#star!nigel

Although, he suspected she’d be more impressed by his father’s story and would want to know why Adam hadn’t done something brave like taking advantage of his only friend in order to break the law just to please her. That was the sort of thing Frederick would do and she seemed quite happy to marry him in exchange for a plain old ring instead of requiring an entire star.

Adam sighed. He wondered briefly if Beth was actually worth all the effort. But, despite her stubborn insistence that stars weren’t all that interesting really, she was kind and understanding, and she always smiled when she saw him. She made Adam feel that he wasn’t alone in the world and that, it seemed to him, was worth quite a lot of effort, actually.

Even if she did tend to tell him off for talking about stars so much instead of attending parties.

Maybe if the candle didn’t work, he would talk to Harlan. Maybe he would see that bringing the star back for Beth was important enough to make an exception to the law. Maybe he would remember that he’d loved Adam’s dad enough to forgive him and would forgive Adam too.

But first he would try the candle.

He reached for the pack of matches and drew one out, hands shaking only slightly. Adam didn’t like matches, especially not up here with so many dry and easily flammable bits of paper. But it seemed only right to do this amongst his father’s treasured possessions and so, after one last trip downstairs to check that the note he had left for Harlan in case of disaster was set clearly on the kitchen table, and that he had extra matches in his pocket for the journey home, Adam struck the match, thought of the star, and lit the candle.

Immediately he was engulfed by golden-white flames and, before he had even the chance to panic, there was an odd tugging sensation behind his navel and he was being dragged, faster than his mind could comprehend, out into the night and across the countryside. Adam had sometimes wondered what it would be like to fly but he had always pictured it as a leisurely, gentle activity. Not this breakneck, fiery, uncontrolled rush towards an unknown destination and, presumably, a rather messy death on impact.

He rather preferred his version.

The journey seemed, to Adam, to last both a lifetime and the blink of an eye but, either way, before he could muster his strength to graduate from shocked whimpers to really proper screaming, he was deposited, flat on his back, on something hard and unforgiving. After a moment’s thought, Adam determined that it was the ground.

He gazed up at the night sky, dazed and sore and oddly… exhilarated? He was pretty certain he should be feeling terrified just now – he certainly had while in the air – but somehow, upon landing the terror had transmuted into a thrill of excitement. Adam lay on the cold ground and felt it shiver all through his body, little electric curls of pleasure and adrenaline.

“Can I do that again?” he found himself musing out loud.

“Can you appear out of thin air like a fucking comet and nearly flatten an innocent bystander again?” came a deep, lilting voice, apparently from out of the sky itself. “I’d rather you fucking didn’t.”

Adam jolted, his brain still foggy and slow from the impact. “God?” he asked, tentatively.

“Not quite, darling, but that’s very much to your advantage,” said the voice. Without warning, a figure loomed over Adam’s prone body, peering down at him with a smile – no, a smirk – tugging at its mouth. “That old bastard would smite you soon as look at you, if you tried to knock them over like that.”

Adam stared up at the figure, mouth flapping, trying desperately to find his bearings. His eyes darted away from the man’s – for it was a man, or man-shaped being, at least – taking in the details of his clothing and person. He curled in a little on himself when he realised the man was tall and rather brutish looking, with a broad chest and strong arms exposed by the short sleeves of his shirt.

Adam made a small, frightened noise and immediately hated himself for it. Harlan had always told him never to show weakness, bullies could smell weakness and this man looked very much like a bully to Adam. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the blows to start.

After a minute, he opened them back up again to see the man still watching him from above. His eyebrows – what there was of them – had climbed very high up on his forehead, suggesting he had been surprised by something. Adam wondered dully what could possibly be more surprising than his appearance from out of mid-air?

“Darling, I’m not going to hurt you, if that’s what you’re worried about. It’d be like kicking a puppy and Sirius’d have my fucking guts if I did such a thing.” The man crouched down next to Adam and offered his hand. “Name’s Nigel. Well, technically it’s Intercrus but that’s a mouthful and not the fun kind. What’s yours, gorgeous?”

Adam regarded the hand dubiously but decided it was probably better to play along for the moment. He took it and was about to shake when Nigel smoothly turned it over, palm down, and deposited a kiss just below the knuckles. Adam sucked in a breath of surprise and, his voice shaking slightly, said, “I’m Adam and that was quite rude of you.”

