I’ve been super busy with work and other stuff in my life so I haven’t had the time energy or motivation to really draw all that much, but with things settling down a bit I decided to stretch my drawing muscles and dive back in
And who better to do that with than sun and Moon? The most drawable boys ever
Very self indulgent but very much needed with the chaos in my life lately
I had a very specific song stuck in my head for this short story. When you see the linked “play” word, please play it for the background music. Hope you all and @starrspice enjoy the new story.
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Saying that Sun and Moon were happy that you were finally flying on your own would be an understatement. Even though you questioned Sun’s congratulations, you were still appreciative of their hustle in moving on to your other lessons. You easily breezed past through all the rest of them… despite how stupid some of the rules and protocols seemed. You’ll just hold your tongue for the meantime. You’re trying to speedrun helping your loved ones after all, you don’t have time to bicker with the sun themed cherub.
By the end of the second week, you and your cherub tutors were given your first group assignment. You were to focus on working with Sun as Moon had his own assignment but was in the same area.
The three of you stood on your apartment roof top as a scroll floated down from the heavens and into your cherub tutors’ hands. Sun held his scroll lower than Moon did, so you looked over his arm at what he was reading. Your eyes immediately rested on the profile picture of your best friend Hera Diaz. You haven’t seen her black ass in forever and your heart immediately ached with how much you missed having late night talks with her over the phone. Last you saw of her she had an afro that could rival treetops, and in this photo, she had a shaved head, but at least she still had that same crooked smile that warmed your heart.
The assignment stated that she cared deeply for a man named Steve Lee Yang and that he cared for her too, but they had been dancing around each other for a year and a half now. They were dancing around each other because Hera was oblivious, and Steve apparently was too anxious to say anything out right.
You rubbed at your eyes in slight irritation. You remember jokingly calling Hera a himbo once upon a time, making you both laugh with her agreeing, but you didn’t think it was true. You read over the many failed attempts of Steve trying to woo your friend. He wooed her with flowers, with gifts she liked, and they even went out on a “date”. However, the notes in the assignment said that Hera only took these romantic attempts as him being friendly, and Steve was too nervous to voice anything different. Who is this wet noodle of a man that’s thinks they can woo your best friend anyways? Especially since he doesn’t have the balls to actually articulate what she really means to him.
You read his profile, then further down you saw his profile picture. He was an Asian gentleman with puffy cheeks and a bowl hair cut that reminded you of that one Naruto character named Rock-something. After a moment, a light went off in your head, and you realized you know this Steve-man as well. He was a senor in your high school while you and Hera were a junior. You don’t remember much about him. Just that he seemed like he was always alone while on school grounds, but Hera said he was fun to talk to. You haven’t seen him in years. When did they reconnect?
“Ah, this is a classic problem,” Sun stated as he confidently rolled up the scroll, “Should be easy enough to fix.”
He sounded cheery as usual, but you didn’t trust it. You got the distinct impression that he was already tired of this job and the two of you haven’t even started it yet.
“How easy we talkin’ here,” you asked as you crossed your arms over your chest.
Sun gave you a thinned easy smile, “Like breathing air.”
You raised a disbelieving brow at him but said nothing more.
Sun turned to his counterpart, “What did you get?”
“A couple who hate each other but are pretending to be together.”
“Wait, that actually happens?” you asked in disbelief.
Moon nodded, “They’re both being stubborn.”
“Welp, let’s get a move on then. I’ll go stake out Hera’s place. I’ll meet you two back at Maple Park at 1pm.”
Before either of them could say anything else to you, you flew away at an exhilarating speed. You still can’t get over just how fun flying is. You do a few loopty-loops as you flew to Hera’s house in the suburbs, not needing to worry about being seen with the cloaking technique your tutors taught you.
You found a small one story home with a front lawn covered in frog ceramics. Half of them she bought as they were, while the other half are frogs she painted herself at a pottery store. It was a weekend, so you knew that Hera would be at home doing house chores. You looked through the windows until you saw a large, muscly black woman laying on the couch. Her living room, much like her front yard, was decorated in frogs of all kinds; paintings and wallpaper on the walls, statues, rugs, pillows, and wood carvings covered every other surface in the room.
