Chapter Text
A few minutes earlier, at the city gates…
"Can't believe we're missing out on the show. Really wanted to see them shock him to death."
"Yeah, especially since this shift's turning into a bust. Honestly thought she would come for him."
"It'd be funny if she shows up too late. Can you imagine the look on her face if she gets here only to find out he's nothing but a mud puddle?"
Laughs rang out between the guards on watch, but as they faded, a strange sound surfaced in their wake.
"...What the hell's that noise?"
Several sets of eyes scoured the trees, looked down the roads, seeking out the source of the strange sound of metal wobbling and sharp clinks. It was hard to tell exactly what direction it came from, but movement signaled the source a moment later.
The man that came around the bend stalked forward with purpose. His hair was bright red and stuck out in all directions. Behind him were two walls of stacked sheet metal that looked hastily welded together. They stood erect like shield walls but moved like they weighed nothing, completely obscuring whomever was holding them from behind.
The red-head cracked his knuckles, lips pulling into an energized grin. As he reached up and pulled a pair of safety goggles down over his eyes, the gnarled cryptid brand flashed on his arm. Then, with a strange, gravelly sound, a ripple moved across his body as his skin shifted from smooth to a coarse, rocky appearance.
"Fear my manly body, cowards!"
To their confusion and growing horror, he charged forward, a wild grin on his face. The sheet wall followed behind him, slightly slower due to aerodynamics, but still closing fast. Arrows and bolts went flying from the guards, only for them to bounce and ricochet off of both rock man and metal wall alike.
Before they could switch to machetes and swords, the red-head plowed into the closest guard, ramming him into the city's wall with a loud thud. The closest guards rounded on him, finding their blades didn't do much more than create sparks on his hardened skin as they bounced off. The sheet walls arrived moments later, ramming into most of the remaining guards, and the one left standing was met with a rather brutal axe kick as Tsuyu leapt up from behind the walls and dropped her foot down without a single amount of remorse.
"Good work, Eijiro," Tsuyu said to the redhead, moving back behind the walls where the rest of the rescue party stood, which included Ochako, Binder, Shoto, Fumikage, Toru, and a blond cryptid with… more eyes than what was necessary, and all of them looked angry. "They're all down, kero. Let's go."
Ochako turned to look at Binder, sliding the coils of twine off of her shoulders, each laden with rail spikes. "You got me?"
The scarf gave her a thumbs up, and she nodded, removing her own weight as she began to float up. She twisted, orienting herself based on Melissa's instructions, and pointed slightly to the right of the gate. "Aim there."
The scarf snapped to attention, fabric coiling around Ochako and pulling her close before it spun around and hurled her up and into the air, sending her sailing over the city walls. The rail spikes clinked loudly, signaling her approach towards the execution grounds, but a distant, pained scream made everyone else jump.
"No, it's starting!" Toru cried out.
"Fuckin' out of my way!" the blond shouted as red veins of lava ran down his arms. Toru and Fumikage pulled their shield walls apart as the blond ran past them and slammed his palms against the closed gates. The explosion that erupted on impact sent the metal screeching as it ripped apart from the blow, clearing the way forward.
"First intersection and head right!" Shoto shouted as they all charged forward to save the Mist Walker.
XX
Through the pain, Izuku stared up in numb confusion as Ochako appeared in the sky above him like some sort of angel of death. And well, if this was how he was gonna go, then at least she was the last thing he was going to see.
Over his own pained screaming, other people started shouting, pointing up at the sky. With palpable rage, Ochako hurled the spikes down into the crowd, sending everyone scattering to avoid getting skewered or crushed, and she wasted no time dropping in a controlled fall down towards the executioners who had not stopped. As soon as she was in a safe range, she threw herself the rest of the way, amplifying her weight as she dropped down onto the back of one of them, sending him crashing into the ground with a loud crack.
The other executioner turned with wide eyes, only to be met with a brass knuckle in his face as Ochako threw her entire weight into the punch, toppling him away from Izuku. The cables from both had dropped into his pooling mist, and Ochako had to jump out of the way to avoid electrocution. However, the sparks died moments later, like the source of power had been killed. Immediately, the pain lifted, leaving behind a half-formed cryptid gasping as the shock seeped in where the pain had been.
