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He had never thought one’s heart could beat so fast.
His eyes scanned over the wooden shelves for the binded leaflets, rows of them well-hidden in the warmly lit library. Astro found the place mystical, magical. The dust motes moving under the spillage of sunlight from the glass windows, and the quiet, humble nature of the book room, it never coaxed for attention. Here, he and his closest friends, a certain nerdy shade lamp and a sensitive theatrical tragedy mask, settled into comfortable solitude, contently seated on bean bags as they allowed the words on the pages to take them to extraordinary worlds. Entirely new dimensions that they can come out of and laugh about when they swim back to the surface of reality for a breath of fresh air.
He only ever shared this safe haven with a few other people, and it seems the sandy ammonite archeologist has wiggled herself into his sacred place.
Along with his guarded heart.
His face fumed, the star on his right eye boasting its glow brighter than normal. Together Astro and Shelly sat on a single green bean bag, in between the space of two towering wooden bookshelves, dusted and tarnished with the oil (by a certain blue tissue maid), cradling selections of archeology and dinosaur history fact books. Beside him, the talkative shell blubbered on about her latest obsession—the brachiosaurus.
Astro attempted to focus on his fossil friend’s words—something about the brachiosaurus that slowly melded into the nature of herbivores—but his eyes darted to the sparkle of her earthy irises, deep like the Earth, golden in the Sun.
(Oh, her eyes…)
The feeling of warmth and love. It almost shattered him. Of course, this didn’t happen everyday, the overwhelming sense of adoration for her. Shelly was his best friend—had recently managed to crack his shell and become one of his favorite toons—and had become a familiar figure, safe and reliable as marble stone. On most days, it was usually a peculiar—but not unwelcome—sense of safety that filled his chest, like a warm cup of coffee. Her voice, smooth and comforting, sounded as a lullaby in his ears; he could probably fall asleep to it (on her lap, preferably, as she continued to talk, and he would drink up every word she said in his dreams). The sing-song in her voice, the gentleness, the bounce in her step, they all made her uniquely her, and she was familiar, home.
Recently, however, he had been too eager. It almost scared him. At the sound of her voice, his heart would leap up to his throat, and he’d get so excited he would get itchy. His blanket made him sweat so much these days (Or is it the way she laughed, and the way his body would sweat and freeze and stare at the pretty girl? Or how she would get confused and get a little too close to his face, asking if he was okay?) Every small touch made him shiver in delight, and the nervousness of being around her made him want to throw up. The difficulty of hiding the glow on his right eye was also increasing, the potency of all his emotions melding together to fuel the shine of his star.
Shelly liked the glow, however, so that wasn’t something he particularly minded.
(He liked the attention.)
…
(He couldn’t remember when he started desiring her eyes on him.)
In his trance, he didn’t realize he had closed his eyes, grappling at his blanket. His sweaty hands dampened where he was holding them. The sound of Shelly’s voice started to fade out, and Astro’s eyelids immediately lifted.
Shelly’s hazel, beady eyes were observing him curiously, scanning his face as her gaze flitted down to his chest. (Probably the steel grip he had on the cloth, he decided. He loosened his fists.) Her lips were slightly parted, and she seemed to be waiting for a response. At this, Astro smiled tenderly.
The petite ammonite immediately lit up with sunshine, her eyes squinting from how wide she was smiling. “Hi,” she said happily.
“Hi,” he said back, the butterflies in his stomach traveling to his chest and up to his head, making him dizzy. His face sparkled in a flush.
“You zoned out,” she stated, a little amused, a little endeared, but also a question. “Are you tired, Astro?”
He hummed. “No, no, not really.”
She lightly scrunched her face up in thought. (Cute little habit of hers; she’d curl her lip up and squint her eyes a little whenever she was thinking, sometimes even placing her chin to rest on her pointer finger and thumb.) Her eyes lit up like a lightbulb at an idea. “Are you bored? I’ve been talking about the science of animal diets for a while now…”
Before he could object, her mouth began to move frantically. “I’m so, so, SOOOOO sorry, Astro! I didn’t know you were getting bored. Me and my big mouth, you know? Oh, I’m so sorry, is there anything you’d like to say?”
The little ammonite looked up at him, her wide (and droopily sad) eyes begging for an answer as her irises darted around his face. His sleepy eyes softened. “It’s okay, Shelly. I love hearing you talk,” he said softly. He didn’t feel the need to add more because it was true. Shelly could drawl a single word far into eternity, and he would listen in full attention.
It took a moment before the sandy shell could believe him, but when she finally did, she jumped up in joy. Jumping up from the bean bag they shared (leaving a cold spot on Astro’s arm; he hadn’t even realized they had been that close), she bent down to hug him, smushing both their faces together in her happy bounce. “You’re so sweet, Astro! I love you so much!”
That didn’t surprise him. Shelly was a sweet girl, affectionate and loving. No wonder she declared such a significant proclamation of love to thank him for such a miniscule act. He smiled fondly. “I love you, too, Shelly.”
A soft warm kiss on his forehead. The contact made his face flush a bright purple, and he looked up, eyes wide and confused and awestruck. Shelly’s face was inches away from his own, her arms still wrapped around his neck, the gold in her irises almost gone from the dilation of her pupils. An orange blush streaked across her cheeks down to her neck. Shelly didn’t seem to have fully processed her actions yet, judging by the daze in her eyes.
A spark fuzed in her expression all of a sudden, a small gasp escaping from her lips as she took a step back. Her mouth moved; no words came out. Her hands were still on his shoulders, gripping onto the soft fabric of his blanket.
She mustered a few shaky words. “Astro, I–”
Without thinking, Astro stood up from the bag, closing the gap between them. No reaction came from the little shell at first; she stood, unmoving, their lips resting on top of each other, a warmth melding into one breath. Soon, she smoothed her hands gently on Astro’s arms. A tilt of her head, deepening the kiss. Small arms encircling around shaky shoulders, balancing on the tip of her toes. She gently pushed herself into the kiss. Shelly’s lip started to move, catching Astro’s bottom lip; a gentle nip.
Astro shivered, knees buckling under the tenderness of the kiss (he had been crouching to reach her height; leaning on the kiss to keep his balance). He sat on the bag, the beads making way for his weight, Shelly resting her weight on Astro’s lips. His two hands holding the small of her waist. Her small, gentle hands cradled his face, his star sputtering and flickering in powerful bursts of light. Shelly caressed her thumb on the star, and the light settled for a bright, steady glow.
Simultaneously, they separated. Astro’s face: hot and numb. The beating in his heart hurt against his ribcage, the furious purple flush burning hotly all over his face. Shelly fared better, although a warm orange blush lit up her expression. Her eyes were wide and sparkled and dilated in a happy warmth.
Astro stared at Shelly’s wide eyes before ducking for cover in the blue fabric of his blanket (How come it suddenly smelled like her?). Worsening the heat in his cheeks, Shelly giggled at his retreat. “Astro, you’re so cute!”
Astro whined from under the cloth. “Shelly…”
“Oh, since we kissed, does that make us a couple? Surely it does! Right, right?”
A couple? A promise of love and commitment with his best friend? The toon he understood the most, and she who understood him in turn?
He peeked out from his blanket, the same earthy hazel eyes staring down at him in probing questionnaire.
Is it okay, Astro?
…
He smiled. “Right, Shelly.”
She jumped up in the air, pumping her signature celebratory fist up high. “Yippie!” Two small arms hugged his blanket-wrapped body. “I love you so much, Astro!”
Shelly was a sweet girl, affectionate and loving—although, now, he knew, it went beyond all that he could ever dream of. “I love you, too, Shelly.”