A Special Present

[SaphireTsuki]

After a bit of wobbling she scooted her leg away from the one with Ren on it, letting out a small sigh. "It's those ears of yours, isn't it? Being so much bigger you must hear a lot more than me." So, she would have to cover them, "Try pinning the ears on top against your head, see if that helps. If... if you can't I'll see about getting some soft cotton to stuff them in, so the sound gets muffled." Because he had to try to block out the sound...

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Ren nods even more quickly, doing as she commands and he hunkers his head down and his ears go flat to his head as hard as they can. But he still jumps when the thunder rumbles the house and sniffles, shaking his head frantically up at her and his fingers dig into her calf a bit roughly as he tenses. His tail joining his other appendages by also encircling her ankle and he did not seem intent on letting go until his ears stopped hurting every time the thunder crackled the sky and lightning flared up like a miniature sun.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

Saphire winced, feeling the pain of his fingers digging into her skin, but she bent down and put her hand on his head. Ok, how to calm down someone who can... hear through his own ears? Maybe she should sing? But she wasn't particularly good at it... "It's ok, Ren, the power's just out. We're fine." THere had to be some way of making this right, of making him calm down a bit...

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Ren sniffles, whimpering and pressing his face to her pant leg before hiccuping and wetting her pants with his tears. Jumping and pressing tighter to her leg after the next thunder rumbling and he even bites down on her leg to keep himself from yowling, not hard enough to hurt but... to sting. Definitely enough to sting as tears bead in his eyes and he clenches them tighter.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

Ok, she definitely had to do something about this. She couldn't sing, so she'd give a lesson, and hope that it helped him. "Rainclouds are known as cumulous, especially the thunderclouds, and are actually collections of water vapor that have condensed into a lighter-than-air formation, commonly known only as a cloud. Thunder is the sound of the cloud reforming after lightning has split it, and..." It continues.

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

(*dies laughing* xD )


Ren whimpers and looks up at her, a completely blank and bewildered expression on his features, he still flinches at each thunderclap but her lesson was so...boring and.. impossible for him to learn he at least seemed slightly distracted from the thunder. At least... until it was done, then he goes right back to clenching around her leg like a vice and shivering like a leaf. Science, believe it or not, was NOT the strong-suit of the completely oblivious and uneducated half-cat boy Neko.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

((Well, she can't sing, so...))


Seeing as the lesson didn't work, but her talking had in fact helped, she let out a small sigh and started to shuffle over to one of the bookcases. "Let's see if a story will help..." Was she going to be able to... by some miracle she could walk alongside the floor by dragging the leg with Ren on it, until she'd grabbed the book she'd chosen. "Now all I need is some light... oh, there's the candle!" She had to be careful not to put it where Ren could knock it over, but then she'd be able to read until ren was able to fall asleep again.

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Ren does NOT fall asleep, in fact he only gets more and more terrified, as, instead of reading something SENSIBLE to put someone to sleep with... Saphire elected to instead read something dealing the harsh and horrible treatment of people in slavery. Making Ren curl up tighter and tighter in her lap as he bites down on his knuckles in fear. Wincing and shivering at some of the more graphic scenes.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

Saphire, pausing on turning to face Ren, winced. "Not a good choice for you, was it..." Darnit, she never seemed to get anything right with people. How best to... oh, she'd make up a different story, instead of reading it. C-could she think of something better? Maybe... maybe a fake fairy tale? I've never read any fairytales... darnit. Everything I have either has to do with science, or with various things that are quite dark. "Umm... d-do you want me to try and make a happy story instead?"

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Ren's ears perk up when she offers to make up a happy story and he nods eagerly. Mewling and shaking a little less as he grips her shirt and presses closer to her, sniffling and nuzzling her shoulder as he blinks up at her, his tail slowly encircling her side and waits for her to begin.......

 

[SaphireTsuki]

She gulped, but wrapped one arm around him in a soothing way, before licking her lips and starting. "L-long ago in a faraway land, there lived a young woman. She loved her father very much, and traveled around with him from place to place, hoping that everything would remain the same. They were traders, people who buy and sell things for giving to others." H-how to go on with this? J-just the setting wouldn't be enough...

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Ren stares up at her with wide eyes, his hands gripping and bunching up her shirt as she has his full, undivided attention. His ears are entirely perked up in interest, his tail swishes back and forth rapidly, and he doesn't even seem to notice the storm outside. His ears not even twitching slightly whenever thunder rumbles the house, he simply... stares at her, and waits. Purring a tiny bit and nuzzling into the arm she wraps around him, obviously enjoying the affection.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

"One day the two traders came to a particular town. In this town there was more technology than they'd ever seen. The two of them were ecs- very happy! These were things they could sell in the next town for much money, enough to hire someone else to help as well! The daughter, trying to please her father, insisted she go and learn more about these. 'But daughter,' her father replied, 'we need to move on. Let's just buy something simple to sell.'" She was starting to warm up to the story.


