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The first thing Stelle does when she gets through her last final is kick down Dan Heng's door. It's not particularly unexpected- Dan Heng had heard her stomping through the apartment as soon as she'd gotten through the front door- but he lets out the tired sigh anyway and snaps his laptop closed. No point in doing any writing today if Stelle's here.
"Dannie, Dan Heng, A-Heng." Stelle chants, grinning like a loon. She strides straight into Dan Heng's personal space and waves a fist of something far too close to Dan Heng's face. "Guess what? Guess."
"What?" Dan Heng squints and carefully pushes Stelle's hand out of his face. He can just barely make out the strips of paper clutched in Stelle's grip, though Dan Heng can't exactly make out what they are.
"I got tickets." Stelle squeals. She finally backs off out of Dan Heng's space. "It's for the music mini-festival tonight. Stellaron's going to be there. The band that Firefly is in? Y'know?" Ah, well, that certainly explains Stelle's enthusiasm.
"What about March?" Dan Heng asks.
"Dead to the world." Stelle doesn't miss a beat. "She pulled, like, three all-nighters prepping for exams. Even I'm not enough of an asshole to wake her up right now." Dan Heng winces. Yeah, that's fair.
"So?" Stelle claps her hands together in front of her, tickets still in her grip. She makes a pathetic rendition of puppy eyes up at Dan Heng. "Will you come with me?"
Dan Heng tilts his head, considering. On the one hand, he's done with exams, and really doesn't have anything planned at all. On the other hand, concerts, especially rock ones, which Stelle seems to prefer, are not his scene at all. Stelle has puppy eyes cranked up to the max, though, and March is out for the count.
Dan Heng is also self-aware enough to know that he should really work on his own social life, so he takes pity on her. "Oh, alright. When is it?"
"Tonight at eight." Stelle slaps one of the tickets down on Dan Heng's desk. "Bring earplugs. Firefly managed to get me front row tickets and you bet it's going to be loud as hell." She dashes right back out of Dan Heng's room before Dan Heng can so much as respond.
Dan Feng meets Yingxing three weeks after he secedes from the Scalegourge sect. It's monsoon season, and not even Dan Feng's cloudhymn can keep him completely dry. He ends up taking shelter in a small roadside temple, and tiredly tries to draw out all the water from his robes.
The shelter is a fairly rickety little thing; the temple is clearly weather worn, and some of the wooden beams have started to rot. But the shrine in the temple itself is clearly well cared for. There are no offerings placed on the shrine, but there's also no dust, and several burnt husks of incense sticks stand in the incense bowl.
Dan Feng had left a small packet of dried fruit on the shrine, and then promptly set out to wringing his clothes dry. He's just finished hanging the fabric up to try on a makeshift rack of sticks he'd collected, and is kneeling in meditation when someone else ducks into the temple.
The stranger pauses right at the doorway. Smiling sheepishly, the stranger tilts his hat towards Dan Feng. "You don't mind if I duck out of the storm for a bit here, do you?"
The hat is made of bamboo, and the stranger is dressed in dark, nearly black, robes, and carries a single leather pack. There's a sword strapped to his hip, and Dan Feng mentally files that particular note for later. Perhaps this man is also a cultivator.
"I do not run this temple, and I am not averse to your company." Dan Feng responds.
The stranger laughs and steps fully into the temple. He drops his hat and pack off against the wall across the temple from Dan Feng, and strides forward to drop a handful of offerings at the shrine. Dan Feng watches as a collection of nuts and smooth round stones scudder across the offering table.
"I'm Yingxing, a rogue cultivator." The stranger says. He wanders back over to the wall by his pack of items and slides down to the ground. With an arm propped up on his knee, his entire posture is held open and casual, a stark contrast to Dan Feng's own stiff kneeling form.
"Dan Feng." Dan Feng responds. "Also a rogue cultivator." There's no point in hiding it; his own blade has never left his side this entire time. His face had also been pretty well-known, at least in the northern regions around Luofu. Dan Feng had hoped that he wouldn't be recognized this far south, by Zhuming, and his luck seems to be in his favor today. Yingxing doesn't even blink at Dan Feng's name.
"Are you here for the rumors in Firmamend?"
"No. I was only passing through the region."
Yingxing hums. "Well, there's word of a pack of ghouls hovering around the Firmamend temple. The locals think some foreign group of traders might've pissed off the dead in that area."
Dan Feng just blinks blankly.
"I'm headed there to see if they have a job." Yingxing continues. "I don’t think it’s gonna be all that difficult, but the company can’t hurt. Do you want to come with?"
Dan Feng tilts his head this time. "Are you asking me to go night hunting with you?" He squints dubiously.
