#dan heng xyou

[bigtedbear]

“ 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭: 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝗼𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 “

𝐩𝐫𝗼𝗺𝐩𝐭: 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝗼𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝗼𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞, 𝐲𝗼𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝗺 𝐭𝗼 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐚𝐧! 𝐝𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐠 𝗼𝐮𝐭 𝗼𝐟 𝐲𝗼𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝

content warning: 18+ NSFW, 𝐌𝐃𝐍𝐈, gay sex, anal penetration, monster anatomy (specifically dragon anatomy), unsafe sex (cover your stump before you hump), mutual pining, mutual obsession, yandere themes, male reader, amab reader, yandere reader, yandere character, talks of mating rituals, biting, just a wee bit of blood, codependency, obsessive behavior, a lot of concerning talk but if you look at it from afar it's actually not that bad they just match each other's freak really well, march 7th, himeko, and caelus as the best enabler wingmen ever

Part 1 here: " unexpected variable "

" welcome back caller @hikarisecret! connecting your line as we speak! "

"Would you happen to be interested in meeting up more often?"

He immediately stopped in place.

Nervously, you twiddled your thumbs from the doorway to your small office.

It'd been about a month since you'd help Dan Heng get through his early heat. You'd let contact drop for a couple weeks, something he'd known would probably happen but also something he'd desperately hoped wouldn't occur. He'd only really spoken to you for an extended period of time on a handful of occasions. Being one of the few researchers that followed a path aside from the endless pursuit of knowledge, he was curious.

So maybe he'd always had a little bit of a crush, but March always called you "eye candy" for when they stopped at the Space Station. It never progressed any further than a couple chats, some red cheeks, and a some pleasantries here and there.

Then the Antimatter League wormed its way into the station and there you were, at the forefront of the evacuation efforts. Instead of being an aloof, distant researcher with a mind that was roaming the stars, you were alert and concentrated. You were so quick to help, it seemed you hadn't really wrapped your head around the imminent danger right in front of you.

That was truly when his little crush turned into something a little bit more than he was prepared to handle.

He was asking for you around the station when he had the chance, after all he was too shy to approach someone randomly and start interrogating them on the whereabouts of their coworker. He also knew he was a little bit more intimidating and came off as cold to most.

His inquiries actually did the opposite of what he had hoped. Knowing he was looking around for you, he thought you might be inclined to make yourself more available to maybe slack off occasionally or just stick around and chat for a few minutes. Instead of that happening, it seemed the more people seemed to remember your existence, the more people tried to look for you.

It was never out of malice, of course, they just remembered they had a less than social coworker. They'd make the effort to say hello to you in the halls, stop in at your office to say hi and maybe bring a coffee every now and then. But it seemed you were less than eager to entertain anyone when you were constantly burying your head in your studies.

Eventually, when your coworkers would stop in at your office, they'd find you weren't there. You were constantly switching between different labs and areas to conduct tests and gather data to solidify your latest thesis. Instead of becoming more social, easier to find, it seemed you retreated even further into your shell and avoided coming into contact with anyone else all together. Trying to find you became akin to trying to hold sand in a sieve.

That was precisely why he was so surprised when you suddenly invited him for a meeting to discuss the Vidyadhara of the Xianzhou Alliance. As soon as they were back on the Astral Express, it seemed someone managed to whisper enough information into your ear to pique your interest in the species. As of now, he had his theories, but he couldn't figure out whether it was Caelus or March that let everything slip.

When you invited him back to your office after what happened to continue your little conversation, he briefly wondered if this was a little bit too good to be true. While yes, you were nothing if not a dedicated genealogy researcher, that didn't stop him from wondering if you might have different intentions.

The last time he'd been in your office, the two of you were stuck in bed for nearly a week for his heat period. Inviting him back to your office again seemed a little bit too much like an invitation after too little time to be considered a coincidence. Did you want to get him in your bed again? Did you plan on trying to get something out of him now that you knew he actively fantasized about you on his lonesome? Then again, he realized he didn't really care if the answer to either of those questions was yes.

Of course, none of his suspicions were confirmed to be true.

You were professional, almost disappointingly so. Everything you asked him was less than personal, all aimed towards furthering your understanding of the Xianzhou Alliance as a whole. You finished your round of questions about his biology, and then you moved on to culture and social etiquette.

When you offered to walk him back to the docking area, he felt a little bit hopeless. No more closeness in conversation, it seemed you severed all intimacy the moment he wasn't in heat anymore.

But now, you stood in front of him, nervous and asking if he wanted to see you again?

'Yes, yes, yes, yes,' He would love to see you again, especially if it was for something that wasn't work related.

He would take what he could get in general. If you asked him to be your lab assistant or something, he would be so much more than just happy to say yes. Whatever time you wanted to spend with him, he would make himself available.

But he was just as socially inept as you were; Dan Heng sat in a slack-jawed stupor as he tried to his best to piece together sentences with the little fragments of thoughts swirling around in a white flurry. His mouth opened; he tried to talk, but every time he tried to make any statements, he doubled back and retracted it in favor of trying to think of something better to say.

At his reaction, you waved it off disappointedly. "Forget it, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I just thought-" You cut yourself off again, biting the inside of your cheek.

It seemed the archivist finally managed to recompose himself, "No, I-" He paused, trying to put his feelings into words, "I'm just surprised you wanted to spend time together. I assumed that once you gathered the relevant information, we would go back to being acquaintances that didn't speak very often."

