[ What manner of sorcery could alter Hayame in such a way? The question springs to the forefront of Yuri's mind, but he doesn't voice it in the moment. Instead, he takes in the sight of her apparel with a soft hum, bringing a hand to his chin. ]
Just about right, but we can get a better size for you. A moment.
[ With that, Yuri hurries off to grab another of the same garment. Seeing Hayame's present form makes it much simpler to choose clothing that will settle on her correctly, and he returns with it after shifting through the racks to find what they need. ]
This should be better.
[ He returns to offer her the clothes, expecting they'll give her the fit she needs. Even for spacious apparel, size matters. ]
[She... waits. As she does, Hayame shifts her weight awkwardly from foot to foot, toes curling in the carpets laid upon the dressing room floor. No matter how many times she did this, (and alright, she had only done it twice now), it felt so...
When Yuri comes back, she tries to straighten up and look collected, taking the clothing and disappearing back behind the drawn curtain. But while she is changing, finally, the offer comes though. That,]
[ So Hayame is willing to talk about it. Yuri weighs the thought with a muted hum. He certainly has questions and he is curious, especially because Hayame is so different from them in terms of physique on a normal day. And that's important to her, her identity, so surely she must have a purpose in blending in...
[Her tone says a bit obviously that she finds the differences between phrases such as "magic", "spell", "enchantment", and the rest a bit ridiculous, but at the same time... because she differentiates between the specifics of her own, more martial skills, she must respect them.
The fabric rustles, before,]
- In a bracelet.
[She was not the jewelry sort of woman. But she had been wearing one on her left wrist.]
It is not permanent by any means.
[She had been sure to check, because... She wasn't a human, she was a jinba, she couldn't just... just be something else, and-]
Enchantment, huh... Such a thing would be a cradle tale in my world.
[ Something fit for the fanciful sorts of tales children could better envision than adults. Still, the results are undeniable when it comes to Hayame. He can plainly see that she's taken on a human shape, and it can't be an illusion when she can touch and put on the clothes. ]
Must be a novel experience, taking on a different form.
[ He can only imagine what that would be like. Sure, he'd wound up riddled with scales and had a fish tail some months prior, but this strikes him as more dramatic. Despite how it impacted his mobility and breathing, he'd been essentially the same size. ]
[Shape-shifting kitsune, or manipulative ghosts... that was not supposed to be real. But none of this was. None of it.]
"Novel" is not what I would call it.
[More rustling, fabric shifting. Slow, because she is busy thinking instead of-]
It is... not comfortable.
[She almost called it painful, but that would be something of a lie. She had felt like she was suffocating at first, to lack four lungs and only rely on two. Having only one heart had made her feel so empty. But it was not "painful", it was just...]
[ He huffs out a vaguely amused breath. With Byleth having once suddenly awoken in dragon form and all, Yuri has some experience with wild changes in shape under his belt, but the two are different in more ways than one. For starters, past initial shock (and then disappointment that he'd done it in his sleep), Byleth had been eager to test the abilities of his new form.
It was strange, the mercenary had told him, but not unpleasant. In Hayame's case, it seems to be decidedly unpleasant indeed. ]
I won't deny that we can be fragile. But we've got other strengths, so it's just a matter of taking advantage of those when you need them.
[ He wants to say that she'll acclimate, but he doesn't know, and he suspects she wouldn't like the sound of it. So he focuses instead on practicality. ]
Stealth, for instance, seems to be something you've already considered.
[For all that she complained, Hayame knew well the strengths that humans had. They were not the same as jinba, though, and that is what threw her. Humans were more... more innovative, they had more numbers... and they could be more stealthy. That is what she is counting on.]
Everyone in Zenith, now in Highstorm too, after that Harbinger Oracle... They know of me as a "centaur". I stand out wherever I go.
[She pulls the curtain back, finally, revealing her form now clad in a much better fit, most of her swathed in cloth but for a single exposed eye, her dark hair and potentially identifiable face hidden with the way she has wrapped the headdress.]
