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Everything was going according to plan. The others had agreed to stay on the train or handle business on the Xianzhou Luofu leaving Stelle and Dan Heng alone at last. The setting was perfect. The sun was just beginning to set over Aurum Alley and their snack order was ready.
“Here, I’ll carry the tray for you.” Dan Heng offered blocking from it to take it to their table.
“Paying and carrying, huh? If you insist I won’t stop you.” She gave her baseball bat a twirl before putting it on the table, temporarily blocking Dan Heng from putting the tray down. “Oh my bad,” She said snatching it up. “Or should I say- my bat. Ehhhh?” She gave the bat a little wave looking to him for a reaction but Dan Heng just sighed and put the tray down.
“Do you have to bring that everywhere?” He cringed.
“You never know where enemies could be hiding.” She said standing the bat by her chair. “What if these fries were genetically mutated? You or I could be zombies in seconds. I’d have to fight you.” She picked up up pretending to fence with it.
Dan Heng pinched the bridge of his nose taking in a slow breath. Not exactly how he pictured asking Stelle out on a date. His heart leapt and there it was, the anxiety was back. After months of traveling together he was pretty sure she liked him back but there was no way to tell. The only thing he knew is how much he cared for her. The only way to find out was to ask.
And despite Stelle’s baffling way of putting him at ease he still found a way to be nervous. He cleared his throat searching for the words. Why was this so difficult? He was the High Elder Imbibitor Lunae after all. Not very many people or things scared him. And nobody had since they fought Blade on the Luofu.
Nobody except the girl across the table making airplane noises dive bombing her fries into ketchup enacting a supposed zombie battle.
“I still can’t believe you got the Xianxhou to sell french fries.” He said conversationally.
She scoffed at his impertinent statement. “I helped restore Aurum Alley after all. I can sell whatever I want. Plus they’re delicious so it wasn’t hard to convince some of the stalls to try something new.”
He chuckled as she dunked another fry. He buried his chin in his hand watching.
She was incredible and quite possibly the most interesting person he had ever met since he joined the Trailblaze. She was like something out of the novels he would occasionally indulge in. Mysterious backstory, funny, great fighter and occasional strategist, and now it would appear even entrepreneur and business woman. He quietly wondered if there was anything she couldn’t do? Probably be quiet and sit still so he could ask her a simple question. But Stelle was also overwhelmingly curious about- well, just about everything. So any scientific ramblings he may have shared never fell on deaf ears even if she was confused. But confusion never made her disinterested. More than anything he was surprised at her ability to make him feel calm and welcome. Except tonight.
“Say,” Stelle asked, “If I did turn into a zombie, would you kill me or let me bite you and join me?”
“Uh, what kind of a question is that?” He asked appalled by the idea.
She dunked a fry more seriously, “You’re right that’s not specific enough, say I just became a zombie, and the only way to save the Luofu was to kill me, would you do it?”
“Probably not.” He answered truthfully.
“Ha, you fool.” Stelle laughed licking her fingers. “I’d kill you in heart beat. Don’t get me wrong, I’d feel bad about it after but gotta do whatever it takes to stop the apocalypse.”
Nervously he ran his palms across his pant legs under the table.
“You’re quiet- quieter than usual today.” Stelle corrected. “What’s with the face?”
“What face?”
“You know, your ‘calculating face.’ You must be plotting something. You only make that that face when you’re deep in thought. And You haven’t even touched your tea. It’s gonna get all warm.”
Clearing his throat he accepted a sip of his tea as his throat was getting rather dry. She was not making this easy.
“What’s the matter? You sick? Cat got your tongue?” She stuck her tongue out searching for the straw on her drink distractedly she looked around. “Actually I wish there was a cat here. Think the Alley Commitee would go for that? There can’t be one too far, and Penacony is crawling with birds. Well paper ones but that’s sort of the same thing. You think there’s world that has that amount of every cute animal?”
“Stelle.”
Her gaze flicked to his mid slurp.
The focused attention caught his words in his throat but he forced himself to trudge onward. “Would you-” Rats he was stuttering. “Stelle would you do me the honor of going on a date with me?” Dan Heng finally gushed, his palms sweating.
