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 Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 12:25 pm
The good thing about the Negaverse coming into power—people were always hungry for sugar. The constant energy draining left people needing that extra little bit of sugar, so at least business was good.
Not that Arias would have preferred money over the Negaverse being gone, but at least he still had a way to support himself.
It wasn't like he really got out to do all that fighting anymore.
He was leaning against the counter, wondering how he'd managed to be finish icing the last batch before the next was ready to come out of the oven.
With four minutes remaining on the timer, he took the time to try and figure out what he missed—because four minutes? He wasn't that fast.
Drumming the fingers of his right hand on the counter, he pursed his lips and glanced towards the prosthetic arm he had discarded several hours ago. Rarely did he wear it in the kitchen; it wasn't worth risking damaging it. It was a nice thing to have when dealing with customers, but right now?
Right now he liked the feeling of being back in the kitchen, doing whatever he wanted while one of the girls up front maintained the counter and dealt with customers. While it was a little warm in the kitchen, he had the windows open there and in the connected storage room to help cool things off—and make sure the alley next to them was filled with smells better than trash.
The timer kept ticking, and while he could have been certain it was going to ring at any moment, he still had three minutes left.
Sighing, he pushed himself away from the counter, fumbled to re-tie his hair, checked to see how busy they were—and was back in the kitchen with two and a half minutes left.
He was restless, again.
And staring through the clear panel of the oven wasn't helping.
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Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 3:04 pm
Ever since security stepped up in the city with a wise eye turned toward felines, Faust found his solo ventures into town increasingly unnerving. Around nigh every corner stood a supporter, an agent, a corrupted senshi - all on the lookout for suspicious individuals and felines alike. And with an unusually large body and bandage around his head, the scrappy Mauvian stood out easily.
And not even the alleys were safe these days.
On more than one occasion, Faust darted out of an alley while one of the larger youma crawled after him, fully intent on devouring his fluffy backside (and some would've succeeded had he possessed a tail of actual length). Lately he found that more of his scars came from these risky ventures than legitimate Shadow missions that demanded more of a behind the scenes approach from the gung-ho Mauvian. His most recent traced the back of his thigh, fortunately shallow and halfway healed by the time he undertook this venture.
This time, Faust kept close to main streets in hopes of youma finding more appealing targets should they continue assaults during daylight hours. The presence of the many Negaverse officers patrolling the streets lent a great measure of caution to his movements while he darted behind propped up signs, trash barrels, and into shallow alleys as a means of staying undetected. And when he finally sighted the street sign in question, Faust crept into a curved alleyway that granted window access to the buildings flanking each side. He knew the process well enough by now - in the years he knew Newgrange, the man never moved from this location, and the ramp in disguise to reach his window looked much the same. The Mauvian leapt atop the dumpster, propped open with a wooden board, then used an intact rung to a broken ladder as a springboard to the fire escape. From there, he darted halfway up the steps before he wriggled through the empty gap between the pair and descended to a pipe below that groaned beneath his weight.
Now in sight of Newgrange's window, Faust hastily scampered across the frail pipe and finally lighted on the windowsill. Afterward he drew in a breath, steeling himself shortly before he pressed the whole of his body flat to the ground and eked his head through the regrettably small opening. Next came arms, stretching for grip on the lip of the sill inside as a means to pull the rest of himself through. However, once he managed two thirds of his body in the window, the small opening caught his hips hopelessly. Rather than call for help, the feline wriggled and writhed and contorted himself in all manner of direction while he attempted futilely to free himself from the iron grip of the window.
Finally he loosed a plaintive meow, hoping the owner might notice his plight. The scent of delicious baked goods proved too overwhelming for Faust to insist on his gruff personality.
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 3:11 pm
The noise immediately caught Arias' attention, despite how intently he seemed to be staring into the oven. He glanced towards the window as he stood up and it took only a second for his face to contort into an exasperated—albeit amused—expression.
"A cat that cannot get into a window? I thought cats were supposed to be athletic, flexible. Tell me how it is that I've seen cats out there, starving, and you've got all this mass, hmm?"
