ㅤmeadow

@yoon jeonghan ᵇᵉᵃˢᵗ The demon irritated Soojung, her fear slowly getting replaced by annoyance. Obviously she had done a few research about him — a fallen angel, she vaguely noted in her mind — but she did not trust most of the things she had heard from 'professionals,' though they were correct about one thing: he was prideful. She supposed that was natural for demons, who she knew believed that they would forever be higher than them, puny humans. She dismissed the urge to let out a sigh, as she knew that the other would most likely not appreciate having someone sigh in front of him. Her dark eyes narrowed at his figure as he bowed to her, her left eye twitching once. Had she ignored some things? Perhaps she should have asked about the nature of the demon she was getting in a contract to. Everything she knew and learned about him through books and stories from the mouth had not stated anything specific about his personality. Was he supposed to be... like this?

It was not difficult for her anymore to meet his gaze, the tip of his claw guiding her head — but she simply closed her eyes, clenched her jaw, and slapped his hand away. "I'd appreciate it if you don't touch me so casually," she said sharply. She had never been one for skinships, and she especially did not like being touched by someone as shady as this man before her. Even if he were a demon, that would not really discourage any fight she might have for him in the future. She sniffed quietly, pulling her mask back up before she had to sneeze. "Jeonghan, huh," she repeated, fluttering her eyes open to look back at the taller male. It was too normal for being such as he was, but she supposed that was only natural seeing as it would not be practical to call him by his... many other names. "Soojung. My name's Jung Soojung." Her voice was quiet this time, still firm as before. She took a step back, away from the lad. She gave the bag beside her foot a quick glance, and she unconsciously adjusted her mask.

"Shall we take this talk somewhere else?" she suggested. "This isn't really the place where we can talk about... the details." She was quite at a lost of how she was going to continue this. She had to be careful with him, but at the same time, she did not want to seem... docile? She pursed her lips. She bent down to take the bag in her hand, and she straightened her back, looking back at Jeonghan again. She wondered if he was capable of just looking in her mind. She would rather just instantly teleport back home than to drive herself back home — but then again, she did not want to leave her car here. She... vaguely wandered if he could bring the car with him when he teleported. She ended up simply looking at him with a slightly narrowed pair of eyes, silent and she was really contemplating whether she should ask such a silly question or not.

@jung soojung The moment the girl met his eyes directly, Jeonghan smiled. His teeth gleamed in the uncanny glow of the circle where he remained standing, posture relaxed. The girl's pulse was loud in his ear, erratic and frantic, but she displayed none of this. Her features were perfectly neutral, almost regal in their nonchalance. Though her lack of visible discomfiture was not as satisfying to his (admittedly sadistic) sensibilities as he would have liked, she had already earned a smidgen of grudging respect for her amour propre. He blinked as her fingers curled into small fists, the action appearing to provide her a sense of security.

"I need your power," She'd begun, to which he offered a snorted "Obviously," but he said nothing more as he let her finish her bid.
Her voice between them was strong and austere, the smooth timbres betrayed by the grim nature of her request. It would seem that even though she'd fallen short in granting him gratification herself, she would compensate for her lack with the task she coveted from him. He noted the repeated flexing of her fingers as her last statement was aded by deep malice, the type that was born only of some unforgivable transgression that had been committed unto oneself in the past. So, her thesis: she wanted revenge. Jeonghan did not know if it was some kind of lingering predisposition to sympathy from his time in heaven, but there were times when he pitied humans.

Though demons did indeed prey upon their decrepitude, they did not force humans into evil. Often, iniquity was simply a half of them that they did not always delve into, but always favoured unconsciously. When they gave into the corruption, it ate at their souls until they were lesser demons in all but name. He wondered if this girl understood the gravity of the blemish she was about to bring upon herself, but then he forsook the concept with an abrupt surge of disgust. She knew she had condemned herself to hellfire the moment she'd decided to dance with /him/, and that was enough for him to understand that she did not value herself nearly enough. Whatever previous respect he'd had for her dissipated; it was merely a pathetic shell to conceal her fragility, and thus not worthy of any further contention.

His jocularity intensified, however - perhaps he could find sport in making her /crack/, reveal the fragments that dwelt within her. Tongue caught between his teeth as his lips retained their upward curve, he hummed and dipped his head and shoulders forward in a mocking show of courtesy, arm draped across his body and his palm resting above where his heart should have been. "Your wish is my command, /mistress/." Despite the subservient nature of the title, Jeonghan took pride in twisting the connotation with his tone - he clearly conveyed that he was /not/ her servant, and never truly would be. The star of David suffused a great part of the meadow with its light before it vanished, the barrier of salt which limited his movement before his verbal acceptance of the contract being carried away by the wind. He stepped closer to the girl, touching her delicate chin with the tips of his claws and tilting it slightly upward to face him. Like this, he could compound his earlier observation of her vulnerability. When he spoke again, his voice was pitched quietly. "You will refer to me as Jeonghan," He murmured, brow quirking with his following inquisition. "What is your name?"

