stay high

moon "mercury" hanjae || twenty four || werewolf || dealer for the howlers ... vicecity

[woosungies]

[jaesunvc-deactivated20180802]

to those left behind // ft. hanjae

[mercuryvc]

jaesunvc:

for :: @mercuryvc

no. he can’t possibly leave this for everyone to see. he can’t possibly cause further alarm, when so many of them are in danger. and, after all, it’s through his own recklessness that jaesun finds himself huddled up beneath a streetlamp, now abandoned and left on his own. it hadn’t been for a long period of time, but enough for him to acquire quite a few wounds — the most prominent one being the sharp knife into his chest. and fuck, that one hurts, so badly. he thinks the first person he should contact is a medic, but he doesn’t know if victor’s available, right now. doesn’t even know any other medic besides that one, had forgotten the name and number of the person jaehyun previously brought in for the howlers’ cause.

his mind flickers to junho, next, then to sam, then to hisoka. one of them, but they’re all laid up. he can’t possibly burden them with this, can’t possibly tell them about what’s going on. maybe later, when someone can help him get patched up, will he let the team understand the situation. after all, jaesun’s injured all the time — it’s part of his job, his turn at being assassin always putting him in the line of danger. it’s not uncommon, and an occurrence of such is bound to leave permanent scars, permanent marks on him.

then, his thumb comes across a certain contact of his, and of course. hanjae is one of the only howlers he knows to be available now, and though he had yet to hear from the other after the attack on the underground, jaesun knows the latter to be safe. dials immediately, hands shaky and weak as they hold the phone up to his ear, the other pressing against his wound with spread, bloodied fingers. it catches onto a dial tone, rings for a while, and he’s not sure if it’s voice mail or if someone’s picked up as jaesun simply groans, gasping for an extra breath, just enough to speak. “hanjae. hanjae, please, i need your help. please, get a first aid kit, i really need some help, right now.”

Hanjae’s apartment was eerily silent, only the muffled sounds from outside the walls seeping through to haunt his mind. Upstairs, a couple was arguing, clear shouting through thin walls bordering on threats, and briefly Hanjae considered doing something about it, but it wasn’t his problem and shit like that happened in this neighborhood far too often for authorities to even give a fuck. And he was trying to fucking sleep. This early in the night? It was unusual for the werewolf to even think about retiring to bed until the early hours of the morning, but lately he hadn’t had much worth staying up for. He missed Hisoka’s voice over facetime tossing out her opinions on his outfit for the night, Lena’s invitation texts in all caps leading him to one bar or another, Junho’s dumb ass snapchats framed to look like he was in a much more compromising position than he actually was. He missed his friends, plain and simple, and somehow that manifested in such a way that eliminated his night life completely in some half-assed attempt at keeping himself from spiraling.

His phone buzzed and he didn’t even bother to check the caller id, simply reaching for the device blindly, pressing it to his ear after after feeling around the side table in attempt to actually find the damn thing, eager to drown out the shouting of the couple upstairs. “Yah,” he greeted casually, voice cracking from underuse. But the voice on the other end was anything other than casual, sounding strained, struggling to even get out the words. “...Jaesun?” Hanjae concluded, sitting up and covering his other ear in attempt to pay closer attention to what the other was trying to say.

And, of course, when he did comprehend the words filtering through the other end of the call, some sort of dam broke loose in his mind, panic now allowed to roam free. “Jae--- what? Where the fuck are you?” He was bolting out of bed, digging through the bathroom cabinets for the little first aid kit kept somewhere in there, slipping boots on messily over sweatpants, rushing out the front door without bothering with the extensive system of locks. “Fuck, I’m on my way, just--- stay on the line, talk to me, what happened?”

[mercuryvc]

assimilation || hanjae & vic

[mercuryvc]

drvicvc:

This kid is adorable Vic thought to himself. Why did Sam get all the adorable ones? Why was he stuck with Heidi, that stabbed him and slashed him as thanks for baked goods, and Heeyoung who shook him to the core? Jaera was a shut in, and though she was pure of heart, she would never be the type of person to let her walls down and let him in. He’d known the woman for six or seven years, now, and she still flinched at his healing touch. But Sam? Sam had Jaesun and Junho, who are arguably two of the most precious kids he’s ever met aside from his own. He’d yet to truly meet Hisoka, but if Junho and Jaesun loved her so much, he could only assume she was an absolute peach. 

And Hanjae- he could only assume Hanjae was one of Sam’s men too. Hanjae was so helpful. Vic couldn’t remember the last time someone offered to help him with his work. That’s just now how things were in the Ivory Lotus; responsibility and accountability for your own work was the name of the game. He couldn’t think of a time where anyone had offered to help him muddle leaves in his four, nearly five years of service. Here Hanjae was, though, instantly offering to help, and smiling while at it. He was glad his best friend had such good people working for him. He was still unsure how he felt about the fact that his best friend was the leader of The Howlers, but at the very least, it was incredibly reassuring to know he had good people doing their best to keep him safe. 

