heng_like_a_dragon: (It was all just a lie (3))
Dan Heng ([personal profile] heng_like_a_dragon) wrote2037-09-02 11:43 am

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This is Dan Heng. Unfortunately, I'm unable to answer your call right now. Please state your name, callback number, and a brief message about your issue. Thank you.

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unreachableside: yx; (☆ don't want to leave the past)

[personal profile] unreachableside 2023-11-10 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
Hm?

[He lets go of his side when he hears his name, like a child being caught picking at a bandage. But Dan Heng has something important to say, and Blade absorbs it quietly. He sets his chopsticks down.]

... Because of my plan, you mean.

[Dan Heng has a point. If Blade continues being reckless like this when he doesn't have powers, he's almost sure to repeat the disaster that led to the his first death.

Blade closes his eyes for a moment, and takes in a breath.]


I... didn't realize how much worry you must feel watching me. You were never my backup plan, it's just... I should have died so many times, I suppose I take it for granted.

[He should know better.]

I've been reckless in every memory I have, in every life, but I don't want that to be something that hurts you, too.
unreachableside: yx; (☆ sealed with lies)

[personal profile] unreachableside 2023-11-10 04:13 am (UTC)(link)
[Blade's fingers twitch beneath Dan Heng's hand, until he turns his palm over so he can hold the Vidyadhara's hand. He feels his cheeks pinken and ignores it, just like he's ignoring the slow swish of his tail.

This... isn't about him. Dan Heng is talking about someone he knew, not a phantom from his past life.

Blade listens.]


... I'm sorry you lost him.

[Whoever he was, friend or family, he was obviously very dear to Dan Heng.]

I don't know if you could ever make me feel that way. I'm... grateful that you think of me at all. [It sounds a little pathetic when he says that out loud.] You've only ever made me feel... cared about, in this life. Even when I didn't understand it at all.

[He takes a deep breath.]

... Dan Heng. I can't promise that I won't ever take risks. I know the kind of person I am, and I won't hesitate if it's something I know I can do.

[...]

But I can be a little more careful. I need to learn how to fight with my own strength, rather than depending on anything the beast has given me. If that means letting you fight for me sometimes, I will simply have to get over it, or else find a different way to help.
unreachableside: (☾ but you can hear the screams)

[personal profile] unreachableside 2023-11-10 08:17 am (UTC)(link)
Dan Heng...

[He had no idea. He really... had no idea. It seems they still have a lot to learn about each other. He squeezes the dragon's hand in return, trying to be comforting-- trying to remind him that Blade is still here.]

We will work it out. [A promise to himself, or perhaps to Dan Heng. They don't have to make the exact same choices they made in their last lives. In this one, Blade has chosen cooperation. Communication, even when it's difficult. He's chosen love.]

Heh... That's right. [That small smile is worth everything, even the bruises he's feeling right now.] I think you cared even when I couldn't see it. [If you wish, I'll see it through to the very end.

... When did Dan Heng say that...?

He pulls himself back to the present.]


The bracelet? [Blade shakes his head.] You didn't have it when you told me about the snake demon's weakness, so I assumed that you had traded it. If that's what happened, then it served you well.

[He smiles a little, as always a touch confident.]

I will make you another one—a better one. That was always the plan if you lost it for whatever reason.
unreachableside: yx; (☆ i've spent too long in the dark)

[personal profile] unreachableside 2023-11-10 06:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[What else can one expect from a blacksmith, really?]

Yes. [His tone is full of warmth and fondness.

Dan Heng almost sounds like he's daring Blade. He knows him well by now; Blade always wants to do better, work faster, and spurring him on is as easy as reminding him of that.]


If I have my way, the yokai will want the new one, too.

[He finds himself leaning in slightly...]

What if I enchanted it so no one could ever steal it?
unreachableside: yx; (☆ as another love goes cold)

[personal profile] unreachableside 2023-11-10 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[Despite the challenges of the day, Blade is... happy like this. Happy that they have this. A not-so-small part of him is pleased to have Dan Heng's smile shining on him.]

Well...

[His smile grows.]

It could be something that only I could ever take off.

[Why does he have to make it sound so dirty.]

I could even make it a ring.

[BLADE.]
unreachableside: (☾ so i can go on)

[personal profile] unreachableside 2023-11-10 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[Blade watches this face journey in real time, and he realizes a little late that Dan Heng might have been thinking about something else. Still, it gets him to crack up. He doesn't do that often.]

You're so cute.

[It just kind of slips out but hey, he's not taking it back.]

I'll just make a bracelet for now, and we'll see how it goes. All right? I don't want to make you feel forced into anything.

