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 Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:34 pm
It was morning already, he noticed. Had the sunlight that poured down on him from behind the tall buildings not said so, the pocket watch he was staring at would've betrayed the time. A sigh escaped the koshka's lips as he placed the contraption back into the pocket of his jeans, his head coming to lean against the wall of the building he'd been sitting against.
He'd found himself employed only a few days ago, the mench that had asked for his services explicit in the fact he wished as little to do with him as possible, so long as he carried out his work. The job paid horribly well though, and Nuka had no trouble keeping himself out of the father and daughter's sight as long as they were safe; it was his job to keep a look out on their safety. The girl's, mostly, for the father was prone to leaving them alone together; he was, more or less, the girl's body guard. Which would have been perfectly fine and dandy, had the girl not felt the need to reach out to touch his ears, tail and hair whenever he wasn't looking.
It was awkward and putting him on edge. If for no other reason than the fact it made him feel like a pet for the girl and he bloody well wasn't.
That was the reason he'd decided against passing the night within the building in the first place, honestly. The mere thought of having the girl reach out to him again making him wince, his ears coming to hide amongst the mass of hair, even though they still stood out, black against blue. WHY wasn't the dumb b***h of a girl scared of him anyway? She should have been, by all means; he wasn't a particularly sweet looking koshka, by far, and the girl was pure blooded Mench. She should have been as racist as the father, and yet he could see the mirth and curiosity shinning in her eyes whenever she looked his way. The god damned idiot of a girl was a nuisance, that's what. Letting out another sigh, he closed his eyes, his arms crossed against his chest, ears slowly perking back up as he waited for the object of his thoughts to emerge the building looking for him. Of course, the fact he was thinking and pondering the events of the past few days meant he was slightly distracted from whom was emerging from the building in question... something he was bound to regret, no doubt, for he was sitting on the ground, and that left the top of his head well within reach.
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:18 pm
Even though her father happened to be quite the racist Mensch when it came down to it, she had been rather surprised to realize that he had hired none other than a full-blooded Koshka as a bodyguard. Sure, she had put the idea to him, explaining to him the pros of having a Koshka as a bodyguard in a city where Koshka could pose quite a threat to her, but she had never actually expected him to take the bait. She supposed that one controllable Koshka was better than having to worry about a half dozen of them cornering her in a dark alley somewhere. He didn't truly like to be around the Koshka she had come to know as Nuka, but he was very adamant that she not leave the building without the male at her side. Maybe that was a small step up for him, maybe if he could learn to trust one, he could learn to be a little nicer to the rest of them. Maybe, maybe not. At least she was able to go out and do things now, before her father hated to let her step one foot outside.
Her eyes drifted up towards the sky as she pushed open the front door to the building, the hell of her shoe making a soft click against the pavement of the top landing of the steps. She buried her fingers in the fabric of her dress, holding it up above the ground and stepping lightly down the steps with a soft clink on every one. She knew he would be here, for he was always here, always on time. He was predictable in that way, but she supposed if he really needed the money, he had no choice but to be. It was then that she saw him sitting to the side, and it took only a moment to realize that he was quite lost in thought. A slow smirk spread across her lips, her head tilting and sending her chocolate curls shifting to the side.
She had become somewhat of a torment to him, what with her need to constantly touch his ears, or his fur, or his tail but she honestly couldn't be blamed. She had never been allowed so close to a Koshka before and it had left her damn curious over everything about them. Although, now she had to admit that her curiosity had been replaced by the fact that he was actually quite soft and felt nice - not to mention, he always raised a big fuss each time she fussed with one or the other. Now he had set himself up, though, and as quiet as she could be on her heels, she made her way slowly up behind him. Reaching out a hand steadily, teal eyes narrowing on the back of his head, she leaned forward with the intent to brush a hand against his ears - if he didn't move away too fast, it was his bad luck.
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 7:11 pm
Of course, the world was needless to say, against him in the fact he didn't even notice the girl's approach till it was too late; her hand seized one of the ears he'd held perked up, and instantly, he had to force himself away from the touch, jerking his head away from where he now knew her to be standing, "What the hell?" came the snappish reply as he lifted his hand to cover the appendage, looking horribly upset that she'd dared to pull off the same stunt again. He scratched against his ear and hair, almost as if to rid it of her touch, however, not because it'd felt bad in any way; quite the contrary. It was that though that kept on throwing him for a hoop and making him feel horribly awkward about letting the girl do it in the first place.
It was not really prolific for him to look lulled half to bloody sleep the moment the girl reached out to pet him behind his ears; he was no damned house pet, ******** hell. Still, the fact remain Anana was standing there waiting, and the longer he allowed himself to sit down, the more chances she was going to have to reach down once more. So thus, letting out a self-suffering sigh, the male pushed himself up to his feet, brushing himself off before turning to offer her a dull, blank look, that seemed to voice the fact he would've rather she slept in, for once. It wasn't that he needed the money; honestly, he could have been doing some other job for someone else, but then again, awkwardness aside, the job he'd been offered was horribly simple and paid well enough that Nuka knew he'd have been an idiot to turn it down. All he did was alongside the girl, going where ever she wished to, and so far, all he'd had to do was glare to keep the shadier looking individuals aways from her... all in all, it was the best job he'd had in a long time. He'd not even received a scar from it yet, which was rare for him; his right ear had long since been torn in a fight, the gash running along the tip of it, making it slightly shorter than his left one in comparison. It was one of the few battle scars he sported, even under the pelt.
