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 Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 7:55 pm
"Come on Stella, you need to do this." Riley grumbled under his breath, holding onto the hand of a very eager little Panther child. It had been a chore getting her out of the house, but now that she was out it was a chore to keep her near him. The Military man had no trouble with Emmet; the leucistic snake boy stayed close to him naturally...but Stella, well, Stella definitely had a mind of her own. She was so curious about the world around her she was willing to cross a dangerous street if it meant investigating that curious mascot in front of that pizza shop.
"But Really...!" Stella whined, her wide-pupiled golden gaze on the aformentioned mascot across the street. The military man gave her hand a tug, and her attention focused on the ground in front of her. How boring. Riley's grip on her was so tight that she couldn't break free and run; she toyed with the idea of going limp and having him drag her, but she suspected she wouldn't win then, either. Instead, she focused on kicking rocks that she came across...until they got to the bookstore.
When they entered the store, Stella's ears perked up above her dark black hair, her golden eyes eagerly moving around from one thing to the next. With a rather high pitched noise, Stella leaned away from Riley repeatedly, putting her body weight into every protesting tug. She wanted to be let go, and she wanted to be let go NOW. Riley let go of her eventually...but he made absolute certain that they were both in the bookstore, and that the door was closed securely behind them.
"Yay!" Stella squealed, instantly disappearing into the various bookshelves, on the prowl for something fun.
"Stella! Actually LOOK for a book!" Riley called out, a little annoyed. The little panther Child probably didn't hear him though...and if she did, she probably didn't care.
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Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 8:39 pm
Leo sat in front of the shelves marked as the Children's section, "My First Cookbook" sitting in his lap as he browsed through the pretty pictures. He enjoyed these short bursts of quiet: Usually he was being dragged around by Nihilo, but as Nihilo was in Time-Out for making his Godzilla rampage through the pantry destroying the peaceful land of Jar of Ragu and the sub city area Oatmeal Can, Leo was left to his own devices.
Deet was at his usual post, the cash register. The fat cat man smirked seeing a very stern looking man with a rambunctious child. Ah, a brother in arms! Deet thought jokingly. "Welcome to The Cat's Eye." Deet said with a large smile.
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Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 8:58 pm
The child panther found the books at her level boring, and thus decided to try and climb the shelves to see if there was anything more fun higher up. She learned early that people don't keep things they don't want seen at eye level...which meant all the fun stuff was up top. Ears perked fully, Stella grabbed one of the shelves and started to climb on it, her slender little body making short work of the climb. Luckily for her the shelves were sturdy.
"Hello, Thanks." Riley said breifly to the shopkeep, gazing him over; he seemed like a nice enough man, definitely a kind one, judging by his smile. Suddenly, the Military man felt guilty about releasing the hellcat on this poor shop. "Uhm...I apologize in advanced if uhh..something unfortunate happens." Stella seemed to have a wonderful talent for encouraging bad luck to the people around her, after all. Probably came from the whole black cat thing.
"Oooh...?" Stella mused out, her ears folding back against the back of her head and her golden eyes narrowed mischeviously. There was a chubby boy in the next isle, reading a book...and completely enthralled in it. Stella pulled herself up into a crouch on the top of the shelf, her tail swaying to keep her balance. "HAH! DEATH FROM ABOVE!" The child cried out her battle cry as she pounced down into the Children's section isle, aiming to at least fighten the boy.
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Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 9:15 pm
And frighten him she did. The poor porker squealed, his eyes bulging out of his head as he dove under the safety of his picture book. His eyes were shut tight as he shook, hoping that his dad or Nihilo would save him from whatever this loud and crazy thing that wished death upon him!
"Ah, don't worry 'bout it. I have two kids mysel-" Deet was about to explain, before hearing DEATH FROM ABOVE! followed by the squeals of his son. "Now what in the world..." Deet sighed, coming out from behind the register to find his son cowering under a picture book while the same little girl he just saw standing over him.
Oy gevault...
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Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 9:42 pm
Stella hit the ground gracefully on all fours in front of the boy. She'd hear his squeal, she'd seen his reaction...and she settled down into loud, gleeful laughter. The little panther laughed so hard she snorted a little. Eventually she sat back on her rear, the soles of her feet pressed together close to her body. One hand rested on her pink sneakered feet while her other hand reached out and tapped on the cover of the book. While she had no malice in her motions, she had no idea how mean she could have seemed.
Riley had heard the battle cry, and he instantly lifted his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Goddamnit, Stella..." He groaned under his breath before moving after the shop keep to see exactly what it was the hellcat was up to. When he saw Stella, now on her knees and harassing the poor boy, something snapped. "Stella, you leave that boy alone!" He said angrilly, though he did not yell.
