Tail of Two Nekos II [NoiselessKnife]

[EmmaliaChan]

"Bah," Robert replied, waving the other senior off. "Suppose next time I'll use morse code to ask if you feel like company, rather than a letter," The white-haired male turned and playfully waggled his hand against the back of his head.

He eagerly sat down to help set up the board, his ear to ear grin still glued firmly to his face. The perpetual bachelor was sure he hadn't smiled half as much as he had that night in at least twenty years; Khajag had been even more sorely missed than he thought. Taking his pal's goading with little resistance, he moved a pawn forward a single square almost instantly to spite Khajag - sure it was poor, strategically, but hey, it was fun to prove his pal wrong. Maybe it'd confuse him, too.

"Why not both? If I'm spoiling myself with cooking that's not my pitiful excuse for food, I should do the same for poor Midori," He softly rubbed the base of her velvety black ear, his eyes showing a bit of affection towards her. "She has to put up with my awful 'skill', too." Though he wouldn't describe his cooking as inedible, 'awful' was a tiny bit of an overstatement. He could cook competently enough, but nothing Robert ever made couldn't be effectively and thoroughly described by the word 'bland'.[/b]

[NoiselessKnife]

“That is, if you can remember the morse code correctly” Khajag said as he advanced his other knight. He too felt at ease, today was not an ordinary day and his usual loneliness felt long forgotten, he did no longer feel the stress of when would Robert return for now he had company that he cared about just as much: Kyouko’s. “Oh yeah, I nearly feel pity for your neko, I’d suggest that you’d hired a healer, for you’ll find yourself lacking antidotes for those poisonous brewages that you prepare in your cauldron” The blue eyed man said before turning his head to Jeremiahs when he noticed him passing by.

“Jeremiahs! Do please make us a favor, bring us snacks, some drinks, and some milk for our nekos” He requested before turning his attention to Kyouko briefly, caressing her ears once more, if only to reassure himself that he now could do that and then looking at the game again. “You and your darned first move from the lighting strategy, you fooled me once, old man, don’t expect to fool me twice” The elder stated before sighing. “When the hell are you going to hire a cook, Robert? Last time you cooked meat balls, I ended up digesting them for quite a couple of months.”


After some moments, their snacks consisting in a big plate with canapés, pastries, ham and cheese, a drink for each of the men and a rather big glass of milk for each of the nekos. “Eat up” Khajag offered as he took a swing of his drink.

Midori moved hesitantly and sniffed the glass before taking it and sniffing it again, with careful laps she tasted the milk and awaited for a reaction of those around her, if there was none then she would keep drinking.

[EmmaliaChan]

A sly smirk appeared on Robert's face, and he rushedly moved his bishop into position, still reacting quickly to every move. The thought of paying a cook caused his face to twist in distaste; leave his own hands to idle? Surely he'd rot faster that way. "I'll hire one when I'm too old and stale to cook for myself, of course," He laughed and gave Midori's head a few affectionate pats. "Or when my little one decides enough is enough,"

"Why, look at those beautiful pastries!" Despite his honest ideals and his striving to be self-sufficient, the one poor habit he was never quite able to suppress was his sweet tooth - every incisor, canine, and molar in his mouth was one, and he loved anything that tasted sugary. Plucking one of the sweets from the tray, he took a bite of the scrumptious confection and closed his eyes as he enjoyed it. "Mmm... Maybe I should get a cook, after all."

Kyouko guzzled her milk down nearly as soon as it was in her hands, savoring every drop of the white liquid that slid down her throat. It had been too long since she'd last had any, and right then it was the best thing she'd ever tasted in her entire life. Afterward, she eyed up the other neko's milk, as she didn't seem nearly as interested in it as she herself had been - if she didn't want it, Kyouko'd be more than willing to take it herself!

[NoiselessKnife]

“Robert, you ARE already too old and stale to cook.” Khajag said while moving a pawn to let his left bishop move freely. “Look at you, when was the last time you had pastries?” The old man grinned and shrugged. “Oh yes, I did want to ask you some other things,” He stated a bit more seriously. “Where could I find a healer or a breeder that would not lie to me for the sake of robbing me? I need to learn a bit more about taking care of my own neko.” It was not a secret that he was quite a hermit, even his servants knew that, after some incident the man had started to refuse most invitations and had stopped going to parties or other events. Currently, Robert was the only other human welcomed in his manor.