You shook your head, awkwardly trying to lighten the mood with a strained laugh, "I'll admit that's what I planned to do a month ago, but before we.." you trailed off, "...y'know, you mentioned that I only seemed to talk to you when I needed something from the astral express archives. I didn't really think it would be fair of me to keep exploiting your kindness like that."

He shook his head, "The archives are always open to whoever wishes to read them, I didn't mean to make it sound like you were taking advantage of anything."

You chewed on the inside of your lip this time, trying to think of a way to put it into words. "Well, it's not just that I realized I was benefitting from your kindness without putting any real effort back in, the thought occurred to me... I just don't speak to anyone outside of when I need to know something."

He remained quiet.

To thin out the building tension, you added on, "Arlan's told me before that it's really not healthy to live that way." You clasped your hands behind your back, "I thought since you mentioned being upset with the fact that we don't ever get to talk, maybe spending time together would be a good opportunity for me to start reintegrating into a more social scene?"

"Oh."

You nodded, "I apologize if it seems like I'm just trying to use you, I truly do want to become friends." You kicked at nothing in particular on the ground, averting eye contact. "I'm just afraid I don't know how to be friends with anyone anymore."

He let the silence take the place of the conversation. It wasn't that he was thinking about whether or not he wanted to take you up on your offer, it was how to do it elegantly without seeming desperate.

You bit the inside of your cheek, "You don't have to make the decision now, I just thought it would come off as insincere if I asked over text."

After another pause, he bobbed his head up and down slowly. "I don't know if I'm the right person to ask, but if you're asking me to be your friend, I won't say no."

"Mr. Yang, do you know what's wrong with Dan Heng?"

March played with the hem of her skirt, nerves clear and obvious to all three trailblazers in the room, "I was going to ask him if he wanted to go back to Belobog with me and Caelus, but his door's locked."

Welt hummed, "It could well be related to all that transpired on the Xianzhou. It may be best if you leave him to his thoughts."

March shook her head adamantly, "No, it can't be! He just made a trip to the Space Station a few days ago." She put her hands on her hips, "Besides, even when he's in a bad mood, he doesn't lock his door. He's always weirdly strict on insisting everyone has access to the archives."

He nodded again, putting a contemplative hand on his chin. "That is true." He offered another idea, "Well, did the two of you think to ask him? Perhaps he'd answer if you sent him a text."

"March wanted to yell at him through the door, but we thought it might be better to see if anyone knew anything first," Caelus countered.

Mr. Yang nodded, "Have you consulted Himeko? She's a little bit closer to Dan Heng than I am, she might be able to offer more perspective on the situation."

March 7th nodded enthusiastically, "Thanks, Mr. Yang!"

He nodded, returning to staring at the expanse of stars just past his fingertips outside the glass windows of the express. "It's no problem, let me know if there's any serious updates on the situation."

As the two younger and less experienced nameless made their way towards Himeko's desk at the back of the express, March did her best to try and put together the pieces in her head. While it wasn't clear whether or not she was trying to start a dialogue with Caelus, the timeline went as such.

Dan Heng is revealed to be the Imbibitor Lunae while on the Xianzhou Alliance's ship.

He resolves the crisis with Phantylia resulting in the lifting of his banishment from the Xianzhou.

He sticks around on the Alliance to deal with matters relating to his past life's status as the High Elder of the Vidyadhara.

He makes a trip to Herta's Space Station for mysterious reasons that nobody knows.

He makes it back to the express, he locks himself in his room.

Before the two of them can realize the glaringly obvious hole in the timeline, they're stood in front of Himeko's desk. March, as always, is the one to officially start the questioning. "Himeko! Have you noticed anything weird about the way Dan Heng's been acting lately?"

After taking another drawn out sip of her coffee, she hummed... "I suppose I have, but he's also just come back from a place with what I can only assume is a lot of bad memories. I'm sure if he's given a little bit of space, he'll be back to the same old Dan Heng in no time."

March 7th pursed her lips, "I would agree with you if this wasn't so weird!" She crossed her arms, "He doesn't ever lock his door! Not when he's in a bad mood, not even when he's changing for crying out loud!"

Himeko nodded, bringing her mug back up to her lips silently. "I guess that is a little bit weird... do you two happen to have any idea what he's been up to lately?"

"Well, when we all boarded the Express again, he made a stop at the Herta Space Station. We could be looking at this all wrong." Caelus crossed his arms, "Maybe instead of something happening on the Xianzhou, something happened at the Space Station. He was there about a month ago and then again a few days ago. I think he stayed for around a week the first time."

The moment the words passed the newest addition to the astral express's lips, both women paused in their tracks.

"..."

"..."

Himeko was the first to break the silence, lowering her "lifeblood" back onto its coaster on her desk. "March, you don't think... do you?"

Immediately, after Himeko broke the silence, March 7th let a happy squeal and started waving her hands around, "Oh, my, aeons! Himeko, do you know what this means?!"

Caelus could only look between the two of them in complete and utter confusion. "Am I missing something?"

Before Himeko could answer any potential questions, March was already running back towards the archivist's locked door, yelling his name at the top of her lungs, "Dan Heng, you sly dog!"

Caelus could only look back at Himeko with a brow raised.

She cleared her throat, "Well, I guess now is a better time than never to find out."

"Find out?" He voice trailed up at the end, "Find out what?"

Himeko put her hands on her desk, "Well... Dan Heng, as you know, is not always the most approachable person." She drummed her nails on the desk, "But it happens even he isn't immune to his emotions."

