Senri curls into the only source of the heat in surrounding him chill. It's the much bigger body that smells like something fresh and crispy. The scent brings back a fuzzy memory of watching the first snowflakes dance in the chilly air, and he smiles involuntarily because that image doesn't hurt. He thinks that he should be upset that it feels so cold – because he always hated the cold, but he's too tired to mind or even wonder why the body he's pressing against feels so limp and unresponsive. He doesn't mind because at least it's warm, and he feels like he's been cold for so long…
He presses deeper into the heat and slips into unfamiliar dreams…
Maren Naylor was a beautiful, kind, and incredibly intelligent woman. Or at least that was her reputation around the Old Sharlayan.
At first a student, then a professor of aetheric arts in Studium, she rose to the position of member of the Forum with dignity and rare gratitude between her peers – sharing her sage advice and opinions always with a kind – some would call haughty, perhaps – smile and unrivaled patience.
But as much as Maren enjoyed the prestige and the respect that came with her position – she found that there were few more pleasant things in life than using it for her… side activities. Busy as she always was with her studies and the graceful ascent to her position – she never married and never regretted that – finding the thought of sharing her status and wealth with anyone beneath her.
Now, nearing fifty years of age – but still thanks to her Elzen heritage enjoying the much younger looks – whenever she found herself in a need of male companionship, she had a pick of several of the most beautiful men available to fit her needs or mood. That most of them weren't so… willing at first sometimes – hardly mattered. That she had a preference toward much, much younger students filling this glorious city of knowledge only made picking out her entertainment easier.
There were precise few who would dare to refuse her favor – and she was more than skilled after years of practice with picking those most… susceptible.
She only made a mistake once, trusting the word of another woman too easily.
But when her near lifetime long friend, whom she met near off the boat after arriving inside the city as a mere student, fawned over the skills of her newest prey – a famous by his unique eyes protégé of Gulaf Baldesion – she let her envy cloud her judgment and grew interested in the boy.
At first, he seemed no less naïve than all of her usual targets – and according to her friend's words, oh, so eager to please – so she didn't expect any troubles. Her friend, Katla, as well never minded when she 'borrowed' her toys. But when the moron had the sheer nerve to refuse her – apparently stupidly believing himself to be in a relationship – she might have overreacted… a little.
But since her ambition wouldn't suffer the idiot bragging to anyone that she approached him and he rejected her favor – carefully spreading the rumors of the boy's less-than-perfect morals was the best option in her mind. After all, if any would dare question her on that – she could always use the excuse of the rumors leading her to do something like that – and who would ever believe then that the moron rejected her…?
She was almost surprised at how easy it was – only made easier by the boy's reputation of eccentricity. And bored between their classes and other activities – both students and professors enjoyed gossiping to spice up the conversation. That Katla with flourish added oil to the fire easily confirming the rumors… well, they had a good laugh about it and soon moved on to more interesting activities.
But that's had happened years ago and during that time her influence between the members of the Forum only grew – as did her 'menagerie' and skill with picking the most vulnerable boys to join it. And while she more than realized he never got anywhere near fitting her profile, she would have to blind or dead not to be moved by the uncanny beauty of the Warrior of Light.
Intrigued by the rumors about that, she and Katla made sure to 'accidentally' be at the harbor when the ship bringing the famed Scions of the Seventh Dawn to their city docked. As – how it looked – at least half of the citizens. But getting a glimpse of the unusually tall Seeker was definitely worth the hassle, they both agreed afterwards, because as surprising as it was, the rumors seemed to simply undersell the sight!
The man himself seemed used to the attention he was welcome with, ignoring anyone but his companions and was swiftly led away from the harbor by the Baldesion's granddaughter – to the crowd's obvious disappointment. Her own, too, she had to admit, because even though one look at him told her he was sooo far out of her reach, just looking at him was a rare pleasure. To make up for it a few bells later she called on one of her boys, a Seeker with dark hair and blue eyes and though it was a pale imitation of the Warrior's unreal beauty, she enjoyed making the boy please her while letting her imagination wander.
