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The dorm room was quiet, save for the soft hum of Flux's laptop and the occasional buzz of his phone. Flux was sprawled across his bed——technically his, but they stopped keeping track—-with his back against the wall and his feet dangling off the edge.
All of his tasks and homework were done for the week. No more plates, no more problem sheets, no more stupid essay submissions for his minor subjects. It was a miracle, really, considering how many times he nearly gave up and crashed.
But right now he was free, which felt rather strange and unsettling. It felt like he was supposed to be doing something but couldn't remember what.
Flux buried those feelings and continued scrolling through his feed. He took in the usual barrage of memes, campus updates, and people complaining about their professors on Reddit. Typical. Nothing worth his attention, but he kept scrolling anyway.
He looked around. The room felt emptier that usual.
Saps wasn't home yet, still stuck in whatever meeting had run late.
Flux checked the time: 7:42 PM.
Saps texted him earlier saying he'd be back by eight, but "by eight" in Saps time usually meant "sometime between eight and nine."
Flux's stomach growled.
His thoughts wandered to the takeout place right next to the campus—-the one with the good dim sum. He could almost taste the har gau. Shrimp blanketed in a translucent wrapper, forming the perfect bite.
The craving hit him hard out of nowhere. He needed his fill.
Flux: thoughts on dim sum for dinner?
Saps's reply came almost instantly.
Saps 🤍: oooh
Saps 🤍: i like the sound of that
Saps 🤍: you craving some?
Flux: not really
Flux: just thought of it
Saps 🤍: lol okay
Saps 🤍: i'll pick some up before heading back
Saps 🤍: anything specific you want?
Flux: whatever is fine
Saps 🤍: not helping
Saps 🤍: you're the one craving dim sum here
Flux: i never said i was
Saps 🤍: translating flux speak to english
Saps 🤍: 'i want har gau and siomai'
Saps 🤍: 'and maybe some xiao long bao'
Saps 🤍: got it
Saps 🤍: wait for me
Saps 🤍: our dorm isn't that far 😉
Saps 🤍: love you!
Flux: be careful on your way home
Flux: love you
Flux tossed his phone aside. He has something to look forward to. Not that he'd admit it out loud.
The door swung open at exactly 8:15 PM, which was actually pretty early by Saps's standards. Saps stood by the entrance, carrying two plastic bags in one hand and his laptop bag in the other. The smell of soy sauce and steamed dough wafted into the room before he was fully inside.
"I have the goods!" Saps announced, kicking the door shut behind him.
Flux sat up so fast he nearly knocked his phone off the bed.
"Took you long enough," Flux teased.
Saps placed the food bags on his empty desk.
"The guy in front of me ordered like, fifteen things," he complained.
Flux swung his legs over the side of the bed and crossed to the desk. He peered at the spread of containers.
Dim sum. Real dim sum. Not the sad frozen ones from the grocery store.
"Where's the utensils?" Flux asked, his voice tinged with a bit of impatience.
Saps raised an eyebrow. "Are you that hungry?"
"You took too long."
Saps laughed and handed him a pair of chopsticks. "Eat it before it gets cold."
They settled right next to each other. Saps sat at his desk chair while Flux dragged the other one over. The takeout containers took up most of the table space.
Flux picked up a har gau with his chopsticks and bit into it. The wrapper was delicate, the shrimp filling still hot and perfectly seasoned. He let out a satisfied hum before he could stop himself.
Saps grinned. "That good?"
"It's fine," Flux said, already reaching for another.
"High praise coming from you," Saps teased. "It wouldn't kill you to be honest."
Flux pointed his chopsticks at Saps. "You're imagining things."
"Rude!" Saps said with a glare. "Didn't Elanuelo teach you chopstick etiquette or something?"
Flux swallowed before replying, "You think he knew how to use chopsticks?"
"Fair point."
They ate in comfortable silence for a while, the chopsticks occasionally clinking against the edges of the containers. Flux was halfway through his third dumpling when Saps spoke up.
"Did you see the news?"
Flux looked up from his bowl. "What news?"
"Sidefall posted something about Alkaline," Saps began.
Flux's expression darkened. "What about him?"
"Apparently, he got stripped of his position in Aperion," Saps explained, trying to keep his voice neutral. "Someone found out that he'd been fabricating his project hours or something. I don't know how their org works."
Flux stared at Saps. A slow grin spread across his face before he could suppress it.
"Fucking finally."
Saps sighed. "I knew you'd be happy."
"Happy? I'm vindicated," Flux answered. "Serves him right."
"What did he do to you again?" Saps asked.