Yingxing puffs out a breath of air. "Yeah, basically." He grins.
Dan Feng glances back outside the temple, contemplative. It's still pouring rain. Dan Feng wrinkles his nose; he’s not particularly looking forward to brave that storm again. He glances back towards Yingxing.
On the one hand, Dan Feng does need more funds. On the other hand, a random rogue cultivator inviting him out onto a night-hunt together?
Everything in Dan Feng that grew up in the dog-eat-dog political scene of Scalegorge is screaming at him to reject the offer. But he's honestly curious; are most rogue cultivators free to trust like this? Even if the only ties are a temporary promise of a job well done and pay, well, there's no harm in trying out this whole teamwork thing.
Besides, if Yingxing does turn around to try and back-stab him, Dan Feng is fairly confident in his skills; he'll be able to handle it.
"Sure." Dan Feng finally answers. He turns to look at Yingxing, who is sporting a small smile. "You'll have to lead the way though. I've never been to that temple."
Yingxing laughs out loud. "We'll travel together then. I look forward to working with you."
The concert goes exactly as Dan Heng had expected. That is, it’s incredibly, ear-piercingly loud. The music is good -Dan Heng can certainly admit that much- but his ears are ringing even with the earplugs in.
Stelle is clearly hyped up out of her mind; she jumps up and down, screaming, far too excited. Though, even if she were paying attention, Dan Heng doubts he'd be able to hold a conversation with her with the noise levels as they are.
Stellaron comes up onto the stage about half an hour into the show. Dan Heng recognizes Firefly immediately; she's the bright-eyed girl at the drums. The other members of the band, he only vaguely recognizes. He can easily match the name Silver Wolf to the girl at the keyboard- Stelle's apparently gaming buddies with her- and Kafka is the face of the Stellaron band. The guitarist, however, is an unfamiliar face.
He doesn't get a chance to ask Stelle who that is, though, because Kafka is quickly giving an opening speech, and the band launches right off into the music. Stelle goes straight back into screaming at the top of her lungs.
The music really is good, though Dan Heng might be biased. It's a softer flavor of rock, closer to pop or folk music, compared to the more metal-leaning pieces the previous band had played.
Kafka's voice is lovely, and the music isn't making Dan Heng want to physically shrink away from the noise. He stands there, fully enraptured by the concert. Stelle bounces on her toes, practically vibrating in place as she squeals. She screams the lyrics along with the band, swaying back and forth, and bumping into Dan Heng as she moves.
Stellaron closes off their final song with a few piercing notes and bows off of the stage. The crowd breaks out into applause, and Stelle finally lets out one final cheer. Dan Heng winces at the sudden rush of noise, shoulders instinctively hiking up to his ears.
Stelle waves both her arms up at the stage. Firefly glances through the crowd, and when her eyes fall on Stelle, the drummer smiles and offers a small wave back at Stelle. Both Kafka and the guitarist follow Firefly’s gaze and glance down at Stelle and Dan Heng.
Amber catches green, and the guitarist makes eye contact with Dan Heng. For a brief moment, Dan Heng feels as if the entire venue has melted away in the background. He's overcome with the urge to reach forward, rush towards the stage, grab on and never let go. The odd feeling fades just as quickly as it had risen when the guitarist turns away, and Dan Heng is left staring up blankly at an empty stage, his mouth oddly dry.
"Stelle." He runs a tongue over his lips. "Who's the guitarist?"
"Eh?" Stelle tilts her head to the side like a confused dog. "Ren? The dark-haired guy with the reddish eyes?"
"Yeah, him."
Stelle shrugs. "I'm not really close with him. He's definitely older than I am, from Xianzhou, and a surprisingly decent cook." Dan Heng hums absentmindedly. There'd been something oddly familiar about that man, but he can't quite put his finger on it. Dan Heng shelves that particular set of questions for later.
The next band- a Xianzhou-inspired one, by the looks of it- takes up the stage. Dan Heng physically winces when they launch off into an incredibly loud EDM piece. The accompanying light show isn't doing Dan Heng any favors either. He'd already been overstimulated by the first band, even if Stellaron had been a welcome sensory reprieve.
Somewhere in between all the flashing lights and loud drums, Dan Heng gains a headache. By the time the next band has finished performing, that headache has turned into an all out migraine. He's leaning his forehead against Stelle's shoulder, eyes squeezed shut.
Stelle is saying something to him, and Dan Heng can vaguely feel her shaking his shoulder, but Dan Heng can't hear her at all. Eventually, Stelle gives up, and bodily drags Dan Heng off in one direction. His entire head is throbbing, so he just lets Stelle lead him off to who knows where.
