Of hopes and fears{ON HOLD}

1. What was, now is

Moonlight snorts as Starshine dramatically mimics a snotty villager silently.

They stop when he looks at them.

"You two are pests." he sneers.

"Not as much as your over-inflated ego." Moonlight counters with a shit-eating grin, only loud enough for Starshine to hear.

Starshine snorts as laughter rolls from his mouth. Moonlight grins wider, watching his companion. They may only be kids but boy, do they act far older.

Starshine grabs the basket he'd filled, still laughing. Moonlight follows, grasping his companion's hand. The gold-clad child pays for their things before running to the little cabin they shared. They had worked on it for months together, happy with the final results.

"It's still funny, y'know, how I feel I've known you for years." Moonlight says softly, smiling at the back of his companion's skull.

"I feel that way too, but it's also nice cause that means I can back you up if those jerk-wads try to hurt you." Starshine states with a big smile. "No one'll mess with us or the tree!"

Moonlight lets out a quiet laugh, "Not with little terror Star running around."

"Hey! I'm not that small! You're just a freakin' giant!" Star states,

"I can't help it if I'm really tall." Moonlight laughs.

Starshine huffs, grabs Moonlight's scarf, and tugs him down.

"Yes, you can. Come down to my level." The shorter states, sticking his tongue out at Moonlight.

They continue joking as they prepare for the day. The villagers thankfully didn't go to the tree until late into the day.

They use their free hours to talk about whatever comes to mind. And they're happy to.

"Soooo, I got a hold of a plethora-"

"You and you're long, fancy words." Starshine laughs.

Moonlight rolls his miss-matched eye lights, "anyways. I got a hold of more yarn and wanted to know what kind of theme you-"

"STARS!" Starshine shouts. "Because my best friend adores stars!"

"Sappiest of saps. Alright." Moonlight chuckles, slouching low.

Starshine puts down the basket and climbs onto Moonlight's back, laughing. 

"Star, you dork, get off my back." Moonlight says, "Or I'll drop you."

"But mooooon..." Starshine whines.

Moonlight groans in mock annoyance, "Fiiiine, pain in my ass."

Starshine giggles, nuzzling into Moonlight's sweater. Moonlight smiles and picks up their groceries. Starshine holds on tight, closing his eyes, feeling a bit tired. Moonlight holds onto Starshine with one arm as he starts walking.

-----

They had eaten and took a long nap before going out to the tree, Moonlight carrying Starshine on his back. Starshine groans, still waking up.

"You doing okay, Star?"

"Mmm, just tired; I'll be awake enough when they start showing up... " 

"If you say so, star." Moonlight sighs.

"Mmm, I do say so." Starshine yawns. "How close to the tree?"

"Still a bit off." Moonlight says. "You can take as long as you need. I don't mind the extra work."

"Only if you're okay with it." Starshine mumbles.

"I'm fine with it, Star." Moonlight assures.

Starshine quickly falls asleep again, snoring softly. Moonlight stops at the tree after a while longer. He gently sets down Starshine on the ground, making sure he is comfortable. He starts to the other side of the tree to keep attention away from Starshine.

------- 

Moonlight catches the thrown rock, not even looking away from his knitting. Starshine, almost by sixth sense if you didn't know him, had woken up, groggily marches to the offenders, and glares up at them.

"Midget, get out of-"

Starshine's eye sockets go dark as he smiles at them, silently promising pain.

"I'm not a damn midget, you overgrown waste of flesh."

Moonlight does look up at the insult, snickers, and decides to watch. He already knows that Starshine is by no means weak. That, and if he pulls out the insults, there is nothing anyone can do to stop him.

The leader grabs Starshine's coat, lifting him to eye-level, "You want to get pumbled brat!?"

Moonlight let out a hearty laugh, "You? Beat Star? Beat Star!? Hah! Nah. You gon get your ass handed to you."

The older yelps as Starshine maneuvers himself to a better position, twist his arm painfully. The assailant cries out in pain.

"Who's the fucking midget, you fucking twig!? Huh!? Fucking who!?"

"No one!" He cries.

Starshine frees him, dropping down.

"Told you you wouldn't be able to." Moonlight mutters, returning to his knitting. The trio run off, allowing Starshine to retreat to moonlight and flop down into his lap.

Moonlight rests his chin on Starshine's skull.
{So, imma leave it here for this chapter, as short as it is. I don't want the quality to suffer because I try to force it to be longer.)