inae. such a curious creature. cough. person! the way he stands, how very mundane the action should have been to give her a sense that it wasn’t as it is. as if he could transform then and there. to something big. like a turtle-headed human ghost or his human head attached to a serpent. perhaps, all in all, a serpent incredibly flexible so much that he’d be spineless, additionally with a set of ram-like horns on his head. two big ones. or perhaps a fire breathing monster with three heads of a rabbit, a witch, and a… wardrobe?! that wasn’t it. a chimera! one of a snake, one of a lion, and then of a goat. or all three heads of a goat since he did look a little like a one.
though what she could picture in actuality was different. she imagines him a building being built and her view of the process skipped in lapses so fast it made her dizzy. head pushed back, however, it was him who steps away. “why, you’re very welcome!” she almost curtsies but stops herself to give him a small bow of the head instead. there was silence that stretches and sooyoung wasn’t settled in such situations. she fills in with a question she’d been meaning to ask since his desperate shriek of pain, one she wouldn’t admit to have given her a slight fright. “how are you feeling?” soon it was followed by an enthusiastic “it’s no trouble at all!” in response to his apology.
now, surely she had eaten. she never forgets to and this instance wouldn’t be an exception to that. it was a habit not to skip any meals, a routine that she’d been used to. times are set accordingly for certain meals, as well as tasks, and activities. it was just the way it has always been. so, food. did she need any? want any? not exactly, but of course! it’s only polite to say… “yes!” and she does so, brimming with eagerness.
and here sooyoung began to get rather sleepy. she yawns, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, “balloon, balloon. food? is a balloon fit for human consumption?” and then, “is a human fit for balloon consumption?!” with an exclamation, though she knew it didn’t much matter which way she put it as both would have been impossible. impossible? nothing’s impossible. she’d argued in her head. she felt that she was dozing off, and had just begun to dream that she was walking side by side with inae. it was very much real, nonetheless. very earnestly she asks, “have you ever eaten a balloon?” and suddenly, thump!
the pattering of a child’s feet had gone unnoticed because of her deep, hazy thoughts. it was a little boy that bumps into her thigh, specifically her thigh as he stood that high. sooyoung squeaks and by the next second, gave a little scream of laughter which she right away shushes herself. then mouthing a small ‘oops’, she gracefully covers her lips that formed a thin smile using her delicate fingers. she would’ve been deemed bonkers with the kind of behaviour that comes out of nowhere. she presumes he would think so. not that it bothered her what he might think her. she’d been tried of assumptions, rather used to them that it grown to have desensitised her to the notion in general.
but what she’d been laughing about was the idea that people could be this certain height down below and this certain height next to her she would have to raise her chin for. consequently, she does in action what she had thought. then she was imagining how convenient it would have been if the taller male could lend some of his blessings to the puny being that clashes into her. oh, the contrast was just so curious she couldn’t have brushed it off. but she reminds herself this: there must be logic for everything, just as she’s often told.
“apologies,” said sooyoung in a rather timid tone, then sends off the little boy with a few words and a smile. “so i was saying…” she began, though she wasn’t certain what she was going on about now. it felt like a minute that she’d been talking and asking, asking and talking, that she’d forgotten what her words were to begin with. her hand was weakly raised as her mind skips off. she then retracts the very same hand, tucking it behind her to compose herself once again, posture straight and sweeping fingers through her long skirt of peach. “oh! i did want some food.”
an evolving art was pairing food of particular types and cuisines to tea. any time was tea time for sooyoung and so at the mention of food, she’d been quieted down into thinking exactly this. if she were to have some oolong, naturally it would be seafood to eat, or fruits. gunpowder would sit nicely with any korean food. it was a comforting thought. dragonwell could so likely match any kind of vegetable salad. how faithful she’d be to a healthy diet if she opted for any of those. by no means was this the final word on tea and food pairing. she could so as she wishes take whichever food with it. “do you suppose they’ll have chocolate-hazelnut mousse around here? i’d very much like to have black tea with it.” slurred were her words; a warning label that comes with her, ‘language barrier!’ “did i say that correctly?”
knowing too little about her in particular yet again brings him to great disadvantage, leaving him almost utterly clueless on what the hell to do with her aside from inwardly panicking when, while and after she sways on her knees alongside him; on what to say in response when she exclaims absurd questions throughout the time frame of whatever kind of sleepy, dreamy state that suddenly took over the entirety of her small figure while they navigated past the crowd of people and their bustling, loud children, most pointing and smiling at animals with candy at hand or crying about them for some reason. all he could do is hope that it wasn’t some random weirdo in the throng of people that did something to her without him noticing, that she’d fight whatever it really was and emerge from it on her own, feeling as peachy as her skirt, or better than she did before, even. if possible.
and thankfully no more than a few moments later, she does. though, briefly he doubts that she wouldn’t have drowned farther into her haze for a while longer, were it not for the human midget that abruptly collapsed headfirst with her thigh and woken her back to the real world along with an escaping breath of relief of his own, without ever intending to do any of it in the first place. were the gods feeling generous towards him today? he knew that wasn’t their favourite godling, not even the least favourite one for that matter, but there had to be a chance for anyone eventually, even for someone who’d spent seven centuries receiving little amount of mercy and tolerance, so was he finally in their favours right now?
his sharp eyes narrow and his chin lowers with much more grace than he would ever care to admit, the plush of his lips thinning as he rakes his sight over the innocent child, waiting for something to happen. he all but stares back his way, though, avoiding eye contact as much as he can manage while squirming and fiddling in spot, clearly uncomfortable under the burning fire of his gaze. no sign of godly mercy falls into the flames. not even a brief message to mock, telling him that he was a always fool for hoping for a damned thing at all, whenever he dared to. bastards do get nothing after all. as expected. that hasn’t changed.
a scoff escapes to Heaven as he turns away from the two, the quiet squeeze of his balled up fists making it true that his wounds are now gone ( though the blood still remains ). poor thing must be as lost as they both are right now, frantic in his search without a care for whom and what he might bump into until he’d found his parents. or whoever he were looking for. Inae clicks his teeth under his breath when the little boy finally runs off, leaving behind a small apology for Joy who’d taken little of her time and a bit more of his own to speak with him. he supposes that’s only right, or polite, or whatever. at this point, he couldn’t think about much at all. for some reason she was hard to be around for too long. for some reason, he felt like if he ever let his guard down around her, she would know. she would see much more than she should.
his dreams especially, when he’s a little boy again. when he’s just beginning to learn about what he can really do with the other half of himself, and is excited to show his father all what his mother had taught him on that specific day. to show him small fangs and dull claws, clumsy little legs shaking as he conjures the most of his moonlight and energy from within and combines them together for strength to shift, replacing sunkissed flesh, freckles and smooth golden brown hair with silver and black mane, large emerald eyes, and short flowing whiskers.
his dreams in which he is airborne, soaring above the grey clouds through a deadly storm as the feral thunder roars along his weakened spine and striking lightning cuts and blinds his green eyes even from below him. as if Zeus himself was keeping him far from their realm with the vulgar grace of his abilities and his strength, afraid that a bastard child might successfully end up at the peak of their mountain in Heaven itself, begging for his life that they would have to take regardless of however many times he bellows for mercy, for disobedience and lack of permission as a fellow godling.
“i don’t know,” Inae avoids an icy shudder with the vague shrug of a shoulder. he can’t let anyone uncover any of that. the bad, or the good. “maybe they have something of the sort here, let’s go check.” he doesn’t allow Joy to protest. only spares her a quick glance and half a smile before he’s stepping ahead and leading her to the nearby sweets shop, smelling of fresh animal cake treats and candy. and tea. it’s fairly small, so much like a winter cottage—he has to lower his head to pass through the entrance door, but it’s warmer and comfortable enough that it brings him to relax beneath his jacket, shoulders drooping with satisfaction as they settle for a clothed table near the display window.
or rather, she follows after he does, finally freeing his fists from his pockets. “say, Joy-ya, i’m curious. what is it that’s usually on your mind? you seem like the person that thinks about a lot of things at the same time since you… move about a lot as an individual, right?”
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