"General rule: Civil engineering and architecture majors don't get along," Flux gestured absently with his chopsticks as he spoke. "Those guys are just killjoys. They like to shit on us just because they can't do the math for our designs."
"Uh, sure… But why don't you like Alkaline specifically?"
"…he scored higher than me in our CAD class," Flux admitted. "My design was a whole lot better though."
Saps chuckled. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."
Flux opened his mouth to argue, but Saps was already reaching for his container of noodles, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. Flux let it go. Some arguments weren't worth winning.
The power went out mid-slurp.
One moment, the room was lit by the overhead light and the glow of Flux's laptop. The next moment, everything was dark. And in the middle of that darkness, Saps's slurping sound continued for a beat longer than necessary, followed by a confused, "What?"
Flux blinked, his eyes struggling to adjust. The room was pitch black, save for the faint light spilling from the window and the glowing screens of their phones.
"Did the power go out?" Saps asked, his voice muffled.
"Yeah." Flux picked up his phone and turned on the flashlight. The beam illuminated Saps's face, his mouth still full of noodles. He looked ridiculous. "You okay there?"
Saps swallowed loudly. "I almost choked."
"You're fine."
"I almost died."
"You would not have died from choking on noodles."
"Don't minimize my near-death experience."
Flux snorted. "Do you get those often?"
Saps pointed his chopsticks at Flux. "You're an ass."
"You like me anyway."
Saps muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like "unfortunately," but his face was bright with amusement.
Flux turned his phone toward the window and peered outside. The campus looked strange without the usual lights.
"Check the school page," he said. "They probably posted something."
Saps was already scrolling. "There's something from Sidefall."
"Of course there is."
Flux tapped open his browser and navigated to the student news account. Sure enough, there was already a post.
Sidefall News — State UNI @SUSidefallNews
lmaooo power's out across half the campus. apparently some of the Covenant boys were playing football and took out a power line. i don't know whether to be impressed or concerned.
Flux read the post aloud in a deadpan tone. Saps burst out laughing.
"I'm genuinely amazed," Saps commented between bursts of laughter. "How hard are you kicking the ball for that to happen?"
"I wouldn't call it amazing."
"I would."
Flux just shook his head and set his phone down. The room was still dark, but his eyes were adjusting now. He could make out the shapes of the furniture, the dark outlines of the takeout containers, the faint glow of Saps's face in the light of his own phone.
They finished eating by phone light, which was awkward and messy and involved a lot of fumbling, but somehow still managed to feel like a routine. When the last container was empty, Saps gathered them up and stacked them by the door to take out later.
"Okay," Saps said, flopping back into his chair. "Now I'm bored."
Flux glanced at him. "Don't you have homework?"
"You want me to do homework when the power's out?" Saps asked, his tone incredulous.
"Your laptop has a battery, right?" Flux countered. "You can work on it."
"You're just jealous that your gaming laptop can only survive two hours tops."
"I'm running heavy programs, you wouldn't—-"
Saps burst out laughing once again.
"I know. I know," he replied. "You're just fun to tease."
Flux watched him for a moment. Saps was slumped in his chair, his head tilted back, his phone held loosely in one hand. He looked tired. Comfortable. A little bit like a cat who had found a sunny spot.
"You could always stare at the wall instead," Flux offered.
"Wow. Great idea."
"I have more."
"Please don't."
Flux smiled and pushed himself up from his chair. His legs were stiff from sitting, and he stretched his arms over his head, feeling his shoulders crack. The room was warm. Too warm, now that the aircon was off. He crossed to the window and pushed it open as far as it would go.
The breeze hit him immediately, cool and clean, carrying the faint smell of damp grass and wet concrete. He leaned against the windowsill and looked up.
The sky was clear. Unusually clear. Without the campus lights to wash everything out, the stars were visible in a way they rarely were. There were hundreds of them, scattered across the dark like spilled salt.
"Hey," Flux said, not turning around. "Come here."
Saps groaned from his chair. "What?"
"Just come here."
There was a beat of silence, then the creak of the chair as Saps stood and shuffled over. He stopped beside Flux and followed his gaze upward.
"Oh," Saps breathed.
"Right?"
The sky was beautiful. It was the kind of sky you only saw when you were far from the city, far from the lights, far from everything. The stars were bright and distinct, clustered together in patterns that Flux could almost—almost—name.
"Let me get chairs," Saps said suddenly. "I want to actually see."
He disappeared for a moment, dragging over the two desk chairs and setting them side by side by the window. He plopped into one and patted the other.
"Sit."
Flux sat. The breeze drifted through the window, cool and gentle, and the stars stretched out above them like a map of everything they didn't understand.
