Novi: -curled up on top of a rock, bushy tail flicking back and forth as he's fixated on a butterfly hovering next to the rock-

Nikki:: -straights her ear muffs to make sure they wont fall off- Such a pretty day it is. ^_^ -Spots a butterfly and instictively races off towards it- Mr. Butters! Oh, so pretty! -swats her paws at the critter playfully before noticing a cat louging on the rock right next to her- Oh! Hello! I didn't see you there. Why are you so lifeless?! -pokes the unfamiliar cat-

Novi: -was so intent on the butterfly that, when the lopeared cat leapt in front of him, he nearly jumped out of his skin- AWAHH! -falls backwards with a small nervous giggle- L-Lifeless? -looks suddenly quite nervous- I was just...watching him? What did you name him? -ears p***k forwards-

Nikki:: -giggles at the entertaining flail from the stranger boy and tilts her head- Mr. Butters. Hehe, it seemed to be a good name. Since he's a BUTTERfly. ^_^ -adjusts her ear muffs a bit to make sure the yelling he had done wouldn't give her a headach.- I'm Nikki, but you could call me Nik for short. What can I call you?!

Novi: -tries it out- Mr...Butters. I like it! -clasps his hands together and grins widely, though his gold eyes widen a fraction at her earmuffs- Why do you wear those, Nik? Can't you hear? -pokes at them, then rocks backwards- I'm Novik -says proudly- You can call me Novi for short!

Nikki:: -flinches slightly as he reaches to poke her ear muffs- Oh, don't touch please. Heh, um... they protect my ears. Loud noises... hurt my head. -tilts her head and instead of him poking her ear muffs she took his hands and just held them.- Novi, that's so cute! I love it! Novi Novi Novi! -spins around in a circle with him happily like they would if playing ring around the rosy.-

Novi: -as she flinches, he flinches, as if feeling her emotions against his skin like a knife. Pulling his ears back, he looks forlorn for a moment- Headaches? I'm sorry... -frowns, but giggles as she takes his hands in hers, feeling suddenly rather special- You like it? Momma named me =D

Nikki:: -gives a positive nod and stops spinning to speak to him- Oh yes, well, your momma has wonderful taste! Hehe, say, do you wanna have an adventure?! -has heard of a wonderful shop not far from where they were, but the shop owner doesn't like cats to much.-

Novi: -feels a little dizzy as they stop spinning, but he's grinning like mad- Adventure? -ducks his head, remembering the last 'adventure' he had... Vik, in the background, snickers deeply and Novi lets out a small hiss of uncertainty. But it would be different right? Momma wasn't here to yell, and make him feel bad? And he'd stay in control this time, no Vik!- Okay! But...you get to lead. Last time I led, I got in trouble...

Nikki:: -stares at him eagerly as she awaits his decision. When he agrees to go with her she bounced up and down happily- Oh yay! Thank you Novi! I'm a good leader so we shouldn't be getting into any trouble. -keeps hold of one of his hands as she leads him in the direction of the shop.- Why'd you get in trouble the last time you lead?

Novi: -smiles at her, giggling at her bouncing- That's good. Leaders are good! -squeezes her hand as he pads after her, his feet shuffling on the ground as he goes, trusting her fully and never once considering the fact that Momma might be looking for him- Um... -looks sheepish- My sister got hurt and I got in trouble. We decided to explore the basement of the university. He...told me it was a good idea, but it really wasn't ^^;;;

Nikki:: -continues to walk with Novi, growing more and more curious as he explained.- He? Who's he? Your brother or something? -just a little further-

Novi: -frowns a little. How did one explain Vik...?- Kinda? I mean...he's always there, just like Belial or Barayas... But he's in my head? -doesn't have any idea that he sounds like a freak- Do you have one? A guy in your head? Is that why you wear the earmuffs, so you don't hear him? Cuz he can be...mean.

Nikki:: -widens her eyes at his imagination.- A guy in my head? Oh no no.... that's not why I have ear muffs. Huh, so Vik is in your head... and he's mean? Then why don't you just tell him to leave you alone? -reaches the shop and turns her attention onto it for a moment but before they venture inside she'll let him finish.-

Novi: -shrugs. It was worth a try; maybe he was just...different. Crazy? The word frightened him- Yeah. He likes to make me feel bad. He doesn't like mixed breed cats, either. He says they're 'half' of a cat. -sighs a little, pausing beside her- He'll never leave -says solemnly, before smiling- It's okay, though. I'm used to it! Now...what are we gonna do here?

Nikki:: -tilts her head- Huh, good thing I'm a pure breed. So maybe he wont try to ... break us apart. You're a nice friend. ^_^ -looks back to the shop and thinks for a moment, trying to see how they should go in.- Well the person who runs the shop... they don't like cats, but I hear that in back he keeps the most delicious candies. You like candies, don't you?

Novi: -giggles at her logic- Yes! I like friendship! < 3 -stares at the storefront, curious as he listens to Nikki talk- How can they not like us? We're so cute! -waves his arms a little- My humans loved me! -Yet here he was, a stray once again with only his purple collar to show his darling human's love, though he could still taste her tears on his whiskers, but he wasn't going to think of that right now. The idea of candies distracted him- Ooh. Yummmm! -claps his hands- So what do we do?

Nikki:: Well, we could just walk in and take them, but that might risk the owner seeing us and chasing us out. Soooo.... -does a super roll across the floor and pops up, leaning her back against the door and peeking inside.- We have to be super ninjas! Ready to be ninja with me?!

