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"I did not expect," Caelus pants dramatically, "to do so much running today." He just barely managed to stop himself from skidding into a box of crates and, knowing his terrible luck, falling into outer space from the LuoFu. He would not like to explain himself to Himeko.
And also not dying sounds nice, that too.
He is truly thankful for whatever athletic muscle memory he still retains despite his amnesia. Considering the dangers the Astral Express somehow attracts, March's tendency to be oblivious to her surroundings, his own tendency to be, as Dan Heng so eloquently puts it, 'a reckless empty-headed raccoon who wouldn't know what danger was if it gave him a concussion,' it is, quite frankly, surprising how there has only been near death experiences and not fatal injuries.
Okay, maybe his luck wasn't so bad after all.
But considering they were being chased by half a dozen Cloud knights, he'd put his luck around a solid 5. Lucky enough to not die, thankfully, unlucky enough to attract the ire of very much armed and trained soldiers.
He'd really like a refund in the luck department. Maybe he could ask for Fu Xuan's divination, he considers, dodging the swing of a mara-struck enemy's attack (why was everything after them today?!) and also her help in placating the guards.
Now that Caelus thinks about it, maybe the latter should be a priority.
"Perhaps you should've considered that," comes his running companion, somehow elegantly leaping over the fence, Caelus looks at Dan Heng in envy and maybe a little bit of awe-struck, "when you enraged the captain of the guards?"
Wow, thank you for the sarcasm Dan Heng, Caelus could really feel the supportive aura in the air right now.
"He was being a bitch." Was the only reasoning Caelus could make, Dan Heng's sigh of exasperation could be heard from a mile away, or he's also slightly winded since they've been running for a while now but seeing as he still looks as immaculate as if he had just descended from the astral plane, he'd bet all the bags of trash he currently has that it was the former.
It was seriously unfair how Dan Heng barely looked a hair out of place save for the slightly faster than average breathing and the red staining his cheeks (he promptly erases any thoughts on what other activities would evoke the same reaction, really not the time), while Caelus looked like a rag thrown into a boiler then tossed into a pile of dirt.
"Have you considered," here returns sarcastic Dan Heng, his favorite comedian, if only it wasn't aimed at him, "that you could have worded it better than- " he clears his throat to be extra dramatic, great, his influence has come back to bite him in the ass, "I've met raccoons with better personalities than yours?" Dan Heng says in a mocking voice. Not his best moment, he'd admit, he could feel Mr. Yang's lecture coming a mile away.
Caelus merely pokes his tongue out in word of an answer, real mature, he knows.
Dan Heng grabs his wrist and drags Caelus into another turn of the (endless) maze. He was really thankful that A. the designer of Cloudford was a true connoisseur of mazes; those twists and turns really helped in evading the guards and B. he had a local, albeit exiled, XianZhou native with him to lead the way, he was sure as hell he wouldn't be able to escape if it he was by himself, seriously what was with all these turns?!
He only prayed March was safe, Mr. Yang could get them out of trouble. Probably.
On second thought, maybe they shouldn't have split up.
"Do you have any ideas on how to shake them off?" Dan Heng asks in mild irritation, these guards were very persistent, or angry, yeah, Caelus would bet they were pretty mad. He's still not sorry though.
He trails his eyes around, trying to somehow manifest a portal, or wormhole, or black hole into existence, he's not really picky at this point.
An idea comes to him when he spots the familiar jetty he was dumped with to operate freight starskiffs due to lack of staff. He should really bring that issue up to someone.
Right after he solves this one, yeah, he should probably do that.
"This way!" Caelus whisper-shouts, grasping Dan Heng's wrist, he never realized how small it was until he realized he could wrap his whole palm around it, leading him towards the jetty.
He sees the confusion swirling in Dan Heng's eyes because the jetty leads to a well and truly dead end, unless one wishes to experience zero gravity and lack of oxygen, questions half formed in his mouth but opting to keep them for later. Wow, Caelus could honestly learn a thing or two.
