A quick note before the chapter begins.
I wrote this over about four months. I began work on it after realising something pretty important about myself and trying to come to terms with it. So, everything in here's incredibly abrupt and barely makes sense; much like the aforementioned realization. Anyways, try to enjoy. More lighthearted content coming soon. Also, I am still working on Butterflies, it's just really, really slow. The next chapter actually rivals this one in length; and about the same amount of emotion, actually. But it has jokes too. Keep that in mind. It's not all depressing.
Peace.
It's Snowing Like It's the End of the World.
-Krobak
Onyx had told her.
…
…
Onyx had told her everything.
Everything.
Every single thing.
And Snowfall, with those star-studded eyes and scales like constellations, had held her.
And Onyx had let her.
There wasn't any use resisting anymore, was there?
The deed was done.
She was already sinking below the surface. She could almost imagine her head disappearing under the waves… drowning.
And one day, her body would reach the bottom of the ocean, kicking up sand and kelp and the ghosts of things left unsaid.
What would she do when that day came?
…she didn't know. And honestly, part of her didn't care.
She was just…
…
…
numb.
.
Snowfall lightly stroked her face, those ethereally blue eyes appearing above her as though out of a dream, and Onyx was suddenly struck by a veritable tsunami of utter dread.
"Don't leave me." she pleaded finally, voice hoarse and tired yet still terrifyingly desperate. "I- I couldn't bear it if you did."
Snowfall smiled. It wasn't happy, it was just… relieved, she guessed.
"I won't."
And Onyx wanted to tell her… she wanted to tell that incredible girl just how much she meant to her…
Of what each gentle reassurance and delicate touch translated to on the inside of her semi-shattered mind, of the incredible emotions and colours that sparked across her eyes when she even thought her name…
"…it's cold."
But she couldn't.
…
The instant Snowfall had realised how cold Onyx was, she'd practically dragged the girl to her study. It was two stories up and revered as prime real estate for visitors; mainly because there was a fireplace.
"Most of these books wouldn't survive in subzero temperatures." Snowfall had said by way of explanation. "Some ancient animus enchanted the ice in this room to never melt; so we could always keep it warm."
The room had one entrance that doubled as an exit, one that wasn't really all that well-lit. The solid mahogany doors were inlaid with spokes and five-sided stars, which really didn't contribute to the otherworldly atmosphere of the room proper.
There was a fireplace in the cosiest corner; a wicker-metal affair, and one that was powerful to boot. The pokers were obviously incredibly old, but they didn't show any signs of rusting or degradation. There was no firewood; just the flames themselves, roaring into the chimney and propagating warmth into the room.
The area around the fireplace was amazing. There was a shaggy carpet that was so thick her talons sunk into it like fine sand, and comfy sofas arranged in a loose semicircle. Each one was ornate; the sort of thing that you'd expect would have complimentary pipes and evening gowns with. Simply put, it was positively Victorian; and the odd aroma of oak and smoky mahogany simply added to the atmosphere.
A few paperbacks were stacked atop tiny tables kept within arm's reach of the seating, but none of them could detract from the true attraction.
Rows upon rows of bookshelves extended into the darkness of the far side of the room, each one straining under the weight of countless dusty tomes. Most of the books were incredibly thick, their bindings almost falling apart and a few pages poking out of the tops and sides. At regular intervals, there were indexes and trinkets haphazardly affixed to the bookshelves and books themselves.
That bit looked alive… lived in.
The part of the floor that wasn't carpeted was inlaid with intricate patterns; starbursts of yellow and red made the perfectly symmetrical hexagons and dodecahedrons seem even more out of place.
Perhaps it was meant to be taken as a symbol; splashes of paint against dull shapes.
The icy walls stained cornflower-blue by the night were distant; emotionless. Moonlight spilled through every window, and though the fire provided some light, it was barely visible beyond the first bookshelf.
Onyx was huddled in front of the fire. Snowfall had tried to join her there, but it was far too uncomfortable for her, so she'd elected to stand back.
She could only imagine how the girl was feeling.
Powerless, perhaps.
Onyx missed the Icewing's comforting coolness against her skin. She shouldn't have; it would only exacerbate the cold.
She wondered if that was a symbol too.
"Can I tell you something, Snowfall?" she asked, not turning.
Snowfall swallowed. "Yeah."
"For the longest time, I thought that loving other people was like drowning."
She reached for a random paperback, turning the book over in her hands without really looking at anything in particular.
