Chapter Text
Caelus knocked on his new apartment’s door, calling out to check if anyone was inside.
“Hello? Room 521, right?”
Caelus took out the keys to the apartment from his jacket pocket, unlocking the door. He peeked into the room as he stepped inside. The first thing he saw was a room neatly made on one side, while the other was quite empty. Caelus assumed that the empty half of the bedroom was his half.
Caelus also noticed a man about his age sitting down in front of a desk, typing away at a laptop with headphones on. The man was tall with a slender figure who had blue eyes, fair skin and short, black hair. Caelus would be lying if he didn’t think the man was very attractive.
As soon as Caelus stepped inside the room, his attention turned from his laptop to Caelus. He took his headphones off and set them next to his laptop.
“Oh, I’m assuming you’re my roommate…?” The boy nods to Caelus as a tiny bowing gesture. “I’m Dan Heng, and you are?”
Caelus smiled brightly as he walked over to his roommate, putting his luggage and bags down on his side of the bedroom.
“I’m Caelus! Nice to meet you, Dan Heng.”
Dan Heng smiled slightly, before turning back to his laptop. Caelus decided to let him be for now.
Caelus plopped himself onto his bed, which was surprisingly softer than he thought apartment beds would be. His eyes wandered around the bedroom, taking note of the two other doors in front of the apartment entrance. He stood up from his bed, opening the left door.
“Ah, so this is where the bathroom is.”
Caelus grinned at himself in the bathroom mirror, noticing how messy his hair had gotten after walking in the cold, windy weather outside. Caelus himself was pretty good looking, his golden eyes easily striking underneath his fluffy, gray hair. He tried his best to smooth out his hair before walking out of the bathroom.
Caelus closed the bathroom door, walking back to open the door behind him. What was behind the door was a relatively small kitchen on the left, and a square dining table for four on the right. Overall, Caelus was taken aback by how comfortable the apartment was compared to past apartments he and his twin sister Stelle had to spend time in.
The gray haired man returned to the bedroom, catching a quick glance at Dan Heng’s laptop screen. He was quite curious, walking up behind him and leaning an arm on the top of his chair. Dan Heng looked up at Caelus, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
“…Can I help you?”
Caelus smiled, looking over at Dan Heng’s laptop.
“What are you doing?”
Dan Heng paused, a smile slightly creeping up in his lips.
“I’m working on a novel. I’m just taking a little break from my studies.”
“Oooh~ What’s your major?”
“Literature.”
“Literature?” Caelus was intrigued. “So you’re quite the fan of writing and reading. That’s cool!”
Short awkward silence filled the room’s atmosphere as Caelus watched Dan Heng type for his novel.
“Are you planning on publishing this?” Caelus was curious about the novel. Dan Heng replied to Caelus with a nod, but his eyes were still glued to what he was typing.
“Let me be your #1 supporter then!” The gray haired beamed a smile to Dan Heng.
Dan Heng’s eyes widened a little in surprise, clearing his throat. His cheeks were tinted a light, rosy pink as he replied.
“Well, I don’t mind. Thanks.”
Caelus’ smile grew wider.
“What’s the book about?”
Dan Heng’s gaze returned to his screen, turning in his chair.
“It’s about the main character who wakes up and realizes that they have got basically the equivalent of an atomic bomb in their body, called a Stellaron. They end up joining a space crew to travel around different planets in the universe, trying to figure out the truth of their situation while at the same time helping the inhabitants of each universe.“
Caelus is very interested in this. A space travel story? That sounded awesome to him.
“What’s the main character’s name, by the way?”
“Reni. I couldn’t think of anything else.”
Caelus only nodded, leaning over and sitting down on the carpet floor as he listened to Dan Heng’s very pretty voice. Dan Heng explained the rest of the characters. Basically, the main cast consisted of a trash can lover (for strange, comedic purposes perhaps?), a strawberry haired colored girl who loves taking photos, someone who seems to be a self insert of Dan Heng, the cast’s mother figure who seems to be terrible at making coffee, the grandpa with PTSD, and a cute bunny in red.
Strangely, the main character Reni reminded Caelus of his sister, who was also a dumpster diver (not that Caelus is judging, he does that sometimes too), and the bunny reminded him of the school’s principal, Pom-Pom.
“Could these characters possibly be a different version of different people you know?” Caelus asked.
Dan Heng nodded. “Yes. I thought it would be a fun idea.”
“Oh, do you perhaps know my sister, Stelle? She’s been here a while.”
“Yes, I know her. Stelle is one of my friends. She and another friend, March, asked to be in this book. I couldn’t really say no if I didn’t want them to keep pestering me about it.”
