breakaleginhalf | dataBURST: IC Inbox

Gil's eyes watch the drop of blood join with his on the rose, and grips the stalk a little tighter as he takes a deep breath, and burns the Glamour to, quite literally, seal the deal.

The lights flicker overhead, and Artemis's heart will suddenly race, like he's on the edge of terror again - and with it comes a horrible, disorienting sense of vertigo, of being tied to something bigger than he could possibly understand.

Then the lights settle back into their steady glow, his racing heart calms and the dizziness recedes - and Gil, taking a step back to put the rose down on the table, looks different. A generous description might be 'werewolf', but the bat-like ears are huge, twitching to point in Artemis's direction when Gil turns his attention back. The scars he could see before are thicker, more numerous, but also smothered by the silky fur, so brown its almost black and covering every portion of Gil's being. Thick juts of what can only be a mane stick out from his collar and arm holes, chopped down inexpertly and raggedly. His arms are too long, thick hands hanging somewhere near his knees - and his legs are misshapen, goat-like with the cloven hooves instead of proper feet, and side-on like this, the bulge of a tail is visible down one pant leg.

But the biggest difference is his face: it's no longer human, instead something between a bear and a squared, hyena-like muzzle, with jutting, grotesquely sharp teeth in a too-square jaw. The only thing that still looks human are his eyes - and the irises are still blood red, but the pupils are slit now, dilate as they watch Artemis with open apprehension.

Artemis takes a deep breath with him, completely unsure of what to expect and wishing he'd asked for a little more information -

But then he's swept up into the sensation of being one tiny, insignificant piece of a giant whole that has never before cared that he existed. Maybe it was better that way, to go unnoticed, but his soul still stands up and demands to be heard. If that makes a difference or not, he doesn't know, because then he's back on the couch and staring at Gil.

He's staring at Gil, in the lines of familiar scars and body language he's spent the last few weeks learning. He's staring at Not-Gil, a predator that could kill him in one bite sitting two feet away. It's impossible not to be afraid, at least for a moment, but it's equally impossible to stay that way when the eyes staring back at him are so human. So full of a recognizable emotion.

So Artemis takes another deep breath and lets himself study the changeling in front of him intently, silently, until he can put on a half-smile that he almost feels.

"Hey there, short stuff."

Gil's ears twitch, reflexive and immediate, at the sudden turn in Artemis's Glamour, and a matching fear grips him-- maybe this was a horrible mistake, maybe he's just going to lose it completely and it's all Gil's fault, shit--

But then it fades. Just a little, just enough for Artemis to put on a smile, and Gil can't help but grin back, ears perking up instantly - even his fur seems to deflate a little, as he winds down from the fight-or-flight he'd psyched himself up for, in pure unadulterated relief.

~~In terms of instant relief, cancelling plans is like crack.~~

"Hey to you too, string bean," he comments right back, and his voice is different too. Before he was perfectly clear, albeit a deep, Tom Waits-style rasp, with perhaps a touch of overenunciation - it's easier to understand why now, when a soft growl seems to underline every word he says, as he drops the rose on the table and moves to the other side of the couch. His muscles are less visible now, beneath the fur, and the shape of his legs is a little jarring compared to a proper human - almost satyr-y - and he flops very bodily onto the sticking-out-long-part of the couch, cushioning his arms under his chin. "Feel free to look closer, you only have a month," he adds wryly.

Artemis' eyes track the way Gil's ears move, curiously, trying to work out if he's reacting to some kind of unheard sound or something else. He's not an expert on nonhuman body language; the only things with ears he's ever been around were simulations, as unreal as anything in Svelte. The way all of him literally perks up, though, that seems easy enough to read.

"Awfully cocky to think I'd want to look at you for a month," he says; it comes out a little breathy, because the sound of that growl's sent his heart pounding again. He shifts around on the couch, drawing a leg up so that he can face Gil rather than craning his neck to keep up the staring. "This is... really what you look like all the time under whatever that is?"

He doesn't say magic spell, just barely.

That just makes Gil laugh, a soft wheezing noise; it's not even that funny, he's still just almost dizzy with relief.

"Yeah, this is the real me. I used to look like what you saw, like-- actually human, I mean, not that jacked. I was kind of a fat guy." But that's just getting distracted. "The scars and, like. This-ness," with a broad gesture at himself, "I've only been for like, nine months, officially?"

Nine months. What Artemis saw was nine months ago, and Gil's walking around like he's fine? It's hard - almost impossible - to believe, and Artemis wants to demand to know what the hell the secret to that is. He keeps his lips pressed together, though, and holds up his hand again as he had to examine the scars.

"Can I -?"

