✈️ jet lag ✈️

The hotel room was quiet in the way only unfamiliar places were.

Too clean.Too white.Too still.

The air conditioner hummed in the background, cycling cold air across the dim room. The curtains were half-drawn, letting slivers of city light bleed across the carpet.

A foreign skyline burned silently in the distance.

Another country.Another match week.Another sleepless night.

Sae lay on his back in the stiff hotel bed, eyes open, staring at the ceiling.

He could feel exhaustion in his bones —but sleep never came.

Jet lag pressed against his skull like static.

He exhaled slowly.

Across the room, the other bed creaked.

Sae didn't move, but he listened.

Sheets rustled.A sigh.Silence.

Then—

"...You awake?"

Shidou's voice — quiet, not playful, not loud.

Small.

Sae closed his eyes for a moment.

"...Yes."

A beat.

"...Same," Shidou murmured.

Sae rolled onto his side, facing him across the small space between their beds.

The room was nearly dark, but he could make out Shidou's silhouette —

curled onto his back,hair messy,one arm draped over his eyes.

He wasn't grinning.

Not fidgeting.

Not chaotic.

Just... awake.

And tired.

Sae's voice softened without meaning to.

"Can't sleep?"

Shidou huffed out a breath that wasn't quite a laugh.

"Body thinks it's afternoon. Brain thinks it's three in the morning. Heart thinks it made a mistake existing."

Sae blinked.

"That's dramatic."

Shidou moved his arm, staring at the ceiling.

"...Yeah."

Silence filled the room again.

Not heavy.

Just kind of... there.

Sae shifted slightly, the sheets brushing against his skin.

The floor-to-ceiling window glowed faintly — distant traffic lights painting pale orange into the darkness. A city in a language neither of them spoke buzzed out there, unaware of them.

He spoke first this time.

"...You usually sleep fine."

Shidou let out a breath.

"I usually pass out because I burn myself out."

Sae paused.

"...And today?"

Shidou swallowed.

"Too much thinking."

He said it softly.

Like that was something he wasn't used to admitting.

Sae hesitated.

"What about?"

Another creak of sheets.

Shidou turned onto his side — not facing him, but turned just enough that his voice sounded closer.

"...If I'm doing okay."

Sae's brows knitted slightly.

"You are."

Shidou huffed again.

"You say that like it's a fact."

"It is."

"Mm."

Shidou's voice sounded... distant.

"Still doesn't feel like it."

Sae's chest tightened — just a little.

He watched the faint outline of Shidou's shoulders rise and fall with his breathing.

"Is this why you couldn't sleep?"

Shidou paused.

"...Partly."

A plane roared faintly miles above the city.

The AC rattled.

Something outside honked.

Inside the room — just the two of them and the dark.

Sae shifted again, turning more fully toward him.

"You're quieter than usual tonight."

Shidou let out a soft breath.

"Yeah. Scary, huh?"

Sae didn't respond immediately.

He thought.

Then —

"...No."

Shidou blinked.

"...No?"

Sae's voice lowered.

"It suits you."

Silence.

A real one this time — deep and still.

Then the bed across from him shook slightly, like Shidou had laughed under his breath.

"You're weird."

Sae exhaled through his nose.

"You didn't know that already?"

"I did," Shidou murmured. "Just nice to hear you admit it."

Another pause.

A quiet one.

The kind that didn't scratch.

The kind that didn't itch.

The kind that stayed.

Shidou's voice came again — softer.

"...You can't sleep either?"

Sae answered honestly.

"No."

"Because of jet lag," Shidou said.

"Partly."

"And the other part?"

Sae hesitated.

He almost didn't say it.

But the room was dark.And the world was far.And the walls felt soft instead of sharp.

"...I don't like unfamiliar places."

Shidou didn't scoff.Didn't tease.

He just breathed.

"...Yeah."

"Yeah?"

"I get that," Shidou said quietly. "They feel fake. Like nothing in the room belongs to you."

Sae stared into the darkness.

"Yes."

"And even when you're tired," Shidou continued, "your brain keeps checking everything. The noises. The air. The walls. Like you're on standby instead of resting."

Sae swallowed.

"...Exactly."

He hadn't expected to be understood.

Not by Shidou.

Not by anyone.

But the words landed like something soft was placed gently into his hands.

Sae took a slow breath.

Across the room, Shidou turned his head toward him.

He couldn't see his expression —but he could feel it.

"Hey," Shidou murmured.

"Yes?"

"...You wanna talk?"

Sae blinked.

He almost said no.

He almost said he didn't need to.

Instead —

"...About what."

Shidou shrugged faintly against the pillow.

"Anything."

Sae considered.

Then asked:

"Why did you agree to room with me this trip?"

There were other teammates.Other arrangements.Other options.

Shidou didn't answer immediately.

When he did, his voice was softer than Sae had ever heard it.

"...Because you're quiet."

Sae's breath caught.

Shidou continued.

"And because when I'm around you... my head isn't so loud."

The city lights flickered across the window.

Sae stared at him.

Something gentle unfolded in his chest.

"...You never said that."

Shidou chuckled weakly.

"Yeah. 'Cause it sounds pathetic."

"It doesn't."

Shidou's voice trembled at the edges.

"...Thanks."

Another stretch of silence.

But this one—

felt warm.

Like a blanket instead of a wall.

Sae shifted closer to the edge of his bed. Not crossing the space — just reducing it.

His words came out quieter.

"You calm me down too."

The air thinned.

Sae almost regretted saying it —until Shidou whispered:

"...Good."

He sounded relieved.

Honest.

Human.

They lay there like that.

Two silhouettes in the dark.

Two exhausted, restless hearts —

not sleeping,not spiraling,

just breathing.

Together.

After a while, Shidou spoke again — voice fading, sleep finally creeping at the edges.

"Hey... Sae...?"

"Yes?"

"If I fall asleep first... wake me if you get lonely."

Sae's eyes softened.

"I won't."

"You will," Shidou murmured, half-dreaming already. "You always pretend you don't."

Sae's lips curved faintly.

"...Sleep."

"M'kay..."

Sheets rustled.Breathing slowed.

Shidou drifted.

For the first time all night.

Sae stayed awake a little longer —

listening to the sound of someone else existing within reach.

The room didn't feel foreign anymore.

It felt...

quiet.

And not empty.

He shut his eyes.

Sleep came easier this time.

And somewhere between the dark and the city glow —

they both stopped being alone.

art credit: https://www.tumblr.com/love---mandy/769092733751214080/we-lost-the-my-demon-in-the-anime-im-coping-i