[ Hayame raises a good point. Among Shardbearers, Hayame is unique. In that respect, it's difficult to evade notice, regardless of how little one may want attention. It would be potentially limiting in her pursuits.
Seeing how devoted she is to Meridian's cause, as well, that could have grown troublesome for her. But as she steps out, Yuri takes a few moments to thoughtfully assess her apparel. ]
...Worn like you do so every day.
[ With properly fitted garments, she doesn't stand out at all, save the fact that she's a fetching woman. ]
Anyone who doesn't know any better surely wouldn't suspect a thing.
Edited (not me mixing up details no siree) 2024-04-06 01:05 (UTC)
[If Hayame were the trusting type, then perhaps she would not have forced herself into this- to this scenario that she obviously finds uncomfortable and unfamiliar. She would trust that other Meridians would handle the things she could not, go where she could not go...
But she has always struggled with that. And the Oracles... what happened in the Iconoclast trial, the Harbinger trial... It only cemented for her, for better or for worse... that she needed to do more to make up for the weak amongst them.]
You surely exaggerate...
["Like she did every day"... she flusters just slightly and tugs at the garments, unused to having anything on her "hips" or legs.]
As long as it can fool the average eye I will make do with it...
[ It doesn't benefit her or their cause if he humors her. The original set of clothing was too large and it was clear Hayame had difficultied with those garments. These, though, make it evident that it was the fit itself rather than the lack of familiarity.
No doubt observing those around her and her own experience made it a simple task, even if it's an uncomfortable one. ]
I think the ensemble will suit your needs. Have you had much practice moving around in this form?
[... She will trust in that. He makes a decent point. As well-mannered as she found Yuri to be, there was a difference between being polite and actually failing to mention something tactically unsound. He knew why she was doing this- and it was. It was definitely the only reason she was doing this, so. That was just her... nerves.
And her discomfort with the very new and strange sensation of so many clothes beneath her waist. To test them more, she begins to circle in the dressing room, slow and somewhat awkward, the way she holds herself a bit... odd. Sort of like someone... used to having a nearly half ton equine lower half "behind" her.]
... A little.
[Liem had helped her practice walking, sitting, getting up and down, but...]
[ His eyes follow her movements. Doubtless she's done some practice, but— ]
Your gait's on the stiff side. [ He won't mince words, and suspects that he's telling her something that she already knows. ] There're ways to work on that though.
[ In the past, Yuri has had to do similar. He was born of exceedingly modest means, which is to say no means at all, but his looks had attracted the attention of the affluent. That had necessitated a need for poise, for a certain flowing grace.
Then there's the near-silent strides that came of thievery and assassination work. He may be well-equipped to help Hayame work the kinks out of her disguise simply because of how much adaptation he has needed to do. ]
[Some, yes. She has had... some. The first time she had transformed she had done it under the auspices of Liem Talbott, just in case something went wrong, but since then the few times she has practiced it has been alone. And though she has tried holding her weapons and going through training movements...]
I have only done training on my own. I cannot draw my bow like this.
[It is simply too powerful a weapon, intended for the draw strength of a woman who could effortlessly lift hundreds of pounds because of her weight and musculature, not for a human woman.]
But I can still wield the naginata.
[And she... she would simply have to procure a proper bow. Yes. But that aside... She stops pacing in order to look at Yuri head on this time, her jaw set firm and stubborn (not... scared, not uncomfortable, surely).]
... I thought you might also be of assistance in those fields, not simply fashion.
[... Though she had needed to clothes, first, before she could, you know. Do much of anything else.]
[ Having seen Hayame's bow, Yuri isn't surprised she can't wield it in this form. Perhaps Dimitri could, but that would be owed entirely to his incredible Blaiddyd strength.
Fortunately, when her goals involve stealth, not wielding a sizable bow isn't a problem. ]
I can certainly do that. That way I walk that people other than you don't hear? Well within your means to master.
[ Among other things. Yuri'd be useless in terms of how to handle equine legs, but when it comes to human ones? He's got ample experience with moving just so. ]
Knives may serve you well in place of a bow here, as well. Easily concealed, and mine are suited for throwing. With your experience, it strikes me as a natural fit.