The trailblazer paused, "So Dan Heng's acting like this cause he likes someone? And they work at the space station?"

Himeko nodded her head, gesturing towards the hallway. "I'd tell you more, but it seems March is pretty intent on getting those answers out of him for herself."

Caelus nodded, uncrossing his arms. "Well, can I ask you a question?"

Himeko nodded, turning back to her monitor and gripping her mug of coffee once again. "Sure, go ahead." She lifted it to her lips, taking in a long swig.

"Is it that one guy March started texting about Vidyadharas?"

Immediately, she let out a strangled noise into her drink.

Were you even the same person?

"Arlan? Arlan!"

You snapped your fingers in front of his face, "Earth to Arlan? Hello?"

He shook his head back and forth, trying to snap out of the mini daze he was in. "I- Yeah, sorry. You're just... different, is all."

You raised your brow, looking down at your uniform. You pulled at your collar, "Did Miss Asta's suggestions really do all that much? I don't think I look too different."

Arlan's brows creased at a point on his forehead. "I guess they did, work-life balance looks good on you."

Instead of the barely alive looking researcher he constantly found himself hanging out with, it looked as if you were glowing in the fluorescent light of the cafeteria.

You nodded, "You know, I feel a lot better than I usually do." You paused, poking at your well-portioned and prepared meal in front of you, "Sometimes I still feel guilty about how little work I get done in comparison to when I didn't focus on the little things."

Arlan was quick to agree, "Yeah, I understand the feeling." He picked at his own food, eating a mouthful of the fried-rice Lady Asta loved so much. "Still, if you're looking better and feeling better, you're doing better all around."

For the first time since you set foot on the station, you'd taken the week off under the guidance of Lead Researcher Asta. She always scolded your ear off for working your fingers to brittle bone, but it seemed when you actually took her recommendations to heart, something in you fundamentally shifted.

Instead of skipping sleep to observe DNA strands for a few extra hours near midnight? You were turning in at a specified time every night and waking up at the appropriate hour the next morning. It was the first time you'd really grown accustomed to the sound of your phone alarm. Usually, you didn't sleep for 48 hours and then you would crash for 16.

Instead of getting so absorbed in your research you were forgetting to eat, you set aside the new found time taken away from research to make yourself a healthy, nutritious meal for each sitting of the day. You made yourself a breakfast that would warm up well in the morning, made yourself a hearty lunch to make sure you had enough energy to get through the day, and then a light dinner to make sure your digestive system wouldn't have to go into overdrive while you slept.

Originally, when you read up on self-care, you weren't all too sure you could make all the changes without some kind of drastic shift in your schedule immediately. But you were determined, you wouldn't let your social life pass you by any longer!

Instead of shying away from the challenge, you started small. You'd implement times in your routine where you would regularly stop and eat based on timers on your phone. You set an alarm for yourself to remind yourself it was time to stop working and go home.

Then, when you finally were ready to make the big leap, you consulted Asta and managed to get her to pull a few strings to get you some time off.

You took your week off to strengthen all of your healthy habits and kill off all the bad ones. You didn't have the opportunity to neglect yourself when it really was the only thing you could do. You started working out again to pass the time, you even got Arlan to drop Peppy off to keep you company when he was getting to be a handful around the station.

Arlan took a moment to thoroughly chew his food and swallow it, "As happy as I am that you're finally seeing the light, what exactly prompted all this change?"

You paused, seemingly chewing your own food slower in response. "Well, I want to start trying to make more friends."

He raised a brow, "I guess it's usually easier to make friends if you're taking care of yourself."

You nodded, "I mean, yeah, but I didn't really feel the need to look or feel better because I was really focused on my work and stuff like that." You averted your eyes, "You have to promise not to laugh at me if I tell you this."

Arlan could only feel himself getting more suspicious by the second, "Okay... I won't laugh at you. But why would I laugh at you?"

"I'm a little pathetic," you laughed, awkwardly at best. "I-". You paused again, taking a deep breath, "I don't know, I set up to meet with this guy in Aurum Alley on the Xianzhou Alliance ship and I didn't want him to have to walk around with someone that looked like a walking corpse. You and Asta always joke that I'm the walking dead and I-"

Arlan held up his hand, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, that's a lot to unpack to start off with." You blinked at him, snapping your jaw shut immediately. "Me and Asta only joke about that because you treat yourself like you want to be walking corpse. You hardly take care of yourself."

You nodded, swallowing a glob of spit.

"Second of all," he picked up another spoonful of rice, "Who are you meeting? Why do you think you need to change yourself to be good enough to just walk around someplace with him?"

You sighed, "That's the problem, I don't really know." You poked at your food with your fork, "He's just really cool. He's got a lot of friends and he has a really exciting life but he kind of just chooses to try and hang out with me. I don't really think I'm worth that much effort and yet he goes out of his way to try and look for me? It just feels like I'm letting him down if I don't put in the same kind of effort."

Arlan's face scrunched up, "Are you talking about Dan Heng?"

You tilted your head, "How did you know?"

"Well, he kind of follows you around like a lost puppy dog." He took another bite of his food, "He's not gonna care whether or not your eyebags are darker or if you're a little bit on the thinner side. He's already long decided he wants to be around you even at you worst."

You bit your lip, considering it for a moment. "I don't know what it is, but I feel like if anything goes wrong in Aurum Alley it's going to be life-ruining."

"What do you mean by that?" He frowned, "That... sounds really ominous."

