𝑜𝓅𝑒𝓃 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝓉

[innerglow]

𝓉𝑒𝓍𝓉 / 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓂𝓅𝓉 / 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉𝑒𝓇

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[differs]

( get your feet wet — ha, that's kind of funny, considering the bad reputation cats and water have; he'll go so far as to mimic dipping a front paw into a puddle and recoiling, a faux-shudder rattling through him from ears to tail. could he laugh, he would, a goofy thing. if this whole pursuit of his doesn't work out for him, maybe jase ought to just start a career as a cat-pantomiming act.

staying a while sounds pretty damn good to him, though, if it means standing in this boy's aura for even a little while longer.

despite the way his little heart seems to jump into his throat each time briar looks down at him so calmly, it's reassuring to have someone so — well, sure of themselves to guide him through his uncertainties. jase still feels too big for this body he's rocking right now, but he's maybe becoming a little more comfortable with this idle sway of his tail, the way his whiskers twitch when he thinks he's smelled something or someone new wafting through the back alleyway. all things considered, this is somehow the longest he's spent in this form; previous attempts left him so shaken by the unintended result that he leapt right back into human form as quickly as he could.

jase certainly doesn't intend to wait it out by himself if briar's going to make his — what, potion? antidote? something? he's clueless — and as such, he nudges a small, wet nose against the back of briar's palm, trotting towards the door to the inside of the café again before looking over his shoulder at the boy.

expect a cat weaving in and out of your legs as you re-enter the shop, briar; call it instinct. )

[innerglow]

You're having fun, aren't you?

[ he doesn't coo like most people would at the sight of a cat, knowing fully well that there is a grown boy there. he brushes his fingertips against that cat's chin and offers him a rare, knowing wink. it's endearing, watching him figure himself out.

hmm.

briar giggles softly at the brush of a nose against his hand and his eyebrows disappear beneath his hair as he watches that cat make his way towards the shop again. pushing himself onto his feet, he brushes himself off lightly and makes his way into the cafe once more. the antidote should be easy, mildly effective in nature as the ingredients he has in mind have helped many others get over their magic blocks, though in truth it's more of a placebo for jase's sake. ]

Oh, I think you're having a wonderful time, [ briar teases once he feels the brush of fur against his calves. ]

[differs]

( jase is practically walking on sunshine as he trots right on into the shop, head held high and basking in the glow of briar's wink as that lithe little body of his darts between briar's legs, brushing up against him and far too pleased with the amusement that he's brought to that lovely face of his.

he is having a fun, wonderful time, thank you very much.

somehow, even though he's about maybe an eighth of his prior size, he feels far more at ease in this shop — or maybe it's because of that, considering he can now slink gracefully through this place practically unnoticed. no one pays a cat any mind, certainly not as much as a tall, gawky boy might think they'd notice him when he stands tall, all limbs and lankiness, carrying the weight of such uncertainty on his shoulders. no, it's much easier to stay here relatively out of the way, only obligated to focus on himself and briar at the moment — and that little concoction that he's going to brew for jase.

ah, that reminds him. the view is terrible from down here, so catch jase leaping from the floor and up onto the countertop, landing gracefully on his feet before sitting and looking at briar so purposefully, very ready to watch how this happens here, food safety inspection grades be damned. )

[innerglow]

[ he knows instantly that this poor creature is instantly smitten with him and the notion doesn't make him as uneasy as it has been with anyone else who happens to take a gander at his otherworldly face. it's the fae in him, the part of him that had been suppressed for so much of his life. he must have had another form as a child but the current one, the near-human one that he has grown up with seems to suit him the best, setting him apart from others just enough.

briar understands that feeling, being out of place, unsettled in your own skin. it's something he continues to contend with but the older he gets, the closer he comes to acceptance.

it's why he's keen to help jase, understanding inherently what he might be going through, pesky new crushes aside. it's sweet, however, the way that cat follows him in, brushes up against him in a way only a cat can get away with. he doesn't mind when he sits up on the mixing counter as briar himself begins chopping up ingredients, grinding some with a mortar and pestle. ]

Come back if this doesn't have any kind of effect in a few days. I will try another recipe.

