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Blood becomes us.
For without it, we are nothing.
It is our mark, who we are.
I want to mix our blood in the foundation of this world so we can never part.
I wade through viscera, the stench becomes a cologne.
And you, far gone, find addiction in it’s notes.
°
It’s night, though in the cosmos, it always seems to be this way. Only the air changes when day turns into night. It is colder, quieter. Serene, even. At the same time, it is eerie. Though there are soft lights in the Archives, it is still… unnerving. Now, everyone else is asleep, except for Dan Heng, of course. He idly sits in the center of the Archives cross-legged, on the cold floor, book in one hand, reading it’s pages with a feigned interest. He does not bother to hide his true form, for there is no point. He turns a page in the book now, resting his chin in the palm of his hand.
Boring.
It was truly boring. He could almost laugh.
He wasn’t sleepy, nor was he suffering with insomnia, despite the countless nightmares that used to plague his brain before everything changed. No, Dan Heng was fully alert, anticipating something that will come to pass in the next… couple of minutes, or so. He at least pretends to keep reading the book in his hand as he waits. It is alright, he is a very patient man, after all. Only in the most dire of situations—i.e., some poor fool threatening his friends’ lives—would his patience wear thin. Then, Cloud-Piercer does the talking.
Though, Dan Heng’s patience would be rewarded in this very moment.
The door to the Archives opens and is promptly shut behind his visitor delicately.
He turns his head slightly, not enough to see who his visitor is, but enough to show acknowlegement. So it begins. With a loud snap, the book in his hand is closed and discarded to the side. Instead, what replaces it is Cloud-Piercer. One would think he’d summoned it in his defense. It wasn’t that simple. It could never be that simple. Instead, Dan Heng took the very sharp tip of the spear and cut the palm of his right hand in a diagonal line, drawing blood. The red trails down his arm unceremoniously, droplets falling on the wooden floor.
The floor creaks as his visitor walks to him.
It does not take long for said visitor to kneel next to him and take his hand reverently. Then, Dan Heng feels his soft tongue lap up the blood, trailing upwards to the gash he made in his palm. His hand twitches as the gash is licked tentively—a mix of pain and pleasure. The blood that dripped from his hand, all of it, was tasted greedily like a sinful elixir. Yet, for the both of them, Dan Heng knows it is far from enough.
“Blade,” he spoke his name nonchalantly.
For Blade, it felt like heaven when he was finally acknowledged. It even earned Dan Heng a low gutteral groan. He trails kisses up his arm, each one tingling. With every one, Dan Heng felt like scars in the shape of Blade’s lips would be left, and wouldn’t that be fun to explain? A good thing then, that they are just soft kisses, a far cry from the previous tasting of his blood. Blade moves his long hair out of the way, places another soft kiss to his exposed neck, and bites down hard.
“Depraved,” Dan Heng sneers.
Blade only moans as the delicious red fills his mouth and he takes it all as if his body would somehow become mortal again and he would die without it. Dan Heng pulls on his hair roughly, compelling him to continue. He wouldn’t stop unless told to, and he knows the possibility of that is very, very low. This is their game, one that they’ve long agreed on, discussing the finer details of it over time. It is a game too addicting for either of them to stop, instead wanting more until they’ve long consumed each other. They would come back for more, revealing hidden things about the other, often times surprising. It comes with a realization. For Dan Heng, it is the fact he is not as innocent as he wanted to be. For Blade, it was the longing he couldn’t ignore. His body may be fucked up, his heart tainted, but he was no fool.
Dan Heng rolls his head back, eyes half-lidded. Amazing, how he is the one to call Blade depraved but his breathing is ragged and he’s uncrossed his legs and has instead squeezed them together, imagining himself tearing Blade’s clothes to pieces and fucking him until he’s nothing but a wriething mess, trying desperately to hold on to his pride but failing as he begs to be ruined.
Patience. He tells himself. That will come in time. He wants me so bad.
He didn’t want this to end too quickly.
