Lemming Shenanigans

[wrotetheworld]

WHO: Shang Qinghua and you
WHAT: Shenanigans and meeting new folk
WHEN: March, before the 4th wall event
WHERE: Various
WARNINGS: None so far

His king could help him with most of his Winter abilities, but the one that neither of them had experimented much with was the whole turning into animals thing. Which was absolutely fascinating, and would have so come in handy back home. Especially for escaping.

Though if a certain someone he knew back home was there, he'd never have touched the lemming form. Because there was no way that Cucumber would ever have let him live it down. But, better to start small, right?

Frostreign
Since he couldn't exactly carry a sword and winter cloak as a lemming, Shang Qinghua had left both at home, meaning that there was one chilly rodent hurrying towards the teleportation node. At least he had fur like this! Course, being low to the ground in snow also made it hard to look where he was going, so the chances of barreling right into someone on the way was... well, not high, but high enough it seemed!

"Sorry!"

Blossomcrown - Park
Considering the various... career paths he'd had across two lives, could it really be any surprise that Shang Qinghua liked to people watch? The less noticable the better. And, it turned out, with some experimentation, lemming paws could indeed hold a tiny brush. Sure, he liked modern pens, but he'd used brush and ink for a lot longer than ballpoints!

So one blue-ribbon wearing lemming was sprawled on a sunny spot on a park bench, taking notes. And occasionally digging into a hammerspace purse for melon seeds. Because melon seeds are the best.

Lunch time
People watching could, surprisingly, build up an appetite. Considering that most cafes didn't really like rodents (magically transformated residents or otherwise) coming in to eat, Shang Qinghua finally changed back to human form. Mostly. The ears had stubbornly stuck around for now, twitching in every direction as he practically inhaled a bowl of noodles up at the bar.

Freeplay!
Have an idea? Give me a poke.

Comments

lunch

[roundandaround]

[Rinku keeps looking over, distracted from her ramen by Shang Qinghua's flicking ears. But it's her pet Sobble, sitting on the table due to being too short to reach his food otherwise, who makes a nervous burble in his direction and hides behind the bowl.]

Aww, it's okay, Mecchan! He doesn't look scary, see?

[Rinku smiles widely at Shang Qinghua and waves.]

Are you practising shapeshifting?

[wrotetheworld]

[Aw, poor thing. But man did he choose the wrong guy to be afraid of. Is the least threatening person in the universe. Shang Qinghua gave the lady a sheepish grin, glancing up towards his ears even though he of course couldn't see them.]

Ah, yeah. I haven't really played with it much yet.

[roundandaround]

It's a lot of fun! I'm working on learning to turn into a fish right now. I managed a really little one, like a cichlid!

[Mecchan makes a nervous sound, and Rinku pets him.]

What about you, is that a lemming?

[wrotetheworld]

I don't think I'm going to be going down the fish route. Otter maybe. Less likely to get eaten.

[He's not entirely sure what her little pet thing is, but surely if it bit she wouldn't have him up on the counter? So he offers a few fingers to sniff.]

Yep. Cute, small enough to hide, and surprisingly usable paws. Managed to use a brush with them earlier.

[roundandaround]

I guess that's true... I just thought fish were cool.

[Mecchan slowly pokes his head out from behind the ramen bowl. Carefully, and looking like he might bolt any second, he starts to approach.]

Is that how come you have the ears now?

[wrotetheworld]

[Aw, cute thing. See, not scary?]

Got it in one. I'm hoping they'll go away on their own. Preferably before it's time to go home.

[roundandaround]

[Mecchan carefully reaches out a front leg to briefly touch his hand, then pulls back and looks up nervously.]

Hmm... I don't really know how to put them back! I just kind of feel making them go away, and they do.

[wrotetheworld]

Huh. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to figure it out. My king's been helping me with the ice powers, but he's never changed shape either.

[Holds back a snicker, just leaving his hand there a while longer.]

It's very different than any of the techniques they teach us back home.

[roundandaround]

[Confused Sobble noises. Mecchan slowly tilts his head, and Rinku pets him.]

It sounds like it! Everyone's world is already all different and stuff. I didn't have powers at all.

[wrotetheworld]

[Cute little critter. He dropped his hand to take up the chopsticks again.]

Bet a lot of places are like that. Not where I'm from though. We've got cultivators, spirits, demons, you name it.

[roundandaround]

[Mecchan pulls back, but he doesn't run or hide, so Rinku considers this a win. She smiles.]

Cultivators? You mean those guys who study and train so much that they get less human-ish and more god-ish?

[wrotetheworld]

[Shang Qinghua considers it a win because he didn't get bitten. Even if he had to snicker just a lot.]

I wouldn't say we get less human, but kinda? Not sure if I'd say I know any who are god-ish, but immortality's a thing.

[roundandaround]

That makes sense! Everything is different from world to world, after all. We don't have anything like that. I guess Mecchan could evolve if he tried, I wonder if that counts?

