Fantasy Blackspring (Penumbra & Coreonysis)

[marshmarrow]

Cora smiled: a true, gentle smile that spread until she began to laugh, and she pulled away slowly. She stood up and brushed her jeans off, making a movement to help Entylin up, but realizing he was already standing as a wolf. She put that hand in her sweatshirt pocket instead.

She cleared her throat. "Regardless," she stated, but she didn't quite know what she was referring to, "I have work to do. I can hear my goats from here." Her ears had just picked up the impatient baa-ing only moments ago.

"You'll probably scare them looking like that. We've had, well, problems with wolves and stray dogs before," she ventured haltingly. "If you don't want to change again, please wait inside."

 

[Coreonysis]

Entylin picked up the clothes in his mouth and padded off toward the house, intending to shift once he got there. He knew the sight was unseemly; he also knew he would be naked. While he didn't mind in the slightest, he felt that they had gotten close enough where it might be a bit awkward.

The door, thankfully, had been left a tad ajar. He pawed it open and stepped inside, making his way down the hallway. He had to fight every wolfish urge he had not to run from that place; everything smelled too sharp, too fake, too human. He continued until he had made it to his room, and then shifted.

He stepped back through the door after he had clothed himself, breathing through the nose of a human once again. Everything now smelled familiar, instead of how dangerously foreign it had smelled moments ago.

He jogged back through the house and the yard, until he eventually made it to the goats. He had been gone a bit, so he knew he would miss a few things. He looked around until he spotted Cora, about sixty meters from him.

"How do I help?"

 

[marshmarrow]

Cora watched him closely as he padded back into the house, mildly amused at how he nudged the door open like a well-trained dog. She turned back to the goats, leading Niahm, her oldest nanny, to her stool by the lean-to.

When Entylin returned, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her keys, picking up one from the ring and holding it apart from the rest.

"This is the key to the shed. The lock is broken, so just stick this into the door handle and turn it until it clicks. It might take a few tries. There should be a stack of buckets and a row of jars just to your left when you walk in. Bring me four of each," she instructed slowly, "then get me the strainer hanging on the back of the door."

 

[Coreonysis]

Entylin nodded his head obediently.

He took the key and brought it to the shed, which was only a few hundred meters from where they stood. It was, indeed, quite a chore to open the door, and after seven tried the handle finally clicked. He didn't know why she didn't get that fixed; it couldn't be too difficult. He cleared the thought from his head and began looking for what she had instructed.

Four buckets. Check. Four jars. Check. One strainer. Check.

It carried everything precariously in his two arms as he shut the door with his body, walking slowly and carefully over to her. He set everything down on the ground, and handed her key back.

"Think they'll smell something on me?"