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5:04 PM
The Astral Express finds itself parked back at Herta’s Space Station.
“Great work everyone,” Himeko says, looking at the trio before her.
It was a tiring mission back in Belobog. Trying to fish out something out of the mines was not an easy task. Let alone that this task was nothing but Sampo’s scam once more. Dan Heng suspected this otherwise but Stelle wanted to hope for some real treasure even if it was just some specks of gold or iron in the trash. Stelle furrows her eyebrows, sighing in defeat. “It’s great work but we got scammed, again.” Dan Heng seemed to react with a nod, but his emotions were unwavering. “We helped some people at least.”
“That’s true!” March 7th tugs on Stelle’s coat, “Come on, don’t you wanna rest now?”
The girl heaved a sigh. “Yeah, let’s go?”
The two walked back to March’s room, with the latter dragging their feet along the floors of the express. March unlocks the door to her room as the atmosphere of home envelopes them. Stelle decided it was good to immediately flop on the bed as fatigue slowly crept up their body. March rolled over to Stelle and poked their cheek. “Hey! No sleeping yet! You were gonna help me take pictures, remember?”
She opened her eyes ever so slightly to meet her friend. If Stelle were honest, she was really tired. She chased Sampo all across Belobog’s District - only to be stopped by Bronya and Seele once they were found climbing up buildings.
But that profound fatigue did not stop March from pulling up Stelle into her arms. Something that she didn’t expect herself to do.
Stelle blinks. “Ah,” the blanket started to crinkle. “I’m up, I’m up,” she said as she starts to yawn. Her friend furrows her eyebrows and yanked her out of her own bed.
“You’re up but you gotta act like you’re up!”
“You really are the most lively girl I’ve ever met.”
March felt her cheeks redden at that statement, looking away from her friend. “Let’s go already! I’m itching to take some shots!”
Her companion only chuckled at March’s delightment as she gets dragged along
6:10 PM
“Stand still…” March starts, re-adjusting the aperture of the camera. Stelle sits quietly on one of the station chairs, with a light shining down upon her. She wonders if March was taking pictures of her on purpose to keep to herself, but of course, Stelle wipes that thought away. She rests her chin on her hand, looking sideways as March directed her to. She was getting a little stiff and not to mention - her arm was aching since she’s been resting in the position for quite a while now.
Stelle sighs. “March…what’s taking so long?” She sees her companion trying to fix her tripod. “Do you need help?”
“No-” March immediately replies, then retorts. “Yeah. I kinda do.”
She stands up from the chair and walks towards the tripod. The ball head seemed to be spinning in its place.
“Ah, March? Did you forget to tighten this up after you took it apart?”
March looks at it and scrunches her face. “I don’t remember..”
Stelle begins to take it apart once more and realigns the screw, “I’ve been thinking,” she begins, “Why’d you take interest in photography?”
She looks up to see her friend close her eyes and hum. “Well… I take photos so I don’t forget things.”
“Oh?”
“I’ve already lost my memories once- and I don’t wanna lose it again, right? So I have these pictures to remind me if I ever do-” Stelle feels herself flinch. Maybe it was an insensitive question.
“And I don’t want to forget about you, either.”
They both share a moment of silence, not knowing what to say. It was becoming obvious how uncomfortable this atmosphere was getting, so Stelle decided to think of another topic.
“Uh.. you like flowers, right?”
Stelle’s question snapped March from her reverie. “Yeah! I do, why?” She spun around to face Stelle with a smile on her face.
“You’re asking me this with a miniature garden in my room, y’know?”
The girl thought to herself and remembered putting just a single pot on her desk. Another came soon after that one pot, then another, and another… that soon enough led to March’s desk and windows being filled to the brim with flowers and plants. Stelle was told several times to just get her own room to put her plants there, but she didn’t really leave and instead lived with March as a compromise.
“You never told me what your favorite flower was though,” Stelle added.
March put herself into reflection, then immediately came up with an answer. “I like cherry blossoms, roses…and especially lilies!”
Her friend smiles wide at the response and immediately pulls her to run elsewhere.
“Stelle-?! Where are we-” March stammers.
“Trust me.”
6:50 PM
There was no way that the view that March is currently looking at is real. From the floor to the edges creeping up the walls and ceiling, you could see that these plants were well taken care of. All that she was staring at was a colorful and organized mess.
“So, do you like it?”
March could only gasp in awe. “..You made a garden in space?”
Stelle could only chuckle softly at the comment. “Well, yeah. Don’t wanna really get into the specifics of how this happened. I got special permission from Herta and Asta-” March pressed her finger to Stelle’s lips before she could start rambling.
“Why?”
Her friend lifts the hand from her mouth, “Well, why not? I’d like to maintain this garden with you whenever we’re here.” She gestures towards a bench nearby, tugging March alongside her to sit.
They sat again together in the quiet. People passed by pointing and taking quick pictures of the place. March could feel herself fidgeting in place, removing and re-inserting the instant films in her camera.
“If we weren’t doing God knows what for the Astral Express,” Stelle says, slowly but surely. “Maybe I’d be a florist right now. It seems calmer than whatever we’re doing.”
March laughs. “Yeah, or a garbage collector. “ Stelle hits her shoulder lightly.
“Still-” Stelle feels the heat rise to her cheeks. “Why not do this with me? Of course, you don’t have to say yes and I’m not forcing you to..”
She knows maybe it isn’t the right time to ask, but what chance does she have to lose when all the answers are right in front of her?
“Stelle,” she starts, looking at her companion. “Did you mean this as friends?”
“..It could be more than that.”
Stelle suddenly saw the fire in March’s eyes, moving backward to make way for lips to meet hers. It was the softest thing she’s ever felt, but the softness starks in contrast to the wildness of their life, the chaos is soothed by the warm touch of another. They parted, eyes locking with each other. Stelle wraps her arms around March’s waist to nuzzle her neck as gently as possible.
“I’ve been meaning to say I love you for a while now,” Stelle says, gazing into the brightest aura of the universe. March replies quickly, bumping her forehead against her partner. “Yeah. I did too.”
Stelle reaches out to the side to pluck a flower, placing it gently between March’s hair and her ear. “A lily, huh?” she says, “Pink can mean rebirth, sometimes it can mean love.” Stelle kisses the reddened face of the other, intertwining their hands together.
“You know, I’d stay with you as long as you’d let me.”
“..You will?”
Stelle smiles. “Of course,”
March presses their foreheads together, smiling back.
“Starting now?” March says.
“Yeah, and starting now, I’d love for you to take pictures of our garden. It’s ours after all.”