folkmeme | leap night tfln

[ The strange thing is, Diluc believes him. But he’s not about to accept Kaeya’s help to recover something that was meant for him in the first place. He is extremely upset that no matter what, the surprise is essentially ruined now. Kaeya knows he’s been making wine and Kaeya isn’t stupid. The fact that he doesn’t even ask why someone who doesn’t drink wine ever is making it in his home is enough of a tell for Diluc to know that he’s onto him. Just his luck…

Thankfully, he’s distracted from his disappointment by the revelation that Kaeya can shape-shift into different animals. ]

You were… drunk. And a stoat. And you stole my cheese… as a drunk stoat????

Yes. Stoats are small and easy to miss.

You were drunk. As a stoat?

…What other animals can you turn into?

…anything I have a memory of.

If I’m drunk and shift, the intoxication doesn’t go away. I don’t drink then fly.

[Well, this is going okay. So far so good. He’ll give him a little more.]

We would be here all day if I listed them all.

ANYTHING YOU REMEMBER??

[ Oh gods… That’s a lot of potential forms for Kaeya to sneak around in. ]

So… a cat? A forest boar? A red fox?

Not cats. Venti’s allergic. But yes, and yes.

I would suggest you think bigger. I was here when the empowering rain fell. Giant owls aren’t so bad.

One of TIMMIE’S PIGEONS??? My falcon!?

[ Yes, he’s still on about this. ]

Like I said we will be here all day if I list them all. Now, will you at least let me get a look at that glitter?

[ He almost wishes he never learned about this… Now he’s going to be paranoid about waking up to a slimy blue frog jumping up and down on his face, smelling like it took a bath in a bucket of acorn ale. ]

You can if you want, but I don’t need your help finding the wine.

Of course not. I just want to see what is going on. If this is the start of a trial, it’s better to know.

Address?

Do trials usually start with glitter-dumping and stolen wine?

Trials vary in how they start. This is around the time a new one would start.

[He is paranoid. Deeply so.]

I could be wrong. Never fade is where all the water is going.

[ And Diluc is blissfully unaware of why.

He begrudgingly gives Kaeya the address since apparently drunk stoat him decided not to commit it to memory, but the address is just Venti’s house because Diluc is couch-surfing there right now. ]

Fine. Since you know more about this place than I do…

[Ah. Well. Well, he did move to give himself a fresh start. Diluc’s at Venti’s. Anywhere is a bit of a flight.]

I’ll be there soon. Brace yourself.

[What comes towards the house is a massive shadowy looking dragon with feathered wings. The frame is Dvalin. The dragon is smaller than the guardian of the wind, but it is still huge.

Dark blue scales edged in pale blue match feathers that reflect the night sky filled with stars. Bits of armor cover the vulnerable joints and edges of wings. The dragon sails silently closer and sweeps up, reshaping into Kaeya himself once he’s over a good spot to drop down.

But Kaeya himself has changed. He is a perfect blend of wolf and man, large wolf ears and long fluffy tail to match his hair in color. He drops down and his ears slide forward then back.]

Like I said, think bigger.

[ Diluc recognizes the shape immediately and it isn’t until the dragon gets closer that he realizes it isn’t, in fact, Dvalin at all, but Kaeya. Just as quickly as he recognizes Dvalin’s form, he recognizes the coloring of Kaeya’s hair on the dragon’s hide and feathers, and he just knows. It’s instinctive; he would know Kaeya anywhere, in any form, in any life. Not that he would admit it.

Diluc’s eyes shimmer a vibrant red-orange as he takes in the sight of the dragon approaching, awed in spite of himself. When the massive beast swiftly transforms into Kaeya, Diluc lowers his hand shading his eyes from the sun and he grumbles a quiet, “Show-off…” before the changes in Kaeya’s appearance takes him off guard. ]

What… are these?

[ Yes, he had heard of it. But somehow, seeing it in person is so much different an experience from hearing about it and before it really registers just how uncouth such an act would be, Diluc is reaching out with bare hands to catch one of those ears, red-orange hue in his eyes turning to an alarmed bright yellow. ]

This is your wolf form showing?

[ His thumb rubs the velvety inside of the lupine ear while his fingertips stroke the midnight blue fur on the outside. They’re… real. Really real. Kaeya really has wolf ears. He’s touching them and he still can’t believe it. ]

[Whatever he was going to say goes entirely out of his head. He opens his mouth and closes it without saying anything. His tail swishes behind him while his mind tries to catch up with events.

It registers Diluc is touching his ear. Petting it even.] No. This is my being a familiar showing.

[Absolutely nailed it. His other ear twitches, the crystal feather earring in it jangling. He isn’t wearing his Mondstadt clothes. A long dark coat, white shirt open a few buttons. Sure. But the cloak is missing.] Be careful with that.

