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@reignreturned
REIGNRETURNED -- indie rp blog for dan heng of honkai: star rail. canon-compliant and updated to patch 2.6. blacklist #hsr spoilers.
rules.
i use CN / JP dan heng for voice reference
respect me and i'll respect you
if you think tastes in fiction reflect real world morals save us the time and block me
crosscanon and OCs are beloved and encouraged
no doubles, no sundays
i'll ship with anyone, i'm not picky. lmk if interested
writer is 21+
i am free...
The sound of Dan Heng's voice cuts through the leaden haze of her thoughts. It's easy for Yumina to lose herself in ruminating about the future when she's in places like Penacony and the Luofu, places with sorrow hidden underneath their gilded exterior. Gratitude, warm and energizing, fills her chest, and she intertwines her calloused fingers with Dan Heng's. "Thank you," Yumina says, her voice as sincere as the smile on her face.
"I'm sorry about that." She chuckles awkwardly before she returns to the topic at hand. "You're absolutely right. We'll definitely get to the bottom of this." Yumina's grip on Dan Heng's hand tightens slightly as she gathers her thoughts.
"I, um, actually have a theory about what might be going on but it's kind of out there... When you said 'bana' back there, it reminded me of something I read about. Have you ever heard of behavioral contagion? It's essentially what happens when people in the vicinity of another adopts that person's behavior, usually without thinking much about it. Like... when people in an audience give a standing ovation, even if they didn't enjoy the performance, after someone stands up and claps. I think that might be what's going on with the monkeys, but something's speeding that process up or weakening people's resistance to it," she says, lowering her voice so that no one can overhear her.
Yumina's brightened expression is a relief, but the lace of their fingers makes him hesitate in a way that surprises even him. They've done this before-- Dan Heng has learned since joining the Express that touch as comfort is a powerful thing-- but there was a difference between comfort in private and comfort here. Now that Yumina's returned his touch, however, he'd be hard-pressed to let go.
Not wanting to draw any attention to them, he cocks his head ever so slightly to get her to walk with him. Despite the bizarre turn of events, this is still some kind of festivity, even if Dan Heng would much rather sit in his room and continue to explore Penacony's archives of cartoons. Standing around looking worried wouldn't help anyone.
"Influence becomes more potent in a dream..." Dan Heng's tone is low, but thoughtful. "Especially a dream where we know some have more degree of control than others.
"I doubt I've come into contact with enough people or monkeys to adopt their speech patterns, but... I suppose I might be underestimating how far the subconscious can affect our behaviours."
Dan Heng frowns. His left hand lifts, fingertips brushing against his temple.
"There has to be a player somewhere, changing the rules of the Dreamscape. Whatever boundaries allow us our individuality in a shared dream have begun to blur." He pauses, looking down at Yumina by his side. "Did you happen to see the invitation Himeko received?"
"I thought y'liked when I talked," he teased, grinning up at the other. He'd done it on purpose, after all. A small cut to try and teach the other better how to use the magic passed only between Yuque High Elders before now. Alexi taught them both the botanicals, and this duty to teach Dan Heng was his alone. It felt very intimate. Sweet even.
And as the cut did start to mend itself, those painted lips would grow into a wider grin.
"Y'er gettin' it- jus' a bit more."
He's doing his best. Even if it hadn't started to work, he would've been proud. Amazed, really. For who but the former Mons Grandis could boast a mastery of Terrahymn? So even the beginning was enough for Eros.
It feels like his blood is being pulled out of his body-- nothing but a simile, certainly, considering Dan Heng's flesh is unpierced, but all the same the pain is real. It isn't the pleasure of exhaustion after a good fight, nor is it the relief of his knuckles splitting after his fist meets bodies; for whatever reason, the magic that Eros is so versed in makes him ache, even if he's used more power for less.
For every centimetre of shut skin, the hairs on Dan Heng's false flesh rise in steadily increasing degrees. Sweat drips down his throat, and though he says nothing, it's too much. Healing takes too much out of him, and though he anchors one of his hands against the curve of Eros' thigh, the one that hovers over his cut starts to shake.
Dan Heng swears, but not in words. A growl rumbles angrily in his chest.
"I can't..." With only half the cut closed, pain shoots like lightning up his arm. The glow on his hands disappears, and with a hiss Dan Heng's head bows, too-long bangs hiding his eyes. The hand that'd been on Eros' leg holds tight enough the tips of his fingers cause dips in his flesh.
He stays like this for a few more moments, panting. Then, as he releases Eros slowly, Dan Heng's head lifts to face him once more. "...I don't think my hands were made for healing."
