火の鳥 - 戒

yugyeom wasn’t sure the that ideology came from: being nice to people when you aren’t nice, or feigning happiness when you aren’t happy. 

he thought most prided themselves on not being liars. 

having only taken three steps before that shit decided to open his mouth again despite being told otherwise, yugyeom swallowed his initial rage; if he didn’t, he’d have turned around and struck the other down without a thought. turning on his heels, he approached the other, rolling his sleeve back up past his forearm so his tattoo was in plain sight. 

“Ah… Yeah-yes, it’s very cool! Just like I said,” Kai agreed, nodding firmly and then grinning again, as brightly as he could possibly manage when he looked up only to see his aggressive expression. But he was prepared for it this time, so his smile didn’t falter.

━━━ introductions II @phxkai-ia

the students at the school must have been bred with rudeness that ran through their veins in the same quantity as their blood, if not more. 

‘seriously,’ he answered back callously, pausing his steps in order to properly face the kid who thought it was honestly okay, appropriate to stop and say such a foolish thing. the hallway was bustling with people walking here and there, stopping in the middle of it was not ideal, especially for such a petty reason.

“Yeah, I’m one of the few new teachers… I’m Professor Charles Stein..” Charlie smiled and gave a small nod before eyeing the cookies with a look that was sure never to say no to sweets. His hand gently took the bag and his gaze lifted, a look of gratitude sparkling in his chocolate brown hues. 

“Yeah, I’m one of the few new teachers… I’m Professor Charles Stein..” Charlie smiled and gave a small nod before eyeing the cookies with a look that was sure never to say no to sweets. His hand gently took the bag and his gaze lifted, a look of gratitude sparkling in his chocolate brown hues. 

Luna slapped a hand over her mouth as she sucked up half the oxygen in the room with her gasp. She hadn’t heard anyone coming up behind her and the sudden feeling of fingers brushing against her shoulder had almost caused her to jump out of her skin. “Sorry,” she laughed, scrunching her nose when she realized what she had said, giving her head a small shake as if to reset her thoughts. “I mean, thank you,” she tried again, her voice still a bit breathy. Her heart felt like it was trying to thump its way out of her ribcage.

“They’re…they’re all gone, Kai. I went back there…” It was all ash and dirty snow and pieces of debris. “It was all gone. Burned down.” It wasn’t fire like yours, it wasn’t warm and comforting, it was the kind that ruins and destroys. “Someone burned it down.” It’s not your fault, the fire wasn’t yours, I love you even still, but, “My family is gone.”

Before the phoenix had a chance to respond, delicate fingers pushed open the pages of the book. “This was my grandmother’s journal. It was the only thing I found. Fireproofed.” The only thing left. The pages were stuffed to bursting with pressed herbs and flowers, recipes, drawings, photos, and other things. Close to the back of the book was a small stack of photographs and drawings. Only one really held Ren’s interest at the moment. It was the one thing he had come to show the phoenix, so that he could start to put it all behind him and forget the pain that had lodged itself like a shard in his heart.

In the photograph was an old woman, obviously the owner of the journal. Next to her, in the middle, was a very young Elven boy. And on the other side of the boy, holding his tiny hand, was a man that looked exactly like Kai might look if he was a few decades older. “I found this. I thought you might like to see it. That’s my grandmother,” a pang in his heart, “and me. And…remember how I told you I remember meeting a phoenix when I was younger?” The elf pointed at the man in the image who so closely resembled his friend.

At least it was all out now. Ren leaned his head on the phoenix’s shoulder as he passed the photo over for his friend to look at if he wanted to, already exhausted again. He was beginning to wish he was back in his own bed, but being here with Kai…it was almost as good.

Kai sucked in a breath when Ren revealed what it was he’d found, a hand coming up to press against his lips. At first, he wasn’t sure he’d even heard right. But it was true…. Ren had lost his family. That seemed just awful.

Kai himself didn’t have any family; not that he knew of anyways, in this life’s memories or what he could remember of the ones before. So he could not even begin to imagine how that felt…. But he did know how it felt to lose people he loved, now. But to lose all of them at once, in such a violent way…. His poor Ren.

He wanted to try to comfort him somehow, but before he could Ren moved on and spoke again, opening his book. Of course that did pique his curiousity and he leaned over to have a look, curious despite the heartache he suddenly felt on his friend’s behalf. He also couldn’t help but to giggle at the sight of a tiny Ren, cooing, “You’re so cute…. I do love seeing this.”

He looked so much like his grandmother too. And then…. The Phoenix….. That made Kai’s mouth pop open, and the first thought in his head was ‘that’s me!’ But of course that couldn’t be right, right? What even were the chances of that, that somehow he’d met Ren as a child, then again now? So it couldn’t be him…. Even if everything was telling him it was.