Chapter Text
(Enter Bonnie)
You look out around your campsite. It’s a bit late, you already served food to everyone. Isabeau and Odile are talking about supplies right now, Mirabelle is chiming in where necessary.
Though the silent talks of the adults still at the campsite aren’t that interesting to you right now. That’s because Siffrin isn’t here, talking to everyone. You see them a bit of a distance away sitting near a cliff looking up at the stars above you.
You try to think back to what you’d been told about Siffrin’s country. You know they care about stars and the universe. What you don’t know if you’ll intrude on something if you head over there.
You shrug, better sorry than never. The others notice you walking towards Siffrin, the only thing said is Odile telling you not to get close to the cliff or she’ll crabbing drag both you and Siffrin away. You don’t think she will, she’ll get Isabeau to do it. You give a thumbs up and a sure.
You sit next to Siffrin a comfortable distance away from the cliff. They haven’t noticed you yet, staring at the stars still. “Frin, what are you looking at?” Siffrin jumps a bit at being addressed before giving you a soft smile, you think a part of it is sad sometimes. They refuse to tell you why.
“I’m looking at the Stars,” they turn their gaze back to the sky. You frown, “Duh, I know that, I mean… why are you looking at the stars?” Siffrin holds their hand out a motion that blocks the stars from their view. “Do you see that star Bonbon?” They point to one that feels inconsequential. You nod at him.
“That’s what we call the north star, it helps us find our way when traveling. No compass needed.” You look at it, there’s nothing special, you're not even sure you're looking at the right star. “How?” “It’s in the name, it’s a star that points north.” That makes sense, Isabeau and Mirabelle had both been talking to you about how to navigate, like using a compass and a map. Really everyone tries to teach you something on your journey, both the small traveling lessons and the big ones like Odile teaching you math and craft stuff.
“So it’s a replacement compass, just in the sky,” you say. Siffrin gives a slight nod slash shake of their head. “Maybe, but you can only see it at night, what if you lose your way during the day.” You nod, it makes sense, but you’ve never heard of a north star before, oh you have something else to ask now.
“Why does your country like stars?” you ask and oh that seems like the wrong thing to say. Siffrin immediately looks sad, distant. You should say something, what do you say? A word barely forms before Siffrin speaks. “I don’t know, I think we just… cared about the universe, saw it for what it was,” He looks at you, “The Astronomers, they told us things, how the universe guided us, how we followed, how the wishes were guided to the sky. Stars, I wish I could show you an observatory.”
You look at Siffrin, his voice seems soft, it seems like he’ll talk more. “What’s an observatory,” you ask. “It’s a place to see the stars and planets, to get an up close look at everything beyond what our eyes can see.” You know Siffrin took the telescope the head housemaiden offered him, it’s kinda big, so it sticks out of his pack. You wonder how it’s different. The thing he explains is the scale of it all, you can see everything more clearly, more closely. He starts to talk about a specific observatory, one that he personally used. He begins to tell a story about being a troublemaker, like you. As he talks about stealing a lens, he stops quickly.
Siffrin opens his mouth and then closes it slowly. He… almost seems lost as they try to think more, harder about something they want to say. It smells sweet. Something has changed.
You ask Siffrin if they’re okay. Siffrin seems to look at you after thinking for another moment, and then there is an excitement in their voice you haven’t heard in a while. “I have an idea for a lesson, Bonbon!” You're taken aback a bit, you like just talking, and they just acted mysterious again. You don’t want more school, this was supposed to be a break.
“Don’t look at me like that Bonbon, this is a fun lesson, way better than the other stuff.” Something interesting, maybe teaching you something about craft. Oh that has to be it! Siffrin’s way stronger now, this could be fun. Siffrin though seems to contemplate for a moment before speaking again, “You have to promise me something first, Bonbon.” You nod, multiple times, secret quest for you and Frin time! “Promise that you’ll take everything at face value and trust me.” You don’t expect that for your promise, you don’t know why he’s looking at you like that.
You look Siffrin in the eyes, of course you trust him, he’s done so many things for you, he is family, the cool cousin. You nod again, “I promise.” This will be cool, right? you aren’t hyping yourself up over nothing.
Siffrin stands up and dusts themselves off. “I’ll be right back, wait here.” You watch Siffrin jog back to the camp. The others comment on something you can’t hear as Siffrin grabs the bulky telescope from their bag. Odile seems to nod about something as Siffrin jogs back to your spot. They set up the telescope quickly.
“Ta-da!” he says as he finishes. You ask him why he set it up.
“I’m going to teach you about our solar system, you can see things better from this.” They seem so giddy at the idea of teaching you. It makes you almost forget that you wanted to learn about craft.
You wait and hear Siffrin start to explain things. They explain the stars and the planets and how the sun fits into everything. You think it’s kind of crazy, that the sun and the stars are one in the same but Siffrin says it’s a matter of distance. You try not to detract too much, Siffrin’s country knows all about the stars, of course he’ll know more than an average Vaugardian. They talk about how planets can be made of different things and that you're all on a planet that orbits the sun. You asked for the name of one of the other planets, Siffrin stopped talking for a moment, you could smell something sweet again. It fades quickly again.
You don’t ask about any other planet names after you prod Siffrin to finish. The last thing they do on the star lesson is help you look into the telescope. They show you a planet high in the sky above you, it looks dark with a ring around it. You can see it even though it’s distant and small.
“Do you see it, Bonbon?” they ask you, there's a hopefulness in their voice, but their voice almost seems hoarse, they don’t usually talk this much. “Yeah, you said the sun was made of gas, is this made out of dirt like our planet?” “It’s also made of gas.” You let go of the telescope and turn to Siffrin, “What, why?” “Because the gravity of the planet traps them there,” Siffrin kicks some dirt, you see the dust rise, “It’s like a solid cloud, almost like dust. Or like the mist that stays above the ocean on a cloudy day.” You look at Siffrin, they have explanations for every one of their questions but they seem almost on autopilot sometimes. They haven’t even made a pun.
The moon is getting higher, you think the others will be disappointed if you stay up later. Both you and Siffrin need to rest, for different reasons but it’s fine. Siffrin yawns and you yawn too. “I think it’s a bit late, Bonbon.” He says. You tap Siffrin and then hug them tightly. You whisper when you're close, “You’re a way cooler teacher than Odile.” You see them smirk, “Maybe you’ll need to get a Pun-ishment next time.” You give out a dramatic “nooo” as Siffrin folds up the telescope.
“Come to me in the morning, I’ve got a project I need to plan.” Siffrin says with a wink, at least you’re pretty sure it’s a wink.
You both walk the short way back to the campsite, everyone’s already almost ready to go to sleep. Siffrin looks happy, actually happy. You wish they were happy more often after the king. You fall into the nighttime routine as you grab your stuff and head into the tent.
As you fall asleep you begin to think. You’re almost home, just a few more sleeps and you’ll smell the ocean and see your sister and decide where you’ll all go next. That night you dream not just of the ocean, but of the stars shining brightly above the coast.
It’s nice.