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Dan Heng, despite his usual nature, does genuinely enjoy the constant back and forth banter he forces his older brother into whenever the elder dares to ask anything of him. After a childhood full of taking the fall for Dan Feng’s messes, there is a part of him that believes he’s entitled to give his brother a bit of trouble. Even if he ends up agreeing to whatever is being asked of him in the end.
This time, Dan Feng is absolutely insisting that Dan Heng needs to watch his cats, Mochi and Seasalt, while he’s gone on a business trip for the weekend. He’s inclined to accept, of course, but he does enjoy making Dan Feng work for it a little.
Call it sweet retribution.
They’ve been engaged in a phone call for about the last 30 minutes, with Dan Heng doing as much as possible to make Dan Feng just break down and say ‘please’. It’s hardly a big ask when it comes to anyone else, but Dan Feng is someone who would rather die than be caught begging for anything. So, Dan Heng is prepared to work him a little bit until he finally gives in.
After what feels like a half an hour, Dan Feng huffs through the phone line and finally says the words Dan Heng has been waiting to hear.
“Fine. Please watch Mochi and Seasalt for me while I’m gone. Mochi isn’t used to being by himself, and Seasalt likes to bully him and I don’t trust anyone with them other than you, so I need you to watch them for me.”
Dan Heng hums like he’s thinking it over, going so far as to fake checking his calendar even though Dan Feng cannot see him from over the phone.
“Hmm. I should have enough time open to watch Mochi and Seasalt for you.”
“Finally!” Dan Feng huffs. “You are so difficult. I will never understand how people are able to describe you as ‘agreeable’.”
“And yet you’re the same way. It’s impolite to throw stones from glass houses, you know.” Dan Heng replies, a hint of mischief in his tone. He can be cold and distant with anyone else, but with his brother he finds it difficult to be anything less than cheeky. Perhaps it is part of the fated sibling rivalry.
Dan Feng scoffs in reply and grumbles something about hanging up under his breath. He takes a deep breath to maintain his calm and cordial demeanor, because if he doesn’t then he will need to find other accommodations for Mochi and Seasalt, and he does not want to do that.
“...Fine. Thank you, I suppose.”
Dan Heng hums in triumph, already making a note in his phone about things to bring and people to inform. March and Caelus have a tendency to drop in unannounced, especially considering the holidays, and he’d hate to scare them by not being there.
“You’re welcome.”
Dan Feng promptly ignores this snooty comment and continues on with his instructions.
“I’ll leave the house key with you. You can stay in my bedroom or on the couch, but you aren’t allowed to eat in my room. Mochi and Seasalt eat wet food cans in the morning, and dry cat food in the evening. Mochi likes to try and get outside, so make sure you–”
“Make sure I watch the doors. I know.” Dan Heng knows these cats. Adores them, even. Mochi was once his cat, but he had to give the cat over to Dan Feng because his apartment doesn’t allow cats. Dan Heng makes sure to stop by often, but it’s not the same. This will be like living with him again.
Dan Feng sighs, and Dan Heng can hear him run a hand over his face through the phone.
“Thank you, really.” Dan Feng’s voice softens for a moment into something more genuine. “I try not to ask you for much. I appreciate you doing this for me, even though you don’t have to.”
“It’s no issue,” Dan Heng insists, “you know that I love Mochi and Seasalt. I’ll get the key from you tomorrow?”
“Ah– yes, that works. I will be at home packing so you’re welcome to show up.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you then.” Dan Heng says, promptly ending the call after they share their short and polite goodbyes. He’ll have to pack some himself if he’s going to relocate himself for a few days.
The temporary move from Dan Heng’s own apartment to Dan Feng’s house is completely bland. Dan Heng packs up a backpack’s worth of clothing and shows up at Dan Feng’s door just in time to see his brother rushing his own suitcase into his car. He can hardly get a word in as his brother shoves the key into his hands and climbs into the car to get to the airport.
