every bait and switch was a work of art
Safrin beams down at her, and for all the splendour of the sky gathered around her shoulders, for all the impossible beauty that clings to her like starlight caught in silk, there is something almost achingly simple in the pride that softens her face. It is not the pride of a goddess pleased by worship, nor the distant satisfaction of a queen receiving tribute, but the warmer, brighter thing beneath all of that, the expression of a mother looking at her daughter and seeing exactly the star she had always known was there.
"You are indeed," she says, her voice rich with approval as both her thumbs lift to Nova’s cheeks, brushing away the tears with careful strokes that leave faint traces of silver light in their wake. Her smile turns a touch more playful then, brightening at the edges with the sort of mischief that makes the heavens seem less unreachable, and with a wink she taps one elegant finger lightly against the tip of Nova’s nose. "And don’t you forget it."
Straightening, Safrin lets her hand drift over Nova’s hair in an affectionate ruffle, delicate enough not to disturb Jeff where he has tucked himself away, though the goddess’s eyes glitter with obvious amusement at the tiny passenger hidden among all that brightness. "Now go," she says, her radiance beginning to gather around her once more, the stars above answering as if summoned by the softness of her command. "And shine just as you always have." One last wink gleams between them, lovely and conspiratorial, and then Safrin is gone in a fall of silver light, leaving the offerings glittering at the shrine, the evening sky newly awake with stars, and Nova standing beneath them with her mother’s pride still warm upon her cheeks.
~FIN
"You are indeed," she says, her voice rich with approval as both her thumbs lift to Nova’s cheeks, brushing away the tears with careful strokes that leave faint traces of silver light in their wake. Her smile turns a touch more playful then, brightening at the edges with the sort of mischief that makes the heavens seem less unreachable, and with a wink she taps one elegant finger lightly against the tip of Nova’s nose. "And don’t you forget it."
Straightening, Safrin lets her hand drift over Nova’s hair in an affectionate ruffle, delicate enough not to disturb Jeff where he has tucked himself away, though the goddess’s eyes glitter with obvious amusement at the tiny passenger hidden among all that brightness. "Now go," she says, her radiance beginning to gather around her once more, the stars above answering as if summoned by the softness of her command. "And shine just as you always have." One last wink gleams between them, lovely and conspiratorial, and then Safrin is gone in a fall of silver light, leaving the offerings glittering at the shrine, the evening sky newly awake with stars, and Nova standing beneath them with her mother’s pride still warm upon her cheeks.
~FIN
you're the one prize i'd cheat to win
