Lookie it’s a Box of Cats! (Kumachan)

[Anonymous]

Verena, the owner of Petite Sweets had been frustrated to find a lump of dead flesh sitting outside her café’s doors just several days ago. Course she hadn’t thought the dumb fool to actually be dead until she hit him hard with the back of her broom and saw the guy slump forward.

He hadn’t responded to any of her name calling or threats when he first appeared. She had opened the front door of her café with her hands on her hips and huffed and puffed her annoyance at him. Didn’t he have some place to go to? Why make his home right in front of her shop? No matter what she did, he would not budge. But three days? Guess he had been dead all along. There were a few of these types now and then. Young kids out partying till dawn, too drunk or drugged up to make it home without falling over themselves. But they never stepped foot in the west side of Lantern Town. And in front of her store no less, scaring customers off! Of all the places the bastard could have sat and died, he had to have done so right smack beside the front door of her bakery! A few calls to the proper authorities had resulted in her issue being stuck on a waiting list. And so she was stuck with the dilemma of trying to get rid of this eyesore.

They’re going to blame me for this, I just know it, she thought with a hiss.

Standing on the top step of her building she prodded the upright sitting body with the back of her broom. The thing made not a peep, the body stiff with death she assumed. She pulled back the top of the blanket covering the body. Long greasy dark brown hair fell in front of the man’s face. She tucked the curtain of hair back and then prodded the man’s dirt-smeared cheek, trying to get a real good look at him. What a shame, seemed a handsome fellow and look at that hair! Well there are plenty of people who’d pay a decent price for that mop of hair. And she was sure she knew of a few kinky ones out there looking for a body such as this for well, more private pleasures. She eyed the fancy boots the corpse wore, wondering what poor fool this thief must have stolen them from. That had to be it, no one wore boots like that here. Way, way too nice. Oh well too bad, they now were hers.

A group of boys were standing below at the base of the steps looking both anxious to loot the dead bastard and also a bit wary. They gave one another furrowed-brow looks. Well there was the obvious question: Why hadn’t someone ransacked the corpse already? From their viewpoint the body was still fully clothed, and covered in a heavy swamp-green woolen blanket. Someone must have took pity on the guy and covered him. There wasn’t much to see since it was covered. All they could see was a glimpse of the man’s face—eyes closed, scruffy beard unkept and sprinkled with bread crumbs. They were eyeing the boots as well.

“Well, what are you waiting for?" She said. "Undress the damn thing and dump the body out back. Leave the boots and hair, the rest is yours.”

“Well this isn’t strictly legal,” one spoke up crossing his arms in front of his chest. “And what if we get blamed for the deed? Last thing I need is to be caught up in something like that.”

“No one has come in all this time so obviously no one is looking for him. He’s no one important. Now hurry it up! I don’t have all day.”

“But what about the cats?”

Every eye turned to look at the cardboard box sitting beside the corpse. Inside it three grown cats poked their heads out, looking as if they wanted to jump out and scatter off. But they did not seem to be going anywhere as if something kept them from leaving their little boxy prison. As if they knew they were being talked about, they meowed in response.

“What weirdo goes around carrying a box of cats?” one of the guys said.

“The kind of guy who likes cats?”

It was at this moment a brave soul took a step forward, squatted down and began to search the body for valuables, digging their hands inside the blanket and feeling around. He was surprised to find the corpse smelled strongly of leather and well irises. You know, the flower. The sweet scent caught him off guard. He wasn’t expecting a corpse to smell like a girl. Up close the face looked feminine as well, beautiful except for a goatee that covered the bottom half. Too bad this guy was dead, he liked feminine guys. They could have had a fun time together.

Unwrapping the blanket slowly he eyed the body underneath. A shaggy charcoal sweater had been tossed over what appeared to be a tight brown body suit, made out of leather. It was finely made. The boots up close were just something you’d never see around here. The clothes fit the body as if they had been made for the wearer. The more he prodded the body the more he started to think well…this person wasn’t exactly your average Aedolian. That wasn’t what he was expecting. Course he wasn’t expecting to have his wrists mysterious snapped backwards as he went for the zipper at the chest.

There was the sound of bone cleanly breaking and the panicked screams of the would-be thief as he fell back on his ass, rolled away from the corpse and began to scramble as if caught by an invisible force.  

Nobody expected a dead body to get up and move at that point. Especially one that had been sitting in the same spot for the past three days.

Or that the body would belong to a Pilot.

Pilot Noble actually.

And well over-due for a promotion...

Verena stood rock-stiff as if she didn’t know what to do. She didn’t even notice the guys had run off to leave her with this mess. Well it was always her mess to begin with. Dropping her broom she stared in horror as the body lifted itself off the ground, raised its head and stared right at her.

