band au;

[slicings]

[ yingxing exhales hard.

his ears still ring with the music, his blood thrumming with excitement. for all the years that highcloud has been together now, he never really tires of this work. he loves what he does, loves his bandmates no matter how often they butt heads, loves everything about their music. it's hard work, exhausting even at the best of times, and there are certainly many downsides to fame and celebrity status, but this.. playing together, making music, performing, he's passionate about it. the riches and fame are secondary to doing what he loves.

they're halfway through their rehearsal now, splitting up to take a break and rehydrate, and it's as he's guzzling down some water from a bottle that yingxing spots dan heng, dan feng's quiet, elusive little brother.

they've met before, but only briefly, only in passing. while dan heng is supportive of his brother and the band, he's a bit of a recluse, and he's never really gone out of his way to interact with any of them beyond dan feng - so what's he doing here right now? yingxing can't resist the urge to pester him, not when he knows he might not get the chance to again for some time now.

so, wiping sweat from his brow, yingxing wanders toward the table where dan heng has set up shop, surrounded by books and papers, lit by the glow of his laptop and tablet. ]

Long time no see.

[ entirely uninvited, yingxing pulls up a seat across from dan heng, straddling it backwards, leaning his forearms on the back of the steel chair. his hair is wild and his skin is flushed and dewy with sweat, adrenaline still pumping, his grin broad and easy. ]

Surprised you can concentrate with all this noise.

Comments

[nonperson]

[ Dan Heng has always tried to appear as if he's the cold, aloof type. After all, when you're a high school student with a famous rockstar older brother, there's simply no saving you from the droves of teenage girls asking for information, or some sort of help getting something from him. Or, worse still, the one or two times he tried dating only to find out that he was being used to get them closer to Dan Feng.

At some point, he ended up changing schools; with that change came the decision to use cloudhymn magic to conceal the truth of his identity. People would still comment that he looked like the famous rocker, but—well, he was human, so he couldn't be related, right?

University, Dan Feng had promised, would be better, but in the end he's found it easier to maintain the disguise, to introduce himself as sparingly as possible, to stick to the small friend groups he's found along the way.

(March and Stelle are the only people who know the truth about him, too—something he regrets on occasion when March makes a silly comment far too loudly for anyone's liking, and he's forced to watch in disdain-concealed frustration as Stelle rushes to shut her up.)

So—

Right. The aloof thing. Really, it's just easier that way. And the less time he spends entangled with the band themselves, the better. It gives him plausible deniability, after all.

It also makes it significantly easier to hide the fact that he's among their biggest fans.

As it is, forced to come along to practice tonight by car troubles, he's had to cover up a laptop sticker or two, move his white-and-purple Blade wristband to an ankle, signs that in the real world aren't too obvious or attention-grabbing, but in this room will give him away faster than his tail suddenly popping back into existence. But he's done what he needed to, secured himself and found a corner and done his best to study despite the (wonderful) noise, thumbing through pages after pages of history and data analysis textbooks,

and really he thinks he's just about gotten away with it too, when a break comes and suddenly Blade, in all his glory his brother's friend Yingxing is sitting in front of him, all ridiculously-tight jeans and wild hair and wide smile.

Dan Heng's breath stutters. The wristband, hidden under his own lightweight pants, brands his skin with the heat of its burn. He tries to force a friendly—but distant—smile. What happens on his face instead is something infinitely more constipated and uncomfortable. ]

Yes... You're right. Long time no see, Yingxing. [ A breath, and he clears his throat. Saying his name sounds far too intimate—stupid, stupid— ] My car broke down, so I'm riding along with my brother for today.

[slicings]

[ ah, he's so cute. dan heng shuffles awkwardly, and yingxing can only continue to smile, his mouth slanted roguishly. while he has no idea that this young man is, in fact, very much a fan of them, he does know that dan heng is easy to tease. ]

Ah, right. Sorry you're stuck here with us for awhile.