"You'd succumb to the waves, sink far, far below the surface…"
Somewhere within the massive palace, a door creaked open and closed. Neither of them acknowledged the subtle intrusion.
"…and for a while, I wondered what I would do when I hit the ocean floor."
The silence was interrupted by the crackling fire. Snowfall didn't make to speak or respond yet; she would wait until Onyx had said her piece.
"The question is flawed, Snowfall. I realise that now."
Onyx turned to face Snowfall, and the moonlight seemed to take its time traversing every part of the Sandwing's body; each scale, each scar, each curve, each edge… every single thing that made her her.
Onyx trembled as she spoke, unaware of how brightly she shone.
"…it's not about what's going to happen when I hit rock bottom." she smiled sadly. "It's what I do between the fall and my inevitable demise."
Inevitable. Demise.
Snowfall's jaw clenched, and she wanted nothing more than to run across the length of the room, over the patterns inscribed into the floor and sweep her up into her arms and beg Onyx to understand just how incredible she was.
But she couldn't.
This was something Onyx would have to do herself.
The Sandwing shuddered, trying to maintain her composure even now. "I hate it, but… I can't keep living in fear. I just can't."
Oh god.
The realisation of what was about to happen hit Snowfall like a ton of bricks, and all at once; it wasn't like she had any time to prepare for it.
And she hated that she felt like that.
"So, I don't know if I love you." Onyx said, running a talon along her own cheek. "I don't know if I ever will."
Please don't.
"But … I'm willing to try."
Before Onyx could draw another breath, before another heartbeat had passed, even before the last syllable finished rolling off Onyx's tongue; she found herself being held by Snowfall.
And there were tears.
And they surprised her.
Because they weren't hers.
The crystalline droplets were a light purplish-blue in the moonlight, glinting off her tawny scales. Their origins could be traced up past her chest, past her collarbone… to the teary-eyed Icewing trembling into her shoulder.
"You're crying." Onyx said, much like someone might say 'it's snowing' or 'nice shoes'. It was so pedestrian that Snowfall laughed out loud, aware of what a sorry state she must be… but also not caring if Onyx saw her in it.
"Yes, Einstein." her mouth touched Onyx's ear delicately. "It's a thing people do when they see people they care about hurting."
"I-"
Onyx paused, unsure of what she should've said. It was… odd. Their roles had just been reversed.
"Hmm?"
"I…" she looked away. "It's weird, but you've just seemed… infallible ever since I met you."
Snowfall smiled against Onyx's skin. "I'm trying to be strong for you, dear."
Onyx pulled back slightly.
They were mere inches away from each other. They were so close that she could see the redness in Snowfall's eyes, the tightness in her smile, the dimples just above her cheekbones…
She removed herself turned, took two steps to the fire, and dropped to her knees.
"Why me?"
Snowfall raised her arms… and then dropped them right back down.
"Just… because." she said, defeated. "I mean, how is that even a question?"
"Because I'm nobody?"
Snowfall sighed. "I wish I could show you how much you mean to me, you know. But I can't."
She hung her head.
"Could you try?" she asked, unsure of what she wanted. It definitely wasn't validation.
"…do you truly want me to tell you?"
Onyx gripped her shoulders, turning her head so she could just barely see Snowfall standing there, looking so despondent-
She closed her eyes, turning back to the fire with the desperate hope that the flames would burn away the words and the tears.
"I care for you, Onyx. I care so much it hurts."
Onyx squeezed her arms tightly. It felt like she'd just been doused with cold water; shock like a knife to the heart, and then nothing but numbness.
"Everything I do… it's because of you."
She didn't see the look on Snowfall's face, but she heard the girl's shuddering inhale and it hurt.
"But…" she protested weakly, aware that she was grasping at straws. "…we haven't even known each other that long."
The wind howled a bit longer. The edges of the windows were now caked in snow.
"Do you seriously believe I don't know that?"
Snowfall began talking faster, and Onyx could tell that she was pacing.
"I've only known you for a week. I've barely gotten to know you, and in that time you've become completely fucking dependent on me. You're broken and you're afraid, and I'm the girl who's brought you back from the brink. You don't even know if you love me or not, because I'm all you have."
The steps became more and more frenzied, Snowfall's voice becoming more frazzled as she went on.
"I know, alright? I fucking know. But did you ever consider what I'm going through?"
She hadn't. She hadn't, and that simple fact made Onyx clench her teeth tighter, and lean towards the warmth of the flames.