Stella's ears twisted when she heard her new Guardian's angry voice, turning to face him with a wide, proud beaming smile. "Really!" She greeted her guardian, horribly butchering his name in the process. "Look what I found! He made a funny noise." The black panther was grinning proudly, lowering her torso down so her elbows were on the ground and her tail in the air; more like a puppy than a kitten. Luckily the place wasn't busy; Stella's skirt had slid up a bit to show off her hello kitty underwear. Regardless of Riley's fuming she pressed her cheek against the floor, trying to peer up at the boy who insisted on hiding. "Hiiiii. I'm Stella! Why'd you make that noise?"
"Stella leave him alone! And fix down your skirt!" Riley tried again in vain as the girl giggled. Then, he turned to the shopkeep. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2008 6:18 pm
"I-I-I'm Leo..." the pig boy stuttered, not sure why exactly he was telling this girl that just scared the beejeezus out of him his name, "W-well...you scared me..." Leo explained, not leaving the safety of his book fortress.
"Its...Fine." Deet said, not really sure how to react. Part of him knew what it was like to have a child that was a handful. On the other hand, the little terror just scared his son. ON THE OTHER HAND she didn't seem to be doing it out of malice...Ugh, how to react, how to react..
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2008 7:20 pm
"Leo?" Stella parrotted, her eyebrows lifting in surprise. "Like Leo the Lion? You don't look like a Lion. Are you a lion?" Clearly, Stella had found out about the zodiac animals. She stayed on the floor in her rather compromising position, but she did reach back and fix her skirt when Riley told her to. Chances were equally great that she just didn't like the breeze, though.
"What're you doing in the bookstore?" The little hellcat went on to question, completely overlooking the fact she scared the poor piglet. "What book are you hiding under?" She was firing off questions left right and center, but she didn't once lift her cheek off of the ground. She insisted on staying in that position, trying to peer up at the boy...and more than happily ignoring Riley's protests.
"She's harmless, really she is...well thats not true, she does generally bring bad luck to the people ar----oh." Riley had been ranting on Stella's behalf, trying to bring down any sort of anger the shopkeep may have had. He instantly stopped himself though, when he was told it was okay. "Really? I...wow." The Military man scratched the back of his head. "I would have gotten mad, if I were in your shoes." He really would have; that must have made this man similar to Marco; incredably friendly, very understanding...and very much not like Riley.
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 3:40 pm
"No...I'm a pig..." Leo answered, popping his head out of his fortress. He now resembled some sort of bizarre book turtle, and why he was being so talkative to this crazy cat girl was any one's guess, "My daddy owns the book store...And its My First Cook Book...It has pretty pictures." Leo said in his usual soft tone of voice. He had clearly decided that while this girl, while strange, meant no real harm.
The large cat man sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with a befuddled look on his face. "To be honest, sir, I'm not even sure how I'm supposed to react..." Deet explained, pinching the brim of his nose as he shut his eyes. He couldn't believe how Leo was acting...If this was Nihilo, there would've been screaming and punches thrown and all sorts of stuff.
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 8:19 pm
"A pig?" Wooooow!" She said in complete awe, putting as much emphasis on the "wow" part as possible. He was a pig? Awesome! "I like bacon. Do you like bacon? If you did, would that make you a cannibal?" Stella's golden eyes were absolutely wide with curousity, and when it looked like he was loosening up she half sat up, still somewhat crouched down since Leo still hadn't stopped hiding behind his book. The comment about his Dad owning the shop went in one ear and out the other, and she stared up at the book he was holding. "Huh. 'My First Cook Book'? Riley needs that, his cooking stinks-" Riley growled lightly at her words. "Do you like to cook?"
"Riley, You can call me Riley." The military man said, feeling a little awkward over being referred to as 'sir'. "React however you want. She doesn't listen very well to me, but she might listen to you...so if you want her to stay away from him she might." and if not, he'd go over and pull her back by the scruff on her neck...or more safely the back of her shirt.
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:44 pm
"Name's Deet." the large book-store owner said, finally getting a good look at the man he was talking to. Deet was some what surprised to see that this man was just about as tall as he was! He was also probably one of the most normal looking people he had met in a very long time, which the cat-man wasn't entirely sure was a good or a bad thing, "Annnd the little one your daughter is interrogating is my son, Leo...She seems like a good kid. Leo isn't usually this talkative, I'm impressed."
"C-Cannibal? No, um...I've never had Bacon..." Leo said blankly, still not really moving from his strange turtle-esque pose, "No, my daddy does. I just like the pictures. They're pretty." Leo reiterated.