[differs]

( it's in this moment that jase decides that he could watch briar for hours, no matter what he's doing; he has an effortless way about him, the way he moves so easily throughout this space of his, fingers plucking ingredients without taking a single glimpse at the shelves. it's such a silly, simple thing — but jase watches with wide feline eyes, bright as ever, head canted slightly to the side as his gaze flicks down towards those delicate fingers curled tightly around the pestle as each ingredient ends up ground down.

briar is fascinating — just about the epitome of everything that jase is not, with his delicate features and soft voice, his aura that's — okay, and this is cheesy, and he knows it — practically magical, alluring. maybe he's projecting all of his wide-eyed and bushy-tailed amazement onto this boy but ... who could blame him?

his tail flicks back and forth idly and jase nods, probably a weird thing to see a cat do very purposefully, but that's okay. in all honestly, he can't help but start planning his next visit to the café already; he's a sucker. )

Mrr~? ( jase asks, streeetching his neck down so he can sniff at the concoction taking shape within the mortar, too many new and different scents for him to fully parse and identify. so many that it makes him sneeze, a small, pathetic thing, and he sits up straight again, shaking it off.

what's in there? )

[innerglow]

[ that. might have been the cutest thing briar has seen all day, the sight of a curious cat sticking his nose into mysterious places, only to sneeze at the mixture of scents. he can't help himself around animals, even if animals happen to be instantly enamored boys on the inside, and he scratches jase behind his furry ears. ]

I hate to say it, they do say things about cats and curiosity, [ he teases lightly, ducking behind the counter to find little biodegradable satchels beneath, pulling out about ten of them. he begins to fill them with his crushed mixture, the leaves and such now tiny specs. ]

Root of dandelion, [ briar explains finally, tapping his tiny spoon against the rim of the bowl. ] lavender, black tea from England, aconite, a pinch of nettle...

You're to drink this as tea. I would recommend drinking with a little milk and some sugar.

[differs]

( oh, he's purring again, warmed immensely by the soft scratches behind his ears, a natural reaction to such a natural thing, the very human tendency to give animals affection and receive it in return. jase likes these silly little quips, practically preening about them and basking in their glow.

it's a weird thing, owning what he is, if only briefly. he's never fully embraced his feline side mostly out of obliviousness and then, as he grew older and learned about his family's roots, about their abilities ... he almost thought they were ashamed. but how could they be ashamed of something so wonderful that, in this moment, brings jase so much unbridled joy? he simply can't fathom it.

the dark cat eyeballs these little satchels, can hardly believe that this boy just created this magical mixture right before his eyes. with a small nod of his tiny head, jase stands up, pads delicately over the satchels so he can, unabashedly and only a little inwardly ashamedly, brush against briar's hand so he can receive one final pet from head to tail, giving this beautiful boy a small flick of his tail on that beautiful nose.

and just like that — it's in the blink of an eye but that cat shifts very quickly back into a boy, exhaling sharply because the whole thing feels so strange and it happens so fast, looking a little shellshocked, and also.

and also because he realizes that maybe he should have leapt off of the counter and onto the floor before trying to clumsily change back, if only because he's now a too-large boy sitting on the lip of a too-small counter, legs dangling off the edge and finding himself situated right in front of and extremely close to the bright-eyed shopkeeper, a tall boy made even taller by the height of his current seat. )

I, uhhhh — thank you?

[innerglow]

Everything is fairy-touched.

[ which may or may not be the answer to one of the questions that could be rolling around jase's brain. it's amusing, watching a cat have very human reactions to these things; that image doesn't get old, regardless of how long briar has embedded himself into the world that has surprisingly accepted him for who he is. or who he has shaped himself to be.

he tuts, however, at that last-ditch effort to get one more bit of affection from him – it's nothing terribly grouchy but he knows what that was about.

standing completely still, briar's expression barely changes when the cat decides to become a boy again, a hulking mass of limbs now settled on his counter and he raises his eyebrows so that they disappear behind light brown bangs, lifting his chin so that he can assess this silly stranger once more. ]

I don't think that can hold your weight for very long.