Astral's daily life was pretty simple.
Unlike his siblings, he didn't do a lot during the time he was awake. There wasn't a need for him to do too much. If it was important, the others had it covered. Astral would help out if they were asked to, but if that wasn't the case, he would chill and relax.
Today didn't feel like it would be any different. He got out of bed and stretched. His sleeves fell down to his elbows. Their eyes traveled around the room. Nobody but Astral and Soma were in the room. It was a typical sight for Astral, considering he slept until noon. Soma glanced at them for a brief moment before returning his sight back to the sketchbook.
"Konnichi wa, Astral." Soma said. "I hope you slept well."
"I did!" He smiled. "S'what's for breakfast?"
Soma pointed towards a covered plate with his pencil. "Marino cooked you blueberry pancakes, hash browns, and cinnamon rolls. He's also put an orange there too."
Astral pouted as he grabbed the plate. He sat down and removed the covering. It was still hot, merely made moments before they woke up. Aside from the orange slice that really was there beside the rest of the food. They whined at the sight. Soma eyed Astral, knowing his exact thoughts.
"He said you needed more vitamin C in your system." He answered his unspoken question.
"Did it have to be oranges though?"
Soma shrugged. "Ask Marino that."
Astral didn't say another word. Instead, they looked down at his meal and started eating. He got the orange out of the way first with bits of the other stuff on his plate. Once the orange slice was gone, they ate the rest with glee. When they got up, they looked over to see Soma's picture without blocking his light. It was a drawing of the trees in Shuggazoom. He smiled seeing how it was so far.
"Lookin' good, Soma!" Astral complimented.
Soma chuckled. "Thank you."
Astral grabbed his plate and took it to the kitchen. He greeted everyone he came across on his way there. He put the plate in the sink, which caught the attention of Diamond. She took her head out the fridge as she grabbed something. She groaned looking at him.
"If you're gonna come out here to put something in the sink, ya could bloody clean it." Diamond put her hand on her arm.
"I can always get that later." Astral waved it off. "Wish ya luck with your stuff today!"
They walked away. Diamond opened her mouth, but quickly closed it. She only sighed in annoyance, knowing there was nothing she could do but clean it herself.
Astral plopped himself down on a comfortable surface and turned the holo-TV on. He flipped through the channels to see what was on. Once he got to something that seemed interesting, he rested and watched it. His tail moved little by little as his eyes were glued to the holo-screen. It stayed that way for an hour.
Chiro and Antauri went up to Astral. They made sure to not block his view. Chiro bent down to their level.
"Hey Astral, we're going out. You wanna come with us?" Chiro asked.
Astral looked at Chiro. "Are any antiques or vintage stuff involved?"
Antauri shook their head. "Not this time. However, we wanted to know if you wish to come in spite of that."
"Nah," he shook his head. "I'm good. Maybe later."
Chiro stood up and started walking away. Antauri patted their shoulder.
"Be sure to do something other than watch television all day." Antauri told them.
"I will." Astral responded.
Antauri smiled before walking away. Astral waved them off as they left his sight. He returned his attention to the screen. A minute later, Emerald walked up to him with a couple snacks. She handed one to him. He looked at her and smiled.
"Thank you," he said as he opened the bag.
She smiled back. Emerald sat close to him. They ate their snacks together while she worked on her invention. Astral would peek at what she worked on every now and then. It wasn't small by any means, but it was small enough for her to carry it with both hands and no problems. They weren't as mechanically knowledgeable like Emerald or Papa Otto, but it seemed complicated and interesting.
Overtime, his attention went completely to her. He was too interested to not watch her work.
Astral's tail swung back and forth. Every little thing she did added to the invention. They didn't know what any of it did, but he bet it was something really neat. It took her a moment to realize he was watching her. Emerald looked at him and nervously chuckled.
"You don't have to watch me work," she started signing, "you can watch your shows!"
"I know, but I'm curious!" He responded with a smile.
Her face flushed a deep teal. It made her feel speechless. She didn't sign another word as she went back to working on it. Astral chuckled at how flustered she became, it was like she didn't have anyone be that curious in her works before. He supposed it was because Peridot was the main one who watched her rather than anybody else. He would've asked what it did or what she wanted it to do, but he knew how shy she was.
Emerald would go on about it whenever she was comfortable with it. It wasn't something they wanted to rush, after all.
Then all of a sudden, he could hear Magma yell. They lifted their head up to see Jasper running as she laughed. Magma ran after her, telling Jasper to come back here. The fur on his upper body burned a bright red, almost orange, with his face covered in whip cream. Emerald watched as she protected her invention. She nearly shrunk towards the chair just to hide. Jasper and Magma were gone as fast as they came in.
Astral looked at Emerald. She simply shrugged, not having a clue either. Regardless, it seemed like the others were having more of an exciting day than they were. Not that Astral minded, he wanted another calm day than to be caught up in the chaos. If it was necessary to be in it, he hoped it would be another day than today.
Thankfully the two would have some peace for at least the next half hour. It was then that Peridot showed up with Hermodactyloides. Dactyle was wearing a semi-transparent purple dress with a solid colored top and red ribbons at the waist and elbows. It had long sleeves that extended out from the midway section like it was one of those fancy princess gowns. It went down to their knees. Emerald's eyes lit up and sparkled when the two came in. Her tail erected and it pointed upwards.
"Hey, so I want your guys' opinions on this. How does it look?" Peridot asked.
"Personally I think it looks fabulous on me!" Dactyle said. "However, I understand her wanting multiple fresh sets of eyes."
Emerald smiled. "I think it looks beautiful!" She signed.
Astral hummed, examining the design. "I say add more fabric to match the top and add something soft and fluffy on the inside, then it'll be perfect. Otherwise, it's a bit bland."
Emerald glared at him. Peridot looked at the dress with that thought in mind. She then looked back at Astral with an appreciative smile on her face.
"Thank you, I'll do that now!"
She took Dactyle's hand and dragged them back to her work room. Astral looked back at Emerald who was back to working on her invention. It seemed done to him, but she might've been making tiny adjustments to it. Emerald glanced at them for a moment before closing her eyes. She stood up with the invention in her arms.
"Come to me before you sleep. I want to see how well this works with recording dreams." She instructed, her voice being monotone as ever.
She walked away before he could respond. So that's what she was working on. He wondered how it worked but Astral pushed it to the side for now. It would be something he'd find out that night.
He directed his attention to the screen. What was on before had concluded. He switched to see what else was on now. Some stuff was the same as before while others were different. While he switched through the channels, Kaminari came over and wrapped her arms around him. It caught him by surprise. He looked up and looked at her.
"Oh, Kami. What's up?"
"Hey, Ast! Mind if we watch the Sun Riders? Reruns are about to be on!"
He smiled. "Sure, Kami. Come sit!"
He patted to his side. She smiled wide before she sat down next to him.
She held onto their sweater.
After a few hours, Astral went back to their room.
He picked up one of the vintage Earth stuff he'd gotten. Something that they referred to as a Walkman, one that dated back to the early eighties. Astral always thought the older stuff was interesting. Phonographs, ancient weapons, statues, anyone could name anything and he'd either have it or know a lot about it. It was fascinating to see where everything they had nowadays began. The history and progression was what made everything interesting.
It was why he collected them, even if he couldn't have a room dedicated to them and therefore had to keep them in his part of the bedroom. Astral wiped everything down; they had to stay clean, after all. It took a while to clean them all, but in their eyes, it was worth it. The others didn't share his interest, at least they weren't as interested as he was, but that was fine.
Astral knew it was all cool and interesting, and that was enough for him.
Out of the corner in his eye, he saw Aero get up from his bed. He looked at him.
"Where ya goin', Aero?"
Aero jumped, looking back. "Oh, uh, just- just meeting up with Diamond. It's- It's nothing much, really."
He blinked a few times. He didn't recall them ever hanging out, but he wasn't about to question it. They could've started hanging out recently and he only knew about it now. There was nothing wrong with that. Astral then smiled.
"Okay, have fun then!"
Aero awkwardly smiled back. "Thanks."
Aero left the room. Astral went back to cleaning his stuff, keeping that smile on his face. He kept going until it was close to bedtime.
Astral went to Emerald, who was closeby and had the machine with her. She told him to lay down in his bed. Considering they all went to sleep at the same time, everyone gathered around in curiosity. Seeing Emerald had an audience, she stepped back and cleared her throat.
"This is what I call The Dreamcatcher," she started explaining. "If it works correctly, it'll be able to record your dreams from start to finish. You'll be able to watch it after you're awake and you'll be able to remember what you dreamt without having to struggle remembering them."
"And it seems I'm the test subject!" Astral added.
Diamond hummed. "Makes sense, considering he sleeps the longest out of everyone."
"What about nightmareth?" Jasper asked.
"That'll be recorded too." Emerald replied.
"How come you created this, if I may ask?" Marino questioned.
"Well, Diamond has said that dreams can contain symbolism and a look into what's in someone's head, so I was inspired to make this." She signed.
"So how does it work?" Peridot asked with enthusiasm.
Emerald lifted a wire. "You put this on someone's head for the duration of sleep. It'll stay on no matter how much you toss and turn, so there's no need to worry about that. It shouldn't disrupt the comfortability when you try to sleep." She signed.
She put it on Astral's helmet. Emerald continued signing and answering everyone's questions, but Astral tuned everything out when he closed his eyes. He smiled at how good the day ended up being.
While different things happened every day, it was typically a lazy one.