"Y'er gettin' it. Slowly but surely- these things take time, y'know? Tha's what Daddy says, but ya've heard him say it enough." Eros' voice is a soft purr as he rests his hands on top of Dan Heng's. "C'mon, give it one more try. Heal m'leg." // @draconicfool
"You talk too much," Dan Heng mutters, but there isn't any real venom in his tone. Feeling Eros' hands on his own, he glances through the mess of his bangs and frowns at the gentle expression on his face. Eros makes this look easy, and Dan Heng-- too used to the sensation of ripping things apart instead of putting them together-- isn't sure how to replicate it.
The papercut on Eros' leg is nothing. It's barely a scratch. And yet he struggles all the same.
"Slowly..." Brows furrowed, the tips of his fingers start to glow. He hovers his thumb over the end of Eros' cut, and sweat drips down the side of his face as he attempts to coax his flesh to stitch itself back together.
"Slowly--"
Oh--somehow that hadn't been what he was expecting. Oh dear... at least she had the right intention.
< TXT sent > : I suppose she still doesn't understand the biological differences after all...
A pause between messages.
< TXT sent > : Of course, I'll be happy to share with you. < TXT sent > : I'll be returning in a bit. I just have one more errand to run.
[TXT] I can't fault her for it. She hasn't thought to ask anything about Vidyadhara bodies before.
And, if asked to be truthful about it, Dan Heng isn't certain he'd be willing to talk about that side of him yet, either. The Express had only just found out the truth of him... he already feels fortunate they hadn't thought to exile him as all those on the Luofu did.
[TXT] Don't rush on my account, Welt. [TXT] But, thank you. You were the only one I could ask.
This is especially true given the girls are off-train doing some relationship-maintaining socialisation.
[TXT] ...after Pom-Pom, I mean. They could only have one pastry before getting full.
< TXT sent > : For May Day to celebrate the coming of spring. Though I believe the fact that we still celebrated meant it was his way to still connect with the home he wasn't able to return to.
Something to be said about traditions, probably. Something that could probably be said about how silly it was that such an innocent question allowed him to drift so easily. Well, he'll have to apologize for that.
< TXT sent > : Sorry, I believe I drove us off topic. But yes, I do enjoy lemon desserts.
I don't think the original topic is nearly as interesting as May Day.
Dan Heng stares, perhaps a beat too long, at the message in the text box and the blinking cursor on his phone.
Then backspaces.
[TXT] Nothing to apologise for. I asked for more.
What does it feel like to have a home you can't return to?
[TXT] I only asked because March gave me a big box of lemon creme puffs. The citrus gives me terrible stomachaches, but I couldn't tell her "no". [TXT] I was wondering if you wanted to share.
Likely cooking then.
< TXT sent > : Quite a fair bit. Back home, I lived next to this bakery that made the fluffiest lemon meringue pies, and I have fairly fond memories of my grandmother's sima.
A short pause between typing, a sad pang remembering that Earth wasn't here...
< TXT sent > : It's a spring mead from my father's home country I remember her bringing every year just for us, or a lemon cream pie.
The more Welt divulges of his home-- not the serious things, but the small, personal ones, like stories of mead and pie and family-- the more Dan Heng wonders what it might have been like there. Granted, when you grow up chained in an underwater prison, just about anywhere could sound interesting.
Since Welt doesn't come from "just about anywhere", however (and since Welt is Welt), this makes the curiosity worse.
[TXT] Every year? What caused the occasion?
@dasniichts // from here.
Dan Heng spends a few moments contemplating the reasons anyone would put lemon in water. Was it a taste thing?
[TXT] I see.
The wonders of human stomachs, truly. Citrus would burn his stomach lining if not for the magic inherent to his physiology.
[TXT] What about lemon desserts?
[TXT] Welt. [TXT] Do you like lemon?
The messages are sent suddenly and without further context, but Dan Heng doesn't think it particularly important to include any background information. Don't worry about it.
[ if it's ok to send this...! hello :,) nice to see a star rail-compliant welt w/ HI3 stuff in the bg... ]
Well, that was an unexpected message. Was he cooking?
< TXT sent > : I usually take a wedge with a squeeze of honey in my tea, but that also depends on the type of tea. < TXT sent > : Sometimes in a glass of water as well, if that's what you're looking for.
Marie Howe, MAGDALENE: THE ADDICT, from “Magdalene: Poems”
[”I liked Hell, I liked to go there alone relieved to lie in the wreckage, ruined, physically undone. The worst had happened. What else could hurt me then? I thought it was the worst, thought nothing worse would come. Then nothing did, and no one.”]
HONKAI: STAR RAIL (Version 1.2 "Even Immortality Ends")
"The person that once stood here alongside you is no more."
