Chapter Text
Sunday felt his stomach churn as he stepped forward, lights inside the Express almost blinding him momentarily. The conductor ran past him, almost stumbling right into his figure. He exhaled deeply, then inhaled as he took another step, walking into the express.
"Welcome to the Astral Express, Mr. Sunday. We hope you have a pleasant stay and feel free to look around." He heard a familiar, deep voice behind him.
"It's only my pleasure, Mr. Yang. I'm sincerely thankful for allowing me to travel with you." The halovian man politely bowed his head, hand tightly gripping the express ticket he was given earlier by the conductor themself.
"I think he should unpack. Stelle, show him the way to his room, if you're not busy" Dan Heng said, carefully eyeing the new arrival. Sunday swallowed, feeling everyone's gaze weighting down on him.
Stelle shrugged, walking off towards the bedrooms, slouching with her hands stuffed in the pockets of her skirt. Sunday shook himself out of his thoughts and nodded silently, trotting right behind the girl. The tense and awkward silence between them lasted up until Stelle opened the door for Sunday, the faint smell of dust made him cough, eyes on his wings closed suddenly.
"Decorate it however you want, I don't think Mr. Welt or Miss Himeko will mind it."
"Miss Himeko..." Sunday's wings fluttered at the sound of her name. Out of the entire crew, he's liked her the most. "And where exactly is she right now?"
"Probably in her chair, drinking coffee." Stelle shrugged nonchalantly, flicking on the lights of the empty room.
In stood a bedframe, the mattress tightly wrapped into a plastic foil. The walls were a dull beige, one of Welt's favourite colors, as well as empty. This room was much different from March 7th's, which barely had any space left around the bottom of the wall due to the amount of photos, fairy lights and posters plastered onto them.
Sunday had no particular problem with the decor. In fact, it seemed much nicer than his past room in Penacony. Other than old paintings that made him feel anxious, his sister's ragged posters and some old-fashioned family photos, he had nothing more. Sunday could definitely get used to them. The floor creaked when he walked over to a desk, proceeding to scoop some up some dust. A fairly thick layer of it stuck to his gloved finger.
His nose scrunched in disgust and Sunday shook his hand to get rid of the dust. The room could use cleaning, but it wouldn't take long to make everything perfect.
The next piece of furniture he turned to was the closet. Definitely taller than him, with heavy doorknobs made of dark wood and patterns carved onto them. He carefully wrapped his hand around one, twisting it cautiously as he heard the wood creak again. Stelle's head snapped to look at Sunday, but before he could be stopped, the closet door flew open with a rattle.
A whole pile of trash fell onto the hallovian, almost burying him underneath it. Shiny papers, stickers, pretty rocks, wanted posters and plants, you name it, Sunday could see it up close as he fell with the pile.
The loud racket attracted Caelus' attention. He ran out to meet Stelle, the girl hunched over and holding a hand over her face to muffle the hysterical laughter that escaped her mouth at the sight of the accident. He let out a quiet snicker as well, although it quickly died in his throat as a gentle hand squeezed his shoulder.
Sunday's cheeks were flushed in embarassment and anger as he tried to free himself from the "treasures" of the trailblazer. The halovian was about loose all hopes of getting help from anyone, when he felt a hand squeeze around his, pulling him up. Sunday opened his mouth to scold the trailblazers for their carelesness before an unfamiliar heat filled his cheeks upon seeing his saviour.
"Mr. Sunday, are you alright?" Himeko questioned, brushing some dirt off of his shoulder. He stuttered, unable to find words for a good moment until he shook his head slowly.
"Y-Yes, I'm okay, I think.." Sunday cleared his throat, rubbing his back as Himeko took small pieces of paper and dried petals out of his hair. He winced when his fingers roughly pressed onto a particularly sore spot, certain that there is a new bruise forming already.
Himeko turned around momentarily, narrowing her eyes. "We'll continue this talk later, Caelus." She sighed, voice tinged with disappointment. Sundah watched the twins walk away, giggling under their breath. Himeko's attention was back on him.
"I am so sorry, allow me to help." She smiled faintly, letting Sunday hold onto her as he stepped out of the pile. He kicked away a few rocks, finally on his own feet again.
"It's not your fault, Miss Himeko. You shouldn't apologize, nor feel sorry." He responded, just barely smiling back at her.
"Please, call me Himeko." The woman helped Sunday brush the dirty particles off of his jacket and out of his hair. Stelle and Caelus were forced to move their "treasures" somewhere else, now supervised by both Welt and Dan Heng as Himeko worked on finding cold compresses for Sunday's bruises.
He akwardly shifted in his chair while gently brushing his fingers over the feathers of his wings and making them flutter, although not without pain. The halovian winced involuntarily, causing Himeko to frown softly. Her maps and now empty cup of coffee long forgotten on the table, her focus now entirely on the man sitting before her.
