Another day without Luna was as boring as always. Waking up in the morning just wasn't the same without the ability to look down at Luna and see her cute, sleepy face. And watching cartoons without Luna by her side wasn't the same either.
It just didn't seem fair to Astra. As much as she loved her mother, it was awfully lonely when it was just the two of them. Even Lily now had Neo and Emerald to keep her company over the holidays. Astra missed the days back in Atlas, where she and Neon could expect to be visited by the rest of Team FNKI anytime, or could head out to some kind of part or event whenever one happened to be occurring. Astra didn't miss Atlas by any means, but Vale seemed to be lacking in the 'fun' area as far as Astra was aware. Any nightclubs were less of the wild and entertaining covered-in-laser-lights-and-fog type, and more of the only-plays-really-old-music type. Either that, or the shady, underground, illegal type. Astra wasn't keen on either of them. And there also were really any fancy events going on that Astra could crash by way of her mother knowing the people in charge, because Neon didn't know the people in charge of Vale's fancy events.
So, Astra found herself counting the days until she could return to Beacon, to her team, and to her wonderful girlfriend. And today was only Day 2. It was not encouraging.
"Hey, cheer up," Neon nudged her as she sat at the table, leaned over with her head resting on the wooden surface. "The holidays won't last long. I'm sure you can find something to do other than moping around."
Astra gave her a mock glare. "Oh, you're one to talk." Over half a year now, and the other members of Team FNKI had still yet to visit or even offer a kind word to either of them. And despite Neon's constant insistence of being fine, it was obvious to Astra that she was not, in fact, fine.
Neon shrugged. "At least I'm suppressing it and making an effort to keep a positive outlook on life."
Astra lifted her head to squint at her. "I'm pretty sure that's not healthy." She pushed away the tiny voice that told her 'hey you're being kind of hypocritical right now'.
Neon sighed. "I keep hearing that from Ilia too. It's always 'hey Neon, maybe you should talk more about your feelings' with her. Pff."
"You know she only says that because she cares about you," Astra pointed out, "And she's right."
Neon swept Astra over the head with the dishtowel she was holding. "I know that, starshine. I'm just joking around. Things with me will be fine though, I promise. Back in the day, the others would get annoyed with me "
"-All the time." Astra finished for her. "I know; you keep telling me. But it just doesn't sound like it's ever lasted this long before." This didn't seem like the time neon had accidentally frozen Ivori's favourite dress right before a party, or when she'd made Kobalt look dumb while he'd been trying to flirt with his newest crush, or when she'd broken a window in Flynt's parents' house and blamed him for it. This was a lot more personal for everyone involved.
"Trust me, they'll come around once they get bored of being without me," Neon assured her unconvincingly. "Now," She sat across the table from Astra. "Why don't you just go and visit Luna if you miss her so much?"
The question shocked Astra so much that she didn't even care about Neon changing the subject. "Go to Patch? Where all of Remnant's most legendary heroes live!? Including Luna's parents, who don't know I'm dating her!?"
Neon leaned back slightly. "Okay, so you're not on board with that. Why don't Blake and Yang know about you two?"
Astra squirmed. Well, uh…I mean, it's not like it bothers me. I'm not some insecure straight person. It's just…" She rubbed the back of her neck and avoided her mother's gaze. "There's a chance Luna may be worried that Yang won't approve because you're my mother."
"Hah!" A short laugh burst out of Neon. "Fair."
Astra gazed wearily at her, not reassured. "Do you guys really hate each other?"
"What?" Neon chuckled. "No, of course not. Don't get me wrong, Yang was certainly annoyed by me, but you can't blame her. You know how I can be." Distant memories seemed to flutter across her face. "I sure did say some things."
Astra hesitated. "Do you think Yang really would disapprove of me? Or at least just be…disappointed?"
Neon frowned. "Absolutely not." All the joking drained from her tone. "For all her problems with me, I don't think Yang's the type to judge people based on their parentage. And I don't think anyone could ever be disappointed by you."
