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 Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:21 pm
Once Zinkenite had divulged a certain last name it had been child's play for the corrupted guardian to gather the final pieces. A tattered phone book that had fallen from it's chained position on a phone booth was pawed through. Marks was a common enough name of course. But matching the last name with the address she had come to know had narrowed it down to just one number. A number that she repeated over and over in her head until she knew she had it for sure.
Things were already in motion... or so said the General. He seemed as interested in the pale haired teacher as Dahlia was but at the same time... she wasn't the sort to sit around and wait in the weeds. And after so long of waiting for some words.. any words.. even the bad idea seemed like a good one.
Late in the afternoon she'd made her way towards Lt Benitoite's home, sneaking through the window before awaiting his return. It seemed his offers and promises from before had not been idle, the room entirely inviting to the curious cat.
Settling comfortably into the pillow he'd made for her, she watched as he prepared himself to go out for an evening of energy gathering. It was better he was leaving really, and she was happy that he had given into her request without much question or argument. 'Important negaverse business'. He had thankfully swallowed up the excuse.
He went so far as to input the number for her on the cellphone before he dissapeared for the night, leaving the cat alone. Stretched across the pillow, her fluffy white tail flipped casually back and forth, one claw reaching forward to tap the send button.
The sound of ringing on the other end sent a spark of excitement through her veins, adreneline speeding the thump of her heart as she waited.
It was after 9 on a Thursday night, there was no reason for anyone to be calling. But when Falco Marks picked up his phone on that evening he would be greeted with a soft feminine voice, words slow and deliberate, pleasant if nothing else. "Hello..... is this Mr. Marks? Mister Falco Marks?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 7:04 am
"Uh...Hi?" The voice on the other end of the phone sounded considerably more reserved than his passionate snarl earlier, though perhaps this was small wonder. Other than the occasional relative, which was mostly 'can you work more hours' or 'Happy Holidays', the phone calls he tended to get were frequently telemarketers, and he wasn't sure that the sweet female voice on the other end of the phone wasn't about to start trying to sell him siding.
"This is Falco Marks." He offered a second later, realizing that he was being slightly remiss. The background noises she would be privy too including the quiet clink of plates and the sound of dry cat food being poured. His own late night dinner was re-heating. Several slices of pepperoni pizza from his favorite restaurant. Not exactly health food, especially next to a beer, but he figured he deserved his share of guilty pleasures as much as anyone.
"Can I help you?" He added, setting the dishes down on the floor with the phone pressed to his ear, waiting for the inevitable pitch for... who knew. Siding? Insurance? Car Wax?
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 7:32 am
The sway of her tail stopped abruptly as the phone was answered, a brief moment of 'now what!?' hitting her. Really she should have scripted it all.. planned out something that would sound good. But she had been working off of little more than whim.. and whim did not lend itself to hours of planning.
The soft clatter of plates on his end didn't bother her, the background of her own side strangely silent, especially for someone who might have been working in a large telemarketing firm. Those thoughts were to be quickly enough pushed away however as Dahlia grabbed the first idea that popped into her head and ran with it, her paws softly and silently needing the soft pillow her and phone were resting on.
"Oh, I'm so glad I was able to find you." Her voice sounded excited, if she was selling him something she was one of those good ones.. the ones that tried to pretend they knew you. To try and guilt you into things.
"You've already helped me more then I could ever ask. I was told that you helped save my cat"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 8:07 am
He paused, the phone still pressed to his ear, for a heartbeat or two, his mind speeding through the possible ways to react faster than any driver had ever gone round a track.
This was the owner of 'Princess'? The Owner who had, he assumed, allowed her out without any sort of identification to nearly be blown to shreds by delinquents?
With an flash of resentful anger he tried to mentally attatch that smooth, alluring voice to an unattractive mental picture, trying to imagine her to be extremely overweight. ((though to be fair "Overweight" was not the word that jumped into his head first.))
It didn't want to stick, that image, though maybe that was more the fault of the romance novel, it's spine broken from being left on a tented position on the table, with an attractive woman pressing herself against the blond, equally attractive protagonist, so close it looked as though they were attempting intercourse with their clothing on.
"...You own the cat?" He asked, after that loaded pause, as he continued to fight with his conflicting emotions. He wanted to fly off the handle, to demand to know what the hell she'd been thinking, but truth was he didn't know. "...I hope you don't mind..." ((it was clear by his tone he didn't give a damn if she did or didn't.)), "If I ask what the hell she was doing out without any ID?"
