a fool's arrangement
Title: A Fool's Arrangement
Author: caesiumlight
Fandom/Characters/Pairing: Exo; Kai/Lay
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Challenge # & Prompt: #20: Hell + Reunion
Word Count: 555
“Here you go.”
“Thank you,” Yixing says, taking the list from him. He scans it perfunctorily, but frowns when he realizes it’s a thousand or so names longer than the previous one. “I see you’ve been busy.”
He shrugs. “I was bored.” Doesn’t mention that he’s been working twice as hard to corrupt and trick and slander, just to get the angel to come down.
They have an Arrangement, Yixing and he. A balance should be kept, so when the naughty or nice list gets too one-sided, they move some of the names over. Yixing’s always the one doing the visiting, because, well, alarm bells start ringing whenever Jongin comes within a ten-mile radius of the pearly gates. The angel’s shrouded himself in some sort of soft light which shields him from hell’s fire. It hurts his eyes.
Yixing’s always been a little too bright.
“Convert this guy,” he points to the list, “this one too. And this one.” Yixing starts circling names. “They’ll be easy, didn’t mean to do shit. I just took advantage of their situations. This one as well.”
On occasion, it’s the nice list which overflows, and Yixing has to reluctantly offer some souls to him. He knows he should be happy, those times, but seeing Yixing’s pinched, crestfallen face when he says, this person, penchant for gambling, doesn’t give him any satisfaction.
Eventually, they get to the end of the list. Yixing's looking at him expectantly. Jongin shrugs. “We’re done here then.”
“Jongin,” Yixing says softly.
“My name is Kai.”
“You’re Jongin to me.”
“And you’re a fool.”
Jongin keeps count. It’s the nine-hundred and eighty-seventh time they’ve had this conversation. And if the end of the world doesn’t happen, they’ll continue to have this conversation until eternity, because Yixing is kind, and earnest, and believes in the good of all those he meets, including a demon.
“Come back with me,” Yixing pleads. “You can still-I can put in a good word for you, you can-”
“Leave it, Yixing,” but instead of curt it comes out fond. “You know I’m beyond rescue.”
Yixing’s shoulders slump, and he looks so defeated and sorrowful that the instinct to comfort overwhelms him. Jongin reaches forward and presses a kiss to his lips.
It should be earth-shattering, really, because lord knows demons aren’t fit to touch the pure, precious angels, but all Jongin feels is a tingle on his lips, where Yixing’s white cloak burns him, and an awful wrenching in the empty space of his chest. Yixing kisses back though, like a starving man presented with sustenance, and Jongin doesn’t know if that makes it worse.
Nameless emotions swirl unsettlingly within him; there isn’t enough space in hell for the things the angel makes him feel, so it spills out from his throat as a rough, “You should leave.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Don’t be stupid. They’ll be looking for you. And then there’ll be hell to pay.”
Yixing sighs, relents, and kisses him once more on his forehead, the most perverse of benedictions. “Try to stay out of trouble.”
Jongin manages to scoff, roll his eyes, and look insulted all at the same time.
Yixing gives him a wry smile. “I’ll see you when I see you.”
“Soon. I’ll get those souls back.”
“Until then,” and the angel leaves hell.
Author: caesiumlight
Fandom/Characters/Pairing: Exo; Kai/Lay
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Challenge # & Prompt: #20: Hell + Reunion
Word Count: 555
“Here you go.”
“Thank you,” Yixing says, taking the list from him. He scans it perfunctorily, but frowns when he realizes it’s a thousand or so names longer than the previous one. “I see you’ve been busy.”
He shrugs. “I was bored.” Doesn’t mention that he’s been working twice as hard to corrupt and trick and slander, just to get the angel to come down.
They have an Arrangement, Yixing and he. A balance should be kept, so when the naughty or nice list gets too one-sided, they move some of the names over. Yixing’s always the one doing the visiting, because, well, alarm bells start ringing whenever Jongin comes within a ten-mile radius of the pearly gates. The angel’s shrouded himself in some sort of soft light which shields him from hell’s fire. It hurts his eyes.
Yixing’s always been a little too bright.
“Convert this guy,” he points to the list, “this one too. And this one.” Yixing starts circling names. “They’ll be easy, didn’t mean to do shit. I just took advantage of their situations. This one as well.”
On occasion, it’s the nice list which overflows, and Yixing has to reluctantly offer some souls to him. He knows he should be happy, those times, but seeing Yixing’s pinched, crestfallen face when he says, this person, penchant for gambling, doesn’t give him any satisfaction.
Eventually, they get to the end of the list. Yixing's looking at him expectantly. Jongin shrugs. “We’re done here then.”
“Jongin,” Yixing says softly.
“My name is Kai.”
“You’re Jongin to me.”
“And you’re a fool.”
Jongin keeps count. It’s the nine-hundred and eighty-seventh time they’ve had this conversation. And if the end of the world doesn’t happen, they’ll continue to have this conversation until eternity, because Yixing is kind, and earnest, and believes in the good of all those he meets, including a demon.
“Come back with me,” Yixing pleads. “You can still-I can put in a good word for you, you can-”
“Leave it, Yixing,” but instead of curt it comes out fond. “You know I’m beyond rescue.”
Yixing’s shoulders slump, and he looks so defeated and sorrowful that the instinct to comfort overwhelms him. Jongin reaches forward and presses a kiss to his lips.
It should be earth-shattering, really, because lord knows demons aren’t fit to touch the pure, precious angels, but all Jongin feels is a tingle on his lips, where Yixing’s white cloak burns him, and an awful wrenching in the empty space of his chest. Yixing kisses back though, like a starving man presented with sustenance, and Jongin doesn’t know if that makes it worse.
Nameless emotions swirl unsettlingly within him; there isn’t enough space in hell for the things the angel makes him feel, so it spills out from his throat as a rough, “You should leave.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Don’t be stupid. They’ll be looking for you. And then there’ll be hell to pay.”
Yixing sighs, relents, and kisses him once more on his forehead, the most perverse of benedictions. “Try to stay out of trouble.”
Jongin manages to scoff, roll his eyes, and look insulted all at the same time.
Yixing gives him a wry smile. “I’ll see you when I see you.”
“Soon. I’ll get those souls back.”
“Until then,” and the angel leaves hell.