Chapter Text
Taehyung is plucking out herbs from the greenhouse when the first client of the day enters their humble storefront.He hears the chime from the door opening, announcing the presence of whoever enters the building. Taehyung continues his job, for he knows the visitor is not for him — he doesn’t have any appointments today, but his dear boyfriend does. Hence, Taehyung plucks a strand nightshade and adds it into his basket, slowly and meticulously going down the row of different herbs that needs to be harvested today.
Suddenly, his work is interrupted by a cough directly to his left, towards the entrance between the house and the greenhouse. He turns his head and looks over his shoulder, scowl in place.
“Excuse me? I have an appointment.”
Taehyung stares at the other man for a moment. Magic seeps from the merman—that much is obvious from the webbed fingers to the slight turquoise sheen on his skin whenever the sun hits just right— in odd patterns, not unlike kaleidoscopes but the way they swirl and coil makes Taehyung’s stomach churn.It’s not like with magical beings like his little Jiminie, whose magic stems from a magical core inside him, and thrums to the beat of his heartbeat. No, this magic is wrong.
“Well? Are you going to help me here? I’ve walked all this way, you know!” The stranger huffs and puts his hands on his hips and pouts in his direction.
“And?” Tae finally responds, looking him up and down and directly into his eyes. “You want applause for that?” Yes, Taehyung knows he’s being rude, but in his defence, the other one started it.
“Excuse you, is that a way to treat your customers?!” The stranger starts flailing his arms about in what Taehyung could only compare to a particularly indignant bird flapping its wings.
“You’re not my customer.” Taehyung states, turning his back to the stranger to place another herb into his basket. Talk about wasting his precious time.
“You’re the witch around here, aren’t you? Park Jimin?”
“Nope.” Taehyung makes sure to pop the ‘p’ as he shakes his head, his dark curls swaying with the motion. From the squawk and silence that followed, Taehyung suspects the stranger has stopped in their tracks. Feeling the awkwardness starting to seep into the atmosphere, the dark haired man stands up to his full height and looks towards the other door leading into a small apothecary.
“If you’re looking for Jiminie, and if he wasn’t in the main house to greet you, he’s in the apothecary right there, brewing something.” To emphasise his point further, he raises his hand and points at the other door. He then makes eye contact with the stranger again.
“I’m not a witch, I’m a fae.” He flutters his wings which had previously been hidden by glamour. It made his work around the greenhouse and house easier when he wasn’t accidentally knocking things off the shelves . He flaps his wings a couple of times in annoyance, and maintains eye contact.
“Pretty big difference, wouldn’t you say?” When the stranger doesn’t move, he swiftly turns and walks directly towards the door he had pointed to just moments ago. He opens the doors, and takes a deep breath.
“JIMINIE, YOUR APPOINTMENT IS HERE!” He waits a moment, and when he hears a faint clinking sound of a potion bottle being put down on wood, he knows his message has been delivered. Taehyung then promptly goes to fetch his basket from the ground where it had been momentarily abandoned. He received no response from the stranger, or maybe he had but Taehyung had just blocked him out? He would never know, but it sure wouldn’t be haunting his dreams at night.
“Oh, hello! You must be Kim Seokjin, right?” The delicate, lilting voice announced Jimin’s entrance into the greenhouse, and Taehyung spares a moment to look at the beauty that was Park Jimin. The bubblegum pink hair and crescent shaped eyes filled with twinkling, chocolate brown orbs, all complimented by a mesmerising smile that would make the strongest man in all of the world fall to his knees in defeat. It surely had Taehyung on his knees on a regular basis. He gazes a moment more at his partner, taking in his aura and relaxed stature of a person feeling completely in their element. Exactly how Taehyung preferred to have his boyfriend, safe and relaxed.
“—so I was thusly cursed. Is there any way you could help, Jimin-ssi?” The nasally voice drones on, which Taehyung has made his life’s mission to ignore to the best of his abilities, for the man apparently known as Kim Seokjin matters not in Taehyung’s life — the only one who does matter is his Jiminie.
“Of course I can help, Seokjin-ssi! I believe I have just the right potion for this predicament, if you would please follow me?” The witch gestures to his apothecary and he allows Seokjin to enter first, before looking straight at Taehyung. He looks unimpressed, which makes the fae shrink a bit into himself.
“You could be nicer to our guests, you know?” Jimin scolds, raising an eyebrow to show exactly how unhappy he is with his lover. Taehyung grimaces — old habits die hard, as they sayㅡ, and then promptly smiles his boxy smile when Jimin pouts at his response. He knows he’s incredibly whipped for his little witch, but could you blame him?
“I’ll… try. For you.” At this, Jimin smiles at the fae and blows him a kiss before walking back into his apothecary. Taehyung turns his back once more and continues on with his previous task of collecting herbs.
Taehyung would try anything for his Jiminie.
The next time it happens, Taehyung is lounging in their little cottage, tired after a late night working his fae magic for some poor idiot who had somehow offended another fae clan. The dispute needed to be settled quickly before someone got seriously injured. It was lucrative work, but exhausting.
