-May 15th,
2014-
It was a late, moonlit night in Lavryn. Water crashed gently against the shores, and grass swayed softly in the breeze. The air was still just warm enough to be pleasant, encompassing everything like a light blanket. It was the perfect sort of night for a restful sleep.
Of course, that's not what Bones was up to on this particular evening.
His tail wagged, and a giddy grin was on his face. Despite the fact that he'd usually gladly be in bed by this hour, he was feeling completely awake, just as energetic as he would've been if he'd just woken up from a full night's rest. Anyone wondering why would only need a glance to the sky to find their answer.
It was brimming with shooting stars.
He'd been fully ready to lay down and go to sleep, satisfied after a long day of lounging in the sunlight and eating some fresh fruit he'd bought at Nook's Cranny. But as he'd settled into bed, he'd shot one last look out his window.
Only to see a flash of light. Then, after a long moment, another. And another.
And just like that, he was up again.
He must've sat on his mattress, staring like that for at least half an hour. But after a particularly long lull without any stars, he'd snapped back to the present, and scrambled to change out of his pajamas. He had to get a better view.
Now, he was out again, staring up to the sky with a beige coat and a beaming smile.
He was ready for some proper stargazing.
He began to wander, hardly paying any attention to where he was going. He wasn't sure where his feet were leading him, but the feeling of childlike excitement in his chest didn't let him question it.
His eyes were caught by the web of starlight shining down, the bursts of light sparking and dashing across his vision. His heart was full in a way he couldn't quite describe, in a way it felt like it hadn't been for a good while.
It was only when he stumbled and nearly tripped over a root that he snapped his eyes back to the ground. He let out a startled squawk, struggling to regain his balance.
As he steadied himself, he breathed out a small sigh of relief. Then, he blinked, taking a moment to take in his surroundings.
He was up on the hill, the one overlooking Natallia's house. In fact, he realized, he was pretty sure he was right next to—
"Gosh—!"
He yelped loudly once again as he turned to look back, only to find Carmen's concerned face in his.
"Wah!" She cried, startled by his own shocked outburst. Despite this, in the next second she was reaching out her hands to grab at his shoulders in an effort to keep him upright, despite him remaining steady on his feet. "Bones, don't do that! You scared me!" She complained.
"Carmen," he breathed, heart steadying in his chest. "Hi."
So, his half-formed thought from earlier was right, then, he noted. He was, in fact, right by Carmen's house.
"Geez, are you alright? I saw you nearly trip and fall!" She squeaked, concern beading up in her soft eyes. "You seemed distracted, so I wanted to check on you!"
"I'm fine, sorry. You startled me, too," he said, smiling sheepishly.
"I could tell, for serious!" She frowned. "You've gotta watch where you're going! Even with all the stars out, it's still dark, nougat!"
"Right, the stars! Did you see them?!" He asked, tail wagging furiously as his enthusiasm returned to him. To his surprise, Carmen just laughed.
"Of course I did, silly! It's all anyone's been talking about for the past week!"
"Huh?" He tilted his head. "Really?"
"Mhm? Of course it is." Carmen confirmed, confused. "Did you not see the bulletin board? There've been a ton of announcements about it."
"What? About the stars?"
"About the meteor shower, you goofball!" Carmen smiled. "Everyone in town knows about it! Or, well, I thought everyone did."
"Oh," he said, face flushing a bit. "I, uh… Guess I didn't notice, yip yip..."
"You should really make sure to check the bulletin board when you can," Carmen frowned with the mildest of disappointment. "There's a lot of really important information on there, nougat!"
"Right, right, sorry," he said, feeling sufficiently scolded despite Carmen's unyielding gentleness— she seemed to have that effect on people, even without trying. She was the type of person who no one wanted to let down, even a little bit.
She seemed to notice his sheepishness, as her expression softened considerably.
"Oh, don't worry about it," she smiled. "It must've been a nice surprise, at least!"
"Oh, boy, was it!" He beamed, grinning at just the memory of it all. "I was this close to heading to snooze town, then WHAM!" He cried, spreading out his arms widely.
Carmen giggled, holding a paw to her mouth.
Bones stared up at the sky again, letting out a dreamy sigh. "It was like magic! Shooting stars, across the whole sky! Man, I haven't felt like that since I was a kid!"