Caelus chuckled. Of course Stelle would be like that, he thought. He knew just how chaotic Stelle was, and Caelus was equally chaotic once the two were in one room together. They liked to call themselves ‘The Disaster Twins.’ A very fitting name, for how many times the two had gotten in trouble for their shenanigans.
“…And why is Principal Pom-Pom in the story too?” Caelus asked.
Dan Heng shrugged. “I just thought it would be funny and cute to add a talking bunny into the main cast.”
Caelus couldn't help but laugh. "I get it. I wonder what everyone would think about this story." He smiled.
“Well, I hope they like it. Maybe you could read some of it and give me feedback?”
“Yes, absolutely!”
Dan Heng and Caelus spent the rest of the hour talking about the book before Caelus had to go and organize his things… And by ‘organize’, he meant ‘throwing stuff wherever he wanted and hoped it looked good because he couldn’t bother to actually put his stuff away neatly, but in reality it made his side of the room look like the inside of a dumpster—Real fitting for Caelus’.
Dan Heng was not fond of Caelus’ messy side of the room, especially since he would have to put up with it for the rest of their time together. But, at least Caelus took care to not bring his mess to Dan Heng’s side.
— Silly lil time skip to a few days later —
Caelus hummed along to a song he put on as he made his way back to the apartment. On the way, he noticed a familiar face sitting down on a bench near the basketball court. It was Dan Heng, writing on a worksheet as he used a notebook to lean on.
The gray-haired boy’s face brightened when he saw his roommate, taking his earbuds out as he walked towards him. But before he could say hi, he heard a familiar female voice behind him.
“Caelus!!”
Caelus turned around to see his sister, Stelle, waving at him and running towards her brother. Her shoulder-length, ashy gray hair swayed behind her as she ran. She had the same eyes as Caelus. In fact, she looked just like Caelus if he was female. Once she reached him, the twins gave each other a high-five.
“So? How’s college life been? Classes are not too hard for you?” Stelle asked, grinning and putting her arm around Caelus’ shoulders.
“Ah, um…” Caelus chuckles, embarrassed. “It’s been great. I’m actually thinking about trying for the baseball team.”
Stelle gasps, ruffling her younger brother’s hair as she beams at him.
“That’s awesome! You better get in, I don’t wanna be the only chaos twin on the team!”
Caelus laughs, pushing Stelle in a playful manner. He looked back over to where Dan Heng was sitting, and he noticed something blue peeking from underneath Dan Heng’s sleeveless turtleneck.
Huh. What is that?
Stelle seemed to notice Caelus staring, and she held a hand up to her mouth to stifle a laugh.
“Oh? Has Dan Heng caught your attention, Little Cae?”
“I- No!” Caelus whipped his head back around to face Stelle, his cheeks colored red in embarrassment.
“Hey, no shame if you like him. He is quite handsome.” Stelle pat Caelus on the back. “You have my blessing to date my friend, dear brother~”
“Hey, I don’t like him that way! He’s my roommate.”
Stelle’s cocky grin widened. “Even better.”
“Don’t make this weird!”
“Is everything okay?” A voice in front of them was heard.
Caelus and Stelle turned to face Dan Heng, who had taken off his headphones and was staring at the twins in confusion.
“Is everything okay?” He repeated.
“Yep. Everything’s fine.” Stelle laughed, her arm back around Caelus and pulling him to her side—to Caelus’ embarrassment. Stelle was considerably shorter than Caelus, which meant he had to be pulled down to her height as she did so.
“I just heard that my Little Cae is roommates with one of my best friends~”
“Don’t call me Little Cae!” Caelus grumbled, crossing his arms. Caelus hated it when Stelle called him by her stupid little nickname, especially in front of others. Even worse, it was in front of Dan Heng!
“Oh. Yeah. He is.” Dan Heng nodded. He put his phone and headphones in his bag, as well as his schoolwork.
“Great!” Stelle then turned to Caelus. “Is he treating you well? Sorry if he’s a little quiet and awkward, he’s just like that, hehe.”
Stelle then gasped, an idea popping into her head. She let go of Caelus to clap both her hands together.
“Hey, you should meet my roommate, March!” She said excitedly. “Or have you already met her yet?”
Caelus shrugged. “I haven’t met her, but Dan Heng told me she majors in Photography and Video Editing.”
“We have to introduce you to March so that you can meet the entire group! Maybe on the weekend?”
Dan Heng flashes a small smile for a brief moment, before returning to his usual indifferent demeanor.
“Yeah. Sounds good. Are you going to let March know?” Dan Heng asked.
“I’m on it, don’t worry.” Stelle gave a playful wink along with a thumbs up and a bright smile.