The question snapped him out of his own thoughts, and he tried his best to think back to when he’d met the kid, “Hmm… a few months ago? Not too long,” it felt like it’d been ages ago, but truthfully, it’d probably only been since the last season. Even then, that seemed like way too generous an estimate. “Ran into him after he got fucked up on a mission. Stitched him up, fed him, sent him on his merry way,” which was truthfully an incredibly abridged version of what happened, and completely excluded the fact that Jaesun had continued to return to his home after that, visiting somewhat regularly, babysitting his kid, eating him out of house and home. 

Hanjae eyed the medic as subtly as he could as he worked on the task given to him, silently wondering what his motives were, why he was so eager to help them. The Howlers had always been so self-sufficient, never needing or bothering with any sort of outside help when it came to matters of their gang. They were a single unit, relied on each other for anything and everything they might need, and that may have gotten them into trouble sometimes but it was how they operated and Hanjae didn’t see that changing anytime soon. But Vic, however... it was as if he’d been one of them the entire time, so willing to heal their injured as if they were an extension of his family as well. It was conflicting, but not entirely unwelcome.

Something clicked in Hanjae’s brain in response to Vic’s explanation. “Ah, so you’re that one.” He remembered Jaesun’s stories, if only because the other wolf had been bringing attention to the fact that he’d gotten injured so bad that he even required such help in the first place. And Hanjae would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried for his friend, but then again the rest of the group chat had seemed to be as well. “Thanks for taking care of his stupid ass, I guess. I swear he’s gonna give us all heart palpitations.” Not that Hanjae himself was any better. He could be incredibly stupid when the opportunity presented itself--- the opportunity just didn’t present itself to Hanjae as much as it did Jaesun.

Coming to what he thought could be a satisfying outcome, Hanjae stopped his motions to instead lean over the mortar and inspect his work. “Does this look like a paste consistency to you?” he asked for a second opinion, holding the bowl out in Vic’s direction. He’d know, after all, he’d probably done this plenty of times before. 

[mercuryvc]

assimilation || hanjae & vic

[mercuryvc]

drvicvc:

He was quiet. Or maybe he was just incredibly worried. Regardless, Hanjae had quite the charm to him. There was something about not being hounded the whole time he worked he wasn’t used to, and it truthfully was a breath of fresh air. The offer for help, though, is something he’s literally never gotten before, though. His eyebrows raised in shock, “Seriously? I mean I could use help grinding up these herbs. Ever use a mortar and pestle?” 

He stepped away from the little side table, rolling some tension out of his shoulders as he made his way to his bag of goodies to pull out another set and some plantain leaves and peppermint leaves. “You can muddle these together for me? I need them to be almost a paste kind of consistency,” he extended the bedside table and set down the other mortar and pestle, alongside the leaves. “Just put a thin layer of both leaf types in and kinda swirl the pestle around the bowl with a little bit of pressure and it grinds up. It’s a bit of an arm workout, though,” he gave a gummy grin, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Him squeezing Hisoka’s hand didn’t go blind to his eyes. Vic was a curious man by nature, and truly, he’d gotten so used to conversation while he’s working it was weird for him to not speak, “She a friend of yours?” he asked, adding more calendula blooms to his own bowl, the tips of his fingers stained with orange. He didn’t know how to breach the subject of gangs- there were people who had friends in gangs but weren’t in gangs. He didn’t want to assume Hanjae was a Howler, at least outloud, but Jaesun and Hisoka were both part of Sam’s street gang family. It wasn’t too much of a jump to simply assume Hanjae was as well. 

Vic seemed to be genuinely shocked at the offer for help, which sort of caught Hanjae off guard. In the Howlers, it was just sort of assumed that everything was a team effort--- no matter how small or daunting the task at hand was. Helping each other was just sort of what they did best, something that wasn’t necessarily expected of them but always ended up happening nonetheless. “Yeah, seriously, put me to work,” he confirmed, taking the final steps around the bed to get a good look at everything the medic had spread out.

He hadn’t actually ever used a mortar and pestle, so he sent a negative shake of his head in Vic’s direction, but he was definitely willing to learn. Stepping forward to gaze over everything that he had set out for him, Hanjae listened intently to the directions he was presented with, nodding after every sentence as if to reassure the medic that he was understanding. His expression betrayed him near the end, lips nearly cracking a smile, though it ended up more like a brief lopsided grin. “Well, my arms could use a workout, that’s for sure,” he commented, reaching forward to follow Vic’s instructions as well as he could.

“Hm?” Hanjae looked up from his work, the sound more of an expression of surprise than confusion. He’d heard him clearly, was simply not expecting the question. “Yeah, we’re close, I guess. She’s been helping me through some stuff.” And really, that was already more than enough of an explanation, so he stopped himself there, instead turning the conversation on the witch himself. “How long have you known Jaesun?”