He walked over to the window and tried to jostle it a bit; wriggling it in the frame helped a bit, though it was still a tight squeeze. Arias could only hope the extra inch might have been enough to ensure that Faust could get through; he didn't want to think about how awkward it was going to look if he had to go outside and grab a cat's butt to pull it out through the other side.
"Come on, a little more—can you get out of that or should I get the butter?" he asked, gesturing vaguely behind him. In a kitchen like this, he probably had quite a stash of it, and he probably wasn't even joking about slathering the cat in it to try and get him through the window.
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Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:10 pm
"Don't be callin' me fat, a*****e!" The cat growled as he wriggled further. "I ain't eatin' too damn well myself, so lay off that sass. I'm jus' big, nothin' else to it." Though internally he questioned his size and its contributing factors while Arias adjusted the window just enough to allow for Faust to edge inside.
The Mauvian wriggled through painfully, and landed in an unceremonious thump on the floor. At least he landed upright after that whole fiasco.
After shaking the dust from his coat, Faust leapt to the counter to sit and speak with Arias on a more even level. The brunette looked tired, yet possessed a feverish light at the core of his eyes - something the Mauvian couldn't quite place. A brief glance toward the empty space formerly containing an arm drew his attention for a beat, but he abandoned the pursuit to look Arias in the eyes. "Yo," he greeted, as if the previous issues with the window never occurred.
"I know it's been a while since I dropped by, but the city's been a damn hellhole with all these agents wanderin' around. Took me a while to get back here. I gotta favor to ask you. Since I can't jus' sneak on back here and listen to their damn announcements, can you fill me in on the s**t they're spewin' to the general public? It ain't what I wanna be dealin' with right now, but we can't jus' bull rush them bastards and expect to win.
"Oh, and I'm gonna need a second favor, too."
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:51 am
"A second favor?" Arias prompted; he had seemed amused by Faust, and had even gone so far as to laugh and shake his head at the Mauvian. Still, he did not want to risk their safety by leaving the window open. Now that Faust was inside, he closed the window and walked to the other side of the room before pulling one of the rolling food racks over in front of it. It didn't offer much in the way of preventing someone from breaking through the window if they would have liked, but that—and the empty boxes lining the rack—meant that someone couldn’t just peek in and spy on them while they spoke.
"All right, I suppose I can do that if it's as easy as the first. They've done another of their 'Service Announcements'. You know, where they try to paint a pretty picture about everything that's happening. Draining energy, threatening a curfew, more monetary rewards for turning in terrorists. They're trying to close down free transportation, I think. Really buckling down on who leaves the city and what not. They want permits, now, so that's probably the worst of it. That and I've seen almost twice as many Negaverse Agents this month as I did last month, so it's near to impossible to power up and not risk running into at least one. And the youma," he sounded so disdainful. "Just keep coming around. I don't know how many I've had to chase off. One tried to break in last week." He gestured towards the door—with very distinctive claw marks marring the door frame. So you just be careful, please."
The timer on the oven went off, distracting him from speaking; it seemed like Arias was always used to moving because he resumed his position in front of the oven, dismissed the oven's beeping, slid on an oven mitt and began to unload the cupcakes. "—What was that second favor you mentioned?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 9:05 am
Faust watched the one-armed man manage to shut a window (which Faust considered a nigh impossible feat) and blocked it off with a rack of food. Faust hadn't thought about obscuring the view from prying eyes, but he also figured that his wriggling backside offered enough clues as to the meeting inside. However, no one occupied the alley when the Mauvian attempted his ascent - he ensured that.
"Sheeit, that ain't gonna do us no good. Sounds like they're cinchin' the noose and we're runnin' outta ways to get around it. Chariklo and her Mirror Brigade can give us a lift, but every time they do that they're riskin' a whole lotta trouble with the Negaverse. Any ideas you got about how to get one o' them permits? Maybe if we can find someone who's got one, we can figure out a way to forge 'em for the rest of the resistance. Only problem with that is it's gonna drain more o' our resources, and we don't got a lot to spare." The resistance made do with good will, but Faust wondered if they needed to make a collective effort as a civilian populace too - sort of a means to reestablish trust within the community, right under the Negaverse's nose. But what would that take? And was the entirety of that little feline dream even possible? Faust couldn't hazard a guess.
