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[ after the offering between the two of them, agent choi doesn't return to the apartment on mulberry street.

not that day, nor the next, or even the day after that. days—weeks pass, and choi doesn't so much as return for his belongings in his own apartment, never mind the lighter that saheon is holding onto. it's as if he's disappeared, with the only sign that he hasn't being the fact that the delicate thread between them hasn't yet snapped.

it's only on the twenty-fourth of the month, after the red moon has finally set and the sun has reclaimed its place in the sky, that choi returns. maybe it's the sound of footsteps trudging up the stairs that will alert saheon to his neighbour's presence, or maybe it's the gentle ebb and flow of the tether they share coming into proximity once again. either way, there's some shuffling in the hallway, the sound of bells jingling, and some rummaging in the rooms across from his, until—

knock, knock, knock. ]

Hello~? Delivery for one Baek Saheon.

[ Recovering from the offering has felt somewhere between a car crash and a hangover. Everything hurts, from his head to the ragged remains of his body. Saheon has been more concerned with those immediate concerns then actually processing what happened that night. The memory is stained and fuzzy, and every single emotion he was having didn't make sense, like the worst sort of contamination.

If he's been upset about anything, his pride has been wounded by who found him and who healed him. Aventurine putting his blood in Saheon...eugh. Augh. It makes him sort of itchy to think about.

He hasn't thought about Choi at all. Really. Not until he feels that tether pull taunt, like a leash or a fishing line.

...]

Hungry, again?

[ The door doesn't open. Instead, there's a loud CRASH, as something is thrown from across the room. Probably a beer bottle. ]

Since when do you live here? I should have made Caelus change the locks.

[ choi... kind of deserves that, yeah. he'd expected it too—the words, at least. he still winces at the sound of glass colliding with the door. ]

...

[ and for a moment, he's quiet. there's no sound of footsteps leaving in resignation, no playful half-apology through the door. for a while he just stands there before he finally seems to come up with something to say for himself. ]

Listen, an apology won't cut it, right? But I brought something good with me too. You don't even want to see what it is?

[ he thinks it's pretty great, but that's him. ]

[ They have no prescription painkillers! No glorious opioids for Saheon! He's been making good use of the whiskey they found here back when they moved in, but he's had scant else. It's a pity the bottle was good quality, because it didn't even shatter when it hit the door. It rolls back into the middle of the bedroom with a dejected air to match Choi's. ]

I'm always so impressed by the situational awareness of government agents. Always good to see they train you so well.

[ He takes the shamed silence as an opportunity to find a blanket to wrap himself in. It's best not to show Choi the bandages that still cling to various parts of his body, the he's keeping his arm in even if its healing at an alarmingly inhuman rate.

His hand grazes the lock of the door, and then he draws a foot back to kick the half inch of oak separating them. ]

You could have left it at the door then, couldn't you? Egotistical bastard. Spit your half-assed apology out before bribing me!

But then I wouldn't get to say my apology at all?

[ if he just left it here and let saheon take it, then it'd really be half-assed. it's the very least he can do is actually face what he's done. or, well, to apologize properly aloud may be a better way to put it, but maybe it's for the best that he's staring down the door instead of saheon himself. he's still wearing a smile tainted by the bitter resignation of the fact that he has to be here at all, but no matter how he looks at it, there's really no other option.

and besides that, he really does feel bad.

so, okay! he's here to apologize, so he'll apologize. he's bowing at the door and everything. ]

... I'm sincerely sorry! It's my fault, and I apologize, so please forgive meee?

[ even with the sincerity, he's sure it's not enough, but... maybe it's enough for saheon to at least open the door? ]

[ The door opens.

The man standing there does look a lot worse for ware. The blanket around his shoulders hides the broken arm, but Saheon's face is still bruised, and he's not wearing his eyepatch to keep the pressure off. The mismatched eyes blink owlishly up and down. ]

You actually bowed?

[ Saheon's tone is approaching a glorious middle ground between smug, disgusted and begrudgingly impressed. Choi is like what, ten years older then him, and nearly killed him? Now he's staring at the floor trying to get back in Saheons good graces?

It's the sort of role reversal a bottom feeder like Saheon enjoys, because he'd do this to get supplies or power or items from bastards like Choi even if they did break his arm and eat his face and leave him for dead. He was sort of assuming he might need to do this for stabbing Choi, but he wasn't around...