[ A good eye for gauging distance and compensating for wind direction and target movement are all as necessary for a sniper as they are for someone throwing knives, after all. ]
[He says he can do it, teach her a way to walk silently... and now, when she feels as if her very gait is wrong and her hips do not move right and she does not put her toes or heels down right, that seems a very confident answer. But...
She had never thought she would read, and now... she could make out a few of the more basic words on the signs in the store.
For Yuri's sake, she bites back the instinctual comment on how unwarrior-like throwing knives seem to be as an honorable weapon. Instead... she just nods. As much as she wants to avoid fighting altogether when she is this weak, hopefully just using it to go where she could not as a jinba...]
I would appreciate it.
[There is something else she wanted to... something else she wished for, to learn to be able to do, but...]
Whatever needs to be done so that... I will feel human.
[ Yuri has the distinct impression that Hayame has more to say. Whether she wants to say what it is is another matter, but he trusts she'll speak her mind when she's good and ready. He's never known her to hold back though, so this is...different.
Well, he supposes she keeps more intimate business to herself, but most people do. That's her right. ]
Feel human or pass as human?
[ He asks, because with phrasing like that... She's a friend. He wonders. ]
You've always been human in all the ways that matter, as I see it. But having a clear image of your goal helps us get there.
[Judging by the slightly strange emotion that flickers across her face... Hayame did not seem to realize that she had said what she had until Yuri turns the question back on her. - Did she say "feel"? She had surely meant...
Her brow furrows. Her cheeks are slightly ruddy when she turns her gaze away.]
- "Pass". Or whatever the word. It does not matter.
[And if she thought anything else, it was... a fleeting weakness, that was all. A selfish thought that was probably... the path to insecurity and destruction. She shouldn't go down it anyway. Maybe... Maybe she shouldn't show Claude what this new bracelet of hers can do.]
As long as I grow accustomed to it to the point I do not feel so distracted in this shape.
[ It's interesting, the difference in how his friends approach access to different forms. Byleth had been incredibly eager once the disorientation passed, throwing himself headlong into testing out his dragon form and figuring out what it could do. He'd been rather disappointed to be flightless, but he had other tricks up his scaly sleeves.
Hayame, on the other hand... It must be a complicated thing, gaining a form that for others take for granted as normal and mundane. She's stood out among them all along, and now that she can blend in if she so chooses, she seems conflicted between what she wants and what she thinks she should pursue. ]
That's well within our capabilities.
[ Hayame can be shrewd. She chose the right person to assist her in something like this. But he wonders whether she might not need a measure of reassurance. ]
[Yuri was a shrewd man. It was not like Hayame had not known that before she invited him out. With him, there was always the risk that he would cut to the heart of the matter. Usually, he did it gently enough. Maybe that was why she continued to stay around him, despite her general distaste of prying or being known.
He has come to the heart of the current dilemma once more, with just that question. Her body language betrays her more than usual, because she is not used to controlling the subtle things a human body would do. The restless legs, the turn in of feet, the shift in hips away from him.]
... No. I have not told him yet.
[And yet why? If this was purely just a tool for infiltration, then why not tell him as casually as one might mention purchasing new arrows?]
[ It lines up with what she'd said before, he thinks. To "feel human" is a messy knot to unravel, and feeling that way with someone with whom she shares the most intimate sides of herself would surely be something she craves. At the same time, Yuri can well imagine it's daunting enough to paralyze.
Having a complicated history only compounds that, he can imagine. Letting someone in is hard enough, but this is different. Unique. Her body language suggests to him that he's likely right. ]
When you're more confident in this form... It's worth considering. He's quite the schemer, and I'd wager he'd be eager to offer up an idea or three.
[ Collaboration is something he has come to enjoy only recently, having so seldom even communicated his plans to others in the past. That's the easy aspect of this, a softer lead-in, because the rest... Yuri isn't sure whether it's his place to say the rest, yet she may need to hear it. ]
I don't know him as well as you do. Whatever form you take, his feelings won't change, yeah?