“...Okay. Be safe, I guess.” Dan Heng mutters, watching his brother frantically drive away for a flight that is not for another four hours. He steps through the door and the two cats come running towards him (only Seasalt turns his back once the cat realizes it’s Dan Heng entering the house and not Dan Feng), and Mochi promptly climbs up his leg and up to his shoulders.
This will be… a long couple of days.
A quiet knock at the door pulls Dan Heng’s attention from his phone. The sound makes Mochi poke his little head up and pat over towards the door to sniff at the gaps curiously, and Seasalt looks about as disinterested as ever. Dan Feng hadn’t told Dan Heng that he was expecting guests or packages or anything, but knowing how popular his brother is, there is a chance that it wasn’t planned at all.
Dan Heng gets up from the couch with a deep sigh to make his way towards the door, opening it with a loud sigh. He’s about to go on his expected speech of Dan Feng not being home, but he’ll take a message, when he’s interrupted by the quiet timbre of someone speaking up.
“...Dan Feng?” The man on the other side of the door- tall with about the moodiest demeanor known to man, but also a strikingly pretty face (Aeons above Dan Heng stop monologuing) -seems to squint at Dan Heng curiously. “You are not Dan Feng.”
Dan Heng blinks a few times, his hand resting carefully on the door as he was poised to shut it. Though, he feels a little less inclined to do so now.
“Ah– no. I’m his brother. He’s out.” Just speaking those words felt more difficult than they should have, as Dan Heng looks at the stranger at the door. “Is there something that you need?”
The man on the other side hums, looking over Dan Heng for a moment.
“...His cats. I wanted to check on them.”
Despite not having any ideas on what to expect from the stranger, this still manages to surprise him. His brother is well known and plenty of people are over-concerned with his- well, entire life. That this person is here for Seasalt and Mochi is a novel concept.
…He still isn’t going to let a stranger into his brother’s house. That sounds like an excellent way to get killed. Either by the stranger, or by Dan Feng when he finds out.
“Okay. And you are…?”
“Blade.”
Dan Heng blinks and reconsiders slamming the door. Mochi’s little paws are in the way, because he’s made it his personal mission to escape and say hello to “Blade”. The cat’s approval is one point for him not being a serial killer, at least?
“You’re serious?”
Blade sighs. It is the sigh of a man who is very tired of the same question he’s received a hundred times before. Dan Heng can sympathise with that sigh, sharing all but one letter of his name with his older brother.
“Yes.”
Dan Heng can’t come up with much more than a muted “hm” of acceptance. He gives Blade another once over with this new context and decides that, despite the unique nature of the name, it suits him. Eventually, he comes up with an answer to the initial concern, slowly trying to sneak the door closed as Mochi only tries harder to escape.
“Well, I can assure you that the cats are-”
Despite his best efforts, Mochi wiggles between Dan Heng’s legs and the door, and promptly starts climbing Blade.
“...Fine.”
Blade seems disinterested in continuing the conversation the moment Mochi has crawled up his leg and demanded to be held. The faintest recollection of Dan Feng complaining about Mochi liking his neighbor more than him has Dan Heng drawing his hands over his face in defeat. There is some resemblance of an acquaintanceship between the weird neighbor and his older brother, he’s never heard Mochi purr this loudly, and it has been pretty boring the last few hours.
Dan Feng probably won’t kill him if the cats like the company. Blade, recognizing his defeat, smirks. It’s infuriating. It’s also very attractive.
“The cold isn’t good for Mochi.”
That is the falsest thing Dan Heng has ever heard, because Mochi reportedly tries to escape into snowstorms. He’s pretty sure Blade knows that and is just being a prick.
“Just don’t break anything.”
A halfhearted warning and leaving the door open are all the invitation Blade receives to enter, but he takes them without hesitation. He does pause to take off his shoes at the door, which involves an impressive display of dexterity where he continues cradling Mochi in one arm while tugging off his boots with his free hand, so he does know what manners are. Dan Heng has the feeling he just chooses when he cares enough to use them.
