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Jinu isn't sure how it works - he doesn't even realize that it did, honestly, at first.
Gwi-Ma's fingers in his mind, ripping into the threads of his soul rarely leave much room for thought.
The agony is all consuming, fire racing up his spine.
It's not his first time writhing on Gwi-Ma's alter as an example to the others. It won't be the last.
Whatever battered part of him that dares even a whisper of hope ensures that.
But somehow - somehow. He’s sprawled, breath hitching, body convulsing somewhere else.
The Honmoon hums under him, like it did hours earlier as Rumi's song pulled him in. Not a threat, not an electric hum like lightening about to strike under his skin.
Almost....like Derpy's energy pressing into him. Curious. Cautious. But not rejecting him.
He gasps pathetically, a sob leaving him, hitched and miserable. His hands spasm in pain. Gwi-Ma dropped him deliberately, and he’s not sure why he's- he's probably unconscious. The briefest reprieve. The quickest and only escape.
"Jinu?" Rumi looks - like no time has passed. But sleep mussed.
A dream, probably. Not real.
But the way her hand cups his cheek is so warm and gentle. He presses into the touch pathetically.
"What happened?" She sinks down next to him, and he thinks - what does he have to lose?
This is a dream.
The honmoon would never be this soft under his body, Rumi would never look at him like this. Not if she knew.
He draws another shuddering breath, turning into her hand until it covers his mouth. "He saw it. He...he knows." Another hitch in his voice, she smells the same in the dream. Soft, sweet, earthy. Something uniquely Rumi. "I don't want to do this."
The Honmoon whispers under him, and he's never been more aware of it than in this moment. It echoes their song.
"Gwi-Ma?" She asks, and her other hand touches his cheek, wiping something wet away. "What does he want you to do?"
"I-" The gasping sob makes her face change, and he braces himself for rejection - he doesn't have nice dreams. This is just a trick of the last threads of hope. It will fade. He'll obey.
What choice is there?
Rumi settles on the ground next to him, lifting his head until it reats gently in her lap, fingers threading through his hair. "I can't fix it unless you tell me, Jinu."
So he does,Gwi-Ma's plan spilling from his lips as tears pour down his cheeks. Everything hurts, and this hurts the most.
Rumi is quiet, and several times she flinches, but she doesn't push him away.
It's more than his dreams usually allow him. He’s grateful. He's starving for any scrap of kindness. Even this brief escape that his own mind has crafted.
"Are you in the demon realm?" She asks him gently, when he’s told her everything and melted into her fingers again, his breath still catching.
"I think so. I passed out." He whispers.
"He tortured you." She whispers.
He closes his eyes, waiting to hear that he deserved it.
She leans down, and he's shocked at the brush of something warm and slightly wet against his forehead.
He shivers, and the Honmoon resonate with something like approval.
"Come to me, Jinu." She whispers. It's not a command.
He could refuse. Rumi wouldn't force him.
But the Honmoon makes it a command.
Come. Come.
He nods, swallowing back another sob. "As soon as I can."
She wraps her arms around his shoulders, the warmth of her surrounding him.
He lets himself melt into her without thinking, letting her hold him with a low rumble vibrating in his chest.
Her voice is soft when she laughs, voice still quiet and fingers trailing through his hair. "You sound like Tiger. Like you are trying to purr."
"Probably could." He mumbles, thanking whatever kindness that is letting him linger in this dream.
"Demons have a very expansive vocal range." She muses, and he reaches up to trace his fingers over the patterns on her throat.
They're beautiful. An edge that is just barely illuminated with every breath she takes. "One of the only benefits." He agrees, more relaxed than he can recall feeling in centuries.
"You'll come when you wake up?" She asks gently.
This is a dream. She doesn't actually want him to come to her.
But he nods, thumb soothing the skin on her throat. So soft.
So soft and warm. He drifts in it.
"You look like shit." Baby's voice cuts the last thread of Rumi's presence. "Not sure why you're smiling in your sleep."