There was a quick pause, just a moment longer than expected, that prompted Bones to look at Carmen. Instead of the expression of enthusiasm she had a second ago, she was now looking at him curiously, head tilted to one side.
"Like magic was real, you mean?" She asked earnestly.
"Huh?"
"You heard her, like magic was real," came an unexpected third voice. Clearly, Carmen wasn't expecting it either— nor the arm that suddenly found itself draped around her shoulder— judging by her startled squeak.
She whipped her head to the side, only to be met with a familiar, grinning face, just behind her.
"Purrl!" Carmen whined, ears drooping as she pouted. "How many times have I told you not to do that?!"
The cat just chuckled, and whatever moment Bones and Carmen were having seemed to pass. He tried not to let the strange unease he felt thinking about her question linger.
"Why didn't you warn me, nougat?!" Carmen cried, turning to face Bones.
"I didn't see her either!" He exclaimed. Purrl's snickering only increased in volume.
"It's not funny!" Carmen whined again. "Between the two of you, you're gonna give me a heart attack, for serious!"
"Oh, lighten up," Purrl laughed, bringing the rabbit closer to her side. "You're fine."
"Mean," Carmen pouted harder.
He wasn't quite aware of it in the moment, but it was then that Bones began tuning his friends' lighthearted bickering out. He had once again become distracted by the sky.
He watched the stars passing by, mesmerized. He didn't notice himself leaning back to get a better angle, until it clicked that it just wasn't working. He needed a better viewing spot.
"... Hey, guys?" He prompted, turning his attention back to his friends—
Only to see their attention clearly caught up in something else. Purrl was seemingly midway through a playful attempt at dragging Carmen towards her house. Purrl's home was also along the cliffside and to the west of Carmen's own, making them next-door neighbors. Carmen, meanwhile, stood in place and gave exaggerated noises of disagreement like a petulant child. Upon noticing Bones' attention on them, though, they both blinked, seemingly having gotten so caught up in their own antics that they'd forgotten about his presence for a minute.
"Uh," he blinked, bemused, before deciding to just not question what exactly they were talking about before he got distracted. "I… Think I wanna go find a better spot. Do you guys wanna come with me?"
"Oh, nah, I think I've had enough of this for tonight," Purrl said with a wave of the hand. "I was on my way back home, anyway."
"Mhm, me too," Carmen said with a frown. "Sorry."
"No worries, it's all good," Bones smiled. "I'll go on my own, then."
"Cool. In that case, I'll get back to getting Carmen to come back to mine for hot chocolate!" Purrl smirked mischievously.
"Nooo, stop trying to kidnap me!" Carmen groused. Bones couldn't help but crack a smile.
"You wanna come along too?" The cat asked. "I'm sure I have enough room to steal the both of you for a bit."
"No, not now, but thanks," Bones replied.
Purrl shrugged. "Alright, if you say so."
He took this as his cue to leave and gave them a wave over his shoulder, taking off.
"Bye, Bones!" Carmen called, waving back.
"See you, kitten!"
His smile grew wider as he continued on, trekking through the dark village and through a thick patch of forest. He still wasn't exactly sure where it was he was going, but he trusted his gut instincts to lead him there.
Though he occasionally snuck a glance to the sky to see if his angle was right, he didn't make the mistake of getting too distracted again, carefully watching the ground as he went so as not to have any unexpected stumbles.
His expression brightened as he entered a small, familiar clearing; the one with the pond and the lone apple tree right near the edge of town. It was the same clearing that Natallia had taken everyone to go picnicking at a month ago. Something told him that this was it; the spot.
Speaking of the devil, though— Bones was met with the unexpected sight of Natallia herself, kneeling on the ground on the same pink-checkered blanket she'd used for their picnic. A telescope was set up nearby, but she wasn't using it. Instead, she had her hands clasped together, and was muttering irritably under her breath.
"Huh?" He said to himself, taken aback by the sight. But sure enough, there she was, in a big pink cardigan and an old cream turtleneck.
He watched her watch the sky with a distracted look on her face. A glimmer of light streaked across her blue eyes. Something about it made his breath catch in his throat for a second.
"Shoot!" She exclaimed, snapping him back to the present. She clapped her hands together. Her eyes slipped shut, and her indiscernible muttering started up again, a bit louder now. He watched for a moment longer, confused, before speaking.