As he’s leaning onto the lounge chair, he hears the bell chime, signalling a visitor. Taehyung, however, keeps his eyes closed and breathes evenly, refusing to acknowledge the newcomer. Not his problem, after all. And since Jimin wanted him to not be rude to the clients, he figured just staying low was the way to go.
When he hears no footsteps, Taehyung’s ears perk and he tries to listen for any other signs of the visitor. Suddenly, there is another bell chiming right by his feet. He blinks his eyes open in surprise and whips his head down to peer straight into a pair of feline eyes, staring straight at him. He jolts back by the close proximity and blinks in confusion. Why was there a cat in here? Jimin didn’t sneak a cat in here when Taehyung wasn’t looking again, did he? He is in no way prepared for what happens next.
“Are you the witch of this province, Park Jimin?”
Thud is all the sound Taehyung makes as he vaults off the lounge chair and lands on the floor, ass first. He stills his movements, like the cat’s vision is motion based, though he knows he’s being utterly ridiculous. The cat just lazily swishes its tail back and forth, keeping a steady gaze on the fae currently on the floor. Taehyung had no idea a cat could look so unimpressed as this one until now. The cat apparently has enough of waiting for a response and sighs a very human sigh.
“Well, are you?” The gruff voice that the cat emits, does not match the appearance of the very cute-looking maincoon with black fur. Overall, not exactly matching the very deep voice that this cat is speaking with currently. Though, he supposes the voice matches the black of the fur, dark and mysterious. Recalling that the monster in question wants an answer, he shakes his head vehemently.
“Does Park Jimin live here?” Despite the fear Taehyung is experiencing, he still feels annoyed at being once again confused as a witch, even if they are essentially comparing him to the love of his life.
Taehyung nods in response, too traumatised by the sight in front of him to do anything but nod. The cat-spawn seems satisfied with the reply and nods approvingly. The tail swishes once more elegantly behind it. Taehyung swallows nervously, almost too afraid to call out to his lover. What if it ate his beloved Jiminie?
“Oh you don’t have to be afraid of him, Taehyung-ah!” The nasally voice sounding right by the door makes Taehyung spin his head around so fast he hears the ‘crack’ that comes from his neck. He looks straight up at the client from the other week, Kim Seokjin. He frowns in response, and Seokjin huffs in retaliation.
“Oh, don’t make that face at me! I’m here bringing your boyfriend clients, you should be worshipping the ground I’m standing on.” Taehyung can feel his expression sour and twist in disgust, which gets a chuckle out of the cat-demon currently occupying his lounge chair. Bastard cat-spawn from hell.
“Glad to see I’m not the only one calling him out on his bullshit.” The cat says amusedly as it lays down, making itself more comfortable on the chair. Taehyung grits his teeth as his eyes flicker from the —now cured— merman and the cat. In the madness that has become his life, Taehyung doesn’t register his better half entering the room. Not until it’s too late, that is.
“Oh, a kitty!” Jimin coos as he keeps his eyes fixed on the giant demon-cat. “Hello little one, what are you doing here?” Taehyung’s eyes are just about to pop out of their damn sockets as he watches his lover baby-talk to the black cat. The cat looks wholly unimpressed, and lets its dismay be known.
“I’m not a damn kitty! I’m a grown ass adult!” It hisses, claws scratching ominously at the leather of the chair. Jimin straightens his back and sheepishly scratches his neck. “I’m so sorry… You must be my new client?”
“You’re Park Jimin?” The cat sounds surprised, though the face remains as terrifying as it has been since Taehyung laid eyes upon it. Jimin nods and gives a smile.
“I am indeed Park Jimin, last I checked.” He says, getting an amused scoff from the cat and a squawking laughter from the merman still standing somewhere around the entrance of the cottage house, where Taehyung can’t see him — thankfully.
“I’m Min Yoongi. I’m a shapeshifter, but due to unfortunate circumstances, I can’t change back to my human form at the moment, as you can see.” He lifts a large paw to further emphasise his point. “I need a witch to help me.” Thump, thump, thump from the tail as it bangs against the lounge chair. Taehyung scoots away as a precaution, ignoring the squeaky laughter that emits from the merman behind him.
“That’s indeed a pickle to be in… I’ll see what I can concoct for you. It may take a little while, but do make yourselves at home in the meantime— Tae, why are you on the floor?”
“... Because.”
“Because…?”
“It’s more comfortable?” Given the snort of the cat and Jimin’s raised eyebrows, his argument is not believed. And also possibly because his voice pitched way high as he spoke. Probably a dead giveaway, to be honest.
“Don’t tell me, Taehyung-ah, that you’re afraid of lil’ old Yoongi over there?” Comes the, rather unhelpful, comment from Seokjin. Taehyung turns to glare at the merman with a ferociousness that makes him take two steps back, but not enough to stop the smug grin from overtaking his features.