As he collapses back onto the couch- pointedly not leaving any room for Blade -Seasalt appears out of nowhere, as he often does, when he actually graces someone with his illustrious presence. He pauses to nudge against Dan Heng’s hand before prancing over to Blade and winding between his legs.
Seasalt does not like people. Seasalt doesn’t even like his brother. This is the strangest thing he’s seen in his life, but at least it confirms to Dan Heng that his brother knows Blade.
Blade makes the decision to perch himself on the singular chair in the living room, Mochi promptly taking the moment of stability to climb onto his shoulders and sniff curiously at his hair. Dan Heng, catless and awkwardly sprawled out, can only watch. Blade seems to recognize this and hides the smug look on his face behind a hand.
The silence is suffocatingly awkward for Dan Heng. He shifts, his gaze never leaving Blade for more than a few moments at a time. No real conversation is being made, yet Blade refuses to leave and Dan Heng refuses to kick him out. Though, he does wish that his brother would have warned him about the strange neighbor.
Surprisingly, it is not Dan Heng who breaks the silence.
“Dan Feng is surprisingly festive.” It’s a simple comment from Blade as he glances around the room at the egregiously bright decorations that Dan Heng spent the last several days complaining about.
“He likes the holidays,” Dan Heng says with a little shrug. “He has ever since we were children.”
Blade hums in reply. There is clearly a large difference between the persona that Dan Feng exhibits to others and the real personality hidden beneath all that snooty businessman-ness.
“I can see that. I’ve never been one for holiday celebrations, but other people can have their fun. It has nothing to do with me.” Blade crosses his arms, though he looks considerably less intimidating when Mochi is circling around his shoulders and rubbing his little head against Blade’s cheek.
“Me neither.” Dan Heng agrees. “I don’t mind them, they just always mean things are… out of routine and loud. It’s not my thing.”
The same can be observed of his brother at any other time of year. He finds disruptions distasteful, despises surprises, and has a murderous scowl like none other when some idiotic soul manages to cause a problem for his perfect schedule.
Holidays are an exception rather than a rule. When they were younger, Dan Heng would often be pulled out of whatever hiding spot he'd claimed away from the noise, because Dan Feng’s image of festivities included the two of them spending time together.
Dan Feng was also the first to rescue him if he became too overwhelmed.
With the conversation lulled by Dan Heng’s nostalgia and Blade’s occupation with Seasalt, who decided it was his turn on their visitor’s shoulders and began picking a fight with Mochi, a relative silence sets over the room. And, given this moment of quietude, Dan Heng realizes that- despite the abundance of string lights -the living room is considerably darker than it was only minutes before.
Curious, Dan Heng rises to his feet and crosses the room, pulling the curtains aside to gaze outside curiously. The sight that greets him is snow. So, so much snow. Despite the two of them only being inside together for a little while, a neat layer of snow has already settled onto just about everything. It’s almost hard to see more than a few feet away.
“It’s snowing a lot,” Dan Heng comments as he lets the thin curtain drop. “It might be smart to wait it out–”
Dan Heng turns around only to jump what feels like three feet in the air, because suddenly Blade is standing directly in front of him. He blinks, startled, while Blade remains as nonchalant and stoic as ever. Mochi takes this golden opportunity to climb from Blade’s shoulders and onto Dan Heng’s head.
“Hm.” Blade hums in what appears to be agreement, but Dan Heng can hardly tell. After a moment, Dan Heng decides it must be an agreement because Blade sits back down on the couch. Mochi paws at Dan Heng’s bangs curiously as he picks the cat up off of his head and internally scolds the little guy, though Mochi’s sweet little eyes do make him melt a little bit.
Without even consulting Blade’s thoughts on the matter (perhaps being somewhat petty, on Dan Heng’s part), Dan Heng turns on the TV. If they’re just going to sit, he’d rather not do it in silence.
The TV turns onto a random channel playing some hallmark Christmas movie that Dan Heng has never even heard of before. Something about a post office. Blade glances up from where Seasalt has sat down towards the TV with a hum.
