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3336 Cream Puff Way

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I'm not going to freeze.

[At least he sounds sure about that.]

I know how to survive in cold weather, trust me.

[aigue]

[She still looks skeptical.]

Sorry, but you're still human and we're friends. That means I'm going to worry.

[advanced]

[That makes him frown a little, that hadn't been his intention.]

Don't. I can handle myself.

[aigue]

I can't help it.

[She sighs dramatically, trying to lighten the mood a little.]

I'd offer you my tail but I'm very attached to it, you know?

[advanced]

Eat the wrong thing here and I'll have my own tail.

[Which is half a joke and half really not.]

[aigue]

[Oh, she's picturing that and looking a looot less disappointed.]

That wouldn't be so bad. My tail is my best feature.

[advanced]

Not gonna happen.

[Sorry to burst that bubble.]

Not voluntarily, and it wouldn't end well if it happened involuntarily.

[aigue]

What? Why not?

[She tilts her head curiously.]

[advanced]

I don’t take well to being altered against my will; or just... anything that isn’t my choice.

[He hesitates, but she’s been earning these pieces of trust slowly and steadily, there’s no reason to think she isn’t worthy of another.]

You remember what John had to do to stop me before? There was a time those sort of orders, ones I couldn’t refuse, were all I was. My arm cane from that time too, I’ve been changed enough involuntarily for it to end well if it happened again.

[aigue]

[That's understandable. Very understandable. She didn't exactly ask to be changed into this, though she made peace with that a long time ago, so she gets what it feels like when your body is basically no longer yours. The lack of control, the lack of self that comes with it are all discomforting, to say the least.]

Well... What if it was your choice?

[She curls her tail onto her lap, resting her hands on her fur.]

Come here, feel my tail.

[advanced]

[He just raises his eyebrows, not moving to go and touch her, no matter how soft the fur looks.]

It's never gonna be my choice.

[Flat. Firm.]

[aigue]

[That has her looking mildly offended, as well as disappointed, and lets her tail drop back behind her.]

Fine, then don't.

[advanced]

[He sighs and scrubs a hand over his face. He's bad at this sort of thing.]

This isn't personal, Renart.

[aigue]

[She shakes her head.]

You're wrong. It's personal for both of us, and we happen to have the exact opposite opinion on the matter.

... Aside from the lack of choice. I agree with you there.

[Sure, she helped prank Sherlock, but he isn't Bucky and she wouldn't agree to do that to him. Different contexts and all.]

[advanced]

I don't understand how it's personal for you, if I choose that I don't ever want to try one of those cupcakes.

[It's confused more than it is argumentative, he really doesn't get it. But he doesn't want this to cause problems. He has very few friends, he can't afford to argue too much with any of them.]

[aigue]

Because I like being a fox, and I enjoy when humans take an interest in what it's like. Since the common perception of foxes is that we're wily pests it's nice when people look beyond that.

[And, frankly, it's nice having other intelligent fox people around. Even if it's only for a little while.]

[advanced]

Just because I don't want to alter my own genetics, doesn't mean that I'm not interested in what it's like to be a fox.

[It's just a big button for him.]

Would you do it, make yourself something different - not a fox - just to understand?

[aigue]

[That's good to hear, at least.]

... I don't know. Maybe. When I was younger I would think about what it would be like being human.

[advanced]

It's nothing special.

[No, that's a lie, it's infinitely better than just being a mindless weapon.]

We're just a different kind of animal, that's all, a lot of us still run on our instincts.

[aigue]

Do you? I always thought it was hard to tell whether you still had all your primate instincts.

[Less so in emergency situations, but definitely day-to-day.]

Your senses are all different, too.

[advanced]

Sure, but I don't think that experiencing senses is the way to understand what it's like to be human.

[Nor does he think that being able to see and hear differently would help him know what it is to be a fox.]

Do you feel like you can't respect and understand the friends you have without being one for a few days?

[aigue]

Not really, no.

[She's getting where he's going with this and doesn't like it, but saying something ridiculous like this is an entirely different situation wouldn't be true.]

[advanced]

Then why would you think the opposite is true?

[It's gently asked, but there's still a firmness behind it. He meant what he said, it hadn't been personal that he doesn't want to change form.]

[aigue]

.....

[She's silent, frowning severely at him. Because he's right and she's wrong, and guess who doesn't like being wrong.]

.... I can still think you would look handsome as a fox.

[What who's sulking she's not sulking.]

[advanced]

[He raises an eyebrow at her, but he's not so cruel as to push it when he's obviously won already, so he makes his tone more relaxed again.]

Then it's probably a good thing I won't be one, what with flirting off the table.