Chapter Text
2 months, 2 weeks and 2 days since had become a passenger of the Express, and after much pleading and subtle suggestions from the crew and a Pom Pom with maybe too much concern for his back, Sunday had finally agreed to share a room with someone else so that he could stop sleeping on a sofa at the party car. He wasn’t particularly familiar with the passenger rooms and so March 7th and Stelle had the amazing idea for a guided tour with maybe luxury of details of living quarters of the Express (March’s words, not Sunday’s).
All of this convincing and thinking had taken place in the now familiar and even dear party car, so the group decided to start the tour by a room that somehow felt as big as his office back in Penacony: Stelle’s room.
“Bet you not even the suites at the Reverie Hotel are as cool as this beauty over here, I’d say my taste in decoration has its own unique charm aswell.” Stelle started showing off her room as she was praising it and her wonders, and even if she tends to be quite hyperbolic this time Sunday just had to agree with her. Although the Reverie was a luxury hotel by all means, its main attraction had always been the sweet dream and putting stuff like gaming lounges would make them run the risk of guests getting entertained by things in reality and spending less time in the dream.
“It is quite the extraordinary room indeed miss Stelle.” Everywhere he looked he saw some other weird and interesting trinket, even a Sparkle doll. He would ask another time. Maybe not. Definitely not.
“Don’t let her fool you into thinking this was all her doing Sunny, it is thanks to me that this room doesn’t look like an absolute mess of albeit cool, totally unrelated aesthetics.” March walked from his side to be facing him front with Stelle. “You can thank the eye of an experienced photographer for that.”
“Hey! If it was up to you then my bed would have been a giant Pom Pom!”
As the girls entered a deep philosophical debate over coolness versus cuteness, and if aesthetic choices had anything to do with having the skill for interior designs, Dan Heng, who so far had been quietly at his side, huffed a laugh and looked at him.
“In truth all of us gave Stelle a hand on decorating her room around a month before you joined the express.” Sunday sighed happily in relief at being saved from awkwardly hearing the girls bickering, and honestly got curious of what Dan Heng had just said.
“Just a month before? I was under the impression Stelle had become a trailblazer time prior to… erh, Penacony.” His halo dimmed from embarrassment and his wings reflectively covered some of his face. He quickly regained his composture and continued. “She has always struck me to be full of the trailblazing spirit, so I just assumed she had trailed this path for quite some time already.”
“Oh no, she has been aboard for almost 2 years already, it’s just that she was in a similar situation as yours. This used to be a storage room, and Stelle also refused to share a room with any of us claiming she was very comfortable on the couch. Now she has stopped being a morning person because of ‘how the stellaron will whisper her to stay in bed’.” Dan Heng made quotation marks with his fingers and a poor voice impression of Stelle, gaining a chuckle out of Sunday. “I also took quite some time to get a ‘room’ for myself, though it’s more like I just took the archives for myself. Guess is in the spirit of the nameless to not settle easily, huh.”
While their little chat happened, the debate seemed to have reached a stalemate. Neither of the girls appeared bummed though, looks like they’ve reached a silent agreement in favor of the tour.
Stelle went further inside the room and instructed the others to follow her. “Well Sunny, over here is my bed and desk, there you can open a tab to see your Express duties for the week.” The bed fashioned yet another Sparkle doll. Okay, whatever, people can have their free will. “We could push them over to the right and put another bed. Or we could have a bunk bed! Oh man, yeah! I want the top!” She was very excited at the prospect.
“I don’t think your room is tall enough for that though.” March and Sunday mentally thanked Dan Heng for being the voice of reason and to be the one to crush the poor girl’s dreams.
“Bummers.”
Stelle continued to showcase her room, Sunday started to build immunity to the oddities after the second muscular trashcan statue. He stopped looking around when he saw a poster of his sister, it was a rather old one. She had a yellow dress, sitting on a bench and surrounded by flowers. He remembers her saying that her managers wanted her to use a different dress, a blue one he thinks, but the moment she saw the yellow dress she got reminded of their mother. It even gave her the inspiration to write what would later become one of her earliest hits.
