braidtrain | [Ryslig] IC Inbox

[WHY GET AN HONEST MAN WHEN YOU CAN GET YOURSELF A DISHONEST WOLFMAN?

Also? Also hold up. She can't go quite yet because what just happened? This is not the handsome, somewhat furry but still somewhat human yakuza man she knows! This is a much more handsome, full on furry werewolf! There's a soft gasp and she flitters over to him, but doesn't follow. Instead, she stops right in front of him, landing on the ground after a few moments of hesitation to just stare up at him.]

Wow!!! Wow you're so cool, Hiko! You're like a werewolf from all those stories now! That's so cool! And you look so strong now too! I bet you were already pretty strong before, but you're all buff and stuff! And you changing from that little dog into this is amazing!

[Is that actually buff or is it all fur? She doesn't know! But he certainly looks buff. Just as quickly as she landed, she takes to the air again, just fluttering around him to admire him.]

Can you run around on all fours and stuff now too? Is your bark really loud? Do you think you can turn other people into werewolves?

[And then, after a moment, she transforms too! Mostly so she can perch on his shoulder, because it's much easier to do that as an actual bird rather than a full on harpy. Even...though she's a lot bigger than most birds should actually be. But still small and manageable. And from his shoulder she can lean over and continue talking in a much squeakier voice.]

You've even got dog eyes! Big, pretty, soulful dog eyes! Well...one of them anyway, but the other one is still pretty cool too. Kinda gross, but cool! I bet people think it's scary.

[Gosh he's so dreamy. Just like all those werewolves from her young adult romance novels...!!]

[S-some of it is muscle!! It's not all fur!!! But he does have very thick fur, it's true.]

[He twists a little on the spot as she flutters around him, trying to keep his eye on her. He makes a few flustered noises that are probably meant to be the start of sentences, but she keeps cutting him off with more questions and comments before he can actually complete his sentence.]

Oof! [Woah, suddenly bird on his shoulder! For a moment, his balance is a little offset but he doesn't seem to have any trouble supporting her on his shoulder. He clears his throat, seeming somewhat sheepish though thankfully unable to actually blush thanks to all the fur on his snout.] Ahh...well, I've been able to run on all fours for a while now. Ever since my arms got longer back in December. Haven't tried turning other people into werewolves and I don't want to...

When the fuck did your bird form get so big though, huh?

Aww but that'd be so cool! You could make like a pack. That's usually how they work, you know. The alpha werewolf bites humans and infects them with lycanthropy, and then those new werewolves are part of his pack. And they hunt together and watch out for each other and sometimes fight over the same girl, but she just wants to have a simple romance with the alpha and doesn't want them fighting over her!

[Listen to how dreamy she sounds. Clearly she's read one too many romance novels involving werewolves...]

Being able to run around like that must be really useful! Annnd sometime last month! I started wanting to fly around more and being in my bird form seemed like a good idea, and I just...got bigger I guess. It's neat huh?

Uhh...

[He's listening! He's hearing how dreamy she sounds and he's not sure what to make of this, honestly. Mabel, please don't tell him this is supposed to be a "hint hint, this is a personal fantasy of mine" type situation.]

Th-that may be but I don't wanna inflict this bullshit on anybody else, to be honest. Besides, I don't really get along so well with other dogs anymore... think I'm more the lone werewolf type.

[He starts walking along the sidewalk, paws shoved into his pockets. Apparently he's just gonna walk around with Mabel on his shoulder?]

It's faster than runnin' on two legs, yeah. But changing into a dog is still the fastest way for me to get around so that's usually what I do if I need to get somewhere in a hurry. If I'm gonna run around on four legs anyway, may as well use the form that's faster, know what I mean?

[There's a soft, audible gasp from the bird.]

The lone werewolf type? So you're the strong, mysterious type that the heroine doesn't know anything about, but yearns to get to know, because it seems like you have a dark secret that you want to share! It's hard to keep it to yourself, but there just doesn't seem to be anyone you can trust to tell it to, to lean on for support...you don't need any help anyway! You're strong enough on your own, with a heart of solid ice. Friendship doesn't really interest you, and romance definitely isn't your thing.

