Elegy for a Star

Gwen followed Tess back upon the bed, climbing on top of her and straddling her hips. Gwen laid Tess’ head upon the pillow and settled her lips upon the blonde beauty’s. The two of them embraced, and Gwen allowed her curiosity to lead her on an exploration of Tess’ body. She was in no hurry—no rush to passion—she was satisfied to take her time.

Reaching a hand up to cup Tess’ cheek, Gwen stroked her face gently while she met every kiss with her own. Tess let out little whimpers that forced Gwen to smile against her lips, huffing out a little breath of a chuckle through her nose, lest she break the kiss. She could feel Tess’ hands on her hips, holding her down, exploring, tasting. It was like an enormous weight had been taken off of her shoulders; like she was now lighter than air, floating. It only made her hold onto Tess’ body tighter.

“Gwen,” Tess panted, clutching at the silvery woman’s hip while she buried her face into the nook between Tess’ shoulder and neck. With Gwen now kissing at her neck and jawline, Tess whimpered and arched her back, pushing a hand through Gwen’s hair. “Uuhn~.. Gwen..!”

Gwendolyn could feel Tess hardening beneath her body. Not wanting to rush things along but also feeling so, so ready—I mean, really, they’d already done much more than this, right?---Gwen began to roll her hips back and forth, rubbing her soft body up and down that swelling length, murmuring and moaning into Tess’ mouth.

Tess moaned, “Gwen~..”

Gwen kissed a line up her jawline, cheek, and to her mouth, making out for a time more before she drew back and asked, “Yes?”

“There’s someone at the door,” Tess whispered with a ragged breath. Sure enough, there was another knock at the door. Gwen leapt off of Tess’ body and stumbled toward the door, trying to straighten her clothing and wipe her mouth. She could see Tess sitting up—but rather awkwardly—trying to hide her growing erection.

With a pull, Gwendolyn opened the door to find a dull-eyed Scirocca behind it. Scirocca glanced over the state of the room, of Tess’ awkward stance, of Gwendolyn’s messy hair. “Mm,” She murmured, acknowledging what everyone else knew with a simple, singular sound, “Should I come back at a more convenient time?”

“N-no!” Gwendolyn blurted, pushing a hand through her hair and trying to make it just the normal amount of messy, “No, I mean-... what is it? We’re just getting ready for the Void assignment in, uh… in…”

She could hear Tess’ muffled laughter in the background. No one would buy that, least of all Scirocca. “I hear that this is a common tradition in the Summer Court before a day of battle. Or the morning of. The night after. The morning after that,” Scirocca replied.

“What tradition?” Gwen asked.

Scirocca replied simply, “Stress relief.” She slipped past Gwen and added, “Have you invited Mairaela to your little ritual?”

Tess cleared her throat and asked, “What is it you came for, Scirocca?”

“I looked into these gloves for you. The amulet is taking a bit longer than I’d like,” Scirocca replied, laying the coined gloves into Tess’ lap, “They won’t work for me, though. They are meant for you. Put them on.”

“What do they do?” Tess asked.

“Put them on,” Scirocca insisted.

Tess looked to Gwen and Gwendolyn thought to shrug back at her, but knew that this wouldn’t help Tess in any way. She trusted Scirocca. Scirocca helped them save Tess from Pava. So, Gwen nodded at Tess and urged her on.

One by one, Tess slipped on the gloves. Even for their supple material, they looked incredibly flexible. The strings that bound coins—one gold, one silver—to the palms were fastened tightly.

“Clap your hands together,” Scirocca directed. Tess gave her hands a simple clap, as anyone would think to clap.

Scirocca shook her head. “Like this,” she said, extending her arms out straight and clapping her hands together with force, fingers outstretched in the same direction on both hands.

Curiosity piqued, Gwendolyn leaned in toward Tess and gave her another nod, “Hurry, let’s see it.”

Tess sat back a little, bringing her hands up, stretching out her arms, and clapping her palms together. The coins connected with a metallic snap and rang loudly. Tess looked at her hands but saw nothing unusual. The sound was oddly crisp, but nothing else was different.

“Now do something,” Scirocca explained, as though Tess should’ve already known.

Tess wiggled her fingers in the air and shrugged, “Like what?”

Scirocca’s eyes dulled once more, “Something of skill. You’ll have to redo it. It only works so long as the coins are ringing.”

Tess thought for a moment and nodded, “Okay, I know what I’m going to do.” Gwendolyn crossed her arms and stood by.

Sitting back, Tess clapped her hands together once more. The moment she did, while the coins were still ringing their tinny resonance, she made a sweeping gesture of a constellation with one arm. Gwen couldn’t even keep up with what constellation it was—such was Tess’ speed and proficiency—and she’d been studying them since she was a child.

As quickly as the ringing began, it cut off with another snap and the room was upended in a blast of air that originated from Tess’ outstretched palm. Scirocca was propelled against the wall, the nearby nightstand was torn to its base parts and sent clattering across the floor, even the sheets on the bed were sent forward, scattering atop of the prone Scirocca. Gwendolyn managed to get away with only a stumbling, but she didn’t expect her hair and clothes to be thrown about so violently.

Tess looked as surprised as Gwen was, but the silvery woman shook the shock away and ran to Scirocca, who was already recollecting herself.

“Why would you do that, of all things?” Scirocca groaned, adjusting her headdress and fixing her jewelry, collecting what pieces had fallen off entirely.

“I didn’t know!” Tess blurted, looking around, “It’s never worked!”

“How did you do it with only a single constellation?” Gwen asked.

“I didn’t, I did three… it was something I learned in class, it only looked like one,” Tess stammered. Gwen wouldn’t have believed it if it came from anyone but Tess.

Scirocca huffed and said, “The lengths I go to for some people,” while smoothing out her garments. She gestured toward Tess and said, “Ringing the coins gives you some perfect control over your hands and fingers for a time. It’s good for…” Scirocca sighed, pointing at the mess of the room, “Doing that, apparently.”

Tess chuckled, “Yeah. Well, those cats are going to regret being… well, evil cat gods.”

Scirocca’s brow raised and Gwen waved it away, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves or you’ll make an enemy out of Joyona.” She shook her head in amazement and grinned. “This is just what you needed,” Gwen said with a soft smile, crossing her arms once again, “Fuckin’ lucky, Tess.”

“I don’t think it was luck,” Tess said, studying the fox icon engraved upon the coins, “I was given these on purpose.”

“Huh,” Gwen muttered, looking at the fox-coins upon the palms of Tess’ gloved hands. She raised a brow and spoke in an observational tone, “Foxpaw.”