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Ren is glaring at him.
This isn’t exactly anything unusual for Dan Heng. Ren glares at him just about any time they end up in the same room. He’s been able to feel those eyes on him like a physical weight before he even knew who Ren was. It’s only gotten worse over time.
Dan Heng turns slightly, scanning the room as best he can. It hadn’t been too crowded when he’d walked in with Himeko, March and Stelle, but since then the room had slowly filled with relieved locals celebrating the defeat of the Antimatter Legion that had attempted to destroy their planet.
Unfortunately, the Astral Express and the Legion hadn’t been the only outside forces to grace this planet. The Stellaron Hunters had also taken an interest in ensuring Nanook had been defeated here. Whatever the reasons, Kafka wasn’t telling.
The locals didn’t care much for the motives of their saviours. Which is what had gotten him into this situation. Attending a banquet in the honour of not only the Astral Express, but also the Stellaron Hunters. Meaning that Ren had been unable to avoid this just as much as Dan Heng had been.
Which is how Dan Heng found himself surrounded by grateful locals who were eager to talk to him about the greater universe and his travels, while Ren’s eyes drilled into the side of his head.
“You must run into lots of strong opponents during your travels,” One woman says. “Your strength is… very impressive.”
Unfortunately, being in such proximity to Ren increased the telepathic connection between their bracers. It was much harder to ignore the low-level irritation he felt, when it was multiplied between them.
“It was awe-inspiring to watch you fight,” a second woman spoke, drawing his attention away from his own thoughts and back to the source of annoyance itself. “You saved me, and I couldn’t look away. I thought you must be a divine spirit at first!”
“You took those soldiers down like they were nothing!” Another chimed in, attempting to crowd closer. Fortunately the close crowd wouldn’t let her do so in any sort of subtle way. “Perhaps you could give me some lessons? So if they come back, I’d be able to protect myself!”
“Oh, that is a good idea! I wouldn’t mind attending something like that,” one man says. “I’ve got a fair bit of muscle, y’know, from all the heavy lifting I do. But I’d love to learn some… practical uses for my strength.”
“The Astral Express only stays in one place for a set amount of time,” Dan Heng says, avoiding eye contact with any of the people surrounding him. He’d quite like it if Ren’s eyes on him did actually set him on fire. At least the people would move away from him. “Now that the Antimatter Legion is gone, you could consider reaching out to a different organization instead. The Interastral Peace Cooperation are always eager to make new connections.”
“But that wouldn’t be the same as learning from our saviour,” Another woman sighs woefully. Dan Heng absently thinks that such a sigh would be more fitting at a funeral. “Are you sure you don’t have time to go over the basics before you leave?”
“Unfortunately, myself and the other crew members will be stocking up on our supplies and then leaving as soon as we are ready.” This was not strictly true. However Dan Heng would be among those voting to leave this planet as soon as possible.
“It does sound like an interesting life, travelling like that,” the first woman mused. “Perhaps you could tell us about it?”
She attempts to put a hand on his back. Dan Heng stiffens. The bracer on his wrist almost burns with sudden heat. He carefully steps out of range in a smooth movement, tensing up.
“You should ask Himeko if you want to know about the Express and our mission,” Dan Heng said firmly, attempting a polite smile that he’s sure more resembles a grimace. Hopefully that had been enough time mingling. “Excuse me.”
He doesn’t look back as he makes his escape, the crowd parting under his gaze as he strides towards the complimentary refreshments. Food, water, and a selection of alcoholic drinks in champagne flutes.
With a sigh of relief, he tugs at the high collar around his neck. While the Stellaron Hunters had opted for more formal wear for the occasion, the Express hadn’t dressed up. He’d begun to regret that now, with the room more crowded.
He scans half the room, searching for those he knows. It’s become much harder to keep track of everyone.
March and Stelle have stuck together. He can see Stelle over the crowd, and just about make out pink hair at their shoulder. However they’re both surrounded by people. There’s little chance of him approaching them.
Himeko is over with the government officials, and Kafka is hovering over her shoulder with a smirk Dan Heng can make out even from across the room.
Welt is relatively clear, but he seems to be talking to Silver Wolf. He briefly considers joining them, but as soon as he thinks about it, the glare on the side of his head suddenly spikes with intensity.
Dan Heng sighs, and dares to look over at the side of the room he’s been avoiding since he walked in here.