[vc-skoll]

smoking buddy

[mercuryvc]

vc-skoll:

“Werewolves?” Maybe recognizing that he is one causes her to laugh, but then she’s reminded that he doesn’t know that she knows. Or does he? Or would he be dropping hints that he isn’t human? Surely he knew in some way to be commenting something like that. Or she could very well be looking into things too much again. “I was thinking of forest ghosts or some shit. You know, stuff that’s actually real.” She snickers even knowing fully well that both exists. Just that spirits and disembodied voices seemed much more eerie compared to werewolves. That might just be a solid opinion though. Growing up in a forest meant she’d be coming across the forest-dwelling types after all. In her mind it feels almost unnatural to be feeling the cold touch of spirits and knowing exactly what it is. Plus, the werewolves she knew were all pretty great.

At the very least she was thrilled she’d come across another one she got along with - so far, that is. Alex shakes her head gently at the question, even goes as far as moving a bit to make space so he could lean against the tree too. Maybe this is the reason why she’d been iffy about socializing; she hadn’t been hanging around in the right (wrong?) crowd all this time. That or she didn’t give that many chances. Could be both. At least something’s going right for once though, since her usual paranoia isn’t fucking with her at the moment. “This is nice.” She takes a long drag, letting it waft out above their heads before she continues. “It gets pretty suffocating back there. It’s nice to just sit back and not give a fuck.”

“Forest ghosts,” Hanjae echoed, a chuckle rumbling somewhere deep in his chest. Maybe that was because she had the urge to add the word ‘forest’, implying that forest ghosts were somehow completely different entities than any other ghost, or maybe that was because she’d also implied that werewolves weren’t real. And that was laughable on its own, really--- Hanjae himself had always believed in werewolves. Although, maybe, that was because he’d been young when he was turned, too young for that belief to fade before he was hit head on with the truth of it all. “What, you’re scared of ghosts? They can’t actually do anything, just whisper in your ear a little to freak you out.” And in no way was he about to deny that ghosts were real. He’d seen too much shit at this point to deny the existence of anything, really. 

A small smile fell over his lips as she physically made room for him, and he settled into the newly cleared space, bringing his cigarette to his lips once again. This was nice, comfortable, though really how badly could two people who had somehow ended up in the same obscure place for the same obscure reason possibly get along? Hanjae pulled his knees to his chest, only to rest his head upon them, facing his new companion. He let out a vague hum of agreement, allowing his cigarette to simply hang between his teeth for a moment. “You can sit back and not give a fuck anywhere,” he suggested, though he had to agree that the white noise of the forest, paired with no possibility of anyone around to bother you definitely helped. A lot. “I mean, you might get shit for it. But hey, if you don’t give a fuck, then what effect does judgement have on you, right?”

[mercuryvc]

assimilation || hanjae & vic

[mercuryvc]

drvicvc:

Jaesun had given him the rundown on who had been injured in The Howler takedown, so to phrase it. Jaesun’s boyfriend, Junho, Sam, and Sam’s daughter- and as much as he wanted to see Sam, he knew his best friend would be safe in the hands of his former crew, and he knew more than anything his duty lay in healing the blonde woman laying in a hospital bed in front of him. This was Sam’s daughter, after all- which, oh boy, that man had some explaining to do. More so, this was Jaesun’s best friend, and Jaesun meant a lot to Victor. This woman was so, so important to two people who were incredibly important to him, so he’d already informed the staff he’d be working on the girl. After all, just a short four years ago he’d been employed at this very hospital. 

And then there was the guy on the other side of the bed, Hanjae, if he remembered the introduction correctly. He didn’t really know what the kid’s deal was, but he was probably a Howler, all things considered. He seemed frazzled, to say the very least, and very much seemed just as worried about her as Jaesun had been. Truthfully, he was a little surprised that Hanjae hadn’t spoken up sooner. After all, Vic had been crafting his concoctions for a good minute afer all. 

“Well,” he started, looking at both little concoctions he was making, “This one is some incense to help with the gas breathed in, to purify her lungs and help her breathe on her own, and this,” he raised a muddle of crushed up herbs, “is the start of a salve to help her gunshot wounds- she really took a beating out there… to be honest? Sorta surprised her body’s fighting as hard as it is. I used to be a doctor here, worked here in the ICU.” he continued to muddle the various herbs and oils, “I could show you how to make these if you want. Super easy- doesn’t require any special witchy-powers,”

Vic’s thorough explanations were helping his nerves, really, if ever so slightly. He may not have been one of them, but at least he wasn’t hiding anything from them--- unless he was just that good of a liar, but Hanjae doubted it, the tone of the medic’s voice sounding so utterly genuine that he felt no need to question it. Not that he’d thought the man had any particularly malicious intentions toward them, or toward Hisoka specifically, but it was nice to know that he had thought this through, that he knew what he was doing.

