Chapter Text
Caelus
“I’m still upset you invited Sampo without my knowledge.” March 7th pouted, her hands on her hips. She stood off the side of Caelus and Stelle’s room, her eyes fixed on the twins as they stood beside their bunkbed.
“He won’t be any trouble! Gepard said if anyone can keep Sampo Koski in line, it’s him.” Caelus said, smiling broadly. He and Stelle had invited some couples from various planets they’d visited to join them on a short vacation on the Express. Although some of them definitely weren’t together yet, Caelus and Stelle were determined to play a bit of matchmaker and fan sparks into flames.
“Besides, if he does get into trouble, we can always get him back in line, too!” Stelle adds, nodding eagerly. “It won’t be that bad. We’re here to have fun and fan the flames of romance!” Stelle announced, throwing her hands up in the air.
“While Himeko and Mr. Yang are out on their own little vacation, Pom-Pom has agreed to let us host a get-together with our friends, so we’ve gotta remember to remind everyone to be courteous to the train.” Caelus said, looking between March and Dan Heng, who stood closer to Caelus with his arms crossed and his expression revealing nothing of his thoughts.
Caelus beamed, looking at his friends and his twin sister. He felt nearly like bursting with excitement, having planned this for weeks with Stelle and March 7th. It had been tedious, contacting everyone and finding a time when everyone was available to take a week-long vacation to hang out. Caelus ran through the guest list in his head once again. Gepard, Sampo, Phainon, Mydei, Boothill, Argenti, Black Swan, and Acheron. Acheron had been the hardest to contact, but they got there eventually.
“Yeah, Pom-Pom was very hesitant to let us do this, so we’ve gotta be extra careful to clean up after ourselves!” March said, nodding vigorously.
Dan Heng signed, uncrossing his arms. “I fear that these rules will be abandoned the second the snacks are brought out.” He murmured, glancing between the three.
Caelus laughed. “Come on Danny,” he began, using the nickname for Dan Heng he’d picked up from Tribbie, “we won’t be that bad at cleaning up after ourselves!” Stelle hummed her agreement, the two decidedly ignoring the way Dan Heng eyed their less-than-spotless bedroom.
A chime echoed through the room, followed by Pom-Pom clearing their throat. “Ahem. Conductor speaking. We’ve arrived at the station, and the guests are ready to board the train.” They announced. March jumped in place, throwing her fist up and running towards the door.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” She exclaimed, not giving the rest time to follow as she darted down the stairs to the party car. Stelle laughed and ran after her, Caelus resisting the urge to run after them as well.
Caelus looked over at Dan Heng and smiled warmly, walking beside him as they more slowly made their way downstairs. “You can go with them if you want, Caelus. I don’t mind.” Dan Heng said, his eyes on the stairs below them. Caelus’ gaze traveled over Dan Heng’s profile, his eyes lingering on the red mark under his eye, the way his hair bounced slightly with each step.
“I know. But I don’t want you to feel left behind.” Caelus said, brushing his hand against Dan Heng’s. He abruptly pulled back like he had been shocked, pressing his hand firmly to his thigh.
Dan Heng’s lips twitched into a small smile. “Thank you, Caelus.” Caelus nodded in response, swinging his arms and trying to act normal as they approached the boarding car. They stepped inside, and immediately the chatter filled Caelus with excitement.
Caelus grinned at the amount of people inside the car. The first person that caught his attention was Phainon, who was talking excitedly to Mydei, who looked less-than-happy to be here. Phainon was looking around, admiring the interior of the car. His eyes landed on Caelus, and he beamed, waving.
“Caelus! I was wondering when you’d be here! You’re never too far from your sister.” Phainon laughed, striding up to Caelus.
Caelus laughed with him, unable to fight back against it. “Right as always, Phainon! How have you been? It’s been a bit!” Caelus said, resigning himself to shake Phainon’s hand, afraid hugging him would push boundaries.
“I’m doing good!” Phainon said, smiling. But Caelus, as perceptive as always, had spotted the smallest hesitation in his response. He nodded anyway, letting it slide. He wouldn’t know how to address it, anyway.
