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

[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.

[slicings]

[ dan heng flinches back like a startled buck, and yingxing withdraws his hand, slightly guilty for giving him a hard time. it's just some playful flirting, but dan heng isn't the type to enjoy that sort of thing, he supposes, not when he's so awkward and withdrawn, and besides, yingxing shouldn't be toying around with someone so much younger than him - and dan feng's brother besides.

but it's difficult not to, especially when dan heng makes it so easy, and when he looks so damned cute, blushing right to his ears. ]

Right.. that makes sense.

[ not everyone is built for fame, not everyone wants it, and he can only imagine the difficulties that dan heng has faced, growing up with a brother like his own. he's a quiet little thing, soft and a bit shy, the type to prefer to keep his head down, or so yingxing gathers. having a brother famous across the cosmos - and, let's be real, lusted after as well - isn't an easy position. ]

Well, you're cute either way. Whatever makes you happy, right?

[ he rests his chin against the hand he'd withdrawn. ]

Is it tough, keeping that illusion up all the time?

[nonperson]

[ Somewhere along the way, the magic just became part of him—something that Yingxing will notice too if he thinks about it for long enough. After all, the embarrassed shyness has reached his ears by this point in the form of a blush, visible to the other even though his native ears are hidden from sight. And Dan Heng certainly isn't choosing to display a blush on his rounded human ears...

(A blush that, when Yingxing calls him "cute", only darkens. Lan help him, March will be dining out on this one for weeks...)

He clears his throat (again), trying for some sort of aloofness in his reply, even as he forces himself to reject the compliment—accepting it would simply be too dangerous: ]

You don't have to say things like that. I've seen the sort of people you date.

[ ...Hmm. The words don't end up landing quite the way he wants them to. His frown deepens, and he shakes his head again, desperately reaching for a topic before the other can address the mistake he's just made. ]

Ignore that, it came out wrong. [ Straight-faced. Calm. (Heart pounding.) ] At any rate, your question... It was hard at first, until I got used to it. Now, I really only have trouble when I'm sick, or when I haven't slept well.

[slicings]

[ yingxing's brows fly up at that comment. ]

.. oh? You have, huh?

[ some people might be offended by a comment like that, and yingxing might be too, were this coming from someone different - he's an arrogant man, after all, and prideful to a fault sometimes - but dan heng isn't just anyone. he should let it go, but..

instead he smiles, and barrels right past the rest of dan heng's commentary. ]

What sort of people do I date, hmm?

[nonperson]

[ Fuck.

This is not where he wanted this conversation to go, and yet here they are, with Yingxing leaning in close, smile playful and teasing, something flirty in its corners despite the fact that every single person he could name in answer to the question he's asked is a woman.

And, with the exception of one (the manic pixie thief girl), all effortlessly graceful and elegant. There was that manager for one, gentle and kind. The beautiful soloist from Penacony who took the universe by storm but always spoke with such sweet words. The superfan streamer with fans of her own who smiled like the sun.

All women, and all so far removed from an awkward, gangly young man who feels the need to hide himself in the midst of an illusion, just so people will leave him alone.

He sighs, and he hopes that the laugh on his lips sounds genuine. ]

Let's see... In the time that I've known you, there has been a decent number of beautiful women.

[ He's no longer sure where the conversation is going. All he can do is answer the question and hope he sounds detached enough that it doesn't matter. ]

[slicings]

So there have been. You're not wrong. I do love beautiful women.

[ and problematic ones - looking at you, cipher - but not only women. yingxing couldn't lie, he's certainly slept with more women than men, but that's by pure happenstance alone. he's seen men as well, he's seen all sorts, but the notable ones have been women, surely, easy to remember for their own elegance or fame.

dan heng can never find out about what the quintet got up to with each other in their earlier days.. ]

But I still -

[ "Yingxing."

dan feng's voice rings coolly from a distance, and yingxing sits up in his chair, glancing over his shoulder. ah, and there he stands, yinyue, as commanding a presence as ever, one dark eyebrow arched at the two of them, suspicion in his sharp teal eyes. yingxing grins. ]

All right, all right, I was just saying hi to our guest. I'm coming.

[nonperson]

[ "But I still—"

Dan Heng hates what the beginning of that sentence does to him, the sort of questions it raises. On one hand, it was probably something as simple as elaborating on the fact that he likes all types, not just beautiful women.

What if, though, it wasn't just beautiful women?

Ugh. He tries to shake the thought off, and thankfully, his older brother interrupts at the perfect moment, his own protectiveness cutting through the air as cold suspicion. He reaches for his phone, offers Yingxing a brief, cool (he hopes) smile as the other grins, and when he starts to head back to the back, Dan Heng reaches for his phone and opens the group chat he shares with his two best friends.

"We need to talk later."

At least for now he's safe—

or so he thinks, anyway. The band starts their rehearsal up all over again, but Dan Heng can no longer focus on his study. His eyes keep lifting, peering under his lashes to snatch glimpses of the handsome, teasing guitarist...

Damnit. He was doing so well before... ]