She took another sip of her boba, “What’d you have in mind?”
That took Dan Heng aback, what kind of an answer was that? “Excuse me?”
“I mean, our anniversary is coming up. I was wondering what you had planned.”
“Anniversary?”
“Our 6 month anniversary is coming up.” She said plainly.
“That would mean that we would have been dating for 6 months.”
“Wow you’re so good at math.” Stelle mocked.
Dan Heng was dumbfounded. “I’m pretty sure I would remember something like that.”
Stelle lifted an eyebrow, “What do you mean? I realize you have a long life but don’t tell me your geriatric dragon genes are making you forget the details? Don’t tell me Cold Dragon Young has even forgotten about our first kiss?” She teased.
“Geriatric? Hang on- our what?” He all but jumped out of his chair. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Yeah. It was so romantic, you saved me with the kiss of life. March still talks about how romantic it was.” She leaned in a hand covering her whisper. “Between you and me I think she’s secretly jealous.”
“Jealous?”
She shrugged, “Not of you, duh.”
“That’s crazy, that was when we first met!”
“I thought the exact same thing. It was a super forward at the time but it’s one of the things I like about you.” She smiled wrapping a hand over his.
He sat eyes flicking around the table, anywhere but her eyes.
“You’re so good at staying on track and getting to the point and chasing your goals. I thought it was just thought it was one of your quirks and turns out I was right.”
“How about our first date?”
“Loved it, almost getting kidnapped by Silvermane guards was a surprise though. You’re more adventurous than I originally took you for.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He scoffed.
“When they first told me you slept in the Archives I thought you were secretly a huge shut in nerd. Turns out you’re just an introvert which I can respect.”
He double blinked at her. “And you slept in the cabin car or a card board box for 6 months after we expressly gave you a room. How do I know you’re not a raccoon?”
Stelle raised a suspicious eyebrow straw in her mouth as if pondering the question herself, “Touche. But we’ll get back to that topic.”
“You say our first date was in Belabog? March was there for that.” He said as if that would explain it away.
She waved a hand casually, “Gotta love a third wheel. I thought you were just nervous but she was a good wingman for you I’d say. You even grabbed my hand as we ran to safety. You sure know how to take advantage of a dramatic situation.”
“What!” He sputtered. “That hardly proves anything.”
She twiddled a fry between her fingers. “Proof huh? What do you mean by that?” She eyed him suspicious.
“We were never together!”
It went eerily silent until Stelle finally spoke. “What makes you say that?”
“I think I would remember being in a relationship-”
Stelle suddenly looked horrified throwing down the fry in her hand, “It’s real, the zombie fries got you!”
“Stelle no, that’s not it. I don’t know when you thought we were dating but-”
“Oh my gosh you’re breaking up with me!”
“Stelle this is ridiculous, breaking up with you would imply we were in a relationship.”
Without warning she stood hands spread across the table shoving her face so it was mere inches from his. He leaned back alarmed, her expression colder than Belabog’s icy tundra, calculating she stared past his warming cheeks and red eyeliner that framed his (dreamy) eyes. This wasn’t at all like CPR. Was she about to kiss him? Or slap him? He couldn’t tell. Still he leaned dangerously far back in his chair gripping the metal table to keep from falling.
“Stelle, what are you-?”
She gasped eyes wide as though a dawning revelation had just come upon her and she sat down distraught.
“Stelle?” Dan Heng asked still lost.
A tear brimmed her eyes and she quickly forced it away gloved hand.
Such joy turned sadness in mere seconds, guilt overwhelmed him. “I didn’t mean to- Hey what’s wrong?”
“It’s March isn’t it- oh Aeons- I can’t believe it.”
“What?” He asked almost horrified, “No!”
“So there is someone else! You two had a long history when I boarded so I was worried I broke something up, I could sense some pining.”
“Pining?”
“So there is someone else!” Stelle all but exploded. She was starting to draw attention from other tables. Shushing her Dan Heng urged her to take sit down but Stelle went on.
