The final iteration of our 1k Downloads celebration!

I'm sorry it's taken so long, it's been a wild month for me personally and professionally and that definitely got in the way of finishing this in the timing I'd hoped, but finally it's here!

Thank you all so much for your interest in our game!

Gorgeous art by @_minthe_draws!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FINALLY

By Cath

You pace, retracing your path across your studio over and over, and over. The sun is setting, the light cast across the walls shifting to an orangey-pink, and casting long shadows that cast the room in an eerie, comforting glow. 

Waiting sucks. It's never been your strong suit, but for some reason that's eluded you, it's worse today. You feel antsy down to your bones, like your blood is caffeine and your muscles electricity, pushing you to keep moving. But still, no matter how you comb through the tangles of your thoughts, you can't find the source of this damned anxiety, if that's even what you're feeling. 

Your pacing continues.

You've been dressed for an hour. When has that ever happened? 

You check the time, again. 6:31 PM. 

It's not unlike Aster to come and go, and it's rare you truly know where it is he's gone, but he is undeniably a creature of punctuality. If he says he'll be there at a specific time, without fail he would appear between the breaths marking one minute to the next. He was never late. But now... He said 6:30 pm, so where--

"Searching for me, Little Scorpion?"

His voice, always so calm and smooth and dark as a frozen laze, makes you spin on your heel. You set your eyes upon him then, leaning against the wall, a slight smile curving his pale lips. His eyebrow is arched in a way that makes you briefly question how long he's been standing there, if he's been watching you in that quiet way of his, and you simply hadn't noticed. 

But it isn't possible. You always notice him. You feel him, a prickle on the back of your neck, whenever he's near. 

Aster's smile held a shark-like edge, the glint before a true smirk. It was masking something else, though, a feeling you had not seen before, and could not identify. 

"I was." You return his smile and adjust the collar of your shirt. The way he looks at you, his eyes fixed on your face like he can see nothing else, makes you feel uncomfortably warm. 

"You look lovely. Are you ready to leave?" He asks, pulling himself from the wall in one languid motion. You look around yourself, trying to gather your thoughts. 

"Uh... yeah, yes. I'm ready." You smooth down your front, pressing the wrinkles out with your hand. 

Aster's eyebrow quirks once more, and his smile grows. He takes a step towards you, gliding forward as if his feet didn't even touch the floor.  

"You seem nervous, darling." His voice drops into the purr he knows flusters you, the one he likes to use to get your heart racing. 

"I'm-- I--" You sputter for a moment, wanting to deny it, and Aster's smile stretches into a grin. A laugh escapes you, a nervous sounding thing much higher than your voice normally is. "I guess... I am? I don't know why." 

Aster takes another long step towards you, and as if pulled by a magnet, you mirror the movement so you stand only an arm's length from each other. Aster's smile, the wickedness of it, softens to something gentler. Kinder. He often looks at you like this when you're writing, or when you're trying to work out some complex turn of plot. 

You smile back, and the action soothes your racing heart. Your thoughts clear a bit, and you notice, for the first time, Aster's outfit. He's wearing a proper, honest-to-goodness suit, with a golden yellow bowtie that makes his eyes appear to glow. 

"You look gorgeous." Your words are more breath than voice, and although you feel a flash of embarrassment, it's immediately mitigated by the wash of pleasure you feel when pink colors Aster's cheeks. It's fantastically rare to see him blush, and you relish each moment. 

Aster schools his face into something controlled and predatory, his grin wide, but the blush doesn't fade. 

"Thank you, little Scorpion." He takes your hand and leads you in a slow, luxurious turn, so he can admire every angle of you. "I undeniably pale in comparison to you. You look..." 

"Delicious?" You ask as you come face to face with him once more, beaming. It's his favorite compliment for you, and his own expression morphs to something devilish as you finish his sentence. Sinful. Delighted. "Well, you asked me to dress up, so..." You gesture to your outfit, carefully selected to make your eyes stand out, although you can't hope to have the same illumination Aster manages. Not without his--

Aster's hand ghosts over your cheek before his thumb and forefinger latch onto your chin. He gives the slightest pull, and like a puppet on strings, you step forward, closing the distance between the two of you. 

"Indeed. Delicious." He murmurs. His other hand rests on the side of your neck, the fingers curling around to tickle against your nape. 

"Isn't our reservation soon?" Dammit, why did you say that? You don't want to go yet, you don't want him to let you go. You want him closer. 

"Not so soon that we can't spare just a few minutes." He leans in, bringing his mouth nearer to yours, so your senses are filled with the scent of him. Aster smells of an incoming summer thunderstorm, ether in the air and the promise of rain. His lips graze yours, and you step in further, folding your body against his, slipping your arms around his waist over his coat, your skin gliding against the smooth fabric. 

You press in closer to deepen the kiss and--

You freeze. You don't mean to, but you can't help it. Your mind stutters into silence, refusing to identify the source of your shock, refusing to seek further. Aster is frozen similarly,unmoving, not even breathing, his gaze locked firmly and unblinkingly on yours. His eyes mirror your surprise, which only serves to prolong your freeze response. 

The silence stretches, a rubber band over the moment. Then, just as quickly, your thoughts snap back into your mind, filling it with thoughts that all point to the same thing. 

The feeling of a box, small and square, perhaps the size of the palm, tucked into Aster's coat pocket. 

It couldn't be. It couldn't possibly be what you think it is...

But Aster's expression is shifting, narrowing, and his smile sliding to the left side of his face, crooked and daring you to say it. 

Go ahead, Little Scorpion. 

Say it.

You swallow, and your throat is dry, and you're trying your hardest not to look at the pocket to try and get a visual to confirm what you feel under your hand. And you know. You're certain. 

It's a ring box. 

"Do you wish to... discuss it? Or shall we go to dinner?" He asks. His voice has an odd warble to it, a cracking quality that sounds almost like... if it were anyone else, you would say it sounded like nerves. But this being before you has never shown signs of being anything close to uneasy before, let nervous. It gives you a thrill, to know you have that kind of effect on him. 

The power it gives you, however, disappears quickly when you try to speak again. 

"Y-yes. I mean. No. Um..." You clear your throat. Pull it together! You're already trembling, and although you have no idea how you'll possibly eat your dinner at this point, you shake your head. "Let's go to dinner."

He drops a feather light kiss on your lips, barely a brushing of skin, before pulling you into a hug. Your hand slides away from the ring box and fixes itself against his back. The embrace steadies you, ebbing the sharper edges of anxiety into a blooming excitement. He releases you sooner than you'd like, but it's always sooner than you'd like, and it leaves every point of contact feeling cold. Then he's taking your hand and tilting his head towards you, looking eager and mischievous.

"Then let's go. We wouldn't want to be late."