“Are you the type to enjoy holiday movies?” Blade asks, his tone somewhat mocking. Dan Heng can feel his face flushing a little and he shakes his head, hiding the red tint of his cheeks behind his sleeve.
“Absolutely not. Dan Feng was probably watching them on the TV when he was last here… I think they’re a bit dumb.” It’s an honest reply. Dan Heng has never enjoyed the cookie-cutter blandness of recent holiday movies. Some of the old ones he can find enjoyment in, but everything made these days just feels so soulless.
“Hm. Agreed.”
Nevertheless, neither seems eager to turn the movie off and go back to their awkward silence, so they just quietly let the ambiance do the talking for them. It’s not until the movie starts saying something ridiculous with its plot that one of them speaks up.
“Riveting literature.” Dan Heng mumbles with a shake of his head, his tone mocking. “I can’t believe the greats never wrote about this sort of plot.”
Blade lifts his gaze again to focus on the movie for a moment.
“I think my teenage god daughter could write something better.” Blade comments. “Or at least more entertaining.”
“I think a squirrel could jump on a keyboard and make something more entertaining.” Dan Heng supplies, glancing over towards Blade for a moment. The movie was originally just on to fill the silence in the room, but they fall into a sort of quiet camaraderie of making fun of the movies.
It’s pleasant to talk with Blade, Dan Heng realizes. Their conversations are mostly based in mocking the movies that play in succession, but Dan Heng also gets to learn a fair amount about Blade himself.
Blade (which is, in fact, his legal name) apparently works at a local mechanics shop, he lives with three other people including his goddaughter, and he has a very mean and lazy cat named Sesame. And curse Dan Heng, because the more he learns about this man the more endeared he becomes.
At some point, Dan Heng ends up moving from the couch to the floor in front of the fake fireplace, constructing something that could only really be considered a nest. He arranges a couple blankets he stole from Dan Feng’s closet and the pillows from one of the couches and makes a little fort. He moves to lie down, only to find that Mochi has happily made himself a little spot and will not budge.
“Ah– Mochi..” Dan Heng sighs, reaching out to lift the cat up. Mochi, in return, digs his claws into the blankets as a sign of refusing to leave the little nest. “Mochi, c’mon– you can lie back down once I’m settled.”
Mochi, however, seems to be having none of it, and only stretches out even further so Dan Heng is forced to the side of the structure.
“You’re such a troublemaker.” Dan Heng is about to relinquish the nest to Mochi’s whims when Blade appears to crouch beside the nest, gently lifting the cat. Mochi, more than happy to be picked up by Blade, doesn’t make a fuss and lets himself be lifted.
“You are a troublemaker.” Blade says to the cat, his voice comedically deadpan as he lifts Mochi to his eye level. Mochi wiggles a little in his arms, but makes no real effort to get away. “You are very lucky that you’re considered cute.”
Dan Heng watches the little spectacle with a hint of a smile gracing his expression. Blade is shockingly endearing, especially when he’s interacting with cats.
“He just knows he can get away with it when it comes to me. He used to be my cat, so he knows what he can pull and what he can’t.” Dan Heng settles back and watches Blade and Mochi interact.
“Used to be?” Blade questions with a raise of his eyebrow.
“My apartment doesn’t allow cats,” Dan Heng supplies in response, reaching up to pet Mochi’s little head. “I couldn’t afford a cat-friendly apartment, so my brother offered to take him until I could afford something better.”
“I see.” Blade hums, shifting the cat to cradle him. He’s surprisingly gentle with Mochi, though Dan Heng supposes that could come with being someone who owns a cat himself. Most people are a little too energetic when it comes to a playful cat like Mochi, and they forget to treat him gently.
Dan Heng lets the silence settle a little before realizing how rude he’s being and he gestures vaguely towards the spot beside him. He was going to lay down, but there’s plenty of room in the nest for Blade to sit beside him.
