Chapter Text
The Golden Hour's streetlights seemed to always be on, isn't that gray? No sun, as if the city was caught in an eternal night.
Bustling lights, high-speed cars, the chatter of the many others within the beautiful dream, were all so foreign to him. All so new.
Though, through all this, his eyes fell onto a familiar sight.
"I never thought we'd run into each other here, Ruan Mei."
Caelus said, his expression one of surprise as he saw the familiar woman draped over a railing that overlook more of the dreamscape.
She turned around, turquoise eyes meeting his amber.
"Oh, it's you."
She said bleakly, moving from her position on the railing to face Caelus.
"Did you get taller?"
She commented, approaching him further and looking up at him, moving her head side to side to look at both sides of his head.
"I... don't believe I did."
He said, chuckling awkwardly to himself as he took a step back.
"What brings you here, anyway?"
He asked her, questioning her sudden appearance.
"I could ask you the same thing."
Her words came out flat, but Caelus could sense the intent behind them.
"Ah, right."
He said awkwardly, before a silence fell over them.
He looked around, the breeze blowing against his face as he did so.
"It's beautiful tonight, wanna walk?"
His sudden proposal surprised Ruan Mei, who looked at him with her eyes ever-so-slightly widened.
"Sure, I wanted to talk anyway."
She replied, nodding in agreement.
Caelus mentally gulped, before taking the initiative and beginning to walk first.
Ruan Mei quickly caught up to him, walking beside them as the two walked in a momentary silence.
"So, what's with you and that dress anyway? Is it comfortable? You're always wearing it."
He quickly spoke, coming up with the question on the spot.
Ruan Mei looked to her side, toward him.
"It is."
She put it simply, before coming up with her own question, of a familiar nature of course.
"Though, I could ask you the same thing. Why do you wear the same outfit every day?"
Her question was basically a reflection of his own, which made Caelus laugh.
"Well, it's comfortable, and I kind of just remember always having it... so it stuck with me, naturally."
Ruan Mei nodded, acknowledging his answer.
"..."
Another silence draped over the two, before this time, Ruan Mei broke the silence.
"Have you gotten to explore this place yet? From what I've seen so far, it's beautiful."
Her words were soft, her voice a soothing melody to many. To Caelus especially, though, he'd never admit to it.
"Not much, but I've gotten to know a handful of spots."
He put it simply, before an idea came to him.
"I know somewhere you'll like, let's go."
He said, turning to look at Ruan Mei who only stared back at him blankly.
"Let's go."
...
The breeze picked up as they reached the top of the building, the wind blowing their hair upward slightly.
Ruan Mei's eyes looked around in curiosity, still following Caelus's lead as she took in the scenery, shooting stars cutting the sky above them.
"It's stunning up here."
She blurted out, her eyes still focused on what was above her, that she didn't realize where Caelus was leading her to.
"Here we are. My favorite spot in all of Penacony, for now, at least."
He said, chuckling nervously at his own awkwardness.
Ruan Mei's attention quickly moved to in front of her, where the two stood atop a raised platform, with a view overlooking the dreamscape, with the Penacony Grand Theatre acting as a centerpiece of the view.
"A friend of mine showed me this place, there's a garden here, too."
Caelus said, which caught Ruan Mei's attention, her head turning around to face him.
Once she did, he motioned behind himself, toward the lush green scenery that the garden he spoke of had to offer.
"It's all very pretty. I'm surprised by your knowledge of such a place."
She put bluntly, Caelus's mouthing an 'ow' before replying.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He said, smiling nervously as he awaited her response.
"It means, I didn't take you for the type to memorize places like this."
She pronounced, her attention drifting elsewhere as she began walking around the rooftop.
Caelus chuckled awkwardly, taking notice of her attention being elsewhere.
"Yeah."
He said, continuing to chuckle until a silence descended between them.
...
Rats scurried about in the corner of Caelus's vision, as he looked up, he saw the stars that aligned above Penacony sparkle, and his eyes quickly moved back to Ruan Mei, who was leaning against a railing not too far from him.
"..."
He gulped, quietly walking up next to her, leaning on the railing too.
"Don't you think it's weird that we keep running into each other?"
He said, his eyes looking forward, then at her.
"Not really."
Ruan Mei put it bluntly, her expression remaining unchanged.
"Do you think it means something-?"