The crowds are much sparser. Groups stand around talking, or sitting around the tables, but there aren't crowds like those that surround the guests of honour. And one man leaning against a wall, a glass of red wine swirling slowly in one hand. He’s in a three-piece suit instead of his usual tailcoat, but that only sharpens his presence. It’s so sharp that it has cleared a generous amount of space around him, as if anyone getting too close would get cut.
(To be fair to them, they must have good instincts. With the Express Crew around, and Kafka promising she’d ensured Ren would be on his ‘best behaviour’ it was unlikely he’d actually stab someone. That said nothing of the desire to do so.)
Dan Heng finally meets the gaze that he’s felt following him all evening. A shiver rushes down his spine. He turns to the refreshments table, picking up a tall flute glass of some sort of misty alcohol.
Closing his eyes, Dan Heng asks Lan for strength. He turns towards the back of the room.
He doesn’t look up, carefully stepping around people engaged in conversation lest he get drawn in himself. Far too soon, only a few steps separate him and Ren.
“I was wondering if you’d ignore me all night,” Ren greets, tilting his glass towards Dan Heng. He’s holding it with his glass with his left hand. The hand wrapped in bandages. The same arm that wears the bracer.
“I thought about it,” Dan Heng mutters, taking those last few steps. He leans back with a sigh, tilting his head back to rest against the wall.
“Oh? And what changed your mind?” There’s something off about his tone, Dan Heng thinks absently
“I said I thought about it, not that I was going to.”
Ren snorts. “Not tempted to stay within the throngs of your admirers?”
Dan Heng scoffs. “No.” He brings the glass of alcohol up to his lips and takes a slow sip, savouring it in his mouth before swallowing. Whatever it is, it belongs to the better half of alcoholic drinks he’s tried across various planets. He lifts the glass up to the light, inspecting the drink inside.
“Is that any good?” Ren asks, raising an eyebrow at Dan Heng’s lengthy inspection. “It must be special to hold Yinyue-jun’s attention so well.”
“It’s good. But there’s better out there.” He shoots a dark look at Ren. “And don’t call me that.”
“My apologies, Yinyue-jun.”
Dan Heng just shakes his head. He takes another sip, swallowing twice. “Do you want to try?” He tilts the glass towards Ren, raising an eyebrow.
Ren hesitates. Dan Heng can see the moment of indecision before he hands over his own glass, taking Dan Heng’s with his other hand. He holds eye contact as he brings the glass to his lips, tilting his head back to taste. Dan Heng wills his cheeks to stay cool as Ren swallows.
“You were right. It’s decent, but nothing new.” He holds out the glass. Their fingers brush on the thin flute stems as they exchange drinks.
They fall into silence, turning back to the large room. It's… strained, between them. Without violence and resentment to bring them together, all that's left now is hands clinging onto what shards of the past they remember between them.
He’s holding on too , Dan Heng reminds himself. It seems that for all they have changed, all they have left behind, neither of them have any desire to leave this.
Ren swirls his wine again. The delicate champagne flute of blood-red wine compliments his bandaged fingers quite well. It compliments the dark Vidyadhara leatherwork of the bracer even better.
Dan Heng is very aware of the humming of its pair on his wrist in their shared silence. Another remnant carried over to a new life, from one long gone. With Ren on his right, there’s barely a foot of space between the matching bracers. He can feel the warmth of it, as if Ren’s own arm was actually pressed to his. Dan Heng has to fight the urge to roll his wrist.
“... How have you been?” He asks quietly, barely able to hear himself over the chatter. It all feels very far away from where he and Ren lean against the back wall, and simultaneously far too close.
Ren hums. “I have been well. The mara is tamer these days.” He pauses. “And, of course, I have recently witnessed Yinyue-jun dance through a battlefield as if it were a stage constructed just for him.”
Dan Heng’s lip quirks. “You say such flowery words. One might get the impression you’ve been looking forward to seeing me.”
He can feel it when Ren’s eyes switch from the crowd to the side of his head.
“If it has taken a lifetime and beyond for you to get that impression, then perhaps I should change my approach.”
Dan Heng just huffs. He pointedly shifts a step to his right. And moves his arm just the slightest bit to close the gap.
Bracer to bracer, mind to mind. The heat-death of Ren is next to him, surrounding him, in his mind and body. It’s far from the first time they’ve done this. It hasn’t been long since they last did this either. However, so long without this, without Ren wearing the bracer at all, has left them both susceptible to each other.
Dan Heng thinks Ren gasps. It’s hard to tell, with twin heartbeats thundering through his skull. He can almost feel phantom horns ache with the beat of them.
