Work Text:
Drip. Drip. Drip.
“Sammy,” a distant, somewhat amused voice, called out. “Come check this out.”
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Drip. Dri-
“Firefly?”
Weakly, a girl with silver hair and bright eyes looked up and into the mirror. Behind her stood another girl, taller and calmer. Golden eyes observed her carefully. Firefly blinked and looked down at her hands, which were damp and limp on the bathroom counter. Disinterestedly, she tightly turned the handle on the water handle.
Firefly turned around, smiling weakly. “Hey, sorry. Lost track of time.”
Stelle looked unimpressed, leaning against the doorway. Her arms were crossed, her jaw was clenched, and she was still staring at her. “You’ve been in here for over an hour.” She said neutrally.
“Yeah,” Firefly nodded slightly, not disagreeing. She started to walk out, but Stelle’s imposing body refused to move. Her head hurt, she felt like crying again, and she wished she were anyone else other than herself.
“Firefly,” Stelle said, almost sharply. She sounded concerned, but her lips were pursed and her eyebrows were furrowed. She looked rather angry. Angry at Firefly, angry at herself, or angry at the world, no one will know. “What were you doing in here?”
Eyes widening, Firefly took a step back from her lover. She was sure she was shaking due from the ELS, yet she hadn’t the strength to check. A look of knowing passed through Stelle’s eyes, because in a flash, she was yanking Firefly’s arm, and lifted her sleeve up. In place of where veins should have been, where they normally are, cracked green and orange and pink trailed through her skin.
Stelle inhaled sharply, her grip on Firefly’s arm never loosening. “When were you going to let me know?”
Firefly tried to scoff, she tried to pull back, but in this form that she loved so much-- she was the weaker one, out of the two, and there was little she could do. “You’re leaving tomorrow,” she started to say. “I wanted to be with you for as long as I can be.”
Stelle was staring at her like she didn’t even know her. That thought was like a dagger of hurt; it was a face she was going to have to get used to, soon. The taller girl’s eyes danced between Firefly’s eyes, she was staring so intently that it was as if Stelle was gazing deep into her soul. “My last night with you, as I am now,” Stelle said lowly, “was meant for us to be together. Not you camping in the bathroom as you slowly kill yourself.”
That brought out a hiss is anger. “I’m not. Has it ever occurred to you that you leaving is hard for me, just as it is for you?”
“This is my script, honey,” Stelle said with a mix of annoyed sarcasm and exasperation in her voice. “It’s not like it’s the end of us.”
“You believe in that so confidently,” Firefly shot back, hurt. “But we both know it might not pan out like that. I have no idea if I’ll ever see you again. Not to mention you’ll have to-- to-- relearn me.”
“Listen to me, Sammy, and listen to me closely,” Stelle warned. She took a step into the bathroom, looming over Firefly’s small frame, and took her other hand. “I will find you. It might take days, or it might take years, but I will be coming for you.”
“But--you--,” Firefly interrupted, fresh tears rolling down her face.
Stelle’s face was stony. Her eyes were flashing with emotion; she looked deadly, she looked serious. Firefly’s poor heart raced frantically. It was the same kind of look she’d seen Stelle have in the field with Kafka. It was the same look she had when Firefly would lie to her about her health, claiming she was fine when she really wasn’t. Firefly wondered what Stelle saw on her face. Was it devastation, was it outrage? Whatever it was, it made Stelle stand up straighter, and the grip on her wrists tightened, as if Firefly was the only person anchoring her to this room.
“I will find you, my dear Firefly, and when I do, the love I have always felt for you will be a stranger to me, but it will be there, ready for me to discover. And trust me, I will. I will learn who you are again and again and again for my entire life, if I have to. There is no one,” Stelle rasped, her eyes wide, their faces close together, “Who can take me away from you for good.”
With a choked sob, Firefly leaned in for a kiss. Stelle pulled her in like an ocean, and before she knew it, Firefly was drowning on her. How long will it be before they can touch each other like this? Their relationship had been a ticking time bomb from the moment they first met each other. They both knew this day would come. Firefly had thought she made peace with it, but evidently enough, she hadn’t.
When they parted, it was with breathlessness, and when Firefly opened her eyes, she saw that Stelle was crying, too. More than that-- she realized that Stelle had been watching her the entire kiss. Breaking her hands free, Firefly wiped a tear away from her beloved’s face. “It’ll be okay,” she said, trying to convince the both of them. “I’ll make it okay.”
Stelle shot her a grin, but the tears glimmering on her cheeks distracted Firefly. “I know you will. My faith in you, in me, in us, is strong. Plus, do you really think Kafka and Elio will let us down?”
She could only shake her head. With a deep breath, Firefly said, “You’re right.”
“Aren’t I usually, my dear?” Stelle replied, only a little bit smug.
The smile Firefly smiled was a small thing, but it was real, and that’s all that mattered. Elio had a plan for them, a script, one they must complete. Whatever lays in their future is bound to them, and they will march forth with confidence and skill.
After Stelle leaves, it will be up to Firefly to hold back, to not chase, to attract. And there will be a moment when she will be able to sink her teeth and fingers into Stelle again, but for now, all she can do is wait.
And like the apex predator she was, Firefly will wait until every star in the known universe dies until she can get back to the only person she’s ever loved.
Until then.