He'd won some battles, and he'd lost quite a few others; he could recalled getting the living daylights beaten out of him before, and thus, guarding a girl, even despite her ... strange ideas, was a perfect solution in his mind. He was mid brushing his trousers when he paused, frowning up in mild confusion as he sniffed the air before turning to look sharply back at her. For a moment, leaned down, with his hands held comically over his trousers, he must've looked every inch of an idiot; the baffled, shocked expression he was offering her not helping matters any more, really. Straightening himself up, he turned to look away from her, "I've decided today's my day off," he told her rather randomly, "You father said I could take a day off every two weeks and I've decided I'm going to take today off, so be a good little.... girl and go back inside, eh?" why him? Honestly, why him? What had he ever done against god (whom he didn't even believe in!) to deserve this s**t?
Her scent; bloody, ******** hell. The girl was an idiot... then again, it wasn't like she could smell a pie if it'd been place 4 meters away from her. Still, he refused to go out with her today; he refused to have her outside today, period, what with her scent being... wonky. He was going to take his leave and spend the day perched on the rooftop of the building, secure in the knowledge the girl was unharmed inside (Not that he care - but if she got hurt because she was a bloody IDIOT, he wasn't going to get paid, and if he could smell it, it was likely others could too). Right? Right. Except things liked going against him, and almost as if expecting them too, he offered the girl his best glare, no doubt an attempt to get her to NO argue back, for once.
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:44 pm
His reaction to her rather predictable (at least by now, with how often she did it) gesture made her smirk slightly, her hands coming to brace themselves upon her hips. Part of the appeal in touching him like that really was how sulky he acted after it was all said and done, although she wasn't sure if it was because she was invading his personal space and touching him inappropriately, or if it was because he was secretly enjoying it. She could swear that there were times after she had sneaked up and grabbed his ear or his tail that he looked as if he truly did like it, given the way he almost seemed to be lulled by it. She supposed it might have had a lot to do with the fact that he tried to maintain a very rough exterior and constantly tried to appear to be quite the bad a**. He certainly couldn't have a female stroking him into a near-sleep state, could he? Unsurprisingly, that simple thought almost made her laugh aloud, amused by the mere image of it.
That was a problem that the two of them seemed to face, as it were. He tried his hardest to scowl and growl at her, make her intimidated by him, but she just couldn't find it in her to be very frightened of him at all. Not only was he paid to be her guardian of sorts, but she had also seen his face the first time he had let his guard down enough to let her touch his ears. To her, he really did seem like some over-grown cat - a tomcat or an alley cat, perhaps, but nothing but an over-grown cat besides it. He hissed and spit, but as soon as one gave him a good scratch on the belly, she was sure he'd start purring. Likewise, that too gave her a rather hilarious mental image.
It was his words that actually put the frown on her lips, the amused smile fading away immediately as the hands on her hips became much more prominent and serious. Her father had told him that he could have a day off every two weeks, this was true, but she was certainly not going to stand for this. Did he know how long it took to get in a bloody dress like this? "No, today is not your day off," she said stubbornly, narrowing her eyes on him with a little bit of a purse to her lips once she quit speaking. She walked forward a little, reaching up to point at him with a finger. "If you wanted today off, then you should have told me that yesterday before I got up and decided to get dressed the morning of." She jabbed her finger at him for emphasis with every word, then dropped her hand and shook her head, sending the chocolate curls of her hair shaking slightly around her face. "No, today I want to go shopping, and that's what we're doing," her tone wasn't harsh, but it was said in a way that said she really didn't want to argue about it.
How was she supposed to know what he had smelt? She was a Mensch, human, and that meant that her sense of smell (all of her senses, for that matter) were limited to normal Mensch functions. She had never been around Koshkas, didn't know how far their sense of smell really extended, and she didn't even actually know that she had any smell to actually put off at this point in time. As far as she was aware, he was just being his usual moody self, so with a bit of a huff, she turned her back to him and began to walk where she intended to go. He could come along or he couldn't, but if he didn't, well, that certainly wouldn't bode well with her father.
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:36 am
A pause followed, during which his expression shifted from angry to utterly bewildered; she wouldn't listen to him because she'd gotten into her dress? She was arguing against him because she'd lost time putting on a damned, bloody, ******** dress?! His features were probably enough to tell her he not only thought she was a vain idiot, but had somehow crawled off the table of idiocy, "Stupid, stupid bint; I'm telling you you shouldn't go out today! Why can't you listen for once instead of talk- Stop POKING ME!!" snatching her hand mid air while it jabbed at him, he allowed himself to lean in forward in a lame attempt to intimidate her.
Of course, the glare she was offering him right back was already telling him that she would very well storm off on her own if he didn't go with her, and honestly, that was worse than him going with her. Lord knew the trouble the dumb girl was going to get herself into, what with her caprichos, bratty, spoiled nature. Letting go of her hand, he pulled away, rolling his eyes to the sky, "You're a spoiled brat," he told her as he flattened his ears back; he didn't want to have to go into detail and explain WHY it was a bad idea to go out. She was supposed to LISTEN to him anyhow; she wasn't supposed to be THAT stubborn... the girl should listen to him without him having to explain why this or that was a bad, horrible, nasty idea, "Whatever, I'm giving you two hours, and then, I'm dragging you back, if I have to do it physically," and oh, that was a threat he was going to carry out; that much was visible in the narrowing of his eyes. After all, he had permission to act as he thought best if she was threatened, and as far as he could tell, the situation warranted action.
