You were absolutely positively baffled to see a new member on the express. It had been quite a long while since any new developments had been made to the engine, nonetheless a whole new person to the crew. 

It was sufficed to say that your interest was piqued, analyzing the newcomer with rigid curiosity. You stared intently at his short grey hair, it was a strange color, though not completely unusual, seeing as March too had an interesting shade of pink hair. 

"Y/N!!" March cries, jumping into your arms and giving you a large squeeze. 

You smile, having missed the opportunity to join them on the space station as you were so busy helping re-fuel the express. "How was Asta and Arlan?" March nodded enthusiastically to your question, you felt relieved. 

"He's not still pushing himself to the limit, is he?" You wonder, remembering the last time you'd seen him he nearly ran face first into a wall. 

"Well, that's to be expected of him. Can't argue with crazy!" March laughs, you join along to her captivating chuckle before Dan Heng and the newcomer approach you both. 

"Welcome back Dan Heng, and welcome aboard- uh-?"

"Caelus." He answers, you note the oddly blank stare he gives you. You stare at his outfit; it was a nice blend of grey and golden accents with multiple hanging tassels and strings. It was truly a visually appealing design. 

"I like your outfit, it's really cool!" You mention, his eyes widen slightly as he takes off his coat and hands it to you. "Huh?" You blurt out, he just ushers for you to put it on. 

You fit his black and gold coat over your red uniform and note how nice the fabric feels, almost like multiple different energy particles were swimming through the threads. You take the time to appreciate it, turning around and picking up the back to see how much it would trail behind you. 

"Does it look nice?" You ask, Caelus nods intensely. Giving you a thumbs up. You laugh at his strange reactions, it was silent, and cute-

"Aww I wanna try~ I bet Dan Heng does too! Right Dan Heng?!" March asks, but Dan Heng only shakes his head 'no'. She seems dejected but tries on the coat right after you. 

"This thing- is- heavy-" March huffs, taking it off and handing it back to Caelus who throws it back over his arms. He fits it back onto his white shirt, which you noticed looked quite well fit over his torso. 

March and Dan Heng retreat to his room to fill out a new record of their most recent encounter with a massive beast while on the space station. You admit, you were a bit jealous that they got to see a cool monster. 

"I'll show you to your room!" You pipe up, opening the door to the caboose and show Caelus to his room. It was nice and spacious, with a single propped up bed and a large window for him to look out. 

"Do you like it?" You ask. 

"It's nice." He says before walking into the closet and closing the door. You stare for a moment, completely puzzled at his odd behavior. You wondered if he didn't understand the concept of a bed, or if he just liked sleeping in more cramped environments. 

You decided not to wait and began making your way through the train to deliver Pom Pom's dinner, it was a singular chopped carrot and a couple of leafy greens. "Pom Pom, I've got dinner. We can eat and then ask Himeko and Welt if they want to head over to Jarilo-VI or the asteroid belt in the syrus bay." 

Pom Pom eagerly takes the tray of food from your hand and sits down in the tiny chair designed specifically for them. "Hmmm, Pom Pom thinks that this is a great meal!" They said, kicking their feet playfully as they dangled over the edge of the chair.

"I'm glad. It didn't take much preparation." You think to yourself, taking a small bite out of your dinner until your eyes grow wide in concern. "Oh no! I forgot to get Caelus' dinner!" You scramble out of your chair and nearly send the engine to engage, which would've thrown the express straight into the void of space with no direction. 

"Hey-!"

"Sorry Pom Pom!!" You shout, already out the door and down the train car racing to Caelus' room. 

You apprehensively open the door to see all the lights shut off, it was a weird sight, and you wondered if he was possibly taking a nap. "Caelus?-" You ask slowly, holding a tray of food in your hands as you search for the sleeping beauty. 

Suddenly the tray is thrown straight out of your hands as your waist is grabbed by a mysterious force, dragging you into the closet. 

"Caelus! What- are- you- doing?" You ask, whispering for an unknown reason even to you. 

He raises a finger to his mouth before taking a peek out of the closet. "I think there's a ghost on the express." 

 Your jaw drops to the floor. Perhaps this very fine-looking gentleman actually was insane? "Caelus, I'm not staying in a closet to hide from a ghost." 