Cold eyes hardened to the color of smooth polished steel blinked in the sunlight from a devilishly handsome face. At his full height the Pilot stood at least 5’10”, well-muscled, and finely dressed. Well she knew the man was a Pilot not only by the way his eyes had bore passed her own and into the surface of her mind, but by the shadow that fell over the shop. Only one thing could have a shadow that large.  

“Damn but it’s bright today,” the Pilot said lifting a hand to place a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. He appeared to be surveying the area as if looking for something and someone before its hidden gaze turned back to the shop owner. “That wasn’t very nice you know. I was quite comfortable sitting there away from the sunlight.”

At least until someone comes for me. Damn that beast not being helpful at all.

Are you talking about me my dear?

A shiver of delight ran down the Pilot’s spine, the sensation she always felt when her dragon Lesphares spoke to her.

Yes, she. Whiskle was no man, beard or no beard. In this case, yes she had a beard. And at the same time was frighteningly beautiful. That type of beauty that is unique and rare and very hard to obtain.

She stared daggers as her dragon flew overheard somewhere, eyes still covered by the dark glasses. He was keeping his distance from her, teasing her really.

You’re so mean, leaving me stranded like that.

It was fun to see you go in circles. But I do love your sense of direction Whiskle Black. And then you sat there for days like that…I wondered how long you’d sit there. Did your phone not work?

No. I’m sure you had something to do with it.

What an amusing child you are. Why would I want to mess with your phone?

I’m so glad I amuse you. Punishment over? Can I go home now?

Only if you promise to give me the attention I deserve. Pinky swear.

You don’t have any pinkies.

Oh just swear to me already.

Psychically she sighed. There were no words to describe her frustration about that. I do spend time with you, almost every waking moment, she reminded him. But it really was no use. Lessy, her dragon was the jealous type. And liked to be spoiled by her. Damn her if she took any interest in others, be it friendship or sex. Sex, well there was an act that was becoming something of a very distant memory. Sucks she couldn’t numb that part of her body. Lessy did not approve of her having sex. Or having a pet for that matter. Or really much of anything without his consent. He did seem to get better as the years passed, less clingy, but he still liked to punished her if she decided to spend her attention on someone else. And she could if she wanted to, oh he’d not stop her from doing what she wanted, but she’d never hear the end of it either. He’d bitch and give her headaches and bad dreams for weeks if she spent any time with anyone other than him. And then there were moments like this when she really needed him. He’d not answer. Just cut her off completely. It’s like he saved punishments for later, biding his time until he could see her suffer.

And she had suffered. No Pilot liked being ignored by their dragon. Especially when she knew she was lost and she very well needed him.

Lifting the box of cats into her arms she made a face as if she was carrying a box full of excrement.  Lessy didn’t mind her having kittens and they both agreed she could have them as long as she didn’t become too attached. And once they reached a certain age out they went! Which was fine by her, she didn’t like cats much, but liked cute things like baby animals. Her cute little kittens had grown up too fast. Life was so cruel sometimes. But at least she could trade the cats in for new kittens.

Trouble was…well, her sense of direction. She had come all the way Lantern Town to drop the cats off with the cat lady who ended up always taking them in. Her cats were so busy screwing that there were always kittens for sale when she stopped by. She was so excited to see the new babies. Problem was, she couldn’t quite remember where the woman lived. Or how to get out of this particular part of town. To her all the buildings looked the same, even though they technically were different.

Thankfully she was put on leave so three days away would not be too big of a problem. Unless someone was specifically looking for her...she got the feeling she was forgetting something very important that needed to be done...

[Anonymous]

This was sad beyond what words could properly express. He, a Pilot Noble, had been given a direct order to 'find and retrieve' one Pilot Noble Whiskle Black. Now, instead of making his way through the mountain of work he had yet to complete, he was out in the middle of BFE trying to locate his fellow Pilot.
Why?

Because Whiskle Black had the directional sense of a turd.

This was absolutely ridiculous...he was not Whiskle's babysitter. Why hadn't her Dragon brought her back? And could she not have at least called SOMEBODY about her sudden disappearing act? Though Echo was not usually one for talking, he was certainly going to demand an explination for this one.
Sitting astride the smooth, metallic white back of his own dragon, Aryeh, the two together scanned the ground below. Echo's forest green eyes were far more accute than one might imagine, and he did not have so hard a time scanning the ground as one would expect from as high up as they were, Aryeh's own pale yellow eyes scouring all the humanoids below them. But even more than by eyesight, each was searching the minds of those they passed by, putting their telekinetic abilities to good use.