And who had told her it was him? No... wait. Must have been Bantock. He'd mentioned being familiar with the cat, he must have told her what had happened. He wasn't sure quite how he felt about that, but it wasn't the time to worry about that.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 8:26 am
"I do" She offered, though she knew she didn't particularly need to, it had been rhetorical.
Her body stiffened just a little as his tone changed subtly. A little closer to the voice she recognized from that first day. She wouldn't be scared off though especially not as she recalled Zinkenite's words.. how 'concerned' the man supposedly was for her.
A soft sigh escaped her.
"She isn't ever supposed to be out actually. Other than for the occassional show, she's entirely an indoor cat"
"That day..." There was a soft pause matching his own from a few moments before.. drawn out as she weaved her little tale, her claws softly retracting over and over as she thought. "My little brother thought he would just borrow her for.. whatever. I'm not certain. I wasn't aware that highschoolers still had show and tell."
"Trust me though, he's been... dealt with." Ohh cryptic.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:14 am
"...Last time I checked they don't."
Show and tell? Had she actually swallowed that? He massaged his temple with a free hand as he tried to stifle the urge to sigh. (It didn't entirely work, but it was a valiant effort.) At least the way she said he'd been 'dealt with' sounded promising. He wondered if the punk went to Hillworth, or if they were one of the two he was hoping to see get a taste of their own medicine. DId they have older siblings? He couldn't remember hearing about it.
"Well that's good then." He admitted, slightly mollified, though now he wished he could put a name to the woman and her younger brother. Come to think of it, she hadn't actually mentioned her name, he thought, that little mental bell ironically rung as the toaster oven gave a slightly unmusical "DING", to indicate that the Pizza was done re-heating.
"Er... I don't think I caught your name?" He fished, frowning in curiosity. Had he seen her at any point? He couldn't remember that voice, and he was half sure it would have been familiar.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:37 am
"The reason doesn't matter so much as long as it never happens again." She replied softly to his response, to the subtle sigh. There wasn't much she could do to convince him she realized, not without divulging more information then she was able. "And for the time being he isn't even allowed in my home again until.. well.. whenever I feel less inclined to bash his head into the countertop."
Her ears twitched a little as the unknown bell sounded on his side, her voice softening once again. "Oh I'm sorry, it must have slipped my mind." She paused a moment.. had Zinkenite mentioned her name when he'd talked to Falco? It would seem incredibly odd if he had.. and both owner and cat had the same exact name. Her brain searched for a replacement, settling on the first one that came to mind. Good old Masahiro.
"My name is Lilith. I suppose I was too excited by the prospect of thanking you to remember to introduce myself."
"I am very intent in thanking you in some way. Something more than simple words" It was hard to keep the purr out of her voice as she mused.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:14 am
Falco coughed somewhat explosively, mostly because he'd just picked up his beer and taken a drink right as she got to the part about thanking with 'more than simple words'.
He coughed for another minute or so, offering a half choked sounding "...Sorry..." as he tried to recover from an attempt to aspirate honey-wheat beer.
Was this a joke? It had to be a joke. His well developed sense of assumption and paranoia leaped at the phrasing, which sounded like a set up. Was it those two punks? Zac?
"Ah, great." He added, clearing his throat again, and cursing the brew, and his own reaction. "Nice to uh, make your acquaintance?"
Christ on a pogostick, he used to feel so goddamn suave. When the hell had he turned back into a shocked teenager? She hadn't even actually said anything explicit, and he was acting like a pimply little nerd who'd just gotten his hands on a Playboy Centerfold. Maybe he needed to get out more....
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:40 am
If she had seen the reaction herself Dahlia might have been proud of herself for illiciting it. But even she drew the lines of creepiness before sitting outside his window and starring at him while they talked on the phone. So instead she simply paused, and after the choking didn't quickly go away concern touched her voice. "Are you alright?"
She shifted softly as she listened, leaning closer towards the phone, her ears twitching and turning to catch any clue. What in the world had even happened? There were no other noises in the background, and he'd even apologized so it wasn't.. serious right? Her tail flicked furiously, eyes narrowing in anticipation. Even when the choking had finally subsided he remained silent.. And she's opened her mouth to say something, anything, Dahlia was not a fan of awkward silence, but finally he spoke again. "The pleasure is mine. Hopefully we can meet someday"
"That said, I'm very serious about the thanks. Is there anything you like? I'd like to get you something. Money isn't really an issue. Not compared to the thought of losing my baby."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 1:10 pm
He gave one last combination of clearing his throat and coughing, nodding before actually giving a response to which she could reply. (And wondering why it was such an habit to nod or do hand gestures that the other party couldn't possibly see on the phone.)
