europe's skies;

"—so that’s the big dipper," he says, taking a small sip of soda and placing it back onto the concrete surface next to their stargazing equipment, "but ‘course, you probably already knew that."

kristjana was the only one that could beat him when it came to the knowledge of constellations and stars, after all. even if he was to read a million books or watch a trillion movies about the stars, he couldn’t even have half of what she knew. and although he was a little sad about that, he was proud. proud, because they could hold a conversation without the hassles of a language barrier.

proud, because she was his little sister; and the common ground that they shared — something as small as stars — made them even closer.

"——but i don’t remember anything else in the night sky these days," he says, staring up into the sky with a wishful expression, "wonder what’s happened to me, huh?"

"Do not be hard on self," Kris gently replied, "I teach." A fond smile settled on her features and she reached out to settle a hand atop his knee. She almost liked the fact that she knew more about the stars than Becket. It gave her something to teach him, while he did the same, but with the English language.  

"----Big dipper is not constellation, you know. It is..." She paused, screwed up her face in concentration. The English word for it was a difficult one she couldn't always remember. "Asterism!" she said finally with a smile; proud of herself for remembering the word. "Means stars within constellation. Is part of Ursa Major."

Shifting to change positions, the blonde now lay down with her head in Becket's lap--though her eyes didn't leave the stars. She took to pointing out the constellations she knew with one hand.

"Little dipper is part of Ursa Minor, see? And Leo Minor and Major are just below the big Ursa. And then Sextans is below Leo."

            “Oh? Thank you. You’re pretty much a cutie yourself.             You’re a new face. I’m Apple.”

          "Apple, like fruit? That is your name?             Different. Good-different. I am Kristjana----             or just Kris. I am friends with Beck-ket."

[ kristjana was incredibly endearing. becket had nothing else to say. although he wasn’t the oldest, becket had considered himself to be the ‘big bro’ of the pack; and kristjana was what he’d wished a younger sibling to be like. sweet, kind, gentle — and because she was so adorable, he didn’t mind their language barrier. besides, becket loved learning. maybe he’d be able to pick up some foreign phrases on the way. ]

"——naw, that’s cheatin’," [ beck exclaims, trying his best to pull a serious face ( but failing miserably as a stupidly huge grin threatens to overtake his whole facial expression), ] "you can’t just go’head and return a compliment like that, missy. got’ta keep the compliment that someone’s given you. y’trust me, right? if we keep on tellin’ each other that we’ve got cute faces, then we’re never going’ta end. ‘s going’ta be a cycle. we’ve got a whole lot’ta do, y’know? can’t be talkin’ about cuteness the whole time."

[ but truth be told, becket didn’t mind. instead, he shoots her a big smile and gives her a side-hug, pulling her into a warm embrace. ] “‘m real proud’f you,” [ he says, ] "—learnin’ a new language isn’t easy, i know. it’d be like me trying’ta learn your language.”

              "Íslenska er auðvelt. Enska er erfitt."

[ the words come much more fluently in her native tongue,   and there's a teasing little smile settling on her features.   she knew he wouldn't be able to understand a word she   said, but that's alright. she understood only bits of what   becket said. enough to make do. ]

[ kris' nose scrunched up when she was pulled into the hug,   and she laughed again; happily accepting it. she liked spending   time with becket like this. he was so nice and patient and helpful,   not that the others weren't, but she seemed to find him most   tolerable of her and that language barrier. ]

                               "Still cute. Very.                                ----And give good hugs."

               [ licks face ]           kris kris i like u very muchly           will u go to doggie prom with me?

                 [ cue happy tail wagging ]                  i like you too very muchly                  doggie prom is ..what??

                  [ sniff sniff ]             u smell nice             can i kiss u?

                   thank you!                    kiss? oh. um. okay!

            course i do, silly.             can i sniff it? pls?

                          …okay!

[ he admires her perseverance in trying to speak more english. he gives a small laugh, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly, before raising a warm hand to give her shoulder an affectionate squeeze. ]

"—almost," [ he says, trying to be as supportive as he could, ] "you want’ta start with ‘your’. Then follow up with ‘face is cute’, y’know, ‘t end it properly." [ he clears his throat, before repeating the sentence back to her, ] "——your face is very cute."

[ he pauses. ] "Your face is really cute, Kristjana.”

[ she was trying her best; she really was.   english was a hard language to pick up on   after spending a majority of your life in a   foreign country. thankfully she was getting   help from becket to better understand it.   he was very, very nice. ] 

                                 "Nei, not me!"

[ she shook her head with a small laugh, and a wide smile spread across her features. ]

                 "Yours. Your face is cute." 

        “Only if you sit in the crossroads with the four churches.”

           "I will! Am going to wait out all night."

            “Don’t forget rolling naked in dewy grass.”

           "Yes! And the elves with gifts and food."

"Not when you look like you want to fuck the sky, weirdo."

             "I want to----what?"

"You are such a fucking dork that it actually hurts me sometimes."

             "What? Am not allowed to like stars?"