[She seems to go almost starry-eyed as she continues talking, looking up at the sky.]

But then you meet the leading girl and she's annoying, because you just want to be left alone, but she's sweet and just wants to get to know you better! And as time goes on you grow closer with her and she starts melting the ice around your heart, and you two fall in love!

[And then a dreamy sigh, a wing moving to rest over her chest in an almost human-like manner, as if she's placing a hand over her heart. After just a few moments pause she tucks it back up, looking back over at Fuyuhiko.]

Of course, there's always some kind of conflict. A vampire clan who wants to wipe out all the werewolves, so you find yourself having to fight them off! Or a rival, who's had his eye on your new friend for a while and swears to become your nemesis over her! Which you don't understand at first, but then as you grow more attached, you see the problem, and the two of you fight constantly. Eventually it becomes a violent fight, one to the death! But the girl steps in to stop you both, because she doesn't want you hurt, and tells your rival off.

Or maybe you kill him! [Does she ever stop? She's looking tilting her head now, looking thoughtful.] Killing him in the name of love is a very romantic move, and while it shows just how dangerous you are and frightens your lover at first - she even needs time apart from you! - she remembers how kind and gentle you always were with her, and how you would never harm her because you love her, and she comes back to you! And she's so sorry for having doubted you, and it's hard for you to trust her but you do love her, so you take her into your arms and it's a happy ending!

[It ruffles her feathers just thinking about it! Really, it does, all of those little feathers are as poofed up as they can be and she probably looks ridiculous because of it, but she can't help it. She loves romance. Why doesn't she have a boyfriend yet?!]

Oh but, I understand what you mean! Flying around like this is way faster than flying around normally.

[Does Mabel even notice that he's stopped walking about halfway through her rambling? Because that totally happened, and the wereshiba has turned his head a little so that he can just gape speechlessly at her.]

[What the hell just happened here? How has the conversation taken this sort of turn? This is not what he was planning at all and he's not sure how to make her stop. Will she just...eventually stop talking? Or is this bizarre werewolf fantasy of hers just going to keep on going forever?]

[Oh, no wait. It's gonna stop. There's the end. Though, even after she's done, Fuyuhiko still doesn't say anything immediately. It takes him a few moments to find his words again.]

You uh... [He clears his throat, turning his head back to look forward and resuming walking.] You really like your romance stories, huh?

[He's not commenting any more specifically on that. Nope. Not touching it. He regrets calling himself a lone werewolf a little bit.]

I love them!

[She hadn't at all noticed they'd stopped moving, and doesn't really seem to now either.]

One of my dreams is to fall in love one day...I've been trying real hard all summer to find a boyfriend while staying with my uncle but it's been pretty much impossible.

[And now we're coming down from the romance high with a defeated sort of sigh.]

I mean I had a few prospective ones but they either ended tragically or the guys turned out to be...eck...there was this guy who did puppet shows who was a liiiiittle too into it...after Bill ruined my sock puppet rock opera, he walked off and was like...making out with his hand puppets. And then there was Sever'l Timez, which was this boy band made out of clones? I mean they were okay, but they didn't really know how to be people and I uh...after rescuing them I kinda went a little nuts and tried to keep them captive in my room haha...

[Awkward admitting that.]

I let them go though! Then there was Mermando...He was a merman that got stuck in the local pool, and could never make it back to the sea so he could go home. He'd reverse-suffocate if he was out of the water for too long! But I helped him get home, and we dated for a while, but then he had to marry into the manatee kingdom to help keep peace between them and the mermaids...or something. The first guy I dated? Turned out to be a bunch of creepy gnomes pretending to be a cute teenage boy to find a queen!

Ugh and then there was Gideon. He was this phoney psychic kid who really wants to steal the shack from us, just because I didn't want to date him. He even used dynamite to blow up the safe and get the deed from us! We had to really fight to get our shack back...he had this massive robot shaped like him, and he chased us down when we were on the bus back to Piedmont with it, onto this old closed off railroad bridge. And he grabbed me and just threw Dipper up onto this high cliff...he said he was going to make me his queen, he was totally obsessed. But Dipper was real brave and just...leaped off of the cliff and onto the robot! He broke through one of the eyes and I guess just started fighting with Gideon! I couldn't really see anything, but the robot was stumbling around and going crazy, and then we fell off! Luckily I had my grappling hook to save us, so we could just lower down safely to the ground. And then Stan revealed him to be a big fraud and we got our shack back!

