The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

[Takimaru]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"Normal people... huh," said Hector aloud, taking on a rather thoughtful look. It was an odd term, coming from a Felvari to someone who grew up on the streets. "Think I know what you mean," the man finally responded, taking the bag of rezetas and stashing it away on his person.

To the last thing she said, he would simply reply with a nod. Hector wasn't the most verbose of the group, preferring to let his actions speak louder than words. As a result, he also wasn't the most engaging of conversational partners. Even Cedrian, who could hold a lengthy conversation with nearly anyone, was sometimes challenged with getting the larger man to give out more than a sentence or two.

He would keep pace with Ichimi during the walk to their destination, being only slightly ahead so as to let her point with her eyes where they would go if he was headed in a way she didn't want him to. Eventually they would come across something of a border between the extremely high-end shops and the more mundane ones; two separate avenues, split off by a wedge-shaped structure, making for a barrier about a block wide. On a street to the left were the richer places, not unlike the shop Cedrian took Ichimi to the previous day, and to the right were establishments at which more common folk could find affordable wares. Several narrow alleys that cut through the wedge connected the two. Despite this relatively short distance, there was a noticeable change in crowds.


While Naralona itself had no official boundaries between shopping districts that were actively enforced by its guards, it was easy to see what made the difference--the price.


In Ichimi's immediate vicinity, the 'richer' side had a jewelry shop selling accessories beset with only the rarest of jewels, a clothier peddling dresses and jackets made from fine fabrics, and further down, a place in which imported spices and the like could be purchased. The other side had a furrier's shop, a silversmith, and a bakery. Taking an extended look at the first choices could perhaps make Ichimi feel out of place, as already there were many nobles strolling about... but the more common side of the block had rather mundane wares in comparison.

 

[Kat]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Despite her initial resolve, Ichimi found herself hesitating as she approached the shopping districts. On the richer side of the street was that alien world the felvari hated entering... a world where the rules where different and where she would stand out no matter how inconspicuous she tried to be.
“Tch... should have brought my knives... it's not like they're going to search me at the door. No... it's still fine... even if something goes wrong, they're all spoiled rich fragile frillies, I can still throw a punch, or a kick, or outrun their bodyguards if they have any... and I still have Hector with me...”

On the other side of the street was a much more comforting world. One the felvari was more familiar with, one that she felt safer and more capable in, that didn't put her nerves quite as much on edge.
“They've still got good stuff in those shops, right? I mean, is 200 Razettas even enough for the fancy shops? That medallion I stole off Fatass a few days ago was worth over 600... if everything in a shop like that is worth that much, then I'm just wasting my time. I mean, I've got stashes kinda close I can hit up for some extra razettas if I need them... but damnit, 200 is already a lot for a gift, I'm not trying to impress royalty here or throw away all my money on some impractical ornament with no use. Even if I play a slave-pet, do me and Hector even look good enough that they'd let us in the door? The other shops probably wouldn't even make me take my hood off...”

For what felt like a few minutes at least, the girl would be frozen with indecision, while trying to look like she was merely browsing at a distance. The tug of war in her mind was clearly leaning one way from the start, and going that way more and more every second... and yet...
“Damnit... I'm just making excuses...”
Maybe the felvari was right with all her pondering, but it felt too disingenuous not to check the shops on the richer side of the street first. The worst that could possibly happen is they would refuse her entry, right?

“I had originally wanted to get Rio a makeup set or something. Maybe they've got something like that over there, but if they don't, jewelry still works... if something stands out without being super expensive. It doesn't hurt to go look, right?”
The felvari's talk and attempts to sound casual was a all a diversion, or perhaps a fluffing to make what she was doing during the talking less awkward. When she had finished digging around in her cloak, despite looking in the completely opposite direction, her outstretched hand was holding something: the end of the leash that went to her collar, apparently already attached via some sleight of hand. If she was going to dive into the alien world across the street and give it an honest effort, then this was a necessary step... she still didn't want to talk about it though, and in this she hoped her partner's stoic nature would persist.

“...I'm not very good at this, I don't suppose you have idea of what I should be looking out for or what looks fashionably "girly" or whatever?”
Considering whom she was with, Ichimi didn't expect a serious answer with her final query. Although an answer would have been a godsend, she was more venting frustration than anything else, even though she had nobody but herself to blame.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"Makeup..." Hector echoed after Ichimi in his notably deeper voice. "Sounds 'bout right for Rio," added the pugilist, rubbing the back of his head as he looked around.

"Up to you though. I'm just here to help you fit in," he would add in a somewhat quieter voice, despite the fact that he towered over many in the block. The irony of it wasn't lost in his tone, however, and he took the end of her lead without issue. With this, he was wordlessly yet firmly placed into the role of master--or at the very least, the master's servant--and she, a slave. Augusto certainly would not have let such an event go without some sort of wisecrack, but Hector was never one for making a big deal of just about anything... even things that seriously mattered to a few others, for better or for worse.

One thing he did respond to, if one could call it a response, was Ichimi's question about gift ideas.

"Hah," grunted Hector in what could almost qualify as a laugh. Just about any of the other hustlers might have been useful for was fashion advice. The hulking prizefighter seemed to be quite aware of his relative uselessness in such a matter, and so he treated Ichimi's query as more of a lighthearted quip.

First was the jeweler's shop. "Lluvia Gems", read the well-crafted sign in elegant, stylized lettering that lent itself quite well to an elegant and sophisticated atmosphere. Inside were men and women dressed all too well in fine clothes. While the pedestrian streets just outside the establishment boasted a mix of both middle and upper-class passerbys, past the door, everyone looked about ready for a ball. Cedrian would have likely fit right in... but the hulking Hector and the cloaked Ichimi managed to attract the curious gazes and some raised brows from those inside. Still, the man watching the door was quick to greet him with a bow and a 'Welcome', knowing that anyone with a slave in tow was bound to have some expendable income.