[ he drops his chin to rest against his folded forearms over the back of the chair. he realizes that he's likely disrupting dan heng's studies more than the music had right now, but it won't last too long, soon they'll be back to rehearsing the second half of their show.

raising his brows, he briefly scans dan heng's textbooks. ]

What's your major?

[ dan feng told him once, he knows - it was something nerdy. coding? math? something like that. ]

[nonperson]

[ For his part, Yingxing somehow manages to make an apology genuine despite the wicked smile on those handsome lips. And for his, Dan Heng somehow, he thinks—he hopes—manages to keep his face from heating up too much as he shakes his head. ]

There's no need for you to apologize, [ he answers, voice quiet, matter-of-fact. ] You weren't responsible for my car breaking down.

[ Ugh, he wants to hit himself with Stelle's baseball bat. He's glad for the question, then, if only because it takes the attention away from the idiotic thing he's said. He coughs, and his fingertips run over the spine of a book. ]

I'm doing a double, [ he explains. ] History with a focus on the homeworld of the Xianzhou, and data analysis. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with it just yet, but I've learned a lot.

[slicings]

[ yup. nerdy. but yingxing looks impressed. ]

Dan Feng told me you were smart, but a double major? That's impressive.

[ and not easy majors, either. history is dense, and data analysis takes a sharp mind - dan heng certainly is challenging himself. yingxing nods, then lifts his eyes back up to dan heng's face. ]

Well, you don't need to decide on what you want to do just yet, but you've got plenty of options with those avenues.

[ the corner of his mouth twists, and yingxing winks. ]

Take your time, yeah?

[nonperson]

[ There's nothing for it—the next sound out of Dan Heng's mouth is an undignified little croak as the lead guitarist of highcloud compliments him with such effortless grace in his words. Nor is there hiding the definite heat on his cheeks, although he's quite to drop his gaze and lift a hand to his cheek, resting against it as if in thought.

That wink—

Damnit, he's going to kill Dan Feng for bringing him here.

For now, though, he reaches for his bottle of water, trying to retain some of his usual image. How pathetic, that all it took was a smile and a wink to practically rip off his usual mask?

(His voice sounds ragged around the water, even as he clears his throat.) ]

I... Thank you. I'll keep that in mind, and try not to pressure myself into making a choice too early.

[slicings]

[ yingxing isn't stupid, nor is he emotionally dull. he's been around enough fans and groupies fawning over him to know when someone's into him, though dan heng is admittedly doing a fine job of controlling himself. it's possible that he's just flustered to be around him in general, but his brother is famous, too - you'd think he'd be used to lingering around celebrities by now.

then again, dan heng doesn't visit with them often. yingxing can count on two hands the amount of times he's seen the young man show his face around them openly in the past decade since the band first got together. he'd been so young then, likely hardly remembers his brother's friends making noise in the spacious garage of the dan family's estate.

but that does make him wonder.. ]

You look different, lately.

[ he says, then sits up a little straighter, lifting a hand to playfully flick at dan heng's short fringe. ]

I remember you looking more like your brother.

[nonperson]

[ Fingers lift and flick at his bangs, and Dan Heng darts back with all the ferocious energy of a startled rabbit, his eyes wide and his breath catching in his throat. At his side, his fingers twitch. Maybe March can arrange for Himeko to come and rescue him after all. He should have just taken her up on the offer when she made it...

But... no. He's being ridiculous.

(A deep, calming breath.)

Yingxing is only asking him a question that makes sense for him to ask, given how long the two of them have known one another.

He reaches up, smooths his bangs back into place.

(His ankle twitches, an impossible reminder of the touch pressed so briefly against his skin.)

And, after a moment taken to collect himself, he manages a small smile, wry in nature as he shakes his head. ]

One could argue too much like my brother. You don't need me to tell me how many fans your band has. My high school years were... [ He grimaces, and shakes his head once more; this time, as he talks, he lifts his hand to where his ear curves, human-like—where he can still feel his true ear emerging from behind it, invisible and unseen. ] This... this is just cloudhymn magic, but it makes it slightly easier to get by.