Hera was surrounded by pillows, and she was watching her comfort movie Castle in the Sky. Her shoulders shook like she was crying. Your immediate reaction to seeing this was to whip out your phone and try to call her, but you hesitate as your thumb hovered over the speed dial. You floated there, outside her home, hesitating to reach out to her, for you don’t know for how long, until you heard her house phone ring.
Hera was sniffling as she paused the movie and got off the couch. Once she picked up the phone, she put a smile on and said, “Hello?” There was a pause. “Oh, hey Mama…” Hera shifted on her feet as she wiped away her tears. “Oh. Yah. I’m fine.”
Liar, you thought as you clutched your phone to your chest.
“The family cookout? I don’t know… I’m kind of busy.”
You felt your heart rate spike at those words. She’s never missed the monthly family cookout before. She loves going to them. She loves seeing her moms and her old neighbors that she grew up with and seeing new faces. Is this a recent thing? How long has she been shut away like this just crying?
“No… I know I’ve missed the last couple of months. I just… I don’t know Mama…”
You fumble your phone as you remembered the job you’re on. You rummage around your satchel until you pull out the pack of notepads that look like valentine day cards. What they actually are is Suggestion Pads. They give humans the openness to follow outside suggestions and influences; a gentle way of nudging people in the direction they need to go.
Ripping a card out of the pack, you crumble it up and throw it at Hera. The crumbled-up paper flattens as it slips under the gap of the closed window. Then it folds itself into a paper heart and smacks her in the back of her shaved head. She doesn’t react as she nods along to what her mama is saying on the other line; the paper being invisible to any that aren’t cherubs.
You stood there outside her window as you silently pleaded with her to go to the cookout. She’s such a sensitive heart. She needs all the love and support from her family and friends. It kills you not being able to be there, but the least you could do was making sure others are there for her. You know that going to that cookout will help her.
Finally, you saw the piece of paper start to glow and it disappeared from your sight as Hera said, “Yah. Okay. Okay Mama. I’ll go… I’ll see you later… I love you too. Bye.” You fly away after she hung up. It was almost 1pm and it was time to meet up with your teachers.
You found Sun and Moon sitting on top of the biggest trees in Maple Park. It was a nice warm afternoon, so you didn’t mind it as you reported your findings and what you did. You had extra granola bars in your satchel and passed them out mindlessly as you spoke. Sun and Moon said quiet thank yous as you talked to them.
Sun nodded thoughtfully as he finished his granola bar, “Mmm. Good. I heard about this monthly cookout thing through Steve, too. It seems he goes to them quite often.”
You used to go to them often. You clear your throat to prevent yourself from frowning at the wrong subject and said, “And he’ll be to this one?”
You see Moon looking at you a bit funny as Sun nodded, “It sounded important, so I got him to go, suggesting that he hasn’t seen his friends there in a while.”
You take their trash and stuff it into your satchel, “Okay. So what’s next now that we have them both going to the same place?”
Sun’s rays around his head wiggled with pride as Moon smiled fondly at him. “There’s a plethora of things we can do,” Sun stated as he got out a big binder from his own satchel that reminded you of those books that football coaches look through at big games.
You internally bemoaned at the sight of the book. You and Sun don’t need a complicated plan to get your friend and her love interest together… right? Regardless, you resigned yourself to your fate as Sun opened the book and started talking about different strategies and plans the two of you can use to get Hera and Steve together. Moon seemed to be able to follow along with Sun’s plans better than you. You’ll ask him for some pointers in the future.
It was the evening of the family cookout. You, Sun, and Moon were sitting on the rooftop of a three story house across the street from a one story house that had a front yard full of people. People were bundled up against the cold and gathered around the grill or outside heaters to keep themselves warm as they chatted and the kids’ played games. Fairy Lights lined the picket fence and there was music playing from an old boombox that was attached to an ipod nano. The song Funky Town was filling the rest of the noisy air with its upbeat tune. Some people were even dancing in the middle of the road to the song.
The three of you watched the families and friends and neighbors go about their evening as you waited for your pieces to fall into place. Moon left the post first seeing his targets coming to the party looking like the happiest couple in the world. Steve came to the party before Hera arrived and it made you worried that she wouldn’t show up at all, but she walked up to the house thirty minutes after Steve integrated into the party spirit.