The music grows fainter the further Stelle takes him. Eventually, she lays Dan Heng down on what feels like a sofa, and a cold cloth is placed over his eyes. Dan Heng doesn't know how much time passes, but eventually, he feels well enough to peel his eyes open.
Dan Heng lifts up an edge of the cloth to glance around. He blinks a few times, trying to clear his vision. His ears are still ringing, and his head is pounding, and even without the loud guitar riffs and flashing lights, Dan Heng is still extremely disoriented.
Eventually, his senses settle enough that Dan Heng can make out the room. He’s sitting on a dingy old couch, and there are stacks of cardboard boxes lined against the walls. He's in some sort of break-room, probably in the back of the venue. Firefly stands by the doorway, wringing her hands together nervously, while Stelle is crouched by his side.
"Sorry." Stelle droops. Her voice is a little hoarse from earlier. "I knew it was loud but I didn't think…"
"It's alright." Dan Heng laughs, then winces when that causes another spike of pain. He drops the cloth back over his eyes. "I overestimated myself. It's not like the migraines are regular, anyway. There's no way you could've known."
"Still." Stelle pouts. "I'm really sorry. I should've come by myself." Dan Heng reaches out blindly. He thinks he pats Stelle on the head, though for all he knows that may have also been her shoulder.
"I'll be okay." Dan Heng says. "The sound insulation in here is really good. Go out and have fun." Dan Heng nudges Stelle with his elbow. "I'll just sleep off the headache, and we can go home when you're done. Ah, if Firefly doesn't mind me taking up the couch?" Dan Heng opens his eyes and squints in Firefly's direction.
Firefly shakes her head. "No, no. It's alright. Ren might drop by when he's done changing out of costume, though. He's not much for crowds either." Closing his eyes, Dan Heng just grunts out an affirmation.
"Are you sure?" Stelle flits about to and fro by Dan Heng's side.
Dan Heng makes another grunting noise. "Yes, I'm sure. You were looking forward to this event."
"I can ask Ren to look after him if you're worried about leaving him alone?" Firefly offers.
Dan Heng just waves a hand at her. "Don't worry about it. Like I said, I'll just sleep it off."
"Alright." There's obvious hesitation in Firefly's voice. "I'll look after Stelle for you then." Stelle makes a disgruntled 'hey'. Dan Heng shoots out a smile, and a simple thumbs up.
He hears Firefly take Stelle by the arm, probably bodily dragging Stelle out of the room to leave Dan Heng to his late night nap. The little light that had filtered through the towel over his eyes disappears; Stelle had probably turned off the lights. Breathing out, Dan Heng melts into the sofa cushions.
The rumored ghouls at the Firmamend temple turn out to be an entire party of heliobi. It isn't anything Dan Feng hasn't dealt with before- there'd been a party of heliobi that wandered the mountains by the Scalegorge Waterscape- but it's clearly Yingxing's first time dealing with the little buggers.
They do eventually manage to exorcise and seal all the creatures accordingly, but the ordeal does end with both Dan Feng and Yingxing covered in unmentionable substances of dubious origin.
After that incident, Dan Feng ends up sticking by Yingxing's side somehow. It's not as if Dan Feng had any destination in mind to begin with, but anywhere that wasn't Luofu was more than fine with him.
They had just collected their pay for the heliobi hunt when they finally got around to discussing their next destinations.
"I'm headed towards Yaoqing." Yingxing says, while the two of them sit in a dingy inn eating a simple bowl of rice and soup for dinner. "Where are you headed next? Are you going to stay in Zhuming?"
The spoon in Dan Feng's hand pauses right before his lips. Dan Feng looks up at Yingxing. Yingxing smiles back simply, tilting his head to the side. For a moment, Dan Feng is reminded of the stray dog he used to feed that lived by the river just outside the walls of Scalegorge Waterscape.
"I do not know if I will stay in Zhuming." Dan Feng finally says. "I was simply going to wander. If I leave Zhuming then I leave. If I circle back around, then I will stay."
"Would you like to come with me then?" Yingxing offers. "You're a skilled cultivator, and if I'm being honest, I quite enjoy your company as well."
Dan Feng blinks. "I don't see why not." He raises his spoon back up to his lips and continues eating dinner. Yingxing beams at Dan Feng from across the table.
They could probably be considered traveling partners, and Dan Feng certainly hopes that this arrangement will lean on the more permanent end. As time goes on, though, it starts to look as if Dan Feng and Yingxing really will be stuck together for the rest of their careers. Dan Feng follows Yingxing to Yaoqing and then never really leaves, and Yingxing is perfectly happy with the arrangement.