“You can sit down, if you’d like. It may not be super comfortable but–” Dan Heng can’t even finish his sentence before Blade is sitting down beside him, their legs pressed together and Mochi attempting to climb between the two of them again.
“Too close?” Blade asks, his gaze flickering towards Dan Heng.
“It’s fine,” Dan Heng mumbles in reply, hiding the way his face grows warmer behind his sleeve. “I offered.”
"You did," Blade agrees, his insufferable smugness making a reappearance. He reclines in the nest as if it was made for him. It wasn't. Meanwhile, Mochi settles for splaying out over both of their legs, since there's not any room left between them.
The sudden proximity makes Dan Heng’s brain falter behind a little. He’s more than used to physical affection given that his best friends are about the touchiest people known to man, but there’s something about this closeness that makes Dan Heng feel like his heart is beating faster than before.
The movies continue to play in their silence and the snow outside continues to fall. At one point, Seasalt takes a little nip at Dan Heng’s arm before settling beside the two of them, and Mochi only moves to climb between them for a few minutes before settling back in his own spot. Combined with the warmth, it makes Dan Heng feel a little tired.
Dan Heng doesn’t notice his head dropping against Blade’s shoulder until he feels himself get gently moved towards the ground, an instinctual whine leaving his throat at the change of position.
“Relax. I’m just laying you down.” Blade says softly, careful to not disrupt the overall makings of the nest. He does not expect Dan Heng to reach out and pull him down with him, but that is exactly what happens. Mostly asleep, Dan Heng grabs onto the closest source of warmth, Blade himself, and pulls him down so they’re laying next to each other.
Blade blinks, finally actually startled, and sighs. If Dan Heng doesn’t intend to let him go, then Blade has no real choice. He could pull away if he wanted to, but Dan Heng looks to be relatively at peace squished against Blade’s side.
“...Alright. Goodnight, Dan Heng.” Blade allows his eyes to close, one arm lightly draped over Dan Heng as the two doze off with Mochi lying between them.
When Dan Heng wakes up the next morning, he realizes a few things. One, Seasalt is digging his claws into Dan Heng’s leg to make biscuits. Two, Mochi is currently gnawing on his hair. Three, he’s cuddling Blade.
The sun is high enough in the sky to be filtering through the windows, which makes Dan Heng realize it’s well past the cat’s breakfast time, and Blade still seems to be sleeping.
Noticing that Dan Heng is properly awake, Seasalt meows, extremely unhappy about this break in his schedule. Mochi, of course, takes this as his cue to scamper wildly over to their food bowls and start yeowling at the top of his lungs.
Dan Heng is left with several scratches as a result of this scampering. Blade sleeps on, dead to the world.
Slowly, with great care, Dan Heng extracts himself from the nest. He feels all of his joints crack at once, and he sighs. The consequences of sleeping on the floor, he supposes. He shuffles his way towards the cat food to get Mochi to quiet down and not wake up Blade.
They get wet cat food in the morning, Dan Heng thinks.
He opens two cans and pours them into their particular bowls, making them more edible for the little cats before placing them down on the floor with a little yawn just as Blade seems to be stirring in the nest.
“Good morning.” Dan Heng greets awkwardly, moving to make a morning cup of tea for himself. “Would you like some tea..?”
“Sure.” Blade hums as he pulls himself into a sitting up position, blinking the residual sleep from his eyes. He seems to be a pretty heavy sleeper, Dan Heng notices. He probably only woke up because Mochi was screaming up a storm about 10 feet away.
The two seem to enjoy their morning over a pleasant cup of tea, chatting about little things. It’s surprisingly nice, given how grumpy Dan Heng had been towards Blade before.
Their peace is interrupted by the jingling of keys and the opening of the front door, Dan Feng and another man Dan Heng has never seen before ushering inside as quietly as possible.
Dan Heng and Dan Feng make awkward eye contact as they both realize that the other had a guest. The silence is palpable, with Dan Feng’s strange neighbor sitting at the island and a random man Dan Heng has never met currently standing in the foyer, waiting to take his shoes off.