“Aright,” Sun said with a cheery clap of his hands, “You remember the plan?”
You roll your eyes and said, “How could I not.” It’s not like he hasn’t drilled the plan into your head for the past two days.
“Good.” He said curtly. Then he flew off to follow around Steve. You got up to do the same with Hera.
The plan is to do drunk confessions. Get Hera and Steve plastered enough that Steve is confident enough to finally spill his guts and Hera is accepting enough to not think he’s saying it in a friend type of way. You were getting Hera open for suggestions with your valentine-esk Suggestion Pads as you saw Steve and Sun coming over, with Steve holding two cups of alcohol. Steve had a nervous smile on his face as he called out to your friend. Hera turned to him and gave him half a smile. He was holding out one of the cups to her when he tripped over a garden hose that the kids were using as a plaything, and the alcohol splashed on to Hera’s sweater and jeans as Steve fell face first into the grass.
You sucked air between your teeth as Sun grimaced with you at the sight of Steve apologizing profusely and Hera reassuring him that it was fine. She went into her mothers’ house to change out of the alcohol-stained clothes and Steve found a quiet dark corner to wallow in his remorse.
You saw Sun rub his temple as he sighed, then he said, “Okay. Plan B.”
Plan B didn’t work out either. Or C. Or D. You and Sun were getting more and more frustrated with each failure. It was getting close to the end of the party. You and Sun were ready to call it quits for the night too, but you thought about Hera sitting in her home looking miserable and that smile she gave Steve looked genuine despite it being tired and you wanted to help her so badly.
“Sun. Please. Can I try something?”
Sun sighed out of his nose. “Might as well. What do you have in mind?”
“Just get Steve interested in dancing before he officially gives up for the night. Okay?”
“…Okay…” Sun gave you a look like he was wondering what you were thinking but he followed your lead.
You went over to the boombox and picked up the ipod nano. You knew, no matter how dower Hera is, she can’t help but dance to her favorite song. You found the song you wanted and pressed play and the song Overjoyed by Stevie Wonder played through the speakers. Across the thinned crowd you saw Hera perk at the music.
As the song reached the lyrics, “Over dreams, I have picked out a perfect come true,” you saw Steve walk up to Hera and offered his hand to her. She took his hand with a soft smile and the two of them started dancing with each other.
You flew over them with Sun and threw one last Suggestion Paper at Hera to confess her feelings, not trusting Steve to speak about his own feelings first. Steve was wide-eyed as Hera talked about how she felt about him and before she could quickly say that he doesn’t have to feel the same way about her, Steve was spilling his guts about how he felt and all the attempts he tried to romance her. They both ended up laughing and snorting at their own silliness with each other and you and Sun smiled as you two went back to the roof from across the street to watch them a bit more.
You were so happy to see Hera smiling.
“Hey. Good job, Rookie,” Sun said, and you believed him.
Soon Moon joined the two of you and you saw the same “happy” couple stomp away in opposite directions as they left the party.
“How did it go you two,” Moon asked.
“It was rough, but we did it. Now they just need to kiss to seal the deal,” Sun stated.
You did a double take between Sun and your best friend as she was dancing with her head resting on top of Steve’s head as they continued to lovingly slow dance together. Was he even seeing the same thing you were?
“What’s a stupid kiss gonna do?”
Sun got a sudden haughty attitude as he said, “A kiss is the ultimate display of love.”
“Yeah, I call bullshit,” you deadpanned, unable to contain yourself anymore.
Sun turned on you so fast you though you heard his neck pop, “Excuse me?!”
“Kisses are just a form of physical touch. They don’t mean anything.”
Out of the corner of your eye you could see Moon looking ready to get between the two of you.
“Oh yeah?!” Sun fumed.
“Yeah!” You said just as angry.
“Prove it then!”
“Fine I will!” You sneered as you moved without thinking about anything but proving Sun wrong. You grabbed the cherub by the sides of his face. His anger suddenly turned to panic as you pulled him in, and you gave him a kiss on the lips. It was fleeting and your noses bonked against each other from the force of you pulling him in but in the moment, you didn’t care as you let go of him. “See! I feel nothing for you, and you feel nothing for me! I win!”