[Ugh...Gideon.]

[...after a few moments, she seems to wilt a little. Dipper...he's gone again. She really misses him...and remembering things like that just makes it hurt worse, being apart from him like this. Ugh and now Ford is gone too...she's losing family left and right...]

...I mean...yeah. I guess I like them.

[Ah shit. Fuck. He somehow managed to steer the conversation into even WORSE territory. He's supposed to be taking her mind OFF her family, not making her miss them more!! Good job there, fuckstick.]

[Fuyuhiko raises a hand to gently sort of stroke under Mabel's beak a few times. He's seen Gundam pet his birds there before, so that probably means they like it, right?]

Sorry. I wasn't trying to... [Turn the conversation to your family.] I mean...it's like I told you last time, remember? Siblings don't stay apart forever. And you don't stop bein' a family just cause you're physically apart for a while. You'll see 'em again.

[How long that will take, he's not sure. But he's sure that eventually her family will all be together again.]

As for your boy troubles...jeez, you're thirteen, maybe try calming down a little? You still got plenty of time. You're just gonna keep finding losers if you rush it, birdbrain. [He nudges her playfully in the side with his knuckle. C'mon, cheer back up!]

[Birds do like being pet there, and she's apparently no exception, just lifting her chin a little and sort of leaning into it. And she listens to him, not answering immediately though at least giving somewhat of a giggle at the nudge and the birdbrain comment. After a pause though she hops a little closer to his head and just...nuzzles him a little. She'd hug him if she could but that's just awkward as a bird.]

Yeah...I know. I just wish he'd make up his mind y'know? Either come back and stay, or wait for me to go back...

[This coming and going thing is really hard! Just when she thought she was sort of okay with him not being there, he showed up again. And now she was all used to being with him and he's gone...

With that out of the way she backs off some, preening a few of her feathers that got moved out of place leaning against him like that. And after that's done, she answers the second part.]

Your teen years are your age for romance though. And plus, I was vacationing in a whole different city for the summer. That's the classic setting for a good, romantic summer romance.

[She doesn't sound 100% cheered up as she talks but her voice is a little less depressed.]

Brothers. Sometimes we do insensitive shit to our sisters without meaning to. That's all I can say there.

[...and sometimes you kinda mean to. At least if you're Kuzuryuu. But let's not talk about how much he took his sister for granted right now.]

If you say so. Never had much interest in it, myself. Different city or otherwise.

[Ah...so she was right about that much, at least...]

Oh, so I was right about something huh?

[She picked up on that immediately, and you can hear the smirk in her voice, even if the most telling sign on her face is only the slightly mischievous squint of her eyes. Beaks aren't very good for smirking with.

Let's stop talking about brothers...let's talk about something else...]

Tch, don't get too cocky. You were right about one thing in that whole scenario.

[Just the one thing! We're not going to acknowledge the fact that she was close to the mark on some other stuff. Because it's no longer relevant anymore! He doesn't try and keep people away anymore!]

Nuh-uh, no way, I totally get to be cocky about this!

[Fluffing up her feathers again, she fans her tail out some and her crest raises up from her head.]

Maybe it was just one thing but it was still one thing! Meaning I'm one step closer to figuring out what kind of werewolf you are. Good enough for me!

Tch...

[You win this round, Pines. He guesses.]

Y'know...the kind of werewolf I am and the kind of person I am are pretty much the same thing. It's not like my personality drastically changes once the sun goes down or anything.

[As far as he knows, anyway.]

Well I know that...but it's fun, figuring out what tropes you fit.

[Closing her eyes, she's really doing her best to smile but still a beak is a beak and alas, it cannot smile. But she's tucking said beak to her feathers, crest perking up as much as it can, and you can at least hear the smile as she talks.]

