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“I will go to that abandoned station and find them.”
That declaration had come out rather abruptly, for he had been standing quietly at the side, listening in on the discussion on whatever was happening to Planarcadia, only providing a comment or two once in a while.
The trailblazer seemed immensely relieved at his suggestion, perhaps due to the weight of the stress of looking for the rest of the Express crew being lifted significantly. To his side, however, came an amused noise from Silver Wolf.
Fine, he had to admit that he had volunteered not simply out of goodwill to aid the Trailblaze. Ever since stepping out of the maw of the Voracity alive, he had chosen to stay to help save Planarcadia from the calamity known as Asat Pramad. But he knew that was far from his sole reason for remaining on this planet.
He wanted to see Dan Heng again.
Their parting before his supposed funeral days back had not been…entirely how he had intended for it to go. After all, reuniting years after the other’s bold declaration back on the Xianzhou brought many things to the surface, yet continued to remain unaddressed. A stolen kiss at the alley after he had found him, a brief touch here and there, an embrace that would have meant something more if he had not been writhing in pain from his own doing…
A seabird landed, and flew off soon after. Like old times, like this time. Fleeting, ever so fleeting.
No, there was too much to address, too much that they had not said, and there he was set to walk towards his own funeral, a danger foretold by the general–one chance to live, and nine chances he would die. And of course, protective as he was, the dragon had immediately expressed his intentions to see him to the end. Though they were not much alike, it was undeniable that they shared the same deep desire to protect.
Which is why he could not meet those azure eyes when he firmly shot the suggestion down. Neither could he bear to see the agonised expression that came afterward.
If no one could be certain if he would get out of there alive…then perhaps it was better that he be angry with him, to hate him. That would be easier on his little azure dragon if he had died in that maw.
After all, hate and love were not too different.
“Bladie? Hellooooo?” Silver Wolf’s voice snapped him back to the present. She had just pulled out a set of coordinates that almost seemed nonsensical. He blinked, earning a judgemental stare from Silver Wolf.
“As I was saying, can you really find that abandoned station with these,” she waved a hand at the string of numbers on the screen in front of her, “messy coordinates? All by yourself?”
“...I’ll simply cut down anything that tries to get in my way,” he huffed, crossing his arms. However messy the coordinates were, there was not a single obstacle he would allow to hinder his search.
“That’s not what I was asking!” A frustrated shaking of head from his companion. “Please just install this travel navigation software I specially made for you, okay?” Unfortunately for her, he simply pushed her hand away. He understood her goodwill and desire to look out for him, but he could not help but feel a little miffed that his own abilities were being doubted here.
“Have you forgotten?” He raised his eyebrows, “in the past, no matter where Dan Heng fled, I always found him.” And that was a promise in itself. He would find him, like every time before.
The coordinates, true to their name, were messy indeed. The distortions between space, no thanks to the emanator of destruction, had caused him to spawn at what seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Certainly not the abandoned station. Briefly, he considered checking his phone, recalling their short conversation in the Furbo newsletter’s comments section, but in this vast plane he stood at, the chances of grabbing a signal was possibly as low as his previous odds of surviving, and if Dan Heng was in danger he most definitely would not be on his phone either. That didn’t matter. After all, he never did require a phone to locate him.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out his bracer. It had been a long while–centuries–since he had put it on properly, though he had always kept it on his person. A symbol of their relationship of the past, and though they had both changed, the pair of bracers had remained.
He longed to put it back on his wrist, yet he had always shook the thought away. He was not the same, a sorry excuse for a vessel, a husk, a shadow of his former self left with resentment and hatred. No, he hadn’t deserved to put on the bracer belonging to Yingxing, simply keeping it close to his heart, guarding one of the only possessions Yingxing truly had left, leaving himself with the phantom heat of the bracer and yearning for the wearer of the other.
But now, newly reforged, mind clearer than ever…he carefully wrapped it around his right forearm in a practised motion.
