vatheon | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Izumo, Rin
Where: The Villa
When: June 27th, evening
Status: Closed

Izumo was in disguise. In the building she lived in.

But there was a good reason. She didn't want to see anyone recognize her. Because... well, this involved a part of herself she didn't really want other people to know about.

So she emerged into the area of the Villa that had been agreed upon, looking for someone in particular.

"Rin? You around here?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"... you look ridiculous, Kamiki."

The voice came from one of the unused rooms in the house that had been temporarily converted in to a shelter of sorts for the three kittens that had been rescued from the island. They were nearing three months now, and growing well after recovering from being abandoned.

Rin currently had one on his shoulder, and one in his arms, while the third was on his back, batting little arms at the half demon's tail.

Izumo spun around, hissing, "Don't say my name!"

... and then she figuratively melted at seeing the kittens.

"S-so those are them..."

"Y'know they're gonna figure it out eventually, right? Especially if you're gonna take one..."

Even as he said it, Rin wondered if it was really worth bringing such a thing up.

"Yeah. We still don't got names for 'em but I figured if anyone took 'em they'd wanna do the names themselves."

"... yeah, well... by then I'll be able to control myself around them better."

Izumo was smiling widely now, looking all over three of them. "... I-I'm not sure I can decide between them!"

"Well... do you want a boy or a girl? 'cause there's only one girl and two boys."

He tugged the one that was clinging to his shoulder off, struggling a bit with her bitty claws that were holding on to his shirt. She was a fluffy thing, all of round belly and bitty kitten parts that she was still trying to grow in to. Her ears were a little too big for her head, and her tail stuck straight up. She mewed in protest at being detached from Rin.

"This is the girl. The other two are boys."

Izumo blinked and... if it weren't for the fact that she had a scarf covering her face, it would be possible to visibly see the part when Izumo's heart melted.

"... I love her already!" Izumo exclaimed. "This is the one I want!"

"Heh. Alright..."

Rin couldn't help but smile. Even with the scarf, he could tell what she was feeling. It was nice to see Izumo being so openly emotional, though he knew it wouldn't last once they left that room.

He handed the female kitten over, and while she was hesitant at first, sniffing the fingers of this new person, it soon turned in to a little lick, and a tiny nibble at the edge of Izumo's finger tips along with tiny paws wrapping around.

"I think she likes you."

Izumo's eyes widened, and she cradled the little thing in her hands. Once it began to nip at her fingers, she was practically cooing.

"I need to think of what to name her..." she said. Then she looked up at Rin, blushing behind her scarf.

"Um. I suppose I should thank you, Okumura..."

The kitten happily curls up in her hands, little tongue licking at her fingers. She was probably hungry, since it was around the time Rin would have normally fed them all anyway, but that wasn't stopping her from enjoying Izumo's company. It seemed like she would be perfectly content with this new owner.

"Hey I'm just glad she's goin' to a new home."

Izumo stood up, petting the kitten all the while. "I'll certainly do my best to give her one... is there... anything important I should know?"

"Uhm... well they're all on normal dry and wet food now, but look for stuff that's made specifically for kittens. You'll wanna keep her on that until she's about a year old. We're still workin' on litter box trainin' so gonna have to be careful with that... oh and you might wanna get her a collar, since a lotta strays seem to find their way in to Vatheon."

"Mmn, all good ideas," she said. "I'll do what I can to take care of all that right away."

She paused thoughtfully.

"And I suppose it'd be a good idea to make it so she still saw her brothers..."

"Yeah, but if you're livin' here, it should be fine. I don't think we're gonna give 'em up unless some one really, really wants 'em. I mean Aurelio and Pip both like 'em a lot so it's probably better if they stay here."

Which meant he really should come up with names for the boys sooner or later. "Cat 1" and "Cat 2" were not... good. At all.

"Yeah, and even then... it should be easier to hook up even if someone does adopt them..."

And now for a rare treat. Izumo is smiling as she pets her new companion.

"... you look nice when you smile."

Rin don't.

Izumo looked up with a start, and then glared intensely at Rin.

"Okumura," she growled. "We're having a moment. Don't ruin it."

Sorry, Izumo, he's just going to grin at you.

"..."

