Work Text:
1
With one final check that the massive shelves are secure, Dan Heng determines Caelus officially moved in. He stands back to appreciate their handiwork, from his technical help to March's decorations to Caelus' collection of trinkets. What had been a dusty storage room that morning is now actually livable.
Caelus claps their hands excitedly, plopping down on their bed. "It's so soft!" they exclaim, and Dan Heng rolls his eyes.
"Yes," he says. "And yet you chose to sleep in a box for months."
"Oh, like you can talk."
Before Dan Heng can defend his perfectly comfortable floor bed, they gasp, as if struck with a sudden idea.
"Oh, we gotta test it now! C'mon, come here! March!"
March pokes her head out of the bathroom, where she seems to still be arranging flower petals. Caelus grabs their tablet and points the screen towards her, and her face lights up.
"Yes!" she squeals, abandoning the flowers and rushing towards the bed, dragging Dan Heng with her. "Oh, this is perfect! You have the perfect movie night room now."
Dan Heng catches a glimpse of the screen and groans. It's a movie March has been talking about for ages. It looks, respectfully, awful. He thinks about making some excuse, claiming he needs to go update the data bank, but he's already surrounded. Caelus and March sit on either side of him, already setting up the movie.
Alright. They've all worked hard today. He can handle an awful movie for them.
…It's just as bad as he predicted. Excruciatingly cheesy, and a plot so disconnected it feels more like a bizarre dream than a coherent story. It's funny, at least, to Caelus and March.
When the movie ends, he tries to reach forwards to turn off the tablet and beg his friends to never subject him to this ever again, but finds his arm trapped.
March is asleep, face pressed into his shoulder and hands wrapped tight around him. He hadn't even noticed. He turns to Caelus to ask for help detaching her, only to find them passed out as well.
He really is trapped, then.
He could try to wake one of them up.
…But why should he? They're both certainly comfortable. The room is dim and peaceful, and the bed is, admittedly, softer than his floor mattress. March gets grumpy when she doesn't get enough sleep, and Caelus' sleep schedule is so bizarre he can't bring himself to interrupt the rest they do get.
They all worked hard today.
Dan Heng sighs, far more fond than he would ever admit. He leans his head back and closes his eyes. He'll just wait here for them to wake up.
He doesn't intend to fall asleep. Dan Heng never falls asleep easily.
For some reason, the breathing surrounding him has him out almost immediately.
2
March knocks on Dan Heng's door once before coming in anyways. She's not usually that rude, but Dan Heng has been hiding in there since they got back from the Xianzhou. She knows he needs his privacy, she respects that, but not this much privacy. Welt and Himeko are getting worried, she can tell.
Plus, she misses him.
"Dan Heng," she calls, marching over to where he's sat on the floor, staring blankly at some study. He seems exhausted, bags under his eyes deeper than usual. "Come on, enough moping."
"I'm not moping."
He's definitely moping. She grabs his hand and tries to pull him up, to no avail. "Come on, you stubborn lizard," she huffs, and he freezes. She immediately kicks herself for the wording. "I didn't mean—"
"It's fine. I'll come."
March squeezes his hand as they walk towards the party car, hoping he understands her apology. He squeezes back.
When they enter the room, Dan Heng still looks blank, shoulders tense. He's not looking at them. He sits down next to Caelus, but he's stiff, hands folded together.
Caelus nudges their shoulders together. "We're not gonna talk about it," they say, more gentle than March has ever seen them. "We're just gonna play Uno, like regular people. Okay?"
"…Okay."
March feels the knot in her stomach loosen, and can't help but beam. She sees her relief reflected on Caelus' face as they deal out the cards and begin to play.
Most of the game passes with Dan Heng silent, but he seems to be relaxing. Caelus, as usual, has awful luck, drawing nearly the entire deck before getting a single red card. March is down to one card, and she bites her lip excitedly as Dan Heng considers his (smaller than Caelus', but still large) hand.
"Skip," he finally says, placing a card, and March groans. Rude. Of course he'd save that for when she's so close. Fine, one more turn.
Except on Dan Heng's next turn, she sees him smile, for what feels like the first time in ages.
"Plus four wild. Green."
March gapes.
"What—that's not fair!"
Dan Heng laughs, and March can't bring herself to really be mad. She's missed this, even if he is infuriating when he's winning.
And he's not winning, not yet. She still only has five cards.
Except none of them are green.
Except she ends up taking at least ten more cards before she can play.
