

Crippling Might (M) + Aquarius ∞ (F)
Crippling Might crept through the bushes until he arrived at the first-floor patio. "Rius...Rius, are you there?" he whispered.
There was shuffling within the temple quarters. "Crip, is that you?" A beautiful wolf with a pelt of white, glowing stars stepped out onto the patio. Her blue eyes met his, and they shimmered as she sighed. "Crip."
"That's me," he whispered, grinning. There was no excitement in his tone or in his body - there was nothing new about this midnight meeting. It was whole, it was sure...it was right. "I missed you."
"Oh, Crip, I missed you too." Aquarius, the youngest star daughter, approached the short fence that surrounded the patio and slipped her paws beneath it.
Crippling Might stood on his hind legs and put his paws over hers. He nudged her nose softly with his own, between the parallel rails of the fence. "Are you sure he's sound asleep?" He spoke of Aries, Aquarius' older brother. Though Aries was quite protective of all the star children, it was Aquarius he felt most protective of.
"We don't have to worry about him. He's far too busy to even think about me," Aquarius replied, sounding mischevious. Crippling Might wasn't sure he wanted to know what his midnight sweetheart had done to outmanuver her older brother.
"And Plain-Ole-Planet?" Planeteria was the guardian of the star children, and only slightly less threatening than Aries, since she, at least, had restraint.
"I think we'll find that she's quite preoccupied as well," she said. She wriggled her eyebrows, and Crippling Might bit back a snort of laughter at the implication.
"Really?"
"Yup."
They grinned at each other like fools for moments more, until their grins slipped into contented stares. And then in that silence, Crippling Might felt the uneasy doubt that sometimes surfaced. "Are you sure this is right?" he asked.
Aquarius studied him. Fragile uncertainty filled his eyes. She said, "I'm sure."
"But..." He struggled with his thoughts. "I don't deserve you."
"You deserve me fine."
"Quarius..." Crippling Might had so many nicknames for her that he'd lost count. Most of them he never used except in his mind, since they were sickly-sweet names of adoration that made mamas with their new pups sound normal. "You're amazing. I've never met anyone like you. But...you're so high above me. Above everyone. You'll always be among the stars..." He looked up at the twinkling sky for a moment, before looking down with swept-back ears. He unhappily, nervously, twisted his strange tail around his leg. "And I'll always be on the ground."
Aquarius chuckled. Not expecting this response, Crippling Might's ears swept forward, and he cocked his head in confusion. "Well," she said. She stood, removing her paws from under his. She turned around and started to walk away.
Crippling Might felt his heart drop. Sure, he spoke down on himself sometimes, to give her the chance to walk away if she wanted to...as she probably should...but never once had he thought she'd do it. His heart ripped from his chest as she walked away, as though it'd been tied to her fore-paw by an unbreakable string. His ears drooped and his head sank until his nose rubbed the earth.
Then, there was a rapid clicking noise and Crippling Might startled as a dark-and-bright shimmering mass flew between the poles of the fence. Aquarius landed in the lawn in front of the bushes. She shook, skin and fur rippling so that her pelt mimicked the twinkling sky. The silver squiggles on her rump flashed. And she turned to him, standing proudly.
Slowly, he walked to her, dumbfounded. "Quar?" he breathed, touching her cheek with his nose.
Aquarius jumped at him, and they romped for a moment, until they were both reared back and in a strange and beautiful embrace. "Then I'll just have to be your falling star," she murmured.
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Just an idea I had.
