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Somewhere in the last few minutes of her patrol, the senshi had acquired a shadow, a small blur of orange darting unobtrusively from building to building, some distance behind her but slowly gaining ground. Tomlin made a habit of keeping a quiet eye on lone senshi, just in case, but this one caught his attention more than most. It was one of the Jovians, he was certain. She was definitely familiar, if more powerful than he was expecting, which could only be a good thing. He didn’t have to worry so much about an experienced senshi patrolling without back-up (though the worry could never be completely quashed.) But still he followed – he wanted to check in with her, get to know her. They needed to talk.

Pasiphae, he remembered, seeing her uniform more clearly as she paused by the old shop. But before he could voice the name, the power had winked out, leaving only a civilian girl hurrying out and away from him. A little mewl of annoyance escaped him, and he set out again to catch up, a furry ginger tail that padded behind her. To those not looking too closely, they might almost have thought him on a leash, he kept such an even distance between them - near enough not to lose her, but not so close as to be a tripping hazard – getting stepped on was never fun.

Tomlin bowed his head when the girl turned around, attempting to hide his forehead and look like a normal stray cat, but it seemed he needn't have bothered. He got only the most cursory of glances before his target was off again, and as soon as she turned her back he skittered along to keep up. He was scarcely a few steps behind when the door swung closed before his nose. And that was that, he thought, gazing up at the faraway doorknob. He should have known it wouldn't be that easy. On the bright side, now he knew where the place was, he could stake it out for when she came back.

He sat on the doorstep, tail twitching as he considered the best way to proceed. The place smelled a little of food, but mostly of dog. In fact, the smells were quite strong, wafting out... of the not-quite-closed door... hey, it was going to be that easy! Within moments, a pink kitty nose was pressed against the careless crack, and once he had established the coast was relatively clear, a soft kitty paw curled its way around the edge of the door. With a headbutt and some serious wiggling, he managed to force entrance into the senshi's house.

Safely inside, the orange guardian crouched ninja-like near the door, trying to gauge if his break-in had been observed, and hopefully spot the girl again.

Tomlin froze at the huffy wave of dog-breath that came his way before he’d so much as moved a paw’s width from the doorway. He’d been noticed. The guardian arched his back, pulling close against the wall, sideways and on tiptoes. He didn’t have a problem with dogs as such, but this one was large and looming and making noises, and short of squeezing back out the door, he was short on escape plans. On the plus side, it wasn’t actually growling yet. Lashing tail meant happy for dogs, didn’t it? Silly backwards dogs.

He didn’t really want to pick a fight here, not when he could hear human voices just rooms away. He just needed to convince it that he wasn’t a chew-toy.

"Easy, big guy," he whispered cautiously to the bulldog, "I’m just visiting-"

A footfall somewhere beyond the dog warned him, and he shut his mouth with a snap as a man entered the room, holding his breath and hoping he hadn’t been heard. That was cutting it too fine. The bulk of the dog seemed to shield him from view, but that was all the luck he was likely to get in one day.

As soon as the human turned his back, Tomlin bolted for the stairs. Somewhere up there was bound to have a safe space he could hole up in until he had an opportunity to catch the senshi alone. Hopefully a high one, out of reach of enthusiastic dogs.

Apparently his luck was going to hold after all. Not only did he reach the top of the stairs without comment from the people below, but the objective of his search was waiting for him at the top. He skittered to a halt at the senshi’s feet, rubbing cheek and tail against her legs.

“Hey.” He greeted quietly, not missing her worried look. He glanced back to where the other voices were coming from. “Is now a bad time?”

He didn’t get an immediate response, but in the pause he could hear the whuffling sound of the Bulldog, still negotiating the stairs. He had to admire its persistence.

Being picked up was not his favourite thing, and as usual, it took him by surprise when the senshi lifted him, but it was slightly further up the list than dog drool. He had been hoping for a high place to hide, so he accepted the rescue with as much grace as he could muster, claws only unsheathing for a moment while he made sure civilian-Pasiphae wasn’t about to drop him. He had a good view of the heavy-breathing dog as it topped the stairs like a marathon runner and continued barrelling after them along the corridor.

“That thing’s not a meat-eater, is it?” he joked, though from his vantage point in Pasiphae’s arms, he was more concerned about the animal’s health than its chances of hurting him. “Is it okay wheezing like that?”