“Oh, you are.”
“I’m not!” Taehyung vehemently disagrees as his wings flutters in indignation, and the squeaking laughter of one Kim Seokjin does not make it any better. If anything, it makes Taehyung want to deck him, but he refrains because of Jimin— it figures that the friendly neighbourhood witch would befriend the vain merman.
“I think it’s rather you who should be more afraid, Kim Seokjin.” Comes menacingly from the giant monstrosity as it growls in the merman’s direction. Taehyung feels a shiver go down his spine and his eyes widen in fear as he stares at the giant black cat getting into a crouched state, ready to pounce.
“Alright, let’s not start brawling in here, please!” Jimin mediates as he steps in between the merman and the shapeshifter, and then turns to face the giant ass cat.
“Please don’t pounce on Seokjin-ssi whilst I’m brewing your potion, okay?” He asks kindly, receiving a begrudging nod from the feline as he sighs loudly and lays down on the chair instead.
Taehyung mourns his previous resting place, wishing he was sitting there too, but no way in hell was he getting anywhere near it as long as the maincoon continued to reign supreme, flaunting his long claws and sharp teeth. Suddenly, yellow, feline eyes are upon him, assessing him for a while before the little shit spreads out on the lounge chair, stretching to its full capacity and overtaking the entire seat in question. Fucker.
The look of utter disbelief must be apparent on his face, because as Jimin is leaving for his apothecary, the pinkette gently ruffles his hair in passing, and the fae hears the telltale of chuckles emitting from the stupid chair. He would glare, if he didn’t genuinely fear for his life if he tried to. Taehyung didn’t know about anyone else, but he preferred to not be scarred for his life for pissing off the demon spawn from hell over there.
Taehyung just really hated cats.
The third time comes around a mere three days after the whole “cat-spawn from hell” debacle. A literal light at the end of the dark tunnel arrives at the doorstep just as Taehyung is crossing at the front of the house to get to the greenhouse. He yelps and shields his eyes, dropping the empty basket in his hands in the process. Since when did the sun become a person? From the sunlight emitting in his damn front yard, he hears a sheepish laughter.
“Sorry about that! I can’t stop this even if I wanted to, and believe me, I want to.” The glob of light says, and Taehyung decides to take the person’s word for it. It couldn’t be easy to be a walking torch at all times, though he reckons it would be useful at night. At least you couldn’t lose sight of him that easily?
“So, now that you see my predicament, think you could help me?” Taehyung furrows his brows and looks utterly confused for a second before it hits him. He heaves a sigh that he feels resonate with his soul
“Let me guess. You’re looking for Park Jimin, aren’t you?”
“Uhm. Yes, I am. Isn’t— Isn’t that you?”
“No.”
“Oh.” The awkward tension that forms is not Taehyung’s fault. It isn’t. He is allowed to be annoyed at being confused for a witch when it’s so damn obvious he’s a faerie! Does no one notice his wings, or his pointed ears and attributes that classify him as a fae, or do the general population need to get their eyes checked?!
As Taehyung continues to mutter (read: sulk) to himself about once again being confused for his boyfriend, he stomps his way to the greenhouse, wildly gesturing to the sun behind him to follow. He throws the doors to the greenhouse open and bellows inside.
“JIMIN!” His yell makes Jimin—who had been gently gardening and attending to his herbs in his spare time, blissfully unaware of the storm heading his way— literally throw his basket up in shock, and Taehyung watches it fly towards the opposite side of the greenhouse.
It’s honestly quite impressive to watch that basket soar through the air like it has gained the gift of flight. From watching the flying wicker basket, he catches the gaze of a certain feline-like man, who had been blissfully dawdling around, soaking up the warm climate and the sunshine in the greenhouse. Well, had been, because he was currently sitting upright and big wide eyes on Taehyung, in a mixture of shock and fear, before anger overtook his features and he hisses at the fae. He transforms into his cat shift as he continues to growl and hiss up a storm at Taehyung, who shrieks in a frightened manner and freezes where he stands.
“Kim Taehyung, where are your manners?! You almost gave us a heart attack!” Jimin holds his hand over the left side of his chest, where his heart is undoubtedly beating faster than a stampede. Taehyung feels bad about scaring Jimin, but the spawn from hell currently stalking towards him with murder in its eyes makes him clamp up and try to make himself small to avoid Yoongi’s wrath.
Taehyung’s saviour comes in the form of one Kim Seokjin —unfortunately— as he casually walks in from inside the cottage house to witness the scene unfolding, and just… picks up Yoongi like he would a regular house cat. Yoongi yowls an unbearable sound as he tries to swipe at Seokjin with sharp claws and simultaneously wriggle his way to freedom. None of it works as the merman holds on tightly, before beaming at Taehyung.
“There you go, saved from the ferocious cat, Taehyung-ah.” He starts stroking the black fur, and Taehyung can do nothing else but stare at the gall of this merman, and how little he apparently fears death.
