Emily Atrefos
Junior Member
"There's no justice in the world and there never was." - "Soldier's Poem, Muse
Posts: 94
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Post by Emily Atrefos on Mar 2, 2009 0:14:30 GMT -5
I frowned, trying my best to keep a level head as I struggled not to deck her. Breaking her nose meant going back to jail, and I couldn't disgrace Dad anymore in front of his coworkers. Not until I'd done my community service, at least.
"You don't know a damn thing about me," I said. "If you wanna fuckin' start a fight, take your lab-grown self elsewhere before I end it."
Okay, so apparently I couldn't be diplomatic after all. Oops.
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Daire Kuroi
New Member
Please don't call me a hero.
Posts: 20
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Post by Daire Kuroi on Mar 2, 2009 0:19:41 GMT -5
Daire's eyes widened as his blood washed cold. This was starting to get scary. Very very scary. "Um-um-um... I-I can use both... I'd be glad to take the recipe and the p-premade stuff too..."
What else was he supposed to do to defuse the situation? They looked almost ready to fight, and over something so silly. The kittens just needed something to eat, as their increasingly frequent mewls were making apparent.
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Kaydee
New Member
The night is wild; and so am I
Posts: 28
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Post by Kaydee on Mar 2, 2009 0:57:48 GMT -5
The tension in the air was rising. I was ready to go for all of a minute...
...and then my stupid conscience kicked in. Here I was, picking a fight with some girl I didn't even know, and assuming crap about her.
Half of me felt lousy and told me to end it right there. The other half wanted turkey for dinner; go figure.
The lab-grown comment was a bit much though.
"Look, I could care less about where you came from, or who you are. Everybody has demons in the dark. But you might try letting someone in to that little personal hell hole of yours every once in awhile." I tried to keep the growl out of my voice, I really did. I stood stiffly for a moment, before grabbing a pamphlet and pen off the table and jotting down the recipe for the milk. I set it back down on the table.
"There's the recipe if you want it, or give them the other stuff if you want, I don't really care." I stated, hoisting Soldier's cage under my arm and preparing to leave.
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Emily Atrefos
Junior Member
"There's no justice in the world and there never was." - "Soldier's Poem, Muse
Posts: 94
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Post by Emily Atrefos on Mar 2, 2009 1:04:12 GMT -5
I saluted her with my bird finger but walked back to the table and took a look at the pamphlet. "Huh," I said after a minute. I figured it couldn't hurt. I looked up at the guy with the kittens. "You want to try some of this? I could probably get some of the ingredients. I'm going on break in a few."
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Daire Kuroi
New Member
Please don't call me a hero.
Posts: 20
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Post by Daire Kuroi on Mar 2, 2009 1:11:53 GMT -5
Daire waved to the departing woman with as much friendliness as he could muster. "Th-thank you for the recipe, ma'am, I-I appreciate it." More than that, he appreciated her willingness to drop the animosity. There was nothing that made him more nervous than conflict.
Then he realized that the other woman was talking to him, and that got him all nervous again. "Um... y-your break? You d-don't have to do that, I-I can do it at home..."
And then the kittens chose that exact moment to let out a synchronized mewl of indignation. Apparently it couldn't wait.
"Um... w-well... maybe. I guess. I-I'd really appreciate it."
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Emily Atrefos
Junior Member
"There's no justice in the world and there never was." - "Soldier's Poem, Muse
Posts: 94
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Post by Emily Atrefos on Mar 10, 2009 8:22:45 GMT -5
Break was a relief five minutes and fifty-four seconds later when Frankie took over my stall. I had thirty minutes. It was plenty enough time to go by the strip mall next to the H.E.B. and help the guy find most of the ingredients. I picked up the list and scratched the sweat-drenched wings hidden under my coat. It was way too hot for this weather.
"So. Want me to lead?" I asked.
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Daire Kuroi
New Member
Please don't call me a hero.
Posts: 20
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Post by Daire Kuroi on Mar 10, 2009 17:00:38 GMT -5
That had to be the most welcome question Daire had ever heard in his whole life. He nodded and stepped out of the woman's way, gesturing for her to lead as she had offered.
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Emily Atrefos
Junior Member
"There's no justice in the world and there never was." - "Soldier's Poem, Muse
Posts: 94
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Post by Emily Atrefos on Mar 11, 2009 18:19:32 GMT -5
It took less time to get there than I thought. Within fifteen minutes we were in and had everything we needed; from there I led Kitten Guy back to the park and invaded the concession stand. Allison and Courtney didn't complain when I used a corner of their little domain to mix all the weird crap together, and wouldn't as long as I stayed the heck out of their way.
"It looks kinda gross," I commented as I left the concession stand, walking toward the picnic tables under the trees. Kitten Guy didn't seem to mind being led around. "But at least none of the ingredients aren't too bad. I guess Cat-girl knew what she was talking about, after all."
I sat down at the picnic table and smiled. "Can I hold one?"
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Daire Kuroi
New Member
Please don't call me a hero.
