JC/Justin
The lights draped all over the trees passing outside the bus window look like some kind of three-dimensional constellations. Big hulking elephants, and sprawling egrets or something. JC tries to imagine a myth about an elephant and an egret that would make sense. Maybe they fought over something, or the egret made off with the elephant's shoes, and now they're chasing after each other. JC lets his eyes scan idly for some lights that could represent the shoes before he thinks, but elephants don't wear shoes. He almost stops looking until he remembers that myths hardly ever make sense, anyway. Maybe this elephant wore shoes, big boats of them, with laces made of stars, and that's why the egret took them. He could find a tree with lights that look like trailing laces. And the egret would get tangled and trip over something and the elephant would catch him and say "Why did you take my shoes, fuckhead?" And the egret would have nothing to say, but maybe the elephant would understand him anyway. And maybe they would fall in a heap on the floor and have sex.
The lights aren't that frequent anymore. No houses. He should go sleep, but it's just so nice to sit here and look into the darkness. The window is like a barrier that brings inside and outside together. Cold from the inside, when he puts his forehead against it, and maybe warm from the outside, if someone or something touched the glass while he was touching it. His heat could be drawn right out of him. JC shivers and sits up straight, bumping into Justin who is sleeping on the couch next to him. He's still dressed, curled up a little, looking so tired even in sleep. He must have fallen asleep while I was looking at the night, JC thinks and pats Justin's leg. Justin feels real and solid, and JC pulls his shoes off so he'll be more comfortable and drapes the blanket over him. Then he goes back to his bunk, only pausing to put Justin's shoes away by the wall.
He wakes up when Justin shakes him, looking grumpy and tired. "My feet are cold," and then Justin climbs into the blankets with him. JC is too sleepy to explain the whole shoes thing, so he just puts his arms around Justin and lets him warm his feet on JC's legs. It's late. Justin falls asleep almost instantly again, and JC tangles their legs together to make their bodies fit snugly. It's warm, and quiet. It's good.
