sleepless night

Felix did not really know what to expect for his birthday. After all, he couldn’t remember any birthday he had ever had before. He was actually a little nervous about it was he drifted off to sleep the night before the big day. He was going to be nineteen. Almost not a teenager anymore. Almost a real adult. And he felt like he still knew nothing about the world or anything in it. It was a little scary to think about, especially because he often did not dwell on such things.

However, all of those frightened thoughts were gone by the time he slowly stirred awake the next morning; first half-awakened when Arry jumped off the bed, but then brought to fill consciousness by a soft, comforting voice singing a familiar tune. He smiled and propped himself up on his eyebrows, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. When his eyes focused, they landed on the cake and his smile only got brighter. His first birthday cake. He stared at it for a moment before suddenly remembering that he was supposed to blow out the candles. He took a deep breath, thought of a wish, and blew them all out in one go.

With that bit of business done with, he hopped out of bed and basically launched himself into Hyuna’s arms, squeezing her tight. “You’re the best, thank you~” He cooed, kissing her cheek. “Does this mean we get cake for breakfast?”

The smile on Hyuna’s lips was almost motherly as she watched Felix blow out the candles, applauding with a laugh when he succeeded on the first try. She held Arry with one arm and tightly wrapped the other around Felix, kissing his cheek right back with a grin. “Only the best for you, kangaroo~”

Her own nineteenth birthday hadn’t been like this at all; in fact, she didn’t rememberit. Between her mother’s death, the drugs, and her own descent into prostitution, there really hadn’t been much time for celebration -- or for keeping track of time at all. And so making today the perfect birthday for Felix was... well, he deserved it, and it was proof that Hyuna could do better and be better and allow others to have better lives than she did.

send a word for our muses to interact! specify who does what.

hands – muse a takes muse b by the hand

chamomile – muse a falls asleep on muse b

lesson – muse a teaches muse b something

blaze – muse a feels muse b’s forehead

fix – muse a adjusts a piece of muse b’s clothing

help – muse a props up muse b’s head to give them water / food / medicine

firefly – muse a checks on muse b in the middle of the night

jacket – muse a gives muse b their jacket

stop – muse a holds muse b back during a moment of tension

cradle – muse a pulls muse b’s head into their lap

bed – muse a makes muse b lie down

hurt – muse a takes care of muse b’s wounds

flee – muse a breaks out of muse b’s arms mid - hug

dream – muse a comforts muse b after a nightmare

shield – muse a shields muse b from danger

picasso – muse a draws with muse b

nuzzle – muse a rests their chin on top of muse b’s head

piggyback – muse a gives muse b a piggyback ride

lift – muse a lifts muse b over their shoulder

hug – muse a embraces muse b

infirmary – muse a wakes up in the hospital and finds muse b at their bedside

visit – muse a visits muse b in the hospital

shine – muse a makes muse b laugh

food – muse a and muse b share a meal

light – muse a flickers the lights to get muse b’s attention

nudge – muse a nudges muse b

Halloween wasn’t exactly Mark’s cup of tea. Yet, he still found himself here, among the colorful crowd, greeting and smiling at  people whose features, thanks to the well-thought-out costume, were almost unrecognizable. Meanwhile, no one knew it was him under the Spiderman mask unless he blatantly said it. For once in his lifetime, the demigod went stag to such an event, so the fact that no one really noticed who he was added a ton of confidence into the way he carried himself.  

So far, he didn’t regret to attend the ball. The food and drink were excellent, while watching people flaunting their best costumes and make-up were definitely the best part of the night. He probably would vote for the Elastigirl and her partner, just because he had loved the movie since its premiere. And yes, the costume flattered its owner’s figure so well it took Mark awhile to remember that he shouldn’t stare. 

The ball, although it was so much fun, worn him out rather quickly. Mark still had so much to learn before exposing himself to the crowd without feeling like it was sucking all of the vitality out of his system. The “Spiderman” was about to leave to rescue himself, when a hand came in timely to wrap itself around his arm, keeping him from walking any further. When he turned around, Elastigirl was smiling and asking him a question. Mark almost laughed aloud. 

“Yes, noona,” he replied while smiling back at her, even though she couldn’t see his face just yet. But hopefully, with how loud he was in order to make himself heard, she could recognize who she was talking to. “How about you though? Where’s your partner?”

At first Hyuna didn’t recognize the person she’d grabbed. They were wearing a Spiderman costume and honestly, it could’ve been anyone under the mask. But once they started speaking, especially when they called her noona, she realized who it was.

“Mark?” Hyuna laughed and gave his arm a squeeze. “I didn’t even know it was you!” It had been crazy to meet an actual blood relative on this island, a fellow child of Arawn. But Mark was a great friend and brother to her, and Hyuna just hoped she was properly able to fulfill the role of big sister. After all, she knew just what it was like to come to this island and have to build up a whole new life, and she wanted to support Mark in any way that she could.

boop starter for @mpxhyuna

❦

   There had been much discussion over the phone about business but Christopher had not made any time really since his arrival to get to the nitty-gritty of his other job. Today though, he had cleared his schedule of skate instructions and made sure to not make any plans with new friends so he could spend time learning the adjacent entity he was working with. Phone sex was mostly done alone but now and then people preferred to work through means of an umbrella agency that served as a protective measure and, if one was lucky, a sort of makeshift working family. Christopher made friends easy but that didn’t stop him from trying to get on the good side of those he worked with. Even if it was just working through a side venture of their establishment.