Just as the hunters took aim on Ochako, Binder came flying in with a metal pipe, swinging it in a wide arc and with no mercy, acting like he was playing a game of whack-a-mole. Behind him was a cryptid Izuku didn't know, diving in front of Ochako as hunters let loose arrows at her. She curled up behind him as they bounced off of his form like toys, and he laughed loudly, placing his hands on his hips proudly as their weapons failed to do anything but bounce away. Ochako's ears flattened as she gave him an exasperated look from behind.
Slowly, Izuku found his senses coming back, vision regaining focus. There was a makeshift pair of metal barriers in a v-formation moving slowly towards the hunters and guards, shielding whomever was behind. He saw Melissa running in from down the street, and before he could worry they might think she was the enemy, Tsuyu shot out and grabbed her, pulling her behind the shields for cover. He could tell by the look on Melissa's face that she was expecting it, and that made him realize that this rescue was not impromptu.
It was organized. They had collaborated together to save him.
Maybe he was still recovering from electrocution but he didn't know what to think about that.
"I need to get to him. Cover me!"
Ochako's shout drew his attention, and he watched as she dove towards him as the shield wall moved to provide them cover while the red-head went on the offensive. Most of the cryptids stayed behind the barrier, except a blond man with six eyes and lava-like veins on his arms. He sprinted forward, moving in the shadow of the redhead, using him as a rock shield. Together the two tag-teamed several hunters, one taking the weapons to the face, and the other countering with explosions from his back, sending shrapnel from exploding weapons in all directions, and leaving behind a lingering stench of burnt flesh.
From behind the barrier, Shoto began to lob giant chunks of steaming ice at hunters further away, and when the first ball of ice made contact and began to melt the skin of the man it touched, the hunters quickly realized that the bombardment was far more volatile than they were prepared to deal with. Now with being assaulted with deadly attacks both in range and at a distance, many of the remaining hunters and guards started scrambling, desperate to stay away and not lose a limb or worse.
Ochako landed on her knees in a puddle of Izuku's mist, hands cradling his face. "Izuku. C'mon. I need you to pull yourself together."
He blinked up at her several times, brow furrowing. "I'm conscious… just gimme a sec…"
She scowled. "No, you idiot. I mean pull yourself together. I can't get you on your feet if your body is half soup."
He blinked, looking down at himself and how Ochako was practically sitting in a puddle of, well, him. "...Oh."
It took a bit of effort, but he pulled his mist back into his body, reforming into the solid form of Izuku Midoriya. The look of relief on Ochako's face was something he wanted to appreciate but really couldn't, given the fight going on around them.
Ochako grabbed his hand, and a moment later, Melissa had his other, both women pulling him to his feet. He stumbled, Ochako catching him from losing his balance and keeping him upright. She turned to Melissa. "I thought you said the poison would be neutralized by the electricity?"
"It was," Melissa replied, nervously looking around them as the fighting went on. "If it wasn't, he wouldn't be able to stand or talk. But he did just get electrocuted for almost fifteen seconds straight. We're lucky he's conscious."
"Lucky," Izuku echoed painfully, because he wasn't sure it was lucky to have stayed conscious through all that.
Ochako sighed, slapping a hand against his chest and making him weightless. "Take him so I can help us retreat."
Melissa yelped as Ochako practically threw Izuku into her arms, but considering he weighed nothing, the impact was negligible, other than the fact his dignity wasn't really spared and his face nearly crashed into her bosom. "S-sorry, Izuku," Melissa stammered as she helped right her friend, letting him lean against her.
"Fucking hell," Izuku wheezed, glaring at the cat girl as she moved away from them. "I swear she's pissed at me for getting caught."
"She did cry at one point last night," Melissa whispered in his ear, only for Ochako to whirl around and hiss at her.
"I did not!"
"We are retreating," Fumikage interrupted pointedly, leveling them all with a look that was impressively annoyed for someone whose head was that of a bird's.
They began to fall back, using the metal shields for cover, but the remaining hunters were determined to circle around to the front where they were open and vulnerable. Shouto was doing his best to discourage that, raising up sheets of hot ice between them, but he could only do so much without blocking their exit path. The red-head and blond duo were still doing considerable damage against the enemies from the sounds of it beyond the shields, but they still had a ways to go before they were out the city's gates.
The sound of something metallic and very heavy being dragged across the flagstone made Izuku turn his head, and he stared with disbelief as Binder appeared, hauling the giant bronze bell from the city's bell tower.
"Binder, what the fuck," Izuku uttered, eyes comically wide. "What are you going to– How did you even – oh hell."