Dan Heng blinks, and concentrates on Ren beside him. Of the shiver spreading down his spine with Ren’s eyes on him. Of the heat of the bracer all evening, trickling up his arm and down his spine –
Then it’s gone as quickly as it came.
Dan Heng turns, startled.
Ren had lifted his left hand to his face, breaking the connection. Bandaged knuckles are pressed to his lips, eyes staring at the crowds of people and beyond. The tips of his ears are flushed the gentlest shade of pink.
Dan Heng turns back around, biting back a smile.
“You could’ve warned me,” Ren says, voice low. Dan Heng can see him leaning down towards him out of the corner of his eye.
“I was just showing you that it was good to see you too.” A small smile fights its way onto his face, no matter how hard he tries to suppress it.
“And yet you spent so long indulging that rabble, not even looking my way?” Ren asks. Dan Heng can feel the breath of his voice on his ear. It’s warm. Ren is always so warm , somehow.
“You seemed capable of entertaining yourself by glaring at the back of my head. It’s kept you quite busy.” Ren switches the wine from one hand to the other. He wraps a hand around his back, yanking him closer. His hand slides down his back, landing on his waist. Dan Heng tells himself not to press back into his arm.
“I am capable of it. That does not mean there are not other things I would rather be doing. I’m sure you would agree.” Ren’s voice is a low rumble now. Dan Heng can feel it, pressed shoulder to shoulder as they are. Or elbow to shoulder, Dan Heng tucked neatly in his side.
Seemingly satisfied with their proximity, Ren slides his hand free, trailing over Dan Heng’s shoulder blades. He passes his wine back to his left hand.
“What would you rather be doing, then? Enlighten me. Glaring at the side of my head instead? You must’ve been enjoying the view already provided, to take it in for so long.”
“The view, as you say, is as radiant as always. However this… swarm does not know who they attempt to woo. They do not deserve to know.” Ren’s words are forceful, cutting. He disregards the population just as quick as he’d rescued them. Though Dan Heng was never under any illusion of Ren doing saving lives for something as simple as goodwill .
He threads his arm through Ren’s, twirling the tassel pinned to his lapel around one finger. “And who does? You?” Dan Heng tilts his head, looking up into Ren’s eyes. “Do you think you’re deserving?”
“I think,” Ren rumbles. “That after everything, the least you can do is look at me .”
"I'm looking at you now." Dan Heng holds his gaze. Not diluted by distance, Ren’s eyes on him are more potent than anything that could be contained in a glass. “But that’s not enough for you, is it.”
Red eyes narrow. His knuckles turn white on the stem of the glass flute. Dan Heng swirls the tassel around his finger once more
“You’re greedy , Ren.”
The glass shatters.
Wine splatters everywhere. It only takes a quick flick of Dan Heng’s fingers to protect his and Ren’s clothes from the impromptu shower, but Ren’s bandaged hand isn’t so lucky.
Dan Heng feels a smirk build on his face.
Neither of them move even as red drips from Ren’s hand to the floor. It’s creating a mess of wine and blood both, dripping from where shards of the glass have embedded in his skin from the force of his own grip.
“Yinyue-jun is daring indeed,” Ren muses. Dan Heng would almost believe him to be talking to himself, but Ren’s eyes have only left his own to stare at his lips. Warmth drips down into his abdomen with every slow blink.
“My sincerest apologies,” Dan Heng's voice is so quiet he’s almost whispering. He lets the tassel slip through his fingers, instead letting his hand rest on Ren’s forearm. “Let me help you clean up.”
“It’s only right,” Ren agrees, voice vibrating low in his chest.
The only thing separating his palm from Ren’s bracer is the thin material of his blazer. It’s burning . Dan Heng’s breath shakes as he exhales. Ren drops what's left of the glass stem carelessly, focus entirely on Dan Heng.
“Alright. Let's– find a bathroom. To clean your hand.” Dan Heng tugs Ren’s arm, pulling him forward away from the wall.
Ren catches up in two long strides, twisting his arm free from Dan Heng’s grip and instead wrapping it around his waist. He’s careful to keep his unclean hand from touching his clothes, made all the more difficult with how Dan Heng presses into his side shamelessly.
They pass through the crowds quickly. Either the mess of Ren’s hand, or Ren himself keeps people from approaching Dan Heng as they had done earlier. Or perhaps he’s just not paying enough attention, instead concentrating on the path between them and the doors. If people are looking at him, their attention slides right past him.
Dan Heng sucks in a harsh breath as soon as they escape the main hall. The air is fresher here, away from the crush of bodies. He doesn't get time to appreciate it before Ren is dragging him down a side corridor.