For a while, neither of them said anything. They just watched.
Then Flux pointed up at the sky.
"See that?" he said.
"See what?"
"That cluster. It looks like an arrow pointing up."
Saps squinted. "I don't—oh. Yeah. I see it."
"That's Orioles. Some sort of bird."
"Wait, for real?" Saps turned to look at him. "You know constellations?"
Flux shrugged. "Some."
"How did you know that?"
"Cynikka's a fan." Flux kept his voice casual, like it wasn't a big deal. "She kept rambling about it last time we visited home. I picked up a few things."
Saps stared at him for a moment. Then his expression softened into something unbearably fond.
"Flux," he said.
"What?"
"You're so sweet."
Flux felt his cheeks warm. "I'm not."
"You literally listened to your sister ramble about constellations and remembered what she said."
"She kept going on and on about it. My ears were gonna fall off."
"Tsundere."
Flux ignored him and pointed up again. "See that one? The one that looks like a crooked left arrow?"
Saps followed his gaze. "Yeah."
"That's Lepus Miles. Some sort of rabbit knight. I might be wrong."
"The fact that you memorized the constellation names is already throwing me off."
Flux made a noncommittal sound and pointed one more time. "That one over there—"
"There," Saps interrupted, pointing at a cluster of blinking lights near the edge of the window. "What's that? That constellation."
Flux followed his gaze, squinted at the blinking lights, and then turned to Saps with a completely deadpan expression.
"Those are tower lights."
Saps blinked. "What?"
"Tower lights. So that planes don't hit the building."
Saps stared at him. Then he burst out laughing, the sound bright and warm in the quiet room.
"Oh that's embarrassing," Saps said between gasps. "Don't tell anyone I asked you that."
"Thomas might wanna hear it."
"No!"
"Fine. Cynikka then."
"…I guess you can tell her."
Saps laughed for another moment, then slumped back in his chair, still smiling. "This is the best night I've had in a while."
"The bar is low."
"Still counts."
They sat by the window for a while longer, watching the sky. The wind continued to drift through the open window, cooling the warm room, and the stars stayed bright and patient above them.
Eventually, Saps yawned. Then Flux yawned. Then they looked at each other and both started laughing.
"Time for bed?" Saps asked.
"Yeah."
They shuffled toward the mattress and collapsed onto it in a tangle of limbs. The aircon still wasn't on, and the room was warm, and Saps's skin was hot against Flux's.
"Move," Saps mumbled. "It's too warm to cuddle."
"First time I'm hearing you turn that down," Flux commented.
They lay side by side, close enough to feel each other's warmth but not quite touching, just enough space between them for the air to circulate. Saps's hand found Flux's in the darkness, their fingers lacing together loosely.
"Good night," Saps said.
"Good night."
Saps rolled onto his side to face Flux. Flux did the same. The darkness had deepened, but they could still make out the outlines of each other's faces, the faint shine of their eyes.
"Where's my kiss?" Saps whispered.
"What happened to wanting me to move?" Flux asked.
"Kissing is different."
They leaned in, close enough that their breath mingled—
And the lights flickered on.
The sudden brightness made them both recoil, blinking and squinting. The overhead light was on. The desk lamp was on. The aircon hummed back to life in the corner.
Flux blinked. "Well."
Saps groaned. "Rude."
Flux pushed himself up, crossed to the window to close it, and flipped off the light switch on his way back to bed. The room plunged into darkness again.
Saps's voice came from the mattress, warm with amusement. "You're really prioritizing that window over me?"
Flux reached the edge of the bed and climbed back in. "It's closed. Happy now?"
"Ecstatic."
Saps immediately draped himself over Flux's chest, his head finding the perfect spot just under Flux's chin. He let out a satisfied hum, fingers already curling into Flux's shirt.
"Much better," Saps murmured.
Flux reached up and wrapped his arms around Saps's waist. "You know the aircon's back on now, right? We can actually cuddle."
"Yeah, but I like this more."
Flux shook his head, but he was smiling. He pulled Saps closer, and Saps went willingly, his head tucking into the curve of Flux's neck.
"Did I mention I love you?" Saps said, his voice already growing sleepy.
"I think I've heard that before."
"Did you hear it from a really cute white-haired guy?"
Flux's arms tightened around him. "Love you too."
The room was cool now, the aircon humming steadily in the corner. The stars were still visible through the open window, but Flux didn't care about them anymore. Not when Saps was warm and solid against him.
Saps pressed a kiss to his neck, soft and quick.
"Good night, Flux."
"Good night, Saps."