Author's note: Inspired by the 07/27 meteor shower that took place in California.
Headcanon says that Clay gives nicknames to those he becomes close to. Klavier's nickname is 'Sirius', after the brightest star in the night sky.
The star charms were inspired by the Wayfinders from the Kingdom Hearts series. Headcanons say that Clay's voice actor is Jesse McCartney, who voices Roxas throughout the series, and Clay's favorite video game series is Kingdom Hearts. Plus, who better to think of star charms than Clay?
Klavier calls Clay 'stern' at one point, which means 'star' in German.
Dual Destinies AU in which Clay bonds with Klavier before the fateful launch. This can be read either as Klavier/Clay shipping or Klavier/Clay friendship.
He couldn't remember ever seeing the stars. He became one himself, but whenever he looked up, obsidian silence greeted him. Drew him deeper into the chasm he was trapped in, mind, body, heart and soul. So when Trucy, Athena, Apollo and Clay told him stars would be streaming through the sky, he laughed as if they had told him someone was growing a beanstalk in his backyard. As much as he had been lifted onto a pedestal, Klavier Gavin had not once seen the sky-and therefore found it impossible to believe in.
Even with Apollo's guardian angel being from the stars.
It was something he ignored, the logic behind Clay's existence. Something he couldn't afford to wrap his head around, with his head already in a thousand places over his brother, family estate issues, cases, more cases. His brother. Fans. His brother. Being in a whirlpool that pressed logic beyond its limits left no room for fairy tales. Whenever Apollo's friend was anywhere near him, the drive to dive deeper into a fairy tale struck him louder than the screams of his fans, whenever he stood under the stage's scorching sun. But it was with defeat he shrugged off the magic, shrugged off how the cosmos could possibly kiss the earth, brushed off the possibility of stars actually smiling at him. His profession, his life, left no room for the defiance of logic.
There was very little logic left, in what he was supposed to call a life. It was all that explained why his brother was behind bars. It explained why his brother would die in a couple of weeks. It justified why his band fell apart. Why it had to fall apart.
Letting go of that logic would've meant letting go of himself. And he had lost too much of himself already.
The news of the city's meteor shower came and went, flowing away with the evening's cool breeze. Klavier wanted to learn more, needed to learn more, about the sky Clay fell from, but couldn't abandon the only threads of logic he had left. So, while the rest of the city watched stars fall from the sky, he buried himself in case files that seemed to rise by stories every minute. While smiles blanketed the rest of the city, a dull, throbbing ache swallowed him, blinded him, left him without air. But just when he expected his chest to burst, from the ache burning him from within, someone showed up at his front door.
"Ah! Good evening, Herr Terran!"
Clay, when he should've been getting ready for his upcoming launch, smiled at him. Shouldn't have been anywhere near him, but was definitely brighter than the stars that danced across the night sky. But it didn't take long for horror to strike Klavier like an arrow. Something was definitely wrong with the dreamer standing in front of him.
"Heeeey, Sirius. Everything cool?"
Ushering him inside, as though Clay were made of rare stained glass, Klavier spoke to him gently. "Engel, should you be here?" the prosecutor asked, voice radiant with concern. Clay had shown up at his apartment several times in the past, so his decision to show up wasn't at all alarming-it was the condition in which he arrived in. Preparations for the launch were anvils of the harshest steel, proven by the sweat trickling down his forehead. The perspiration trickling down his rose red cheeks. "Where's your sidekick?" the rock star prosecutor pressed him, referring to the dreamer's spiritual brother.
"Please don't tell me you're alone!"
Clay, despite finding it difficult to remain standing, rubbed the back of his neck while smiling. "Yeah, Apollo's kinda busy," he chuckled, not at all getting anything past Klavier. Apollo being busy meant he was occupied with a case, but would've stopped time with his bare hands to help his friend. Clay just chose to not tell the attorney he was at Klavier's apartment, never wanting to turn Apollo's concentration away from his dream. Not even for a second.
"Kinda tied up with stuff. Says he wants to get everything done before the launch. Guy's always been a work-a-holic. Everybody else has their hands tied too. Gotta lot of homework to finish before playtime!"
It was at that moment Clay became lighter than air. Off his feet he fell, no longer strong enough to stand. And it was into the prosecutor's arms he fell, lighter than the moonlight he bound his soul to. It was at that moment Klavier noticed something on the dreamer's back-a backpack. One with a dark blue star charm attached to it. It looked very much like his purple star charm, one that reminded him of glittering amethyst even when the night threatened to swallow him whole. They all had star charms, Apollo, Phoenix, Athena, Trucy, and Klavier, all given to them by the dreamer himself. All made by the dreamer, to bind them together until time's end.
The bearer of dreams smiled at him, cheeks as red as the falling sun. Clay opened his mouth, but before an apology made it out, he found himself rushed to the prosecutor's sofa bridal style. "Mind telling me why you're here, stern?" he asked, still speaking as though Clay would shatter against anything louder than a murmur. He removed the dreamer's bag and set it on the nearest table, wanting Clay to rest without a drop of extra weight.
"You're not at all well! You should be home, Herr Terran, resting!"
It was in that moment logic ceased to be, broken by a shaft of light so bright, it alerted all angels. All from Clay's smile. The words he spoke were simple, and spoken as if the answer should've been obvious, but they struck him with power that put his concerts, the screams from a thousand fans, to shame.
"What are you talking about? I am home!"
"But why? Why are you even here?"
"That's easy too," Clay panted, resting his hand against his brow. Breathing was an exercise when it still should've been something easy, something natural and refreshing. He felt heavier than the moon he was about to visit, proven by how his chest rose and fell. His strawberry cheeks were tell-all signs too, but-
"I didn't want you to be alone."
It left him breathless, how such simple warmth challenged him to abandon logic and believe in the impossible. Time stopped and pressed him to leave the world as he knew it behind, showing him just how much freedom the skies offered. All by sending Apollo's friend to his front door. "Look in the bag," he panted, breathless but ignoring the weight of his chest.
"Brought you a present. Hope you like it, Gavin!"
Klavier wanted to run, grab a warm towel, press some of his essential oils into it and dab it on Clay's forehead. Wanted to brew some tea. Light some candles. Run a bath. Apollo's friend was on his sofa, finding it harder and harder to breathe. Exhausted. But there he was, all the same, smiling. With light Klavier could never believe in, with the logic surrounding his brother's prison sentence. His execution date. It was impossible, to believe in the illumination that silenced every last one of his wounds, that taught him what it felt like to breathe.
Even if the light faded, he'd never forget how he felt that moment. Would never forget the simple innocence of those words. Nor would he forget the glimmer that met his eyes, the moment he set his hands inside Clay's bag.
The future astronaut chuckled. "Hope you like 'em. Got 'em just for you."
Tears burned Klavier's eyes.
They were chunks from last night's meteor shower.