“...Welcome home.” Dan Heng says awkwardly, to which Dan Feng sputters in reply.
The stranger pats Dan Feng’s shoulder. For most people, this would be a death wish, but instead, his brother deflates, taking in a few very deep breaths. Dan Heng stands there with dread in his bones while Blade seems entirely unaffected.
“Yingxing, my room is upstairs on the-”
“Yes, you said,” the apparent Yingxing cuts in, waving it off with a confident nonchalance, “I think I’ll stay for introductions first.”
Dan Feng has returned to looking like he wants to strangle someone. Probably Dan Heng. Blade, being how he is, gives Yingxing a lazy wave.
“Blade. I live next door.”
Yingxing snorts. Dan Feng makes a low, grumbling noise.
“He’s the one Mochi likes.”
At being addressed, Mochi yawns, waking up from his post-breakfast coma, and trots over to Yingxing. This is promptly followed by Seasalt- who shows interest in nobody and nothing lesser than his immaculate self -prancing across the room, swatting and hissing at Mochi, and sitting at Yingxing’s feet with a plaintive meow.
One scooping later, and Seasalt has decided it is his mission in life to be a scarf for Yingxing.
Dan Heng coughs into his fist to break the cat-induced lapse in conversation. They are, to be fair, supremely entertaining.
“Dan Heng,” he glances between Yingxing and the pathetically soft look on Dan Feng’s face, “you’re my brother’s… partner, I take it?”
“Betrothed, actually.”
He shows off an engagement ring with a dramatic flourish. Dan Heng is starting to think he didn’t wake up earlier and this is some sort of fever dream. He sets his own lesser, but far from ineffective, death glare at his older brother. Yingxing and Blade both snicker.
“What the fuck?”
“...I was going to get around to it-” Dan Feng crosses his arms stubbornly, squinting, “-besides, you have been cavorting with my neighbor behind my back.”
“He got snowed in!” Dan Heng frowns, although it’s difficult, because the neighbor in question has scooped up the miserable Mochi and coaxed him onto his shoulders, “This is- different! And it’s not cavorting.”
“It could be,” Blade adds, shrugging.
The room goes silent, other than Seasalt and Mochi purring.
“...What?”
Blade shrugs, again, at Dan Feng. He gestures at Dan Heng.
“I’m keeping him.”
Dan Heng gapes for a moment, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. He… actually can’t come up with any protests. Is it an odd way to acquire a boyfriend? Most certainly, but he’s become undeniably fond after a night spent together. The fact that he’s practically glowing red from blushing too intensely doesn’t really prove anything otherwise.
“I guess I’m… being kept?”
“Dan Heng.”
Yingxing pulls an aghast Dan Feng towards the stairs and sends Dan Heng a salute and a wink. Which is wretchedly embarrassing.
“Introductions have been made! Time for you to show me around, don’t you think?”
The two of them squabble all the way up the stairs. A door slams shut, and the squabbling is muffled into some semblance of peace.
“Number?”
Dan Heng blinks, still recovering from his brother’s (only slightly) unreasonable reaction to the situation. Oh. Right.
“Here,” he passes his phone to Blade, “just… text yourself something.”
He needs a minute to stop experiencing whiplash. Mochi crawls off of Blade and starts trying to steal Dan Heng’s leftover breakfast, and the world settles back into its usual shape- if a little warmer, somehow, than before.
An extended ‘few more minutes’ later, Blade is standing in the half-open door and Mochi is complaining at his inevitable departure. Dan Heng hesitates at saying farewell.
“Until next time.”
Blade picks up his hand, presses a kiss to his knuckles, grins, and vanishes down the street. Dan Heng slams the door before Mochi can make a wild dash after him, and certainly not to disguise how flustered he is at such a simple display of affection, because apparent partnership aside he has only known Blade for a day. His phone pings.
It’s a text from Blade. A photo of a little cat with soulless eyes stares up at him.
…This was worth the chaos it took to get here.