i meant to talk to you more during the hot shot party
there are not many cool people out there who are chill with kissing strangers and don't make it weird
so thanks??
i realize it's like, 2am
so you don't have to reply to this tonight
or at all
but hi 🍤

[there is a message coming in with the recipients being jaehyuk and an unknown number]

You have to let people go. Everyone who's in your life are meant to be in your journey, but not all of them are meant to stay till the end.

[if the vampire hybrid tries to respond, he'll find that none of his texts get delivered. resending them will only give him the same results. if he calls, an automated voice tells him that the phone is off]

[ While Jae knew Haruto to sometimes get philosophical, this ... seemed a little out of character. ]

While that sometimes is true and there are moments when you should let someone go for their own good, there are also moments when one should try and keep them close.

[ ... not delivered. ]

Is there something going on that sparked this?

[ Nothing. ]

Haruto, please stop messing around.

[ Still nothing. Even resending it doesn't do anything. He tries to call, but even then - nothing. It's hard for someone like him to feel fear, and yet he can feel the ice seeping into his veins. ]

Haruto, please. If there's something going on, you need to talk to me. Contact me as soon as you can.

[ Even if it's unlikely he'll get an answer. The fear is slowly being overtaken by anger - anger at the situation, at the frustration that he's feeling over not noticing earlier if something was awry.

He needed to get away.

He needed to find the reaper. ]

[ Rooks is sure that, once all the dust has settled and things are as normal as they ever are in his world, that he is going to look back on this fiasco as something just a little hilarious and totally worth telling to friends. honestly, how often can you say that you managed to get your status of demon revoked despite punishment still being a thing that was ongoing simply because you indulged in your punishment with the wrong person? not many beings, he is sure.

point of the matter was, Rook was human for the first time in hell only knows how long thanks to a dalliance with the guard dog of the hall of judgement, blessed with mortality once more. he has a few options about where to go and who to contact (what with thing being very sudden and all, Rook didn't manage to get his shit together), but above all, he thinks to seek out Jaehyuk.

it was strange, trying to fit into this skin again (not that it was different just-- less attuned? more attuned? he wasn't sure the difference actually), body still remembering how to move and exist without the coils of Lust in his bones. he made his way through the streets of Seoul with a bounce in his step if only because so many people were walking past him, brushing by him, with no hints or tangled of their emotions reaching him.

he was free from the bonds of his former Cardinal.

it takes him a while to get to Jae's apartment, and it isn't until he lands at the door that he thinks that, hey, maybe he should have texted the other to see if he was around. it had been... a while since they last talked. mostly because of Rook and his, uh, predicament. he isn't sure how long he was out being stripped of his demon status, but he knows it didn't happen quickly.

fiddling with the phone in his pocket, Rook steels himself and hopes to whatever might be listening (and not hate him) that the demon is home before he knocks.

loudly.]

Jae? You around?

[ if anyone was going to notice the change in him immediately, it was the former vampire. ]

[ Now considering what they both were and what their particular domains were, it wasn't exactly unheard of for either one of them to go missing for some time. Though they were both horribly guilty of trying to keep tabs on one another, whether out of actual genuine concern or just as a means of getting off. (And to their credit, they had gotten better about not just teleporting to wherever the other was just to sate those needs. Mostly.)

But much like after Haruto's death, where Jae had disappeared for a few days to force himself to work through the rage inside - he found the tables turned. Any attempts at trying to find the lust demon were for nothing - he wasn't at any of their usual haunts, nor had their mutual contacts heard from him in some time.

He was at his wits' end, really - he was half-tempted to go ask Leviathan, but he was sure that would just end with him trying to attempt to put the other demon through the wall.

(and probably lead up to the two of them quite literally trying to break the other, whether by fighting or fucking)

He almost jolts when he hears the knock, and while the voice sounds familiar - though muffled - he can't sense anything. Literally. Normally he could easily sense the other demon, but this -

Jae squares his shoulders, frowning before opening the door, though he can't quite hide the surprise on his face when he sees Rook standing in front of him, mortal. ]

... love, what happened?

[she's popping in because she can. i mean, it's hard to resist not wanting to tease him face to face rather than through text.

she pops in from behind, hands running down his back while she speaks in a sexy voice]

But imagine how amazing our children would be?