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…

[ seimei doesn’t know if he’s okay. physically, sure, he’s fine. he’s completely unhurt, and besides being hungry, there’s nothing wrong with him that he can tell. the situation itself, however, is far from ideal.

his ears slant back, displeased by the question, but he does choose to meow. it’s a soft, annoyed sound. ]

[Reading through what that meow means, he nods. He imagines how much Seimei must hate this. Of course he would. Right now, he's weak. He has no power.

And this also leaves Soubi uncomfortable.]

I'm sorry. Nobody else will know about this. I'll take care of things for you. You must be hungry, right? [He assumes that this is something that will probably never change during Cordis.]

[ seimei thinks that might have been why he woke up—being hungry. while his human body can usually sleep through hunger, it seems his cat body is much more susceptible to wanting to eat at the earliest possible moment.

he slips past soubi to their kitchen area, and jumps up on one of the chairs. he meows. his usual meals are probably not going to be available this time, but he hasn’t totally connected that yet. ]

…

[ what he does realize is that he’ll have to text joonghyuk later about their gaming session. god, and the dailies on his mobile games… ]

[Soubi follows behind Seimei into the kitchen.] Ah, I don't think you should eat what you usually do. It could be bad. I have some fish in the fridge. It was going to be for breakfast for myself but you can have it. Does that sound good?

[Cats eat fish, right? He thinks Seimei would be deeply offended if Soubi went out and bought him literal cat food.] I'll have to do research about what you need for a diet.

[ seimei wants what he usually has. however, he isn’t stupid enough to risk poisoning himself with onions or whatever else might be toxic to cats. ]

Mrah.

[ he hops up on the counter rather than the chair he had been sitting in. that probably means he’ll take the fish, because he will, but there’s just something humiliating about needing to wait for soubi to get it for him. ]

I hope you're fine with salmon. I'll cook it. It shouldn't take too long. [He gets a small bowl and fills it with water.] Here, for you to drink while you wait.

[As he cooks the fish, he keeps a calm attitude but internally he does worry. Yes, he knows that Seimei will most likely turn back after Cordis is done but what if he doesn't? There's some relief, a traitorous thought says.

He doesn't want to think too much about that.

Instead, once the fish is cooked appropriately, he sets it out for Seimei as his own stomach growls. He pays it no mind. Not at the moment.] Here you are. I don't think I have very many foods here that would be good for you so I need to do some shopping. Will you be okay without me?

[ seimei pulls the bowl of water closer, but there’s no apparent way to drink from it that would save his dignity. either he actually lowers his head like a real cat, or he dips his paw in and licks from it. ]

…

[ he does decide to just try drinking normally, but only when soubi isn’t looking. as soubi places the salmon down, seimei stands again. ]

Mmmrr…

[ the sound is uncertain. he doesn’t want to be left alone. ]

[It's weird to be talking to Seimei like this and assume what the other might mean. He sounds like he doesn't want this at all?]

I had prepared for a regular Cordis and I was going to go out to buy you your usual meals. If you want, you could come with me and stay on my shoulders. My shoulders are wide enough that you should be comfortable, I think.

[ seimei is aware that it’s humiliating to not want to be left alone. he’s an independent sort of person and hates to rely on others, especially soubi, but the fact is that he needs to control something. ]

…

[ without warning, he leaps up onto soubi’s shoulder to test his balance, claws digging into both shirt and skin. ]

[He flinches, not really expecting it and it does hurt. But like most pain, he takes it in stride.]

Are you comfortable?

[He tries to make as much room as possible for Seimei. It feels weird to have a cat on your shoulders and he tries to walk with him.] Can you hold on?

[ as soubi walks, seimei’s claws dig in deeper. they don’t give him much more balance in reality, but they do serve to assure that if seimei were to slip and fall, he could probably take off soubi’s whole arm with him. ]

Mrr.

[ he’s not comfortable, but it’s better than being left. ]

[Cat claws in his shirt, into his skin, isn't comfortable. But it's bearable. Seimei is probably terrified of falling off anyway, Soubi thinks.

All of this is so bizarre, though.

Cordis always brings unwanted attention because of the pheromones. By now, Soubi has learned that he just needs to ignore everybody which he does. Even the people who seem to want to pet Seimei, Soubi acts like he didn't hear them. Seimei would probably kill him if he let somebody pet him if they didn't end up dead themselves. So far, so good but Soubi almost wonders if a grocery store will let him in with a cat on his shoulders but a lot of weird things are allowed here and so he gets in with a cat on his shoulders.

