Title: Constellations
Prompt: Prompt 8—star-gazing. For the PH-Fanfest
Character/Pairing: Lacie, Oswald, Alice, Alyss, Oz
A/N: Four time periods, enjoy!
Summary: Look at the stars, Lacie says, Oswald teaches, Alice commands.
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"Look!"
Oswald stirs, shivering lightly from the cold. It's not winter, not yet, but autumn is cooler than normal. His legs are wet, the morning dew clinging to the grass he sits on. Beside him, Lacie shakes his shoulder hard and he groans as he opens his eyes. "What?"
"Nii-sama." Lacie points up, at the night sky. In the dark, it's hard to make out her face. They don't even have the moon tonight. Only the floating lights and they've dimmed so he could sleep. "You can see the stars really well today."
He gives her a stare, dark and annoyed that she woke him up for this. They can see the stars any night, they do in fact see it every night. It's what happens when you're homeless, with no one to turn to.
(Her eyes, so red and bright even in the dark. He can't understand why people think it a curse.)
"Just look," Lacie commands, ignoring just how grumpy he is. She isn't shivering, as usual, though she's pressed up against him more than normal. Even Lacie can get cold, sometimes. Shifting, he adjusts so his arm wraps around her shoulders, drawing her closer. It's not enough, it never is, but it's all he can do.
"Thanks," she replies, snuggling into his chest. His back digs into the tree back as he adjusts to their combined weight. Looking at him now, she continues, "but you still have to look."
Begrudgingly, Oswald looks up now, her insistent stare something he can't refuse. Above them a thousand stars glitter on the black backdrop, the scene for another play. It's breathtaking, true, but nothing worth waking up for.
Leaning back against the tree, he gives her another look.
"I was just thinking," Lacie explains, now staring up at the sky. "These are like those lights around us."
He can give her that, but this isn't a new discovery. "And?"
"And, Nii-sama," Lacie turns to face him, and he can just make out the contours of her face, the shape of her smile. "What if they are the same, but just further out? Maybe somewhere out there, up there, there are others like us."
Oswald looks back up at the sky and then back at the lights that float around them. They shine brighter now, his focus on them. The lights are soft on the edges, melding into the night air. Above them, the stars do nothing, a constant twinkle from afar. Shaking his head, he dismisses the idea. "No, they're not the same."
"What?" Lacie frowns, not fully believing him. Huffing, she pouts and bumps her head against his chest in retaliation. "Well, I think so."
The stars watch them, cold and absolute, and he shakes his head once more. Nothing that distant can be like the warm lights around them.
-x-
"It's been a while since we've done this," she says, turning back to face her brother. Oswald emerges from the shadows to stand next to her. His face is closed off, trying to seal away any and all emotion, and she sighs.
Her brother can do many things, but he's never been able to hide his feelings from her. She reaches up and brushes his cheeks with her thumbs, brushing away the tears that won't fall.
"Do what?" Oswald asks, his hand coming up to cover hers. He leans into her touch and she smiles. Nodding to the open window behind her, Lacie draws him closer so they can both stare out it.
"Stargazing." Lacie removes her hand from his face, but keeps holding his hand. "We used to do this all the time."
"Ah." There's a hint of a smile on his face, the memory of older days. Those days seem so long ago now, so far away.
They were different people then, in a different place.
"Still think the stars are from the abyss?" Oswald asks and she punches him lightly in the shoulder.
"Nii-sama, I thought you forgot about that." Lacie frowns, looking off to the side. It's an embarrassing memory, more so when her brother is teasing her about it. "We were young."
He nods, his lips upturned just enough that she can tell he's trying not to laugh.
"You had stupid ideas too, Nii-sama," Lacie retorts, huffing. "I'll remind you of every single one if you're having trouble remembering."
He shakes his head, though he still looks like he's about to laugh. She'll let it slide, this last time, and returns to watching the sky. The night air is cool, blowing her hair back gently in the breeze.
"You were right, though. Those lights, they couldn't be from the abyss." Lacie chuckles, glancing fondly at the lights around them. "Oh well, I still like the stars." Searching the sky, she points at a familiar set of stars. "Remember that constellation? It's still my favourite."
Oswald's line of sight follows her fingers and he snorts. It's inelegant, so unlike the man the Baskerville's a grooming him to be. It's a side of her brother only she gets to see. "That rabbit is not a constellation."
"It is."
He shakes his head. "Lacie, I bought a book on constellations."
"And you made me sit beside you and read it and the rabbit didn't appear even once," Lacie finishes for him, rolling her eyes. "It's not a real constellation, I know. But I still like it all the same."
"Of course." The wind blows a little harder and she shivers. Oswald shifts his weight, wrapping his red cloak over her shoulders now. Some things never change and she's grateful for the extra warmth. It's hard to imagine he'll never do this again.
That she'll never do this again.
"And yours?"
"The rabbit," her brother answers, deadpan, and she laughs.
"You liar."
It's a nice night, a last night. She leans against him, remembering all those nights long ago that she used to do this.
