#also guess who got so fucking obsessed with the draft it wrote at midnight it woke up and just HAD to draw a piece of this

[chesters-ocs]

naga!stone my beloved, that is all i'll say

@the-whispers-of-death >:3

wc: 1.3k

Sylvester crept over to the cave, the book bag heavy on his shoulder, but he didn't mind.

With one last glance over his shoulder, he confirmed to still be alone, and descended deeper into the cavern. He didn't need to "look", not like he could anyways, but it made hearing or smelling things easier. Or... it felt like it helped.

He had long since familiarized himself with the layout, and even with the blindfold still equipped, he traversed the rocky, overgrown area with ease. Only his cane seemed to catch on something every once in a while, but it was no cause for concern.

The palm of his hand grazes over a rock in the wall near the back of the winding tunnels, having found it after meticulously counting his steps as to not lose himself within the area. Upon pushing it, the hidden door slid open. Stepping trough, he listened as it shut behind him, before he kept walking, one hand now tracing the lovingly, painstakingly carved bookshelves.

Avoiding a few traps here and there, he simply crept onward. The floors had changed from the raw rock of the cave to tiled stone. No doubt it took years to perfect. If he could see, he'd be looking at the mosaic patterns beneath him, ones that were his downfall when he came here the first time, leading him to miss the pretty obvious trap set out.

But that was years ago now. And he found himself forgiving his host the second he beared witness to what he was: a naga. A creature so old, so rare and so beautiful, that Sylvester felt the need to bow down to him at first sight. He still did, on occasion.

So despite not even knowing the name of this stunning librarian hoarding the gift of knowledge, he found himself utterly devoted. He found himself bringing gifts and offerings in the shape of the modern era books, in exchange for the man letting him stay and study the texts. Sylvester often spent days at the table, meticulously writing down every last word, wishing to copy everything for his organization's own archive. It was grueling work but he loved it.

The subtle sound of scales brushing against the tiled flooring snapped him back to the present. Pausing mid-step, he awaited his greeting.

Just a moment later he felt the snake part of the man slither around his legs, easily trapping him in place. Though, Sylvester did not resist. If anything, he smiled, feeling the coils move upward and tighten around him, all the way up to his chest. Only his arms remained free.

"You're late," the voice rumbled, a clawed hand brushing against his cheek, slowly, carefully, sliding off the intricate blindfold from the historian's sensitive eyes, before bringing him in for a tight hug.

Even in total darkness, both could see the other clearly. A small perk of the animals they both resemble.

"I apologize, my liege," Sylvester uttered, his pupils dilated from the dark atmosphere, as he looked up at the naga. There was nothing but adoration and reverence in his gaze. Maybe the clear love for the naga also contributed to the pupil dilation.

Rolling his eyes, the half-snake half-man creature grumbled: "I don't need your apologies, I need your safety."

Right. So this was where it was going.

"Are you hurt?" the man asked, despite already knowing the answer. His magic had stitched back together Sylvester's wounds the second he passed trough the invisible perimeter of the library.

"No, no, I am not."

"... Were you hurt?"

It was now the historian's turn to roll his eyes: "Just a few nicks here and there. But you knew that."

"Just making sure," the man grunted, before his gaze fell to the book bag still on the other's shoulder.

"For me?"

"For you."

With a small glint in his eyes, the naga pulled the bag away from its holder, and pulled out two books.

"They're both architectural texts," Sylvester spoke, a hint of pride in his voice, "Got them mailed to me from my homeland."

The snake remained silent, skimming over the drawings and words, before shutting it. All it held was information about the architectural styles of the buildings in the plaza and how they changed over a millennia. Interesting, yes, but nothing the man couldn't find in his own records.

He then flipped open the other, smaller booklet and let out a pleased hum over the contents: it was a complete history from the day his kingdom rose, to the way it still proudly stands today. The latest additions were which interested him most, and he quietly noted the authors. Perhaps the next time Sylvester goes out, he'll request more from them specifically.

Snapping the book shut, he finally unraveled the smaller man from the trap of coils, who then dutifully followed after the larger, much more ancient being, almost with a skip in his step.

"It'll do," he nodded, making his way over to the new part of the cave system: the expansions Sylvester is to blame for. At least his habit of bringing back books every time he returned gave the librarian something to do with his time.

"And... By the way, you are aware that you've only been in the top layer, yes?" the snake asked, looking rather amused by the shock in the historian's eyes.

"... Pardon?" Sylvester inquired.

"This is only the first floor of the library," he elaborated, "There's another layer beneath our feet."

The historian freezes in his tracks.

Noticing the sudden stop, the creature tilts his head: "Something wrong?"

"... No," Sylvester gulped, but the word came across as unsure.

"No? Is it one floor too few, little star?"

"No, no, it's just... I've already been here for... What, five years? It'll be at least another five when I'm done with those books! If I'm done!"

"I fail to see the problem," The naga stated, searching for a spot the two new books would fit best within, analyzing each and every shelf with a critical eye.

"Do you think you can handle me for another ten years?"