"It can get lonely, traveling by yourself." Yingxing says one night. They're out nighthunting some sort of water ghoul lurking in the local rivers in Daiyu and Yingxing, chatty as he is, had started yammering away to break the silence of the night. "I'm glad that I got the chance to meet you, and that you decided to stick around." He barks out a laugh to himself at this.
"I'm glad I met you too." Dan Feng says simply. "I don't think I've ever had a friend like you before." Or a friend at all, really. Yingxing's certainly the most pleasant person to be around that Dan Feng has ever met. The only close second had been Jingliu, and after everything… well…
They're not all that close anymore, is all.
Besides, Yingxing is sociable enough that he can take on the bulk of client interaction, while Dan Feng stands icily in the background. It suits Dan Feng perfectly- clients have been consistently less pissed off whenever they talk to Yingxing first.
Yingxing lets out a whistle. "I highly doubt that. You're an amazing cultivator, if nothing else."
"Being a strong cultivator only means courting attention, and not all of it is positive." Dan Feng turns away from Yingxing. "In certain scenes, even the positive attention can easily become poisonous." He fights the urge to wrap his arms around himself, even as he clenches his jaw.
There's little point in thinking back on those days, not when he has no intentions of returning. Dan Feng wants to never think of it, much less to actually talk about it.
It's all in the past now, dead alongside everything else in that life.
Thankfully, Yingxing seems to pick up on Dan Feng's mood, as the other man simply hums in acquiescence, and drops the topic.
"Well," He says. "I like you just fine, and I'd think that the attention of a humble nobody rogue cultivator is far less likely to bite compared to the attention of a noble."
Dan Feng can feel the tips of his ears heating up, and he pointedly takes a bite out of his rice.
Dan Heng wakes up slowly to the sound of someone quietly tuning an acoustic guitar. He blinks, slowly peeling his eyes open, and turns his head to the side. The towel from earlier, now no longer cold, slips off his face and falls to the floor.
The room is completely dark, save for the bit of light bleeding from the crack beneath the door. It’s just enough light to bathe the room in a dull shade of green. Distantly, Dan Heng can still hear the sounds of the music show from the stage; the concert must still be going on. He hadn’t had the chance to appreciate it earlier, but the soundproofing in this back room really is good; even the heavy metal outside sounds muffled to Dan Heng. To actually be out there- Dan Heng winces at the thought.
That person is still tuning their guitar. The notes are soft, and plucked slowly.
"You can tune louder." Dan Heng says. He pushes himself upright into a sitting position. "I'm awake. I don't think trying to tune something so quietly will give you the right pitch." He glances around, eyes stopping on the figure who is sat in a foldable chair in the corner. It's too dark for Dan Heng to make out any other figures, but it's probably Ren, judging by the frame of his body.
"It's already mostly been tuned." Ren simply answers. He plucks another note, though this one louder, and sets his guitar to the side. "I was just fixing a single string."
Dan Heng shrugs stiffly. Reaching his arms above his head, he can feel his spine crack into place as he stretches. "What time is it?"
"Around two in the morning." Ren leans down, digging around on the floor for something. He gets up to his feet and starts towards Dan Heng. Dan Heng blinks dumbly when Ren unceremoniously shoves a plastic water bottle in his face.
"Hydrating is good for headaches." Ren says simply.
"…Thanks." Dan Heng gingerly takes the water bottle. He swings his legs off of the sofa as he unscrews the cap of the bottle. Ren calmly walks back to his chair and drags the seat so that it's just across the sofa, close to the makeshift cardboard-box of a coffee table instead.
This close, Dan Heng can finally make out the color of Ren's eyes- that peculiar shade of orange-red, bright even in the dim room. For some reason, Dan Heng feels his throat close up with a feeling not unlike the beginnings of grief. Dan Heng tears his gaze away before he can do something embarrassing, like actually start crying. That'd certainly be a first impression.
"I'm Dan Heng," He coughs into his fist, "One of Stelle's friends."
"Ren.” The man responds. “Stelle's spoken of you. And March too."
"March has been to your shows too, then?"
"She often comes with Stelle." Ren tilts his head to the side, assessing. "I see she didn't come with you this time."
"She's passed out. We just finished exams, so Stelle took me with her instead."
Ren hums. He pauses, then asks, "Are you feeling better?"
"The headache's gone, if that's what you mean." Dan Heng finally chances a look back at Ren. That weird grief-like feeling from earlier is still there, though no longer as overwhelming. Dan Heng no longer feels like crying- just pulling Ren into a hug instead. His chest hurts, and Dan Heng reaches up a hand to rub the heel of his palm against his sternum. Perhaps he's developing some sort of heart condition, or something. Hah.
