a stop, head turning around. They stared at him apprehensively, “What do you mean it’s only us?”
“Like I said,” He snorted, “It’s only you and me. Think of it as an interview. How are you feeling?”
He floated down to their level, holding an imaginary microphone, holding it close to their face.
Planet clicked their tongue in annoyance, pushing his hand away. “Thought you’d know since you’re the one who put me through this.” They said coldly through their gritted teeth. “I- I don’t know what your goal is. Are you trying to put all of us through hell? Why go through all the trouble just to do that?”
“You don’t need to know that.” Spoke stretched out his hand, reaching for a floating star floating beside them. Planet flinched, watching as he toyed it around in his hand. “I’m gonna assume you’re doing fine, then.”
From the corner of their eye, a netherite player was bolting towards them. Their eyebrows shot up, though their voice was barely above a whisper, the dread in their tone was evident when they said,
“You were stalling for time.”
He snickered.
“I hate you so much. One day. One day, you’ll regret everything.” They breathed, turning on their heel, and in a moment they disappeared, leaving only footprints in the snow.
Spoke watched as the players shouted and hollered, and he rolled his eyes. He looked at the star, still in his hand, an amused expression on his face, “Whatever you say, Planet.”
Planet hummed, hand intertwined with the other’s.
He didn’t say anything.
“So,” they cleared their throat, “how’s it been?”
“...It’s going well. I finally expanded the farm.” He responded simply.
“No, really.”
“...” His eyes stared at Planet, wondering if he should tell them, or whether they were serious, they couldn’t tell.
“It’s been a little rough.” He admitted.
“How so?”
“It’s..” He fiddled with his rod, “I’m still trying to get people to forgive me, especially- especially Parrot.”
“Did you speak with him yet?”
“I tried to, but I couldn’t find him. I did get some trims though.” He searched for it, rummaging through his inventory. He took out several different kinds of trims, showing it to Planet, a small smile on his face.
Their eyes shone with interest, gasping, “Woah, that actually looks so sick! You could put it on your armour!” They giggled excitedly.
“Yeah! We’d be the coolest people in town.”
“Hehehh.”
Spoke smiled, before it eventually faded, and he went back to staring. Staring into the darkness, at where the sun had been.
Planet contemplated silently, before they lifted their head up to look at him.
Spoke didn’t look back.
“Should we finally talk about it now?”
Planet jolted awake, finding themselves in a one by two bedrock box instead of the open air.
“No, no, no.” There was no way they were spawn trapped. They pressed their hands against the bedrock, punching it, mining it, desperately hoping that maybe their eyes were playing tricks on them. But no, the bedrock never budged.
That was it. They were trapped.
“Aww, little Planetlord’s right here!” Spoke chirped, hearing his voice from a hole below, and they backed away into a corner. A shiver went down their spine; it always happened now, it was a natural instinct whenever he arrived.
“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt you. There’s barrier blocks covering the hole.”
“...”
They kicked their leg at the hole. Invisible blocks covered it. Like what he said. (wow, who knew he could tell the truth.)
They stopped quivering, and instead slumped down in a corner, crestfallen.
They felt like an animal. Being trapped in a cage and all that. It was kind of getting on their nerves.
“What do you want?”
“How many hearts are you on? Hmm?” He questioned.
“...” They refused to answer.
“Hey. Answer the question.”
They stayed suspiciously quiet.
“Planet, answer the question. Come on.”
“I’m fine. I’m doing fine. You don’t need to know.”
He laughed, like it was such a ridiculous thing to say. “You’re doing fine? Really?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“...How many hearts do you have?” He repeated, like a broken recorder.
They stood there, and they argued, back and forth.
Even when his hunters had arrived, they still stood their ground.
Spoke narrowed his eyes at the person in the bedrock box, peering through the barrier blocks. An uneasy feeling swirled in his stomach. His gut was telling him that something was happening. They looked too.. calm.
