Chapter Text
The first thing her sleep-addled brain registered was the warmth surrounding her and the soft, plush surface where she’d been sleeping. Ah, right. As much as she had enjoyed most of her stay in Amphoreus the klines they used to sleep in couldn’t hold a candle to her bed back in the express. It might’ve been only a couple weeks that the express was stationed outside Amphoreus, but for her? For her it had felt like over a thousand years had passed since she was able to indulge in the comfort of her own bed…and speaking of indulging.
Blinking her eyes open, her view was mostly occupied by the sight of Dan Heng’s chest as it rose and fell evenly in his sleep. She could feel the end of his tail loosely wrapped around one of her calves, one of his arms wrapped around her waist while the other laid outstretched underneath the pillow to support her head.
Amphoreus had been hard on all of them, from facing the reality that her and Dan Heng were virtually stranded there upon arriving to taking part in the flame chase journey and becoming intertwined with Amphoreus’ fate, all to prevent the birth of a lord ravager of Destruction. This had been the first night that they were able to properly spend together back in the express after it all so it was no surprise to her when, no sooner had the door to her room closed behind them, he had practically pinned her to the wall and showed her just how much he had missed her during his thousand-year search.
Memories of what followed soon after filled her mind, causing her cheeks to regain a rather bright red the longer she kept thinking about it. The arm around her waist tightened its hold slightly as did the tail around her leg. Slightly tilting her head up confirmed that Dan Heng was still asleep, hair tousled this way and that after what was probably his first night of real sleep and rest in forever.
Slowly she pulled her arm out over the covers, reaching up to run her hand through the soft strands of hair on the back of his neck. Dan Heng leaned his head down further, almost resting his forehead on the crown of her head as she continued her caress. Stelle closed her eyes, letting herself enjoy this moment of peace between them, a small smile reaching her lips at the almost imperceptible, but definitely there, sound steadily coming from deep within his chest.
The first time she heard it was on one of the oh so rare occasions that Dan Heng indulged her wearing his true appearance, not too dissimilar a situation like the one she found herself in at the moment. Back then when she had asked about it all she got in response was a deeply embarrassed Dan Heng trying his best to divert attention. Stelle was forced to draw her own conclusions and accept the fact that, just like cats, dragons can also purr. It was more quiet than a cat’s and different in a way she couldn't really describe but there was no other thing she could think to compare it to.
Warmth filled her chest at the thought that she could make him feel this comfortable. Before, even when it was only the two of them, she could tell that there was always some tension whenever he donned the guise of the high elder. Even if that was his true appearance she could feel that he was never fully comfortable when shedding his human appearance or pulling from the powers that came with it, that was one of the main reasons why it became almost like a last resort for him, using it only when in dire situations during combat that would require more than the more limited power he could wield while in disguise. This new form was…different.
She remembered vividly how relieved she was to see him as he pulled her out from that endless abyss of memoria, how she tightly held onto his strong frame until they were both safely back on solid ground and she could finally look at him. He was taller, yes, and there was definitely more muscle than before. She had been entranced by him all over again. What drew her attention the most though was not the difference in his physical appearance, but in the way he now carried himself.
There was an air of confidence around him, a sense of peace almost emanating from him in the way he spoke, the way he moved and how he acted. She wondered at the time what had truly happened, he’d simply said that he had been through a lot and it wasn’t until way later after everything had calmed down and they finally had a moment of peace to themselves that he explained what he went through at the grove. He showed her the Coreflame of earth that now resided within him as well as telling her about his time with the remnants of Dan Feng’s memory.
He hadn’t gone into too much detail about their conversation or his talk with Terravox but whatever had transpired had truly helped him accept who he really was and made the power that had always been residing within him fully his own. That, combined with the power from the Coreflame of earth gave birth to this new version of him.
She could only be happy for him, he’d finally accepted himself and embraced his heritage and legacy, embracing the path of Permanence in his own way.
The fact that he had chosen to no longer hide himself behind his human guise upon returning to the express was confirmation enough to her, this was who he really was, he himself knew this and that was a big reason behind this confidence and pride that surrounded him ever since returning.
“Keep that up and we won’t be leaving this bed in time for the navigation meeting”
Dan Heng’s voice snapped her from her thoughts, gruff and deeper than usual from lack of use during his sleep. Her hand stilled for a second before moving to run through the longer strands of untied hair that fell behind him, running the entire length before she brought her hand to rest on his cheek, her gaze looking up to meet his “You deserve the rest, we all do”
“Hmm” His gaze ran over her features, noting the disheveled gray strands of her hair pointing every which way, despite the fact that she couldn’t have been awake for long her eyes were already full of that vibrant citrine-gold that he loved so much “How are you feeling?”
Blinking a couple times she brought her hand down to rest on her chin, closing her eyes as if in deep thought. When her eyes finally opened again to meet his gaze they were full of mirth “A little sore, I might need to keep my jacket closed to hide some of the marks you left but besides that? I’m better than I’ve been in a very long time”
Dan Heng blinked, eyes widening before he averted his gaze, even in the dimmed lights of the express’ early morning setting Stelle swore she could see a barely there golden shine on his cheeks and the tips of his pointed ears. That was different, she would definitely have to get used to that but there was no denying that she still loved how it looked on him and how easily he could get embarrassed over this sort of thing.
If you asked her she would say that this was his own fault, he’s the one that decided he did not care whether his marks were visible or not last night. She had a small suspicion that this form made his dragon instincts rise to the surface more easily even compared to before, he seemed more than eager to mark her last night and far was she from complaining when she had missed him just as much as he had her in their time apart.