You held your head in your free hand, "I don't know, I just feel like if he thinks I'm weird or disgusting or anything like that I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"Hey, let's back it up." Arlan set his spoon down on the table, "It's just a meet-up with a guy, nothing's going to happen if your date fails. If you have an awful date, there's always going to be the chance to make it up the next time. Besides, as long as you two are good spirited about it, there's no such thing as a bad date unless he like... I don't know, poisons you or something."

You chewed on the inside of your cheek, thinking it over.

For the first time during the entire conversation, you looked him directly in the eyes.

"...I just feel like letting go after getting in this close isn't an option anymore."

"March? Caelus?"

Said girl nervously laughed, shrinking behind the newspaper she was trying to hide her face in.  “Uh oh…”

Next to her, Caelus shook his head, “Busted.” 

Dan Heng stood, a little bit behind you, huffing through his nose.  While he didn’t say anything momentarily, the nature of his expression indicated he was more than just cross with the other nameless tag-alongs.  “What are the both of you doing in Aurum Alley?  I thought you both said you were busy today.” 

March quickly went to defend herself, folding the rather large newspaper shut.  “We are busy! We… just happen to be busy here!” 

Next to her, Caelus nodded his head intently.  

His arms across his chest, the tail trailing from his lower back smacked against the ground in an annoyed fashion.  He tapped his finger on his forearm a couple times, “What exactly are the two of you busy with?  This is the one day I told the both of you I would be visiting the Xianzhou Alliance.”

While nobody outright accused each other of anything, the implication was clear.  March 7th and Caelus were here because they knew Dan Heng would be on a date.  They were only here because they knew he would be on a date.  Instead of just checking in on him, they took it upon themselves to follow their fellow passenger and his unfortunate partner around.   With all the tension that started to blot the air like little rain clouds, you took it upon yourself to try and cut through it.  “Aren’t you in charge of commerce in Aurum Alley?  I heard from one of my coworkers that his wife has started ordering from the Food Stand here.” 

Automatically picking up on your out, Caelus nodded, “I was, but I handed it off to the Commerce Guild’s acting president.  She, uh-”  He sputtered over his words, “She asked for some help packing up a few Starskiffs and March didn’t have anything to do today, so… she tagged along?” 

You nodded, a little bit shyly, “Speaking of which, have you tried any of the food from the stand?  I’ve heard they recently upgraded their entertainment, but I haven’t heard much about the food quality.” 

March excitedly added in her two cents, “Oh! Me and Caelus were about to head that way!  He said that the Tall Auntie running the place usually has some freebies for him since he helped the store set-up their take-out ordering system!” 

Your eyes glinted excitedly, “Really?  I didn’t hear about that part.”  You clasped your hands together, “You really live up to all the rumors I hear on the station.  Didn’t you also set up the marketing campaign with the current High Elder of the Vidyadhara?”

Before he could answer, Dan Heng waved the pair off with a hand. “I’m sure we can continue this conversation some time later.  They said they were busy, we wouldn’t want to make them late to anything.” 

March was quick to interject, “Actually! We’re going on a lunch break real quick!”  She turned to Caelus, putting a hand on his shoulder, “Right?”

He nodded again, “We should all go to Tall Aunty’s Food Stand.” 

You opened your mouth to voice your agreement before your companion cut in, “No need, we planned on grabbing lunch later.” 

You looked at him, blinking a couple times.  Before you could say anything, March was already up in arms.  “It wouldn’t hurt you guys to move up your lunch plans, besides, this is our only lunch break until we have to go back to work!”

Instead of confirming or denying March’s statement, the trailblazer stood back and simply listened to the argument.  You chose to do the same.  

Dan Heng, on the other hand, let more displeasure drip into his expression.  “We didn’t plan on running into each other while we were out, your plans and our plans happen to be different.  We can arrange another time for the four of us to get lunch at the food stall.”

March put her hands on her hips, “Well, you guys are just hanging out, right?  It couldn’t hurt to just push back those plans to roam so you can spare some time to talk with friends.”  When she didn’t get any response from Dan Heng, she clasped her hands together in front of her chest, “Please?  Pretty please?  It’s been so long since all of us have seen each other!” 

“Hmph.” 

The person you’d originally come to Aurum Alley with was unmoved by her earnest plea, but you were somewhat swayed.  Your face twisted in sympathy.  “...Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to just go out to lunch with them this once.  Aurum Alley will still be here when we get done eating, I haven’t had the time to meet up with March lately or even get to know Caelus.  It might be good for me to make more friends.” 

He opened his mouth to protest, but he was cut off by March.  She threw her arm over your shoulder, “See? He gets it!” 

You curled in on yourself from the sudden change in position, leaning to the side a bit so she could actually hook her forearm around your biceps. Caelus finally decided now would be the best time to contribute to the conversation, “I don’t think I’ve talked to [name] before, I’ve been curious about their work since Lady Asta, Herta, and Arlan seem to hold him in high regard as a researcher.” 

You shook your head, putting your hands up.  You were a little scrunched in the position, “Oh, please don’t misunderstand, I’m really nothing all that special.” 

March shook her head, “Nonsense, you’re one of the best at the Space Station!  I heard you used to help a lot of interns before you started focusing on Genealogy!” 

You crumpled in on yourself, “Well, that’s usually the usual career path for researchers at the station in general.  Before we find our specialized area of research, you generalize and if anyone asks you to train them, you train them.”  Scratching your chin nervously, “Besides, I’ve kind of put work on the back burner in favor of trying to take better care of myself.” 