Ochako turned as the scarf tapped her on the shoulder then pointed at his new toy, wiggling with all the excitement of a child in a candy shop. The cat-girl's brows lifted, before she grinned and gave the scarf a high five.
The hunters were prepared for projectiles to come out from behind the shields in the form of scalding ice. They were prepared for the explosions from the weird six-eyed monster who kept shouting expletives with each action.
They were not prepared for the Gravity Cat to come whirling out from behind the sheet walls, the scarf cryptid wrapped protectively around her head, and fling a bell twice her size at them like it weighed nothing. It sailed towards them, ringing ominously in a way that vibrated down to their very core, right as it smacked into three of the closest hunters, flattening them.
The remaining hunters, of which were few, recovered and took aim at the exposed cryptids, only for mist to explode from behind the shield walls, signaling Mist Walker was back in action.
And utterly furious.
With no need to choose between appearances, and with a justifiable anger burning within, Izuku was suddenly a monster that none of the hunters wanted to contend with. He formed above Ochako, bow drawn and shot lined up. Even at a distance, the wrath in his eyes couldn't be questioned. He fired once, the arrow landing in the closest hunter's lead arm, shattering the elbow, and then he was gone, reforming from behind in a whirlwind of pale violet. Another arrow fired, and the next hunter went down as the projectile pierced his knee.
Again and again, Izuku moved and reformed, firing once and taking down another hunter with a precise, non-lethal shot that would end their career. Killing them was too easy as far as he was concerned, but ruining their ability to wield weapons or tools in an unforgiving world was adequate punishment in his eyes. Either the wilds would chew them up and spit them out, or they would just miserably hobble the streets of Aldera, drinking away their sorrows. The last of the hunters trying to attack them fell, clutching the arrow sticking out of his wrist, and then Izuku leveled his eyes on someone running in the distance.
Monoma had been wise to stay out of the way the moment Ochako appeared in the sky, but he hadn't immediately fled until Izuku was back in action, and by then it was too late.
He yelped as the ex-hunter appeared before him in an ominous swirl of mist, angry green eyes staring him down over his face guard. Before he could even think to lift his crossbow, Izuku's mist had wrapped around it and yanked it away, sending it clattering onto the street some distance away. Monoma quickly grabbed his dagger, and as it came up out of its sheath, Izuku reached out and deftly disarmed the other hunter, who stared in horror as the cryptid casually twirled the knife in his hand.
"Fuck, you're gonna kill me," Monoma said weakly, the color draining from his face.
"That'd be safest for the people I care about," Izuku agreed, inspecting the dagger in his hands. "But I'm kinda petty, so, no. I'm not going to do that. I want you to live and regret the shit you've done."
A couple of minutes later, Izuku rejoined his retreating rescue group, who were more or less unhindered in their leave now that nearly every hunter and guard had been incapacitated. Ochako looked over at him, arching a brow. "I heard screams. What'd you do?"
Izuku shrugged. "Cut some tendons and threw him on a roof. By the time someone finds him, the damage will probably be permanent."
He paused, looking around. "Where's Binder?"
Ochako jerked her thumb behind them, and Izuku turned to see the scarf undulating up towards the overlords' mansions, two arrows and a fishing hook sticking out of him, holding a machete with one end and a crowbar with the other.
"Oh," Izuku said simply, then turned a blind eye to whatever bourgeois massacre was about to take place.
As the group passed through the city's gates and on their way to freedom, one could hear screams erupt on the mansion hills.
XX
Once they had put considerable distance between themselves and Aldera, everyone stopped to breathe. No one was really hurt, but it was clear a lot of them were worn out. Toru tried to get Fumikage to 'chest bump' with her with their giant shields, but he didn't seem to want to play along. She pouted.
Izuku stood awkwardly off to the side, staring at all of them as he tried to figure out what to say. After a moment, he cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention. With a sigh, he bowed his head. "Thank you for saving me. You all risked your lives for me today. I really… I really have no words."
"I don't even know who you are," the blond cryptid admitted, shrugging dismissively.
"Yeah, to be fair, we just heard we were crashing a party in shithole Aldera and wanted in. You seem cool though," the redhead added, draping an arm over the blond's shoulders. "Name's Eijiro, and this is Katsuki, by the way. Still wild that the Mist Walker was pretending to be a hunter. Pretty manly, dude."
"Izuku Midoriya," Izuku replied automatically. "And yeah, I guess that career is over. Gotta wonder how high my bounty will be after all this…"
"And I was so close to catching up," Ochako lamented jokingly, walking up and wrapping her tail around him. He smiled down at her, not that she could see it behind his face guard, so he slipped an arm around her shoulders instead, squeezing her close.
