Chapter Text
Click, click, click.
A pen tapped against the table in a steady rhythm. Accompanying this fervent clicking was a barely audible hum.
Hmm.. hm hm hmmm….
The two blended together perfectly to create a simple but beautiful composition for a song. It was rough around the edges but filled with love. It was a sweet song with both highs and lows. It perfectly encapsulated the feelings of the writer.
Hmmm…
The pen was subsequently lifted and brought to the notebook next to it to write some hasty notes in barely legible handwriting. The conclusion of the song was brought by a ring at the door. An unforeseen ending, but it was one nonetheless.
“Coming!”
The girl at the desk stood up and did a half-hearted jog to the door. Incessant knocking echoed through the house. Once the girl finally opened the door she was greeted with the playful frown of her brother. The sun was just coming down and the sky was painted in hues of pink and orange.
“What took you so long to open the door, Lumine?”
Lumine scoffed. “What took you so long to get home? It’s just about 9. You missed dinner.” Aether’s face slightly flushed in embarrassment.
“Ahaha.. That’s my bad. I got preoccupied at the library after school getting ready for my exam in a couple days. Ended up losing my textbook and had to search around the school for a good hour before realizing that Xingqiu stole it from me as a prank when I wasn’t looking. Chongyun ended up giving it back to me in the end.” He held up his textbook like a badge of honor as he entered the house. “I also forgot my keys on the counter this morning, so it could have been a blessing in disguise that I was so late.”
The twins stared at each other and started softly laughing as Lumine closed the door behind her brother. “I don’t understand how you can be so unorganized like that. It would drive me insane. Also there are dinner leftovers so feel free to take some. I bet you’re starving.” Her twin huffed. “Like I said, it wasn’t my fault. But thanks I’ll go get some.”
This was Lumine’s cue to go back to her room. Her room was dimly lit; apart from her color changing LED lights hung on the wall, and her computer monitor, which filled the one edge of her room with an eerie white glow. She sat down on her chair once again until her brother opened the door. He held a container full of reheated food with a fork held firmly in his opposite hand. It was almost a comical sight; looking as if he was casually standing with a container of food at a rave.
Aether took a stray chair in the room and placed it next to Lumine’s, carefully balancing his dinner in a singular hand. “So what are you working on right now?”
Lumine switched tabs to an advert poster from one of the popular music districts in the city. “So... there is a new artist showcase in the city coming up in about a month and a half held by the strip mall downtown. It’s going to be a huge event in the city that’s going to be held now every so often. I decided-” She opened her notebook and shoved it in Aether’s face with a huge smile. “We’re going to perform an original song together.”
Aether almost spit out his food. After a second of struggling, he finally swallowed. “Woah, that's insane. Did you already write all of these song drafts?” A prideful chuckle could be heard from Lumine. “Why yes I did. Are you impressed my dear brother?”
Everyone knew that Aether and Lumine were musically inclined ever since their childhood. The two always wrote songs together and performed them in front of their parents. Even if the songs were nowhere near professional quality back in the day, you could tell the twins’ shared passion was music. So it came to no surprise to their mother when Lumine signed up for the event after school that very day.
“Alright Lumine, let me read the draft for a second.” He extended his free hand while using his other one to shove another forkful of food into his mouth. She passed the notebook to her brother and waited patiently as he read. While reading, Aether would occasionally hum and nod his head.
He passed the notebook back to his sister with a grin. “Sounds solid to me. However I would probably change the key here a bit to better flow into the chorus and maybe change that lyric? That rhyme is a bit of a stretch. Other than that, not bad.”
His sister hummed in thought and scribbled down some notes.
“By the way your writing is actually disgusting. You should be glad I can read it.”
“Shut up.”
Aether laughed as he stood up, empty bowl in hand. “I’m going to go down to put this container away, but once I’m done we can go over the song composition together.”
As Aether left the room, Lumine felt a surge of excitement flow into her body. She felt her stomach twist and erupt into a fluttery feeling. The feeling was so strong she practically felt as if she were going to throw up.
She breathed in and out slowly, closing her eyes in order to calm down. With a final huff she whipped herself back into shape and continued to wait for her brother.
The door creaked open once again. Aether had only opened the door to a small sliver. His eyes peered into the room. He saw Lumine hunched over her notebook, and switching back and forth between that to her monitor to test some notes. A small smile fell over his face. It was always nice to see his sister being so passionate about her music. Her passion was what kept him going. Despite his obvious affinity for music, Lumine’s was even greater. It was one of her greatest strengths and the foremost reason why Aether admired her dedication.
His hand forcefully shoved the door open with a loud bang against the wall.
“Knock knock, Lumine I’m coming iiiiiin!” Aether drawled out. He sat back in the stray chair and reclined, putting his arms behind his head. “Well let’s get to work.”
—
The twins worked tirelessly on the song for a few hours. The room was filled with laughter and the progress of music. It was rough around the edges, but considering the amount of time they had worked on the piece, that was a world record for them.
“And.. start.” Aether quietly told Lumine. She started singing at the start of the song. It took her a second to get fully immersed in it, but after a couple lines her voice was in top form. Shortly after, Aether joined in his own verse. The two decided it would be sung by both of them. Their voices complimented the other’s perfectly. It was also ideal since with two voices, there was a lot more flexibility to be creative with the composition and style of the song.
