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 Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 6:38 pm
Melchy sighed and scuffed a bare foot in the cold sand as he plodded up the beach, eyes fixed on the horizon. He had been kicked out of the house again for attempting to shred Katrina's hat in a fit of boysterous energy, and now he really had nowhere to go. So he had fled down to the docks, but even Ghost's allure had worn off, and now he was looking for something to do.
A playful but chilly wind tossed and tousled his silky hair, making his ears twitch crazily and his tail poof and lash as he bit his lip and fought from shivering, digging his toes deep into the sand. Turning his head this way and that, he felt the wind, smelled it, considered it. It was all full of interesting scents and excitement of some sort, but he couldn't really place it. He wanted to do something, but he wasn't sure what.
Peeved, tail lashing behind him, he threw his head back and yowled at the sky. "THIS SUCKS!"
And then he promptly picked up a stone and pitched it into the water. Much to his surprise, it skipped a few times. Melchy blinked, pricked his ears forward, and picked up another stone. Throwing it as hard as he could, he was intrigued when it skipped again. Cackling, Melchy began to scamper around the beach, seeking out stones like the first two he had thrown.
And, like all cats, his irritation was forgotten in lieu of something more interesting.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:01 pm
The ocean's waves rumbled in the girl's ears as they washed into the boulders and sandy shores, and their sprays misted her now tanned face lightly and tingled her skin when an onshore breeze twirled by. Tucking a piece of hair behind an ear, Keres paused near one of the stilts that held up one half of Anya's bar. Sea water gurgled around it in a pool where barnacles became dead-looking, and dark-shelled muscles slowly closed their shells, when she tapped her finger on them. This amused her for a second, but soon enough a quirked brow dubbed them uninteresting.
Straightening up, the sphinx-girl looked up at the salty belly of the bar's building and she could hear the stomping of feet and the ruckus hoots and hollers - as well as the loud country rock music - that went on up there. When Anya had told her to go play outside, she had been more than willing to for the time being... it was only fun up there when she wasn't at risk of the possibility of being harmonized to by already drunken men.
Keres gave a sour face at the thought and turned her attention down the beach. An eyebrow was curiously arched a few moments later when she noticed that there was, in fact, life not that far away, and perhaps an outlet for entertainment... or at least annoying behavior.... which, when she thought about it, were the same thing to her.
She crossed her arms and gingerly hoped from one rock to another, wings held out for balance, and half walked, half trotted, down the chilling beach. Why'd it always get so cold so fast around here? (No matter that it was winter)
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:41 pm
So engrossed was he in the pitching of flat stones (he could now get some rocks to skip four times before they sank into the water with a disappointing, slightly anticlimactic 'plop') that Melchy didn't even notice footsteps until the walker was well within hearing range. Granted, they were odd footsteps. His sensitive ears twitched and swiveled in the direction of those quiet steps. One, two, one two...no. One, two, three, four...
His lips formed the words, and his tail twitched as he counted and puzzled. One walker, four steps. How odd....normal walkers didn't have four steps. That would mean that the person would need to have four feet instead of two...his ears flicked while he considered this. One person but four feet? And not shoes, either. Bare feet. Quiet feet, like his own. Cat-feet? Other than Taki, who had two feet anyways, Melchy couldn't think of a single cat-footed person. Four cat-feet?
And then something occurred to him. He knew someone like that. Glancing up and twisting his head, Melchy's face lit up and he was sprinting up the beach, tripping in the sand, boots forgotten near his little pile of stones.
"Keres? Keres?!! NO WAY!!!!"
His impressive lung capacity was once again revealed in a thrilled yowl.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:01 pm
Keres slowed to a stop and unfolded her arms. Completely confused, and a bit stand-offish, she watched as the gangly figure started running clumsily towards her and... was it yelling her name? She took a step back and looked over her shoulder, trying to decide if she should run back to the bar and abandon her plans, or to stick it out and pummel the crazy -
Her thoughts were interrupted when It yelled her name again. With a glare she looked back in its direction and finally something just, well, clicked. She knew that voice, and upon further special-long-distance-examination, she recognized that face despite it being older and bigger.
"MEL!" she screamed, half ecstatically and half outraged. The latter feeling didn't stop her from pelting down the beach to meet him though, a large smirky-smile plastered on her face.
"MEL MEL MEL MEL MEL."
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:07 pm
"Keres!"
Melchy gave one last ferocious yowl and launched himself at Keres, suddenly aware that he was not the only one who had grown since the last time he had seen the little sphinx-girl. Of course, it wasn't until he was airborne and on a direct collision course with his friend-slash-adversary that he realized this, and there wasn't much he could do. He twisted, tail lashing furiously, and managed to only marginally crash into Keres. At least this time it wasn't a tackle...he supposed that was good.