Her scent was mild enough that it was merely disconcerting (after all, she was Mench, and it dulled the effect), so maybe they could spend a couple of hours out without trouble following them around like a hellhound. He waited for the obvious retort she was going to dish his way before dutifully ignoring it, his ears laid back atop his head in the manner that seemed to voice he was done talking and wasn't going to bother doing anything other than follow her around. No sooner had she started walking, that he did just that; keeping himself as near as he could to her without growing dizzy. After all, while the scent WAS mild enough that it wouldn't have caught too many others' attention, he was being subjected to it for prolonged amounts of time; that added to the fact he had to protect her, was sending him into some sort of a dizzy spell which he wasn't quite appreciating in the least.
He let her do her stuff though as she saw fit, staying to the side as she looked into windows, or commented or this or that scrap of cloth which he couldn't have cared less about. Honestly, Nuka was planning on ignoring her as best as he could during the whole trip, and would've done just that, had his eyes not caught a rather large, bulky koshka leering at her from the side. He was about to intervene, when he recognised the other male, his mouth opening slightly to whisper a curse; it soon enough became clear that the other koshka had recognised him right back, because his lips curled into a fanged smirk, his eyes narrowing down to slits, "Crap," it was whispered as he slid to Anana's side, his head leaning down to whisper into her ear like a lover would have, "For once in your life, listen to what I say, don't argue, and don't ******** look back," his hand curled around her middle, pulling her to him, "I'll explain later, just walk," there was an urgency in the tone as he leaned out though, and for the love of GOD he hoped that just this once, she wouldn't throw a fit; he'd not seen any other way to walk over to her discretely and pull her away without causing a commotion himself. Acting like he was his boyfriend, he motioned her into walking, keeping his arm around her waist, even as he waited for her to start walking.
They were going to be followed though. He just knew it. By a pirate, of all people. And now, pressed against him, her scent wasn't helping him that much either. His luck was that bad.
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 11:07 am
She seemed vaguely surprised when he actually grabbed her hand, though for all it was worth, her lips only conformed into that little amused smile she got whenever she thought he was being overly dramatic. She didn't exactly appreciate the fact that he was looking at her like she was a pure idiot, but in all honesty, that was more of a problem to her than the sudden leering attempt he was making at intimidating her. He always reminded her of one of those little dogs that barked and barked, but were just utterly cute regardless of their foul temper. He had managed to call her both stupid, spoiled, and bratty in the matter of a few moments, and where his temperament wasn't exactly intimidating her, it was causing her to grow a little irritated with him. She pursed her lips with narrowed eyes at his comment, a hand reaching down to curl into the fabric of her dress, fussing with it out of the need to make some calming motion. "I'm not a spoiled brat, you're just a grumpy little furrball," she said with a bit off a sniff, her chin raising defiantly.
Considering that she had already turned away from him, he really had no choice but to follow her - or let her get into all sorts of unimaginable trouble. She really wasn't that stupid, to be completely honest about it, and neither was she very dense. She could handle herself in most situations, her father had simply overlooked this and stressed the fact that she needed protection. She could agree that she was no match for a big, giant Koshka if they decided to be rough or rowdy, but the constant way she was being treated like a little china doll was not precisely appreciated. "Drag me back, will you?" she asked with a little quirk of her brow, walking along at his side now that he had finally decided not to let her wander off on her own. She simply shrugged then, clicking her tongue behind her teeth and staring off down the street at the district of stores and shops that were visible from this distance. "Two hours is fine," she said finally, adjusting the ruffles of her dress sleeves before she glanced up at him and what she would have described as his 'pouty' face.
She had absolutely no idea what she was doing to him, and by the time she had reached the shops, she had really just pushed away his grumpy attitude to the back of her mind. She was determined to enjoy herself for what little time he was allowing her, even if her mind was fighting to understand exactly why. Perhaps he had a date, though the thought made her glance up at him with wondering eyes and amused smile more than once. That rough Koshka, having a date? She supposed odder things had happened, but she doubted he was the type. Instead of worrying about it, she had simply drug him about, into stores of various sorts whenever something in the display happened to catch her eye. They happened to be standing outside a cloth shop where a vendor had put out tables filled with bolts of cloth, and she was quite busy browsing through the fine selection of material. She hadn't even noticed what he was up to, hadn't really been bothered to watch him - he was doing his job.
That was why she looked rather surprised when he came over. Not only had she not been paying attention to him, but she had been entirely absorbed by what she was doing. His words so close and so suddenly in her ear almost made her jump, but she simply curled her hands into a bolt of cloth she had been examining at that exact moment. She fought the urge to look over her shoulder, even as he told her not to - but wasn't that always the hardest part, resisting something you were told specifically not to do? She simply turned her eyes up to him confusedly for a moment, but the urgency in his tone was more than enough to make her resist argument. He was there, after all, to keep her safe and though they hadn't really had any bad situations occur before, he seemed serious enough about this that she wasn't going to fight him. She did have common sense, whether he believed so or not. Dropping her hand from the cloth she had been examining, she leaned into him instead. With his arm around her like that, he was pretending to be close to her for some reason, and she knew when to play along - she just hoped her father didn't see this, he'd certainly be a little outraged at the mere thought if he didn't know what was going on.
She simply swung herself into a walk at his side, letting him keep the arm around her waist and leaning into his body somewhat to make it appear more likely. Although, given the distinct differences between them, she was sure it was liable to draw more than just a little attention. Pure bloods of opposite species, both dressed in drastically different clothing. It probably would have been quite comical had she not feared something was actually wrong. Unable to resist the question any longer, she leaned her head into him slightly as they walked, in a way that it could have been taken as a lover's whisper, "what is it?" She was curious by nature, it was a given, and if something was wrong she'd really rather know. She wasn't even sure if she was supposed to be afraid right now or not, and that was what was probably the most unsettling.