Before Caelus could even finish his sentence, Ruan Mei cut him off rather rudely.
"No."
She said, causing Caelus to go quiet.
She turned her body around, to face the skyline, Caelus following suit.
Neither said anything, and neither made a sound, until Ruan Mei let out a quiet sigh.
"Sorry."
Turning her head to face Caelus, she uttered her apology.
Caelus looked over at her, noticing her expression soften as he did.
She moved to return her gaze to the Penacony skyline, Caelus watching her features bathe in the light from the busy streets below.
"Do you like the sky, Caelus? Stars?"
She asked him, catching Caelus off guard.
He turned to look away before his actions mimicked her own, looking at the skyline.
"Yeah, I do. Sometimes when I'm on the Express, I take a moment to admire the surroundings. It can be calming, sometimes."
He answered, nodding to himself.
"Ah,"
Ruan Mei's mouth moved to speak,
"Do you see that group of stars over there? That's the Caemei Constellation. They're arranged in such a way that they appear as a raccoon."
She said, pointing her gloved hand at multiple stars in the sky, her finger moving frantically to paint a furry animal in the sky.
"Really?"
Caelus questioned, following her hand movements with his own and trying to imagine the sky raccoon in his head.
"No, I made it up."
Ruan Mei said, stifling a laugh as she struggled to contain herself.
"Ah."
Caelus's finger fell limp, his expression morphing into one of annoyance, but only for a moment as he turned to look at Ruan Mei, who looked quite pleased with herself, a hand over her mouth as she contained her laughter.
Was that the first time he'd heard her (attempt) to make a joke?
He laughed with her, nodding his head as he moved just an inch closer to her.
"You got me there, Ruan Mei."
He said, and she only laughed further.
The two stayed this way until their laughter died down, to which a comfortable silence fell between them, much unlike the previous ones.
...
Caelus took this opportunity to think to himself, primarily about Ruan Mei.
He had met many women during his tenure on the Express, many beautiful women at that.
But his time with Ruan Mei had always been special, partly due to the fact that during their first meeting, she had him fight a reborn Emanator of Propagation.
But beyond that, she intrigued him, learning about her was like flipping a page in a book, always something new to discover. While this can be said about anyone, what made her unique was her mysterious aura.
Something about her pulled him in, and that something was shrouded in mystery.
But even with that, she was still a lovely person to be around, who could be quite funny at times. He thought back on the time he and Ruan Mei tried starting a band (which failed miserably), and the time they tried baking a cake for Himeko's birthday (which didn't end so well).
Her mystery was slowly unraveling itself to him, he felt, though he did note to himself that both the band and cake were his ideas.
Even now, he dragged her along with him, wanting to spend the most time with her-
Oh, shit.
Caelus wasn't the type to throw the L-word around, but... just maybe...
It would fall true here.
...
Caelus moved his head ever-so-slightly to catch a glimpse of Ruan Mei, to which his eyes were met with her's quickly, his head snapping back into its original place as he felt the embarrassment of his (failed) attempt to look at her soak in.
He opened his mouth to speak, but his mind seemed to lag behind him as he had nothing in particular to speak about, just then, his thoughts came to him and he spoke up.
"Do you remember that time we tried starting a band? What was the name we came up with again?"
Caelus's sudden mention of their failed band surprised Ruan Mei, who quickly collected themselves before responding.
"Wasn't it just, 'Ruan Mei?"
Caelus nodded in agreement,
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was. Pretty smart name, right? Ruan Mei? Ruin me?"
He chuckled to himself as Ruan Mei just stared at him blankly.
"Yeah, my bad, bad joke."
He shook his head, before Ruan Mei laughed with him.
"Don't beat yourself up, it was great. See, I'm laughing."
She said, though with how she worded it and her tone, if you didn't see her, you'd think she was being sarcastic.
Caelus smiled softly at her attempt to cheer him up, even if it wasn't much, he could admire the fact that she was trying. That's all that mattered to him, anyway.
"How about the time we baked a cake for my friend?"
Caelus mentioned another memory, to which Ruan Mei nodded, her mouth morphing into a small smile.
"Yes, I remember that one quite well. I found it both fun and disappointing."
She noted, nodding her head as she spoke.
Caelus nodded, too, shaking his head as he could see her smile falter, even if only slightly.
"Don't be disappointed, Himeko was more than happy that we tried, at least. Plus, seeing you in a little party hat was funny."