Sure, he still saw the sweat beading on their forehead and the way they flinched whenever he approached, but they didn’t have any panic attacks when they got there.
Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he flew up,
spotting Leowook.
“What..?” He whispered to himself, watching him fly towards Planet. Wait, fly?
In a blink of a second, his hunters placed a nuke and blasted them away, trying to fend them off.
Planet heard the unmistakable sound of the nuke, and shrieked, covering their head.
“Oh, wait, I’m in a bedrock box.”
They crouched onto the floor, peeking at the number of people running around, hearing the shouts of them as they tried to get them away.
A totem appeared in front of them, and they hurriedly squeezed their hand through the gaps, grasping it in their palm. A sigh of relief escaped their mouth. Thank goodness, they felt so naked without any items or armour on them.
“They- they have items!” Spoke yelled, flying back up.
All this commotion made Planet couldn’t help but smile. Seeing them, especially Spoke, so flustered, his playful demeanour disappearing, caused a sense of satisfaction to start bubbling in their stomach.
Spoke typed in a command, and he blinked away, probably teleporting to PrinceZam.
Whatever, Planet didn’t care anymore.
For the first time in what felt like forever, they could breathe again.
“What is there to talk about?”
“You know what I mean.”
Spoke pursed their lips, feeling uncomfortable.
“You have to understand, Spoke-”
“No! There’s nothing else that needs to be understood. I understand everything. I understand my actions, I understand what I’ve done, I understand what happened, I know–”
“Okay, okay!” Planet wrapped their arms around him, and he hugged back. Their eyes looked down at him, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“It’s not yours, either.”
“But what if it was?”
“It isn’t.”
“It is.”
“You didn’t know it would happen.”
“I shouldn’t have. It’s not your fault, Planet, it’s mine. I’m sorry.”
“I know. I know, Spoke.”
“...”
“I forgive you.”
“You shouldn’t forgive me.”
They laughed softly. “You don’t get to decide what I do.”
“Why do you forgive me?”
“Because it’s best to forgive and forget. I forgive you.”
“...”
“I forgive you, Spoke. It’s okay.”
Spoke rubbed his eyes, arm glistering with tears.
He laid in Planet’s embrace, fiddling with his arm warmer. He stared up at them, whispering under his breath,
“You’re not even real, are you?”
Planet didn’t respond.
Planet walked on the bridge cautiously, willing themselves not to look down at the dark abyss that felt like a large black hole, waiting to suck them in.
It was terrifying, being so low on hearts. At least there aren’t a lot of hunters chasing them at the moment, in the End.
Their foot thudded as they landed on the obsidian part of the bridge,
but just as they started crossing,
they paused.
Their heart stopped,
tunnel-visioned into the person on the other end of the bridge.
Spoke.
Wearing a red leather tunic.
Planet started hyperventilating, the world around them feeling like it was going to crumble at any given moment. They almost toppled over, as they stumbled back.
The feeling of dread, terror, it was back, and it made the blood in their veins turn cold, it made the air still, it made it hard to breathe.
“Uhm,” they forced the words out of their mouth, their voice cracking.
“Guys?”
No response.
Spoke stepped forward.
They took a step back.
Spoke took two steps forward.
“Guys?” They repeated, panic dripping into their voice. “Guys!”
Planet started running, back to the way they came from, shouting for Parrot frantically.
“Spoke’s here!” They screamed, the hair on their arms standing up. “That- that shirt, anyone that stands near it, it kills them! We have to go! Now!” They tripped over their own words, though some of them sounded incoherent, their teammates understood what they needed to do.
They swung their axe against the wooden bridge, gaps appearing, but Spoke simply took more wooden planks, bridging across to the other side. He didn’t move quickly; walking, taking small steps, towards Planet, towards them, knowing that there were little places to run.
“Planet, where are you going?”
They met up with Parrot, who was building a bridge towards the main island. They were trembling, like a shaken leaf.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re back.” He looked behind them, “Where’s Spoke?”