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:50 pm
She was playing her part, he knew, and grabbing her had been his idea; he knew that too, and yet when she leaned in to whisper at him, his ears lowered unbidden. His eyes came to hood as a small growl resounded him; she was just too ******** close now. Swallowing somewhat (thankful that his growl could be attributed to the fact he thought they were in danger), he allowed his right ear to flick into her view, "See that?" he was obviously talking about the way the tip of it was torn away, as if slashed, "The guy responsible saw me," uncurling his hand from around her waist, worried he was going to do something odd that would give him away, he placed it at the small of her back to lead her along, "He was leering you, and saw me; the sadist of a b*****d likes me, and not in a good way. Seeing as how right now you're linked to me, that probably means he likes you too, by association. You don't want to know what he does to people he likes," everything was murmured under his breath, knowing she could hear him due to the way they were walking.
Honestly, Nuka had been hoping they would be able to hide within the sea of people, but a swift glance over his shoulder revealed the fact they were being followed, "******** this," he growled, and once more curled his arm around her dodging them to his right and down a narrow, deserted alley. Now that they were out of the sea of people, he shifted to grab her hand and pulled her along into a run, turning into another narrow bend, hiding behind a opening in the wall, a threshold, the shadows helping conceal them. Tugging at Anana's hand, he brought her to him and pressed them both against the opening, their backs against what seemed to be a wooden door, moth bitten and tattered; from within the darkness of the small hiding place, they were able to see a large, bulky koshka walk by, his nose sniffling at the air, having narrowly missed them. Deciding against talking, he used the hand that wasn't curled around the girl's waist to feel blindly behind him; it landed on what seemed to be a door's handle, and tugging on it, he found it swiftly gave away, the door opening and submitting to his whim.
Once inside the crummy building (obviously tattered and worse for wear; no doubt abandoned), he closed the door, letting go of Anana as he peered out of a small opening, somewhat resembling a window. The large Koshka was walking back the way it came, looking left and right, but it didn't seem to have noticed them or where they'd gone. However, leaving the place with the large brute lurking, was a bad idea; then again, staying made them sitting ducks. Not only that, but he'd stayed in Anana's presence for quite some while now, and quite frankly, he was about ready to headdesk; her scent was fogging his mind and it was very much NOT welcomed. A solution seemed to bubble into his brain then, as fogged up as it was, "I..." a pause as he kept on looking out the window, his eyes focused on the outside, his ears flattened, "I'll go out and distract him away from here; you stay here while I play bait," out; he just, really needed out of there. Of course, something told him the girl would not stand for it; not only was she stubborn, but she would not allow him to run off leaving her there, all alone, in order to go and get hurt.
Maybe he shouldn't have told her about the ear, god damn it. Still, he figured he'd try and see if the girl would let him do as he'd said; his head finally turned to look over his shoulder at her in the darkness, his eyes gleaming in a rather feral fashion.
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:16 pm
For her part, Ana actually hadn't noticed when Nuka's ears had lowered, or when his eyelids hooded partially. She had been speaking to him, certainly, but her eyes had never quite left the path they were following through the crowed. In fact, it wasn't until she heard the growl that she glanced back up at him, attributing it to the fact that he really thought they were in danger, just as he wished for her to. She was a bright girl, but faced with the fact that this was a potentially dangerous situation, she was all too eager to drop her observation skills for the moment. Her eyes drifted up obediently to look at his ear, a frown forming on her lips as she saw the ripped appendage (she had always wondered over that) and listened to the words flowing from his lips. "Great," she whispered softly, her tone not one of her usual mocking ones, it actually sounded a bit worried. If the brute that had managed to do that to him was following them, well, she could only imagine what he could do to her if she somehow got separated from fluffy bodyguard.
In the back of her mind, she cursed herself a little for actually forcing him to come out today. He had known, for some reason, that today was not a day to be out and about town - intuition, she supposed - and she had insisted upon it. Now, here they were, running away from some b*****d like two lovers in a hurry. If she had just gone back inside like he had asked, none of this would have happened. As guilty as she felt about it though, it wasn't likely that she was going to be apologizing to him anytime soon. He should have just told her there were other reasons than simply wanting a day off - unless, of course, this just happened to be a bit of terrible timing and bad luck.
She heard his growled words, her brows furrowing as soon as he said them and eyes rolling up to meet his. Just as she was about to ask him what he was planning on doing, his strong arm curled around her waist and literally drug her into the darkness of a side alley. She was sure that looked even worse if anyone else happened to be watching them - two 'lovers' disappearing down a dark alley? Oh, the situation couldn't look worse, she was sure. She barely had time to adjust herself as he let go of her waist and grabbed her hand instead, stumbling a few steps as he tugged her along in his wake before she finally lifted up her skirts with her free hand and ran after him as quickly as she could in her heeled boots. She didn't argue, though, even as fussed as she felt from the exertion, as he pulled her into the small opening. She pressed her back against the door as well, squeezing her eyes shut in one of those 'if I can't see it, it can't hurt me' manners. As such, she was particularly surprised as the door gave way behind them, stumbling slightly and biting down on her own lip to silence what had almost been a squeal of surprise. That would have ruined it all.
