#malafxde

The sky outside in the world of the living was a dark grey that did nothing to soothe the soul, the turbulent weather a stark reminder of everything that they had been through in the last several days. Having just emerged from the depths of what the mortals called hell these days, Cinis flew with his brother in his arms as the rain poured around him, soaking him to a point he wasn't entirely certain if it was blood or rain that saturated what clothing he had left on.

Quite frankly he didn't give a fuck. All that mattered was getting to a healer.

If he didn't find somebody soon, Caeruleum was going to die. And he could not let that happen.

Landing at the very front of the building he knew Caeruleum had frequented, Cinis didn't bother to adjust Caeruleum… instead? He lifted a foot and kicked the door open off its hinges entirely just as a flash of lightning cracked across the sky with a deafening sound. The light illuminated the hulking figure that now stood in the doorway, so large he filled the entire thing up and then some.

"I need hel'-" unable to annunciate properly, his words slurred thanks to half of his cheek part of his lips simply missing. Blood dripped from his maw, indicating it was a fresh wound… But that wasn't the most alarming part of the scene that filled the healers doorway.

Instead it was the demon who was being carried. Limp in Cinis' arms, Caeruleum's eyes were open but unseeing, so lost to the pain he was in that he had lost the will to scream in agony. At first glance it seemed his shirt was in tatters… but it wasn't his shirt that hung from him. But his skin. Beneath it muscle was exposed on his face down to below his collar bones, along his arms and legs as well.

"Hel' hin…" help him

"There's something off about her," says Gō Koga, Jin's right hand man and fellow creature of the night, seated across from them on this auspicious nighttime voyage that was currently taking them down the coast of Japan. "If I can feel it, then I know damn well that you can, too, and it makes me wonder why she's here with us."

Jin, letting out an unbothered chuckle, looks out a nearby window, watching the dark waves and the moonlit clouds far above them, and the plethora of stars even further beyond both.

"Everyone on this ship has something 'off' about them, Gō," Jin replies offhand, "please try and lighten up."

Gō sighs deeply and then points a finger at Jin. "That's not what I mean and you know it. Her ꜱᴏᴜʟ, Jin, her ᴇʏᴇꜱ, the ꜱᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇ ꜱᴘɪʀɪᴛᴜᴀʟ ᴘʀᴇꜱꜱᴜʀᴇ that follows her, something's more than ᴡʀᴏɴɢ with her, she's--"

Jin turns away from the window nearest him and looks toward Gō Koga, smirking as he interrupts, "she's a ᴡɪᴛᴄʜ, and not one of those 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 running around the Soul Society's Western Branch either, she's the 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗂𝖼𝗅𝖾 through and through; what else would you expect from her?"

The look on Gō's face becomes a mix of worry and anger, and it's reflected in their voice when they loudly say, "she's a what?" Gō is nearly fuming. "You're consorting with a Witch? An actual damned Witch? Jin you can't be serious, you know as well as me that's a fools errand. If you're so keen on meeting death and throwing away lifetimes worth of planning, you-- "

There was a brief, dark shadow in Jin's face,  in his eyes, and for a moment it was in his voice, too, when he firmly interrupts Gō again, "don't be so negative and small minded, it's unbecoming of you."

Jin slowly stands, rising with an almost stately grace as he adds, "after all, it's rude to talk about someone who's listening."

Jin then gestures toward and looks in the direction of his cabin's lower entrance where Gabriella stood, where she had stood for the last few minutes, insofar as Jin had been aware, unbeknownst only to Gō Koga (who was now silent in shock as they, too, turned to look).

"Last night's meal has given you a certain glow, Gabriella, it's marvelous," Jin started off, his tone lightening somewhat, and his strong crimson eyes gazing eagerly in Gabriella's direction, "you're practically ɢʟᴇᴀᴍɪɴɢ," like the blade of sharp, yet finely decorated knife catching the light, Jin thought.

"If only my kindred could see you a fraction of the way I do."

Jin then steps away from Gō Koga, moving closer to Gabriella though not quite, only enough to position himself between the two here in this room.

"Outside of the odd word here and there, like our poorly spoken Gō, I trust none of them have been giving you any trouble?"

Gō Koga scoffs at that last remark, and they stare fiercely at Gabriella, as a bear might stare down a pack of wolves, but they.... say nothing, at least for now.

--- " What are you dressing up as for Halloween? " The question came after a passing silence had blanketed the duo, their hands continuing to work busily away at the dough on the flour-coated countertop ; it was one of their standard sleepovers tonight, though this time they were baking an assortment of SPOOKY cookies. The witch treasured moments such as this, especially as she rejoiced in experiencing them with Gabriella -- who deserved EVERY shred of happiness that came her way.