"My revenge will be swift and cruel, Kim Seokjin." Yoongi swears as he keeps hissing and generally trying to get a vantage point so he can either escape or kill the merman in question. Hard to tell, at this stage.
"Oh, you're just a little kitty, what could you possibly do?" Seokjin teases as he bravely adjusts his grip to hold the cat to his chest. Wrong move on his part, as this gives the maincoon cat exactly the leverage he needs to enact revenge. He bites down onto Seokjin’s arm, and draws out a yelp from the older man as the cat furthers his plan by adding in two sets of sharp claws into the same arm.
Taehyung remembers why he was thrust into this chaotic scene when he hears someone gently cough behind him — trying to get his attention. He looks towards Jimin and points a thumb behind him.
“Got a client looking for you. Again.” The exasperated tone makes Jimin chuckle as he stands up straight, dusts his hands on his pants, before dusting those too to look more presentable.
He then makes his way towards Taehyung, steering clear of the squabbling cat and merman still causing a ruckus. When he turns his head and looks at the new client, he gasps softly and says a simple “Ahhh.”
“You’re in need of a witch’s service, aren’t you?” Jimin asks the glob of light and warmth currently giving Taehyung’s back and neck a sunburn, judging from the heat of his skin.
“Yeah, as you can see, I’m kind of stuck like this.” The sentient torch replies as Jimin takes a couple of rounds around them, all whilst squinting his eyes as if to try to see beyond the overwhelming light emitting from this poor, unfortunate person.
“This seems to be quite the conundrum… What happened to you?” The witch asks as he takes out an unused vial used for potions, and somehow manages to collect some of the light in the vial. He examines it more up close, his face scrunched up in concentration.
“Well, me and my friends were preparing a light ritual,” they stop when they seemingly watch Taehyung’s expression go from confused (and squinting due to the intensity of the light) to realisation. “Yeah, I’m a light elf, Jung Hoseok at your service. So we do these kinds of rituals often. It’s actually been quite a while since I’ve fucked up a ritual so bad I needed help from a witch.” Taehyung can't tell what the elf cloaked behind the wall of light is doing, but he imagines the person is probably donning an embarrassed expression.
Jimin nods thoughtfully and hums to himself. Taehyung focuses his eyes on the pink-haired man to avoid having to look directly into the elf-turned-torch to his right, lest he wants to be seeing spots in his vision all day afterwards. He watches as the smaller witch keeps inspecting the light captured in the vial, whilst asking questions about the supposed ‘ritual-gone-wrong’ the light elf keeps talking about— of which Taehyung has completely zoned out of by now, not interested in hearing details that doesn’t have to do with him or his abilities. But, the fae never tires of listening to the lilting voice of his cotton-candy boyfriend as he explains something about specifics about certain rituals.
“You’re so whipped for him, it’s both cute but also nauseating.” Taehyung’s eyebrow twitches as he refuses to acknowledge the older man’s words. “Seriously, you’re so rude to all of us, but with Jimin-ah it’s all soft smiles and longing gazes.” The merman continues in lieu of an answer, apparently wanting to get on Taehyung’s bad side today too.
“What, getting bitten by Yoongi-hyung wasn’t enough for you?” The fae finally retaliates as he turns a dark look the older man’s way. It does nothing to deter the other, however.
“Aww, come on! I’m your hyung, show some respect!”
“I’m with the fae on this one.” Yoongi seems to have been successful at his grand escape at some point, for he is now in human form, laying down on a sunny patch, observing them from afar. “Yoongi-ah!”
Taehyung snorts as he diverts his attention to Jimin, who is now in the process of guiding the sentient sun-creature into their little home, probably to avoid messing up the sensitive ingredients in the apothecary and the plants in the greenhouse. It would seem, judging by the jovial voices and Jimin’s giggling, that there is soon going to be a new member to their raggedy group of misfits. Taehyung sighs as he realises there’s going to be even more people at their cottage now. If there ever was a Lady Luck, she sure wasn’t on his side.
The fourth time, Taehyung is interrupted from his daily sun bath by someone literally stumbling into his lap. Not exactly what he expects to happen, but perhaps this is the karma he has accumulated from being an arse to the previous clients? It wouldn’t surprise him if there was a godly being up there just cackling at him, delighting in making his life miserable at every turn. First an annoying merman, then a terrifying shapeshifter, a light elf who had an affinity to steal his Jiminie from him, and now a… Well, whatever they are.
Yep, someone was definitely up there causing shenanigans left and right for him to lament over. But Taehyung has no more time to lament his cursed fate, for the man who has literally landed in his lap shoots up and almost breaks the fae’s nose with the crown of his head. With this movement, Taehyung gets a good whiff of two distinct things: one this is a being with cursed magic, and the other is an intense smell of sulfur, so potent in the air surrounding the fae in a way that is so, so very distinct to one species— dragon.