Despite the fact that the building was rather run-down and disgusting, she couldn't have felt better over the fact that she was actually sheltered somewhere. She took a few steps across the dusty floor, holding up her skirts (they were already a little dirty from the alleyway despite it) and glancing around. She was hiding her fear with curiosity, examining the things around her as she tried to ignore the fact that there was a looming Koshka out to find them. "You're not leaving me here!" she said suddenly, her head jerking up from where she had been expecting what looked like a broken old pocket watch tossed carelessly on the floor. She didn't want to be left alone here, unsure of when he was coming back or if he was going to come back, and she certainly didn't want him going out there and risking getting hurt by that overgrown alley cat. "No, you're supposed to protect me, you're staying here with me," she shook her head, sending her dark brown curls dancing with the motion, though they were a little out of place by now.
She saw the gleam in his eyes, the rather feral look, and for once she actually bit at her lip. She wasn't afraid of him, precisely, but she was shaken up from what had just happened and his leering at her wasn't exactly a very nice form of comfort.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:02 am
"But... but..." a pause, during which his mouth opened and then closed several times, as if he were trying to say something but was simply unable to articulate the words. In a way it was slightly out of character, seeing as how the male always seemed to have a retort ready for her; a snappish growl or a snippy hiss to toss her way. This time though, Nuka was out of words for some reason or another; then again, it wasn't his fault entirely. Her scent was starting to get to him and make him dizzy. That coupled with the act there was someone outside that no doubt wanted to skin him alive (which in turn was forcing adrenaline through his veins) was cooking up quite the hormonal cocktail within him, "I can't..." he seemed to hesitate, pointing first towards the door, then looking at her through the darkness of the rundown shed of a home, "I was..." he could not stay there with her
After a moment, Nuka turned his gaze to look up to the ceiling, his ears flopping back as if in defeat; if he went out of the shed and left her there alone while he a) ran away from the ******** scent b) actually went to fetch help to confront the damned koshka out for their bloody, the girl was bound to rush out after him. Which would inevitably put her in danger, and goddammit, he was not going to ruin his job just because the girl was an idiot and couldn't follow simple instructions. A small growl vibrated his form, but he allowed himself to slip into a sitting position, his back sliding down the wall as he allowed his eyes to close, "What the ******** ever," he growled, his head leaning back against the mossy wall; he didn't seem to mind the floor or the walls were dirty. In all honesty, he'd seen worse, "We're going to have a talk about following simple bloody instructions. If we'd stayed back and not gone out, we wouldn't be here. WHAT is so hard about doing what I tell you to do? You can bloody well find yourself another bodyguard if you're not going to LISTEN to me!"
Frustrated, annoyed and horribly upset were the three best words to describe how he felt. Possibly more frustrated than the other two though, or not only could he still smell her, but he knew they were going to be stuck there till the koshka gave up their search, and that could very well take hours. He was mildly glad that the moss and the horrible smell of the run-down place was masking their scents well enough that he was sure they weren't as much sitting ducks as he'd initially figured. He kept his eyes closed, his tail twitching restlessly on the floor as he attempted to draw his attention away from her and place it... anyplace else, really. At that point, he found himself horribly aware of his surroundings; from her breathing, to the scuttling of a small rodent to their left. In way, he figured it was just as well. No one could sneak up on them if he was THAT hypersensitive... and yet, the notion was not making the male feel any better, really.
His eyes sneaked open then, gleaming cat-like in the darkness, "Hope you're not scared of spiders," it was a murmur; even though he was far from being calm, he'd decided to re-direct his anger elsewhere. Something told him that getting into a fight with her was not going to help him; maybe amusing himself would though, "Because you're bloody well standing under a nest, and they're starting to crawl up your clothes," in his defense, it was not a lie.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:05 pm
It was hard for her to see in the dingy darkness of the shed, being that she was simply a mensch, and therefor lacking in the better vision that the Koshka had. Even without being around them, she had studied books about them and knew from some of them that they had senses quite beyond her own. Of course, she didn't need to be able to see him well to hear his voice and the stammering flow of starting words that he couldn't force into full sentences. Her eyebrow simply quirked in the darkness, knowing he could probably see it even if all she could make out of him was a dull shadow and his eerie eyes. She crossed her arms one over the other, bracing them against her chest, and simply waited patiently for him to actually say something. It was strange to hear him stammering that way, though she was attributing it to frustration and anger jumbling up his brain. She had seen more than one brute get so angry that his sentences became jumbled.
She heard him walking, saw the dark form of his body moving across the room towards the wall. She seemed almost momentarily surprised by the action, because she knew before he even spoke that this signaled some sort of defeat on his part. She narrowed her eyes against the darkness, aware that he had sat down (on the disgusting ground of this shed, no less). His words rung through her ears, and a small, accomplished smile flickered over her lips. It vanished quickly, though with his irritated flow of ranting, her lips pursing slightly instead and her eyes narrowing on him in both an attempt to see him more clearly, and in a general act of irritation. "You're my guard," she said slowly, calculating her words as she brought her chin up in a slightly pompous, irritated movement, "not my father." She took a few steps closer to him, and away from the door behind her, though it didn't help to make his features any clearer in the shadows. "If you had given me a reason to stay, I would have. I don't follow orders just for the sake of following them and pleasing you." She sniffed slightly, turning her head away and tapping her fingers against her arm where both still lay crossed over her chest. "If I had known there was actually danger, however you knew it, I wouldn't have gone. Telling me you just want the bloody day off is no way to win me over to your way of thinking." In her defense, he really had lied about why he didn't want to go out, though she couldn't for the life of her fathom why.