Novi: -grins and follows her, skirting easily across the floor -- seemed stealth wasn't beyond the young boy!- I'm ready -all but whispers it-

Nikki:: -giggles and sings the James Bond theme song. So it wasn't ninja, status. Oh well. She rolled across the floor and jumped behind things. Her giggles were starting to get louder though, cause she was really enjoying herself. Finally they made it all the way to the back without being spotted.- Yay! We're so skilled! Candy time! -begins her search since the owner wasn't in the room they could walk freely around.-

Novi: -follows her easily, his lean body stretching out and curving as he rolled and ducked, a wide grin plastered on his face although he was kind of nervous. When they reached the candy room, he pumped a fist in the air and stood up tall. He wasn't about to ask how they'd get -out- -- he just assumed Nikki knew what she was doing! She was older than him, after all-

Nikki:: Hmmm, now what sorts of candies do they have. -spots a box of chocolates and then a box of carmels, and boxes upon boxes of candy seemed to be appearing to her.- Oh wow! They got tons of good stuff! -pulls open a box of chocolate and starts to nom on it.- Mmm Try some Novi!

Novi: Oh wowww -likes a child in a candy shop -- which he was -- and reaches for the chocolates, nibbling gently at first before stuffing his face- Oh wowwww! It's soooo good! -gleeful giggles and continues to test different chocolates, finding a cherry filled one and grinning up at Nikki -- at least until the door swung wide in and startled him. With chocolate still on his fingers, he leapt behind Nikki, ears flat against his skull. Vik smirked in his head-

Nikki:: -She giggled at Novi, loving how cute he was being with his chocolates- It's so yummy! -continues to eat until the door swung open and the owner spotted them.- Oh no! Abort Mission! -she tried to rush for the door but the owner shut it and reached for a broom that was in the corner. He yelled at them and started to swing the cleaning object at them.- Ah! Novi! Watch out! -she grabbed the kids hand and rushed over under a desk, looking around for an exit.- There's a vent over there. We could pop it off and make a run for it.

Novi: -gives a squeal as the broom smacks into his rump, the man yelling angrily. Novi hated to be yelled at and shrunk down, frozen behind the desk where he was pulled. Glances up at Nikki, fright apparent on his young face, and his tail is bristled- H-Hurry! -whines, wishing suddenly that Momma was here. Closes his eyes, pressing them shut and wishing he just wasn't there as the man reaches for him-

Nikki:: -Nik nodded, trying to calculate the right time to run, but as the man bent down and reached for Novi she pulled him away from the human and ran towards the vent, popping it off as quickly as she could and shoving him inside first. She then crawled in after him and nudged him.- We're safe in here, but I'm scared of small spaces. Keep going........ Novi.... are you okay? -she wanted to at least know if he was hurt. SHe'd feel so bad if he was.-

Novi: -wasn't aware of her hand on him -- he was already in another place. Hiding. Surviving. He didn't do well at that...
Vik: -scrambles through the vent with ease, hellbent on getting out of there, a snarl on his lips as he moved. He listened to the girl's voice -- oh what was her name? Vikki? Nikki? Something like that -- it would really pay off to pay attention sometimes instead of ignoring his alter, but ah well- Fine -muttered quickly -- his voice was thicker, more raspy than Novi's higher, innocent tone. He crawls from the vent, kicking open the other side and dropping to the ground, dusting off his pants- Quick thinking.

Nikki:: -crawls behind him, noticing the change but thought it was because he was scared or something. She was scared to. Finally when he crawled out she attempted tumble out but on the hook of a screw her collar got snagged and she tried to tug away but that only ended up getting it more and more caught.- Ugh, Oh no.... Novi, I'm stuck... Help? -she looked at him, expecting the kind boy to lend her a hand.-

Vik: -glances back at her, a frown creasing his forehead- Wait. Hold on, would you? -comes closer, inspecting the screw caught on the collar- You're stuck tight. Hold on... -gives the collar a rough tug, jerking it. The clasp broke under his touch, snapping from around her neck as he pulled it. It draped in his hand and she was free- Hn. Looks like you're officially a Freecollar, girl. Hopefully you didn't cherish having a collar too much. -sniffs a little, pulling away, then thinking to offer her a hand down-

Nikki:: -the change in attitude was certainly different. She could tell it wasn't caused by fear, so what was it? What made him so different all the sudden. Even his posture was changed.- Oh my.... well, I guess I didn't really. Hm, freecollar.... neat! -notices his hand and thought it was nice of him- Thank you, Novi! -hops down and continues to hold Vik's hand.-

Vik: -wrinkles his nose the slightest- Vik. -says almost coldly- Novi...had a panic attack. He decided he'd like to live, so he did the smarter choice and let me out. -smiles a dazzling smile, that looked almost strange on his young face -- Vik was much older than Novi was, perhaps that was just how life worked. Pulls his hand from hers, stuffing them in his pockets- I suppose I should head back. Mother'll probably worry. Besides...I don't often get the body. -smirks a little- So I'd like to put it to use...and that doesn't involve you, darling...

Nikki:: -frowns and flattens her ears against her head, although her ear muffs cover them so you can't really notice.- O-oh... um... o-okay then... -seems rather sad that Novi- um, Vik doesn't want to hang out with her anymore.- W-well, goodbye then... I had ... fun. -turns and starts to walk away, tail drooping behind her as she left him alone.-

Vik: -nods and turns, though a strange feeling -- was that compassion he was feeling? -- made him turn back- He had fun too. Believe me. I'm sure he'll seek you out again, Nikki... -says softly before turning and striding off-


{Fin}