@yoon jeonghan ᵇᵉᵃˢᵗ Soojung had never been a believer of religion. She did not believe in God, or whatever other gods that were supposed to be existing somewhere out there, or in any other deity that lived. In fact, she would not have done this ritual at all if it were not for her servant, who had prepared all the materials needed for it and was all too ready to sacrifice his life for someone like herself. She would rather offer her own soul than involve someone who had protected her for most of her life. She had not been certain if the demon would come out even if she lacked the faith, but she supposed that there was a sliver of hope that lingered in the back of her mind, hoping that the one thing she needed for her goal in life existed. She would rather start this alone, and she would end it alone.

The most important person in her life right now should not be involved in anything she was planning to do.

Her eyes widened as the star of David shined, purple light reflecting in her dark irises. Both shock and mild fear glinted in her pupils, her hand still outstretched toward the center. She took a sharp inhale when the demon's head came out from the ground, and she took a step back, puling her hand to her chest. It felt as though she could not move her gaze away from the scene that was unfolding in front of her. She watched as his wings disappeared. The moon glimmered from behind him, casting shadows onto his front and onto her figure as well. Her heart pounded with something - with fear? With incredulity? Or was it the fact that despite being a demon, he looked as though he was as beautiful as the angels that soared the heavens if they ever existed?

She dared herself to meet the man's eyes, the golden color sending chills down her spine, and she gulped unconsciously, but she tried to keep her emotions in check, not letting even a fragment of her fear seep into the surface. She supposed he would be able to hear her heart beat, but she would rather not give him the satisfaction of her body betraying her mind. Her fists clenched at her sides, and she closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down. Even though she were human, she was the one who was going to lay the terms and conditions here. She was the one who called upon him. She was not going to be the one to bow down in this contract.

When she opened her eyes, when she met his gaze once more, she seemed oddly phlegmatic in regards to the whole situation. Quite befitting of a woman of her status and background, if one knew her identity. Did he know what she wanted and was he merely just asking for the sake of formalities? Did he know who she truly was, and all the secrets she hid under a mask of innocence in the surface? Somehow, it irritated her. The mere idea that someone could so easily push through her facade with a simple look in the eye was just so vexing. Her hands relaxed.

"I need your power," came her answer, firm and confident. She wanted the power to hurt her enemies in ways they had not been before, more than they had ever experienced in their pitiful lifetimes. Now how shall she plead her case to this prideful demon? "I need you to kill for me. Kill them all without leaving even a single soul spared." She wanted him to serve her, though she figured the demon would not appreciate the idea of serving another person, especially so when she was a 'mere human' in his eyes. "I want you," she added with a deep and slow inhale, "to fill them with fear, to fill them with pain." The image of her father's head rolling toward her flashed through her mind, and she clenched her hands unconsciously, gritting her teeth as her eyes narrowed at his figure. "I want them to know what hell feels like before they die."

@jung soojung Jeonghan was bored.

He'd come to find that he was often riddled by the emotion, or the lack thereof - whichever it was, he did not particularly care. He sat lounging in his chambers, the screams of the confined humans faint but still exceedingly annoying. The lesser demons were too voracious in their torture, too animalistic. Humans broke all by themselves, once you knew where to push. His smile curled around the rim of his wine glass, the utensil slackly clutched by graceful fingers that were paradoxically tipped in black claws. His hatred for them ran deeper than blood, and like wine, grew more potent with the festering time permitted.

He'd grown used to the feeling, had learned temperance where his bitterness begged for revenge. Weak, fickle, selfish beings. Always struggling beyond the capacity God had bequeathed them, always thirsting for /more/ of everything, despite their diminishing lifespan and fleshly failings. He loathed them because they reminded him of himself and his comrades, but where they had been born with the opportunity for redemption and freedom, he had been given none. However, pure souls seared his tastebuds with their blandness. The best were those fully steeped in all of their trifling weaknesses, those that used every bit of knowledge to supersede truths they could not face. When they were desperate enough to defy God Himself, and enlisted the help of the devil and his kin with no care for the eventuality of their souls, the key to true life. Those were the souls of the damned, and by far the most delicious.