But after a look around, it was clear that the store's clientele had a little too much of said income. A swirling orange sorronite ring, as lovely as it was, was shamelessly labeled with the tag '1000 R'. Likewise, a briamand crystal pendant in their larger showcase was on sale for a whopping 3000 rezetas--a little less than a third of the big score that Ichimi had gotten with Rodrigo's pendant. Many more were somewhere in between. It wasn't that the catgirl lacked the funds, if she were to count every rezeta in her various cubbyholes, but the prices were, perhaps understandably, on an absurdly high end. A thousand rezetas could easily keep Ichimi fed for months. Those were emergency rations!

In one of the showcases located off to the side, however, was a line of oddly affordable gems. They were smaller, of course, but the dainty nature of their settings would at least be fitting for Rio.

Tirpalla Ring - 125 R
Karralamine Brooch - 150 R
Sisstone Choker - 100 R
Fierccion Earrings - 200 R

 

[Kat]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"Didn't think so..." the felvari responded with a sigh at the lack of help she was getting in the fashion department. Oh well, this couldn't be too hard, right?
"There are lots of people around who actually do know what they're doing. I just need to... pay attention to what ornaments they're wearing. Right... just gotta keep my eyes open and remember to act."
With that she would finalize her resolve and head towards the shop, uncomfortably aware of the length of the leash she was one, and quickly falling back to Hector's side when she realized it wouldn't look for a slave to be taking the lead.
"Easy, right... lets just get it over with."
A slight grimace would betray her inner feelings for only a moment, but then in an instant it disappeared and her expression was one of a well-trained slave, delighted at the chance to be getting a gift for good behavior.

"Right... it's only jewelry, no make-up or anything... Not like the shops I'm used to where everyone carries a little bit of everything. So expensive too... for fucking shiny rocks and soft metal. It's like people just WANT to throw away their money. You can't even eat them or anything...
No... not going to get mad... just look around carefully, see if they have anything cheaper... and leave if they don't. No need to do anything dangerous right now."
Luckily for Ichimi, the shop would indeed have some cheaper items... if anything in excess of 100 Razettas could be called "cheap". Still, to Ichimi's untrained eyes, the "cheaper" pieces still looked nice. She had no doubt the gems wern't diamonds or anything approaching that rarity, but they were still pretty enough to catch someone's eye.

"Which one?"
All the pieces looked nice, but they didn't all make equally suitable gift. The ring for example, was sorta small for a gift and might easily be missed at a first glance if someone was wearing it. The brooch and the choker looked good too... but looked weird or out of place with certain outfits as the felvari tried to imagine them in her head or look at how they worked on other customer's outfits. There was one piece that worked though... a pair of earrings. They drew attention to the face and seemed more flexible with more outfits. They were easy to imagine on most of the customers there.
"Shit... Does Rio HAVE pierced ears?"
Suddenly the felvari's mind was drawing a blank, no matter how hard she tried to visualize it. She herself had never worn earrings, considered them something that looked painful and bothersome, at least with the way her own ears were structured... but a good number of higher class women who could afford them did. The fact that she couldn't remember whether Rio's ears were pierced burned her with frustration... but the earrings were the most feminine piece in a classy not-over-the-top way, and the entire point of the gift was to make up for the fact that she hadn't acknowledged that side of the tailor earlier.
"After he remembered MY ears with his last outfit too... fuck. I want to say he does have them pierced, or wanted to... I'm probably not wrong. I mean, he can't get really get mad at me over a gift if I'm wrong, right? I'm sure he could find a way to use them in something anyway, even if he doesn't wear them. Yeah... let's go for it."

Now was time for more acting, with a big grin Ichimi let her ears perk up and put on a playful voice.
"I like these ones! Can I get them? Pleeaaasseeee~? I've been behaving, and Master said he'd get me whatever I wanted if it was under 200. These say 200 exactly, but that still counts, right? You'll get them for me, won't you? I promise I'll keep being a good pet if you do.~"
The girl was cringing inside... but slightly excited in a vain way too, unable to help but watch the reactions of people nearby as she spoke, wanting to bask in the effective of her acting if it was working on anybody... although not enough that she wanted to draw this out any longer than it needed to be.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Hector nearly allowed Ichimi to walk on ahead, momentarily forgetting that he was in the master's role this time. It wasn't a common thing for him--more often than not, he had played bodyguards, servants, or lackeys. He was playing one now, but unlike before, this time he actually had direct jurisdiction over a slave, who was still lower than his position at the end of the day. Luckily, the catgirl had caught herself before she had gone too far out of the way to break the unwritten rules of such a disguise. Her towering partner had, at the very least, caught wind of her intentions, and began to make his way towards the shop with her in tow.

Now reminded of his role, he began to take the more dominant lead, which wasn't difficult for the pugilist when he actually tried. Through slight facial tics in his normally stone expression, Ichimi would find Hector to be rather uncomfortable in such a shop. But she didn't leave him waiting for too long, and quickly spotted a suitable gift for Rio. She made a dramatic plea to her master's 'head servant', which did enough to catch the attention of the salesman closest to the door. A well-dressed man with a thin, long face, he was quick to interject after Ichimi finished.

"Fierccion earrings, an excellent choice for a slave--even for a subhuman. I'm sure it will be good for any Master's tastes," pronounced the salesman, "though I am surprised that he wouldn't come along to supervise his possession's embellishment himself. We do have quite the selection of items under 200 rezetas, and even more if he is so inclined to reward a good 'pet'..."