Instead, he pulls on Blade’s hair enough to stop him and finally turns his body at a good enough angle to see his bloodied face and the enamoured expression that came with it. His eyes practically sparkled. That’s his blood that’s painted Blade’s face so elegantly. It’s his blood that he craves and in the end, it’s his blood that he will come back for over and over again. Beautiful. Desire fuels within Dan Heng. He snapped, pushing Blade down on the cold floor, one leg in between his and leans down, crushing their lips together.
It was his turn now. Blade easily submitted, moaning into each kiss, something that turned Dan Heng on to no possible end. His knee rubs against his groin and that’s when he feels his hair being tugged on in desperation. Dan Heng slides his tongue inside, tasting Blade, tasting his own blood on his tongue and losing himself in the process. Yet this was only a prelude of what was to come. Blade was expecting it, after all and oh, could Dan Heng provide. He removes his tongue and bites down on Blade’s lower lip and receives a muffled moan of his name as he laps up the blood that began to form at the corner of his mouth.
“Filthy. Your debauchery is bursting at the seams, Blade.”
Dan Heng acknowledges his own hypocrisy, but it doesn’t stop him from continuing to taste Blade. He kisses the side of his lip gently after lapping up the blood, and soon trails kisses down to his neck after moving pesky cloth out of the way. Then his teeth follow, sinking gently into Blade’s miraculously unscathed neck. Having been in true form, Dan Heng’s teeth were more akin to draconic fangs and though he only bit gently, he knew the feeling would be a mix of the same pleasure and pain he felt earlier. The red fills his mouth and his eyes darken.
How delicious Blade tastes. He could leave anyone satiated for eternity. He knows this. He has to know by the way he chuckles triumphantly like he’s won. When Dan Heng does this to him, staking his claim and giving in to his own needs, it only serves to declare his victory over the man who he’s been chasing all over the cosmos.
“Do you like it?” He finally spoke, voice low. “Do I taste good?”
Dan Heng bites into his flesh harder and Blade lets out a loud, pleased groan.
“You’re so enthusiastic tonight. I love seeing this side of you.”
Dan Heng would have loved to tear into that flesh and pull away just to see his reaction. Would tears fall from widened eyes or would he simply be exhilarated, crying his name over and over as he consumed a part of his body? It would grow back and heal as it always does and Dan Heng would have enjoyed it a bit too much. Alas, that is not something they agreed on so all he does is pull his teeth out and sit up, staring down at his lover with fascination.
When Blade saw his lust-filled eyes and his blood smeared on the lower half of his face and his clothes stained with it, he smirked.
“You haven’t answered me.”
“Must I? You’re smart enough to figure out the answer yourself.”
“You’re a cocky little shit, you know that?”
Dan Heng mocks him. “But you love seeing this side of me, do you not?”
He looks at Blade with fascination despite his mocking tone. He didn’t need to answer because the answer was blatantly obvious. Even his tail wagged, it often being an indicator of Dan Heng’s true feelings in the rare moment he allowed it to come out. When Blade looks at him, he sees that same… insanity that Dan Feng once held for him and he wonders for a moment if like him, he too would destroy the world for him.
“You’re thinking too much. Let’s fix that.”
He stands, Cloud-Piercer appearing in his hands once more. With a minor use of cloudhymn, the spear positions itself horizontally within an inch from Blade’s neck. Oh, this was new, as was the look of jealousy on Dan Heng’s face. When Blade maneuvered his hand and touched the spear, he found he could not move it of his own volition and that it acted like a paperweight. He felt as if one large gulp would render a cut straight across his neck—or worse.
Not that Blade particularly feared something that could never happen to him, but why did the thought of his life being held in Dan Heng’s hands feel so thrilling?
Dan Heng pulls up a chair after using his foot to spread Blade’s legs apart enough to fit it in between them, then sits, crossing his legs. A damn shame Blade couldn’t sit up to see the sight fully, especially those nice, slender long legs of his. He could only move his eyes good enough to see him slightly unblurred.
“Keep your hands to your side,” he ordered. “I don’t want to break out the other knives and forcefully keep them there tonight. I’m sure you can follow that basic instruction, yes?”