“Probably in Spectator mode.” They said.
The both of them threw their pearls, onto the island, staying near each other. They were the only people each of them could rely on for now.
“Where is he..?” Parrot’s eyes scanned the environment, and, speak of the devil, Spoke appears on the opposite hill. “There! He’s there!”
“Quick, we have to go! You can’t get near him in a certain radius, or it’ll kill you!”
“I know, I know. Let’s tower up!”
Planet took their own stack of blocks and began towering beside Parrot. A few metres away, someone disintegrated into dust. They shivered, knowing he was near.
Their intestines felt like mush right now. Geez.
“Planet!” Parrot called from the big painting. “Pearl onto the picture, here! Quick!”
“Oh- okay, okay.” They stacked a few blocks higher, until they spotted a familiar void being right on their tail. They jumped, in surprise,
before fear took over,
and they threw their pearl upwards,
but Spoke was still pillaring towards them,
and in a desperate frenzy to survive, to get away from the man of death himself, they flung themselves off the pillar, wind rushing against their ears, heart pounding,
watching as they zoomed towards the ground,
down,
down,
down–
They found themselves on the picture, and on instinct they placed a block underneath them.
Planet would’ve collapsed right there and then, if it wasn’t for the situation they were in. It was too much anxiety and adrenaline for today.
They glanced back at Spoke, and bridged away.
“That’s what I thought.” Spoke sat back up, mumbling, “You’re not even real.”
“I’m as real as you want me to be.” Planet reached for his hand again, but he moved it away.
They sat in silence.
“I’m sorry.” Planet apologised.
The crickets chirped, somewhere beside them. He kicked at the water, watching the ripples form and disappear.
They open their mouth, before closing it again, as if they had some words they wanted to say, and they thought better of it.
“..It’s late.” was what they decided to go with.
They started to stand up, brushing the sand off. “I’m going to sleep.”
“Wait,” Spoke grabbed their sleeve, “No. No, I’m- I’m sorry. Sit back down. Please.”
They looked at him, then at their sleeve, then back at him.
“It’s late, Spoke.”
“I know but-” He got on his feet as well, “Could you stay up? Just this once?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, come on!” They laughed, “Staying up is bad for you, and tomorrow you still have to tend to the farm, talk to Parrot, the others–”
“But I want to talk to you.”
Planet quietened down, staring at him.
“Spoke,” they said in that same tone, like they were disappointed, or pitying him.
“Do you know how hard it was for me?” Spoke said.
“...” It was their turn to remain speechless.
“Do you know how hard it was for them? Do you?”
“...”
He scoffed,
“You don’t. Exactly.”
“...”
“I want to make up for the mistakes I’ve done last season, but–” he ran his hand through his hair, a pained expression written on his face, “You’re the only mistake I couldn’t fix.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not even your fault! Stop saying that!”
“...”
“It’s all because of me, and that- that stupid, stupid wormhole, I pushed too far, too far, and look what happened!”
“I know.”
“I’m-” He sobbed, he didn’t know when it started raining, or maybe it was his own tears, streaming down his face like pearls from a broken necklace, “I’m a terrible person. I’m a terrible, rotten person.”
“Are you?”
“I am.”
“I think you’re a nice person.” They said.
“Hah.” He sniffed. “No way.”
“You’re willing to change, and be a better person this season. You could’ve been the strongest, or the most powerful, and dominate the season as well.”
“...”
“But you choose not to. How many people have you killed?”
“Zero.”
“Exactly.” Planet smiled softly, “You’re a different person from last season.”
It’s almost over.
Planet ran, under the blanket of darkness, their singular heart beating in their chest. If they even tripped once, it would be over.
But there’s one minute left on the clock.
They breathed heavily, their heart threatening to explode right there and then the way it was beating so much.
Planet heard two voices; Mapicc’s, and Spoke’s.
