Work Text:
When the assassin comes through the window in the dead of night, Caelus is ready.
Despite managing to evade the guards on the walls and the guards outside in the halls, they hadn't seemed to expect another figure inside. Even half asleep, the pause as they process is all Caelus needs to get the jump on them, but they won't go down without a fight.
The figure holds a knife, and even as Caelus tries to disarm them they're fighting him, knife versus bare hands. He has to duck back to avoid a jab at his face and they take the opportunity to twist his hand hard enough to break his grip, slashing downwards at his shoulder and making contact if the sharp flare of pain afterwards is enough to judge by.
They've overreached, though. The straight line of their arm presents a target, one he can easily strike with his opposite hand, and once they flinch on reflex he can recapture their knife hand and pry their fingers off the handle, leaving the blade clattering to the floor.
He sees fear in their eyes then. Good. That noise was probably loud enough to alert the guards, who knew full well the prince was commonly asleep at these hours if he was in his bedroom. Caelus knocks the figure out without further difficulty, leaving them slumping down against the wall next to the window they'd opened, which he promptly shuts. It's cold outside, this late at night, with only moonlight illuminating the room that had become a fighting ground.
Soft footsteps pad up behind him as he kicks the knife towards the bedroom doors, leaving it waiting for the guards and out of reach of the assassin. Dan Heng has always been a light sleeper, even on the best of nights, and this doesn't count as best in any sense.
"Caelus," he says sleepily, "you're bleeding." In the dim moonlight, Caelus twists around to find the mirror and realizes the sting in his shoulder had its true severity heavily masked by adrenaline. A growing dark patch on his shoulder drips down his sleeve, and this shirt is absolutely thoroughly ruined by this point.
Dan Heng keeps first aid supplies in the nightstand by the bed, and Caelus has never asked why when they have a perfectly good infirmary downstairs, but tonight his apparent paranoia is coming in handy. The assassin is left outside the room without any further issue, and Caelus's already ruined shirt is removed for a better look at the injury.
"You shouldn't be one doing this," Caelus says softly. "It's alright. We have the healers, or the other guards, or… anyone, I don't know, you should be asleep right now."
Dan Heng wipes rivulets of blood off his arm with a damp cloth. "Do you think just because I'm the prince I can't care about you? Caelus, we share a bed more nights than we don't. You've just saved my life. I do not wish to see you in pain when I can easily prevent it."
"…Thank you, Dan Heng," Caelus manages, and it's all he can say as gentle hands wrap the wound with a practiced efficiency. The adrenaline is wearing off bit by bit, leaving the pain in its wake, and any movement of his shoulder has him gritting his teeth. He probably won't be sleeping tonight, between that and the assassination attempt. Even now, in the early hours of the morning, he's restless and jumpy, and he knows the security outside will have been shored up again but he doesn't know if something like this could already happen again.
It's his job to guard the prince, until the very end. If he can't do that, if he's asleep at a critical moment, what's the point of keeping him around?
His mobility is more limited than expected, but he manages to pull a new shirt on without too much of a struggle. Dan Heng is already sliding himself back into his bed (their bed?) with far too much ease for someone who had nearly died barely half an hour earlier.
"Caelus? Are you coming back?" he calls, and Caelus looks across the moonlit courtyard below Dan Heng's window and sees no movement. The other guards would take care of any other intruders tonight, and if those who dared to try knew what was best for them, they'd at least wait for another night when the security had loosened back to normal standards.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming."
The covers are warm in the cold of the night. Caelus feels hyperaware of Dan Heng next to him in a way he usually isn't on nights like these. His shoulder aches.
"You should probably have that looked at by someone else," Dan Heng whispers in the dark and quiet. "In the morning, at least. While I may have some experience, I'm no professional."
"It's okay for right now. It can wait for the morning." Caelus would turn to face Dan Heng, but that would require his weight on his injured shoulder, so he doesn't. "Thanks. Again. Even if it only lasts until morning, I didn't have to head downstairs tonight."
"Don't mention it. As long as it means you're comfortable." Dan Heng's hand seeks his out under the covers, giving it a squeeze before retreating again. Suddenly, Caelus is glad for the dark.
(And if he's left staring at the ceiling for a long time after that, long past Dan Heng drifting off to sleep, wondering just why the prince does all of this for him… well, that's just for him to know.)