“I do not trust normal healers; they invent diseases in order to strip the client from his money. And I’d rather not see Kyouko going through any unnecessary treatment,” He huffed while he moved to take a piece of cheese and eat it. “One of my servants was absent for a week because a woman saying that he needed to stay in bed and have certain bugs in order to avoid getting sicker.”


Midori looked up from her milk as she kept lapping at it, enjoying the feeling of it’s, well, milky texture against her tongue, she noticed the other neko eyeing her milk and blinked in confusion, was this the other neko’s milk? But no of the adults had said anything as to prevent her from taking it. Still…

“Was i-it yours?” She asked to the other neko.

[EmmaliaChan]

"A long, long time ago, my friend," The dark skinned man stated after swallowing the last bite of the confection. "Which is good! If I could more readily obtain them, I'd surely be the size of a house by now."

With a smile, Robert nodded at his question. "I know just the person for you," He said, taking a small notepad out of his pocket and pulling a pen out from its binding. Quickly scribbling down a name (Mari) and an address in his signature chicken scratch lettering, he tore the paper from the book and handed it over to Khajag. "She's a friend of mine, not a breeder or an official doctor, but she knows more about medicine than most of the quacks around here," He gave Midori's ears a few idle strokes as he added, "She's been pestering me wanting to meet Midori, as well, so if you desire company I'd be more than happy to tag along."

Taking a bit longer to make his move this time, he soon moved one of his pawns.



Kyouko stared intently at the other neko, ears flattened against her head. At the question, she simply nodded, practically drooling at the thought of getting more milk.

[NoiselessKnife]

` “You should have been a healer yourself, just reading your writing, ol’ fellow, gives me a headache” The blue eyed man said before smiling. ”Perfect and why haven’t you shown him your neko yet? Are you afraid that she’ll try to heal your cracking joints?” He asked while analyzing the next move and deciding to start making his left knight move. “Still, you could very well use some skin in those ol’ bones. We aren’t in times of starving ourselves to captivate young maiden’s hearts any longer, Robert, do give yourself pleasure now” The once blond man recommended.

“Like old matrons, we’re in time of enjoying what’s left of life. Good wine, good food, and company, that’s what we need” Khajag explained his friend as he scratched Kyouko’s ears, letting the nekos get used to each other.

Midori sniffed the air and just looked at Kyouko, she reminded her of the Cat-King legend that the other fighters loved to whisper about, a brownish pelted neko with blazing red eyes that had escaped and never been see again after murdering a human. For the neko fighters and slaves, legends of their kind were their only source of entertainment and, for Midori, the Cat-King was one of the legends she liked, because the “evil” doer was strong, massive and, for once, had a pelt that was not dark.

With careful moves, the green eyed neko moved to the table before putting her glass on it and, slowly, moving it towards Kyouko before retreating to her master’s side. She was not starving and, if the other neko was the owner of the house, then she should give her something as tribute, she guessed. Just like with the other nekos she had found.

[EmmaliaChan]

"She's quite a bit out of the way," He replied plainly, adjusting his queen piece with a chuckle. "Her expertise is in animal and neko medicine, anyway, so I doubt she could do much for my old bones." Robert rolled his shoulders and gave his neck a crack, the conversation causing his brain to note their stiffness. After a good crrrk, his joints felt a little more languid, but not much.

"I suppose you have a point, I should get fat and happy like those old rich men," The dark-skinned man patted his belly happily and took an opportunity to pluck another of the tasty pastries from the platter. Truthfully, he'd never been one to woo the ladies, even if he'd had some fun with them back in his prime. Relationships would cost him time... Precious time better spent doing work and earning his keep. "I'm sure I could still work even if I had some fluff on me."


Kyouko, pleased with the offer, quickly snatched the glass from the table and guzzled it down, letting out a rumbling purr after the last drop slid from the cup. She hadn't previously liked that there was another neko on her turf, but this one didn't seem too awfully bad. Inching towards the dark pelted neko, she kept her head low as if prowling on prey, her approach slow and steady.

