#sunheng

Honkai: Star Rail - Sunday x Dan Heng

A/N: So I finished 4.1 and they gave me, like, 8 new ships to try. This is one of them and I hope I managed to make Sunday justice because he is a cutie and I made him work like a mule according to my yearly report

Also kudos to friend @/ticklystuff for thinking of a way to torture sunday

Summary: Sunday asks Dan Heng to help him escape March and Caelus

Word count: 1741 words

[Also on Ao3]

Key after key, Dan Heng continued to type the new entry into the data bank. With all the time he spent away from the Archives thanks to Amphoreus' expedition, there was now a pile of content to upload into the bank. Besides that, some of the notes Dan Heng managed to drag back were so old that their started losing their meaning, making him work twice as much to figure out what to write in each entry.

Thrice as much if you counted the amount of times he had to stop because of distractions that came from outside the Archives' room.

The sound of loud, hurried steps could be heard from all across the Express. Not long before that, it was someone's scream, like a beast in agony, followed by heavy thuds that echoed over the place.

It certainly wasn't the conductor, Dan Heng assumed, and it should be fine to cross Himeko and Welt's names out of the suspects' list. He sighed at the conclusion, 'who else would it be?' he thought.

While he wished he could just ignore the running around and chatter, he couldn't stop himself from being aware of it. After all, there was still the chance that, whatever it was, it would end up as his problem as well — and if he did, he was better to be ready for it, at least.

Dan Heng shook his head and turned back to the screen, deciding to make some more progress while he still could. Eyes back to the screen, his fingers moved in sync to register each reference and note he managed to gather around the subject, threading a delicate track of thought—

"P-Please! Leave me alone!"

Dan Heng barely had time to notice the Archives' door opening behind him before that desperate cry reached him. He turned around, startled, and found Sunday with his back pressed against the door, his fingers clenched against the small panel that controlled it, as if it would make the lock stronger, harder to crack.

Whatever happened outside, was enough to scare Sunday out of his usual composure. He looked terrorized, seemingly stressed in a way that Dan Heng didn't remember ever seeing before. "Sunday?" Dan Heng frowned, his voice low with concern as he slowly approached the other man. "Are you hurt? Did something happen?"

"A-ah!" Sunday gasped, slowly recovering the awareness of his surroundings again. "M-mr. Dan Heng, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to disrupt your work. I—"

"That's not important right now, you look… scared. Are you really ok?"

Sunday pressed his lips into a thin line, hesitating. His wings fluttered closer to his face and Dan Heng could nearly see the struggle into finding the answer for that question. "Sunday?"

"Y-yes, I'm… perfectly fine. I'm sorry for making you worry, it's just that— ahm, well, d-do you need help with the data? I can help you update the bank."

He didn't buy it, not in the slightest. Dan Heng arched an eyebrow and stared at Sunday for a few seconds, his suspicion clear. As silence settled between them for a few more seconds, Sunday also figured out that his excuse wasn't going to work and lowered his head slightly, even more embarrassed than before. The halovian sighed, his shoulders scrunched up as if he was trying to hide behind his wings.

"Can you tell me what's going on? I might be able to help if you do."

"To be sincere, mr. Dan Heng, I was just hoping I could… stay here with you for a while. Just a few minutes should suffice."

Now that was something Dan Heng could believe, even when one question remained unanswered. "You can, yes, but… why?" Dan Heng cocked his head to the side and gestured, inviting Sunday further into his room.

He watched the way the other man timidly nodded and started to put the pieces together inside his head. "Is… there a problem waiting for you outside?" Dan Heng guessed, a slight smile pulled at the corner of his lips.

Sunday lifted his head and turned back to Dan Heng. He stared at him for a few seconds before an awkward giggle escaped his lips and his wings fluttered with a little less tension. "You're really so observant, mr. Dan Heng," Sunday muttered, his cheeks still warmed up. "One could say that, yes…. there is a 'problem' waiting for me outside and the archives seemed like… a good place to hide."

"What are they up to this time?" Dan Heng sighed, his eyes drifting to check on the locked door before moving back to Sunday. "I assume the noises I heard earlier came from you? Are they bullying you?"

"N-no! Ms. March and mr. Caelus were nothing but kind to me," Sunday gasped, waving his hands in front of his chest. "Hmm, how should I put it? They were a little 'too playful' and I felt a bit… overwhelmed", he continued after he calmed down.

Dan Heng couldn't help but scoff a little at the comment, the whole thing far too obvious and expected. It wasn't hard for him to see himself in Sunday's shoes if he reminisced about the first weeks after Caelus boarded the Express. Him and March could be quite the combination, indeed. "Well, they usually don't dare to come here when I'm working in the bank. You're safe."

"T-thank you, mr. Dan Heng. I promise I won't disturb your work… any further, that is," Sunday bowed and Dan Heng chuckled, shaking his head.

"It's fine, I needed a break anyway. And it was hard to focus with those two causing a fuss, I was planning to wait until things calmed down anyway."