His body feels like shit as he comes back into it, and when he lifts his hand to his face it comes away bloody. "Nygh."
"Go wash that off." Baby commands. "We need to be there in less than an hour."
Everything hurts. All of him. "How long?"
"He couldn't make you wake up, so he let us bring you back." Baby informs him curtly. "And you're welcome."
He snorts, and then hacks up a mouthful of blood. "Thanks."
"You're more coherent than I expected." Baby sighs. "I hope this plan of yours works."
What he isn't expecting is how clear his head feels. Gwi-Ma's voice is quiet, and the sour taste of bile is covered by the sharp metallic taste of blood. "Me too." He says, swallowing back his pain as he pulls himself into his feet.
They're back in the apartment they rented. It's barely furnished because they're rarely there.
Case to point - he can only sense Baby in his immediate vicinity as he staggers to the sink and starts the process of washing blood off his face and out of his hair.
Baby drops a pile of clothes on the counter next to him, frowning at him. He can feel the disapproval radiating off of the other demon, but none of them will cross the line of indicating they give a shit.
Maybe…
The Honmoon whispers as he moves, the edges of it shimmering with the same color as Rumi's patterns had in his dream.
"I need to do something." He mutters.
"Jinu." Is a hiss, less human than Baby clearly expects. "If you fuck this up."
"Calm down - I know what I'm doing." He grabs the pile of clothes. "I'll get changed on the way."
He vanishes before Baby can say anything else, taking himself to the balcony he's sent Tiger to a dozen times now.
He just… Wants to see. It's a dream, he knows that.
But he wants to see her.
At least one last look.
He's not expecting all three of them to be in Rumi's room, arms bare and all of them sniffling a little bit.
It's Mira who jerks the door open, gaze raking him up and down. "You look like shit."
"Um." He rasps.
Rumi is there a moment later, throwing her arms around him in a hug that knocks the breath out of his lungs.
"At least you tried to wipe the blood off." Zoey offers, slightly more charitable. "She told him to come as soon as he woke up."
Mira takes the pile of clothes, setting them on a small table inside the door.
"Real?" He whispers, dazed, arms wrapping around Rumi in reflex.
"Real." She confirms, not letting him go. "Where are you hurt?" And at last she pulls back a little- Mira is still glaring at him, but Zoey looks… Curious? Friendly, maybe?
"I-"
He doesn't know how to explain. The blood is from screaming and clawing at his own head. Gwi-Ma doesn't need to lower himself to physically harming them.
"I heal fast." He settles on, but lets Rumi drag him into the room.
Tiger is there, sprawled on the floor like he lives there, and his eyes only need to flick around to spot the bird.
Zoey appears with a first aid box and a wet towel, and Rumi starts gently wiping his face and hands while Mira keeps watch.
The Honmoon hums, the colors reflecting on the visible skin on Rumi's arms.
He's too overwhelmed to speak.
"What about the others? If we give them an option, will they help us?" Zoey asks.
Mira snorts, arms crossing.
"Maybe?" The Honmoon flares around his legs. "Are you…?"
"We don't know why it's doing that." Zoey admits. "But it seems to like you."
Tiger presses against him, rumbling low in his chest.
"You should have opened with the Tiger." Zoey informs him. "Nobody could be evil with a good boy like him."
A sound escapes him, maybe a laugh. He isn't sure. The Honmoon is keeping Gwi-Ma from dragging him back down.
He didn't know it could do that. He doesn't know what to think about the fact that it is doing that.
His head turns so he can look at Rumi and she pauses in her efforts of washing his face, worried eyes locking with his.
"I told you." He whispers.
"Yeah. You told me everything." She touches his cheek, and the noise in the room quiets.
His throat tightens. "I…"
"I told you, we can't fix it if we don't know." She motions to her arms. "They took it better than I thought."
He leans forward, wrapping his arms around her waist and hiding his face against her stomach.