"I think I'd go insane if I didn't see you for ten hours. Yes. Yes I could handle you. I want to handle you," he said with such finality, and slid the texts in a shelf he deemed fitting. He'll categorize them later, now he just wanted to pay attention to the scholar.

"I... I see," Sylvester stuttered out, "How come you didn't tell me that beforehand, my liege?"

"That's for me to know, little star," he brushed off the question. Truthfully, he had noticed how the small mortal was nearing to the end of his stay. A mere handful of books are left on the first floor for him to rewrite and mail back to his home. A week's work at best.

Perhaps it hit the naga that if he didn't show the rest of his collection, he won't see this mortal ever again. Or maybe he felt bad about withholding such ancient, precious texts instead. Perchance it was both. Or a different reason entirely. Maybe it didn't matter why he let him know.

"So... Stay? Just a little longer?" he asked, hiding the hopeful tone under heavy wraps.

Not knowing what to say in return, the mortal just nodded, letting his hand be taken by the naga, as he was led deeper into the system. He observed and noted the systems and locks put in place to protect the rest of the immortal's sanctuary. And then, when he finally saw the true expanse and scale of the area, he could only utter one word under his breath.

"Beautiful..."

It went unknown if it was meant in reference to how the candlelight illuminated his guide, painting him in a soft yellow, just dim enough for his eyes to handle, or if he was in awe of the hundreds upon thousands of books before his eyes.

"I know."

There was silent satisfaction within the snake man now. He knew in his heart this will be a decision he does not regret, as he quietly observed the other man explore the shelves with such carefulness. The naga was just glad someone understood the fragility and importance of the texts. The importance they held to him.

[fmdjaewonarchive]

► reply.

date(s): 6 september - 23 september 2020 mentions of: charm (very brief but i thought it was fun to mention), @fmdsamsoo​ word count: +/- 1850 (minus lyrics) warnings: jaewon being gay tw details: fmdos2, the creative process behind reply, basically jaewon is really fucking gay, that’s the solo. i could’ve split this up into two solo’s probably but i like to have the whole creative process in one place plus i need to write about his performance still anyway. 

a part of jaewon still had a hard time puzzling together that somehow, someway he had actually managed to secure the first place last round. it was nice of course, alarm was an incredibly personal song to him and he didn’t know how his already brittle self-esteem would’ve taken the blow had he ended up in the bottom ranks but as nice as it was, it was still unexpected.

there was, however, no time to perfectly puzzle out how exactly he felt about the result, the bliss short-lived as he found himself back in the studio’s of dimensions entertainment mere days after, ready to do the whole circus all over again only this time with a much, much harder mission. colors were a vague concept to write a song around after all and a part of jaewon felt back in high school all over again, the familiar anxiety of receiving a very unspecific task that somehow had to fulfill the criteria set that were completely unknown to him. he didn’t like that gnawing in the back of his mind, having to second guess if maybe, he was interpreting this in a way that wasn’t expected of him.

if anything, jaewon felt lucky that he didn’t have to tackle the task alone (even if it still felt a bit like cheating) finding himself back in the studio with the same producer from before. jaewon kind of felt for the man, seemingly assigned to deal with him for however long his run on the show was gonna be.

“look who we have there, if it isn’t our big winner.” the producer greeted him enthusiastically and jaewon received the compliment with a hint of a blush and a quick bow of his head. “ah, thank you, but please the credit is just as much yours as it’s mine hyung, i couldn’t have pulled it off without your help.”

the man just shook his head. “always with the humility, enjoy a nice thing for once buddy, you’ve earned it.” he turned to the computer in front of him. “unfortunately, i don’t think we have much more time for pleasantries and celebrations, we’re short on time as always so what are you looking for?”

and that was the million dollar question wasn’t it. what was jaewon looking for? the color white, apparently. and someone in direct contrast with his last song. those two together meant something far out of his comfort zone. but truly, that wasn’t as telling as one would assume it was. truth be told, jaewon’s comfort zone was very small (both in terms of music and well… in general). most things were outside of his comfort zone.

“okay… so… remember what we did last time?” jaewon asked, more rethorical than anything yet still waiting for the producer to confirm with a nod. “forget all of that, we’re completely abandoning that. i need a complete 180.”

the look the producer shot him was one of mild despair and mentally, jaewon noted that after all of this was over, he owed the man much, much more than just a meal to thank him for all his efforts.

“i need something that doesn’t sound like anything i’ve ever done before. not by myself, not with my collaborations, not with unity, not even with champion. something people would never associate with me.” he elaborated further and the more he spoke, the more the other man seemed to form an idea.

“okay, that i can do. but tell me jaewon, do you think you can wave the brooding angsty vibe goodbye for one song?” it would’ve felt like a dig if well… the question wasn’t so valid. jaewon’s whole image was created around being dark and mysterious with a bit of a sexier push from dimensions. he could show up with a song completely different from that, but could he pull it off?

“yeah, yeah i can.”

when jaewon left the studio, it was with an instrumental filled with light-hearted, bouncing piano chords woven together with a deeper drum sound. he could work with this, he could make this work.