And after all that, to say she was surprised to spot the uncannily tall Seeker lean against the wall of Rostra after she exited the building one evening with her usual entourage of other members of the Forum was an understatement! She heard that Krile Baldesion petitioned their organization to lend their ear to some sort of Scions' business – and with others more than agreed that whatever that was they wanted, it was of none interest to them. Likely they meant to ask their support in their pointless struggle against the Ascian Fandaniel, and considering Sharlayans had their eyes on a bigger praise – saving as much knowledge as possible and following their agreements with the mysterious servants of Hydealyn, they hardly had a mind to pay attention to the Eorzean champions. She heard that Fourchenault Levellieur took it up himself to deal with that annoyance, considering his own children's membership in that organization and for her, that was that.
But then, seeing the Warrior alone, she wondered briefly if he meant to plead their case himself – and considering his status with not only the Eorzean Alliance, but after his efforts in both Ala Mhigo and the Far East, she thought that at least it was sort of a smart idea of the Scions to send him instead of the Levellieur's brat, for example.
"My, but he is truly gorgeous," whispered Katla at her side and Maran leaned in toward the shorter Hyur so the others around them couldn't overhear.
"That, he is," she agreed with a quiet snicker, eyeing the black-haired Seeker that seemed to be utterly relaxed despite the fact that not only them noticed his presence and looked at him with interest. But then – again – he had to be more than used to that with his fame and appearance. Dressed in heavy boots, loose-fitting pants and skin-tight sleeveless vest – all in black nearly matching his ink-black hair and fur – he was a sight to behold. His unusual height and muscular frame drew more than a few enamored stares, but it was his unreal beauty – that even the cover of the sunglasses didn't manage to hide – that had many men and women eye him with admiration. She had to admit that she never before saw as beautiful male, but hope her expression wasn't as obvious when she grimaced with her next words. "But you had to hear the rumors already? Apparently, he took quite a fancy to our city's Jinx "
"Of course I heard! Hardly anyone talking about anything else!" Katla waved her hand with dismissal, her dark-green eyes still focused on the man. "But I also heard that it's likely a thing of convenience, Maran, nothing more. Baldesion's granddaughter is housing them at the Annex, after all. Also…" she added with a smirk, lowering her voice. "…doesn't necessarily mean he's enjoying only men, if you get my meaning. Even I keep a few pretty girls at hand for when the mood strikes. And imagine literally getting between the two of them…" she sighed dreamily, then snickered when Maran looked toward the Warrior with a new interest. That… she didn't consider.
"You think after what we did to his reputation, G'raha would ever agree to that?" she asked with obvious doubt, tossing her friend a sideways glance.
"I think if the Warrior was into that, he wouldn't have much to say," she replied with a quiet laugh. "Little Raha was always a pushover in this and I doubt it changed much, especially if he wouldn't want to lose the Warrior's attention, but at least last I saw him, he filled out quite beautifully since them."
"Did he?" she hummed, raising her eyebrows. When she approached G'raha he was skinny, awkward teenager – but of quite pretty features.
Katla didn't answer, still eyeing the massive Seeker and clearly mulling over something.
"Won't hurt to try," she finally said, smoothing down her robe and tossing Maran a wink. She shrugged in turn, narrowing her eyes toward the man when her friend left her side and sauntered toward him. She couldn't resist the thought that Katla is about to receive the burn of her life and Maran found some amusement in that. Even unmoving the male reminded her more of a predator waiting to strike than anything else – and mindful of the way he moved on the harbor, with confidence and grace of a lethal dancer, she wasn't as naïve as Katla let herself be.
Yet, as her friend approached the Seeker, she observed with interest while pretending to listen to one of their colleges. The Warrior didn't move, still looking relaxed with his hands shoved in the pockets of his pants, only apparently turning his shaded eyes toward the Hyur when she neared him. Light smirk tilted his pretty lips, adding uncanny charm to his beautiful face and they exchanged a few words but Maran was to far to hear it. When after a moment Katla turned toward her with a smile and waved for her to follow, she frowned with confusion but excused herself from her company with a graceful nod and neared them, keeping her expression carefully neutral.