Dan Heng wins the game, and March reaches behind her to grab one of Caelus' pillows, that she promptly attacks him with. Caelus joins in gleefully, and Dan Heng just laughs as they pummel him.
Finally, they relent, though March insists on playing for second place. Dan Heng sits back, leaning against the foot of the bed, and declares he'll watch. March decides he'd probably just be embarrassed if she thanked him for staying.
She's down to two cards again when she feels a weight on her shoulder, and looks over to see Dan Heng asleep.
"Oh my god," she whispers, absently placing a card down and pointing at Dan Heng. Caelus whips out their phone to take a quick picture.
"Caelus, no, he'll kill you!"
"Come on, I'll send it to you! Look at him, he's so peaceful!" Caelus reaches out to poke him, and March swats their hand away, careful not to jostle her sleeping friend.
"Be nice," she whispers, glaring at them lightheartedly. "We both know he hasn't been sleeping well."
Caelus nods, moving to Dan Heng's other side so he won't fall over.
"Oh," they whisper. "And you forgot to say Uno. That means you take the whole deck."
March is silent for a moment.
"WHAT—"
"March! He's sleeping, remember!"
March quickly swallows her shout, but still whisper screams as she takes the deck.
"You cheater, I was distracted!"
"Sucks to suck."
March wonders morosely how she went from almost winning twice to losing so horribly.
The game is over now, but she can't possibly move. Dan Heng is a light sleeper. It's a miracle he hasn't woken up yet, and he needs this rest after everything. So she just chats quietly with Caelus, until even that conversation dissolves into comfortable silence.
March has always considered herself high-maintenance, someone who needs her nest of pillows and plushies to sleep well.
She thinks, absently, that while Dan Heng and Caelus aren't as soft as her bed, they're just as comfortable. She doesn't mean to let her eyes slip closed, but she doesn't mind it either.
+1
They all hold hands as they return home, just like they promised.
Caelus almost bursts into tears when they finally see the express again: real this time. They don't let go of March or Dan Heng even as Himeko and Welt wrap them in hugs, and Pom Pom clings to their legs.
March yawns, and Himeko steps back, wiping at her eyes. "You must be exhausted," she says. "Get some rest. We can hear the whole story tomorrow."
Welt gives them all one last pat on the back, Sunday awkwardly nods goodnight, and Pom Pom tearfully threatens them to never be away that long ever again. And then they're alone.
Caelus really, really doesn't want to let go.
It seems like their friend don't want to either. March's hand shakes as she squeezes theirs, and even Dan Heng, who is never touchy, doesn't make any move to pull away.
Why should they let go?
"Sleepover," Caelus declares, tugging them both towards their room. March breathes a sigh of relief, and Dan Heng's hand tightens around theirs.
They're all too exhausted to even consider changing into pajamas or setting up extra beds on the floor. Neither March nor Dan Heng protest when Caelus drags them directly over to their bed and flops down on it. They have to let go of each others hands to get comfortable, but they quickly find each other again.
March and Dan Heng's hands are laced together on Caelus' chest. Their other hands hold Caelus close, Dan Heng's gently carding through their hair as March's plays with the hood of their jacket. Caelus wraps their arm around their friends, and breathes shakily.
It's the first full breath they've been able to take since March got sick.
"I missed you guys," they croak out, unable to soften the sentiment with a joke. "A lot."
March buries her head in their shoulder, and Caelus can feel a couple tears land on their skin. "I missed you both so much," she whispers. "I never wanna be alone like that again."
"You won't be," Dan Heng says quietly. They both know what he means. I missed you too.
Caelus sleeps whenever some unknown Aeon decrees it, regardless of concepts such as "time" or "logic." Amphoreus' constant daylight certainly hadn't helped their nonexistent sleep schedule.
But it's so easy, like this, to close their eyes. March and Dan Heng will be there when they wake up. They'll have to properly explain everything that happened, which is going to be difficult considering they don't totally understand it themself, but for now they're safe. They're okay, and March and Dan Heng are okay, and they're all together again. They can rest.
Caelus feels Dan Heng and March's breath slow, and decides they should sleep together more often. They then decide they should totally make a joke about that phrasing tomorrow, when everything isn't so raw and vulnerable, and March and Dan Heng aren't warm and soft and asleep next to them.
"I love you guys," they murmur. And how wonderful it is, to know the sentiment is returned. To know they'll wake up tomorrow, together and alive and loved.