You pushed past Moon who was looking at you in shock as you flew off the roof top. You only spared one last glance at your dancing friend before heading back to your apartment feeling more than just exhaustion.
Hey there, I'm Starr! I am a digital artist, character designer, and Animation Major! I do a lot of work for Vtubers and content creators but I also draw some fandom stuff whenever I have the time! I work full time and attend school full time so I don't have time to draw much but that doesn't mean I don't still try!
I typically go by They/Them but any pronouns are perfectly alright by me!
If you like my work and want to commission me you can find me here:
Vgen Commissions
Here's some more important links of mine:
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And if you want to support me or the creators I make art for the most check out their youtube page here:
Comfy Cozy Play
I read every ask but don't always have time to answer them! Or some I want to draw answers for but don't have time! But feel free to send Me asks any ways and I'll answer what I can when I can!
PLEASE do not spam me with donation requests in my ask box, I will block you and report it as Spam. The same goes for tagging me in donation request posts I am really tired of my notifications being flooded with these.
If you're looking for my old Pinned post with all my DCA AUs you can find it here
Hey, so a bit of warning on this one, don’t jump off of buildings alright everyone. I mean it. Unless you’re like some kind of parkour expert, I suggest you all stay away from the edges of buildings. @starrspice I promise nothing bad happens to Y/N. They just meet Sun and Moon for the first time in this short story.
You woke up with a start at the sound of knocking on your bedroom window. You turn your head just enough to see the clock on your nightstand. It was four in the morning, right before the crack of dawn. You turn on your side and try to go back to sleep. Today was your day off and you wanted to spend most of that time in bed. You jump again at the sound of knocking on your bedroom window, this time it sounded more urgent and less like some stray pigeon trying to make a meal out of its reflection.
You groan as you get out of bed and walk across your cold wooden floor. You pull back the curtains and open your window. Sticking your head out, you looked down and side to side, then a big yellow face dropped upside down in front of you, practically touching nose to nose with you.
“Good morning, Trainee!”
Your guttural scream made you jump, and you banged the back of your head against the window and in your attempt to pull back you overcorrected and bashed your nose against the windowsill. You tripped over your feet in your panic and pain and fell on your ass as you scrambled backwards until your back was pressing against your bed.
The yellow face peeked through the open window with a sheepish smile while a blue and black face peeked in with the other face, it’s eyes only showing. They both bobbed slightly, like balloons on a string.
“Oops. Sorry there, Trainee,” The yellow face said, “I didn’t mean to spook you like that.”
You notice the black and blue face side-eyeing the yellow one with a slight squint.
“Can we come in,” the yellow face asked.
You rub the soreness out of your nose and only nod. Too tired, too in pain and too caught up in your adrenaline to really deny entry at this moment. Your dove wing earrings jingle by your neck as you try to rub the soreness out of the back of your head next.
The faces revealed torsos and arms and legs, that were human yet very much not at the same time. Their skin color was cartoonish and exaggerated, like they were the walking embodiment of imagination. The yellow one had a face that made you think of the sun. He wore a warm brown turtleneck and bright bellbottom pants that were red with yellow strips making you think of a circus tent. At his feet you saw dove wings on the heels of his black and gold shoes. He hovered about an inch off your floor. You don’t know if he was doing it to be polite or to show off since you were starting to feel very much that he did intend to scare you. The blue and black one had a face that made you think of the moon when it’s cresting. On his head sat a navy-blue paperboy’s hat with a little yellow crescent moon pin near the brim of his hat. His hands were wrapped like how you’ve seen boxers wrap their hands. He wore a skin-tight, sleeveless black turtleneck top and teal cargo pants with each pocket having a yellow star on the lid of each pocket and on his knees. Brown combat boots that looked like they’ve seen better days decorated his feet. His dove wings were on his back, folded nice and tight in a way that if you only ever seen his front, you’d never guess that he had wings on him at all. He stood normally on your wooden floor; his arms crossed defensively in front of him. Your eyes couldn’t help but blur at the edges a bit when you looked at them, like how it was when you met Eclipse.