"Yes?" she asked, looking between them with raised eyebrows, but surprisingly Katla simply kept looking at her with the same smile, her green eyes strangely devoid of expression.
"Marrran," the male downright purred at her and she froze as her gaze shot toward his covered eyes. Twelve preserve but that voice…! The deep, rumbling and with a strange, raspy quality, it had to be the most alluring thing in existence… Instantly hypnotized, she could only stare as the Seeker's downright too-pretty lips tilted into another smirk, this one somewhat with a nearly vicious edge. "I hearrr you and yourrr frrriend wish to play with me…" he pushed off the wall behind him, his eyes nearly in level with hers as he leaned forward between her and Katla. "Lucky forrr you, bitches, I have just the way you can please me," he chuckled when they both nodded eagerly, at the same time sighing dreamily as that mesmerizing note in his voice grew more pronounced.
And as he explained in that downright sinful rasp what he wanted of them, they grinned, then just too happy to comply, left toward their respective homes, chased by his quiet, rumbling laugh.
Senri knows this game.
It's a game he plays so many times over the years with his beast that it feels almost natural to slip between the unfamiliar images. It feels different only in the way that he doesn't recognize anything he sees, and this time nothing hurts.
He's small and dexterous as he follows another boy that looks almost like him, if he misses his ears and tail. But he loves his eyes, so bright and shiny, in the shade of the sky. The boy doesn't seem to notice him, but he doesn't mind, looking for the familiar clues his beast always left behind for him. It thought it was clever, tweaking the images to make them hurt, but he always knows what is true or not. He doesn't know how – it's a mere shimmer that betrays the game – but he always wins and goes to sleep. It hurts less then – even if he knows that he's best friend wants to keep him awake.
He admires the image of the beautiful woman with a long, pearly-white locks and bright, amused eyes in color of molten gold as she hugs the other boy, whispering in his ear of secrets. She reminds him of his mom – not by her looks, but by the way she is looking at the boy that looks like him. The mix of tender affection and deep sorrow in her golden eyes makes Senri's heart ache – but not in a bad way. The image of the man follows, his beautiful features so very similar to his own and the boy. Their eyes exactly the same – the man's and the boy that looks like him – and the cheerful smile on his face lit-us the very air around them as he ruffle the boy's dark hair.
He doesn't understand but they both seem to shimmer with colors – bright and vibrant shades that make him smile.
He follows for a while, but soon he grows worried as the colors change as more people enter the pictures. Their shades aren't vibrant but dark and rotting, making his stomach feel uneasy. The boy looks as upset about them, and soon his colors grow darker and muddy.
The gray seems the most ugly – but soon it dominate every image – making him feel sick.
He stops the game as the boy stops, alone in a dark room. So much like him, he discards his masks – the physical and not, then curls into a miserable ball and weeps. Senri knows it too well – and now the image hurts. So even though he should keep looking for the shimmer of their game, instead he drops to the ground next to the boy that looks like him and wraps his arms around him securely – like he so many times wished someone would do when his heart hurt – and though the boy still doesn't seem to see or notice him, his colors brighten. And he smiles involuntarily, because like this he's so pretty – his soul in shade as bright and blue as his eyes.
And outside-inside the body he's pressing against feels warmer and stirs, curling around him in turn.
Feeling the Ascian stir, the beast that once was Esteem swore under its nose, carelessly dropping the lifeless corpse aside with a disgusted hiss. Catching Diva alone in her quarters was lucky enough – but it knew its playtime was running out.
Especially if it wanted to achieve everything it planned. And now – for the first time since it broke, its real goal seemed like a possibility: keeping Senri awake for good and righting the biggest imbalance of all.
Thanks to Ares and his incredibly useful gift.
