001 » with my legs up on the dashboard

[receptacles]

TFLN OVERFLOW.

for caelus at receptacles.

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[receptacles]

You could have double the blanket. Weighted blanket experience.

[ He says this with a completely straight face.

It seems to be one of his usual jokes, though, because he doesn't actually wrap Dan Heng in a secondary blanket cocoon. Just crumples his own blanket over to the side and lets Dan Heng make himself comfortable. The weighted blanket experience is probably best practiced with an actual weighted blanket rather than two layers of blankets.

He lingers for a moment, staring fondly at Dan Heng's tousled head, and then sighs, and makes his way over to his chair to sit down and game. ]

...Let me know if you want anything.

[ He says this even as he slides a pair of wireless earbuds into his ears and picks up his phone again, apparently content to game in silence while Dan Heng sleeps. ]

[moondrunk]

[ Dan Heng huffs softly, almost laughing. He's come to expect these sorts of jokes at the oddest times from Caelus, and while he might roll his eyes or occasionally chide, such moments have woven themselves so thoroughly into his routines that he knows he would miss them if they were to suddenly cease. It's like the humming of the servers or the steady rumble of the engine underneath them—a sort of comforting background noise he's grown attached to.

And it helps. It's not the same as being in the archives with the noise and the shimmer of simulated oceans beneath him, but it does chase away the silence. Enough to settle, and relax.

He does glance over his shoulder, though, peeking out from beneath his blanket to fix Caelus with a stern look. ]

Just don't keep yourself awake on my account, [ he says, though he's not sure Caelus is listening at this point. ] Sleep if you need to.

[receptacles]

[ He's not so uncouth that he'd turn up his music so loud that he can't hear Dan Heng at all — nodding, Caelus hums assent to his friend's chiding. Yeah, yeah, he'll go to bed soon. Just one more attempt at scoring platinum in the current event! He swears! ]

I'll go to bed in a sec.

[ It's not the whir of the archive servers, or the soothing shimmer of the waves below, but Caelus's room, with Caelus in it, is a different kind of peaceful, calming environment. The room is dark, illuminated only by the glow of Caelus's phone at its darkest setting; there's only the sound of his breathing, the gently muted, rhythmic tapping of the pads of his fingers (occasionally his nail) against the screen of his phone. Beneath that, the Express's engine purrs, idle. Still further beneath that, if Dan Heng really hones his senses, he'll hear the rush of Caelus's blood, the pulsing beat of his heart. The low bass thrumming of the Stellaron, so quiet as to be imperceptible, in tune with his pulse.

At some point, Caelus heaves a slightly shuddering sigh like a sob, and wipes the back of his hand across his eyes.

A few more taps after that, and Caelus rests his phone atop its charger (not that their phones tend to run out of battery) and shuffles off his jacket and pants so that he's just in his shirt and boxers. He's tired too, after all that; he joins Dan Heng in the bed once he's undressed, though, thinking that the Vidyadhara probably likes his space, Caelus settles on his side with his back facing his friend, and takes an extra pillow (he sleeps with a lot of extra pillows) into his arms.

His breathing is slow and steady. ]