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March 7th was not okay.
In fact, she was fuming. Why? Oh, certainly not due to the absolutely unreasonable and blockheaded behavior of her two best-friends-slash-crewmates. And certainly not because it felt like she was witnessing a live re-enaction of the worst will-they-won’t-they romcom in existence! Absolutely not! In fact, she couldn’t care less about the fact that the dense Dragon and the stupid Raccoon were wasting the time on dancing around each other instead of thinking about the mental health of their friend and simply confessing their obvious feelings to each other.
Having said that, it seems that some explanations are in order, so let us start from the beginning of this maddeningly idiotic, but nonetheless sweet story:
***
“So, care to explain what was that?” March stood with crossed arms, having posed the question. Her narrow gaze was directed at none other than the resident archivist and the guard of the Astral Express – Dan Heng. The girl had dragged him away for a talk as soon as the aftershocks of the battle against the Doomsday Beast had passed and Stelle’s condition was stabilized.
“Elaborate?” The raven-haired man was a picture of calmness as he shifted his gaze to look at March, questioning her intent.
“Don’t give me that! I’m talking about when Stelle woke up, obviously!” Exclaimed the pink-haired archer. “I may not be as knowledgeable as you are, but I just know that what you tried to do back then was not CPR!” She accusingly pointed her finger at the man. “Dan Heng, I didn’t know you had a habit of kissing unconscious women.” March continued her teasing with a smirk.
“Don’t make this weird.” The young man replied, his outward appearance remaining calm. “It’s not like I have actual experience performing CPR, so I panicked.” He fell silent, not intending to talk about this topic any further, much to his companion’s disappointment.
No matter. She will make sure to remind him of it later.
***
March could tell that something was up.
While some people may think that she’s not the brightest person around, and, to some extent that may be correct, she easily notices the changes in behavior of her friends. It started small: Looks that linger a bit longer than necessary, Stelle often choosing to sit beside Dan Heng even if there are other places available, Dan Heng being a bit overly thorough with checking up on her after their battles… Those kinds of things.
Of course, whenever March decided to tease the people in question about it, both refuted her claims with a deadpan expression, saying that she must have read too much romance novels lately. And if things stayed the same way, she may have eventually caved in and admitted to being wrong. She may have accepted the fact that her two best friends were not, in fact, secretly in love with each other. Surely, they simply became closer after Stelle’s first Trailblazing expedition. There is nothing unusual about Dan Heng acting overprotective: he quite literally saw Stelle being impaled with an ice spear right though her chest. March could accept these explanations.
But those only held up until, one quiet morning, she spotted the gray-haired troublemaker leaving the archive room with visible bedhead and wearing only pajamas.
When the surprise wore off, March felt ecstatic, like she could start jumping around in pure joy at any moment. She felt vindicated in her suspicions. All that was left now was to wait until breakfast, when those two will finally admit to starting a relationship. And if they don’t, she will be twice as vigilant to call them out on any overly affectionate behavior. They wouldn’t escape her now.
Except that there was nothing she could latch onto during breakfast.
No sudden closeness, no hugs or kisses or pet names, and of course, no confession. It was as if the scene that March saw in the morning was something she dreamt up while still half-asleep. Fine. She would let it go for now. She would wait until these two were ready to spill the beans about all this, and THEN she’ll tease them so hard people will start calling her an emanator of Aha.
***
It only got worse.
As time went on, the resident Trash Panda and the quiet Archivist had grown closer. Any same person would assume that at least one of them would eventually confess, and yet…
“What are you reading, Dan Heng?” As her question was met with a hum of acknowledgement, Stelle softly sat down near the Vidyadhara and peered over his shoulder to look at the datapad in his hands. In response, the man brought it closer, letting his companion read the contents and paying no mind to the very much intimate distance between their faces, as if that had only been natural.
“Some of the files we have on Penacony. I have never been there myself, so it would be useful to brush up my knowledge.” Dan Heng’s eyes don’t move away from the datapad as he finally voices his thoughts. “I could send you a copy if you’re interested.”
“Nah, I’m good. Why bother with that if I can just read it here?” Stelle waves him off, staying where she is. “Or does Cold Dragon Young think me a nuisance?” She teases with a wink.
“No.” The response is short, and he means it.
“Guys, can you please flirt somewhere private? This doesn’t feel like a Parlor Car conversation.” A third voice entered the conversation. One, belonging to none other than the resident pink-haired photography expert. She was looking at the pair with an unamused look in her eyes: one that said just how much she was about done with what she was seeing.
“Huh? We’re not though.” Stelle responded, her voice clearly surprised and accompanied by Dan Heng’s incredulous look that seemed to say: ‘What in the world possessed you to say that?’ Both appeared to be genuinely surprised at the implication. Either that, or their shared poker-face was simply that good.
“You guys are all over each other and-” March abruptly stopped, sighing deeply. “You know what? I’m not even going to bother with saying that.” She stood up to leave. “Have fun. I’ll go reorganize my photo album or something, so don’t let me distract you.” And with those words, she swiftly exited the Parlor Car.
“What’s gotten into her?” Stelle asked, receiving only a sigh from Dan Heng in response.
***
Penacony was a mess.
The crew got trapped in a dream, met an emanator of Nihility, fought a walking pigeon who attempted to become an Aeon, rammed him with a train, broke a dream and somehow fought in a ritual that involved summoning heroes from another world. And were trapped in a dream. Again. Then broke it. Again.
Oh, and they also now had a wanted fugitive on board. But that was the least surprising event of all.