She still had no idea what was wrong with him, oblivious to it all, being that she had no reason to suspect otherwise. She simply figured he was grumpy over their current situation, at having to hide in this disgusting little shack and wait for the other brute to give up his search. She honestly was a little grumpy over it, and she usually managed to control her emotions rather well where he seemed to wear most of them openly upon his sleeve. Her only issue at the moment was hoping that they didn't have to stay in here too long, despite the fact that his lounging position seemed to declare it could be quite a while. She refused to sit on anything, which left her only to stand, and standing in her shoes for hours was not something that she was particularly looking forward to, to say the least.
She had been toeing at the discarded pocket watch with her shoe, narrowing her eyes upon the shape as well as she could, when his words washed over her. For a moment, she simply scoffed at him and managed to throw a rather irritated glance over her shoulder in his direction. "I'm not going to fall for th-" but her words cut off sharply as she felt something crawling against her hand, where she had uncrossed both arms and let them fall to her side instead, and her whole body tensed up in a sudden freezing motion. Then, as if something had gone off, her eyes widened and mouth slackened, a whine on her lips as she flung her hand away in a motion meant to send the creepy-crawly little b*****d away. She couldn't lift up her skirts, for fear of touching others on her, and it was obvious by the look on her face that she was only moments away from sheer panic. If there was anything in the world she was truly afraid of, it was those eight-legged creeps. "Nuka," she whined, eyes looking up frantically in the darkness where she supposed this 'nest' must have been, though she could see nothing as she backed away from it. Her eyes shifted towards him, her face paled and hands trembling slightly, "Nuka, get them off, please." Despite her usually pompous attitude, she had devolved nearly to the point of begging. If they weren't off of her soon, she'd likely start flailing and shrieking - probably not a good thing when there was a blood-hungry beast searching for them.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:01 pm
A snort was the girl's answer, as if honestly; he'd have thought that him being her guard meant she would KNOW she had to pay attention to what he had to say, for her own safety. Of course, he knew that was too much to ask, what with her pompous brattish nature; he was sure no one had even stood up to her or demanded something from her in her whole life. He was momentarily distracted from the situation at hand by thinking back on his own life; he'd never had anyone stand up to him, and he was sure his own upbringing made him just as stubborn as she herself was. Opposite ends of a straight line; while he'd come from koshka aristocracy (even though he'd renegaded from it all and ran away to live his own life, as a mercenary no less), the girl standing before him was mensch aristocracy.
While Nuka himself knew what he was though, he was sure Ana had little to no idea. Amusingly enough, he was happy to keep it that way; he'd never liked it when people would judge him not by whom he was, but from where he came from. It was obnoxious and horribly frustrating, if not annoying.
As the girl started to talk, he felt himself twitching an ear towards her, languid gaze switching over from the darkened side of the shed to land on her form. He was about to offer her some sarcastic response when the whine drifted over to him. A sharp intake of breath signaled the fact he'd not only heard her, but the tone of her voice had affected him; in his defense, despite the fact he'd managed to act slightly calmer, he was anything but and the beg in her voice (even if it was innocent in nature), was enough to force his eyes to narrow down, "I warned you," it was a low response, murmured, as if he had no intention of drawing nearer. At least, that is, till the last few words reached his ears; the furry appendages first perked up, twitching to the sound of her voice and then flattened back till they were practically hiding amongst the metallic colored locks of hair, "I... can't you get them off yourself?" in all honesty, he wanted nothing more than to yank open the shed door and run for the metaphorical hills, however, the desperation in her voice forced a self-suffering sigh out of him. Pushing himself to a standing position he drew nearer, his ears flopping down low, making him look almost like a dog that was being forced into something he didn't really wish to do.
Of course, the action was prompted as much by the knowledge she was practically begging (lord help him), as it was by the fact he knew the girl was going to scream if he didn't do something soon, "For the love of GOD," he murmured as he grasped her around the shoulder with one hand, drawing her to his form while using the other one to swipe the bugs off her body, "Better?" except it really wasn't, because she was pressed up against him and he didn't have the force or heart to push or shove the girl ******** this.
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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:48 am
Ana didn't have the slightest clue at all as to where Nuka's roots lie in society. He was a mercenary now, and that was all she knew, though she had more often than not found herself wondering just over who he really was. It hadn't been hard to tell that he was a pure blooded Koshka, and though she knew that meant that there was typically a strong family line in the lineage, she had no idea just what that strong family was. It could have simply been a line of racist inn keepers, or entrepreneurs - or it could have been more, say a powerful line of aristocrats. Oh, she had played out a dozen different scenarios in her head, usually in her idle time when she was suffering from boredom. She had no idea of who he really was, and wasn't truly panning on asking him, given the fact that he had never volunteered even a solitary piece so far. He was her guard, and that was enough, though curiosity was likely to eat away at her until she actually did want to know, one day. Even then, with his rough exterior, she judged by who he was - which wasn't always the nicest of people, but it was at least real.
"No," she said pathetically to his question, her body shaking slightly from the fear of the little crawling things. She turned her eyes towards his, almost frantically, afraid that he wasn't going to help her. In all honestly, she seemed almost more afraid of the little bugs crawling over her at the moment than she did of the giant koshka outside. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that she felt this was more of an immediate danger and all. "Please, Nuka, I.. I can't see them," she said again, trying to force her voice to stay calm though it was quite obviously shaking even as she tried. She stared at him, beseeching, and almost let out a cry of relief as she saw him getting up and moving towards her. She had been afraid he wasn't going to help, for whatever reason, though, she wasn't sure.