The daemon ended his musings when he felt the burn of a Faustian seal on the back of his hand, the taste of blood filling his mouth. A contract. Some of his kind were often compelled to go to the human that summoned them immediately, but Jeonghan had the ability to choose whether he wanted to respond or not. He dragged his tongue over his lower lip contemplatively, savouring the taste of this one's essence.

Vindictive. Sweet. Desperate, but with a tinge of lingering purity. /Perfect/.

He twisted his lips up into a smirk and let the contract take root and bind him. As he flew out of hell and through the portal that would carry him to her, he heard her mellifluous voice twined around his name. 'Bael', she called. He had several names, but that one was ancient and one of his first. He paused, wings beating as he caught a glimpse of the circle above him. The star of David shone in the darkness with a pearlescent glow; the girl had obviously done her research. He pushed through, his corporeal form becoming apparent to her as he more or less passed through the solid ground in a manner akin to a ghost. He forewent his wings, but left his claws and golden eyes as they were. He wondered if she would be afraid - Jeonghan was not ashamed to admit that such a prospect delighted him.

"Daughter of Eve," Jeonghan hailed her, languorously trailing his eyes over her diminutive stature. Pretty, if mundanely so. He dusted a speck of rubble off his black clothing, the silver of his chain shimmering in the moon's ethereal luminosity. "Why do you call upon me?" His address was neutral; mere formalities, if anything. He was rarely (if ever) curious about human desires, for they all fell under the umbrella of power, death, vindication, envy - sometimes even lust. He did find himself anticipating her answer, however...her appearance was innocuous enough for him to put this kind of activity past her if he were one to judge books by their covers.

@yoon jeonghan ᵇᵉᵃˢᵗ Soojung tugged onto the dark mask that covered half of her face, her dark locks framing her face perfectly, falling just above her shoulders, tickling her exposed neck. One would think that the nights would bring a cold breeze to kiss her skin, the summer heat was not letting that happen, though it most certainly cooled down as the day went darker, but not as much as she would like. She let her gaze wander around, the moonlight irradiating the whole place. The meadow was not exactly the first place she would go to in order to summon a demon of her liking, but she did not have much choice within her limited time. Sometimes she regretted the fact that she chose an acting career instead of a more laid-back occupation, but that did not matter anymore.

She was standing among the flowers, the plants touching her knees gently. There was a clearing at the other side, and she made her way carefully toward it, clutching the bag where all the required objects for the ritual were held. Her personal servant was not here with her, and she supposed that was for the best, even though she would have felt less nervous if he were here. She pursed her lips, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart, steeling her gaze ahead of her. All of this was for the sake of her family - the world was a cruel place, after all. "An eye for an eye..." she uttered softly to herself, and she tilted her head back, dark orbs focusing on the blinking lights in the sky, "makes the world blind, they say." But wasn't the world already blind to its cruelties? She turned her attention back to her front, reaching the clearing she was heading for.

There was a cemented area nearby, and she moved there without hesitation. Might as well get this ritual started, she thought to herself. Being an actress such as herself, she did not have a flexible schedule. In fact, she was quite certain that she was going to receive a call later that dawn. She placed the bag carefully down on the ground, pulling a piece of chalk out of it. There were a few steps to summon the demon she had in mind. The first was to draw the Star of David, and surround it with a circle of salt. Now, Soojung was by no means, a professional artist, nor did she have drawing as a hobby, but she did try her best to recreate the star as perfectly as she possibly could. She was quite satisfied with the result, if she were to say so herself. Putting the chalk by her side, she took out the small package of salt that she brought with her. Without missing a beat, she carefully formed a circle of it around the star, making sure that it did indeed look like it.

"Oh, right, before I forget..." She made sure the incense required was present and out in the open, surrounding her with a rather... comforting odor. Her nerves gradually started to calm down, perhaps the effects of the scent, or it was simply because she was about to get the result she wanted. Her fingers wrapped around the handle of the dagger she brought with her, the very blade that her older sister had given her the day before that fateful night. One drop. One drop of her blood was all that was needed, and his name. The demon's name. She stood by the lines of the star, and she opened her palm in front of her. Just one drop. She did not have to wound herself needlessly deep. She simply cut the skin on her forefinger, the sting barely doing anything other than cause discomfort.

She held her hand out to the center of the star, a bead of blood trickling down her skin. It was as though the world had gone silent for her at that exact moment. She had not done any other rituals before - this was the first. She had not thought that she would require the help of something that might be nonexistent, but life had forced her to do this. She parted her lips, "come to me," the scarlet liquid fell from her finger, tainting the cement smoothly with its color, "Bael."