Blade controls his breathing, if only to prevent the blade of Cloud-Piercer from slicing his neck and obeys, keeping his hands glued to the floor.
“What were you thinking about?”
Ah, so he was jealous.
It seems Blade takes too long to answer, because Dan Heng uncrosses his legs for favor of taking his foot and rubbing it against Blade’s groin, which was also new, but certainly not unwelcomed. The motion nearly causes him to throw his head back and into Cloud-Piercer but luckily he retains his control, letting a loud gasp echo in the room.
“What if I stopped this and left you to your own devices and just got myself off?” Dan Heng mused. “Fuck myself on my fingers while you lie on the floor like a starved dog, begging for what I won’t give you.”
He’s also never talked like that. It’s unfair how much of a turn on it is.
“I was thinking about Dan Feng—”
Dan Heng’s shoe promptly presses down harder, eliciting a cry of both pain and pleasure from Blade.
“You try my patience, Yingxing.”
“Let me fucking finish,” Blade rolled his eyes. “For the record, your jealousy isn’t helping your case. That gaze. That perfect look of sheer insanity. Have you not realized he used to look at me in the same way? As if only he were allowed the right to perceive me. I find it quite odd that you haven’t realized that he and you share the same sentiments for me. Unless you dare to feign ignorance?”
Dan Heng’s anger quelled enough to no longer crush Blade’s cock through his pants, instead going back to gently rubbing it with his foot. He looked thoughtful.
“If you wanted the world, he would have given it to you, wouldn’t he? You told me he’d shower you in luxuries, killed for you, disregarded all scrutiny and married you, showing you off as far as the eye can see. It’s easy to understand why considering how you look now—but you mention him too easily. Seems I am not doing enough.”
“No, you misunderstand—"
Blade’s eyes are closed tightly, unable to fully concentrate on Dan Heng’s words nor give a better response. He had little control over himself. He wanted to move his hands so badly, wanted to rock his hips against Dan Heng’s foot and get himself off. It was all he could concentrate on. He tried to control his breathing but failed. Dan Heng was ruthless, almost sadistic as he stared down at him like he was nothing but a toy to be played with until he was bored of it.
“Look at you,” he stopped, keeping his foot still. “The dog thinks I’ll let him come after annoying me by thinking of my predecessor. Dan Feng spoiled you rotten. Well, here is your cruel reminder that I am not him.”
“Damn you.”
A cruel laugh.
“You’re wrapped around my finger, Yingxing sweetheart. I could walk all over the Express and make you crawl on all fours and do whatever I want. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? To be my pet? Just in case you needed another reminder: every single part of you including that fucked up little heart of yours is mine, just as you wanted. Now beg for it, you little slut!”
Dan Heng talking like that did things to him. He loved it and found it easy to comply.
“Oh, fuck—please—”
Dan Heng rolled his eyes.
“Is that the best you can do? Pathetic.”
His taunts continue.
“You know, there’s a lot of researchers on Herta’s Space Station that find me attractive. I could go there, pick one, and let them fuck me instead of this boring display.”
That causes Blade to look up and glare.
“Oh, you wish, you little shit, lest you inadvertedly cause the destruction of that entire fucking Space Station should anyone dare to touch you besides me. You think anyone else has the right?”
Blade rocks his hips hard against Dan Heng’s foot, moaning loud. He carefully throws his head back, once again reminded of Cloud-Piercer being dangerously close to his neck and shuts his eyes.
"I know you want to, stop denying yourself already and make me come, you’ve always said I looked so good when I—ah, fuck, Dan Heng—”
Shockingly, even Dan Heng cannot keep up the façade. Blade is too perfect and pliant for him. It’s why his spear disappears and he practically leaps upon him, rocking his hips furiously against his. The friction is amazing, it feels so much better than using his foot. His hands grip Blade’s arms, keeping them in place as he too chases orgasm, biting his lip to suppress his moans.