At the grocery store, he's still not entirely sure what to buy for Seimei. Fish but what else? Chicken, he guesses. He's avoided meat while being here, very unsure of where it's coming from, but it's Cordis. Seimei needs to eat.

So fish and chicken it is and so that's most of what he buys. Someone is offering him a free sample for some fish thing and he checks it out before giving it to Seimei before they leave the store.]

That wasn't so bad.

[ except seimei has managed to stress himself out with all the people around. he didn’t think that being in a smaller body would affect him that much, but there’s something extraordinarily frightening about being tiny in a crowd of people going about their day.

he refuses to let soubi see that part of him, but his tail is bristled as it drapes over soubi’s shoulder.

he licks his teeth clean of the treat he’s been given, and huffs. his claws flex in soubi’s shoulder, a displeased response to his commentary—although seimei is the one who chose to come, and soubi has nothing to do with seimei’s feelings, he’ll take it out on his fighter anyway. ]

…

[Isn't that how it always goes? Soubi's tail swishes when he realizes how annoyed Seimei is.]

We're done now, at least. We can go back home.

[And at least the trip back is uneventful and Soubi even gets him a can of tuna fish for all the trouble.

As his own stomach growls loudly. He hasn't eaten and he frowns. Seimei should be fine for now, right?]

[ seimei jumps down from soubi’s shoulders as soon as he’s able, and since he can’t wash his hands—he knows enough about cats to be aware that water will only make it worse—he’s forced to immediately start cleaning his face using his paws. ]

Mrrup.

[ he heard soubi’s stomach growl, but he’s still hungry. between being cordis and being a cat, he probably won’t ever not be hungry. ]

[Seimei is cute.

That thought enters Soubi's head and he immediately stops. This is horrible. He had prepared to make his own breakfast but when he looks, Seimei has already eaten everything.

So Soubi gives him three cans. That should buy him some time to make something.]

[ luckily, there’s a physical barrier to overcome in eating three cans of anything. it takes him enough time to actually consume it that soubi is allowed to prepare his own breakfast in the meantime. following his natural instinct to clean, though, seimei tries to pick up one of the cans in his mouth to carry it to the sink. ]

…

[ he gets as far as the edge of the countertop, from where he would need to jump to the sink, before he realizes this is a stupid endeavor, and he feels stupid for doing it. ]

[Soubi's glad for the break. He didn't know how much longer he could have gone without eating and becoming weak. At that point, he wouldn't have been useful to Seimei at all. When he finishes prepping his meal, he sees the trouble the other is going through. Reaching for the can, he holds his hand out.]

I know you prefer to clean but since you're unable to, please allow me. I'll work hard.

[ seimei puffs up briefly with an annoyed breath. somehow, it’s harder to hide his emotions in this little body, even though cats should technically be incapable of emoting in ways that people are used to. ]

…

[ he reluctantly lets go of the can, and turns his head to point out the others. even if they’re just going to be recycled, they should be cleaned first. ]

Mrah.

[Seimei's annoyed but Soubi doesn't really know what else he could possibly do. After all, he's trying to be thoughtful and look out for him as best he can as his fighter and Seimei being a cat.

But also Soubi can barely sort his trash out properly so that's something to consider.

He takes the cans and doesn't wash them. He just dumps them in the recycling. Oops.]

[ NO ]

Mrrrrr!

[ it’s the most urgent seimei has sounded since he became a cat, and probably more urgent than he’s ever sounded as a human. ]

Meow!

[That is easily the loudest he's heard Seimei and he sounds so upset that Soubi stares.

But he also has no idea what he did wrong.]

What's wrong? Did I put it in the wrong place? [They didn't have to sort here, did they? Nobody did.

But then it seemed possible that maybe he was supposed to and he had been ignoring this.]

[ being both a cat and cordis, if soubi doesn’t clean properly, the smell is going to drive seimei insane. the knowledge alone is bad enough. ]

…

[ seimei makes the leap over to the sink and swats at it with his paw, turning on the water indignantly. ]

Oh, are you thirsty?

[He goes to get the same bowl from earlier to fill it for Seimei.

And still has no idea what Seimei actually wants.]

Meeeeow!

[ seimei doesn’t know how to communicate. he can yell all he wants to, but that doesn’t actually make him any more intelligible than before. he raises a paw at the water bowl, like he’s going to swat that away too, but his human intelligence at least allows him to realize that’s not going to get him what he wants.

his ears flatten. ]

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