Toko "Just Here for Nips" Fukawa (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
janescayre) wrote2023-03-01 10:50 am
janescayre) wrote2023-03-01 10:50 am
Duocaeli Inbox
DUONET ID: harukaze
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"Don't leave me any stupid messages, I don't want to hear your mouth-breathing over the phone."
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She seems pleased, though, to win that concession from him. V doesn't have the heart to say that it's no big secret, though he will frame his sentence along the same lines.]
That's true. But I would rather be honest and perhaps, if someone is feeling wretched, to know my full potential will keep them from acting... unwisely.
[He gives their arms a little swing, given that their hands are still laced together, and then turns. He walks forward, urging her closer to the plants in question. They'll still have to collect a few!]
My familiars are somewhat unique. They used to be nightmares, haunting someone for years and years. But they were eventually banished and had nowhere to go -- they would fade without someone to latch onto.
And so, I made a pact with them. And now we work as a team.
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I suppose... [That's a strategy, certainly. It also banks on the target being legitimately afraid of your prowess, or being unable to use that information to plan a workaround. Well-informed is well-armed.
It's a good thing this place seems keener to make people snuggle than kill each other.
She scuttles along after him, happy to see that some of the flowers are creaking open. Her grip shifts on his hand, a touch more tight than before. Perhaps they needed to sell it better?]
Literal nightmares, huh? So, l-like capturing a yume no seirei. Th-though I'm guessing it's not just a bunch of wrinkly old men at your beck and call. [Curious. She's hardly an encyclopedia, her familiarity with world myth is expansive but not comprehensive. There isn't an example she can whip up of a witch specifically conjuring nightmares. Just demons working to their own devices.] Or m-maybe a mare, or s-some kind of jinn?
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A demon is a demon. My world operates, maybe, on rules you aren't as familiar with. They may be nightmares, but their physical forms are just as deadly as if they weren't.
[He shrugs. He swings their hands again. The flowers open up a little more!]
Shadow is a large cat.
[""""cat""""]
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It'll have to slide for now.]
I g-guess. [Her mouth thins as she mulls the idea over.] So it's another p-parallel world, of sorts. Only some things in common. There's no supernatural bullshit like th-that where I'm from.
[Except Komaru would beg to differ. As would that occult idiot, but his testimony belonged in the trash.]
Though...fine, there might be gh-ghosts. But I still think that was some sort of fluke!
[Yet she still insisted on sharing the bed with Komaru. Just in case. The possibility had been enough to spook her.]
Cat? [""""cat?"""" She squints, immediately suspicious.] A nightmare cat. Does it have sabretooth fangs or something?
[Explain.]
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Ghosts... You'll have to tell me that story sometime.
[Because it sure does sound like a story!
As for Shadow... Well, he could just say it's a large black panther, but where's the fun in that?]
Why don't I summon it and show you? You can even pet it if you like.
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There's n-not much to tell. Komaru probably just freaked out because she had to carry the Chairman's head. She came back to her senses just fine after that anyway.
[Said thoughtlessly, quickly, as if rehearsed several times in her head. It's the mantra she'd been repeating to get herself to sleep in the dark, though it works far less now that she knows it's possible here.
Oh how she despises the twists her tale has taken.]
P-pet it? [She looks up from her crouch, taken aback.] B-but I...uh.
[That same old flush creeps right back in. It's as if it never left.]
I don't know if it'll — um, does it scratch? Aren't most cats temperamental?
[She'd imagine that goes double for nightmare cats. Also how do you gracefully skirt around having never petted a cat in your life?]
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[Sorry, ma'am but carrying WHOSE head? And why?
They'll come back to that.]
It listens to me. I promise you'll come to no harm.
[And this is the part where he usually would summon it unbidden, sending the trailing darkness of his tattoos down to the ground, so that inky black can bubble up and transform into Shadow.
...But he thinks that might give her a fright, and V isn't mean. So, he waits for her permission.]
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[Perhaps she shouldn't have said anything?
Luckily he skates past her gaffe, leaving her only with the queasy apprehension of whatever might be popping out of thin air.]
...
[She nibbles on her lip.]
...
[Can she trust him to keep a ghostly nightmare beast in check?]
