Welcome to Gaia! ::

The feline purred a bit when picked up, but then made a simple request. "A bit closer and a smidge higher, Hugbell..."

Iris gave the only warning. "You hug me, I will punch ya." Hugging rights were very restricted, and even a small kid did not fit the list of acceptable huggers in her life. This was reserved for her parents and Hank. Not even her closest friends were allowed real hugs. The closest they could get were half-shoulder hugs.

If Iris had her way, ********* would have never hugged her. Never ever. Yet somehow that damned cat had caught her off guard when she assisted in bringing Iris up to the next level of power. Feather butt-bows and gay hugs. Just what the tomboy hated.

"You better not punch her, Iris. Grow up already!"

"Yes, this works perfectly. Thank you, Hugbell!" From the current height, the manx could definitely see Iris' face much clearer. It made having a conversation all that much easier. To show her appreciation, the cat smooshed her face against the small child's body before resuming her attentive posture.

There were honestly so many ways Iris could have answered the question about meanness. She could have been honest and told the child that she essentially stood for everything that Iris hated in life. Or perhaps she could have pointed out she just wasn't being mean, she was just being herself. Regardless, it seemed like the pout had no effect on the eternal senshi. Boredly, she sighed in the kid's direction.

"If I'm so mean, then don't be my friend, kid. Either way, I don't jus' 'give away' my friendship. All my friends have earned that title. Ya can't just swoop in an' expect everyone t'be yer friend."

The mention of Castor caused Iris to almost curse out again. "Oh god, Castor? That f..."

"...Fantastic senshi, Castor?!"

Iris really needed to wash her mouth out with soap at some point. "We have not seen him since Christmas Eve. I have actually been looking for him recently."

"...you have?" That was news to Iris.

"Unlike you, Iris, I have a heart. Plus, you should know by now I am not a house cat." Her bell jingled after she offered a firm nod to accent her point.

"Didn't notice until those Nega-asses were already swarmed on him..." It was an honest assessment of what had happened.

"...there was a lot going on, so many were distracted." ********* leaned forward and rubbed her cheek against the child's arm. "You just promise us you'll be careful..."

An eyebrow quirked at the mention of one word. Us? Since when was Sailor Iris part of this concerned group? Nevermind the fact it was the teen that had already pointed out that Hugbell probably need others to save her. She had been stating a fact, not concerned.

Right?

Without skipping a beat, the feline continued on. "She might not let it on, but Iris' heart is in the right place..."

"God damn it Cat, what th'hell ya goin' on 'bout?!"

"...see what I mean..."

In a normal tone, the cat replied to the child's whispers. "I honestly don't think she's too scary if you know how to handle her..."

The hinted words the child whispered to the cat seemed to cause a grin to form on the teen's lips. She leaned forward so she was almost face to face with Hugbell, her grin still growing larger the closer she got. "Scary is totally a good word... another good word is badass!"

"That's two words, and you really need to watch your language, Iris," a friendly voice interjected.

"I'll say whatever th'f*ck I want, Cat!" Golden yellow eyes glanced back to the cat for a moment before returning to the buttery yellow ones. "If I wasn't so 'scary'... then I probably would have been runnin' away from a youma like you were." With that, the teenage senshi stood herself back up to her full height, then firmly patted the child on the head.

"Toughen up, kid... that's how yer gonna survive all this..."

There was a sigh from the cat that was between the two senshi. "Hugbell, you should do as you see fit. It isn't Iris' place to tell you what you should do. She may have some good advice woven into her words, but it isn't her place."

Turning away, the eternal senshi groaned out "Ain't like yer givin' any amazin' advice..."

"...Chibi... Moon...?" The tall senshi's left eyebrow lofted up slightly. Wasn't there supposed to be a Sailor Moon? Chibi Moon didn't sound quite like it was the right senshi. "Whoever th'hell ChibiMoon is... she ain't th'boss of ya."

"Iris... language!" the cat sharply reminded.

"Whatever... point is... ain't 'er job t'tell ya what ya can and can't do." Iris' shoulders rolled into a shrug. "Ya wanna learn, then ya learn. Dunno who yer gonna learn from..."

"Almost sounds like you are volunteering..."

Leaning in and flicking the cat along the nose, the senshi of Rainbows snapped "No, I ain't! I ain't th'sort t'go easy on people..."

Where as most felines would have hissed out some sort of complaint, ********* just took the abuse to her nose, the velvety nose twitching slightly. The manx began to wriggle in the girl's arms, meaning that she was probably ready to get set down. "I suspect what she's trying to say is... maybe take a class amongst your peers to try and learn combat? You know, like karate or something like that."

"Oh yeah... totally what I said..." Sarcasm was dripping off every word.

"Crystal Tokyo... sounds made up..."

As soon as the manx was on the ground, she literally charged at Sailor Iris, using her head to ram against the teen's leg.

Gold eyes glanced down for a moment and spotted a less than thrilled face on the cat. "What?!!! It does sound made up!!!!!"

********* turned back to face the child, eyes upon the buttery yellow ones. "It is up to you as to how you convince your parents. You know them better than anyb..."

"Tell'em there's a bully at school!" Iris interjected.

"Iris, please!"

"It's a damned good idea an' ya know it! There's always a bully at school. Ya can't avoid it an' it wouldn't be lyin'! She doesn't have t'say th'bully's been botherin' 'er... jus' say she wants t'know how t'defend herself if th'bully bothers 'er..."

This was the girl that seemed to cause the poor cat to sigh the most. "Hugbell... it is up to you how you want to sort this all out... take Iris' advice or don't... it's up to you..." With a slight nod at the child, ********* then stated "Now, before Iris can give anymore of her wonderful advice... we will take our leave. It has been nice seeing you again, Hugbell!"

"Oh, ha ha," Iris' voice almost groaned in a sarcastic manner. Not being the sentimental sort, the blonde just half-waved a hand at the child. "See ya 'round, kid..." With that, the yellow suited senshi was off and running with a pale feline bounding after her.