At his comment about Hisoka’s recovery, Hanjae found himself returning his gaze to focus on his friend, sighing helplessly at her state. Hisoka was important to him. And maybe she didn’t know just how important she actually was, but that was no fault of her own--- Hanjae was the one who was bad at expressing his feelings, sticking to lighthearted conversation and mutual interest. But he could be himself around Hisoka, no matter what version of himself that was, and that was enough. More than enough. And that meant a lot to him.

Briefly, he slipped his hand into that of his friend’s, giving it a gentle squeeze before stepping away. Just a bit a reassurance, despite her lack of consciousness. “Later, maybe,” he gave in response to Vic’s offer, stepping around the edge of the bed. It might be a useful skill to have, after all, but maybe trying to learn things like that could wait until their gang could be pieced back together. “Do you need any help with anything? I’m good at following directions, I swear.”

[mercuryvc]

assimilation || hanjae & vic

@drvicvc

Hanjae’s hands held tight to the railing of the hospital bed as he stood off to its side, body tense and attention focused on Hisoka’s unconscious form before him. His friend wasn’t in good shape in the slightest, and maybe he would have been more emotional standing by her side if he were alone in the room. But he wasn’t. No, there was a stranger occupying the space on the other side of the room, some supposedly magical healer who Jaesun had brought in for help. And Hanjae trusted Jaesun, he really did. But there was something about the thought of a strange witch doing anything to Hisoka in her current state that just put him on edge, made him want to protect her with everything he had.

Jaesun wouldn’t allow anything that had the slightest chance of hurting Hisoka--- she was basically his sister, after all--- and that was the thought that Hanjae held onto, repeated in his brain as he eyed the witch--- Vic, as he was introduced--- preparing something on the other side of the bed. He was told to stay with him and aid him with anything he might need while healing Hisoka, so that was what he would do. With caution. “...What’s that?” Hanjae questioned, gesturing vaguely toward the concoction that Vic held in his hands. It was probably unnecessary, maybe even distracting, but he wanted to stay in the loop as best as he could right now.

[mercuryvc]

spark of anxiety || self para

So he was on babysitting duty. Great. Not that Hanjae considered Honey helpless--- quite the opposite, actually, he was pretty fucking terrified of what he could potentially do--- but Sam made it pretty fucking clear that he was the less desirable choice, just there as Jaesun’s backup and to keep an eye on Honey. Well, Sungmin was there too, and Hanjae trusted him to do quite literally anything except fight. So there was that.

He wasn’t sure why he was expecting a giant ambush the moment he met the others at Honey’s front door, but that didn’t happen. Literally nothing had happened--- they were just sitting in an awkward circle around Honey’s living room waiting for some sort of communication from Sam. Sungmin, bless him, was trying his best to keep some sort of lighthearted conversation going but Honey didn’t really seem to want to talk about much at the moment, and Hanjae himself was so full of anxiety that he could barely comprehend the words leaving his own mouth.

Hanjae’s phone buzzed once in his pocket, signaling a new message in the Howlers’ group chat. He could hear an amused snort from Sungmin’s direction as he pulled his phone from his back pocket. “What is it now? Hisoka still trying to get a cat? Or is it another Sam meme?” But the older man’s words fell on deaf ears as Hanjae’s eyes scanned over the message in all caps, and before he even had a moment to process what he’d just read, the message disappeared, his screen replaced with a picture of Lena pulling a comedic face, her contact info stamped over it. And his hands were shaking, but he somehow managed to swipe the bar across the lower half of the screen to accept the call.

“...Lena?” It was hard for him to get the first word out but once he did, panic found itself into his tone of voice, unable to stop. “Are you okay? Is everyone okay? What the fuck is happening?” And that, at least, seemed to gain the attention of everyone else in the room, wide eyes all pointed in his direction. But he paid no mind, instead listening to the panicked voice of his friend on the other end of the call, making absolutely no sense but somehow getting her point across just fine. “Fuck, where are you?” And he made his way quickly to the front door and out into the mid day heat, no communication with his group no matter how many questions were thrown his way, but they seemed to be following anyway, at least. “Look--- we’re on our way, okay Lena? Just stay on the phone with me.”

[mercuryvc]

glitter is for winners || hanjae & hisoka

[mercuryvc]

vcxhisoka:

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped a bit in surprise, “You’re serious, aren’t you? Yes, Hanjae. Bar soap is bad and should stop,” she was low-key mad, though. She had a 12 step routine every three days to get her skin to look this good, and this bitch was out here using bar soap????? Boys don’t deserve such nice things, this is bullshit. “Though I’ll admit it looks good for being fucking bar soap.”

