As Jigano turned to care for the kettle, Rance straightened, sucking in a deep breath and releasing it quietly. Now wasn’t the time to fall apart just because his feathers were missing and that fact ratcheted up his anxiety. Even if he could switch shapes without the cloak, that knowledge wouldn’t eliminate the ingrained need to keep it safe. The scent of hot, spiced apple reached his nose and Rance breathed in, trying to ground himself with the familiar scent.
Rance had asked his question out of curiosity, not suspicion, and he wondered at Jigano’s hesitance. He could understand it, of course. Had he not seen the evidences of magic and shapeshifting already, he would he been quite reluctant to reveal so much about his people. Rance kept his expression as open as he could manage, not bothering to hide his interest in Jigano’s answer. When it came, his eyes sharpened, curiosity focused. He straightened his head and nodded in acknowledgment and encouragement, though it was hardly needed as ‘different races’ was expanded on and Jigano mentioned people who were like Rance’s own only… not. When he altered his shape to demonstrate why and continued to explain the details he couldn’t recreate, that was when blue eyes widened in surprise. “Damn, yeah, definitely didn’t have anyone like that at home….”
Jigano returned to human form and Rance found himself sympathizing with his discomfort. To have one’s own magic twisted in on itself, form and body altered, felt like a violation. And even if Rance hadn’t lost either of his selves, the change itself felt different now, like something was always missing. Hearing Jigano’s names for his own people and the half-human, half-raven folk of his own world was interesting enough that Rance wanted to write it down. Likely would, once he had time to sit with his journal. Before he could truly get distracted by that, though, Jigano turned the conversation away from himself in a way that visibly startled Rance. His eyes widened and his hands twitched, back straight and shoulders stiff. “Wait, human? I — she mentioned that I was ‘Attuned’ and that she was ‘Abandoned’. Named a handful of others and sort of vaguely how they all related to the gods here, but—” A hand came up as if to brush away everything he’d just said as inconsequential, the gesture as sharp as his tone was alarmed, “She didn’t say anything about us bein’ fuckin’ human!”
Rance had asked his question out of curiosity, not suspicion, and he wondered at Jigano’s hesitance. He could understand it, of course. Had he not seen the evidences of magic and shapeshifting already, he would he been quite reluctant to reveal so much about his people. Rance kept his expression as open as he could manage, not bothering to hide his interest in Jigano’s answer. When it came, his eyes sharpened, curiosity focused. He straightened his head and nodded in acknowledgment and encouragement, though it was hardly needed as ‘different races’ was expanded on and Jigano mentioned people who were like Rance’s own only… not. When he altered his shape to demonstrate why and continued to explain the details he couldn’t recreate, that was when blue eyes widened in surprise. “Damn, yeah, definitely didn’t have anyone like that at home….”
Jigano returned to human form and Rance found himself sympathizing with his discomfort. To have one’s own magic twisted in on itself, form and body altered, felt like a violation. And even if Rance hadn’t lost either of his selves, the change itself felt different now, like something was always missing. Hearing Jigano’s names for his own people and the half-human, half-raven folk of his own world was interesting enough that Rance wanted to write it down. Likely would, once he had time to sit with his journal. Before he could truly get distracted by that, though, Jigano turned the conversation away from himself in a way that visibly startled Rance. His eyes widened and his hands twitched, back straight and shoulders stiff. “Wait, human? I — she mentioned that I was ‘Attuned’ and that she was ‘Abandoned’. Named a handful of others and sort of vaguely how they all related to the gods here, but—” A hand came up as if to brush away everything he’d just said as inconsequential, the gesture as sharp as his tone was alarmed, “She didn’t say anything about us bein’ fuckin’ human!”