And when he can focus his eyes onto the stranger, he gets his suspicions confirmed: oh yes, definitely a dragon. The scales that adorn parts of the skin visible to the fae’s perceptive eyes, the sharp eye-shape and jawline, plus those feline irises, a bright emerald green with even sharper pupils. The dragon in question finally gets off Taehyung as he profusely apologises for tripping over him. How he managed to do that when there are literally miles of plain ground and no tricky roots is a mystery to the fae, but he keeps his mouth shut about it and takes the apology with a forced, polite smile. When the dragon offers a hand to help him up, Taehyung hesitantly allows the stranger to pull him up to his feet. Then it becomes his turn to make sure the other doesn’t fall on his ass in the attempt.
“Again, so sorry about that…I’m just very clumsy. Or rather, more clumsy than I usually am.” The stranger says as he gives an awkward smile. Taehyung nods once.
“I could smell that. Cursed?”
The stranger nods and chuckles good-naturedly. “Yeah… Another dragon got jealous of my hoard and hired someone to curse me in retaliation.” He begins to explain, and Taehyung takes the opportunity to take one more good look at the dragon. He’s massive, to start, and Taehyung is a little miffed that the dragon is indeed taller than himself. Broader too, but that’s to be expected for such a creature such as dragons and dragon-hybrids. They often are quite bulky and broad to accommodate all that strength and bodyweight needed in their dragon form. And some just liked the aesthetic of being insanely buff. The fae had met a couple of dragons like that on his journeys before, though he’d safely deduce that the stranger in front of him was definitely bigger than all of them.
Taehyung tunes into the conversation at hand—or maybe it’s become a monologue at this point, because he hasn’t answered once during that whole speech— just when he hears the onset of a question.
“So, you think you could help me?” Taehyung frowns, and it takes him a second for the pieces to click together. Then, he scowls.
“Oh come on, can’t you smell the difference between a fae and a witch!? With your sublime nose?” Taehyung responds sarcastically, already feeling utterly done with the conversation at hand. The stranger reels back in surprise, and then he gets an inquisitive look upon his face.
“But you have the smell of a witch upon your person.” He states as he steps closer, sniffing at the air around Taehyung. Taehyung resists the urge to back away from the invasion of personal space and stands right up and down. “How can you look and smell so much like a witch and not be one?”
“I live with a witch.” Taehyung replies smugly, sensing an opportunity to be mischievous. “A very enchanting witch. Mayhaps a bit too enchanting.” He smirks brazenly. “He somehow always finds a way into my bed at night. In the daytime too, like for instance this very morning.” The hint is obvious to the stranger and he almost stumbles onto his arse as he shuffles away at an appropriate distance, cheeks flushing beet-red. He clears his throat awkwardly and avoids eye-contact with the smug fae in front of him.
“I-I see! M-My apologies for being so presumptuous.” He bows down to the curly-haired man, someone’s parents raised their kid right, Tae thinks to himself as he looks towards the cottage to his left. Then he looks at the stranger again.
“The witch you’re seeking isn’t at home at the moment. He had to run a small errand for a customer in town. He’ll be back soon though.” He gestures for the creature to walk towards the house with a nod of his head. The stranger nods gratefully, cheeks still a little bit pink from the early kerfuffle as he bows again.
“Thank you. I shall wait there for him then. It was nice to meet you…?” He stops, as he waits for the answer.. Taehyung debates lying, but decides not to when he sees the earnest expression upon the other’s face.
“Kim Taehyung.” He introduces, and instead of giving his hand out to shake, he keeps his hands to himself and instead puts them into his pants pockets. The stranger seems to take no slight with the action, and only offers a friendly, dimpled smile at Taehyung.
“I’m Kim Namjoon. Seems we share a surname. Are you from Sogyeong?” Taehyung twitches his lip at the insinuation of the province he once called home, but shakes his head nonetheless. Kim was a surname that had several origins, but his lineage wasn’t from Sogyeong, though he knew there was a rather large Kim-clan there as well. “No, my clan resides in Baekje.” The Fae explains briefly, wanting to move on with the subject as soon as possible. Then he spots his saviours, though they knew not that they were (or ever going to know, if Taehyung had any say). He inclines his head towards the house, where a couple of people were walking up the pathway towards the entrance.
“If you wish to follow those two, they will lead you inside where you can wait for the witch of these woods, Park Jimin.” He makes sure to leave hints that he wishes to be left to his own devices, and luckily for Taehyung, Namjoon takes the hint and goes on his way, his large frame walking towards the other creatures. Taehyung should feel a little bad that he has essentially made Namjoon Seokjin and Hoseok’s problem, but he can’t find it in him to feel even slightly bad. Besides, Jung Hoseok had it coming, hanging onto his Jiminie like that at all times and leaving Taehyung touch-deprived until nightfall. The thought of the stumbling, clumsy mess of a dragon causing the merman and light elf a lot of misfortune makes Taehyung huff a small laugh to himself as he lays down on the grass again. He looks up at the sky for a moment, and he is in such good spirits that when Yoongi comes strutting up from the small cottage towards him to soak up the sun —and to avoid the utter chaos Taehyung can hear all the way out here— he doesn’t make a huge comotion out of escaping the cat-spawn. Instead, he allows the giant cat to make itself comfortable next to him, the fur barely brushing against his side as they lay down in comfortable silence.