Dan Heng closed his eyes with a deep sigh. Uncurling his tail from her leg he sat up in bed with a yawn, reaching his arms up to stretch and get some of the soreness from sleep to leave his body. Stelle followed suit, sitting up in her spot and simply staring at his back as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. A thought occurred to her then, reaching over to softly run her hand down from where his back became spotted with scales leading into the base of his tail. The reaction was immediate, causing the Vidyadhara to go rigid where he sat, turning his head to glare at her through his disheveled bangs that same instant. With little more than a giggle she swung her legs over her side of the bed as well. As it turns out, the spot where his back meets his tail is quite sensitive, giving Stelle another way to tease and poke at him.
Dan Heng had let Stelle shower first, he took the time to continue updating the data bank with some of the information they had obtained from Amphoreus in the meantime since it was something he would have to do eventually. With the sheer volume of information he needed to input he thought it better to get to it sooner rather than later.
Eventually she came out and he took his turn in the shower, indulging a little longer in the spray of warm water soothing his muscles.
Once he was done he stepped out, taking the towel that hung on the wall to dry himself. Being mindful of his horns he patted some of the water from the top of his head, drying the longer strands of his hair afterwards as he walked over to the sink. After drying his face he caught himself in the mirror and just…stared.
It’s not like he hasn’t looked at his reflection since getting this new form, March had even taken pictures of all of them together and shown them to him and Stelle. It was just…different.
His eyes caught on the gold of his horns, their shape so much more different from the high elder’s. Getting closer he took in the bright gold that now also colored part of his eyes, if he looked close enough and under better lighting he was sure that more gold flecks would be floating around his otherwise mostly jade green eyes. He took a step back and half turned around to get a better look at his own reflection, his tail was no longer a translucent manifestation but instead was a solid entity. He slightly swung it to a side, watching the slight gold and turquoise sheen reflecting around each scale.
If he’s being honest he didn’t think that accepting the Coreflame of earth would have this big an impact on his appearance, Stelle hadn’t really changed at all after receiving the Coreflame of Worldbearing so he had no reason to think anything would happen to him.
That being said…he couldn’t say he disliked it. Vidyadhara were dragons, the high elders specifically were the closest existence to the Permanence and their dragon ancestors which was why they inherited more draconic traits over other members of the species.
In his constant perusal of Amphorean legends shortly after their initial arrival he had stumbled across one that spoke about the earth titan’s history. The legend had taken him by surprise, it was one of the first things that had him questioning the true nature of Amphoreus.
The legend wrote “The giant dragon dreams about breaking free of the shackles imposed by the laws of the world. Dreams of their own path, that great breath from the heavens or perhaps from even beyond them. They dreamed of silver shards among the stars, reflecting the form of another giant dragon.
“A great cerulean dragon approached amphoreus, the distant whispers roiling, becoming a roar engraved on the earth. They recognized the meaning in that low roar. Its name— Permanence”
The similarities were plain to see if you knew what to look for and Dan Heng knew that there was no way this was a mere coincidence with the world they knew from beyond the Amphorean firmament.
At some point in the past, before his fall, Long gazed upon Amphoreus. The earth titan’s primum mobile was survival, seeking the continuation of the species in a way that emulated the path of Permanence. To Dan Heng this was as much a confirmation that Long had visited Amphoreus, or whatever the progenitor of Amphoreus was before Lygus’ intervention, as any.
Whatever power Long had left before he departed had crystallized as a part of the Coreflame of earth.
After the conversation he had with Dan Feng and accepting the Coreflame from Terravox he steeled his resolve and embraced the power of the permanence that he’d kept locked away for fear of falling into the stagnant water that was a path with no Aeon to follow. He understood then that every path can be molded by its pathstriders, the true meaning of permanence was never that of eternal life, it was about the eternal cycles that make up all life and the continuation of it.
Birth, growth, death. Repeat
Birth, growth, death. Repeat
That is the true meaning of the Permanence.
He came to understand this after inheriting the earth Coreflame and sharing his life with the myriad lives of the creatures of the earth in Amphoreus. It was hard to believe but later on he stumbled across new reports from different places throughout the cosmos where vaguely familiar creatures started appearing— Seals that had a penchant for bumping into things or even each other, giant beasts that roamed vast wastelands and fed almost exclusively on redsoil. Almost as if by accident Dan Heng had upheld his promise to Terravox, freeing the creatures of Amphoreus from their stagnant environment and giving them the cosmos to make their own, to continue their existence and chase their own way of Permanence.
He was glad to have been able to provide that bridge, he’d been wondering how he would go about fulfilling his promise to the earth titan so seeing these reports had lifted that weight from his shoulders.
For him, Permanence was to be that unyielding pillar that guards the trailblaze’s way forwards, to be with his companions through tempestuous seas and the ebb and flow of fate…to be with h- “Dan Heng, is everything okay?”
He would be embarrassed to admit that her voice made him jump, he had been so deep in thought that he didn’t realize how much time had gone by and by now even the steam from the hot water had all but dispersed and only a few droplets of cool water still stuck to his skin “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute”
He used the towel that he’d draped over his shoulders to rid himself of the few stubborn water droplets that clung to him, slipping on his black pants and shirt before once again draping the towel over his shoulders to keep his still wet hair from damping the back of his shirt until he could get to the archives to recover the rest of his clothes and hairbrush.
When he finally swung the large bathroom’s door open he was greeted by Stelle as she finished shrugging on her jacket, he let his eyes roam for a beat, noticing the distinct lack of visual evidence from their previous night. He didn’t even bother to hide the smile from his voice “Seems I concealed my marks well enough”
This time it was Stelle’s turn to turn a bright crimson, crossing her arms over her chest as she pointedly turned fully away from him “Yeah yeah. Now hurry up or we’re gonna be late for breakfast”