Landing on all four feet, he jumped up immediately and got himself out of range of a swat from hands or vicous claws. "Well lookit choo," he drawled, flapping a hand at Keres and laughing in a manner that may or may not have been unkind. His hand crept to the hilt of his belt-knife as he spoke, just in case this new, bigger Keres turned out to be even scarier than the little one had been (not, naturally, that Melchy was scared of her. Not at all! She just had REALLY SHARP CLAWS. That was it)
"You got all big now," he drawled, flicking his ears and tossing his head arrogantly as if this was a surprise to him.
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:40 pm
Keres had stepped back a an inch or so upon the boy's... odd landing or whatever it was, but since then had regained her composer. She crossed her arms again, her golden bangles clinking, and cocked her head. A snide smirk rolled over her lips when he spoke, and her eyes watched his hand silently - if not almost casually - for a second when it slithered up to rest on the dagger hilt.
"Seems I wasn't the only one," she drawled just as he had, though perhaps a bit more... gracefully, if that was possible. Flickering her eyes back up at him, she leaned her torso back just a little and started to circle him slowly like a person would inspect a stock animal before the purchase. She paused, however, and gave a funny laugh, "I see you've also gotten a new friend." She flicked sand at his dagger-resting hand with her tail and then suddenly put her hands on her "hips".
"I want to see!"
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Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:01 pm
Melchy's eyes caught the light playing off the bangles on Keres' arms, and in true pirate fashion, he paused an instant and put his head to one side, silently appraising the jewelry and wondering if he could either get some or get away with taking some. He made a mental note to talk to the first mate later and find out how one would go about doing such things. Eyes gleaming wickedly, Melchy tossed his head again, flicking his tail and laughing when, Keres remarked on his growth.
“This is old news, dearie,” he drawled with an expansive gesture at himself, and he stepped lightly out of Keres’ circle when she got distracted by his dagger. The flicking of sand made him yowl slightly and step back, kicking up sand with one bare foot in response, and then he drew the dagger and flipped it from his right hand into his left, catching it by the hilt with an easy, practiced motion. (From this angle, it would be impossible for Keres to catch sight of the scratches he had already earned from working on that particular maneuver.) Twisting it so it caught the light, he fixed his vibrant eyes on Keres' face and waited for her response.
"Nice, eh?" he drawled. "Cap'n gave it t'me for Christmas."
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 6:47 pm
Keres could not mentally deny the beauty of the dagger. It was shiny, obviously sharp, and obviously expensive somewhere in the world. In her opinion, it was pure awesome, and she wanted it -wanted to hold it and touch it, even perhaps shred something with it.. and that meant she couldn't show him her amazement.
"Oooh yeah," she replied, the smirk gone from her face and her brows raised high. She bobbed her head and leaned her shoulders back slightly as one would while looking at a piece of sculpture at an art show.
"Very nice indeed...That is," that smug smirk suddenly reappeared on her face and she crossed her arms loosely under her small chest, "for a fancy envelope opener." She the dagger a half-lidded stare down her nose,"it's probably some cheap metal gilded with brass and nickel to make it look... fancy."
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 6:59 pm
If Keres thought that she would catch Melchy so easily off-guard, the girl was sorely mistaken. Melchizedek's deadpan expression was proof enough that he wasn't about to be swaid by pretty talk followed by scorn. The boy was a pirate, for gods' sake! He knew a swindler when he heard one.
So the boy smiled slyly and considered how he could turn the tables. "Aye, letter op'ner indeed," he drawled, flicking the dagger from one hand to the other while he thought. "Not much different from those cheap gilt-'n-glass bangles ye're wearin' eh?" he suggested, expression completely innocent but nonetheless entirely too vicious for his own good. The knife stopped in his right hand, and with a flick calculated to catch the light and flash it into Keres' eys, he gestured at the band of gold around her forehead.
He might have the mental maturity of a child, but in monetary cynicism and manipulation, Melchy was ten going on about forty-five.
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 1:08 pm
Whether it was due to her lack of piracy traits or just her youthful ignorance of the situation, Keres took the bait of the boy's sly table-turning move and allowed her ego to be smacked full-on. The smirk that was on her hypocritical face slipped into a small, tight frown and her folded arms tensed. As the reflected light from his dagger continued to play across her face, her pupils were the only things that changed in her acidic expression as they dilated to feral pin-pricks.
For a minute she stood there with every muscle tensing up, her gold eyes directed like a herding dog's on the boy's face, until she just finally... snapped... ish.
