if all this falls apart, he will never know what you are
She’s as capricious as ever, and in the next moment she changes her mind and herself.
Now, she’s the mosaic of fall. All the reds and oranges and everything in between wash over her coat, like that of a tree readying itself for winter. He likes the touch of gold she puts in her hair, so much so that he reaches out to brush it firmly with his muzzle when it appears. She looks afire – it’s a fitting look for the finicky mage.
Camouflage indeed, he thinks, as she begins her work on him. There will be no mistaking them for foreigners on their visit to Sylva (even if that’s exactly what they are). Walter has heard about the kingdom even if he’s never been. He knows all about the eternal autumn that exists in their neighbor to the south. It sounds dreadfully boring to him, a land that is constant and stale in its aesthetic. But he supposes the same could be said for the grey, chilly Nerinian shores. At least they have the ocean, though. There is nothing static about that.
He feels the branches pressing along his neckline. He feels, too, the exact moment when his wings begin to change. His feathers seem to melt into the gold and red leather, a strange sensation that sends tingles along his spine. New scars itch for only a second as they appear along his golden skin. A new smell permeates his pores, one similar to the dark forest of the Chamber but not the same. He can’t place it. But it’s a nice touch, a good cover. The whole process is bizarre but he’s too excited for their adventure to care overmuch. Also, he’s supremely thankful she hadn’t turned him into a gnat.
“Absolutely,” he says in response to her eager grin, though it sounds more like absssooluuuuutely as Djinni has already spirited them away.
He’s only finishes saying it in the next heartbeat. By that time, they’ve arrived.
“I really appreciate all the time you gave me to prepare for that,” he says, eyeing the genie pointedly. Or trying to, really, as there seemed to be three Djinni’s staring back at him as the world spun too quickly. “You know I have a tender constitution.” He grins crookedly back at her as everything comes back into focus. “So this is it.” The trees are awash in all the colors that she’s painted herself. It is beautiful, and he takes a step forward to take it all in. “This is your Sylva?”
and he will never know why the sun in my eyes burns like her
@[Djinni]