#oleandercrowns

It had been a long week. Longer and more stressful than usual, thanks to a multiple-vehicle collision. Benz would never regret his choice in becoming an EMT but those moments really took it out of him. Not only physically, but emotionally, too. Memories would always resurface with car accidents. And he could only do so much with his ability. Doing it without being caught was a whole other story. Any unexplainable blood stains from transferring wounds onto himself were easily dismissed given the circumstances. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t help everyone. He couldn’t save everyone that he’d come into contact with. Knowledge that never became easier.

So, getting that text from Hansol at the end of the week to hang out was so desperately needed. He was the only person that Benz fully trusted, and the only person he could be one hundred percent honest with, given that neither were exactly human. Often times, he wasn’t sure what he’d do without the other to keep him sane. And while Benz agreed to meet up, he wasn’t expecting what he walked into. The man with the galaxies tattooed across his body, inviting Benz to stargaze.

@oleandercrowns

A air of nonchalance guided Jaewon down the north bank of the Han river. With his earphones in, a guitar on his back, a bottle of pineapple-flavored Fanta in one hand, and phone in the other, the deity scrolling down an endless playlist of his favorite tunes as he moved forward, relaxed, one foot in front of the other, each meter of distance covered taking him closer to one of his favorite riverside spots where he liked playing and, occasionally, composing, though the latter was more a spur of the moment kind of inspiration that ended up being recorded in his head only.

He was late, technically speaking. Not for an appointment. There were no friends there either that he was supposed to meet with, play with or entertain with his music, and there would be no talent seekers either waiting to snatch him away into the world of the rich and famous, but he had made it a habit to play there every fifth day at exactly ten past six in the evening. That was during mid and late winter time, that is, as it coincided with the beginning of the sunset, one of his favorite times of the twenty-four hour cycle. It was, however, already six forty, and the sky had already begun to spill over with the pastel palette of subsiding daylight: light purple and orange mixed across, darkest in the center and then faded out towards the horizon where the day was fighting its last battle for now, unwilling as of yet to give in to imminent darkness.

Jaewon was unperturbed by his tardiness, however. By the time he arrived to the spot, he was not surprised that there was barely anyone there: there never was a big crowd. He did not quite have any regular audience, and he sure was not doing it for any money, but it did just so happen that he spotted a couple of familiar faces every now and then. In particular, there was one face that he tended to see very often in the recent weeks and that same face was there tonight - now this did come as a surprise given the fact it had already been forty-ish minutes from the moment he was usually there. Did he wait for him? As soon as he was near the bench where he usually sat, Jaewon spotted the other man, eyes meeting for a moment.

daehyun was spitfire and had a large mouth on him. lilith spent countless nights sitting next to him as her servants tended to wounds earned by taunting the demons who were bigger, stronger, and not afraid of facing punishment for their actions. lilith whispered into his ear then it was best to not mess with beings who were faster, but daehyun never learned to listen. lilith would dig deeper into the lacerations made until he accepted she was right but not once had he bent the knee in defeat. scars over the entire expanse of his back and legs were reminders of his defiance and every time he was pitiful enough to not be able to fend himself.  

still, most of the beings who liked to chew on him as a plaything were gone now. he had ended them on earth, at least those who came chasing for him under lucifer’s orders. these scars he bore in his back were also proof that lilith could not read the future no matter her greatness. his ambition would not be his demise. 

demons moved past him, their eyes raking his body up and down. daehyun could taste the frailty of their power in his tongue. it was begging him to end it, to take it into his hands and shred it to pieces until it burned into oblivion.  

it was then that hazel eyes recognized a familiar face amongst the people around. humans and demons, all were fraternizing. deals over souls were being made, humans agreed to follow demons to perdition without knowing it, it was a normal night for the shadows in a club. daehyun narrowed his gaze as he continued to follow nik’s motions.

before lilith died, she said he needed to find allies. she had also mentioned he should go and find nik. it had been two months since he got out of hell and it was the first time he went looking for the crossroads demon. daehyun didn’t expect finding him would be this easy.

he made his way directly to the elder. red locks were wild on the crown of his head and it contrasted with the all-black attire he had stolen from a mall earlier that day. demons and humans were trying to catch his attention without success, but most were turning their attention to the older demon. of course, he thought, annoyed. 

