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“Hey, Mari?”
The wanderer tilted his head towards the source of the voice, the sight of those soft blue eyes coming into view soon after as they locked with his own tired ones. Those bright, ever-shining pupils that gazed back at his tired ones with a lingering positivity, paired with the loose strands of hair framing a small portion of the side of their face couldn’t help but make Amari feel that the magician seemed more like a world-renowned model than an unrecognizable performer.
He let out a low, curious hum in response, turning back to face the dense forest outside their little shack when Emery joined him in sitting on the steps leading out to the misty garden. They placed one hand next to where Amari’s was and the other on the other side of their body, leaning back and directing their gaze towards the sky. The small drizzle served as a quiet ambience for a brief moment before Emery began to speak.
“If you think about it, isn’t this place a little similar to home? Sure, there’s a strange white mist constantly lingering around and strangers trying to murder us outside of these periods of rest, but… The stars here, they don’t look too different from the ones back home, do they?” They paused for a short moment before continuing. “Well, the usual constellations aren’t here, and there’s a possibility that those aren’t even real stars, but at least they look like stars, right?”
Amari turned his gaze upwards in response, squinting his eyes as he tried to understand what Emery had meant by their words. Despite the small wisps of clouds that poured out sprinkles of rain down into their misty environment, the sky was still mostly visible, with streams of astral speckles sprayed across the night sky. His eyebrows furrowed after a bit of silence, unsure of why Emery had such a… fascination with the celestial beings that lay so far away from them. Personally, Amari never really got the appeal of astronomy, not understanding why people would be so fixated on something they couldn’t even wander to if they wished. He’d much rather just stay on solid earth and take in the sights there, mind them. He closed his eyes shortly after pondering about Emery’s question, sighing quietly.
“I don’t get what you mean…” Amari trailed off as he turned his head towards Emery’s direction and reopened his eyes, only to realise just how small a distance separated them. Their proximity so close, that their clothes would brush against each other should one of them even lean slightly towards the other. He decided to turn his gaze back to the sky and towards the left, his eyes scrunching up a little as he tried to suppress the flush that was trying to make its way up his face. Luckily for him, the other boy didn’t seem to have noticed his slightly less-than-normal behaviour, instead turning to face him with a bright smile.
“Well, that’d only be fair, considering your disinterest in astrological wonders. I am kind of disheartened that they didn’t at least make out the more well-known constellations though… I mean, it’s the night sky! How could they not even get the stars right?” Emery briefly stopped talking once more before turning their gaze back upwards, absentmindedly staring at the evernight sky. “Guess I’ll just have to start getting used to not being able to gaze at Scorpio.” They let out a little sigh at the end of their speech, bringing the hand further from the other boy up to prop their cheek.
“There you go again, talking about Scorpio or whatever. Don’t you get tired of constantly talking about your… compatibility with them or something? I don’t believe in that astrology stuff anyways.” Amari let out a sigh as well, leaning forward whilst propping his head up with his hand on his chin and elbow on his knees as he glanced back at the younger boy. He was still awfully aware of how close they were sat together, though he wanted to at least try saving his pride by playing it cool and not flipping out. He noticed a little too late after he spoke those words that it sounded like he was implying that he was jealous though, yet he would never admit that to himself so he just shoved the thought into the back of his mind and pretended he hadn’t said anything.
It was working, until Emery decided to speak again.
“Why, because you’re not a Scorpio yourself? Rest assured, I still think fondly of you regardless, my dear Mari!”
Those words were enough to tip Amari over the edge, surprised and taken aback as his facade fell and the suppressed blush from before completely overtook over his features. He immediately resorted to retreating back to staring in the opposite direction, cursing at the fact that he had no way to hide his red-tipped ears. How did Emery manage to say the exact thought he’d accidentally let slip out of his mouth?! And why did they call him ‘dear’?! After a moment of silence, he let out a scoff, trying to cover his flustered state under a mask of indifference.
“Nah, I don’t really care whether I’m a Scorpio or not. And uh, th-thanks, for thinking that way towards me… I guess.” He groaned inwardly to himself for the stutter in his words. What did he mean by ‘that way’ anyways...? What was he even trying to say at this point?! It’s not like he was some high school girl pining for her crush, so why was he acting this way?
That was so… uncool, of him. Yet, a laughter bright as the sun still rang out beside him.
“It’s only right that I would be fond of you, so don’t feel embarrassed! You really are a good person even if you constantly deny it, you know?” Emery then leaned towards Amari’s direction, causing him to jolt and be forced to stare back at them and their adorably sweet smile. Not that he minded doing so.
Ignoring the fact that their shoulders were pressed against each other and that their hands were practically a hair’s length from doing so too, Amari sighed before returning Emery’s smile. “You can save me the flattery, Em,” He raised the hand further Emery’s to their head, gently ruffling their already-messy hair with a soft smile. “Even if you’re right, I’m not the only great person here, yeah?”
Now it was Emery’s turn to be shocked, eyes widening slightly before an endearing expression washed over their face. The small crinkles around his eyes when he smiled only made him look more gorgeous, like a prince who came out of a fairytale. And maybe Amari was imagining things, but he could have sworn a light red dusted their cheeks at that moment alongside a glint of adoration in their gaze.
“Awh, Mari! You didn’t have to!” Their smile widened into a grin, and their eyes remained closed for a few moments before Emery opened them and their gazes met again.
“The freckles on your face… They sort of remind me of stars.” Those words seemed to subconsciously slip out Emery’s mouth, the boy looking as though they hadn’t noticed what they had really said until they glanced at Amari’s expression.
“I…! Wait, I didn’t mean to let that slip out, sorry if that was weird! Haha…” They quickly added on, quickly looking away in embarrassment. Amari snapped back from his short daze and gently moved his hand to the other boy’s chin, tilting it back in his direction.
“Hey, I know you don’t mean it in a bad way… Quite the opposite, really. And uh, thanks, I guess. I’ve never really thought about them like that.” He wanted to let go of Emery’s chin then, only for them to reach out to prevent him from doing so. Though, that contact was short-lived, with Emery quickly pulling away again right after. Both boys then turned away from each other yet again, a silent flush overtaking their features.
“Ah, sorry. Your hand just feels… warm against my skin, so I acted reflexively… I think? Anyways, thanks for the reassurance.” Emery flashed him a small grin as both of them turned towards each other once more, reinitiating eye contact.
Amari’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, moving opposite from Emery to rest on their cheek, eliciting a small jolt of surprise from the magician. He quietly closed his eyes, keeping his touch on Emery light.
“You’re right… Your skin is unusually cold.” He muttered under his breath, moving his head up and opening his eyes. It was only then he realised Emery’s wide-eyed, wholly flushed expression. Their mouth slightly agape, and if he looked closely enough, he could see their body shivering. Amari, knowing fully well how embarrassing this was for them, decided to pull away his hand.
“Sorry, I-” Yet before he could finish speaking or moving his hand away, Emery’s own hand moved and gripped Amari’s in place.
“No. I… I like this warmth. So, if you don’t mind…” They spoke in a voice softer than usual, additionally tilting their head up and smiling softly at Amari, causing the latter’s heart to skip a beat.
“I’d like to stay like this for a while longer.”
Amari felt something bump against the hand he’d been leaning his weight against, noticing Emery’s hand nudging his. His lips curled upwards at the sight, brushing his thumb against the magician’s cheek before retracting the hand he had been resting on their cheek, instead grazing his other hand against theirs back as a sign of consent.
The two boys then gazed at the stars together in a peaceful serenity, with their bodies next to each other and fingers intertwined.