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It was a beautiful night, clear and warm with stars as far as the eye could see. The moon hung in the sky, silver and bright in a sparkled navy backdrop. Clarissa had thought it would be perfect for stargazing. She never had time to just look at the stars when the students were in, but now it was the summer break, and they had a blessed few weeks off before all the children returned for the absolute mess that was move-in day. She wanted to make the most of it.
Specifically, she wanted to make the most of it with her frosty, red-haired, nerdy lover. Leonora would appreciate explaining the stories behind the constellations to her. Or at the very least, being so interested in astronomy, it was certainly a romantic activity that shouldn’t have her heaving at the thought of cute flowers and pompous princes. It would just be them, on their own, in the dark of the grounds with the stars a welcoming blanket over their head.
So, Clarissa was waiting impatiently on the bridge when she heard the clack of Leonora’s cane and spun round to face her with excitement. Leonora looked bemused and a little wary of the enthusiasm on her girlfriend’s face.
“Come on,” Clarissa danced forward, taking Leonora’s hand and dragging her forward so she could loop her arm. “It’s such a beautiful night! We should go down to the lake. Do something romantic!”
“Does it involve a picnic?” Leonora asked. She hadn’t eaten in hours, having packed all of her work into the daytime so she could spend her evenings with Clarissa.
“No, so much better,” Clarissa sighed dreamily and led her away towards the slim outcrop of land where the grass of the grounds for Good merged into the sand and the fringes of the woods hid the light from the respective castles. Clarissa stepped forward, letting go of Leonora’s arm and flinging her own out towards the lake, the sky, and the never ending stars. “See?!”
Leonora looked out and had to fight back a smile at how thrilled Clarissa was. It was sweet. She could do a little bit of sweet before she started feeling ill, but only for Clarissa. And she could do a little bit of time before her stomach actually started trying to eat her from the inside out.
“Oh, wow,” she said deadpan, raising an eyebrow, “The lake. In the dark. How… interesting.”
Clarissa turned around to half-heartedly glare at her, before she reached back and dragged Leonora towards her, taking her hand and hugging up against her arm.
“No silly,” she breathed happily, “Look at all the stars! Isn’t it beautiful?!”
Lesso had to admit that it was an enchanting sight. It was no secret that she had always been a night owl and had seen more than her fair share of the midnight sky. But tonight, with the waves softly lapping against the sandy shore and the warmth of her lover on her side, felt different. Her appreciation for the nighttime flowed strong and deep within her, but it was something else entirely to see them through Clarissa’s eyes.
Clarissa waved a hand and a shower of glitter floated down to the floor, coalescing into a dark blanket that spread over the grass for them to sit on. She lifted the front of her golden skirt and sat down neatly, turning big, brown, excited eyes to Leonora towering above her. She held up a hand and waited, smiling so hard her cheeks hurt.
Leonora couldn’t say no to that smile and let Clarissa pull her to the ground beside her. The tall woman groaned as she stretched her legs out, sore from sitting in the same hunched position at her desk for hours. She leant back, propping herself up with her hands and rolling her head back, arched in a cat-like stretch. Clarisa settled neatly beside her and tilted her face up to the sky in wonder.
“Which constellations are we looking at?” Clarissa whispered, eyes tracing patterns in the swirls of light above them.
Leonora cocked her head and studied the stars above them. She did like stars, yes, but not that much at the moment. Her humanity was unfortunately asserting itself and she moved her hand to her stomach to settle the small twinges.
“Funnily enough,” she said drily, “I didn’t bring my star charts out. I was expecting dinner, not a lecture.”
Clarissa huffed and looked over at her, her heart skipping at the ethereal sight Leonora made, bathed in moonlight setting her skin aglow and her hair on fire. This stargazing trip was worth it for that alone, even if Leonora would always try and make something romantic feel like pulling teeth.
“Ok, well, tell me a story then,” Clarissa amended, nudging her lover in the waist. She walked her hand closer and hooked her little finger around Leonora’s.