Nigel grinned and his teeth seemed to sparkle in the moonlight, little points of light bouncing off the sharp points of his canines. “My apologies, darling, I forgot myself for a moment. I simply didn’t expect to find something so pretty all the way down here on the ground.”

“Oh.” Adam wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He’d never been called pretty before and he wasn’t entirely sure it was warranted. Nigel must be making fun of him, he decided, that was far more in line with his experience of how people spoke to him. Although, it must be quite a strange, subtle sort of making fun, because the other thing no one had ever done was address him in such a purring, smooth voice before, nor looked at him like he might be something delicious to eat. It was making Adam’s stomach flutter in a very strange way. Perhaps the effects of magical travelling were catching up to him.

“Um, is it all right if I get up?” he asked.

In lieu of an answer, Nigel – still smiling brightly at Adam – rose smoothly from his crouch, bringing Adam’s hand with him so that he was pulled into a seated position, before offering his other hand and hauling Adam to his feet. As they rose, Adam realised that they were standing in the centre of a crater, in a wide hole surrounded by slate-grey rock that rose into the sky like cathedral pillars. Adam gazed around himself, noting the way the rock looked as though it had been pushed out and up by force, as if something heavy had landed where he stood and… oh. This must have been where the star landed, this was exactly the kind of damage it would have done on impact. But there was absolutely no sign of any star, nothing to suggest that a huge piece of space rock had landed here.

Adam looked back at Nigel, intending to ask him if he’d seen the star land and perhaps… bounce? No, that was stupid, but Adam couldn’t understand how it could possibly have just vanished. And then the question was knocked completely out of Adam’s mind by the way he caught Nigel looking at him, his smile seeming to curl even higher as his eyes ranged the length of Adam’s body. When he raised them, eventually, to Adam’s face, he winked and his gaze glittered.

For his part, despite his slight daze, Adam had to admit he had judged Nigel rather harshly. Yes, he was certainly imposing, tall and broad across the shoulders, with hands that looked made to throw punches and a scar across his nose that suggested some experience with head-butting. But there was also something oddly delicate about him, in the slender taper of his waist and his long, fine legs that put Adam in mind of the ballerinas Beth had so admired when they were young. He was also clearly no ruffian, his clothes casual but finely-made, both shirt and pants fashioned from cloth of so deep a blue they could have been cut from the night sky itself, a colour that set off the silver-gold of Nigel’s hair to excellent effect. It seemed to sparkle in the light of the still-smouldering trails left by Adam’s journey, an effect even Beth’s pretty hair had never shown any sign of.

He was just wondering what such a man was doing in the middle of nowhere when he realised their hands were still clasped together and snatched his back with a gasp. Then he immediately panicked that he might have offended Nigel and looked, for the first time, into his eyes. They were… strange, initially a perfectly ordinary brown but, as Adam looked deeper, he realised that they seemed to glow, as if lit from within, lending them a warmth and richness that turned their brown to amber and trapped Adam there like an insect, to be suspended for millennia in their depths.

Then Nigel snorted with laughter and the spell was broken. “Darling, had I known someone like you was walking around down here, I’d have made the trip much sooner.”

“You’re on a journey?” Adam asked, brightening with the revelation. “I’m on one too! Perhaps you can help me, one traveller to another?”

“It would be my pleasure, gorgeous. I can think of few things I’d enjoy better than giving you a hand.” Nigel’s voice seemed to undulate as he spoke, and Adam watched, his stomach rather undulating too, as Nigel’s tongue flicked out to wet his lips. “Just what is it I can help you out with?”

“I'm searching for a fallen star.”

Nigel raised an eyebrow. “Really? Well, don't know about fallen, dropped like a fucking stone might be more accurate, gorgeous.”

Adam looked behind himself, wondering if Nigel had already spotted the star and was offering an oblique commentary on it. When he saw no obvious signs of it, he said, “I'm sorry, I don't…”

“You're looking for a star.” Nigel grinned and gestured to himself. “You found one.”

