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“Alright,” the Sokoke spoke, “Your turn”
Palette giggled as she looked into the dull grey pupils that somehow housed so much emotion. She looked up and sighed, thinking for a moment.
“Uh…” she started “Your laugh.” Palette smiled at Saoirse, even though she knew the younger cat couldn't see it. Saoirse turned her head and ran her fingers over the soft blue blanket the two were sitting on.
“You like my laugh?” she questioned in disbelief. Palette nodded and hummed in response. “Palette, I almost never laugh.”
“Which is why it’s such a treat when you do,” Palette said. Saoirse giggled in embarrassment at Palette’s genuine expression. Palette gestured towards her. “See? Proving my point already!”
Saoirse covered her face and laughed some more. “Stop!” Palette scrunched up her nose at the blind cat’s protests.
“Come on it’s true.” The ragdoll said softly. Saoirse uncovered her face and smiled. Although her eyes looked nowhere, her head was pointed towards the ground.
“Alright, we can stop now.” She was definitely flushed beneath the brown and white fur of her cheeks. Palette looked almost disappointed. She liked spending their time together, one telling the other what she liked about her back and forth.
Palette turned her body to be next to Saoirse rather than facing her and looked up at the clear night sky. It was much less cloudy than the night their acquaintanceship turned to friendship six moons ago. She sighed and leaned back on her paws.
“It’s rather nice out tonight.” She said. Saoirse ignored her.
“Palette?” Saoirse was still facing down and Palette did not turn her head.
“Hm?”
“Tell me what stars look like.” Saoirse’s voice was shaky as if she was about to cry. Palette looked down at her. Her knees were at her chest like they were the first light. But this time she wasn’t cold, she looked sad.
“Um,” Palette started. She didn’t know how to go about this without offending the young queen somehow. “Well when you look up into the sky, you can see tiny little bright dots. And if you put your fingers up to one it looks like you’re holding a poppy seed.” Saoirse nodded. She’s held a poppy seed before, and it was impossibly tiny. If she could feel it, she could imagine feeling it.
“So they’re small?” Saoirse asked, tilting her head towards Palette, who shook her head.
“No, they’re quite large.” She explained, scooting closer to the small Sokoke beside her. “They’re just so far away that they look that small.” Saoirse hummed and turned her head forward again. Her sightless gaze glossed over the lights of London. Were they like stars?
“Sounds… pretty.” She commented. Palette chuckled at her attempt to sympathize with a sense she didn’t have.
“Yes,” Palette muttered. “Beautiful, I would say.” She tilted her head upwards to look at the abundance of tiny lights hanging in the night sky. As the glimmered back at her she wondered if they were more than just masses of burning hydrogen billions of miles away. She sighed again.
“What do you think I look like, Saoirse?”
Saoirse was silent. She had never expected a questi0n like this. She thought for a long moment before responding.
“Like those stars, I suppose.” She said softly. Palette smiled and looked at the small queen.
“What do you mean by that?” She inquired, “Big? Shiny?”
“Beautiful.”
It hit Palette like a train. She hadn’t been expecting such a genuine, quick response. Saoirse had never seen anything in her life. She had nothing to compare Palette to, yet the only word she could use to describe the ragdoll was “beautiful”. It made Palette feel… she couldn’t even describe it. All she did was wrap her fluffy tail around them both, and look up at the array of distant, beautiful lights.