Spain x Reader: Constellations

"Antonio, which one is Cassiopeia?" You wiggled a bit so as to get a wider view of the sky, ignoring how it caused the hammock to rock back and forth. The hammock, set up out in the yard with a special stand, was the main reason you'd agreed to sitting outside in the cold and looking up at a bunch of shiny dots. Well that, and the opportunity to snuggle with Antonio, though you wouldn't ever tell the Spaniard that. It was a secret just for you.

Antonio moved his head closer to yours and then lifted an arm to point at a cluster of stars. You were grateful for the darkness that hid your blush. "Do you see that star there?" You didn't really but lied and said you did. How he could tell which stars belonged to which constellations was a mystery to you. He liked to talk about how important they had been back during the Age of Exploration when everyone who sailed knew how to read the stars in order to navigate. Usually history like that bored you but Antonio always told it in an exciting way. Sometimes all it boiled down to was his own enthusiasm for the subject but his was the infectious kind.

"Follow my finger down this way," he instructed, moving his hand down from the star he'd been pointing to an odd sideways zigzag of stars. "Do you see the W?" he asked encouragingly. For once, you could actually see the thing he was talking about and your excitement of having succeeded was completely present in your voice.

"I do!" you shouted feeling extremely victorious. Antonio patted your head like a prideful teacher but you were too jazzed to be embarrassed or blush. The two of you fell into a peaceful quiet looking up at the sky. It was starting to get chilly now as the night deepened around you. You pulled the quilt tighter around you, drawing a somewhat concerned look from Antonio. It faded as soon as you stopped squirming.

"Right below Cassiopeia is Andromeda you know," he started up again, too excited to leave the star lesson at that. He freed his arm from the quilt again to guide you to the vaguely L shaped line of stars that was the head. You perked up at the name. You might not know how to find the constellations, but you knew the myths behind them. Antonio nudged you expectantly. "Tell the story. You always tell them the best."

Trying to keep the compliment from getting to you and making your voice sound off, you began. "Well a long, long time ago, in ancient times there was a King and Queen. They had a daughter and she was very beautiful." Antonio wiggled closer, his face eager. It was kind of distracting but your professionalism for storytelling kept you on track. "The Queen loved her daughter dearly but she was also vain."

"That was Cassiopeia!" Antonio interjected. You barely suppressed a giggle at that and managed to muster up a small glare.

"Who's telling the story?" you asked him with mock seriousness. He feigned remorse at his childish behavior. "Right so, as I was saying, the Queen was very vain. She praised her daughter's looks often, to anyone who would listen. One day she took things too far and claimed 'My daughter Andromeda is even more beautiful than the Nereids of the sea!'" You did your best to emulate a haughty older woman voice and got a chuckle out of Toni. "Of course the Nereids were deeply offended by the claim."

"Of course," Antonio said with fake sincerity. This time he got a shove for interrupting you.

"Hush, or I'll stop." That shut him up immediately. He moved even closer and stared at you pleadingly, which successfully derailed your thoughts. The starlight was doing funny things to his eyes and you found yourself getting sort of lost in them. "What did the Nereids do?" he prompted, pulling you back to reality. Feeling your cheeks heat up you picked the story back up where you'd left it.

"Right! So the Nereids were royally pissed and they went to Poseidon, their father, demanding retribution. Not one to stand for having his daughters slurred, Poseidon sent a great sea monster to attack Cassiopeia's kingdom." Antonio tensed up, earning a warm smile from you. He really did love stories. "Andromeda's father, the King, could not undo his wife's mistake but sought help from an Oracle to see if there was any way to save his kingdom."

"The Oracle gave him only one option. If he wanted to save his kingdom, he must sacrifice his only daughter to the sea monster since she was the source of all the trouble." You couldn't help but shiver. All of a sudden it seemed so much colder. You weren't sure if it was just the night chilling you or the story. Maybe it was both. Without a word, Antonio pulled you into his arms, effectively warming you up though you were pretty sure it was just your embarrassment doing all the work.

"Keep going," he coaxed, seemingly oblivious to your abrupt sheepishness. You cleared your throat in an attempt to get yourself back in line.

"So...at first the King refused. He loved his daughter and she had not said the offending remark. But as the Poseidon's deadline grew nearer he was forced to make the most difficult decision a King could possibly make. He had to face the fact that for his kingdom, he would have to condemn his daughter to a cruel fate. With great reluctance he chained Andromeda to a great rock on the shore and left her there, too ashamed to even stay and watch her demise."

Antonio gasped ever so slightly, acting as the perfect listener who reacted at all the right moments. "Andromeda lay all alone and doomed to be devoured. She had given up all hope when a young man came strolling along the beach. Fearful for his safety, she called out to him. 'You must leave this place! A great sea monster is headed this way. You must flee before it arrives!' But the young man was not concerned with sea monsters. He was simply concerned for the beautiful young woman he had found chained to a boulder."

"As he should be," Antonio said with real seriousness. You rolled your eyes but inside you couldn't help but melt a little at his tone. It wasn't hard to picture the Spaniard rushing to help a damsel in distress. He was totally the type who would do that.

"The young man's name was Perseus and he demanded to know why the lovely maiden was chained so. She explained what had happened and told him not to intervene because the fate of her father's kingdom depended on her death. He would not stand for such a punishment to befall an innocent and he immediately freed her, despite her protests. Then, when the sea monster came for its meal he whipped out the head of Medusa, a prize he had obtained in a previous adventure, and turned it to stone. With that, Poseidon's punishment was avoided and Andromeda was spared."

"And then happily ever after?"

You smiled, feeling comfy and content snuggled up against Antonio. This was pretty much the perfect evening in your book. "Yes. Perseus and Andromeda were wed right after that and returned to his homeland. They had many children and when they passed away; their images were placed in the sky so that their story would live on. The end," you finished, your voice soft and sort of sleepy.

Somehow, without you noticing, Antonio had drawn you right up against him and with a tiny nudge he coerced you into laying your head on his shoulder. You felt so lovely and warm that it wasn't long at all before you drifted off. Antonio smiled softly and tucked the quilt more firmly around the two of you.

"Buenos noches, mi princesa," he said, kissing you on the forehead before laying back and going to sleep as well.