#obsxten

Into his fifth – or was it sixth – drink, Himchan could feel the tendrils of responsibility ease their grip on him, giving way for him to relax at last. It was a welcomed feeling after spending hours a week dedicated to studying. Having the weekend to wind down and lose the edge school had imposed on him was necessary to continue on with the grueling schedule, and Bambam’s parties never disappointed.

For months now, Himchan had been been attending his younger friend, Bambam’s, parties to fulfill his needs. Call him shallow, but he preferred Bambam’s parties to others because, well, the boy clearly had money, and he actually appreciated his company more to others. He just felt it was easier to be relaxed. It was an environment he was familiar with, with a person he was familiar with.

Most of his time at the party had been spent standing and conversing freely. Although he enjoyed that, he wanted to just lose himself completely. That meant he needed alone time. He forced his body onto the plush couch to sit, and, pressing the lip of the bottle of beer to his own lips, he began his next drink. Slowly, his eyes shut, appreciating the burn of the alcohol as it went down his throat. His eyes reopened lazily, and it was then that he saw a very visibly drunk man approaching him, and he lowered the bottle, an eyebrow quirking as if to ask what the intrusion was for. He had come to the couch to settle down! Himchan may have been a very social person, especially when drunk, but he felt he had his fill for the night, and he was not drunk yet, only buzzed.

“Um, hi? May I help you?” The tone may have come off as a bit rude, but he was confused as to why the drunken boy had chosen him of all people to bother. Not once had he met him, though, he thought maybe he had seen his face once or twice before. Either way, what did he want with him?

@obsxten

As a warm body pressed against his own, Sunggyu found himself nearly humping ten feet in the air in fright, but as he realized it was just Ten. As quickly as he tensed, he relaxed, lashes fluttering as he glanced down to take note of the arm that had wrapped around his waist. This wasn’t unusual; the younger Fae would often invite himself into Sunggyu’s home for various of reasons. Tonight though, he had a feeling it wasn’t for fun and games ( or tease Sunggyu, rather ), so the elder shifted slightly so he was facing the younger male, and raised a hand to brush back dark strands. 

“Hello stranger,” he joked lamely, as he does,  before resting his head more at ease against his pillow. “What brings you here this evening?”

Knowing Ten, it could be a number of things. 

@obsxten

He was walking down the docks, as much as a swarm of locusts in human packaging can, alongside his fellow fae. They were close to the shores of Sunseong, sounds of watter lapping against a shore, boats bobbing gently.  A normal pace, foot before foot, Haechul sought out a victim. Ten was telling him something that had happened earlier in the day, but Haechul’s thoughts had checked out a bit ago. They had been walking for a good bit of time, and Haechul was feeling… dull? Fidgety? Bored?

A normal conversation with Ten, an elemental fae, suddenly interrupted as Haechul spots a lone fisherman preparing to go out to fish. Waiting for Ten to hit a pause for breath, Haechul announces his plane, punctuated with laughter.

“Hey, man. Hey, Ten. Hey. Hey wouldn’t it be funny if- heheheheh- if this guy got a good prank on him?”

He continues laughing as he is thinking of all the ways that they could mess with this guy.

“We could make him think he’s on a chicken farm, or we could make him think he’s standing on water?? Or we could make him think that everyone is naked??? Maybe even make him think that everything is on fire?”

He makes illusions with his gestures to illustrate the points, water in a gesture, fire in the next swipe.

He’s glued to the screen, eyewitness reports layering over one another, muddled fear and confusion permeating every corner of his apartment. For a while it feels as though that’s all he can hear, the city falling quiet on the coattails of an unanticipated tragedy. No cars thrumming around his neighborhood or citizens animatedly talking on the sidewalks, all of the natural sounds that accumulate from outside of his fourth-story window at this time of the day. Chaow suspects that whether or not people intended to be impacted by this morning’s gruesome events, there was no helping how it would dishevel everyone in some way or another, himself included. There are a million and a half questions flooding in at once but the most prominent thought isn’t even a question at all, it’s the image of something beautiful behind a veil of tears. It’s the sound of home on another person’s tongue and how that, in itself, was one of the most magical things he’s ever come across. 

Chaow thinks about losing it again, the little string of fate that was placed mercifully back into his hands not too long ago, the one he lost as a child. He thinks he’s held on so tight until now but it only takes one moment for there to be no one at the other end. How unfair it would be because he has so many words left unsaid and memories left to share so they could bridge over those years of distance painfully wedged between them. For a moment, he thinks he’s crying again but he’s not sure, not quite sure if he can feel anything other than the mocking thud of his heart in his chest just knocking around and making him too aware of how empty he feels when it echos off of his ribs. “No no no,” he starts, mantra-like and small sounding, voice deciding to curl in on itself. “Please be okay. please. please. please.” He fumbles around with his phone, trying to open up the most recent text from the other. Between every frantic swipe of his finger is the feeling of Ten’s hand in his own, the way his laugh sounds like water gushing over smooth, polished stones. Their feet creating a syncopated percussion as they run without any sense of direction, the sun hot on their backs.  His thumb smears a speckle of saline over the screen, within it lives a rainbow of distorted pixels. He’s shaking but desperation pushes him through, almost getting through the vague text of call me before a he hears the floorboards just outside of his door groan under someone’s weight. 