[NoiselessKnife]

Frowning, Khajag stared at his game before moving a pawn. “You’d look stronger, for one, and for other, the stronger you look in this old age, the more respect you get. If we get all thin and gray we’ll be having those social vultures following us everywhere, just wanting to see when we’ll die so they can inherit our things” The man said, bitterly remembering why he had left the fancy life behind. “Which reminds me, have you gotten an apprentice yet, Robert? We both know that, unless a sudden bastard appears from nowhere, we both don’t have heirs. Excepting some family members that I’d rather not mention, of course”

Taking a few canapés, the man ate them slowly. “So that leaves us with that to solve, and I’d like to know how you’re going to solve it. While you have still a long way of work ahead of you, you’ll need help sooner or later, I could help but I fear I’d just bust my back there” The white haired man shrugged.

Midori went very, very still, knowing that, like the elder nekos in other places, this one was going to examine her, and she tried to not to give any wrong signs towards it. It was not easy and she ended up being quiet, with one ear up and the flattened sideways, her mouth closed as to not to show her fangs, her claws retreated and her tail twirling lazily in a classic “interested” movement.

[EmmaliaChan]

"Why, I'll will all my things to Midori, of course," He said, half-joking and half-serious. Nekos were not allowed to legally own property, but be damned if he'd let the government stop him from giving his little girl his things. "As for an apprentice, well... My 'master' was a busy man with plenty of apprentices to teach his trade. The skill won't die out with me." His father having taught him everything as his son, the promiscuous old man's many other sons also got the same treatment.

"Having to choose help is hard, though! I'd welcome a bastard," Robert replied with a guffaw, taking a long swig of his drink. Truth be told, he wouldn't be too awfully surprised if there was one out there. Though his 'sow his wild oats' phase was short-lived, who knew what had resulted from it? He was reckless as a boy.



Kyouko crept closer, her red eyes widening a bit as her brows furrowed downward, making her curious expression almost look angry. Her tail was stiff as a board, and she didn't stop until she was nose to nose with the other little neko. Sniff. Sniff, sniff. Well, she smelled like a normal neko. Her tongue poked out of her mouth briefly, flicking against the tip of Midori's sniffer. She tasted like a normal neko.

Kyouko could deal with a normal neko! She'd had lots of those around before!

Tail waving back and forth excitedly, looking a lot like a flag as she held it up, she offered a fangy grin to the newcomer. "Kyouko accepts you! Be honored!" The brunette neko declared before pouncing on the other girl, pinning her playfully to the floor.

[NoiselessKnife]

“I would do the same with Kyouko, I prefer her having my life-earned heritage than any other human getting their dirty hands on it… but we both know that it doesn’t work like that, don’t we, Robert? As soon as we disappear anyone would try to get our things and get rid of our nekos.” The old man commented grimly. “Or worse,” making sure that the nekos were not looking, he made a swift ‘slash’ movement across his throat. “That’s why I was commenting on the apprentice’s business.”

With some more munches to his snacks, the man leaned back on his couch. “So, I was thinking, why don’t we do a small travel? To the brothels, to the whore houses, to all those places from which we ran away while dressing ourselves when we were young and foolish,” Clearing his throat a bit he ordered for more wine to the nearest servant. “We might not be young anymore, but we’re still foolish enough to go back and see if we left any unconcluded business there.” The man proposed seriously.

The dark haired neko stood very still but couldn’t help but blink a couple of times and wrinkle her nose a bit when she was licked, looking as if pouting against a nasty flavor and, all of a sudden she was pinned down. Giving out a light and surprised mewl, the neko found herself under the cat-king look-alike before nodding gravely. “Thank you” She whispered as she began to sniff Kyouko in a more determined manner, as to recognize her scent later on. There wasn’t much difference from Kyouko’s scent to that of other nekos, but Midori was pretty much calm, knowing that her master would not bring her into a dangerous place.

Lifting herself a bit, to get closer to the reddish neko’s head, Midori bunted her very lightly in a respectful and more formal salutation.