river of styx

@〈 yoo jiae 〉sɔ "Well, that explains it," Ah In responded with a laugh. "You made it seem like you were some kind of Styx regular. I kind of take pride in knowing at least everyone's faces..." he trailed off, suddenly missing the cigarette that he'd burned up earlier due to a lack of something to do with his hands. He considered her statement for a few moments, brows furrowing thoughtfully at the subject matter. Fate. That was such a human construct. Something they thought up and held onto to explain things that they were too lazy or simple minded to think a little deeper about. Almost everything happened for a reason and the things that were pointless were mere coincidence. Inconsequential and fleeting coincidence. Fate was nonsense.

"Fate, huh?" he finally asked with an amused glint in his eye. He chuckled and shook his head. "Fate's silly. It's not a real thing. Coincidences?" He gave a light, inconsequential shrug while reaching up to scratch the top of Nix's head. "Maybe." He glanced down at Jiae, thinking about what she'd said before the fate thing was brought into the conversation.Not everything was as deep as some people liked to make it seem, so he actually agreed with that first part. "You might be reading too far into this though," he said before dismissing that aspect of the conversation for one that he felt was far more interesting.

"Anyway, forgive my curiosity - and dismiss it as you see fit - but what brought you back here after all of these years?"

@〈 jung eunji 〉ɹɥ [] uwu keeping the starter a bit short for now, we can lengthen it as we go along.

there exist an undying rumor that continues to plague and spread through the grapevines, one that was ignited by the wrath demons that resides down by the 5th floor. the rumor being that if ever, the prince of darkness was seen adorning anything remotely close to a simper - contrasting the usual bemused demeanor painted over his visuals -someone's life was to be relinquished. each visit by the prince to the various departments only rekindled such notions. as often, he is seen returning to his office with his attire decorated by petals of blood, soaking his white button up, a shade of crimson.

the demon had left his sanctuary, his office, humming to a tune only recognizable by himself, the ends of his lips pushed up as a mirthful grin bloom upon his features, he was in quite a joyous mood, for tonight, he shall hunt once more. he momentarily succumbs himself to a joyous dream of feasting, of drinking blood and the warm marrow from the bone, soaking his teeth in their ichor, and devour away. a rogue demon had taken solace within the river of damnation and he was tasked to "properly deal with her". a few moments later, his strides come to a halt, finding himself before the entrance of the infamous river of styx, a place he was all too familiar with. he waits for the younger demon who he had summoned earlier to accompany him, a grumble of discontentment touching at his lips as he simply abhors having to wait.

@〈yoo ah in〉sɔ Jiae watched as Ah In moved his way around to avoid the soul moving around them. Sometimes Jiae used to swear, when she was younger, she could hear them whispering to her only, whispering about their fears, whispering about their triumphs, screeching quietly in pain. That was when she had the time to listen, now she didn't hear them all. She ended up having to duck because of an incoming soul shortly after, and she wondered if that was her father.

She found herself chuckling softly her eyes gazing at the dark cat fondly, watching Nix comfortably on Ah In. "An darling catch, you can't fish a feline like that out of the river." Once again ducking to avoid another soul coming through, she suddenly wondered what it would be like to be one of those souls. It could never happen to her, but she wondered. Taking a moment to consider if she should bring it up to her companion, she looked over at Ah In, trying to figure out in her head if he'd actually answer her question.

Inclining her head to the side, Jiae hummed out thoughtfully "Well, truthfully, I haven't been back here in a while, I used to only come here when I was younger. Perhaps that's why." Meeting his eyes with a tiny smile, "Maybe this is a sign that something interesting is about to happen. Or maybe we're reading too much into this." Jiae's gaze soon moved back towards the river "But, humans like to believe in fate."

[] wow that wasn't trash. but do you know what is trash? my reply.

@〈 yoo jiae 〉sɔ One would have to be blind to not notice the way that the girl looked at the river and it's accompanying souls. Or maybe Ah In was just more perceptive when it came to emotional cues. Either way, the situation was none of his business and he hummed in agreement. "It wouldn't," he affirmed shortly, ducking casually to avoid an incoming soul. His least favorite thing about Styx was the way the souls shot around without direction. Being lost and tortured didn't mean you had to be an .

At the mention of his cat, he subconsciously shifted his gaze to what part of the feline he could see and smiled. "You make a good point. I guess the pleasure /is/ all yours, Nix here is a real catch," he joked easily, a lazy grin stretching across his face. Considering the fact that he'd just told a joke, he hadn't paid much attention to the second laugh and continued on with his walking. His eyes drifted up to the columns of inky black stalactite hanging from above. They dripped with fresh condensation, lending the water right back to the boiling currents of the river.

"Really now?" he asked in response to her claims of being in the area her whole life. The uncertainty that came with the 'I suppose' wasn't lost on Ah In, but he really didn't have the capacity to care about any sub-context or double meaning or whatever it was. "That's interesting because I come here every night around this time, without fail, and I've never seen you." He turned to face forward again, humming thoughtfully. "Guess we've just missed each other up until now. I suppose this our big 'time to meet'" With a pensive scratch of his jaw, he murmured "Wonder why."

