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Demi was only half aware of Belle as the other girl got her nerve together and took the daunting leap back across the water. Her attention was focused on a large fish that was taking a cautious interest in her paddling paw. Ever so slowly, it inched forward, and the Bobtail thought it would never come near enough to strike. That is, until the Ragamuffin's rear end plunged into the water on the opposite side of the channel. Instinctively moving away from the violent vibrations in the water, the fish darted right towards Demi, and she gladly sunk her claws into it to haul it onto shore. Sitting on her rump with the fish held in all four paws, the dust cat grinned victoriously at her prey, then she heard Belle's unhappy cry from across the water and lifted her ears. With a blank expression, she blinked over at the dainty female over the head of her fish.

"Oh! You made it!" She called with a smile, completely missing the sour anger from the other girl. Getting up and hoisting her fish up and over her shoulders, Demi trotted back up the island a ways before turning back towards the dock and wiggling her haunches a little. With a breath, she took off at a run and launched herself from the edge of the artificial shoreline. She was much heavier with her catch, and so she needed more speed. She cleared the jump, but landing only on her hind legs was a little more difficult and she ended up loosing her footing and sliding sideways across the dock, both her and her fish skittering past Belle. "Oof..." She sighed, picking herself back up with drooping ears and going to retrieve her catch. "Are you sure you're not hungry, Princess?" The fish was pretty big, and Demi could share if she had to. As she turned back to the Ragamuffin, she finally took notice of her soaked dress and tail and tipped her head to the side. "Oh, I thought you didn't want to get wet..."

Demi flicked her ears at the hint of anger in her friend's voice, and realized that getting wet had been an accident. Apparently her game of teasing the girl and getting her dirty wasn't going over well. Demi let her ears fall back in apology and gave a slight nod to the dainty girl. "Sure, I've gotten what we came for," She mewed softly, tentatively walking back to the Ragamuffin's side, "Do you want to go to the park to eat?

The idea of carrying the fresh, dripping fish so far didn't exactly thrill the Bobtail, but she would do it if her friend preferred. As she stood there, Demi contemplated offering her arm to the girl again, as they had walked before, but with the fish dangling across the back of her shoulders, the didn't figure Belle would be too interested in taking the offer. "Well, let's just get out of here, then we can decide." She said, finally, walking away from the other girl's side again, "Come on, you remember the way out, right?" She smiled at the Ragamuffin and waited for her to join before continuing out of the large, open doors.

Demi smiled at the fluffy cat and gave a light-hearted sigh at her meeker behavior. "Don't worry about it too much, we can find a quiet place nearby to eat." She mewed, pushing forward through the winding hallways, she glanced back with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "It's probably better that we don't get caught eating here anyway." The large fish bounced a bit on her shoulder as she walked; it was heavy, but Demi would be able to handle it.

Back at the place where they entered the Namiko Aquarium, the Bobtail paused and looked around before bounding over to a high fence and taking a large leap at it. She swung the fish up with one hand and caught herself on the edge of the wall with the other before pulling herself up completely. "come on Princess, I know of a quiet street over this way... I think there's a bench we could sit under as well." She called down to Belle, smiling excitedly again.

Demi watched with amused excitement as Belle made her first attempt at the wall. Right away, the bobtail could tell that she hadn't picked up enough speed nor was she in the right position to scale it. Stifling a giggle at the fluffy cat's frustrated yowl, the bobtail scrambled to catch the strappy shoes that were tossed her way, and held them for Belle, watching with intrigued interest at her second go. "Alright, you made it!" She yowled with triumph for the other cat and patted her shoulder approvingly, "Not bad, Princess! There's hope for you yet!"

Snickering, Demi laid the Ragamuffin's shoes before her on the wall and turned to heft the fish back over her shoulder. "Let's go, this thing's starting to get sticky..." Even she had to adopt a look of disgust at the feeling. Slimy, sticky fish scales were a pain to get out of your fur and off your clothes after all. Not that her current attire was worth fussing over anyway. Demi glanced down at her torn, ragged blouse and skirt combo and made a face to herself; she really needed to go out and find a new outfit...

Demi tilted one ear back as the two of them pattered along the wall; she was only half interested in the complaints of the other female. Inwardly, the dappled cat sighed to herself, for there was still so much the Ragamuffin had to get used to out here. Not much farther ahead, the wall veered off to the left, and on the right a row of leafy trees lined a large, quiet road. True to what Demi had said earlier a couple small benches rested at either side of it, shaded nicely by the trees. Hopping down off the wall again, the Bobtail lifted her ears and gazed at the sight with contentment. On the ground, she turned to look up at the Ragamuffin again. "Do you need help getting down?" Her tone was curious after watching the display it took to get the fluffy cat on the wall in the first place.

Demi bounded over to the nearest bench and flopped the fish down beneath it, taking a moment to nudge it further under the wooden seat with her toe, before bouncing back over to the wall, ready with both hands should her friend actually need her.

Demi nodded in response and held her arms up and out to catch the dainty girl. An amused grin spread across her face at the way the other carefully lowered herself before jumping, but she clasped both hands in her own. Muscles tightened as she took in the shock of the ragamuffin's fall, and she held fast as Belle's ankle threatened to give on her. Finally, when she could stand on her own two feet again, Demi giggled and let go of one hand, leading her over to the fish happily. Her stomach rumbled when she tugged the fish out from under the bench and sat down with it. "Itadakimasu! Let's eat!" She yowled cheerfully, clapping her hands together once and bowing her head to the dead seafood before beaming back up at Belle to join her. Claws slid out of their concealed pads and she ripped into the rubbery flesh of the fish, grabbing it and biting into it eagerly.

Demi, stuffed full of fish, was in the process of cleaning her paws and whiskers when she perked at Belle's words. Licking the tiny pieces of flesh snagged in between her claws away, the bobtail grinned over at her friend, pleased to see that she had enjoyed it. Stifling a yawn herself, the tail-less cat got to her paws and brushed the dust from her already dirty clothes and tipped her head to the side with a playful grin playing at her lips. "Ah, so I'm invited back to the territory I trespassed before?" Giggling, Demi held her hand out to the Ragamuffin to help her back up, "Sure, Princess, I'll walk you home." She wasn't about to refuse a nice, safe place to sleep for the night. "Just don't expect me to go crawling into some human's home, kay?" She added, her tongue poking out of the ever-present grin.

Demi was amused by the Ragamuffin as she became flustered over the situation of her home, but she rolled her eyes and let her ears flop to the sides all the same. "Porch, grass, bench, rock... It's all the same to me, Princess." The tail-less girl began, explaining gently and carefully, "I sleep outside every night, and to be honest, I prefer it that way!" Laughing lightly, she squeezed the fluffy cat's arm and marched onward. With a slight tilt of her head, she put a finger to her chin and added, "I won't lie to you, though. Your home is nice, and it's safer than most places I sleep. So... I'm grateful for the offer!"

As they entered the quiet neighborhood, Demi was already feeling more at ease. She was a little surprised by Belle's tentative question, but grinned all the same. "A title... let's see... I think I prefer to be called a 'street cat,' it just sounds cooler than 'stray.' And being that I never really had a home and a human family, it sort of fits better." She hadn't realized that Belle, knowing nothing about where she came from, might not get the distinction, but continued anyway, thinking of all the cats she had met, "As far as other street cats goes... well, there seem to be a lot around town. I've met around 8 or so already... but most were just in passing." As if confirming that for herself, Demi mentally counted them off on her fingers.