Adam stared at him, wondering if he’d misheard somehow. Surely Nigel couldn’t believe he himself was… “Excuse me but you're not a star,” Adam stated, just to make certain. “Stars are composed of gas – mostly hydrogen and helium – whereas you are very clearly a solid. Besides which, falling stars are misnamed, they are not stars at all but meteors, or meteorites if they reach the Earth's surface without disintegrating. And you can’t be a meteorite either because those are made of stone or iron and while you are rather craggy looking, you’re still made of flesh.”

Nigel blinked at Adam, with the raised eyebrows and downturned mouth Adam recognised as bemusement, a typical reaction of new people upon meeting him. Adam drew in his shoulders a little and awaited the usual laughter or enquiry as to whether he was some kind of freak.

Instead, the man gave him a sharp-toothed smile and said, “Maybe in the sky where you live, sweetheart. Where I come from, we've got a little more style.”

Adam wasn’t quite sure what style had to do with it – style couldn’t make a rock into a man. Style could win you the hand of certain beautiful women, he considered, thinking of Frederick swinging his sword around and Beth giggling at his showmanship. He pushed the thought away and opened his mouth to argue with the clearly crazy man who thought he was a star. But something was tickling at the back of his brain, a memory insistently making itself known. A memory of a story his dad used to tell him, about a boy named Tristan who had lived in their village many years ago. A boy who had become king beyond the wall, and whose queen had been a beautiful woman who had once been the North Star. And when they were old and tired of ruling, he had returned with her to the heavens where they still lived, happily watching as the people below went on without them.

It was just a story, of course, and yet… Adam was looking at Nigel, whose hair twinkled and teeth sparkled, and whose eyes seemed to glow in a way no human’s should. And he was remembering how in the story Yvaine – the name of the star when she was a woman – seemed to glow whenever she was especially happy and how she had saved Tristan’s life with the force of her light. And, for the first time in his life, Adam found himself considering that science might not be able to explain everything in the universe.

“H-how can it be possible, though, to be a star in one place and a person in another?”

Nigel shrugged. “Just makes sense, doesn’t it? Man needs a proper body to survive down here, wouldn’t get very far if I was just dissipating into the atmosphere, would I?”

Adam thought about this. It sounded logical but Adam was certain there was a difference between a fact and some total nonsense spoken with confidence. Still, he found his heartbeat had picked up a little – he wanted to believe in this, wanted to be, right now, talking to an actual star, one that could talk back to him for the first time, instead of simply listening as he told his secrets into the dark.

“Y-you’re really, actually a star. A proper one?”

“Really and truly, darling. Not sure I’m all that proper though, especially with a sweet thing like you in front of me.”

Adam ignored the commentary and instead flapped his hands as he tried to line up all the questions he wanted to ask. If this man really was a star, he would know all about them and be able to answer all of Adam’s questions. And if he wasn’t, well, at least he seemed to be happy to talk about astronomy, a rare enough event in Adam’s life to be worth enduring a little delusion.

“What constellation are you part of?”

“The Great Bear. Or Ursa Major, if you want to be poncy about it.”

“Do you have any planets orbiting you?”

“Just the one, darling. Named Arkas, though she prefers Gabi. Cute little thing with a temper – nowhere near as cute as you, though.”  

“Have you ever seen a star go supernova?”

“Saw my buddy Darko turn into a black hole. Fucking intense trip, he says he wouldn’t recommend it, felt like he was being turned inside out.”

Adam gave him a dubious look. “That sounds made up, Nigel.”

Nigel ducked his head, as if he was ashamed of himself, but Adam could see his smile glowing brightly in the gloom and doubted it was true. Sure enough, a moment later he looked back up and winked at Adam.

“You caught me, gorgeous, I couldn’t resist. Do I fail your test now?”

“O-oh, you knew what I was doing?”

“Might just have landed on earth today, darling, but I’m not lacking for wiles. Although, if you wanted proof, you could’ve just asked.”

“Um, all right. Could you prove that you’re a star, please?”

“Well, since you asked so nicely,” Nigel said, and then stepped back a little way from Adam. “You might want to shield your eyes for this, sweetheart.”

Adam obediently raised his hand to above his brow, and only just in time, for a second later the entire crater filled with blinding, searing light, the clean, white kind, of cold winter mornings when the sun seems to have fleetingly regained its summer strength. Adam recoiled, moving both hands in front of his face and squeezing his eyes tight shut. Even then, his vision blared bright red and the blood seemed to rush in his ears as Adam wondered if the star – for now there could be no doubt – had only been playing with him and now was going to blast him into nothingness with the force of his light.