"He's a busy man," responded Hector, producing the amount of coin needed for the purchase and placing it into the associate's hand, which did just enough to end the small talk that he found so unnecessary.

With that, the salesman reached into his pocket, producing a ring of keys, then found the smallest one, using it to unlock the case and retrieve the gift that Ichimi had decided on. Placing the goods into Hector's massive hand, he gave a courteous bow of thanks. "Gracias," pronounced the slim clerk, returning behind the counter to store away the payment.

Afterwards, the two were free to leave, and unless Ichimi had anywhere else in mind to visit, Hector would make a fairly straightforward path back to the warehouse. When they reached the door of the hideout, where no one was watching, he unfurled his hand and handed the earrings back to Ichimi, which were only slightly damp with his sweat. "You're welcome."

Once they got inside, Rio was no longer in the kitchen, though a few leftovers of sweets were still left on the table. The youth was nowhere on the first floor, so most likely, he was in his room--where the door was shut completely. Normally, he left it cracked open as he worked, but it was entirely possible that the mood from last night still lingered...

 

[Kat]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

“-A-ah, thanks.” The felvari hastily blurted out in an embarrassed tone at her partner's “You're welcome”, realizing she had become too wrapped up in the excitement of her act working working earlier to have remembered to have said anything... or maybe it wasn't that at all. It wasn't that she was ungrateful, but thanks and apologies and manners in general weren’t the felvari's strong suit, and it wasn't uncommon for her to forget such things without prompting.
“Sorry to make you put up with that super-enthusiastic acting of mine... that's what they were expecting from me though, since it worked so well and everything. Idiot sales clerk didn't even notice my ears wern't pierced. Anyway... thanks for not giving me a hard time like Ced or Augusto woulds have done... now hopefully I can get Rio to do the same.”
With that she'd waste little time kicking off her shoes at the door and heading upstairs, not even taking the time to remove her cloak or collar... or get distracted by the smell of food still out, even as it was impossible to not notice. She still had enough pride (or shame) to stay focused.

“Tch... is he even here?”
The closed door upstairs would make for a less than welcoming sight as Ichimi prepared to make her apology. If she had wanted to put her ear to the door and listen, she might have heard something... but such an act seemed stalker'ish. The door was closed for a reason, and trying to get around that felt... disrespectful. Still, she had her nerves worked up now and wasn't about to leave... so whether Rio was here or not, she found herself knocking on the door.

“Rio? Are you in there?”
No answer... but she had expected as much... but that didn't make it any easier, and whether intentional or not it would tinge her tone with a bit of desperate frustration.
“Come on Rio. I'm trying to apologize here. I didn't really mean anything I said... it just sort of came out wrong. You're not going to be mad at me forever right?”
Still no answer
“I'm not just saying things, you know! I even went out and got you something to prove I really mean it! You don't really hate me, right? So please open up and let me say I'm sorry...”
Still more dead silence, and the felvari didn't know what else to say. Her frustration boiled up into making her want the hit the door, but she thought better of it and pulled back her swing at the last moment. Instead she'd leave the earring box in front of the door and slink off to her own room.

“Fucking hells! What do I even do now? Ask Cedrian again? Let him know I couldn't even say sorry right even though I wasted money on it and everything... fuck...”
Back in her own room, Ichimi's mood would manifest as frustrated pacing for a few moments... but after that it crashed and she just flopped onto the stacked layer of blankets covering her bed, face first, her silhouette showing as only a vague shape under her cloak, which she was still wearing. Between the frustration of the failed apology, being hungry, and having just not gotten great sleep the night before, the girl felt crappy and just didn't wana move anymore. Maybe if she just stayed like this the feeling would wear off... eventually...

 

[Takimaru]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"Huh," huffed Hector in response to Ichimi's brief apology and commentary on their encounter with the jeweler. "Maybe he cares more about the money we gave him than your legal status," he concluded with a slight shrug, seemingly content to leave it at that. While it might have been an awkward experience for him, his now relaxed body language told the catgirl that no grudges would be held for such a favor--after all, Hector was never one to hold one in the first place. His acting skills may have left something to be desired, as did his level of social finesse... but if nothing else, he was reliable and consistent. "Good luck."

With that, Ichimi was left to handle the issue of an apology to Rio all by herself. No answer at first. She was even given a little time to express some rather sincere words, relatively rare from her at that... and still, she would receive only silence in return. Frustrated, the catgirl would leave her gift at the foot of the closed door and march off to her own room. As she flopped onto her bed and resigned herself to letting the troublesome worries brew or hopefully disperse over time, given the rather quiet ambience, she would hear the click of a metal latch. Then, another few seconds of silence. Afterwards came the gentle creak of a nearby door opening--which couldn't have been anyone BUT Rio's, given the location--and a faint shuffling noise.

Though the Felvari wasn't even directly looking at the activity occurring behind her, it wasn't hard to tell what was going on from sounds alone. The creak of wood telling her that Rio had stooped down to retrieve her present, the hollow shift of the gift box opening, and a slight gasp. A pause... a long one. Or perhaps it merely felt longer than it was. Was he really just standing there for several minutes? Then, finally, the light footfalls of the diminutive tailor headed in the direction of Ichimi's room. He was close enough that it was easy for the catgirl to pinpoint his exact position by then. Padding over to the side of her bed, he sat down about a meter away from it and took a deep breath, as if waiting for her to say something first.

If she didn't, he would. "I'm not going to be mad at you forever..." he started, sniffing. "It just really hurt, because I thought you understood that about me already."