“It’s fine if you can’t tell, though, hon,” she grinned as she dug through the pouch of goodies, “Skin is a tricky bitch, and it’s hard to tell sometimes. You could even have seasonallyoily or dry skin, or combination skin. Or even just normal- it’s not dry, but you don’t produce a whole ton of oil either,” she pulled out a little cardboard compact that looked like it could contain gum. When she opened it, however, there were tiny sheets of nearly transparent paper, “Here,” she tore one out of the package and handed it to him before pulling one out for herself. “Gently push this paper on your face here, here, here, and here,” she blotted her nose, forehead, chin, and cheeks, “This paper absorbs oils, so if you have oily skin you’ll be able to see it,” she held her paper out, nearly bone dry aside from one or two minuscule spots, “I’m dry, so the paper does nothing for me,”

“Also, bar soap strips the skins of the good stuff, so if you’re oily but you’ve got good skin it might be because you’re stripping the skin of the moisture and good stuff. The skin makes oils to keep itself hydrated,” she nodded, “So we’re gonna get you some basic skin care stuff too,”

Hanjae plastered on an innocent smile in response to her outburst, internally cringing at his own stupidity. Though, really, the bar soap was more out of necessity than negligence--- he couldn’t really spare the time or money to establish a regular skin care routine, and even if he could, he wouldn’t know where to start. He was lucky his skin hadn’t retaliated against him yet. Maybe it was those regenerative werewolf genes--- so, there was one thing lycanthropism was good for, at least. 

Terms were being thrown at him, and he had no idea what half of them meant, but he nodded anyway, trying his best to comprehend and follow along. He really was serious about this, more serious than he’d been about any single class he’d taken in high school, and maybe that’s why he’d finally broken down and called for Hisoka’s help in the first place. He wasn’t about to allow her lesson to fall on deaf ears. Taking the offered blotting paper, he glanced between it and Hisoka’s demonstration, mirroring each of her actions on his own face, pressing the paper against each area that she’d pointed out. Hanjae’s eyes widened as he pulled the sheet back far enough to get a good look at it, nose scrunching up. “Oh, gross,” he commented offhandedly, waving around the paper, now with a nearly transparent blob in the center. “Does that mean I’m oily?”

Hanjae sighed in response to her words, eyes cast downward. “You know I can’t afford good skincare, Soka. Maybe, like, a recommendation for a decent face cleanser would be nice, though.”

[mercuryvc]

glitter is for winners || hanjae & hisoka

[mercuryvc]

vcxhisoka:

A part of her figured there was more to it than Hanjae was letting on, but she wasn’t about to pry. Or maybe he truly was just confused and didn’t really know where to start. Regardless, Hisoka was going to teach him all the fundamentals.

“Well, then I guess I’ll just start off with a crash course on everything,” she dug into her train case of makeup and pulled out a folder containing what seemed to be informational flyers. She grabbed one and handed it to Hanjae, “This is kinda like a flowchart or a cheat sheet on what order everything usually goes in, feel free to use it to follow along. Let me know if you have questions along the way too, feel free to stop me!” 

“So first off, primer is your base. There are tons of different ones for different skin issues, but for the most part, the purpose of a primer is to help your makeup go on smooth and stay longer. If you’ve got oily skin,” she pulled her case open and reached in, pulling out a tube, “You’ll want to use something with oil control or matifying properties. If you’re like me and your skin is dry,” she reached in, this time pulling out a glass bottle with a milky white substance that really looked questionable, “You want to use a hydrating primer. Putting makeup of dry skin can look really heavy and unnatural, so you want to prep the skin as much as possible. As much as it sucks to say, makeup will only look as good as what’s underneath. You have to take care of your skin to give makeup a fighting chance.”

Hanjae accepted the flyer, eyes raking endlessly over the step-by-step procedure printed on the page. And of course he was overwhelmed, why wouldn’t he be? He truly had not realized there was so much involved in beauty. Closing his eyes, he sent a little prayer out there for the people who went all out like this every day. They were the real MVPs, no matter what anyone said. Hanjae couldn’t be convinced otherwise at this point. 

Eyes following Hisoka’s every movement, Hanjae was sure he was making more of an effort to listen to her than he had for any single one of his teachers in school growing up. It was probably comical, really, how wide and innocent his eyes became as he listened, entirely ready to be shown the light or whatever. Eyebrows pulling in concentration, he lifted the back of his hand to his cheek as if that would immediately help him determine his skin type. “I think... I’m a bit more oily? I dunno, I can’t really tell.” And why, exactly, did that almost make him feel disappointed? “So, um... washing my face with bar soap is probably bad, right? That should stop?”

[mercuryvc]

distractions || hanjae & lena

[mercuryvc]

vcxlena:

{▶▶▶}

Lena stuck her tongue right back out at Hanjae, screwing her nose up for good measure before laughing. She made a sound of slight indignation at her friend’s words, not so subtly grabbing a handful of her shoulder length hair to bring a few strands to her nose before pulling a face. Hanjae was right, the familiar heavy tang of chemicals and powders clung to her hair and it was no wonder that his sensitive nose picked it up. She tossed it back over her shoulder deliberately.

