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Alice wasn't around today. Amber eyes gazed around the perfectly maintained grounds of the human University with little interest as their owner padded slowly around. He had been here many times before, but usually he was with his female. The Somali tom wouldn't normally go wandering around within the presence of so many humans on his own, but he was bored. They hadn't quite figured out what to have him do here yet, and it was beginning to irritate the orange tom.

He didn't really have any talent to speak of, so teaching was way out of the question, and aside from making sure no other males looked at Alice for longer than was acceptable, Dhiren was beginning to feel useless. Most of the students were in class right now, which meant the campus was more or less deserted. With a sigh to himself, Dhiren jumped onto one of the benches lining the walkway and flopped down on it, letting his front paws dangle over the edge and his head rest unceremoniously between them.

After what seemed like an eternity, Dhiren was roused from his napping by a sudden commotion of human voices. Lifting his ears, the orange tom blinked open his eyes and glanced toward them. His ears fell flat; class was out, so now those two-legged creatures were beginning to swarm the campus. Where the hell was Alice? With a quiet grumble, the Somali cat gathered himself up to jump off the bench and slink away to some place more secluded when his eye caught something curious among the throngs of human legs. At the same time, he could pick up a familiar phrase from one of them. Changing his course, the tomcat dove off the bench and bounded towards the group of students.

He had been right, crouched at their feet and getting walked all over was one of Tempo's kids. What the hell he was doing at the University, Dhiren wasn't sure, but if he wasn't mistaken this was one of the blind kits. With a yowl to the humans to stay out of the way, the antisocial tom nudged his way between their legs and fastened his teeth in the kid's scruff, hauling him up with a muffled grunt before giving a lash of his bushy tail and running away from the crowd of humans. A few of them shouted and called to them, but Dhiren wasn't interested in them at all. Amber eyes searched the grounds ahead of himself; it was beginning to get busy. Finally, he padded up the grassy rise of a small hill and set the kit down again, panting for air afterward. His eyes gazed off toward the school making sure noone had decided to follow him.

Finally, he set his gaze back on the kitten he had rescued and tilted his head at it; which one was this again...? "Hey... You okay, kid?" He asked softly, crouching down to look at it's face more closely.

Dhiren backed away from the small furball with a start when the kit suddenly started hissing at him. "Well, I guess that answers my question," He mumbled, crouched in a big fluffy ball opposite of the young cat, "hell of a way to thank the guy who just saved your tiny pelt, though." Swiveling his ears slowly around to make sure noone was approaching them, the Somali tom studied the clouded eyes of the small tom before him. He had been correct in assuming the kit's blindness, but he was still unaware that this one was mute as well. "What are you doing wandering the grounds on your own, kid?" He pushed, "It's dangerous when humans are around, you should know that better than anyone your age." Behind him, Dhiren's bushy tail lashed across the grass. As much as he hated to admit it sometimes, kits worried the hell out of him, no matter whose they were.

When the small cat didn't answer and merely sat before him, Dhiren tilted his ears back uneasily. Was this kid just being obstinate? Really, after he had saved him from being trampled to death too! Amber eyes studied the kit critically and the silence between them stretched on. For some reason, it felt like there was a really important thing about Tempo's litter that he needed to remember.

The cogs began to turn slowly, and the twitching of the orange tom's tail slowed to a stop. "Oi...." He mumbled slowly, leaning in closer to stare at the young tom's face, "Man... you are aren't you? The kit who's not only blind, but mute as well. Geez, kid, what the hell are you doing out here?" Pulling away from the young tom and sitting upright, Dhiren put a hand to his face and sighed into it. "Oi, you couldn't even answer if you wanted to," He mumbled to himself, amber eyes opening to peer around his hand at the small bundle of fur, "Poor kid..." Setting both hands in his lap, the Somali resumed watching him and lifted his ears forward, "So I know, at least, that you can hear me. I won't claim to be any good at this, but how... is there any way that you communicate with your brothers and sisters?" Of course, he had no idea if it was even possible to communicate effectively with a cat who could neither see nor speak, but it was worth a try, right? Through out all of this, the older tom was wracking his brain for this kit's name. He was certain Alice had gone over all of them with him at one point...

Dhiren paid close attention to the young tom cat when he thumped his tail on the ground. Although it took him a minute to figure it out, the message was clear. Even so, Dhiren nearly cuffed himself for his idiocy, had he really been expecting some complex communication from the kit? "So... We can do yes or no questions, huh?" He confirmed, a thought coming to him, "Ah... you probably don't know who I am, do you?" He flicked his tail against his side, settling into a more comfortable position opposite the kit; introductions would be easy enough for him, but he would have to try and remember the kid's name on his own.

In order to better prepare him for taking care of these kits, Alice had been trying to teach Dhiren this 'sign language,' It was a somewhat slow process, but he was getting it. Luckily, he remembered enough for now that he could recognize letters, so he watched carefully and blinked when Alice's name came up. Well, obviously he must smell like her, so the tomcat just gave a nod. While a little perplexed at the tongue hanging from the kit's mouth, Dhiren opened his mouth to speak again, "Right. So I'm pretty sure you understand that I'm connected with Alice. She's my mate, and my name is Dhiren. And, if I'm remembering correctly, you are... DaeKyun?" Finally, a name popped out at him from the void of his crowded mind. So much had happened in such a short amount of time since he returned to the University, but eventually everything would even out. Watching the kit, Dhiren wondered what to do with him now. Perhaps he should take him back to Tempo, but he was still wondering why the kid was out on his own in the first place.

Still trying to figure out how to handle the blind, mute kit, Dhiren was unprepared for Dae to just up and run off. Amber eyes opened wide and both of his ears stood upright as the kit bolted. "O-oi!" He called after DaeKyun, getting to his feet and taking off after the swift-footed cat, "Where the hell are you going?!" Of course, Dhiren began to recognize the area they were heading towards, but he wondered how on earth the boy could run all this way without running into anything or stumbling over himself. With his longer legs, the Somali caught up with the younger cat quickly and glared down at him, "Kid! Slow down, where do you think you're rushing off to?"

Dhiren followed the kit easily, diving through the throng of humans rather than going around them. He couldn't understand what was going through this kid's head. When Dae came to a stop at the gate to one of Alice's favorite places, the somali tom paused beside him and looked on curiously until a student came through and the kit skittered inside. With a loud exhale of breath, Dhiren bounded after him, barely making it inside before the gate swung shut. DaeKyun was already sitting by the pond, staring into it through sightless eyes, by the time the older tom made his way over to sit beside him. He was breathing somewhat heavily by the time they stopped moving, amber eyes settling on the colorful fish swimming around in the water before them as he caught his breath. "Oi... so what was that all about, kid?" He murmured finally, casting the younger tom a sidelong glance, knowing that a clever answer wouldn't be coming, "...I don't get you kids like Alice does... but she really likes this place too; although, I'm not sure what you get out of it." Dhiren didn't understand how the kid could run without running into anything, or even what he was looking at when he couldn't see. With an inward sigh, the Somali tom wondered if Alice's idea of putting him in charge of the 'special' studies was really a good idea after all.