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Sunday hadn’t expected to be so readily accepted onto the Express. Well, readily wasn’t entirely accurate, but it was close enough. He hadn’t thought anyone would want to have him after his entire…thing.
But sitting here in the Parlor Car, watching everyone talk made him feel a little out of place. Granted, it wasn’t the first time he felt that way. Even in Penacony, being placed on a pedestal meant no one could reach him. So he was alone. Oh so very alone. It was a sad existence. He’d thought of it like that then, but it was still fairly tainted by the rose colored glasses of the possibility of bringing Order.
He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by someone clearing their throat. Sunday looked up to see Pom-Pom and Himeko staring at him, Himeko looking a touch concerned. Oh no. Had he already worried someone? That…wasn’t ideal.
“Hello Sunday, are you doing alright? You seemed really lost in thought for quite a while.” Himeko greeted before moving to sit down next to him. “Anything still weighing on your mind? Although I get there’s probably a lot with…everything that happened in Penacony.”
“I-...I am fine, Miss Himeko, thank you.” He reassured her, mentally cursing himself for worrying her. He should’ve been more careful. More attentive. More prepared. More—
Himeko started talking again before Sunday’s train of thought could spiral more, “We were wondering if you could stay in the same room as Caelus. As unfortunately we’ve run out of rooms on the Express.” She finished, a hopeful look on her face. “I know Caelus can be…a lot. As you know, but I swear he’s a good kid. Just…a little too chaotic for his own good.”
“I do not mind.” Sunday answered without hesitation. He really didn’t mind, even if he was a little hesitant. After all, Caelus was the one who led the charge against him. Yet at the same time, Sunday didn’t want to be a bother so quickly.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Thanks for your understanding about it. Caelus already knows and was completely fine with it. Just head to the Party Car and go upstairs when you’re ready. Dan Heng and Welt have also already set up a section of the room for you.” Himeko continued, a thankful smile on her face.
“No, thank you. You all are too kind.” Sunday said, a small smile on his face. He was still struggling to get used to the kindness without anything behind it from everyone on the Express. But, he would try his best.
At around 2200 system time, the Express’ lights dimmed almost completely. Sunday was confused until Pom-Pom saw his confused expression and reassured the Halovian that it was merely a way to keep a normal sleep routine on the Express. He would’ve stayed in the Parlor Car, but…he didn’t want to be a bother.
So, with a little bit of hesitancy, he made his way up the stairs in the Party Car to his new shared room with Caelus. Even if it was technically his room too, he still felt uneasy just…walking in. So, he softly knocked on the door.
“Come in!” Came the quick response that definitely sounded like a somehow energetic Caelus.
He took a little bit of a deep breath before entering, half expecting to see the room in a complete state of disarray. He did not see that when he stepped in.
What he saw instead was a large, cozy room. A few plushies here and there, a bookshelf with random titles, a computer, some nicknacks here and there. It was a much nicer and organized room than Sunday expected. There was also already a section cleared out for him with a small bed and shelves. And also a small…bird plushie already there. For…some odd reason.
“There you are! I was wondering when you were gonna come up. I promise I won't bite! Well…most of the time anyways.” Caelus started talking almost immediately, looking up from where he was laying down in bed. Even if normally, Sunday would’ve seen it as a tad annoying, it wasn’t annoying at all. Odd.
“My apologies. I am still settling in a little. I am not used to an environment like this.” Sunday admitted, moving towards the bed before sitting down on it and grabbing the small bird plush that lay on it. “What is with the little bird?” he asked, glancing at Caelus, who was clearly a little embarrassed.
“It was March’s idea. She thought it would be a little more welcoming. Y’know. With the wings and all. But if you want I can take it back to her its—” Caelus started, but was quickly cut off by Sunday.
“No, no, that is alright. I will keep it. I was just…a little confused, that is all.” He quickly responded, looking down as to hide his cheeks slightly red with embarrassment at cutting Caelus off, the bird plush now firmly in his grip. “...Apologies for the rude interruption.” He quietly tacked on.
Caelus’ golden gaze softened into a smile. “Don’t worry about it. I just thought you might not like it or something,” he said, moving to sit up as he spoke.
“...It’s quite nice.” Sunday quietly admitted as he moved to take off his jacket. “...Although I am curious, how did you get the largest room on the Express?” He asked, clearly curious as he folded his coat.
“Well…when Himeko realized there wasn’t much space on the normal Coach Car for me, Pom-Pom and her just kinda…agreed to give me this room. It feels weird sometimes but I kinda like it.” Caelus answered with ease, a smile on his face.
“Ah. That does make sense. Is the Express really that small?”
“...Kinda? It’s big but like…not people big. Y’know?”
“...Sort of.” Sunday answered, moving to place his coat on the side table next to the small bed. Of course, that’s when the Halovian noticed Caelus staring with wide eyes. “...Is something on me?” Sunday asked with a head tilt.
“...You have waist wings!? Not just that, they’re black!?” Caelus exclaimed, pointing at the two very very small wings slightly twitching now that they were free from Sunday’s coat.
Of course, Sunday turned a little red once more at the blunt question. He never really talked about his wings. Not since they were…trimmed. A very long time ago. “Yes, I do.” He started, ransacking his brain on how to explain it without bringing up ghosts of the past. “...I do. I just…prefer to hide them. They are very small and do not serve much use as they were…trimmed when I was a child.”
Caelus’ face fell for a moment before he gave a sympathetic smile. “Huh. That…kinda makes sense. Still! They look pretty cool.”
“...Thank you,” was all Sunday could really get himself to say, gaze stuck on the floor once more. This was…alright, he supposed.
“Another question. How did it feel to become an Aeon?” Caelus asked, golden eyes set on Sunday, who promptly froze up at the question. Caelus was very inquisitive tonight he supposed.