"I liked your guys' music." Dan Heng says. He's usually used to silence, but this particular silence feels strung through. There's an odd, awkward tension hanging between the two of them, and Dan Heng finds that he can't stand it.
"There's no need to flatter us." Ren replies. "The concert gave you a migraine."
Dan Heng shrugs. "I can get a migraine from the music and still like it. Besides, your piece was on the softer side. I really did like it." Dan Heng takes another sip from his water. "Who did the writing for it?"
Here, Ren pauses. He's steadfastly staring straight at the wall, away from Dan Heng.
"Kafka usually does most of the songwriting." Ren finally says. "Since we have to make sure the notes are in her vocal range."
"So, Kafka wrote it then?"
"…Not this time. We've been trying new things recently. Firefly and Silverwolf both wrote some of their own pieces. I wrote the one we played today." Ren tilts his head to the side. "That may be why you preferred it, since our style has been shifting around a bit more recently.”
He pauses again, almost unsure of if he should continue or not, but then follows up with, “Kafka's pieces tended to lean towards the metal that Stelle enjoys."
"Huh."
They lapse into awkward silence again after that. Dan Heng fidgets with the water bottle in his hands. Only the crinkling of plastic breaks through the tension in the room.
"Do you go to the same university as Stelle?"
Dan Heng blinks. Looking up, he sees Ren staring right at him.
"Yeah? That's how we met."
Ren hums. He's still staring unwaveringly at Dan Heng.
Dan Heng has to look away again, moving his gaze down to his hands as the silence bears down on them.
"Have we met before?" Ren finally asks.
Dan Heng blinks. "Huh?"
"You seem really familiar." Ren continues. "I thought I recognized you, when I saw you from the stage."
"Oh." Dan Heng finally looks up again, but he's still refusing to glance in Ren's direction. He fixes his stare on a blank patch of wall. "I don't think so, no. You don't go to Paperfold, right?"
Ren shakes his head.
"And I've never been to any of your shows until now either." Dan Heng continues rambling. "Maybe I just look like someone you've met before." He pointedly doesn't say anything about his own reaction to seeing Ren; it's one thing to look at someone and find them visually familiar. It's another to look at them and see someone you haven't seen in years, even if you've never met them before.
Weirdness aside, Dan Heng doesn't think Ren's "recognition" is anything like his. A part of him just wants to crawl over to Ren and lean against him, take in his warmth and maybe wrap an arm around the taller man’s side.
Dan Heng shakes off the thought, his ears heating up. Hopefully it's too dark for Ren to see his blush.
Dan Heng raises a hand to cover his mouth when a yawn breaks out. The earlier exhaustion rears its head, and Dan Heng finds himself blinking sleep out of his eyes all over again.
"You can go back to sleep on the couch." Ren says. He's finally turned away from Dan Heng. "It's unlikely Stelle will be back until the event is completely over, and the festival's scheduled to last until seven in the morning."
Wincing, Dan Heng shoves all earlier thoughts aside. "If you don't mind, then." He pulls off his jacket and drapes it over himself like a blanket. In the blink of an eye, Dan Heng is shamelessly curled up on the couch. He genuinely is tired; even if the migraine is gone now, his sleep schedule is not adjusted for being up at two in the morning.
He thinks he hears Ren huff out a light chuckle as Dan Heng twists around to turn his back towards the room, but it's probably just his imagination.
The last time Dan Feng had felt fear like this, he'd just gotten word that Baiheng had died, and that Jingliu was missing.
This time, the forest is burning to the ground around Dan Feng, and Yingxing is nowhere to be seen.
They'd been hunting a Huodou, trailing after the string of fires it'd left in its wake. Dan Feng had initially expected a lower-level fire ghoul, but as the casualties had racked up, he'd grown more and more nervous.
"Perhaps we should retreat." He says to Yingxing, just a day before they launch themselves into the fray. "A Huodou is not something that two people can properly take care of. We can report its presence to the local sect and wait for back up."
"By the time they get here another village will be gone." Yingxing spits back. Dan Feng flinches away; Yingxing rarely raises his voice like this, and never directed at Dan Feng.
The other cultivator draws in a heavy breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sorry." He grits out. "But I'm not leaving this alone. We can leave a message for the local sects to keep an eye out, but I'm hunting this damn thing."
Dan Feng finally uncurls and purses his lips, clearly displeased. He’s helpless to argue though, as he always is with Yingxing, and simply nods.
It was a terrible idea, Dan Feng thinks, as he rushes through the burning forest. He should've protested some more. Prepared more talismans, maybe even rushed to the local sects first and picked up some disciples for support. Anything would've been better than this.
The Huodou is dead, its corpse flaking away into ash behind Dan Feng, and Dan Feng can not find Yingxing.
