Graffiti Casanova

Stardust

DON'T WORRY-- this isn't just an author's note, THERE IS A CHAPTER UNDER THIS! I just needed to tell y'all how sorry I am that I've been silent for so long. I've moved overseas and have been jobhunting, catching up with people I hadn't seen for a year.... it's just been crazy. BUT. I'm back, and so is Cas, Claire, and friends. Missed you all <3

Don't forget to hit that star if you're glad they're back, and the chapter song is Midnight by Coldplay :)

I parked on a residential street just around the corner, since I didn't know how long I'd be. The address from Casanova's note took me to an empty building that backed up to a long, green park with a bike path winding through it. The building was silent and entirely dark, and when I walked up to the door with the intention of peeking inside, I spied another index card-- neon yellow, otherwise I may not have seen it-- taped to the glass.

The familiar capital letters scrawled out more instructions:

Follow the bike path. At the fork, take a left.

I knew this path. I used to ride it when I was younger-- if I was remembering correctly, the left fork led to...

I arrived at the fork and angled to the left, down a hill and slightly around a bend-- there, I was right. The tunnel.

No sign of anyone. But I continued down the hill, parallel to the street beside me. The tunnel went right under it. Good grief, it'd been years since I'd been here. This is the path Dad and I would take on our bikes to get snow cones in the summer. The corner of my mouth quirked up at the memories.

But as I approached the tunnel, I noticed a few flecks of light and memories gave way to my curiosity.

"Casanova?" I peered around, not hearing anything. "Ca--" I stopped dead in my tracks, his name dying in my throat.

Stardust.

It literally looked like starstuff had leaked, or like fireworks were exploding, or like....

Like the galaxy had been transported inside the tunnel.

My mouth was hanging open, I was sure of it. But I couldn't do a thing about it. I was frozen in the mouth of the tunnel, which glittered with little twinkling lights all over the walls. Where was Casanova? I couldn't look away to find him. But I didn't have to, his voice was suddenly behind me.

"What do you think?" The question was enough to tear my eyes from the tunnel of stars in front of me, but only just. Casanova was there, hood pulled low over his eyes,

I was still a little breathless. "I... it's...." I swallowed. "Casanova, it's magical."

His lips curled into a smile. "You can go inside."

I stepped in, and it felt like I was floating in outer space. "How...?" I ventured further in, and spun in a circle. I was flying.

"LED lights, and lots of patience." He smirked. "Long story short, I blocked off the tunnel for a few days. People don't question if there are official looking traffic cones and a detour sign out at the forks on either end of the tunnel."

"This is your best work yet." I reached out and touched a light, glowing softly yellow.

"It won't last forever."

My smile faltered at that, and I let my hand fall back to my side. Of course not. It was too much to power the lights. But it still made my heart sink. It was too beautiful to go unseen.

"Unless..."

I turned to him. "Unless what?"

One corner of his mouth tugged upward. "Unless we can make a few more allies." He bent and hooked his finger around the handle of a small bucket. "Care to help me out with another piece?" His teeth gleamed in the LED starlight. "I'm switching to a more user-friendly medium this time."

He held the bucket out, dangling from one finger, and I leaned over to peek inside.

"Sidewalk chalk?" I looked up, confused, but a smile forming nonetheless.

"We're going old school tonight, sweetheart; you up for it?" He grinned back and spun on his heel, heading back up the hill.

"Oh, I'm up for it." I followed.

Casanova had already outlined huge letters on the path-- I just hadn't been paying close enough attention to see them in the dark. Now we were sprawled out, filling in the bubble letters. They were so big that we'd already worn down a few pieces of chalk to little nubs.

"You can call me Cas, you know."

I looked up, startled. We'd been working in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"What?"

He shrugged, seeming almost embarrassed for bringing it up. "Cas. It's just... more real than Casanova." His hand stopped for a moment and he shook his head, frowning. "Not more real. Less unreal." He shrugged again. "More familiar. I don't know."

"Cas." I tested it out slowly.

He met my eyes, his glinting black in the darkness. "It just feels like more of a name." His gaze dropped back down to the sidewalk and he went back to filling in an 'S' again.

"Okay," I said. "Cas."

His eyes lifted up to mine for a second, a brief smile flickering over his face, before looking down and dropping his chalk back into the bucket.

"Finished." He leaned back on one arm.

I finished off my 'O', the last letter, and then stood, swiping the flashlight we'd set on the ground to light our work. I walked back to the beginning and dragged the beam across the words that wound down the bike path to read them.

VOTE WILLIAMSON. Solar panels, recycling, composting-- A cleaner city is a safer city. Artists can be environmentalists too...

The words led down the path to the star tunnel. I couldn't help but laugh.

A cleaner city is a safer city-- genius. "You stole Platt's anti-graffiti slogan and used it for Williamson's environmentalist campaign."

"It seemed fitting."

"This all hinges on Williamson's reaction," I guessed.

"Exactly," Cas said, suddenly behind me. I turned to face him.

"That's where I come in?"

"That's where you come in." Cas's smile gleamed in the moonlight. "You're becoming quite the schemer."

I shot him a smile in return, and went to retrieve the chalk. "I'm learning from the best."

"Claire."

I turned, bucket in hand, and caught my breath. Cas was closer than I'd thought, I had to tilt my head up to look at him. I glimpsed a straight nose, a sharp cheekbone, and then only shadows when he shifted out of the light.

His hand reached out to take the bucket from me, but then I realized he wasn't letting go of my hand. Gentle fingers wrapped around my own, holding me in place, but I might have been frozen already.

When he spoke, it sounded like an apology. "It's the most real thing I can give you."

The most real thing? What did he mean? But I knew. Cas. As close to a real name as I could ever have.

Jittery nerves bubbled up inside me, made me try to turn it into a joke. "You must say that to all the girls." Instant regret. My lips pressed together in a pained smile to keep from grimacing at how stupid that sounded.

He paused, and then a slow, sly smile spread on his face. "I do."

He tugged me closer-- just a fraction-- so his jacket brushed my hip. I imagined I could feel the warmth of his breath as he leaned down and whispered, "But so far, you're the first."

And then he released me, and disappeared into the shadows while I stood frozen on the pavement.