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 Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 8:38 pm
"Cyprinus it is an honor to meet you…really!" she added when he gave her a funny look. "A sushi chef? That is so interesting. Your restaurant does not offer a catering service, does it? Perhaps you have served at one of my many parties."Queen Dementia rolled this idea around in her head but could not recall seeing the blue Noodle before. "I am sure your restaurant and home will be just fine for me to visit. I’ve never actually been to a restaurant before. I usually just send someone out to get me food, so this will be like an adventure for me!"
She noticed Cyprinus glance over his shoulder, looking rather dismayed. Following his gaze, she saw a net of salmon being viciously torn apart by some rather greedy looking seagulls. Was that his net? Oh! she thought, He must have been fishing before he came jumped in the ocean to save me. He must have worked all day to catch that many fish. Queen Dementia lowered her head in shame. Even though it was not her fault for getting in trouble (at least not that she could remember), she felt bad that he had lost his days hard work.
She almost opened her mouth to apologize for his lose, but thought better of it. He probably felt bad enough about losing his catch anyway. No need for her to go and point out the obvious and make it worse. Brushing her hair out of her face she got up when he stood. He beckoned her to follow him to his restaurant. Queen Dementia followed eagerly. She could not wait to wash the sand out of her hair and lay down for a good night’s rest. "I will gladly follow you Cyprinus. I have had quite enough excitement for one day, I think."
She trailed a few steps behind him as he led the way. It was really dark now. Street lamps started flickering on and the dock was totally empty. There were a few Noodles still wandering along the beach but other than that it was just them. The quiet gentle noise of the ocean lulled her almost to sleep. Luckily Cyprinus’ bright orange fins were almost like a neon sign in the dark and kept her heading in the right direction. I hope we do not have to walk too far, she said to herself, I’m so tired I can barely lift my hooves. Although I am anxious to see what this Noodle’s house looks like. She perked up a bit when she saw a row of buildings approaching. Were they finally arriving at their destination?
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 1:31 pm
Cyprinus smiled cautiously at her question, trying to think if they had catered to a...princess? queen? duchess? some other royalty? Besides that, it had been a long time since they had even offered catering services, the others lately just didn't seem interested for some reason. He shook his head a little.
"We used to run a catering service, but nothing recently. I don't recall ever serving at a party of uh...your style anyway..."
He tried to go at a reasonably swift pace, as Dementia seemed worn out from the day, and he glanced over his shoulder every so often to make sure he wasn't going to fast or too slow for the noble. He had never been instructed on the proper pace at which to escort royalty, and ruefully wondered if there was a certain pattern of steps he was supposed to be making? It was unnerving to think of what might happen to him if he was unintentionally committing some grievous mistake. He didn't want to spend the rest of his days in a dungeon somewhere!
Arriving at their destination, he stopped in front of his restaurant and grinned, the building standing out from those around it simply by how unkempt it seemed, though not necessarily looking abandoned. The exterior walls had seen better days, and probably didn't have crumbling or missing bricks in said days either. A large sign hung from the second story, though it was hard to tell if the decayed look was there originally as part of aesthetics, or actual soot, dirt, and who knew what else. He beamed with pride at his restaurant, so many good memories here, and grinned as he looked over to his guest.
"Your highness, welcome to the Krill's Grill! I know the sign isn't that spectacular, but we weren't supposed to be open tonight, so it's turned off."
Cyprinus trotted over to the front door, unlocking it before disappearing inside to turn on the lights. As the interior slowly started to light up, he called out to Dementia.
"Come on in, your highness! I apologize again if it's not appropriately clean for your rank, we've never had the privilege of entertaining royalty here."
The restaurant looked rather hospitable inside, or would be if not for the dust, dirt, and spider webs on most everything. Chairs were flipped up onto empty tables, the carpet had clearly seen better days, and the wall decorations looked like they needed a lot of attention. To Cyprinus however, everything appeared normal, and was just like it had been when the restaurant was actually closed for the last time, though still not worthy of serving a noble of course. Not paying any attention to the seating area, the sushi chef busied himself in the kitchen, making quite a racket as he kicked things around and shoved others into cabinets in a last-minute effort to tidy up. Oddly enough, the kitchen looked like it could pass for being used regularly, and was rather clean, despite the pots, pans, and other miscellaneous things Cyprinus was hastily putting away.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 6:58 pm
Queen Dementia was glad when they finally made it to Cyprinus’ restaurant. Krill’s Grill, she thought, What a clever name! As she walked in her hopes were…a little dashed. She had heard him say that it wasn’t “appropriately clean” but…this was a little more dirt than royalty, such as herself, had ever seen. Queen Dementia paused at the doorway, having second thoughts about staying the night in such a place. Maybe I could just tell him that…I…can’t stay because…ugh! I’m too tired to think up a good excuse…and he does mean well…but still. When was the last time this place saw a customer?