"My entire life I've been surrounded by people who don't care about me. My parents didn't love me ever, and I screwed up my relationship with my brother so badly I'm certain he'd never want to talk to me again!
Snowfall grasped her head with her hands, speaking through gritted teeth.
"B-but it's- it's irrelevant! All of it is, because I have the opportunity to make things right for someone else, someone I care about, and- and I can't even do that!"
She sighed, stopping to stand in place.
"I know what's wrong here, Onyx." she said. "I'm certain you do too. It's just… I don't think it matters. I don't want it to matter."
Onyx swallowed.
"But what will you do once I'm gone?"
There it was.
The question that neither of them had been willing to ask.
"Once."
The word echoed.
"Once you're gone."
There was a silence.
"Once you're gone." Snowfall repeated, as though testing the taste of the words against her tongue; how they felt when she said them aloud, how they rolled around in her mouth.
"You-" she gasped, gripping her head in her talons. "You speak like it's an inevitability! Like you're just waiting!"
"I'm really not." Onyx said. "It's just… it's going to happen one day. You know that. I know it too. So… what will we do?"
They stared each other down; Snowfall standing tall, almost begging Onyx to take it back; and Onyx looking up at her lover, mouth pressed into a fine line, as though looking for guidance but knowing that she wouldn't find any.
The windowpane rattled. Old wood creaked. The fireplace crackled.
All was still.
"…what will we do indeed."
Snowfall slumped down next to Onyx, taking her hand. The gentle coolness of her scales, their icy whiteness broken up by the orange of the hearth, comforted her.
They sat like that for a while.
…
…
…
"My parents are gone, you know." Snowfall mentioned nonchalantly. "Not like you will be, hopefully. But… I can see some similarities there."
Onyx brushed her hand over Snowfall's.
"Can you?"
The other girl nodded but didn't elaborate further.
…
…
"…my parents are gone."
Her voice broke.
Not in the traditional sense, where it cracked an octave higher. No, instead, in the course of saying those four words, every single one of the walls she had so carefully erected around herself broke down.
She squeezed her hand tighter, and Onyx tried to return the gesture. Snowfall was trembling, hunched over with her back against the armchair and infinite regret in her eyes.
"My parents are gone. And I fucking hated them, a-and-"
The tears burned hot trails down her face, but she didn't move to wipe them away.
"And they're gone."
Onyx could hear the shrug in her voice, a futile attempt to dismiss her own feelings. "They're gone. And it shouldn't h-hurt, but it- it does, because…"
The wind howled.
"…now I'll never be able to even pretend that they loved me."
She laughed, but there was no joy in it.
"My parents are gone! A-and you're telling me that soon you'll be too?"
Onyx licked her lips. "Snowfall, I know how you're feeling-"
"You know how I'm feeling?" Snowfall asked incredulously.
"Joy has been stolen from me over and over and over." she growled. "You've lost people you loved? Try never having them in the first place!"
The words echoed in the desolate space, and immediately Snowfall clapped her hands over her mouth.
Silence.
…
…
…
"I-I'm sorry," Snowfall began, "I wasn't thinking-"
"You're right." Onyx said. Numb to the core, like the ice that had surrounded her since she'd arrived in this accursed place had finally spread to her heart and taken root, the crystals unable to shatter, unable to feel…
"You weren't thinking."
She breathed.
"…do you ever wonder if we'd be better off having never meant?"
Snowfall froze.
Onyx continued. "Like, if I'd just died out in the wastelands and you'd-"
"Onyx." she stopped the Sandwing with an iron grip on her arm.
"What would you have me say?"
Her mouth hung open, equal parts shock, rage and sadness.
"That I only wish I'd known of you sooner?"
The blood thudded loudly in her ears, thrumming like drums from the depths. She was scared, gods, she was terrified-
"That I want to remain by your side till the end of days? Because I do!"
Snowfall raged, face contorted into a grotesque image of grief and anger even as the blizzard outside picked up the pace.
"That I wish you'd do the same? That you never had to leave me? I do!"
And part of Onyx knew that it didn't matter one bit, and that she shouldn't have been pushing Snowfall as hard as she was, and-
"That you're-" Snowfall ran her hand down her face, "-that you're everything to me?"
She didn't want to say it, she didn't want to put Snowfall on the spot, but she had to know, good lord she had to-
"Do you love me?"
The room fell silent.
"…no."
"What?"
"No, I don't." Snowfall said, looking over her shoulder.