“Oh! I’d been meaning to ask about that, your skin is glowing!” March added,  “I remember Asta always used to call you some kind of zombie whenever you came up in conversation.” 

Caelus tilted his head to the side, “Really?” 

Your cheeks turned a soft shade of pink, “Yeah, everyone says I look really different now.  I usually get a lot more comments about how there’s more color in my skin or something along those lines.”

The conversation went on for a little longer before Dan Heng sighed, he pressed a couple of his fingers to his temple.  “I-” He closed his mouth, pinching the skin of his lip between his upper and lower set of teeth.  “-I guess getting lunch together wouldn’t change our plans all that much.”

“Yes!” March threw a fist into the air, ecstatic at the sudden change in plans.  She pointed a thumb over at the trailblazer, leaning in to talk behind her other hand.  “Caelus has been wanting to meet you, Dan Heng mentions you a lot on the express.” 

You felt your cheeks smolder at the suggestion, “He… does?” 

Dan Heng cleared his throat, his own cheeks dusted a matching scarlet, “We should get going, we don’t want to get caught up in the middle of the lunch rush.” 

March gave a cheeky smile, “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Dan Heng.” 

"I'm not exactly sure what you mean by... a 'surprise'."

“A surprise is just something you don’t know about,”   Caelus answered, rather monotone.  

Dan Heng grimaced ever so slightly, “If that’s the case, can I be sure I want to be privy to this...surprise then?”

March 7th punched her gray-haired raccoon-in-crime in the shoulder.  She shot him a stern look, as stern as she could look with her cutesy exterior.  Turning her attention back to the man they were trying to convince to head out to the lobby of the Express, she did her best to plead her case, “You’ve been holed up in your room since last week!  We just wanted to give you a little gift that might cheer you up a bit.” 

He raised a brow quizzically, arms still crossed over his chest.  “Can you guarantee this is a gift I’ll like?  Or is it going to be something like being invited to you and Himeko’s girls’ night again.” 

Caelus’s head snapped to March.  

Said passenger cleared her throat, “This is something you’ll like-”  She put a hand on her heart, the other balling into a fist resting on her hip,  “I swear it on all my honor!” 

Dan Heng looked over them again, gaze swapping between the two incredulously.  In the meantime, both of them were sweating bullets.  They didn’t know how long they had before “the surprise” would arrive at the station.   After a drawn out pause, however, he shook his head, “Fine, but if it’s anything like your previous gifts, this is the last time I trust you.” 

Marched pumped a fist into the air with a loud cheer, Caelus, on the other hand, put both hands on Dan Heng’s shoulders.  He flipped his fellow trailblazer around to face towards the door to his room, all but pushing him.  March followed after him excitedly.  The one thought running through the guy usually dragged into all their shenanigans was an inner turmoil sparked by the dread swirling through his cranium.  

The short walk to the door dividing the lobby and the residential areas of the train was punctuated by Caelus hurriedly covering his eyes.  As such, said swirling dread started to elevate into alarm bells sweeping through his nervous system as well.  This wasn’t a simple invite to an event or anything of the sort, it was tangible and you could see it. 

“Is covering my eyes necessary?” 

March confirmed this from behind him, “Yes, absolutely necessary!” 

As the door to the lobby swung open when they got close enough, he could hear faint chatter from Pom-Pom, Welt, and Himeko through the door.  The alarm bells dotting his body seemed to blare all the louder and cast off more red light when the talks quieted down immediately. 

His hands balled up into fists at his side, flexing and unflexing as a result of his nerves.  Before he could ask any more questions, the hands that were covering his eyes suddenly were retracted.  

He blinked a few times, trying to figure out what exactly he was seeing.  Okay so, the first elephant in the room.  You were in the middle of the parlor car, in your street clothing rather than your uniform.  One hand wrapped its fingers around the handle of a rolling suitcase.  Your other arm was hanging limp at your side and your posture sort of crumpled in on itself.  Even when you spoke, your voice was just a smidge shaky.  "Surprise?"

Even though he hadn’t meant to be aggressive in the slightest, his voice was a little bit sharp when he questioned, “What are you doing here?”

In response, your own voice seemed to get stuck in your throat filter, “Well, I-” You started, making a circular motion with your free hand, “I thought it might be time for me to make some changes in life and I got an invitation from the astral express…”  the sentence trailed off afterwards.  

“So you’re saying…” 

You shrugged, “I just thought it’d be rude since the astral express doesn’t ever really invite anyone to become a passenger and I was already a little bit bored on the Space Station-”  You coughed into a fist, “Himeko was the one who reached out originally, stating there was a gap in the Express’s skill set.  She said that since I was already a friend, the train would be happy to have me.”  

Dan Heng waited for you to continue, but when you didn’t he added in his own little stamp of input.  “When you said you were moving, you meant you were going to be… joining the express?”

Your hand finally left your suitcase, held up defensively alongside your free hand, “Well, March told me it’d be best to keep it a secret!”  You nervously averted eye contact, “When I asked Lady Asta whether or not it'd be okay, she agreed it’d be a harmless little prank.”  

Mr. Yang hummed thoughtfully, “It seems only you and I were kept in the dark.  I only learned there would be a new addition to the crew yesterday.” 

Himeko chortled next to him, crossing her legs in her seat, “Well, I guess it slipped my mind.” 