I'll make any excuse, coincidence, I knew

[nonperson]

[ Somehow, he manages to live it down. He stops wearing his wristband for a day or two. March teases him for a week. Stelle's still sending the occasional meme. (And even he has to admit that the "I put some awkward in your awkward so you can awkward while you awkward" one was kinda funny, once enough time passed to take the sting out of the thing.) But he lives it down, he gets past it, and now, he's able to just write it off as something weird that happened, a strange moment of playful friendliness from his older brother's friend.

And it's not like it's Yingxing's fault that Dan Heng has had a crush on him for years, anyway.

Today, his wristband is back where it belongs, worn on a wrist as the one major outward sign of his fandom. A sign that right now is even more obvious than normal as his clothes pull away from his forearm, leaving it bare but for the purple and white knit. The culprit? A stretched arm, a book on an abysmally tall shelf. He loves this store, but how many times will he have to ask before they get stepladders or something...?

Dan Heng sighs, hand starting to lower from the book. He'll have to ask for help. Again. ]

[slicings]

[ it's not often that yingxing has the time to just.. relax. to take a day to himself to unwind, go somewhere new, try something different, and when he does, he's often still recognized anywhere he goes. it can't be helped. that's the price of his work, and he's willing to pay it, even if it grates him sometimes. today, though - just maybe he'll be able to slip by unnoticed in this sleepy little alley just outside the university campus.

there's a cafe here, attached to a tiny little used bookshop, and yingxing steps inside. he's dressed plainly in dark jeans and a loose zip-up hoodie over a black tee, his hair pulled into a messy tail, sunglasses concealing his recognizable violet eyes. he places his order with the barista, tapping his painted fingernail idly on the counter as he allows his eyes to wander while waiting for his order to be fulfilled.

and wouldn't you know it. through the archway that leads to the bookshop, yingxing spies a familiar mop of dark hair. it's been a couple of months since he last spoke with dan feng's cute, awkward little brother, but even still, he breaks out into a grin to see him.

his espresso is finished, and yingxing snags it in one hand, thanking the barista with a generous tip before wandering his way into the bookshop area, slipping around a bookcase just as dan heng reaches for a book far too high for him. cute. and what's that around his wrist..? oh, yingxing would recognize that pattern anyway, knows his merch well. stepping up behind dan heng, he reaches over his head to pluck the dusty book from the shelf, his mouth slanted in a smile. ]

This the one you wanted?

[nonperson]

[ Despite the ebb of the embarrassment, Dan Heng has made a point of not going to rehearsals again. Even on the day Dan Feng invited him specifically, said they were working on something new that might interest him, he found a reason not to be there, an excuse about an upcoming assignment that didn't exist, a vague promise of "sometime soon" that never turned into anything else.

(He feels guilty even now, because he knows how important the band is to his older brother, but...)

Well, he supports him in his own way, doesn't he?

He's just turned around to go in search of a shopkeep when a taller figure suddenly reaches over him, effectively trapping him against the shelf as it plucks, effortless, the book he wants from over the top of his head. A smile, a question, and—

he might not be the single most pious person in the world, but he's starting to wonder if he's personally done something to piss the Reignbow Arbiter off. ]

Bl— [ The syllable dies on his lips, and he accepts the book, grateful for something to turn his eyes onto, his focus on its dusty spine and very much not the wristband on the hand that holds it steadily tremblingly.

He takes a breath. Standing here gaping won't help anyone, so... ]

That... this is the exact one. Thank you, Yingxing. I was going to have to get someone who worked here to come help.