[ Diluc doesn’t stop even when he’s clearly caught Kaeya by surprise with his actions, still not quite able to reconcile the man he knows with the fact that said man now has animal ears that are definitely affected by actions taken against them. He continues to trace the shape of the ear and feel the plushness of the dark fur, the yellow of his eyes beginning to warm back to the fascinated red-orange of a moment ago. Soft… ]

They just… stay like that? Always?

[His mind catches back up at last. Diluc is asking questions. He should answer. A bit at least. His tail thumps against the floor.]

Yes. I’ve never been able to put them away. Some can. [To his horror his tail betrays him and starts to wag. The ear rubs are nice.]

[ The thump of the tail is ultimately what breaks Diluc’s sudden fascination with Kaeya’s ears and he takes his hand away finally, glancing behind the other man to watch his tail wag from side to side. He… laughs. It’s a short, quiet little laugh, but given Diluc doesn’t so much ans smile all that often these days, the sound even surprises him. He clears his throat in embarrassment and looks away from Kaeya’s tail, crossing his arms awkwardly over his chest. ]

I don’t have anything like that.

[He coughs politely, ears straightening back up. His tail wags harder. A laugh from Diluc is a good thing. He reaches back and stops it.]

For now. Your traits might manifest in time or in special circumstances…it’s all individual.

[He puts his hands on his hips, one ear swiveling to catch the sounds around them. Nothing but the usual sounds.] So, show me where you found the glitter.

Hmph.

[ …is Diluc’s response to that while he pretends not to see Kaeya’s tail wagging harder suddenly, or the man’s firm grab in order to stop it. The only thing he’s noticed that’s different about himself is his eyes changing colors, but considering he can’t really track how the color changes, he hasn’t figured out how it works himself yet. No animal features yet though. Honestly, the prospect of growing them suddenly is unnerving. ]

In the kitchen.

[ He turns on his heel to lead Kaeya there. ]

[Kaeya follows in Diluc’s wake and lets himself feel a little bit of grief. Diluc doesn’t remember. Just like last time.

Forward they go. The shifts in eye color are different this time. He will have to learn the system again. Once they reach the kitchen he becomes a wolf. He is bigger than a normal wolf. And not a trace of white on him. His paws are black edging up into the dark blue of his hair. He looks up at Diluc and the eyepatch is still on. But the fur around it hints at the hidden damage.

He hums, sniffing the air. Then his speaks. His voice is a same as ever.] Trials can be more mundane or dangerous and grueling.
There is a variance but, they all run along that line. The fox supposedly is testing out potential.

[His lip curls to expose sharp teeth. He isn’t convinced of the pitch. Not at all.]

[ Diluc isn’t really sure what he was expecting but he wasn’t expecting Kaeya to shape-shift into a wolf right there in Venti’s kitchen. He was a bit busy quietly and — hopefully, at least — discreetly admiring how sleek and sophisticated Kaeya looks in this new, strangely low-profile outfit of his, so when suddenly the younger man becomes an overgrown wolf, he’s left reeling from the swift change. ]

That… is going to take some getting used to…

[ He remarks gruffly, swallowing thickly and resisting the impulse this time to touch. Keeping his hands to himself shouldn’t be so hard, but he assumes it’s the strangeness of the entire situation. His mind can’t really believe what he’s seeing and so he seeks tactile confirmation that it’s real.

He does notice that there isn’t a trace of white in the wolf’s pelt. It takes him longer to respond when he sees that Kaeya has retained his eyepatch in this form and he spots the telltale signs of scarring beneath it in a way that isn’t noticeable usually. A wolf’s skin heals differently from a human’s because of the fur covering the body and Kaeya’s eyepatch is designed to hide a human’s scar, not a wolf’s.

It makes Diluc feel a deep, painful spasm of guilt and sorrow in his heart, and his naturally crimson eyes shimmer to a dark blue-violet. ]

You don’t think that is what this is all about either.

[ He looks away from Kaeya, but his eyes remain blue, straying into stormy territory. ]

Define “dangerous”.

[The shift in eye color as well as the sudden lack of looking at him is enough to tell him a story. He leans his weight against him, rubbing the side of his face against Diluc’s leg. No words are needed. But D might not realize why he’s suddenly pretty shameless in offering a little comfort.

He whines, wagging his tail. No shame? Perfect distraction.] You’re right. I don’t think that is what their aim is. I think they’re following their whims.

[ It doesn’t register with Diluc that the wolf’s weight against his leg is meant as a comforting gesture— until he starts to whine. Then Diluc’s years of experience with canids kicks in and he reflexively puts his hand out to rub the back of the wolf’s neck and one of his ears to calm the animal, the act almost absent-minded. His stormy blue gaze is focused on the wine cabinet still. Inside it are a few bottles of lower quality than the ones taken and as described, a white tuft of fur tangled in one hinge.

His hand stills out of embarrassment in the thick winter coat of the wolf when he remembers it’s not some giant dog he’s petting here, but Kaeya. ]

…Well, of course they are, but the question is what drives those whims. Is it for their own amusement or for some other purpose? If we can figure out why they do what they do, we can formulate a plan to escape.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject