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wovenstarlight · 1 year

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(on ao3)

Before Yoohyun even opens his door, Junhwan’s raising his head, ears flicking. Yoohyun eyes him; while he can’t hear anything himself, Junhwan’s ears are still sharper, so he trusts him—but whatever emotion his daemon is feeling, it isn’t alarm. If anything, it reads as pleased surprise.

Yoohyun opens the door to hyung’s laughter and understands immediately. His and Junhwan’s footsteps are cat-light as they enter their house, padding silently through the living room towards… Is the sound coming from the Horned Flame Lion’s enclosure? Yoohyun’s told hyung not to go in there unsupervised for a while! …But hearing him still laughing like that, he can’t be too angry. Not when the little beast has apparently managed to achieve what he hasn’t in the last two days. A curl of jealousy flares inside him, Junhwan’s lips pulling back to bare his teeth in the start of a growl as he presumably arrives at the same thought, but then there’s a soft, breathless giggle-snort from noona and that-

That makes them both very quiet.

They slow down as they get closer. Hyung isn’t immediately visible through the glass walls of the enclosure; Yoohyun dares to get closer, keeping to the side with some of the thicker foliage, and peers through the gaps.

Ah. There. Hyung’s lying on his side on the soft grass, the Lion perched on his hip and staring wide-eyed at… Noona, who’s up on a tree?

Yoohyun doesn’t understand. What’s so funny? He squints at the Lion, who’s doing… a grand total of precisely nothing. It’s just staring at noona and swishing its tail back and forth, the tip occasionally flicking over hyung’s side. Is it tickling him? But hyung isn’t ticklish, as far as he remembers… And even if he was, what’s noona laughing about? She’s halfway up one of the trees—Yoohyun takes a heart-stopping second to study it and make sure it’s not a Gillotinae, even though he knows objectively that she wouldn’t be stupid enough to get close to those—and peering down at hyung, wearing a silly smile.

She shifts as he watches, turning to jump across to another tree close by and scrambling up its branches. “Reckless,” Junhwan mumbles almost inaudibly, and Yoohyun agrees. There’s something almost childish about the fumbling, uncontrolled way in which she climbs. Like she’s not used to all her limbs being where they are. He remembers it from back when she’d first settled—for two weeks after that, Yoohyun and Junhwan had watched her jump off high spots and panic because she’d forgotten she couldn’t fly. (She was a cat, she’d always landed on her feet, of course, but that hadn’t stopped Junhwan from moving to catch her. Just in case.)

She’s climbing really high right now, actually. Yoohyun frowns as she clambers to the top of one particularly tall tree. Shouldn’t that be stretching their distance limit? Even if hyung’s Awakened now? She barely seems to notice, and the same goes for hyung, who continues lying there, watching her affectionately. Noona crawls out to the edge of the branch closest to hyung, peeks down at him, then hunches down and—

Her feet lift off the branch. Yoohyun and Junhwan lunge for the door. There’s rustling of cloth and grass and fur and creaking hinges and then—

And then, Yoohyun and Junhwan are staring at hyung lying on his back on the ground, noona pillowed safely on his chest and the Lion on his knees, all three of them staring back.

“Yoohyun-ah?” Hyung sits up, noona hopping up to his shoulders and winding around his neck. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Yoohyun blurts. It was only in case— “Nothing. Are you okay?”

“I… Yes…?”

“Okay.” Yoohyun nods quickly. “Good.”

There’s words at the tip of his tongue—be careful, didn’t that pull hurt, why are you in here when I said—but he never gets to say any of them, because noona narrows her eyes at Junhwan and says, “Well, in that case, let them talk, I-wanna-play-tag-you’re-it!” and flings herself at him.

Junhwan bolts entirely on 17 years’ worth of reflex, and noona chases him in circles around them, yowling when he goes too far from hyung for her to follow. Hyung snorts when Junhwan sheepishly approaches them again, only to dance away from noona’s batting paws.

“Oh, that’s no fair,” hyung wheezes, and coaxes the Lion off his knees before bracing his hands against the ground, pausing for a moment (…?), then rolling to his feet—no, foot, all his weight is on his left leg (??) for a split second before he relaxes, balanced once more. “Let’s give her a fighting chance, huh?” he says, and Yoohyun's eyes belatedly flick up from his leg to his face when he starts jogging after Junhwan. Noona gleefully gives chase with the new extension to her leash, and Yoohyun’s forced after them as they cross to the far end of the enclosure.

