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The humming of machines buzzed through the air as Blade scrolled through the entries in the archive, invested in the anecdotes and notes written in there, while said person who made these very entries was clinging to him like a leech.
Leech was more of an offensive term but Dan Heng had been asleep, curled up on his side. An arm tightly hugging his waist, head on his shoulder. Even his tail had manifested, wrapped tightly around his poor leg.
He’d come to stay on the express for a while, and Dan Heng had taken a liking to spending time with him.
Who knew the roles would reverse to the point that the one being chased would be the stickier one? But Blade would accept him being sticky if it meant he could stay close to him. It wasn’t exactly like old times and he didn’t want it to be.
He sat there in silence, looking through the entries until he felt stirring on his side and the arm wrapped around his waist beginning to move, yet not letting go. Seems that his dear dragon had begun to wake up. Surely, Dan Heng raised his head, moving it just so that he could look Blade in the eyes. Teal meeting reddish gold.
Dan Heng began to mumble in a sleep full haze, head clearly fuzzy.
“Ying-er, what time is it?”
“It’s 15:08, you’ve been asleep for roughly two hours.” Blade says as Dan Heng rubs his eyes. “I’ve been reading through the archives, you did a great job.” Blade muttered while pressing a kiss on Dan Heng’s head.
“Thank you.”
Dan Heng said while leaning into the kiss. He leaned up to sneak a quick peck on the lips.
“Dan Heng.”
“Hmm?”
“Now that you’re awake, you can let go now.” Blade said, gesturing to the shorter man’s limbs still around him. He looked incredibly affronted at that request.
“Let me think… no.” He said in a tone that made it seem like Blade had asked him to do the unthinkable instead of just letting him go.
Blade let out a resigned sigh, ultimately giving up on this stubborn man letting him go for the next few hours, and went back to reading.
꧂꧂꧂꧂꧂꧂
Blade had chosen to go out for a while the express stopped at Belobog and Dan Heng oh so insisted on accompanying him.
(He heard Stelle and March 7th talk about Dan Heng being ‘clingy‘ while Dan Heng was getting him ready to leave.)
Now he walked the streets while Dan Heng held his hand. Introducing him to people around the area.
So far he‘s met the supreme guardian and her purple haired companion, a girl in red accompanied by a robot, a blue haired man Dan Heng quickly dragged him away from, a yellow haired child, and a shop owner. Dan Heng looked excited to introduce him to his friends, people he‘s met along the journey.
He hadn‘t gone over ten feet away from Blade the entire time they‘d been there.
They now sat at a cafe, waiting for their order of hot chocolate. There had been a strange predicament. Even though Dan Heng had remained close the whole visit, he‘d gotten sulky when a few passerbys stared at Blade. It was hard to tell but he was gloomy.
Dan Heng looked at him, and his bandaged chest, and the gloom intensified.
“Are you…not a little cold in that? Even with the heaters?“ He asked, with mirth in his tone.
“No, why though?“ Blade laughed just a tiny bit and asked, though had a hunch about what it was.
“No reason…“ Dan Heng mumbled quietly, attempting to seem nonchalant, but Blade could practically see his tail (not visible) drooping.
A smirk creeped it‘s way onto Blade‘s face, seeing his dear dragon pout.
“A-Heng, are you jealous?“
Dan Heng remained silent but stared at the concrete floor under their table. The silence told Blade all he needed to know. He reached and held one of Dan Heng‘s hands. Dan Heng lightly flushed at that, but didn‘t dare pull away.
“Why worry? You think any of them will ever manage to replicate a smidgen of how you affect me?“
Blade told him, reminding the other man his importance in Blade‘s life. Dan Heng‘s blush only deepened at that. So jealous yet easy to fluster.
“I know, but they stare like vultures…“
“And you don‘t?“
“That‘s different! Please button up your jacket.“
“I can‘t though.“
Dan Heng opened his mouth to refute his claim, but was interrupted by their waiter dropping off the drinks. Two mugs of hot chocolate topped with marshmallows and candy canes. Blade let go off Dan Heng‘s hand to sip at his drink. Dan Heng did the same.
They had their fill and Dan Heng grabbed his hand to take him to a bookstore.
“I saw you eyeing it earlier, we could look around, I‘ll pay too if you want anything.“ He said sheepishly. Blade looked down at him and couldn‘t help but smile and ruffle his hair. Dan Heng again blushed but he looked happy too.
Blade bought a few books about the history of Belobog and machinery, and Dan Heng paid happily. They returned to the Astral Express with a few books in hand andDan Heng much happier.
“Awww, they‘re back from their date.“ Stelle cooed, seemingly materializing from nowhere.
“It was great, Blade had fun.“ Dan Heng replied, watching him go to the archives to set the books there.
“Clingy bastard.“ She said, smacking him in the arm.
“I‘m not!“
“I thought he‘d be the clingy one, who would‘ve thought it was you.“
Stelle laughed at his denial and at her own comment, then sped away, off to fulfill some task the conductor gave her. Dan Heng had to admit to himself that he was acting clingy, but no one had to know that he was self aware about it.
꧂꧂꧂꧂꧂꧂
Dan Heng woke up on his futon, alone. Not like how he fell asleep.
(“You sleep here?“)
Even if Blade complained, he chose to stay and sleep in his room while visiting the Express, but tonight Dan Heng woke up at 1 in the morning, all alone.
He got up and went to look for Blade, and found him sitting in the parlor car, staring out the window. He noticed Dan Heng immediately.
“You‘re awake?“ Blade’s reddish gold eyes landed on him.
“Yingxing, you left and I’m cold.” Dan Heng complained, in a tone no one would ever hear him repeat.
“The express is heated.” Blade pointed out.
“Well I’m cold blooded and you’re naturally very warm.” Dan Heng rebuked, moving to hug him. He rested his face on Blades bare but bandaged chest, tail again manifesting to curl around his legs.
Blade rested a hand on the small of Dan Heng’s back and the couple fell into a comfortable silence, with the universe as their only witness.
“Why’d you leave anyways?” Dan Heng asked after a while, breaking the silence.
“It’s a secret, you’ll find out eventually.” Blade teased, leaning down to give him a quick kiss. Dan Heng nodded and closed his eyes while still resting on Blade's chest.
꧂꧂꧂꧂꧂꧂
Dan Heng eventually found out what the surprise was when Blade presented him a polished wooden box one random afternoon.
“A-Heng, open it, it’s the surprise I was talking about a few days earlier.” Blade said, encouraging him to check and find out the contents of the box.
Dan Heng opened the box and gasped at the things inside. There were two rings, one silver shaped like a dragon with an azure gem embedded in it, the other was a colour ring similar to the colour of Blade’s eyes.
“The silver one is for me and the red one is for you.” Blade happily told him. Dan Heng responded to that by picking up the ring and sliding it on Blade's finger. Blade returned the favour.
“We should renew our vows.” Dan Heng replied, looking determined.
“That’s what I was intending to do with these.” Blade said before being pulled into a kiss by Dan Heng, as sweet as it could be. Dan Heng swiped at his lips with his tongue before he pulled away and made a decision.
“Good, I’ll have it arranged.”