Onyx swallowed, aware she was digging her own grave but unable to bring herself to care.
"Why?"
"Because I can't!" Snowfall screamed, flinging herself around to face Onyx.
…
…
Slowly, Onyx tilted her head upwards to look Snowfall in the eyes.
She was breathing hard, tears speckled like stars across her face; curled up delicately at the edges of her eyes and hanging like dewdrops from her eyelashes. Even as her voice cracked, and her face flushed, and her mind burned… she looked powerful.
Not beautiful.
Snowfall had transcended that long ago.
"I- I can't love you, Onyx." she whispered, voice shattered-but-strong and melodious like the tinkling of bells. "I just… I can't."
There was a fog slowly settling over her mind. Onyx was acutely aware that she couldn't just stay silent, that- that she needed to move… but nothing felt real.
"Onyx." Snowfall gasped, pleading.
It didn't feel real.
It- it didn't feel real.
It wasn't real.
"ONYX, SAY SOMETHING!"
And that was the moment the world around them shattered. The shards of the night flew in all directions, slicing into her skin like daggers… but she couldn't bring herself to say anything.
She couldn't bring herself to feel.
"Say something! Anything! PLEASE!"
Onyx kept her head low as Snowfall screamed, more out of desperation than anger.
"You know!" she said, knowing that all of this was the wrong thing to say and do and she shouldn't be doing any of this, but being unable to stop herself. "You know what's wrong!"
Each word Snowfall threw towards Onyx seemed to skitter to a stop just before impacting her, and it made her irrationally angry. What right-
She stopped, breathing hard.
And then she fell to the ground.
…
…
"W-why am I doing this?" she asked, her voice coarse as sandpaper. "I-I don't hate you, I'm not even angry…"
Snowfall trailed off, aware of the sweat beading her brow.
"…is this what it's like to feel?"
The fire cackled loudly, mocking them both.
"Does it feel like your heart is being pulled out through your throat?" Onyx asked tenderly.
"Y-yes."
"Are you angry at me, even if you don't want to be?"
"Yes!" Snowfall was almost in tears, pleading. "Gods yes."
"Are you scared?"
Snowfall fell silent.
"…yes."
Shadows fell across her face in waves, and Snowfall knew that they were mere inches away from losing each other forever.
"…I'm scared." she admitted, pressing her palms into the cold floor. "I'm scared, because I've never ever done this, and I'm going to mess up, and I feel sick and-"
She stopped, because she knew that if she kept speaking, she would never stop.
"Onyx, I don't think I'm capable of love."
Strands of moonlight spun through the air as though on a loom, the night weaving a tale of great tragedy and shock.
"What?"
Snowfall whimpered, kneading her palm against her eyes. "I care for you, Onyx. I can't say it enough,
"…but you don't love me."
She sighed, softly shuddering. It was heartwrenching, but Onyx didn't feel a thing.
Maybe she didn't have a heart.
"It's fine." she continued, the words numb even to herself. "We can't be in love. We've only known each other for a week."
"You don't understand." Snowfall crawled over to Onyx, lying down in her lap. "I don't think I've ever loved anybody. Romantically. Ever. And I don't think I ever will."
"…really?"
She nodded, unwilling to meet her gaze. Slowly, she drew her arms and legs in for comfort. Her scales blushed a delicate navy in the sparse light, but it was melancholy.
"Look at me." she laughed humourlessly. "Trying to justify my own crappy existence."
Onyx didn't respond, instead electing to softly stroke the scales along Snowfall's jawline.
"Trying to justify every single thing I've ever done wrong."
She said nothing.
"Trying not to hate what I've done to you-"
"Snowfall." Onyx interjected finally.
The girl looked up at her, eyes shining with fear in a way Onyx could never have imagined but a week ago.
"…you don't need to love me." she insisted. "You don't need to love anybody. It's… it's just the way you are."
Snowfall closed her eyes, sinking deeper into Onyx's embrace. Both of them dutifully ignored the tears.
"…does that make me a hypocrite?" Onyx pondered aloud, mostly to fill the silence.
Snowfall took a deep breath.
"No more than me, I suppose."
The world around them had changed, from a distinctly fluffy midnight indigo to a bleak mess of dark blue and grey.
And they lay next to each other, wishing that things didn't have to be this way.
…
…
…
"What was it like?" Onyx asked, almost afraid of the reply.
"…bad." Snowfall replied. "Just… bad."