He glanced toward the doorway, gaze settled on the deep mars in the wood where splinters jutted out from extraneous force. Faust guessed that it wanted something to eat, namely Arias, but he figured the knight could puzzle that one out on his own.
Drawing a breath, the cat sighed. He laid on the ground gracelessly, more than happy to cool himself with the tile floor. "... This is gonna sound kinda weird, but my partner's a goddamn skeleton. He keeps eatin' weeds and s**t, thinkin' that it's gonna do 'im some good. And maybe it does, but he could use some damn fat on his bones. You got any cupcakes to spare? Or somethin' a little more substantial? Don't really want 'im to kick it on me."
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 11:05 pm
"I own a business," Arias pointed out thoughtfully. "If they won't give me a permit, I'll go whine their ears off. I haven't applied for a permit yet, but I'm sure I can get together a decent enough argument for one. I'll head down to City Hall and plead my case later this week, see what I can do."
He figured Faust did not expect him to just ignore a request like his second, so while Arias had been talking about the permit, he had immediately set about getting some things together. "Your partner's diet hardly sounds healthy," he noted. "What's made him forget to take care of himself, is he all right?"
Cupcakes might not have been the only thing Arias made, but they certainly sold the best—and that meant he had plenty on hand. He collected twelve of them, boxed them, and then began to pluck through the assortment of less sweet products. A few rolls, some pies, croissants…
More than a cat could carry, he realized.
"You know, if you'd like, I can drop this off for him after work. It'll give me time to make something else for him, if you know what he likes. And if you're low on resources, I can bring over some cash to help out."
Sans bills and what living expenses he had, Arias was not a big spender; he was supposed to be saving up for retirement, or expanding the company, but with the way the world was going? If the Negaverse wasn't stopped soon, he didn't really think he had much of a future to be investing in.
It was a gloomy thought, but Arias did not dwell on it. Instead, he added, as if to justify it, "I have to head to the bank anyway."
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Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 8:43 pm
"You ain't so bad! Then we'd finally get our hands on a real permit, and circumvent all this s**t. At least for now." The Mauvian couldn't venture a guess toward what further complications awaited them. It simply amounted to more impetus for him to step up his game with the Shadows and finally strike back against the Negaverse in a meaningful manner.
Faust drew a sigh while he tried to formulate an answer that might make sense to Arias. Quenton consistently maintained a line of thinking that simply made no sense to most, as it was often devoid of emotional decisions. "Well, it's kinda hard to explain. I mean, he's a damn smart kid. He knows what kinda weeds to eat n' s**t, but... I dunno, he's got this weird bug up his a** about not bein' a burden to the rest of the camp if he could avoid it, and how he can't mess up Ida's concentration by goin' to the medical tent 'cuz she's always puttin' out so much effort to get everyone back on their feet, and if he showed up he'd just jam all that s**t up for 'em. But if he jus' turns into a sack o' bones, what good's he gonna do me in a mission? Goddamn none, that's what."
The Mauvian's nose twitched slightly as he considered the offer. "Jus' get 'im a goddamn steak." Besides, Faust knew Quenton would share the remainder. Tender scraps of fat often offered the most flavor.
"'Ey, if you could maybe... Write off a little cash every week as some kinda tax thing..." Suddenly an idea struck the black cat, and he scrambled to his feet, legs splayed apart in a vigilant stance. "Oh! What about some kinda charity donation? We could name it somethin' vague, and all the proceeds can jus' go to the resistance. I mean, it can't be much more than jus' you so the Negaverse don't go snoopin' around, but it might help here n' there. Hell knows we need it. s**t, we're resortin' to stealin' thread for our goddamn stitches now."
For a moment, Faust yearned for the days when he rode on Quenton's shoulders while the blonde addressed varying errands. He hardly remembered the days before feline presence stirred the populace into a frenzy.
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2014 10:09 pm
"You keep saying weeds, and I am still not sure he should be eating them," Arias said, grimacing at the idea. "…But, I can pick up a steak or something, drop it off." He might not have known the male much, but it wasn't a burden for Arias to take a little time and effort if it meant he could help out somehow.
"A charity might work, though I could always write extra expenses off as renovations, repairs, loss of product. I mean, I've already got to replace a door. But the charity's a good idea. I don't think a slight inconsistency in revenue is going to cause much trouble for me. I've been good, stayed under the radar, played nice."
