open | teeth on my waist i come undone

[weifinder]

WHO: Wei Wuxian & ( you )
WHEN: The week or two following the drinking of village curse-juice and forest capers.
WHERE: Ke-Waihu.
WHAT: Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng managed to knock over a shrine; the local shrine occupant took offense. Now they're temporarily foxes until they finish rebuilding the shrine over the next week (or two). Encounter him as a fox! Work with him while he's a fox. Stare at him wondering what the fox happened.
WARNINGS: Wei Wuxian is deeply, intractably afraid of dogs, and it is likely to come up in narrative, along with the particulars of what he does not like about dogs and/or envisions them doing.

He took no delight in his shifted circumstances, the luck of it all horrid and wrapped up in its own jest: the baying of hounds driving him to bolting, and he, crashing through a shrine built of stones instead of through the underbrush to a nebulous safety, treed.

Wei Wuxian didn't look down to study his paws. Movement was easier when he didn't think about it, when the motion carried him by intent, when he saw the world from lower down, the place from which he'd crawled in darker, more haunted forests, only to be here now, in a village that tasted foreign on his tongue, read nuanced in difference to his far from indifferent nose.

He heard too much with the ears perched upon his black brow, distracted heartbeat to heartbeat by their unnerving twitching movement, centring and recentring on exhalations and scuffs and drags of claw on hardpacked ground. A tail that twitched to similar nerves, and he stood as any fox, tall in his shadows and slinking in the bright light further from safety, to see to his daily deeds.

He carried stones plucked from erstwhile streambeds held delicate between white-yellow teeth, canines visible, tongue deep pink and heavy in his mouth behind them. Wet or dry, less important than the smoothed nature of the rock, beautifully flecked by saliva by the time his journey culminates on a forest knoll, by the shattered structure of a familiar formed shrine. Help, hinder, stare on in silent question: but you found him in these circumstances, so what have you done?

He slipped to your side, silent but for the pad of a paw on the dirt, meant to echo. There were tasks set to them all, but he must stay close, borrow on the certainty of human form to hold canine and suspicion at arms length. His head turned upward, narrow muzzle pointed toward the face of his current companion, before he canted it, giving them a quizzical expression. Where were they off to now? Though he will not accept the discussion of it, his nose now married a sense of purpose to discovery, but it waited on the arrival of his protector, whomever it might be, for them to set off in quest of answers to the questions posed by their hosts, and by themselves. (To all, to any, who wish for a fox-companion in their questing in those days following the induction of the group into the village by awful drunken brew.)

( ooc: honestly these are two setups for run-ins above, but you can tag me in with anywhere in village and even have wei wuxian treed because he'll learn fast that foxes can climb and DOGS CANNOT THANK YOU WORLD FOR THAT BEING CONSISTENT. so wildcard a location/starter at will, if you want! or hit me up on DM or PM to set up a starter for us. )

Comments

[scrapgege]

[Xie Lian follows, curious to see what the fox is doing.

It truly is a feat if this small fox is the one who carried all of these stones here to rebuild this particular shrine. But he also still doesn't feel like the other fox spirits in the area do.]

Are you rebuilding it? What happened to it?

[weifinder]

( He pauses, looking to Xie Lian. When he nods, it's a careful, exaggerated, utterly unfoxlike motion, to answer the question that can be simply answered. As for what happened to it, he snorts, ears flicking forward then one swiveling back around, his tail drooping, and one paw raising.

He leaves his paw up, sort of thrusting it in the direction of the wall he's helping rebuild. Any more dramatic explanations will simply need to stand later. )

[scrapgege]

[Okay, so he is rebuilding. And obviously, the story of why is something that requires vocal chords he doesn't have right now.]

... Can I help?

[He's been cleaning up here anyway, so it's more of the same.]

[weifinder]

( there's enough he cannot indicate like this, Ave then there's what he can. seated, he can lift both paws, one pressed over the other, and bow his head, a clumsy but definite attempt at a certain style of bow in recognition and appreciation.

hell yes he can use the help, just don't knock everything over and join him and his brother in this form, oh displaced god! )

[scrapgege]

[This is actually cute, and it sort of lifts Xie Lian out of his irritating bad mood than he can't seem to shake most of the time. He's done his best to isolate himself to not subject people to it, but it seems to only make it worse, as if being alone is also the cause of the irritation he feels but he can't stand to be around others.

He crouches down, and uses two fingers to give a scritch to the fox's forehead, right between his ears.]

Alright, I don't want to mistakenly ruin all your hard work, so how about I bring you some stones here and you can stack them? Like that you won't have to run around carrying them a long way.

[weifinder]

( there's again the exaggerated single nod, though his ears had twitched at the scritch between them. it's not unpleasant, but it is unexpected, because the last thing wei wuxian would do is reach out to pet a canine of any kind.

though as the stones are brought, he does select them, pawing a few over to find the sizes he likes best, to then continue rebuilding the wall. he sits back to look at it every few stones, even taking one back off to move it further down, for additional stability in that portion of the wall. )

[scrapgege]

[Sorry, Wei Wuxian, but you are, as a matter of fact an extremely cute fox.