[He glances away for a moment.] ... I like wearing a reminder of you, and I want you to have that option, if you want it... [Without the matching earrings, which comes with their own baggage.]
Edited 2023-11-10 20:34 (UTC)
unreachableside: yx; (☆ in silent moments)

[personal profile] unreachableside 2023-11-11 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
You deserve to hear it more often.

[Dan Heng is a very beautiful man and Blade isn't afraid to remind him of this fact.]

Ah, yes... Necklaces are no good for hands-on work. [It doesn't stop him from wearing the occasional choker, but nothing longer than that, lest he lose it to the saw.

His lashes flutter at the touch to his cheek. As always, he stills, and listens.]


I can't think of anyone else I'd want to wear them, [he murmurs. His cheeks are rapidly heating up. He peers at Dan Heng through his dark bangs.] ... Perhaps one day I'll come up with something that I can wear that says I'm yours.
unreachableside: (☾ i never needed you more)

[personal profile] unreachableside 2023-11-13 12:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[Blade would let Dan Heng touch his face all day if he wanted. But they are eating and that is a bad idea. Still, the way that smile brightens a little... he could live off that, he thinks.]

I could always get another tattoo, [he says, chasing some rice around his plate.] Dabi does good work.

[The sword and spider lilies on his back are very intricate, and he very much likes them, even if he knows now that the sword was the one he was killed with... It's fine. He doesn't hate the sword.

Anyway, he's not going to idle after an offer of cuddles. Blade wastes no time making the rest of his food disappear.]
unreachableside: (☾ to a place i once called home)

[personal profile] unreachableside 2023-11-13 06:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[Blade usually keeps his clothes on in Dan Heng's presence so he's not surprised he hasn't caught a glimpse of it before.]

I do. I can show you when we're done.

[BLADE DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT SOUND SO DIRTY.]

What kind of question is that? You have left a permanent mark on my heart. Why should my body be any different?

[He'll do dishes after the food settles. For now, he follows Dan Heng back into the living room, tail slowly wagging all the while. At first opportunity, he takes one of Dan Heng's hands and leans in to give him a gentle kiss.]
unreachableside: (☾ everything i could ever be)

[personal profile] unreachableside 2023-11-13 06:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[He makes everything sound flirtatious, it's just how he is. He always wants to be near, always wants to be as close as he can get away with. It was something he resisted at first, but Blade has since wholeheartedly thrown himself into this new-old love.]

I can be impulsive and also correct.

[The arrogance. Honestly...

He follows Dan Heng in sitting on the couch, though he's a little less careful about his hair. Blade's used to it getting everywhere. He has much less volume than Dan Heng, so it just kind of flops everywhere unless he has it done up.]


When I first moved to Kaisou, I had the strangest dreams. I still have them sometimes, though they've grown clearer. I drew up a tattoo idea based on what I saw, and had the tattoo done because it felt very important to me.

[Blade lets go of Dan Heng so he can grasp the edges of his own shirt and pull it over his head. Then he moves his hair in front of his shoulder and shifts to give Dan Heng a view of his back. It's scarred to hell, there's no doubt. There are burn marks, shrapnel scars, and faded but still present lacerations... But on top of it all is a vibrant, striking picture of the Shard Sword (unbroken) entwined with red spider lilies and their long fingery petals, resting between his shoulder blades.]
unreachableside: yx; (☆ a stream on molten virgin snow)

[personal profile] unreachableside 2023-11-13 08:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[If Dan Heng isn't right about something it's only because he doesn't know about it, or it's not his expertise. But Blade is fine with that.

Blade shouldn't have lived through the accident that changed the course of his life forever. That much is evident from the scars alone. He's not self conscious about them because he's ashamed, but rather because he knows that the obvious maiming of his body makes other people uncomfortable. He's seen others flinch and recoil in real time.

Dan Heng, however, has seen his arms. Perhaps he even left a few scars in his past life, though Blade has long since stopped counting. Blade trusts him without question or hesitation, though sitting like this with his hair pulled away from his neck feels so... vulnerable, and he's not entirely sure why.

He sucks in a soft breath at that first tender touch, his ears pinning against his hair. Oh. That's... more sensitive than he was expecting, but not in a bad way. Suddenly, Blade feels himself blushing all the way to his shoulders. This only gets worse at the compliment. He swallows hard, but the shiver is tangible.

It isn't often that Dan Heng makes him speechless, but here he is struggling anyway. He turns his head as if he could catch a glimpse of Dan Heng out of his peripheral vision, and reaches around to gently set a hand on his knee.]


I am, too. I would be lost without you.

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