[yeet this is trash, i'm going to bed lm a o]

@〈yoo ah in〉sɔ Humming softly in agreement, her eyes followed the souls moving across the river. For a brief moment she wondered if her father's soul was among them. "That wouldn't have boded well for me, would it?" Jiae chuckled despite herself and moved her gaze back onto the man in front of her, a strange sort of smile on her face.

Her eyes followed the cat carefully as he made himself comfortable on the man, bringing a hand up to cover as she stifled a small laugh. She had to avert her gaze as Nix smacked him in the face with his tail, finding it funny and very endearing all at the same time. "The pleasure is all mine! After all, you were the one who graced me with the presence of Nix."

Jiae let out another laugh, but this time it was a little more reserved, a touch more mysterious, perhaps even melancholic to someone who was really listening. She started walking beside Ah In, moving so that she could catch up to his stride. Looking back out at the current, Jiae's head tilted to the side as she watched the rapids go by, watched her distorted reflection in the river. "Well, there are lots of reasons why you wouldn't have seen me. Maybe we missed each other, maybe it wasn't our time to meet. I could say the same thing about you, I've been here a couple of times and never have seen you... or Nix." She mused, turning her head to look up at Ah In, a gentle smile playing upon her lips. "I've been here all my life, I just didn't like coming out too much when I was younger... I suppose."

@〈 yoo jiae 〉sɔ "True," he said thoughtfully, eyes drifting out over the river. All the way on the other side, he could see the ferryman beckoning a small gathering of obviously terrified souls."That's definitely something. Any cut might have festered instantly down here." He added, recalling the time someone at work got a papercut and nearly died. Nearly being the keyword as not even one minute after the festering, the cut healed itself right up.

He felt Nix moving around on his shoulders, probably gearing up to lay down, and leaned his head forward a bit too give the animal pacing room. "That's completely fair," he stated, returning the shake while his eyes were still trained on the ground. The cat soon settled, its tail curling around and nearly smacking into Ah In's face. A low meow sounded, almost as to say "you can stand straight now" and he lifted his head again - slow enough to not disturb. "A pleasure, miss Jihae," he replied while returning his hand to his pocket.

The other one still held cigarette, but rather than dropping it for snubbing, his simply burned the rest it and let the ashes tumble from between his fingers and mingle with the shallow puddles on the rocks. "Anyway, a lot of people come around here, but I've never seen you," he stated, starting to walk again, trusting that she'd follow. "Just blow in?"

@〈yoo ah in〉sɔ []hi I cc'ed so just pretend she said jiae and ignore the kei part thx

@〈yoo ah in〉sɔ Watching the cat carefully, she watched, albeit a tad sadly as the feline moved his way back onto the man's shoulder. Shrugging to herself, knowing that not all cats liked new humans, she forced a smile instead as she pulled her hand back, letting both of them fall to her sides. Her gaze then shifted back towards the man. She wondered if her father liked cats.

She laughed humorlessly at his words, her signature lovely smile upon her face still, as she shook her head. "I see. That's quite alright, can't get everyone or every animal to like me. At least, I wasn't bitten or scratched today... So that's something?" Her head tilted to the side, her eyes almost sparkling. She wondered if her father was well liked by people, if cats liked him or would hiss at him when they saw him. She wondered.

A soft laugh escaped her lips as she placed her hand in his and shook it firmly. "I see. Well, I guess the jury should be still out for me as well. I'm Jiyeon, people call me Kei too but, please just stick to calling me Jiyeon." She pulled her hand away after and then looked over at the river as she wondered. Was her father a smoker? She wondered.

@〈 kim jiyeon 〉sɔ As the girl checked over her wrist for injuries, Ah In felt a touch bad, but it only lasted for about a millisecond. She should know not to touch someone without either consent, being in their line of sight, or both. Especially down here where everyone had at least some degree of hostility and a hair trigger temper. Moving on from the near fiasco, he chuckled and nodded in agreement when she commented on the cat's name. Ah In was good at things of the linguistic persuasion and conflict resolutions. Creativity was a whole other playing field for him.

He watched with bated breath as the girl acquainted herself with Nix. He may have given her a disclaimer, but he would really prefer if it didn't have to go into effect in the case that the feline bit her. Surprisingly, not biting occurred. The cat was initially hesitant, sniffing her hand without getting too close and Ah In could feel its tail curl pensively against his body. Then, like some sort of miracle, the cat didn't bite her like it usually would at this stage. But it didn't warm up to her either. Instead, Nix shifted around in Ah In's arms so it could hop back onto his shoulders - as far away from this Jiyeon or Kei as possible without leaving his demon companion.

A laugh escaped Ah In's mouth, blowing the cloud of smoke from his mouth, and he removed the cigarette to speak. "Good news is, he doesn't hate you," he said, reaching up to comfort the cat with a brief scratch on it' head. "Bad? He doesn't really like you either. As for me? The jury's still out." He lightly tapped the ashes from the end of the nicotine stick and held out his other hand. "I'm Ah In by the way."