Taehyung closes his eyes and gives a contented sigh, blissfully ignoring the screeching coming from the house. Not his problem, at least not right now. Now, it is nap-time.
In between the strange interruptions that had led to the people staying at the cottage instead of leaving Taehyung and his lover alone, the days were not easy going. No curses such as the ones from the now permanent residents of Cottage Vmin— as one Kim Seokjin had oh, so funnily has named their home— but still requiring a lot of energy.
It had begun with the case of Stray Kids, a group of wayward stray bird-creatures , and from what Taehyung could tell, they were different variations of birds. He knew that their leader “Bang Chan” was a Thunderbird, obvious by the thunder that roared over their little cottage when some of his younger members started play-fighting with Yoongi (who had been in cat form), and he had simply clapped his wings together once. The resulting ‘BANG!’ that had resounded in his home had made him uncertain about whether they would still have a roof on top of their heads by the end of the day.
Taehyung had also spotted two Kinnaras, which was a rare sight to see, so to be able to see two at the same time made him quite surprised, and even stranger was to see the two Kinnaras being so very friendly towards their other nestmates. They usually liked to keep to themselves, preferring not to join other nests with other bird-creatures. The curly-haired fae also swore he saw a peek of an Alicanto, but the leader was as fierce as he was overprotective, and thus a small peak was all Taehyunggot before the Thunderbird put the nestmate under one of his giant wings, and held him there. But, knowing how much the Alicanto creatures were hunted these days, Taehyung had no difficulties understanding his reservations.
The little family of 8 had required both Jimin’s potion-making abilities and some additional assistance from Hoseok’s light magic, who had been present at the time the meeting had taken place. It had been about some pain relievers for their youngest nestmate Jeongin, who had just gotten into his new, adult feathers and was suffering from growing pains.
The remaining details were fuzzy to Taehyung, due to the god-awful screeching coming from two members he has managed to recall were named Felix and Hyunjin, because they were so adamant on playing with whatever they could get their hands on. It became very clear for Taehyung that these small little Kinnaras were almost freshly coming out of their adolescence; still unruly and not used to travelling from the little place they called ‘nest’. And once they got Yoongi involved, Taehyung swiftly escaped to avoid losing his hearing— and possibly getting the roof on top of his noggin from the shaking of the roof when Bang Chan tried to keep order on his nestmates.
Another time was the case of a pack that called themselves “TXT”— that case even required Taehyung’s participation. They were werewolves that needed some divine foretelling— they needed Jimin’s tarot card manipulation. They had started getting prepared for the upcoming winter — the winters where they live could be quite volatile and unpredictable — and they wanted to be as prepared as they could be. There was in addition to this, also the issue of their youngest member Kai, who had not yet presented. They needed to know whether they needed to prepare for that in addition to the cold winters, so they had come knocking on their doors asking for guidance.
Jimin had done this sort of job before, but it was always more demanding than his typical potion-abilities. Thus, Taehyung cleared the little witch’s schedule for the day, and had Yoongi get off the lounge chair to deliver the news to the clients in the town. There had been some grumbling, but when the shapeshifter saw the seriousness in his eyes, he went without much complaint. After clearing space in the living room, Jimin emerges with his tarot cards, and as he plops himself down on the floorboards, he strategically places his cards down. Taehyung takes his seat right in front of Jimin, watching the witch as he does his usual incantations, waiting for his moment. Once the pink-haired man opens his palms and faces them up towards the ceiling, and the cards start to float around them, Taehyung takes his hands and begins to slowly mix his magic with Jimin’s.
Precognition was not a skill all Fae possessed, but it had run in Taehyung’s mother’s side t, and thus, he had inherited the skill too. Taehyung didn’t find much use for it nowadays after moving to this little town with his soulmate, but every time Jimin needed to do tarot, the fae lent a helping hand. It was much easier for Jimin to be able to read the cards correctly and more accurately if he had someone with Taehyung’s skills to help guide the cards.
As their magic was safely mixed, Jimin started chanting the usual gibberish, and Tae focused all his energy and magic onto finetuning Jimin’s own magic, and lent a hand where needed. Though they both kept their eyes closed for the ritual, he could hear the gasps around the room. He had once heard from another client that when he and Jimin mixed their magic together, it was a sight to behold. He had been told of magical sparks in the air, floating cards shimmering with their combined magics— it had all sounded like something straight of an old fairytale. Taehyung wished he would be able to see it from an outside perspective, one day.
As soon as the ritual had begun, it was also over. And because of their collaboration, Jimin was able to accurately give the pack what they needed to know, both for preparing for the winter, but also about their packmate’s upcoming presentation. Afterwards, when their clients had left, Taehyung took great care to spoil his boyfriend rotten with as many kisses and ‘good job Minnie’s as Jimin could take, before he all but dragged Taehyung to their bedroom with cheeks flushed and want in his eyes. And who was Taehyung to deny his beloved anything?
