Temporary (Tighnari X Reader)

1

The young woman stood there, staring at the strange person. Amongst the flowing crowd around them flashed pairs of eyes in the direction of the exotically-dressed stranger, curious new pairs replacing the ones that looked away, but never lingered for too long.

"Are those real?"

"Y-yes..."

"Is that real too?"

"Mmphmm..."

"Oh- are those also real?"

"Gah!"

"Hey! Where ya going?" The student followed the boy with the fox-like ears that were flattened on his head into an empty alleyway, and watched him slump to the floor with a painful expression on his face, panting heavily.

She goggled at him for a moment before digging through her messenger bag and handing him her water bottle. He looked at the bottle, at her, then at the bottle again through winced eyes before taking it and twisting it open, placing it under his nose and sniffing it for a moment, then drank the iced water, his shoulders drooping in relief.

Once he was done, he handed the bottle back to her and covered his ears with his hands, his knees pulled close to his chest.

Seeing his miserable state, she thought for a moment until her eyes sparkled with an idea and she stretched out her hand. "Come, follow me!"

It took the boy a moment to grab her hand and stand up, and she led him through the streets and round a few corners until they reached a bridge connecting one part of the city to another. Beneath the bridge was a rocky shore blending into a wide river where they both sat in the shade of the bridge.

The stranger buried his head in his arms, unmoving and silent. She leaned forward, attempting to meet his eyes, then pouted and swung her feet. She then searched her bag and pulled out an apple, tossing it in the air and catching it. Then she moved on to playing around on her phone, fiddling with the hems of her clothing, and finally plucking out pebbles from between the stones and boulders to toss into the river in an attempt to skip them on the waters surface.

There was more silence and zero motion from the stranger, until he eventually got to his feet. Another stare down, eyes locked on the other.

The girls mouth began to run. "Are your ears and tail and paws real? I mean like, real real. 'Cause I've seen some super cool cosplays, but yours is off the charts! Is there a convention going on around these parts? Who are you cosplaying?"

The ears on his head flattened themselves again and he crossed his arms. "Hey- calm down! Let me ask you some questions, missy!"

Her focus drifted from his speech to his tail that wagged in a hyper realistic way. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Ah- sorry! How do you get your tail to move like that? Heck, there's this anime I watch-"

"Please! Just... tell me where I am!"

She planted her hands on her hips. "Are you European?"

His paw-like hands held his face as he groaned in despair. "I don't even know what an European is! What planet am I on!?"

Studying his attire and appearance once more, the idea of playing into his fantasy role play came to her mind. "Alrighty then~ you're on a planet floating in space called Earth, or as I like to call it-  hell on a planet." With a toothy smile she chucked him the apple, which he caught and sniffed carefully before munching on it slowly, eyeing her.

His actions slowed down in thought until his teeth hovered above the skin of the apple. "I... I see. Well then, hit me."

Her head tilted to the side. "Come again?"