psl: polychromatic AU | stargazers

[sleepingstar]

[On the top of the hill, Pai feels like she can reach up and touch the stars. Lying on her back, the grass scratchy on the back of her neck, she stares up at the sky.

She reaches an arm up and covers one of the stars with her thumb. Look, brother! I made another star fall! Except it's still there; all she has to do is move her hand. She doesn't have to kill anyone anymore. Neither of them do.

Hei isn't comfortable here. He's fallen into the habit of paranoia. He doesn't trust the peace, doesn't remember who he is outside of the Syndicate's control. He's so very human in that respect. Pai isn't bothered by the uncertainty. It's irrational to worry about something so completely out of her control.

Instead of making the stars fall, she can make them into stories. She traces shapes in the sky -- finding a bear, a swan, a man dancing. It's a silly exercise, but important. The mind is a muscle like any other; it requires a variety of exercises. It needs whimsey & rationality, exertion & rest.]

熊...

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[sleepingstar]

[She shakes her head.] Not at all. You sound a little like my brother. He's always loved the stars.

My name is Pai.

[candothat]

Is that why you've come to look at the stars?

A pleasure to meet you, Pai.

[sleepingstar]

No, I just like looking at them. My brother's busy at work and I got bored.

[candothat]

As good a reason as any. They are very beautiful.

[He doesn't bother asking who her brother is. It's none of his business.]

Pai, have you been here for long?

[sleepingstar]

[Making small talk like this is a novelty. She can't remember the last time she made idle conversation like this.

Only a week. [It feels like longer, in some ways. This is the first day Hei has let her out of his sight.]

[candothat]

A week? My apologies for not meeting you sooner.

[There he goes, flirting subconsciously.]

[sleepingstar]

It's a big city. [She takes his words at face value, the subconscious flirting escaping her. She's far from innocent, but growing up in a warzone with an overprotective older brother, she hasn't had much opportunity to flirt.] I'm sure there are a lot of people you haven't met.

[candothat]

Certainly, but how many of them like looking at stars? [as an afterthought:] Rhetorical question. I'm glad for the company.

[sleepingstar]

[She smiles.]

I am too.

[She rests her chin on her knees and looks back up on the stars.]

Do you know if there are any constellations?

[candothat]

[He likes Pai. She seems like one of the nicer people he has met in the City.]

None that anyone has named yet.

[sleepingstar]

[Pai has a good feeling about him. Appearances can be deceiving, of course, but he has a pleasant energy to him. (And it's nice, having a boy's company besides her brother. Being a Contractor doesn't completely preclude being a teenage girl.)]

You should name one.

[candothat]

Me? I'm not so creative. I think you would do better, Pai.

[sleepingstar]

What makes you think that?

[candothat]

Because there is no one less creative than a scientist.

[sleepingstar]

You're not the one who just named a constellation "Bear."

[candothat]

A sensible enough name, if it looks like a bear. Where is it?

[He looks up at the stars and just sees... stars. No bears.]

[sleepingstar]

There. [She traces the shape of a bear in a set of stars.]

[candothat]

[He moves closer to better see which stars she's pointing to.] Where again?

[mortemscintilla]

[ It's been a week since she's arrived. And Hei's already-disjointed life has swung upside-down. On the surface, 'Li' carries on just as before. But at the edges, there are shadows gathering under his sunny smiles. Shadows of purpose, of psychological commotion. Modifications have been made to his apartment. Security systems, internal and external, have been upgraded. The screws and fixtures in his surroundings -- in his mind -- have been polished, tightened, streamlined. He won't deny that his stress levels are as high now as they were in Heaven's War. But Hei's nothing if not prepared. And in the City, it's more precautions than safeguarding he has to focus on. (He wants to ask how Pai got here. Wants to know what that means where his ability is concerned. Clearly there can't be two of her -- except he can wield her power as efficiently as before, so there must be.) ]

[ But. ]

[ But he doesn't want to ask questions. Questions are dangerous, questions might ruin things. He's curious, yes, but more than he's curious, he's happy. Which is terrifying and unfamiliar enough. He can't get enough of it, her familiar face, the tones of her voice, her small solid quiet thereness. ]

