Deceiver: Okay, let's see if I can do this!
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Day 1: Stargazing
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Eva never forgot that night sky she saw during her and Neil's case on Johnathan Wyles. She was used to the city's night sky, not the ones that could be seen in the middle of nowhere. Hearing how Neil often used to go star gazing with his grandpa made her a little jealous, as she didn't expect him, of all the people in the world, to enjoy the beauty of nature.
So, Eva accepted the fact she wouldn't see such a beautiful night sky again. Right now she was half asleep in Neil's car, unaware of her surroundings as she drifted in and out of sleep. It was dark outside, but that was normal since they always finished their missions late at night. But that meant she was not familiar with where they were right now, especially when Neil just stopped the car in the middle of nowhere.
Before she could even wake up completely, Neil had already parked the car at the side of the road and turned off the engine completely. "Neil?" She turned to him just as he got out of the car, urging her to do the same with his hand.
"C'mon!" He sounded excited before he disappeared to get something at the back, which Eva really didn't have the mood for since all she wanted to do was go home and sleep it off. With a grunt, Eva exited the car, expecting a perfectly good explanation from her partner, only to stop in her tracks when she actually got a good look of her surroundings.
Everything around them was dark, save for the lights coming from the millions of stars above them. Eva couldn't believe she didn't notice them during their drive back home. There was a slight chill in the air, making her grip the lapel of her lab coat to keep herself warm. However, something heavy, yet soft and warm, draped over the back of her body, making her look up to see Neil carrying a picnic blanket and some sort of baggage (longer than their memory machine) as he kicked the car door shut and lock it.
"This way," Neil took lead, which Eva didn't question and just followed. Her eyes were on him as he used his phone's light to light the path he was going, yet she kept on gazing back up to the night sky from time to time. "Aaaaaand here!" Neil put down his stuff and laid put the picnic blanket for them to sit on. Eva was still looking around in awe, but she eventually found it within herself to talk again.
"Did you plan this?" She asked as she sat down with him.
He heard a satisfied laugh as he went to set up whatever was in the bag. "Yep! Because why not?" he turned to her with a smirk. "Thought you should see a real night sky since you just like the one made from a machine. After all, the real thing is better."
"Agreed," Eva uttered before she could stop herself. Neil was laughing at her as she blushed. "Um...I mean..."
"Ha!" With a laugh, Neil stepped back to reveal what he was setting up: a telescope. Before he let Eva have a go, he looked through it first to see if he could find a good cluster of stars to look at.
"Here, have a look" At Neil's offer, Eva stepped up and took her turn with it. She could literally see a river of stars across the night sky, taking her breath away once more at how beautiful it was. She barely heard Neil as he stepped closer to her, helping her zoom into a certain area. "That's the Milky Way," he explained. "It looks like a river of stars, doesn't it? And you see those two brightest stars shining on either side of the starry river? Those are the lovers seperated from by the river."
"Never knew you are so romantic."
"Oh hush, gramps told me about it and now I'm telling you this because you're a girl!" Eva shot him a glare for saying that. "Anyway, those two lovers can only meet once a year, and if you try and look into the river of stars..." Neil leaned over to help her find it using the horoscope. "You can find a super bright one. That represents the bridge that allows them to be together for the night."
"Huh..." She took her turn to look. "Is that so? Why are they separated to begin with though?"
"Because they weren't doing their job in Heaven," Neil leaned back to lie down and admire the night sky above them while Eva continued to use the telescope. She wanted a better look at them since it was not every day to see the stars up so close. "Those two lovers can only meet on the 7th day of the 7th month, and tonight's the night according to the internet."
"I see..."
Neil glanced at her for a moment, seeing how absorbed she was staring at the stars Neil was showing him. He was silent, words rolling around in his mouth before he could bring himself to say something. The silence was noticeable though, as Eva pulled back to look at him. "What's wrong?"
"Huh? Ah..." Crap she saw him staring. "Just...staring...at the weird face you're making while goggling at the stars."
For that, he got a playful shove from his partner. "Oh hush," she laid down beside him, making him raise and eyebrow. "Any other stories of the stars you have? Not just the romantic ones."
"Oh boy!" He grinned at that. "You see there? That's..."
For the rest of the night, Neil pointed out each constellation he could spot in the night sky, telling the stories to an eager Eva beside him. He couldn't stop grinning, because having Eva beside him like this made his heart feel light.
He was so glad there was a clear night sky tonight. Or he wouldn't be able to share all these stories about the stars with Eva.
He couldn't bring himself to tell her a minor belief on the story of the two lovers though. Like people believed how the lovers couldn't meet if it rains on the night of their meeting. The river would become flooded from it.
And people called it "The Tears of the Two Lovers."
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Deceiver: Neil's story is based on the story on the 'The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl'