Warm Light, Slow Night

The rain started at 17:27, tapping on the thick tempered glass of the spaceship porthole in thin, even beats. It was not the sharp, violent rain that lashed through the storm zones of the outer nebula, but the soft, misty kind that drifted from the blue atmosphere of the small resting planet below, wrapping the entire silver hull in a quiet, humid warmth that no one could rush through. The navigation system had automatically locked the temporary parking orbit three minutes earlier, the red "task pending" light on the console had been manually dimmed to a faint, soft glow, and all the unread work notifications had been set to silent mode an hour ago. No one would send an urgent communication, no one would knock on the cabin door to urge them to report the mission progress, and the distant interstellar communication channel was quietly closed, leaving only the faint hum of the life support system, blending perfectly with the rain sound outside the window.2

An Mixiu was sitting on the soft wool carpet by the porthole, the hem of his white uniform was casually draped over the edge of the carpet, half covering a half-finished jigsaw puzzle scattered on the floor. The puzzle was a scene of the coastal sunset that he had mentioned casually three weeks ago, the pieces were dyed with layers of soft orange and light pink, and the edges of each piece were polished smooth, without any sharp corners that would scratch his fingertips. He had been staring at a small puzzle piece for nearly seven minutes, his fingertips hovering in the air, not landing for a long time. The lines between his eyebrows were faintly tensed, the faint tiredness under his eyes could not be completely covered by the faint warm light of the cabin, and the fingers holding the puzzle piece were unconsciously exerting a little force, the knuckles showing a faint pale color.

He had been like this for three whole days. The previous three consecutive mission transitions had compressed all his rest time into fragmented ten-minute breaks, the unprocessed knight files were piled up in the terminal to nearly a hundred pages, the unread messages from the alliance were still quietly lying in the inbox waiting for a reply, and even the few hours of sleep he squeezed out every day were mixed with messy, tense fragments of the arena. He had not let himself slow down for a long time, every minute and every second was filled with things that had to be done, the string in his head was stretched so tight that it seemed that a little more force would make it snap, but he still habitually held on, habitually straightened his back, and habitually told himself that he could finish all these things soon.

Ray Lion walked over from the small kitchen at the end of the cabin, the soft sound of his leather boots stepping on the carpet was so light that it hardly made any noise. He was holding two ceramic mugs in his hand, the outer wall of the mugs was warm, and the rich, mellow aroma of hot cocoa slowly drifted out from the cup mouth, mixing with a faint sweet smell of caramel. He did not speak loudly, did not say those useless words like "you are too tired" or "you need to rest", just sat down slowly beside An Mixiu, put one of the mugs gently on the empty space on the carpet within his reach, the bottom of the cup lightly touching the soft fluff, making almost no sound.

"Slow down, no rush." The low voice fell softly in the quiet cabin, not with the usual unruly tone, but with a steady, slow rhythm, like the rain tapping on the porthole outside. "The puzzle doesn't have to be finished tonight. No one is counting the time for you."

An Mixiu's fingertips trembled slightly, the puzzle piece that he had held for a long time almost slipped from his fingers. He turned his head to look at Ray Lion, the faint light from the porthole reflected in his green eyes, the original tense light slowly softening a little. He opened his mouth, wanting to say that there were still many files waiting to be processed, wanting to say that the task report had not been written yet, but before the words came out, Ray Lion had already stretched out his fingers, gently pressing on the space between his tensed eyebrows, the temperature of his fingertips was warm, the force was light, slowly rubbing away the tight lines there little by little.

"Don't frown, it will hurt the muscles between your brows." Ray Lion's thumb brushed lightly over the end of his slightly sore eye, the movement was careful, as if he was touching a fragile cloud that would drift away if he exerted a little more force. "I have already set all the messages to silent mode. The alliance's notifications will not come in until tomorrow morning. No one will rush you."

An Mixiu let out a slow breath that he had not known he had been holding, the tight shoulders that had been tensed for three days slowly drooping down a little, the hard, straight line of his back also relaxing. He reached out and picked up the hot cocoa mug at hand, the warm temperature spread from the palm of his hand to his arm, and then slowly spread to his chest, dispelling the faint coldness that had accumulated there for several days. He took a small sip, the mellow cocoa liquid wrapped in a faint caramel sweetness, not too sweet, not greasy, just the right temperature, sliding down his throat, soothing the dry, tense feeling that had been there for a long time.

On the small low table next to the carpet, there were several desserts that Ray Lion had just made an hour ago. The small vanilla panna cotta was placed in a transparent glass cup, the surface was dotted with a few fresh blueberries, and the faint vanilla fragrance slowly drifted out. Next to it was a plate of small butter cookies, the edges were baked to a light golden color, and a little fine sugar was sprinkled on the surface. There was also a small jar of orange candy that An Mixiu liked, the transparent candy wrapper reflected the soft light, and the orange fragrance could be smelled through the thin candy paper.

"I didn't make them too sweet." Ray Lion picked up a small butter cookie and handed it to him, the crumbs on the surface were soft, not hard and crumbly. "I know you don't like too greasy things. The panna cotta has been chilled for half an hour, the taste is just right now, not too cold to hurt your throat."

An Mixiu took the cookie and took a small bite. The rich butter aroma spread in his mouth, the sweetness was light, and the faint salty taste neutralized the greasiness perfectly. He had not tasted such a slow, soft taste for a long time. In the past few days, he had been eating compressed nutrient paste in a hurry between tasks, and he had not even had time to sit down and finish a complete meal slowly, let alone taste such a carefully made small dessert.

The rain outside the porthole did not stop, the thin water traces slid down the smooth glass, drawing soft, curved lines, blurring the distant stars and the outline of the planet below into a soft, hazy mass. The hum of the life support system in the cabin was steady and gentle, the light above their heads was adjusted to a warm, soft brightness that would not tire the eyes, and the jigsaw puzzle pieces scattered on the carpet were bathed in this light, looking even more warm.

Ray Lion picked up an orange candy, peeled off the transparent candy wrapper, and the bright orange candy lay in his palm. He handed it to An Mixiu, the corners of his mouth raised a faint, unruly but soft arc. "You have been staring at that puzzle piece for seven minutes. You don't have to force yourself to piece it together if you can't find the right position. Put it down for a while, and you will find the matching one when you look at it later."

An Mixiu took the orange candy, put it in his mouth, the sweet orange taste slowly spread from the tip of his tongue, the hard candy body slowly melted, and the sweetness was not rushed, but wrapped around his taste buds little by little. He looked at the puzzle piece that was still held between his fingers, and finally put it down gently, placing it on the empty space on the carpet, not forcing himself to find the matching position anymore. He leaned back slightly, his back lightly touching the soft cushion behind him, and for the first time in three days, he did not think about the unprocessed files, the pending task reports, and the upcoming arena arrangement. All the things that had been pressing on his mind were temporarily isolated outside this small cabin, blocked by the soft rain sound, and could not come in.

"Do you remember the time we stopped on that small planet with cherry blossoms last spring?" Ray Lion's voice sounded slowly, his fingers casually brushing over the edge of the jigsaw puzzle piece, the movement was casual, without any purpose. "We didn't have any tasks that day, we just sat on the grass for an entire afternoon, the cherry blossom petals fell all over our shoulders, and you ate three orange candies in a row, saying that the taste was exactly the same as the one you ate when you were a child."

An Mixiu nodded lightly, the memories that had been buried under a pile of work for a long time slowly emerged. That day there was no urgent communication, no one urging them to set off, the wind carried the faint fragrance of cherry blossoms, the grass under them was soft, and they sat there until the sunset dyed the entire sky pink, without doing any "meaningful" things, just wasting time slowly. At that time, he did not feel that he was wasting time, on the contrary, that afternoon was the most relaxing and comfortable time he had in the entire mission cycle.

"Those things that are not 'urgent' and not 'necessary' are not a waste of time." Ray Lion took a sip of his own hot cocoa, the warm liquid slid down his throat, his eyes fell on the rain traces on the porthole, the lines in his eyes were much softer than usual. "You don't have to fill every minute and every second with things that have to be done. You can slow down, you can sit in a daze, you can eat a candy slowly, you can even do nothing for an hour, no one will say you are not doing your job properly."

An Mixiu's eyelashes trembled slightly, the tiredness that had been suppressed for a long time slowly surfaced, but it was not the kind of tiredness that was wrapped in anxiety, but the kind of relaxation that the tight muscles finally released after holding on for too long. He blinked slowly, the sore feeling at the end of his eyes that had been there for several days was soothed by the soft light, and he no longer unconsciously squinted his eyes because of the pressure.

Ray Lion picked up the small vanilla panna cotta, the transparent glass cup was slightly cool in his hand, he handed it to An Mixiu, and inserted a small silver spoon into the smooth surface of the panna cotta. "Taste this. I adjusted the proportion of vanilla sauce three times, it won't be too strong, and the milk taste is just right."

An Mixiu scooped a small spoonful of panna cotta, the smooth, soft taste melted in his mouth, the faint vanilla fragrance wrapped in the cool milk taste, the sweetness was light, not greasy at all, sliding into his stomach, bringing a soft, comfortable feeling. He ate spoonful by spoonful, the movement was very slow, no one was urging him, no one was waiting for him to finish eating and get back to work, he could spend as much time as he wanted on this small cup of panna cotta.

The rain outside the window became a little heavier, but the sound was still soft, not noisy at all, hitting the porthole rhythmically, like a slow lullaby. The warm light in the cabin wrapped the two of them, the aroma of hot cocoa and vanilla dessert blended together, and the jigsaw puzzle pieces scattered on the carpet were bathed in the light, looking warm and peaceful. No one spoke for a while, but this silence was not awkward, it was full of a steady, reassuring sense of security, as if all the time here was stretched long enough, long enough for them to waste it slowly.

After finishing the last spoonful of panna cotta, An Mixiu put the empty glass cup on the carpet, he leaned his head lightly on Ray Lion's shoulder, the soft fabric of the uniform carried the faint familiar smell of Ray Lion, mixed with the aroma of hot cocoa. His breathing slowly became steady, the tightness in his chest that had been there for three days was completely gone, and all the pressure that had been pressing on his shoulders was slowly melting away with the sweetness of the dessert and the soft rain sound.

Ray Lion did not move, he just raised his hand gently, and stroked the back of his hair slowly, the movement was very light, for fear of breaking this quiet, soft moment. He did not say those useless comforting words, did not tell An Mixiu not to be tired, did not tell him to cheer up, just quietly accompanied him, letting him lean on his shoulder to rest, letting the time flow slowly at their own pace.

"Tomorrow morning, we don't have to get up early." Ray Lion's voice fell softly in his ear, the tone was slow, with a reassuring power. "We can get up when the sun of this planet shines through the porthole, make two cups of hot milk, bake two more small butter cookies, and then slowly piece together this jigsaw puzzle. The files can be processed after we have rested enough, and the task report can be written slowly. No one will rush us."

An Mixiu let out a soft "um", his voice was a little hoarse, but it was much more relaxed than before. He closed his eyes slightly, the tiredness that had been accumulated for several days wrapped him, but this time the tiredness was not mixed with anxiety and tension, it was full of solid, reassuring softness. He no longer thought about the things that had not been done, no longer worried that he was wasting time, just quietly leaned there, listening to the steady beating of Ray Lion's heartbeat, blending with the rain sound outside the window, forming the most gentle rhythm.

The light on the console was still dim, the unread messages were still quietly lying in the inbox, the half jigsaw puzzle was still scattered on the carpet, but none of these things were important at this moment. The stretched string in An Mixiu's head was slowly loosened, all the pressure that had been pressing on him was wrapped in the soft dessert aroma and the warm light, and turned into a wisp of soft smoke, drifting away with the rain outside the porthole.

He did not need to be a perfect knight all the time, he did not need to hold on tightly every second, he could slow down, he could rest, he could even be a little lazy, here, in this small spaceship cabin wrapped in soft rain, no one would ask him to be strong, no one would urge him to move forward, all the time belonged to him, to the slow, soft moments that belonged only to them.

The rain did not stop until late at night, the warm light in the cabin was still on, the two of them leaned on the soft carpet, the half jigsaw puzzle was quietly placed aside, the empty dessert plates were stacked on the small low table, and the remaining half cup of hot cocoa was still faintly warm. No one mentioned the work that was waiting to be processed, no one calculated the time for the next mission, all the tense, anxious things were isolated outside this small quiet space, leaving only the soft, slow peace, wrapping the two people, letting all the tiredness and pressure slowly dissipate in this gentle night.

When the first ray of golden sunlight of this small planet passed through the porthole and fell on the carpet the next morning, An Mixiu slowly opened his eyes, the soreness at the end of his eyes had completely disappeared, and the tight lines between his eyebrows had also been smoothed out. Ray Lion was making hot milk in the small kitchen, the faint sound of the collision of porcelain utensils came over, mixed with the rich milk aroma. The jigsaw puzzle pieces scattered on the carpet were dyed golden by the sunlight, and the orange candy jar on the low table reflected the bright light.

Everything was slow, everything was soft, all the pressure that had been pressing on him had completely dissipated last night, and the new day did not start with a rush of work, but started with a cup of warm hot milk, a piece of sweet butter cookie, and a whole morning that could be spent slowly piecing together the jigsaw puzzle. No one was in a hurry, no one was urging, they were walking at their own pace, enjoying every soft, unrushed moment that belonged to them.

You don't have to rush through every stage of life, you don't have to carry all the weight on your shoulders alone, and you don't have to force yourself to be strong all the time. There is always such a small space for you to slow down, to taste a slow melting candy, to finish a cup of warm drink slowly, to let all the tightness and pressure melt little by little in the soft moments, and then pick up your pace again, walking towards the direction you want to go, with a much lighter step.