❝ and i was so convinced you were dead already, ❞ daehyun slid into the stool next to nik, uncaring of the protests some of his groupies made as he ordered a drink: raw vodka, one ounce of orange juice, two ice cubes. ❝ lilith parted the existence sad because she didn’t get to hear another one of your jokes. ❞

and that’s the closest reproach nik will get from him. when lilith died, hell made bets on who would get to break him first. lucifer didn’t care, of course, and those months were the most frustrating and disastrous times. then lucifer made that mistake and daehyun was set free, unscathed for the most part. so he did not need nik, no, lilith wasn’t right again. but he may still be of use, or so he considered.

awestruck.

it’s the only words to describe the look visible in jihun’s eyes, his mouth pressed into a thin line as it always is.  it wasn’t often he went out after work, not when at times he’s sore and tired of students who won’t listen to him when he warns them about getting hurt.  they always throw themselves into the ring, into the fight too easily and nonchalantly, and they always wind up hurt.

As if reawakening to a place between life and death isn’t already enough torment that gleefully clings to Jaewoo’s ankles as dead weight. To drown him into the twilight depths even further, he is also cursed by not possessing the innate sense to detect any non-human activity. Instead, he had to accumulate over forty years of experience in feuding with apparitions to only develop a rather human “bullshit filter” that he proudly acclaims. The irony is something he tries not to dwell on too much for his own sanity. But in times like this, he desperately yearns to rip the hair off his head out of frustration. He’s currently investigating the source of a new rumour he’s been hearing about soul-feeding in a particular hot spot in a nearby neighbourhood. Four hours of flitting about and he’s still empty-handed. Increasingly frustrated, he begins to search through the putrid content of a nearby garbage container for any clue and in hopes to aggravate the troublemaker. A tall shadow looms over him unexpectedly but Jaewoo, in the midst of his passionate trash digging, confidently calls out, “are you trying to scare me big guy? Nice try.” 

Some of my faves right here. 

@sweetmarzipan @oleandercrowns​ @theunwrittens​ @needfuldreams​

oleandercrowns asked : piggyback (kai to his mountain man) piggyback : my muse gives yours a piggyback ride. muse chosen : Nam Hoseok

--- He’d only thrown back one or two beers, maybe three, but that was apparently all the time the younger male needed to down shot after shot after shot of some pretty hard stuff, judging by the state of them. Cheeks flushed red as they stumbled over their own feet, barely able to speak a coherent thought. Part of him almost thought about leaving them there. Let them continue making a fool of themself. At least then he wouldn’t have a limp noodle dangling under his arm.. but alas, he had too much of a conscience for that, so here they were.

“God damn, kid, how much did you fuckin’ drink??” He grumbled as he struggled to keep their wobbling figure secure under his arm. “Stop squirmin’ y’little shit, I’m tryin’ t’help ya--,” he managed out as his lips pursed around the cigarette sitting between them while both hands became occupied with trying to steady the other’s drunken body. “Agh, fuck this.” He clicked his tongue in annoyance, getting in one last drag before dropping it to the ground and giving it a quick stomp. In the blink of an eye he’d managed to swing the younger’s body onto his back. Their arms draped over his shoulders while his hands kept their legs atop his hips. “You owe me, kid.. ‘n don’t you fuckin’ puke on me, either.”

the rumble of the city has faded some as the night has ticked on. cars still zoom by but at a less frequent rate, the chatter of college students and office workers off for the evening a near distant memory. the clock on his phone reads a little past midnight, though benji's only been awake a few hours. 

it's a bad night. 

fingers knock on the familiar door, form directly in front of it with his forehead resting against the cool surface. there's a knot in his throat and the boy has to tug sleeves down further, over his fingers entirely. 

“ kai? ” he calls through the wood. “ kai, it's me.. can— can i stay the night? ”