Ateez was a little community of sirens that had settled in a lake right over the next town that had required the assistance from Taehyung. Meeting them had been unusual, for they couldn’t—or rather, wouldn’t— come out of the water to seek their help, rather they had sent along a message from Stray Kids’ leader. Due to the fact that Jimin couldn’t go himself and help the sirens, he sent Taehyung in his stead with practically the entire apothecary with him and the manual on how to make the potions Jimin hadn’t had the time to before he had to leave. And, apparently to add insult to injury, he had to bring Seokjin with him, since he was a merman and could be of much assistance due to his affinity to water.
As much as Taehyung despised being forced into socialising with the other freeloaders that keep coming and going whenever they so damn well please, it was being separated from his soulmate. It almost physically hurt him to be away, even knowing that by the next morning, they would be reunited once more didn’t help soothe the immense pain. In fact, he was in so much agony that even Seokjin, ever the jokester and adamant to get into Taehyung’s good graces, was quiet during their travels. Seokjin was surprisingly rather kind, offering distractions when the pain became too unbearable, and knew when to blend into the background to avoid the wrath of a Dark Fae, and when to lend a hand or take charge. It was rather nice having someone else than just Jimin to be affectionate and observant of his needs.
When they arrived to the lake Ateez had settled into, they had flocked to the water beds, sceptical ofTaehyung and his lineage —Taehyung later learned that the group had come from a place further up north and had their fair share of dangerous encounters with other Dark Fae, which explained their mistrust of him— but more welcoming towards Seokjin. Their leader Hongjoong was reserved, but allowed Taehyung and Seokjin to treat the wound of their pod-member Yeosang, which had been the result of a rather vicious attack by a rogue siren looking for trouble. He had required a simple healing potion and some compresses to avoid infection.
Once that had been completed, Taehyung had seemingly gotten an admirer, for whenever he tried to take his leave, Yeosang kept wanting to ask question after question, eyes glistening with awe in his striking, golden eyes. By the time the fae had managed his great escape, Seokjin had begun his characteristic laughter after watching the spectacle unfold. And when Yeosang asked him to write to him, Taehyung gave into his inner thoughts and hit Seokjin as he started cackling like a deranged bird.
One of the biggest groups ever visiting them was Seventeen. They were a witch coven from another town, but for some reason out of all thirteen witches, none were specialised in potions. It irked Taehyung for some reason, how can a whole coven consist of without one potion master? Well, maybe he might be biassed, because of his own potion-master-soulmate, but whatever. His point still stood, it was weird!
They entered their ‘territory’, with chaotic energy bursting from all sides possible, instantly triggering Taehyung’s fight or flight instinct. The crazy static that sizzles in the air, like a storm brewing over the horizon, yet there are no clouds. The closer they come to the cottage house, the more the air starts to electrify with crackling in the air intensifying. For someone so in tune with magic like Taehyung, the tension filling the air is almost suffocating. Why could he never have peace and quiet around here?! But he had no option but to wait for their arrival, the judging glances from some of their on-sticking strangers kept him from running to his usual spot. One of these days Taehyung was going to kick them out of his house.
Upon their arrival it became clear very soon that their reason for the visit was not an emergency. Not at all. They came in and messed up his whole schedule for a prank potion. Not a potion for an illness, not for a curse, for a prank against some of the other coven members. Taehyung was this close to just throwing them ass-first out of the house and banning them from entering again.
Of course, to Taehyung’s dismay, Jimin agreed to make the potion, already giggling along with the coven, his eyes disappearing into the lovely crescent moons that had Taehyung wrapped around his little finger. And every time one of the other witches made Jimin giggle or smile, Taehyung felt his patience run thin— and he was already thin on patience from before thanks to one Jung Hoseok. So, Taehyung began staking his claim, holding onto Jimin if he was close enough, following them into the apothecary and kissing the life out of Jimin whenever possible. He made sure to look directly at the troublemakers anytime one of them was in view. Plus, it made Jimin flustered, and that made Taehyung want to do it even more. By the end, Jimin looked about ready to either curse him, or drag him to their bedroom to do sinful things to him. But at least these invaders knew Jimin was his.
Luckily, they left within three hours after arriving, taking their loud voices, and their electrifying energy with them. But not without the promise to some of the other freeloaders staying with them — Taehyung is a hundred percent sure Yoongi and Seokjin did it to spite him— to visit them soon again for a dinner with the whole coven. All thirteen of them. But that’s a worry for a later moment.
The last time, nobody interrupts or bursts into Taehyung's daily routine. No barging in, no surprise creatures, not even someone falling on top of him. Nothing. It’s like silence before the storm, and it unnerves the Dark Fae beyond what he’s used to. It shouldn’t normally unnerve him that they have no customers, it’s not like they live in the main cities, where everyone is concentrated and plentiful. They’re quite used to having days, maybe even weeks with peace and quiet. So, why was it bothering Taehyung so much this day?