Posts: 20
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Post by Daire Kuroi on Mar 12, 2009 0:32:18 GMT -5
"Um, s-sure." Daire gently extracted the mewling Zerah from his pocket and handed him off. His red striped fur was standing up a little on the back of his neck; it seemed he wasn't too happy with being removed from his warm little sanctuary. Hopefully getting some good food into his empty belly would appease him.
"Um, I-I don't want to impose, but... d-do you think you could, um... y'know... help feed him?"
Perez, Lord bless him, chose that exact perfect moment to poke his grey striped head from Daire's other pocket and let out a hungry yowl. Daire tried to smile and gathered Perez into his hand before he sat down stiffly on the picnic table's bench. "B-because I need to feed th-this little guy."
Daire couldn't help but wonder why this woman was being so kind. It was such a testament to her that she was so concerned with seeing the little kits so well taken care of. He would have to find some way to repay her for her time. He wanted to make sure she didn't think he was ungrateful. He wanted to make her life a little easier in return for how much easier she'd made his.
More than anything, he wanted to know her name.
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Emily Atrefos
Junior Member
"There's no justice in the world and there never was." - "Soldier's Poem, Muse
Posts: 94
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Post by Emily Atrefos on Mar 12, 2009 8:11:06 GMT -5
"Absolutely."
I loved cats more than I loved a lot of their owners, but Kitten Guy didn't seem so bad. Sure, I could help him.
I pulled out a pair of kitten bottles from the shopping bag I'd stuffed in my cargo pants and set them on the picnic table. It had become second nature to know what all I needed as I worked so closely with animals, I didn't hesitate in situating the kitten in my hand after filling the bottles with the concoction in the styrofoam cup. "Have you ever had cats before?"
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Daire Kuroi
New Member
Please don't call me a hero.
Posts: 20
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Post by Daire Kuroi on Mar 12, 2009 13:46:58 GMT -5
Daire shook his head. He vaguely remembered there being a dog in his family's house when he was very young, but all he knew about it was what his parents told him: that it had once semi-playfully attacked him and was given to another home. There were no pets after that.
He cradled Perez in his hand and offered him a bottle, and immediately the tiny mouth latched onto it. Daire grinned and stroked the top of the kitten's head with his thumb. Good thing he'd found help so quickly; any longer without food and this little guy might have tried to eat pocket lint.
"Th-thanks again," he said, glancing briefly at the woman and trying to hold his smile in place. It was quite a chore when all his brain wanted to do at the sight of her was shut down. She was so pretty. A work of art in God's gallery of creation.
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Emily Atrefos
Junior Member
"There's no justice in the world and there never was." - "Soldier's Poem, Muse
Posts: 94
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Post by Emily Atrefos on Mar 12, 2009 21:23:45 GMT -5
"Ah, no problem," I replied. "I--ow." I laughed as I removed baby kitten teeth from my finger and guided them back toward the bottle. "Man, the little munchkin is hungry."
As I sat there, it occurred to me that this day hadn't really sucked at all. Aside from Cat-girl talking crap to me, at least there were animals getting put into (hopefully) good homes. It wasn't raining. Kitten Guy was cute, as were his fuzzies. I was actually pretty happy. I even heard that Jason Mraz song wafting over from the concession stand.
"Hey," I said after a minute. "I forgot to ask you. What's your name?"
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Daire Kuroi
New Member
Please don't call me a hero.
Posts: 20
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Post by Daire Kuroi on Apr 1, 2009 23:17:34 GMT -5
"Oh, um..." And for a second he forgot his own name. Stupid awkward idiot, stupid stupid stupid. "It's, um... D-Daire. Daire Kuroi." He looked down at Perez to make sure he was still drinking before he dared to look at her face again. "A-and yours?"
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Emily Atrefos
Junior Member
"There's no justice in the world and there never was." - "Soldier's Poem, Muse
Posts: 94
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Post by Emily Atrefos on Apr 7, 2009 19:46:13 GMT -5
"Emily Atrefos." I adjusted the kitten in my arms and held out my hand for him to shake. "It's nice to meet you, Daire."
I felt like a softie as I watched him feed the kitten, even if it didn't show on my face. It was adorable, even with his neurotic stammering. I found that I didn't mind it one bit.
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Daire Kuroi
New Member
Please don't call me a hero.
Posts: 20
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Post by Daire Kuroi on Apr 11, 2009 20:31:43 GMT -5
Oh. Right. People shook hands when they met. It was all coming back to him now.
Carefully Daire tucked Perez into the crook of his arm and put the bottle in his other hand so he could shake Emily's with the free one. "N-nice to meet you too," he echoed her sentiment with as genuine a smile as he could manage. Why on earth was it so hard to look her full in the face? What was so terrifying about how pretty she was, how nice and generous and personable? Why on earth did that frighten him so much?
... Well, goodness, if he could answer that question, it would have solved a dozen of his problems by now.
"So, um... d-do you have any pets of your own?"
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