A million possible responses flew through the Halovian’s head. He….he’d never talked about his ascension to anyone. How could he talk about it. How did he talk about temporarily becoming an Aeon when he didn’t even want it? He’d only done it because of Gopher Wood in a way, the man had twisted his need for control, for peace to the point that it was unrecognizable
“...It was like having the world on your shoulders with your hands and legs bound to ball chains.” The Halovian admitted, unsure of how else to describe it. “I am unsure if it was different for other Aeons, but when I took over Ena, it felt like I had the universe as a…pet per se, to take care of.” He continued, gaze never leaving the floor. Although he trusted Caelus, he couldn’t bear to look the other man in the eyes when talking about this. It was shameful. It was extremely shameful. “...Apologies if that last part sounds dehumanizing,” he quietly tacked on at the end.
“No, it’s okay. I like that you’re being honest.” Caelus answered with ease, a smile on his face before continuing, “I’ve had Aeons gaze at me, but I think becoming an Aeon would be cool until you realize you’re kinda alone, y’know? Like…I like having people around me, but the Aeons are constantly looking over everything so I would think it gets kinda lonely sometimes.”
“That was…a conclusion I reached far too late” Sunday answered, a small yet sad smile creeping onto his face as he pushed down the tears of shame blurring his vision. Still, he pushed it down. He was in front of someone, he should be okay. “By the time I realized it was not worth it I already had done the worst of it,” he finished, finally looking up at Caelus.
“I don’t think so. It’s just…you wanted something good, but it turned into something bad because you wanted it so badly…y’know?” Caelus quickly answered, voice sympathetic as he spoke.
“...I suppose so.” Sunday quietly mumbled in response. Not quite believing Caelus’ words, yet not fully dismissing them either. He knew it was partially his fault for letting himself get his wants twisted and turned by Gopher Wood. He should’ve stood up for himself long ago. He shouldn’t have taken over Gopher Wood’s wants as his own. But, there was nothing he could do about it now. Gopher Wood was long dead. In both the Dreamscape and reality, the Divine Laws the old man left in his place long gone after they were fulfilled or destroyed. All Sunday could do now was keep moving forward, well, as much as he could move forward.
It was quiet for a few moments. That slightly uncomfortable yet also a little comfortable silence where no one knew what to say yet no one wanted to say anything. It was odd, but peaceful.
At least until of course, Caelus with his big mouth blurted out: “How do you sleep with the halo?”
The question caught Sunday very off guard, his gold and blue eyes widening in an uncharacteristic show of emotion, even if the emotion was confusion and slight amusement. The words, “Pardon me??” left his lips paired with a small chuckle. He’d never met someone so fascinated or confused by his halo.
“Sleep. Halo. How?” Caelus repeated again, golden eyes gleaming and expression dead serious as he stared Sunday. “I need to know.”
“...Well…” Sunday mumbled, before removing his halo and holding it in his hands, motioning towards Caelus, but before the Halovian could continue, a sound of disbelief escaped the trailblazer.
“YOU CAN TAKE IT OFF??” Caelus exclaimed, scrambling out of his bed to move to sit next to Sunday, eyes wide with confusion and curiosity. Clearly caught off guard by Sunday’s actions. “I thought it just– I thought it was just kinda– stuck there??”
All Sunday could bring himself to do in response was laugh again. “Yes. I can take it off. I take it off to sleep.” He explained, very amused at the other man’s confusion.
“But like…how does it stay on?”
“The power of the Harmony.”
“...Oh. That makes sense.” Caelus started, before continuing on. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still very very confused. But I get it just slightly more.” He said honestly, a hand moving to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment.
“No, that is fine. I get it.” Sunday said, a smile on his face. He somewhat liked talking with the trailblazer, if the Halovian was being honest with himself. This was…sort of fun. In a way he hadn’t been able to have in an extremely long time.
“...Y’know. I thought having you as a roommate would be worse. I thought you’d be like…quiet…maybe a little bit stuck up.” Caelus admitted with a small and slightly hesitant smile.
“...Charming.” Sunday remarked, a small yet dry smile on his lips. “I shall take that as a compliment.” Although he would admit, sometimes Caelus could be a lot, sometimes it was a little bit endearing.
“...Yes. Please. I swear I’m nice.” The trailblazer grinned, a hand moving up to scratch the back of his neck, a habit Sunday noticed Caelus did quite often when he was nervous. He had to admit, it was pretty endearing.
A comfortable silence settled over the pair. Sunday clearly didn’t feel the need to fill the silence, and apparently neither did Caelus, as the trailblazer also remained silent. At least until he abruptly pushed himself up to his feet with a small groan.
“Well. Sleep time I guess. Thanks for answering all my questions, by the way.” Caelus smiled, giving Sunday a nod before moving back to his own side of the room and promptly flopping onto his bed.
Sunday stared for a moment, unused to the feeling of complete ease settling deep in his bones, before quickly nodding, a quiet “it was no problem,” leaving his lips as he started taking off the rest of his accessories, including putting his halo on the bedside table.
He could admit, Caelus was weird but endearing. Endearing in the way that something chaotic, messy, and unrefined could be…strangely safe. But he supposed that was how everyone on the Express felt about Caelus. Always calling him a raccoon and such. Maybe tomorrow he could ask Mr. Yang a little more about Caelus, after all, the man would be his roommate for the foreseeable future. Might as well find ways to bond.
That was the Halovian’s final thought as he closed his eyes to the quiet sounds of Caelus’ smartphone game, sleep coming much quicker than it had in years. It wasn’t restless, it wasn’t light. It was the deep sleep where the mind and body finally agreed “we can truly rest.”
And so, for once, he did.