Rio allowed another moment or three to pass before continuing. "You didn't have to get this for me. But... thanks, I'm glad you did. No one's ever gotten me something like this before. I already cut up that dress I showed you, though. Now I'm starting to regret it, ehehe..." said the effeminate youth. If Ichimi cared to actually look at him, she would find that there were tears still beaded up in his eyes, though he was obviously a lot happier than before given the beginnings of a smile tugging at his lips.

 

[Kat]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"Mnnmm..?"
Only a few moments had passed, but already Ichimi had grown drowsy and he mind had started to wind down and shut off. Her body hadn't quite followed suit yet, and her ears were still alert to the sounds going on outside of her room, but at this point the felvari was half convinced she was daydreaming it. Subconsciously she didn't want to move, didn't want to rise back to awakeness only to be dissapointed... and so, until the shuffling got really close, within the boundaries of her room itself, she wouldn't move.

"-!?!"
No matter how willing the felvari might be to dismiss everything as a daydream, once the sound of Rio's shuffling approached her bed, he mind bolted awake. Up this close, the girl's body could tell the difference between imagination and the real thing, and some sort of instinctual danger-awareness programming in her brain jolted her back to full awareness, despite the lack of any real threat. The lack of a threat didn't make things any less tense though, as she found herself mentally off-balance and couldn't bring herself to do much more than stare... trying in vain to guage the situation and weigh what kind of responses might make things better or worse. Only after the tailor had spoken first, and shown her gamble with the gift had paid off and given her a chance to make things right, would she be able to hold a train of thought again.

"Rio..."
The words to be elegant about this still evaded the felvari for a moment, but laying there staring was no good either, so she rolled out of bed and made her way over to where the tailor was sitting, quietly sitting herself down besides him. It would still be a moment before words came, but when they did, they were honest and heartful, without any traces of being deceptive or confrontational.
"What I said... I was mad about things that had nothing to do with you... mad about the way things are outside of our group... especially for me... and I lashed out because I don't cope as well as you do..."
There was a short pause
"I do care... you know that right? I'm not going to pretend anything I said was right... but I don't want anything to happen to you because you're mad at me... I'd never forgive myself. Nobody else even cares that I exist... so as long as you forgive me, I'm OK with whatever you want to be, alright?"
It was short and to the point... but Ichimi did mean every word of it. She wasn't good with apologies, or this kind of feely emotional stuff in general, as her slow awkward speech tone made obvious... but she would stay seated and listen to anything else Rio had to say, if there was anything else to be said. Life had been unfair to them both... and for that reason she had realized just how wrong it was to for her to have snapped like that, to try to drag one of the only people in the world who cared about her down to the same level or pessimism that she often found herself unable to deal with. What would it ever accomplish? Aside from leaving her all alone again... or causing that day to come that much quicker.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Rio paused to listen, then considered his words before making his reply. "So you... were mad about how um... your people are treated? Mm, yeah. I know what it's like to be looked down on, maybe not to the same degree. But we like you just fine here! It's not like we'll ever be..." He paused for a moment, leaving a word unspoken--'separated'. It was hard to say, with Cedrian mentioning this being their last job. Would the six of them just go about their own ways, leaving this comfortable home of a warehouse empty and abandoned? It seemed that a thought was as terrifying to Rio as it might have been to Ichimi, given the sudden concern in his expression. "I mean, we're family, right?"

"... and if you mean bawling my eyes out, I guess that counts as 'coping'. It's pretty awful--maybe you should try it sometime too if you don't believe me! It only gets better after the fact. You know I can't STAY mad at people for long, but when it hurts... it hurts. You'll have to do a lot more than that to get me to hate you." He looked down at the fierccion earrings and their brilliant shine. It was hard for him to hide the smile for long, even if he looked as though he tried to for a moment or two. Rio paused to hold them up next to his earlobes--which bore tiny little scars upon them, though they had no visible holes--and posed a little for Ichimi to see. "So, how do they look? I guess it's a good excuse for me to finally get these done again, huh? I tried to, once... back when I lived in a house. I had a set of earrings, some cheap silvery ones, but I thought they were the prettiest thing. Until they were ehm... torn out and thrown away by some man when he was drunk and angry. I thought I'd never get to wear a pair again," he explained, melancholy in his tone. "But now that I'm free from all that, now that I have a real family, I think I can start trying again."

 

[Kat]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

“My “people”... right... as if I ever considered myself one of them. Sometimes I wish they didn't exist so I wouldn't have to be one of them.”
The reply Ichimi got should have made her happy, and to a large degree it did... but it was also an awkward one, in one multiple ways. However she kept any explanations in her head, giving a lecture was what got her into this mess in the first place.
“And everyone else here... no... that won't last forever. It would be a bad thing if it did, our luck would run out eventually. No, whatever they want to do, we're in no position to drag them down or make ourselves their dead weight... Here I'm useful, but if we don't have to do this anymore... then all I become is a burden and a risk... and... that's... just what it is. I'd probably be dead if this had never happened. I'm no worse off than I was before -”
Somewhere in the felvari's head her train of thought was cut off by whatever mental safeguards had always prevented her from thinking about these things too hard. A brief feeling of rising panic... and then nothing as the thought was shoved back down.
“Something like that...”
She had subconsciously answered verbally, her tone shaking a little, but then evening out as if it had just been the beginnings of a sneeze or something. To which of the questions she had actually answered, she wouldn't say.