As soon as he drew her to him, she let out a squeaky breath and went quite still as his hand swept over her dress and brushed the spiders away. If she didn't have so much pride, she probably would have clambered up onto him just to get away from the creep crawlies that were no doubt on the floor around them then. Instead, she simply buried her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around his abdomen slightly. She was still stiff, and despite her pride, she felt like crying, her eyes watering slightly as she clung to him desperately. She still had no idea what was wrong with him, or that he was having trouble being so close to her, she was just seeking out comfort from the only person capable of giving it to her then. Not to mention, he was fluffy, and fluffy things were great for comfort besides.
"Thank you," she said quietly, squeezing him tightly enough that it was obvious she was still frightened. She shivered to think about the bugs that had been crawling up her dress, and tried to push away the thought that he might have missed one - oh, she trusted him, but did so hate those things and their rather crafty ways. "I hate spiders," she whispered, turning her face up to his, no doubt showing the slightly wet circles beneath her eyes from what few tears she hadn't managed to hold back. She didn't care if he saw - those despicable things made her want to shriek even now, and she had decided this was a suitable alternative to actually doing that.
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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:03 am
He felt himself turning to look up at the ceiling, as if the ceiling itself offered him great comfort in his time f need. Amusingly enough, never better said; the notion almost forced a frustrated groan out of him, both due to the pun and the underlying meaning, "No problem," it was barely breathed out to her as he moved his hand over her dress several more times before dropping it to his side. With great difficulty, he managed to force the one arm he'd circled around her shoulder to drop to his side, simply waiting for her to let go of him; something which... apparently wasn't going to happen very soon, seeing as how she was clinging to his form with her head buried in his chest. Once more, his ears flattened back, then flopped down to the sides of his head, making him look more like a defeated puppy than a cat; even without her scent to dizzy him up, he'd not have been able to ignore her in her time of need. Not really.
A sigh was offered as he closed his eyes, his arms coming around her again; if you can't fight them, join them. Even in such a muddled state of mind, Nuka knew deep down that was a horrible, horrible idea, and yet, after being subjected to her for the last couple of hours (whilst knowing there were a few more to come), was enough for him to toss logical thought out the window. ******** logical thought; and he wasn't even going to start considering why the hell he even cared beyond getting the girl save back home so he'd get paid. After all, he'd always been quite deft at ignoring what was going on, or what was wrong with himself at any given time. Nuka spent very little time at trying to figure himself out; he simply acted away, for better r worse, "I noticed," his ears finally perked up signaling the fact he'd reached a particular decision, and then, with little effort, he maneuvered her body into his arms, so that he was holding her off the floor bridal style, "They're not dangerous by the way..." almost as if hinting that at the moment, honestly the spiders were the least of her worries, and quite possibly the least dangerous beings in the shed. Not that SHE would have been able to know that though.
Heavy lidded, mostly in an attempt to un-fog his mind and keep his thoughts out of the actions he was performing, Nuka allowed himself to pad over to a particularly lit corner; where the light from the window hit the ground, keeping most of the insects away from it. Then he lowered himself down, placing Anana comfortably on his lap; if she wasn't touching the floor, then there was no way the spiders could crawl on her. It was as simple as that. Despite doing his best to keep his thoughts away from her though, he was having a great deal of trouble doing so. His gaze shifted to stare at what small portion of the outside he could see through the window, though his eyes remain hooded, almost lulled (which was quite strange for someone so used to being alert 24/7), and his breathing was coming out harshly; at least more heavy than was natural... as if he'd spent a great deal of time running. Which obviously made absolutely no sense, since even though they HAD ran their way to the shed, that was hardly enough to leave the koshka breathless.
An ear flickered towards her then, even though his gaze did not move from the window above, "Don't cry," it was murmured softly as he finaly lowered his gaze, still looking way from her, frowning deeply, "It's fine," he'd been able to smell the scent of her tears, even when he'd not been looking at her; the salty water was unmistakable after all, and he was having a great deal of trouble not leaning down to lick the damned trails away. Even the thought made his ears twitch, his tail moving restlessly over the floor, having swept away the dust around them quite effectively in the process. This was bad. This was baaaaad, bad, bad, bad, bad, and yet all he could think of was the way her arms had gripped around him and the fact she was warm and comfortable and right there against him.
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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:16 pm
She had frowned slightly when his arm dropped, positive that he was going to go back to being her cold bodyguard, though it vanished as both of his arms came around her and simply.. held her. It was what she needed, after having been faced with the fact that one of the single things she feared most in the world had been crawling all over her. Her arms clung tightly to him as she felt him shifting in a manner that only spelled out exactly what he was planning. She was too proud to clamber up into his arms of her own accord, but she certainly wasn't too proud to let him sweep her up off her feet. It got her where she wanted to be, after all - off the damn floor. "They still bite," she said softly, shuddering at the mere thought of them all on her dress again, "and they're creepy." She didn't argue that they weren't dangerous, nor did she pick up on what his words seemed to imply. Her only concern at that moment was getting away from the disgusting things, even if she knew she only feared them because of what they were, not what they could or couldn't do.