You took a deep breath, “I was getting pretty tired of the same wake up, research all day, eat a few times, and then go back to bed.  I was always a little bit jealous of all the stories you’d tell from your trailblazing expeditions as one of the nameless because I’ve only ever known my home planet and the Station.”  You motioned to the navigator of the Astral Express, “Himeko said that there would always going to be new things you all haven’t encountered before, it would be useful to have someone learned in technology that could dissect any new contraptions we came across.”  You sighed, “I might’ve jumped the gun a little bit, but can you blame me?” 

When you gave him the chance to speak, he immediately asked about the only real concern he had, “But... your research, you always talked about how important it was to you.” 

You nodded, “Oh, don’t get me wrong, it's more important to me than life itself. That's why I didn't quit my job, Arlan and Asta pleaded my case to Herta and I’m transitioning to remote work.”  You kicked at the air with one foot, “It also helps that Lady Herta has been interested in expanding her areas of research so she can implement new things into the Simulated Universe.” 

Dan Heng took a second to mull it over, “So you’re going to move onto the express, for good?” 

You nodded excitedly, grabbing the handle of your luggage again.

“Yes, I’m becoming one of the nameless.”

"You asked to see me?"

Arlan glanced up from where he was sitting at his desk.   Setting down the tablet he was reading a new report on, he pushed it to the side.  “Sorry, I didn’t expect you to be here so soon.”   He gestured to the seat in front of him, “Please, have a seat.  I just had a couple things I wanted to talk about.” 

The archivist nodded, pulling the chair out so he could properly settle in.  “Of course.”   Upon seating himself and getting comfortable, he broke the silence again, “What is it that you wanted to discuss?” 

The head security officer bit at the inside of his cheek, trying to find the most sensitive way to broach the topic.  He tapped his finger on the desk, before deciding to rip off the band-aid pretty quickly, “Have you noticed any changes in [name] as of late?” 

Dan Heng blinked a couple times.  “Not particularly, did you?” 

“Well,” He swallowed, “I’m just a little worried about him.  I don’t know how he’s been doing since he left for the express, but before he left he said some concerning things.  I couldn’t tell if he meant them or not.” 

In response, Dan Heng tried not to pry too hard.  However, since it did concern you, he felt it also concerned him.  “What kinds of things did he say?” 

Arlan paused again, trying to really think things over before making an even bigger deal out of them, “I don’t know if you can call them weird on their own, but he just doesn’t… say things like that ever.  It’s out of character for him and I’m afraid it’ll get worse now that me and Lady Asta won’t be there to keep him in check.” 

“I can’t exactly help if I don’t know what he said,” Dan Heng reasoned, “The only real change I noticed was his relationship with his work.  Since he’s been on the express, he’s been working a lot more.  Aside from that, he seems to enjoy setting aside time to run around with March and Caelus.  I find I have a lot more time alone because it seems they’ve started alternating between the two of us to rope into their schemes.” 

Arlan nodded, “I guess that makes me feel a little bit better.”  

The other man nodded back at him in response, “Still, what did he say that had you concerned?  As one of his friends, I feel obligated to make sure he’s alright.” 

“Well, I feel a little bit awkward saying it since it was originally about you.”  To this, Arlan drummed his fingers on his desk, “It started a couple days before the two of you went out for the first time to Aurum Alley.  He started talking about how he felt he wasn’t cool enough to be around you, that he needed to change somehow so he wouldn’t embarrass you.” 

Dan Heng nodded, keeping his mouth shut. 

The security officer’s frown deepened, “But it just got worse from there.  I don’t want to scare you or anything, but he’s… weird about you-really weird.”  

“...about me specifically?” Dan Heng’s head cautiously leaned to the side.  

Arlan bobbed his head up and down quickly, “Yeah, just you.”  He let his hands go limp on the table, “He’s been doing really good otherwise.  It’s just like he took all his unhealthy habits and converted them into these weird thoughts and ideas about you.”  He raised one of his hands to count out each of the changes on his fingers, “He’s started eating healthy, eating regularly, working out again, he actually sleeps on time, and he’s making friends, arguably he’s doing better than he has for a long time.”  He leaned his face on his other hand, “But then he’ll start talking about you and it’s like a demon’s hiding under his tongue.” 

The astral express passenger pursed his lips, trying to hide the audible drumming of his heart in his ears.  “Well, what kinds of things does he say?” 

Arlan paused, chewing on his lip, “He talks about you like this kind of unattainable goal.”  He shifted to rest both his forearms on the table.  “There’s just this weird far off look in his eyes and I can tell he’s only saying half the stuff on his mind.  All these half-baked thoughts about how he doesn’t deserve to hang out with you, muttering about ways he can change himself to be more ‘worthy’ of your time or whatever.  It’s scaring me.” 

“...” 

“...I don’t know.”  Arlan sighed, “I want to be happy for how much progress he’s making but he isn’t making it for himself.” 

“...he really said all those things about me?”

Arlan seemed a little taken aback, “Uh, yeah… he did.”  

He swallowed a glob of spit down his throat, “And you’re saying all these changes for the better have been because he wants to impress me?” 

Arlan took a moment to think before responding.  Slowly, he nodded his head, “Yeah… it’s why I asked if you noticed any changes.  He talks about you a lot and you guys seem to be hanging out more than ever.” 

“That’s… a little bit concerning.” 

Arlan didn’t answer back immediately.  He could feel something was a little bit… off.  “Yeah, that’s… kind of why I wanted to bring it up to you.” 

Upon hearing the suspicion in the other man’s tone, Dan Heng did his best to try and clear the air, “Sorry, it’s… just a lot to take in at once.  I didn’t expect that was what you wanted to talk about.” 