She sets her kitten down now.

She walks over to Rin, and... raps him upside the head.

"Stop that!"

"Owwww! Damn it, why you always gotta go for my head?!"

"It could have been worse. I could have stomped on your tail."

"Tch. And after I gave you a kitten... I see how it is!"

"Hmph!"

... and then she softens a bit.

"... Still, all the same, thank you."

"Yeah... well... I'm glad she's goin' to a good person."

And now she's embarrassed again.

"... well, I've been called worse," she said begrudgingly. "Just... don't say it out loud. I don't want that gorilla thinking I'm going soft on everyone."

Good.

"Psh. Don't worry too much 'bout him right now."

"I won't," she said. "Though... I wouldn't opposed to teaching her to claw up his stuff."

And she makes a wicked smirk.

"Oh, be nice to the big lug. He's havin' enough trouble tryin' to figure out how to be a good boyfriend."

Oops was he supposed to tell anyone about that?

And Izumo stops cold.

"What?"

"... oh. Right. Uh."

Shit.

"... him and Jade."

"HE'S DATING JADE?!"

Izumo's face had gone beet red at this point, and she was for lack of a better word, pissed off now.

"AAAHH! CHRIST, IZUMO! MY EARS ARE SENSITIVE, DON'T SCREAM LIKE THAT!"

Except that you're screaming, too, Rin. And there are three kittens with very poofy tails huddling away from both of them now.

"Just... what could she possibly see in that gorilla?! I thought she had standards!"

And then she noticed her kitten's expression.

"A-ah! I'm sorry, little one! I didn't... I mean... I didn't mean to frighten you...!"

"Geez... !"

Sighing in annoyance, Rin got down on his knees and reached a hand out to the other two, trying to get them to calm down.

"What the fuck is your problem with Bon anyway? Yeah he can be a jerk sometimes, but so can I and you're not jumpin' all over Maka for datin' me."

Izumo, making sure to keep from yelling this time, turned back towards Rin.

"He's... he's boorish! And competitive! And... and...!"

Rin didn't actually know what "boorish" meant, but...

"And exactly like you?"

Aaaand cue Izumo just standing there, with her mouth hanging open and her eyes as wide as saucers.

"He's not... I'm not... we aren't...!"

"You two are pretty similar. I mean you're both really stubborn and really angry. But y'know... that doesn't mean some one can't like... like you. Romantically. World takes all kinds and so does attraction. So Jade likes him, so what? Even if he annoys the shit outta you, you're still friends."

Rin tilted his head slightly, giving Izumo a serious look.

"Wouldn't you want him to be happy?"

"Because it's not fair!" Izumo suddenly snapped.

She looked down, pausing for a minute before continuing. "He's always had those two by his side... he practically had you fawning over him from the day class started! I only had Paku... because I drove everyone else away."

She frowned, looking back up at Rin.

"See? I hate him over something so petty... we're alike, and yet... he was able to prove himself to everyone... what the hell does that say about me, Rin? What does it say... about what an awful person I must be compared to him?"

"Life isn't fair! It knocks you down and kicks the shit outta you when you can't even get up! It throws everythin' it can at you, tears at your heart and forces you to keep crawlin' forward when all you wanna do is break down and cry!"

Rin's voice didn't raise again, but he was firm in his tone, frowning at Izumo all the while. His expression softened after that, and a hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"You haven't had your chance yet, to prove yourself, but that's why you're in school with the rest of us. We've all had horrible things happen to us, lost people we cared about... hell, I didn't even have friends until I met you guys. You had Paku at least! We're a lot alike too, remember? The way we push people away... but Kamiki, this is your chance to stop doin' that. You've got a lotta people who wanna reach out to you. Let them, okay? You'll probably find you hate him a lot less if you do..."

By the time Rin was done talking, Izumo was shaking, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes as she clung to her kitten.

"Why..." she choked out, looking down. "Why... why are you always the one who ends up being right...?!"

And then she couldn't hold back anymore. She clenched her eyes shut and started to cry.

"'cause even idiots gotta be right about somethin-- aw geez don't cry..."

Letting out a flustered noise, Rin moved a little closer and, with a bit of hesitance, wrapped his arms around Izumo carefully.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only