Hopefully, it's play bought it enough time with the other Ascians, but as much as it thought it can spare some to punish those who dared to harm their soulmate, it felt it needed to hurry.
But while they couldn't have Raha, those bitches had to pay a proper tribute – it would suffer no less.
Esteem chuckled humorlessly looking over the mauled female, then using the moment, closed its eyes and slipped down into the vision it spun to keep the Ascian distracted enough to let it work.
It wasn't even that surprised to see the two nearly identical boys curled together – if Ares wasn't yet aware enough to be able to discern Senri. In here refusing to let his true master see anything that reminded him of T'senri – it used its usual form whenever he managed to break the Warrior down and free him. The small, pale eyed Seeker noticed him and smiled somewhat ruefully, releasing his grip around the other boy and shifting to kneel, letting Esteem rest its triangular now head in his lap.
"You changed the game," he whispered, running his hand over his ink-black fur. "But I'll still win, beast."
"I know," it admitted, then raised its head, swiftly swiping it's long, rough tongue over the boy's cheek. His brilliant peel of laughter and the way Senri wrapped his arm around its neck, pressing against him tightly makes Esteem grin with its double set to fangs, nuzzling against the boy's shoulder fondly.
Moments like this is what makes it all worth it: Senri awake and free of the shackles of 'T'senri' and the 'Warrior.' The Weapon. For Esteem its him who should be real – who would be real if others ideas and expectations didn't twist and corrupt him.
Both of them.
It peered over the boy's shoulder toward the image of the still sleeping Ascian.
Ares.
Claiming him as a leverage was a bluff it hoped Damon doesn't realize too quickly – because then it's going to lose all the edge it had over the more powerful Ascian.
He – Damon – didn't understand. It wasn't much of a surprise for Esteem, self-centered as all of them always were.
Ares seemed to get it better – caging Esteem instead of trying to remove it as he apparently thought to do at first. But he saw what it truly was and what it was guarding – and perhaps realized what would happen if he tried to remove it. And Esteem didn't mind the cage at first – naively letting Raha's pretty words lull it into believing he could accept them and help them heal. It knew better… and in the end it was right too, as it took mere two days for the redhead to balk.
But that was fine – because now, using the moment of Ares's distraction it slipped and could lead its master the better route.
It could finally free Senri – and as thanks for making it possible, Esteem decided to free Ares, too.
Seeing the Ascian's memories and tasting his darkness, it understood that he was as much of a victim of other's expectations as its Senri was.
It just needed a little more time before he wakes and ruins it all - happily falling back into his shackles.
"Keep him company, Senrrri," it purrs, nudging his master. "He looks lonely."
And because at the core of his being Senri is who he is, the boy listened to it, but not before placing a loud, fond peck on its muzzle. It twitched its long whiskers, looking toward the two boys while the Seeker sat back and curled around the weeping Ascian again, resting his cheek against the other boy's shoulder.
And this sight steeled its resolve as Esteem slipped out, back to reality and took over their body again, stretching lazily.
One more stop, then it can put it's final game to the test.
The beast's visit steels Senri's resolve and despite its plead, he moves on as soon as its cat-like form disappears. He feels bad for the boy that looks like him, but he figures that perhaps when the game is over, he could also go to sleep – as he needed to. He doesn't know why… but he always knows he can't stay awake, no matter how much his best friend wishes otherwise.
His beautiful mother always taught him what's wrong and right – and being awake like this felt too wrong. If he is asleep, they – he and his beast – can be one again… and he doesn't know why its so important, but something inside his chest aches for… something.
Someone…
So he forces the images to move again, slipping between them faster and again following the boy and looking for the telltale shimmers.
"Fuck…" Hades drawled through his teeth, running his fingers through his white hair with frustration, tossing an annoyed look at the mauled body of the unfamiliar female.
To hear Esteem slipped the leash – and with the help of Ares's gift broke the Bond between his brother and Damon was… upsetting. And it was only getting worse the longer it was free.