Yumina wonders what might have happened to her if she had arrived on Penacony before she had encountered the Astral Express. Would she have been like some of the unfortunate people they've encountered on Penacony's streets, singing the Family's praises as she worked herself to the bone? Of course she'd like to think she wouldn't, but Dan Heng is right about how powerful the drive to belong is. Even back on Hakari, Yumina had often felt out of place like she was more of a spectator than a participant. That sensation of being on the fringes of a group has even followed her to the Express. She isn't part of the Trailblazer, March 7th, and Dan Heng's trio, and she can't be grouped with Himeko and Welt either. And even though she spends the most time with Pom-Pom, she'd hardly classify the two of them as a duo. But that's probably for the best. It will make her departure from the Astral Express a little less painful. Yumina studies Dan Heng for a moment, as if his appearance can provide any insight into whether he would be disgusted by what she's done or hasn't done to stay on the Astral Express. She quickly averts her gaze. "I guess that's part of why it's so important for us to return here, so we can try to improve things on Penacony even a little."
Dan Heng's kneejerk reaction is to say something like you have higher hopes than I do, but what does he accomplish by saying something they both already know? His eyes slide over to glance at Yumina's profile, at the genuine emotion etched on her face, and his own softens in turn.
Dan Heng has never thought himself a hero, nor has he ever had particular investment in "the greater good". He only stops planets from dying because it's what his companions want to do-- because he made an oath to Himeko and Welt, and there's so little to his name already that there's nothing of worth he has but his word.
But Yumina is different.
"Hey."
His touch is tentative, brushing the back of Yumina's hand before taking it in his fingers. They aren't alone on the Express right now, making the act far bolder than his norm, but it feels important to offer his comfort.
Yumina cares about people, and this takes a toll on her. Dan Heng doesn't understand it, but he finds he doesn't need to, either.
"We'll figure things out somehow, all four of us." His fingers squeeze gently. "Let's find out more about these monkeys while Caelus and March finish their assignment."
@reignreturned
Continued from here!
Yumina might have asked the question just to vent, but Dan Heng's response is so thoughtful that she see any need to tell him that. She lowers her gaze and unconsciously mimics Dan Heng's gesture, raising her hand to her chin. "Maybe I'm overthinking things, but sometimes I wonder if that high price for entry is motivated more by exploiting desperate people than by the costs of maintaining Penacony," she says. "If you use your life savings and sell all your belongings to come to Penacony, then you don't have a lot of material connection to your home. And that desperation makes some people more susceptible to the Family's influence." Yumina's gaze drifts from Dan Heng to a group of students hurrying past them in one of the many halls of Paperfold, their faces lined with stress and worry. Her gaze softens as she watches them pass, and she finds herself thinking of poor Sleepie.
"Both things can be true," Dan Heng says. "The rich and privileged keep it financially afloat-- they make up most of the customer base.
"But as you said, desperation makes anyone more susceptible to the promise of the Harmony. Belonging is a powerful feeling."
Of course, making any conclusive statements about any Aeon is immature. Dan Heng doesn't pretend to understand what goes on in THEIR heads, nor does he have any strong desire to.
The Harmony that the Family sells, though, can be just as authentic as the IPC's idea of the Preservation. And by that he means the Aeons might not have anything to do with it to begin with.
"People all through history have done worse things to belong to something. A land that capitalises on profit could ask for no better worker."
"Why do we always have to deal with a high-control group and the evils of capitalism when we come to Penacony?" Yumina's so tired, and she's been holding it in all day.
Dan Heng's arms cross lightly, anchoring his hand as he brushes the end of his chin. "These are the sort of people that frequent this planet, I'm afraid.
"When your main commodity is dreams and there's a high entry price to get to it, it eliminates income diversity among clientele."
It doesn't occur to him that Yumina may just be asking for the sake of emotional regulation. Dan Heng's brows furrow, thoughtful as ever.
@guidedbywire:
"Oh, welcome back!" Yumina's voice is soft but enthusiastic nonetheless as she offers Dan Heng a welcoming smile as he steps through the Astral Express's door. "I thought you might be tired after your excursion so I made some tea." She gestures to the steaming cup of tea and small teapot on a nearby table. "If you need anything else feel free to let me know!"
Dan Heng still hasn't gotten used to Yumina's presence, as many weeks as it's been. Her kindness surprises him, still-- not to the point of jumping as it had in the beginning, granted, but a surprise all the same.
"How long does it take you to make this?"
He's never bothered figuring out what sort of leaves Yumina uses. All he knows is that, inexplicably, she's found out the way that he likes to drink it, all without having to ask beforehand. Dan Heng had never bothered trying to give her his preferences; it only makes her powers of observation that much more bewildering.
Balancing the contained Stellaron under his arm, Dan Heng looks around the rest of the parlour car. Pomu being busy up front would make sense, but he's surprised Yumina's on her own.
"...are Himeko, Welt, and March not back yet?"
I have news for you, boy… Behind you is none other than the traitor of the Xianzhou! A criminal, forever banished! The High Elder of the Vidyadhara… Imbibitor Lunae!