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that the night time crowd was starting to gather at a local bar. No, I will definitely not be outside when these folks start drinking. She took a deep breath and stepped over the thresh hold with purpose, closing the door and locking it firmly behind her. "Thank you so much for having me. I really do appreciate it." She said walking carefully over to the kitchen, gasping aloud when she saw it. It was the nicest kitchen she had ever seen and it was actually pretty well kept up. Her ears twitched as Cyprinus banged pots and pans around trying to make it a bit neater.
He is rather dashing looking, she said, grinning to herself as she watched him work.. I’ve never seen such orange fins before. Queen Dementia looked away quickly when he spotted her watching him and pretended to be very interested in the lighting on the ceiling. The ceiling was fairly interesting…but not as interesting as watching him. She looked at the ground blushing, goodness she needed sleep. Her thoughts were going all over the place. She took a deep breath and looked at Cyprinus from the corner of her eye. She didn’t even know him that well.
What she needed right now was a bath and a goodnights sleep. "Excuse me Cyprinus, which room will I be staying in tonight? And do you have some place where I could clean up before b-bed?" she asked, barely stifling her yawn.
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 12:13 am
If he heard Dementia's expression of gratitude, Cyprinus didn't seem to acknowledge it as he continued to busy himself tidying his kitchen up. He did pause however, as he noticed Dementia staring at him, while holding a large pan in one paw and mid-kick into shoving another into a cabinet. Blushing slightly, he finished putting the two pans away before running around the kitchen in an even more frantic manner.
I must be doing something wrong, why else would she be staring at me like that?! This kitchen must not be clean enough for her liking, but I can only do so much! I must clean faster, I don't want to end up in a prison cell, I have customers to attend to!
When she spoke for the second time, he was about to shove more cookware around, but paused just before grabbing it as his ears perked up. Daring to take a glance over at her, he saw that she seemed very tired. How could he be so silly? Of course she was tired, she needed rest, not a clean kitchen. Or...at least a normal Noodle would, did nobles do things differently? He was starting to wonder how long it would be before he slipped up enough to warrant punishment, it couldn't be very long at the rate he was going. Regardless, she had asked, it would be rude to ignore her. Trying to calm himself, he walked over to where she stood, panting slightly from the frenzied cleaning he had been attempting.
"My apologies your highness, I don't know what came over me. I...suppose you should take my room, I will sleep elsewhere. As for cleaning up, I do have a bathroom upstairs, I can make it presentable if her highness wishes it..."
Thinking better of the idea, he didn't wait for her response, and simply led the way to the stairs in the back of the restaurant, bounding up them to his living space. He unlocked the door at the top of the stairs before disappearing into the dark room, turning on lights as he made his way to the bathroom to begin his frantic cleaning once again.
The apartment wasn't in that bad of shape either, but certainly not fit for royalty to visit. Sparsely furnished, there wasn't much laying around, but the floors probably needed a good cleaning. Decorating the walls were some fish-themed items, pictures and various items. Cyprinus on a dock standing next to a giant tuna, some assorted fishing tackle from a boat mounted to the wall, and a calender with deep-sea fish. This month's picture was an Anglerfish! To finish off the room, a remarkably ugly couch sat in front of a TV that didn't seem to get much use. On top of the TV sat a picture of six Noodles in front of a fishing boat; a plain one, one with horns and bat wings, three with feathery wings, and an aquatic that was most likely the very same denizen of the apartment. Though it was hard to make out much beneath the heavy dust, the name 'Paw-seidon' was painted on the hull.
On the other side of the living room was a small hallway that branched off to a tiny yet clean kitchen, a bedroom where only the sheets on the bed seemed to be out of sorts, and the bathroom where Cyprinus was cleaning and organizing in the hope that he wouldn't be sent off to the gallows. The kitchen was in about the same state as the larger one downstairs, but only seemed to be used for small meals. The bedroom was bare of any wall decorations, and simply had a closet behind closed folding doors, along with the small bed, and a night table with an old alarm clock and reading lamp. The far wall of the bedroom also had windows that overlooked the street at the front of the building, the sign mounted above the windows.
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 7:47 pm
"You are too kind," said Queen Dementia, when Cyprinus offered her his room. She followed him lazily up the stairs. One step at a time… she thought. The apartment upstairs was considerably cleaner then the restaurant below but it looked like it could use a little bit of cleaning. While Cyprinus ran off to clean the bathroom, Queen Dementia explored the apartment a bit. She cringed when she saw that one of the only pieces of furniture in the room was a rather ugly looking couch. Well…I suppose he can’t afford much better if his restaurant isn’t open. She thought to herself absently.
There was a television in the room also with a photo on top of it. Queen Dementia walked closer, peeking her head around the corner to make sure Cyprinus was still preoccupied with cleaning. She didn’t know if he would mind her looking at the photograph but she didn’t really want to get caught looking at it either for some reason. There was this…bad vibe…she felt it oozing out of the frame, like lava coming from an underwater volcano. It looked kind of old and the frame was covered in grim and dust. There were six Noodles laughing and smiling in the photo sitting on a boat call the ‘Paw-seidon’. Sighing, she shrugged at the photo and turned around. It was such a shame to see photos that weren’t being taken care of.