"Too late again?" said a voice behind him and he turned toward it with a sigh, meeting Hythlodaeus's concerned, purple eyes.
"Mhmm," he hummed, looking toward the dead mortal again. Whatever the female did to piss off the beast, had to be bad to warrant this type of… punishment. Stalking Senri as he did since his memories unlocked, he saw more than a few times the Warrior snap, but this… looked vicious. The body looked like it had no bone left unbroken… and the grimace that her face was stuck in indicated she had to be alive throughout at least a bigger portion of the delivery of the beast's type of judgment. He scowled and looked toward his lover again, folding his arms over his chest and tapping his fingers against his forearm. "I have to wait until it uses Ares's gift again," he muttered and Hyth sighed, then dematerialized – likely going back to Damon's side.
To say his Father was upset… was understatement. If he was inclined to admit that, Hades would say he almost admired the way the beast played him buying itself time. However considering how Ares's gift worked – twisting the aether into an unnatural form – Hades was always especially sensitive to its use by the sheer amount of it he commanded. It felt like someone stuffed thousands needles under his skin – and as uncomfortable as it felt – for once he was glad for it, tracking the thing – and more than sure it wouldn't take long to find it. And once he does, he had a very strict instruction to snap it back to Damon's side – so that Esteem can be removed from the Warrior once and for all.
For that part, he couldn't wait – more than sick of the annoying thing. And considering it dared to take his brother as a hostage… well, he hoped it was ready to pay the price.
No one and nothing threatened Ares and lived – not after all he went through waiting for them.
He looked at the body again then sighed and rolled his eyes, swiftly getting rid of it with a snap of his fingers. Damon was clear about keeping this… slip a secret, as apparently they needed Senri's reputation to stay unblemished. His earlier jump to Rostra seemed unnecessary as he couldn't figure out what exactly it did there – only witnessed mortals who seemed agitated by something but at least no bodies to clean up.
Now, he jumped back to the roof of the biggest building in the city – as the beast's efforts so far seemed centered around it – and focused, waiting.
Finding the Seeker of brown hair and eyes from Raha's memory was more difficult than the others, as apparently after finishing her education in Old Sharlayan years ago, she returned home, to Iddylshire. Or at least that's where Esteem landed, but despite her image being downright burned into its head, it took the beast a good moment to recognize her in crowded market.
She looked older – obviously – and only because she had a tiny kit clinging to the skirt of her dress, it refrained from the punishment it had in mind. Covering itself with invisibility, it strolled up to her and with a whisper against her ear left her with the same self-esteem issues and uncertainty her behavior gave life in their soulmate.
Deciding it had to be enough, it ruffled the kit's soft locks – startling the girl – and jumped to the last location of his playtime. It could almost feel something – or someone – following it, so it was a high time to wrap it up.
For Senri – and Ares, now – to be free, it knew it had to perish, once and for all. But not before it's last play.
It's last gift for its master.
It's better, pure half.
Senri grins as he finally spots the shimmer.
The boy that looks like him is an adult now – so beautiful looking at him hurts, but in a good way. His color is nice, too – not as bright as before, but full of deeper, lovelier reflexes of different colors.
Watching it develop over the passing images he slips by, he thinks back to his mom and her lessons. To how she would tell him – while petting his hair when no one was watching – that sometimes life is going to hurt, because nothing worthwhile came easy. That when it does hurt, he should embrace it and grow, to be ready for what comes next.
That there was no light without the darkness and no darkness without the light – and that's how it should be. Because – she would smile tenderly, tapping her fingertip over the tip of his nose – one only truly understand happiness when one knows suffering, too.
And as he spotted the shimmer, he grinned because he knew – instinctively – that once he pulls back the lie, he'll finally be able to go back to sleep.
He and his beast, one again.
Because as much as he loved it, he hated it, too. But without it, he couldn't be… what he had to be.
For… someone.