Looking around at his rescue party, he nodded. "Shall we get the hell outta here?"
"Fuck yeah, I'm starving."
"I told you to eat before we left, dude."
"Fuck you! I did eat! I'm just hungry again! Exploding things takes up a lot of energy, bitch face!"
By the time they got back to the cryptid haven, Izuku had shot and killed a bird for Katsuki to eat. Shoto had tried to cook it, but with scalding ice instead of actual fire, the result was really tough, boiled bird meat, and Katsuki complained the whole time.
What was worse was the only person who willingly ate the boiling poultry was Fumikage, and absolutely no one said a word about it.
The entire time, Melissa was furiously taking notes with a tiny scratch pad she had, amazed by all the cryptid abilities she had never gotten to see firsthand. Much to her dismay, she filled up her scratchpad well before they were back, leaving her sulking as she tried to mentally keep up with everything she wanted to write down later.
To Izuku's surprise, Shota and Hizashi were waiting for them at the lakeshore, and the look of relief on their faces surprised him further.
"We're glad you all returned safely," Shota said gruffly, eyes lifting up to Izuku, "and with our missing bounty."
Izuku chuckled awkwardly, pulling down his mask so people could see his face. "I, uh, guess I'm not as invulnerable as I thought. Who knew?"
Melissa stiffened at that, and slowly she turned to look at him, tears forming in her eyes. "That's– I–" She swallowed, trying again. "…What happened was my fault. I'm really sorry, Izuku."
Izuku blinked, looking over at her. "What do you mean?"
The researcher twisted her hands nervously, as if about to admit to a really big mistake. "Hunter Monoma came to me asking me about theories around Mist Walker. I… told him what I hypothesized about your weaknesses. I honestly didn't think anything of it since it would have… required Mist Walker to have a corporeal form and come into the city, and well, you can see why I thought that wasn't going to happen."
To her apparent surprise, Izuku started chuckling. "Well, I'd say I'm equally at fault for knowing you were keeping notes about me but never asking what those notes were. I might have learned a thing or two about myself that might have avoided this whole fiasco."
"Y-you're… not mad?" Melissa asked, taking off her glasses so she could wipe her eyes.
"At you? Never. You didn't know, and Monoma's a sleaze. And hey, at least this way we got to steal you away from Aldera so you can live your dream of observing cryptids all day."
Her face lit up, eyes shining, and Izuku smiled as she barreled into his chest to hug him. "Thank you for being such a great friend, Izuku."
He wrapped an arm around her, squeezing lightly. "Is it too soon to respond with, 'thanks for nearly getting me killed in the name of science'?"
She smacked his chest with her palm, half sobbing and half laughing. "I guess I deserved that, you jerk."
Movement in the air caught Izuku's attention before he could reply, and he looked up, as did several others, to see a familiar scarf come fluttering down.
Binder landed, covered in blood, viscera, and holding onto his own bounty paper like it was a trophy. He wiggled happily, showing the paper off to everyone like a child with a crayon drawing. When he got to Shota and Hizashi, the cat man of the two sighed wearily. "Well, I'm glad someone had fun through all of this, Oboro."
The scarf shimmied in delight before fluttering off towards the cave to find a place to hang his poster. Hizashi blinked before turning to chase off after him. "Wait, wait! You need a bath before the blood dries!"
Melissa let go of Izuku to stare after Binder in horror, and Izuku turned his attention to the catgirl beside him. "I was scared you'd do something reckless and try to save me by yourself, you know."
Ochako stiffened, before scratching her cheek and giving him a sheepish look. "I… almost did. Everyone else knocked some sense into me. Binder included."
"I'm glad," Izuku said softly. "I would've been upset if you got hurt trying to rescue me. But… I also never expected a rescue mission on my behalf, either. I mean, Binder, sure, but the rest of you hardly know me."
"You've done a lot for us, kero," Tsuyu said simply, a smile on her face. "You're part of the team."
"The children in my care are alive because of you, and now we can give them a better life," Shota added.
"I still don't fucking know who you are, but I wanted to fuck shit up, so it works out I guess," Katsuki said, shrugging.
Ochako stepped up, sliding her fingers through his. "Mist Walker's got some fans, it seems."
Izuku gave a lopsided smile. "Yeah. Seems so."
