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 Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:31 pm
Lunchtime.
The Meadowview Cafeteria was probably one of the most shameful monstrosities for the youth-centered. On a good day, it was just vaguely difficult to discern the difference between the lunch oatmeal, and the lump of booger that someone had stuck to the underside of a bowl.
It was no wonder Toby had opted out from such (as his counselor would have told him) 'fresh' experiences, and had in a stroke of hindsight, saved his leftovers from last night. Which really, were the leftovers of the leftovers he had picked up from the 'sale' section of the convenience store, but ah, who was counting the expiry date really: especially in comparison to the delectable Entrees currently serving at Cafe du Meadowview: 'Would you like boogers with those fries?'
The somewhat-evil but more like 'vaguely threatening if you were a puppy' teenager poked his head into the cafeteria room and immediately withdrew it, just quick enough to avoid a lump of sludge from the beginnings of yet another food fight. He sighed: it would be lunch outside again.
In comparison to the confines of cheaply budgeted cafeteria tabletops, his little spot outside the cafeteria doors wasn't too bad. Granted, if you didn't mind sitting next to the large dumpster, or the teachers parking lot right adjacent to it. Beside, it was outside, and some fresh air, even a moment's worth, was gold to him.
He sighed gratefully as he plopped himself on an empty staff parking lot next to an out-of-shape Ford '89, and put down his lunch bag, just wanting to enjoy the somewhat lack-luster sunshine on his face. In times like these, he could really, just sit there forever, blissful at the relative silence.
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:09 pm
Children were nasty, dirty, wasteful little creatures. Booger-oatmeal it might have been, but better than rotting bits of God knows what left behind in a trash can! Disgruntled, the rotund tabby skirted quickly back out the open window he'd found to sneak into the school, his tail bristled with irritation as he stalked indignantly away. If anyone asked, he'd been scouting, of course. Then again, that was even less believable then him saying he'd done jack today.
It was dumb luck that the boy sitting off by himself caught one bright, if narrowed eye, and Grendel froze as something tickled in the back of his brain. A Negaverse lieutenant? What were the odds? And, more importantly, it looked like he had lunch with him...
"That uniform truly doesn't suit you, Lieutenant Tobernite." Grendel practically purred as he ambled over, seating himself with feline grace even as he studied the boy. There was some damnable urge to swat at that earing hanging from the kid's ear, but he more restraint than that. Besides, if he played his cards right, he could be walking out of here with a free meal.
"So? How goes the soul-sucking and the senshi-fighting and all that dribble?" The cat questioned, watching with lazily lidded eyes. Why, he almost sounded sincere! He allowed his tail to flick with private amusement.
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:41 pm
At first he thought he was talking to himself again.
No, no wait, there's definitely someone talking to me, the meager side of his brain, labeled 'logic' corrected.
It was about two feet tall, fluffy, and had ears, whiskers, and a tail. It was also staring at him.
It was staring at him. Like it had talked.
For a second, all the little gears in Toby's head started working too fast on overtime, and he thought his brain might have had an internal meltdown. Gratefully some mechanic in his brain that had most likely been working overtime (at minimum wage, those poor unappreciated neuro-receptors) decided to put the entire works into a grinding halt.
"Um." Toby said, rather intelligently, (if you were a rock). "Are you talking to me?" Had he been a tad more intelligent than a rock at the moment, it might have occurred to him that the cat had said something other than 'some human words'.
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:49 pm
... Oh, this was just wonderful. Not only did the boy not reply with anything that even resembled intelligence, but Grendel had to wonder if he was even, well, a lieutenant! Had he just blown his cover? But no, after hastily letting his gaze flick over the human once more, he could guarantee that he was correct.
That only seemed to sour his mood.
Letting his ears pin back lightly, the cat just glowered for a moment. "I didn't realize we were allowing the mentally inept to enlist in our ranks... Are we truly that desperate?" He muttered aloud, clearly intending to be scathing. With an exaggerated sigh, he shook his head.
"If I weren't talking to you, I would be talking to your lunch. If you don't eat it, I'll take it from you and then you can try to explain how a talking cat devoured your lunch." Grendel said flatly. "Now. You are Lieutenant Tobernite, God help us all, correct?"
At least Nealite had sense.
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:01 pm
Upon hearing his 'job' (you know, the actual one he had, not his personal interests one) name paired with such an authoritative, if not annoyed tone, Toby yelped, straightening himself.
"Yes..yes sir!" He paused. "Wait, um, you are a dude right? Because I'm not really good with cat genders, I mean my mom had a cat but it ran away and-"
He snapped his mouth shut, suddenly realizing he was rambling.
"Yes I am?" He finally managed out, still meekly. A whole bunch of snarky comments suddenly fired in his mind at how desperate the Negaverse really was these days (cough, his weapon, cough), but for all he knew, this talking cat might be a higher up sort of individual. It was best not to offend. "W-wait... what are you doing here, um... sir.....?" he trailed off slightly, not knowing how to address something furry, irate, and talking.
A part of his mind was also wondering if his lunch really could talk, and if that would be considered animal cruelty.
