[open] i swallow the sound and it swallows me whole

[Set]

He dreams of Nera, his unbreakable queen, plain in appearance and far from it in nature. Her touch on his jaw is so soft. Too soft. He presses into it, seeking more. It’s only a moment later that his conscience catches up. Not Nera. The touch is alien, unfamiliar, but rather than follow his first instinct, which is to violently and painfully repel the intruder from his mind, he allows it … her … to slowly drip in, bowing away from the mental intrusion but offering no other resistance as he directs the trespasser to one of the many others within.

Before he allows her to fully breach the defenses he’s chosen, he shifts. It’s one of his favorites, a body his soul knows well, but there’s still that familiar dip in energy that comes with the changes.

It takes more than one try to wipe the cheeky grin from Otter-Set’s whiskered face, but he manages it on the second. He corrals her consciousness within his own, careful not to touch it directly, only gently suggesting it remains in the mental spaces that he opens to her. Letting his eyes go wide and dull, he struts into view, his muscles slack. Pausing, he regards the darkness with a faint smile on an otherwise blank expression. It's a chore, but he forces himself to relax, to allow her alien presence a semblance of control.

@Fazia