XX
A few months later…
Officially named Haven City, the refuge was coming along well. Most of the known cryptid communities had been successfully migrated, and the cave was bustling with housing and trades of all sorts. Now with boats on the lake for fishing, and farms planted under the sinkholes where the sunlight shone, the community was generally self-sufficient in food.
Izuku had taken up a role as a hunter and scout, patrolling the forests around Haven City and also bringing back wild game of various sorts. The humans knew where they were now, but after the events in Aldera, they had realized it was just better to leave the cryptids alone. The worst they had encountered was a scouting group of hunters, and the moment they saw Izuku, they turned and fled. He hadn't even been in mist form.
Without a need to steal anymore, Ochako put her skills to use around the community, helping the logging camp and nearby quarry the cryptids had set up. Her skills made moving labor almost negligible as she hauled timber and stone to the places they were needed.
Occasionally new refugees trickled in, some newly turned cryptids, and others even human refugees who realized they might get a better life than what waited for them in Aldera. Although many cryptids were wary or even outwardly hostile towards the human refugees, Hizashi, with the help of Melissa, came up with a program for human refugees to follow to prove they were willing to live peacefully with cryptids. The majority of cryptids found the terms reasonable, which led to Haven City having a handful of non-cryptid members.
And speaking of Melissa, the day she woke up and found out her legs had been replaced with a long, scaleless eel tail had her initially in a state of hysterics. Izuku had responded by picking her up and carrying her down to the lakeshore where he placed her in the water. After several deep, calming breaths, the poor researcher started to realize that she had fallen to the miasma, and curiously, carefully, lowered herself into the water further. Several cryptids watched their resident researcher spread her fins for the first time as she dove under the water and swam about. Izuku walked along the lake's surface to accompany her and make sure she was okay, since being made of mist meant he was, well, buoyant.
When Melissa finally surfaced, she threw her hands up into the air, a breathless smile on her face that caused the small cryptid crowd to cheer for her.
It would have been very sweet, except in her excitement, she discharged a sharp jolt of electricity. And with Izuku standing right beside her, it knocked him right off of his feet and into a pool of mist that floated above the water.
Melissa apologized profusely, not realizing she had become an electric eel cryptid, and much to Izuku's exasperation, the person laughing the hardest at all of this was Ochako.
The community worked to build a place on the pier for her to do her research, and with her newfound abilities, she set to work to design and implement a hydroelectric power system that would support the whole city.
Last anyone heard, Binder had risen to the top bounty, taking over both Gravity Cat and Mist Walker. Apparently he still had a grudge against humans, and Shota had given up on controlling him. However, he did manage to partially succeed by threatening to sew sequins into his blood-stained fabric if he didn't calm the fuck down.
Only partially, because Binder also told Hizashi that it would be hilarious to continue to haunt Aldera as a bedazzled piece of fabric wielding a butcher's knife.
Now it was sunset, and Ochako found herself sitting atop the cliff that overlooked the lake. The wind riding the water's surface was cool, ruffling her hair that she had started to let grow out. It'd been a while since she'd had a need for her thief leathers, and now she spent most of her days wearing loose tunics and leather leggings. For the first time ever, she finally felt comfortable letting the ugly C branded into her arm show itself to the world.
A faint smile touched her lips as silvery violet mist rose up from various parts of the cliffside, coming to form Izuku standing beside her. He looked the same as always, with his hood over his head and his mask covering the lower part of his face.
Ochako lifted a brow at him. "That really is your default appearance, huh?"
He chuckled, pushing his hood back and unhooking his mask. "Yeah. It was what I was wearing when I fell to the miasma, so it's permanently my 'look'. I'll be like this to the day I die, I guess. …Assuming I age. I don't think I do, actually."
She blinked at that, then gave him a sharp look. "Wait. Wait. How old are you?"
He stared at her, before he gave her a devious grin. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Yes! Yes, I would!"
He laughed, taking a seat beside her. "I'll leave ya guessing for a while."
"Oh my god," Ochako muttered, staring out over the lake. "So help me if you're, like, fifty…"
He laughed loudly, and she hated that she couldn't tell if it was because he was or wasn't that old.
"Izuku…"
He grinned at her, looking boyish in a way that she now couldn't trust, fingers slipping between hers to hold her hand. "I'm not fifty," he said, amusement lacing his words.
"As in, you're older or younger…?" Ochako replied carefully, staring at him.
When he just grinned at her, she scowled, turning to glare out over the water. "Jerk."
"Payback for all the times you tease me. Gonna let you sweat a bit on this one, kitten."