The Queen thought of all her photographs, they lined the walls of her bedroom. There were photos of family members and friends, so that even if they weren’t around for her to talk to she could still keep them close to her heart. Queen Dementia yawned, a huge tiring yawn. The couch, however ugly it looked, did look rather inviting. Trotting over, she jumped lightly on the couch and curled up in a tight ball. She was still rather damp from her little swim but she didn’t think a little extra water would damage the couch…this couch anyway. Hiding her face behind the tip of her tail, the queen fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 2:45 pm
Cyprinus cautiously paused his frantic cleaning when he heard the familiar noise of his couch squeaking, as if someone was on it. He finished putting out the last of the 'good' towels before peeking out into the living room, somewhat dismayed when he saw his guest curled up on the couch.
Well, I guess I get to sleep in my own bed for tonight...?
Stepping across the hall to his bedroom, he dug around in his closet for a clean blanket, before returning to the sleeping Noodle, observing her for a moment to make sure she was indeed sleeping. He noticed that she was still damp, with the familiar scent of the ocean on her fur, and frowned slightly. That wouldn't do at all. Setting the blanket on the back of the couch, he retrieved another towel from the bathroom, draping it over his royal guest before laying the blanket over her lower half.
There, that should keep her comfortable.
Nodding to himself, he went back to the bathroom, setting out the finest (in his opinion) of his combs and brushes for her highness to use later. He thought for a moment about waking her highness up, but he didn't want to risk angering her by doing so, even if his motives were in the right place!
With the bathroom cleaned and arranged for his guest to use in the morning, Cyprinus slumped against the wall as exhaustion washed over him, the day's work and all of the cleaning finally catching up to him.
No! The bathroom was not for sleeping!
Pulling himself up again after a moment, he left the light on and dragged himself through the living room to turn off the light there, pausing to look over the curled up Noodle sleeping on his favorite couch. She was rather beautiful... No! Don't start thinking like that, her highness would never stoop to his commoner level! She was better off with her own kind. Though, he wasn't even sure what that entailed, he didn't have much if any experience in dealing with royalty, or how they did things. But he was quite positive it would never work out, best to stick with what he was good at! Besides, he would never have even considered such a thing, it must have been the fatigue talking!
Turning off the light in the living room, he made sure the blinds were partially down as well so that the room would be softly lit in the morning. Who knew what trouble he would get himself into if her highness was woken too soon, but he certainly didn't want to find out! With everything else in order, Cyprinus ambled along to his bedroom, too tired to close the door as he flopped onto his bed. After making sure his alarm was set, he didn't bother messing with the sheets, and simply sprawled out on top of them as he passed out, dreaming of talking fish and delicious Noodles.
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:00 pm
Morning light shone through the window, waking Dementia from her deep slumber. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and slowly looked around. What happened to me? Dementia wondered groggily. She didn’t recognize anything around her. At that thought she bolted upright, jumping off the couch she had apparently been sleeping on. Where am I?! Dementia thought, panicking. How did I get here?! She then curled up on the floor and stuck her head between her front hooves, the way she always did when she was scared or nervous. Squeezing her eyes shut she tried to think of the last thing she could remember.
"Water…" she whispered. That was it! She had fallen into the ocean! And she was with another Noodle…his name was…Cyprinus. "Oh dear." Dementia muttered. She must have blacked out when she fell in the ocean. Sighing she got up and began to wander around the room, she hated when she blacked out. She could never remember what happened or what was said. But whenever she woke up she would always be in a strange place and the Noodles around her would stare at her…like she was some kind of alien. She remembered when her blackouts had first started happening:
She was still just a kit then. Her dad, an aquatic Noodle, was one of the most famous surfers around. He was the king of the water and the waves always seemed to be at his mercy. Her mother, a Kirin, had been a life guard at the beach where Dementia’s dad would surf the most often. Life had been great for them. They were life-mated on that beach and a year later had Dementia. Life seemed like it was calm seas from that point on…unfortunately fate was not feeling kind one day. Dementia’s father had a surfing competition, the biggest one of his career so far. He went out to practice one day while his mate watched over their little daughter but he never came home. The next morning a few Noodles showed up to tell Dementia’s poor mother that they had found him floating near some rocks, his surf board in pieces. After that day she sort of just…snapped. One day she finally seemed almost happy, which cheered up Dementia. She had been worried about her mother not eating, she would just sit around the house staring at walls and crying. She offered to take Dementia to the beach, unknown to Dementia it was the same beach where her father had her accident. She would find that out later. They had a wonderful time but Dementia’s mom still seemed distant. At the end of the day she took Dementia to the very edge of the dock and…just…pushed her in. Luckily for Dementia she could breathe underwater, like her dad. That was the first time she blacked out. Dementia never saw her mother after that. She just up and disappeared. It was hard at first but she slowly learned to cope.