Anyway. Saheon can't really give anything in return, so it's just odd. These government agents are so fucking weird. ]

...I'll think about forgiving you if the item is good enough.

[ Which it won't be. ]

[ yeah, well, saheon should be grateful it's choi he got locked in a room with and not jaekwan. unlike some other agents, choi has a conscience even when it comes to something that... couldn't really be helped. just another symptom of being the old guard.

anyway, he's straightening up now. jeez, this kid's attitude isn't really the type to make you wanna be sincere, huh? glad that's out of the way. ]

Yeah, yeah. Here, look at this.

[ he'll lightly nudge a pot that's sitting just to the side of the doorway with his foot. a big pot that he had to lug all the way up the stairs, mind you, but carefully placed inside it is... a sapling! not any ordinary sapling either. growing on its thin young branches are what look to be apples. well, they're white, as if some kind of vampire sucked out all the colour from them, but they otherwise look just like apples! ]

This tree, the fruit on it's safe to eat. I couldn't tell you how it tastes though—probably sweet?

[ since that's the number one flavour profile he seems to have lost here. ]

[ Saheon is grateful every day he is locked in a room with Choi and not that rat bastard Ryu Jaekwan, may a thousand hell boxes contain him. If Jaekwan was here Saheon would be forced to waste precious time making sure that asshole died as quickly as possible. ]

This is your big gift?

[Crummy... Saheon wanted a gun.

He also reaches a foot out after Choi, tapping the pot as if he's making sure its real. Saheon briefly wonders if the agent bothered to drill holes into a pot for a tree like this to let the water drain...drain onto the floor? It'll need a tray to keep from soaking the floors - He's getting distracted! This better not be just like those thoughtless orchids relatives get you that are more work then their worth!

With a muffled groan he crouches down on his heels. His good arm comes out from under the blanket to snap up an apple in a rapid snake-like strike. ]

Still dealing with that, huh? [ Saheon is glad his sense of taste has been fine...he's been ignoring the desire to eat paper. ] ...How did I taste, then?

[ saheon is the last person choi is handing his gun off to. he's guilty, not stupid.

anyway, wry smile: creeping back across his face. ]

Do you wanna know? Hmm, I don't really remember that night too well though.

[ he's not really one to get too carried away with drinking himself, but hey, doesn't it kind of feel kind of like a one-night stand while blackout drunk? right down to the regret they share over it. the biggest evidence he finds of its reality is the sense of trepidation and disdain he can feel coming off of saheon in waves. he's a little surprised, and more importantly a little relieved that there doesn't seem to be anything like fear in the mix.

at least it should mean that likewise, without the door between them, saheon can feel his genuine regret and shame. ]

If I had to say, I guess it'd have been the closest thing I have tasted to it in a while. Just really good, haha~

[ even remembering what he can, he has to consciously refrain from licking his lips. there are a lot of other words he could add on to describe it, but let him not, actually. ]

[ If he was stupid, Saheon would like him more. :/ ]

Neither do I.

[ Which is a lie and they both know it. They both can feel it. Tethers are so very inconveniently annoying. The memories are nonsensical but what happened is easy enough to puzzle through. There's no point in them.

But its true Saheon doesn't feel afraid. At least, not any more then he normally fears Choi, which is a low base level wariness he never drops around anyone in his proximity. What happened in the church felt more like a scripted Darkness then an actual assault. It would be like disliking that bastard Kim Soleum for his actions in the mountain lodge rather then all the other more tangible horrible things about him.

And if he really wanted to be a pathetic wretch and cry and get all shaky and scared about how helpless he'd been, he'd also have to remember how happy he was, even when he was bleeding out afterwards. There's nothing to be gained. The present is more important. Choi's regret and shame about it might be useful. ]

...I'm sorry I asked. You better not start getting like that freak Adolphe, and trying to lick my nosebleeds.

[ He should start charging for the service, seriously. But he got paid for this one, even if its by crummy apples. He picks at the skin of the pale fruit Choi gave him, tasting the juice on his finger.

It is pretty sweet. Sort of like...white grape soju? ]

Wait, seriously? Adolphe?