Her dear companion had been through far too much in her life -- & still had to endure the horror that followed from those hardships.

@malafxde

"Cher-- Lookie over there--"

He corralled her toward the rail, vibrant and red as the day it was painted, leaning in close as he could manage so she might hear him over the chug of the steamboat. He wanted her to see the Mud River - to watch as brachio writhed amid schools of...well, some kind of fish, as alligators snapped their jaws at avulisks flying too close to the water or in it, jewel beetle swarms all but seemingly crystallizing the odd swamp flower in passing. To feel the hum and slosh of river and engine, snug against the rail - and him - on their scenic route to Salem's Crossing; How convenient at least, that the Mud River cut through the bayous and time to carry them all the way.

Humid air stuck to his skin, but he kept the both of them free of any interference from unwanted guests - mosquitos - unflinching, polarizing heat searing through any that tried. He hated bugs, and he might've been a touch possessive over the blood running through Gabriella's veins. Whether that was healthy was another matter - he wasn't fucking sharing. He ran his tongue over his teeth and rest his head on her shoulder, nosing at her cheek as arms circled around her. She was his, yanno? Maybe he was being childish, but even so--

Her sweat felt nice on his skin.

ྀི◟‎𓏵 ׁ₍ꕤᐢ..ᐢ₎ . . ❝ I-I don't think - ❞ Ears were flopping about HAPHAZARDLY as she pitched forward to rest hands on her knees ; heaving gasps escaping as the bunny attempted to catch her breath. ❝ - I'm built for that kinda dancing! ❞ EVERYWHERE was sore. Her arms ached from lifting her own body weight, her thighs were BURNING from both the pole & the fact she had been clenching the muscles with such force ( primarily from panic, she hadn't wanted to fall off ).

❝ You make it look so easy! I look like a floundering fish! ❞

Moving across rooftops with the wind at his back and a starry, moonlit sky above him, Jin thinks back to his and Gabriella's last encounter, to the many things he had seen while their minds were connected….

Jin had been thinking about those scenes quite a bit these last few days, about the loneliness, isolation, pain, and anguish he saw within them, especially when it came to the horrid betrayal that was thrust upon Gabriella, and the climactic bloodbath that followed. The darkness, too, that mysterious, craven force that followed Gabriella and pervaded every moment within those memories he looked upon, Jin kept going back to it in his head, ever morbidly curious about it...

There was something else, though, that had caught Jin's attention. What Jin saw in those memories of Gabriella's, the locale, Salem, it had reminded Jin of a time long ago, of a moment from his own life, and it had spurred within him the urge to seek her out tonight.

The search, strung along by traces of Gabriella's Spiritual Power that Jin had managed to pick up, led him to the building he now stood atop, a massive, well-off hotel here in the heart of Karakura Town. From here, Jin tried to discern Gabriella's location further, but something was obscuring her exact location from him (a barrier of some sort he assumed), and so he would concentrate and call out to Gabriella through his mind.

"Gabriella," Jin's psychic voice, haunting yet smooth, inviting, would be broadcast across the immediate area, able to be heard by anyone who was sensitive enough to such phenomena, though surely detectable by Gabriella herself, "where are you? I hope its not too early for us to speak again."

"What do you think happens when you die?" She was hanging upside down, a piece of candy being popped into her mouth as she sighed a little. Sometimes she remembers she won't live forever and then she feels as if she might.

Observation that’s outlandish with many assumptions about him as a person. Appearances do take different forms, and one of the signs is looking worn down from life itself. He could not remember the last time someone noticed him when resting his buttocks on the side of the street.

Why would they anyway? He used to be a hobo with weeks haunting him with dry skin, with no access to a shower anywhere. All he could afford was to wash his face in public restrooms. That’s all he could muster to stay clean.

He did not have a clue of what to say.

Whether if she was wrong or not in her assessment about him, it was left to be interpreted. Whatever he does or wherever he goes, he cannot recollect them, or else more garbage will fill until there’s no more room left. They do seep out sometimes, leaving him guilty and unable to repress them.

“If you make you feel anymore lighter on the shoulders, what if I were to say that you noticed me? Because you say you feel that way sometimes, right? That makes two, I suppose.” He sips his energy drink to wash away the terrible taste of consuming expired candy earlier. “And truth be told? I don’t remember the last time, where someone noticed me. Happy for me, cause no need a bozo coming in with smiles and annoying my shit. I’m busy with other important things.”