"Gods, I- I can't even imagine-"
Snowfall was indifferent and yet not. "You could. I don't mean to presume, but… you know what it's like to have no idea who you are."
Onyx cackled mirthlessly. "It feels like a lifetime ago… but yes. I was… filled with bitterness at everybody who had wronged me. And when I stopped seeing the point to that… yeah."
They lapsed back into silence again. It wasn't really uncomfortable anymore… just a necessity.
"It felt hollow." Snowfall sniffled, her velvety voice rolling like waves. "Like… being empty, and… full of doubt, and… and…"
She shouldn't have said anything. Now that she'd begun, she didn't think she could stop.
"I felt sick sometimes." she continued, talking faster with every word. "And trapped. And I hated myself because I didn't feel anything, but I fucking wanted to because you're incredible and you deserve someone better…"
There was absolutely no space between the two of them, but it seemed to Snowfall like she was surrounded by a moat of her own design.
"I don't deserve your love." she insisted, the words ringing hollow even in her ears. "Not anymore, anyways."
Onyx circled her arms tighter around Snowfall's torso, resting her cheek against the Icewing's left shoulder.
"You don't believe that." she whispered.
And she was right.
"I don't."
Snowfall found herself holding back tears as she continued. "I don't believe it, but I want to, I- I need to!"
The words were coming faster now, as her breaths grew quicker and the gaps between them shortened.
"All the things I've said, all the things I've done-"
"Stop."
The word hung in the air between them, and for a second it seemed like the world had frozen in place. Dust motes remained suspended in the air, glinting in the sparse torchlight, undisturbed by either of their breaths.
It was deathly quiet.
It felt like the world would shatter like crystal if either of them moved too fast, spoke to loud… even dared to breathe in the impossible silence that pressed down on them like an ocean, as though they were leagues below the surface.
Then Onyx pressed her muzzle against Snowfall's neck, pulled her back so they were curled up against the wall, and began singing a song.
She was hesitant as she sung, afraid to shatter the moment by singing too loud. In the freezing night, though, her words resonated among the icy walls. The notes themselves were raspy, and not always on key.
It was the most beautiful thing Snowfall had ever heard.
For minutes after the final word had stopped echoing, they remained tangled up in the other's embrace. At this point Snowfall had wept so much that she thought she had no tears left to give… but she'd been wrong. Though, as some form of small comfort, they weren't the choking, heartwrenching type- more a silent acknowledgement of her constrained emotions.
Onyx bumped her lips against the tracks the tears left down her face.
"Please smile." she whispered oh-so-softly.
So the protected becomes the protector, the student the teacher, the broken the saviour, the powerless the powerful.
Irony is cruel that way.
And with that, Snowfall's gently heaving chest finally calmed, and she turned back to Onyx with ocean eyes broiling with sorrow.
"Don't leave me." she pleaded finally, voice hoarse and tired but terrifyingly desperate. "I- I couldn't bear it if you did."
Onyx opened her mouth to respond, but Snowfall continued.
"I know th- that I have no right to ask you-" she coughed, trying to force out the lump in her throat, "-b-but please, just, stay."
Onyx held her closer, the hint of a smile dancing across her beautiful face.
"I will." she mumbled, letting her nose rest against Onyx's. "I promise."
The world seemed to warp back into place around Snowfall's next words.
"Don't make promises you can't keep." she whispered. "Just-"
"No."
Onyx didn't know what she was doing. All in all, the icy blade of fear was still lodged deeply in her heart.
But she knew that Snowfall was hurting.
So she would be strong.
"Maybe one day we won't need each other anymore. Maybe one day we'll hurt each other so badly we can't ever be together. I don't know what the future holds, Snowfall. Nobody does."
She extended her hand, brushing against the Icewing's scales.
"But until that day comes, we will be by each other's sides."
Quick as a wink, she grabbed Snowfall's hand.
"We're both broken people." Onyx said with finality. "Shattered from the inside out. And… and maybe what we need is to be able to heal with one another, right?"
"B-but-"
Snowfall sobbed, the sound crashing into Onyx's chest like a dagger. Eventually, she sighed, and managed to speak. "…I don't know if I can do it. I-I don't know if I can love anybody."
They were silent for a long time, acutely aware of the distance between them… of the hundreds of miles and thousands of centuries of tradition and culture that drew them apart… of even their very scales.
And after an eternity and a half, Onyx broke the silence.
"…do you truly believe that there's something wrong with that?"