For these two, nothing was out of reach if they worked together.
This continued until there was a knock at Lumine’s door. “One second. Let me get it.”
Lumine opened the door only to see a small girl with a look of displeasure on her face. “Can you guys be quiet? It’s reallyyyy late and I’m tired but I can’t sleep because of you guys.” Paimon yawned, putting a hand over her mouth.
The twins stared at each other before wincing. Lumine crouched down to Paimon’s level and gave her a small hug. “I’m sorry Paimon. Aether and I will be more quiet next time, okay? You can go back to bed now. Goodnight, Paimon.” She pecked the child’s forehead as Aether said his own goodnights from across the room.
Paimon was the youngest sibling of the three, though she wasn’t biologically related to the two. Her eyes and hair being completely different from the twins and their parents; lacking the blonde and golden pigments the rest of the family shared. These colors were instead replaced with white hair and black tinted eyes.
Nonetheless, despite these differences, she was still a part of the family and adored to death. Her greatest weakness was that she had a bit of a temper and could be very hard to deal with on occasion. Overall, though, she was a splendid child. The three kids would often be caught messing around together and being hellspawns around the house.
The twins hoped one day Paimon would fall in love with music just like the two had as kids.
“Goodnight!” Paimon beamed at her siblings and walked back to her room with a tiny wave.
Aether and Lumine sighed and looked at the clock simultaneously.
It was slightly past midnight at this point. The two had worked for about three hours straight. Following in Paimon’s footsteps, Aether yawned. “Maybe Paimon has a point. We should go to bed.” He got up from his chair and walked past Lumine, who was still standing in her door frame.
“Not so fast, mister.” Lumine grabbed onto Aether’s shirt collar. He whined in protest.
“Want to go on the roof and look at the sky? It’s not often we have the opportunity to go up there because of our mom and all. But she isn't home right now!” She lightly punched Aether’s shoulder. “So what do ya say? You with me?”
Aether stared at his sister for a moment, then contemplated the decision before nodding. “Sure. The star’s might be pretty.”
A squeal practically wretched itself out of Lumine’s throat as she shoved Aether in the way of the latch that held the ladder, and entrance, to the roof. She mockingly bowed at her brother as he took hold of the latch to let the ladder down.
“Men first,” Lumine chuckled. A huff escaped Aether’s mouth as he climbed up the steps, much to his sister’s amusement. She followed shortly after he made it up. He held his hand out to help her get on top of the roof. She grabbed his hand and pulled herself up with a bit of his help. Lumine quickly thanked him as they sat down side by side.
The stars in the city were not as bright as the ones in the country were. Though their city was not as huge as many others, it still faced heavy light pollution. However, the sky was devoid of clouds. That was the best gift the two could have received either way. Even if the stars weren’t that bright, it was still an amazing experience nonetheless.
Silence reigned in the air aside from the chirps of insects and the hum of the lights outside. It was a still moment. It was a complete contrast to the previous chaos the two had incurred inside of Lumine’s room for the past few hours. It was a peaceful silence. Neither twin felt the need to break it’s comforting atmosphere.
And so they sat and watched the blinking of stars and satellites, wishing that they could see the full expanse of the solar system before their eyes.
—
Half an hour had passed since they had gotten on the roof. The clock was steadily approaching 1 am. Aether was on the brink of passing out, as his eyes opened and closed rapidly. He desperately tried staying awake but called it quits after Lumine noticed his grogginess. “You okay? Need to go to bed?” She patted his shoulder to get him out of his sleep deprived induced trance.
“O-oh! You startled me.” He fanned the air which turned into a yawn. “Yeah. I can barely stay awake.” Lumine chuckled. “I noticed! Well off to bed with you. Goodnight!” Her brother climbed over to the entrance back into the house.
“Are you coming?” The girl shook her head. “Nah I’m kind of in the perfect creative headspace right now. I’ll go back down soon though. Maybe ten more minutes.”
Aether sighed and shook his head. “Well.. if you get stuck up here call me I guess. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
Her brother left and she was left alone on the roof. She put her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs for warmth. Her golden eyes couldn’t help but stare at the dull stars. Sometimes she wondered how much more beautiful they would be if they were shown to their fullest extent. Her eyes closed. A starry sky very unlike her own captivated her mind.
Stars that shone brighter than any streetlamp could. Northern lights that wrapped the sky in various colors. It was only a dream. It was achievable, just not now. She had too much to do while she was still in highschool. She had to keep up with her grades and her friends. There was no way she could travel anywhere. She hoped that she could see the vast expanse of space in the country one day, even just for a minute.
Her eyes opened only to see a pair of streaks in the sky. A gasp left her as she scrambled to stand up. But as soon as she blinked, the streaks were gone.
“Did I imagine that?”
She quietly exhaled a small hum.
How strange.
Slowly, she put her legs back under her body to sit down on the cold tiles. She briefly thought about using this night as inspiration for her next song. The sky… the stars… the everlasting bond between brother and sister. That could possibly be a cool concept.
By the time she had imagined a set of lyrics for the song it was well past 1 in the morning. Lumine finally had the will to get down from the roof, though she longed to stay for a while longer. She spared one last glance to the sky.
“Goodnight, sky.”
The hatch to the roof closed with a click, and silence enveloped the roof again.