“Come on, keep going, keep fucking going…”
I want him forever. He’s so fucking pretty when he’s needy, his voice is such a turn on, I can’t get enough of him. I’m going to go insane, I’ll gladly lose myself, yes, take it away, take my sanity…
Dan Heng leaned down and bit into that pretty neck hard, and that is what throws Blade off of the edge as he reaches orgasm, near screaming from the pleasure. His legs shake. His eyes are wide, and all he can do is lie there as Dan Heng follows in his own desire to reach his peak. It does things to him when he sits back up, licking his lips and continuing to rock against him until he finally gasps lowly, shutting his eyes tightly, a soft whisper of Yingxing coming from his lips.
“Fucking hell, Dan Heng, holy shit.”
“Mm... fuck…”
Blade sits up and pulls him in for a kiss. It is soft, devoid of the usual roughness. He yearned for more. It was clear by the way Dan Heng pulled on his hair that he shared the same sentiment. They were each other’s addiction, each other’s solace. Breaking the kiss, Dan Heng looks at him, a small smirk on his face.
“I have a surprise for you.”
More things that were new.
His hands rub his own chest teasingly. Blade’s eyes are fixated on the display, eager to see what this was alluding to. It didn’t take long for Dan Heng to take his top layers off, move his hair out of the way and wait until Blade noticed it.
The surprise made itself known rather quickly.
On the left side of Dan Heng’s chest lied a beautifully crafted tattoo of red spider lilies. Blade made out the small ‘Yingxing’ in Xianzhou script and became all the better for it. Every time Dan Heng’s heart would beat, that blood coursing through his system, it would beat against that freshly inked tattoo as a way of saying that Dan Heng would belong to him, now and forevermore.
Blade. Ren. Yingxing. Whichever he called himself, the road led back to the same person.
It was not the same for Dan Heng, who’s road was blurred, but could still make out the inner workings of what made him Dan Heng and not Dan Feng.
Regardless, as Blade gently lied Dan Heng on his back and kissed him briefly, trailing kisses from his neck to his chest, to finally stopping at the tattoo and kissing it reverently, there was one thing the both of them could agree on. A road that was not finite nor blurred nor prone to one’s calculations to distort it’s meaning was the love between the two of them. No matter how fucked up it was, no matter how bloody or macabre it was, it was still love. Their paths were destined to mingle together like mosaics glued together over and over again but still beautiful as the day they were made.
I love you. Tear me apart and fix me, then tear me apart again. Rip my heart out and devour it for it would still beat eternally within you, and that is enough.
“Grab the knife and carve a design of your own making into my flesh.”
“Is that really what you want?”
“Yes.”
Blade lets him get up to retrieve the knife. It only takes a moment before he is pushed back down on the floor and that knife tears open his top, leaving his chest exposed. The bandages are taken away, revealing old scars long healed and fading away and fresh ones on the verge of being healed completely. Dan Heng’s hands fondle his chest, squeezing his pecs. He’s very appreciative for several minutes before he speaks again.
“What design do you want?”
“Anything. Just make it so it lasts. You know this flesh doesn’t care for lingering scars.”
Dan Heng pretends to think for a moment, then the knife begins to carve into skin. He’s quiet and focused as he carves his desired image into his lover’s skin. Occasionally, he laps up the blood that forms as he does so.
“You have to be joking,” Dan Heng says, midway through completion. “Your dick is pressing against my stomach.”
Blade scoffs. “Your tail is wagging, dumbass.”
“Fuck you.”
“If you hurry this up, you will have the pleasure of doing so.”
Refusing to dignify that with a response, Dan Heng finishes his design, lapping up the last bit of blood and using cloudhymn to not only suppress the pain, but to make sure the design healed as an intricate, but faded scar. It was a moon overlooking a lotus, Dan Heng’s name written in Xianzhou script. To the unsuspecting person, this being carved with a knife would not even so much as cross their mind. It was too intricate. In all capacity, a form of forbidden art.
Blade’s fingers trace the design. He let them linger there, feeling his irregular heartbeat against his skin. Later on, he’d pay some decent enough tattoo artist on Punklorde to color in the lotus petals with Dan Heng’s color of choice to fully embellish it. For now, he’s satisfied.
“I want you. Now.”