Astra let herself relax a bit. "Really?"
"Of course," Neon affirmed. "You're the brightest star in the sky. And hey, if Luna sees that, I'm sure her mother will, too."
Slightly comforted, Astra rested her head back on the table. "Thanks," She sighed. "But that that still doesn't really solve my first problem."
"Oh, well that's easy!" Neon's tone perked right back up again. "Why don't you just meet her in the city or invite her over here?"
Astra lifted her head again, hope sparking inside her. "Here? Would that be okay?"
Neon shrugged. "Why not? I mean, it's about time I met her. I'm very curious to meet the first person to have ever stolen your heart." She winked. "I'd stay out of your way, of course. No annoyingly overbearing parenting here."
Astra found herself doubting that, but the thought of having Luna over at her house still seemed very exciting. She could introduce her to all of her stuffed animals, show her old photos, bake with her in the kitchen. They could make a whole date out of it.
She grinned, pushing her chair away and walking around the table to hug her mother. "You're a genius! Thank you!"
Neon chuckled. "Did the idea seriously never cross your mind?"
Astra pulled away and skipped a little. "I mean, kind of, but it never really registered with me, y'know? I forget she's even my girlfriend sometimes!"
"Hm, fair enough." Neon replied, her tone amused. "I forget I'm dating Ilia a lot, that's for sure. Though I've been dating her for way less time than you've been dating Luna, so at least I have an excuse."
Astra waved a hand at her. "Don't judge me." She gave another little hop. "I'm going to go and text her!" She started to dart out of the room, before spinning on her heels to face Neon again. "Oh, uh, when's a good time?"
Neon shrugged. "Any time's fine."
Astra grinned. "Okay, cool!" She hurried to her room and flung herself on her bed, bouncing her scroll into her hands from where it had been laying on the covers and opening her messages.
'hey!' She sent to Luna, following it up with several heart emotes. As she waited, she placed her scroll back down and rested her chin on the bed, watching the screen expectantly with wide eyes.
When Luna replied with 'what's up?', Astra jumped, picked up the scroll again, and sent,
'did you want to come over to mine this weekend? we could have a little house date!'
'oh, I'll need to ask my parents, but that sounds fun!' Luna responded. A moment later, a second text appeared, 'they're okay with it!'
Excitement shooting through her, Astra followed up with more exact details, already planning the day in her head. This day would have to be special. It would be a lot more personal than a regular restaurant date and would last a lot longer. There was something very exciting about the idea of spending a day with her girlfriend in her house, where they would have access to all kinds of things they didn't have at Beacon. She'd have to clean her room and make sure the house was free from any odd smells. Oh, and she'd definitely have to make sure the toilet paper was stocked up, and that she'd have her best clothes washed and dried before the day.
After a moment more of texting, Luna had to go for a moment, and Astra lay on her back and let herself take it all in, still planning the day. Turning her head, she took note of her guitar in the corner of her room, behind her door, with its bright pink and purple stickers plastered all over it. A bulb turned on in her head and she gasped to herself rolling off the bed and scrambling over to it.
Taking the instrument in her arms, she played a chord as a test. It was out of tune from months out of use, but the strings still seemed strong enough. It had been a while since she'd even played it, let alone written anything, but maybe…
As lyrics popped into her head, she rushed through her drawers for music paper and a pen, scrawling down words in a rough mess, not bothering with notes yet. She'd never attempted to write a song in just a few days before, but then again, she'd never been this motivated before. She'd never had a girlfriend to write a sappy love song for before. Most of her other songs had either been nonsensical or about the thoughts in her head she'd never let anyone else here. And she'd never had anyone to share her songs with before, except for her mother.
But the coming weekend would be her time to shine, to play and sing a song that she could perform from the bottom of her heart, to the person who meant most to her in the world. It would have to be perfect.