A light went off in your head and you were embarrassed for yourself that you forgot that you agreed to help fix up the messes you’ve caused. They didn’t need to know that, so you take that embarrassment and turned it into anger.
Standing up you said, “What’s the big idea waking me up at the ass crack of dawn, huh?!”
“There’s a lot that you need to learn, Trainee,” the yellow one said with a sickening up-beat voice that was too early to have at this hour. “We’ve got hearts to help fill with love and relationships to guide apart. Humanity is ever growing and therefore diligence is required.”
The blue and black one only nodded as the yellow one spoke.
You cover your face with your hands then groan into them. Then keeping your face covered your muffled voice said, “Okay. Just… Just sit in the living room as I get dressed and stuff.”
“Can do!” You heard the yellow one say.
You listened to slight fluttering and soft footsteps as they exit your room and close the door behind them. As their noise faded with distance you pulled your face down with your hands as you groaned into your ceiling. There goes your day off plans. You sigh once more, but it’s in resignation. You did agree to this, no matter how annoyed you are, you did agree to it.
Putting on your imaginary adult pants, you close your bedroom window then go get dressed. You put on a pair of flexible jean shorts, and a plain black t-shirt and your rainbow trench coat that you made for an old comic con cosplay costume that you never got rid of because you love it so much, but also never have a proper situation for wearing it. You figured being a temporary cherub is reason enough. You go to your bathroom to take your medicine for the morning and see the white rose that you left in your medicine cabinet. It still hasn’t wilted since you’ve had it, looking as crisp and fresh as if it were just cut. You put it in your hair.
Before leaving your room, you grab your shoulder bag. You walk past your teachers as they sat patiently on your couch as you gathered your phone, keys, wallet, and a few snacks to eat on the road. You grab an apple from your fridge and eat it as your breakfast as you stand before the two cherubs.
“So.” You said around a bite full of apple. “Can I get your names and what the game plan is for today?” You figured they already knew your name, so you didn’t bother introducing yourself.
“Of course! I’m Sun, the Cherub of Love and this is my Best Friend/Associate/Partner Moon, the Cherub of Hate and Heart Break,” the yellow one spoke up cheerily as the blue and black one tipped his hat to you. “Today we’ll be going over basic lessons and then we’ll get into the nitty-gritty of the actual job and then we’ll be able to fix all the problems you caused.”
You didn’t miss the way that Sun’s voice seemed to sour at the end there, like he didn’t want to be here. It made you not trust his smile. You squint at him then turn to his partner.
“Should I expect you two here at this time every training day?”
Moon gave a short shake of his head and said, “No. We can work around your life and work schedule. You can just write it out for us. Today’s just a special day.”
You were surprised by how soft-spoken Moon was, it had a tenderness to it that made your heart hurt in a way that you didn’t want to be reminded of.
“Okay! Let’s go,” you say quick and harsh, as you speed walked to your front door.
If the cherubs noticed your sudden change in attitude, they don’t mention it as they follow you down and out of the apartment. Standing on the empty sidewalk, you throw away your eaten apple and button up your colorful trench coat to protect yourself against the cold wind and you ask a particularly important question.
“What’s my first lesson?”
“We’re going to teach you how to fly,” Sun said brightly, “Hold on.”
“Hold on to—”
Sun gripped you around the waist before you could finish your question and you two were shooting into the air like he was some Perseus wannabe. It had you screaming in surprise. Below you, you watched the waking world shrink, but you kept your eyes on Moon as he followed behind, frowning heavily. Soon the three of you were high enough that if you were to fall, you would die instantly from the impact. You clung to Sun’s back with your hands and had your legs wrapped tightly around his waist, you were practically koala bear hugging him.
“Sun! I swear to all things that are holy, I will kill you if you drop me!”
“Feeling more awake now?” You snarled at him. “Good. Moon. Will you start the lesson?”
You saw Moon fly behind Sun so he could face you.
“It’s okay,” Moon said soothingly, “We’re not going to let you get hurt. This is a trust exercise.”
“Well, this is a real shitty way for me to trust you two!”
“The trust isn’t for us. It’s for yourself,” Moon stated.