“That’s good to hear!” He turned to Mydei. “And how are you?” Caelus tilted his head, trying not to sweat under the glower Mydei was giving him.
“I’m fine.” He spat, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. Phainon laughed, nudging Mydei.
“He’s a little grumpy. He isn’t the most excited about this.” Phainon said, leaning close to Mydei, his hand grazing Mydei’s. Caelus didn’t miss the way Mydei clenched his fist and pulled his hand away.
He smiled and apologized, “Ah, sorry! You could have rejected the offer!” Caelus said, rubbing the back of his neck. He didn’t want to force anyone here. He felt a little bad if Mydei didn’t want to be here.
“I would’ve, but Phainon insisted on bringing me along.” He said, crossing his arms and looking over at Phainon with a glare. Phainon just laughed, nudging him back. Caelus wanted to respond, but Sampo came walking up.
“Heyy, if it isn’t the famous trailblazer!” Sampo exclaimed, waving. Surprisingly enough, Gepard wasn’t close behind. “How have you been, my friend? Getting up to no good?” He asked, smiling broadly.
“Ah, I guess? Only a few more people are mad at me.” Caelus chuckled. Sampo laughed, and at the sound, Gepard hurried over.
“There you are— hey, Caelus! I was just talking to Stelle. Did you have fun on that planet you were just on? Uh, what was it called…” Gepard trailed off, looking to the side.
“Hey, Gepard! And yeah, it was pretty fun! Arlicua, was its name.” Caelus explained. He thought back to the planet, remembering the humid, dense forest that covered the surface, and the sweet water that ran through the rivers. The tall people that inhabited the planet; with their long legs and arms to traverse the trees.
Gepard smiled and nodded, opening his mouth to respond when another voice called everyone’s attention. “Alright, everyone! I’m going to show you all to the guest cars. And they all look the same, so no fighting over rooms!” March 7th announced, and started to guide everyone towards the guest room car.
Caelus stood back for a moment, feeling a bit disappointed he hadn’t gotten to say hi to everyone. Dan Heng walked up beside him. “Are you going to go with them?” He asked.
Caelus nodded and grinned. “Yeah!” He said, striding forward. Dan Heng nodded and stayed back. Caelus didn’t mention it, following the rest and watching as March and Stelle assigned rooms to everyone. Each of the smaller guest rooms had bunk beds. Although Stelle had suggested big beds for each room, Dan Heng had said that would be inconsiderate and possibly uncomfortable for those who maybe weren’t even interested in each other. (Caelus was pretty confident everyone here had someone they liked, however.)
Caelus’ excitement had lessened a little bit, and he worried he was going to get tired of people faster than normal today. It wasn’t like he was an introvert or anything, just that he needed his rest from time to time. Stelle and March handled it well, telling everyone that dinner would be in an hour and games would start soon after that, but gave everyone time to settle in. The two bounced up to Caelus.
“Caelus! Go check on Pom-Pom and make sure dinner will be ready in exactly an hour! Down to the minute!” March exclaimed, pointing towards the door between the cars.
“Exactly an hour?” Caelus laughed. “Come on March, you can’t predict when it comes to cooking. Cooking required patience and—”
“Oh, shut up, Caelus! Just go check!” March said, shooing Caelus, who laughed and hurried off with a wave.
Caelus stepped between cars, up towards the kitchen car. He and Stelle had planned all of the meals for the week, along with Pom-Pom, who promptly disagreed to many of their over-the-top suggestions. He stepped into the kitchen, the smell of steak and salads filling Caelus’ nostrils.
“I hope everyone is gonna like this pretty basic meal.” Caelus said as he walked in, breaking deeply. He loved steak, and he loved the smell of food being made in the kitchen.
“Basic!” Pom-Pom yelled, their head poking out from behind a counter. They jumped up onto a stool, glaring at Caelus. “How dare you! Pom-Pom’s meals are never basic! Pom-Pom puts much effort into all the meals they serve!” Pom-Pom yelled, their wide mouth twisting into a scowl.