The rag is damp against his shoulder when she wraps her arms around him, but he doesn't care as he presses closer into her embrace.
She holds him like she wants him to stay, and hope flickers like a guttering lamp in a draft, but with his arms around her.
Maybe.
Just maybe.
It's ok.
~*~
Jinu sleeps. Or he dozes dreamless wrapped in Rumi's arms, drifting somewhere between awake and lost. It should shame him, he's sure. He should feel something other than his relief as he clings to her. Maybe disgust with himself for dishonoring her in such a way.
But he can hear her friends, occasionally talking as they plan. They're writing music, rapid fire redoing their entire set. It's his fault, but they chatter with such warm pleasure that he can't rouse himself to be bothered.
The Honmoon whispers and hums with them, reflecting the emotions of its guardians. Such a strange thing, feeling it wrapped around him like this. It should feel dangerous, or like he is trapped. And yet…and yet?
It feels like a blanket, draped around him to stop a chill from caressing him.
Rumi touches his shoulder and gives him a little shake. "Jinu. We have to go. You need to get changed." She tells him softly. "Come on. Bobby will be here any minute."
Bobby. Their manager.
His body is still sore, and the position has made some of the stiffness worse and his head aches, but he manages half of an attempt at a smile as he untangles himself from her.
She watches him, hand lingering against his cheek for a moment longer. "Are you going to be ok to teleport there?"
He warms further under her concern, turning his face reflexively to nuzzle into her hand, eyes heavy lidded as he gazes at her. "I'll meet you backstage."
"And we'll talk to the others." Rumi told him gently.
He nods, and makes himself pull away.
Zoey had referred to them as "his friends" earlier, and he had absently corrected her. There was no love between them. But if the hunters were offering freedom from Gwi-Ma - well, they didn't want to serve him either.
It would work, this cobbled together plan of theirs. They hadn't had nearly long enough to weave it together.
But it would work.
"If you betray us…" Mira said lightly, without much heat, glancing at him as he came out of the bathroom.
"If I betray you, the Honmoon withdraws it's protection." The only thing keeping him from being dragged back down right now.
The promise of freedom is a heady one.
Zoey appears and he flinches as she throws her arms around him. "Wait for us to get there, ok?"
"Yes." He agrees, trying to relax under the hug. Casual affection is….he's not used to it. And the women are - well. Some faded, upright part of himself of himself feels like he is doing everything wrong. Being alone with them is clearly a problem. But they drew him into the apartment.
Rumi steps up behind her, and when she pulls away pulls him in to a much more comfortable embrace.
He takes a deep breath of her scent, bracing himself against the confrontation to come.
"We'll be right behind you." She whispers.
"I know." And he trusts that she will.
*~*
He appears in their dressing room - and Baby is on him in an instant. His back hits the wall hard, knocking the breath from his lungs. Baby might be the smallest, but he's also one of the oldest. One of the more powerful of the little band he created.
And Jinu is - tired, exhausted even, already battered and still struggling to regain his equilibrium. He's lucky, really, that it's Baby.
There are claws at his throat, but Baby has enough control not to rip his head off. The rich gold of his eyes and his mouth pulled into a snarl makes his stomach lurch, fight or flight is the rule of the demon world.
He's too tired to fight, and he doesn't think he will be able to escape.
"You're late." Baby hisses, hand tightening around his throat. "Where were you?"
Jinu doesn't answer, closing his eyes. "I'm here now."
"You've betrayed us." Baby hisses. "How?"
"I didn't. Not you. Not the others."
Baby stills, eyes narrowing as he considers. "Gwi-ma, then?"
He doesn't answer, which is answer enough.
Baby curses, and shoves away from him. There is a warning flex of claws, sharp against his throat, but when he lifts his hand there is no blood.
"Idiot." Baby mutters, and Jinu is not sure which of them he means.
"The hunters will be here soon." He offers.
