starry sky

sternenschleier moved to sonnenstern

  so! after some consideration, me and jia have decided to make our witch verse the main verse for our blogs. this also means moving blogs, so i’ll be occupied doing that for a few days. i’ll post the link and all that soon. o/

i love how we always think alike and do big jumps with our ideas...

“Just being with you makes me happy.” As sappy as it sounds, it’s the truth. Kiryu has made it clear on more than one occasion just how happy he is that he has Meng in his life - that they’re together and complement each other so well. Finally, a small smile steals its way on his lips as he buries his face into the crook of his fiance’s neck. “... knowing that you’re here with me, that you have my back with the others... it makes me realize all over again that I’m so glad to have each and every one of you in my life.” He has never taken them for granted, and sometimes, it shows by how much of himself he pours into everything in order to help them all. 

It’s a good thing that he has Meng to stop him from overdoing (and overworking) one too many times.

Seokhyun hums softly in confirmation. "They had a deep voice. I couldn't see their face because they kept it hidden with their oversized hoodie," he recalls, eyes briefly fluttering shut under his beloved's gentle carding. He could get used to it. "They were suddenly in front of me, and then they already stabbed me while telling me to sleep for a while. And I... well, I guess I'm just stubborn, somehow? I know I didn't want to go without a fight, so I used my abilities on them." The memory of the whole incident seems to have burnt itself into his mind despite him being in coma for six days afterwards.

A pleased hum rumbles in his throat as he revels in the feeling of fingers combing through his hair. "I think it's safe to say that we're both worrywarts. Guess that's also the reason why we complement each other so well." It helps, though, that they're both so honest and open about everything from the start. Granted, some things are more difficult to say and explain than others, but Seokhyun has long found out that his boyfriend isn't the prejudiced type and always approaching everything with an open mind. He only gets unhappy when someone isn't upfront with him from the start and beats around the bush.

  Sasha hums, dropping into a crouch. From up close, the similarity to that very ring in his memory is even more striking. The placement of its gems, the gentle traces of having been worn over years with nothing but love. But coincidences like this don’t simply happen. It’s been centuries, and Sasha has long given up on finding –   “Do you… mind if I take a closer look?” he asks despite himself, despite the nagging voice in his head telling him he’s getting his hopes up for nothing. He joins the stranger properly on the ground, the blood drying on his palms and kneecaps an afterthought for now. “It’s a ridiculous thought, but… I think I’ve seen it before. It’s been a while.”   “A while” might be an understatement. Memories aren’t as crisp as they used to be, worn down by the steady passage of time. Sasha finds himself thinking back to his human life in nothing but vague pictures, hazy figures and blank faces. Yet some memories are permanent. Perhaps because he willed them to be, or because they’re so dear to him that forgetting, even if he tried, would be impossible.   And the way this stranger worded himself – her son, or grandson…   Running a hand through his hair, he allows for his smile to widen. “I’ve totally neglected to ask if you’re all right, haven’t I? I’m sorry. This is all a little distracting.”

A soft chuckle escapes him, sounding oddly fond even to his own ears. "I'm fine, I guess. All scraped up, but nothing that won't heal in a few days," he assures with a hum. The situation could've been worse, he knows - especially if it were another vampire than this stranger next to him who doesn't have the same self-control. Seokhyun has no doubt he would've been tackled to the ground by now otherwise.

His gaze land on the ring again, a thoughtful expression gracing his features. The stranger claims that he might've seen it before, and while Seokhyun thinks it'd be too much of a coincidence for him to be on the right lead so soon, he can't deny that the possibility is still there. After all, he's partly trusted the ring to lead him, despite not fully paying attention to it. (Not to mention that he isn't exactly good in such sort of magic; but he tried, nonetheless.) And the stranger next to him is a vampire. One that probably has lived far, far longer than he has (he can't explain the other's self-control otherwise).

Who knows, maybe coincidences do happen sometimes.

It took some time until Seokhyun felt comfortable enough to walk around shirtless in his own apartment again - even when Sasha isn’t around. The wound (or what’s left of it by now) serves as a glaring reminder that things aren’t over yet. There’s something looming, like the calm before a storm. He isn’t the type to be pessimistic, and yet, with the new burden on his shoulders, Seokhyun can’t help but be cautious. 

