Chapter Text
Yeri is Joy’s sleep paralysis demon, but instead of hovering over her all threatening like she just curls up on her chest like an oversized cat. She hisses and swats at Joy’s hands if she tries to move her, her pointed tail flicking around agitatedly behind her. Undisturbed she’ll fall asleep on Joy’s chest and purr like a lawn mower.
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Yeri doesn’t take her job as a sleep paralysis demon very seriously. She’s supposed to freeze Joy in place to instill a feeling of helplessness and scare the shit out of her. She doesn’t really care to though; she’d rather just slack off and use Joy as a human heating pad for a few hours. She prevents Joy from moving by laying on her and keeps her up for a while every night and for Yeri that’s good enough.
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As a sleep paralysis demon Yeri has the power to cause hallucinations and render people immobile, but since she never had any plans to use them her powers are pretty weak and she doesn’t have much control over them.
Yeri has a lot of raw power and is extremely hard working when she puts her mind to something so with a little bit of guidance she’d be quite powerful; too bad all she wants to do is soak up Joy’s body heat.
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Okay so let me set the scene...
Sooyoung is a a well known model, having entered the industry at 18 she has steadily gained notoriety over the years to get where she is now, splayed across magazine spreads. She’d also picked up a love for fashion and at 23 decided to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer; she moved into an apartment in the big city and started getting exposure and pitching her ideas to prominent companies that she has connections with. Attempting to break into a new part of the fashion industry led to a lot of sleepless nights and stress that just compounded when she started developing dry skin and bags under her eyes.
Yeri’s a young sleep paralysis demon, sent out into the human world for the first time to finally enact her demonic duty. Yeri -sensing that Sooyoung had the makings of a good victim- slinked into her room to settle on her chest...
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After realizing, and coming to terms with, the fact that a fucking demon was going to break into her room every night to chill on top of her she tried persuading Yeri into laying in a different way. When asking politely and nagging insistently both failed she bodily wrestled Yeri into being the little spoon. Sharp hissing and flailing limbs didn’t deter her from forcing the demon into a tight embrace. It was the first time in a long while that Joy could actually breathe well.
Yeri would never admit to it but she found the new position to be surprisingly pleasant, having Joy’s arms wrapped around her was much warmer than just laying on top of her. After that night Yeri was much more open to trying new positions, though she never stopped resisting solely so Joy couldn’t say ‘I told you so’ or something along those lines (the smug smiles she always gave her were annoying enough), purposely going limp whenever Joy tried to move her just to make things harder for the human.
Their favorite position is when Yeri is the big spoon. Yeri’s insticts compel her to try to immobilize Joy even if she isn’t actively thinking about it. Joy likes the feeling of Yeri’s deep purring vibrating through her with how close the demon’s chest was pressed against her back. The lack of horns pressed against her face was also a plus, even thinking about the amount of times Yeri had head butted her in the chin with them made her jaw ache. Yeri likes to be the little spoon when she’s particularly cold and on those days Joy even let her warm up her cold feet on her legs.
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Yeri has shadow traveling powers. She can travel anywhere as long as there are shadows to enter and exit through, but the darker they are the less taxing it is on her.
The first few days Yeri broke into Joy’s room she tried to keep her out by locking her door and window and barricading them. When that didn’t work she set up a video camera to see what was going on at night. When she checked the film the next night and saw Yeri materializing out of the darkness she immediately gave up on keeping Yeri out of her room and instead started looking for an exorcist.
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The first time Joy woke up with Yeri still cuddled up to her was a surprising yet pleasant experience. Up to that point she’d always wake up in bed alone despite having a nightly visitor. She didn’t know that Yeri could even stay for that long and during the day too.
It was also the first time she’d been able to see Yeri clearly and in her opinion, moonlight didn’t do her the justice she deserved. She spent the time waiting for the demon to wake up looking over her in great detail; from the curls of her horns and the patterns on her skin, all the way down to the way the demon’s tail was wrapped in spirals down her leg, the tip slapping against her ankle whenever the demon twitched in her sleep. Also she was completely nude, but Joy tried not to linger on that particular detail for too long.
Pitch black eyes fluttered open just as Joy had worked up the nerve to touch her, her thumb hovering over where milky pale met dark obsidian. The tension left Joy’s body when Yeri leaned into her touch, nuzzling against her hand.