[ If she has considered Claude might fancy some temporary form over her true one, Yuri doesn't believe she needs to fear it. Claude has never struck him as the sort, even from his distant vantage point. ]
[A schemer. Ah. Claude was like that. He had... He had come up with schemes to make her think of him as a friend, and to gradually trust him, and to... to make her smile, and to let him in to her life and her heart. Not only was she concerned that he would just find out about this new ability of hers just on his own, using his wits and the knowledge of her he had at his disposal, but...]
I am not worried about his feelings. But what if...
[She didn't think... he would stop loving her. But she turns her head. Her fingers clutch unconsciously at the layered robes she now wears, and her teeth, no longer sharp, bite into her bottom lip. It's stupid. She shouldn't say anything. She should just...]
... What if he thinks we work together better this way?
[He would never say it. She knows he never would. But what if he thought it? For even an instant? She had never pretended that being with her, in particular... that any human and jinba being together was easy. Of course it would be easier if they were both jinba, both human... But if she wouldn't blame him for having that sort of accidental thought, even a brief flicker of "oh, it's better like this"...
[ So it is as he suspected. Given what he does know of Hayame's past, of how she feels about herself and some of the cruelties of her world, it's a natural worry. Even absent those things, he's sure a great many people would have that same anxious thought creep into their minds.
A natural worry indeed.
But one Yuri doesn't think Hayame ought to torment herself with. He recalls distinctly Claude's manner with her, in the wake of the torture that demon had put her through. Good at masking as Yuri recognizes Claude to be, he thinks it was clear as they all spoke how deeply his care runs.
His first response is to gesture to the seating nearby. It may be easier for her if they sit. ]
...I don't think he'd see it that way. Not in the way you're thinking of it.
[ He takes the seat further from where she stands, that she won't have to move as much when she's uncomfortable not only in a different form but discussing something that isn't at all easy for her. ]
For something like cramming yourselves into a cramped space, possibly, but not...as a couple.
[She definitely cannot sit down. If she sits down... then it will become a real discussion, and she does not wish to dignify this with a real discussion. It's stupid of her, and insecure, and she shouldn't have even opened her mouth. What she should have done is just thank Yuri for his help, try on more clothing, pick some, and then move on.
But she isn't. Her expression is growing more cross, more frustrated...
And yet she has sat down on one of the chairs in the dressing room presumably used for those who would like their friends' advice while trying things on. To her credit, she manages not to wobble, though she does hold her spine a bit strangely, used to sitting more like a slouched canine in her centaur form than... on her rump straight up and down. Her response takes time... but eventually,]
... Not on purpose.
[She wouldn't be with him at all... if she ever thought of him as a man who would be dissatisfied being with someone different from him in general. If she ever had a hint of it... She would have been gone. But also... she never thought she would be in a situation where he might know how much easier it would be to be with her as a human, like actually know and feel and see...]
[ Yuri waves the very notion away like a puff of smoke. He could say many things to that, but he opts for the simplest one to begin with. The one that should, in theory, leave no room for further concern where impugning Claude is concerned. ]
Hypotheticals aren't slander.
[ Yuri has no doubt that Claude has turned many a hypothetical about in his mind. He certainly has, about various things. About various people. Coming from a background such as his, it's often been a matter of survival. Hayame needn't think that he'll view her thoughts as a reflection on what she thinks of Claude.
Well, with one exception. It's clear that he's very dear to her, to worry so about his reaction to this form she now has access to. ]
Were I in a position similar to his, I'd think what matters is the individual, more so than their shape. He's never voiced dissatisfaction over being different, surely.
[ As best he understands it, the Claude of his timeline has dreams of unity between peoples who view one another as entirely different. So he'd heard, back in the brief time they'd all been at the academy.
In their world, those differences are in culture and appearance rather than build, but a man with such aspirations often has personal reasons behind them. That must hold true with this Claude too.
And someone like that, he thinks, would not be so easily swayed. Nor would a sharp-eyed bowman fail to see Hayame is most comfortable in her own skin. That'd matter more than any small convenience. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Just about right, but we can get a better size for you. A moment.