He flinched when he felt hands grab him and began to struggle a little. But the star was much stronger than he, and easily pulled Adam against his chest, placing an unexpectedly gentle hand against the back of his head to push it down against his shoulder. Stunned, Adam wondered if this was perhaps to put him at the centre of the light, where it was strongest and therefore would kill him the quickest. Then again, he didn’t feel as if he was burning and, he noticed, with his face pressed deep against Nigel’s shoulder his eyelids were no longer glowing red but merely a dim pink, and getting darker by the second.

“Sorry, gorgeous, didn’t realise I was packing as much power as that. Shouldn’t be, really, after such a fall.” Nigel sounded a little thoughtful as he said that but quickly recovered his usual bravado. “Never mind though, it’ll be ok for you to look in another minute, just stay where you are until I say it’s all right.”

Adam could only nod, half terrified, half desperately curious about what Nigel looked like all aglow. He felt the hand on the back of his head push down a little more firmly, the one around his waist tighten minutely.

“No peeking, kid,” Nigel admonished him, as if he knew how Adam was feeling.

“I promise,” Adam told him, voice muffled against the star’s shoulder. It was, all things considered, not the worst way to be trapped. Nigel smelled quite nice, like fresh rain and the edge of a cold wind, and he was very solid, easy to cling on to, warm and steady and strong. Admittedly, Adam’s back was aching a bit from his landing and he should probably have someone check him for concussion – probably not Nigel, because stars probably didn’t have much medical knowledge to hand – but it was all overridden by that fluttering, thrilling feeling returning to his stomach. He was, right now, wrapped in the light – not to mention the arms – of a star. Nothing in his life so far could possibly compare, not even the time Beth had got squiffy on champagne and kissed him.

By this time, his vision had drained completely of light and Adam felt Nigel’s hand lift from his head, petting through his hair a couple of times as if gentling a skittish animal. “Should be all right to take a look now, gorgeous, if you want to,” he said.

“Yes, I-I would like that, please.”

The hand lifted fully away from his hair and the grip around his waist loosened. “All right then darling, in your own time.”

Adam took a deep breath, then another, trying to get the swooping feeling in his stomach to stop. Then he raised his head, took a step back, and opened his eyes.

“Oh.”

Adam had thought Nigel thuggish at first glance but he had been wrong. He wasn’t thuggish, he was regal, beautiful, like a wild mountainside touched by the morning’s first light. Except this light wasn’t drawn from the heavens but from within Nigel himself, expanding outwards from his being in shimmering, shifting waves. And at the centre of it all, Nigel smiled his strange, sparkling smile at Adam and Adam returned it, feeling as if he too might start glowing with happiness.

“Believe me now, gorgeous?”

Adam blinked, surprised Nigel even had to ask, before exploding into enthusiastic babbling. “Oh, oh yes! I think there must be magic involved, because a human body can’t do that, and I’m quite new to magic because we don’t have it on my side of the wall and so I tried to understand you with science, which meant you had to be lying to me, or making fun of me which seemed to be the most believable option and…”

“You thought I was making fun of you?”

“Well, logically-”

“People often make fun of you, do they?” Nigel’s voice had taken on a funny, growling edge and Adam wondered if the change in atmosphere had hurt his throat.

“Oh yes, I’m very odd,” Adam said, making a note to get Nigel a cup of tea with honey as soon as they were back at his house. “Beth says it’s because they don’t understand me and people don’t cope well with… but that doesn’t matter. We shouldn’t waste any more time.”

Nigel blinked and set his head to one side. “I thought we were having a nice moment.”

Adam looked at the star blankly and then dismissed the comment as irrelevant. “Ok, well, come on. I've got to take you back to my town now.”

Nigel crossed his arms across his chest and asked, “Oh you do, huh? And why is that?”

“I need to give you to Beth. Or, well, probably just show you to her, since it would be inappropriate to give a person, well, someone shaped like a person anyway, as a gift.”

“Right. And what does this Beth character want with me? She’s not a witch, is she?”

“No, just a girl. A girl I am going to marry. Probably.”

“Probably.”