A cold wind blew, and there he trudged along in the middle of an empty, desolate plane. A lesser man would have despaired in his position, perhaps even be filled with a growing sense of hopelessness as he continued to walk surrounded by nothing. But his bracer burned on his arm, dispelling any doubt he had. It did not matter where he was, or how far they were apart. He would find him, like he always did.
And this time, he would hold Dan Heng in his arms and not let go.
He took a shaky breath, and let the comforting warmth of the bracer lead him forward.
He continued walking, slicing down a rogue imagenae or two that dared to jump at him. More enemies as he pressed on meant that he was headed in the right direction, probably. The centre of the action would be where he would find him. Briefly, he wondered, when all this was over, if they could sit down and share a drink under the moonlight once more. Well, assuming he would be forgiven for turning down Dan Heng’s offer to accompany him to his end.
And there he was. With practiced motion he swept forward, slicing through the remaining enemies in a smooth arc.
“Found you,” he smirked as he watched those eyes widen, “did you grow taller?” He gave the other member of the express a brief but polite nod of acknowledgement before turning back to study the dragon in front of him that made a noise in response, struggling to form a sentence. Yellow horns, a head of added height, a long, slightly thicker green-ish yellow tail… so this, too, was his way of taking a new step forward as well?
“I..well..yes,” the dragon managed, and he came to realise he had spoken the last sentence aloud. A swirl of cloudhymn, and the usual disguise returned. Azure eyes met gold, as they stepped closer to each other. His heart sang, beating in rhythm. He’s here, they’re here, and that was what mattered.
“You’re alive,” Dan Heng whispered.
“Astute observation.”
The dragon narrowed his eyes at the comment, likely debating if he should smack him with his tail or to run Cloudpiercer through his heart again. He reached out, running his thumb along a small graze on Dan Heng’s cheek, making a quick note to treat it when they were back to safety, despite the shaking of his head to tell him that he was fine.
“Don’t you remember? I always come back.”
He had come all this way, while the others had doubted his abilities he knew without a doubt that he would succeed. And thus, he would take his prize. He opened his arms in invitation as the other wrapped his arms around his neck. Neither of them spoke–there was too much that had already been left unsaid. Whatever barbed exchange or bantering could wait. He simply held the trembling figure in his arms as he pressed his lips against the head of inky-black hair.
Moments passed. The shorter man seemed to finally remember they were not alone, and tensed up in his arms.
“Ahem, Mr Yang…” he coughed awkwardly as he stepped away from the embrace. An amused chuckle followed as Welt pushed his glasses up with a finger.
“As much as I hate to break this moment…Mr Blade, I take it to assume things have escalated elsewhere for you to come to fetch us?” He nodded in response, giving a quick summary of the events that had transpired since stepping out of the maw. Somewhere during his rundown the owner of the other bracer had grabbed his hand, interlacing their fingers together. At the mention of the rest of the express crew in danger, the hand in his tightened. He squeezed back, stroking his thumb reassuringly.
“So, we have to get back and fix the Express,” Dan Heng concluded when he had finished, “we should…make a move then.” With that, after a moment of silent exchange with Welt, the dragon started walking, dragging Blade along.
They walked ahead, leaving a considerable distance between them and Welt before Dan Heng finally stopped. He let go of his hand, but before either could mourn the loss of that touch, Dan Heng grabbed at the red sleeves, forcing them to face each other. His hands made their way up his sleeves as he glanced up and down, doing his own inspection of Blade’s newly reforged body. Once the dragon was satisfied, he reached out to his collar and pulled him down, smashing their lips together.
Perhaps this was his punishment for rejecting him previously, as Dan Heng broke the kiss soon after.
“After this–when all this is over,” he began, azure eyes flashing with determination, hands still on his collar, “we are going to talk.” About everything, our past, present, and future was left unsaid, but it was understood. “And you,” a slender finger jabbed at his chest, “are not walking away from me.”
He caught his hand, pressing it against chest long enough to feel the unmistakable beat of his heart, before bringing it to his lips.
“As you wish, Dan Heng.”