“I guess they look good, if you don't have ears like mine~” She moved on, her tone having already become teasing as if none of the thoughts that had just crossed her mind had ever happened.
“Go ahead and do it though, you have way more chances to show off than I do. Just make sure you don't let Josias do the piercing. He may be artsy, but I wouldn't trust him to have a steady hand with a piece of hot pointy metal by my face.”
This too was a strange thing for Ichimi to say, having listened to the Rio's story that came before it. Of course the story itself wasn't any hugely breaking news, but the speech patterns... the idea of hating one's own real family so much to talk about them like strangers... THAT was hard for the felvari to grasp. Would she have ever run away from parents giving her a place to live and taking care of her? It instantly seemed like a dumb choice.
“In any other situation I wouldn't let anyone tell me what to do though...”
It was what it was though, and there was no point having an argument over it now... or ever probably.

“Anyway, crying's not my thing for coping. Maybe I'll give it a try it someday, but for now I work off the energy just fine without it... and then get hungry. Then taking care of that makes everything OK again.
Speaking of which, I've been mopey all morning until now, so it's just about time to take care of that last part. I'm not really in the mood to go out again, it looks like it's gonna start raining soon, so I'm gonna go get something downstairs. Geeze, I swear I should have stolen a bunch of the stuff that was out this morning, you know~”

 

[Takimaru]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Rio couldn't help but tilt his head slightly at Ichimi's half-hearted answer. "Hey, I was being serious, you know!"

However, he let the issue pass quickly enough. The youth knew of Ichimi's distaste for prolonged discussion of particularly heavy subject matter. He giggled when she brought up Josias.
"Yeah, hehe. I guess it really depends on what cocktail he's on at the time, huh? Some of that stuff is fine for that kinda work, but others... not so much. Maybe you could do mine instead?"

"Oh yeah. Um, you can have the bunuelos and ensaimada I made earlier today... they were there for anyone who wanted them, but Cedrian went off somewhere pretty early and you know how Hector is about sweets. I was going to tell you this morning, but it was still kind of awkward, sooo..."

Upon arriving downstairs, Ichimi would find the pastries still on the counter. It had been a few hours, and so they had lost their initial freshly-baked warmth... but they would prove tasty nonetheless. Hector was in his room, for once, as was Josias; the latter of which had smoke drifting out from the bottom of the door to his chamber...

 

[Kat]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

“I've never done piercings before, it's probably better to ask someone who knows what they're doing. Still... I guess I could try a few times until I get it right, I can probably tweak things a bit to where you wouldn't feel it at all when I mess up. At least not until it wears off anyway”
Ichimi teased, referencing the voidic airs she could summon.
“I could probably get it right in less than a dozen tries... probably. Best if I'm not starving first though.”
With that the felvari skipped out her door and downstairs. That she had managed to wait this long was almost impressive, but as soon as she got the go-ahead, it was clear where all her thoughts instantly focused. Whether the treats were oven-fresh or not, they were still better than anything she would have spent the time or effort to make on her own in this state. Within a few short minutes she had finished off enough of the leftovers to have made anyone else sick, not her though, Ichimi never got sick from food.

“Sogood~”
Once Ichimi had eaten her fill, she flopped on the couch in the main room. The food was making her feel sluggish and warm.
“You said Ced was gone right? With any luck he'll be gone all day, so wake me up in an hour or something. I keep missing the chance lately... but now is time for a quick nap. I woke up way too early today.”
The felvari was still wearing her cloak from earlier, and now it draped over her like a blanket. It was nowhere near the pile she had upstairs, but it was a warm day, and apparently it was enough that she had no problems passing out in minutes.
In a way the whole thing was almost a strange sight. Contrary to the girl's attitude and guardedness, she actually looked... peaceful... delicate almost... out in the open like this and completely unaware, breathing slowed to content whisper. After only a few minutes, even her ears stopped moving to track the sounds around her. It was a far cry from her first days in the group, where she would disappear at night to sleep somewhere else... and even when that had become too much of a hassle, when the warehouse seemed safer than abandoned buildings, she would still stack things in front of her door that would fall over and make noise if anyone tried to come in when she was sleeping, always with one of her knives nearby.

Sleep was bad, sleep meant anyone could do whatever they wanted to you if you got yourself found or didn't wake up fast enough... and while it was possible for her to fall into a light half-sleep, keeping her ears and other senses somewhat alert like a person in a daydream, or minimize the time she slept... she wasn't someone who functioned well like that for any long period of time. Looking at her now though, one would never tell she had ever had to consider such precautions. Like stable food, naps like this were a luxury she was more than happy to indulge in, and while a normal person might be able to get by on 4 or 5 hours of sleep a day, the felvari rarely got less than 8 now. Sleep no longer felt like a bad thing, like something to treat with caution or fear.

It was hard to imagine going back to anything else now... but the look on her face showed such thoughts were the furthest thing from the felvari's unconscious mind. No, whatever was going through her head right now looked like it was something pleasant, an escape from her usual harsh and guarded feelings about the world around her.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Ichimi would find her remarkably peaceful nap interrupted by a gentle nudging of her shoulder. If she bothered to look, she would find Rio responsible for the disturbance. "Ichimi! You said to wake you up. It's already been an hour... and a half," explained the tailor, retracting his hand after seeing that she was awake in order to avoid any potential swattings.

"Almost feel kinda bad about it though, since you just looked so peaceful. Though Cedrian isn't back yet. Why were you wondering about him being gone or not anyway? Did you want to play cards or something?"

Even Rio knew by now that the catgirl wasn't keen on such activities when the leader of the group--a consummate gambler--was present. The others largely shared her sentiment, as the game simply wasn't fun when one person was winning all the time. Which Cedrian did... easily.

"I'll go check on Josias and the others then." The smallest member of the group hurried down the steps and gave a knock upon each of the rooms.

Hector was out within a few seconds, while Josias took a bit longer to emerge from his quarters. Once the four of them were gathered around the short square table, Augusto seemed to just appear from one of the hallway corners, giving a curious grin.