“Well we didn’t all have time to pretty up did we, some of us were actually working.” She teased, before remembering that in the given circumstances, she technically shouldn’t have been working either. “Speaking of, don’t tell Sam. I don’t want to be the one to get on his bad side right now…..but I couldn’t stay at home. I would have gone nuts.” Lena knew that no Howler liked to keep secrets from their leader – it just wasn’t the done thing, not in a group as tightly knit as theirs was, but she knew it wasn’t likely that he would take to kindly to her disobeying a direct order. “Pretty please?” She said, making a show of fluttering her eyelashes at her friend, sticking out her bottom lip as far as it would go.

She shuddered as a waft of cool air blew over her skin. She hadn’t had the fashion foresight that Hanjae had had, and she was dressed in a tank top with a jacket that was barely thicker than a sheet of paper. This place was no Howler, that’s for sure, and she pulled her thin jacket tighter around her shoulders to keep out the chill. She didn’t even want to think about what kind of state their usual haunt was in right now. Since being dragged to Agdoeg, the bar had become almost homely to her, a place of comfort where she was surrounded by the people who had taken her in when she was at her most lost and afraid, so now that it was in shambles, so too was Lena.

She frowned. She was doing what she had came here specifically not to do – overthink – and so she shook her head sharply, trying to dislodge her thoughts before ordering a Vodka Cranberry. “So,” she said, crossing her legs on the bar stool, “what’s the plan? Slow and steady, or are we here to get plastered?”

Hanjae watched as his friend sniffed at her own hair, letting out a soft laugh as she pulled a face in response to the smell. The expression that he sent her way in return was almost victorious, saying ‘told you so’ without words. Sometimes he really wished he could get rid of the enhanced senses that came in a package deal with the deep scratches on the side of his torso. Being a werewolf was great and all, in theory, but sometimes he smelled and heard and saw things that he really wished he wouldn’t have. Now, for instance.

He hadn’t insinuated that she was working, just that she’d been at the lab, but now that Lena was directly admitting to doing work, he couldn’t help the pointed expression that he sent her way. Not that he was against her working, but going against direct orders was dangerous. And he cared about her. “As long as he doesn’t ask, my lips are sealed,” he concluded, because he couldn’t lie to their leader, but withholding information was entirely different. Especially if it was trivial information. Especially if it was to help out another Howler. For Lena, well, it was unspoken that he’d go to more lengths for her than he would for most other people. 

“So don’t give him a reason to ask. I swear to God, you better be on your best fucking behavior. Please don’t put me in that situation.” It was an empty threat, really, one that was followed by a gentle bump of shoulders, just to remind her that he was on her side. Because he was.

Downing the rest of the beer that was resting in front of him, he considered her question. Normally, he’d concede to getting completely fucked up without a second thought, but normally he was at the Howler, where he knew he was safe and surrounded only by friendly company. Now, though... “...You know what? Fuck it, I’m stressed. Plastered it is,” he decided finally, waiting for the bartender to return with Lena’s drink before ordering a round of shots.

[jaesunvc-deactivated20180802]

complexes // ft. hanjae

[mercuryvc]

jaesunvc:

might be worth it. jaesun guesses that’s all he needs to take that as consent, not clarifying any further as he creeps over towards the back entrance instead. and honestly, no matter what they chose to do, this mission is fucked anyway. they were going to plain ol’ smoke people out and ensnare them in a trap later on, instead of allowing themselves to be trapped in the first place. so, honestly, jaesun has no fucking idea how to go about things very well, very delicately or gracefully. he only knows how to work, and to work to the roughest of his abilities. “when i say might collapse, i’m giving it a ninety-nine percent chance of collapsing, man.”

the staircase as the back entrance is far more fragile than the main stairs, but the main banister is weaker. if anything — if the steps crumble, make a lot of noise — the back entrance has a sturdier banister, one they could literally climb up if all else fails. jaesun doesn’t think it’ll resort to that though. not honestly, at least. he thinks, there’s still a chance they could make their way up without meeting a gory doom. perhaps. maybe. so many doubts and he has no idea what to do with them. he just walks anyway, keeping footsteps light and as silent as he can, saying nothing as he approaches the banisters from behind. looks over them carefully, sweeps a hand over the dust that lightly coats everything.

he almost sneezes, represses it with a severe scrunch of his nose, of his entire face, before he moves to look at hanjae, voice adopting a low whisper, raspy words. “if you’re good with this, we can creep up quickly. if you feel something give-in though, just run up. the banisters are surprisingly secure, so hang on for dear life and fucking monkey-climb your way up if you have to. the only thing about this is that they won’t hear it as well, unlike if we go up the main stairs. trust me, i’ve pranked far too many people like this, and they still haven’t caught on yet.”

