JJ’s stomach does something squiggly. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Cass’s lips twitch. “You remember my true form?”
JJ nods. “Blue tiger.”
“It’s not—it’s not atiger,lackey. Tigers aren’t even native to North America.”
JJ gestures dismissively. “Fine. It’s something blue and vaguely tiger-like.”
Cass rolls his eyes. “You’re insufferable,” he says, and then?—
Then, without warning, there’s a swirl of black smoke around him, faster and sleeker than JJ’s eyes can track. Within seconds, a familiar demonic tiger—or tiger-like creature—is peering back at JJ, head cocked to one side.
Fear instinctively trickles down JJ’s spine. Even beyond the evolutionary wariness of predators, he’s always been trained to recognize demons’ true forms, always been trained to recognize them and fight them andkillthem?—
Kill them, before they killed him.
But this is Cass. Cass wouldn’t hurt JJ. He’s proven that a thousand times already, proven it beyond the shadow of a doubt.
JJ is probably the safest person in the world right now. He steps closer, mirroring Cass’s head tilt. “You don’t have stripes. I could’ve sworn you had stripes last time, but that could’ve been the sleep deprivation. So I guess you’re a blue… puma?”
Cass lets out a low, irritated growl. It’s deep and ominous andagelessenough to send a shiver into JJ’s very bones.
Decisively, he ignores the primal fear. “Oh, you’re going to get sassy with me about it? You’re the one who’s a cat of demonic origin, Chin. I’m just trying to wrap my puny human brain around it.”
Cass lets out a huff of air that JJ thinks might be a scoff. He prances haughtily over to JJ, lowers his head?—
And butts his skull against JJ’s belly.
JJ stumbles backward half a step. “Um, excuse you,” he says. “I was standing there.”
Cass growls in a distinctly long-suffering way, headbutting JJ again.
“Do you want me to pet you?” JJ guesses. “Is that what’s happening here?”
Cass lets out an annoyed whine, nudging JJ’s hand with his muzzle.
“Okay, then. I guess we’re doing pets,” JJ says, and gently, he runs his palms over Cass’s sleek feline head. To his surprise, he’s met by smooth, tough skin instead of soft fur—almost like a shark or a dolphin. “Huh. That’s pretty cool, actually.”
Cass’s growl sounds more like a purr this time. His tail is even swinging back and forth contentedly.
Frankly, it’s adorable. “Oh, I get it now,” JJ says sagely, nodding. “You’re not a big cat at all, are you? You’re a bigdog.You’re a big blue dog.”
JJ never knew that a giant blue cat could look affronted until this very second. Cass lets out another irritated rumble, and this time, he rams his head against JJ’s belly so hard that JJ overbalances and topples over, hastily slapping down his arms to break his fall.
“Oh,realmature,” JJ says, rolling his eyes. “Is that all you got, kitty-cat?”
Cass stalks forward with another snarl, looming over JJ with his massive front paws bracketing JJ’s head. He leans down, growling straight into JJ’s face, his enormous fangs mere inches from JJ’s throat?—
“Oh,veryscary,” JJ teases, lifting a hand to rub between Cass’s ears. “Scary Cat goes ‘grr!’”
Cass’s snarl cuts off. For a long moment, he stares down at JJ.
And then he lets out an inscrutable snort. There’s a snort and a wheeze and a bizarre cough-snore, and suddenly, that billowing black smoke is around him again, whipping faster and faster until?—
“Scary Cat goes ‘grr’?”Cass sputters, gaping down at JJ. “You’reinsane.”
JJ grins up at him, delighted. “Did I just make you laugh so hard that you had to change back to your human façade?”
