Teeth, Fangs. Canines, even.
Mornings with the troupes are always a quiet affair.
There are many reasons for that; first of all, they always get up early for safety reasons, meaning it's better to keep the talking to a minimum so as to not draw unnecessary attention to them with the noise. Secondly, there's too much to do (breakfast, packing away the camping gear, honing the weapons) to have much time to chat.
But, well. Mostly, it's because none of them is a morning person.
Mash blows on her tea. Getting up at five is no big deal to her; she'd enjoyed watching the sunrise, back in Chaldea.
The people around her, however, are all in various states of sluggishness. Ector, for once without his helmet, is visibly squinting. Wryneck has been grooming the same patch of fur for the past ten minutes. Totrot is staring blankly at the space in front of her, holding her cup of tea close to her chest. Tonelico lets out a tremondious yawn and uuHHHH
Mash can't help staring. Tonelico's jaw, which opens way wider than she thought it could, reveals four long canines. Under the light of the rising sun, they shine white, sharp as blades.
Fangs. Tonelico has fangs.
Okay. Alright. Okay. There's nothing wrong with that. As far as inhuman traits go, it's rather tame, even. Mash knows plenty of sharp-fanged critters in Chaldea. It's easy to forget, but Tonelico is not a human- no one here is, aside from Mash. She really shouldn't be surprised about it. Why is she even fixating over them? They're just teeth. They're hidden in Tonelico's mouth most of the time. There is no situation where she might come into contact with them. ... Why is she disappointed by that fact?
Alright. Okay. Alright. Maybe Mash wants to touch these fangs. Is it weird? Her own teeth are so much more blunt and flat. Surely Tonelico would understand if Mash asked to poke them, right? Just to know what they'd feel like nibbling her finger, or her tongue-
Mash gets up suddenly, starting her sleepy companions. Tonelico turns to look at her. She does an acceptable job at looking alert, though her pupils, still slit, betray her drowsiness. "Is anything wrong?"
"Nothing. I should, uh. Start packing up, is all."
Tonelico nods. "Alright. See you soon, then."
Throwing her dignity to the wolves, Mash flees the campfire.
NemoMarx: Short, sweet, solid, cute, and going into my headcanons now.
AmberGimlet: every since you pointed out the slit pupils and fangs they have HAUNTED ME so thank you for writing this
Krisg142: This was really cute I like it a lot
Halcyon722: Short and sweet, but I have THOUGHTS nonetheless. I like to think of this as one of the seeds of Mash's interest in Tonelico. It's a classic feeling, when you see a bodily feature on dozens if not hundreds of people every day, but it's something about their nose, their eyes, and in Mash's case, Tonelico's fangs that has you realizing that maybe, JUST MAYBE, you're starting to fancy them.
Sure enough, when Mash is disappointed at the idea that she might never feel Tonelico's fangs... well, it's all very straightforward! Honestly it's a shame that seemingly NOBODY ELSE has caught on to the potential of Tonelico/Castoria having animalistic features like this.
And this is just me, but I like the idea that Morgan still has fangs in the present, you just can't see them because she never opens her mouth wide enough to do so, what with her extremely subdued emotions and all. Anyway, I'm praying, hoping, BEGGING that once Lostbelt 6 releases in EN, knowledge of Tonelico/Castoria's fangs and pupils spreads farther.