[slicings]

[ dan heng looks spooked all over again, like a frightened horse on a frozen lake, clutching the book like a lifeline, and yingxing thinks he's beginning to understand.

he'd suspected that dan heng might be into him during their previous conversation, but now, seeing that bracelet - well.. that's some strong evidence, isn't it? somehow, it excites him. he's got thousands of fans, many of which wouldn't hesitate to throw themselves at a chance with him, yet somehow the idea of dan heng being among them is.. really charming. yingxing pushes his sunglasses to the top of his head, the corners of his eyes crinkling fondly. ]

Well, I'm glad I could save you the trouble.

[ the stacks are close together, leaving them standing very near one another, but yingxing makes no attempt to move. ]

Didn't expect to run into someone I knew here.

[nonperson]

Thanks, [ he whispers again when Yingxing says something about saving him the trouble, half for something to say and half because holding the book like this he can see his own wristband and he's started to notice the depth of the mess in which he's landed himself. This is bad, this is so, so bad...

Looking up—

looking up doesn't help. Now he's gazing right up into a fond expression worn in lavender eyes, the space between them far too little for comfort, and... and...

He clears his throat, looks around—is there an escape route? Something?—before Yingxing's words have him looking back up, forcing a smile and nodding. ]

It's... small. Quiet, here. That's usually why I come. There are a lot of good books, and the cafe is a good place for study. But I... [ Another shake of his head. ] What are you doing here? It might be quiet, but you still had to get here somehow...

[slicings]

Mm. This place definitely suits you.

[ dan heng fits in here like a fish in a pond. a cozy, quiet bookshop, a little cafe, all tucked away in a sleepy town.. yes, this suits him perfectly. their eyes meet, and yingxing chuckles when dan heng quickly glances away, clearly looking for an out, but yingxing won't make it easy for him. dan feng isn't here to spoil his fun with his overprotection. ]

Want to have some coffee with me? Since we're both here.

[ his eyes flicker down to the bracelet, then up again. ]

Unless you'd rather not spend time with me.

Forever we're together bound in madness

[nonperson]

[ It starts as what feels like a cold. Dan Heng wakes with a sore head and a fever, and no matter how much water he drinks it doesn't feel like enough. He messages March and Stelle to tell them he won't be coming in, and curls up under his covers, textbook next to him. It's an attempt to prevent himself from getting left behind, but he's shuddering with cold and sweating with heat all at once, and the words seem to blur on the page.

He can't focus, and in the end he tosses the book out of the bed, hears it thump on the floor in finality.

He falls asleep somewhere after that, dozing in and out of consciousness, fitful little starts that somehow seem to make things worse. He goes through three sets of home clothes, each sweated right through and left in a tangled pile on the floor, before he gives up on clothes at all and just lies in a heap on his bed, panting and barely conscious. The only real lucidity he has is to think bitterly that he's never been quite this sick before—

It's not until his phone lights up with a message from Yingxing—something silly about being bored, a picture of whatever he's drinking right now—that Dan Heng realizes with a sickening jolt that he's not ill.

In the end, he doesn't quite know how he makes it to Yingxing's apartment block, only that he's there, and that he hasn't thought to tell the other he's coming. His car fits terribly in the parking space, and by the time he staggers off the elevator, even his cloudhymn magic is failing him—his ears are too pointed to be human, his hair longer than normal in places, horns seeming to flicker in and out of reality as he stands in front of the door.

He knocks, and all but slumps against the doorframe. ]

[slicings]

[ it's nice, becoming friends with dan heng, learning more about him - and the more he learns, the cuter dan heng becomes. he's like his brother in many ways - stubborn and smart, observant, kind, but so different in others. where dan feng is confident and sharp-edged, dan heng is softer, gentler, a little more shy at times, though he isn't afraid to assert himself when he needs to. he's quiet, bookish, with a soft, rare smile, and yingxing is absolutely charmed by him.

so they correspond often, even when they're busy - dan heng with his uni work, yingxing with rehearsals and recording. their tour is coming up in a few months now, there's prep work to be done.

anyway, he's not expecting company tonight, so when there's a knock on the door, yingxing looks up from his scribbled plans with a quizzical look. he's been sketching some weaponry, but he abandons it to stand and head to the door. when he opens the door, however, he doesn't expect dan heng to all but fall into his arms. ]

Hey -

[ wow, he feels so hot all over, and he doesn't look too great either. yingxing's brow pinches in concern. ]

- what's wrong? Are you all right?

