Xenotober Day 7. Orbit
Nagi is feeling rather wistful, and Vandham finds him musing outside at night, and just wants him to come back to bed.
Enjoy!
Day 7. Remember the moon and the stars?
When Vandham wakes up in the middle of the night, the first thing he notices is what disturbed his sleep. It's little Leia, a bit less little than a few months ago, but still a rather small cat. She's sitting on top of his chest and meowing at him, apparently having tried to wake him up for a while, judging by the way she's also started to swat at him with her small paws.
Once he's awake, the second thing he notices is that Nagi is nowhere to be seen, his side of the bed already cooling down, letting him know the man's been away for a while. Nagi doesn't usually wander off in the middle of the night unless it's for work, in which case he wakes Vandham as well, much to his dismay.
But now Nagi clearly has just wandered off, and it's a strange enough phenomenon to get him up to investigate. He picks up Leia and puts her aside with a small pet on the head. A quick look through their small apartment reveals Nagi is nowhere inside, so he looks outside next, after pulling on something a bit warmer for the chilly night air.
It doesn't take long to find Nagi. He's standing on a high ledge, at the edge of the city, staring up at the sky. Since he has his back turned, Vandham can't tell how he feels, what he's exactly looking at, or if he just fell asleep on his feet.
"Hey," he greets Nagi as he approaches him. "What're you doing standing out here in the middle of the night?" He just about manages to have the patience to wait as Nagi takes his time with answering.
"Just thinking," Nagi answers, so softly Vandham almost misses it. He moves to stand beside Nagi, looking at his profile as he's staring up at the sky. "The moons and the stars are quite different here than back on earth."
"Well, yeah," Vandham agrees, looking up at them as well. "There's three moons instead of just one, and the stars and constellations are completely different." He's not entirely sure where Nagi is going with this, but if it's something that makes him go out in the middle of the night to stare of into the distance, then the least he can do is hear him out and help if there's something bothering him. It's what good partners do, right?
"Well, yeah," he says eventually, looking back at Nagi. "Considering we're on a completely different planet, in another galaxy and all. It'd be more weird if it was the same as on earth."
"I know," Nagi replies, looking down at his own shoes. "It's a bit silly, maybe. It's just that... It's only been a few years since we left earth, but I find I'm already starting to forget what the moon and the stars looked like back there." He sounds wistful, nostalgic and sad at the same time.
"Oh," Vandham doesn't really know what to say to that, since he hasn't really thought about it. But looking up at the sky now and trying to picture what the night sky looked like on earth, he finds it strangely difficult to picture. "I guess I kinda know what you mean."
He's not entirely sure what to do here, but comforting Nagi in some way seems to be the best way to go, so he steps closer to him, wrapping one arm around his waist in what he hopes is a comforting gesture. He then lifts his other hand to Nagi's face, turning the other man to face him as he gently strokes the scar on his lower jaw.
"You know it's not all lost, right?" he says, looking Nagi in the eyes. "We have tons of pictures and star charts and stuff from back on earth. We can go take a look at them tomorrow, if you want to remember it."
"That would be nice," Nagi admits softly, lifting his hand to hold on to Vandham's. "Tomorrow, then." He gives him a short kiss as thanks, before going back to staring at the sky.
"Good, now why don't you come back to bed," Vandham tries to coax him. "Get some sleep. Leia missed you, you know."
"Just Leia?" Nagi asks teasingly, a small smile barely visible in the semi-darkness.
"Well, you know what I mean," Vandham defends himself, stroking his hands over Nagi's hair in a way he knows the man can't resist. Indeed, Nagi is leaning into his touch already. "Now come on. Bed."
"All right," Nagi finally relents, starting to walk back to their apartment, probably realizing he's about to fall asleep where he stands. "Can't make Leia feel lonely, now can I?" He says, before getting inside and making his way to the bedroom.
Vandham follows, intending to make sure he doesn't leave the bed until morning. To make sure he gets enough sleep, of course. And so Leia doesn't need to wake him again because her dad has disappeared somewhere.
Moons orbit around planets, right? And moons are mentioned and talked about a little, so this kind of has to do with the prompt, right? Just a little bit, maybe?