Freeloading is a bonding activity

[runs]

Ryoji's place has become busy lately, since both Casper and Kitty drop by regularly. Usually they aren't around at the same time at least, and thus Kitty doesn't expect anyone to be around when she wakes up from a nap and raises her head, a ruffled mop of hair surfacing from under a pile of blankets and pillows that looked nothing like a child was sleeping under it.

For the moment, "surfacing" is saying a bit too much. Right now, there is only a pair of (as far as Casper can see) dark eyes peering out from the pile of blankets, observing the activity in Ryoji's bedroom.

Comments

[runs]

"You have changed."

She emerges a bit from her pile of blankets, leaning her elbows on the mattress and resting her hands on them. He has changed, and while it is different from what happened to her, it's still a clear physical change. Maybe it is the same?

(It's not, of course, and he won't be able to spot the soft short black fur covering her skin now or how pointy her ears have gotten, or how her hands have gotten just a bit out of shape.)

[helborn]

He turns, jerking back for a moment. ... Oh, it's just Kitty. "Yeah... Lirisoir did this, I think. But it's not too bad. I don't really mind it other than it being itchy." He could do without that part.

[runs]

"Who is Lirisoir? And why did they do it?" Maybe someone has mentioned him to her, maybe they haven't. He's not actually sure.

She starts to untangle herself and crawl out from under the sheets.

[helborn]

"... He's the guy Ryoji and I rescued from the underworld. He's possessing me, kind of."

He pulls his shirt on, wincing as some threads catch on his scales.

[runs]

"He's possessing you?"

Okay, that's not cool. That's not cool at all. She shrinks back under her covers, almost hissing. Possessions are bad. They are most frequently done by spirits that you really don't want to be walking around.

[helborn]

He holds his hands up. "It's not like that. I still have my mind. He just... was a spirit. And he didn't have a body. And I had... room. My soul's still safe."

[runs]

"Why did you have room for someone else in your head? You're not that dumb."

Look, he at least doesn't seem to be dumb. He's not a troll or a dog, and she's not prejudiced at all.

[helborn]

He snorts at that. That was actually pretty funny. "I... uh. My soul's not... in my body. I died."

[runs]

"You look pretty alive." She's seen ghouls. She's had run-ins with vampires, both there and here. She knows what dead people smell like. "So where is your soul then?"

[helborn]

"... Somewhere else. It's safe." He trusts Kitty, but he doesn't trust her curiosity. "It's okay, though."

[runs]

That is a very wise way of distributing his trust.

"...Okay.

So why did him possessing you give you scales?" She'll inch closer now, not quite ready to try and touch them but definitely eyeing them closely.

[helborn]

It's a little harder to see under his shirt, but he shrugs. "I don't know. He's kind of dragon-y, so maybe that's why?"

[runs]

She'll pull that shirt up, making sure to not touch the scales as she does so.

"So are you slowly turning into him then?"

[helborn]

"I don't know." He doesn't pull away, though he looks down at Kitty. "... What are you doing?"

[runs]

"I want to look at them." Obviously.

"So you might be turning into a dragon?" Please don't. Dragons are too powerful and intelligent to trust them.

[helborn]

"I don't... know? I hope not. That would be really weird to explain when I get home." Why this. Fine. He pulls his shirt off again. Enjoy the skinny, scaley nerd.

[runs]

Because she is a cat.

She will poke at it now, run one extended index finger over the scales carefully. They are warmer to the touch than she expected, but well, there's a human underneath, isn't there?

"You think he'll come with you when you go home?"

[helborn]

He shivers a little bit - he's not used to people touching him. And yes. Partly human, at least.

"I... don't know. Maybe I can get him back to his world?"

[runs]

"But he would still need your body there. So you would have to stay with him."

Her fingers wander up towards his neck and then she lays a hand flat against the scales. They're really curious.

[helborn]

"I don't kn - okay, Kitty, can you... stop that, please?" He's starting to get kind of uncomfortable.

[runs]

"Why?"

She drops her hand, though, because she's not dumb. People getting uncomfortable has a high chance of them lashing out soon, in her experience.

"They're cool, though. You could try to pass them off as bodymods."

[helborn]

"Bodymods like that aren't really a thing, though." He pulls his shirt down a little bit, and sighs. "... Sorry. I just... I'm not used to people touching me outside of a fight, and fights don't feel like that."

[runs]

"They are. Maybe not where you're from, though.

...You don't cuddle with people?" She has to think of Malicia, and frowns at him. Dude, do you have issues?

[helborn]

Um.

"No?" Is that a problem? That's normal, right? ... Isn't it?

[runs]

No, it's definitely not.

"Why not?"

Because the only person whom she knows who doesn't do cuddles at all is a person who actively tries to be as little of a person as she can because of issues that Kitty doesn't really understand.