[nonperson]

[ By the time Dan Heng is on the road, he has an idea of what's going on, if only because moving around and putting on half-decent clothing is enough to stir his body into the wakefulness it has been needing of him all day. The drive over is spent squirming in discomfort in his seat, and in the time it takes him to walk from the car to the apartment door he's sure his clothes are soaked through with sweat all over again.

And then the door opens and all at once he realizes the gravity of the mistake he's made. A scent unlike anything he's ever smelled before—something rich and musky, tinged with the same drink he'd seen earlier in the photo—invades all his senses at once, tying his stomach in knots and drawing his brow into a pinched line. He's not quite able to help the way his head tilts, face shifting until it's all but buried in the crook of Yingxing's neck, lips parted in ragged breath, nostrils tickling with the his scent as he breathes it in. His hips come flush to the other man's and he—

Please—

—braces his hands on Yingxing's chest to force himself back a step, eyes wide and chest heaving with quickened breath. ]

I shouldn't have come here. [ His voice is rough, aching at the edges. ]

[slicings]

[ for several moments, yingxing is entirely puzzled, his brow pinched and his expression quizzical and concerned both - but the way dan heng mouths at his throat, then pushes himself away - it begins to dawn on him exactly what is happening here.

dan heng is in heat. he's witnessed dan feng's heats and ruts enough to know exactly what they're like, how they manifest, and how entirely debilitating they can be. poor dan heng, he's sweating through his clothing, overheated and disoriented - the fact that he drove here at all in this state is concerning, and yingxing can't let him drive back like this. ]

Hey, hey, it's okay.

[ he says gently, and pushes the damp hair back from dan heng's eyes, trying to mind the horns that continue to flicker in and out of his vision. ]

Come in, take a nice cool bath, it's gonna be okay.

[nonperson]

[ If he were more lucid, perhaps he'd ask the important question—Are you familiar with Vidyadhara physiology?—instead of just deciding he's made the wrong choice. It's true that it was dangerous to come here, but a friend can help him, and Yingxing is a friend—

—Yingxing is someone to whom he's attracted, someone to whom he'd give everything—

Regardless of anything, this is a mistake.

He's on the verge of flight when that cool, roughened hand reaches for him, pushes his hair back from his skin in a way he can't help but lean into. His eyes close, and somehow through the clouds of fog and scent that make up the whole of his brain now he hears Yingxing offering him a cool bath, and he nods into him, sinks into it with a trembling sigh. ]

I—okay..

[ No. No. Not when—

He shakes his head, looks up at Yingxing as he does. There's a turquoise gleam to his eyes that shouldn't be there, a glow the magic usually hides, and yet they're still murky and confused, swimming with something more than normal. ]

No, I... Yingxing, I can't. This is... it's the first time, I...

[ He shouldn't be here, not when he has no idea how much self-control he'll have. ]

[slicings]

[ the first time? he's never endured a heat before?

that complicates things. he knows that the first can be unpredictable, and intense, and dan heng has never experienced it before to know how it will manifest for him, and how well he'll be able to control it. when he leans into yingxing's arms, he loops his arms around him, cradling him gently, but it isn't long before dan heng is pulling away again, torn, and clearly struggling. ]

Look.. Dan Heng, I can't make these choices for you, but I won't let you drive in this condition. You're lucky you made it here in one piece at all.

[ his hands grasp at dan heng's upper arms, squeezing. ]

So do you want me to drive you home? You can stay here, if you want to. Take a bath, and sleep in my bed. I'll be here if you need anything, because this is gonna last awhile, right?

