the_lioness | (no subject)

(no subject)

*It's early.

Disgustingly early - the sort of early that makes you wonder why you bothered to crawl into bed at all.

Granted, 8 AM might not qualify as disgustingly early to some people, but it certainly does to Alanna. She had done a poor job of drawing the curtains the night before, and a thin shaft of sunlight heats the right side of her face. Groaning, she rolls closer to Adam.*

Great Mother, I swear I'm going to drape black cloth over that window and sleep for days.

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*Adam melodramatically drapes a hand over his eyes so as to block out the light.*

I hope you're not expecting me to stop you.

*Alanna grumbles and pulls a pillow over her head, kissing his shoulder in the process.*

No, no. Of course not.

Myles, stop playing with my hair.

*Myles meows. Loudly. Probably near Adam's ear.*

*Adam winces as Miles prances over his head, heedless of claws.*

Ow. I-

*He sighs, sitting up, and grabs the pillow.*

'f I'm up, you're up.

*Blinking, Alanna gives Adam a morose look.*

Fine.

Faithful never did this. Faithful had too much pride to beg. Faithful let me... sleep...? Right. Two out of three is not bad.

But at least he woke me up for important things.

*Still grousing, she throws the covers back and stands, running her fingers through her hair.*

I'll be human momentarily.

Faithful?

*Adam looks at her expectantly, hoping that Faithful is the name of a previous pet.*

You look pretty human to me.

Yes, Faithful. *Wrinkling her nose, she giggles and walks over, leaning in for a kiss.* Faithful, my cat with the matching eyes. The Goddess' familiar, if you will? She gave him to me.

He talked to me.

*As if on cue, Myles meows again.*

*Adam reaches over to grab Myles by the scruff of his neck, but brings him to his chest, petting him.*

He talked to you?

*Alanna grins crookedly at them, forgetting to be annoyed at the hour.*

Aye. He wasn't really a cat. It was not long after I turned fifteen, I think. I was still a good distance from Corus after fetching a document for Myles. There was a storm coming, so I took shelter, and later that evening, a small black kitten with eyes as purple as mine wandered into my camp. *She shrugs, scritching Myles' ear.* The Goddess visited me for the first time a few minutes later. Told me I was her Chosen, and I had things I had to do. After, she gave me the emberstone and asked Faithful to guard me.

For the rest of his life, I understood what he said. Occasionally, others did too, depending on if he wanted them to or not. Mostly to annoy me, I think.

He scratched Roger. For that alone, I loved him.

*Adam laughs*

I'm sure I would've liked him, then.

I wonder what goes through Dog's head. What he would say, if he could talk.

*She kisses his cheek and scoops Myles out of his arms, setting him on her shoulder.*

He would have liked you too, though I'm sure he would have told you things that would have made my toes curl.

I want to meet Dog. *She smiles, tugging on Adam's hand. Myles looks at him expectantly. Food. Food. Fooooood.* Adoration for you, I'm certain. Food, play time and chewing on things, definitely.

I often wonder that about other animals. They see more than most people realize.

You think so?

*He lets her pull him up, and stumbles into her, a full body hug. Ignoring Myles' pleas for food, he kisses her.*

M'hungry.

*Myles leaps to the ground with a disgruntled Mrrowwwwr and weaves his way between their ankles. Alanna ignores him, first kissing Adam, then content to hug him for a moment.*

Me too. I can... make coffee? *She looks up at him apologetically.* But food is a bit harder to come by. I haven't raided Gil's kitchen in a few days.

*Adam looks pretty content as well, not making any motion to move.*

Coffee. Then food.

*He looks at her, aghast.*

Does this mean we'll have to venture out into there?

*She rubs her cheek against his chest, smiling.*

Aye, sadly.

*He looks at her, and then at himself, and back at her.*

S'pose that means we should put on real clothing.

I suppose. Also a pity.

*Alanna laughs and stands on her toes, kissing him one last time before moving off to find clothes. Shivering, she grabs a sweater and pulls it over her head, then tugs on a pair of recently acquired jeans.

She likes jeans.*

*And Adam likes the way they look on her. He watches her dress before finding some of his clothes in a heap. Giving the shirt a good sniff to make sure it's still at least sort of fresh, he pulls it on, followed by his own jeans. A big yawn, and he's searching for his shoes. There should be two of them. He remembers having two of them at some point.*

*She rather likes the way he looks in jeans as well, and tilts her head to admire him for a moment. Biting back a smile, she kicks the missing shoe toward him from near the bathroom. How it got all the way over there is anyone's guess. Still barefoot, she whistles and wanders into the sitting room, promptly bumping into something and muttering an oath as she rubs her shin.*

Blast it all. I should clean up, I think. Eventually.

*From the bed where he's putting on his shoes, Adam laughs. Not too loudly.*

've seen worse, you know.

Not much, but I have.

If I put it all away, I'd never find anything.

*Shaking her head, she grins and wanders into the kitchen.*

At least it's not dirty. Just messy. I had to cultivate these masculine tendencies, you know. Filter, filter... Remember the filter. Do you want to go forage for food or shall I?

*An eyebrow shoots up as he comes up behind her.*

Masculine tendencies?

*There's a slight snicker. Only a slight one.*

Do you suppose a team effort might be safer?

*Bumping her shoulder against his, she snickers, not looking up from her careful measuring of coffee grounds.*

Yes. Being messy, spitting, scratching in inappropriate places... that sort of thing.

Sadly, the first one stuck. Suddenly I feel like I should do something especially nice for the palace servants.

*She pours the water in the pot and nods, reaching out for his hand.*

Perhaps that would be best. We can carry more together.

*He smiles at her, and it's a calm, comfortable smile.*

Right, then. Set the coffee, and let's be off. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get back.

Mmmmm, coffee.

*She flicks the switch and hurriedly feeds the cats. Smiling, she leads the way, carefully sidestepping a stack of books, a pile of weapons and the still sleeping Thea, curled up by the fireplace.*

Goddess, it's nice to see someone is sane. I wonder if Thom will ever take her back. *She frowns, reaching out for the door handle.*

*The door opens and Adam, preoccupied with the thought of FOOD, walks through it... tripping over something. A very small something. A sort of sad and small something.*