The smoke is acrid and choking, and Dan Feng can barely see in front of him, let alone far enough to properly search.
"Yingxing." He rasps out anyway, because he'll be damned if he lets it end like this. The other man's name sounds so feeble in Dan Feng's throat. "Yingxing." His throat hurts. He can't breathe. He's not strong enough for this.
He can’t lose another person. Not like this. Especially not Yingxing. Yingxing, who’d been the only one to truly see Dan Feng. Yingxing, who’s been at Dan Feng’s side for longer than anyone else.
He’d have to go on hunts by himself again; a stone sinks in his stomach as his heart rises in his throat at the thought. There’d be no one to share quiet conversation with. No one to smooth over Dan Feng’s social faux paus. It’d just be Dan Feng, all alone in the world with no one to call home.
A hand clasps onto Dan Feng's shoulder, and Dan Feng spins around, his sword whipping upright.
Yingxing stands there, holding his hands up in submission. He's smiling, a bit burnt at the edges, and there's a wound bleeding sluggishly in his shoulder.
But he's alive, and that's really all that matters.
"Yingxing." Dan Feng rasps out again; this time, rather than desperation, raw relief colors his voice.
"I'm okay." Yingxing whispers. He coughs, then takes Dan Feng by the hand. "Let's get out of here, yeah?" Dan Feng can only dumbly nod as Yingxing drags him out of the burning forest.
They end up sitting by the river, upwind from the fire. Dan Feng shakes with a cough from the smoke. He carefully wraps up Yingxing's wounds despite his own aches and burns.
"Never do that again." He says, yanking the bandages tight. Yingxing winces at the pressure. "I thought I lost you. I couldn't find you at all after you ran off and I-" Dan Feng chokes on his words. His eyes are burning, and something in his chest hurts. He jabs Yingxing in the ribs on his uninjured side, unable to figure out how to parse that worry and hurt into words.
"Sorry." Yingxing laughs sheepishly.
Clicking his tongue, Dan Feng ties off the last of the bandages. "Look after yourself some more."
"I do."
"Not like this."
"But the Huodou-"
Dan Feng lets out a growl of frustration. Reaching upward, he grabs Yingxing by the back of his neck, forcing Yingxing to look straight into his eyes.
"I thought you were dead." Dan Feng bites out. "You're the only one I have left." He can’t say more than that. The feelings swirling around inside his chest are too tangled for Dan Feng to twist into words.
Yingxing stares back at him blinking dumbly. Dan Feng lets out another frustrated whine. He yanks Yingxing towards him, and in one shift movement, catches Yingxing into an open-mouthed kiss. It's rough, with clacking teeth and nipped lips. After a moment, Yingxing presses right back into the kiss.
When Dan Feng finally pulls away, he's completely flushed red. His lips are slightly swollen, and his expression mirroring that of a particularly disgruntled kitten.
Yingxing blinks slowly at Dan Feng. He runs a tongue over his lips, then breaks out into a small smile.
"Shut up." Dan Feng's still blushing. "I'm still mad at you."
"I didn't even say anything." Yingxing is still smiling dopily, but he clambers to his feet. Offering a hand to pull Dan Feng up, he says, "Let's get out of here, yeah?"
The next time Dan Heng wakes up from his, admittedly shitty, nap, it's around four in the morning. Two hours of sleep. Great. He gropes around for his phone, gets blinded by his screen, squints at it for the time, then lets his arm drop off the side of the couch.
Ren is slouched over the side of the sofa across from Dan Heng; at some point he'd propped his legs up onto the cardboard box-coffee table. Dan Heng has managed to sprawl his own legs partway up against Ren's torso, underneath Ren's arm.
Dan Heng chokes, then tries to extricate himself as quickly as possible without disturbing the guitarist. Just as he's about to completely free himself, as if on cue, the door to the break room slams open.
Stelle flicks the lights on and squints at Dan Heng. Dan Heng slowly backs away from Ren, who is slowly groaning awake.
Stelle squints some more. Dan Heng scowls.
"No." He hisses. Stelle breaks out into something of a smug smirk anyway. Thankfully, she doesn't say anything, and only waggles her eyebrows at Dan Heng.
Well, on the plus side, she clearly isn't drunk. Drunk-Stelle would not have the self-control to stay quiet.
Ren, however, had definitely been startled awake by the slamming door. He groans slightly as he shuffles around. The guitarist rubs the bridge of his nose, blinking the sleep out of his eyes, and finally looks up towards Stelle.
"Where's Firefly?"
Stelle's expression drops into something more neutral. "Kafka's driving her back to her flat. Why?"
Ren hums, pulling his legs off of the cardboard box. "I drove her to the event. How did you guys get here?"
