939/Big Words for a Little Fox
From MahouMUSH
Big Words for a Little Fox | |
---|---|
Date of Scene: | 28 January 2016 |
Location: | Hisakata Residences |
Synopsis: | Ikiko's little red fox begins to ponder some very big questions, inspired by smells she feels she should recognize but doesn't, and by Ikiko's retelling of events. |
Cast of Characters: | Ikiko Hisakata, Ayana |
- Ayana has posed:
Mid afternoon on a Wednesday. For Ikiko, this his homework time. For the little fox that has taken up residence in her home, it is exploration time.
Today, that exploration has brought the fox back out to the living area, where it is busy sniffing under the couch, and pawing gently at other bits of furniturre. It makes its way to the fireplace and pokes its nose in there, then sneezes and backs away quickly.
After a few further rounds, the little fox finds its way to Ikiko's side, bounds up into her lap, then bounds up onto the table where she's doing her homework.
For a moment, the fox is entirely in the way of the assignment. Then it moves past and peers up at Ikiko. "What is this?"
- Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"It's called 'homework', and it's a way to practice things that you learn," Ikiko explains with a smile, somewhat glad for the interruption. She reaches over and skritches the fox between the ears. "Classes in school give homework so that we can practice what we're supposed to learn, which helps us get better at those things."
- Ayana has posed:
The little fox tilts its head at the homework, then pads back down into Ikiko's lap, headbutts her belly, and hops back down.
"Humans are strange" the little fox observes as it pads back towards the living room. Once again it gets lost in exploration, until it eventually stumbles across the collection of shoes just inside the door.
For a moment, the fox stares at the shoes, then begins sniffing at them, one sole at a time. Each pair bears the distinct scent of an individual owner, and the fox seems quick to identify Ikiko's shoes, as well as those of her parents.
But then it comes to those boots, once again, and puzzles over them for a long time.
Eventually, the little fox puts its mouth on one of the boots and begins dragging it towards Ikiko.
- Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"No argument there," Ikiko giggles softly as the fox wanders out of the room. She resumes work on her homework, finishing up the assignment for one class and starting work on another.
The sound of the fox dragging something catches her attention. She turns around just in time to see the fox haul one of the boots into her room. "Ah, one of your old boots," she smiles as she walks over and sits down next to the little fox.
- Ayana has posed:
The fox stops when Ikiko sits next to her. It pokes at the boot with its face, then sticks its whole head down into the boot.
After a moment of furious sniffing, the little fox tries to get back out, but its head is stuck. There is some huffing and shaking of the fox's head, before it sits down and, muffled, asks, "Help."
- Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata does her best to smother a laugh at the fox's predicament. "Hold still a moment," she murmurs, holding the fox with one hand and gently pulling off the boot with the other.
Once the fox is out of the boot, Ikiko pets the fox, smoothing down its boot-ruffled fur. "Boots work better on feet," she points out with a smile.
- Ayana has posed:
The little fox does hold still when ordered, but only just. It recoils when Ikiko finally pulls it free of the boot. If she hadn't immediately started petting, the fox might have lunged at the boot to bite it.
Animal instincts. Go figure.
Instead, the fox waits until Ikiko is done removing her face-ruffling, then licks her lips and leans forward to sniff the boot again uncertainly. "I don't recognize this scent" it observes. "But you said it was mine. It does not smell like me. And I am not a human."
- Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Well, you used to be able to take a human form," Ikiko explains. "As a human, you had long black hair. You also had black ears and a couple of black tails, but you could use magic to hide those."
She skritches the fox under the chin. "You could also turn into a black fox back then; maybe it smells different because you're now a different color and no longer have magic?"
- Ayana has posed:
The little fox seems taken aback by the explanation. For a long moment it doesn't seem to know what to do at all. So it just stares at Ikiko uncertainly. Or maybe it's just enjoying those chin scritches.
Eventially, the fox tilts its head and begins to gently gnaw on Ikiko's hand, then rolls over onto its back and continues that gnawing, as if trying to encourage the chin-scritching, but also to continue its oral fixation.
But after a moment the thought process seems to catch up, and the fox asks, "Why can't I turn into a human, anymore?"
- Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata doesn't mind the gentle gnawing, and so she continues the chin-skritching. "The magic that allowed you to turn into a human was controlled by a bad man," she explains. "You, me, and some friends of ours were afraid that the bad man could make you cease to exist, and we didn't want that to happen."
She shakes her head ruefully. "We were able to make it so the bad man couldn't influence you anymore, but you lost your magic in the process," she sighs. "You also stopped being a black fox because of it, and that's also why you only have one tail nowadays."
A thoughtful expression crosses Ikiko's face. "Although... maybe you could turn into a human again if we found you some magic of your own," she muses.
- Ayana has posed:
That is a lot of concepts for a fox to take in. In fact, if this fox hadn't once been a magical girl, it would likely fly straight past her. 'Bad' and 'good' aren't really in a fox's normal vocabulary. But then, neither are 'influence', 'magic', or 'transform'.
This fox, however, is able to dwell on the words thoughtfully, before it twists over and goes back to sniffing at the boot. After a moment, it bores of the footwear and bounds towards the hallway to Ikiko's room, little collar jingling just a little with the rapid motion.
The fox moves into the room and begins sniffing at the pile of pajamas that Ikiko left behind, then turns around and looks back out towards the livingroom, then resumes sniffing thoughtfully. "Fear" observes the little fox as it sniffs those pajams. "These things smell like fear. Was the human in them afraid?"
- Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata puts the boot back with its mate, then follows after the fox. "Part of the magic made former-you very loyal to the person who gave you that magic," she explains as she sits down to pet the fox. "Former-you was afraid of the spell that broke the influence of the bad man, because that spell worked against the loyalty between former-you and the bad man."
- Ayana has posed:
The little fox once again seems to consider this for a long time. Meanwhile, it is happy to lean into the pettings, but seems uncertain on the entire subject. It's hard to twist a fox's mind around these concepts.
Eventually, though, it seems to come to some sort of conclusion, because the fox turns its head towards Ikiko and studies her for a moment, then asks, "Do you want me to turn into a human again?"
- Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata gently scoops up the fox and hugs it. "I would love it if you did," she admits. "But it's also your choice. Would you like to be able to change from a fox into a human and back again, all whenever you desired?"
- Ayana has posed:
The fox licks Ikiko's chin gently once, twice, then stills. The question is not one the fox had considered. What does it want? Life is awfully easy as a fox. On the other hand, she wasn't always a fox, and some part of her is curious what it might be like to be a real person. Why can't she remember it?
The little fox doesn't answer straight away. Instead, it merely nestles in against Ikiko, making little noises of uncertain happiness. The answer to her question will have to wait for another time. The fox is not ready to answer, just yet.
- Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata wasn't really expecting an immediate answer -- not for something so important. Instead, she just cuddles the little fox, kissing it on the top of its head and holding it close.
She still misses Ayana. But for now, this is good.