"Oh, is it about that time again? You weren't thinking of excluding me, were you? I'm nowhere near as good as Cedrian..."

"I just couldn't find you!" cried Rio.

"Good, then you won't mind if I put a few chips in! Let's start with... 50 rezetas?"

Rio's brow furrowed. "That's a bit heavy, isn't it..."

Despite his look of protest, he shuffled a deck of Regalarse cards and began to deal them out, before placing two face up on the table. These two, a Duke of Swords and a King of Cups, would combine with the three cards in each player's hand to make the highest suit.

Each member of the group had a different look about them. Hector scratched his head, puzzling stoically over what was in his hand, while Rio's eyes lit up. Augusto kept the same confident smile, though it was difficult for Ichimi to tell exactly what he was planning. Meanwhile, Josias scanned his cards with a freshly stoned gaze.

 

[Kat]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

“Mnnnfff... -!”
Despite how quickly Ichimi had fallen asleep, her nap was still a nap. Opposed to the usual grumpiness and slowness she showed waking up from deep sleep, her ears perked up and alert only a second or two after being woken up, as if she had only closed her eyes for a few seconds.

“Yeah, cards! Go grab everyone and give me a second to grab some razettas.”
With that the Felvari would quickly dash upstairs for a moment, before appearing back downstairs even before anyone else had shown up. Truth be told, the girl wasn't expecting to win big (or even play with high stakes) or anything else that would have justified the enthusiasm in a normal person... but it was fun to have a chance to socialize and DO something with the group that wasn't a job. It was a form of interaction she was almost starved for; given the dangers, for her, of forming any kind of serious long-term relationships outside of the group. By the time everyone finally did arrive, she'd already be sitting at the table ready.

~~~

“50 a hand?!” Ichimi looked annoyed at the suggestion. The group never played with such large hands. This was a game for fun, and while betting made it more fun, such high amounts turned it into actual gambling, something the felvari didn't usually have the best of luck at. Still, it was just like Augusto to mess with her like this.
“You're just trying to throw me off before we've even started... but fine, we can do 50, just for this first hand though! … and only because you're not the one dealing this time.”

“...9...10...” The girl would mentally not her cards as they were counted out, nothing too great so far, but...
“...Queen!”
As the final card was dealt, the Felvari would find herself with everything needed for a straight. If one was paying close attention, for a split second they would see her ears perk up ever so slightly. It was a small reaction, one she was consciously trying to suppress and may not have been aware of even making (on REALLY good hands her tail would even follow suit and curl a little)... looking closely one might even be able to see a little “tension” in her ears as she tried to keep her expression neutral...
For the most part, she had actually done a pretty good job. If one had missed her initial bit of perk, there wouldn't be much indication to her hand now, other than that she was hiding SOME kind of reaction, good or bad. Even the brief reaction she had shown probably could have been mitigated if she had worn her hood... but she considered that cheating. The hand you got dealt was the only one you'd have in this game, so the only “skill” in the game was reading other people or being lucky. For that reason she had left her cloak upstairs. It was no fun if everyone was hiding their faces and there was no reading going on... although despite the Felvari's decent skill in hiding her own expression, she was considerably worse at the reading part.

“Tch, Hector and Augusto are impossible... Augusto's probably hoping to freak everyone into folding, even if his hand is crap... and Josias is probably too high to even know if his hand is good or not... damn, Rio looks like he might have something better than me though. That's what I should be focusing on.”
Suddenly the girl's expression changed, on purpose, into a sly grin. It was time for mind games of her own.
“You know Rio, since I'm being nice to you today, you should probably fold out this hand. I've got REALLLY good cards this time. I'm sure you'll get something better next time, but I'm winning this hand for sure, just trying to do you a favor and keep you from losing a bunch right at the start, you know. Wait until we're playing with lower bets, huh?”
It was possible her act might make the others reconsider staying in as well... but no plan was perfect. Rio was usually the easiest to read, and while it was possible he had a bad hand and was deliberately trying to hide it, his expression still made Ichimi nervous, if she could get him to fold out, her own relatively strong hand had a much better chance of winning. Either way, she was all-in for this hand anyway. No way SHE was going to fold after Augusto had jacked the bets up so high.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"Just for this first hand? Hey, you never know--you might win, and then before you know it, we'll only go higher from there. Wouldn't you just love to clean us all out?" teased Augusto, knowing full well that any suggestion made on his part would be met with instant suspicion by the catgirl. Though, perhaps it was less to steer her in any particular direction than it was to get a rise out of her... and that, he did well enough.

It took a second or two for the faint trace of a smirk to form upon the cleric's expression after getting a better look at the cards he was dealt. Hector maintained a face of stone as per usual, though he raised his free hand to scratch the back of his head. Josias squinted a little, looked several times between the flop cards and the ones in his hand... and then nodded slowly to himself, while Rio looked as giddy as ever. That is, until Ichimi began to talk to him.

Rio's mouth crinkled. "Y-Yeah? Well, um... mine's pretty good too," he claimed in response.

"Such an obvious bluff, Ichimi," interrupted Augusto with a smug look.

"Or a tell," added Hector flatly.

"I... hmm," mused the effeminate one aloud. Ichimi's confident declaration had clearly caused him to hesitate. Likely, her belief in her hand wasn't misplaced...

"Alright..." Rio trailed off softly before putting his hand face down. He was about ready to fold--but seemed to be mentally jumping back and forth between the two options.

"Raise," said Augusto, placing 50 more in the pot.

Rio frowned a little, still torn. "I f... N-No! I'm staying," he insisted, putting his fifty rezetas in. It wouldn't take too much for the catgirl to crack him at this point, especially given that they were fresh out of a quarrel.

Josias shook his head slightly and placed his hand face down. "Too many numbers..."

Hector quietly slid another 50 into the pot.

Now, it was up to Ichimi. If she also raised, she would win a total of 350--and there was likely only one hand that could beat hers at this point. Otherwise, it would be a loss of 100.

 

[Kat]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

“Tch....”
Even as her expression stayed the same, the felvari mentally grit her teeth as the stakes got higher. It wasn't that she didn't have the money to keep going, after all, the group's last job had netted them each a couple thousand... but she was fighting against habit now. For most of her life, what she was betting now would have been a huge deal... 100 razettas was enough to eat for a week if one was careful. Risking that so recklessly activated a mental cringe reflex... regardless of how much money she could potentially win. This time though, her ego was at stake too; and THAT was enough to make her want to stay in... if she could get rid of her biggest threat.

“Pretty good isn't going to be good enough this time Rio...~
Look, even Josias knew to fold this time, and he's probably higher than a cloud right now. It's not a hard decision to make... but if you're really serious about staying in, then go ahead... slide your bet into the pot. It's not official until you do... I'm waiting...~”
During this taunting, the girl would conveniently forget to mention she hadn't placed her bet in either, but staring down Rio with a confident smile, she doubted he'd have the nerve to call her out on it... and the moment he folded, she'd do it anyway.

Despite Ichimi's guise of confidence though, she knew this was her last chance and her hesitation over throwing away money was almost at the breaking point as it was. If she failed to make the tailor fold, she'd lay down her own hand with some grumbles about luck under her breath. At least that way she could spare her ego a bit by claiming to be good enough at reading to know staying in was foolish... unless everyone else who had stayed in had crap hands.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Ichimi's persistent badgering of Rio seemed to finally be taking effect as the cracks began to show in the tailor's already fragile mask.

"Uuuuu..."