She turned her gaze back to him as he started to walk across the floor, her eyes dimmed in the darkness until they drew closer and closer to the corner she suspected he was heading for. Idly, she let her mind think over just how much he was doing for her. Sure, making sure she wasn't harmed by the brute of a Koshka outside had been very brave of him, but that was his job. Brushing off the spiders, picking her up so she didn't have to walk on the floor and collect more of them, settling down with her in the little bit of light there was to keep her happy - that wasn't exactly part of the job description. She wasn't in harm's way without those things (no matter how terrified she was, she knew that) and it wasn't something he was required to do by any means. She might have been quite pissed if he had let her writhe around and scream in fear of the eight-legged monstrosities, but he still wouldn't have been letting her get hurt, not really. As she finally was able to see his face again, once he had settled down on the floor with her in his lap, she stared at him for a long moment - even as he looked away from her and out the window. He was compassionate, even as hard as he tried not to be, she knew he was - this proved it.
His words made her blink, though, and with a worried chew of her lip she reached up to wipe away the small remnants of tears with the back of her hand. She wasn't sure what had gotten into her, being so emotional, other than the fact that she had been imagining swarms of those little things sweeping up over her. She didn't know how many there were, how big they were - nothing. She supposed to tears had come from the aftershock of being so afraid, that and the sudden relief he had given her. "I'm sorry," she said slowly, swallowing and letting her tear-stained hands air dry before she lay them back against his chest and slowly leaned her head down. He had given her a way to stay away from all the creep crawlies (she was sure there were more things here besides spiders) and a way to keep herself mostly free of dust and dirt besides. She wasn't going to abandon that.
It was his breathing, though, that made her pick her head back up from where she had momentarily laid it down. With her hands on his chest, she could feel the hard rise and fall and was no doubt hearing it from his lips besides. She furrowed her brows and looked up at him, still as oblivious to anything he was going through as ever, and concern immediately spread itself across her face. "Are you okay, Nuka?" she said lowly, reaching out a hand to lay it against his forehead. She had no idea how to check for a fever with him, being that his fur could cause her to misjudge anything.
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:36 am
Even while having to endure the situation at hand, he couldn't help the semi-amused snort that escaped him at her words; he could not understand how she could be frightened of creatures that could easily be squished. They were no danger to her person, and yet the fear she'd felt had been more than obvious to him, "Creepy," he echoed her, almost as if questioning the word; he was well aware she meant it to heart, he just couldn't figure it out in his mind. Then again, who was he to judge? He was having trouble of his own when he knew deep down he very well shouldn't even be pondering the... thing he was pondering; in fact, he shouldn't even be thinking of her in that way. She was someone he needed to protect, and that was that. Nothing more, nothing less, and yet the smell of her hair coupled with the warm press of her body against him and the way she was still gripping to him... and... ******** allowed his head to fall back against the wall he'd been partially leaning against, raising it up briefly only to let it fall again, as if the simple motion clddl somehow clear his head of any and all thoughts. Needless to say it wasn't working and the Koshka was well aware that dammit, all he was going to manage was to give himself a damned migraine. Letting himself to breathe in deeply, he released the air out in a sigh, unaware of the way the girl was currently looking up at him; had he known she was getting concerned with the way he was breathing, he'd have attempted the impossible to restrict himself. Especially if it'd meant her hands off his face. A pause followed her words and for a moment, all Nuka could manage was a confused expression, his ears perking up, "Sorry?" another pause as he turned his head down to meet her gaze, "Why would you be-" and then, of course her hand reached up to his forehead, undoubtedly checking for temperature.
Instead of answering her question, he found himself drawing in a sharp breath of air, almost a gasp; whether from shock or the actual contact was still to be determined, "I..." trying to keep himself still rather than following through with the current options his mind was conjuring (some of which included dropping her on the ground and rushing for the door, or actually showing what creatures she should be fearing rather than spiders), Nuka swallowed down in an attempt to get his thoughts back into gear, "I... yes; yeah. I'm okay," it was offered in relatively short words, though his eyes kept soothing from her hand to her face, bewildered... almost as if relatively scared. He was currently wondering what his chances of actually going through with the previous though of dropping her on the floor to run for the hill while still managing to retain hi job were. Needless to say he soon came to the conclusion they were practically nil. Then again, something told him that following through with the other many possibilities his mind was offering him would land him jobless quite faster. Idly, in the back of his mind he found himself wishing for the dumb guitar he'd left back home before running away. Playing that instrument had always helped him calm down, and right now, he really needed to calm down far more than he needed his damned temperature checked.
Slowly he reached up with the arm he wasn't using to brace her against his frame, curling his fingers around her wrist gently so he could tug her hand away from his forehead, "I'm fine," except he wasn't, and even as he lowered her hand back down to their laps, he kept his grip on her wrist, unwilling to let it go. His head lowered down til their foreheads almost touched, his eyes hooded before they opened up with a blink, no doubt finally catching himself back into a slightly more controlled state of mind. Making a small 'tsk' like noise, mostly to himself and the fact he'd almost let go of what little self-control he had left in favour of indulging in the moment, Nuka hooded his eyes again, lifting his head up till the back of it hit he wall once more. The movement had been a dead give away that he'd no doubt been thinking about kissing her; the whys or hows were lost to him; he wasn't particularly willing to even dwell on them as it was, however, the koshka was well aware he needed to explain himself and his actions before she thought wrong of him. Turning his head to look away, he flattened his ears against his skull, "Your scent, he murmured finally, peeking at her out the corner of an eye, "It's..." a pause as he hesitated, his tongue darting out to wet his lips in his frustration, "It's uhm..." he lowered his voice till it was almost a whisper, his brows knitting, his ears pressing further into his hair, "It's almost your time and..." well, she wasn't innocent, hopefully he didn't have to spell it out to her; that was the main reason he'd not wanted to go out in the first place.
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