  Sasha slaps a hand over his mouth. Four centuries and the sight and smell of blood still get to him like this. Still awaken that primal urge to hunt. To feed. He takes a step back, willing his fangs away. This, at least, works well enough.   “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” This witch is odd in every sense of the word, sitting there instead of running for his life. Maybe it isn’t so much recklessness as it’s simply cockiness. Or maybe he underestimates Sasha. Not that he blames him for it – for a vampire, he’s usually docile, keeping himself in check with every bit of self-control he possesses. “Even if I wasn’t hungry, your blood would have still – but that doesn’t matter. I mean you no harm, I promise. I try not to feed on the unwilling.”   And, well, that’s a lot more information than he should divulge. Sasha lowers his hand, gliding his tongue along his teeth. Blunt again, just the way he’d wanted it. “Again, I’m terribly sorry. My offer still stands, though. I wouldn’t mind –”   He stills. A twinkle on the stranger’s hand catches his attention, gold and red like his memories of a bright sunset. It’s a ring, one that’s eerily familiar. Sasha furrows his brows. It can’t be, it simply cannot. And yet, hope unfurls slowly in his chest, slithering into the spaces between his ribs.    “.. that ring,” he begins, closing the distance completely this time, “where did you get it?”

The whole situation only seems to get more and more odd with each second ticking by. Seokhyun is still seated on the ground, seemingly unwilling to stand up anytime soon. Instead, he watches the vampire fumble and somehow stumble over his own words somehow. It's endearing, he catches himself thinking, and in any other situation, he has no doubt that he'd have smiled.

But then his focus gets shifted to the ring still sitting snugly on his forefinger. Right, the whole reason why he somehow ended up in this maze of alleyways.

"I bought it last week," Seokhyun finds himself answering despite knowing that there's no need to tell a stranger that. He's an honest person, yes, but usually, he knows how to keep things to himself around people he doesn't know - strangers. Like the vampire in front of him who's now stepping closer. He decides to blame it on the other's expression. Is that recognition he spotted in those beautiful eyes--

Oh, he did not just think that.

 So reckless. Sasha raises his brows at the stranger, but finds his eyes drawn to the blood on his hands and knees. It’s only a small trickle, yet it fills the air much more potently than it should. A sort of zing ripples through it. Magic.  “I suppose you have a point.” He has no reason to doubt the stranger’s explanations. Hunters don’t play games like this. Usually, witches don’t, either. What is this one doing here, then, all alone and making himself so vulnerable? The quick pitter patter of his heart feeds into the need growing in Sasha’s core. His blood only makes it worse.  He forces himself to fix his attention on the stranger’s face instead. He’s – handsome, very much so. Soft lips and beautiful, hazel eyes. Had he met him at the club he frequents, he would have long tried his luck at seducing him into letting him feed. Or glamoured him. The line between both is often so blurry. But out here, it’s risky. He isn’t the only vampire around. The nest inhabiting the lower levels of an apartment building nearby is territorial, too. It wouldn’t be smart to challenge them on what they claimed as their turf. Sasha clears his throat, steering his thoughts into different directions. Smalltalk. In a dark alley. There have been stranger situations. “Do you need me to show you the way out? I happen to know these alleys like the back of my hand.” Taking a slow step closer, his eyes drift towards the blood again, its scent lingering far too sweetly in the air.  His fangs run out against his will. Sasha gasps.  He definitely should have stayed with Echo.

"-- now who sounds like the suspicious one here?" He doesn't even notice the fangs at first, too busy making sure that his wounds aren't anything serious as he clenches and unclenches his hands several times - all the time wincing slightly due to the burning sensation. Somehow, it's always small injuries like these that hurt especially bad. (Really, a cut by a knife hurts less than a paper cut; he's speaking from experience here.) Nevertheless, there's amusement laced in his words.

Finally, Seokhyun looks up, his eyes immediately widen as he gets a closer look of the stranger. Or rather, his fangs. A vampire - it doesn't take long for him to come to that conclusion, and he's reminded of the conversation in the group chat the previous day. Leave it to him to run into one just when they were talking about vampires. And werewolves. He sure hopes that he won't run into a werewolf.

Blinking slightly, Seokhyun finds himself rooted in the spot slightly (though he's sure that it isn't because of the vampire's abilities but because he's too stunned himself to do anything). So far, he hasn't been attacked yet - and despite better judgment, he decides to trust his gut feeling for now that the other won't attack him. If the stranger wanted to, he could've attacked him right from the get go. But instead, the two of them are more or less having smalltalk. In a dark alley.

He can already imagine his friends' judging expressions.