You're always gonna be Hiko, even if you're a human or a werewolf, and I like you best that way. You're cool and strong and really nice, even if you can be blunt or grumpy sometimes. And you're always good at cheering me up and looking out for me. You're kind of like...an older, angrier Dipper! Except you're not a huge awkward nerd who makes up conspiracy theories all the time and sweats a lot.

[And then she lifts her head up again, fluttering her wings a little.]

Maybe that's the kind of werewolf you are. You're not the hero of a romance novel, you're probably the hero of like an action or mystery one! You're the protag who has a really close friend or sibling you gotta rescue, and you'll do anything to do that! Even if it means taking up some magical journey, or sacrificing things to make sure they're okay, like your summer job or the little bit of height you have over them, or your girlfriend so they can keep their pig!

...

[Ah. Well that hits uncomfortably close to the mark there, doesn't it? He doesn't think of himself as a protag, exactly, and he can't really call Peko a "friend" but...aside from the those semantics...]

[Conceal, don't feel.]

Heh, you think so? [He lifts a finger to scritch under her beak again once she's lifted her head up.] I think I could live with that. I like stories with lots of action in 'em best. [He can maybe do without mysteries for a little while though, still. It's been a almost a year since the island but...you know. Those 22 days were More Than Enough Mystery For This Lifetime.]

[And that just has all of her feathers fully floofing up again, pleased with both the scritches and that answer.]

Good, cause I think it really fits.

[And she admires that about you. Even if you're really attractive and she kind of still wants to date you, she's also kind of started looking up to you too? Which is a really awkward mixture of feelings, boy, let her tell you.]

So where are we going?

Hm? [Don't mind him, just got kind of lost in his own head there for a minute. She doesn't know it, but she really hit on some old wounds that he still hasn't actually addressed properly. He's been in Rylig almost a year now and he still hasn't talked to anybody about Peko. Or his sister. But he's definitely not about to dump that on Mabel, of all people. Certainly not RIGHT NOW after she just lost her Grunkle and is still clearly hurting from losing her brother.] Oh, nowhere, really. You said there wasn't anything in particular you wanted to look at, right? Figured we could just wander around till something got your attention.

Oh right! [Probably a good idea. Mabel would of course do her best to help comfort him, but she wouldn't really know what to do about that kind of knowledge. Or how to really help in the end...but she'd doggedly pursue any avenue that seemed like it would help and who knows if that's a good idea...

Mabel glances around at their current surroundings, trying to see if anything really catches her eye. Nothing so far...]

We can keep wandering then! Nothing is really interesting around here.

Alright then. Just lemme know what you want me to stop.

[He lapses into silence as he walks, at least for a few minutes.]

Actually...other than craft stores, what sort of places around here do you like to go to?

[Where do you like to shop, Mabel?]

Oh, lots of places!

[Are you ready for The List.]

I like to visit bakeries and candy shops and cafes, plus clothing stores and thrift stores. Arcades are fun too! Novelty shops or antique stores, hobby shops, stores with really nice displays, flower shops...and stores that sell shiny things!

[Okay, it's not that big of a list, but honestly she could have said "everywhere" and probably covered things pretty well.]

What about you?

[Holy crap, Mabel.]

Well uh, I agree with you on antique shops. Those can have some pretty cool stuff sometimes. Places that sell weapons are always worth a visit. Anywhere I can find nice suits, though honestly a lot of the time I get my shit tailor-made.

[Since...he's so tiny.]

[Look, she has a variety of interests okay? Basically anywhere you go she could find something she likes and/or needs.]

Ooooo tailor-made? How fancy!

[That's....such......a small list of things, Fuyuhiko.]

So you don't like games or anything like that? What about water parks! Those are always fun. Or bowling! Oh, oh! You could always visit places like...

[She trails off, lifting a wing up to her beak as if in thought for a few moments before curling it back up.]

Um...you could always visit skating or ice rink? Or a library! Even libraries can be fun.

[And then she adds, after another pause and with a tilt of her head:]

I've never been in a weapon store before. If you get your suits tailor-made does that mean you go to those like...really fancy looking ones? That are all "High Quality Steel! Only the Best High Grade Ammo Sold Here! High Quality Survival Stuff Blah Blah Blah" on the front?

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