Sunshine and Curiosity

( Send 🎲 if you want my muse to bet against your muse on something. )

The little shapeshifter watched the coin closely. Of course she’d take this bet! Unfortunately it landed on tails. How was she suppose to tie flowers together? She didn’t know how to tie anything.

Instead she tried to make them stick to eachother by squishing them. Which didn’t work at all. Julius might have to wait a while for her to figure out how it works.

Julius grew more comfortable when he wasn’t staring himself in the face, now shifting his gaze down to again meet the eyes of–what he once believed was– the child. He seemed still mildly disconcerted, but his eyes softened again once Katrina showed signs of distress.

At her small request, his expression looked to be a mix of care, concern and disappointment. Not in the shape-shifter, but in the place she came from now that he could conclude they probably treated her unjustly. Julius knelt once more, forcing himself to give her a small smile and take-up her hand again, carefully.

   “You’ve done nothing wrong. You’re… very smart. Just a bit of a surprise, most people aren’t used to others changing how they look like you do.” Was it because she looked like a child that he cared so much for her well-being? If she were just an amorphous pile of goo, would he still care? … She was sapient, so he assured himself that yes, he would. 

The softening of his expression calmed her fears. So...He was good. Good! She smiled her own soft smile when he took her hand. It felt....nice. She didn’t know the word to describe it. But maybe....safe? 

“Not wrong? S...Smart? Change like...do...” She didn’t do that often around people...They normally reacted odd. Or they asked her to copy them. Which is always fun! She honestly didn’t think much before jumping right into it. Maybe she should be more careful? Maybe.

What Julius was gathering was that Kat was some sort of creature that escaped or was released from a lab. He nodded with each answer, unable to help a smile at the joy she showed when revealing very favourite candy. 

As much as he wanted her to find somewhere to stay and be safe, he wasn’t sure if the lab she supposedly came from could be trusted…

The Belmont didn’t have much time between Katrina answering her final question and being shown an example of it. He’d seen her form change, but if felt like his brain skipped something when he was suddenly staring at… his own pants and boots (complete with the same scuffs…).

His eyes were wide, and after a second (and an exasperated laugh from the woman behind him), Julius stumbled. He would’ve fallen back, but he managed to get his hand out. Instead, he stood as quickly as he could, staring himself in the face with wide-eyes. It wasn’t a reflection either– seeing it was mildly-unsettling. He’d only ever seen demons do this.

The first thing Julius did… was reach forward and brush a piece of her (his? Theirs? It’s?) bangs to the side. He had to clear his throat before continuing: “Al… alright, then. Thank you for answering that… you can turn back now.”

She paused at the touch, looking over his expression. Something was off but she didn’t know what...Did she do something wrong? She shifted back just as quickly as she had changed the first time. 

“Um...Did...I do wrong?”

He was a nice person...right? He wasn’t like the white coats...right? She couldn’t help a passing thought that made her eyes grow bigger with a hint of fear. She scanned over his figure looking for a sign that it was safe or if she needed to run.