“This–” Dan Heng swallows. “This isn’t the way to the– ba- ah –”
His voice is cut off. The helpless sound is lost to Ren’s mouth against his own. He’s pushed backwards until his back meets a wall.
Dan Heng’s hands fly up to Ren’s collar. Gasping into Ren’s mouth, he presses closer, fingers framing his jaw. Ren is all tongue and teeth. He nips at Dan Heng’s bottom lip, soothing the sting with a swipe of his tongue, only to do it over again.
He’s clutching at Dan Heng’s hip with a desperate grip.
It’s so much. And yet too little.
Dan Heng slides his hands down to Ren’s shoulders. He takes a moment to squeeze, appreciating the muscle under his hands– and pushes .
Ren stumbles backwards. He raises a shaking hand to his lips. He's staring at Dan Heng like a starving man, pupils blown. He’s a creature out of his better dreams, with flushed cheeks and red lips.
Dan Heng wants.
Their synced harsh breathing is deafening in this dark corridor. Dan Heng swallows once, twice, before opening his mouth.
“Bathroom. Now,” Dan Heng rasps. He reaches out to grab Ren’s arm, and is met halfway. Their fingers intertwine. The bracer flickers with heat, flames licking against his skin.
Ren yanks him back into the main corridor, pulling him along with single-minded focus. An almost-laugh bubbles up in Dan Heng's chest. He stumbles into Ren's broad back, hiding his incredulous smile.
They’ve been getting along better recently, a product of the recurrent team-ups. They’ve been willingly spending time together, and fallen into half-remembered patterns from the past, but even then…
He didn't think he'd get Ren like this again. Impatient, flustered, holding tight to his hand like a lifeline. That he'd have to make do with the pieces of the past, and put it behind him. He's never been so glad to be proven wrong.
Ren has stopped now, head tilted.
“Left,” Dan Heng murmurs into his back. He can feel the way Ren stiffens at the rumble of his chest, the way the hand in his own tightens.
Ren doesn’t waste another second. Dan Heng blinks and he’s being shoved backwards through the door, into the bathroom. Ren pauses as he steps through the doorframe, scanning for any other visitors.
Empty, thankfully. Dan Heng doesn’t know what they'd have done if it hadn’t been, after such an entrance.
Ren likely would have resorted to violence. Dan Heng wouldn't have stopped him.
The door is slowly falling shut, but Ren kicks it shut with all the force of his pent-up frustration.
“Cloud Piercer,” Ren demands, holding out his hand.
Dan Heng raises his eyebrow. “You separate me from my crewmates, get me alone, and now you want to disarm me?”
He scoffs. “Do you want people to walk in or not?”
Dan Heng rolls his eyes, summoning his spear into his hand. It passes between them, wielder to maker. Ren holds it reverently for a second, bloody hand caressing the base of the socket that holds his pearl.
Then he slips it through the pull handle on the door. To lock it in place, he summons his own sword and slams it right through the wall, almost horizontal.
“You’re paying for the property damage,” he says absently, observing the way Ren’s gloved hand flexes on the hilt of his sword.
Ren just turns around slowly, eyebrow raised. “Is property damage your highest priority?”
“Well,” Dan Heng says, as Ren takes one slow step forward. “It is an important thing to consider. Do you even have the money?”
Ren takes another slow step, tilting his head. “I don’t think the state of my finances should be something for you to concern yourself with either.”
“You’re avoiding the question,” Dan Heng states. Ren has moved close enough that he needs to tilt his chin up to meet his eyes. “Do you even have money? Legally? Being a wanted criminal, and all.”
“Of course I have money,” Ren scowls. “But why does it matter? If they dare to ask for money for repairs after we saved them from certain death, I will make them wish that their fates had been left to the Legion. They would have bigger concerns than repairs to a bathroom used on perhaps five nights a year..”
Dan Heng stares into Ren’s narrowed eyes. He bites his lip, shifting his eyes to the ceiling. His shoulder’s start shaking with suppressed laughter.
“Ah, Ren,” Dan Heng shakes his head, covering his smile with one hand while the other reaches for Ren’s left wrist. “Let me.”
He closes eyes, calling upon that well of power he keeps just under his skin. He unwraps the wine-soaked bandages by touch alone, running his thumb across Ren’s knuckles as they are uncovered. He’s careful to avoid touching the bracer as he moves higher, tugging the bandages out from underneath.
It only takes a flick of his fingers to remove any glass. Ren shudders at the feeling and shuffles, letting out a shaky sigh as his skin stitches itself back together.
