In the back by the lake, a solitary figure perches on a tree branch overlooking the water. The very last rays of light ripple off it; they could easily mesmerize if he let them do so
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"No," Yrael grins, wryly. "I merely love attention."
More accurately said, he loves being worshiped. Usually with pets and scritches and offerings of food, but sometimes in the rapt attention of a crowd of people, as well, their emotions his shiny plaything.
"Perhaps it was because I spent so long kept in the shape of a cat. The tendencies of the shape one reflects eventually become ingrained."
"It is what I came outside wearing," he replies, as though being asked why he walked outside wearing a very nice suit for special occasions only. "I had come to visit with Ferdinand and Count and Kitty, at the forge, and have been given no reason to change yet."
The question leads him to wonder if he -- as Chaos -- knows to miss the form in which it's been imprisoned. Or perhaps the opposite applies: it resents the form in which it's been imprisoned. He can't and doesn't know; he has no memory of the times he's been transformed.
"Of course I do," he says, and it is completely honest. "It is similar, on one level, to being forced into a container too small to hold me. No matter what shape it might be at the time. What I appear as imprints shape on how I act, over time."
Catshape being the most recognizable. It was only two millenia plus a few centuries, after all.
"But I love my home here and take care not to endanger it or its people, without due cause. I do not let myself take my true form, to relax, where patrons" at least patrons he likes, "might come to harm."
One time only, he saw Yrael in his true form. He of all people knows what it's like to be trapped in a skin not his own, but at least he still resembles his old self in part.
But he chooses something else to focus on.
"You love it here?" Perhaps he should love it here too but... well, he doesn't. The place leaves him isolated and while there are people here he... knows, more or less, there is only one person here for whom he truly cares.
"I do," Yrael replies, thoughtfully. "I found this place while I was imprisoned; it gave me an escape."
"The people here treated me like a person." Not a monster. "Made me feel more like a person, in turn. This place gave me a place to belong. Gave me friends - my first friends ever."
"When in the Old Kingdom I gained my freedom, everything I had was here."
Even he had friends at home and while he considers himself to be among the more solitary of those he knows, he... can't imagine never having had friends in the past. Even those who know what he is -- what he's capable of becoming and doing -- still count him among their friends. A momentary arc of pity for Yrael's former circumstances passes through him, although he would never put voice to something like that.
Being pitied never serves anybody, least of all the recipient.
"Then... that makes sense." As if saying a thing is sensible is his to bestow on anything, but... well, everyone makes their own judgments on everything.
On every last bit of it.
"I'm glad you've found those things at this place." What has he found? Momentarily, his eyes find the door to the bar. Perhaps it's time he stopped selling this place short simply because Lucrecia is not here.
"As am I," mwrrs the not'cat and Bright Shiner, together, as he stretches. "So for the sake of all the good it has done me, I take the unpredictability and the occasional bad things in stride."
"The worst things I have seen here... still do not rival my worst experiences before I found this place. And the best things I have experienced here... I had never seen their like, before."
They have that much in common, then. The worst things that have happened have not been here. Despite being Bound, he... cannot say that it's worse than what happened to him at Shinra Manor. As far as prisons go, this one is far more pleasant than a dark sealed coffin.
"You have a point, friend." He takes his seat on the ground, feet stretched out toward the lake, one hand behind himself for balance. With the other, he reaches out and pats Yrael almost before he realizes what he's doing but by then, it's too late to take the move back.
He'll blame it on Yrael being so cat-like; his hand falls to the ground as he gazes forward, serene and unperturbed.
It may settle next to his right ankle.
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More accurately said, he loves being worshiped. Usually with pets and scritches and offerings of food, but sometimes in the rapt attention of a crowd of people, as well, their emotions his shiny plaything.
"Perhaps it was because I spent so long kept in the shape of a cat. The tendencies of the shape one reflects eventually become ingrained."
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"So... had you been kept in the shape of a dog, you would have a tendency toward loyalty and fetching?"
(Thinking about becoming Chaos on a permanent basis is something he simply will not allow.)
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"I am not my sister."
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"I assure you, the choice of dog was purely random."
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His eyes say he doesn't believe you, Vincent.
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"Tell me, Yrael. Why are you in cat form now?"
Certainly it's not so he can be petted.
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"Do you not miss your true form?"
The question leads him to wonder if he -- as Chaos -- knows to miss the form in which it's been imprisoned. Or perhaps the opposite applies: it resents the form in which it's been imprisoned. He can't and doesn't know; he has no memory of the times he's been transformed.
That weighs on him. It weighs heavily.
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Catshape being the most recognizable. It was only two millenia plus a few centuries, after all.
"But I love my home here and take care not to endanger it or its people, without due cause. I do not let myself take my true form, to relax, where patrons" at least patrons he likes, "might come to harm."
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But he chooses something else to focus on.
"You love it here?" Perhaps he should love it here too but... well, he doesn't. The place leaves him isolated and while there are people here he... knows, more or less, there is only one person here for whom he truly cares.
He wouldn't go anywhere without Tifa.
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"The people here treated me like a person." Not a monster. "Made me feel more like a person, in turn. This place gave me a place to belong. Gave me friends - my first friends ever."
"When in the Old Kingdom I gained my freedom, everything I had was here."
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Being pitied never serves anybody, least of all the recipient.
"Then... that makes sense." As if saying a thing is sensible is his to bestow on anything, but... well, everyone makes their own judgments on everything.
On every last bit of it.
"I'm glad you've found those things at this place." What has he found? Momentarily, his eyes find the door to the bar. Perhaps it's time he stopped selling this place short simply because Lucrecia is not here.
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"The worst things I have seen here... still do not rival my worst experiences before I found this place. And the best things I have experienced here... I had never seen their like, before."
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"You have a point, friend." He takes his seat on the ground, feet stretched out toward the lake, one hand behind himself for balance. With the other, he reaches out and pats Yrael almost before he realizes what he's doing but by then, it's too late to take the move back.
He'll blame it on Yrael being so cat-like; his hand falls to the ground as he gazes forward, serene and unperturbed.
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Realizing that was it, Yrael makes a mildly disappointed sound, settling down next to Vincent. "...Big tease..."
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