serpents and sons | taekook

Interlude: Seokjin (The Weaver)

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They plan, although it takes time. They pull every piece of evidence they have, talk to every witness they can. They use every connection their band of scoundrels has gathered in this city - because Seokjin wants 'Jack' dead, and so do they.

In the end they reveal Taehyung's identity to the boy sooner than they would have liked, using his magic to pull clues from thin air, shaping himself into the woman they think this murderer would like. They reveal themselves as gods who have walked the earth for centuries- some more than others. As an individual who hails from another world, and those who follow her eternally.

Seokjin is amazed, if not a little worried for Taehyung as they reveal both their plan and her existence.

'Be safe,' Mistress, he whispers as Taehyung pats on rouge- the decided bait for tonight.

'Always,' Taehyung answers, and it is with a kiss on the cheek and a pat over Seokjin's hair that they are off.  "They" being Yoongi - who follows at a distance - and Jimin too from another direction. The other two stay behind in their home with their youngest, prepared to run to them on a moment's notice as they wait beside the phone.

It is a strange feeling to willingly put oneself in danger, Taehyung thinks as she walks alone. She keeps her bag in hand and her bonnet low, the hem of her dress more revealing than she typically allows.

Although, perhaps it is an even more strange feeling to bury one's dagger in the skull of the man above her, watching as his blood drips over the emerald hilt. Limp hands slip from her bare hips, her skirts falling back over her legs, and Taehyung lets out a slow breath as the man slumps to the side.

And yet it stranger still to use her magic to dig through his memories, pulling each brutal vision of the horrific murders. To see what he had seen as he had mutilated each of those innocent women, cutting their lives short and having the time of his life as he did so - his own sick satisfaction and revenge fulfilled with every drop of blood spilled.

What doubt he held of their investigation dissolves as he watches each woman draw their last screaming breath.

Taehyung's brothers are silent as she walks into their home, and Seokjin stares up at her with wide eyes at the sight of her blood-soaked clothes. It pools beneath her feet as she tosses her bag to the side, ripping her bonnet from her hair. Yoongi and Jimin step up beside her, helping her from the layers that have begun to stick to her body.

'He is dead,' she starts, 'and gone.' Taehyung doesn't need to elaborate. The truth is clear.

Jack the Ripper is no more.

It is a slow recovery, and not only for the city but for Seokjin as well. The memory of Mary Jane's body is still fresh in his mind and Taehyung has no doubt it will leave a scar for many, many years to come. And it does - of course. The brutality of something such as murder is not something that one can easily come back from. It takes the boy a long while to regain the control he held, to become the man who isn't afraid to throw a fist to protect his family. He sticks around them though; his days with them and his nights at the brothel.

They use their combined knowledge to give Seokjin an education he never could have paid for, teach him things only they could ever give him. Joon appreciates his company, as do they all, teaching the young man how to read (and oh how angry Seokjin gets when they tease him about his youth, their physical bodies seemingly younger than his own).

Namjoon delights in being able to indulge in the knowledge he has amassed over the centuries and Hoseok takes it upon himself to teach Seokjin how to play cards. Taehyung is left to anxiously watch as Yoongi shows him how to properly grip a knife and Jimin takes advantage of his own royal upbringing to speak on the sciences and the religions they have learned of in their time on this earth - despite however short his own time with them has been.

Over the years they get him out of the slums, get him a good house and a decent paying job. They begin to separate themselves from him as their criminal activities grow, and his own wealth and respect rises as well. Taehyung sits with him late at night and tells him that they wish only for him to have a happy life, one free from strife and misfortune-

But it isn't what he wants.

'I need to stop other men who do the same thing,' he says, and Taehyung knows immediately what it is he is referring to. 'I want to learn more, help more, prevent more.' He then sighs and talks about how if they had only had a more reliable, steady source of information they could prevent more of these tragedies. He says that if people knew something would be done, more people would speak up about the crimes that are committed in the city's darkest corners.

And Taehyung tells him to be that source of information- and that Seokjin has been raised around those who knew how to do it best. She tells him that there's no easier way to pry words from loose lips than after an orgasm that leaves your legs shaking, when your head is on your pillow and all filters are off. How the market of sex and physical pleasure is one that has always lead to prosperity, and it is one that Seokjin is more familiar with than most.

Taehyung thinks she will remember the determined shine in Seokjin's eyes for as long as she lives.

And from then, it is as if all bets are off.

Seokjin's venture becomes more lucrative than they could have imagined and Taehyung uses his skills frequently over the years. He becomes the foremost name on everyone's lips when it comes to desiring information that no other can give- and with it their little street gang grows, and grows, and grows, and soon Taehyung is a woman at the top of the world.

It is only when Seokjin makes the comment about getting older, joking about how he felt his knees creak despite his young age, that Taehyung considers offering him the apple.

It is the first time Taehyung does not feel guilt as he holds it out, only a slight hint of doubt bubbling within him as he offers more than just eternal life. 'There are down sides,' he tells the human, and Seokjin meets his gaze steadily. This is one of the few things Taehyung can never lie about.

But Seokjin doesn't hesitate, plucking the fruit from his fingers.

'The ones who raised me are long gone,' he says, 'lost to disease and time or having simply left me behind - but the ones I consider family have always been right here. Right there next to me. Helping and guiding me to become the man I never knew he could be - had never dared to be.'

With immortality came opportunities he would explain later, and if those opportunities kept Taehyung safe, he would do anything.

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