Chapter Text
He wipes down the foggy mirror to see himself tousle his damp hair into place before returning to his toothbrush's handle.
There should be something calming about engaging in a bedtime routine after weeks of dreaming, but instead his mind trots along each word said, each possibility.
One would think getting to 'rehearse' a confession in a dream (You're always in my heart) would have given him the conviction to be straightforward about wanting some company in relearning how to sleep in his bed — But he had to go and make a joke out of it, naturally, inviting Dan Heng under the premise of testing out a new mattress whose expenses definitely didn't appear anywhere in the Express' books.
Sure, Dan Heng had responded with nothing other than "Sure," but who's to say it wasn't a 'joke' of his own?
Would he need to choose between staring at his room's ceiling or getting scolded by Pom-Pom for staying up in the Parlor car all night? Again?
"Caelus?" There's a light knock on the railing leading up to his bedroom and Dan Heng's unmistakable voice beyond the bathroom's door, stopping his thoughts in their tracks.
Oh, shit. "Just a sec!"
He rinses his mouth in a hurry, double, triple checking his bangs in the mirror before grabbing the one single piece of clothing he thought he could afford the time to put on besides his boxers — Choosing an oversized shirt and foregoing pants before sliding the door open in such a hurry that it slams into its frame.
"Hello." Caelus tries to play it cool, leaning on the doorframe until it emits a low buzzing sound, its automated system requesting him to stop obstructing the way.
"Good evening." Dan Heng sizes him up from the top of the stairs, a tablet in one hand and a glass of water in the other. "Am I too early?"
"Nah, I was just, uh," thinking you wouldn't come. Caelus moves out of the doorframe, leading them to his bed. "Aren't you going to ask me where's the new mattress?"
"I think I would have noticed if we had received such a big shipment." The corner of Dan Heng's mouth rises a little, seemingly not too offended by the blatant lie.
"Heh, well, old or new, I'm happy to test out any mattress with you." The tone of that sentence immediately hits Caelus once it slips past his lips, his smile twisting into an embarrassed grimace.
Dan Heng snorts in response, putting down his glass on the desk before turning back to Caelus, gray eyes on him as he watches him sit down onto the edge of the bed.
He looks a bit too good without his usual layers of clothing, a simple black shirt that fell low and offered a glimpse of his collarbones nearly unholy when compared to his typically high necklines, the side tucked into pleated joggers, exuding significantly more class than Caelus' literal half-naked look.
"You have something there."
"Huh?" Caelus is dragged out of his ogling just in time to see Dan Heng stepping forward, barely processing the fact that he brings a hand to his jaw, thumb stroking the corner of his mouth. "Wuh!?"
"It's toothpaste." Dan Heng lowers his hand as quickly as he brought it up, the subtle touch of color on his cheeks obvious even to Caelus' dumbstruck self.
"Thanks!?" Caelus simultaneously curses and thanks his past self for not giving himself a fourth look over before rushing out of the bathroom, running his own thumb over his lips to make sure no other conspicuous bits hindered his self-proclaimed (but thankfully validated by many recent encounters across the stars) handsome face.
"No problem." Dan Heng watches him do so, otherwise unmoving, making Caelus spiral over why such a small attention got his heart rate up when they had already seen all of one another, in that bath, with Dan Heng on his knees — - - "Can I get some space?"
"Right. Yeah." Caelus throws off his slides before slowly rolling towards the other side of the bed, looking at Dan Heng propping up the pillows on his claimed half of the bed before pushing down the bedsheets to take his seat on the not-so-new mattress.
Graceful manners make it so the bed barely moves from his weight, and Caelus can't help the grin that tugs at his lips from seeing how at ease Dan Heng seemed in his bed, making himself at home under the blankets, leaning against the pillows and propping his knees up before angling his tablet up against his raised thighs. "Something wrong?"
"Nope." Caelus' prolonged staring had likely entered suspicious territory, answering hurriedly before losing his sleep buddy. "Everything's great."
"Okay." The faintest hint of a laugh punctuates his response, reassuring Caelus that he would keep him roped in for a while still. "So you sleep on top of your bedsheets?"
Right. Well. He hadn't gotten there quite yet. "Oh!? Are my sexy legs making you shy??"
"You're going to have to work a bit harder than this to embarrass me." Dan Heng's 'invitation' makes Caelus shoot up on the bed to jokingly (or not) accept his challenge, but he backs down just as fast, feeling Dan Heng's cool hand at his thigh for two far-too-brief pats of his bare leg.
Resigned, Caelus grabs his previously discarded phone off of the comforter before joining Dan Heng under the bedsheets, pretending not to notice the way he seems to wait for Caelus to unlock his phone and start browsing before turning on his tablet, intent to keep working.
They spend half a system hour or so on their devices, but as reassuring as Dan Heng's calming presence by his side could be, it also made it incredibly difficult to focus on getting his mobile game dailies done — His eyes drifting to the side to watch long fingers work, his mind wandering towards breaths, proximity — And eventually it's his leg that scoots a bit further, calf pressing against Dan Heng's, who doesn't shy away from the contact.
(If he had the balls to look away from his screen and sacrifice his perfect combo, he might even have noticed Dan Heng's smile.)
Once his nerves have calmed down enough to make the most of having some company — And to try and find true sleep for the first time in weeks — Caelus sets aside his phone before rearranging his pillows, laying down on his side, facing Dan Heng's direction while still making sure his knee touched him, a lifeline from dreams in his presence.
"Let me know if the light bothers you." Dan Heng states, the faint blue glow of the tablet and the sea of stars behind them the only luminosity left in the room.
"'s fine." Caelus hears how drowsy he sounds, somehow reassured that he might still remember how to sleep.
Yet in the quiet of his room and far from the stimulating distractions of trailblazing and/or his phone, his mind finds a way to go racing, feeding him images of death and order, regrets and fears that still felt too real in all of their alleged resolution — Until he feels a weight covering his hand, steadying him.
No word is spoken, but Caelus understands that his restlessness must have poured out of him, Dan Heng's hand keeping his safe.
He's too tired to be embarrassed, too desperate to be touched to play it off, and so his fingers curl around Dan Heng's hand, anchoring himself to him as he lets his eyes close.
He feels a thumb press slow, steady circles into the back of his hand as he drifts off, and it's far sweeter than any dream.
