Forever Luna

Clover

noun  ~ a plant with green leaves and white or purple flowers; it's considered good luck to find a four-leaf clover

POLLUX

"I think I could live here forever." I mumbled, glancing up at the sky.

"Why don't you?" A soft voice wondered.

My head turned to stare across at the shadowed orbs of Clover. We were lying on a blanket gazing up at the stars, our arms behind our heads and hearts full of content. It was autumn, and I had been here six months now. I had grown so close to Clover, that I felt like I couldn't go a day without them.

"It's complicated." I muttered.

"Uncomplicate it, Lux."

Lux.

A new nickname.

After finding out my guardian called me Polly, Clover had decided to find a new nickname. They didn't have to think hard or go far before I was branded Lux.

Sighing, I stared back up at the stars. "I don't know how to."

"Baby steps." They murmured, a hand moving to rest on my arm.

My body felt warm where they touched me, and my chest rose and fell with emotion. "I don't want to get into trouble."

"Why would you get into trouble?"

I hesitated, my voice shaking for a change. "Remember how you said your parents didn't accept your choices? How you felt like a different person, a different species?"

"Yeah..." Clover's eyes widened.

"That's how I feel." I admitted. "I have a secret, that I can't tell anyone. If I told someone, I fear it would be the end."

"You can tell me, Lux." Clover shook their head. "We're... friends, right?"

My heart ached at their words and I let out a soft laugh. "Of course, I am overly fond of you Clover, to the point I wonder if I can ever truly be just your friend."

Clover didn't comment but I kept my eyes on the sky.

"I have this... deformity. My mind works differently to everyone else's, so much that I find it can be difficult for people to understand me." I continued, keeping it broad. "I fear staying in one place would inhibit that part of me, to the point I become insane."

"Six months here, Lux, and that is all you can say to me?" Clover whispered.

I blinked, pushing myself up onto my elbows to peer down at them. "What do you mean?"

"You say you are overly fond of me, what does that mean? What... what are these feelings in my chest, Pollux?" Clover whispered.

I swallowed sharply when they rose to sit upright, my eyes following the flex of their arms and back. Clover sighed, picking at blades of grass along the side of the blanket. We were back in the spot I first brought them too, basking in the summery evening. It was late July, and Clover wore less clothing that revealed the freckled painting of their skin. My eyes trailed them every time I saw them, finding masterpieces in the patterns.

Clover didn't believe when I said I saw a wolf in one of them.

But it was rather uncanny.

My heart warmed at the memory of Clover's laughter, and even the soft shove they gave me that had me falling from their sofa.

"I like you, Clover." I mumbled. "A little too much."

"What does that mean, Pollux?" Clover whispered, brown eyes crinkled with a frown.