“Universe to Sunday, time to wake up dove!” He got startled at March waving her hand in front of him, his wings started flapping and puffing up, he even let out a coo.
“...”
“...”
“...”
“... Oh my aeons. You can, you can actually coo, like a charmony dove. Oh my!! I would have never imagined you could make such an adorable sound.” Suddenly March was all over him, his face was as red as Himeko’s hair and he could only use his wings to hide himself a little.
“I, um, well, I…” He could handle debating with political enemies as if it was as simple as eating an egg tart, however exhibiting his non-human features aside from his wings and halo was enough to get him all flustered and shy. He tried his best to keep his calm and go back to his composed self. Not much was achieved. “All halovians can… coo or chirp, it depends on which family they come from. It’s not like we actually communicate through it though, we just kinda…”
“You scared the polite language out of him March.” Stelle got a giggle, but it didn’t feel ill intentioned. “Never thought you would really be a dove though.”
Before either Stelle or March could continue with their onslaught Dan Heng thankfully intervened. “I think we are finished with your room, Stelle. Let’s continue on to the next one.”
“Oh I want to show mine first, let’s go, let’s go!”
March picked up the pace out of the room and Stelle followed suit. Sunday sent a grateful look at Dan Heng and the latter smiled back.
“Thanks. I’m trying to loosen up more but I guess I’m just not used to having that kind of attention on ‘me’.” It wasn’t the head of the family getting bombarded with political questions he had prepared answers for in advance, it was instead Sunday who was being asked stuff that he never paid much attention to. In the family he acted nothing short of perfect, he didn’t even entertained the idea of getting startled like that, just acting out of instinct.
“Don’t worry, I understand it can be difficult to respond when you just have always had these ‘curious’ habits.”
That’s right, Dan Heng is also a non-human species. He remembers hearing he was a vidyadhara. He seemed like any other human though, he certainly didn’t resemble the other, though few, vidyadhara Sunday had seen at Penacony. But then again, who was he to judge when Halovians themselves didn’t have any homogenous trait among them.
While he was having that little reflection, they had arrived at March's door. The moment it opened he couldn’t help a shiver running through his body. He wasn’t even in yet; he already felt like he was on the coldest planet in the star system and didn’t bring a heater with him.
He was the last to step inside after gathering a little bit of courage to enter the freezing cold, his wings had curled up onto themselves and his halo started shining brightly to try and produce some warmth. Nobody seemed to notice either of those things thankfully.
“This is my room!” March put her arms up and did a little spin in the middle of the room, happily showing it off. “It’s not as big as Stelle’s, but it’s super cute and has tons of plushies as you can see.” It indeed had many stuffed animals everywhere, thankfully there was no stuffed Sparkle. There were many stuffed Pom Poms though. Free will is an important part of life, remember that Sunday.
“You do have a very nice eye for decoration Miss March.” A sneeze, maybe two. “You also seem to have quite a liking for lower temperatures.”
“Oh Sunny, this is her mildest.” Stelle gave him half a hug as if trying to also warm herself up.
“Oops, I totally forgot to think you probably wouldn’t enjoy such a low temperature. I’m used to being surrounded by ice all the time because of my powers, so I just like my room to be able to host a penguin I guess.” March scratched her head and giggled a little sadly. The other two nameless saw her with a fond look.
Stelle freed Sunday from her half hug and declared March’s room to be out of the equation. “There’s really no need for any of you two to fight for the temperature, so I guess March will continue to keep the tundra for herself.”
“When we do a sleepover at my room please remind me to get it higher Sunny, I don’t want you and Dan Heng to become popsicles!” She sounded very mortified at the idea and hugged the two mentioned as if trying to warm them up.
Huh, it seems like Dan Heng isn’t good with the cold either.
“Well, there’s just the archives left. I wouldn’t really say it is a place to pass the time around, much less a room, but seeing as I haven’t been able to get the other crewmembers to visit it more often I guess some more company wouldn’t hurt.”