“You didn’t need to do that,” Ren clears his throat.
Dan Heng knows. Has seen him in much worse states. Put him in much worse states, with the spear. He suspects Ren would like it if he left his hand in such a state. He frowns all the same, thumb gently massaging the back of Ren’s scarred hand.
“I do not want glass in your hands if they are going anywhere near my skin.” He says, leading Ren over to the sinks by the hand.
Ren’s hands are bigger than his own. His calluses are different too, for a sword rather than a spear. Crossed with scars accumulated over the years, some by enemies, most by his own sword. This hand is streaked with blood and wine both.
His distraction must've been noticed. Ren lifts his free hand up to his own mouth, and bites down on the middle finger. Dan Heng is mesmerised by the sight. He pulls his hand free of the glove, neck flexing, letting what is undoubtedly high-quality leather fall to the bathroom floor.
His newly bared hand reaches up to Dan Heng’s neck, and his breath catches. It only takes a tilt of the chin, and Dan Heng is staring into his own eyes in the bathroom mirror.
“... we need to clean your hand,” Dan Heng protests weakly.
Ren pulls Dan Heng in front of him by the neck. The pull is gentle, guiding, but the hand is firm. When he swallows he can feel the hand against his neck flex in turn. Ren’s hand slides down his neck, splays over his collarbones, thumb pressing into the hollow of his throat.
He can only watch with wide eyes as Ren raises his other hand, and grasps his chin. His thumb strokes Dan Heng’s cheek, and leaves a smear of red.
Dan Heng hisses. “You bastard.”
“You like it.” Ren shoves a thigh between his own. Dan Heng gasps. “You can't pretend you haven't been provoking me into this all evening.”
“Not everything is about you.”
Ren chuckles. Dan Heng can feel his chest rumble against his back. He sinks into it, baring his throat as he tilts his head back. It sinks him down further on Ren’s thigh. His hips rock once before he can clamp down on his fraying self-control. Through half-lidded eyes he can make himself out in the mirror. With his eyes dull, the size of his pupils is mortifyingly obvious.
“But this is about me. Isn’t it?” Ren’s hand smears red down the side of his neck. He plays with the zippers there, the movement ticking at his throat, slowly pulling one down, then another. “You never were one to entertain admirers.”
“Do you include yourself in that statement?” He can’t take his eyes off the sight of Ren’s hands on him. The feel of Ren’s hands on him. Red staining his face, his neck.
Ren’s colour, he thinks, and burns.
“I am no admirer,” Ren scowls. “Don’t count me among that trash.”
“Should I be hurt?”
“Oh, no. I am more than an admirer.” Ren leans closer, speaking right into Dan Heng’s ear. “I am Yinyue-jun’s most dedicated devotee.” Ren presses a kiss to the shell of his ear. “His worshipper.” Ren’s hands squeeze his throat. “His lover.” His thigh grinds upwards. “Wouldn’t you say so?”
Dan Heng’s mouth falls open, head thrown back. His hands clamp around Ren’s wrists, anchoring himself in all the places that they touch. Ren tilts his chin just that extra inch, and claims his lips with a bruising kiss.
He lets out a mortifying whine into Ren’s mouth as his tongue takes and takes and takes. Dan Heng’s hand reaches into Ren’s hair. Pulling with a fist. Ren moans in turn, biting at Dan Heng’s bottom lip with sharp teeth. His thigh shifts between his legs, and Dan Heng grinds down, breaking the kiss with a gasp.
His fingers untangle from Ren’s hair, dropping to rest on his forearm. His breath is heavy and hot on Dan Heng’s ear.
“Won't Yinyue-jun give this one the honour of seeing his true form?” His voice is almost a purr, low and breathless.
Dan Heng shakes, chest heaving, staring at him in the mirror. He angles his head away from Ren’s throat.
With a tingle of power, he brings the well to the surface. His eyes shift first, lighting from within. His forehead itches as his horns take form, branching up to the heavens. Dan Heng can see Ren’s… almost reverent expression, his lips touching his ears as the cartilage rearranges itself.
“Look at yourself,” Ren’s voice is hushed when he speaks. His thumb traces the line of his jaw, lining it with red. “Beautiful.”
A hand on his throat, cupping his jaw. Jade eyes and horns contrasting with the streaks of red across his face, down his neck. Pupils blown, lips shiny.
Dan Heng snaps.
He tugs the hand to his mouth, and sucks two fingers inside, holding them there. There is little he can do but moan around the fingers at the taste. Rich wine, rich blood.