Caelus laughed and held his hands up. “Okay, okay, sorry! I didn’t mean any offense.” He said, walking around the taller counter and standing to the side and watching Pom-Pom prepare a salad at the shorter counter, designed for themself. Nobody but Pom-Pom was allowed to touch anything on their counter, for the conductor had a very specific organizational structure to their cooking.
Pom-Pom huffed, slicing up the carrots. “You better not have. How about you try cooking a meal for 13 people for the next 7 days.” Pom-Pom shook their head, scraping the carrots into a bowl and grabbing a tomato.
Caelus smiled. “You’re right, I should let the cook do their thing.” He said, placing a hand on his hip. “Will dinner be ready in, say, an hour?” He asked.
Pom-Pom looked up at the clock. “Pom-Pom will serve dinner in 50 minutes.” They said, focusing back on the cutting. “Now, let the chef focus.” They looked up at Caelus with a glare that Caelus tried not to laugh at.
“Okay, okay. I’ll be off then.” Caelus turned and walked away, a smile still on his face. This was probably the fullest the train had been, he figured. At least, since he’d boarded. 13 people? It felt crazy, but he was excited to be hanging out with so many people.
He walked into the passenger cabin, stopping next to the archives. He shifted on his feet, wanting to knock, wanting to see Dan Heng. He knew Dan Heng was bound to stay cooped up in the archives the majority of this week. It was a little chance he’d come out to socialize, especially with so many people on the train now.
Caelus lifted his hand, laughed nervously to himself, and lowered it. He was playing matchmaker with Stelle, forcing those of his friends who clearly had crushes to be close and bond. And yet, he was wimping out of hanging out with Dan Heng. He did this often, standing outside the archives, fighting himself on hanging out with Dan Heng. After all, he didn’t even know if Dan Heng would want to hang out. He’s probably all peopled-out already.
Caelus groaned, tilting his head back and digging his palms into his eyes. He sighed and dropped his arms, staring at the door. Before he could walk away, the door slid open. Dan Heng stood there, blinking at Caelus, a book in hand.
“Oh, hey.” Dan Heng nodded. He stared at Caelus, the surprise in his expression fading quickly. “Do you need to access the archives?” He asked.
“Ah! Oh, no, no! I-I just wanted to see you— say hi!” Caelus laughed out, a little too loudly. He cleared his throat, steeling himself. “Hi. How are you?” Caelus breathed out, grabbing his wrist behind his back.
“Uh, hi. I’m okay,” Dan Heng responded, adjusting his grip on his book. “I was just about to go read in the parlor.”
Caelus nodded. “I see. What are you reading? Is it interesting? Do you like it?” Caelus asked, looking down at the book in Dan Heng’s hand. He wanted to show that he was interested, wanted to be interested, period.
Dan Heng smiled. “It’s a historical fiction book from Amphoreus I picked up.” He explained. “So far, it’s a pretty good book.” He said. Caelus smiled and nodded. He wasn’t much into historical fiction. He wasn’t really sure what books he liked at all.
“That’s cool.” Caelus said, smiling a little too broadly. He swallowed hard and glanced both ways down the hallway. Dan Heng stared at him, his expression lacking much emotion. Caelus felt himself sweating, his palms burning as he wiped them on his pants. His face felt hot where Dan Heng stared.
Caelus took an abrupt step back. “Well, I’ll, uh, let you go then.” He nodded, his hands stiff at his sides. Dan Heng nodded, taking a step out of his room. “See you at dinner?”
Dan Heng let out an almost amused exhale. “Okay, Caelus. See you at Dinner.” He hummed and walked off. Caelus stood there, watching him go, his body all too hot and sweaty now. He grabbed his shirt and fanned himself with it, letting out an exasperated sigh. This was stupid. If he couldn’t work up the courage to talk to Dan Heng, could he really get his friends together? He turned towards the window and looked out at the starry expanse of space. It was beautiful; a sight he could never get tired of. He crossed his arms loosely under his chest and smiled.
This week is going to be fun. He thought to himself. Just… don’t think too hard about it.