nativized | IC Contact (Folkmore)

-- Ah, yeah, my bad. Sorry.

[ Huh... he hums a little, rocking the chair a little on the spot. ]

... If we're going to be cards on the table about apocalypses and reincarnations and what not, there's some part of me which thinks someone important to me would scold me for cheating.

[ That confused tilt of his head definitely looks a million times cuter when he does it as a cat. ]

Cheating? What cheating? You're just my fr— [ oh. wait, no. that's. embarrassing.

His ears airplane sideways and he looks away, purring loudly as a distraction. ]

My mercenary knight. Until my swordsmaster or hyung-nim shows up.

I am in no way qualified for knighthood, my man.

[ He says this with a little laugh before pulling his legs on the table, tipping the chair forward, and after grounding the chair he reaches to pick up Cale bodily in his hands. ... He doesn't know how to hold a cat, it might not be perfect.

heheh, cheating.

... He should probably explain. ]

If I say you're a knight you're a knight.

[ Benefits of being the sworn brother to the crown prince, and friends with a member of almost every royal family/ruling body or major organization across multiple worlds.

If he says someone is a knight or a hero, then they are a knight or a hero.

It's the least he deserves for all the effort he's put into achieving his slacker life. ]

Unless you don't want to be one. It's your choice — you can be whatever you want.

... Sheesh, and who just was saying the other week that a noble without rank doesn't have power? you're just going on clout now.

[ EH's being playful in the argument... and definitely lifting Cale cat up bodily unless it's resisted. He's doing the totally not great for cats under the armpit thing though oops ]

My hyung-nim is the crown prince of the Rowoon Kingdom. [ And, okay, yes, there is absolutely no hiding the pride he has in his sworn brother's status and achievements. ] So if I say you're a knight of our kingdom then you can be a knight of our kingdom.

Or you can say you're a Henituse knight. My father wouldn't say no to that, either. [ In fact, Duke Deruth would be more likely to agree and offer Lex all the financial and material support he needed just as thanks for being a friend to Cale. ]

...

[ He doesn't struggle or resist in any way. He just allows Lex to manhandle him as he stares at him with unimpressed silence... though eventually does add: ]

Hey. Don't ever pick up another cat under the arms.

... Okay, forgive me stereotyping, but is Hyung-nim a man from Korea or wherever you ended up?

[ Because by context that sounds like a guy from the fantasy world, but that name(?) sounds like it doesn't mesh with "Cale" and the rest of the names he's heard from the guy.

His eyes shift to green and- uh ]

Oh, this isn't a secure position?

[ Uh.

He'll set him on the table, then. ]

He's from Nameless 1.

Some of the honorifics and familial titles from Korea translate into the languages there. There was a Korean transmigrator in their world around ten thousand years ago, so Korean is technically an ancient, dead language there.

[ And since Earth 3 is a mixture of Nameless 1 and Earth 1, Cale can only assume that has something to do with the language thing? Maybe? ]

'Hyung' is Korean for 'older brother' when spoken by males, and '-nim' is a respectful suffix.

[ He swishes his tail. ]

It's painful to be held like that, and can cause severe injuries. You need to support the legs.

[ Since the Vitality of the Heart is mostly sealed right now he just has to deal with the lingering discomfort in his muscles, but it isn't a big deal. Lex wasn't familiar with cats so he wouldn't have known, and now he does.

'Rok Soo' casually washes his face like a proper cat. ]

Pat my head and scratch behind my ears.

Demanding much?

[ But he sighs and rolls his eyes before reaching out and going to follow the demand to scratch behind the ears. Honestly, this strikes him as a little weird still but he will perform the duty. Why not? Thus... he performs the action.

That said, ]

... Nameless 1 is quite the name.

[ Oh.

Cale definitely can understand why his kids are so eager to demand headpats and ear scritches from him now. He starts purring again without even noticing. ]

Right?

Why is that the name?

[ Like... who the hell names a realm? world? Nameless... ]

Why would I know? It just is. And it's not like I was going to ask that bastard God of Death about it.

... But like. Normal people just call it that?

[ Or - why would you need to ask the God of Death? God this is complicated. And weird. And showed how connected Cale was to all this?

... They totally derailed off the topic again oops ]

No? Nobody ever really calls it anything, which might be why it was classified as Nameless 1 by the Hunters.

[ . . .

Why the hell is there so much jargon that this guy is just expecting him to handle at face value? Or to intuitively understand? Lex looks at him with skeptical and exasperated eyes, which have shifted to a grayish color. ]

I'll tell you about them someday. The short version is that they travel between worlds to sacrifice them, and they want to kill me because I'm both Cale Henituse and a Thames.

[ He decides to lay down in an elegant sprawl, crossing his front paws over each other neatly. His tail flicks a bit; slightly anxious. ]

...There is a chance they could try hunting me here.

[ ... What in the fuck is a Thames? Why is there so much jargon. There's so much jargon. Lex frowns a little. Maybe it would sound just as whacky if he explained about them outside of the context of the realms he knows? He can't imagine it would, or if it would he would take knowledge for granted. Probably?

But he nods all the same.

Even if he privately doubts that's possible. The likes of Betsy and her insane worldview are here. ]

...Thames is my biological mother's maiden name.

[ He raises a paw and waves it dismissively which, while awkward as a cat, gets the point across. ]

But that's not important.

[ At least not right now, when nobody has tried to target him despite him advertising who he was in a way Hunters would find irresistible. ]

What's important is why you thought a Familiar bond would make someone think you were cheating.

--That's changing the subject again! [ Like he hasn't been this whole time. Okay so they didn't like... his mom? Probably not his Korean mom? Probably Cale's mom? ... But he's from like. A book? So why did someone write a that into-

Oh who cares. ]

[ Lex exhales and then runs a hand through his bangs. The man leans back a little before he just stands to stretch himself a little. Cheating, huh... ]

Well, it's one of the things Linda would probably take issue with - it's similar enough to our thing.

Like you haven't been?

[ He decides to stretch as well because, firstly, why not? And secondly (more importantly), a cat doing a big stretch is hard to ignore and he's petty that way. ]

Linda being... your most powerful of spirit companions?

[ From all that Lex has told him about the elemental spirits of his world, Cale thinks that's most likely where this is going. ]

She didn't have to be the most powerful, you know.

[ But he laughs a little and waves a hand in such a way as to imply yeah! Guessed right on that. He looks up at the ceiling a moment before then looking over back at the cat and - eyes turning to a somewhat sparking blue color ]

But yeah, you're right, you're right. That's the one, in all of her glory.

If she has enough of a personality to be upset over this type of thing wouldn't that imply that she's very powerful, and wouldn't want to share you with another powerful spirit?

[ It only makes sense that she would be Lex's most powerful spirit companion. ]

Would she really be upset with you sharing a Familiar bond with someone like me? I can't compare to a great spirit like her, so there is no reason for jealousy. It would be like being jealous of an ant.

Man if you say that she'll squash you like an ant. And then you'd have to show if you are or aren't and ant and I'm willing to bet that you aren't, really.

[ He says this with a soft roll of his eyes, flat and mildly irritated in tone. It's masking, of course, a painful, horrible familiarity. He's not seen her in months and it's killing him. ]

I am weaker than an ant.

[ He lays back down, though this time makes sure he's in proper loaf form. ]

Pat me more.

[ He'll continue to act cute and demanding for as long as he thinks Lex needs it, because as much as Cale is an asshole he's not such a complete bastard that he would leave a companion alone like this. ]

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