Trying to shake off the unease, the head security officer shrugged, “I could only really imagine.”  He sighed, “My main concern is whether or not he’s acting weird on the express.  I tried to write it off as him being excited to make a new friend early-on, since I knew he only really had Lady Asta when he arrived on the Space Station.  When he started making a lot more friends and he was still acting weird about you, I didn’t really have an excuse for him anymore.” 

Dan Heng nodded, “I don’t really think you have to worry anymore.” 

Arlan tried to ignore his stomach dropping through the floor. “...Oh.” 

Dan Heng nodded, “I mean to say, he can’t hold me on a pedestal anymore because we are both nameless.  He doesn’t have anything to look up to when we are both on equal footing.” 

Your former best friend tried to agree, he really wanted to.  He wanted to believe that Dan Heng was just innocently naive about the nature of your words and actions, but the archivist wasn’t stupid.  He should’ve obviously known something was wrong.  “...I guess I can see where you’re coming from. But can I just ask one thing of you?”

Arlan was right to be suspicious, because Dan Heng was only really telling a half-truth.  As selfish as it sounded, the nameless was more than happy for this sudden change in circumstance.  

The archivist hummed, "Of course."

"Be careful." Arlan paused before continuing, "I know you might think you'd be able to handle it if he gets out of control, but he's a lot stronger than he looks. He's been working out too and I'm scared he might... end up becoming dangerous."

Instead of further pushing the conversation, the express passenger acknowledged his worry. "I can see where you're coming from. But, I feel that he's starting to mellow out. He's not just spending time hanging around me or anyone on the express in particular. I promise that you don't need to keep worrying about him."

Even as he tried to convince Arlan that his intentions for encouraging him to trust in the express were pure, he knew that he was only making excuses. If the head security officer chose to peel back just a couple more of the layers to his act, he would find the man's true thoughts.

‘You don’t need to worry about him, because feeling like that is normal, isn’t it? I feel the same way.’

"Oh, the group already headed out for the Festival. Did you plan on telling them something before they left?"

You stood near Himeko’s coffee maker, cradling one of the many mugs you’d brought with you to the express. Judging by the steam wafting off the top of the coffee, you’d just freshly brewed yourself a drink and were getting ready to retreat back into your hastily thrown together room to continue working on some kind of research project.

Dan Heng, on the other hand, hadn’t been doing anything in particular before the conversation. Fresh out of his room, he'd opted to leave his heavy coat hung up. “No, not in particular.”

You tilted your head, eyes still focusing on your hot beverage, “Alright, is there any particular reason why you asked if they were gone yet?”

“Well, the two of us are alone on the entire express. The residential compartment is completely cleared out…”. He trailed off his sentence, crossing his arms across his chest.

You raised your brow curiously, setting your drink down on the counter to go about swapping the coffee filter. “Yeah…? I guess we are.”

Dan Heng chewed on the inside of his cheek, “Well, if we were going to do anything that might necessitate being alone, now would be the best time since everyone else is at the Charmony Festival.”

Your cheeks flushed pink, “I guess, but I can't really think of anything that the two of us would do, that is unless you’re going into another heat?” You murmured to nobody in particular, “Most reptilian species only have a mating period during a certain season though.”

“Do you…” he paused, considering his words carefully, “Do you think that would be the only time I'd be interested in doing something like that?”

You could feel a tingly warmth creep up your neck, “W-Well,” you dropped the used filter in the trash can. “That was the last time we did anything like that and I just thought, y’know…”

Dan Heng’s lips pulled into a tight line, “If I wasn't going into heat? If I just wanted to sleep together?”

You faced away from him, rummaging through the cabinets for the coffee grounds. “I-” You fumbled with the satchel, grasping a new filter with your other hand,

“I wouldn't say no…?”

"Ahn~ Right there, right there, right thererightthere-"

His fingers dug into the spots of your headboard right next to your skull, chest pushed forward and hips angled backward to form a beautifully lewd arch.

You gave another pointed jolt of your hips, positively radiant when Dan Heng exploded into shudders of ecstasy. Thighs shaking, he did his best to try and encourage them to lift a little. When he reached as high as he knew he could get, he dropped his hips back down onto yours rather unceremoniously with a pornographic mewl.

Despite the drool leaking down his chin, you leaned in to give him a peck on the lips. The moment your mouth was on his, it seemed almost like a silent invitation. Even with the lack of any real stimulation, he hands transferred from the cracked and scarred wood to your shoulders. He groaned into your mouth tracing his left hand’s pointer finger over your exposed collarbone.

Even with the building fatigue burning through his lower half, he did his best to pick himself up again. Your hands slithered from squeezing his love handles to gripping the curve of his ass. Supporting his hips, your arm strength added to the diminishing strength in his legs, dragging his insides up your length before slamming him back down to meet your pelvis forcefully.

“Oh~” he let out an airy moan, expertly swiping his finger along the dip in your skin from your collarbone up to the side of the neck. Instead of focusing on further chasing his release again, he leaned down to plant a sloppy, wet kiss on the side of your neck just underneath where the pads of his fingers rested on your pulse point.

You squirmed from the foreign sensation of the drool trailing down the sensitive skin, unexpectedly squeezing his ass in response. He smiled against your neck, shameless while he trailed a forked tongue over the artery hidden beneath your skin.

You weren't used to the sudden spark of confidence, shying away from his excessive touch with a quiet, nervous embarrassment. Your hands trailed back towards his waistline, pulling him up by the tempting dip in his figure, only to slam him back down again. When you were rewarded with a breathless, blissed call of your name, you didn't hesitate to do it again.