[ he met that guy... whadda hell... but more important than knowing the culprit is knowing the victim, right? well, still though, he can't help recalling his appearance now—the sharp ears atop his head, fluffy tail behind him. it's not that choi had a bad impression of him—it was great, actually, but he wasn't he also a predator? just like himself, and saheon... with those soft ears and sprouting horns, it isn't hard to tell—

saheon is a prey animal.

something complicated stirs in agent choi. worry, he guesses? that's what makes sense. he can't shake the feeling that the changes affecting saheon might have something to do with what happened, at least in his case, but also...

...

no. no, he's not thinking about it? he's not thinking about it. even if his ears flick in dissatisfaction, brows scrunching together and tail swishing behind him. even as he opens his mouth to breathe in, tasting the scents hanging around saheon on his tongue. among them, there are some that are familiar: saheon's own, and caelus' too, but there may also be the unfamiliar. ones choi has yet to encounter, or to pay attention to, but... is there a predator among them?

... focus, agent. swallowing his findings down, let him try to recover from the momentary pause. ANYWAY!! ]

So? How's it taste?

[ his turn. ]

[ These days, Saheon keeps to his room, so any scents around him that aren't from the hotel or Choi himself are stale and faded. But perhaps Choi will remember an early morning back towards the first week in November. Saheon crept home in the early hours of dawn sporting a foul mood, a bruised wrist, and the smell of predatory intent that Choi might recognize. Maybe he even may have remembered Ivan's smell, from his own encounter.

But who can say. In the present, Saheon glances at Choi's flicking tail and open mouth, the expression of a cat that is smelling something interesting, and goes very still. The ears flick up once, like a spooked horse.

He doesn't care. He doesn't care if something looks big and dangerous, and it's not his fault if his brain gets convinced that standing still in his doorway somehow renders him invisible. He's a normal guy, and he just hates when his stupid roommate acts like an animal. It's weird.

It takes him a second to grit his teeth and work his jaw into a scowl. ]

Like the white grape soju they sell at the cheap bar near work.

[ He takes a full bite, chewing to distract himself and keep his gaze away from Choi. ]

Would be great if it actually was alcoholic. We should talk to Seishirou about his homebrewing scheme, I think he could get a good flavor out of this.

[ it's just as well that he's scowling—choi doesn't see it. he turns his gaze away the moment those ears of saheon's perk up, body stilling, and decides that this ugly dent in the wall over here seems suddenly remarkably interesting. he just needs a moment to ignore the heart that's skipped a beat at the sight of saheon's reaction, and to swallow down the instinct that wants to keep its eyes on him because of it.

the full moon is pretty close, huh...

absently, his right hand comes up to trace his fingers against the ink black sigil on the back of his left. ]

Oh? Where'd you hear about that?

[ news to choi, but then he'll wave his hand dismissively. ]

It's your tree though, so whatever makes you happy, yeah?

When we woke up after the... thing. He was real chatty about his desire for grapes in order to make friends.

[ And he said Saheon was a nice guy! Yay! Even if he was totally lying! Yay! Nobody gets to know that except Saheon, it's one of his few bright memories in this shitshow of a month.

He takes another bite of the apple (and is he detecting perhaps, a subtle flavor of mint?) and keeps up his mutual stare at the wall before finally focusing on Choi enough to really glare at him. ]

My tree.

[ He stares at the pot. ]

Do you even know how to take care of trees?

[ It's going to be this poor rural farmboys responsibility, isn't it? Another chore for the poor victim, Saheon, vested in him my this city slicker!]

[ this guy clearly doesn't know that even choi is trying to see him as a human being and not a walking risk assessment measure. anyway, he's chattering on, so agent choi will be able to turn his gaze back to him now. it's probably fine, with only the slow, steady swish of his tail betraying his momentary weakness now.

he does snort a little as saheon repeats after him, smile stretching into a grin. ]

Yeah, yours~ But I'm a civil servant, not a gardener. Uh, let's see...

[ hm. he makes a bit of a face here, scrunching it up, before surrendering to what he must do. ]

That guy, Adolphe, he said he used to grow his own food, so maybe him? Be careful though.

[ like he's worried or something. ]

Absolutely not.

[ His tone turns defensive on a dime. He's not even willing to entertain why Choi would make such an expression, mostly because Saheon thinks Adolphe is really really annoying. Why would he ask that freak for help? Why does Choi think he should ask that freak for help? The two of them are on equal terms, if he starts asking for favors it's going to be like he needs or likes Adolphe or they're friends and...

