Chapter Text
The stars were particularly clear tonight; there were no clouds in the sky, giving an unobstructed view of the heavens to the entirety of Glenberry and the surrounding area. It had rained a few days prior, but that had thankfully only lasted part of the day and had dried back up by the next morning.
This was good news for all the people setting up to watch the meteor shower happening in less than an hour, and for the young couple being disgustingly sweet to each other in the local park.
Beli Lapran was currently laying her head on her boyfriend’s lap as he fed her the fruit they’d brought for the occasion. Jarred Dorado, said boyfriend, was plucking grapes off a bunch and feeding them to her one by one, absently brushing her now waist-length, ebony hair between grapes.
“Beautiful tonight, isn’t it?” he remarked.
“You mean the stars?” Beli looked past Jarred’s face at the evening sky. “You’re right, it’s quite beautiful to behold.”
He smirked. “What sky? I’ve been looking at you this whole time.~” A quick peck on her forehead punctuated the line.
Beli gave his chest a playful shove. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?” she said while still grinning.
“Not really; I have great material to work with.~”
Another playful shove, this time landing the young IT tech on his back. She crawled on top of him a moment later. “You are the most incorrigible man I’ve ever met, Jarred Dorado!”
“Hey, if it means I get to spend time with you, Beli Lapran, then I can live with it.”
Their lips met after that, both losing themselves in the kiss.
Despite the prescience of the kiss, Beli found her mind wandering. The past year had been magical, albeit tinged with a bit of tragedy: Jessie Maye, her adult actress friend, was becoming more and more reclusive, rarely even having time to chat over coffee nowadays. She hoped the woman was doing well; the last time they’d talked Jessie had been considering some “vacation time”, though she hadn’t elaborated after that.
Aside from that and a few other minor things since resolved, things had been going remarkably well. Attendance to her yoga classes had actually swelled a bit, which was good since Jarred started cutting back his hours at The Cavalry so they could spend time together. The extra hands around the house on most days also meant she could indulge in her gardening hobby a bit more, including cultivating her own teas. And most shocking of all, she’d become a semi regular member at Jarred’s D&D game; her half-Orc Paladin of Peace had been an instant hit with the group (even the rather “opinionated” Sharron). It had been amazing how Anton could weave a story from all their various decisions, and whenever she had a question about how the rules works, Jarred or his friend Ailbhe were right there to help her parse them.
Jarred’s technical computer jargon was also rubbing off on her slightly.
Eventually, they broke the kiss off, Beli laying on the ground next to him as they stared up at the heavens. The sky really was beautiful tonight. Granted, light pollution from the rest of the city obscured some of the dimmer stars from view, but there were still enough to dust the sky in a pleasing way. There were also a few small clouds lazily rolling across the sky, certainly nothing that would prevent them from seeing the meteor shower.
“Do you ever wonder what’s out there?” Jarred asked after a moment, “Out amount the stars? With how vast the universe is, I’d be incredibly surprised if humankind were the only sentient life out there.”
“I can’t say I have.” She’d know some stoners back in college who would regularly posit similar questions when they were high, but at the time she didn’t join in on either their discussions or imbibing. “I do believe there’s something that exists beyond our understanding, but I couldn’t say if it were a person or simply some kind of energy. Why do you ask?”
“No real reason…I guess I’m just remembering something from a while ago,” he shrugged.
“Do you normally think about aliens?”
“Not really.” He nodded toward the sky. “Space is just on the mind right now.”
“Ah, understandable.”
They settled back onto the ground, Beli resting her head against Jarred’s shoulder. It painted a slightly comical picture since she was noticeably taller than him, not that either of them really cared what others thought of how they came off.
A short while later the meteor shower started, thin streaks of light cutting through blackness for a second before disappearing again. It only happened about once per second, but it was still an amazing sight to behold.
“Should we make a wish?” Beli wondered. “These are technically all shooting stars, and I know at least one other person who’s going to be making one.”
“…you know what? Let’s do it.” He propped himself up on his elbows, “What’s the harm?”
“Mhmm!” Beli also propped her up, scanning the night sky for just the right “star” to make her wish on. Yes, it was childish, but what was life without having a bit of harmless fun? She found one, sending a silent prayer up to the heavens to maybe, just maybe, let her and Jarred stay together forever. She could only guess at what he might have wished for, but she was too polite to pry.
Her wish sent, she laid back against her boyfriend’s chest and watched the rest of the shower play out.