[slicings]

[ dan feng, thankfully, hadn't exploded, but he hadn't been happy either, and after harping on dan heng to be careful about a hundred times he had relented enough to allow the date.

so yingxing pulls up at exactly nine o'clock in his personal starskiff, sleek and humming at the dock attached to dan heng's apartment complex. it's a friday night, so the sky is busy, humming with activity, and the dock is packed, so yingxing is sure to take down the roof so dan heng can see him, his stark white hair familiar and easy to spot, even if he's got his sunglasses on for the moment to briefly shield his identity.

he's looking forward to this. ]

Hey, over here! Ah Heng.

[nonperson]

[ A hundred times after being told, and a hundred more times before heading out of the house. But Dan Heng can't really complain, not when he's going on a date. With Yingxing. The guy he's liked for ages now.

He's dressed relatively casually, wearing black slacks and a form-fitting black shirt over his binder, a loose white overshirt worn over the top. He's wearing his human "disguise", as different from Dan Feng as he can possibly be while still being himself.

He smiles when he spies the starskiff, hurrying over so he can climb in—and offering the other man a small, warm smile. ]

Hi. [ A pause, and then: ] You look really good.

[slicings]

[ yingxing, meanwhile, is also dressed rather simply, in expensive fitted jeans, with a navy button down shirt, the top open just enough to be appropriate. around his wrist is a sleek silver bangle, and his hair is held back by an elegant pin. he grins, watching dan heng stride up, and pulls the hood back over the top of the starskiff so he can loop an arm right around that waist and tug him in. ]

So do you.

[ he mirrors, then dips his head to kiss him, slow and warm and soft. maybe it should wait until the end of their first date, really, but yingxing couldn't possibly wait that long. it's only been a few days, but those days have felt very long. ]

Got everything you need for tonight?

[nonperson]

[ Dan Heng's slight smile broadens—still small, but something quiet and private for Yingxing—as he's tugged into the starskiff and straight into the other's embrace, Yingxing's mouth lowering to his. And maybe such a thing should wait until the end of their first date, but he'll have no complaints from Dan Heng, whose head tilts up into the kiss, answering it with the same slow sweetness.

It's illogical to even think it, but he's pretty sure his heart is fluttering in his chest.

When they separate, he looks up at Yingxing in silence for a moment, taking a second to realize that the older man has asked him a question—and then laughing at his own expense, lifting what looks like a sports bag. ]

Mm, yeah. There's stuff here for dinner, and I have a change of clothes for tomorrow.

[ It's embarrassing how hard it is to pull his gaze away from Yingxing. ]

[slicings]

Perfect.

[ dan heng is cute, looking at him the way that he is, and yingxing can't help his smile, or the warm way his heart lifts. things may have had a bumpy start, but he's happy. he wants this. ]

Let's get going, then.

[ he locks the doors, kisses dan heng one last time, then releases him to maneuver the starskiff away from the busy dock and out into the skies. the aquarium isn't too far from here, but friday night traffic makes things a little slow going - even still, it isn't very long before they're touching down at the aquarium's dock, sliding into a space in the empty parking bay.

turning, he lifts his own bag over his shoulder. ]

Ready?

[nonperson]

[ He hums into the other's mouth as he's kissed once more, only pulling away when Yingxing needs to drive—and even then, he sneaks one of his hands across, wrapping his fingers loosely over the other's forearm as if to hold his hand even as he drives. The drive isn't over too fast, but also quickly enough that he doesn't get restless, nodding to Yingxing and then sliding out of the starskiff once it's parked.

They've just set foot outside the car when there's a voice, shrill and excited, calling Yingxing's name, and Dan Heng blinks as a girl comes rushing up to them out of nowhere, putting herself square in the rock star's way to start talking with him.

Dan Heng bites his lip and holds back. He's seen this happen before, with Dan Feng, but... this is a little different... ]