|—☾♱—|

It was particularly loud since Dandy and Vee’s bickering filled the room, sharp and unrelenting, each trying to talk over the other. You could barely hear your own thoughts over the racket, and unfortunately, neither could Astro. He stirred, his expression pinched with discomfort, and his eyes fluttered open, squinting against the noise that had shattered the delicate calm he’d been clinging to.

Astro let out a quiet groan, curling into himself as his tired body ached from the strain of sleepless nights. The pain was a familiar, dull throb in his bones, but tonight it seemed sharper, more insistent, gnawing at his every nerve. He hadn’t slept well in what felt like ages, and this uproar wasn’t doing him any favors.

He pulled his starry cloak tighter around his torso, the soft fabric brushing against his skin. Even though it covered him comfortably, it did nothing to shield him from the noise rattling through his head. His light blue hair fell messily around his face, disheveled from tossing and turning, and his sleepy eyes glistened faintly.

—☾♱— “I… I just wanna sleep…” he murmured, his voice a mere whisper that trembled in the shadow of his exhaustion. His extra arms shifted beneath the cloak, pulling it closer as if it could somehow protect him from the chaos outside his own head.

Astro’s head throbbed, and he squeezed his eyes shut, as if shutting out the light might also drown out the noise. His body ached with fatigue, each joint stiff and sore from being pushed too far for too long. His vitiligo patterns around his right eye and across his body seemed to glow faintly in the dim room, catching bits of starlight that seeped through the window.

—☾♱— “It… it hurts so bad…” he whimpered, his words catching on a quiet sob as he buried his face into his hands, hiding from the harsh reality of his surroundings. The pain wasn’t just physical—it was the crushing weight of his exhaustion, the heavy blanket of sleepless nights and constant, unrelenting fatigue that settled deep into his bones.