open your heart up

part one.

warnings/tags: graphic imagery/description (no smut), pining, slight angst, lapslock 

op: garden by sza

it starts like this:

mark leans back into his throne, a cheek resting on a fist as he watches the annual proceedings with an uninterested eye. mark is the untamed, the uncultivated and the undomesticated, and being cooped up and caged in is making him restless, makes his longing for the raw, unrefined wild that much stronger. him being here is just in the job description for all that he cares and he's been thinking of shirking off his responsibilities to go and frolic in some field of flowers or play some pranks with the dryads -that's how bad it is here, how boring it is here.

the gods are gathered here today for the annual winter solstice meeting. it is rare that any god miss a meeting, but it has happened before -in times of crisis or emergency.

these meetings are tried and true, a tradition that has been left unbroken for eons, and yet mark can never muster more than a fake smile or a silent nod of acknowledgement while he's here. he is always present, as is expected of him, but do not think his physical presence constitutes his mental one when he could have been attending to things a little more important than an annual check in -his realm for one.

he's staring off into some daydream distance, bambam and yugyeom and youngjae chattering lively in the background, honking laughs suffusing the air with gold. jinyoung and jaebum are leaning towards each other on their own thrones, no doubt flirting, their fond whispers drifting in and out of mark's hearing. more gods walk in and either sit at their own thrones or stand in pockets of conversation, talking, joking, laughing. usually, mark finds those pockets troublesome -loud, sharp, constant bursts of sound that annoy him- but today, a laugh rings out from one of the larger groups, high and boisterous. mark has never heard this laugh before and turns his head to focus in on the group from which it originates.

in the periphery, a minor god is attempting to make their way towards mark when mark spots him , the god with the high and loud laughter. he's a broad shouldered god, with dark hair and darker eyes, causing a ruckus in the middle of the group he's in, gaining laughs and snorts from all those surrounding him. mark observes the god, notes how his eyes sparkle when he speaks, notes how his mouth moves -a snort, a smile, a smirk- and notes how his hands gesture when he tells a story; mark can see the veins in his hands from where he sits. the god has a serious face as he states something to namjoon and jooheon before he breaks character and his serious frown cracks and transforms into a silly grin, mouth opening like a chasm to laugh as the other gods laugh. mark is instantly charmed.

there's something peculiar about him, something quick and ever changing about this god. he's a little like life, tumultuous and unruly, -a little like mark and yet, is not mark; mark is intrigued. he stands from his throne and subtly fixes his robes as he makes his way towards the group, stopping ever so often to greet a friend or acquaintance so as to not appear mindless and rude. he scans faces and feels a little bad about only remembering a handful of names even though he does recognize most of the faces. mark cringes internally when he passes by the minor god who had finally reached him from where they had came from, their face lighting up in recognition. mark apologizes in his mind when he continues the small conversation and hopes he isn't too obvious that he's forgotten who he's speaking to and hastily makes a retreat when he sees an opening to escape. he slithers his way through the crowd, inching closer to the god with the loud, booming laughter.

mark idly wonders why he hasn't ever seen this god before -he's ran into everybody at least once in his long life. mark knows he doesn't pay too much attention to matters he should be paying attention to sometimes, but he knows he's met every if not all the gods at least once. mark frowns, but then who is this? he patiently makes his way closer, getting a feel for the atmosphere and - oh .