Before long, it seemed the two of you didn't have any thoughts running through your head but the desires of the flesh.

Firmly planting your feet on the mattress, the two of you seemed to get lost in the sudden plowing of your cock even deeper into his ass. The combined force of his weight, gravity, and your own aggressive rhythm contributing to the growing bulge of your tip just below the center of his abs, you felt lost to the sensations. Even in your sex-drunk haze, you didn't fail to realize the heightened nature of his vocals, it seemed his voice box was all but tearing itself apart with each of the punched out shrieks he pushed out right into your ear.

Even stranger, instead of moving his hips in tandem with yours, he seemed extremely fixated on the specific, certain spot of your neck he’d laid claim to just a few short moments earlier. With each drawn out groan forced out of his mouth, he lavished his affections on the same spot. Kissing the same point over and over in a silent worship.

The tips of your ears burning a stark red vermillion, you let a shaky roll of your hips smack into his insides especially sharp, “Shihittt~” In your attempt to combat the sensation, your face burned a deeper crimson when he moaned directly into your ear.

Even after a particularly harsh thrust, it seemed he was still dead set on focusing on that one specific point on your neck. With all the kisses suctioned to that specific square of flesh, the skin bruised a shy pink hue, and it only seemed to further encourage him.

In response, you gripped one of the horns on the crown of his head to finally get him to put his lips elsewhere. Peppering shy, messy, saliva-soaked kisses to an eager and hungry mouth you could feel your pace speed up as you crept up higher and higher towards your peak. His face contorted in the shape of each electric current of ecstasy wrapping itself like a cord up his spinal column. Even if he wanted to let out more pathetic whimpers and sobs, he couldn't find the strength to pull away from equally addictive kisses.

Shyly, you pried open his lips with your tongue. He reciprocated with a tantalizing whine, further welcoming you into his mouth. Without any delay, you dragged your tongue over the roof of his mouth, swirling your spit with his right on top of his Jacobson organ.

He shook in blissed out euphoria, brain flashing a blinding white before he pulled away from the kiss specifically to shriek your name. Pushing his chest up against yours, his arms bent awkwardly from where they were positioned on your upper body. Again he dipped his head into the crook of your neck, nipping at the same patch of wet, pinkening skin with the tips of his fangs.

You grunted, only further confused as he moved from just barely scraping fangs over your jugular to starting to suck a hickey into the raw redness.

In the haze of sex, the overloading of the nerves in just one spot only seemed to further stack on top of eachother in a salacious torture. It felt so good, it was starting to burn. Instead of trying to coax him off the spot, the flexing and twitching of his own neck muscles only seemed to become more and more inviting.

Ultimately, you tried licking a stripe up the same artery in Dan Heng's neck, rewarded with a delicious squeak. His teeth caught on your skin, only further amplifying the dizzying haze and spin that seemed to capture the rest of the world.

A few short seconds later, he pulled his mouth off your neck just a few sparingly merciful breaths away, “Clohhsseeee, cuhlossseee-” He seized up in another mewl, lower back arching to push himself even closer to your pelvis. “Plehease~ Can I, can I, can I-” With another press of the tip of your dick straight into his prostate, he threw his head back with a scream. Still, determined for some kind of permission, he opened his mouth to keep babbling impossibly loud, “can I, can I, canicanican-”

Eyes shut as you sped up to chase your own orgasm, you finally nodded your head in the crook of his neck. “Yes, yes, yes-”

He keened at the go ahead, once again rushing to bury his nose against the abused, purpled, and irritated skin on the side of your neck. Instead of continuing to suck more and more hickies into the canvas laid before him, he opened his mouth wide before injecting his extremely long, needle-like fangs deep into the side of your neck, just barely missing one of the most crucial arteries in your body. The taste of your blood hitting his tongue caused another loud squeal to spill from his lips before he got impossibly tighter and creamed all over both of your stomachs.

You seized up, hips stuttering from the sudden all-consuming pain stemming from your injury before unloading into his awaiting body. In your shock, you couldn't even think about how to ask him what just happened. Even then, you weren't sure you wanted to know.

As the two of you laid there, sweaty and spent, he continued to nurse the wound with the gentle ticklish touch of his forked tongue. Two large, heavily bleeding openings in your neck, he nuzzled up against like they were all he had left.

What your knowledge failed to encompass, Dan Heng’s instincts didn't fail to fawn over. Something the two of you hadn't covered in your research were the mating rituals of the Vidyadhara. Three things were of specific relevance.

One, Vidyadharas mate for life, and the span of multiple lives should time and memory allow it.

Two, mating must be done with permission.

Three, mating is officiated with a mark in a visible area, popularly the neck.

He ran his fingers over the dripping red pouring from the side of your neck. A happy trill resounded from the back of his throat as he lapped it up with his tongue again, drinking in the groan of discomfort and the explosive shivers that wracked your body.

...

...Perhaps it would also be important to mention, mating marks were permanent.

There's a note on the side of the phone booth, read it?

" every time I say I'm going to update the same day, I end up either procrastinating or rewriting the same scene 7 times because I can't figure out what I want to happen specifically "

THIS IS A REPOSTED WORK FROM MY ORIGINAL ACCOUNT BEFORE IT CRAPPED AND DIED ON ME

I USED TO BE FOUND AT @steadybear

I FEAR YOU WILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH SEEING @bigtedbear INSTEAD FROM NOW ON