nativized | IC Contact (Folkmore)

No? The cats here are objectively cute. To say otherwise would be denying facts.

[ Cale gestures toward a few of them, which earns him a lap full of cats that he pats before he's consciously aware of it. ]

Though they are not as cute as Ohn and Hong.

...Wow.

[ Objectively cute? Lex's eyes shift to a blue color and he arches his brow a little. Opinions can't be objective. That just sounds silly. Gosh. ]

[ Cale lets one of the cats climb onto his shoulder, where it begins giving his face affectionate head-bonks. ]

Are you denying reality?

[ Dude.

Lex gives him a somewhat disappointed look, though again one framed via being comical. But even as he does it, his spirits he can feel responding in sympathy. They always seem to be more active around Cale. Some of the wind spirits start flying around towards the guy's hair and the cats and such. But for his part the earth spirits are making him feel somewhat heavier. ]

[ Seeing that look, Cale arches a disbelieving brow at him. He also takes the cat's face gently between his hands and squishes it.

Like, this is an objectively cute creature? How can you deny it?

He (and the cats) briefly startled at the movement of the wind. ]

Oh. I did promise, didn't I? [ That if the wind spirits did a good job of clearing the tracks he would let them play with his hair. ] Did you all do good work?

[ Lex exhales and shakes his head, downing what's left of that beer and leaning back a little. He doesn't really dislike cats or anything, but the whole objective thing is weird. He mutters to try to have the earth spirits loosen up their grip on him, and then looks to see the wind spirits going about around the guy, tugging on hair.

they shine, at least to Lex's eyes. ]

That other guy's telekinesis was more useful, but yeah.

[ At Lex's confirmation Cale sighs and finishes off his beer, then gently shakes the cat back down from his shoulder. ]

Don't blow it into my face or tangle it too much.

[ That's all he says before pulling his hair free of its ribbon and letting it fall over his shoulders. He crinkles his nose for a moment, expression undeniably grumpy as he notices just how much longer it's gotten. Without anyone to attend to his hair it's become such a hassle.

Should I cut it? ]

How is the food?

Interesting. The flavor profiles there aren't the sort I'm too familiar with.

[ He'll try anything, of course, and he does like it. But... well, perhaps it's just not what he expected out of Cale? That's probably the truth of it.

But then, he's not been to every realm ever.

The spirits will ... not obey that. They will tug and move it around and wave it however they want. ]

It's South Korean food.

[ Cale frowns as the spirits don't listen to his request. ]

Hmm? If it gets all tangled I won't be able to untangle it. Should I cut off all my hair then?

[ ... Snort. Lex waves a hand and then mutters an order for them to back off a little. The spirits comply, but having been so invited to linger there, they keep blowing that hair, including some of the tangles, in the wind.

... Korean? ]

Eeeeh, is that so. Never had it, I suppose.

[ Did they get introduced to it here? Had he misjudged the situation and this guy was from some Earth which also had elementals and spirits and such? ]

[ Deciding he really doesn't want to (or know how to) deal with excessive tangles, Cale ties his hair back up but in a way that just keeps it from being blown around too crazily.

And, at this point, Cale really can't help but ask— ]

So, which country did you live in on Earth? America?

[ —the clues keep pointing toward Lex being another possible transmigrator from a version of Earth. ]

[ Well that confirms ... something. Honestly, it could confirm a number of things, given how confidently this guy spouted off facts the first time they met. Lex still can't help but feel his heart rate go up a little, as if called out by something. His eyes shift a little to a more red-orange shade and he answers, ]

Yeah, the United States therefore of.

[ Cale appears very pleased with himself for guessing correctly. ]

Reincarnation, hero summoning, transmigation, or something else?

[ . . . What the hell? He's knocked into a surprised state so much that his eyes shift to a red color as they narrow and he leans forward. ]

This is a common enough thing for you there's terminology for it?

[ What the fuck even is a transmigration ]

It's not common. I'm familiar with the terminology from fantasy novels, and the research Cale Henituse's biological mother left behind for me.

[ Yes, he did refer to 'himself' in the third person purposefully. Cale figures since he's asking all of these questions he may as well leave some hints of his own. ]

[ What the hell? why is he ... referring to himself like that? Lex has a lot of questions and frankly terrors flooding his mind all at once. Fantasy novels? What, there's some sort of genre fro all this stuff? More than just like ... his eyes take on a more distinct red shade, and he sets his hand down to his side on the one side. His left side specifically - he can feel is hurting down there, a little.

