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 Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 7:17 pm
Yes, yes. There was arm-looping to be had since god only knew that since he was DARKASNIGHT if she lost him, she'd probably not be able to find him again. Which would have resulted in either freezing to death...
....
........
Or being-
NO. She wasn't going to entertain that demise, although she did shudder in horror a bit. One couldn't blame her for her paranoia, though. It was the one thing that had kept her in the house of her torment as long as she had stayed.
And now if anything happened...
...
Y'know, out in the open, there was nowhere she could flee. There was a fence behind her that she'd already prooven herself inept at climbing (especally with the bandaged fingers), and she wasn't dark enough of a form to hide herself much of anywhere in the snow.
In fact, the snow made being dressed darkly a moot point.
Squeeze
She gripped his arm just a little bit tighter and leaned in against his shoulder.
"Reassure me..." she whispered, her frightened tone of voice being all that was really needed on 'what about'.
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:10 pm
... Yeeeah, even he (in his cloud of general emotional CLUELESSNESS) had more or less figured she'd be wary like that...
Though the odd verbal request did still catch him a little off-guard, actually fumbling (in the metaphorical sense, thankfully; if he fell now he'd probably never get back up) for a few moments and just giving her one of those odd sideward looks. Not irritated, of course, but... almost awkward, in a way, as if he didn't quite 'get' the request.
Okay, uh... reassure her? Hadn't the arm linking thing been enough to keep her from worrying about getting separated? Or was it-- oh. Oh.
She meant the other kind of reassurance.
"It'll be fine." He felt a little like a broken (well, limping) record for saying it, but what else could he do? "We're almost there."
And on that note, it was time for a little looking-left-and-right before, with all his guts and bravery (and pain tolerance) bolstered, it was time to plunge into the open. No one seemed to be around, sans a couple of idling shipyard crewmen smoking by the edge of the dock borders, but... no... even they couldn't be trusted not to secretly be keeping an eye out for a man with a bounty on his head like that.
Which meant a (limping) entrance at the far corner of the massive to-dock-platform instead, oh, joy.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:46 am
Yet there was still a sinking feeling in her gut that was wanting to just shove him away into the docks and go off hunting for the danger as a distraction to give him the opportunity to get the hell out of there.
To go without her.
But no, her self preservation told her to hold on, offerring him a weak smile at his words, as they did do something to calm her failing nerves. Which was all they were needed for.
Not to say she didn't hesitate greatly before they stepped out into the open, kind of like a deer into the meadow - Not knowing where adversity could be even in the snow.
But perhaps the falling snow would be enough to shield them from any long-range attacks.
Like guns.
....... Hmmmm, for some reason she wasn't as terrified of the thought of guns as she was of .... god, what was it in that nightmare? What had that man been holding and smacking her repeatedly with? And her kitty...
...
.....
Such a good kitty.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 1:40 pm
Well, it was definitely a good thing she'd swallowed down whatever unintentionally-suicidal urges in her brain, because giving in to them would've, y'know, kinda sorta destroyed the point of all his hard (and somewhat illegal!) work so far. They were after freedom in his mind and... there was no freedom to be had in dying.
Not that he could blame her for hesitating now that they were out from the relative 'cover' in the alleyways, though. In fact, he was just as wary as she was; he simply didn't display it in more than a low growl and a quiet prickling of the tail, moving as quickly as his lame legs would take him. Avoid the main gates, avoid the main gates...
Though damn if even the side passage he'd been aiming to slip through wasn't 'guarded' by a dark figure who seemed to be-- ... smoking a pipe? Was that a law officer he'd have to tear through, or just some lame dock worker who'd let them by?
The only way to find out was a tense and nondescript approach, holding his breath and keeping Tamara purposely to the other side of him as they got closer--
"Hey, guy, s'that you?"
And then the figure suddenly spoke and he froze mid-step, very nearly giving into the 'ATTACK' trigger that went off... until he saw a flash of the face and its familiar cinnamon coat and stopped himself.
"... You're late, y'know," the relatively young (ish) looking Koshka went on, giving his pipe one of those long puffs to blow out a thick smoke ring. "I was damn near ready to leave once I got done smoking. That the girl you're takin' along?"
"...." There was only a stiff nod there, still obviously wary.
"Okay, okay, stop givin' me that look. Move your sorry hides along. I'm not lettin' my engine idle much longer."
W-Wait a second, did this mean they'd actually... managed to get to 'safety' without any more incidents?
Or would at least get there soon enough that way?...
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 1:56 pm
Tamara's body froze at the figure spoke up, almost letting go of Niko's arm immediately to back off and bolt. However, her instinct processes only got her to the point of releasing Niko's arm before her common sense (or was it?) kicked in, grabbing back on to the dark Koshka's arm.
It was better for her to stay nearby and hold on to him, half-hiding her face into his shoulder and giving the stranger a wary look, hiding her frown with Niko's fur.
She wasn't sure about any of this. In fact, all she could feel in her gut was terror. She couldn't see through the fence (Wooden, as chainlink would have frozen in the snow all inconvenient-like), so she couldn't tell if there was anything on the other side..
..
....
Nor could she hear anything.
Everything was muffled by the hat.
Which only caused her to hold onto his arm even tighter, biting her lower lip awkwardly. Okay, she was being just a bit too antsy... but then again, who could blame her? One couldn't expect her to be all 'OHAE' buddy-buddy with every male Koshka she met.
Or every male either.
Niko was just... special.
"Sorry..." she whispered to their 'benefactor' in this case, a weak offerring in exchange for their 'tardiness'...
..