A shiver ran down Dementia’s spine making her feel cold to the bone. "Just don’t even think about it Dementia," she told herself sternly. She walked around the room to get her bearings. The room didn’t have much furniture wise, just the couch that she had been laying on. It’s not very nice looking, she thought to herself. I hope I didn’t wander to a bad part of town… On the wall opposite from the couch there was a television with a small photograph on it.
Dementia moved closer to get a better look. The picture frame was covered in dirt and grime. She could barely make out the six Noodles sitting on a boat. The name of the boat was …’Paw-seidon’. Dementia backed up and gasped. That ship had been in a horrible storm and was destroyed out at sea. There had only been one survivor. Dementia’s green eyes were wide as she realized the survivor was Cyprinus. She recalled walking along the beach a few weeks after the storm and finding the wreckage from the boat strewn across the beach. There was a board a few feet away from her, when she flipped it over she saw the name of the ship. The paint was chipped and pale but she could still make out the name ‘Paw-seidon’…
A noise, like a squeaking mattress, made her jump about a foot in the air. It had come from down the hall so she tip-toed carefully, pushed the door open and found Cyprinus sleeping. He must have pulled me out of the ocean, she realized, fretfully. I don’t know what I did…but he probably thinks I’m an alien now…just like the rest of them. She walked slowly back down the hall with her head hanging low. It’s no wonder I don’t have any friends... she sighed. If she was at his house, he must have been the one to pull her out of the ocean. I’ll just have to repay him for helping me and be on my way.
Quietly, so as not to wake Cyprinus, she went over, got the picture frame from the top of the television, and brought it to the bathroom. She had noticed it when she had gone to investigate the strange noise. There she carefully removed the photograph and placed it on the counter. Then she got to work washing all the dust off of the frame. By the time she was down it looked just like new. Putting the picture back in the frame she went and placed it back on the TV. There! It looks like the newest thing in this room now. Yes…it looked quite nice there, the perfect way to remember those who were lost. Dementia admired her work for a minute and wiped a tear or two out of her eyes.
After sitting for a few more minutes she decided to clean herself up a bit before leaving. There was dry sand in between her scales and her hair smelled like the ocean…in a bad way. Taking another peek at Cyprinus, she decided he would probably be asleep for a while. Slipping into the bathroom again, she started a bath. All the while she worried about what Cyprinus would think of her now that she had shown her other side…whatever that side was.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 7:02 pm
Cyprinus was a little restless as he slept, but not from Dementia being awake, he was completely oblivious of any intentions she had of running off. Flopping over on his side, he nosed his pillow a little, softly mumbling something which made complete sense only in his dreams, before going quiet again.
"But I don't wanna mix the purple fins with the...mmrhpph...mmmm..."
Though he was certainly able and willing to sleep for hours longer, his alarm clock was plotting against him, and as the time ticked over to the next minute, it started blaring a loud and annoying buzzer. Cyprinus would have none of its interruptions, and rolled over towards the side of the bed in order to slap the noisebox into submission, groggily answering the $400 question.
"What is...the Pacific bluefin tuna..."
However, he quickly realized that this was not the game show he thought he was in, and that the podium he thought he was leaning on was in fact the air next to his bed. Collapsing to the floor in a pile of fur, fins, and scales, he decided that he was just going to serve his customers from the ground today, he was sure they wouldn't mind.
Crawling across the floor to the bedroom door, he inched his way across the hall to the bathroom, where someone had been nice enough to leave the light on a draw a hot bath for him it seemed. Continuing his slow trek towards the bathtub, he finally noticed that someone was already occupying the bath, but that was fine, he could wait, his customers would understand.
...Customers? He froze as his eyes went wide. The seagulls ate my catch yesterday! I have nothing fresh to serve up, I'll have to go make a quick fishing trip to get fresh fish for this morning! But...the bath...I could really go for one right now...
Doing a bit of a double-take as he saw the familiar kirin features poking out of his bathtub, he finally remembered what had happened yesterday, and who the other occupant in his apartment was. Crying out in alarm, he began to flip out at the realization as he scrambled to make it back out into the hallway.
"AHHH! Your highness! Please forgive me, please forgive me! I didn't realize it was you in here! Oh please forgive me your highness, this was a complete accident, I never meant to disturb your bath!"
By now he was out in the hallway cowering against the wall, almost positive he was done for.
Bye bye Cyp, it was nice knowing you. Hope you like eating gruel for every meal, because that's what you'll get in the dungeon from now on. Maybe if you're lucky they'll give you a cell with a window?
But his customers wouldn't understand if he kept them waiting. Maybe he could just sneak downstairs and act as if nothing happened? It might be his only chance! Or maybe she would see him being busy with his job and not throw him in her royal prison! That seemed reasonable enough!
Having assured himself that this was the best plan, he crawled along the floor towards the door going downstairs, trying to be as quiet as he could as he made the trip that seemed to span many miles. Ugh, and his carpet probably needed to be cleaned, now that he was down here...