With a hmph, the same knife that carved lotus into skin is what tears the rest of his outer clothing off. Dan Heng throws the knife to the side and pulls down his trousers, finally freeing his cock. One hand strokes the hardened length, while he uses the other one to force his index and middle finger inside of Blade’s mouth.
“Yes,” Dan Heng strokes him faster. “Good. Get them wet.”
When he’s satisfied, he removes his fingers from his mouth and brings them down to his hole. He looks at him briefly before both fingers slowly make their way inside of him. But Blade is ever so impatient, trying to push against his fingers to hurry it along. Dan Heng stops stroking him and harshly hits his thigh.
“Be patient.”
He doesn’t have to look up to know that Blade rolled his eyes, but he doesn’t care. Dan Heng spits on his hole, fingers moving inside slowly. Blade’s legs are twitching, his breathing controlled. No, Dan Heng wants to see him wriething and eager again. It’s such a pretty look on him, after all. He leans down and flicks his tongue against his hole to earn those addicting moans. It’s almost beautiful the way Blade says his name and successfully pushes against his tongue.
“F-Fuck!”
Dan Heng doesn’t spare him a moment of reprieve. His fingers move far more easily inside, his licks quick and eager. Blade is groaning, gripping Dan Heng’s hair roughly. It’s fuel to him, a silent plea to continue.
“Yes, Yingxing, moan for me. Tell me how good it feels—no, in fact, show me.”
His fingers are quicker as is his tongue. He touches every little spot that makes Blade wriethe to the point where for the second time, he reaches his peak, half shocked at the suddenness of it but more pleased at the outcome. Dan Heng removes his fingers and sucks on them like he’s received a prize. The low rumble that comes deep from within his chest would suggest that’s exactly what he considers it.
Blade looks up at him, breathing heavily.
“Only I… Only I can do that to you.”
He expects a witty response, a taunt, even. He does not get one.
“Yes, only you.”
Dan Heng makes quick work of the rest of his clothing. His haste is indicated by the way his hands tremble and the way he throws his clothes to the side so far it hits the chair from earlier. Now bare, he strokes his own cock, using cloudhymn to make it slick and wet. He is gentle as he positions it by Blade’s needy hole.
Finally, when Dan Heng painstakingly enters him, he lets out a long, drawn out moan and glues his eyes shut. Each time they do this, it’s better than the last. Dan Heng either is ignorant to how good he is at unraveling him or simply tortures him by pretending he doesn’t know. Either way, he is perfect even if he takes too much care into making sure it does not hurt when he enters him and the way he fights pleased moans upon feeling how hot and tight he is.
“You exploit all of the parts of myself I have wanted to hide.”
Dan Heng gives one experimental thrust and it sends jolts up Blade’s spine and forces a cry from his throat. He’d move his hands, but Dan Heng has them pinned to the floor, gripping both of his wrists tightly.
“Things I said I would never do. Things that my mind rejects but my heart yearns for.”
His thrusts are quick and rough, skin slapping against skin, sparing not a moment of reprieve. Still does Blade push against him, loving every moment of it. He wants more, wants Dan Heng to use him as he sees fit until the both of them are satisfied.
“You don’t even know you do this to me, do you? Or… you do know but relish in the very true fact you’ve tainted me.”
It mirrors Blade’s sentiments. Yet, it is only fair he is tainted the same way he is. Is that not just?
“If you were—ah, if you were displeased by my efforts you would have surely—tried to find a permanent way to kill me. But you.. you are here. You are here and you have decided that you would much rather my love than my hatred and my death.”
Dan Heng fucks into him harder, gasping with each thrust, and Blade wraps his legs around him tightly, preventing him from stopping. He feels hot and sweaty all over. How nice it would feel to be set aflame by his lover.
“Do you remember? At the one opportune moment where I could have pierced my blade through your chest and ended our little tête-à-tête, you sank down to your knees and let your heart speak for you for the first time. Tell me what you said, Dan Heng.”
“W-Why? Why bring this up?”
“Please, Dan Heng.”
Dan Heng frees his wrists and leans down towards his ear to whisper:
“I’d become a sinner in this life too, if it meant that I could have you.”