-----------------------------------------------------

with kick it promotions wrapped up and little schedules outside of that, jaewon has plenty of time to withdraw himself in either one of the many studios of dimensions entertainment or the one back in his and soo’s apartment (the perks of both being involved in making music, a home studio was a must).

unlike for alarm, where jaewon had just forced himself to stare at an empty document until some semblance of an idea, this time the process was more guided. there was a lot of mood setting, browsing visuals of… white things. because that was the theme had to run with after all right, whatever that was supposed to mean. but also going through music, listening to songs much softer than what he was used to.

first just unity’s music, songs on their softer side. like touch for example, or 0 mile, but also a large chunk of their unity zone album (pandora’s box, daydream, love me now). none of them had the same playful edge the instrumental had, all on the softer side rather than the cute side but it was a step in the right direction. especially for jaewon who had always gravitated to the grittier, more experimental, noise-heavier sound of unity’s music. it was good to remind himself he’d done lighter before, that he could again.

it wasn’t just unity’s music though. jaewon doubted he’d ever listen to as much charm music as he did for writing this song.

so the first few studio days were spent spitting through reference material, both audio and visual, the most jaewon actually wrote a list of vague ideas, feelings, directions he could take the song in without, you know, actually writing lyrics.

the actual concept for reply came, funnily enough, completely by accident.

it’d been the fourth consecutive day jaewon had locked himself away in a recording studio in the company’s headquarters. it hadn’t been the plan to be away from home so much but he was on the verge of a breakthrough, he could feel it, all he did was try a little harder.

and still most of the day passed without much progress.

fine then, a small break was probably in place with how it had started bleeding into the evening already and jaewon retrieved his phone from wherever he had discarded it, not having looked at it for hours as he had been too busy with the creative process (even if, truly, he hadn’t achieved much).

unlocking his phone, he was immediately met with a row of text notifications, all from samsoo.

[ 09:16 incomming message : my universe ] i saw you already left, what time will you be home? [ 14:48 incomming message : my universe ] i’m going to get groceries, is there anything you need? [ 16:04 incomming message : my universe ] don’t overwork yourself jagiya [ 18:35 incomming message : my universe ] i’m assuming you won’t be home for dinner, there are leftovers in the fridge [ 19:22 incomming message : my universe ] just let me know what time you get home yeah? [ 19:59 incomming message : my universe ] jagiya?

of course, jaewon felt bad for leaving his boyfriend unanswered for so long, still, a part of him couldn’t help but smile fondly at the texts, warmth spreading in his chest at the concern, a feeling no one other than samsoo had ever been able to evoke in him.

that much had to be worth a song right?

jaewon could work with this, but of course not before responding to his boyfriend.

[ 20:31 outgoing message : my universe ] sorry, i lost track of time [ 20:31 outgoing message : my universe ] i just got an idea so it will be few hours still probably [ 20:32 outgoing message : my universe ] let me make it up to you tomorrow? no plans or anything, just us [ 20:33 outgoing message : my universe ] i love you, see you in a few hours

after that, his phone ended up back where it had been all those previous hours, after all, he had better things to focus on, like writing. he wanted a song that did justice to the happiness he felt whenever hearing from soo, how his heart felt lighter with every text message, every phone call from his boyfriend that had pretty much been dragging him through the workload that mainly had come with champion lately.

even two years into their relationship, their was a certain giddiness that came whenever his boyfriend’s name popped up on his phone, especially when the two of them were separated for a longer period of time.

it's a waste of time being alone and i'm waiting for your reply

the more lyrics he writes, the more he deviates from his original inspiration, somewhere along the line deciding to depict a relationship in its earlier stages rather than his own. as lovestruck as him and soo still were up to this day, jaewon had no doubts that he had been even more whipped, even more impatient to spend more time as a couple than he was today. this wasn’t supposed to just be about his relationship, it was supposed to have a universal feeling to it, something almost everyone could relate to.

i don't want to be alone let's just go out to the cafe on a day like this

it seemed a fitting theme for the color white, the excitement and eagerness of young love. of anxiously awaiting a text message even though you’d seen each other a few minutes ago, almost obsessively yet so innocent, so well-intended that it’s hard to attach a negative connotation to it. a helpless, awkward kind of impatience as you’re still figuring out the ins and outs of dating.

ya, what are you doing, except for me, call me what are you doing?

some more hours passed but eventually, jaewon finished the song a little before midnight. it was still a draft, some parts would undoubtedly have to be tweaked, words swapped out to be more fitting but it’s just fine-tuning, it can wait.

at the moment, jaewon just wanted to return home to soo with the same eagerness in his heart that he had just written down for reply.

-----------------------------------------------------

(he did end up fine-tuning the lyrics but not until the 23rd, the day he went in for recording and producing the final version of the song. ideally, he would have waited with the final recording until after the demo performances the next day but with champion leaving for america almost immediately, there was no time for that, the deadline slated for when he would be in the state. this would have to do instead, trying to get done the majority of the work before he left and if anything needed to be changed after the demo recording, any unforseen feedback, suggestions of criticism, jaewon would have to trust on his co-producer to take care of it. not that the thought worried him, the man was probably more skilled than he was anyway.)