“Brother, eh?” Crone commented, conjuring an image in his mind as to what a male sibling of Hana would look like. Probably someone just as annoying as her, he thought, amusing himself as he followed the girl through the hallway. He observed with fascination as Hana reached up to retrieve the cardboard boxes, her face beaming as she peeked inside. With a raised brow and crossed, unsure arms, he walked up to Hana and peered down into its contents. The square photos quickly caught his attention; snapshots of memories caught between threads of the past, and as Hana tried to dismiss and hide the images, he couldn’t help but smile. “Seems decent enough for a human,” he lied, actually liking, more than he anticipated, the selection of clothes the box had to offer. Crouching down to the floor, he fluttered his fingers through the different materials. They seemed of good quality, soft and tidy - it would definitely serve more practical for outside environments. “It’s not exactly plush wolf brushstroke-styled fur, but it’ll do-”<br/><br/>Knock, knock.<br/><br/>Hana quickly left Crone to himself. The man wryly smiled; it was a good chance to do a little bit of snooping. He began to dig out the various glossy paper images that Hana had tried to obscure, and for a while, he stared at the various pictures of her brother. “Yup, just as weird as I thought,” he mumbled, using a particular image as a reference for an outfit. It featured a plain grey shirt, black pocketed cuffed jeans, a slim belt and simple brown lace-up boots that just went a little above the ankles... He fished through the boxes for the exact items, and to his surprise, found all of the elements required. Since he was trying to please humans, he thought that he may as well follow their weird sense of fashion. His robe slid away from him and crumpled to the ground... Right beside a certain image he’d forgotten to analyse. Reaching down, he picked up the photo of youthful, cheery third-grader Hana. A snort soon followed from Crone. He had to admit - the image was quite charming. Demons such as himself never ‘aged’ in appearance, so he found himself constantly intrigued by human quirks. In only such a short amount of time, Hana had currently looked so different. Less bright pink and more mature in colour. Less irritatingly happy and more... Calm. Balanced. Huh.<br/><br/>Moments of soft cursing, awkward pushing of material, and struggles with tightening shoelaces passed by before Crone had followed through Hana’s brother’s photo perfectly. Looking down, Crone could barely recognise himself. He had undergone a complete makeover today, and could feel the confidence of wearing comfortable hair and clothing take over him. Tucking the photos back into the boxes, as well as storing his robe in there, he headed back through the hall. “Hey, Hana, am I wearing these stupid things ri-”<br/><br/>And then Hana’s magnetism<span style="font-weight: bold">struck</span>him like a chord in his untuned heart. Shocked, he gripped his chest. They weren’t alone.<br/><br/>He frowned, taking quiet but long steps towards Hana’s strengthening aura. Raising his head upward, his mouth parted in part anger and part shock as a dark mopped boy had begun to lean into her!... Wait, no, this wasn’t no ordinary boy. He was trying to absorb Hana’s aura. In other words, trying to claim Crone’s prey. Panic surged through his limbs. He had to do something, anything, in this lanky awkward human physique, but what?!<span style="font-style: italic">To hell with it, may as well give it a shot</span>, Crone thought as he raced towards the two and slid between them in a surge of heated emotion.<br/><br/>Boop.<br/><br/>Crone’s lips met Hana’s, and at the same time, the stranger’s met the back of Crone’s neck. Although Hana, weak from magic, could do naught to react, Crone’s whole face fumed red with anger as he felt the soft boy’s lips kiss him from behind. For a long second, the three were sort of pressed together in a strange sandwich of mixed feelings and messages. As soon as Crone broke his brief kiss with Hana, a warm blue light exuded through his whole body. “I’m regenerating?” He paused, staring into Hana’s eyes for any sort of response from her, feeling a strange strength suddenly grow within him. “I’m regenerating, you little devil! Can’t absorb a demon’s aura, now can ya?!” He repeated with more confidence, feeling his power suddenly burst into his hands. He instantly swiveled around to let Hana’s drained body fend for herself, gripped the boy’s shoulders, and pressed him into the door behind them. Strong, coal, tenacious claws pressed into the stranger’s clothes, paws replacing where his hands should be. Crone, at this newfound power, grinned like an excited child at Christmas, a chuckle rumbling from his throat like he could almost feel his good ol’ demon self return into his core. “Now, tell me, kid - You don’t feel to me as cool as a demon in essence, so what’re you? This is my turf now. No touching my resources.” Like a protective pack wolf, he tried at a growl, huffing as he felt the claws start to turn diaphanous and fade away. It seemed, as a human, this burst of power had a time limit. Damn it. He pushed the boy away from them and stepped back to protect his meal, and newfound source of converted demon energy.<span style="font-style: italic">If this man’s one of the locals</span>, he thought,<span style="font-style: italic">they were going to have a very unique relationship</span>. He thought it a shame that he couldn’t source the powers to get rid of the guy then and there.<br/><br/>It was then he realised, no matter how hard he tried to look human, his old ways were ultimately never fit for this container. Crone's body buzzed with excitement at this influx of power, unable to control such concentrated surges that a wolf form would usually regulate. And for that split second, he felt at home.