There’s a pleased smile on hyung’s face as he goes, childish glee in noona’s cackling as she runs, and Yoohyun watches them for a moment before deciding to drop it. He can bring up the question another time; it hardly seems fair to ruin their fun now.

He can't stop himself from smiling as he follows.

#star.txt #my writing #my sranks #sranks daemons #han yoojin #han yoohyun #dilemma: do i tag daemon names when they're inextricably attached to their humans and im tagging for those already.#anyway! i had the Leg Agonies yesterday and was possessed to write this #also had someone leave wailing and weeping and screaming and crying tags on the last daemons post so i was like. well i owe you reparations #so here! siblings play tag now that two of them can run again :D #first pass at this was shj pov but i realized hyj would never be so relaxed in front of shj unless this was set in 250s-ish at the earliest #and again. i owed you guys han bros getting sillay #....actually... was this sillay enough.... i fear i need to write more fluff #but yes. please join me and hyj in giggling at the sight of big scary tiger fleeing for his fucking life from tiny cat two handfuls big #i think haeun gets mean with tag. because junhwan is very hard to catch but if he tries to make it easy for her she gets mad #so he goes at full capacity and she keeps up by going crazy going stupid as a chaser #girl probably almost broke a tv once in trying to catch him #but yeah. she's very happy to be able to play with her baby brother again :-)#also i wont lie i find it kind of funny how its like #hyh: do my elder siblings hate me even now that we've reconciled... it'd make sense...#hjh: damn they hate me fr </3 [only not sobbing his eyes out because he is a tiger]#hyj: :-) wow it sure is nice to be back with my baby brothers / hhe: I WILL LOVE THEM AND SHOWER THEM IN KISSES AND PLAY WITH THEM AN #hyj: hey can you dial it back a little you're making us look desperate. / hhe: YEAH CUZ WE ARE? THEY DIED IN OUR ARMS / hyj: ok. fair. but

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wovenstarlight · 1 year

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(on ao3)

It's kind of eerie, how little hyung and his daemon talk now. Yoohyun remembers months upon years of waking up to the sounds of them arguing in the kitchen, exchanging sleepy blinks with Junhwan as they both listened to Haeun whine and Yoojin complain, still half-dozing in the warmth of morning. He remembers their silent agreement to pretend to still be asleep when hyung and noona finally quieted down and came to their door, slipping in to pet Yoohyun's hair and nose at Junhwan's fur and feathers and scales, gently coaxing them to wake up.

Yoohyun sits at the foot of his bed, now, with Junhwan leaning against his legs, and they both listen to the sounds of the TV coming from the living room.

...

Yoohyun and Junhwan don't talk much. They've never needed to. They've never wanted to, not when they could be listening to hyung and noona instead, answering them and basking in their affection and attention. When it comes to each other, they move in silent synchronicity most of the time, communicating with glances and subtle shifts in body language, and it's only really when they need to be absolutely certain of the situation that they exchange words out loud.

They don't argue. Not really. Not when they both know what's most important. Not when they know how willing the other is to fight for it.

(The last time Yoohyun remembers Junhwan ever challenging him is that night he left home, three years ago. He'd opened the door, and before he could step over the threshold, Junhwan had moved smoothly to stand in his way, twisting to look up at him. He'd been a tiger, still holding the form from when he'd playfully flopped over a yowling Haeun earlier that evening. There was a bit of fur on his forehead standing up straight where Haeun had resigned herself to defeat and licked it uncomfortably against the path of his fur in revenge.

Yoohyun had stared at him. Junhwan had stared back, eyes luminous in the bit of light reaching the door from the living room. For a moment, they'd stood there quietly. Then Junhwan had opened his mouth.

"Are you sure?"

Yoohyun's grip had tightened on the strap of his backpack. For a moment, he'd been still, then he'd reached out a hand to smooth his daemon's fur down. "I need to keep hyung safe," he'd said in lieu of an answer.

There'd been a rustle from the living room sofa. A sleepy, confused call of his name. Yoohyun had tensed, fingers tightening in Junhwan's fur. "Move," he'd said.

Junhwan had stared up at him.

"...Yoohyun-ah? What's... Where are you going?"

He'd passed through the door. Yoohyun had followed right behind him. They'd walked away together. Silent synchronicity, as always.