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 7:59 pm
Dementia sank slowly into the warm water of the bath tub. Oh yes…this was exactly what she needed right now. Covering herself in soap, she successfully got all the sand out of her scales and got to work washing her hair. A beeping noise interrupted her peaceful silence but it soon went away. Dementia shrugged and continued humming while scrubbing her hair. Looking over she noticed that she forgot to close the door. I’ll probably be done before Cyprinus gets up anyway. I’m almost done, but then she had another thought, Wait…that beeping sounded like…an alarm!
Just then Cyprinus cried out and out of the corner of her eye, Dementia saw him jump back shouting apology after apology. Wait…did he call her….your highness??? "Wait a second, Cyprinus!" She called. As fast as she could she rinsed off and leaped out of the tub and shook herself off. Guiltily she realized she was covering the bathroom in water but it looked like the bathroom needed a little cleaning anyway. "Cyprinus!" Dementia called rushing out of the bath room. What did I do to him while I was blacked out? she wondered. Then she blushed furiously as all sorts of thoughts came rushing threw her mind at once. What did I do?!?!
In her hasted, she didn’t see him crawling along the floor and tripped over him. "Eeeck!!!" Dementia squeaked as she rolled head over heels then finally hitting the door. Her back hooves hung in her face and she looked upside down at Cyprinus. He looked stricken, like someone had just told him he would be forced to have his head removed. She rolled over and shook herself trying to regain some composer. "I’m fine don’t worry about it." she said before he had the chance to apologize. "It was my fault for running inside anyway. I should have known better." Her damp hair stuck out in odd directions from her tumble, giving her a punk rocker look.
She took a step towards Cyprinus slightly concerned. He still had the panicky look in his eyes. "I’m okay, really. I didn’t hurt you did I?" He didn’t look her as far as she could see. "Why were you sneaking off? I didn’t…" Dementia hesitated, a bit embarrassed about asking this. "I didn’t…do anything…last night…did I? I’m afraid I don’t remember anything that happened to me after I fell in the ocean. Could you tell me what happened?"
On one hand she really wanted to learn what happened to her when she blacked out. But on the other…what if she was cruel? What if she threated, or worse, killed people? I could be some total lunatic. From the look on Cyprinus’ face that possibility was not out of the question. In past experiences, whenever she “woke up” from her blackout everyone would refuse to speak to her. The Noodle in front of her seemed to be her first opportunity to ask and receive an answer. Do I really want to know the answer to the question I’ve never been able to answer?
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 10:56 pm
Oh, was he in trouble now. Not only did he fail to escape downstairs without being noticed, but her highness hadn't seen him and had tripped over him! It was bad enough that he interrupted her royal bath, but she could have been hurt, if she wasn't already. That alone would be the end for him!
Cyprinus covered his head with his paws as Dementia stalked towards him. This is it ol' Cyp, enjoy your apartment while you can!
Yet...she seemed different, and had a lost or confused tone to her voice. His expression slowly faded from one of terror to perplexed. She almost seemed like she cared about how he was as well, this was quite unlike her highness! Or at least the short time he had known her, he could only assume that she acting like royalty most of the time. She had asked him a question though, a few of them at that, and though she seemed nice now he had no doubt that could change if he didn't answer her immediately.
"Well...uh...no, I'm not hurt your highness, but thank you..."
Uncovering his head, Cyprinus slowly raised himself from the floor, sitting in front of the royal Noodle, who needed the attention of servants with brushes and combs no doubt.
"I wasn't sneaking off your highness! Honest! I...just assumed it might be best if I just left you alone to bathe is all!"
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, though stopping mid-way when she asked...almost apprehensively...what she had done last night. Did she think? No! He would never think of such a thing, especially not taking advantage of a noble such as herself! Remembering what he was doing, he let out a lungful of air as she asked the last of her questions. She didn't remember? Well...he sort of did, but it wasn't as if he was paying attention to every detail. What if this was a test of some sort? What if she was expecting him to remember some obscure detail in order to save himself? His ears drooped at the thought, this really was going to be the end for him... Puffing up his chest a little, he was determined to give it his best shot!
"Um...well, your highness... Let's see...before you fell in the ocean... Oh! I had invited you to my restaurant for food, and then...I ran off down the dock to lead the way with the salmon I had caught. But, I think you called out my name right before you fell in, because I found you sleeping in the water. You were sinking, and I thought you would catch a cold that way, so I pulled you back to the beach to warm up."
Well, now that he was saying it out loud it made more sense to him. She wasn't being rude, she must have slipped or something. Taking another deep breath, he continued, still unsure of his fate, but his voice calmer now.
"When you woke up you were a little confused as to where you were, but then I learned you were royalty. I swear I didn't realize your highness! I would have been more careful and treated you with the proper respect if I had only known beforehand!"
Catching himself, he looked at the carpet for a moment before returning his gaze to her lovely green eyes.