His eyes drop briefly to the tall figure of the redhead with bright, cyan eyes whose colors blaze like a flame, and he doesn't know why, but his heart aches. The boy – grown up now – kneels in front of him, his colors bright and hopeful. Then the image shimmers and darkens with rotten gray – and Senri grabs it with a giggle.
"I win!" he cheers as the image shifts to what it's supposed to be – ugly gray gone while the cyan-eyed man looks down and his fiery colors blaze brighter, not dim.
He looks on, grinning gleefully when the man who was the boy that looked like him, jumps to his fit with a grin, wraps his hands around the beautiful face of the redhead and kisses him. This looks better – right, and something inside his chest relaxes.
Senri looks around, waiting for his beast to appear and meld with him – the game is over, after all. Outside-inside he feels the body he pressed against move, its arms tight around him… but nothing happens.
He frowns, feeling uneasy as he wraps his short arms around himself.
Something is wrong – he doesn't know what or why… but he can't go to sleep without his beast.
He looks toward the two men again, and his scowl deepens as he sees that the redhead is gone – and it feels so wrong! – and the man that looks like him is a boy again, and now looks around with confusion… and spots him.
"Senri…?" the boy whisper, moving toward him and carefully wrapping his hands around his shoulders. "What is going on?"
"You're not supposed to see me," he says, shaking his head and looking around with growing panic. Where is his beast…? The game is over…!
"Senri, what happened?" the sky-blue-eyed boy shakes him delicately, worry written all over his beautiful face.
"It's wrong!" he gasps, tearing himself out of his grip to search area frantically. "Come back! The game is over!" he shouts toward the tall, eerily familiar buildings.
He has to go to sleep…!
Esteem heard him – couldn't help how it made it insides clench with raw need to dive in. It felt Ares stir and knew it have mere seconds before the Ascian's confusion melts away and he'll ruin everything.
It looked around the familiar clearing in the old, deep forest, took a deep, steadying breath, then started to whisper an instruction for their body and the aether around it. It saw from its cage how Ares did this – making their body immortal – and how T'senri gave them their fangs and claws accidentally, so it's not hard to be precise.
And as their body shifted, Esteem grinned – wide and fanged – up toward the dark-blue sky above them full of the shinning stars. Internally, it grabbed the darkness it gathered from the Ascian's soul, swallowed it and with the last, ragged breath, it used the Ares's gift for the last time – wiping itself out of existence.
Goodbye, Senrrri, be well… it breathed and disappeared, and their body collapsed to the thick layer of grass.
Hades swore, looking around the unfamiliar clearing – empty and quiet. He was so sure this time he had it… He swore again, a string of profanities in a few different languages as he ran his fingers through his hair, then growled under his nose with frustration and snapped back to Old Sharlayan.
Missing completely the small shadow splayed at the edge of the tree line.
T'rhasa sighed, putting away her needle, then rubbed her eyes tiredly. By the length of the candle, she knew it had to be late into the night by now and it was time to stop, otherwise she won't be able to follow her duties during the day.
She carefully folded the soft, black material she was working on in secret from the other females – an eleventh blanket for an eleventh year her beautiful boy was gone – smiling ruefully as she put it in the chest at the corner of her tent with ten other, very similar ones.
And right on time, it seemed, as her blonde ears twitched slightly at the sound of the steps nearing her tent. Other females disapproved when she insisted on having her own space, calling her an eccentric for it, but she didn't mind. She felt she gave enough to the tribe already – doing her utmost during the days as one of the most skilled seamstresses. For that – and thanks to her life-long friendship with T'sersa, the current leader of their part of the camp, she was allowed her… quirks.
"T'rhasa, you're awake?" a quiet voice called from outside and she sighed softly, silently closing the chest.
"I am," she replied, moving across the tent and pushing the flap of it open, looking out with a smile at the much younger girl, T'drena. "Is something the matter?"
Clearly flustered, the skinny brunette nudged the boy at her side – that T'rhasa noticed only now twitching nervously next to the girl.