[ With that, Yuri hurries off to grab another of the same garment. Seeing Hayame's present form makes it much simpler to choose clothing that will settle on her correctly, and he returns with it after shifting through the racks to find what they need. ]
This should be better.
[ He returns to offer her the clothes, expecting they'll give her the fit she needs. Even for spacious apparel, size matters. ]
no subject
When Yuri comes back, she tries to straighten up and look collected, taking the clothing and disappearing back behind the drawn curtain. But while she is changing, finally, the offer comes though. That,]
If you have questions, you may ask them.
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But he doesn't ask about that right away. ]
Is it some manner of spell?
[ He starts with that, deeming it easiest. ]
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[Her tone says a bit obviously that she finds the differences between phrases such as "magic", "spell", "enchantment", and the rest a bit ridiculous, but at the same time... because she differentiates between the specifics of her own, more martial skills, she must respect them.
The fabric rustles, before,]
- In a bracelet.
[She was not the jewelry sort of woman. But she had been wearing one on her left wrist.]
It is not permanent by any means.
[She had been sure to check, because... She wasn't a human, she was a jinba, she couldn't just... just be something else, and-]
It only lasts a day at longest.
no subject
[ Something fit for the fanciful sorts of tales children could better envision than adults. Still, the results are undeniable when it comes to Hayame. He can plainly see that she's taken on a human shape, and it can't be an illusion when she can touch and put on the clothes. ]
Must be a novel experience, taking on a different form.
[ He can only imagine what that would be like. Sure, he'd wound up riddled with scales and had a fish tail some months prior, but this strikes him as more dramatic. Despite how it impacted his mobility and breathing, he'd been essentially the same size. ]
no subject
[Shape-shifting kitsune, or manipulative ghosts... that was not supposed to be real. But none of this was. None of it.]
"Novel" is not what I would call it.
[More rustling, fabric shifting. Slow, because she is busy thinking instead of-]
It is... not comfortable.
[She almost called it painful, but that would be something of a lie. She had felt like she was suffocating at first, to lack four lungs and only rely on two. Having only one heart had made her feel so empty. But it was not "painful", it was just...]
To be this small. And weak.
no subject
It was strange, the mercenary had told him, but not unpleasant. In Hayame's case, it seems to be decidedly unpleasant indeed. ]
I won't deny that we can be fragile. But we've got other strengths, so it's just a matter of taking advantage of those when you need them.
[ He wants to say that she'll acclimate, but he doesn't know, and he suspects she wouldn't like the sound of it. So he focuses instead on practicality. ]
Stealth, for instance, seems to be something you've already considered.
no subject
Everyone in Zenith, now in Highstorm too, after that Harbinger Oracle... They know of me as a "centaur". I stand out wherever I go.
[She pulls the curtain back, finally, revealing her form now clad in a much better fit, most of her swathed in cloth but for a single exposed eye, her dark hair and potentially identifiable face hidden with the way she has wrapped the headdress.]
- But how about now?
no subject
Seeing how devoted she is to Meridian's cause, as well, that could have grown troublesome for her. But as she steps out, Yuri takes a few moments to thoughtfully assess her apparel. ]
...Worn like you do so every day.
[ With properly fitted garments, she doesn't stand out at all, save the fact that she's a fetching woman. ]
Anyone who doesn't know any better surely wouldn't suspect a thing.
no subject
But she has always struggled with that. And the Oracles... what happened in the Iconoclast trial, the Harbinger trial... It only cemented for her, for better or for worse... that she needed to do more to make up for the weak amongst them.]
You surely exaggerate...
["Like she did every day"... she flusters just slightly and tugs at the garments, unused to having anything on her "hips" or legs.]
As long as it can fool the average eye I will make do with it...
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[ It doesn't benefit her or their cause if he humors her. The original set of clothing was too large and it was clear Hayame had difficultied with those garments. These, though, make it evident that it was the fit itself rather than the lack of familiarity.