Hearing those words again, if Blade were a weaker man, he would have been moved to tears. It’s the abandonment of any moral obligation to remain a noble man and the willingness to be selfish and take what he desires regardless of the scrutiny. How ironic. The first time he said those words, he earned the very first time Blade had ever been taken aback, all of the walls he’d put up to protect himself from vulnerability shattered, reduced to rubble.
Then he’d grabbed Dan Heng by his hair and kissed him so hard it left a scar on his bottom lip. Thus began their crazed love, their lives intertwined to such an extent that they’d both probably kill the next poor fool that would dare to try to break them apart.
He lies to himself, for he is truly weak here as Dan Heng fucks him. He can no longer keep his legs wrapped around him, only run his fingers through his hair and pull.
“That’s it, just like that. Give it to me. Don’t stop.”
He changes his angle, finding the exact spots that make Blade throw his head back and cry out his name in desperation.
“Fuck yes, right there! Harder!”
His voice is addicting, even moreso when begging. Dan Heng feels him scratching up his back this time and pushing against his cock, matching each hard thrust. He fucks into him recklessly, almost animalistic and refusing to hide his own desperate pleas on his trembling lips.
“Y-Yingxing, please, I want…”
It seemed he needed a push.
“Fuck me, Dan Heng, do it, nice and deep. I want to carry you, want you to fill me up. Come on, wreck me, baobei.”
“Yingxing!”
His thrusts turn to messy and desperate, his whines loud and pleading. One hand strokes him, the other holds his hip harshly, fingers digging into the skin. At last he feels himself reaching his peak and wants to see Blade lose himself.
“Y-You’ll be good and carry me here. Come on, Yingxing, come for me.”
At last Blade is filled with his hot, sticky load and it fills him up, just as he wanted. The feeling of being filled to the brim and taking it all is the final threshold for him. A final cry, an arch of his back, and he’s gone, his third orgasm ripped out of him. Sore and tired, he cannot move. He felt Dan Heng pull out slowly and get up, returning quickly with a rag. He noticed that he’d also cleaned up the area so no lingering traces of their sex were left,
Next, he tends to Blade carefully and delicately. He cleans him of the sticky fluids and helps him to his feet. Without warning, he carries him, using cloudhymn to conceal their forms as he leaves with him from the Archives to one of the spare rooms he’d finally asked for specifically for when Blade visited. He places him gently down on the bed and maneuvers himself behind him so that he may gently massage his back, leaving kisses upon his skin in the process. The pain of being fucked on the floor did catch up with him, but Dan Heng tending to him so carefully dissipated any previous soreness that he felt.
Blade heard the thumping of Dan Heng’s tail on the bed though he could not see it. He is happy, and that indicator is good enough for him. He is briefly surprised when Dan Heng shifts to be in front of him, beginning to rub his face against his. Tiny bits of oil secrete from it as he rubs their cheeks together. He moves on to nuzzle Blade’s neck in the oil. It smells of lotuses, very fragrant and potent. Very rarely does Dan Heng do this. It truly is a sign of his enjoyment. The act of scenting what belongs to him and making his mark. Yes, Blade understands completely.
Usually, the scent would last for weeks and there was no way for him to wash it off. It was also blatantly obvious why he would be smelling of lotuses, something a man of his nature would not be smelling of on a daily basis. Needless to say, he’d have to deal with some teasing from his fellow Stellaron Hunters for the duration of those weeks, but nothing he couldn’t handle.
He much rather liked the scent, so it was a bonus.
“Are you hurting anywhere?”
“Of course not. You are very detailed in what you do.”
Even now, he still looks out for his wellbeing. Even knowing his flesh heals, even knowing even the slightest pain would be rendered irrelevant even without his care.
Blade lies down and pulls Dan Heng down next to him before he can ask any more questions. He is once again subjected to the possessiveness of a dragon as Dan Heng loves to pull him close and wrap his legs around him, tail wrapping around his waist as well. He almost laughed until he saw Dan Heng’s eyes close and he mumbled something he thought Blade wouldn’t hear, but did.
He sighed.
“Yeah, yeah. I love you too.”