...He drags the pot slightly closer with a loud scraping sound. ]

So you think I can't do it? [ Impossible bastard. ] I'm from Asan-si, Agent. My family had an orchard.

[ saheon denies the suggestion vehemently right out the gates, and to be honest? choi doesn't mind at all. he can feel something—not relief, but maybe more akin to satisfaction? that grin of his flashes sharp teeth for a moment, but the worry dissipates quickly in its wake, replaced by a full-blown laugh. he wasn't expecting that! ]

Uhaha!! No, no, not what I'm saying at all. How was I supposed to know?

[ it's not like they spend a lot of time talking about where they come from between the two of them. ]

Just let me know what kind of supplies you might need. I'll keep an eye out~

[ consider that him taking responsibility. ]

You weren't. Why would I tell you crap like that?

[ Saheon is sure he doesn't care where Choi is from. As far as he's concerned, this thing spawned from whatever hole in the ground the government makes their dogs and it sprung out fully formed and ready to rush off into sewers or ghost stories etc. ]

Never been? Guess you wouldn't have the free time for hot springs trips... Unless you had work out there.

[ He squints at Choi for a moment, looking him up and down. He might have seen this bastard before, after all? Saheon would just never know it if he was one of the agents always lurking around.

Whatever. Saheon turns back to look at the tree with a shake of his head. He could just have easily run into Choi wandering around the area another day. Maybe he really did come on vacation. Onyang-dong and it's springs are the singular redeeming quality of the Asan area. ]

[ agent choi is far from oblivious to that suspicious gaze of saheon's looking him over. still, he maintains an air of more casual interest, chattering on. ]

Asan-si, you said? Nah, never got the chance.

[ you know how it is with their line of work—really, there are more than enough supernatural disasters in seoul alone that he doesn't need to travel far to find something to do. that, and he doesn't really see the advantage to laying this card out on the table yet, but saheon's insistence on hot spring trips does bring something to mind. ]

I kept telling my hoobaes we should go to the hot springs together, I'd foot the bill, but we never ended up getting around to it...

[ it's too bad. really. ]

[ No reaction? Maybe Saheon was just being suspicious for nothing. ]

Because they probably know you can't foot the bill.

[ Or be counted on to show up, if a call comes out. Saheon can imagine it now 'OOPS! SORRY! u guyz ENJOY W/O ME :^D " or some other flavor irritating text.

He waves a hand with another extended, theatrical sigh. ]

Asan isn't even that fun, so your hoobaes missed nothing. I'd rather take a trip down to a tropical island.

What's with that—are you calling me unreliable, brat!?

[ he says that, but the way he says it is more playful than genuinely challenging. ah—yeah, this is great. this is great. ]

Hey, maybe you can show us around when we finally get the chance to go~ Ah, but for now, we shouldn't leave this in the hall here, right? Won't get any sunlight.

[ he's already coming back up to the strange little apple tree, moving to grab either side of it. ]

I'll carry it, just show me where to put it.

You're only reliable at the worst times. You didn't even have the decency die in the sewers...

[ Saheon didn't get Choi life savings or his lighter...

But his tone is also light. A constant barrage of insults is just how Saheon blows off steam. If he had friends...he'd probably enjoy teasing them like Choi does his juniors.

Choi saves Saheon the awesome opportunity to get another jab in about his broken arm by deftly offering to carry first. With a sigh, the younger man trudges past him towards the main gallery of their shared loft.]

Should go over here. You want the most direct sunlight we can get.

[ choi will follow along helpfully as saheon leads the way, potted tree in hand. what kind of manners does saheon think he has to think he'd let him make it all the way to his complaints before offring? there is nothing that choi takes if not the initiative, you know. ]

Aw, don't you think I'm a good guy to have around? I don't have much in savings.

[ civil servant paycheque, you know how it is. scaled for hazard, but nowhere near the degree to which daydream work is.

he sets the pot down where indicated, dusting off his hands and setting them on his hips to take a look. ]

—And you'd have to fight Bronze-ie to get ahold of them anyway, haha!

[ delusional if he thinks that stickler for the rules is going to accept a note from inside a disaster area as a will. coming from a daydream employee no less. ]

But I'll tell you what. When we get out of here, I'll treat you to a meal for your good behaviour. I know a great tripe hot pot place~

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the offering: week four

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