Don't thank me yet, we have lots of things to think about.
Okay, um, do you mind telling me what he made yours out of? Oh, do you want to make one? I can find things if you want and Sage could probably help make it.
mine is wood and he used magic to make it. so there's magic in it too. i could show you a picture, if you like! i know it means a lot, because nature's important to him. i don't know how i could put something important to me in something i give him though.
oh, right, that would be smart, wouldn't it? [ It takes a bit, but he manages a picture of the ring on his finger. Don't ask how he did that with no hands. Possibly there were a few failed attempts. ]
i bet! i really do want it to be special. something he'd understand right away. i knew what his meant immediately. i want something like that.
oooh! That is really nice! Okay, um... what means the most to you then? Of things that are physical, that is. Making emotional things-- well I mean, it is possible to turn them into objects but not easy.
neve, he means the most to me. and this place and everyone here. if not for those things, i'm really not sure. there used to be others, but i don't know if i think of them as being part of my life with him.
[it's kind of funny, jiho being startled by his own tricks, still a little surprised when rook so suddenly appears.]
And what, let him take over the house?
[he pulls off his white undershirt, revealing the mottled black and blue of his back. he runs it under the tap for a few seconds before using it to wipe at the blood, grimacing when he nears the wounds themselves.]
[ holyfuck, stop that. Rook bats Jiho's hands away, grabbing the undershirt from him, eyes flickering between the bruising on his back and the bloody wounds on his shoulder. gods you are-- you are going to give him a fucking heart attack one day, aren't you?]
He's too lazy for that, trust me.
[ the words are soft as Rook drags the fabric over the lines of Jiho's shoulders, careful to not get too close to the wounds. they don't look damned at least, so either Levi was being nice (right) or the Creature was missing a few claws while he was here.
either way, it makes Rook breathe a little easier.] He's the Leviathan, and a fucking asshole, that's who he is. But you figured that out.... fuck okay, uh, you mind if-- I dull the pain a little for you? So I can clean you up better?
[huh. rook is kind of lazy. maybe it's a demon thing. jiho glances up just in time to catch the worried look on the demon's face, enough to make him feel guilty. the fact that he's so much more careful with jiho's body than jiho was only makes it worse.
so when he offers to dull the pain, jiho nods his consent as much for rook's sake as his own. it doesn't feel right to repay his kindness, his gentleness, with stubbornness.]
Leviathan, what kind of 'I have a small dick' name is that.
[jiho snorts. oh wait, he just answered his own question.]
[ maybe it is, but Rook would be rather upset to find out that you drew any comparisons between him and his maker that wasn't 'demonic'. even if it is true. he does have a few likenesses with Leviathan, more than he does with Belial, but Rook doesn't like to dwell on them. especially when he has other things to focus on.
like Jiho giving consent to dull the pain. Rook holds his gaze steady and nods, eyes flickering gold as he lets some of his influence curl around the pink haired assassin, tugging on the strings of lust that are to be found. it isn't a lot, won't turn Jiho into a mindless being but-- it is enough to draw his attention from the pain. turn it to-- well whatever Jiho is lusting after.]
Mmm, sadly that isn't a problem for him. [ Leviathan was as endowed as you would expect him to be, not that Rook knows from experience, just-- hearsay. ] He's the eldest of all the demons, first Pit-Born if you will. You doing okay there, candy crush?
[ a deep sigh, Rook biting his bottom lip as he brushes over the wound softly, wiping away the blood as he all but whispers the next few words.] He's the one that made me a demon.
[jiho really believes that he's empty. he jokes about being soulless and heartless, and it doesn't hurt, which just reinforces the idea that he's soulless. heartless. he doesn't envy rook the task of trying to find anything inside of him.
but it's there. the strings are a little easier to grasp when he looks at rook, when he thinks about how nice his eyes look with his skin color, tan and gold. warmth.]
It's not as important as people think it is.
[kissing. kissing is important. and touching. being comfortable with someone. belonging. these are the things that jiho wants, a lust that stirs different parts of his body. there's a mumbled fine in response to rook's question.
and then the whisper, and jiho feels like he's had ice water dumped over him.]
Him. He's the one.
[oh. shit. and rook sounds so small as he says it, and maybe it's the pain and the blood loss, or maybe it's his fucking rage, but jiho suddenly feels a little dizzy. he ends up slumping forward, forehead resting against the demon's shoulder, voice shaky as he speaks.]
[ yeah a lot of you in this house seem to be stubborn.]
I think-- I think I can help. There is .. well there is a necklace that I have in one of my places that can like... hold memories? It looks like it is made of crystal but when you turn it just right... well maybe we can make it into a ring?
[ Their hard-as-bricks heads shore up the stability of the house. ]
really?? you have something like that? it sounds so precious though. you don't have to part with something like that! and i'm not sure i could offer anything nearly as valuable in return either.