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:13 pm
Well. Unexpected, but certainly not unwelcomed. Grendel entertained the thought of preening under the respect, but only tossed his head impatiently as though he was used to hearing that all the time. "Do I sound like a woman to you?" He questioned skeptically, arching a brow as though just daring the boy to push his luck.
There was no need to introduce himself (that way he couldn't get called on anything later), and so he only nodded in a satisfied sort of way. So, Lieutenant Tobernite it was. Well, he wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to do with the boy, or how much he cared, but free amusement was hard to pass up. "Mm? Checking in on your progress, of course. You think the Negaverse lets its servants run around rampant?"
He paused to idly lick at one of his paws with a rough tongue, washing at his face. "And to bring you important news, I suppose. Perhaps I shouldn't even bother, you seem to be thriving just fine without it..." Grendel muttered. He was careful not to glance up at the other, hiding a ridiculously pointed grin behind his paw before he straightened. "So? How are the Senshi doing? Assuming you've even encountered one, of course..."
He flopped himself down unceremoniously with a yawn, clearly not as ready to leave as his tone might have implied.
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:30 pm
Ohcrapohcrapohcrap. This was what he got for practically doing nothing the past few days.
He shook his head in response at the other's first question, heart pounding a little too fast. The cat clearly knew intel he did not; they even knew exactly who he was! (and he had to say, the Meadowview uniforms were a great form of diguise). "I....I...." he faltered, licking his lips. "I saw a senshi?" Well, it was better than an all out lie. 'Got my a** kicked' somehow didn't seem like something that would reward him with brownie points.
Wincing slightly, he glanced over at the feline, only to notice with disappointment they seemed rather disinterested and bored, choosing to lick their paws instead of talk to him. Oh boy was Toby ever going to get it if he didn't hear that important news: he didn't really think much happened most of the time in the Negaverse side of things, really!
"Wait, please sir!!" At the age of fifteen, pride was something that most teenage boys, like him, still had to grow into; not to mention most kids did not have to worry about being possibly charred into ashes for potential failure. He cringed. "What sort of important news did I miss, if you dont mind, err, sharing?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 7:41 am
"Oh?"
Grendel paused in mid-lick, tongue curling thoughtfully before he let his paw settle on the ground to peer at the boy like he held knew worth. "In this school? Did you engage them? Or..." His lips curled a little, and the cat was clearly amused. "Perhaps you did the logical thing and simply observed, hmm? You've only been newly awakened, you likely can't do much more than offer a ridiculous pose and move on. Tell you what," Grendel leaned forward, as though about to confide something important. "Those who slack off, dare I say it, are often the ones who live. Keep that in mind." Nothing wrong with corrupting the youth of today!
The cat shifted minutely at the request, mulling it over. "Mm, I could be convinced." He stared at the boy's lunch for a few awkward moments before he flicked his eyes up. "I've heard rumors that perhaps a Senshi herself was corrupted..." He offered slyly, beginning to meticulously wash at his face.
"...But who knows if that's true or not?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 10:37 am
He cringed at the feline's reinforcement of his newbie status, waiting to hear the smackdown of how he should work harder, or that he wasn't worth their time.
And had to pause, mouth gaping. Were they telling him it was okay to slack off? Well, it was true he couldn't do much other than perhaps strike a "The darkness will prevail!" speech, which normally did one nothing good but give away their strategic location. And he definitely didn't see anything wrong with saving his own hide, something he was very, very, familiar with.
"So wait you're not gonna report me?" He said, rather hopefully. Maybe if he bribed the other with something, they would be more inclined to, as the cat had worded it, 'be convinced'. Not to mention he had absolutely no clue about the corrupted Senshi, does that mean he was going to be wiped out and replaced?!
Toby made a face, struggling with an internal battle of telling the truth or not. If he didn't know about this big piece of news, he would only look even worse than he already did. He looked around for something to placate the feline with, pretty sure they were not interested in his 'weapon', or his felt markers he had procured from math class.
Wait, hadn't they been looking at his lunch a few moments ago? His own stomach slightly grumbled at the thought of food, reminding him that he really should salvage as much of the sandwich as he could for himself. Picking up the brown paper packaging, he reached in with one hand, and pulled out one quarter of the sandwich, holding it slightly towards the what-seemed-disinterested cat.
"Hey look, if I give you this," and he shook the sandwich slice a bit, hoping it looked somewhat appetizing, "Will you uh, refresh my memory about that corrupted senshi rumour again?" Pause. "And maybe tell them I'm doing a good job as well?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 1:36 pm
Ahh, and there was the magic phrase he'd been hoping to hear. Grendel had no qualms with being selfish--particularly when it came to food. Starve the poor school kid? Yes, well, sacrifices had to be made. "I think I could do that." Grendel mused, his eyes sliding back and forth as they focused on the waving bit of sandwich.
"Well, clearly you're more competent than the rest of your league, managing to discover the whereabouts of a Senshi and surviving..." The cat nodded to himself, as though impressed indeed. "But what else? Ah, yes, the corrupted one. Well."