"Yeah, of course." He'd like to stay flopped but he forces himself to swing his legs back around and off the couch, so he's sitting facing Artemis again. "Just be careful with the ears, they're sensitive."

Artemis leans forward, and despite Gil's warning he is going right for the ears. He's gentle, at least, and more than a little careful to avoid his arm brushing tooth or snout in the process.

"-This is so fucking weird." Like he took something experimental, or he's dreaming. "I already have a hard enough time convincing myself anyone in this place is real..."

Both ears twitch sharply back at the first touch, almost flicking Artie's fingers as Gil grimaces, but after a few seconds they relax again. Still stiff to the touch, and try to flick again while Artemis is holding them, but now that they're in his hands they're remarkably soft. Velveteen fur ghosts across their semi-opaque surface, veins and scars both gently distorting the otherwise smooth shapes; and the more time he spends playing with them, the more the tension left in Gil's form starts to melt.

"Yeah, I was the same after coming out, to be honest. Took a while to, uh. Believe this was what I am now."

"And - what is that?" Artemis can't help but notice the relaxation as his hands skim over the surface of Gil's ears, light but not light enough to tickle. He doesn't stop, though the weirdness doesn't really lessen. "I still don't... I mean, I know you're a changeling. But."

But obviously that means a little more than he'd realized.

"A changeling is someone who gets kidnapped by the Fair Folk and escapes to talk about it." Perhaps a little more candid than he intended, but those ear rubs are doing things. "We, uh. Don't always get out. I nearly didn't. That memory you saw, it..."

His ears flick in Artemis's grip, not enough to escape but a distinct motion like they were going to press back. "...nearly broke me. I escaped not long after."

Artemis' hand slides off Gil's ears, down the fur at the side of his face, and then withdraws back into his lap. He's got his eyes on the way the extra bits are moving, curiosity still evident.

"How?" It's perhaps not the most relevant question, but it is the one that's at the forefront of his mind. "I mean, you've got, what - these all-powerful whatevers that can make you not be human and bring you back from the dead and you just walked out?"

Edited 2021-05-02 10:46 (UTC)

His ears twitch just a little, head leaning automatically into the touch as it coasts down the edges of his jawline; and gives his head a quick little shake once he's been released, almost like a dog.

But the next question sours the almost pleasant mood Artemis has gotten him into, and both ears press back.

"Not all-powerful, but near enough. It takes... desperation, or a lucky break, or you learn just the right skill that your Keeper won't notice." He looks away slightly, muzzle wrinkling as he lifts a hand to rub across his jaw. "I... attacked mine. I ripped his leg off and ran while it distracted him."

He senses Gil's mood souring. With those teeth staring right at him, he knows he probably shouldn't push things further in any direction that pisses him off.

He just doesn't care, is the thing.

"-That's fucking awesome." He doesn't even try to hide the awe in his voice, because it is. "You get that, right? I didn't even make it to the bottom floor before they dragged me back, and the people chasing after me were human."

That's a dangerous sentence, Artemis, and Gil's muzzle wrinkles more deeply.

"I don't think you understand how fucking difficult that was, as a task. Everything about what I was surrounded by and what I was turning into wanted to stay there. It wasn't cushy or spoiled, I was a beast made to be fucking slaughtered on a daily basis and I wanted to be there. Leaving that was the hardest thing I'll ever have to do, and I would've been fucking thrilled if leaving was just a matter of running past some guards."

Artemis' expression falls, a little, and he seems to sink back into himself as much as he can on the other side of the couch. He'd thought, maybe -

But that was stupid, and Gil isn't wrong. What does he have to complain about, really?

"Yeah, well. Maybe not everyone's as strong and smart as you are. Take the damn compliment."

Gil physically pulls away then, lifting his legs and crossing them so he can rest his overly long arms on his knees, and look away. His ears are still pressed back but the angle's different; less pressed back in irritation and more... upset.

"Yeah, well. So's Coda. And Bugsy. So's anyone who fights to get out of some shit like that. Escaping's a hard thing and it means something just to try."

So. There's your apology, Artemis. As much as you'll get.

[ this might be a good spot to handwave if you needed to? i'm cool to keep backtagging basically forever but whichever works for you! ]

--

"-Right. They are."

He's quiet again, for a while, though his eyes keep wandering back to Gil every time he looks away. It really is impossible not to look, even as he's trying his well-trained best not to stare. The ears are the sticking point; he doesn't know enough about animals to recognize what the body language means, intuitively, but they keep moving every time Gil's mood changes.

Eventually, though, Artemis hits his limit of quiet and squares himself up. "So. You're my roommate, and Coda is... Coda. What do I need to know about all this?"

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