“Ninety nine---” Hanjae’s eyes widened slightly in surprise as Jaesun gave him a numerical estimate of their chances, though as the initial shock settled in, Hanjae found that he could only let out a vague hum of acknowledgement as he took in the situation. “...Okay.” Because he was already following close at Jaesun’s heels despite the fact that the number should have deterred him from the idea. He’d probably follow Jaesun anywhere, in all honesty. Would you jump off a bridge if Jaesun did it? Hanjae played through his head in the most annoying stereotypical parent voice he could think of, and he found that yes. Yes, he would.

The problem was that he trusted Jaesun too much, just as he trusted the rest of the Howlers. And, really, he wouldn’t ever think to label that trait a problem, but clearly there was something a bit unhealthy about leaning so much on such a small group of people, if their little mission today had anything to show for it. They were here, after all, because the Howlers didn’t question each other enough, made it easy for someone to slip through. So, maybe it was a bit of a fatal flaw.

It was times like these that Hanjae was almost grateful for his hardened lungs, which took in too many questionable substances to be irritated by a little dust at this point. His eyes wandered over the sketchy staircase, but his ears were trained entirely on Jaesun’s words, listening carefully. This seemed like the type of thing that required every last bit of his attention. “Go fast, keep a hand on the rail, got it,” he summarized, his tone hushed to match Jaesun’s own. “If we can get by quietly, then it’s definitely worth it,” Hanjae decided finally, punctuating the sentence with a single nod of his head. “Yeah, okay, I’m right behind you.”

[mercuryvc]

fairy lights over dusty windowsills, mattresses and pillows and blankets scattered over the floor, a single room lit by a single dim lamp, exposed pipes and radiators, the roar of street work outside, a rusty fire escape, polaroid photos messily taped across a wall, the click of a lock late at night, loud music buried beneath louder conversations, blowing smoke straight out of an open window, the paranoid need to look over your shoulder

[mercuryvc]

now I'm dodging, dodging everything you think that I'm not archetype of television, was lost in thought but held my vision

[mercuryvc]

glitter is for winners || hanjae & hisoka

[mercuryvc]

vcxhisoka:

“I mean, if those colors are what you’re looking for, hell yes it’s an acceptable color scheme. I’ve done a rainbow smokey eye before and it came out looking bomb,” she giggled, thinking back to the cut crease look she’d done for pride last year. She knew she’d be able to find it if she scrolled all the way back on her Insta, but that involved scrolling an entire year back, and your girl was entirely too lazy for that, “I could even do it on you one day, but you brought me here to teach you more of the basics first,”

She sat up right, crossing her legs as she pulled the sleeves of her hoodie over her hands a little more, “So, makeup can be used to enhance, or to transform. You can enhance your natural beauty and accentuate your favorite features, or you can completely change the way you look- it all depends on the products and techniques you use,” she explained, sounding more like a teacher and professional and less like the usual Hisoka found dicking around the Howler’s base. “With natural makeup it’s really easy to make it look like you’re not wearing anything, but it takes practice. I’d even argue that doing a full face of glam is actually more forgiving when you make a mistake, since there’s so much going on it’s hard for a little mistake to stand out. What is it you want to be able to achieve with makeup?”

There was almost a sort of sparkle in his eyes as he listened to Hisoka talk, imagining such a lovely mess of colors. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to accomplish anything of the sort on his own, especially with his current set of knowledge and abilities, but maybe some day, with practice, he’d attempt something that bold. That was a bit of a more distant goal. Currently, he wanted nothing more than to feel comfortable. And glittery. Those two things would be nice. “Right, yeah, basics first.”

What is it you want to be able to achieve with makeup? Hanjae wasn’t quite sure he had a straight answer to that question. It was hard to explain the feeling of gender dysphoria, especially to someone who had never experienced such a thing. Sometimes he just looked in the mirror and wanted to be someone else. Or, rather, he wanted to be himself but a slightly different version of himself. It was like he could embrace certain features of his half of the time, and the other half was spent in vague discomfort with his own perception of himself. As stated before... hard to explain. “I dunno, I just wanna look... different sometimes, I guess.” And that was insufficient, obviously so, but it was better than spending hours talking himself in circles trying to get his point across. “We could start with the natural makeup or whatever and go from there? Sounds like a good place to start.”

[mercuryvc]

glitter is for winners || hanjae & hisoka

[mercuryvc]

vcxhisoka:

Hisoka had her brush case she used for clients at her side, wanting to just make sure each and every single one of them was clean before she put any of them near his face She swears, cleaning brushes feels like it took hours when in truth, she was normally done in five to ten minutes. With one of those ribbed mats that stick to the sink and a really good soap, anything was truly possible. Thankfully, she really hadn’t used much of anything on her last client, as she’d opted for very minimal makeup, so she’d only found one or two eye brushes in her stash, so it was easy enough to just spritz some quick dry cleaner and they were good to go. 