He watched Ichimi stare him down with no apparent lack of confidence. If she was the so-called predator in this game, then he was all too easily prey.

"Why is it always me? Hnnn..."

He looked back down to his hand with less glow than before.

"Fine, I'll take your word for it," stated Rio before setting his hand face down. He had folded!

Then came the big reveal.

"You're so obvious sometimes, Ichimi, but I hope for my sake that you were just bluffing it really hard to pick on Rio," remarked Augusto before flipping his cards. He revealed a 5 of Swords, a 2 of Rods, and a 3 of Coins. Absolutely nothing.

Hector was next, showing a Deity of Coins, a Deity of Sword, and a Deity of Rods. Impressive, for sure--a triple.

Then came Ichimi's turn to reveal her 9 of Cups, 10 of Rods and Queen of Swords. Combined with the flop cards Duke of Swords and the King of Cups, it was undoubtedly a straight, beating out Hector for the win.

Josias had a 4 of Rods, a King of Rods, and a 10 of Swords; just not enough to have anything relevant.

Rio's brow furrowed for a moment, and he revealed his cards; a 9 of Swords, a 10 of Cups, and a Queen of Cups. Had he stayed, he would have tied Ichimi.

"W-Wait, that's... nooo! Mine was just as good!" He gave Ichimi the most pathetic look.

"That's what happens when you're talked out of things," commented Augusto with a chuckle, pushing his coins towards Ichimi. The catgirl saw the stack of 350 piled in her corner.

"Damn... been hanging out with Ced much?" asked Josias, looking around at the revealed cards.

 

[Kat]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Despite the moment of victory, it wasn't excited bragging or a grin that came from Ichimi, but a relieved sigh. Regardless of how much the money actually was in the grand scheme of things, especially after the group's last job, it was still an amount that caused the felvari stress. It was a vestigial reaction, a holdover from the days when even a small amount of money wasn't something to be reckless with and doing it with a large amount was something for suicidal thrill-seekers. Even after her sigh finished, the felvari still looked annoyed over the whole thing.
"You're willing to go pretty far just to mess with me, huh?" Ichimi accused Augusto. "And with a crap hand too. If I'm "so obvious", then why did you stay in? Did you just want me to win so I'd look like the bad guy?"
The girl's ear gave one of it's signature annoyed twitches, but she stopped herself here. There was a point at which things would escalate from annoyance to actual hostility, and she didn't want to be the one to take it that far. Instead her attentions moved to the stack of coins she had won... and for a few minutes she busied herself doing something with them... counting them, plucking a few off the top of the stack, momentarily ignoring the fact that there was a game going on.

"There." she stated a moment later, seemingly done with her counting and shoving the remainder of the pile back into the middle of the table.
"That's 5 for everyone's first bet and another 5 for those who stayed in, everyone can have the rest back ... even though I should have kept ALL of yours..." she glanced at Augusto, but supressed her urge to be unfair with her own family "Can we play for real now and make 5 the max bet. It's not fun when we're playing with the high stakes, you'll get plenty of other chances to torment me and Rio some other time, OK?"
Would the rest of the group have done the same thing? Had Augusto let her win on purpose knowing she wouldn't actually keep everything? It was hard to say... in a different mood, she very well may have. Oh well, it didn't matter now, it was a small annoyance and by either luck or skill it was over and done with relatively painlessly now. With that out of the way, maybe there would be some enjoyment to be had...

It was ironic in a way though... worrying about the stakes made Ichimi much better at the game. With lower bets, her apparent "skill" would drop considerably... becoming almost reckless on bets of 1 or 2... and never quite reaching the level it had just been at even if the bets reached the new max of 5 per hand. It didn't matter though... this was more was more fun, even without the big wins anymore.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"Bad guy? Oh, that was all you, Ichimi. I wasn't the one trying to talk Rio out of his amazing hand," replied Augusto coolly, allowing a slight curl of one corner of his lips--almost as if amused by the fact that he had succeeded in rousing her apparent annoyance. He would leave it at that, however, taking slight interest in her odd behavior of counting out her winnings--she seemed to be divvying them up already...

Hector stroked his chin and gave a pensive look at first, while Josias happily took his share.

"You could have," was all that Augusto said in response.

Rio managed to shed his defeated look and nodded twice in agreement. "Right! I mean, we're all getting paid for this next job anyway, so there's no use stealing from each other."

With that, the games went on. Lower bets made for many hands to be played over the course of an hour or two, though in the end, Josias somehow managed to come out on top with Ichimi at a close second. It was nothing to complain about, as the catgirl ended up with at least 100 rezetas more than what she started with, either way. That was about a week's worth of good eating, or even a month's if she wanted to be cheap about it.

"So, are you feeling guilty yet? You could always give it right back," joked Augusto, feeling safe to snark again after seeing Ichimi's mood lighten just enough.

"Don't try to cheat her out of her winnings," asserted Hector in spite of the former priest's less than serious tone.

"Just think of it as a free meal from each of us," said Rio.

"Inspiration!" cried Josias, looking at his earnings.

The familiar sounds of a lock's tumblers being undone came from the front door, and it swung open. Unsurprisingly, it was Cedrian.

"Playing some cards?"

"Yeah, we um... just finished," replied Rio nervously.

"And the herd scatters," remarked Hector. "You seem... excited."

"You bet," said Cedrian with a smirk. "So I met a noble from out of town today. His name is Evaristo Cabral, and I got him to believe that I'm the owner of a slavery ring. He's one of those guys that ah, collects different kinds of girls, but never actually did the dirty work himself," he explained.

"That is, until I got him to take more of an interest in it, of course. The guy's definitely loaded, though. He's got old, old money but he's not afraid to spend it. Cabral wants to invest in the business--badly. Thinks he can expand his collection if he's a little more proactive in the process. But the guy's no outdoorsman, so the best he can do is fund it, and that's good enough for me. Unfortunately, he also wants to see an example of our operations... tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!" cried Rio. "But that's so soon..."

"Yeah, well, sometimes when you meet people on the fly, that's what happens. But it's fine. I already rented out a little place not far from here, which you guys might know--the Tristão? Nice little place, has that spacious basement that can pass as sort of a dungeon. We've used it for a job or two before. Remember, the guy with the nose? And the other one, with the, weird shoes... anyway."

"This is just going to be one of many. For this job, you..." he started, motioning to Hector, "are Nuno, the muscle. Augusto will be Dias, the accomplice and kidnapper. Josias will be Ruben, the planner and sedatives expert."

"And you two..." added Cedrian, looking to Ichimi and Rio, "will be slaves. Along with some other girls I've fetched, but they don't have to know the details of what's going on here."

The tailor put forth a worried look. "W-What if... I don't pass? As a girl, I mean..."

"Hah. You don't have to. There is a demand for effeminate young men on the market, and I think that'd just show the diversity of our product."

"That's... kinda scary to think about," said Rio. "But okay. I'll try to scrap together what I can for the job tomorrow. It's gonna be a long night... do I have to make collars for everyone?"

"No, I wouldn't ask you to do that much on a day's notice. I already got the collars for everyone else, heh. Just make sure the others look proper."

"I'll help," offered Josias.

"So, Ichimi," said Cedrian, turning to her. "Think you can be obedient for me, just for one night? All we have to do is convince one guy that we're legit."

 

[Kat]

Re: The Cat's Share (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

“Hah, not even! It was totally fair this time!” the felvari answered in response to feeling “guilty” over her winnings.
“You must be really off your game tonight though. I can understanding doing worse than Josias, but doing worse than me? Your mind-control must not work anymore, huh?”
Despite it mostly being a game of luck, it wasn't common for Ichimi to “win” by the amount she did, and of course she wasn't going to miss the chance to brag about it and enjoy it. Unfortunately she wouldn't have too much of a chance before more pressing business interrupted.