Grendel puffed himself up importantly, his eyes slightly narrowed as he recounted the thrilling tale... which sounded better when he made up bits and pieces. "Some say she gave herself up willingly to us. Others say the General-King himself plucked her starseed from her and crushed it." That sounded so much more menacing than corrupted.
"Regardless, she's one of us now... and I've heard that they want to try and do the same with other Senshi--perhaps even more Guardians, like myself." He paused to preen. "Keep being useful, Tobernite, and perhaps you'll be taught how to do such a thing. I'll be sure the General-King knows about you." He all but purred.
...Was that enough for that damn sandwich, now?
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Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 2:27 pm
Toby beamed, sandwich temporarily forgotten. If his ears weren't deceiving him, he had just heard the words 'more competent'. Though he wasn't really sure what that latter word meant, he could bet his 15-year-old self that it had to be something damn important.
Ego thoroughly resized back to its original proportions, he made out the rest of the story bobbing his head, pretending not to seem too surprised at the current 'happenings'. It was hard not to shudder at the very mention of the General-King; but if they weren't going to get their panties in a bunch over his lack of erm, 'proper action' anytime soon, the coast was still, thankfully, clear skies and sunny days from now on. Besides as the feline had mentioned, there was always time for him to try later.
About to relax, satisfied, it occurred to Toby that the cat was probably still waiting for that something in his hand. Oh right, sandwich. He proffered the item to the other.
"Is that what the other Lieutenants are up to as well?" He scratched his head. "I mean I wasn't even told that it was possible." Briefly he wondered if he should give another piece to the clearly superior feline to make sure he was in their good hands, er, paws. "Do you know how to get those star seeds?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 6:01 pm
Grendel elegantly reached out to take the sandwich between his sharp teeth, munching at it with content sounds though his ears flicked to catch whatever the heck the boy was saying now.
"Most of them." He replied, looking almost a little smug. "Some of them, however... well, they need some extra help, so they're being trained." Don't you dare let this happen to you, his eyes seemed to say, before he returned to nomming on the sandwich. "Me? Of course... it's a well guarded secret... but..."
Grendel paused long enough to stare at Toby hard through narrowed eyes, sizing him up to see if he could handle such vital knowledge. "The star seed will only manifest if you believe in it. Pure of heart, all that..."
How gullible were boys this age, again?
"Next time you find a Senshi... you stretch out your hand towards their chest, close your eyes, and imagine yourself pulling their star seed from them. Sometimes it helps if you shout 'I believe' or what have you. Corny, I know, but you're just a grunt. You don't get any spectacular abilities until you mature a little."
Take the bait, take the bait, take the bait, please. Give him something to laugh about in his life.
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Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 6:25 pm
He hung, fascinated by every syllable of the feline's words. Man, he should have brought his felt marker, at least he could have scribbled some key points on his arm or something, so he could actually remember most of this stuff.
Brows furrowed in intense concentration, Toby tried to summarize what the other had just told him. "Wait, do I actually have to say 'I believe'?" He scratched his head, "What am I believing in anyway?" At least the visualizing part seemed somewhat plausible, and he wondered for a second if he was going to offend the other for really not knowing what was going on. He counted the small blessings for having at least stumbled - a stroke of luck!- on this piece of crucial information.
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 6:37 pm
"Only if you want it to work." Grendel said smoothly, dead serious. "Oh... Think of it like this; normal people aren't one of us or one of them, correct? And since you're on the side of evil, you have to concentrate hard to get that pure star seed to reveal itself." Gobbling up the rest of the sandwich, the cat carefully groomed his paws with a sound suspiciously close to a purr.
"You think you can manage that, Lieutenant Tobernite?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 7:58 pm
Thinking like any gullible (apparently if you said 'school bus' fast enough, it turned into the word gullible!), hapless teenage boy would, Toby suddenly stood up, the rest of his lunch and sandwich bag forgotten as revelations started swimming in his mind.
"I wont fail you, Mr. Cat." Toby said, with all dead seriousness, giving them a small salute. "I will make sure evil prevails and we will get our star seeds for uh," pause, scratch of head. What the heck did they do with star seeds anyway, plant evil stuff?, "for.. the darkness, yes!"
Undaunted by the other's almost TOO smug expression, he waved a cheerful goodbye and ran out of the parking lot, back to his hideout, obviously forgetting a little something called 'afternoon classes' as well as that lunch. His mind raced over all the things he had been taught today, trying to remember them all.
Yes, Toby would show the Negaverse that he too could-
- something sparkled from the corner of his eye. Curious, he turned, and saw what seemed like an aged businessman walking down the streets, talking on his cell phone. In his pocket lay the most gorgeous pair of spectacles Toby had ever laid his eyes on. He HAD to 'borrow' them for his collection!
Search and collect mode activated, he tailed his unsuspecting prey, making sure to walk casually and slowly. Wait! halted a part of his brain, What about all those Negaverse things you had to do?.
]
Oh right. He paused for a second, a dilemma forming between what was in front of him and what he SHOULD be doing. Obviously, the shiny won.
Tomorrow, Toby promised, nodding his head in determination (to himself, really). I'll start working on all that evil stuff tomorrow.
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