No doubt observing those around her and her own experience made it a simple task, even if it's an uncomfortable one. ]
I think the ensemble will suit your needs. Have you had much practice moving around in this form?
no subject
And her discomfort with the very new and strange sensation of so many clothes beneath her waist. To test them more, she begins to circle in the dressing room, slow and somewhat awkward, the way she holds herself a bit... odd. Sort of like someone... used to having a nearly half ton equine lower half "behind" her.]
... A little.
[Liem had helped her practice walking, sitting, getting up and down, but...]
I am aware I could use more.
no subject
Your gait's on the stiff side. [ He won't mince words, and suspects that he's telling her something that she already knows. ] There're ways to work on that though.
[ In the past, Yuri has had to do similar. He was born of exceedingly modest means, which is to say no means at all, but his looks had attracted the attention of the affluent. That had necessitated a need for poise, for a certain flowing grace.
Then there's the near-silent strides that came of thievery and assassination work. He may be well-equipped to help Hayame work the kinks out of her disguise simply because of how much adaptation he has needed to do. ]
...Also, have you fought in this form?
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I have only done training on my own. I cannot draw my bow like this.
[It is simply too powerful a weapon, intended for the draw strength of a woman who could effortlessly lift hundreds of pounds because of her weight and musculature, not for a human woman.]
But I can still wield the naginata.
[And she... she would simply have to procure a proper bow. Yes. But that aside... She stops pacing in order to look at Yuri head on this time, her jaw set firm and stubborn (not... scared, not uncomfortable, surely).]
... I thought you might also be of assistance in those fields, not simply fashion.
[... Though she had needed to clothes, first, before she could, you know. Do much of anything else.]
no subject
Fortunately, when her goals involve stealth, not wielding a sizable bow isn't a problem. ]
I can certainly do that. That way I walk that people other than you don't hear? Well within your means to master.
[ Among other things. Yuri'd be useless in terms of how to handle equine legs, but when it comes to human ones? He's got ample experience with moving just so. ]
Knives may serve you well in place of a bow here, as well. Easily concealed, and mine are suited for throwing. With your experience, it strikes me as a natural fit.
[ A good eye for gauging distance and compensating for wind direction and target movement are all as necessary for a sniper as they are for someone throwing knives, after all. ]
no subject
She had never thought she would read, and now... she could make out a few of the more basic words on the signs in the store.
For Yuri's sake, she bites back the instinctual comment on how unwarrior-like throwing knives seem to be as an honorable weapon. Instead... she just nods. As much as she wants to avoid fighting altogether when she is this weak, hopefully just using it to go where she could not as a jinba...]
I would appreciate it.
[There is something else she wanted to... something else she wished for, to learn to be able to do, but...]
Whatever needs to be done so that... I will feel human.
[- to?]
no subject
Well, he supposes she keeps more intimate business to herself, but most people do. That's her right. ]
Feel human or pass as human?
[ He asks, because with phrasing like that... She's a friend. He wonders. ]
You've always been human in all the ways that matter, as I see it. But having a clear image of your goal helps us get there.
no subject
Her brow furrows. Her cheeks are slightly ruddy when she turns her gaze away.]
- "Pass". Or whatever the word. It does not matter.
[And if she thought anything else, it was... a fleeting weakness, that was all. A selfish thought that was probably... the path to insecurity and destruction. She shouldn't go down it anyway. Maybe... Maybe she shouldn't show Claude what this new bracelet of hers can do.]
As long as I grow accustomed to it to the point I do not feel so distracted in this shape.
no subject
Hayame, on the other hand... It must be a complicated thing, gaining a form that for others take for granted as normal and mundane. She's stood out among them all along, and now that she can blend in if she so chooses, she seems conflicted between what she wants and what she thinks she should pursue. ]
That's well within our capabilities.
[ Hayame can be shrewd. She chose the right person to assist her in something like this. But he wonders whether she might not need a measure of reassurance. ]
...Does Claude know about it?
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He has come to the heart of the current dilemma once more, with just that question. Her body language betrays her more than usual, because she is not used to controlling the subtle things a human body would do. The restless legs, the turn in of feet, the shift in hips away from him.]
