Starry Night

Tsvetan had no idea what he was doing here. He asked himself that question over and over again as he pushed through hanging branches and stumbled over dead leaves, getting colder and colder under the dark night sky. He wrapped his hoodie around him tighter and pushed forward.

"Alin? You better have a good reason for dragging me out here!" He said loudly to the figure in front. Alin turned around and flashed him a cheeky grin, the light from his torch bouncing off his red eyes and large canine.

"Just bear with me Tsve!" He replied, making Tsvetan roll his eyes in frustration.

"I've been bearing with you for two years Alin, so please don't doubt me now," Tsvetan joked, "But dragging me out into the bush in the middle of the night? That's a bit unexpected, even for you,"

"Actually, I've wanted to do this for a long time," Alin admitted.

"Perhaps you could've warned me in advance then?"

"Oh honey, you know that's not quite my style," Alin said jauntily, pinching Tsvetan's cheek. He took Tsvetan's hand in order to pull him along, but frowned when he felt how cold his fingers were.

"Are you cold?"

"No, not really,' Said Tsvetan, snuggling deeper into his hoodie. Alin rolled his eyes and shrugged off his jacket, placing it around Tsvetan's shoulders gently, smiling at the light pink blush that was spreading over his boyfriend's cheeks.

"…Thanks," Muttered Tsvetan.

"Don't mention it," said Alin brightly, giving Tsvetan's hand a squeeze. "It's quite uncomfortable kissing a human icicle after all!"

Tsvetan aimed a good natured swipe at his head, which Alin dodged easily. "Idiot."

"So, where are we going?" Tsvetan asks after a few minutes, trying to peer through the trees and spot something, anything that might give him a hint at where Alin was taking him.

"It's not far now," was all Alin said in reply. "It's just through these trees. See?" And with that, Alin pushed his way through a particularly dense patch of bracken leaving Tsvetan to follow in his wake.

Tsvetan shoved his way through the final overhanging branch and looked around him, taking in his surroundings. "Alin, it's just a clearing."

"Yeah!"

"You dragged me all the way out here in the middle of the night to look at a clearing."

"Not at the clearing itself, silly," Chided Alin. "Come here."

Tsvetan made his way over cautiously. It wasn't unlike Alin to place a booby trap where he walked for a 'harmless joke'.

Alin laughed at Tsvetan's wary expression and sat down on the dewy grass and lay back, patting the ground beside him. Tsvetan spread Alin's jacket on the ground before lying down on a slight angle to Alin, their heads touching.

"Look up there," Said Alin, pointing towards the sky.

Tsvetan looked, and gasped. Above where they lay, the sky was perfectly clear, the pure darkness only penetrated by the tiny pinpricks of white light that were the stars, millions of light years away. The moon shone with the reflected light of the sun, a king amongst his subjects.

"It's beautiful…" Tsvetan breathed, eyes still fixed on the magnificent sight. "I've never seen the night sky that clear before!"

Alin looked across at him and smiled, taking Tsvetan's hand in his own.

"Take a look at the constellations," Alin said, pointing with the same hand that was currently wrapped around Tsvetan's own. "Do you see those three stars in a row there?"

Tsvetan nodded. "That's Orion's belt. Orion can be seen if you look above that, forever fighting his battles in the sky."

Tsvetan squinted in confusion. "I don't see him."

"But you can see his belt right?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Then you know he's there. It's like our ancestors saw these stars and glimpsed lines of light linking them together, mapping out stories…"

"Our ancestors looked at a different sky," Tsvetan reminded Alin.

"Yes, but the concept is the same. People did that all over the world. Now people are too caught up in their own lives to look up."

"Except you," said Tsvetan, nuzzling his nose into Alin's hair.

"Except me! But maybe that's because of my primal urges."

"Oh, for god's sake…"

Alin laughed cheerfully, showing off his elongated canine. He turned on his side and snaked his arms around Tsvetan, pulling him closer. "I know you like it Tsve~"

Tsvetan pushed him off, amused. "Calm yourself boy!"

"You wish," Teased Alin, but he rolled back anyway.

"You know, I often come out here to think sometimes," Alin admitted. "I always feel so small when I look up and see so many stars so far away. And beyond those stars are completely different galaxies where other civilisations might be living, looking at their own stars and telling their own stories about them. We are all just stories in the end, after all."

Alin shifted his fingers in Tsvetan's grasp, drawing their hands up until they were resting under his chin.

"I feel so small, and yet so big. I might not be a massive ball of plasma but I am part of this universe, part of everything. I can look up and see the light that took so long to travel here, and marvel at everything we have taught ourselves about it and how much we still do not understand. I can look the moon orbiting around our heads and see it as both a part of ancient fables and as our first stepping stone into the infinite world beyond."

Alin finished his small speech and met Tsvetan's wide eyes with a questioning look. Tsvetan was staring at his boyfriend with such open mouth wonder that Alin felt himself blush, a pink patch on his cheeks which intensified as Tsvetan rolled closer and placed a gentle hand on his cheek.

"You know," Said Tsvetan softly, "I was convinced that after two years of dating I knew everything I could about you."

Alin opened his mouth to speak, but Tsvetan placed a hand over it gently. "I never thought that you could make me love you even more. But apparently, I was wrong."

"Can I get a kiss now then?" said Alin hopefully.

"You're so demanding!" Tsvetan laughed, but obliged enthusiastically, smiling as he realised that Alin will never, ever stop surprising him.

A/N: That was more philosophical than fluffy I suppose… Ah well. Have some views on the universe, inspired by Kimya Dawson's song 'I Like Giants' and the Doctor Who episode 'Vincent and the Doctor'. (Or really, one particular scene in that episode. The best scene in my opinion, hehe.)

Did any Whovians spot the Doctor Who line I threw in there? I couldn't resist…

Sorry this was so short!

-Stars