"Public transport." Stelle shoots him a v-sign. "It's the broke uni student vibe."
"You need a ride back?"
"Are you offering?"
Ren shrugs. "Your apartment is en route to my place anyway."
Stelle lets out a happy whistle. She turns towards Dan Heng with a thumbs up. "Great job man. He never drives me anywhere without Firefly begging first. This is gonna be great."
Dan Heng squints suspiciously at Stelle. He turns to Ren, and squints some more.
Ren just shrugs. "Silverwolf says I should have my license revoked, but Stelle seems fine with it, and I've yet to be actually arrested."
Dan Heng doesn't even blink. "Stelle's a terrible reference. She actually did get her license revoked." He pauses and considers. "But I did still let her drive me around for our entire first year. Can't be worse than that." Stelle makes a half-hearted protest in the background.
"I'll drive you home then." Ren responds. He's staring directly at Dan Heng now, not even bothering to glance in Stelle's direction.
Stelle claps her hands together, snapping Dan Heng's attention back towards her. "Great, let's get out of here then." She chirps, then dips straight back out of the break room. Dan Heng trails after her, and the three of them sneak through the back of the stage. They quietly slip out of the back door and into the parking lot.
Surprisingly, Ren actually isn't a much shittier driver than Stelle. Sure, Dan Heng has probably gained a few new bruises from being thrown around in the back of the car, what with all the sudden starts and stops and sharp curves, but Ren has also managed to avoid hitting any obstacles and nobody's thrown up, which is a marked improvement compared to Stelle's driving.
They get to the apartment after a surprisingly quick half-hour drive- ah, the wonders of missing traffic. Stelle had ended up passing out on Dan Heng's shoulder during the ride, so when they finally arrive at their apartment, Dan Heng is the one who has to go digging through her pockets for their keys as he slings her unconscious form over his shoulder.
He kicks open the apartment door with his foot, and Stelle finally detaches from him to stumble into the living room and collapse onto the couch. Melting into a puddle of limbs, she starts snoring away happily almost immediately.
Dan Heng turns to Ren, awkwardly gesturing towards the interior of the apartment. "Come in, if you'd like?"
Ren shakes his head. "I won't bother you." He doesn't leave either, though, instead stiffly shifting from foot to foot. Dan Heng blinks at him.
"Would you…like to meet up again?" Blade finally says. He's not looking at Dan Heng, and it's too dark for Dan Heng to completely make out his expression.
"Pardon?"
"Would you like to meet up again?" Blade repeats. "Or we could exchange numbers. I just…" He halts, pauses and thinks. "You’re good company."
"I'm fine with meeting again." Dan Heng unlocks his phone and hands it to Ren. "When?"
"Day after tomorrow?"
"I'm fine with that." He saves Ren's contact information into his phone. "Do you have a location?"
Ren pauses, then says. "I'll text you?"
"That's fine."
Ren nods once, looking oddly self-satisfied despite not having a drop of expression on his face. "I'll see you then, then."
"See you." Dan Heng huffs out a light laugh. "Goodnight. Or morning, or whatever." Ren dips his head once in Dan Heng's direction, then slowly retreats down the hall back towards the elevator.
Dan Heng shuts the door behind him.
Yingxing's blood has already cooled by the time Dan Feng makes it to the clearing. He lays there, on the grassy forest floor, still and unmoving. There's a gaping hole in his chest, and Dan Feng can no longer breathe.
"Yingxing." Dan Feng chokes out, stumbling forward. Sinking to his knees, he lowers his hands, running his fingers lightly over Yingxing's face. Yingxing can only stare unblinkingly up at Dan Feng. There's no warmth to his expression- there's no life to him at all. He's a cold, cold corpse on the forest floor, and once again, Dan Feng is far too late.
"Yingxing." Dan Feng chokes. He curls forward, tangling his fingers into Yingxing's robes, pressing his forehead against Yingxing's unmoving chest.
There's still jiangshi roaming these woods. There's still a malevolent god hiding in the trees. The preceptors are just on the edge outside the forest, determined to have Dan Feng meet his end.
Dan Feng finds that he can't bring himself to care anymore.
Eventually, sobs break free from him. Slowly, those sobs turn into anguished wails. He cries and cries, his grief the only sound in this deathly silent forest.
He isn't really aware of it, when he starts drawing the lines in the grass. His hands are soaked in blood- both his own and Yingxing's. The last time he'd tried this had been when Baiheng had died. It hadn't worked then; it'd only driven off Jingliu and then gotten Dan Feng exiled. He isn't sure why he's expecting it to work this time either.
