* semi hiatus

    upon seeing the guard approaching, alena pouts almost on instinct. a telltale sign that they’d be separated from him for the time being. the nymph kisses his nose and pats his cheek affectionately. “be good.” it’s half a tease, because it’s always alena who gets into some sort of trouble when chanyeol isn’t around. when chanyeol does take his leave, alena immediately gets to work filling up their time. 

    most of their boredom is fought with spending time outside. observing creatures and foliage alike. as beautiful as the castle is, and as curious as alena is about its nooks and crannies, the nymph will always prefer the outdoors. they manage to dirty their robes to the dismay of their attending maids, and is quickly changed into a new gown in one of their favorite shades of pink. after a meek, but genuine, apology, the maids take the liberty to pin up alena’s skirts so they won’t get stained during their explorations. “i found a snail–!” alena greets excitedly when they spot the vampire king making his way back to the gardens. usually they’d run up for a tight hug, but. well. they currently had a snail on an old dinner plate. “it’s so cute. it’s drinking water.” they gesture to the tiny faux lake they’ve created with the indent of the dinner plate. “are we still going to the market?”

court meetings are as they exciting as they go. they didn’t open it to the public today, which are always interesting to say the least, but instead discussed several bills a few court members wanted to pass as law. among them topics which the vampire king never cares for much considering he’s well, eternal. once they’re over, he doesn’t allow hang around for small talk, bidding his subjects goodbye before returning to the side of the castle that is completely his. 

“oh,” the vampire king looks a little cross eyed as he focuses on the snail on the plate, and blinks amused as he watches it drink water. “not another pet, i hope,” he jests, a corner of his mouth quirking up. 

“yes,” he answers, nodding at a maid to approach them. she’s carrying a small silver tray, and the king begins pulling on the jewlery in his fingers to drop in. he doesn’t like being too flasy when going into spaces with the common folk. another maid approaches alena to take the dinner plate with a sheepish smile, before unpinning their robes. 

Once the two of them are through the portal, Atieno neatly closes the portal behind them - signaling that they have reached their destination for the moment. They keep close eyes on Chanyeol - noting the way that he has to adjust to the difference in air pressure. When he reaches for their hand, Ati accepts the gesture and gives his hand a slight squeeze - as if confirming yes he is here, he is with them.

Indeed the pair in an alleyway, not far from the sights of those moving around and going on their on way on a busy night. “Yeah we’re here. Had to land somewhere a bit out of the way as to not make a scene - but we can head out of here to one of my favorite places to stay in this area.“ It just felt right to actually find a base for them to stay before really getting into the exploring. Atieno figured that a weekend would be a good amount of time to at least allow Chanyeol to see something of this cosmic city.

he squeezes back once he gets his bearings, and smiles, the excitement creeping back. he’s in another world. the entire reality of it hasn’t him completely, but he knows it will soon. he feels almost bad for atieno - chanyeol is not the type of person that will shut up at all when something exciting happens. “okay.”

chanyeol follows as he’s lead into the street past the alleyway, a big smile in his face as his eyes go wide, the lights reflecting all the colors and his nose picking ups scents and flavors. he catches sight of creatures that look like him (human), but not quite - skins in colors he’s never seen, features that vary from face to face. he wonders what he looks like to them, feeling like a foreigner in a new country. 

    the nymph listens closely, cross referencing images they’ve seen before to the ones the king is painting for them currently. the nymphs sometimes celebrated yuletide during the halfway point of persephone’s stay. dancing with with the satyrs and celebrating with other lower level powers, though alena was sure it wasn’t done like humans do it. everything in the human realm seemed to be brighter. so full of life and light. 

    “market–” alena repeats in thought. they had heard the word before. “ah, where humans exchange things. for the gold,” nym makes a circle with their thumb and forefinger. “we can go? together?” time spent with chanyeol was special. he was a busy, important man, and although alena got as much as they wanted of him when darkness fell, they thought he looked most beautiful in the sunlight. the nymph smiles and gives him a quick kiss to the cheek. “i’d really like to. please?”

chanyeol can feel a sort of pride well up on his heart at alena. the nymph has slowly but surely taken in the human world kindly, and chanyeol was only too happy to show them every bright and warm corner of this world. anything that would mean the enis would stay as long as possible by chanyeol’s side. 

    a chirp leaves them as they’re pulled into chanyeol’s lap. it’s their favorite place in the human world by far. “spring is my favorite season,” the nymph admits quietly. they perk up when they hear the castle staff, offering a wave and a smile when nym spots the group of maids they had come to fancy quite a bit. the strong, kind women had also taught alena a lot about the human realm. mostly human beauty rituals– perfume, powder, creams, oils, gowns, – it would take some time, but alena wanted to be as knowledgeable as human women one day.  