And given Xie Lian's strength, he is able to bring back a sizable pile of what looks like correctly sized rocks, but as promised, he lets the little fox do the stacking. It feels a like a mission he has to do on his own, first and also Xie Lian wouldn't want his bad luck to interfere.]

....... You're not really a fox, are you?

[weifinder]

( he finishes placing another stone before he turns his attention to his companion, blinking slowly, then giving a firm shake of his head the motion is again disconcerting, not what a fox would incline toward in body language.

he'd tried writing his name with his paw, but it hadn't been legible, really. why bother again? he had better luck without causing that particular mystery. )

[scrapgege]

I thought so. You don't really feel like any fox spirits I've met before.

[He probably could have a conversation with a fox spirit too, but not like this.]

And you recognized me, so you're probably part of our little group, hm? Although I guess it's not so little anymore, or I would know right away which of them you are just by counting.

[weifinder]

( another nod, and he lifts a paw to scratch at the side of his face: yeah, it's a situation he's in too by now, their numbers being beyond the two handfuls they'd first awoken in chains or jail in the company of.

then he looks to the shrine wall, and opens his mouth, just enough to sigh. then it's back to hauling stones to its structure, stacking them as he does, and the reforming of the shrine's grounds to order. )

[scrapgege]

[Well, Xie Lian will go back to his cleaning, but keep an eye on the small fox. They'll work in companionable silence for a while, until...]

How about something to eat? .... I didn't make it, promise.

[weifinder]

( the fox pauses long enough to give Xie Lian an evaluating look, as if the reassurance isn't quite... enough. and it isn't, at first. but he does incline his head and move toward his compatriot, thinking to himself, huh, martial gods definitely aren't also animal speaking gods, right?

... is anyone? )

[scrapgege]

[Where is Su Xunxian when you need him?

No, he definitely cannot speak to animals, he's just been around a long time and observant enough to learn a few things about behaviors in both humans and animals.]

I only have a meatbun, but we can share.

[Here, he's tearing it in two bits ... and holding out the biggest one to the fox.]

[weifinder]

( with equal delicacy as when he picked up smaller stones, he ignores the larger half to try and resolutely steak the smaller half of the bun from the only martial god he knows.

come on you're bigger, try to make sense! he's a fox, not a child, and xie lian is better fighting fit than something wei wuxian's present size!

... though he'll still take half that bun, because he is hungry, and an 800 year old adult can choose to share as he likes. )

[scrapgege]

[He is used to not eating much - or at all, really - for long periods of time, and he is actively pushing the biggest bit towards the fox while going to munch on the other half.

The fox has been carrying stone all day, he needs to eat ! he's very small and those stones are heavy.]

[weifinder]

( SO BEGINS THE ATTEMPT for the fox to avert his face and go after the smaller portion...

... it's silly struggle time! )

[scrapgege]

[But Xie Lian, even crouched, is still taller, and bringing the smaller half towards his mouth... until he notices the fox trying to snap at his hand?]

What's wrong? You can have this bit, it's fine? There's the same thing in both halves, you know?

[weifinder]

( he nods, but his mouth is open there, please, give him, give him the smaller piece okay? balance! )

[scrapgege]

[.... And Xie Lian is just going to pick up the big piece and hold it out in front of the fox's mouth... and take a bite out of the other piece.]

Here. Have some. You've worked a lot. You need food.

[weifinder]

( this is only going to get stupider. he deliberately tries to nibble the one xie lian's taken a bite out of from the hand holding what xie lian took a bite out of. NO GIVE IT TO HIM don't make him fox eat more than he needs!!! don't remind him he has grinding tearing teeth not the human molars he wishes he had!!! so there's a whole fox pawing at Xie Lian trying to eat the remains of the smaller half of this here bun. )

[scrapgege]

[Why are you like this, fox friend!!!!

Xie Lian is going to just... hold both of the meat buns halves out of the way and stare with a slightly baffled look.]

.... What are you doing? I don't need the bigger bit. I haven't been the one carrying stones all day!

[weifinder]

( he has his reasons! which is why he puts his paws on the shoulder of the arm holding up the smaller piece, and looks xie lian straight inn the face.

then shakes his head exactly once. he wants the smaller amount, thank you! you've also been hauling things today, you're bigger, and as a fox, he's not growing! )

[scrapgege]

Little friend. Be good. I already ate from this, so you can have that one.

[And he'll give him the bigger piece again.]

If you don't eat, I'll be finished before you start.

[weifinder]

( he narrows his eyes... and shakes his head! with a sigh as he plops off xie lian and returns to nudging a stone back into the shrine's newest, fox-built wall. )

[scrapgege]

... But I already ate half of it! There's not enough left for you!

... At least take a bit of the other half.