"Uh...and then it was getting late and you had no place to stay, so I invited you here, to my restaurant, for the night. Though it is most definitely not fit for your rank, your highness. Ah...and then I tried cleaning up the kitchen to make it suitable for your visit, but you were tired and asked where you would be sleeping, and I offered my bed to you. And then...I led you here, and tried to make the bathroom presentable for you, but you fell asleep before I was done."
Cyprinus was having a hard time remembering what came next though, he must have been really tired last night...
"So...I think I just went to bed as well when I was done. Then my alarm went off, but you must have woken up before me, since I...interrupted your bath. I apologize again, your highness, I was still waking up and didn't remember that you had stayed the night, please forgive me!"
Cyprinus lowered his gaze to the carpet once more, awaiting his sentencing. He was sure that was everything that had happened last night. The only parts he was fuzzy on was towards the end, but he did remember that she had fallen asleep on the couch, and that he finished tidying up the bathroom before he retired for the night. But who knew if she was looking for something specific? He didn't remember how long it took them to get from the beach to the restaurant or how many steps it had taken or anything that might be the deciding factor to her highness!
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Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 5:02 pm
This is it, she thought. I finally get to discover the truth. Sitting patiently, she listened until she thought she could stand it no longer. When Cyprinus finished speaking, she got up and walked quietly over to the window to think. So when I black out I have a hallucination that I’m…royalty? She had to admit, it was rather anticlimactic. If that was all then…then why would everyone look at her like she was an alien? Cyprinus had said nothing had happened during the night, but he did say he had offered her his bed. But I woke up on the couch. She looked behind her at the couch as if to confirm it was a real thing. Yes, I’m quiet sure nothing happened.
Dementia sat there for at least five minutes, thinking silently of all that had happened to her in the past 24 hours. Cyprinus has been nothing but kind to me. And he lost a whole catch of fish and it’s all my fault. She looked down in dismay. I’ll have to make it up to him some how…maybe I can wash some dishes for him while he gets ready to open his restaurant. She then realized that he was still sitting behind her and she was completely ignoring him. "Oh, I’m so sorry!" She said turning around. "I guess I got lost in my thoughts. I forgive you. It was careless of me to leave the door open in the first place. I’m not mad or anything, don’t look so down," she said cheerfully.
"Hold on a second and I’ll be out in just a minute. I’ll help you open up your restaurant, okay? You’ve been very sweet taking care of me while…I wasn’t myself. The least I could do is help you out for a while." Dementia gave him a small smile and trotted off to the bathroom. This time she closed the door behind her. Quickly she finished drying off and dried up most of the water she had splashed over the floor in her haste to catch Cyprinus. After draining the tub, she tried her best to brush out her hair and make it look somewhat presentable. "There you look a lot better when you aren’t covered in the ocean." She whispered to herself as she straightened her collar.
Walking back out she saw Cyprinus waiting for her quietly. "Okay! What would you like me to do? I can wash dishes, mop, sweep, set tables, or take customers orders. Or if you’d like I can go out and buy supplies for you like napkins, food, and other things like that." She stood in front of him looking up at his tangerine eyes. He’s tall… she thought absently. Blushing she added: "What ever you need help with in your restaurant I’m all for doing it. It’s the least I can do." She smiled at him.
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Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2012 11:34 pm
Cyprinus watched Dementia's shadow move across the carpet, refusing to shift his gaze lest this was a trap to get him to look at her. As the seconds ticked by in his head, he wondered how long she was going to draw out this torment before deciding his fate. It wasn't as if he could say anything about it though, speaking up would spell his doom for sure!
Just when he thought his neck would fall off from holding his head at this uncomfortable angle, her shadow shifted and she called out to him once more. He risked looking up at her, since technically she had spoken to him first, unless there was some obscure rule about this situation that she was going to use on him? At her seemingly reassuring words, even an apology, he shifted back into a more comfortable sitting position, sighing in relief.
"You have nothing to apologize for, your highness, I simply should have been more mindful is all."
Cyprinus politely nodded at Dementia as she slipped back into the bathroom, unsure of what else he would say, before looking around at his living room as if for the first time. There was the picture of him with the largest tuna he had ever caught, the tackle from the first boat he had fished on as a kit, though he wasn't exactly sure how he had ended up in possession of it. There was his ridiculously comfortable couch that he just refused to get rid of no matter how ugly it was, the TV he rarely had time to watch anymore, the picture of he and his 'brothers' standing in front of their fishing boat the day they finally bought it, and of course his calender. He looked down and pawed at the carpet a bit, everything else seemed to be in place, but he didn't remember when the carpet had gotten this dirty. He would have to clean it tonight perhaps, if he had time.
The sound of the bathroom door opening again roused him from his thoughts of when to fit in cleaning, and he looked up at the freshly groomed, royal kirin, mouth hanging open slightly as his eyes went wide.
Woah...
Cyprinus shook his head a bit to clear his thoughts when she stopped in front of him. His customers! Oh dear they were probably getting upset from waiting, he hadn't even had a chance to unlock the front doors! Unless...was it even his turn to open the restaurant today? Maybe he had lucked out!