The archives were the one ‘room’ Sunday was already familiar with, and he was quite glad to get to its much warmer walls.
“Well you already know the archives, so it’s more about thinking where you could sleep. We could easily get you a normal bed, so don’t worry about it.” Dan Heng seemed to be picturing where to put a bed on. March and Stelle also got deep in thought.
“Erh, there wouldn’t be a need for that. I would be totally fine with just some bed sheets and a pillow.” So far he had been lucky nobody had seen him sleep before, even though he was sleeping in the party car. Sleep was another thing that differentiated halovians from most other species in the cosmos, though it wasn’t a widely spread fact. After all, who wants the rest of the universe to know how they sleep? Certainly not Sunday.
Sacrifices needed to be made sometimes however.
“Oh.” Dan Heng’s expression was one of realization. “That’s fine by me then.”
Sacrifices would not be needed this time. Blessed be Dan Heng and his extensive knowledge.
In the span of the one hour tour Dan Heng and Sunday had started to form some silent understanding over having certain quirks pertaining to their statues as non-human, so when Sunday looked at the other Dan Heng understood his decision.
“I’m very thankful to all of you for showing me your private rooms to give me a choice on where I would like to stay. I’m but a mere passerby yet you shower me with immense kindness that I’ll be certain to return in the future.” The other three looked at each other with a knowing look at ‘passerby’; it had been a little over two months yet they knew Sunday had already become a part of daily life at the Express.
Sunday turned to look at Dan Heng. “If now I may be as bold as to ask you to take me in, I promise I won’t take much space.” His halo glowed brighter.
“I’d be glad to give you a space for you to feel more comfortable in. The archives are not my own, so do not feel like you owe me in any way.” Dan Heng smiled in that comforting way of his.
“The boys are gonna be having sleepovers now, we should do our own then Stelle.” March giggled excitedly at the idea.
The pink girl then drew Sunday up into a hug. Soon Stelle joined in, and Dan Heng followed.
“I’m glad you are getting your space now dove, take as much of it as you wanna. Much cooler than a dream, huh?” March squeezed him, it reminded Sunday of happier and simpler times. Maybe his time at the Express could be like that too.
“Hehe, it is Miss March, it is.”
“Oh, so the boys will be sharing a room now? How fun, haha.” Dinner was served and the announcement was made. Himeko was one of the most adamant on Sunday getting a room other than the party car, so she was delighted to hear it finally happened. “I’m very sorry we can’t actually give you a room of your own though, there aren’t any storage rooms left and Pom Pom is always worried adding a new car could break the Express’ balance on the star rails.”
“Do not worry about it in the slightest Miss Himeko, I’m more than content with the arrangement we have gotten.”
“I’m sure you and Dan Heng will get along just fine. March told me you also seek warmth, huh?” Sunday blushed a little at the remark, but he didn’t felt laughed at under Mr. Yang’s caring eyes.
“The archives are a nice place for reasons other than their temperature.” Dan Heng joked a little.
“I’m still so sad you chose those books over the bunk bed, Sunny. I was so close to reaching the stars.” And there goes a dramatic sigh while finishing up her cereal.
“Pom Pom wouldn’t have allowed a bunk bed in the passenger’s room anyway, you would have slammed your head every morning.” March got a laugh snort that got everyone else to chuckle and Stelle to put her best ‘I’m offended’ face.
“Well, it's already getting late everyone. I think it is a good time to call it off for the night.” Himeko noticed some sleepy faces and decided to send the others on their way. None can trailblaze when half asleep after all. “You can pick a pillow and some blankets from the storage room at the end of the hallway on the left, Sunday. Have a good night.”
“Thanks Miss Himeko, good night everyone.”
Sunday went out and Dan Heng accompanied him.
“I’ve already said it, but thanks again for letting me in, Dan Heng.”
“Your welcome, it’s my pleasure. It is actually nice to have someone else from a different species on the Express you know.” They both continued talking as they walked. “Hope you don’t get weirded out by my habits either.”
“I could never.”
They both smiled at each other, and now with pillow and blankets in hand they prepared for their first night as roommates.