"Yoohyun-ah? Wait- Wait, where are you-"

They both understood what was important, after all.)

From the other room, hyung snorts, clearly audible over the low murmurs of the TV. Maybe in response to whatever he's watching. Maybe in response to something noona said. Yoohyun doesn't know. He didn't hear anything from her. Hyung doesn't say anything back, either.

Junhwan leans harder against Yoohyun's legs, and he glances down at him. He's still a tiger—has been ever since that night three years ago—and today, the white fur of his forehead is marred by where Haeun had nuzzled her face into it, blurring the solid lines of his stripes. For a moment, Yoohyun almost reaches a hand out to smooth down the fur.

Yoohyun and Junhwan don't talk much. They don't need to, not when they know what's important. What they both need, what they both want, what they both think.

It's why Yoohyun is startled when Junhwan looks back up at him and opens his mouth to ask, "Is it our fault?"

He's not surprised, really. The thought has been running through his mind ever since he stepped into the room with his brother earlier in the day and was given both a close hug and a distant smile. Did I do this, he'd wondered as hyung had stuttered his way through a stiff goodbye to him and Junhwan. Is it my fault, he'd wondered as they'd given their own farewells to their hyung and noona, only to get that same distant smile back from Yoojin and a silent, wide-eyed stare from Haeun.

Do they not trust me anymore?

He's not surprised by the question. He is surprised that Junhwan bothered to ask. They both already know the answer, after all.

Yoohyun suppresses the urge to comb fingers through his daemon's fur until it lies flat. Maybe they'll ask noona to groom him tomorrow.

(Maybe she'll even say yes.)

#star.txt #sranks daemons #my sranks #han yoohyun #han yoojin #happy last bit of writing for 2022 lmao!#im very sleepy. gotta exorcize the images from my brain before i can pass out though.#han haeun little bitty kitty and han junhwan big white tiger #i think. yoojin and haeun named junhwan. parents already had yh's name picked out but their daemons refused to name the kid #i have hanja for them tucked away somewhere ill find it at some point #anyway. both han bros' daemons settled at 17 huh...#before settling junhwan didn't shift much in public. usually picked some big predator and stuck to that. glowering to ward people off #but around hyj and haeun he would constantly shift to other stuff and play around. often cats to match haeun #when they were younger and both unsettled they'd match shifts a lot #...at least they're both still cats now?#also. haeun: staring silently at yh and jh focused on trying to burn their image into the backs of her eyelids #yh and jh: NOT TALKING TO ME? MAD AT ME? THAT. THAT'S. [STRANGLED VOICES] UNDERSTANDABLE HAVE A GREAT DAY #maybe ill write something a little happier tomorrow lmao #got another scene thats been kicking around my head...

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wovenstarlight · 1 year

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ok wait reference list for daemons because otherwise ill lose them in chat somewhere

yoojin: somewhere between a black-footed cat (tiny, vicious, generally solitary aside from raising kittens) and a house cat (wants buddies :( )

yoohyun: tiger. would've been a grizzly bear (air put it as "largely wants to be left alone but the second it feels threatened will kill you to death") but what with hyj's daemon being a cat he was like "🥺 im a little kitty too" (<- lying) so his daemon went for a nice in-between ^_^

yerim: leopard seal (EATS you!!!)

noah: brush bronzewing pigeon (shy/anxious but also they eat poison berries that make them poisonous to predators lol)

riette: specifics undecided, but some sorta snake that's probably bffs with bellare and DEFINITELY venomous as hell

moon hyuna: spotted hyena (deadly hunter, fairly social, matriarchal, Laughs At You)

song taewon: wolf. lol. lmao. grizzly bear-style, also wants himself and his pack people to be left alone but is willing to kill you to death if need be

sung hyunjae: snow leopard. partly because if anyone could match lord asriel it'd be him but also partly because

shishio: do you even need to fucking ask

re: lore for this 'verse

daemons for born s-ranks are the same gender as their human

daemons passively share some of their human's stats but they need to consciously draw on their skills, which usually requires some form of contact, but more skilled awakened people can share skills without needing to be touching (yerim's leopard seal can and does swim through the air with great delight)

furthest distance that a daemon can go from their human is slightly larger in awakened people and it increases a bit as you get to higher ranks. not significantly enough to make a huge difference in daily life, and it's gradual enough that a stat-skill FF's distance increase is basically within the standard deviation for unawakened humans, but it's pronounced enough in high-ranks to make battle easier since you can keep your daemon behind you and out of the way

speaking of, to monsters (like normal animals), daemons feel like humans, but sort of in a less pronounced way than The Actual Human Coming At You With A Sword, so they thankfully don't really target daemons as weak points for their humans. (though they might, if a dungeon raid went badly enough that the monsters caught on to which members of the party were the most protected...)