That made you pause in your panic and look fully at Moon in your confusion.
“For you to fly, you have to trust the wings that you are given. They chose you just as much as you chose them. If you can’t trust them, then you’ll never fly.”
“They’re… earrings…”
“You can still fly with them regardless of what form your wings take,” Sun stated as he patted your back.
You think about that. It seemed stupid.
“You just have to trust yourself. That’s all you have to do. It might take you a few attempts, but we will catch you. Okay?” Moon said to reassure you. “We will catch you.”
You look down over Sun’s shoulder at your far away city. The curvature of the earth making you a little dizzy. You figured the extra height was to have more time to catch you if they miss for some ungodly reason. You still hold on to Sun, but you’re not clutching him like a lifeline anymore. You nod at Moon to show him that you understand.
You felt Sun lean forward and his strong hold on your middle loosens.
“I’m letting go now…”
Your fingers feel numb as you willingly let your arms and legs slip away from Sun and then the air around you whipped your hair and clothes as Sun and Moon became smaller and smaller.
Come on. Come on. Come ON! COME ON! COME ON! You involuntarily scream as it feels like you were picking up speed as you fell. Then you were suddenly jostled as you felt arms catch you by the back of your knees and your back. You fall a few more feet before you stop completely. Taking deep breathes you see Sun smiling softly at you.
“Take your time. We’ll do it again when you’re ready,” Sun said as he started flying you back to the starting position.
You waited until the adrenaline stopped making your hands shake before you decided to let them drop you again. Again, you failed, being caught by Moon this time. The adrenaline subsided and you fell again and was caught again.
For three days that’s all you did. You don’t know what you were doing wrong. Sun was all smiles, but you could see the way his smile twitched with annoyance each time you fail. Moon kept reassuring you that you’re not the first person to take so long to trust their wings and how you won’t be the last, but it was still frustrating. You wanted to continue with your training so that you could fix your problems as soon as you could. You don’t have forever to do all of this just to be stuck at the beginning.
One sleepless night, you were staring out your bedroom window as you mulled over your failures. In the distance you could hear a car alarm going off. A frost was forming on your window from how cold the night had gotten. Illuminated by the streetlights you saw a couple snuggling close to each other as they walked and talked happily to each other through the night. In your tired and frustrated state, you got a bad idea and you decided to act on it.
Keeping your pajamas on, but putting on your rainbow trench coat, you walk out of your apartment and take the stairs up to your apartment’s roof. You go and stand on the edge and look over the side. It was a nine-story tall building. The fall would kill you. With one hand, you grip your right dangly earring between your thumb and forefinger. After staring for a bit, you take a deep breath and straighten as you turn your back to the edge.
You really don’t want to die. You want to keep living. You want to keep moving. You want to help. You want to have that excuse to see your loved ones again… You don’t want to die. You screwed your eyes shut and fell backwards. You wanted to fly.
The air around you whipped against you as you fell. Your body tense as your heart ached. In what you hoped wasn’t your last moments, you thought about the worst mistake you’ve ever made… before all of this. Being kinder to yourself, you admit that you’re too harsh on yourself… You think of your past-self and apologize. You just wished that everything would hurt less.
You take a moment, but you realize that the air is still around you. You open your eyes and look up. You were at the ground floor. You flip around to see if you’re a ghost just hovering over your dead body, but you see nothing. Just the concrete sidewalk. You touch it and you feel the grit of the concrete on your fingers. You push off the ground and you swing backwards as you float a bit higher in the air.
The shock passes and you start to laugh as you do slow backflips over the streetlamps. You straighten up and shoot up in the air as you laugh. You climb high and laugh louder as you do tricks in the air like you were swimming, be damn the cold, this was the most fun and relief filled moment in your life. After your whooping and hollering, you fly back down to your roof top giggling madly to yourself.
When your feet hit the ground, your legs gave out and you fall to your knees. As you giggled you felt tears blur your sight as your hands scrapped against the concrete roof, shaking with adrenaline. Your giggling turned into sobs. You wrapped your arms around yourself as you hunched over, your forehead scraping against the concrete as you cried so hard it was hard to breath. As you cried for however long you cried, a small part of you didn’t know you had tears like that in you still.