[ When she's not at the apartment that night, Hei fights an icy overlapping panic. He's put a tracking-bug in her shoes; it doesn't take long to narrow out her location. Heading there, his kneejerk urge is to scold her -- You should tell me where you're going. But halfway there, he finds himself succumbing to ... nostalgia? Sentiment? He's not sure. By the time he arrives, it's with a stuffed backpack (It's a clear night, perfect for stargazing. Something he hasn't done with her for years). There's a blanket under his arm (It's chilly; no reason for Pai to catch a cold) and a tray of takeaway coffees in his hand (well, coffee for him, hot cocoa for her.) Arriving, he spots Pai instantly -- and is both startled and not to see Pavel too. This is his preferred spot, after all. Even so, Hei represses a flare of territoriality. What are they talking about? And why is he leaning so close to Pai? ]

[ Although... ]

[ What pretty girl goes anywhere and expects to be alone for long? ]

[ His skechers barely make a sound on the grass as he approaches, ] 'Where,' what? [ Expression neutral, even if his tone is anything but. ]

[sleepingstar]

[Hei may walk quietly, but Pai can still sense him coming. She tilts her head back and smiles wide, her eyes twinkling in a way that -- rationally speaking -- a Contractor's shouldn't. But she more than anyone else, except maybe Hei, knows that Contractors aren't what most people think they are.]

I found a constellation that looks like a bear. See? [There's a slight warning look in her eyes -- Don't do anything stupid, brother -- before she leans back in near Chekov to trace the shape of the constellation again.] It's right there.

[candothat]

[Chekov isn't usually afraid of Hei, but there's a dangerous quality to his voice that makes the teenager suspect that he did something very wrong. From there, it only takes a second for him to make the connection between Pai and Hei.

Oops.

But Pavel doesn't believe he has done anything to warrant a zap, so he follows Pai's pointing finger.]

With the head there? [Now he points to the stars and outlines the rough shape.] I think that I see it. [And to Hei, with a forced calm:] Hello. Did you come here to stargaze?

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei catches Pai's warning look -- but he ignores it in favor of the twinkle in her eye. It's been ages since he's seen it, and rarer still that he saw it in Heaven's War, especially with his own paranoia and self-loathing turning everything even uglier and rust-colored. Stepping closer, he settles, with a calm matter-of-factness, between Pai and Pavel, backpack and blanket at his feet. (Don't take it personally Pavel; it's instinct.) Popping the lid off his coffee, he takes a sip, before telling the younger man, ] Not originally. But -- [ a half-shrug, as if to say, I changed my mind. He glances at Pai then, and hands her the cocoa, his thoughts ticking over while he studies her for a moment, enjoying that buttery radiance of her presence -- not a commonplace thing yet; impossible to be taken for granted -- before he'll have to complicate it with questions and scolding. ]

[ His gaze is soft -- far too soft to be associated with Hei these days -- as he asks, ] Stringing up constellations?

[sleepingstar]

[She pouts a little as Hei settles between her and the cute young Russian. She reminds herself that, for her brother, she's been missing for over five years, but let's be honest -- even if he hadn't been missing her for so long, he would be overprotective. She bumps his shoulder gently with hers, a silent I love you and Do something stupid and I'll kill you all in one.]

Pavel told me they don't have any here. [But perhaps more importantly...] You two know each other?

[candothat]

[Well, hello to you too, Hei.]

Yes, we've known each other for several months.

[mortemscintilla]

[ The pout doesn't go unobserved. But like most brothers -- or moreso -- he's proprietary when it comes to his only sister. He's only just gotten her back. But even with his protection, which, let's admit, is greater in the intent than the execution -- everything's still so fucking precarious. The City can snatch her away with the same indifferent whimsy with which its returned her. What then? He can't escape the sense that he's running on borrowed time. Sooner or later, it'll run dry. So it's better to hoard what hours he can with her in the meantime. ]

[ Letting some boy -- even one as benign as Pevel -- butt in on that? Not on the agenda. ]

[ He nudges his shoulder against hers, more mildly, Ditto and If there's nothing to worry about, I won't need to. His legs sprawl out in front of him as he settles back, relaxed but not without a particular energy tucked away in the line of his spine. His attention is on Pavel, but the words are for Pai's benefit, ]

Pavel's from a world where space travel is a reality. [ An almost-smile, ] He's seen the stars -- extraterrestrial life -- up close.