She thinks she'll miss this—the stars, her brother, that rabbit. She'll miss it and maybe they'll all miss her too.
-x-
"What are those?" Alyss asks. She can feel Alice listening, eager for Oswald's words. Of course she is, he's her favourite.
Though she doesn't like him as much, he has his uses.
Oswald stares at her. "Ah, it's you today."
That bothers her, slightly, how he's able to tell whenever she and her sister switch places. The others can't—the others are never certain of who is in the body. Only Chesire and Oswald can and she's never able to understand how or why.
"What is that?" she repeats, point out her window. Alice is curious now—she rarely comes out at night.
That's probably because Alyss likes this time the best. The darkness outside, the bright lights in the sky—the world looks like the Abyss in those moments and she thinks of home. All that is missing is the core.
Oswald draws closer, approaching the window slowly. He looks up and replies, "Stars."
"Stars?" Alyss peers up at the sky, at those 'stars'. "Are they like the lights down here?"
Oswald's breath hitches, making a funny noise. She's not sure why his expression seems to freeze, only that it does. "No."
His one word answers bother her and Alice isn't playing with the core right now, just sitting on it and listening closely to the conversation. Switch with me, she asks, and Alice does it in a heartbeat.
The core seems to almost relax when Alyss gets off it. Maybe she shouldn't have left it alone with Alice for so long.
"So what are they then?" Alice asks, bouncing on her feet. Oswald doesn't even respond to switch, merely acknowledging it with a nod, and Alyss tries not to feel irritated by that.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" Alice stares at her uncle in surprise. "But you know everything."
"Not everything." Oswald shakes his head.
Alice doesn't quite believe that. "Almost everything, then."
Oswald merely sighs in response.
"I wonder what they are," Alice contemplates, observing the skies. "You know, those lights over there—no, not there, move your head a little, there. Those stars, don't they look like a rabbit?"
Alyss can see it, very easily. It looks like you, Oz, she tells their rabbit—why did Alice have to name him after their uncle? But you're cuter.
Their uncle starts to laugh, a soft, restrained laugh.
"Why are you laughing?" Alice asks, cross. Her hands are closing, turning into small fists, and maybe Alice will actually punch him.
Alyss's dream lasts five seconds.
"It's nothing." He says that, but Alyss can tell he has that look on his face again. He's not talking to them, not looking at them—there's someone else he's seeing right now.
"You were laughing."
Oswald recovers, shaking his head. "That rabbit is a favourite of mine."
"Really?" Alice grins broadly. "Are there other animals up there?"
He nods, leaning against the windowsill so he can point at the sky. "Here, I'll show you."
-x-
"What are you looking at, Alice?" Oz peers down at her and she sits up with a start.
"Don't surprise me like that," she snaps, lying back down on the grass. It's a warm night.
"Sorry, Alice." Oz looks sheepish as he sits down beside her. Gilbert's nearby, sitting against a tree. His hat is covering his face, and she's certain the stupid Seaweed head is asleep. Some guard he is. What if someone came and attacked them at night?
"Can I sit here?" Oz asks and she nods, grumpily petting the ground beside her.
"It's better if you lie down."
"That's fine—"
"Just lie down," Alice commands, sitting back up again. She pushes him down when he doesn't listen—what sort of servant doesn't listen to his master?
It takes a few moments for him to get comfortable and then he asks again, "So, what are you doing?"
"Staring at the stars." It should be obvious.
"Oh, star-gazing. That's fun." Oz points at the sky and she stares at the cluster of stars. "That looks like a swan."
"I don't see it."
"That's the beak, and that's the wings and—"
"I don't see it."
"Oh, I guess it might be hard to see." Oz almost deflates next to her and Alice sighs.
Raising her own hand up, she points to a different set of stars. "Those look like a rabbit, don't you think?"
"Hmm…like the B-Rabbit?" Oz is grinning, she can hear it in his voice. She refuses to acknowledge the joke and jabs him in the side. "Ouch."
"Not B-Rabbit but…" Alice trails off, not sure where she's going with that. She has a faint memory of doing this before. With someone—no, with two people. It was a clear night, like this. An older man's arm pointing up, another voice listening from inside her. The night breeze was cool and she spent a night learning the secrets of the universe.
In a hundred years, so many things have changed, but still that rabbit is there.
"Huh?" Alice blinks, staring at the rabbit again. What was that? Those thoughts—are they hers? Those feelings, those words, that time, are they memories slowly coming back? A hundred years—what did she see, a hundred years ago, in Sablier?
The stars, it seems. The stars and that rabbit.
"Alice? What's wrong?" Oz turns over to his side, looking at her, and she gives him a small smile.
"Nothing."
If she spent time watching the stars long ago, she must have been happy then. They must be good memories she's getting, good times she's finding.
Maybe she isn't as accursed as the Intention of the Abyss tries to make her out to be.
"That's definitely a rabbit," she repeats and then points at another set of stars. "And that looks like meat. A big chunk of meat."
"Alice, you're always thinking of meat. Are you hungry?" Oz laughs and dodges her jab. "Well, that looks like a pocket watch."