But she was trying to not just bolt.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:41 pm
"Stop apologizing." OUCH, seemed Tamara's whisper had been shutdown before it ever got very far, though the tone Niko used to do it was... awkwardly reserved. Or attemptively so, anyway. The last thing he needed was to personally be responsible for having her bolt away forever when they were so close to salvation. "... There's no reason for it right now."
"Hey, kids," the cinnamon furred fellow interrupted them bluntly, though there was a certain lyrical tone in his voice. "I said get your butts in gear; that wasn't codeword for 'get mushy' or anything. Keep up, would 'ya?"
And with that he suddenly took his pipe out of his teeth, turned it over, and dumped the ashes out into a pile of nearby snow, shoving the whole thing in his pocket before turning on a heel and... starting to walk off?
Which was the cue for Niko (and his cling-on by association) to start trailing after him, tentatively slipping through the rough gates and off along the docks. The various landing stations were surprisingly empty-- most likely because the majority of trade ships were either away in other cities or had made a point of taking off before sundown.
In fact, the little (and relatively rickety looking) ship at the far end of the the walkway was one of the only vessels still present.
"Pick your feet up, kids!" the nameless male called over his shoulder, throwing a glance back to make sure his little 'passengers' were still following as he finally reached the station and, without further ado, grabbed the barely-rusty cabin door and YANKED it open. "In y'go. Cargo's empty in the back, but since I'm feelin' nice and all, you can just sit in the back of the cockpit. Just keep quiet so I can navigate, alright?"
"... Yeah, fine." Well, Niko could sure keep quiet well enough; in fact, he didn't even plan on talking to their little shuttle-friend more than absolutely necessary, giving the innards of the ship a brief leer before, with a certain tenseness, finally giving in and stepping inside.
The pilot's cabin was-- ... huh, small, but... definitely a LOT warmer than the outside air, and the difference was immediate.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:56 pm
Ah ha ha, because frightened nobreeds really got 'mushy' with scary koshkas when they were trying to get the hell out of the open. Which certainly was the situation, currently, the kitten more than happy to try and make a bolt for it,
But it seemed that with holding onto Niko's arm to keep herself from going 'OGODRUN' at the first possible given moment, though she did wince everytime the stranger spoke.
And of course she kept looking around (it was eerily empty), even as she was herded along onto the boat (not to say she didn't nearly bolt from it, her arm going loose and even slipping a bit), and eventually into the warm cabin.
Ohhh, waarrrrrmmmmmmth.
"Thank you.." she offerred awkwardly to the 'captain', stepping in after Niko and finding the first unobstructive corner she could possibly inhabit, planting herself in it quite contently.
Ahhh.
Walls. How much safer they made her feel.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:26 pm
Finally they could breathe a sigh of relief, not only being inside again, but being inside and warm. Or warmer. Sure, the cockpit would've probably been a little chilly for someone in a t-shirt and shorts, but even a light jacket was more than adequate for staying warm inside... or hell, a decent fur coat.
"No problem," the cinnamon furred fellow just shrugged off Tamara's thanks with a casual wave of the hand, waiting until both passengers were situated before throwing all his waiting into a good SLAM of the door, twisting the bolt shut and sliding over to a single (rickety) chair where the controls were located.
"S'not like you're the first couple of strange kids I've shuttled outta here, anyway..." Wait, what had that comment been about? "Keep those rears planted firm-- this old girl takes off a bit rough..."
Niko sure didn't have a problem with staying in his place-- seeing as his legs had more or less given OUT underneath him as soon as he limped over to the same corner (well, the adjacent wall beside it), good leg drawn up with one knee bent and the not-so-good leg... sprawled out, pants sporting a whole new lovely (if not hard to see) stain.
Perhaps he'd pushed himself a little further than he should h-- O SHI--
As forewarned the ship suddenly lurched right then, earning a slight hiss as they trembled and the engine thrummed and all of a sudden the clunky jittering and rattling lessened to... nothing... and they'd left the ground, just like that.
They were really finally getting out of there at last.
Thank god.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:41 pm
And Tamara had been more than happy to sidle up right next to him, burrowing up against his side and resting her head against his shoulder with a tired sigh.
"Wake me when we get there..." she whispered tiredly, moving the arm she'd been leaning against so she could lean better against his side and leaning back against him.
The dreams seemed to come almost immediately when she closed her eyes.
Neko, neko. Come come, neko neko!
She couldn't really tell who the man watching was, but she walked from somewhere or other in her dream, a black kitten following after her and meowing.
Her kitty...
.
Kitty..
.....
........
Kit....ty...
...
And then it was just dark slumber.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 10:44 pm
She really... seemed to like that whole close contact thing, didn't she?...
It was something he still didn't understand in the slightest, but at the same time, made no effort to scold her for either-- just sat there and allowed, stiffly, silently, accommodatingly. If she could sleep through the ride and drown herself in dreams more pleasant than the real world... so be it. All the more power to her.
He'd just keep watch all the while, leering at the back of the pilot's chair and the swishing tail of their cinnamon furred 'savior' with bleary... not quite... focus... Nn, he needed to make sure nothing went awry, but...
... s**t, the warm air and sitting down thing was getting to him more than he wanted it to now.
Kitty, kit... ty, k... i... t...........
"... Huh, well look at that," the nameless male commented upon looking over his shoulder and finding not just the no-breed girl dozing, but her much more ferocious looking 'pet', too, sagged against the back of the wall and even resting the side of his cheek on her hat. "Must've had a helluva day, I guess..."
But at least that day was over, and he knew of a decent pair at his destination who'd probably be happy to take in the pathetically straggling couple, so it was well enough. After all, they'd been delighted to receive the first throwaway months back...
Yes, everything would be just fine... somehow.
Karma seriously owed it to them both.
~Fin
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