Express Mail | Gepard x Sampo / Welt x Dan Heng / Jing Yuan x Blade | Fanfiction

Chapter 1 - Feelings

"Rise and shine, you little sleepyhead!" A shrill and boisterous voice boomed throughout the data bank, bouncing across the walls of books and panels in an echo. Dan Heng knew that voice from the moment he was awoken, his ears ringing as his drowsy eyes squinted in attempts to adjust to the bright light above.

"M-March..." He murmured sluggishly, his voice hoarse. "Why must you wake me in such manner every morning?" He whined as he rubbed his eyes earning a playful punch to his arm in response.

"Because you never wake up in time, silly. You're always sleeping in and I'm the one who has to wake you!" March complained rolling her eyes and tugging his blanket away. He shuddered as the cold morning air pricked at his exposed skin.

"Must you always do that too? I'm freezing!" He groaned as he shifted his body and turned away from her, clutching his knees and hugging them to his chest for warmth.

"Wear warmer clothes to bed!" She scolded with a scoff before getting up from her kneeling position on the floor. "Get an actual bed too." She added cheekily before leaving the data bank.

Dan Heng sighed deeply and sat up before stretching his stiff limbs. His eyes travelled around the data bank, which he long since decided to make his bedroom as he spent so much time in there anyway. He patted the thin mattress beneath him and unwillingly agreed with March's comment about getting an actual bed to sleep on. His back would ultimately agree with them too. Crawling to his feet with groans of struggle, a chill ran down his spine as his bare soles met the chilling glass floor beneath him. He gazed down at the liquid running under the glass, which reminded him of how badly he needed to shower.

After sliding his feet into his slippers beside the door, he made his swift exit towards the shower rooms down the hall. Distracted by the four text message notifications asking if he was awake yet that littered his phone screen, much to his embarrassment, he bumped straight into someone in the hallway. His head snapped up in shock causing him to nearly drop his phone as his eyes sprung upon no other than Mr. Welt Yang.

"M-m-mr. Yang! I am so sorry, it was so careless of me to not pay attention and I did not even-"

"That's quite alright, Dan Heng." He interrupted his frantic apology with a husky chuckle, immediately silencing the shorter boy before him whose mouth hung open and eyes froze upon him. "Just pay more attention next time. You're lucky you bumped into me. If it were Himeko..."

It took a few moments for the colour to return to his cheeks, only the colour was a that of a rose. He nodded swiftly in response though his gaze was fixated onto Welt's and lingered briefly. Welt cleared his throat in response as to the sudden tension that arose as they stared at each other, the awkward silence filling the carriage.

"Right, I should probably go shower now." Dan Heng admitted before biting his lip as he tore his eyes away from Welt's to observe the vastness of the stars outside the window.

"Don't take too long, I still haven't showered and we're making the jump soon." Welt informed sternly before a soft snicker escaped his lips. His eyes still rested upon Dan Heng's nervous state.

"We're jumping already? If I had known, I would have set an alarm prior." He explained in panic as he shuffled back and forth slightly with anxiety creeping up on him.

"We informed you guys the other day, were you not listening, young man?" He retorted with a knowing smirk. He knew Dan Heng to be forgetful as he was often caught up in a book or researching something he found in the data bank during briefings.

"I... must have missed it." He whispered sheepishly as his eyes travelled to the carpeted floor beneath them in added embarrassment.

"Don't worry. I'll let you off the hook. Be ready within an hour though, you know Pom-Pom." He replied wholeheartedly as he gently patted his shoulder. The sudden touch caused the hairs on his arm to raise and a flutter in his stomach.