"Don't call me that!" Her tail flicked, and she flattened her ears, wrinkling her nose at him. The response she got was a quick kiss on the tip of her nose before she could pull away.
She sighed, defeated, and Izuku chuckled, scooting closer until their shoulders were touching. They sat in silence a bit, listening to the sound of the wind over the lake, and the quiet evidence of the city just below their feet.
"Never thought I'd see a day where we'd have a place to call our own," Ochako said softly. "It was such a distant dream. Seemed impossible, even when I volunteered to start stealing supplies."
"Yeah…" Izuku replied. "I… always wondered if I'd see a day where we could live in harmony with humans. I guess… I still haven't seen that day though, huh?"
"Nope," Ochako laughed. "But at least they leave us alone now. And we do have a few human allies. Though, I guess I can't call Melissa human anymore."
"Never seen someone be so happy to become a cryptid," Izuku admitted fondly. "I mean, after the initial shock."
"Yeah. Won't lie. Her accidentally electrocuting you was the most beautiful moment in my entire life."
"Thanks," Izuku muttered flatly.
She smirked at him, but after a moment, the expression shifted into something lighter. "Nah. That's a lie. It was the third most beautiful moment."
He rolled his eyes, looking over at her. "Yeah? What's the first two? First time you knocked me flat on my back and when you made me run into a tree?"
"Close." She grinned, waggling her brows. "First is the day I realized I didn't feel shame for the brand on my arm. That was… that was a big moment for me."
"Yeah, I remember," Izuku said softly. She knew he didn't have a brand, but he understood well enough. He'd held her that day, letting her cling to him as she cried tears of relief as the realization hit her that she was free. Really free.
Ochako closed her eyes, taking in a deep, centering breath. "And second… was the day you lost your cool and kissed me." She opened her eyes and looked over at him with a sly grin.
He wrinkled his nose. "You mean when you kissed me."
"You wish," she purred, leaning in and flicking her tail. "We both know you were struggling to not give in."
"Hardly," he replied, narrowing his eyes. "You were just a brat."
"And then you learned you like brats," Ochako whispered, lips just a hair's breadth away from his.
"...Yeah, I guess I do," Izuku agreed quietly, lips curving up briefly. He reached up, fingers sliding through her hair to cup the back of her head before he closed the tiny gap between them and kissed her. She smiled against his lips, and they both closed their eyes, the moment embellished by the backdrop of a beautiful sunset and an ambient pool of mist surrounding them.
Epilogue
With a sudden hiss, like steam releasing from a pipe, a door appeared in the middle of the air in the bustling center of Haven City. With a curious creak, the door opened up, and a bleached skull head peaked out, looking around. The head was attached to a body dressed in mage's robes, but otherwise had no strongly identifying features.
Everyone turned and stared at the being, wondering just what kind of cryptid had just shown up… and how.
The skull lifted a skeletal hand, holding up one finger. "Ah! Excuse me! I'm just passing through, but does anyone mind if I take some samples of the utterly delightful miasma here? It would be a wonderful addition to my lab!"
"What… what the hell are you?" Hizashi asked, jaw dropping.
"My name is Li!" Li said, like that explained everything. It didn't explain shit, in Hizashi's opinion.
Beside him, Shota sighed. "Look. This isn't even the weirdest shit we've seen. Just let 'em grab the samples and leave."
Hizashi blinked at Shota before looking back up at the animated skeleton. "You heard the cat man."
"Don't call me–"
"Wonderful! Thank you!" Li chirped, swiping their hands through the air as they gathered some of the green haze that normally could only be seen at dawn. "Ah, wonderful. It's so pungent. I think. I assume. I can't really smell, come to think of it. Well! No matter! I have what I came for. Many thanks for your hospitality!"
Li stepped back through the door, but as they went to shut it, a blur of blotchy white and brown came from around the corner and tapped them on the shoulder. Li turned, staring down at the scarf that wiggled before them, once a pale fabric, but now stained from what looked like old blood. "Hm? Oh? Yes, hello. Yes. What a delightful little entity you are."
Binder wiggled again, and began to quickly sign symbols to Li. "Hm? What's that? Oh, well… of course! I'd love some company. An adventure it is! I'll have him home by next week! Or …the previous week. Time and space travel's a bit strange, but somewhere in between, I'm sure!"
And before anyone could say anything, the door shut and disappeared with a tang, signaling the beginning of a side story of chaos between a lich and a sentient scarf.