The most pressing problem was Stelle’s obvious lack of sleep. March didn’t know the exact details of what happened, but it definitely had something to do with some of the dreams that her best friend experienced on Penacony. The girl was afraid to fall asleep and no matter how March tried to talk to her, it was no use. She refused any suggestions for rest or sleepovers, claiming that she’s still energetic enough to keep working.
And yet, despite all the resulting anxiety, the problem was resolved as abruptly as it appeared, simply by having Dan Heng intervene. He wasn’t trying to convince her to rest, no. The Archivist simply picked Stelle up like a sack of potatoes and dragged her off to her own room, kicking and screaming. That wasn’t too surprising by itself: Dan Heng was known for being a no-nonsense person when it was about the safety and health of his friends.
The most interesting part was the fact that he never returned back after dragging the rabid Raccoon off. He didn’t return to the Parlor Car, nor the Archives – March checked even there. It wasn’t too difficult to guess where he was, but she still felt that she needed to make sure.
Lo and behold: She spotted the grumpy Archivist leaving Stelle’s room in the morning while looking a lot happier than he usually did. March didn’t really try to hide her presence from him, and so, he only said one thing when he passed her.
“No.” The cut and dry answer to her unvoiced question quickly dampened March’s spirits as she grumbled something about a dense Dragon, before entering Stelle’s room to pester her with questions instead. Unsurprisingly, the girl was already awake – Dan Heng didn’t seem like the type to quietly disappear in the mornings after all. Her eyes quickly focused on March as she made a sound that resembled something between a nervous chuckle and an embarrassed grumble.
“So.” March started. “You guys sleep together.” This wasn’t a question, but a statement of an obvious fact – she was done beating around the bush with her friend.
“Phrasing, March. You make it sound weird.” Stelle’s response lacked her usual spunk behind it. It probably dawned on her that she was truly cornered. “It’s also not like that, so get your head out of the gutter.”
“Oh?” The pink-haired archer smiled, clearly enjoying this. “I was talking about normal, literal sleeping together. Whatever could you be talking about?” She approached Stelle, bounce in her step. “Maybe it’s you who should get your head out of the gutter instead?”
“Look, he was just there to help me sleep, okay? I do have nightmares sometimes and it’s easier if Dan Heng is here.” This did sound like truth, but March wouldn’t be March if she was satisfied with that.
“Stelle.” She spoke slowly, putting her hands on her friend’s shoulders. “You do understand that friends of the opposite sex don’t normally sleep together, right? Even if it’s about helping with nightmares. Gosh, he would probably just send you to me with this issue instead, right?” March didn’t know how much it would take to get through that thick skull of hers, so she needed to be as direct as possible. “What I’m saying is that this isn’t normal ‘friend’ behavior, and yet you still claim that you aren’t dating.”
“I mean, he did say at first that I should go to you with this… But you snore. And you kick in your sleep.” Stelle said, answering to her friend’s second question, which made a vein pop out on her forehead when she heard that.
‘The nerve of her!’ March’s smile became strained, as she focused on breathing to calm down.
“And, well… You know Dan Heng. He’s the kind of person who would help his friends like that.” Now this made March seriously mad. She needed to put a stop to this now.
“Reeeeally?” Her tone became a bit menacing as she stretched the word. “So, you can imagine Dan Heng doing the same for me, for example? Or, letting me sit as close to him as you do, looking over his shoulder, almost cuddling together?” Stelle seemed to jump a bit as she heard that, which didn’t escape March’s attention. “Or him letting me behave the way you do with a same smile on his face? Girl. How dense can you get?”
“W-well, I…” The gray-haired girl backed away slightly, trying to find words.
“Seriously…” March sighed. “Look. Let me just ask you straight: Do you like Dan Heng more than a friend? And don’t give me this nonsense about proper conduct, and all of us being teammates. Just say it as it is.”
“I…” Stelle paused, conflict evident on her face. After several long seconds of deliberation, she finally looked up at her friend with a trace of her usual determination in her eyes. “I like Dan Heng.”
“And there you have it.” Finally hearing the obvious fact being put into words by the person in question seemed to lift at least some weight from March’s shoulders, however she still sensed the incoming ‘But.’.
“But… well… even if I do like him, that doesn’t mean Dan Heng would feel the same way towards me, right?” And here it was. March wanted nothing more than to facepalm so hard it would be heard across the Express. “And why would he? He’s a wonderful person who is responsible. And he always helps his friends, and he’s so cool and-”
“Stop!” March put her palm up, trying to slow down Stelle’s oncoming rant. “Did you not hear a word of what I’ve been saying? The way he’s behaving around you? The way he tolerates your behavior specifically in a way he wouldn’t tolerate from anyone else? The way he looks at you?” She was ready to start shaking her friend. Or slap her in the face. “You’re clearly not just a friend or a teammate to him, so speak up! I may not know for sure what’s in Dan Heng’s head. Maybe he’s just deciding not to act on his feelings because he wants to give you space and doesn’t realize you feel the same way about him. Or maybe he’s just as blockheaded as you and doesn’t realize his own feelings. But something is there and you guys need to talk!” March breathed out, ending her rant.
“I’ll… I’ll think about it.” Stelle finally responded. “I hear what you’re trying to say to me, I really do. I just… I don’t want to mess it up.” She fidgets. March rarely gets to see this side of her friend, and she can’t say she hates what she sees. “Maybe I’ll end up going alone with Dan Heng on the next expedition, so who knows? I could try my luck then. Black Swan did say that she had a destination in mind that could solve our fuel shortage, so let’s see how the meeting goes.”
March sighed, smiling with resignation, and decided to drop the topic for now – she already got further than she anticipated.
Maybe Stelle was right. A trailblazing expedition just for Stelle and Dan Heng sounded like a bonding experience that would finally result in them confessing.
What could go wrong?