Leonora sighed dramatically and began scanning the sky methodically. “Fine,” she drawled, and lifted her hand delicately to point up to a small cluster of stars. “Once upon a time, there lived a witch in the forest in a house that stood on chicken legs. Some people say she flew around on a broomstick, but I’ve heard she actually used an enchanted mortar and pestle. Many scholars since have tried to replicate that work but so far– I digress. Anyway, she was constantly hungry. She had this flock of black geese that flew around the forest looking for idiots who trespassed on her territory, and they’d fly them back to her. And then there was this giant oven–”
“You’re making this up,” Dovey interrupted, laughing and resting her head on Leonora’s shoulder.
“No, Storian’s truth,” Leonora insisted, “It’s a well known Evil tale. That constellation is the flock of geese. Do they not teach you anything over at that school of yours?”
“Leonora,” Clarissa sighed, shaking her head in amusement. “I like it when you tell me stories, even if you have very clearly just made them up.”
“It’s the truth, Dove, you should look it up,” Leonora said matter-of-factly. “The moral of the story is not to find yourself alone with hungry witches.”
As if on cue, Leonora’s stomach rumbled. Clarissa either didn’t notice over being caught up in admiration of the stars or was determined to pretend a little longer. Leonora didn’t know which, but as cute as her girlfriend was, nothing was cute enough to starve for.
“You promised me dinner,” Leonora reminded her, sitting up straighter. “Can we go eat now?”
“We’ve barely got here,” Clarissa wasn’t complaining because Good didn’t complain, but Leonora knew a complaint when she heard one. “Oh, look at those stars over there!”
She pointed. To humour her, Leonora looked up. They were just stars. One of them was actually a planet, but she didn’t feel like prolonging the conversation by pointing that out.
“I think those stars look like a crown,” Clarissa breathed happily, sitting up and resting her head on Leonora’s shoulder again, hugging her arm while the other traced the pattern in the sky that only she could see. “See?”
“Hmmm,” Leonora made a non-commital noise and looked at the ground wondering what grass tasted like. “Fascinating…”
“And those over there – look, Leonora!” Leonora looked, “They look just like a shoe! Maybe it’s the glass slipper from Cinderella’s tale. Wouldn’t that be so lovely?”
“So lovely,” Leonora mimicked in a high and falsely cheerful voice. She ignored Clarissa’s glare and scanned the sky. “Ooh, look at that one!”
She waited until Clarissa was eagerly looking, excited that Leonora was finally engaging in her game and then said, “It looks just like a plate. Oh, and over there! There’s something on it! Yes, a nice piece of chicken.”
Clarissa pulled away and crossed her arms, looking disgruntled.
“Leonora,” she sighed, “We were having such a lovely moment!”
“You were having a moment,” Leonora corrected slyly. “I was promised dinner and I’m here to collect. I will annoy you until then.”
“Alright,” Clarissa threw her hands up in defeat. Leonora turned back to her smugly. Clarissa held a hand up. “Just ten more minutes, then we can go. Please?”
Clarissa turned her biggest puppy dog pleading eyes on her.
“Fine,” Leonora huffed, “but I make no promises of being nice.”
“You never have, and I expect you never will,” Clarissa reassured her, taking her hand again and looking back up, “But can we at least try and enjoy this?”
Leonora grumbled but didn’t commit to saying yes or no. If she did, Clarissa would hold her to it.
“I think that one looks like a bird,” Clarissa said, pointing upwards. Leonora tilted her head back again to look up, as was expected of her.
“That one looks like a star,” She countered, equally as serious as her blonde counterpart. Clarissa took a deep breath in irritation and Leonora had to suppress a smile. She wondered how long until she made Clarissa snap…
Clarissa was determined to ignore her. “That one looks like a rose!”
Leonora hummed in agreement, letting Clarissa have her moment of happiness while she scanned the sky for another provocation.