    “deer–!” an excited gasp leaves alena’s lips. the nymph recalls watching deer with their siblings. always from a distance, as their fellow nymphs were always too loud. his question registers only after their excitement subsides. “snow?” the nymph has to think. they rarely ventured into the human realm during persephone’s stay in the underworld. they were to be at her beck and call, so they weren’t permitted outside of the world of the dead. “is it the cold powder?” they had only seen images of it, and people were always bundled up in said images.

“yes! the powdered snow,” he smiles, for no reason excited that alena at least has a reference of what he’s talking about. “once snow hits, you will start to see a lot more of the chimneys lit, as well as bonfires on the courtyards where the common can seek some warmth. it’ll be hard at first, but you’ll see there are things about the season to enjoy as well.” 

     the nymph listened with rapt attention, eyes wide and lips slightly parted in awe. not just at the information itself, but at the fact that chanyeol always seemed to know the answer to all of alena’s questions. and alena had a lot of questions. the king intelligent. and not in the boring bookish way alena thought most “smart” humans to be. he was elegant in the wisdom he had accrued over the years.  

    a crown. alena smiled and plucked the leaf out of his hand. “red is more your color than mine,” the nymph said, once again admiring his handsome features accentuated by the warm hues of the year. “do you think the leaves prefer to be green or red? i’d prefer to be yellow. or to be a petal. i don’t think i’d enjoy being a leaf,” nym explains as they sit next to him. “do leaves turn other colors?”

chanyeol has become all too used to the nymph’s questions, his patience endless as he helps the enis navigate this world that soon will theirs. “you look like you’d be more of a petal, pretty and dainty. but then, i could pluck you so easy,” he teases, pulling alena into him so the nymph sits in between his legs. “hmm...i don’t think they turn other colors. eventually, when winter starts, they will turn brown and wither away before they’re reborn in the spring.” 

“oh, well if you weren’t such an EASY TARGET and always in the same damn place ; MAYBE , i wouldn’t be picking you only. Don’t get upset with me because i’m trying to survive out here. And now that you’re here, how about a bite? hm, it’ll be quick you won’t feel a thing. Besides you love it when i nibble on you, don’t act like you don’t sweetie.” // 

Pryce couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. He was a bit used to others looking up at him with their mouths agape. He was aware of the fact that he was abnormally tall. Most men were at least six inches shorter than him. So for people to stare at him like he was a unicorn wasn’t exactly uncommon. 

“It’s nice to meet you Chanyeol.” Pryce said with light smile. “There’s no reason to thank me.” Pryce said with a shrug of his shoulders. He would assume anyone would have attempted to help. They might not have been able to actually do much. It wasn’t like everyone was walking around with magical powers. “Don’t worry about me getting home.” Pryce could just whisp home whenever this was finished. “I’m more worried about you getting home safely.” 

Pryce turned on his heels, following shortly behind the innocent. He doubted another demon would attack but it would be easier to defend him. “Well that’s a direct question.” Pryce said with a hearty laugh. “Well technically human.” He said. “Technically I’m a witch-human hybrid. Long story short my parents both come from witches. There’s some bad history on my dad’s side some my great something grandmother started this demon hunting academy.”

“Woah.” Witches? Demons? So cool. Chanyeol feels like he accidentally stepped into a fantasy novel he’d pick up during his weekly trip to the library. Is this his heroine moment? He know this isn’t a dream based purely on the fact that he would have woken up the moment the demon had attempted the first snap at his skin. “That sounds dangerous, but so cool.”

“So, there’s more like you? Other people protecing from demons?” He turns a corner, and they’re only a few blocks away from his house at this point. It’s chilly outside, the start of autumn in Seoul. They cross into a street, and suddenly, there’s a lot of people out and about, carrying out their evening as usual, the normalcy of it all making his hair stand on it’s end. Chanyeol had felt like he had been running down deserted paths during the last strides before Pryce showed up. 

it seems as if toy was living for the drama at the moment.  so naturally his eyes were literally going back and forth between the bassist and chanyeol.  seeing that their expressions changed,  toy tried not to laugh then and there.  instead he took a few gulps from the beer and nudged the taller one with his elbow on the sight.    ‘   you seriously know how to create some drama,  huh   ?   you should have spilled the tea before we were here.  now all i want to do is to make you talk to him just to see you both suffer.   ’

"the only person who’s going to suffer is me,” are the words he’s able to get out, before the cheering of the crowd drowns him out as the set starts. the music is good, he has to admit, even if he’s not a big fan of rock. the first two songs start getting the crowd pumped, and right before the third, the bassist takes the mic, pointing at chanyeol’s direction. “and this one, this one is for the exes that never bother calling you back.”