"Fucking moron." And now he's sure that Baby means him. "We're demons, don't let the fact that one of them made soft eyes at you because of this human skin trick you into letting her murder us!"
"He can't drag me back down." Jinu says.
Baby goes very very still, entire body tensing. "You're sure?"
"The Honmoon is wrapped around me." He reveals.
Baby makes a noise somewhere in the back of his throat, deeper than a human register. "And they can do it…for the rest of us?"
He nods, though he wasn't entirely aware of the discussion.
Baby starts pacing, hand pulling through his hair. "You're sure?"
"As sure as I can be. There's no reason for it just to be me."
Baby gives him an irritated look. "Except for the fact that you've been the one seducing their leader."
Jinu snorts. "Except for that."
Baby's hand drops from his hair to his face, the patterns fading back into his human disguise. Which is a relief, really. It means Baby is really considering this. "What do they want from us? Aside from you."
"Throw the contest in their favor, don't follow through with Gwi-Ma's plan." Jinu explains. If he has Baby on his side, the rest will be easier to convince. Abby will go with the flow, Mystery and Romance might object - but not if they see a way out.
No Demon wants to be at Gwi-Ma's beck and call. It might not be the promised reward, but it's functionally a better one than his original offer.
"You know that's not a choice."
"They can make it a choice."
Baby makes a low rattling sound, rubbing his face as he thinks it through. "Can they guarantee it? If we refuse. He'll drag us back down and make certain we can't."
Jinu looks at the floor, at the Honmoon bright and almost pearlescent. He's never seen nor heard of it looking like this before.
Baby follows his gaze down, studying the floor. "What else do they want? From us, specifically. Obviously the leader wants you."
Jinu chokes on the idea. "It's not…"
Baby waves him away. "I don't want the details. I would trade you for much less. If this is a guarantee, I'll do it. But after, what do they want from us?"
He shrugs. "I assume to stop harvesting souls. I don't think they've thought much further than that."
Baby hisses softly, doing another slow walk of the room. "If this backfires, I will rip your heart out personally and eat it in front of you."
Jinu rolls his eyes. "It's not going to backfire."
Baby grunts and does a three point turn, marching to the door like a man on the way to his execution.
Jinu straightens his shirt, tries to push back the exhaustion from his frame, and follows him.
*~*
By the time the girls arrive, Baby has taken it upon himself to have a private chat with the rest.
They've all agreed, though the slight edge to their interactions make it clear that they're not entirely locked in just yet.
They want more proof that Jinu's ability to stay topside while talking treason.
As a result, by the time Zoey throws the door open and yells his name, the only reaction from the rest is a wave from Abby.
"You were supposed to wait!" Zoey scolds, as Rumi pushes past her to check on him.
Her fingers linger over his throat for a moment, eyes wide, but he shakes his head.
"Baby had other ideas." He explains. "But they're all agreed."
Rumi glances at Baby, who holds very still, clearly feeling the risk of a hunter looking too close at him.
But Rumi's eyes don't linger, they come back to him and her thumb traces whatever faint mark Baby left on his skin.
He swallows hard, tilting his head back automatically, offering her his throat.
Romance makes a faint noise on the other side of the room, and Abby chuckles nervously. Whatever Mystery thinks of the display is well…a mystery, but Baby sighs like he's expecting him to make a fool of himself.
"You're doing Soda Pop?" Rumi asks, all business even with her fingers resting gently against his pulse.
He nods, gazing up at her. Their patterns are reacting, hers bright and beautiful, his itchy against his skin where she touches him. Like something new is trying to be shaped.
She smiles, and her smile is full of warmth and approval. He could drink it, swallow it down and never want anything else in his life.
His eyes flutter closed. "So. Plan. You five will go out first, then Jinu and I will do a duet, and then Huntrx takes the stage." Her fingers leave his skin, and he swallows back a needy noise and lets his head drop as she gives them their orders. "And then we lock Gwi-Ma in hell where he belongs."
And hope blooms, frightfully strong, in his chest.