@obsxten​

Lu isn’t a massive fan of taking the subway. It’s always been uncomfortable for him- far to crowded. It’s not like he would mind how fast the thing went if there were enough people around to make him worry that someone- anyone- is going to look at him and see the truth. Alternately, and far more worryingly, he stands a chance of getting somebody sick. How? Well, he just doesn’t know how it works. He has no clue how exactly touching someone can make them start to feel ill. There’s no real way for him to. Sure, he knows how to do that sort of thing on purpose, but that doesn’t stop it from happening sometimes completely out of his control.

Which is likely why he looks so closed off right now. He’s standing with one hand in his pocket and the other holding onto the loop for dear life. The people around him don’t seem to notice or care, though. At least there’s that. In his mind he continues to swear that someone is staring- surely someone is noticing how oddly he’s behaving. That’s all in his head though. While he’s panicking inside he’s really not that freaked out looking. If anything, he looks a bit agitated- annoyed. But don’t most people look that way on the train?

But then, he hears something close to him. To most people, it’s just a cough, but to him it isn’t strikes fear in him. There’s a younger guy near him who really just coughed and yet, Lu’s blood is running cold. The guy’s close enough to have touched Lu, or maybe it’s Lu who touched him. Lu has no way of knowing for sure if this is a common cold or something more severe but there’s one thing he’s instantly pretty certain of.

It’s likely he caused this.

The possibility that this could have been something this kid had beforehand completely escapes him. No, the moment the train stops and they both start to get off Lu skitters over to the guy and rather blatantly stops him. Yeah, he sort of looks like an idiot… Whatever. It’s better that he check to make sure that he doesn’t kill somebody than leaving the poor guy to his possibly terrible fate.

“Uh, excuse me.” His voice is low. Normally he’s not so nervous when he talks to people… “I couldn’t help but notice your cough. Are you alright?” Internally he scolds himself. That’s definitely not the right way to go about this, but he can’t come up with a better way. He sighs just a little- waving a hand to the side as he tries to brush off his own words.

“I mean… I apologize, but I wanted to make sure you’re alright. I’d hate to watch someone wither away because they were on the train or something.”

@obsxten

It was entirely too presumptuous of her. The initial month of being in an area only gave you enough time to adjust yourself, and get a shallow survey of the place. But her mind nagged at her. Killings don’t just incidentally occur on full moons. She knew better than to overlook it. It took three reoccurring events to establish a pattern– not a solid one but it provided enough ground for a more conclusive lead.

Nothing tied the blood she found with the body found last month but the full moon. It wasn’t much to go off off, but forcing herself to wait for a third victim before taking action felt wrong. 

It started off with her scanning the surrounding area of the crime scene with a UV light for a trail of blood. It took all but one second for her ears to pick up the off-shot rustling, then another second for her to take off after it. Her backpack bounced with each step; the protruding parts of a few “light” weapons pressed into her back. She ignored it and continued with the pursuit even when it took her back into a part of the city that was more populated.

The figure ducked right behind a building nearby that still had all their lights on. Her eyes shot over to the overhead sign that told her it was a convenience store. In the window she could make out the cashier’s back. She couldn’t take a chance and turn her own back on that civilian. 

Bells above the door chimed as she shoved it open. She grabbed the worker by the wrist with one hand, and pulled down her face mask with the other. “Are there other workers here?” With word came out stilted and coated in a hard accent.

             Wonho was exhausted. Exhausted and lost. He had been wandering again but today, today he had somehow wandered outside of the city while lost in his own thoughts. He stood in a forest, and try as he might, he couldn’t figure out which way he had come from. But the walking wasn’t the reason he was so tired. No, his exhaustion was due to a more primal reason. Since escaping the court, his life had been mostly on the run. He hadn’t interacted with many people, and those he did interact with he didn’t get close enough to fulfill his “purpose” in life. As a lust fae, going extended periods of time with out physical intimacy could be deadly. And now, as drained as he was, he was lost and alone in a forest. He knew he needed to get out, get to a more populated area and find someone willing to help him but as the sun began to sink beyond the horizon, he knew he couldn’t do it tonight. 

         Nearby, he could hear the faint sounds of running water. Logically he knew water would eventually lead to civilization, as well as possibly provide food in the morning. It made sense to use the last of the light to find his way there. It didn’t take long to find it, a wide stream with gently sloping banks. He followed the water downstream a bit, looking for any form of shelter for the night. He was so distracted he almost didn’t notice the willow tree as he passed under it. But he stopped, the fronds of the tree brushing his face gently, as he noticed a slight hollow in the huge trunk. Between the towering branches and the hollow in the tree, it was the best shelter he would be able to find on such short notice. He made himself as comfortable as possible in the hollow, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt up and tightening it around his face. He curled into a ball and let sleep overtake him.

“But Ten, you aren’t Japanese.”

Sunggyu didn’t understand it. 

Actually, Sunggyu rarely understands anything kids say these days.