"Father no,' the daughter cried, 'we could make a fortune if we learned how to make just one of these!'"

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Ren shivers a bit at the more emotional parts, but his attention stays raptly on Saphire as she tells more of her story, giving a small yawn and nuzzling against her chest as he blinks slowly up at her. His tail curling a bit as it's swishing begins to calm down and his grip on her shirt relaxes bit by bit as he slowly begins to fall asleep. Giving her a small "Mewwr....." as he yawns again and his eyes are almost shut at this point. His tail having stopped moving entirely and he takes a deep, sleepy sigh.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

Saphire stops telling the story at this point, keeping in mind where she was, and asked the small Neko "Do you want me to stop, and save it for another time? We can go to bed, if you want." It was about time for her to get a new candle anyway, as the one she'd had earlier was starting to sputter.

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Ren is now barely conscious, curled up tightly in her arms and he whimpers softly, his brow furrowing as he obviously tries to stay awake. Slowly cracking his eyes open just the tiniest bit. Giving her a tiny squeak of "M-Meww?" He hugs his arms close to his chest and nuzzle her own, snoring softly and whispering out in those soft, even breathes "S-Sa...ave." With that, he was out cold.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

Then save it I will... wait! The cat was asleep on top of her again! And this time she didn't have the heart to wake him up! Still, it sucked that she was starting to get used to him being next to her all the time. He's just a kitten, really. Or kid. It's not like boundaries make any sense to him... so she closed her eyes, focusing on trying to go to sleep again, planning on letting the candle die out on it's own.

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

(Short plot-post incoming!)


The next morning as Saphire wakes up, Ren is no longer on her lap.... in fact, he isn't even in the living room anymore....

 

[SaphireTsuki]

Saphire, confused at the sudden lack of Ren, began to search the house for him. First by looking around the bedroom, and then moving through the cabin from there, calling as she did his name. Where had that Neko gone, and why was he gone? All yesterday the cat had stuck to her like glue, never leaving her side even when it might hurt her, unless he was distracted. There had to be something going on...

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Throughout her entire bedroom, there wasn't even a sign the little Neko had been IN there, let alone having curled up there to ride out the rest of the night. The kitchen looks utterly unchanged as well, no feet and hand-prints, nothing knocked over, nothing at all. The living room looks largely the same as well, save for things she moved last night.. nothing... wait. The front door clacks softly in the wind, not completely closed shut.....

 

[SaphireTsuki]

Seeing the door open she rushed outside, trying to find Ren. Still calling his name intermittently, she tried to find him without stopping. Were there tracks? If she saw any that looked like him she'd follow. If not, where was he most likely to go? THe river, because of fish? The deeper part of the forest, where there were animals and plants for him to innocently chase? W-what if he was hurt?! What if he couldn't answer her!?

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Immediately upon stepping outside, Saphire is met with a horrific sight. A large, hulking bear snarls and...and is eating... something. A small brown tail laying limply on the ground before it as it's maw drips with blood. No sooner than she sees this than does the worst thing of all happens... she wakes up.... Finding Ren right where she left him and everything just fine.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

Eyes wide in terror Saphire looks down, seeing Ren right where she left him. Breathing out a small breath of relief she moves one hand to pet him, the other gripping onto the seat with everything she could give it. R-ren... Ren had just... in her dream he had... A-and it was her fault for not making sure he was safe! I... I almost got even more blood on my hands. And this time it was someone... someone so innocent! Ragged breathing started to accelerate, even as one part of her brain reminded her that bears didn't eat human-sized prey, mainly salmon and plants. Panic was starting to set in, and if one were to look up they'd see her eyes were like pinpricks, she couldn't see anything anymore... except for that last scene, all the blood and the poor Neko that was dead because of her, even in a dream... o-or was this the dream?

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Ren squirms softly in his sleep, inadvertently rolling onto his back and mewls out a soft yawn and arches his back, purring pleasantly before slowly blinking his eyes awake. His tail giving a little flick beside him and when he gets his eyes all the way open and sees her, he smiles brightly and purrs louder. Giving her stomach an affectionate nuzzles as his tail swishes against her leg. He gently reaches up, tilting his head in concern and cups her cheek as his ears tilt a little "M-Mewwr?" It seems Ren was at least able to recognize when she looked upset and he leans up, licking her uncovered cheek as before nuzzling it with his own cheek.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

Blinking slightly she returned her focus to Ren, eyes slowly refocusing on where she was, instead of what she' just dreamt. And instead of being grossed out by the Neko's actions, or indeed really reacting to them, she just brought him into a hug. Breathlessly muttering "I'm sorry" over and over, not letting him go. Now that he was awake he could notice that she was shaking, much like he had been late last night.