He stops in front of his favorite navigation compass, the deliverer of chests and now their ticket to dupe the guards. Praying to Akivili (Or maybe he should pray to Lan here) that it wouldn't be too hard to operate the compass, he gets the rusted gears in his brain to work and starts trying to save the compass, all the while, Dan Heng stares at him from the side, still not speaking a word but silently calculating the exact amount of sanity left in Caelus's brain.
Rude, valid, but rude.
"There we go!" He exclaims victoriously, a new record! Being chased by half a dozen guards really does wonders for his problem solving skills. He can tell by Dan Heng's unimpressed look that he begs to differ.
A freight starskiff pulls up to the jetty, slightly beaten up but it'll do. Caelus impatiently pry opens the starskiff, not caring to check for naked teachers, star-crossed lovers or mara-struck mobs and, to his surprise, this freight starskiff was filled nearly to the brim with boxes. Did the Cycranes go on strike again?! He is so not helping out this time.
Caelus pushes the boxes around with haste to make room, pointedly ignoring all the fragile, flammable, toxic signs and one that is noticeably slapped with a sticker that says explosives, XianZhou immortals were wild, researchers at the Herta Space Station could learn to loosen up.
There was barely enough room for a person, let alone two, but they were in a rather tight spot and time was running out. He signals for Dan Heng to take off his coat to save space, leaving him in a (very tight) shirt with exposed, pale skin running down his arms, he feels an inexplicable urge bite them, leave his marks on them, knowing that even if Dan Heng were to put on his coat, it wouldn't erase his claim on that supper flesh.
He snapped himself out of it when Dan Heng's look of confusion at his idleness turned into worry and hastily started doing the same with his jacket and tossing them both somewhere behind one of the crates.
Caelus beckoned Dan Heng over to the container, laying a hand on his abdomen, ignoring how his spread out palm could nearly span his waist, to push him in as he himself tried to squeeze in along with him. The small space was barely enough for Dan Heng's lithe form to squeeze in, his hands were awkwardly held in front of his chest, unsure of where to place them. Caelus was pretty sure he had crushed a few things trying to squeeze his torso in, he was also pretty sure there was a bruise forming at his side from an accidental flinch at Dan Heng's hand laying on his chest.
The worst part was : there still wasn't enough room to close the container.
Caelus gave Dan Heng a small apology before moving closer, somehow reaching behind him to press the close button without breaking any bones. The doors shut with a slight thud, purging sunlight from the space and leaving them in darkness save for the few rays of light from small dents. His hands were starting to cramp up from where they were crushed in between their abdomens, his back uncomfortably pressed against the door, and Dan Heng's hands, long, thin fingers, were squished between their chests.
A joke would be really cool right now, Caelus tells his (useless) brain to think of something, praying to Aha for an idea and to his dismay, (imaginary) Aha merely laughs at their compromising situation. Caelus promptly gives (imaginary) Aha the middle finger.
Oh great, now he’s crying.
Caelus turned to Dan Heng, intending to discuss a backup plan in the case that plan A does not work which about 90% of the time, only to be surprised by how close Dan Heng was, their faces were inches away, noses already touching with their hair tangling together like bushes with vines. He could see Dan Heng’s eyes widen slightly, surprised by their closeness, the singular, kohl-lined eye drawing in his attention to the jades within;, a beautiful pink bloomed on his cheeks, tinting pale cheeks with a enchanting burst of color; soft, pink lips widen slightly in a gasp, enticing him to cover them with his own, to savor just how sweet the pink of them taste, to feel just how appetizing the softness of them feel, to give in to the alluring temptation of ravishing Dan Heng until his knees were too weak to stand, relying only on Caelus to hold him upright.
Caelus is pretty sure he looks like an idiot right now but he could care less at the moment. Dan Heng tries to turn away only to find he could barely move, partially from the tight space, partially from the hungry gaze tracing his features, there was something inscrutable in Caelus’s eyes, something hungry and ravenous, like a parched man in the desert looking at the first taste of water he’s had in a long time.
Dan Heng coughs awkwardly to clear the air while Caelus looked as if he was the cat that got the cream.
"This isn't working," Dan Heng whispers, though it echoed within the confined space as if it was coming from all sides, assaulting Caelus's senses with his soothing voice, “come closer.”He was about to give a snarky remark on where he would find space to come closer when a pair of pale arms wrapped themselves around his neck, dragging him closer like a lover inviting him to bed.