He sighed. "Given energy when they demanded it of me. For all intents and purposes, I'm just a normal, innocent, compliant sheep to them. Plus, it helps that none of them take me seriously on account of the whole arm thing. Mostly they don't give me any trouble." He turned back to Faust, holding out a cupcake and offering it to him. "So that's nice, I think. If I play dumb, I'm sure they won't dig too deeply."
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Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 6:08 pm
"I dunno what the hell they called! He said somethin' like apple crabs, and dandy lions... Sheeit, do I look like a botanist to you?" The Mauvian huffed, shooting the man a glare born from annoyance.
Circling around, Faust approached the rack of food blocking access to the window. Absently he rubbed his cheek against the metal corner, shortly followed by his flank. Afterward he realized that the rack proved entirely too useful for scratching his face, and soon underwent a ritualized headbutt against the metal frame to bring some relief to itches he never fully recognized. Once he was certain that a host of cat fur now lay on Arias' floor as well as clung to the rack itself, he turned about to lay on the floor and respond to the baker's budding ideas.
"Jus' make sure you ain't lookin' a little shady. I dunno if they're gonna step up their checkups on civilians or what, but I don' wanna lose a contact if I don' have to. Maybe I can nose out some other kiddos to play along and make this charity s**t look more legit." On second thought, Faust hadn't the mind or patience to commit to such an undertaking - without notifying Arias, he inwardly dropped those potential pursuits.
When Arias offered a cupcake, Faust looked over both his flanks for some bags before glaring up at the baker impatiently. "Do I look like a pack mule to you? Gotta shove a goddamn cupcake in subspace... Sheeit..." With another plaintive huff, the cat stood on his hind legs to carefully obtain the cupcake between paws before it soon vanished. Satisfied with his work, Faust settled back to the ground.
"Yo, mind movin' the rack so I can get outta here? I know I'm damn soft and s**t, but you can't keep me too long. s**t'll go south at camp without me."
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 12:21 am
Arias flashed what might have been a genuine smile, or maybe he'd just had enough practice pretending that it looked real. "Do you really think anyone would think me shady? I bake cupcakes. That's hardly grounds for suspicion. But, I thank you for your concern and I promise I'll be careful. Just as long as you promise the same, all right? I'd hate to hear of anything happening to you. I missed your charm."
He moved to the rack, grasping one bar and pulling it back before he set about opening the window again. "Of course, I know how important you are, what with holding everyone together." Maybe he was teasing, or maybe there was at least some truth to his words; Arias was hard to read these days. "So I'm just grateful to have gotten to see you at all."
What a cute, plump little cat.
Not that Arias could even say such; it was incredibly hard not to go over to the cat and try to jiggle his fat rolls. Maybe on an ordinary cat, he might have, but one who could speak, and was at least—if not more so—intelligent than him? Probably not the best idea. Even if he had just shed all over.
"Let me know if you hear anything going on, all right? I'll try to be better at keeping in contact with everyone so I'm not so out of the loop." And so he could make sure that if there was more he could do, he wasn’t just sitting around here baking.
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 1:29 pm
Though he never offered any vocal indication of his appreciation for it, Faust walked a little taller with the compliment to his charm. "I
m always careful," he responded smugly. "You think I got time to get my a** caught by the Negaverse?" Huffing, the feline leapt to the window ledge and sat for but a moment. He lacked time to linger - any curious eyes might cast doubt on the baker.
"'Aight, and you know where the camp's at, so you know where to find me. Jus' keep doin' what you're doin', Arias. We'll get through this s**t." Hopefully. Faust kept his doubts to himself as he turned from the baker, gaze cast out toward the bleak alleyway below. Thus far no one stirred in it, but the slow dawning of Negaverse auras on his peripherals gave him an impetus to sneak away before further damage was done.
Turning away, Faust wriggled his backside shortly before descending to the ledge below, out of the bakery and into the alley. The scent of trash hit him immediately, foul and rank after spending time among the sweet scents of confections. He had little reason to linger; even with the agents approaching, he knew to dart through the alleys in a manner that obscured his fuzziness in the shadows.
He only hoped they never stopped to question Arias.
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