...F-fine. But — if anything happens I'm logging out immediately!
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[It's all the permission he needs. With his free hand, V points the tip of cane to the ground just beside them. The dark markings on his skin appear to move, twisting down his arm, and pooling at the spot where he indicates.
And from that darkness, a form rises. It coagulates into the shape of a large black panter with red eyes, tail swishing, head tilted up to take in its new surroundings. It looks at Fukawa with curiosity.]
Meet Shadow.
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Nevertheless, he has her rapt attention as he points the cane and his tattoos shift. As if pushing something out to the tips of his fingers. Not any kind of spell-casting she's seen before, and a curiously artistic one to boot. It almost makes her forgive the excessive ink.
And from all this razzle dazzle comes a form too big and too terrible to be tame.]
AAH!
[Fukawa forfeits his hand as she falls flat on her ass, staring down an apex predator with no glass and no railings to save her.]
Haaa, haaa— [oh god oh shit oh please. Her arm has flown up to shield her face, as if that might do any good.] Y-y-you liar! That's n-not a cat, that's a jungle cat!
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[Shadow is just a very big cat.
It barely flicks an ear at her reaction. V has no choice but to let go as she fumbles away, and he shakes his head, smiling faintly.]
Looks can be deceiving. It might be a massive predator, yes, but it's tame unless you happen to be an enemy. And you're not, so try not to have a heart attack.
[Shadow decides to sit, mildly. V gently pats its head.]
See?
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[Class trial rules, bro.
Her eyes follow his hand as it pats the enormous beast's head. Her shoulders have nearly melded to her ears, and she's crushing the stems of the few blossoms she's already picked.]
Th-this is absurd... [Her free hand scrapes through her scalp as she seethes, eyes wrenched shut.] The only pet I've ever had w-was my Kameko, and sh-she was a stinkbug...to think I have to leap straight to exotic animals, b-before even touching a kitten...
[grumble grumble hiss hiss, long groan.
At last she squeaks an eye open and reaches forth with the most reluctant hand. Aiming high, avoiding that formidable jaw.
She makes contact with the top of its head.]
eeee—
[HELP]
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You had a stinkbug as a-
[As a pet? But you know what, her valiant display of, ah, questionable courage cuts off his words when she makes a high-pitched noise that makes V screw up his face just a little. But the smile's still there.
Shadow doesn't so much as move, even if its ears flick back a little at the noise.]
Come now. You can do better than that.
[V reaches out and scratches under Shadow's chin. The large cat-demon tilts its head up, pressing a little more against Fukawa's hand, content.]
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Yes! [Immediate and sharp. She shoots him a glare with gritted teeth.] K-Kameko was my friendsect! She was the only one who knew wh-what it was like to be completely reviled...
[Okay well Komaru and that lackadaisical woman both had given her a bit of a talking to, and she had conceded that Kameko was maybe sort of a regular bug who felt no connection to her, and that the world wasn't so cruel that her only friend had to be a bug. Still, she has to defend Kameko's honour here. It's the principal of the thing. She's a perfectly acceptable pet to have. Some people kept those giant hissing cockroaches around, so why not a lovely mild-mannered stinkbug?
Fond memories of her darling invertebrate aren't going to buoy her through this though. "Shadow" juts its head up against her palm and she squeaks anew, muscles seizing. V scratches beneath its chin, right close to that infernal mouth.
And yet, all it looks is content.
Gently, gutlessly, and with no small amount of trembling, Fukawa's hand moves as if ensorcelled. She strokes with the grain of the fur (she'd read about this much) and the beast chuffs. An ear flicks.]
Aah, uhm...
[She repeats the motion. The fur is forebodingly soft. Another stroke, more firmly than the first two.]
I-I-I, haha, ha...I've l-looked death in the face before, b-but. Um. [A crisp patina of sweat has beaded along her forehead, but goddammit she is trying.] Did you t-train him to be like some kind of pampered house pet, or does he listen to you because...
[She makes a fiddly gesture towards his tattoos. You know what she means.]
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Is that one of the reasons for her, ah, demeanor? To be fair, she could simply be afraid of this large panther, for Shadow does strike an intimidating sight, even outside of battle. But for now, it's only docile, and shows enjoyment at getting all this attention!]