The owner of those seductive pair of limbs gently pushed Caelus to lay on his shoulder, lips nearly touching his clothes neck, there was a voice in his head, that sounded suspiciously like the ones persuading him to dumpster dive in Jarilo-IV, screaming at him to pull down those zippers, to expose the ivory neck surely hidden behind those confines, and he would’ve listened to them, those voices have never wronged him before and now was not the time to break the cycle, had his hands had space to move, alas they could only twitch in indignity as they witness the chance of a lifetime slipping between their (numb) fingers.
"Put your hands on my waist, you're gonna get cramps like that." A blessing from the Aeons, a compromise his hands were willing to make as they eagerly wiggled their way towards their desired goal, calloused fingers greedily found their way to the craved prey, possessively clamping down on the thin waist in a vice grip and, with only the thin clothing between their skin, he was sure it would leave purple bruises in the shape of his hands.
Caelus heedily swallowed the saliva accumulating in his mouth, the milky skin hidden under the thin confines of his collar urging Caelus to take, to bite, to mark; the tantalizing collar bone teasingly calling out for his claim to be laid; the dip of his thin waist, taunting him of the curve they would make, how perfect Dan Heng would look under him writhing in pain and pleasure, spine curving into a perfect arc as he calls for mercy Caelus will not give, no, he will take him apart, wall by wall, until he was but a mess of whimpers and tears, unable to do anything but lay there as Caelus takes and takes and takes -
“Your bat is poking me.” An audible sigh of disappointment.” Did you not put it away?” Caelus had to take a second to restart his brain because he knew he put his bat away, somewhere in the pile labeled fragile most likely. He’d like to make it known that he was not a benevolent person so any broken packages were going to be attributed to Cycranes and their existential crises.
And thus did he realize that he did not, in fact, have another bat, but did, in fact, have a boner.
Caelus was someone with the bare minimum amount of shame, and even that was generous, but he did recognise hiding from Cloudknights in a beaten up container was not an appropriate time to pop a boner. He was about to splutter some response that was, hopefully, reasonable enough for Dan Heng to overlook it when he heard the horrible cries of a dying mara-struck mob.
“They’re coming” comes a soft voice by his ear, steady in the face of wind, unwavering in a tornado of hardships, he could be lulled into tranquility even within the claws of danger. Dan Heng keeps Caelus’s head laid down with a gentle hand on the back of his neck, telling him to stay still as Dan Heng tries to pick up the guards conversation with his superior hearing, not that Caelus is complaining, of course, he’s pretty sure he got the better part of bargain, but Dan Heng was slowly tensing up as seconds ticked by.
Caelus rubbed his thumb in a soothing circle on the dip of Dan Heng’s waist, silently asking him what was wrong.
Dan Heng looked at him with a hard look in his eyes, “The captain is making everyone search the crates as well as starskiffs,” he pursed his lips in thought, “I’d rather not engage in a fight given that we are, technically, the ones at fault but…” Dan Heng trailed off.
Alas he is right, Caelus was the one who pissed off the bitch of a guard, if they were to beat them up as well, no doubt the two of them would be victorious of course, the fault would lie with Caelus and his big mouth.
Okay, maybe a little bit of regret was starting to creep up on him, damn it. He'd really not like to fight any Cloudknights, they were bona fide immortals, hell, with his luck there’d probably be a few Foxians between them, even one or two Vidyadharas weren’t impossible, honestly.
Wait a minute… he had one right here… and it wasn’t surprising to find people in freight starskiff so long as they were…
That’s it!
He shot up, nearly knocking into Dan Heng’s jaw as Caelus looked at him with what March likes to call ‘crazy plan’ eyes.
“Dan Heng!” Dan Heng shushed his loud exclamation that, thankfully, went unheard by the Cloudknights outside. Man, Jing Yuan really needs to upgrade their training regime if this is the standard. “Quick! Turn into a dragon!” Caelus is pretty sure they really don’t have time for incredulous looks. “Trust me, I got us into this and I’ll get us out.” Time to employ the selling point of the plan, mustering his inner Peppy, he gave Dan Heng the best kicked puppy look he could, he’d (proudly) say he has the best one out of everyone in Herta Space Station, except for Peppy himself, of course.