Ren groans too. The hand on Dan Heng’s neck slides down his body. Dan Heng jerks in his hold when he thumbs at his nipples through his shirt. He doesn't stop there, slitting down his ribs, his stomach. He grips Dan Heng’s hip, and grinds into him with another tortured noise.
The hand on his hip slips lower and begins to tackle his belts. Dan Heng drops a hand to help him, until Ren has his pants loose. He unzips the fly, rucks up his tight turtleneck.
“You’re a vision, Yinyue-jun,” he groans, playing with his tongue with one hand while the other splays over his bare stomach, pulling Dan Heng back into him, hips grinding forward. Even through all the layers, Dan Heng can feel the shape of his cock hard against his ass.
Ren’s head dips, and then sharp teeth are at his neck. He’s moaning into his skin, licking the mess of wine and blood with broad stripes of his tongue. The hand on his stomach dips lower, lower, finally slipping into his pants.
Dan Heng’s brain just about leaks out of his ears. He’s moaning around Ren’s fingers, who shoves in his mouth for good measure. His hand is slowly fisting his cock, torturous after being wound up for so long.
“I wonder what your admirers would say if they saw you like this,” Ren muses. “It’d likely be the best moment of their pathetic lives.” He pauses. “Of course, stepping through that door would sign their death certificate. I’d kill anyone who saw you like this.”
Dan Heng catches a whimper in his throat, bites on Ren’s fingers. Ren pulls them out, tapping his chin in unspoken reprimand.
“You-” his voice breaks, and he clears his throat. “You aren’t helping your case,” he rasps. “Your greed, I mean.”
“I never said I wasn’t.” He pulls his hand out of Dan Heng’s pants, pushing them both closer to the sinks. “In fact, I want more .”
Dan Heng gasps as he’s bent at the waist. His hands automatically hold himself up on the counter, catching his own wide eyes in the mirror. He can hear Ren unbuckling his own pants behind him, and swallows in anticipation.
“You better not put that in without lube,” Dan Heng warns. His mind is aware of the size of his cock, but this body is not. “I will kill you.”
“Still haven't figured out lube with those water powers of yours?” Ren sighs. Dan Heng laughs, shocked. "You're slacking, Yinyue-jun. But no matter."
Ren moves closer. He yanks Dan Heng’s trousers down to his ankles, kicks his thighs apart, steps in between them, and drapes himself over Dan Heng’s back.
“No. I want you to watch yourself,” Ren says. “Watch your face. I want you to see what I do. What no one else will.”
Dan Heng gasps, desperately rutting his hips for friction he doesn't find. Ren twists his long hair around his fist, yanking his head back up until he meets his own eyes in the mirror. They’re like mirrors themselves, watery, shining.
Ren smirks into his shoulder. He grabs Dan Heng by the thighs, pushing him forward until his back is arched, pushing his thighs together. One of Ren’s hands vanishes, and he misses it desperately, until he can feel his knuckles brushing against his ass. It's the wet hand, wet from Dan Heng’s own saliva, which Ren is wiping over his inner thighs.
He’s confused for a moment, thoughts moving just a little too slow. He can't concentrate on much else other than Ren’s hand, calluses rough against his soft inner thighs.
“Ren,” Dan Heng says, grasping at thought. A quick pinch has him gritting his teeth and dropping his head. “Hurry up. I’ll have shed this skin before you get anywhere.”
“Patience, Yinyue-jun,” Ren hummed. “And head up.”
He pulls back, leaving Dan Heng’s thighs wet. He presses his weight further into Dan Heng’s back, nosing at his throat.
Dan Heng’s breath hitches when he feels Ren’s cock push between his thighs. A hot line of heat between his legs, hands pressing his thighs together.
“Come on,” Ren’s breath is hot across the back of his neck. “Tighten up for me.”
Dan Heng obeys. He presses his thighs tighter together, tensing around Ren’s cock. He groans into Dan Heng’s ear, one hand tight around his hip.
He starts up a slow rhythm with his hips. The sound alone, of skin slapping against skin, has liquid fire pooling low in his stomach.
There’s another hand creeping up his chest, pulling him upwards. Ren hauls him upright, until they’re pressed together. Their upper halves are still clothed, but Dan Heng can almost imagine, almost remember , what it’d be like to feel Ren’s bare chest against his back.
With his arms free, he reaches down to take his own cock in his hand. He almost shouts when Ren catches his hand, swatting it away.
“I said mine ,” Ren scolds. “That does mean mine. Mine to touch. Mine to pleasure.”