Something in that comment made Sunday flinch and the motion didn't go unnoticed by Dan Heng. Did he say something wrong? He tilted his head and Sunday quickly picked up the clue. "Ah, no, it's just that…" Sunday stuttered, and faked a small cough, "I think I'm the one to blame for that. I apologize."

"You? How so?" Dan Heng asked, genuinely intrigued much to Sunday's demise.

"This is a bit embarrassing to admit, mr. Dan Heng, but ms. March and mr. Caelus found out I'm rather… sensitive and decided to tickle me. I might have overreacted and that was probably the noise you heard before I stormed into the archive."

As Sunday lowered his head and fixed his eyes on the ground to finish the explanation, that new bit of intel made the gears inside Dan Heng's head start to turn. There was something oddly familiar with that scenario — as he himself was put through the same predicament in the past.

He could still remember the dumb explanation Caelus and March came up with back then, picking some sort of "initiation" as their excuse to try tickling him, even if he was the oldest passenger between the three of them. Dan Heng sighed and looked at Sunday. He bit his lip, considering an option that he never had until now.

"You should've said it sooner, Sunday," Dan Heng shook his head and scratched the back of neck. He was almost decided to do it, but part of him still hesitated. That would make him the same as the others, but wasn't he, anyway? "I think I could've helped you out sooner if you did."

"Ah, but you were working on the data, mr. Dan Heng, I shouldn't… even be disturbing… you..?" Sunday lowered his voice as he noticed the playful glint in Dan Heng's eyes. Dan Heng took a step forward and Sunday took one back, his back pressed against the nearby bookshelf. "M-mr. Dan Heng?"

"Yes, Sunday?" Dan Heng purred, and finally dropped the collected facade. A small smirk pulled at his lips, his hands already lifted and poised to strike. Sunday shook his head and his wings fluttered nervously. "Once we get through this, those two won't bother you anymore."

"N-not you too!" Sunday squealed in anticipation, holding his arms out in an attempt to defend himself. His legs were already failing him, unsure if he should try to dart left or right. Even if it was just one person instead of two, something told Sunday he was in much more danger locked up alone with Dan Heng that being chased by March and Caelus. "P-plehease, don't!"

"I didn't do anything yet," Dan Heng teased and amused himself with how much Sunday struggled with the anticipation. He took another step, getting Sunday perfectly cornered in his room. Without one last warning, Dan Heng took a larger step and managed to wrap one arm around Sunday, trapping him into a hug.

"NOHohoh, l-lehehet me go! Mr. D-Dan Heheng!" Sunday giggled, way more than Dan Heng thought he would. He tugged at Dan Heng's arms, trying to both free himself and push the offending hand away. "Y-you trihihicked me! This ihihisn't fahahair!"

"I didn't, did I?" Dan Heng chuckled.

Sunday was surprisingly… weak in physical terms. Dan Heng was barely struggling to hold him in place and even less to sneak his hand past Sunday's hands, tickling the man's side and stomach. Sunday laughed brightly, stomping his feet and curling his body forward in another fruitless attempt of escaping Dan Heng's grip. "Yohohou're a lihihiar! AHahah, y-you sahaid I wahas sahafe!"

"And you are," Dan Heng continued, "March and Caelus wouldn't dare to come here right now." Dan Heng reached for one of Sunday's wrists and held it out of his way. He moved his hand to tickle Sunday's ribs and hummed as the other's laughter seemed to rise another pitch. "Ah, I see why there were pestering you now. You're really ticklish."

"AHAhahaghh— ahah, p-plehehease, refreheain from making suhuch cohomments!" Sunday whined, unable to fight it as Dan Heng held his hands pressed together.

He was really no better than Caelus or March, Dan Heng thought. Sunday's wings fluttered and flapped unconsciously, even slapping Dan Heng on the face once or twice as their owner struggled and laughed, and yet, all Dan Heng could think of was if there was a way to make Sunday laugh even harder or where else he would be ticklish. Was this why they were so fond of torturing him?

"Right, I shouldn't be saying these things," Dan Heng chuckled,feeling Sunday's wing hitting his cheek. "Let's just make sure they won't come bother you again."

ain’t no way people actually got mad at dan heng for flinching away from the mask and not protecting sunday??? you do realise that’s exactly why yao guang aimed for him first right? she knew he’d step in front of sunday if she’d gone for him first instead

and saying sunday got mad at dan heng for that is even more ridiculous? he doesn’t consider himself part of the crew yet (as shown by him abstaining from the vote, among other things) so he doesn’t expect any protection from dan heng anyway, his shocked expression afterward was just that - shock, not anger. annoyance at yao guang, maybe, but not at dan heng. he’s shocked that dan heng apologises at all

and dan heng literally steps in front of sunday and defends him not even a second later so the argument itself doesn’t even hold any water, he’s very explicitly implying that attacking sunday = acting without warning = making an enemy of the express

this twitter thread explains it very well