  This is what brings him to be standing in the foyer of Babylon looking entirely unbothered by his surroundings or the general goings-on of the house. He waits collected and patient to meet with Hyuna, whom he has been told from a reliable source, is exactly the person he needs to talk to. In the meantime, as he sits there Christopher amuses himself by tapping out the rhythm of a song he likes and humming softly in his regular voice. Here he doesn’t need to put on the show he does on the phone of pronouncing everything correctly- they know what he is like here even if he only met some of the other briefly on his first night in town.

But now the nights spent with strangers who were awful in bed are over, and Hyuna can fully focus on making sure Babylon was up and running. She had created a nurse’s station and asked for help at the hospital, as well as currently working on implementing a better security system.

And, unlike previously, she also sits down and talks with those that don’t stay in the actual building of Babylon when they work and only drop by to pick up their checks. Like the person Hyuna is currently approaching.

Things were quiet around Babylon but it’s mainly due to the fact that both Hyuna and Ryo were at the establishment early. The Japanese demigod thinks about those poor souls that hate their job, hate going into work everyday. Ryo might keep his real identity to himself around here, and if anyone would ask if him this job is really worth it he would probably say no, but for him things were different. Selling himself was all he knew, and he was good at it. He feels like he has become the job, so why quit something you’re good at? 

Ryo feels lucky to have met Hyuna at work having gotten to know her since he’s moved to the island. Not to mention he does adore Felix and with that being a big thing in common, the both of them tend to just chat and chat never running out of things to talk about. 

“Any kind of alcohol can do that to you.. there’s a reason why it’s called ‘liquid courage.’“ he chuckles softly lounging back in his chair, heavy platform combat boots resting on the counter while he grooms his nails with a file. That grooming stops the second he hears the serious tone. Ryo listens eyes watching his good friend as she talks about her job status, aura growing tense the second she was starting to show her anxiety. That was when he reaches out to gently touch her arm. 

“Hyuna..you need to figure out what you want. If you want to be the madam I don’t see anything wrong with that. We all come to you for issues now anyway. You are like our manager.” he speaks softly and tenderly knowing she really needed some comfort right now. “There’s also nothing wrong with trying something new see if it fits. Babylon would be crazy not to take you back if you made that decision.” 

“I’m not sure if it should be liquid courage or liquid stupidity,” Hyuna says with a laugh. She shifts a bit, half-laying on her chair like a cat that was getting comfortable in the sun. Vulnerability is not her thing at all, and the fact that too much wine brings it out in her makes her a little wary of the red stuff. Luckily Artemis was someone whom Hyuna trusted completely; with a complete stranger, that conversation could’ve gone a whole different way.

Which is why she’s talking to Ryo now. She trusts him. They’re close friends, they’ve both adopted Felix in some way, and he knows this part of her life, this job, better than anyone. He’s seen her in this environment. “I don’t know why this feels so weird,” she admits with a soft smile, shaking her head. “I just... I don’t know. I want to help the people here? I know that this job is extremely demanding... I mean, hell, we don’t even have a proper nurse station or something for when people get hurt.”

Felix smiled, extremely pleased that Hyuna liked the tea he had made. He really wanted to take care of her well so that she would recover quickly, because it seemed like being sick was no fun at all. “You just let me know if you want anything else, okay? I’m your personal nurse today!” And he would relish the title, performing all of his duties with the utmost care. His noona deserved nothing less, after all.

“Of course I’ll stay! I wouldn’t leave you all alone!” And, completely ignoring the very real possibility that he would catch her illness, he crawled onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her, snuggling right in. Getting sick was the last thing he was worried about, he just wanted to comfort her. “Do you want me to put on a movie or something? Or do you just want to nap?” Napping would be good for her, he figured, but sometimes it was nice to just put on a silly movie in the background, even just for white noise.

“My personal nurse? I’m so lucky~” Hyuna smiled widely even though, just based on how she was feeling physically, she wasn’t in any mood to smile at all. But Felix somehow managed to make her feel better just by being there. Even if he hadn’t made her the tea or given her medicine, Hyuna was sure she’d still be feeling better.

@mpxhyuna

Yixing laughed and shrugged. “Well when you’ve been around so long you either learn to adapt or you fall apart. Given the options I choose adaptability would be the best choice.” That went for more than just his mental state as well. Times changed so quickly and drastically. Those that could not adapt to the future were often left behind and he was not about to let that happen.

One thing remained the same though. The humans and demigods never ceased to amaze him with their own adaptability and resilience and Hyuna here was a prime example of that. “You’ve been granted a very unique perspective. A peek behind the curtain, so to speak. I’m glad to see someone doing some good with such an ability.” As they began to leave the park he grinned, happy to be of help. “So, what sort of things are on this list of groceries? Are we talking a dozen eggs and some milk or is this a buy in bulk type of list?” 

“That’s fair, yeah.” Hyuna nodded in agreement. “Though I do have to say, I’m glad I’m not immortal. I’m not sure I could handle being surrounded by the spirits of everyone I love.” It was sometimes already tiring enough just being surrounded by spirits she didn’t know personally. And her mother, of course, but that was always a rare and wonderful occasion, so it didn’t count.