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Dan Heng was never one to celebrate their second victory in a row, neither was Caelus. The latter was more of an ambivert than he is. However, today was just different… Caelus was yet again absent in their victory party with the Luofu, which he found fair since the Vidyadhara was a former exile from the supposed home that also imprisoned him when he was a child.
With a plate of matcha cake in his hands, he strides to Caelus’s room - the Archives, which was surprising that he has not moved rooms yet. He exhaled as he tried to calm his rapidly beating heart down. He held his chest - a funny attempt to quell his worries, which did not work AT ALL.
“Caelus?” He greets, knocking at the door with his left hand, “You there? I got you some cake.”. He gestured towards the cake even if the other did not see it.
“Come in…” Caelus’s voice answered from the room, muffled by both the distance and the door separating them from each other.
Dan Heng exhaled, opening the door. He sees Caelus without his coat as he sat on the window. The Vidyadhara stares distantly at the fleet - the same fleet that imprisoned and exiled him without a thought. He almost pities him for the things he had to go through. At least, Caelus has more of a past than he ever will have, so thanks for nothing, Yukong.
He sat across Caelus, placing the cake between them before holding the latter's cheeks. He feels the dry tears tracking down the Vidyadhara’s face. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He asked, still cupping his cheeks with tenderness, “You can tell me anything.”.
“I just…It’s just…” Caelus sobbed, wiping the tears off his still-smiling face. He must not know what to feel after the emotional baggage he had to deal with his memories now more active now that he is back in the Xianzhou. “It’s been hard to deal with… I mean all of this… I am… I used to be Qiong… And…”.
Dan Heng snapped, almost knocking over the matcha cake over the ledge they were sitting on before holding Caelus’s shoulder. “You’re not him!” He exclaimed, his tosca beads looking at ichor ones, “You’re not Qiong! You’re not the sinner everyone claims you to be!”. Realizing what he had said and done, he sat back down, releasing Caelus’s shoulder with a sheepish expression on his face, “Sorry…”.
“It’s… It’s okay…” Caelus exhaled, the heaving of his chest lessening by the second, “I needed that…”.
The silence stretched between them, almost deafening to an irritating degree. Dan Heng could only watch as Caelus hugged his legs as if longing for comfort. He could hear the other sob and sniffle, hidden by his legs as he cried. He watched in fascination as Caelus began transforming: his hair growing longer and now has gold strands, his horns crowning his head as his tail wrapped around his legs. However, his clothes stayed the same as if he just partially transformed.
“Before I was Caelus , I never had a name…” Dan Heng’s eyes widened when Caelus said those words, “They never gave me one…”. A wave of disgust could have overwhelmed him at the methods of cruelty they instilled on Caelus. “They either called me criminal , Qiong , or Imbibitor Lunae .” A confession, which Dan Heng felt disdainful towards.
How could they not give you a name? Dan Heng wanted to ask, but he does not want to traumatize Caelus further with his memories in the Shackling Prison. He wants to blame Yingxing, but he was the one who tried to get the rest of Luofu to be lenient towards a sinless child like Caelus - whom they believed was sinful.
“I don’t care.” He insisted, shaking his head, “You’re Caelus, and always has been.”. He inched closer to the Vidyadhara before embracing him, letting the warmth of the Stellaron sealed within him be shared between them. “I don’t care what they call you or who they were to you.” His statement was met with widened and disbelieving golden orbs, “But you are Caelus. You’re not Qiong or just the Imbibitor Lunae , you are Caelus - my boyfriend and my bestest companion in trailblazing.”
Although he would not admit that to anyone, he knew Caelus needs that reassurement from someone who is supposed to treasure him. The Xianzhou Luofu knew his so-called past incarnation and threw the Caelus separate from Qiong away, getting away with not even giving him a name. He was curious though… How did he get the name Caelus ?
“But… How did you get your name?” He asked.
“Yingxing would give me books from several planets.” Caelus answered, wiping the tears off his cheeks before unraveling himself. His form is now exposed: his long hair, his horns, his tail and scales, everything beautiful about him. “According to this one book, Caelus or Coelus is the god of the upper skies. At that time, I dreamed of reaching for the skies .”.
“That was smart.” Dan Heng smirked at Caelus, “Though, isn’t it ironic? You’re some water dragon and all…”. He could have laughed at the irony of it, knowing how opposite the skies and the seas are. As far as he remembers, he saw Caelus split the fucking sea like a god. It was a beautiful sight to behold, even more so than the whole Scalegorge Waterscape.
“Shut up…” Caelus laughed, wiping the tears off his eyes before punching him lightly, “Plus, every dragon would reach for the skies like I did, especially since meeting the Astral Express.”.
“By the way, who took you to the Astral Express?” Dan Heng asked, hugging his legs as he stared interestingly at Caelus. It was one question he wanted to know. If Caelus was taken by the Astral Express after his exile from the Xianzhou Luofu, who was it who took him?
“It was We- Mr. Yang who did.” Caelus answered with a grin, “He found me starving in a planet and took me in.”. Of course, he did. Mr. Yang always has a fatherly side, sometimes hidden from the rest of the crew. However, to Dan Heng, he was more of a grandpa than a dad with the way he acts.
Dan Heng sighed, thankful for this version of Caelus he got to meet as his now-boyfriend. However, he would sometimes agree with General Yingxing that the Luofu deserves a big
fuck you
for what they have done to Caelus when he was a child. However, that does not matter now, what matters is the present and the future ahead.