"Miss N?"
"GAH!" She flailed, eyes locking onto him in an instant. "Bones, holy fuck! Don't do that!"
"Sorry, sorry!" He apologized, hands up in a show of surrender. What was with everyone sneaking up on each other lately, he wondered? "Didn't mean to scare you there."
"Ah, fuck," she murmured, but it wasn't directed at him anymore. Instead, she was looking at the sky again. Her quiet mumbling resumed, a bit frantic.
"... Natallia?" He asked, hesitating briefly, before coming to sit beside her. She didn't look at him for a good while, indistinct words not ceasing, until she finally let out a big, weary sigh, flopping onto her back.
"... You alright?" He questioned, concerned.
"Yeah," she said, voice weak.
"What're you doing?" He asked, slow and tentative.
"Making wishes."
He blinked. Once, twice.
"What?"
"Making wishes," she repeated. "Duh."
He caught another flash of light in her eyes, and she swore, scrambling upright, back up onto her knees. Then, she clapped her hands together, and started mumbling, before cutting herself off with another swear. "Ah, shit, I can't say them out loud if you're hear, they won't come true—"
An abrupt fit of laughter was startled out of him. Natallia blinked, staring at him with big eyes.
"What?" He asked, voice high and squeaky with amusement.
"What?" She repeated, scowling a bit.
"What do you mean you're making wishes?"
"I mean I'm making wishes!" She said, annoyed. "Don't you know that if you wish on a shooting star—"
"Of course I know that!" He laughed. "What I mean is, why do you look so stressed out about it?"
"Cuz… Cuz I gotta make them good!" She said, face flushing a bit. Then, three streaks of light crossed the dark depths of her eyes in a row, and she let out a terrified yelp.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," she chanted, clapping her hands as she spoke, and slipped back into her muttering.
He howled with laughter.
"Shut up, you're breaking my concentration!" She cried out, panicked. She broke out into little noises, not even bothering using her words anymore, as she counted on her fingers, one, two, three. Then, she sighed with relief. He giggled harder, and she turned to him with a deadpan glare.
"Is it that hard to think of things you want to wish for?" He asked.
"Of course not, but I gotta make them good," she said, with strange emphasis. "Otherwise they won't come true!"
"Good?" He repeated, in the same tone she'd used.
"You know, just! Moral! Unselfish!"
"Where'd you hear that?" He asked, tilting his head.
Without missing a beat, she answered, "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl."
An undignified snort escaped him as he pressed a paw over his muzzle. He couldn't help but break out into helpless chortles.
Her face flushed bright red. "Shut uppp! Stop talking!"
"S-Sharkboy and Lavagirl?" He repeated, wiping a tear from his eye, chest still shaking from the force of his laughter.
"Selfish dreams shouldn't come true," she recited resolutely. "So dream a better dream. An unselfish dream."
He barked out a laugh. She glared harder.
"So what, you incorporated that into your… Wishmaking belief system? Because of Sharkboy and Lavagirl?"
"Yeah, obviously!" She exclaimed, wagging a finger. "What, are you telling me you don't respect whatever Sharkboy and Lavagirl tell you?!"
He let out a delighted chuckle, and this time, she laughed along with him a bit, unable to keep up her annoyed act anymore.
"So you're just sitting here… Trying to make up unselfish wishes?"
"Mhm," she hummed. "But I'm still trying to make them things I want, you know? Just because they're supposed to be unselfish doesn't mean I don't still want to benefit from them at least a little. I mean, they're my wishes," she said. "So, I'm trying to think of everything I want, and then wish for it in a way that's good for everyone."
"What?!" He howled out through laughter. "That's what has you so stressed out?! Trying to con the wishing system?!"
"Don't say it like that!" She cried. "That makes it sound totally selfish! I'm just trying to make my wishes in a way that includes everyone, and everyone includes me!"
"Dude," he gasped out breathlessly.
"Bro," she returned with an over-the-top incredulous tone. His giggling continued, shoulders shaking.
"Shit!" She swore suddenly, and he glanced at her, only to see her looking up at the sky and clapping her hands again. "Ah, uhm, ahhh… Anyone who has fruits, I hope they're good!"
He cackled.