Dan Heng held his gaze just a little longer until the clang of Cloudknight armor started to become audible, then he sighed and looked to the roof in lieu of a sky as if praying for patience before nodding in acquiescence.
Caelus watched aptly, enamored as small swirls of golden and jade lights started circling Dan Heng like moths flocking towards a beautiful flame, his soft, silky hair stretched and lengthen like a cascading waterfall down his back, the tendrils of lights gliding down the strands like fireworks lighting up the night sky, his alluring eyes gaining a bewitching verdant tint as they sharpened, like high immortal blessing those beneath them with their presence, azure horns grew like beautiful corals, giving his face an ethereal blue hue, it was like Caelus was staring into the sky itself as clouds parted for his descent.
The constricting thin clothing lining his form was replaced by soft silk exposing small silvers of creamy skin that would entice even the most repressed to dig in and take a bite. The swirls traveled up the arms circling Caelus’s neck, beguiling him with their dance on the ivory skin, like garnishes on an exclusive meal, applied artfully to captivate, to ensnare, to hypnotize. Thankfully, they were alone, Caelus didn’t like to share what he considers his very much.
Once the swirls softly faded away into wisps of light, Dan Heng looks at Caelus expectantly, unaware of the plan but trusting Caelus to get them of out trouble (relatively) unscathed.
As the steady thumps of Cloudknight boots (Jing Yuan should consider new regalia for knights pursuing criminals, this was ridiculous) steady approached, Caelus released Dan Heng’s waist of his restraining claws, already missing their weight and, instead, wrapped his arms around his entire waist, dragging him bodily into his arms as if trying to meld both of them into one.
Surprised, Dan Heng tightened his hold around Caelus’s neck, nearly knocking him with his horns, his feet slightly off the ground from Caelus’s hold.
“Don’t panic.” Caelus told Dan Heng before diving towards his lips, as soft as he imagined, as sweet as he thought, Dan Heng parted his lips in surprise, giving Caelus access to explore his mouth with a punishing pace, staking his claim so vehemently that only a fool would not know it wasn’t his . The soft moans and whimpers from Dan Heng were music to his ears, fuelling the lit flame in his gut more ardently than ever, he was relentless in his attack, making sure Dan Heng had no room for breath, for thought, for attempting to get away, making sure all he could focus on was how Caelus was gliding wandering hands across any sliver of skin he could get to, softening his body into jelly, molding it into whatever Caelus wished it to be.
He let up briefly, reluctantly, to answer the call that has been seducing him since the start as Dan Heng gasps for breaths unable to lift his head from where it lies on his shoulder, knees weak and limp, held up entirely by the hold on his waist. He tossed Dan Heng’s long, smooth hair over his own shoulder, giving him access to (finally!) stake claimed on the pale skin hidden under the zippers, he drags his tongue across Dan Heng’s throat, his heart beating to the pulse of a rabbit as he bites and bites hard , satisfaction curling in his gut at the whimper that ensues. He makes sure to cover the entirety of that enticing throat with teeth marks, bruises and hickeys, a few slightly above where the collar of the shirt would be, making sure that everyone knows Dan Heng is his no matter what. All the while Dan Heng trembles in pleasure in his arms, unable to move away from the continuous assault, unable to do anything but lie there and take it , entirely vulnerable only for Caelus’s eyes only.
Although, judging by the telltale creak of the opening of the container and the ever expanding bouts of sunlight, they were no longer alone. Unfortunate, he hadn’t gotten the chance to savor Dan Heng’s expressions yet. He supposes he could continue after he deals with these pests .
Caelus lays a gentle hand on Dan Heng’s head, making sure he doesn’t show his face, partially because they’d recognise him in an instant, and mostly because they don’t deserve to lay their eyes on him, he lets his left hand glide through his hair methodically in a soothing motion as Dan Heng pants for air to fill his lungs.
Caelus, pointedly, does not move his head to face the guards even after hearing their gasps of embarrassment, he merely cooly asks them, “Do you mind? You have embarrassed my wife.” He shifts his body so Dan Heng’s form is hardly visible, save for the few tufts of cascading hair down Caelus’s back and his arms around his neck.