Typical. ]

I don't know what 'transmigrate' even means.

[ He kind of wants to leave it at just that. Reincarnation? How would that even work? Does that even work for humans? What the hell? Hero summoning?

Honestly, it makes him feel sick. He feels sick. Lex taps his fingers twice on the table and, ]

I was summoned in, but it's not some hero thing. It was a desperate, random chance.

...Transmigration is the exchanging of souls between two bodies in separate worlds. There is one who initiates the process and one who is a victim to it.

It can also just mean someone being taken from one world and put into another.

[ It doesn't escape Cale's keen eyes that Lex seems to be experiencing some level of distress. He frowns faintly. ]

...Hey. You've done a good job of surviving, Lex.

Don't patronize me.

[ It comes out quickly and darker than he'd expect or even want, really. To have those words said to him by some guy who is around his age (possibly a littler younger, really) and a noble disgusts him. Who cares if this guy is nice and demonstrably dramatically more powerful to him? What does he even know about what he's gone through? Lex hasn't said any of it. Lex's eyes practically glow red, and the halo appears above his head. Not so much for Cale or anyone else's pain, but for Lex's own. His body language is much, much too tense for a moment- ]

[ - And furthermore, he's not necessarily suffered the most. There was that one woman who went between four worlds. There was Maul and Sharon and all the others. It's not just him and the other wayward soldiers of Vanengardt. Hell, the memories of that one Toge man were just as horrific as anything he'd experienced, and in some similar context. He looks down at the Korean food for a moment.

South Korea.

The mother of Cale?

Transmigration is the exchange of people...?

His brain works through all of that in a second or two as he tries to calm himself down at all, feels his old wound hurt again, fails, and then just-- opts to roll with it, ]

[ this place is about emotional openness, right? And he had said more to that one woman on the drunk night, said more to Betsy on their first meeting. Sure he doesn't know this guy all that well, but putting it together, the reason this guy asked is because he must've been in some similar situation. His mouth dry, he can't really bring himself to apologize just yet, even though perhaps he ought to, so he just keeps talking- ]

None of that. Or at least -- no, the whole point is that they didn't have people to spare. They desperately 'needed' [ the word is venom in his mouth ] their reinforcements. And so all sorts of people were pulled in from all sorts of places.

[ Ah. Cale can hazard a guess about the circumstances and it pisses him off to think of what Lex likely had to go through. ]

And you were still just a kid, not given the proper care and consideration you needed to adjust properly, and expected to fight to the death for the governing body that kidnapped you?

You make it sound so clinical.

[ He responses by way of confirmation, attempting a joke even as he still feels sick. How could this guy know it was when he was young? Maybe - no, he must've dropped hints at various points. This guy was smart, methodical in his observations. ]

It's just how bastards like that work.

[ Cale could say something about how kidnapping children makes the most sense because they're more vulnerable and easier to manipulate, and that taking them from other worlds adds an even greater level of power imbalance, forcing them to be entirely dependent on their kidnapper.

But he won't, because Lex has lived through whatever happened to him. Survived. It was fucked up and traumatizing and Cale feels a flash of anger at the thought of his friend being abused like that. Wishes he could visit that world and bash the person responsible's head in with a rock.

But instead Cale transforms into an elegant red cat, with fur like silk and a too-sharp gaze. He slinks across the table and sits down in front of Lex.

Then, on reflex, his feline body decides to try purring—

—and does an awful, awkward job of it since Cale hasn't vocalized much as a cat, but. Hey. An attempt was made. ]

I meant what I said before. You've done a good job surviving what you went through.

[ The image surprises him. Not so much because he didn't think Cale could do it. By physical traits, the man was most probably a Familiar just due to a lack of anything else even before he got it confirmed on Pandora's Fox. No, it's more that the guy does take up the form, does come over the table at him.

He's got a load of questions, and several defenses ready besides. How familiar is the guy with situations like that. It's not common, but it must be common enough if his mom (Cale's mom?) can so research. He's not even explained what all he went through, so this guy shouldn't mouth off about it. They all really die in his throat, mostly because- ]

... Objectively, sheesh.

[ He works out some other thing to mutter out as he looks down at the cat before him, one hand still holding his left side and the other now reaching out to bop the top of the other's head. ]

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