Celestar AU

01110010

Colin was the tech nerd of the group. Ever since he was a kid, he was always typing away somewhere.

For as long as he can remember, he’s had a huge interest in anything computer related. Motherboards, circuitry, binary- the little things. Routers and electricity, the switches and lights, the gentle hum of screens and fans cooling the CPU-

He realized that he had been distracted from his work, a continuous line of 0s took up space in his document.

Stretching, he saved his work and closed the laptop. He looked to the floor and spotted Spaghetti, his pet ferret. They were attacking a shoelace.

“Is that one of Shrig’s..?” Colin whistled at the ferret, startling them.

They took the shoelace and retreated under his bed. “Again?” He approached the bed, then sat down so he could see under it. “You can’t hide under here, you know? That’s Candice’s official ‘sleep-over spot’.”

Spaghetti squeaked and grabbed onto Colin’s pant leg. He stood up slowly, then gently dragged the ferret across the room. “It’s time for bed.”

Butterfly Boy

The window was open as Shrig entered his room. The wind brought in a chill that made no difference to the frost spreading across his skin.

He hurried to close it, muttering about how spring was going to be late this year. His curtains fell to a stop as the air stopped pushing through.

Shrignold grumbled at the sight of his origami creatures fighting each other. A swan had picked up a cat, then dropped it on a paper dog. The two flightless objects began jumping at the bird, but it was no use.

He grabbed the bird from the air, trapping it in his hands. He whispered to it calmly. “Be nice, or I’ll stop folding the boxes.”

The swan had escaped his grasp and perched itself onto one of the aforementioned boxes- a magic paper cube that glowed surprisingly well.

Sitting down at his desk chair, he opened up his journal. Notes were scattered across the page. In the past, people have mentioned how neat his handwriting was, making even his worst work look nice, but he knew it wasn’t as great as they said. Not to him, at least.

He grabbed a square sheet of paper and began folding it, creasing its edges sharply. Fold after fold, he worked slowly. Experimenting the origami would definitely be better with a reference, but it wouldn’t be the same as the creations he made from heart and memory.

Time passed, and the paper sat in front of him- a tiny, impossible to hold closed triangle.

An origami dog barked, sending a small whistling sound through the air. Shrignold turned to investigate, and was greeted by the dog stuck on the very top of Shrig’s shelf.

He stood. “This is the second time this week. Can’t you guys just get along for one hour?”

As he reached up to grab the dog, his hand shook violently. He grabbed it- muttering again. “Not again, I’m so sick of this. Swan- get him down now.”

The bird flew and picked the dog up, dropping it gently onto the floor. The rest of the origami creatures perked up at Shrignold’s sudden change in emotion.

They watched as ice spiked violently up his arm. He fell to the ground, shakily trying to break off the ice with his free hand.

Ticking Machines

Tony worked day and night with no rest. He was a watchmaker. He had to make sure everything was perfectly on time. Though he never wore a watch, he knew people who did. He wouldn’t want to disappoint them.

His adopted brothers, River and Forest, worked with him. River was more suited to lift heavy boxes of materials, and Forest enjoyed organizing everything. They worked together nicely, and Tony couldn’t help but smile when they managed to create something new.

At the end of the day, they would say their goodbyes. The two lived in town next to the shop, and Tony lived on the hill with his friends. Some days he wished that his brothers would visit, but it’s hard to climb up a hill so often.

As Tony entered the house, he was greeted by an origami swan flying directly into his face. He caught it as it fell. Shrignold came running after it. “Sorry, Tony. Colin spooked it again.”

Colin, who had been hiding under a table, spoke. “Well so-rry, mister.. uh.. paper.. man. I wasn’t even try-ing to scare it. I just wan-ted to sleep!”

“Under a table?” Tony tilted his head. “Col, you’re not in school anymore, you don’t have to hide under stuff to sleep.”

With a sigh, Colin rolled out from under the table and stood up, nearly falling over. “But I like tables! If you put a blan-ket on it, it’s like a hideout!”

Tony thought for a bit. “You know what? Maybe tables are cool.”

“No, don’t encourage him.” Shrignold put his head in his hands. “I am not dealing with this again.”

“But Shrig,” Colin grinned. “The tables love you!”

Tony nodded. “Maybe you should marry Mx. Table. I hear they like the cold.”

The Painter and Her Muse

Sketch sat in her mini-studio, a room of windows and curtains that she created art in. Paintings, doodles, and even a few small sculptures sat on shelves that littered the room and filled it with color.

Now, you may know that artists need their inspiration. Sketch painted many still-lifes, colored many drawings of the garden outside, and even sculpted a little clay cat. This wasn’t enough. Her art didn’t seem.. good enough.

They had never had self-doubts about their work, and this worried Candice. Her closest friend, suddenly upset about things that used to bring them joy.. now that’s a tough problem to solve.

She entered the studio and sat in a chair next to Sketch. “The doctor is in. How may I help you?”

Sketch smiled. “I’m not sure medicine can fix this issue, doc.”

“Not even the medicine of love? Or.. laughter?”

“Well, maybe. But I’m not too good at painting how emotions feel.”

Candice held her head up with her hand. “Have you tried.. no, that wouldn’t work.” She thought and thought. Sketch turned to look at her and watch. “Oh! Try painting one of us!”

“There are 8 other people in this house besides me, how can I possibly choose?” Sketch grinned. “Perhaps I could draw my best friend.”

“Yeah!”

“Tony!”

“No!”

Candice dramatically fell to the floor. “But Sketch.. we were destined to be together. I thought we were best friends!”

“We’ve been dating since high school.”

“Oh!”

Sketch helped her girlfriend up off the floor. “I suppose I could draw you. Your fashion sense has definitely improved since junior high.”

“Hey, that duck outfit rocked!”

“You showed up to the school dance in a onesie, dear.”

“Oh, so now I’m a deer?”

“You look like one when I compliment you.”

Candice turned red. “It’s uh.. I like compliments.”

“Most people do.”

“Shrig doesn’t.”

“He does if they’re from Tony.”

“Too bad Tony’s as dense as a rock.” Candice brushed off her dress. “So, what kind of art are you creating today?”

“If I’m drawing you, then I need the perfect genre..”

“Abstract!”

“I am not drawing you as a rectangle.”

“Draw me as a trapezoid. Or a rhombus!”

“Or.. I could paint you as a tree.”

“I am not a tree.”

“But you’ve got green hair!”

“And you’ve got pink, but you don’t see me calling you ‘Cotton Candy’.”

“You should.”

Candice smiled at her. “Fine. But you should still draw me as a trapezoid.”