Aster
If I wait for you
Will you wait for me too?
Will you wait for me too?
Aster's hand and arm slipped over Farrow's shoulder as she leaned in for the embrace. Her cheek brushed past the reddening glow of his own, their warmths entangling in each other.
In that moment Aster fell into a memory of bodies pressed against his, his sisters, his brothers, his mother and father. All in the comfortable warm heap that used to be his bed, a pile of Attuned bodies slumped together on the Celestine forest's floor. His ritual for falling asleep. His portal into deep, deep rest, that followed the falling of the sun and preceding its rising the next morning.
The kettle, the bitterness from before, and even the new taste of peppermint all faded into a pale shadow. The warmth and newfound smell of Farrow's soft hair against his jawline began to drag him down into a deep and familiar rest, yet tinged with newness and uncertainty.
Tears began to well up into Aster's eyes, little iridescent pools of nostalgia, but as quickly as she leaned in, she quickly retreated.
He almost pulled her back in, his strong arms no longer the briefly beating wings of a hummingbird.
As she placed her hand on his chest, her words all blurred into the background like the distant warbles of benign songbirds. With this gesture she reached for his chest. Her hand became a torch that melted its way through his chest cavity. He hadn't felt a pressure against his sternum like this for what seemed like moons now.
The only sounds he made were unsteady breaths as more tears welled into his eyes.
She then turned to face the fire, placing her shoulders against the frame of his own, and his whole being, from his shoulder blades down to the gaps between his toes, wanted to collapse into her.
>"You're a good friend, Aster."
He could no longer sustain his composure. As the fire crackled, Aster's eyelids fluttered shut as he floated his head downwards, orchestrating his whole body to reside flat against the floor. His head fitted snugly against her thighs. The rest he had been seeking, sucked him into a dark and tempting rest.
I could wait a life time.