[it's fine, i'm always quality over quantity anyway]

@〈yoo ah in〉sɔ A gasp escaped Jiyeon's lips as she felt the grip of the man grab onto her admittedly frail wrist. She looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed as she knew she wasn't strong enough to pull her wrist away from him, almost opening to start singing, to hypnotize him into letting go. Before she really could actually do that, his gaze changed and he let go. Letting out a small sigh of relief, she quickly pulled her hand back to her chest, looking at it carefully for any lasting bruises before looking at the man again.

When he picked up the cat, her visage immediately brightened, as though she had completely forgotten what had happened before, nodding slowly at his words. "Nix? How suitable..." she murmered, before using her other hand to slowly drift towards him, pausing to let Nix sniff her hand first, letting him get used to her scent. "Hello there Nix, you're quite a handsome cat. I'm Jiyeon, but people also call me Kei. I'm not going to hurt you, so please don't hurt me too?" she spoke gently to the czt, her lips moving towards a tentative smile as she gazed at the cat carefully, makimg sure to avoid direct eye contact.

[] im sorry if the length is o f f my dumb self decided thatreplies on my phone is smart

@〈 kim jiyeon 〉sɔ The sound of another person's footsteps were essentially drowned out by all of the environmental sounds of Styx, so when Ah In felt a hand on his back he stiffened. In the same motion, he spun around and grabbed the hand that touched him by the wrist, eyes blazing. The action disturbed Nix who hopped off of his shoulder and promptly sent him a dirty look. In all of the movement, her words hadn't really registered in his mind until he saw her. It was just some girl - one that smelled of both demon and human at the same time. That was strange in and of itself. He looked down at her as she waited expectantly, trying to put together what she'd asked based on whatever his subconscious might have picked up.

When her question finally clicked in his mind, his gaze softened and he released her hand. "Sorry, sure, he might not let you but..." he trailed off around the cig still in his mouth, glancing around his feet for where the cat had gone as it casually weaved itself between and around his leg. Spotting an opening, Ah In scooped the surly creature up in his arms and held it out for the girl to pet. "His name's Nix. Might want to proceed with caution."

[post deleted by owner]

@〈yoo ah in〉sɔ jiyeon doesn't really go to the river of styx. to put it simply, there's nothing for her here, nothing to look at, nothing to really do except let the raging current overwhelm your senses and erase the carefully put up walls she's built for herself, remove the mask she's decorated for herself. that's something she doesn't really like to do, something she avoids doing at all cost. so, jiyeon doesn't really come out to the river all that often. however, today was different, today was something special to her. so she figured that for once, it would be nice to go out and away from the place she lived in, and bring herself a little closer to well... herself.

so she finds herself humming along to a jaunty tune she had heard was quite popular back on earth, strolling along the banks of the river, watching as the current moves past her, strong and unwavering as always. finds herself lost in thought once more about her father.

her mother told her that today was her father's birthday. the father she never knew, the father that brought the human side of her mixed heritage. she wondered about him, she pondered on if he was still alive, where he was now? did he remarry? did he have anymore children? was there a half sibling for jiyeon wandering the earth? have they sold their soul? jiyeon thought about it, and yet she didn't get anymore answers.

she continues humming, afraid to truly sing out for the fear or accidentally charming someone and hypnotizing them. and she finds herself behind a figure of a man. she's not surprised, she knows people sometimes visit the river. but what really catches her eye is the cat near his feet, she adores cats. so she finds herself approaching his back, before finally patting his back softly and speaking "may i pet your cat?"

The sound of raging rapids mingling with the screams of lost, abandoned souls assaulted Ah In's ears as he strolled along the banks of Styx. Music to his ears. The demon removed the cigarette hanging from his mouth and a plume of smoke wafted gracefully past his plump lips before dissipating into the atmosphere. He glanced down, focusing on his footfalls over the slippery, rocky banks but there wasn't much urgency or hesitation in his steps. An almost inaudible meow caught his attention and he slowed to a stop, turning just in time to see his cat, appropriately named Nix, sit down in a way that almost looked fed up. Stubborn, even. The obsidian feline stared up at him expectantly, lazily blinking it's big moss green eyes. Ah In cocked his head a tad to the side and shooting the cat a curious look before it dawned on him and a grin slowly spread across his face. He chuckled and lightly patted the opposite shoulder, giving Nix his cue to jump right up onto the black-clad expanse.

"You won't die if your feet get wet," he said, reaching up to scratch the cat's scruff with his free hand. He watched the way the animal leaned into his touch, its eyes closed denoting appreciation for the affection. His smiled softened and he dropped the hand, slipping it into his pocket. "You might be a bit spoiled," he added thoughtfully before placing the cigarette back between his lips and tucking the newly free hand in his other pocket. Giving one glance to his surroundings, he continued on his nightly stroll.

[high key just needed to get this image out of my head and in writing-- BUT it can totally function as an open starter if anyone wants in. that's chill]