His hands come to rest on Ren’s forearms, holding on for dear life. The bracers spark to life again with feverish intensity, their hearts matched in pace.
Dan Heng clenches his jaw on a litany of curses. He groans, head dropping backwards onto Ren’s shoulder, twitching as his horns brush Ren’s cheek. Almost simultaneously, his cock angles upwards, dragging across Dan Heng’s perineum. His head drops further, baring his neck.
“Look at yourself,” Ren says into the skin, almost reverent. “You’re desperate for it.”
Dan Heng can just about focus on them both in the mirror. It's obscene. Dan Heng is flushed from the tips of his pointed ears and across his cheekbones, down his neck. What clothing left on is rumpled, shirt sticking to his chest with sweat. Ren’s eyes are dark behind him, fixed on his lower half.
With each thrust, he can see the way his thighs move. The way each thrust has the head of Ren’s cock peeking through, smearing the skin of his inner thighs with precome. The way his own cock bobs with the movement, flushed pink.
“Ah, Ren-” He can barely get it out.
Finally, finally , a calloused hand closes around his cock. Dan Heng’s hips jerk, trying to push backward and fuck forward into Ren’s fist at the same time.
“You can’t decide if you want my cock or my hand more,” he marvels. Dan Heng wants to bite him.
“So give me more of both,” He hisses, digging his head backwards into the meat of Ren’s shoulder. “Ren- Ren, please-”
As if he heard the thought, Ren’s teeth clamp down on Dan Heng’s bared neck. Dan Heng gasps, heat shooting down his spine and straight to his cock. Maybe he had caught an echo of the thought, their matching bracers still very much flooded with shared desire.
He can tell when Ren breaks skin. He moans, loud, against the skin of Dan Heng’s neck, thrusts hard, tightens his hand on Dan Heng’s hip.
“Shut up,” Dan Heng chokes. “Someone will hear.”
“I don’t care if someone hears me,” Ren scoffs. “I care if someone hears you.”
“And you think I want someone to hear you? Shut up , Ren.” He grinds his hips backwards, and can see in the mirror the way Ren’s mouth drops open, tongue lapping at the bite.
Ren is moaning constantly now, with each short breath, hips losing their rhythm.
“Don’t you dare come yet,” Dan Heng demands, desperate. “Ren, please, I need-”
“Of course. Of course, ah-,” Ren muffles a moan into his neck, hand speeding up, thumbing the head of his cock with every swipe. The vibration of it has him whining.
Ren’s chasing his orgasm now, with quick, rough thrusts, face buried in Dan Heng’s neck. Precome has made a mess of his thighs. Dan Heng leans back into him and takes it, fucking up into the circle of Ren’s hand with tiny movements.
Ren’s hips stutter. He almost whimpers as warmth erupts between Dan Heng’s thighs. He groans, grinding backwards as Ren works himself through it, still keeping his hand moving until Dan Heng himself comes with a groan.
They’re both gasping for breath. Ren’s warm breath tickles his neck where it's wet with saliva. He’s slowly milking the last of the aftershocks out of Dan Heng, until he pushes his hand away with a shudder.
They stay pressed together like that, chests heaving in unison. The twin thrum of the bracers confirms a synced heartbeat also.
Dan Heng lets his hand fall from Ren’s bracer. The loud thrum fades to an ever-present patter, soothing like the rain on the water.
Shifting awkwardly, Ren pulls his softening cock out from between Dan Heng’s thighs with a slick noise. Dan Heng wrinkles his nose, turning his head to blow on Ren’s neck until he shivers.
“You’re a pest,” Ren informs him, as he wraps one hand around Dan Heng’s waist, thankfully not the one covered in his come, squeezing him tight.
Dan Heng wheezes a little. “You made a mess. Clean it up.” Dan Heng tries to awkwardly separate his thighs. With the cool air of the bathroom, it's not much better.
“Do I have to? You’re covered in me like this. All mine.” Ren sounds annoyingly smug. Dan Heng hates him.
“I can’t go back out like this.” Dan Heng leans forward, attempting to pull himself free from Ren’s arm, but Ren only holds on tighter.
“So don’t.”
“You’re insufferable. We can’t stay here forever,” Dan Heng rolls his eyes. “Paper. Now.”
Ren huffs. “Of course, Your Highness. Anything for Yinyue-jun.”
He separates from Dan Heng with a final squeeze to demonstrate his displeasure. He has to waddle to a stall to gather paper, his pants around his thighs. The violence he uses to gather paper is disproportionate, Dan Heng thinks, but what does he know. Ren wipes himself down quickly, pulling his pants up.
