天才

✧   ⸻   @blessedrulers asked : There were bruises on their face, tear tracks they wouldn’t admit to that had cut through their makeup, despite how they’d tried to clean themselves up in vain. Hayden had their arms folded around them in a way that looked more like they were holding themselves, pain throbbing through their body and eyes rimmed red. They’d knocked on the door and waited, until it opened slowly, and they met Ryu’s eyes. Hayden swallowed, painful from the forming ring of bruises at their throat, and spoke roughly. “Can I come in?”

𝑻𝑯𝑬  𝑨𝑷𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑴𝑬𝑵𝑻  𝑾𝑨𝑺  𝑭𝑰𝑳𝑳𝑬𝑫  𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑯  𝑺𝑰𝑳𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬,   𝑶𝑵𝑳𝒀  𝑩𝑹𝑶𝑲𝑬𝑵  𝑩𝒀  𝑻𝑯𝑬  𝑹𝑨𝑺𝑷  𝑶𝑭  𝑮𝑹𝑨𝑷𝑯𝑰𝑻𝑬  𝑮𝑳𝑰𝑫𝑰𝑵𝑮  𝑨𝑪𝑹𝑶𝑺𝑺  𝑷𝑨𝑷𝑬𝑹.  He  sat  on  the  floor  beside  his  coffee  table  while  his  worn  sketchbook  balanced  against  his  knee.  His  hand  holding  a  pencil  moved  in  slow,  absent  strokes  —  adding  lines,  or shadows.  Drawing  was  always  a  something  that  distracted  him  enough,  to  keep  his  mind  occupied  but  damn,  IT  WASN‘T  WORKING  THIS  NIGHT.   JJ  was  still,  but  his  mind  was  loud.  Irritation  bloomed  inside  of  him  as  he  noticed,  how  every  line  eventually  became  the  same  face.  HAYDENS. 

FUNNY,  he  thought  bitterly.  How  they  had  disappeared  from  his  life  for  YEARS,  only  to  walk  back  into  it  what  felt  like  YESTERDAY,  smiling  as  though  NO  TIME  had  passed  which  only  let  to  the  point  that  old  feelings  bloomed  inside  of  the  idol.  ONLY  TO  DROP  WAY  TOO  CASUALLY  (  FOR  RYUJINS  TASTE  )  THAT  THEY  WERE  ENGAGED.  Of  course  he  smiled  through  it  while  his  heart  stung,  even  CONGRATULATED  THEM.

Every excuse that Hayden had been rehearsing on the drive over suddenly died on their tongue. Here they stood, in front of Ryujin, their friend -- the only person who had ever truly seen them. Maybe they'd been hoping he wouldn't. Maybe they'd been hoping too much time had passed, maybe they'd been hoping they could hide from him this time.

Or maybe, maybe, they'd been hoping for exactly this. To be seen by someone they trusted; to not be able to hide behind a smile, trying to hide the blood pouring from their chest and desperately keeping every fractured piece from hitting the ground. For what Hayden saw in Ryujin's expression now brought a sting to their eyes, already red-rimmed, and something loosened within them. They swallowed painfully, their gaze touching the art left on the table, heavy strokes of charcoal black, almost like he'd crossed it out... before their gaze dropped to the ground between them.

"Uh... " they tried, their voice rough and raw. One hand started to lift, as though to soothe the area, before Hayden curled it into a fist and dropped it down to their side, frustrated as they redirected their gaze to the window, lips pressed into a tight line. Flashes of Hayoon, tall, strong, with steady hands that even the gang lord had foolishly trusted, played on repeat in Hayden's mind. It hadn't been lack of skill that allowed this; no, Hayden had killed people for laying their hands on them before... but Hayoon wasn't just anyone. She was their fiancee, so good to them otherwise, a radiant smile that almost made up for the fleeting, intense rage that lived in her eyes.

moment is almost serene, the emptiness of park with lights illuminating what path the moon can not reach. plenty of time to hunt, nymeria could fill desire before the sun were to rise. a quiet conversation, offering words of warm honey. only, she falters when when courage had been mentioned by yuki. ❝ i do not know if you can consider my leave, courage. i believe it was more desperation. ❞ freedom, right in her grasp. the end of a life as caged dove. she had taken it, and not a moment of it did she regret.

❝ do you still hold wounds from leaving ? i fear my creator has left me plenty of those. to escape as far as possible, and yet, i still find myself looking behind as if he would be there. ❞ it did not matter how far she strayed, even oceans of length. ❝ such dreary conversation, i fear i am out of practice. i apologize for the weight words have become. ❞

For what? What were they waiting for, now that their monsters were slain?

Permission.

The icy blade twisted then, drawing Yuki's eyes drawn down to his scarred forearm, folded beneath the other. He lifted his fingers to the slash on his cheek, deep and unforgettable. The scar on the nape of his neck, once branded with his name, ached in response. Yuki tried to play off the nervous habit, swiftly tucking back the hair free of his ponytail. For him, it hadn't been long at all; merely a year had passed since he'd escaped his creator, since he'd begun to convince himself he was alive.

For Nymeria, whose aura came to him as ancient, dusty, hallowed ground, tall cathedral windows, sunlight through stained glass that burned Yuki's hands with its touch -- with a set of unseen eyes behind him, waiting, that would pull Yuki into a coffin of endless darkness and hunger if looked in for too long -- he suspected she'd be held under by her ghost long after Yuki was dead.

It was all muted, all distant, these pieces of an aura so dreary and so bright. As it normally was, with something dead; absently, Yuki wondered how his own aura would read, if he had one. Death had several tricks to wrap its chains around living flesh.

FASHION

Prior to his escape, Yuki was expected to dress professionally - button up shirts ( he never rolled up his sleeves ), slacks, etc - when he wasn’t on a job or trying to blend in as a spy. Post-escape, Yuki is trying to be more comfortable with the array of scars on his body, particularly the one just beneath his collarbone, which was the last scar Isen gave him before escaping, and the scar on his left forearm; where he carved off the Crimson Blades tattoo. Having found freedom, Yuki dresses more casually, in tshirts/hoodies, left over from his days doing spywork and bought in general with Isen’s ( stolen ) money.

HAIR

Yuki has always had his hair a bit long ( always his natural color ) but began to wear it half-down after being forced to get the Reiou tattoo on the back of his neck, to hide it from others and try to forget about it himself. After his escape, now that the tattoo is replaced by scar tissue, he also wears it up in a ponytail fully - and experiments once Isen is dead with an undercut etc

SCENTS

- Petrichor

- Water lily

ɪ ᴀᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴍᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ꜱᴏᴅᴏᴍ, ɪ ᴀᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴀɴ ᴀɴɢᴇʟ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴀᴛᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴀʟʟᴇɴ, ɴᴏʙᴏᴅʏ ᴋɴᴏᴡꜱ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ɪ ᴄᴀᴍᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