"Uhm, help would be appreciated I suppose, I'm afraid I don't remember the schedule for today off-paw though, let me check..."
Slipping past the rather nice looking female in his apartment, he headed for the calender on the wall and drew a paw over the month, before slapping himself in the forehead.
"Of course, how could I forget?! We're going on a fishing trip on the 17th! That means I have so many things to do to get prepared, I need to check the weather and start cooking food for everyone and..."
He trailed off as he caught himself, not wanting to bother the poor kirin with his list of things to do. Walking back over to Dementia, he didn't bother sitting, his tail twitching with excitement as he spoke quickly.
"Sorry, we've been planning this trip since last month, so I feel silly for forgetting about it. The restaurant is actually closed for the weekend so we can prepare for Sunday's trip, we told all of our usual customers and put up a sign outside last week to let everyone know. I have plenty of things to do though, and I'd much appreciate it if you would help!"
He grinned happily down at the female before nodding towards the door downstairs, leading the way as he bounded down into the restaurant proper.
The calender with the Anglerfish had a big circle drawn over the 17th, with the words FISHING TRIP!!! scrawled in the small box. There was something wrong with the calender though, as the dates didn't seem to be correct, even though it was the right month. This Sunday wasn't the 17th...
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Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 6:41 pm
Dementia arched an eyebrow when Cyprinus called her “Your highness” again. I must have been really demanding and rude last night since he keeps acting so formal around me. She desperately wished she could remember exactly what had been said the night before, but there was no use worrying about it now. She smiled when he explained about his fishing trip. "Sounds like fun!" she commented. He looked so happy and excited! Cyprinus walked down the stairs, showing her the way to the restaurant. She was about to follow him downstairs to help him get ready for said trip when she looked over at the calendar.
Wait… she thought, confused. There was something off about this calendar. This month’s picture was a large Anglerfish. Dementia thought it looked like a proud fish, probably happy to have been chosen to be in a calendar. The month was definitely correct but…the date. That was it! The date was wrong this calendar was from last year. In fact, now that Dementia looked closer, she could see a thin layer of dust gathering on the top edges of the paper. A red flag popped up in her thoughts. Fishing trip? Who exactly was the shipwreck…and…how long ago was it?
Quickly, she rushed over to look at the photograph, which she had so recently cleaned up. Those Noodles looked like that had been having a wonderful time on their…fishing trip. Dementia’s breath caught in her throat. "Stop freaking out! What is wrong with you? Just because his calendar is wrong and he’s going on a fishing trip…it’s just a coincidence. Seriously girl, hold yourself together. You read way too many fantasy novels." She told her self harshly. But she couldn’t shake the feeling. "I’ll just go ask Cyprinus and prove myself wrong. Good grief I am insane. Maybe I’m better off thinking I’m some queen."
She heard pots and pans banging from downstairs. He was getting ready for this…fishing trip. She came quietly down the stairs and froze when she got to the last step. The restaurant, if it could so be called, was a disaster area. The chairs were all turned up on the tables, which would have been normal, if they hadn’t also been draped in spider webs. The floor was covered in sand and the windows were covered in grime. Dementia pursed her lips together and clopped into the kitchen where Cyprinus was busy working.
"Excuse me? Cyprinus?" she asked cautiously. All of us sudden she was very nervous speaking to him. Taking a deep breath she forced herself to sound calm. What exactly should she ask him to test her theory? Who was going with him? No that wouldn’t do. He would probably tell her names and she would have no idea if they were the same Noodles from the picture. Where they were going fishing? She rolled her eyes internally to herself. We’re right next to the ocean so where do you think they’re going fishing? She asked herself stupidly.
But then she had it! The perfect question. She asked it very slowly and carefully as if she was speaking to a kit and not a full grown Noodle. "Cyprinus…" she said again, "This fishing trip you’re going on with your friends…what’s the name of the boat? You know the one you’ll be on while you fish?" Dementia bit her lip and waited, rather impatiently, for an answer.
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Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 11:46 pm
Cyprinus dashed down the stairs and into his kitchen, starting to undo all of the tidying up he had done last night as he pulled out pots and pans, started up the stoves and grills, and proceeded to prepare the feast for he and his brothers. While those were warming up he went to the closet and started digging out the boxes, containers, coolers, and everything else he'd need to keep the food fresh on the boat. He had made sure to clean everything earlier in the week, so all he needed to do now was put everything in them and get them ready to carry to the boat.
By the time Dementia made it downstairs, he was racing back and forth between all corners of his kitchen, grabbing raw food from a fridge and dropping it off on a cutting board, grabbing something else already cut and tossing it into a pan, stirring a pot the next stove over. He seemed completely in his element as everything went where it needed to be at the right time, almost like he was dancing, but with food, knives, and fire.