Dan Heng watches with a raised eyebrow, and warmth in his chest.
Ren returns with tissues and two mostly clean hands. When he kneels down at Dan Heng’s feet, he tries to fix Ren’s hair as best he can. Ren, meanwhile, keeps his hands gentle between Dan Heng’s sensitive thighs.
With most of the come wiped off, Dan Heng can turn on a tap. He pulls the water around his fingers. It only takes a few flicks of his fingers to clean them both, things, hands, necks, leaving their skin damp.
Ren, still on his knees, reaches for Dan Heng’s pants. He pulls them up slowly, tucking Dan Heng back into his underwear with a kiss to each thigh. He climbs to his feet slowly, hands sliding up Dan Heng’s sides as he rises, until he’s cupping his face.
“Dan Heng. Gege.” Dan Heng’s eyes widen. “Can I…”
It’s now that Ren hesitates. His eyes are wide and golden when they meet Dan Heng’s, unsure. A smile creeps across Dan Heng’s face, damningly soft.
“Ah, just kiss me,” Dan Heng sighs. “What are you hesitating for now, Ren?”
Ren kisses him. It’s worlds apart from anything previous. It's gentle, sweet. Everything that they aren’t, these days. Dan Heng has to squeeze his eyes shut at the peculiar, comfortable familiarity of it.
When Ren draws back, he doesn’t go far. Dan Heng can still feel his breath against his lips, the ghost of a kiss left behind.
“You are mine, as I am yours,” Ren says quietly, into the space between them. “That has not changed. That never will, for me. An unchanging fact of my unchanging unlife.”
Dan Heng swallows.
“Whatever I did, our separate fates intertwined to become one. You are mine, as I am yours,” Dan Heng confirms. He draws back slightly, opening his eyes. “And no one can challenge that.”
Ren grunts. “You were provoking me.”
“I wouldn't have needed to provoke you if you hadn’t been avoiding me.”
“I wasn’t avoiding you,” Ren dismisses with a roll of his eyes. “If anything, I’ve been doing the opposite. As I have been since we both lived different lives.”
“Fine then. You were avoiding your emotions, our history, and any conversation with emotional depth deeper than a puddle. Is that more accurate?” Dan Heng asks.
Ren tilts his head in reluctant acquiescence.
Dan Heng sighs, turning to the mirror.
They’re both still a mess, really. It’s particularly obvious with Ren’s clothes, the previously perfect lines of his suit crumpled. Dan Heng’s neck is a mess of bites, that not even zipping up his turtleneck will hide. That, combined with Dan Heng’s Vidyadhara features still very much visible, there’s no way they could walk back to the party.
“... We should go back to my room,” Dan Heng hesitantly suggests. “We are not going back in there.”
Ren’s eyes widen. When he grins, he looks almost boyish. It’s the same grin from years ago, from their time meeting beneath the moon.
“Whatever you say, gege,” Ren agrees easily.
Dan Heng does a final scan of the bathroom. All things considered, they’re leaving it in mostly the same state they entered it. Little mess, nothing broken.
… As long as Dan Heng ignores the hole in the wall from their impromptu door lock.
He looks at Shard Sword still embedded into the wall. He pulls gently, and the sword comes free cleanly. It’s been a long time since he inspected this sword, and it's interesting to see the cracks up close.
While Dan Heng is distracted, Ren pulls Cloud Piercer free of the door handles. Opening the door a crack, he looks down both sides of the corridor.
“Thankfully, I don’t see anyone,” he says, holding out Cloud Piercer for Dan Heng, and accepting his own sword in return.
“Good. I don’t want to have to explain the new hole in the bathroom wall, when they’ve already got a city to rebuild,” Dan Heng mutters.
“Ah, but they all seemed ever so partial to you, didn’t they?” Ren asks, eyes glinting playfully.
“You seemed so against them earlier.,” Dan Heng points out, dismissing Cloud Piercer with a spin. “But now you can use their attention in our favor, you’re all for it?”
“Ah, but Yinyue-jun has said he’s mine, isn’t he?”
Ren is beautiful like this. He’s shining, playful, a star dancing across the night sky.
“Come on,” Dan Heng sighs, fondly, reaching out a hand. “Don’t get left behind.”
“Of course not, gege,” Ren laughs. “I won’t let you. You’re never leaving me behind, whether you like it or not.”
It’s possibly one of the most reassuring things Dan Heng has ever heard.