“Good morning Kitten”
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As a sleep paralysis demon Yeri is accustomed to the dark. She’s used to living in chilled shadows and her body reflects that.
Yeri’s body temperature is lower than a human’s. That’s why Yeri’s so obsessed with clinging to Joy- well initially at least. She soon finds herself enjoying the feeling of Joy’s arms around her waist and takes comfort in her physical presence. On hot days Joy loved the feeling of Yeri’s cool body pressed against her when she was overheated and sweaty, but in the winter Joy had to fight the instinct to kick Yeri out of her bed whenever she tried to infiltrate her cacoon of warmth with her icy touch.
Yeri also has spectacular night vision; her eyesight is actually sharper in the dark than it is in the light. So while Joy could barely see Yeri in the light of the moon, Yeri could easily make out every feature of hers. After they got closer Yeri would escort Joy on her occasional night trips to the bathroom. Half asleep, Joy was prone to tripping over whatever crap she discarded onto the floor for the night and stubbing her toe against door frames. Hearing a pained cry from Joy when she was waiting on her bed for her return was enough to have her barreling into the hall to check on her.
After that incident Yeri always helped Joy navigate at night. It started simply enough; Yeri would only intervene when Joy was about to run into a wall or fall with a sharp tug of the wrist or by wrapping her tail around her torso securely; otherwise, she’d just let the human stumble around. But Joy’s directionless wobbling was cutting into her cuddle time -all she wanted was for them to be back in the warmth of her bed already- so she started leading Joy to the bathroom by holding her hand or wrapping her tail around her wrist and leading her along. Yeri’s actions backfired on her and their night adventures devolved into Yeri half dragging half carrying (on days where she’s feeling particularly nice Yeri’ll give her a piggyback ride) Joy to the bathroom as Joy became more and more dependent on the demon to get her there.
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Yeri used to only show up at night and spend hours cuddled up with Joy so when she starts staying around throughout the day they go through a sort of adjustment period.
Yeri’s not used to being apart from Joy for any length of time so when Joy starts moving around her apartment to do things Yeri clings to her like a koala. Latching onto her back, front, legs, and even her head once (Joy was not happy when Yeri tried to perch herself on her shoulders, they promptly fell because Joy didn’t have the strength to support a whole being coiled around her head). After a lot of scolding and the utilization of the dreaded flashlight Joy had gotten Yeri to stop.
The demon eventually settled for wrapping her tail around Joy’s wrist; she’d coil it around her wrist and spiral down into the palm of her hand. Joy would often absentmindedly play with it, looping it around her fingers or rubbing and toying with the tip.
When Joy’s sitting she lets Yeri indulge in her cuddly habits and Yeri savors her time sitting on or draped across Joy’s lap. When Joy’s cooking at the stove Yeri likes to squeeze into the space in front of her and hug her while burying her face in her chest or rest her back against her and watch her cook (Joy really thought she’d escaped the head butting). When they’re walking together and Yeri wants more contact she’ll force her way under Joy’s arm so that it’s draped across her shoulders and wrap an arm around Joy’s waist.
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As a sleep paralysis demon Yeri’s used to being in the dark so she’s extremely light sensitive. It doesn’t hurt her, but it can freak her out and at worst make her uncomfortable. Bright light makes her skin tingle, like bugs are crawling across it. She’s also susceptible to sunburn (they learned that the hard way). Her eyesight also takes a toll in the light. In the dark Yeri’s eyesight is incredibly sharp, comparable to an eagle’s even, but in the light she’s only able to see about as well as a normal human.
When Yeri starts spending more time with her during the day Joy starts keeping her apartment dimmer. She partially closes her blinds so that the sunlight filters in lightly and keeps her room as dark as possible. She knows that Yeri likes to curl up in her bed while she waits for her to come home (what she doesn’t know is that Yeri’s built a nest in the corner of her closet that she uses when she’s feeling particularly lonely).
Joy’s flashlight quickly becomes the bane of Yeri’s existence. When Joy’s still trying to teach Yeri what not to do (“No kitten get out of the dryer!”) she learns that flashlights work about as well as a spray bottle would on an actual cat. A couple seconds under the beam was enough to deter her from doing most things, but she’s always a little miffed after Joy uses it.