  Sleep clings stubbornly to Sasha’s limbs as he ascends from his daytime hideout. It’ll be only him tonight, Echo having stayed with Kiha at the feeder house. Perhaps he should have stayed, too, but the way Kibum had been undressing him with his eyes until he finally picked a human still haunts him. Vampires like him make for messy lovers. He’s not inclined to get tangled up in his business.   Carefully, Sasha closes the hatch to the underground tunnel he’d come from. The night air is crisp against his skin. On reflex, he pulls his coat tighter around himself. Old habits die hard.   Hunting for someone to feed on is one of his least favorite necessities, at least when he’s not overcome by the haze of hunger. It’s a gentle roiling for now, a need easy to ignore more than an urge. He’ll sate it, anyhow, not fond of how much he loses control when it becomes blinding. Sasha isn’t a stubborn fledgling anymore.   He jumps up to the rooftops, inhaling deeply. The city lights twinkle in the distance, bright and colorful. Sasha closes his eyes, inhaling again. There are rats around, somewhere, a couple of cats and stray dogs. Too much garbage, too, rotting away with that sickly sweet stench. But there’s something else tonight, something much more pleasant. Sasha stills.   Human blood.   Brows furrowed, he rushes toward the direction of the source, footsteps silent. His nose leads him to another alley, and he fully expects to see carnage, the aftermath of someone – or something – else feeding. Instead, he’s faced with someone on the ground. The human, no doubt. Too easy.   Sasha descends a little ways away from him, the scent of his blood reaching into his core like barbed tendrils. Hunger tugs at him more violently. He puts more weight into his steps to have them echo off the walls, slowing down to human speed.    “You might want to get off the ground. There’s more than one creature frequenting these parts that would love to take advantage of this.” He comes to a halt, head cocked just so, and quirks the smallest of smiles. “Not to mention how reckless it is to come here in the first place. After dark at that.”

Oh, of course. One of the few times when Seokhyun hopes that nobody is around to witness him like that, his silent plea isn’t granted. For a moment, he half contemplates simply staying like this and pretending to have fainted maybe. Even the imagination of himself being swallowed whole by the ground beneath him sounds like a welcome change. But alas, none of these happen, and with a small groan, Seokhyun finally struggles to stand up again.

“-- is it stupid now to admit that I didn’t actually want to come here but simply didn’t pay attention to my surroundings?” he huffs out, words trailing of into wincing as he feels his palms burning. From the looks of it, he seems to have scraped them - unsurprisingly, given his fall and all. (But he didn’t lose the ring at least.) Seokhyun uses a few moments to check if he’s injured anywhere else. His knee caps? Bleeding too, seeing that they weren’t protected due to the holes in his jeans. 

Frowning mostly at his own clumsiness, Seokhyun shifts so that he’s sitting, his back against the wall as his gaze finally travel over to the stranger. And oh again, what is that person smiling for? He quickly averts his gaze to his hands, suddenly finding his bleeding palms much more interesting. “Besides, I don’t want to hear from you that it’s reckless to come here during nighttime when you’re wandering around the alleys yourself.”

Seokhyun can be incredibly stubborn if he wants to be.

... though it doesn’t explain how he ended up in a maze of some narrow alleyways. 

The sun has already made room for the moon and evening sky. Just his luck, it seems; he knows how dangerous these places can get if he isn’t careful. His eyes flicker around, trying to at least find out where his legs have led him while he was lost in his own thoughts. As long as he doesn’t accidentally trespass into any territories, he should be fine - but Seokhyun has never been the type to be able to memorize whose territory is where. (So much for him being a responsible witch, hah.)

Well, seems as if his best option is to try to find a way out of this maze then. He turns around, deciding to head back the way he must have come from (at least trying to), though instead, he finds himself tripping over his own feet rather ungracefully. Seconds later, he is almost kissing the ground against his will with pain shooting up his knees and hands.

“I was naked, too, when I first shifted,” Kiryu retorts while trying to get Hyojong to stop hiding from Sungil. Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. He can relate where the other is coming from, but if Hyojong continues to behave like that, who knows if Sungil will stick along for much longer? “... c’mon now. You’re supposed to be a majestic dragon. Don’t hide yourself. You’re pretty, you hear? As pretty as you are in your human form,” Kiryu coos softly, his grip on Hyojong’s claws loosening a bit. “You don’t have to be ashamed of yourself. You are who you are, okay? Whether you’re in your human form or your dragon form.”

With a loud groan, the two of them end up sprawled out on the ground when Kiryu finally manages to pull Hyojong out from behind the couch - though he ends up more or less being squashed by that bigger-dog-sized dragon that seems more than willing to curl up in himself so that he doesn’t have to face Sungil. At least not in this form. He’s heard Meng and Kiryu talk about how unusual the form of a mythological beast is, and a quick glance at his claws have been enough for Hyojong to deem himself... well, not good enough to see his witch.

After all, if he got kicked out in his human form already, how high are the chances that Sungil would accept him in his form?