There's nothing left for Dan Feng to lose now, though. Jingliu has wandered off into the wilderness. Baiheng is long dead. Jingyuan has built himself a life far away from Dan Feng. The Scalegorge has long since abandoned Dan Feng, and Dan Feng has long abandoned it in turn.
All Dan Feng has left is Yingxing, and Yingxing is slipping away.
The wards he draws in the grass glow once, then sputter out. He adds more lines, erases some, curves a few. Over and over and over again. Perhaps he'll be lucky. Perhaps something will bring Yingxing back.
There's resentful energy building up in the air. Every part of Dan Feng's body hurts. He'd been cast out in the past for this; there's no one left to reject him now- no one but Yingxing, and if he does-
Well, that'll be fine. Because that'll mean that Yingxing will be awake and alive enough to hate Dan Feng.
Dan Feng's scrambling now; he smears messy streaks of cinnabar on Yingxing's corpse. He hears rustling in the forest in the background- monsters or men, perhaps both, draw closer and closer.
The wards spark and sputter. Nothing Dan Feng does is working.
And then-
He can't breathe anymore. His chest hurts, in a way that isn't just from grief.
Dan Feng blinks. Coughs once. Spits up blood. His limbs go weak beneath him and he collapses forward on top of Yingxing's body. Through blurred vision, he turns his head and glances up. Someone is standing above him; the figure is dressed in blue-green robes- the colors of the Scalegorge sect- and they have a bloodied sword in hand.
Ah, Dan Feng thinks, as the ice crawls up his body. Such a pathetic ending, for a once proud man.
At the very least he'll see Yingxing soon. It's a weak bit of comfort, but it's comfort nonetheless.
Dan Feng closes his eyes. There's a hole in his torso and it aches to live. Yingxing is gone, and he is so, so, tired.
It's nearing nine am when Dan Heng finally drags himself out of his room. He's still tired; the sporadic naps he'd taken during the music show have definitely fucked with his sleep schedule. Granted, March doesn't look to be doing much better. She sits at the kitchen island, blearily hunching over a cup of what is probably coffee, and looking absolutely drained.
Stelle is still collapsed on the sofa, happily snoring away. She's practically pooling off the side of the couch, with her legs propped up against the back, and a shoulder pressed against the ground.
"You guys look like you had fun." March slurps loudly from her drink. "I slept for seventeen straight hours." Dan Heng winces. He heads into the kitchen and begins digging around in the fridge.
"You doing good?" He asks. They really need to go grocery shopping soon; there's a single tomato and a cup of yogurt in the fridge.
"Eh." March throws back the last of her coffee and slams her mug on the dining table. "I'm alive. Good enough."
The front door rings. March groans and faceplants into the counter. Grabbing the yogurt, Dan Heng snorts and calls out "I'll get it!" March's thanks is muffled by the table.
When Dan Heng opens the door, he blinks up in surprise. Ren looks down at him, then wordlessly holds up a phone.
"Stelle left her phone." He says simply. The device seems to have gained a few cracks on its screen since Dan Heng last saw it, but it's otherwise intact.
As if on cue, Stelle scrambles off of the couch and bolts towards the front door. She makes grabby hands and nabs her phone out of Ren's grips. "Oh my god I was looking for that."
"You left it with Firefly." Ren says simply, ignoring Dan Heng's muttered what-the-fuck-since-when-have-you-been-awake. He glances up towards March and dips his head slightly in greeting. "Good morning, March."
March raises a hand up at Ren in greeting, but doesn't respond much more past turning her head to press her cheek into the table.
"Thanks." Stelle chirps. Quick as she'd appeared at Dan Heng's side, she despawns off to the kitchen.
Ren turns towards Dan Heng, dipping his head slightly. "Are you still free tomorrow?"
"Yes." Dan Heng nods.
Ren makes another nod in return, "I will see you tomorrow, then. At eleven thirty. Golden Hour Cafe?" Dan Heng nods again. Ren hums and dips his head towards Dan Heng. Wordlessly spinning on his heels, he briskly makes his way back down the hall. Dan Heng glances out the door, gaping at Ren's back.
March scrunches up her nose. "What was that about?"
Stelle, meanwhile, starts outright cackling. She has the single tomato in her hand, and has taken a bite out of it like an apple. "Oh my god, did you score a date?"
"Is it a date?" Dan Heng manages to squeak out.
Stelle flaps her hand at Dan Heng. "It totally is."
March takes pity on him. "Just make sure to ask him if it is, when you actually meet up. Though…" She squints at Dan Heng, eyeing him up and down. "Let me dress you this time."
Dan Heng lets out a strangled noise. He sinks to a crouch and buries his face in his hands, cheeks flaming.
Stelle's cackling rings out through the flat.