“That one looks like a penis,” Lesso said, picking a slightly curved line out of stars with the tip of her silver fingernail.
Beside her, Clarissa huffed and snapped, “How would you know, you’ve never even seen one.”
Lesso looked down from the lascivious constellation.
“Are you sure?” She whispered, turning to her partner with a serious face and leaning forward so the lips were a hair’s breadth away, “Because you’re being a dick right now.”
Clarissa stood up quickly, hands on her hips and colour rising on her cheeks.
“Seriously Leonora?” She hissed, “Just for that, we are going all the way up to the tower to look at the moon. Get up and get walking. I try to do something nice…” she descended into irritated mumbling.
Leonora used her cane to push herself up with an over dramatic sigh.
“Well, sleeping with you is getting me nowhere,” she pouted, “Except hungry.”
“Really, because last night I recall your eating voraciously,” Clarissa shot back, hands waving into the space between them. “And you didn’t complain so much then.”
“If you try and make me walk all the way up to that tower,” Leonora gestured with her cane. “I will sleep in my own room for the rest of the school holidays.”
“How is that punishing me?” Clarissa asked haughtily, crossing her arms. “I’d get a whole night’s sleep for once.”
Leonora raised a finely sculpted eyebrow and smirked, “You weren't complaining about lack of sleep last night or any other night for that matter… I believe the word you used was more. And some others I won’t repeat in polite company. Are you sure it’s not a punishment?”
“It would only punish you,” Clarissa insisted, tilting her chin up defiantly.
Leonora licked her lips, stepping closer to her partner and leaning in. She took vindictive pleasure in Clarissa’s mouth opening slightly as she approached, her eyes already trying not to flutter closed. Then she stopped and whispered, "Then it's settled.”
Suddenly, she turned on her heel and walked briskly in the other direction. "See you tomorrow," she called loudly over her shoulder.
“Stop flirting and shut up!” A third voice echoed through the night. The two deans turned toward the school and saw the small form of Emma Anemone leaning over the railing of her balcony, her silky pajamas trailing behind her in the wind. “I’m trying to sleep!”
“Did you hear something Dove?” Lesso shouted even louder as Clarissa walked briskly to catch up with her. “No? Me neither.”
“Only you being a pain,” Dovey grumbled, crossing her arms as she walked. “But I’m used to hearing that. I tune it out.”
“Dick,” Lesso muttered under her breath.
“I heard that. ”
“Good. Feed me.”
“Fine,” Dovey sighed. She stopped and began hiking up her yellow skirts to reveal her smooth thighs. The wind was picking up around them, and she shivered. “Can we at least get to the tree line so we have some modicum of privacy?”
Leonora wasn’t sure where to start responding to that display. She was caught between taunting
Clarissa for saying come, continuing her walk to the castle so she could put sustenance in her body before the collapsed, or taking her lover up on her offer. Options racing through her mind, she just stood still, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. Emma’s shrill voice once again interrupted her long train of thought.
“ Real food, Dovey! Real food!”
“Mind your own business, Emma!” Clarissa yelled back.
“Okay, that’s dessert, princess, and you know it,” Lesso continued, trying to save face from her moment of indecision as if the two of them were still having a private conversation. Dovey stopped and closed her eyes tightly. Lesso briefly wondered if she was going to implode, Clarissa’s body was enveloped in a warm, golden glow. Suddenly, the ground in front of them began to shift, and a plant sprung up, climbing and climbing until it thickened and became a tree. As Lesso watched, flowers bloomed on its branches, then morphed into small green spheres which grew and reddened into apples.
Dovey opened her eyes. "Happy now?"
Lesso paused. It was an impressive display. She knew her partner had a knack for gardening, but a fruiting tree was another matter of magic altogether. "I don't eat apples,” she said absentmindedly, studying the impressively gnarled old branches in front of her. She lifted a hand and flicked at one of the low hanging fruit, watching it swing back towards her face without flinching.
