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The sound of the front door closing barely disrupted the quiet of the house as Shadow Milk crossed the house's threshold. He stretched, his back slightly sore after observing the ancient's gardening. He yawned, "Who knew just watching something would take so much out of you..."
He headed for their bedroom, the speed of his levitation even slowed as he traveled. The darkness of their hallways soothed his eyes, which he had to constantly shield from the sun's rays as they beamed down onto them.
Upon reaching the room, he exhaled contentedly as the chill settled over him, his favorite atmosphere in the whole house. Just as he was about to flop onto the bed, items resting on their bed stand drawer caught his eye.
He got closer, analyzing them: a pencil, a small notebook, and a pair of glasses. All objects that he had not normally seen near their bed. The words of the ancient resounded through his head, "I'll be in after a bit, my dear."
He picked up the notebook, scanning over the pages as he opened it. All standard things, flower stuff, weather analysis, reminders...
His eyes froze in place as he flipped to another page, a drawing of one of his forms and several lines of text written on the surrounding page.
"Cat," it read at the very top. "Normal proportions, quite flexible, as touchy and invasive as any other affectionate cat." The pose was generic, but accurate.
Another page. "Wolf. Very big, usually emotionally unstable, very soft fur."
Another. "Fox. Most commonly seen when mocking innocence / seeking attention, very playful, responds well to pets."
"Snake. Quite wide, scales cool to touch, very tight when it coils around something, scary."
Shadow Milk was in the middle of turning to another page before he heard their bedroom door creak. "Shadow Milk, what are you doing...?" His voice was teetering on concern, and the beast could hear him coming closer.
His eyes never left the notebook, but he slowly turned around as he responded. "Didn't know you paid that much attention to me." His eyes flicked up to look towards the ancient. "Why, I'm quite flattered, 'Nilly."
He glided closer, snapping the notes shut and beginning to wave it slightly. "When were you going to tell me you did this? I could've given you tips! You're missing a good bit of crucial information here."
Pure Vanilla's face began to soften, his furrowed eyebrows relaxing and his jaw loosening. An innocent smile spread across his face. "It's just a casual hobby, my dear. I didn't think you'd be interested in helping me out."
A loud giggle escaped the beast's mouth, his eyes widening as he grew more excited. "And miss out on playing around as different animals? You must think I'm crazy, 'Nilly."
"Well," he gently took the notebook, walking over to the bedside drawer and putting on his glasses. "If you'd like to help add to my studies, you can go ahead and show me some things."
Shadow Milk's eyes narrowed as he turned back around, his lips curling into a wide smile as he did a curtsy. "Which one would you like to see first, dear professor~?"
"Hmm..." He flipped through the pages, landing on his first-ever diagram. "Your cat form, please."
"As you wish." He let a cloud of smoke envelop him, his hands formed as claws, before the cloud fully obstructed the other cookie's view. The sound of claws hitting the ground happened not too long afterward, revealing a black cat who promptly went to lick its paw.
"Lovely. Can you stand up on your back legs?" The cat pushed itself off the ground, easily keeping itself balanced. And, to show off, shuffled a bit before rolling back onto the ground. Pure Vanilla nodded as he wrote down a few notes, later tapping his chin.
"Oh! There's something I've always wanted to try. Come here, please." The cat rushed up to the ancient, who had put down his notebook, its tail swishing in anticipation. Promptly, Pure Vanilla picked him up, his legs directed towards the ceiling.
"Don't freak out, okay? I'm just going to drop you." Just as he said, he dropped it, its body quickly twisting to fall on its feet. The ancient gasped, quickly grabbing his notebook and hurriedly writing in it. "I've seen it happen before, but it's never been at my own hands! This is wonderful!"
The cat's tail twitched, its eyes looking back up towards the ancient. His excitement faded as quickly as it had appeared, already focusing on another subject.
"Ah, let's see..." Pure Vanilla flipped to other pages, squinting as he attempted to decide which form was next. His eraser fell on a particular set of pages. "Oh, your owl form! I've only seen it once at night, may I see it?"
The cat meowed, letting shadows gather at its sides. Arms turned into feathered wings, its head shifting to a more ovular shape, and its mouth now a tough beak.
Pure Vanilla's eyes sparkled with wonder, glancing back up from the spectacle to his drawing, fixing some aspects and adding some last touches. He gazed at the owl, voice full of fascination, "What are some unique things this form does?"
Several things: its head turning all the way around, its wings barely making a sound when they flapped, and even being able to camouflage itself in the semi-lit room.
After he had finished scribbling down his observations, his curiosity was high enough for one more form. "Show me something special. Something I wouldn't normally see."
The owl hoo'd, barely giving Pure Vanilla enough time to flip to a fresh page before the room filled with an unusual shimmer, whatever animal he'd be changing into completely unable to be seen.
As it left, all that was left flapping in the air was a tiny, simple moth. The ancient stared in shock before he giggled, almost missing when the insect perched itself on his pencil.
His giggling subsided, finally taking a moment to appreciate the intricate details of its wings. Spotted, dark blue wings with a striped body and fuzzy antennae. "Oh... you truly are beautiful no matter what form you take, aren't you?"
The moth traveled to rest on the hand keeping the notebook steady, a perfect reference for when he sketched out the creature.
It fluttered away as he began to list out its characteristics, his voice steady as he wrote them. "Intricate pattern... very lightweight..." He could feel air breezing across his face as he wrote out the last. "...Least threatening."
The beast tilted his head as he stood before the ancient. "Least threatening? Even when I'm like this?" He pouted playfully, his eyes following the ancient's movements as he closed the notebook and set it and the pencil back down.
"You and I both know the answer to that, bluebird." He started to take off his glasses, but Shadow Milk grabbed his hand before he could. "Stop. Stop for a second. You can see like that, right?"
"Ah, well..." His voice faltered, "It's only for reading and writing, my dear. I'm not a big fan of wearing them the rest of the time. Plus," He took his glasses off, but the beast's grip remained on them. His eyelids parted as he positioned his face inches away from his.
"I trust you enough to have my glasses off most of the time. Even then, I've gotten used to the blurry vision—I just prefer my handwriting to be comprehensible, is all."
"Uh-huh. How about you wear them just for today? It's nice seeing something different." Pure Vanilla's facial expression tightened for a moment, seriously debating, before putting them back on with a sigh. He grabbed Shadow Milk's hands.
"Just for today. Just for you. And then you'll have to stay up at night watching me if you want to see them again."
Shadow Milk chuckled. "That's no problem at all~"