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 7:08 pm
"Nice to meet you, Deet." Riley said, holding out his right hand for the catman to shake if he wanted. The military man had only breifly acknowledged that the man was pretty much as tall as he was; but it was nice to not have to look down when talking. That definitely got annoying. "Hardly my daughter. I'm just watching her for an extended period of time." Riley snorted a bit; he didn't like calling Emmet or Stella his kids, he was blackmailed into taking them and thus didn't see it as adopting children. But if he had to name one of them his kid, he would sooner say Emmet was his son than ever say that Stella was his daughter. The panther was crazy. "Good kid...I suppose her intentions aren't evil, but she's hard to control sometimes." Riley pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have another kid in my care that is her polar opposite...in every way. White to her Black, Timid to her psycho." He sighed. "I feel sorry for your boy, though."
"Bacon is good. Did you know bacon comes from pigs? " As always, Stella lacked tact. "Pretty pictures?" She questioned, now sitting up straight. Huh, the book looked pretty? The way he was holding it, she could barely see inside! "I want to see!" Grinning like the cheshire cat, Stella grabbed the book and tried to pry it away from the boy by force. The cat didn't seem to feel the same remose for the piglet that her Papa did, in fact she seemed to see him as a somewhat interesting plaything!
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 8:07 pm
"Oh...Alright then..." Deet was one of the stranger cases of D-Corp: He was more than willing, hell, he wanted to adopt, "Ah, I have the same case. My other boy's in time out for playing Godzilla in the pantry." the giant cat man said with a chuckle, "And don't worry about Leo, he's fine."
"Comes from...pigs?" Leo said, trying to keep the book in his hands. He failed at it epically and his color drained. Came from...pigs? Like they made it? Or was it like Chicken? Leo knew steak came from cows, but people actually ate pigs?! Okay, brain couldn't take it: Leo started crying.
"Annnnd thats my cue..." Deet sighed, walking over and picking up his son.
"D-D-Dad! Bacon comes from pigs! People eat pigs!" Leo sobbed.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 5:58 am
Riley didn't want kids. Period. He would have been happy right now to have been in some backwater town with a gun keeping the peace. But kid? Nah. But he had them now, and he had to deal. "Godzilla in the pantry? Huh, Looks like timid and psycho is a common sibling theme." The military man scratched the back of his neck.
Stella nodded to Leo, but she wasn't paying attention. She had his book now, and she was flipping through the pages and looking at the pictures more than anything; Leo was right, they were pretty! The picture book was enough to keep her occupied; at least until Leo started crying. Ears fully perked, Stella put the book down in favor of staring at the piglet as he started bawling. A look of confusion briefly caught her face as she tried to figure out why Leo had started to cry. Oh well.
The panther child jumped to her feet and briefly dusted off her skirt when Leo was picked up by his father, the book clattering unceremoniously to the floor. Riley was in a state of shock; he couldn't believe Stella had made Leo cry, and worse he didn't know how to reprimand her. He stayed silent, but fuming.
"I'm sure they won't eat you Leo. And if they tried, You'll have a dragon soon and you can fight back!" She said, her tone between matter-of-fact and geez-he's-upset-over-nothing. The panther also assumed he was like her; every kid that looked somewhat like an animal had to be like her, and therefore would get a dragon. No exceptions. It seemed silly to her that he was so upset; all it was was a little breakfast food. Crybaby. "I have a gold dragon! Its still an egg but its GOLD. Very shiney. But bacon is good, you should try it sometime!" She was standing near Deet and Leo though she had to look up to see them. "I'm bored. Wanna play a game?" Poor Leo, being the current subject of interest from an unsensitive child.
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 2:41 pm
Deet didn't mean to, it just sort of...happened. But he did it. He shot a glare at Riley. The poor man didn't deserve it, Deet knew that, but his son was crying and this man was responsible for the child who caused that. Damnit...
"D-Dragons?" Leo sniffled. This was news to him. He got a dragon? Seriously?
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 8:24 pm
Riley caught the glare, and he did nothing otherwise. Deet was right to glare at him, but it wasn't like he could control Stella. Stella's previous guardian had tried, and he was trying...but she was so difficult and stubborn when she wanted to be. He only sighed and moved to try and get Stella away from the boy and the big cat man.
"Yeah, a dragon. You know those big flying dinosaurs things in movies? Only they're yours and you get to do things with them!" Stella didn't notice Riley's advances, but she was digging around in her little sidebag to pull out a notepad and a pen, drawing a really awkward oval on it before showing it to Leo, even though he was up on his Dad. "MINE looks like this, but its shiny and gold! DD told me it was a good dragon and wouldn't bite me if I stayed a good girl." Which was bad, considering Stella rarely saw anything she did as bad.
She put her notepad back just as Riley grabbed her shoulder and tried to get her away. She ignored him though and batted away his hand, rummaging around her little bag before finding a lollipop, holding it up to Leo. "Want?"
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