"Found this one skulking about the edge of the camp," the girl said in a low voice. "Says he's yours, but so far I know, you don't have.…"
"Mom!" the boy darted forward, almost making her fall backwards into the tent as he wrapped himself around her skirt desperately. When he looked up in her face, her heart stuttered to a stop.
"…Senri?!" she gasped, downright gawking at her boy – and who could blame her? He looked younger than when he left! And when he grinned his stupidly goofy, glorious grin… Oh, Azeyma….
"Oh… so you do know him…?" the girl whispered, clearly confused.
Ignoring her, T'rhasa pushed her boy back slightly to fall to her knees in front of him, gingerly wrapping her shaky hands around his skinny shoulders.
"Senri… what h-happened to you?" she stammered, cursing internally as her sight grew blurry, making looking at this wonder impossible.
"I… I don't know," her boy whispered nervously, tossing a quick look toward the girl behind him. "I had to fall asleep in my clearing again… or something," he rolled his pale eyes, snickering at himself and waving his tail funnily… and her heart dropped in the pit of her stomach.
"Thank you, T'drena," she smiled at the young woman, hastily standing up and pulling her boy against her. "I do know him, you may leave."
"If you says so…?" the girl tossed a suspicious look toward Senri, then sighed and turned around. "But in the morning, I have to notify T'sersa," she added over her shoulder.
"No need, I'll do so first thing in the morning," T'rhasa answered, then closed the flap of her tent. She delicately nudged the boy toward her bedroll, forcing him to sit down on the edge of it, then kneeled again and took his delicate hands in hers, watching his bemused expression as his big, pale eyes darted around the interior with interest. "Senri… what happened?" she whispered, tightening her fingers around his hands. He looked ten, for Azeyma's sake! "Why are you a… kit again?"
"Huh?" he blinked at her, furrowing his dark eyebrows with confusion. So beautiful… just like she remembered. "What do you mean, mom?"
She opened her mouth… then snapped them close, seeing all too obvious lack of understanding on his youthful features.
What in the heavens…?
"My beautiful boy…" she freed his hands to wrap hers around his jaw delicately. "…how old are you, Senri?"
"You're silly," he snickered, wrapping his hands around her wrists. "I'm ten, remember?"
She didn't let her expression twitch, instead smiled and leaned back, sitting back on her heels.
"Of course…" she breathed, then took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. There was some… very strange magic at work, but she was sooo far from looking a gifted chocobo in the beak.
Then he blinked and his eyes shifted, when his pupils expanded and irises grew unnaturally bright shade of the sky. So unbearably beautiful…
"Who are you?" he whispered, pushing her hands away and looking around the tent with confusion. "Where am I?"
"Senri?" she gasped, gawking, then cleared her throat, carefully resting her hands on his skinny knees. "You're home, baby."
"Home…?" her boy frowned, looking at her with those too-bright eyes with uncertainty. "No, my home… is different. My home is…?" he cringed, curling into himself and wrapping his short arms around himself. "…I'm so cold…"
"It's okay, baby," she sighed softly, then sat next to him, pulling the boy into a tight hug, resting her cheek on top of the messy mop of ink-black hair. "It's okay, we will figure it out," she promised, rubbing her hand over his back to warm him up. Then he flinched and when he shifted, looking up again, his eyes were feline and ice-blue again as he curled into her side tightly. Soon he was purring loudly, muttering something and clearly about to nod off… T'rhasa held him securely until he sagged against her, apparently defeated by exhaustion, then carefully settled him atop her bedroll. Then she marched resolutely toward her chest again and pulled out two neatly folded blankets, soon wrapping them around her boy in a tight cocoon up until his tiny, adorable nose. Only then, she settled down on the bedroll next to him, resting against his back and wrapping her arm around his shoulders over the blankets. "We will figure it out," she repeated quietly, rubbing her cheek against his dark hair.
She had no idea what kind of magic could have caused this, but her boy was back… quite literally! And this time she would keep him safe.
No matter what it takes.