Snowfall looked up, eyes still shimmering with tears. "O-Onyx, I'm a freak-"
"You," Onyx squeezed the girl's hand, "are a lot of things. Beautiful. Powerful. Intelligent. But you're not a freak."
Snowfall's lips moved like a guppy, but no sound came out.
And then she broke down crying.
And Onyx held her close.
"Snowfall," she whispered gently, "if I can't be strong for myself right now… I can at least be strong for you."
…
…
There was silence.
Both dragons gazed contemplatively into the fire; spitting sparks as it consumed yet more kindling. It had already consumed the wood towards the edges of the fireplace, leaving nothing but lightly glowing embers.
They both saw different things in the hearth; one saw warmth, the other saw a pyre.
Snowfall spoke when she was sure her voice wouldn't hiccup, swallowing in an attempt to remove the last vestiges of her grief. "I- I'll be strong for you too. I p-" she paused, breathing. "-I promise."
Her face was turned towards the ground, the firelight flickering against her cheeks and glinting off the silvery droplets that still clung to her eyelashes.
So Onyx echoed the words Snowfall had said to her what felt like a lifetime ago…
"Keep your head high, princess. Your tiara is drooping."
Snowfall laughed.
It was low, ungraceful, almost a snort.
And Onyx couldn't have wished for anything more.
The sound died into the night, swallowed up by the thick books and imposing walls and the snowstorm still raging outside. Onyx wanted to replace it, to say anything to stop the oppressive silence from closing in again.
But then Snowfall hesitated.
For a second, it seemed like she wouldn't speak.
"I'm scared." she admitted finally, still not making eye contact. "Some part of me is glad that I said what I did, and then the other…"
Onyx pursed her lips, wondering what to say next. "And that's fine. It's fine to be scared. I'm… terrified, like, if you just… left…"
She trailed off, and Snowfall sighed.
"The important bit is that we're here for each other. Forever."
"…and what if one day we're not?"
The question hung in the air for a solid second before Onyx responded.
"Then… we'll just have to deal with it. I've learned that now… from you."
Snowfall gripped her hands tighter, and the cool scales imbibed a certain sense of comfort in Onyx.
"We can't live our lives dependent on the ones we care for. It's just… easier with them, I suppose."
"…so where does that leave the two of us?"
Onyx kissed her.
It was soft and tender and mild and sweet and exhilarating and all those other words…
And Snowfall still drew back, hesitant and a bit sheepish.
"…I'm not sure how I feel about that." she whispered. "Sorry."
But Onyx simply smiled.
"Why are you apologising?"
"Dunno."
Snowfall smiled lightly, and Onyx could almost see the weight of the sky lifting from her shoulders. Granted, she would soon be weighed down again; but for now, it felt like she had taken flight.
"Felt like the right thing to do." she continued, snuggling against the Sandwing without really paying attention to what she was saying. "You can kiss me anywhere else, if you want."
Onyx giggled. "Phrasing, Snowfall."
"Wha-" Snowfall realised what she had said. "Haha, real funny." she grumbled.
"Anyways," Onyx continued, "That leaves us two broken people, leaning on each other until we can walk again."
Slowly, as though testing the waters, her lips pressed tenderly against Snowfall's forehead. "And when we can finally walk, we'll run into the sunset. Together."
A beat.
Then Snowfall began softly giggling.
"That's really corny of you."
"I learned from the best." Another kiss, this time right on her nose.
Snowfall was openly laughing, hugging Onyx tightly as though she wanted to root herself in the moment, to believe that her friend was there for her, and that they had made it through this together.
She pressed her cheek against her friend's, laughing openly as she did so. "I guess I am rubbing off on you, then. Now flip the page over. You stopped on a cliffhanger."
"The book doesn't have cliffhangers, Snowfall."
"Well, I simply must know what happens next post-haste." Snowfall raised her arm, index finger up. "Presto, Onyx!"
Onyx laughed, skimmed the rest of the page, and turned it over.
…
They didn't dramatically kiss.
They didn't fall together like it had been destined by the stars, as though they couldn't live without feeling the other's skin against theirs, breath rasping through their battered throats.
But when Onyx's eyes finally began to droop, she set aside the book comfortable in the knowledge that Snowfall… her Snowfall… was but an arm's length away.
And Snowfall went to sleep lightly grasping Onyx's talon… aware that she would be there the next morning… and the one after that, and the one after that.
Joy is a fickle thing… not often found in tandem with constancy.
But that night, two friends found both in the other's arms.
Dakota
-Tiny Moving Parts
