It was as if some God had picked up the entire ocean and dumped it over all of Erasmus. Everything, from shingles to fur to pavement stone was soaked through and piling up a seemingly endless amount of water. Already there were parts of the street with puddles deep enough to sink ones ankles in, despite the storm only breaking a few minutes before.
Of course she hadn't brought an umbrella.
Indeed, Tesla didn't even have an umbrella, but that didn't seem to matter much at the moment. In a matter of seconds the best set of clothing she'd had was completely sodden and caked with mud, and the scrap of paper with job listings on it had disintegrated in hand. Not that that mattered--she'd been turned away from each and every one of them.
The female gave a light growl beneath her breath. She didn't even bother running for the nearest doorstep, like others were doing. It wouldn't matter really, she was already soaked and unlike the Koshka residents, she didn't have a layer of fur to help her keep warm. Even her best outfit still had a few holes in it.
Half an hour later things hadn't improved. In point of fact, they'd only gotten worse the longer that the night went on. It was truly dark now, and the lamps weren't lit on the streets. Already a stranger to this city, she'd completely lost her way by now and the only light available to her unaccustomed eyes were the few house lights still on in the surrounding neighborhood, and the occasional flash of lightning.
Tesla sloughed her way through the churning waters of yet another lake-sized puddle, and found herself facing the front of a black shape that she thought was a large house of some sort. A mansion even. There were a few rectangles of yellow light, with shades drawn across them so that all that could be seen were shadows which moved on the rare occasion.
What truly caught her eye, however, was the single light burning on the entrance stoop. It was a small covered area with a few steps up out of the water, hemmed in by a wrought iron fence.
Without further thought to potential danger or charges of trespassing, Telsa flung herself up the walk and into the space between the rain and front door. It was small, but so was she, and she soon found herself sitting with her legs drawn to her, curled into a tiny, sodden bundle in the cold, cold night.
Chaos. Utter, bloody, sodding chaos.
He'd lost count of the days, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he was sure it'd been at least a week; he wasn't sure how much further his house (and his sanity) could last though. Hell, Melvin wasn't even sure how he'd managed to survive so far. It seemed like a damned miracle, as far as he was concerned. Grumbling to himself, he tossed the pieces of glasses he'd just finished picking up from the lab floor into a bag. The ground was full of chemicals, foot steps and stains here and there; what made him wince further was the notion the stains and footsteps were all around the house from the earlier ordeal. Sighing to himself, the Koshka headed to the kitchen with the bag of broken material in hand, pausing by the countered on his left to sniff at a solitary cup of coffee. Leaning in, he sniffed at the air above the cup, instantly wrinkling his nose in distaste.
It'd gone cold.
Then again, this was no surprise; Melvin couldn't even remember the last time he'd managed to peacefully sit down to drink a warm cup of coffee. Since the arrival of his two new 'lab assistants', he'd gotten no work done, whatsoever. He spent the majority of the day, running after the two girls in an attempt to keep the lab in a semi decent state. Despite his best efforts, the house was starting to look like a war zone and his nerves were starting to get frazzle from the ordeals. He couldn't even fire the girls, for his boss had pretty much dumped them on him, stating they were worthwhile, even despite the fact they were prone to breaking everything within reach; he'd said something about the girls being geniuses. Melvin was just wondering if THIS was some sort of divine punishment.
Letting out a self suffering sigh, he headed for the front door after grabbing the cup of coffee into his free hand. No sooner did he yank the door (obviously not even bothering to look), that he dumped the content of the mug worth, tossing the bag the to the container he knew was to the right. What he HADN'T been expecting, was that a girl had taken refuge on his steps; the content of the mug had been poured on her... his mistake for not looking at where he'd been aiming. For a good three minutes, the man (whom looked like he could honestly use a good bath and a full night's rest), blinked down at Telsa, looking almost bored; in reality though, he was idly wondering what the HELL she was doing there. It was hardly his fault his face usualy wore a 'bored' expression.
It was only after a full three minutes, that he realized he should apologize, "I apologize, I just-" he cut himself off, gave a short grimace and motioned towards the door, "Would you like to come in and get yourself sorted out?" he was sure he could just let her take one of Ammy's suits. Or one of Su's. Either or.
She was so wet that if the brown, caffeinated rain hadn't fallen directly on her head, Tesla might not have even noticed As it was she looked up with a start into the cat-like face staring down at her. Wonderful. Suddenly the girl was quite well aware of the fact that she was trespassing, and that she was a Mench. And that she now smelled of stale coffee.
It was all these realizations and their ironically dry state of humor that lead to this insult being met without a single noise or outburst from the female. Instead she had merely lifted her head to look up in faint surprise at the male standing over her.
His apology cut off any other reaction she may have had, and slowly Tesla nodded her head. "Its.. rather wet out here," Came the sheepish reply as she struggled to her feet. "Um.. I was lost."
That seemed to be the best she could work up in the way of 'proper' shock and indignation... or even shame for having been crashing on his doorstep. Yet she paused at the doorway, looking down at herself and the very nice--if oddly stained--tile beyond. "Ah.. I probably shouldn't bring the ocean in with me... "
Self consciousness hit and Tesla bent to try and wring a little of the water from her dress.
A snort followed her words, as if the male found a wry sort of humor to them; it soon enough became clear why though. No sooner had he stepped inside and thus, allowed her a good glance inside, that she would have noticed the state of the house within. Papers ran amok, and the stains from various chemicals littered the floor, "It won't change much," the words were drawled, but it was obvious he was not particularly happy over the fact his house looked like a war zone. Moving languidly towards the kitchen, he placed the mug back on the counter, taking a moment to rack his hand through his hair, pausing briefly when he reached the pony tail at the base of his neck.
Narrowing his eyes, the man reached behind him. Sure enough, his fingers soon enough found a ribbon; his hair was tied with a bow. Bloody hell.
"Those girls," he murmured under his breath as he returned to the corridor where he'd left Tesla, his hand still curled in his hair, "Mind doing me a favor and taking this blasted thing off?" he seemed to be referring to the ribbon in his hair before he motioned up the stairs with his head, "There's a cupboard there. Second door to the right. You may take any one suit you wish since I ruined yours," if he had a problem with her being a mench, he wasn't particularly showing it.
He was, however, displaying a concrete amount of amount of awkwardness that seemed to indicate he wasn't used to 'people' in general, no matter the species. After a moment of hesitation, his head turned to look behind him, as if an afterthought; sure enough, his tail was ribboned up too. Gritting his teeth , his mouth set into a grim line, he passed his hand over his face and features, "I'm not going to survive without a maid," the words were muffled slightly by the hand, but audible enough, "My sanity won't last with those girls."
She'd stopped in the corridor, more than a little afraid to move any further--and it wasn't for the state of her clothes.
The house was atrocious. It was beyond atrocious! Tesla had a vague moment of panic where she was tempted to turn and run screaming back into the night. Only a crack of thunder kept her from completing that turn. A moment later her defenses were back up, and she had rolled up her sleeves and begun picking up the papers scattered around.
She already had a large stack when he returned asking her to do... something. The mench turned to face him a little wide-eyed as she realized exactly what she was doing. "Ah.. .. well.. honestly it was the storm that ruined it.. heh.. You have children?"