Of course it was them. They groaned inwardly, feeling the toll of bells becoming louder and louder.
Mapicc spotted Planet, under the cover of the trees, and his eyes locked on them,
dashing towards them,
Planet’s eyes widened, in fear, but they couldn’t do anything,
with just a wooden sword to their name.
They turned around, but it was too late,
for they had already arrived at the doors of death,
Mapicc lifted their hand,
trident raised in the air,
raised to strike,
to kill–
Planet gasped,
and cried out, cried out in pain
blood soaking their hoodie, staining it,
with such a bright colour of red.
They stared at the trident, deep into their torso,
then back at their assailant,
who grinned, with joy, with satisfaction,
and malice,
sinking the weapon deeper into their skin.
They screamed,
tumbling to the ground,
watching as
the blood leaked out like water from a tap,
Their blood.
That was theirs.
Planet sobbed, feeling the darkness creeped into the corners of their eyes.
There was a distant sound of cheering and celebration.
Mapicc.
took out the trident from their body,
leaving them gasping for air, gasping in pain,
feeling their heart slowing down,
the fight in them disappearing.
planet felt someone kneeling beside them,
and their eyes looked up at
spoke.
they went in and out of consciousness,
finding it difficult to hear his words.
“w-”
“-ok, y-”
“-e honest, it’s-”
“-goodbye, planet.”
planet sighed, defeated.
spoke smiled, gleefully, maniacally,
and it was the last thing they saw,
before they closed their eyes,
and the world became dark.
The tears welled up in his eyes again.
“I miss you.” Spoke said. “I miss you so much, Planet.”
“Mhm.”
“You look so real.” He reached for their hand, their shoulder, their face, “You look so real.”
“Yeah.”
“...” His eyes lingered on them. “I miss you.” He repeated.
“This isn’t healthy, Spoke.”
“I know.” He stared at the floor.
“...”
Spoke stepped closer, wrapping his arms around them. They followed his actions, and hugged back.
“Why did you have to go?”
“I don’t know. I prefer living.”
“I didn’t want you to go. I don’t want you to go, Planet.” His voice hitched.
“Everything’s gonna be fine.”
“I don’t know how I’m gonna live with myself.”
“You will. You’ll figure it out.” The corner of their lips turn upwards, a faint smile. “You’re the strongest player I know.”
Spoke frowned.
“Where’s Planet?”
Some people shrugged, others looked around, realising they weren’t here.
He typed a command, teleporting Planet to himself.
Player 'PlanetLord' cannot be found.
Weird.
He typed the command again.
Player 'PlanetLord' cannot be found.
Player 'PlanetLord' cannot be found.
Player 'PlanetLord' cannot be found.
“What..?” He frowned again. “Is Planet gone?”
“Planet? Gone? No way.” Bacon mumbled. “They wouldn’t miss you jumping off into the void.”
“Geez. No need to be this harsh.”
He scowled.
“Okay but seriously, where are they?”
“It said they’re whitelisted but they’re not here.”
Player 'PlanetLord' cannot be found.
“This is a little concerning.” Someone muttered.
Spoke recalled the last time he saw them,
where they had disintegrated into nothing.
Player 'PlanetLord' cannot be found.
He had sensed something wrong with their code,
but he assumed it was just because they lost all their hearts.
His eyes widened,
realisation hitting him like a high speed bullet train.
Player 'PlanetLord' cannot be found.
“You can’t leave.” Spoke hugged, tighter. He didn’t care if Planet winced, they weren’t even real.
“You need to let go.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
He tried to say something, but his voice cracked, so he settled with burying himself inside their shoulder.
After a while,
Planet pushed him away by the shoulders, gently.
There were still tears, running down his face.
god this is so embarrassing, he thinks, i don’t even know why i’m crying.
“You’ve got to stop carrying so much guilt.” They murmured, placing a hand on his heart. Maybe it was true, his heart had been aching since last season, though he liked to think it’s because of the overuse of the Wormhole.