Nigel didn’t sound terribly encouraged by Adam’s words and so he tried to explain more clearly. “Well, she’s engaged to someone else at the moment. But when we saw the star – um, saw you – falling, I vowed to her that I would find it, er, you, and bring you back to her and then she would see that I’m worthy of her hand.”

“Right. Likes stars too, does she?”

Adam thought about it. He hadn’t really considered that when he was setting out on this adventure. “Oh, well, no, not really,” he admitted, eventually. “She says she doesn’t understand why anyone would want to spend all their time staring at the sky when there’s so many interesting things down here on earth.”

“Says all that, does she?” Nigel’s eyebrow had curved upwards again.

“In fact what she usually says is, ‘Stop staring at the bloody stars, Adam, and take me to this party.’”

Nigel laughed at this, but it didn’t sound like a very nice laugh to Adam, it was too short and rough. “She sounds delightful. So, let me get this straight – this girl doesn’t understand your interests and you don’t understand hers, she’s engaged to some other guy, and she let you go off on what probably sounded to her like a foolhardy quest to bring back a piece of rock that she doesn’t even find that interesting.”

“I… that’s… I think I must have explained it wrong.” Adam was feeling a bit confused himself at this point, he had to admit.

“Uh-huh.” Nigel paused for a moment, staring hard at Adam as if trying to see straight into his mind. “Got to be honest, Adam, I’m not sure I really fancy trekking all the way to some dingy little town to excite some dingy little bint. I’ve got a better idea to put to you. How about, instead, you and me take a trip back up to my home, sweetheart?”

Adam stared at him. And stared at him. And continued to stare at him until Nigel said it was making him “a little bit fucking worried, gorgeous.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Adam blurted, finally managing to fumble some words together. “It’s just that I’m not sure if you’re teasing me again. You must be, though, because it’s not actually possible for me-”

“Not teasing, Adam,” Nigel insisted, “not even a little bit. I’m not one of those assholes you grew up with, I’ve got no desire to make fun of you.”

“But, physically-”

“Told you, didn’t I? It’s a matter of logic – your body doesn’t want you to die, so while you’re down here on the ground it makes the very sensible decision to be human-shaped. And vice-versa when you’re up there.” He pointed to the sky. “Stands to reason.”

“I think,” Adam said slowly, “that may actually be the exact opposite of logic and reason.”

Nigel threw his hands up. “All right, fine, it’s magic and it’ll work just as well on you as me if I ask it. I just thought you’d like the scientific explanation better.”

“I think perhaps you should leave science alone before you do it any permanent damage,” Adam said, but he accompanied it with a smile so Nigel wouldn’t think he was really angry.

“Good idea, gorgeous. So, now we’ve got that cleared up,” Nigel went on, offering his arm to Adam, just like Frederick always did for Beth whenever he wanted to make it clear to Adam just who Beth belonged to. “How’s about it?”

“I, uh,” Adam hesitated. He was, he found, sorely tempted. There were two things he dreamed of in his life: marrying Beth, and exploring the stars. And, if he was honest, and – more importantly – proportionate, the ratio of dreaming was probably in favour of the stars. But it wasn’t really possible, was it? None of this was really real. None of it was grown up. None of it was normal. It was just stupid Adam, with stupid stars in his stupid eyes again.

Apparently Nigel noticed his inner turmoil, because he then asked gently, “Look, kid, lemme ask you: what is it you've got to go back there for?”

Adam thought about this, a stream of images of life with his father rising in his mind. But that was before, that life didn't exist anymore.

“There's my job,” he said, eventually.

“Like it, do you?”

“No.”

Nigel grinned. “Gonna have to do better than that, then, gorgeous.”

“Well…” Adam dipped his head, making sure there was no way Nigel could catch his eye. “There's Beth. I promised-”

“So you're gonna choose this girl who doesn't give a shit about the stuff you love, over the chance to float amongst the stars with a devastatingly handsome tour guide?”

“You?”

“Yeah me, darling, who else?”

“Well…” Adam was about to protest that it wasn't Beth's fault that she didn't understand the stars, that it was hard for people to care about his interests because he spoke too much and got too intense… And then suddenly Nigel was standing right in front of him, tipping Adam's chin towards the sky and Adam forgot what he'd been going to say.

“Look up, gorgeous.”