"Yeah, sorry. My uh, drink went down the wrong way." No point in admitting otherwise, he just hoped she didn't guess why it had, especially if this was a prank. ... God if it was a prank he was going to murder someone.
Did they let you off if you could prove justifiable homicide of a prankster? Probably depended on the jury.
He just wished he knew how to respond to the idea that she wanted to repay him, but honestly he couldn't think of a damn thing. Gift card to the pizza joint? No that was stupid.
"I'm just glad she's ok. I'd be ******** ...er I'd be really mad if something happened to one of my cats. Stupid kids..."
WELL there went the foot in the mouth. Complete with sock, boot, and laces. He'd be gnawing on that for a while. Nice language, Falco Amadeus. His mother would have had him tasting Dove for a week, but then there was a reason his mother had never been invited to the track. Unless he was trying to make a good impression, he didn't have the most gentile mouth around.
"Er, Meeting would be cool..."
...brilliant line... if you were continuing in the pimply-teen-with-a-playboy vein. Good thing he only had one foot in his mouth. He needed the other one to kick himself with.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 2:14 pm
"Ahhh" Being a cat.. she could hardly say she recalled ever having said problem. But she could picture it, imagine it, so she must have seen some human do it before. She nodded her head gently towards the phone, not even realizing that the motion wouldn't be seen or acknowledged. Her use of phones had been almost none.. not that she could remember atleast. In truth if the foreign object in front of her had suddenly began to beep or buzz or turned itself off she'd be completely helpless.
"Ohhh, a cat lover?" She knew of course, but she allowed her voice to rise in soft interest. It was something she could grasp at to extend the conversation, to help perhaps settle the uncertainty on the other side of the phone. "That makes sense now that I think about it. Do you have many? I only have the one, Dahlia" It wouldn't hurt to know the names of his small brood anyway.. on the off chance she found herself wandering by... and/or through his home again.
She didn't seem phased by his choice of words even as he tried to fix them, only laughing a little, a soft and sweet sound, before she mused as if they were kindred spirts forever and ever. "Kids are stupid.. most people actually. Animals though.. I've always held a fondness for them. So much more honest.. and forgiving"
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 12:31 pm
"I've got three..." He admitted, clearing his throat slightly. She had to be some kind of prank, he just couldn't quite figure otherwise. So why the hell was he still talking instead of hanging up and eating his pizza before it got cold again? "Well, three permanent ones... I have others come through on their way to new homes sometimes."
Dahlia huh? He made a note of the name, it was certainly a bit more inspired than his nickname of 'Princess', which was probably the moniker of half a thousand female cats around the city, most of them probably owned little girls who still thought Barbie was 'all that'.
She'd pegged exactly why he had three cats though. Thingie, Jo and Mac didn't give a damn if he was famous, just whether or not they were warm and comfortable.
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 12:43 pm
"That's very kind of you" She regarded thoughtfully. It made more sense why his window was open and his window box so welcoming. And why he hadn't, at least not when she'd been around to see, questioned any strange new bits of hair that she might have left during one of her visits.
Of course he hadn't really opened up like she'd been hoping either. She shifted thoughtfully on her pillow, stretching out along her side as thought of what to say. Her paws flexed gently as they were extended, comfortable. "I'm sorry for calling you so late, I probably interrupted you, didn't I?"
A soft laugh. "I have such an awkward schedule I tend to forget that other people do things with their evenings. Like go out. Or sleep." Dahlia was a big fan of cat napping large portions of the day away.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 8:10 am
He gave a short laugh at that, slightly tinged with bitterness that slipped through unchecked. Maybe he'd just been bitter so long now he didn't notice.
"Out? Yeah not me. No... no I was just reheating some pizza and settling in. Nothing glamorous."
"...I dunno I just... like cats." He added, limply, evidently not quite sure how best to explain himself. She'd just praised him for the way he handled the strays, so why did he feel like he had to justify it somehow?
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Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 2:56 pm
If she had actually been a girl... he probably wouldn't have been winning many points in suaveness. A real girl, especially some hot one trying to flirt him up probably would have laughed in his face as he admitted something so very.. 'crazy cat ladyish'. But Dahlia WAS a cat, so she did not laugh. In fact, she was trying very hard to hide the purr that was trying to escape her.
Rolling lightly on her side, a whistful sigh could be heard through the receiver.
"Reheating pizza hmmm? You don't have anyone to cook something better for you?" Her tail had begun to sway, she was comfortable now, and her tone had shifted to one of genuine flirtation now that she hadn't just.. been hung up on.
"I've always heard the quickest way to a man's heart was through his stomach. No..?"
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