"Wha— SHUT UP— oh, wait, fuck, now that one's not coming true— damn it— uh—" she struggled, making his laughter progress into soundless, choked amusement.
"Errr, there!" She decided, this time not letting him in on her thought process. He watched as another trail of bright white light reflected in her vision. "DAMN it!"
He caught his breath a bit, quiet tittering still lacing the edges of his words.
"Natallia—"
"Mm, hmm, hmmm… I wish foooor… There!" She clapped her hands, eyes shut, brows furrowed.
"Natallia—"
"Is that another?! Jesus Christ, uh— um— everyone who— uh— likes the color chimney— wait, no—"
"Natallia—"
"What?!" She snapped, whipping her head around to face him.
"Natallia, calm down," he said, smiling fondly.
Something about it must've caught her off guard, because for a long moment she just stopped, staring, with wide blue eyes.
"Uh, what?" She startled, blinking as she snapped out of her frantic state.
"Calm down. It's okay," he smiled. "It's really sweet, how hard you're trying to make everyone happy, but don't let it get you down. Wishing on shooting stars is supposed to be fun."
"But I can wish for anything! Anything at all! And it might just come true!" She cried, spreading her hands out wide. "I mean, I know it probably won't, but who knows. What if it will? Do you have any idea how insane that would be?! That's so much power! I gotta make it count!"
"That's adorable," he sighed, not noticing how her face immediately went a tad redder. "But you need to relax. Come on," he said, taking her hand in his and laying on his back. Speechlessly, she followed his lead, laying down next to him on the soft quilt. "You're alright, relax."
"But—"
"How about you just focus on one wish for a while, yeah?" He smiled. "Whatever your most important wish was. And every other star you see for the night can be for that one."
She stared at him for a long moment, a hand clutched to her chest. Her eyes swam with an emotion that he couldn't quite discern. Then, she turned to face the sky, and her eyes slipped shut. A minute passed, then two. Her breath hitched.
"Got it."
"Good," he said. "Now, look at the sky."
He stared up into the endless expanse of stars above him, glancing out of the corner of his eye as Natallia did the same.
"Now, just enjoy it."
They laid there like that for a long while, silent. Something warm settled into Bones' heart as he looked up into the sky, his best friend beside him, in quiet contentment. There weren't any words he knew to string together to describe it, how he felt then, but he knew that he never wanted to let it go.
Shooting stars crossed the sky, quick flickers of light. Nothing broke the atmosphere but quiet breathing.
Until, after the passing of about ten shooting stars or so, he heard Natallia take in a sharp breath beside him.
"Woah," she said.
He just cracked a smile. "I know, right?"
"Dude," she breathed.
He hummed, letting his eyelids flutter shut.
"It's like… It's not like I wasn't appreciating how fucking stunning this all was before, but this is…" She let out a starstruck sigh. "Man."
"Yeah," Bones sighed back. "... You know, I already made a lot of wishes earlier, when I first noticed the shooting stars outside my window. I stayed at home, watching them, until I ran out of ideas for wishes to make."
He turned his eyes back up to the sky, longingly. "But I think I came up with one more."
Then, he shot her a beaming smile.
"I want to be able to do this again sometime."
A long, stunned silence hung in the air for a moment.
Then, a harsh shove to his shoulder.
"Dude!" She cried. "Don't say that or it won't come true, idiot!"
"That's alright," he smiled. "I'll just wish it will anyway when the next star passes."
"Don't tell me that, either!"
"Then—"
"Bones!"
He laughed, eyes slipping shut again. Natallia went quiet for a second.
"... I hope we get to do this again too, sometime," she said in a weak whisper. "This is… Really nice."
"Yep," he smiled. He sat up and stretched out his shoulders, and Natallia wordlessly followed suit, staring at him. He looked up into the sky. "The stars really are beautiful tonight."
He didn't see the way she paused beside him.
"You're gorgeous," she said, and he turned to glance at her.
"... That's… Not how the line goes," she realized belatedly, and he let out a laugh.
"Uh, not as beautiful as you, my darling?" She posed instead, shooting him a weak pair of finger guns.
"Sure," he smiled. "Not as beautiful as me."
"It's true," she mumbled, pouting, as red rose in her cheeks. "I did mean it. You are gorgeous."