... No. I have not told him yet.
[And yet why? If this was purely just a tool for infiltration, then why not tell him as casually as one might mention purchasing new arrows?]
no subject
Having a complicated history only compounds that, he can imagine. Letting someone in is hard enough, but this is different. Unique. Her body language suggests to him that he's likely right. ]
When you're more confident in this form... It's worth considering. He's quite the schemer, and I'd wager he'd be eager to offer up an idea or three.
[ Collaboration is something he has come to enjoy only recently, having so seldom even communicated his plans to others in the past. That's the easy aspect of this, a softer lead-in, because the rest... Yuri isn't sure whether it's his place to say the rest, yet she may need to hear it. ]
I don't know him as well as you do. Whatever form you take, his feelings won't change, yeah?
[ If she has considered Claude might fancy some temporary form over her true one, Yuri doesn't believe she needs to fear it. Claude has never struck him as the sort, even from his distant vantage point. ]
no subject
I am not worried about his feelings. But what if...
[She didn't think... he would stop loving her. But she turns her head. Her fingers clutch unconsciously at the layered robes she now wears, and her teeth, no longer sharp, bite into her bottom lip. It's stupid. She shouldn't say anything. She should just...]
... What if he thinks we work together better this way?
[He would never say it. She knows he never would. But what if he thought it? For even an instant? She had never pretended that being with her, in particular... that any human and jinba being together was easy. Of course it would be easier if they were both jinba, both human... But if she wouldn't blame him for having that sort of accidental thought, even a brief flicker of "oh, it's better like this"...
Why does she feel so afraid to show him?]
no subject
A natural worry indeed.
But one Yuri doesn't think Hayame ought to torment herself with. He recalls distinctly Claude's manner with her, in the wake of the torture that demon had put her through. Good at masking as Yuri recognizes Claude to be, he thinks it was clear as they all spoke how deeply his care runs.
His first response is to gesture to the seating nearby. It may be easier for her if they sit. ]
...I don't think he'd see it that way. Not in the way you're thinking of it.
[ He takes the seat further from where she stands, that she won't have to move as much when she's uncomfortable not only in a different form but discussing something that isn't at all easy for her. ]
For something like cramming yourselves into a cramped space, possibly, but not...as a couple.
no subject
But she isn't. Her expression is growing more cross, more frustrated...
And yet she has sat down on one of the chairs in the dressing room presumably used for those who would like their friends' advice while trying things on. To her credit, she manages not to wobble, though she does hold her spine a bit strangely, used to sitting more like a slouched canine in her centaur form than... on her rump straight up and down. Her response takes time... but eventually,]
... Not on purpose.
[She wouldn't be with him at all... if she ever thought of him as a man who would be dissatisfied being with someone different from him in general. If she ever had a hint of it... She would have been gone. But also... she never thought she would be in a situation where he might know how much easier it would be to be with her as a human, like actually know and feel and see...]
I do not intend to slander him...
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Hypotheticals aren't slander.
[ Yuri has no doubt that Claude has turned many a hypothetical about in his mind. He certainly has, about various things. About various people. Coming from a background such as his, it's often been a matter of survival. Hayame needn't think that he'll view her thoughts as a reflection on what she thinks of Claude.
Well, with one exception. It's clear that he's very dear to her, to worry so about his reaction to this form she now has access to. ]
Were I in a position similar to his, I'd think what matters is the individual, more so than their shape. He's never voiced dissatisfaction over being different, surely.
[ As best he understands it, the Claude of his timeline has dreams of unity between peoples who view one another as entirely different. So he'd heard, back in the brief time they'd all been at the academy.
In their world, those differences are in culture and appearance rather than build, but a man with such aspirations often has personal reasons behind them. That must hold true with this Claude too.
And someone like that, he thinks, would not be so easily swayed. Nor would a sharp-eyed bowman fail to see Hayame is most comfortable in her own skin. That'd matter more than any small convenience. ]
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omg comes to wrap this a million years later im sorry