Sunday's heart was racing, cheeks tinted pink as Himeko's gentle hands gripped his arm, pressing an ice pack onto a faint purple bruise. Tonight's dinner was handed to him so that he didn't have to strain his aching muscles, risking any further injury. So, he shifted more comfortably in his seat, holding up his plate, even with the cramps in his wrist.
As for Himeko, she decided that it would simply not be right to leave Sunday to eat by himself. His first dinner on the Astral Express should not be spent in solitude. So, just as Sunday was chewing his first bite, she settled on the other chair, putting her plate down on the Navigator's table. Sunday momentarily froze, eyes widening.
"Himeko, wouldn't you prefer to eat with the other members?" He asked, wings embarrassingly flapping in excitement at the simple thought of eating dinner with her. Back in Penacony, ever since Robin left him, he ate dinner in seclusion. Even when she was still there, she was often the only other person willing to sit with Sunday, eat with him and talk to him.
Now sharing dinner with Himeko seemed like nothing more than a pleasant, but fleeting dream.
"I figured it would be rude to leave you, no?" The woman chuckled. Her laugh was the contagious kind of laugh, one that Sunday could hear every waking minute of his life and never get tired of it. It was the perfect sound, no other ballad, song or poem he'll ever hear could ever compare to it. If it was a color, it definitely would be his favourite.
"I suppose so.." He nodded, now a small smile painted on his lips as he ate. And he soon came to the conclusion that his food hasn't tasted so good ever since he stopped eating meals with his sister.
Himeko spoke up first, noticing the silence between them right before Sunday could get lost in thought. "How do you like the express so far?" She asked, her gaze flicking up from her plate onto Sunday. He gave the question some thought, finally settling on an answer.
"It's unique, to say the least." The halovian hummed, earning another soft, contagious chuckle from Himeko.
"Allow me to once again apologize for this incident. If I had known-" She began, her hand finding it's way onto his. Sunday's wings fluttered once more, cheeks heating up faintly.
"It's not your fault, Himeko. You didn't know that something like this would occur, accidents can happen to anyone." He cut her off, speaking with a soft and controlled tone. This time, he didn't even have to force himself to sound calm, he truly wasn't angry. There was no bottled up, hidden frustration lingering in the back of his mind. And if there was, it certainly wasn't directed at the woman sitting in front of him.
"Thank you for your understanding." Himeko bowed her head lightly, leaning froward to grab her glass. Sunday averted his gaze, looking around until Himeko straightened her back again. He couldn't help but notice how charming her red hair looked in the warm light of the lamp above them. Her skin as soft as the silk of his sister's dresses, her eyes, her eyes orange like the flame of a candle on the sweetest of birthday cakes.
The ticking of a clock made him realize how much time he spent talking to the woman who usually kept to herself around "strangers" like him. Honest to himself, it might have been the first time in years that he has willingly talked so much. And that time could not have been spent any better. After dinner, he slowly approached Himeko.
"I was actually wondering if you would mind showing me your work..." He said shyly, clearing his throat. For whatever reason, the woman was strangely intimidating to him.
"What exactly do you have in mind?" She raised her eyebrow, turning her head to look Sunday in the eyes.
"Well, if you could show me how do you work, the whole process, I'd be very grateful." He said, voice only slightly strained. Himeko hummed in response, thinking.
"I don't see why not. Come on." She nodded, scooping all of her maps into her arms, carrying them back towards the navigator's table. Sunday took wider steps to catch up with her, smiling excitedly. The halovian readjusted his jacket, hiding the wings that flapped once again.
Himeko's job was important, although very mundane and complicated for Sunday. He yawned more and more, covering his mouth with his hand politely as to not make Himeko think he isn't interested in what she's saying. Her melodic voice was making everything aound interesting, but now that he was full, tired and the heaters began working, Himeko's tone was lulling him to sleep. Sunday's eyelids felt heavier with each passing minute, not even the woman's coffee helped.
Sunday found himself leaning back in his seat, head leaned on the backrest of it. Just as Himeko was about to begin a detail explanation of how exactly does one get so mamy information from stars, she heard quiet snores coming from Sunday. She smiled softly, huffing a laugh. The woman proceeded to cover the halovian with a fuzzy blanket borrowed from March 7th's room, gently brushing a few stray strands of hair out of his eyes.
She leaned forward, pressing a light kiss onto his cheek before gathering her equipment and walking away, the lights flicked off. Sunday's cheeks flushed and his eyes opened wide as soon as Himeko was gone, his heart racing faster than ever before in disbelief. So far, life on the express was a much sweeter dream than any dream he's ever had in Penacony.
His fingers went up to touch the red lipstick mark left on his cheek, a small and foolish smile playing on his lips.