Pondering this new conundrum, the dark-haired fae does not notice that he’s being followed as he treks his way back to the cottage house,deep in thought as he was. No matter how much he tries to rationalise it to himself that it’s just another ordinary day, he can’t shake the feeling it’s anything but. These thoughts plague him as he opens the front door and the bells signal his arrival home, safe and sound.
“I’m home!” Taehyung bellows with his deep, velvety voice. Yet, there is only silence that greets him. And a … bunny? No, it's a human boy, the fae realises. He just, really looks like a bunny with those huge eyes and innocent look upon his young face. He stumbles backwards and blink furiously. What the fuck? The magic surrounding the human-version-of-a bunny makes it immediately clear to the fae that they’re dealing with yet another curse. What was it with these curses nowadays? Was there a rampant witch fucking shit up around these parts— if so they needed to stop them before the dark fae lost his damn marbles and committed homicide.
“Here for an appointment?” The young boy shakes his head. Sigh. “Let me guess, you’re here for the witch, right?” Taehyung assumes as he marches towards the door leading to the greenhouse. He opens the door and raises his voice as he yells out,
“Jimin, there is someone here for you!” A strange look on the silent stranger’s face. Taehyung returns the gesture, as childish as it may be. It’s what he gets for scaring the daylights out of him. Besides, Jimin wasn’t around to scold him for being childish, so it was free reign until he did.
“Huh, I didn’t have an appointment to— Oh.” Jimin blinks as he emerges from the greenhouse wearing his apron, a dead giveaway that he had been in the apothecary. Would explain why he hadn’t noticed the unwelcome intruder in their house.
“Hi, do you have an appointment?” Jimin asks kindly as he looks at the small bunny-disguised-as-a-human-boy-but-failing-miserably. The stranger just looks at the two of them. Shakes his head, again.
Then he proceeds to point at Taehyung with a finger, pairing the move with a shy smile.
“Me?” The fae exclaims in shock, pointing at himself with wide eyes. But with this new information, Taehyung becomes more unnerved than before. In the years that he and Jimin have been living in this small cottage, nobody has ever come for him and his magical abilities. Yes, his fae magic comes in hand sometimes, but mostly just to assist Jimin with his card readings. When it wasn’t his communication skills that wasn’t needed to get through to other Faes, he almost never had jobs that he didn’t actively seek out himself. Never has it been useful on its own. And never in demand enough to warrant someone looking for him.
“Why?” Tae asks before he can take control of what spills out of his dumb mouth.
“Kim Taehyung, that is no way to talk to a client!” Jimin chides as he elbows him in the ribs with a stern glance. Taehyung pouts at his boyfriend in mock pain as he rubs the sore spot on his ribs. Jimin’s fiery eyes only narrow in dismay, obviously not happy with his outburst.
The stranger points a finger to the throat and then crosses his arms in a ‘x’, the movement catching the dark haired fae’s attention as the younger human tries to articulate with his hands what the matter is.
“No voice? A little peculiar…, but that is still Jimin's territory.” Taehyung is now becoming annoyed. For whatever reason, a small spark of hope has grown at the thought that someone actually came for him. He starts turning back to his chores, but a soft hand on his arm stops him. He has to stop himself from flinching away from the touch.
“What do you possibly need me for when you have no voice?” He realises he might sound snappy, but it just doesn’t really matter to him. “I don’t have the magic or potions to change it for you. So if you want help, Jiminie over here is an amazing witch who probably has something for you that might help.” He shrugs off the hand and walks deeper into the cottage, leaving his lover and the stranger behind. He doesn’t get very far though.
“Taehyung! Come here, right now.” Jimin’s voice, echoing through the whole cottage a couple of minutes later, breaks him away from the spiralling thoughts and the task he was starting. He grumbles underneath his breath about how nobody could leave him alone with his tasks, and walks back to the living room where he is met with the sight of Jimin and the same stranger from before. The feeling of annoyance comes back again.
“What is it? I’m getting the dried ingredients for the Dream Vision potion you’re planning on brewing today.” He raises an eyebrow at Jimin, not even looking at the human boy, now in Jimin's gentle grip.
Jimin’s face is set in a sad frown as he looks up at his lover, his one hand is on the other’s thigh, another around his shoulders. That is what attracts Taehyung’s attention to the boy, who has tear tracks on his cheeks and his gaze downwards, staring into nothing. If he really cared, it might have made him feel compassion for him. But he doesn’t. He learned long ago not to give unnecessary compassion to those he doesn’t know.
“This is Jungkook-ah.”Jimin starts, catching the Dark Fae’s attention. Jimin keeps his gaze, making sure he has his undivided attention.
“He is here for you. Shush your mouth for one moment, listen before saying something, again,” Taehyung chokes down the urge to argue, knowing he’ll only be in more trouble if he does.
“Jungkookie is here for you, because a Fae took his voice.”