~~~

“So this is like a practice-run then? That's fine... but I don't like the idea of working with these “other girls” of yours who don't even know the plan. That's a lot of trust you're asking me to put in people who could mess this whole thing up. They had better know what they're doing.” The felvari answered in an annoyed tone, even her ear had twitched upon hearing this part of the plan... although she didn't seem to have any serious objections to the rest of it.

“Anyway, sure, I can behave myself, Maaster~” she continued in a mock playful voice before reverting back to being slightly more serious again.
“That's not very fun though... it was far more fun on the last job when I got to kick around and call our mark a fat impotent bastard... I suppose then you'd have to have me chained to the wall or something though, and that's not very appealing if one of the other girls blows our cover or our mark decides “punishment” is in order. Speaking of which, he sounds like a real winner... is he as disgusting as the last one? Hopefully this is a “look, not touch” thing...”
The felvari gave a slight grimace at the thought.
“Anyway, you're going to need to give me a little more direction than that... and if you're expecting me to act broken, I'm going to need something different to wear than what I already have. As things stand right now I look more like a fresh capture than an ornament.”

At this this girl would get up from the table and make her way over the the leader of her group, grabbing his arm in a playful flirty manner.
“I've got that dress Rio made me, but that's a little too showy for a slave, isn't it Maaaster~? But that's OK, Master always has the answers to everything, no matter what I think. Isn't that riiight Master~?”
Suddenly her expression and tone dropped... but not as any kind of direct protest towards Cedrian; her look was directed elsewhere.
“You get used to how “scary” it is after awhile. Try not to think about it too much...”
Maybe it was meant to sound encouraging... but far more likely it was the girl trying to vent her own uncertainties behind a thin veil of sarcasm again.