[Mecchan looks confused and goes back to his food. He has not mastered chopsticks and is just eating by stuffing his face into the bowl.]

Blossomcrown

[icepatch]

A dark blue cat sauntered up on the back on the park bench. A fellow people watcher but also gatherer of info, Kaeya tended to stick to Sunwaning but sometimes went to other districts to observe.

But a lemming eating melon seeds was definitely a unique find and he sat down to watch, starry-pupiled eyes gazing down at the creature. They were also mismatched, one eye was golden and the other was blue. The golden eye also didn't have white sclera, but black and there was a scar going from "eyebrow" to cheekbone. As nervous as it always made Kaeya to be without his eyepatch, his eyepatch was also too recognizable. No one knew he had both heterochromia and a scar in his human form, so it wouldn't be as easy to put two and two together. His unique pupils were something he couldn't change, though.

"Any particular reason you chose lemming?" Couldn't you just eat melon seeds as a human?

[wrotetheworld]

Okay, so maybe he'd admit that his first reaction to seeing a cat wander up when he was in a rodent body was absolutely in line with the instincts to freeze because holy shit was he gonna get eaten? But then the cat talked, which made it pretty clear that no, it was just another person in animal form, like him.

So probably not gonna end up as some chew toy.

"Geez, warn a guy," he said with a little huff, very deliberately putting down the brush he'd been using to sit up and get a better look at his new company. "I haven't changed form before. Figured start small?"

[icepatch]

Kaeya's tail swayed in amusement, his eyes squinting to match his grin. He stretched himself out over the edge of the back of the bench, chuckling all the while. "If I was going to eat you, I wouldn't have made my presence known."

He didn't really recognize the characters that the lemming was writing with that small brush fit for a paw, but they reminded him of the writing system in Liyue. Fascinating. "But why when human fingers would make note taking so much easier? Do you happen to be from Liyue?"

[wrotetheworld]

"You know, that doesn't exactly make me more inclined to relax," Shang Qinghua said, eyeballing the cat. Not that you could really tell with a lemming's face.

He flexed his paws before shrugging his shoulders. "But sure, though this paws aren't bad. But staying human wouldn't be practicing the shifting, and it's kinda useful to be small and unnoticed when you're people watching. As for Liyue, never heard of it."

[icepatch]

"Please, have ye a little faith," Kaeya waved a paw. "I don't eat other animals in this form. I prefer my food cooked, especially when offered to me by kind little old ladies."

Because they were the best.

"I see," Kaeya sighed. "I thought there was another Teyvat native here. Ah, well. So, why are you people watching?"

[wrotetheworld]

"Little old ladies like the ones who send out for ingredient deliveries?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Did lemmings have eyebrows? Well, if they did he was gonna raise it. "Be careful around those. They're nice, but at least one of them accidentally summoned a demon making cat food. And not the nice kind."

Shang Qinghua picked up his brush again, dipping it into the tiny pot of ink he'd brought. "Sorry to disappoint. And, well, a couple reasons. It's a good way to get information, and inspiration."

[icepatch]

"Oh no," Kaeya gestured with his paw once more as he shook his head. "I heard about that bit of questing and the aftermath. No, I just mean the ones I come across in Sunwaning near the markets. They always have tasty treats just for looking adorable."

And Kaeya firmly believes he is quite the adorable kitty.

"What kind of inspiration? Are you a writer?"

Even if he couldn't read the characters, he knew those were words and not pictures.

[wrotetheworld]

"Ah. Yeah, that's a lot safer. I tend to just get my food in human form. Easier to carry a bunch home because I'm usually feeding my roommate too." Since someone was a spoiled brat and didn't cook. The next characters he made might have been just a little more aggressive than the others.

"Used to be. Professionally, I mean. I've been thinking of starting up again on a hobby basis."

[icepatch]

Kaeya giggled, he couldn't help it. "You don't like your roommate or you just don't like cooking for them?"

"Oh~? Why only as a hobby?"

[wrotetheworld]

"You wash your mouth. My roommate is literally my king, so of course I don't mind cooking for him. It'd just be nice if he was willing to learn how, that's all."

Jail. Jail for a thousand years! His king is perfect!

"Too much work."

[icepatch]

"A thousand apologies," Kaeya didn't sound sorry in the slightest as he still let out a laugh. Wash his mouth, eh? Didn't parents do that when their children cursed? "So, why not teach him? Here, being royalty doesn't matter. If you happen to go home and leave him behind, he would have to fend for himself, no? Better to help him should that ever come to pass, don't you think?"

[wrotetheworld]

"If I somehow up and vanish, 'cause that's the only way I'm leaving without him, you'll have bigger things to worry about than whether or not he can cook," the lemming muttered with a snort. "Besides, my king is just as likely to eat whatever raw or frozen if there isn't someone to cook for him."