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Dan Heng was not one who lost things all that frequently. Hence, his confusion as to why his ear cuff was missing. He must have torn the archives apart looking for it, to no avail.
Ultimately, the only inconvenience it caused was the odd sensation of his ears feeling bare. Himeko had commented on it, to which Dan Heng simply said he couldn’t find it. She’d giggled and said she was sure it would turn up soon.
Thankfully, it did. The next day, he saw it on the desk of the archives. Someone probably found it somewhere and returned it. He simply replaced the jewelry and didn’t think of it again.
His favorite shirt was missing.
He’d just done laundry, so he was sure it was just stuck in the machine ot that he’d dropped it on the way. However, despite all his searching, no luck. Again, this only caused a minor inconvenience, forcing him to wear a different shirt. He’d mentioned it to Welt, who was doing his laundry that day. The older man simply shook his head with a smile and said he was sure it would turn up.
And it did. The next day, it was folded and placed on the desk in the archives. He stared at it strangely. Losing two articles of clothing in a week? That was out of the ordinary. Yet, he’d dismissed it as a fluke.
He should not have dismissed it as a fluke. He was missing an entire set of sleepwear. On any other day, he wouldn’t have noticed or cared, but he’d started keeping track of his clothes recently.
He decided to go over to March’s room, telling her the strange story of how he was losing his clothes and wondering if she noticed anyone going in and out of the archives, seeing as her room was right next door.
March just shrugged and told him she was sure—
“I know,” he grumbled as he turned to leave. “It will show up.”
This time, it took two days for that sleepwear set to reappear, folded neatly and resting on the archive desk.
He narrowed his eyes at it. How had that returned to the archives? There was something was amiss on the train, and he was going to find out what.
Okay, he was for certain going crazy this time because where was his jacket? Unless it was in the wash, he always hung it on a hook in his room.
But it wasn’t on the hook or in the archives at all. It wasn’t anywhere along the path to the laundry room, in the party car, the parlor car, or even Stelle’s room. If it wasn’t in any of the places he frequently hung out, then where was it?
This was the final straw. Three weeks of this nonsense, and there were too many questions and not enough answers for Dan Heng’s liking. He was going to remedy that.
“Stelle?”
Stelle froze, dread creeping through her. Yet, as she peered into the archives, she saw Dan Heng had his back to her. “How’d you know it was me?”
“Because I can hear you humming.”
Had she been humming? Maybe she was. She was in a good mood today. “Oh.”
“Anyways,” Dan Heng opened another drawer of the desk by his bed. “Have you seen my jacket?”
“Your jacket?” She looked down at the white sleeves that adorned her arms. Beyond that were the long tails of the jacket that covered her legs. She could even feel the strangely comfortable weight of the beads hanging on the back. “Um… no.”
He sighed, shutting the drawer with a thud before opening another.
“I’m sure it will turn up somewhere,” she offered.
“That’s what everyone says.”
“I can help you look.”
“I’d appreciate that. I checked your room, but I didn’t see it.”
“Want me to check again?”
“Please.”
“Will do.” And then she marched away.
Once out of the sleeper car, a snort escaped her. How’d he not notice? She had been sure she was going to get caught, but he’d never turned around.
However, that was a red flag. Dan Heng was distraught to the point of distracted, which was not very Dan Heng of him. Had she overdone it? Likely. This was probably the sign she needed to stop, but his clothes were just so comfortable, and not because of the fabric but because… because they were his.
At first, it had just been out of curiosity that she’d only taken the ear cuff for a day. Himeko had warned her that Dan Heng was looking for it, so she’d promptly returned it, her heart skittering all the while.
But then her scavenging ways had to come knocking, and she took a shirt. She and Dan Heng were dating, and she’d heard of girls who stole their boyfriend’s shirts all the time. That seemed right up her alley, so she thought she’d give it a try. The problem was that she and Dan Heng didn’t have that big a height difference, so it wasn’t like his shirt magically became a dress on her. At first, she was disappointed, but that only lasted a moment before she settled into the fact that she was in Dan Heng’s shirt. That it smelled like him, that it reminded her of him. Suddenly, the less-than-desirable fit was irrelevant. She wore it until Welt told her Dan Heng was searching for it, at which point she returned it. It was his favorite shirt, after all, and she wasn’t that mean of a girlfriend.
It wasn’t long before she missed the shirt, so she decided to go for something less conspicuous. Pajamas. Dan Heng wore plain clothes to bed, but they’d do the trick to soothe Stelle’s collector’s spirit. She wore them to bed and got one of the best nights of sleep ever. She was going to wear them a second night… until March noticed and mentioned that Dan Heng was going crazy looking for them.
She washed them and replaced them in his room as soon as possible.
That was last week, and darn it, she wanted more girlfriend privileges! Hence, she was just going to grab one thing from his room for a quick fix and be done with it. His jacket had been right there. And right as she was on her way to return it…
Well, what fun would it be if she returned it like that?
Round two of searching the cars ended up being fruitless. Dan Heng’s last stop was Stelle’s room. She hadn’t reappeared, but there was a chance she’d gotten distracted.
“Stelle, have you found my—”
She froze, her cheeks puffed out with a snack, her eyes wide,
And his jacket around her shoulders.
Crossing his arms, he leaned against the wall. “—seen my jacket,” he dryly finished, quirking a brow at her as he waited for her to explain herself.
She set down her snack, then forced a bright smile as she struck a dramatic pose. “You found it!”
“It seems I found the thief, too.”
Pouting, she rounded the kitchenette bar. “Don’t be like that. Can’t a girl exercise her ‘girlfriend privileges’?”
“Girlfriend privileges?” he repeated. “And pray tell, what are those?”
“In which a girl gets to steal her boyfriend’s clothes to show the world she’s taken.”
With that definition, the final puzzle piece fell into place. “So the ear cuff, the shirt, and the pajamas…”
“I love you?” she provided, shooting him an impish smile as she closed the distance between them.
He heaved a sigh.
Her smile faded. “Are you mad?”
Was he? He’d been losing his mind the last few weeks, but now that he had the answer—his girlfriend—was it really worth getting mad over? “No,” he answered.
“So then…” she snuggled into the jacket. “Is there a chance I can keep at it?”
He looked at her, wrapped in his clothes while her words went through his head. So the world knows she taken, huh? A growing part of him wasn’t opposed to that. Not in the slightest. He couldn’t say he was opposed to the sight, either.
But he shouldn’t give in so easily lest he give an inch only for Stelle to take a mile. “Ask next time,” he said.
That put a smile back on her face. She snuggled deeper into the jacket. “May I keep it for now?” She did a little twirl, swaying her hips in a way that swung the beads on the back behind her.
He had half a mind to demand it back, but for some reason, those words died in his throat the moment the corners of his lips ticked up in amusement. She was so very… Stelle. And he was charmed by her. “For today. Then I’d like it back.”
“Yes, sir.” She mock saluted him.
He shook his head, his smile growing all the while. “And don’t get food on it.”
“You definitely jinxed it now.”
“Do I have to take your snacks away from you so you don’t ruin my coat?”
“Well, you could join me.” She walked back to her bag of snacks, only to offer the open end to him. “Pretty sure girlfriend privileges say she’s allowed to steal her boyfriend’s food, but I don’t see why that can’t go both ways.”
How was he supposed to turn down an offer like that?