What, these?
[He holds up his hand, wiggling dark-marked fingers, depriving Shadow of one avenue of pets, but that's fine, because it has Fukawa to provide the rest, right?]
This is proof of our agreement. Our contract. So no, it isn't trained, more than it is... bound to me. Agreeing to listen to my commands.
That said, I doubt it would bite you otherwise! [V has no proof of this.]
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[You could slap that on a headline real quick.
Still, she's easing into all this by fractions and slivers, which amass into slices. That is to say some of the trembling lessens and she's attempting to lightly scratch behind the ears. Her lower lip is being gnawed to ribbons though.]
I kn-knew you would be into some edgy crap, all tattooed up like that. [Not like she could accuse him of being a Yakuza, but the association is hard to shake. She'd never liked the bad boy aesthetic either, in real life or in books. Elegance was a far bigger draw, and a better bet at longevity in love.] After all the insanity I've seen I should have expected they were m-magical. Nothing is normal anymore.
[Case in point: a panther is nudging its head against her hands. She's forfeited the flowers in her lap. In spite of her sour words she's unable to help the niggling curiousity. It's not like she'd been a huge lover of animals or anything, they were sure to hate her just the same as people were. And she's never been invited over to someone's house socially, so her experience with other people's pets is negligible.
So it's...kind of soothing. And soft. And though her heart won't stop racing and she's sure to split her lip any second now, she's brushing the thick fur down atop his skull with a steady rhythm. She absorbs the finer details of Shadow's snout, the whiskers, the slow blink and heavy breath.
After a moment she turns her gaze back to V.]
...Is this how you p-pick up girls?
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But V hardly minds it. It's quite a different look than his "whole" self, and perhaps that's a good thing. Better to differentiate, better to represent himself as something unique, like a diamond polished from the rough.]
Maybe magical is my normal.
[But he watches a little bit more as she pets Shadow. The panther very much enjoys the attention, the pets that become a bit more sincere in their effort, and V's smile widens.
But then he blinks at the question, eyebrows raising.]
What? [Shadow chuffs.] I don't know, you'd know that better than me. Is this the kind of thing that would work on you?
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Well it's n-not mine.
[Stop flaunting your privilege V!
The fluster returns in much milder form this time around as she splutters.]
Of course not! [Oh, she'd stopped petting for a second. The panther is nudging her hand pointedly. Fukawa resumes her soothing work, much more diligent now, emboldened by the lack of teeth in her neck.] I'm not so easily s-swayed! Only the m-most brainless sluts would fall for such an obvious trap. I prefer — oh?
[He may never hear her preferences now. She's been distracted by the blossoms. In a sizeable circle around them, they've bloomed wide open, tilted towards the sun. It seemed even animal affection was enough to coax them open.]
Um. I g-guess we've got enough for the bees now...
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Hm?
[He looks up and over at the blossoms, and his brows raise in surprise. They're wide open, facing the sunlight beaming above. His poetic side appreciates the sight, but he'll spare her the urge to spout a couplet or two.]
You're right. I guess that wasn't so bad after all, was it? You made two new friends in the process.
[YES HE'S COUNTING HIMSELF
If she wants to keep petting Shadow, he'll let her, of course. V will meander towards the blossoms and pluck a handful to lure the bees in.]
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[THE ABSOLUTE GALL OF THIS MAN.]
D-d-d-don't just sneak that in there last minute! This doesn't count!
[Though Fukawa will snag a few more blossoms for the job, mindful not to alarm Shadow on the way. She also steals a few more head scratches as she works, as this is likely her last shot at any. She's not so naïve as to believe she'll get permission twice.
Maybe someday, after a full year of completely contact free conversation and a few harrowing escapades (a regrettably common occurrence these days), they might know each other well enough to say they were tolerable acquaintances. Friendship is a deeper thing, forged in the fires of true strife and struggle, of souls laid bare before each other, every flaw and folly accepted, their thoughts intertwining, a bond eternal and incomparable.
Yes. To be a true friend to anyone is mostly impossible. It's a miracle Komaru could stand her long enough to call her one.
This "V" has another thing coming if he thinks he can just skip the queue and call dibs.]