He said, looking over at Ruan Mei who nodded, her smile returning.
"Your recollection of our memories is endearing, I look forward to making more memories that we can recall later."
Her words were smooth like butter, and Caelus's eyes widened a bit at them.
Ruan Mei had a way with words, that was already established. But wow, she could make a simple, 'I look forward to spending more time with you', feel so special.
"Yeah, me too."
His reply came a bit late, but that was not on his mind.
Little did he know, both of their minds seemed to drift in the same direction, just not in the same way.
...
See, now Ruan Mei, being a woman of class, and elegance, one who did not entertain solely for the act of doing so, did not give her attention to other's so easily.
A lifelong researcher, who has seen many things, many successes, and failures, from creating little critters to reviving dead Emanators, she has seen it all, or you would think.
Ruan Mei had never faced the dilemma she was currently being faced with before, this... indecision within her on what to do about her current stirring emotions.
She had never worried about such feelings before, many emotional concepts that people faced on a day-to-day basis were completely foreign to her, and yet here she was, mentally conflicted over maybe (definitely) the person with the most underdeveloped prefrontal cortex (dumb) she'd ever met.
So why? Why was she so stuck on him? Sure, they've had their fair share of moments together, and sure, maybe she had called him cute when talking to Herta once, but that meant nothing, right?
She looked over at Caelus, who looked back at her with a toothy smile.
She took note of his yellowish teeth, before returning to her thoughts.
Emotions, feelings, relationships, all things Ruan Mei knew very little about, and all things she has had even less experience with.
She only mentally groaned.
She wouldn't act so irrationally, she'd have to wait until their next fated meeting if she was going to do something, but for now, she'd enjoy their time together.
Until then, she'll have to do more research on this... fleeting feeling.
...
Caelus pushed himself off the railing, garnering Ruan Mei's attention.
"What are you doing?"
She questioned, raising an eyebrow as Caelus closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them and meeting Ruan Mei's own.
"The view's getting boring, but I am enjoying my time with you, so, wanna go somewhere else? If you don't want to, I don't mind."
He said, smiling at her as he mentally prayed she said yes.
Ruan Mei thought for a moment, but she already knew her answer.
"Yes, I'd love to."
She said, quickly taking the spot to Caelus's right as she walked with him.
"So, where else did you want to go?"
She asked him, to which he grinned.
"You'll see."
He said, before quickly grabbing her hand and interlocking their fingers before taking off, dragging her along with him.
"Hey! Wait! I have heels on!"
Ruan Mei complained as she stumbled slightly before regaining her composure, trying to keep pace with Caelus.
...
BONUS
"Today, I will be baking a birthday cake for the best navigator the Star Rail has ever seen, Himeko!"
Caelus said, a rainbow party hat sat atop his head.
Ruan Mei coughed.
"O-Oh, and helping me will be none other than Genius Society #81, Ruan Mei!"
He said, a nervous smile replacing the more relaxed one he had a moment ago.
"Moving on! Let's get to cake baking, what do you say, Ruan Mei?"
He cheered, attempting to flip the icing tube in his hands, which fell onto the ground, to which he quickly picked up and smiled, looking toward Ruan Mei.
Ruan Mei's lips curved upward ever so slightly.
"Let's do it."
She said flatly.
"..."
After two hours of triumph, the now cake-batter/frosting-covered duo both smiled as they each held one side of the tray, on which sat the two-tier stacked chocolate cake, featuring many different icing patterns, Ruan Mei being responsible for one, meanwhile Caelus was responsible for the other five.
"Ta-da!"
The duo (mostly Caelus) said with excitement, hoisting the cake up into the air.
Caelus looked toward the camera, his smile almost blinding as he traced his index finger along the cake for a moment, taking a sample of the frosting and happily inserting it into his mouth.
"You shouldn't do that."
Ruan Mei moved her head slightly, looking beyond the cake and at Caelus, who noticed this and flashed her a smile.
"Ah, don't worry about it, I'm sure Himeko doesn't mind, it's my favorite after all, plus, I made this cake."
Ruan Mei's expression deadpanned.
"We, I meant we did! Ha... ha..."
With one last smile (blink, in Ruan Mei's case), the two moved their hands to wave toward the camera, with the cake tilting backward noticeably.
The video abruptly cuts.
They definitely didn't drop the cake right after.
Definitely.