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah, they could be poisoned. I thought you’d know that. It’s like you never went to school at all.”
“You better start running, Red,” Emma called from her balcony.
Leonora ignored her, as was typical, and put a hand in her coat pocket, rooting around for something. Eventually, she pulled out a hardboiled egg.
“What in h-” Dovey started, but Lesso spoke as if she hadn’t heard her.
"Huh. I guess I had a snack all along."
She took a bite, shell and all, in front of her partner and wondered if Clarissa had a preferred method of murder. Would she hide the redheaded body on the Good grounds, or would she try and frame Evil for a coup? Clarissa was right. She was having fun. As she chewed on her find, she asked, mouth full, “So, what were you saying about the stars, Dove?”
Clarissa had already made quite a bit of progress away from her infuriating partner, considering her much shorter gait. With her back turned, she called, “It turns out they can tell you the future. I'm leaving you.”
“Okay,” Leonora waved at her retreating form, “see you in the morning! I’ll bring breakfast.”
“And bring her a new girlfriend,” Emma shouted above them. “Someone quieter!”
“So, you’re not offering, then?” Lesso responded, turning to Emma’s window rather than pretending to ignore her. Though she was far away, she saw Emma shrug.
Clarissa screamed in frustration, “Emma! That was one. Time.”
Leonora looked at her curiously. “She didn’t say anything, Dove. But… interesting. You didn’t invite me? I’m insulted.” She tilted her head up towards Emma and called,
“So you know she isn’t quiet either, then?”
“Leonora,” Emma addressed the red head, practically falling over the parapet of her balcony, “I will offer you a standing invitation for the future if it will shut you up long enough for me to get some sleep.” Another light turned on across the way.
“I volunteer!” A fourth voice called across the night. The three women looked over simultaneously and shouted, “Shut up, Manley!” Leonora’s voice rang out a little longer as she may have included some choice expletives. A deep voice groaned from behind them. They were surrounded.
“Please tell me the three of you don’t engage in these… conversations when the students are here,” Yuba groaned from his tree. Lights began flickering on all around them, and the towers from both Good and Evil light up the night.
Another professor from the School for Evil threw open a window and called out, “Does this mean we can all stop pretending that we don’t know you two have been fucking all along?”
A Good professor answered, “Some of us weren’t pretending.”
Clarissa swung around to face Leonora, cheeks aflame and skirts whirling around her legs with the momentum. She balled her hands up into fists. “This is all your fault,” she hissed. Leonora melted at the sight of her girlfriend’s fighting stance. It was terrible.
“No,” she said lovingly, “it’s yours for dragging us out to stargaze before dinner.”
Clarissa ignored her and shouted to the sky, “Esteemed colleagues, we are not f– we are not doing that.”
Leonora surprised her by adding, “Listen to the princess! We’re not!”
“Thank you for backing me up,” the Good dean started but was interrupted as her counterpart continued,
“Because she hasn’t gotten me dinner!” Her voice dropped as she addressed Dovey alone, “But later-”
Clarissa stalked over and grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Leonora,” she said forcefully as if she were disciplining a student, “You like stars. I thought you would be pleased by my attempt at a romantic evening. But thank you for staying true to your nature and ruining it. You infernal scorpion.” Lesso rolled her eyes but relented. She was, in fact, grateful for the effort. She looked forward to her evenings with Clarissa more than anything. Clarissa’s initiative meant everything to her, even if her instinct was to sting her rather than show the princess her appreciation.
“I do like stars, little Dove,” she said tenderly, placing her hand on Clarissa’s warm cheek. “Let’s eat. And then we can come back with my star charts and name the constellations you found. Or you can draw your own.” Clarissa blushed.
“Fine. I made pasta.”
Lesso put her other hand to Dovey’s face, bending down to look deeply into her tired brown eyes.
“For that,” she promised in a low voice, “I guarantee I will make you see stars tonight.”