Grancrest oneshots

Features

3rd pov (May contain SPOILERS for episode 12 and any after.)

Theo had long since grown to the stares he got, at least before he managed to snag a cape to wear. He hadn't realized that the features so common on Sistina, were in fact so rare over here. Almost everyone on Sistina had a feature of some sort, tails or claws, ears or fangs, pads or fur, all kinds of things and sometimes even mixes of them. It's not often that the people of Sistina are born without features, so leaving and finding that they are indeed rather extremely rare here is a bit of a shock.

The cloak thankfully hides his features, the ones on his head are hard to hide in any other way, while the ones around his neck and waist are far harder to explain away, so the cloak helps him hide everything without having to get too many questions. He wanders for several months, trying to raise the rank of his crest - he knows that's the best way to overtake the Rossini's and get his homeland safe - but he's having a hard time, most of his sword work just stuff he learned while swinging the ax, which is extremely different, but it gives him a basis, if not a great one. He learns quickly what does and doesn't work, though he desperately wishes for a shield, especially as he helps the young mage girl, and then he's almost killed by the damn chaos creature she summons, but she gets him to the next rank, where he can be contracted to one mage, though he's rather nervous having her as his.

Taking the land from the lord is also weird, and he stumbles through several things, but he manages to keep his cloak on the entire time, the need to hide his features strong, if only because he'd noticed the disgust, hate and disappointment aimed at him whenever people saw them, like they expected him to get rid of the features he was born with. He removes the cloak as he goes to lay down, letting his cat like tail out, gently running his fingers through it to untangle some of the hair and then doing the same with the fur around his neck, before idly scratching at his horns, an ache at their base letting him know he's going to need to care for them soon.

He really doesn't like having to hide his features, even after months of being here, but it's what he has to do, so he does it. Besides, there's only so much glaring and refusal a guy can take before he's forced to do things he wouldn't in order to get food. Either way, for the moment, he's fine and no one should bother him until tomorrow morning, at the latest, so the sooner he gets to sleep, the better. He's always been an early riser, nothing will stop him from rising with the sun, not after doing it for nearly 14 years, since he was 8 and his father started to wake him up to go out to the field together.

He stretches, letting his tail curl and flick behind him, well aware it's showing his anxiety and nerves, but he'll be fine, he's got this... maybe. The fur on his neck is soft, so to calm himself, he runs his fingers through it, more than aware of the fact that he's long since desensitized himself to his own touch, but it helps, so he doesn't mind. He settles awkwardly on the bed, uncomfortable because it's not his - well, technically it is - and because he's been sleeping in forests and camping where he could, that the bed is almost too soft for him. He shuffles around, debates the couch, and decides the bed is where he needs to start, getting under the covers and settling in.

His tail twitches on occasional and he has to be careful because a wrong move could rub his fur the wrong way - an extremely unpleasant feeling, like your fingernail catching on certain materials - or have his horns tearing a hole into the pillows, something that'll be hard to explain, with his features a secret at the moment. He falls asleep easily enough, once he distracts himself, focusing on his dream, prepared to put in as much effort as possible, even if he really only just barely knows how to read and write. He keeps his features a secret, drinking the stupid tea his dad taught him to make that would draw magic from the air in order to hide them the times he was forced to go without his cloak.