He didn't notice how sincere her voice was then. If he did, maybe he would've said something different. Then again, perhaps he wouldn't have. Regardless, he didn't notice, so he just grinned and answered, "Uh, thank you, I guess?"
Her head bowed a bit. "No problem."
"You're pretty, too!" He smiled.
Her face flushed further. "No problem."
"... You mean 'thank you'?"
"Y-Yeah, thank you," she corrected. He laughed, leaning into her shoulder. Her breath hitched.
He was looking up into the sky again. He didn't notice that Natallia was watching it through the reflection of his eyes, now.
And for just a moment, as they sat under the moonlight together, magic really was real.
Hours passed like that. But, eventually, Bones grew weary, and when Natallia yawned for the umpteenth time, he finally suggested it was time to go home.
"... Alright," she sighed. Then, she gave him a tired smile. "Well, this was really nice. Thanks for joining me."
"Of course!" He grinned. "It was a blast, yip yip!"
She giggled a bit. "Yeah."
"I'll walk you back," he said.
"Thanks."
She stood up, gathering her big blanket in her arms. He followed suit, wordlessly taking the telescope. They only made it a few steps forward until he noticed that with the way the blanket was piled in Natallia's arms, she could barely peek her head over it. He fell into place just behind her, about to stop and suggest they stop and fold it up properly, when he noticed where her attention was directed. Not at the ground, but at the sky.
"Uh, Natallia, you should pay attention, you might—"
But it was too late. In an instant, a startled yelp filled the air, and she was on the ground with a scraped knee.
"Natallia!" He was at her side in an instant, crouched down, hands on her back as he helped her sit upright. "Nallia, you good?"
Silence. She wasn't saying anything. Just looking at her knee with a blank stare. He followed her gaze, and noticed the fall had torn up the plain stockings she was wearing under her knee-length pink skirt. The wound didn't look serious, but it was bleeding.
"... Ough," he winced, sympathetic. "Miss N? You alright?"
A lengthy pause. Then a long, overdramatic fake wail of an unreasonably high pitch rose into the air. "Eughhhh—"
He shook his head, laughing at her antics. "Ah man, what am I gonna do with you?"
"Booones," Natallia pleaded. "Help meeee…"
"Alright, alright, come on," he said, rolling his eyes as he tossed the blanket over his shoulder and helped her to her feet. He shot a glance at the telescope he'd left in the grass, before deciding that he'd come back for it later, after patching Natallia up. It'd probably be fine— she was more important, anyway. Though, on the subject of patching her up…
"You made sure to stock up on medicine after last time, right?"
A tense silence filled the air as they limped forward, arms thrown over each other's shoulders.
"... Right?" He repeated, expression tightening.
"O-Of course!" Natallia declared, trying to sound confident. "Of course I did!"
He breathed out a sigh of relief.
"... Whether I'm still stocked up on medicine now, on the other hand… Well… " She continued, and his relief immediately vanished again.
"Dang it," he sighed. "Okay, I'm dropping you off at your house and coming back with supplies."
"Huh?" She blinked. "Why don't I just go to your place with you?"
"Because it's halfway across town and trying to get you down this hill will already be painful enough as-is?" The dog said, deadpan.
"... Ah," Natallia said. "Yeah."
"Well, come on…" He sighed. "Night's not getting any younger."
A/N: Hey everyone!
Apologies for the slightly late upload on this chapter. Very busy weekend! Had a lot of fun, but I also needed the rest, lmao. You would think with everything prewritten, it'd be fine, but alas, proofreading is a major pain and also something I get really perfectionism-y about, so it takes a hot minute. And even still, I'm using my go-to phrases like eighty times per chapter... Oh well.
Anyway, remember me mentioning that later chapters would be inspired somewhat by later games? Well, this is one of those! The wishing mechanic in ACNH is pretty cool, but it got me thinking about how much of a pain it would be coming up with that many wishes in a row, and, well. You know the rest, lmao. Natallia really does get heated over the weirdest stuff. It was also loosely inspired by mastertrapmon's #BrooklynBloodPop animation loop! It's always super inspiring seeing people's fan animations, and this one in particular had great vibes, which I tried to capture in my writing somewhat. Would recommend, good stuff.
Well, I think that's all I have to say about this chapter. It was really fun to write, probably one of my favorites so far! I'll see you all in a couple of weeks! :)