“But it’s my-”
“Please,” they said, with a tiny smile tugging at their lips, “Stop saying that.”
“...”
“If you keep saying that, it’ll never end.”
“..okay.”
“Listen to me.” Spoke raised his eyes up, making eye contact with Planet. “And I mean it.”
“I’m-” He nodded, taking in a deep breath, “I’m listening.”
“Don’t blame yourself anymore. It’s all in the past, and holding on to past mistakes won’t get you anywhere.” Their hand shifted, pointing towards him, “You, are a good person. I know it. You need to show the world how nice you are. How much you’ve changed.”
“...” He continued staring, hand searching for their other hand, holding on to it for support.
“And sitting here wallowing in your own self pity won’t do anything.”
“...”
“Spoke.”
“Yeah?”
“Let go.”
…
Spoke’s breath stilled. He gripped their hand tighter.
Planet looked at him, expectantly.
“Please.”
His lip trembled,
but he still mustered up to say,
“Could we..”
They tilted their head.
“Could we stargaze?”
Stargazing.
Planet loved stargazing. Last season, they had mentioned it a few times. Though Spoke had been.. too busy to do it himself.
“One last time?”
“Stargazing..?” Their expression softened, and they chuckled, a smile on their face. “Of course.”
“You’re the best.”
Both of them laid down on the grass, the soft, wet grass. It had been raining earlier, but the clouds disappeared by the time the sun started setting.
The moon had risen high up in the sky. With it came dozens of little stars, twinkling high above the sky. Like diamonds.
“I like the stars.” Planet said, “it feels like when they blink, it’s like they’re talking to me.”
“Do you understand them?”
“Well.. not really.” They answered sheepishly. “But I pretend I do, and I blink back.”
“Hahah.” Spoke giggled softly.
They turned, “Bro, are you laughing at me?”
“Uh, no.”
“I shouldn’t have shared that much. Now you think I’m stupid.”
“No! I think it’s- I think it’s cool! See,” he blinked up, towards the sky. “I’m talking to the stars too.”
“...” They narrowed their eyes. “Whatever.”
“What are they saying to me?”
“I think they’re saying you look stupid.”
“WHAT.” He yelled, and Planet couldn’t help but put a hand to their mouth, trying to cover their laughter.
“If they think I’m stupid, what about you?!”
They shrugged, earning a grumble from the other. “Geez.”
“Hey, look. I think that’s an Ursa Minor.” They raised their hand, finger pointing at something in the sky.
“What’s that?”
“Well, it looks like a ladle. Can you see it?”
“Uhh.. I think so?”
“It’s so cool.” They breathed, “And it’s so clear tonight, too.”
“Yeah.” He hummed. “Not many clouds.”
“Sadly there’s no shooting stars today. I haven’t got to see it yet, I’ve only seen it in shows.”
“They must be cool.”
“It is! It looks as if hundreds upon thousands of shining jewels are raining down. It’s really mesmerising.”
“You haven’t seen it before?”
“No.”
Planet deflated, exhaling the air out of their lungs, before they breathed in again, breathing in the cold night air. It was cooling.
“Aren’t you cold?” They asked him.
“I’m fine.”
“...” They shifted closer, arms wrapping around him.
“How many times have we done this already?”
They giggled. “I dunno.”
“...” Spoke turned to his side, staring at their face, one last time.
He’ll remember their puffy hair, the way it looked like clouds; he’ll remember their bandana, the way it matches with his own; he’ll remember their eyes, the eyes that made it feel like he was staring into the endless galaxy, filled with countless stars, just like tonight. It made their eyes sparkle, so twinkly, so dazzlingly.
“I won’t forget you.” He murmured, so softly you would have to strain to even hear his voice.
“Thanks.”
Planet's eyes flickered, and closed shut. Hee did the same, both of them drifting off into peaceful sleep.
By the time morning came, Spoke woke up alone.