His ears perked up when she spoke to him, as he had either not heard her come down the stairs, or was simply too busy to acknowledge it. Turning to face her for a moment when he reached a simple step in his performance, stirring a large pot, he smiled at the rather nice looking female, who stood out from the familiar and comfortable look of his clean, though empty restaurant in the background.
"Yes your highness?"
After responding to her summons, he slid seamlessly back into his dance as he pulled more things out of the fridge, cut up others, seasoned a pot over here, flipped the contents of a pan over there. Thankfully he was back to tending something already cooking when she asked her question, instead of cutting something in a blur, enough that he could hear her whole question, despite it being a bit slow to come out.
"Hmm? Oh, the Paw-seidon, we came up with the name together, it's a clever play on words, don't you think?"
He hissed a bit as he took a misstep in his performance, a piece of sizzling vegetable grazing his paw before he could react to correct himself. Shaking his head, he quickly blurted out an apology before dashing off to the other side of the kitchen.
"My deepest apologies your highness, but I can't really talk right now. Give me about 10 minutes and I can tell you all about it, okay?"
Slipping back into his frantic ballet, Cyprinus effortlessly moved back and forth across his kitchen as he prepared a number of different foods, and except for the small burn he had just received, he was doing it flawlessly.
------
Almost exactly 10 minutes later, he tossed the last of his ingredients into a pot and stirred it, all that was left in his kitchen was things covered and set to cook. He looked over his workspace for a moment, nearly grabbing a rag to start cleaning up everything when he remembered that Dementia was probably waiting on him. Sighing a bit at having to interrupt his routine, even if only for a moment, he walked over to where the kirin stood, and gave her a soft smile.
"Thank you for your patience, I have some time while everything cooks. Ahh...we bought the ship a few months ago, but we've never really had time to go on a serious outing with it, only short day trips and such. So we planned to try an overnight trip, see if we can catch anything really nice out in deeper waters. My brothers aren't here because they're off getting stuff ready as well, but they might stop by tonight if you'd like to meet them. And...before you ask, I apologize, but you wouldn't be able to come with us. We work too well together as a team, know each other too well. Having an extra Noodle would throw us all out of balance, even one as lovely as yourself, your highness."
He noticed her expression seemed a little...off, and let his gaze fall to the floor again. Perhaps it wasn't best to be complimenting her so much, he didn't want to run afoul of society's rules about such things. What if she fell for him, only to be bound by her royal blood to marry one of the no doubt numerous suitors she had? That wouldn't be fair to either of them. He would have to try harder to mind what he said around her.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 9:00 pm
Dementia took a step back and gasped. So, she was right! Cyprinus really thinks he’s going on this fishing trip. And this “we” he kept talking about, that must be those other Noodles I saw in the picture. Dementia realized. Should I say something? Or is he just messing with me…no. I do not think he would joke about something as serious as this. He was obviously very close with the other Noodles. She sat and waited patiently while he danced around the kitchen. Her tail twitched a bit, giving away that she was anxious. "Of course, go ahead and finish up." Dementia said.
It was fascinating to watch him running about the kitchen. It distracted her a bit from the fact that he was in some kind of delusion that his friends were still with him. He new exactly where everything was kept. It was almost like a graceful ballet, he twirled about, stirring, tossing, and flipping things. He never missed a beat. In the 10 short minutes that she watched him, the kitchen filled with the most delicious smells she could imagine. Her stomach rumbled and she remembered she never got any dinner the night before. I’ll have to ask him if he has any extra food, she thought hungrily.
Cyprinus looked a bit annoyed to have Dementia in his domain. She looked at the tile floor, similar to how he had the habit of looking at the carpet whenever she was around. Closing her eyes, she listened silently to what he was saying. Except what he was saying scared her. He truly believed what he was saying and that’s what set her on edge. Hold yourself together Dementia Sakana, She told herself firmly. Locking her emotions away, she took a deep breath. She had to see how far this problem went.
She looked up and blushed when he called her ‘lovely’. "Well thank you. That’s okay. I don’t really care for deep water anyway. And please, call me Dementia. I’m not royalty by any stretch of the imagination. That was…" she paused and looked around the kitchen in search of an answer she couldn’t find. "...someone else." she finished lamely. It is someone else…I don’t even know myself. What’s wrong with me? But that was a question she had to save for later. At the moment she had bigger things to worry about.
Dementia followed Cypriuns’ lead and looked back at the floor. What was she suppose to do? She looked up at him and almost told him the fishing trip was never going to happen. But that seemed too cold hearted. He was so excited for it, she felt like it would break his hear to find that he couldn’t go hang out with his ‘brothers’. She looked back at the floor sadly, Good grief don’t cry! She told herself, He won’t even understand what’s wrong! For now…for now I’ll just play along and see how far he goes with this trip. Her stomach growled at her again, reminding her that she was rather hungery. She blinked hard to get the tears out of her eyes and looked up. "You wouldn’t happen to have any extra food lying around would you? I’m afraid I haven’t eaten in a while. Then I’ll help you get ready for your trip. Sound good?"
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