There's a Starman

Writer's Month 2022 Day 9: Echo

Ziggy paused at the door before stepping into the studio. It was an odd feeling to be back in the studio where he had first met his bandmates, where they had auditioned to join him three years earlier. The producer wasn't on site yet and it left Ziggy standing in the room and glancing around.

His ability to sense emotions was a boon when it came to performance and sway the people around him. Here thought, alone with a place full of memories and emotions, there was negative impact. Perhaps it was not strictly negative because the emotions were positive, but the ghosts of the past caught the hybrid Anthean off guard.

The past came flooding back in vivid images as if he were watching the past as a passive observer. He saw himself turning to watch Mick walk into the studio for the first time. He felt those old emotions when he wasn't as skilled with his own feelings. The rush of attraction and an instantaneous kind of love that he imagined humans described as first sight. He felt all those flutters when they walked up to each other to shake hands. He felt Mick's quaking and his own desire seeping in from the past. Maybe it was a memory as much as the residuals of this place.

The place kept him in the past as that first day played out. The moment came when Mick had ran away. Back then, in the moments he was seeing, it had been te emotions of desperate panic. Now, the idea of Mick running off had Ziggy's heart pouning with pain. The moments replaying before him felt like they were eons ago now.

“Ziggy?”

The voice startled him so much the vision faded but the emotions lingered. “Are we ready to schedule for recording?”

The Anthean forcing himself to turn back to business even if the past still lingered there.

For Hand Holding prompt 1. tiny hands in big hands


Ziggy had been out for the day and came back to the townhouse early in the evening. Greeted by the cats and the sound of Mick quietly playing his guitar. The Anthean brought his little sister along for the evening. She was getting bigger and needed to spend time with others to develop properly, a quirk that wasn't likely to be unique to Anthean children.

“Mick?” He called as he closed the door and shifted his sister in his arms. She was cooing and playing with the flpped up collar of his jumpsuit. Seeing Mick, Ziggy went to kiss his cheek and let Zayda greet her brother. Always, she grabbed his hair and Ziggy laughed while trying to work the tiny fingers out of his partner's hair. There were feelings this moment pulled to the surface. The desire to be a family, to start a family with Mick. Of course, that was for the future but it didn't stop the flutter in Ziggy's heart when he thought about it.

“How was your day, Zig?” Mick asked while taking his free hand for a squeeze.

All he could do was smile and lead Mick toward the livingroom and the plush couch. When Mick sat the Anthean crawled into his lap, holding his little sister in his lap. It felt good to feel Mick's arms around him and he leaned into the human's shoulders. Ziggy was playing with Zayda's tiny fingers when Mick wrapped both of their hands in his larger one. There was a daintiness to Ziggy's long thin fingers in the human's hands. He stared at their hands while watching their fingers intertwine and Zayda's even tinier hands wrapping around their fingers while she made the high pitched baby talk of an Anthean.

Mick nuzzled into Ziggy's cheek and pulled them both closer. The singer glanced at his guitarist out of the corner of his eyes, smile broadening to the point his cheeks ached. If true happiness existed, without pain, then this was a part of it. Ziggy took a breath and watched Zayda lean into Mick's chest with his bigger hands still around the delicate fingers.

“Mick?” Ziggy asked after a few moments.

“Hmmm...?” Mick looked to his girlfriend, kissing the Anthean's temple.

“Someday... maybe we'll sit like this with our little girl?” Ziggy couldn't keep the thoughts inside. He looked forward to the future. “...or maybe a boy who can be covered in mud like you were? You'll be a good father to our children.”

Mick blushed bright across the cheeks until Ziggy giggled. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Mick.” Ziggy leaned his head on the human's shoulder watching his little sister in their lap. This was perfect.

He had been at this for almost three weeks now. Sure, there had been some good people come in to audition but no one stood out. There had been what now, four guitarists today. It was proving difficult to find a quality guitarist, especially one that kept his, or her, mouth shut about his appearance.

Ziggy was pacing as he drank down another glass of whiskey. He flopped down in a chair and sighed heavily. Eventually the agent he was working with came in to say they had a call from some people on a train or something. He wasn't really paying attention too much because his emotions were eating at him. He had waited this long, what harm could be waiting a bit longer?

He sat in the chair of the sound booth, spinning and then kicked his feet up. Tugging down on the short kimono he waited, drinking whiskey and reclining in the chair. He wondered how long he'd have to wait for these late comers to make it to the studio.