However, it was not Whiskle they found first, but rather...Lesphares, her Dragon. Aryeh slowed to a casual coast just a bit below Lesphares' circling form, his eight dragonfly-style wing membranes buzzing in the air and those peg-shaped legs dangling listlessly under his armor-clad body. Honestly, Aryeh much prefered to run with those odd legs than he did to fly with his equally odd wings, but in this situation flying was the best choice.
Go Hibiki. I will stay and converse with Lesphares. Whiskle is close.
Echo nodded his understanding, before casually swinging one of his legs over Aryeh's body...and plummeting toward the city below. His long black hair, held in a high ponytail, whipped about above his pointed fox ears, but his emotionless face remained just as blank as when he was safely astride his Dragon.

But then, Hibiki 'Echo' Chiyoko did not require his Dragon to fly. Moments before he would have hit the ground, he slowed seemingly without effort, and his black boots touched the pavement just as smoothly as could be. He wasted no time in striding forward, the silver handguns sitting in their thigh-holsters standing out against his black pants. He was wearing an ebony turtleneck sweater of relatively thin, but fine and soft, material as usual. Black leather gloves covered his fisted hands, and it seemed he was trying to cover as much skin as possible, only the pale smooth skin of his face visible now. Black fox tail swaying somewhat irritibly behind him, it did not take him long to lock onto Whiskle's mental signal, and within moments he was bearing down on her.
Or well, he was bearing down on her as much as one who stands no taller than 5'5" can, anyway.

"Pilot Noble Black."
His voice did not raise, but it was quite terse, and by the accompanying frown quickly pulling on his lips, his displeasure was made evident. Stopping about a foot away from his fellow (and rather filthy) Pilot, Echo snapped his feet close together and rested his arms behind his back, very nearly standing at attention before addressing her.
"Pilot Noble Black, I hope you have an outstanding reason for having gone AWOL for three days. Outstanding enough that it should justify my having to be directly ordered to come and retrieve you. Outstanding enough to explain why Dragon Noble Lesphares is present and yet neither of you have returned to your posts. I'd like to hear this reason promptly, if you would."
His forest green eyes were hardened, and as usual not a single stray thought escaped his mind to give Whiskle any sort of a bearing on his mood other than the obvious frown and rather cold words. Still, he couldn't help the momentary flicker of attention to the box of cats she was holding. Just a flicker...but there all the same. He wasn't sure he even wanted to know what Whiskle was doing with a box full of cats...

Meanwhile, in the air above, Aryeh was quietly shadowing Lesphares, flying below him but keeping him in view. Aryeh himself was a rather small dragon, only about the size of a horse, but he was quite old, and few could best him in the air thanks to his incredible aero-kinetics.
...I don't suppose there's much reason in questioning why you have not brought Whiskle Black back to the Citadel. However, I do hope you're willing to accept the consequences of such actions.
Despite the words themselves, Aryeh's telekinetic voice was very calm and even keel. After all, it was not his responsibility to chastise Lesphares...it was more a heads up. And as far as Lesphares' and Whiskle's relationship...well, Aryeh knew enough not to bother questioning the 'whys' of the situation.

(blaaaaah this post sucks >_< )

[Anonymous]

“That was a pretty fancy entrance you know, a bit showy, but still impressive.”

Only in a city like this would you witness someone falling out of a sky and be perfectly fine when landing. The fact that person has cute little black ears and a tail…oh…well now that’s cute.

A Pilot gets used to seeing a variety of people at the complex and around the city, but still she couldn’t help but stare openly at Echo as he spoke to her, fingers twitching as if wanting to reach out and touch him. That must warrant unwanted attention from other pilots, but what an interesting mix of cute and badassery.

“Reason yes, outstanding, not so much. I got lost. I couldn’t figure out the rest."

Not one for throwing people under the bus—especially her dragon—she remained quiet about the fact her phone wasn’t in operation or that Lessy wasn’t much help in the matter. Or the fact he found pleasure in her discomfort in the past three days. Yet, even after all this she still craved his attention more so than a good glass of water which she so desperately needed right about now. Maybe they have a twisted relationship, maybe not. And maybe parts of her were so gone now that she just didn't care about the pain that he sometimes caused in her.

What a nice comb…

Walking right up to her fellow pilot she adjusted the box in her arms, her hidden eyes flicking to the comb to stare at it.

“I appologize for the trouble I've caused and will do what you need of me." After all someone above us both must have given this pilot the task of finding me. " However…” Glancing down at the box of cats she added softly, “I need to find homes for these guys before I go back. I’m not going back until I do that. We all have had a rough couple of days, and I’ve already been cruel enough to them. Though...if I had a partner right about now I could get this done quickly and be back before dark."

Well, four hands are better than two and this guy probably has a better sense of direction than her.


(Sorry for the sucky postage >.<