She carried them back to his room, confident they were all nice and clean, “Well, a lot of them are literally just like, limited edition collector things that I really don’t plan on using, but still want to own. And you’re not necessarily wrong?” she plopped the brush roll down and then flopped next to him, “A palette is more so an assortment of every color you’d need to make a bitchin’ look within a certain color scheme, or to give you access to basic looks in several color schemes. I can’t think of a single palette that’s a one and done, but there are a lot of them that you can totally get away with just owning the one and you’d still serve looks on the daily. For the longest time I only owned one,” 

“Why do you---” he interrupted his own question with a shake of his head, thinking better of continuing down that line of interrogation. It always seemed that the farther he delved into the world of makeup, he only became more confused. Like--- why would you buy something for it just to sit in your makeup bag unused? Wouldn’t it just go bad eventually? Maybe that was just the realist in him talking. If he’d just let go of logic sometimes, he might be able to enjoy things more.

“And yet, past you is already a step ahead of me,” Hanjae muttered, nearly under his breath. There were only a couple of single eyeshadows hidden somewhere in his bathroom cabinets, one dark matte shade that he used as a soft eyeliner every once in a while and an eye catching metallic glitter shade that he was just... drawn to. See, sometimes he made purchases without reason. Like a true beauty guru already. “So wait--- you’re saying that this---” he paused to gesture vaguely at a palette he’d come across earlier that contained an assortment of bright rainbow colors. “---is an acceptable color scheme? Sounds gay and obnoxious. That’s exactly what I want on my face.”

[jaesunvc-deactivated20180802]

complexes // ft. hanjae

[mercuryvc]

jaesunvc:

fingers work at walls as they tear the lost and found posters off, not quite understanding why they were littered across the building in the first place. especially amongst the interior. then again, the space they occupied wasn’t a home by any means, and was mostly rubble now, an open courtyard sitting smack-bang in the middle. jaesun imagines a better time for this place, where perhaps it really was a home for someone. or a family, even. once upon a time, this wreckage had been treasure and cherished, and palms brushing along the material of the walls has him feeling nostalgic for a time he never lived. he doesn’t know what this place was, nor what it even is now, and he’s about to smoke the current occupants out. there’s probably some special place in hell for the howlers, if jaesun thinks on it carefully. for all the stupid things they pulled, no matter for the good of whoever, there was still a seat reserved for all of them in the fiery pits down there.

“straw,” he declares, after gathering a bunch of it in his arms, trying to keep his voice quiet. it wouldn’t be smart to arouse suspicion at this current moment, knowing that the others could still be suspicious of them as well. it wouldn’t be a far-fetched idea to see howler going against howler in a prank, but by the sounds of their conversation, this extends much further than a mere prank. “and papers. i don’t think there are any newspapers, seriously. is this all we have?” he’d have to grab more straw at this rate, the ends poking against torso and sticking through his jacket, tickling him.

the staircases come back into view as jaesun steps out carefully, items in hand, eyes scouting. “hanjae, there’s a back entrance. but it’s kind of risky. and when i say risky, i mean… the whole fucking thing might collapse with us on it. what do you trust more? your speed, or your ability to hang onto some bannisters?” this is stupid. the entire thing is stupid, but it has to be done. sam would have both of their heads on skewers if this entire mission was botched, and hanjae wasn’t even supposed to be here. jaesun’s going to be put through the wringer, he can see it already.

Hanjae worked alongside Jaesun, collecting posters and straw and anything else that could possibly work, recalling and repeating the steps that he’d once been taught in his head. It occurred to him how odd this building was, how eccentric it must have been even before it was abandoned and reduced to what it is now. Regardless, it was full of character and really, that trait alone was enough to make it the perfect backdrop for a group like the Howlers, all rowdy gatherings and play fights and chaotic conversations. If he could forget what he was there for, clear his mind, maybe smoke a blunt or two, he might even feel comfortable there.

As they met back up, Hanjae surveyed the contents of Jaesun’s arms, then his own findings, letting out a vague hum. He wasn’t sure whether it was of disappointment, because there wasn’t near enough to smoke up the whole building, or surprise, because really he wasn’t even expecting to find this much here. “That’s okay, it’ll have to do,” he commented quickly. It didn’t take much to make a simple smoke signal, but they’d need a lot of them. And they’d need to place them strategically if they were going to create an illusion of the building being on fire. Shit, his head hurt.

Deciding it best to get some sort of head start, Hanjae began as he half-listened to Jaesun speak, gathering a small bundle of straw and wrapping a poster tightly around it until it resembled an oversized cigarette. Eyes still focused on his task, he blinked twice in response to Jaesun’s comment, trying his best to process the words. “When you say might collapse, how likely are we talking?” Because really, if the odds were in their favor, it might be better for them to risk taking the back entrance, deal with any problems should they arise. And they were fast, but so were their targets--- they’d trained with the Howlers, after all--- the entrance they’d come in through was a good distance away from where they stood now. “Might be worth it.”