[ Rook knows soulless, knows empty beings without emotions or cares. knows what the deepest pits of hell look like too, and Jiho? Jiho does not fit with his understanding of empty. not even close. jagged, yes, sharp and a little bruised, that is Jiho. but so very far from empty.
something that is proven when Rook feels the echoes of lust in his bones, the resonance. not enough to pull them together, to make Rook sink into his Cardinal, but-- enough that he feels it. something warm in his bones, something that makes him want to curl up. it is-- well it is interesting. and so unlike what he normally feels when he uses his Cardinal.
it's almost-- nice.
no, no it is nice. really nice. even when Jiho sways and moves into him, arms coming up and around to cradle the assassin like he is something precious. which, well to Rook he is.
the demon hums, shifts to move them under the spray a little more to let more of the blood rinse off, turns to press his lips against Jiho's temple.] Nothing to be sorry about, really. It's just-- the way it is.
[ a shaky sigh, Rook lets his eyes close as he breathes, in and out, against the wetness of Jiho's hair.] I'm just glad you're okay.
[this isn't a coincidence, or a set of unfortunate set of circumstances. someone turned rook from what he was into what he is, and now that someone has a face to hate and a name to curse.
but that isn't the only thing that jiho is sorry for. he's sorry that he's not strong enough to avenge him. he's sorry that he acted impulsively, that he didn't wait to learn any of this beforehand. if he'd known, he could've waited for a better opportunity the way he normally does. he wouldn't have shown that angry side and wasted his chance.
rook's arms are around him, and he felt a brush of his lips. and none of it feels weird or irritating or wrong. it just feels nice. rook is...soft. sweet. kind of ridiculous when he runs around in some of those pants of his, but he secretly likes that too. jiho feels his lips curling into a smile in spite of everything.]
You're going to get wet. Your see-through clothes will be even more see-through.
[ maybe it is the way that Leviathan made it, or maybe it was the way someone else made it, whomever cursed Rook before he died, or maybe-- maybe none of that matters at all. what matters is that Levi didn't do worse to Jiho. that Jiho is still going to be able to curse and rage, but with a few more scars and bruises.
it is better than most come out from tangling with the Creature.
Rook hums as he maneuvers them both, making sure to not let the pull of his Cardinal go too far, but just enough that Jiho doesn't feel pain when the water washes off the blood. enough that the assassin doesn't flinch at the movement of Rook's hands along the bruises on his back, furrow between his brow.
the demon's laughter is soft, quiet, as he stops his movements to look at Jiho.]
Hey, I will have you know I'm wearing real clothes today. Kinda. [ his shirt is white, well, was white, and the pants are light grey. both are probably going to be ruined after this, but Rook doesn't care at all. he finds himself smiling, warmth in his bones, at the look on Jiho's face. and yeah, maybe it is his Cardinal at work and maybe none of this is real but-- fuck, Rook is enjoying that Jiho is letting him this close. is letting him help in whatever way he can.]
[later jiho will have to admit, if only to himself, just how real this moment was. whatever rook is doing to him, doing for him, it's not creating anything that isn't there. it's just allowing it to come out. pain makes him put up walls like an injured animal, and a part of him is always hurting after that small civil war tore his family apart. even that fades with rook's proximity and soft laughter. he takes more pain away than he knows.
this isn't the work of his cardinal. levi doesn't get credit for this.]
It's just blood. [nothing he hasn't seen before, nothing he isn't used to. a pink just a shade different from his hair that swirls down the drain. jiho looks up at his face and whatever words were on the tip of his tongue are gone, leaving him with the truth.] I'm sorry...your body is amazing, it is. But all I can think about is how cute you are.
[it's another one of those moments when he expects rook to be disappointed, because he's made for one thing but jiho just can't see him that way. the spray makes his clothes cling to him in a way that leaves little to the imagination, but he can't look away from his eyes. he could ride him right here and now, but he'd rather kiss him.
[it's just blood. right. Rook wants to scoff, wants to tell Jiho that it is his blood and that makes it so much more precious, so much more, but then--
then Jiho is looking at him like he matters. like he is more than a demon of lust, like he is more than a willing body and the perfect amount of want, crafted to seduce. Jiho is telling him that he is cute, that he is more than what he looks to be and it's all Rook can do to not collapse in the shower.
because Jiho sees him, actually sees him, and not everything that has been piled on top and-- fuck, it's been so long since anyone cared that much at all. ]
That-- I think that's better, actually. So much better. I would rather be cute, you know.
[ his voice echoes the awestruck feeling in his chest, the swelling of something in his bones that nearly turns him to cinders when Jiho leans in to kiss him. Rook doesn't turn him away, has no desire to at all, he would take this kiss with Jiho, bloody and bruised in the shower over the best sex any day.
would take time with Jiho over pretty much anything any day.
it is a gentle kiss too, something soft and tentative maybe because Jiho is afraid of something, and certainly because Rook is afraid of hurting Jiho. but it still has the demon melting. he is all blurred lines and quiet noises as he threads his fingers softly into Jiho's hair, sways towards him even as he breaks the kiss.
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