@wrcyter

     autumn in the underworld was a dreaded time for alena. as an admirer of hades (though they haven’t given him a second thought since swearing nymself to chanyeol), autumn marked persephone’s presence. a bleak reminder of the unattainable. autumn in the human realm, however, was quickly becoming a favorite. sitting still was not an option when they woke up to find the trees dotted with sunsets. bright crimsons and burnt oranges. the nymph was currently in the castle gardens, running about collecting the brightest of leaves that had been offered by generous trees. eni hurries over to where chanyeol is sat, delicately laying out their spoils from the brightest red to the left to the dullest mustard on the right. “will the trees do this every year? did we do something special for them to turn?” 

their breakfast had been moved downstairs, next to the parlor with the big windows to appease the nymph so they could stare at the pretty leaves as they broke fast. it wasn’t long before the vampire king was dragged outside, watching as alena runs around the trees, their smile contagious. the maids have started dressing them both for autumn, their robs thicker to withstand the cold even though the vampire never feels the change. chanyeol cannot wait to see all the furs on alena in the coming months. 

Sorom returned the book happily to the proper owner and then her eyes went wide. She hadn’t realized her last photoshoot had been picked to be on the cover of a new magazine, which she shouldn’t have been surprised at considering the job, but to see her face on a billboard outside the strip mall made her do a double take. 

“I don’t think so, no,” she said, that part telling the truth because she had never met the man before. But she also wasn’t about to tell him that her face was plastered across the city without her knowledge. “I’m just familiar! I get that a lot, actually.”

He so happens to have taken a glance at the billboard with her face across the space, but to double-confirm, he reaches into the many papers he’s carrying, pulling out the magazine where she’s the cover. “You’re her, right?” He smiles at her, moving his finger down to one of the articles highlighted on the side. “I’m one of the writers and editors for the magazine - Park Chanyeol, it’s nice to meet you.”

Jodi gains no joy from rejecting them. It feels wrong to every cell in their body, stomach twisting as he speaks. She knows that he doesn’t mean any harm, feels that if anything she has caused harm in this situation. She should have tried harder to make their relationship work, or refused to make the potion.

“Wait!” She speaks up suddenly, chin tucking in when she realizes just how loud her voice is. The feeling that she’s losing him again drives her to reach out, fingers finding his elbow in hopes of keeping him in place. “Let’s…let’s get dinner.”

“Really?” Chanyeol can brush off rejection if it’ll mean he can score a date. One date - all he needs. He doesn’t think he’ll woo her off her feet, but there’s a gut feeling that tells him he’ll know exactly what she’d like. “Cool,” he says, giving an easy smile. 

“How does Friday sound? Also, can I get your number?” He takes out his cellphone from his pocket, handing it unlocked to her. “I can pick you up.” 

---

“pets count as friends, right?” brows raised hopefully, jiwon readjusts the shopping basket in the crook of his elbow and tries not to laugh at the headband his friend has chosen. it’s more silly than spooky, and jiwon much prefers it that way. “okay, but what if i was watching the princess and the frog? it’d totally be acceptable, right?”

The vampire stays quite for a few moments, breathing in the serenity of the early morning, taking in the feel of the enis body pressed against his.

"Samhain? I don't think the kingdom is doing anything to celebrate it," he murmurs, finally opening his eyes to look down at Alena. He knows there are separate celebrations happening accross the witch communities, and his own cousins are having private parties for it in their own castles, but on behalf of the royal court, nothing's been announced. It's not too late to declare a festival though, and have their own party.

persephone could feel annoyance gnaw at her skin. the goddess beyond frustrated and over ares’ temper tantrum. he had always been a spoiled child, hera was certainly no help when it came to disciplining him. and now all of olympus had to deal with the oversized brat that was the war deity. what did he want her to do? run away with him and cause an epic clash between the two realms? surely, he’s not that stupid. “it is all have to offer.” persephone then whispered.

“it was better than the alternative. at least here, I have my freedom.” she fired back, exhausted by ares’ rose colored narrative. she’s not helpless and wished he would stop treating her as such. another reason why the two were truly incompatible. persephone no longer needed to be sheltered or protected. if he was in such a mood to do so then perhaps, she wasn’t the goddess for him. aphrodite suited ares’ ego perfectly. persephone’s anger can’t help but to melt away when her face is gently held and caressed. “I’m not hidden, ares, in fact, it’s here that I’m seen.”

The god sighs at Persephone’s words. Seen? He wants to scoff, but he has no energy left in him, his fighting spirit battered at the lost battle. There was nothing else for him to do in this realm, with her, and his dream of the life when they were younger, gone. 

“If it is you that has sealed your fate, then I am fighting a lost cause,” he pulls from her skin, feels the warmth spread from his fingers and he already misses her. He needs to go lick his wounds, find solace back in Olympus, and maybe make a few apologies to the deities he’s pissed off in his rampage to get Persephone back. Fuck, it’ll be so embarassing going back empty-handed.