“W-We, ahem, we’ve pursued some, ah, criminals around this area and we believe they may still be close by. Have you, uh, heard anything in particular, sir?” The Cloudknight asks, points for being able to do his job despite the humiliation, maybe there was hope for the Cloudknights after all.
Caelus makes a point to sigh in irritation, his right hand tightening his hold on Dan Heng’s waist, the embrace on his neck tightens back as if scolding him to be more patient.
“Does it look like we’ve heard anything?” He replied vexedly, honestly, he should’ve just risked the bad relations they were going to create with the LuoFu if this was the alternative.
“A-Ah no, of course not, just, uh…” Scratch that the Cloudknights were as hopeless as they come, “why were you two hiding in the freight starskiff?” There was a suspicious tone to his voice as he asked, he could feel Dan Heng tense in preparation for a fight but lucky for them, Caelus has a plan.
“Can you not tell what my wife is?!” Caelus yells, outrageous at the knight, because seriously, why were they so nosey? “She hails from Vidyadhara, even if I were to live for the rest of eternity, we would eventually drift apart, as a XianZhou local you should know that cross-species love, let alone marriage is looked down upon.” He reprimands the guard, not actually knowing whether any of them were true but if Dan Heng wasn’t getting ready to attack then he won’t too.
The Cloudknight bows in apology if the loud clanking was anything to go by (seriously Jing Yuan, fix your knight regalia), “I humbly offer my sincerest apologies for my ignorance, I wish you two the best of luck in the face of prejudice.” Finally, he feels like explaining a Stellaron to a kid would’ve been faster.
Caelus gently coaxes Dan Heng off his shoulder to, at last, get a look at his work, and he’d say he did a spectacular job. There were visible tear tracks streaked with kohl down his eyes, tears still clinging to his eyelashes, making his teary eyes seem like pearls, his cheeks and nose were red, a blossom of color so beautiful on his skin he wouldn’t mind keeping it there a little longer, his lips were red and plump from his assault, alluring him to dive in once again and continue what he started.
Well, he wouldn’t say no to that.
“Ah, please don’t stay in starskiffs for too-”
He turned towards the guard, face twisted in insurmountable fury, watching as the guard flailed in panic before dashing away faster than even a starskiff.
The fury was completely wiped off his face though, when he heard a laugh that sounded like the twinkling of chimes being blown gently in the wind, the melodic sound calming even the wildest of beasts. Caelus could only stare, infatuated, as Dan Heng laughed in that soothing baritone of his, kohl-streaked tear tracks and glowing horns surrounded by a curtain of dark hair framing him so stunningly like the portraits he saw in Asta’s office, only more, more irresistible and alive than they could ever be as he gets to experience it first hand.
Dan Heng calms down to a chuckle, “I’ve only seen people run like that when they see March in the kitchen.”
Caelus closes his gaping mouth before a stray fly decides to build a home there.
“Come on,” Dan Heng gestures for Caelus to put him down with a pat on his arms, “we have to meet up with the others.”
Is Dan Heng serious right now? “I’ll send a message.” He deadpans.
Dan Heng grimaces, “Don’t be lazy.”
“Dan Heng,” Caelus begins, with all the, very small amount of, patience he has right now, “I am not letting anyone see you when you look like that.” He gestures vaguely at Dan Heng entire existence, ruffled clothing, mussed hair, tear-streaked cheeks, bruised lip, mark littered neck and all. “They’ll think I mauled you”
Dan Heng has the audacity to snort, “You did,” and he could see the smug tilt of his smile when he gestures towards the bruises adorning his neck above his collar, damn if that didn't get the heat to stir in his gut, “you’re explaining this to March, by the way.”
Caelus groans in despair, but if it meant gaining Dan Heng as a boyfriend it’d be worth March’s scandalized look.
"Can we at least continue where we left off?" Caelus pleads, bringing back the puppy dog eyes, but it seems Dan Heng has gained immunity already, "You really want to leave Mr. Yang alone with March for longer?" The implications of that sentence was so horrifying he nearly forgot his (actual) bat in his haste on finding her whereabouts