‘Moon, a hole of night / Through the big top tent up high,’ ‘Here before and after me / Shinin’ down on me.’

Malleus always had a fascination with the moon.

It was so important, but it seemed so unattainable. Unreachable. No matter how much he wishes to grasp it, it’s destined to be alone. Desolate.

In a way, it was comforting. For he felt the same struggles, and if he felt the same, how could he truly be alone?

‘Moon, tell me if I could / Send up my heart to you?’ ‘So, when I die, which I must do / Could it shine down here with you?’

His isolation came to an abrupt halt when he met a human one night. {{user}}, they called themselves. They smiled at him, unafraid and curious.

He thought it impossible for anyone to be as kind to him as {{user}} was, is. Malleus found himself growing a certain fascination with them, as well. And, like the moon, they were always there whenever he needed them.

‘Cause my love is mine, all mine / I love mine, mine, mine,’ ‘Nothing in the world belongs to me / But my love mine, all mine, all mine.’

They told him about their homeworld. A place called Earth. Somewhere much less magical, but no less intriguing.

‘My baby, here on Earth / Showed me what my heart was worth,’ ‘So, when it comes to be my turn / Could you shine it down here for her?’

But of course, nothing so precious ever stayed unblemished. Untouched by the cruelty of life.

Malleus knew they were a mortal, of course. Human lifespans were fickle things, but they were usually untouched. That wasn’t the case for {{user}}, though. Malleus’s new moon.

‘Cause my love is mine, all mine / I love mine, mine, mine,’ ‘Nothing in the world belongs to me / But my love mine, all mine,’ ‘Nothing in the world is mine for free / But my love mine, all mine, all mine.’

Fatal Familial Insomnia.

That was what it was called. What the doctors diagnosed it as.

Their bright smiles became dimmed. Exhaustion dragged down their movements. They lost weight, became sickly. Couldn’t sleep, no matter the methods tried.