Derlik put this opposite hand on Nik's chest, pushing him down to sit on the floor.
"Try not to freak out too much," Derlik said, laughing. His laugh had a touch of mania to it, fitting for someone like him. Then, he reached up to Nik's cheek, and in a moment, Nik the human wasn't there. Instead, Nik was a cat. He could still talk, of course.
(Derlik had no chill lmao)
Nik froze. He was bigger than Smoke, but he was still a cat. "Why am I a fucking cat?" he demanded. To his credit, he only sounded mildly panicked. Smoke meowed in confusion, standing and rubbing against Nik's side.
"Because I want you to be," Derlik said simply. He sat down, reaching over and pulling Nik and Smoke onto his lap. He put his hand on Nik's head.
"I did say you're one of my favorite mortals, after all."
Nik ducked away from the touch. "Leave me alone." He spat, tail fluffed up a bit in fear. Smoke meowed again, seeming confused as to what was going on.
"If I do that, you'll never get back to being human, now will you?" Derlik patted Smoke's head lightly, reaching out to do the same for Nik again.
"Unless you'd prefer living like this, that is."
Nik hissed at him, ducking away again. Smoke batted at Derlik's hand curiously, blinking big, golden eyes up at the god, not understanding that Derlik was dangerous.
Derlik smiled gently to Smoke, wiggling his fingers a little to play with the cat. Then, he looked back at Nik, eyes hardening a little.
"I'd suggest cooperating, if I were you," he warned. He could do much more to Nik if he chose. He put his hand heavily on Nik, not letting him duck away again.
Smoke meowed faintly, batting at Derlik's fingers again. Nik growled, glaring up at Derlik with angry, mismatched eyes. His eyes had stayed the same from human to cat, and his fur was the same color his hair had been.
Derlik gently scratched under Smoke's chin, playing with them while focused on Nik. He smirked a little.
"You've got pretty eyes," Derlik noted, unmoved by the angry glare.
"Here, I'll make a deal with you- either I leave now, as you are, and never bother you again. Or… I'll turn you back, but you'll have to go with me. Which do you prefer?"
(oh whoops I forgot to specify Smoke's gender– he's a he lol)
Nik growled at the compliment, still glaring at the god as he considered that. "How about you turn me back and leave me the fuck alone?" he retorted.
(ah, it's okie! I'm good at avoiding gender XD)
"Can't," Derlik said. "I don't have the ability to. To be able to do that, if have to Claim you, and if I did, your have to go with me." Derlik shrugged. It wasn't completely false- he wasn't supposed to have been able to change Nik in the first place, but oh well.
"The choice is yours, though."
(XD yeah I just realized I forgot to specify)
"Then did you turn me into a cat in the first place?" Nik demanded, not quite understanding this. Smoke batted at Derlik's fingers again.
Derlik wiggled his fingers, playing with Smoke absentmindedly.
"Cause I could. I don't make the rules." He took his hand off Nik's back, only to rub him. "You don't have to understand something to do it."
Nik hissed at the rubbing, stiffening and ducking away from Derlik's hand. "That's a bullshit rule." he snapped, still glaring at Derlik.
"Well, you have to deal with it, now don't you?" Derlik snapped back. He grabbed Nik by the scruff of his neck, picking him up.
"I'd suggest making your decision, before I make it for you."
Nik hissed when he was picked up, glaring at Derlik. "Put me down." he demanded, swiping at him with a paw. Smoke meowed anxiously when Nik was picked up.
"Answer my question and I will," Derlik countered. He looked at Smoke, gently patting his head to calm him down. He turned back to Nik, smirking.
Smoke paced across Derlik's legs, meowing again, worried. Nik glared at him. "Fuck you. " he growled, squirming.
"I'll give you one more chance," Derlik said, holding Nik in the air still. "Otherwise, I'll be making it, and you're not going to like that." He looked down at Smoke, cooing softly.
"It's okay, kitty."
Smoke looked up at him, meowing again and shifting. Nik tried to cross his arms, then realized that as a cat, there was no way to do that.
Derlik looked at Nik a moment.
"So, that's how it is," he said softly. He sighed, then smirked. He stood, holding Smoke in one hand and carrying Nik with the other. He started towards the door, humming a little.
"You see, I still quite like you, as a human. So, you're gonna be coming with me, but…" He chuckled a little.
"I'm not gonna be turning you back just yet. That's what you get for being defiant of a god."
Nik growled at him, squirming a little bit. He didn't speak though, unsure what he would even say, since anything he could think of would only make this worse.
Derlik stepped through the door, heading out of the apartment building. He lifted Smoke up, carefully slipping the kitten into his jacket pocket. He then took Nik completely in his arms, not holding him by the scruff of his neck anymore.
"I'd suggest behaving," Derlik said calmly. "A cat isn't the only thing I could turn you into now, and I'm known for… Creative punishments." He laughed his maniac laugh again, patting Nik's head.
Smoke squirmed, poking his head out of the pocket and meowing quietly. Nik hissed, ducking away from the touch. "Put me down." he demanded angrily.
"What, so you can take off? You had your chance, but you decided to clam up and be an ass." Derlik held Nik close with one arm, making sure he couldn't jump down. He lifted his other hand up to pat Smoke's head lightly.
"Why can't you be more like your kitten? He behaves so well."
Nik glared at him. "He's a kitten. He doesn't understand what the hell is going on." he snapped, mismatched eyes angry. Smoke purred faintly at the gentle touch.
Derlik continued to scratch Smoke's head, bring so much more gentle with him then with Nik.
"Well, even if he's a kitten, he's very well behaved." He cooed softly at Smoke, smiling at the kitten a little.
"And you seem to be the one who doesn't know what's going on. If you did, you wouldn't dare be talking to me this way."
Smoke leaned up into the touch, purring happily. Nik growled. "Well if I knew who you were and why you're doing this, maybe I'd be a bit calmer."
(woops my sweetheart characters are…not sweethearts sometimes. I didn't know Nik was going to be like this or I would have used someone else. Oh well)
(it's okay, this can definitely work! I've got so many ideas, mwahaha…)
"I did tell you, though," Derlik said calmly. "I'm Derlik, god of chaos. And I'm doing this because I like you. I wanna keep you for myself. Is that so bad?" Derlik kept his eyes on Smoke, smiling at the kitten as he showered attention on him.
"Though, I'm starting to like your cat more than you at this point."
(and no we're not going to have another Nix situation istg)
(jgsdhfgjb alrighty lmao)
Nik growled, shaking his head a little bit. "Yes. You aren't supposed to just…just take people! That's not…" he shook his head again. Smoke purred happily as he was petted.
(lmaoo i mean i wouldn't be averse to Smoke being turned human, but he'd only be like 16-18 so no shipping him. At least not with Derlik lol)