It really was something else to behold, what would end up being hundreds of rocks from outer space careening into the Earth’s atmosphere where they’d burn up, most of them never even making it to the ground as they burned up, leaving only a brief flash of light as a memorial to its existence. She wondered what kind of things those rocks had borne witness to, what wonders- both natural and artificial- they beheld on their journey through the stars.
…I think I understand where Jarred was coming from, now.
They continued to watch the spectacle when one of the made a sharp turn, changing its trajectory.
Now, Beli was no astronomer, but she was definitively sure that meteors weren’t supposed to do that.
“Jarred…?”
“Hmm, yeah?”
“That meteor just changed direction, right?”
He glanced at the sky where Beli was pointing. “…it also hasn’t burnt up yet,” he remarked. “And I’m pretty sure comets don’t move that fast either.”
The thought had crossed her mind, but had been dismissed due to all the other factors in play.
“…is it moving towards us now?”
“…we should move.”
“Agreed.”
Without wasting another second, they both scrambled to their feet and started running to what Jarred reasonably assumed was perpendicular to the rogue meteor’s flight path so they weren’t right on top of the impact site when it landed.
Only once they were entirely out of the park did the pair stop and catch their breath, Jarred panting slightly harder than his girlfriend.
“Hah…hah…that really wasn’t normal, right?” Beli asked.
“No…” Another three seconds of panting. “…no, it wasn’t. Hah…”
Beli glanced back at the park; she hadn’t heard the impact, but she fully expected to see the glow of fire (because trees and plants were quite flammable), or at least a pillar of smoke rising into the night sky, and was surprised when neither expectation was met.
How peculiar…
“I’m calling 911,” he said, digging his phone out, “whatever just happened, it’s probably better if people more equipped than us deal with it.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Beli took a seat on the curb, Jarred joining her there a moment later. “…and afterwards, let’s head back home; I think I’ve had my fill of excitement for tonight.”
“…think we’d have enough time for a ‘hot shower’ when we do?~”
She gave him another shove and a halfhearted chuckle, but didn’t say ‘no’.
The next morning found the two of them snuggling under the covers of Beli’s Queen-sized bed, both of them sans clothing for the moment; the “hot shower” never ended up happening due to the foreplay leading them elsewhere, which culminated in them making sure none of the bedsheets fit right when they woke up the next morning. Jarred had his head laying on Beli’s chest, listening to the sound of her heartbeat.
Sometimes, the simplest pleasures in life were the most rewarding.
“I don’t know how you keep talking me into this,~” she remarked softly, gently stroking his dark hair along the highlights.
“Because I’m just that charming? For real though, if you’d have said ‘no’ then I would have stopped then and there; consent apparently makes things 67% more enjoyable.” He glanced up at her face, “Besides, you were pretty aggressive yourself last night.”
Beli hummed, conceding his point. “Still though, I don’t think we should make a habit of getting into dangerous situations before making love in the future.”
“Alright, leave the thrill seeking to other people, got it.” He held up his pointer and middle finger in the “Scout’s honor” salute.
She booped him on the nose. “This is why you’re incorrigible, Jarred Dorado.”
“Yet you still love me anyways.~” He pulled himself forward, connecting his lips with those of his paramour; Beli kept her fingers entangled in his his throughout the kiss.
When the kiss finally broke she gently pushed him off. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get cleaned up before I head to the studio. Do you have to work today?” she asked, sliding out of bed.
“Nah; it’ll be another day or two before I need to go in again,” he explained, “I was planning to dedicate some time to meditation, maybe try and work on that song that’s been rattling around inside my head.”
“Alright then.” She gave him a kiss on his forehead before gathering her clothes for the day. “I’ll see you later, priy.”
And with that she closed the bedroom door, disappearing from view.
Jarred lay on the bed a moment longer, taking a moment to reflect on how lucky he was right now. Beli really had been nothing but good to him ever since they’d officially become an item, giving him just what he needed at any given moment: love, affection, support, and guidance. She even rebuked him every now and then when he did something stupid, while annoying in the moment, never veered into “bitching” territory (which he was eternally grateful for).
Honestly, he might eventually propose to her at this rate.
Taking a moment to stretch he got out of bed and proceeded to gather up all the discarded clothing haphazardly strewn about the room, both his and Beli’s. He’d just started sorting them into his and Beli’s respective hampers (which were actually starting to get full again by this point) when suddenly, directly behind him, came a familiar, annoying shipper voice.
“Well well well, look at this motherfucker.~”
The one downside about sex: he always left his jewelry on the nightstand, so his iron ring was currently out of reach.
to be continued…