"YOU'RE SUCH AN a**, MEL!" she yelled - not screamed - forcibly. Her arms unfolded, she moved her body, and like grease lighting her tail (and all its lethal glory) made a whip-like slash out at Melchy's body.
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Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:16 pm
As soon as Keres began to tense, Melchy's senses went into overdrive. He waited, standing like a statue, digging his toes into the sand and waiting for the storm to come. The back of his neck prickled, and he was surprised how much waiting for the wrath of Keres (he could instinctively feel that one) felt like waiting for the wrath of a full-force gale.
When Keres yelled, the boy dropped to the sand immediately, but not quickly enough to avoid catching the tip of Keres' serpent tail across his ear. "WOAH HEY NOW!" he yelled back, spitting sand and leaping to his feet as soon as he was sure the coast was clear. Laughing a little bit to mask his uneasiness, he shook sand out of his clothes and then rubbed the back of his head.
"Didn' mean to get your panties all in a bunch, dearie," he drawled, then laughed. "Not that you wear panties, er anythin." He paused for a moment, considered this, and then made a face. "That means yer nekkid, eh?" And he laughed.
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Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:40 pm
Without her consent, Keres' face flushed a deep red. Her already wild eyes narrowed to slits, and she puffed out her cheeks a little as she tried to hold back her second out-lash...
It didn't work.
Without a word, she whipped out with her tail again and aimed a strong slash at the boy's middle. She then leaned down and grabbed a washed-up piece of coral from the sand and lobbed it at some random area of his body, not caring where it hit as she grabbed for something else that was hard - maybe a broken piece of glass or something. Her mouth was slightly screwed in anger and most of her lightened hair had come out of its ornamental clip and was now strewn across her face and neck, giving her a definite disheveled look.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:39 pm
This time, Melchizedek didn't have a chance to dodge. He collided soundly with Kere's tail and fell flatt on his tail, yowling loudly. "Hey now I was jus' jokin', Keres! Keresssssss!"
When the piece of coral glanced off his head, though, he snarled, fur on his tail and ears expanding so he lwould have looked rather bizarre and comical, were it not for the death in his eyes. Snarling again, he dodged backwards, out of Keres' immediate range, and stood, knife out and expression dead serious. Tail lashing side to side, he hissed catlike at her for a moment, then suddenly deflated, ears and tail going flat and drooping.
"Keres," he said in what could almost be called a sweet voice. It wasn't manipulative, just quiet, just trying to calm the furious sphinx. "Keres, 'm'sorry. Din't meanna make ye angry....." Flipping the knife around on his palm so he held the blade gingerly, he took a step forward and waved the hilt in Keres' direction, as sort of a goodwill offering.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 6:03 pm
It was either the sudden soft tone, the peace offering, or a sudden crash in adrenalin that caused the wild child to become more-or-less subdued. She had let her latest chucking object - a water-worn rock - fall to the sand at her feral feet, and she stood almost stalk still for a few seconds in the growing cold. With slightly widened eyes she watched the knife hilt bounce out in front of her before she took a forward step of her own.
Without speaking, she slowly stretched out her bangle-decorated arm and gingerly touched the warm metal surface with her fingers. She didn't grab or pull, just pushed the end down lightly to look at it in a different angel. If her hair hadn't been in her face, one may have seen a small glint in her eyes despite the already faded light on the horizon.
"It's nice," she said in a surprisingly soft -- if a bit husky -- voice, a tone that sat on her uncharacteristically. She drew back her hand and brushed away the some hair before she suddenly turned and just started to walk back down the beach in the direction she had came from.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:10 pm
Melchy withheld a sigh of relief when Keres calmed, and was ready to relinquish the knife into her grasp, so much that when Keres merely touched it and gave it a gentle tilt, he was startled and almost dropped it. Tightening his grip and accidentally cutting his palm, he grit his teeth and stood still for a moment. "Yeah, Cap'n gives weird gifts," he said with a shrug.
When Keres turned and started walking back, Melchy made a soft noise, almost like a kitten's mewl. Looking after her, eyes flashing cyan in the gathering dark, he sheathed the knife and picked up a brisk trot, drawing alongside the sphinx within a few minutes. "Keres, Keres...." he said, almost whining in his soft, ingratiating tone. "I din' meanna make ye mad," he said. "Was jus' hav'na little fun."
He flicked his tail and considered the last word, wondering very solenmly what it would get him if he used it. After a moment, he grit his teeth, swallowed hard, and bit the bullet. "S'ry," he murmured, not looking at the girl.
Yeah, he said it, but damned if he got caught looking at her when he did. He wasn't about to own up to being wrong, wrong. It was a formality, that was all. He wasn't some sort of sissy. Pirates never apologized.
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