“Maybe she’s too young for you.” She searched her memory. “It’s the new Cauldron Master, isn’t it? Lingsha? It’s cause I’m not a Vidyadhara.
“What no! That’s not it at all. We were never together!” Dan Heng blurted out.
“So that’s it? You’re breaking up with me?”
“How can I break up with you if we were never together?!” He cried.
Emotions running hot, Stelle stood snatching up her bat. “You know what? I don’t deserve this. You can’t break up with me because I’m breaking up with you-”
“Stelle, please don’t go.” Dan Heng leapt to grab her hand before she could leave, ignoring the public’s eyes on him. Many shifted their gaze away.
“No, you’ve done enough. I hope you can sleep at night after you lead a girl on this way.”
“Stelle please listen. I said that we aren’t dating.” He took a deep breath. It was now or never. “But- I wouldn’t mind if we were.” He whispered.
She froze not facing him as his words finally registered. “What did you say?”
“Stelle, please?” He stood taking both hands in his own, deep eyes searched hers. “Since the moment I met you, you have done your best to make my life a chaotic mess and I can’t imagine it any other way. You’re brilliant and exceptionally talented, and breathtaking. Not to mention it’s because of you I even got come home and walk around the Xianzhou!” He said gesturing to the city.
She stood frozen waiting for him to continue.“I didn’t know you felt this way.”
“You just said we were- Nevermind. Stelle.” Pulling her close she turned her chin up to look at him. “I’ve been wanting to ask you for a while. Will you please go out- will be you be my girlfr-?”
His words cut short with a simple kiss that seemed to meld time and space together. His hand finding her waist, pulling her closer. She gripped the lapels of his jacket in return, standing on her tip toes. The Skysplitter above them could have exploded and they wouldn’t have noticed. Convinced he was still dreaming on the planet of Penacony Dan Heng went in for a second kiss. But this was better than any dream or fantasy he had read before.
When they finally broke aprart after a few seconds but had felt like eons, Stelle was smiling.
“You really are slow.”
“Hey…” He growled. “So is that a yes?”
“I’ll have to think about it.” She said stepping back.
His heart sank.
“Buuut, I might be willing to consider if you take me on that date you mentioned.”
Relief spread through his chest. “Of course.”
“So, what did you have in mind?” She turned, hand on her hip and the crook of her elbow angled toward him.
Getting the idea he came to her side threading his own arm through her arm to lead her down the street. “What do you say to a ride on a Starskiff and study the stars up close? What better way to make some star charts.”
“Always working.” Stelle teased.
“You know me too well.”
“Then I guess we better get- charted.”
Groaning, they strode towards the rental docs, a rare smile tugging at the corners Dan Hengs lips.
A while later (after they remembered they left their snacks behind) they sat shoulder to shoulder aboard the Starskiff Stelle tugged on Dan Heng’s sleeve.
“Hey, you know what I just realized?”
“What’s that?” He asked steering the ship over the city creating a glowing view of the city below and the heavens above.
“That was our first fight.” She paused. “Technically.”
“What was? Me asking you out?”
Stelle rolled her eyes, “We’ve been over this. We’ve been dating for 6 months now.”
“If you say so,” Dan Heng chuckled. “So am I forgiven?”
Stelle pondered his question for a moment tapping a finger on her chin. “Ask me again on our next anniversary.”
“Yours or mine?”
“There’s no difference.” She insisted.
Dan Heng rolled his eyes playfully. “Agree to disagree.”
“Guess we’ll have to celebrate them all then,” She huffed at him looking out over the edge of the skiff.
“Okay and say that wasn’t our first fight, what was our first fight ‘technically?’” Dan Heng asked using her words.
“The Doomsday Beast. After it blasted me and Mr. Yang saved me and I passed out you came to check up on me after. I knew you cared after that.”
Aw, so she meant fighting literally. “I was pretty worried. I thought we lost you.”
She bumped his shoulder with hers, “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“And I never want to.”
“Dan Heng.” The teasing fading from her voice seeing the stars reflect in his storm colored eyes. They seemed to glow as he leaned in once more. She kissed him back as they sailed through the cosmos, and for that moment they were the only people in the entire cosmos.