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Festivities in Luofu followed a dual-cyclical calendar which meant customary celebrations were often held twice in a star-year.
It was also a time when Dan Feng could spend his evenings outside of Scalegorge, with a certain someone.
When the Moon in the delves was the highest, the Xianzhou celebrated twelve days of harvest. The Exalting Sanctum was transformed into a riot of colors, and at every corner, red and orange lanterns swayed, and people drank pot after pot of wine and indulged in rich foods.
An elegant Vidyadhara walked through the crowds, a tall man with distinguished features by his side; both of them recognizable in instant, but forgotten as the revelers continued with their merrymaking.
Outworlders came to Luofu during festive seasons to ply their wares and every wide street in the Exalting Sanctum was filled with such. And at such a stall did Dan Feng pause suddenly, his attention taken by a flower hair-pin on display.
The tiny Foxian trader stared at him with all golden-eyes agog, and she displayed her IPC name-tag promptly. She side-glanced the handsome older man behind the Vidyadhara and concluded they must be a couple, and started on a sales-spiel.
It was a simple, silver pin with two sprouting lotus buds, and a single leaf. Used to pin long hair back, or insert into a plait to hold it in place. Dan Feng touched the lotus petals slowly, and withdrew his hand. His face remained an impassive mask, yet his gaze softened.
"Do you not want it?"
His companion reached out, taking the pin from its display, and holding it against Dan Feng's hair.
"The color does not suit me," The Vidyadhara turned without further commentary and walked away into the crowds.
"This is a pin of rarest abex, Sir! You cannot get another one in all of Xianzhou," The Foxian was not ready to let go of her prey yet. She eyed the tall man sharply. He merely shrugged apologetically and placed the hairpin back.
"You know, Vidyadhara," The craftsman chuckled, "They are all picky." However, he touched his pocket and withdrew a jade abacus, tapping into his bank account. The Foxian smirked, holding out the abacus reader to him.
A few beeps later, she held out a box, wrapped in gold, to him, thanking him for the business. He thanked her though, and gave her a tip for her troubles before vanishing into the crowd.
Dan Feng was waiting by the bridge with two berrypheasant skewers in his hands, when Yingxing finally turned up, a little sweaty from attempting to break out of the crowds in the streets. Sharp eyes spied the golden box in the craftsman's hands, and the Vidyadhara sighed.
Yingxing laughed - a baritone pleasant and low. He's been found out. But not that he minded. The box was unlocked, and he took the hairpin out.
"Come here, I'll put it in your hair."
"In this place?" Dan Feng's lips pursed up at the crowds.
There was a light sheen on his lips from the honey glaze on the berrypheasant fruit.
"Why not," Yingxing slipped his hand around Dan Feng's waist, pulling the Vidyadhara close. "Are you worried about my hairstyling skills?"
Dan Feng closed his eyes in exasperation, reminding himself that he's the older person here, and he must maintain his composure even as his heart started to race just a little faster. He heard a rustle, felt familiar fingers touch his cheek, trailing up to his forehead.
The silver hairpin slid cold against his temple, nestling between the waves of dark-graphite; Yingxing's callused fingers brushing tendrils of hair from Dan Feng's cheek as the lotus pin was settled into the Vidyadhara's hair.
They both held their breath for a moment; and Dan Feng stared up, emerald eyes aglow, his lips slightly parted. And therein the crowds, their visages forgotten for one moment, the Vidyadhara leaned up, and kissed the craftsman on his lips.
How sweet. Dan Feng thought. And it was not the sugar glazed on his tongue, not the hair-pin gleaming in his hair but the way he was pulled close again, wrapped in strong, warm arms, and kissed by equally sweet honey-touched lips.