"It's not safe out there. I'll make a break for it and get Pom Pom, we can use them as extra food." He concludes. 

"What?- Why would you immediately think- 'eat Pom Pom'?!" You shout, only to be shushed by the man once again. 

"Caelus. If it really were a ghost, wouldn't they be able to get through the closet anyways?" You ask, his face blanks as he sits in contemplation. 

"You're right- Then we sacrifice someone. Probably Pom Pom." He says with a completely grave expression on his face. After seeing your expression completely deadpanned, he revisits his strategy, thinking hard about what you might want him to suggest. If it wasn't ritual sacrifice you wanted, then maybe you wanted to start a cult instead. 

You shake your head as if you knew what he was about to suggest. You open the closet, much to his protest as you manage to haul him out of the closet and into the main train car. He looks on edge as he carefully searches around and jumps at every little thing, like he was a search dog on the lookout for suspicious activity. He somewhat acted like a dog in some regards, and you swore you could see a pair of ears on his head and a tail sprouting from his back. 

Wiping your eyes, the two of you encountered Himeko and Welt. "Oh- Y/N, Caelus, good, we need your help." Himeko began, wondering how to put it. 

"With?" You asked, hoping that they were going to give the both of you something completely normal to do in order to relieve Caelus of his anxieties. 

"We think there might be a strange presence on the express. If you can, we'd like to have you both help us take a look." Welt said, pushing his glasses up. "If you find anything, let us know." He clarifies. 

At this point you found it nearly comical, fighting the urge to laugh out loud, you wondered if you were the crazy person. You and Caelus begin walking around the train car, noticing how cold it would become in the corner right before the conductor's booth. Your arms began to feel frozen as you ran your hands up and down to garner some heat. 

Caelus noticed immediately and rushed to place his jacket over your shoulder. "Oh! Thanks, are you not cold?" You ask.

He shakes his head confidently as an icicle begins to form on his nose. He stands strong in his decision and the two of you finally make it to the corner, where it felt like a blizzard had washed over the entire car but there was no snow to be seen. 

You look around, unable to see anything but Caelus jumps back, placing his arm up between you and- the wall... 

"Caelus- what are-" Suddenly he stares at something, still keeping distance between you and whatever the undetectable force in the room was. He kept you behind his back as he glared down the potted plant. You assumed the poor boy might've had an intense pollen allergy. 

That was until he disappeared. 

Re-appearing moments later and with a couple of scratches around his face. "What in space!? What happened to you!" You shout, completely baffled at the weird nature of the silent hero. 

"Can we eat dinner?" he asks, trying to skip the question. You sigh, finally a request you could understand. 

"Sure!" You say, getting a couple of trays before bringing them into Caelus' room. After cleaning up the previous meal the two of you sat down in the closet, only illuminated by the flashlight on the back of his cellphone. 

It would take a while to get used to how odd he would behave, but he was growing on you. very quickly he had grown on you, as you found yourself memorizing the exact pattern in which his hair would fall, and the very way he would dress before coming out into the train car. 

On the days when you didn't have to help Pom Pom navigate past hurdles of meteor belts and triangulate the exact coordinates on the star maps, you would sit in the closet with Caelus. Who seemed ecstatic to spend time with you. The two of you would talk about the games he enjoyed, occasionally you would try to play along. 

Though most of the games he played were oddly formatted, as someone who's main source of entertainment was a daily word puzzle and Tetris, you didn't quite understand the specifics on how to play. Luckily for you, he was overjoyed to help explain to you the game mechanics. The two of you nestled up together, as he would sit against the wall of the closet and let you lie against his chest.  He would place his arms around you and hold the phone up for you to see. You would simply lean back against him and listen to his long explanations. 

There were some days where you would fall asleep in his arms, and he would gladly keep you there, placing his coat over your legs to keep you warm as he gamed throughout the night. When you woke up- he had just fallen asleep, and you would place a couple of pillows over him, getting ready for breakfast. The closet had become the place where the two of you would continually sit, enjoying one another's company. 

---X---

A/N: Aww I didn't know that I would actually like Caelus so much. Also, it turns out that if you picked Caelus you got to have interactions with March, rather than Stelle with Dan Heng?! Chaos trio!~ 

Thank you for reading!