Warm hoodies on cold nights (and all the stars in your eyes)

Chapter 13

"Nah, I'm good. Have fun."

Wilbur shakes his head and goes back inside the observatory, slowly building up two metal sleeping cubbies to either side of the ladder.

"Hurry up," Schlatt shouts down just before he finishes the base. "It's fucking starting soon. You have like ten minutes."

"If you want it done, come and fucking help," he shouts back. "But I got it," he adds as an afterthought. All that's missing is placing the chests and the beds, and that'll do it. He can grab some carpet tomorrow. "I probably should have gotten some furnaces," he sighs as he scrambles up to sit next to Schlatt. "Yo," he adds, because the sunset has only just started, the lowest rays of the sun already clipped short by the horizon, and the distant mountains are bathed in a hazy glow.

"It's nice," Schlatt murmurs, tugging Wilbur closer to him, and they sit together as the sun slowly dips down and the crescent-shaped patch of dark skies expands to unfold into a starry expanse above them.

He's almost asleep, drifting into the same golden haze that coated the horizon only a short while back, when Schlatt starts talking. He's not talking about anything in particular, Wilbur doesn't think. Just talking about black holes and stars and death and life, and Wilbur is content to listen, to lay his head in the crook of Schlatt's arm and hear his voice thrum alongside his heartbeat.

Schlatt wakes him up for the sunrise, too, and they watch it together, leaning against each other, hands pressed against each other but not quite holding.

"It's so pretty," Schlatt says after the haze starts to clear from the sky.

"Mhm," Wilbur agrees sleepily. "Nice view."

"Sure is," Schlatt laughs, handing him an apple, which he eats slowly, finally waking up properly and yawning.

"What're we doing today?"

"Just messing around?" Schlatt suggests, and Wilbur shrugs.

"Sure. I can show you the stuff Techno's been showing me."

"Do I want to be shown that, though?"

Wilbur considers. "Yep," he says eventually.

"Uh," Schlatt mutters nervously, but Wilbur drags him down anyways and they go to find a suitable clearing. Unfortunately, the place that Wilbur made his base in is full of hills and mountains, and they don't want to fight in the desert (despite server correction, the sand still gets a little irritating). So they spend several hours wandering before they find a grassy clearing nestled between some mountains, and Schlatt slams down a block of concrete. "X marks the spot," he says enthusiastically.

"Sure does," Wilbur hums in agreement, then tackles him from behind in a hold Techno showed him last week, bringing them both crashing to the ground.

"Oof," Schlatt grouses. "Holy shit. I didn't expect you to be able to actually tackle me, you puny bastard."

"I'm not puny," Wilbur protests, pinning Schlatt in place. "Also that's what these holds are designed for. Stronger opponents."

"Ah," Schlatt sighs. "I guess everyone will be able to beat me, then."

"Keep telling yourself that." Wilbur pulls Schlatt up, and shows him how to hook a leg around an opponent's leg, throwing them to the ground.

Schlatt catches on far too quickly for Wilbur's liking, and he ends up the one being floored more often than not.

"You know what this means?" he pants after a while, laying on the grass to try and catch his breath.

"What?" Schlatt asks, dropping down next to him.