Adam did as instructed, staring up at the familiar wash of sparkling light, his eyes tracing the beloved shapes of his favourite constellations. Trying to find the space where Nigel would normally be, wondering how often he’d looked straight at him and never known someone was looking back.

“Is there anything better than that, Adam?” Nigel murmured.

“No.” The answer came out on Adam's next breath, no time necessary to consider it, since it came straight from his soul.

“No. Or…” Nigel tilted Adam's chin back down.  “…maybe one thing better,” he finished, and pressed his mouth softly to Adam's.

It startled Adam a little but not enough to make him pull away. Instead, he let Nigel kiss him, full of gentle but clear intent, and quickly found himself kissing back, making no protest as Nigel’s arms wound round him and pulled him closer. The only other person who had kissed Adam was Beth, and it had been quite messy and uncoordinated, and it was over almost as soon as it started because Beth broke out in giggles, apologising for getting carried away. This kiss, this one that Nigel was giving him, was nothing like that. For one thing, it had already gone on for quite a lot longer than Beth’s had, and showed very little sign of stopping. And for another, Adam was quite sure that Nigel would have no intention of apologising for it, given the way he had coaxed Adam’s mouth open and slid his tongue inside, stroking it against Adam’s own in a way Adam couldn’t resist responding to. Actually, he really hoped Nigel wouldn’t apologise for it, didn’t want him to apologise for it, wanted him to do it again and again…

Adam wasn’t sure if stars needed to breathe but he was aware – eventually – that he did, and would need to, quite soon. He made a little urgent noise and Nigel immediately broke the kiss, though he kept returning for smaller ones in between words, as though he couldn’t quite bear to stop completely.

“All right, darling?”

“Yes, just a bit breathless.”

“Ok now though?”

“Oh yes,” Adam replied brightly. “I didn't know stars could kiss like that. Or at all, actually.”

Nigel's smile was wide and dazzling. “We can do lots of other things too, darling. All you have to do is come with me and I'll show you all of them.”

“And the stars, too.”

“Of course, love, the stars too.”

Adam took a deep breath. “Ok.”

“Sure?”

“Can I… can I come back if I don’t like it, or if I miss Harlan, o-or just if I want to?”

“Of course you can, I’m no kidnapper. But, beautiful, I guarantee you’re gonna like it.”

Adam looked into Nigel’s eyes, into the glow that emanated from deep within them, and though he never normally could read anything from a person’s face, knew beyond doubt that the star’s words were truth. Perhaps it was because he wasn’t actually a person.

He nodded, never taking his eyes from Nigel’s, the usual compulsion to avoid eye contact muted just enough to ignore. “Take me with you.”

Nigel’s grin should have been bright enough to blind him but Adam found he didn’t need to turn away. Perhaps his eyes had adjusted, or perhaps Nigel’s magic was already taking hold. The star put an arm around Adam’s waist and asked, “Still got that candle handy?”

“Yes, it’s…” Adam slipped his hand into his pocket and drew it out. “It’s here.”

Nigel rewarded him with a soft kiss to the temple and the tightening of his embrace.  “Then light us up, darling.”

Adam smiled and struck the match. 

Epilogue

Adam did return to the village, just once*, little more than a month after he left. He had come to see Harlan, or so he told the old man, striding out of the darkness with such confidence in his gait that, for just a second, Harlan thought he was Adam’s father, somehow returned to youth and life and come to speak with his old friend. As he came closer, though, Harlan shook off this fanciful notion, seeing that it was indeed Adam, though changed in so many subtle little ways that he was more like a polished-up reflection of his old self. His hair had grown out somewhat from its old, scrupulously neat style and now soft curls fell across his forehead and around his ears in strikingly flattering fashion. Even his clothes were subtly changed. Adam had always habitually dressed in comfortable sweaters and carefully pressed pants, his idea of smartening up to put a plain jacket on top of his standard ensemble. Now, though the basic silhouette remained the same in generalities, in details everything was new and unfamiliar. His pants were perfectly cut, fitted yet not constricting, and topped by a soft, fine sweater in a shade of deep blue that looked almost black in the moonlight. And, strangest of all, he wore a long, flowing coat that streamed out behind him and looked as though it was a little big on Adam’s small frame, its sleeves only ending at the tips of his fingers and its hem trailing against the ground as if it were the train of a comet.

