Nocturne
#6 of Through Time and Space
This one is fun to write (well shoot, they're all fun), and is short and sweet, clocking in at around 750 words. But I feel what this chapter lacks in length it makes up for in depth.
I hope you enjoy reading!
Chapter Five - Nocturne
Cass had claimed the standard bed, leaving Thomas to sleep on the hidden foldout mattress. The ferret girl threw herself on the bed ungracefully and stared at the stealing. Heaving a monstrous sigh, she considered the events of the past few hours. With the weight of an anvil caught in Jupiter's gravity well she remembered that this was her fault. If I hadn't touched that stupid... glowy... thing... none of this would have happened. As the guilt piled on, she felt her eyes begin to water, her acid tears dissolving the concrete dam that kept her from having an emotional breakdown.
"Can't you help but feel a little bit excited for tomorrow?" Cass blinked away her tears, uncertain that she had heard Thomas correctly. "I mean, who knows what the future holds. Hah, I mean, who knows what this period in time holds. You know what I mean." He sat up from his position on the bed just as Cass did, their gazes meeting.
"W-What?" Was all she could manage to stammer out. The ferret girl was incredulous.
"Tomorrow we get to see what this time period is like. I mean sure, we're stuck here. But we might as well make the most of it, right?"
Is he taunting me? "How the hell can you say that? How can you not be absolutely pissed at me?" She hissed. She sighed and flopped her furred head in her hands. "I fucked up bad. And now I'm yelling at you for my own shitty mistake. Some friend to be stuck here with..."
She heard the faint rustling of Thomas moving and looked up to see him stand and walk over to where she was sitting on the side of the bed. His goofy ears were nearly parallel to the plane of his head, an expression of deepest concern marring his features. He sat down in front of her, legs crossed. "Cass, you're being too hard on yourself. You know you can't change what happened. Let's just enjoy the time we have while we are here - and for the record, I'm confident that since we found a way here, we can find a way back."
Wiping away her tears with a curled index finger, Cass sighed. "Forgive me if I don't share your optimism. I mean, look at everything stacked against us. What if that one symbol thing we found was one-of-a-kind? I mean, isn't it obvious that it would be?" She paused, and for a moment she felt her tears returning. "I don't know, Thomas. Everything is so weird. I just need to go to sleep. This whole thing can be tackled tomorrow, I guess. But I'm glad that you are here with me, as selfish as that sounds."
Thomas smiled. "At the risk of sounding creepy, I am glad we partnered up for that group project. I feel like we're already pretty good friends. I didn't have a lot of friends back on campus, being a commuter student and all, and so meeting you was a breath of fresh air." The two made eye contact, Thomas now smiling with his furry satellite dishes pointed toward her. Cass was grateful her fur hid her blush because, despite herself, she admitted he looked kind of cute. "I don't know what justification I have given you to feel that way, but I am glad I met you too."
Cass lied in bed, gazing at the star map projected on the walls and ceiling, but still she could not sleep. How could she, she mused, with what had happened over the past twelve hours? Instead, she just tossed and turned and contemplated her fate.
"Hey, Cass," she heard whispered to her. "Are you still awake?"
"Yeah. I can't sleep. What's up?"
"I was just wondering if anybody calls you Cassandra." She heard him shift and, sitting up, noticed that he had as well. Through the glow of the artificial starlight she could tell he had a smirk on his face.
"No, thank you very much," she replied, playful derision dripping from her voice. "Especially since my full name is Cassiopeia. But if you call me that, I will break your jaw."
"Whoa, no harm done, okay? I was just curious," the shy fennec said, still smug. "I can't see why, it's a pretty name."
"Oh yeah, Tommy? You wanna press your luck?"
"Touché," was his only reply, and he reclined once again.
Grinning victoriously, Cass threw the blanket over herself. Somehow, she found that sleep quickly overcame her, and the ferret girl allowed herself to drift off peacefully.