they do make protective gear for daemons and harnesses for people to carry small daemons around. hyj has a reinforced chest harness, kinda like a baby carrier, where his daemon usually chills. noah has shirts with reinforced shoulders/sleeves for his daemon to perch on etc.

#star.txt #sranks daemons #my sranks #still torn between elephant and octopus for ymw...#giggling to myself over yyy family unit cuz its like peace (cat). yoojin-cat. yoohyun-cat. LEOPARD SEAL #anyway yeah yj daemon is just a tiny scrap compared to most other daemons around her #edit: WHY DOES TUMBLR KEEP DELETING MY ALT TEXT

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wovenstarlight · 1 year

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(on ao3)

Dad's watching TV again. Peace still isn't sure how the big screen gets its photos of other places, and honestly he isn't entirely sure what Dad gets from said photos. (Aside from when family members are on there, that is.) Well, if it makes him happy, then whatever. To Peace, it means Dad's going to sprawl out on the couch for at least half an hour, so he makes good use of that time and curls up in a little ball on his stomach, closing his eyes and purring contentedly when Dad's hand comes to scratch at the base of his horn.

…There's someone watching him. Peace cracks one eye open and meets the gaze of Dad's other half, sitting on the table with her paws tucked underneath herself and tail wrapped trimly around her. Her eyes, a warm yellow-green, are fixed on him.

Peace blinks at her. She blinks back. Then she tips her head and opens her mouth.

"You think I could touch him?"

"Hm?" Dad mumbles distractedly. The head-scratches stop, and Peace pushes his head insistently into his hand until Dad's looking at him. "What? Touch him? Why?"

Dad sounds so baffled that she-dad—Mom?—hunches down, ears flattening. "I just thought. I dunno. Forget it."

What, no, Peace is curious. Has been curious. Mom's never gotten close enough to touch, not to him and not to any of the other animal-people. He's always thought she looks a little lonely, hiding in Dad's arms or huddled against his neck all the time.

Peace meows once, loud and insistent, staring at Mom. She meets his gaze again, tail twitching.

"I mean," Dad says slowly. "It's not… Peace isn't exactly another human."

No, and thank heavens for that. Peace purrs, and Mom's eyes look a little brighter. "So then, I could…?"

"…I guess?" Dad hazards, a little awkwardly. Peace meows his encouragement again, tail flicking up into the air. (If only he could speak like them, too. At least Mom seems to understand a little.)

"Hmmm." Mom stands up and leaps the short distance from the table to Dad's chest (oof, he says, and goes ignored by them both). Edging slowly closer to Peace, she stretches out her head, sniffing cautiously at him.

He obligingly puts his head forward, bumping his nose against hers, and she makes a little startled noise and pulls back. Hm. Too much? No, she's coming forward again, taking a tentative step towards him and extending a hesitant paw. Peace bows his head and lets her touch his forehead, right where Dad was scratching earlier.

"Huh," Dad says softly. Peace purrs at them both and shifts back a little, making room on Dad's stomach for two, before flopping on his side.

Mom pauses. Then she steps forward, and with delicate little movements, tucks herself against Peace's chest. He marvels at how small she feels. He doesn't think he was this tiny before meeting Dad, even. Wrapping his tail as far around her as he can makes him feel a little better, and when she turns her head to nuzzle against Peace, he licks her cheek comfortingly and wraps one foreleg around her.

"Huh," she says, and proceeds to melt into his stomach. Under them both, Dad's breathing has gone strange and funny, but it steadies after a moment, and his hands leave the remote to come stroke their fur.

Mm. This is nice. Perfect conditions for a nap, so that's exactly what Peace does, curled up around Mom and purring like an engine.

#star.txt #my writing #my sranks #sranks daemons #han yoojin #peace sranks #name pending for hyj daemon...#well i mean technically i have a placeholder name im just unsure i wanna stick with it #hyj loves to collect littleguys who will walk all over his organs very precisely

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