Harlan was still staring as Adam came to stand in front of him and they regarded each other for a moment (eyes carefully averted in Adam’s case, and huge as dinner plates in Harlan’s) before Harlan remembered himself and jolted into action.

“Adam!” he cried, gathering the boy into his arms. “Where the hell have you been, I’ve been frantic trying to find you, boy!”

From within Harlan’s embrace, Adam’s slightly muffled voice said, “Hello Harlan, I’ve been in space, how have you been?”

Same old Adam, then, thank goodness.

Harlan released the boy from his embrace and held him at arm’s length, both hands on his shoulders to ensure he didn’t vanish again. “In space, is it, kid? And how did you manage that?”

“With the magic candle Dad brought back from beyond the wall.”

Harlan was once again struck dumb. He knew Michael had almost undoubtedly brought back some souvenir from that damn-fool trip of his way back when. He didn’t realise Adam knew about it, though, much less that he’d think to use anything his dad gave him. And, now he came to think of it, the boy had come from the other side of the wall, from the so-called magical side, where witches and fairies dwelled. It was, he had to allow, just possible that Adam had stumbled across some way to visit his beloved stars.

Besides which, Harlan had never known Adam to lie a day in his life – indeed, he seemed to be vehemently against even the idea of lying – and so it might be fair to give even the most outlandish statement the benefit of the doubt when it came from the kid’s mouth.

“Well, come on then, tell me all about it. Did you find a falling star for that Beth?” Harlan hoped not – Beth was a sweet girl in many ways but she had let Adam trail after her like a puppy for years now and Harlan knew she had no intention of actually entering into a relationship with him. The idea that she’d throw off that fop Chilton and marry Adam if only he brought her some lump of space rock was absurd, not to mention cruel. He wished the girl would just be straight with Adam, then at least Harlan could pick up the pieces.

“Oh yes, I did find the star,” Adam told him, grinning happily.

Damn, thought Harlan. Now there would be trouble.

“Except,” Adam continued, blithely unaware of Harlan’s concerns, “when I found it, it wasn’t a star but a human – or, a star in the shape of a human – and he was very attractive and very interested in what I had to say about space and so when he asked me to go back up into the sky with him I said yes. He’s called Nigel and he’s a much better kisser than Beth so I think I made the right choice.”

Harlan blinked.

“You met a star… and he’s called Nigel? And he kissed you?!”

“Well, in fact his true name is Intercrus but he says that’s too long for everyday use so he prefers Nigel. And I think it is more accurate to say we kissed each other, although I suppose technically he did instigate it the first time.”

“Kid,” Harlan said, rubbing his temples, “I think you’d better start from the beginning.”

And so Adam did, telling the whole story in meticulous detail, from the first lighting of the match to the last, and everything that he’d seen and experienced since then (some of which Harlan had to request he skim over, since the sex lives of stars – or of Adam, for that matter – wasn’t something he was ready or willing to think about). And when he was done, Harlan had to concede that either Adam’s capacity for imaginative storytelling had miraculously increased from zero in the month he’d been away, which seemed unlikely, or the boy really was living in bliss with his beloved stars – and one more beloved than the rest.

And how could Harlan possibly object to that?

“Will I see you again, kid?” he asked, a little later, when the sky was slipping from black to indigo and they had exchanged all the words that seemed most important.

“You can see me any time you want to, so long as the stars are out,” Adam reassured him. “You just have to look up and I’ll be there, looking down on you.”

Harlan did just that, despite himself, turning his face up to the heavens and wondering which of the multitudinous points of light Adam fancied himself in love with.

He turned to Adam, minded to ask, only to find Adam gone, vanished again, no trace that he had been there at all.

Harlan thought that was unnecessarily flashy, not to mention that a goodbye might have been nice. Still, when he tipped his face back up to look at the stars, he thought one – or was it two? – twinkled at him particularly brightly, and he smiled to himself in the dark.

 *As it turned out, Adam had neglected to mention that he could come back to earth pretty much any time he wanted, so long as he stocked up on Babylon candles from time to time. So Harlan got the second fright of his life when Adam turned up on his next birthday, “Because you shouldn’t have to spend it alone, Harlan,” even though Adam knew full well that Harlan was spending it with his new friend Eleanor and didn’t need any company just at the moment, thank you very much Adam.