Janan-‘anqā:Ana peeked out from her cat-door, blinking at the sunlight streaming down.
There had been a great big mess of sounds coming from next door not too long ago, and one of which she'd been certain was another cat. She'd never met another cat before, not really. There was her mother and siblings, but she didn't remember them all that well anymore. And then there were the times Gida took her to the cold place with the touchy-pokey humans and she sometimes heard other cats. But she'd never gotten a chance to really meet one.
She left the house and walked along the porch to the back yard. There weren't fences separating the houses, so it wasn't difficult to make her way over towards the other house.
Hook:
The dark male sat at the window, his tail twitching showing his irritation. The humans were out for the day, and had capped his claws to keep him from tearing into the window screens. Soon as they got home, he'd be trying to trip them as they walked in the door.. Desperate for a way out. He didn't belong in a house. Four walls and grabbing hands just were not appealing to him in the slightest.
He looked at his paws, the clear caps making them dull and useless. What a cruel torture for a cat, he thought. He hissed at the things, shaking his paws in a vain attempt to free them.
Until a golden ray of sunshine that looked as if she had floated in off a cloud wandered into the yard. His ears perked, and his head cocked to the side only slightly. Interesting.. Now he was even more frustrated at being behind this stupid screen.
"Hello, Beautiful." He purred, accent thick in his voice.
Janan-‘anqā:
Ana's ears twitched when someone called out to her. Beautiful? A slight blush darkened her cheeks as she moved closer to the window. She looked up at him and frowned a little. There was no way she was going to stand down there and get an ache in her neck trying to talk to him.
She she stepped back a couple of paces and took a short running leap onto the windowsill. Her skirt fluttered around her slippered feet when she landed and she adjusted her sheer shawl around her shoulders before sitting down, putting her back to the window-frame.
"Are you okay? It sounded awful over here earlier," she asked, concern in her voice. She didn't look terribly off. Except for the plastic coverings on his fingers.
Hook:
He did little to hide the appreciation on his face. For one, he was thankful for the company.. Two, he was thankful for -this- company. A gorgeous dark skinned blonde, hair in a braid thrown over her shoulder. He wanted to touch that braid, to play with the tip of it as he spoke to her. But clearly he wasn't going to be able to do so.
He leaned his body against the window sill, stretching his legs out across to the other side. He felt trapped, imprisoned, it was ridiculous. He held up his hands fingers decorated in silver rings, showing the caps on his fingers with a groan.
"Can you believe that anyone in this world thinks these are an acceptable accessory for a cat?" He scoffed.
"Sorry you heard that then. Was not my best moment.." He had been trying to keep these damn things off of him. Three people had to hold him down, and he had been effectively disarmed.
Janan-‘anqā:
Ana glanced down at his fingers when he showed her the caps the humans had put on him. She leaned her head back against the window-frame, her face turning a little sad.
"I suppose it could be worse, though," she replied and held her hand up to the screen. Her nails were fine and well-tended, but did not extend beyond her nailbeds. She had no claws, the humans had removed them before giving her to Gida. It wasn't something she was usually terrible upset over, it was difficult to miss something you didn't remember. But deep down, on an instinctual level she knew something had been taken from her, something important, and from time to time she mourned that loss.
"No need to apologize. I would have thought something much worse had happened to you. I'm Janan-'anqa, by the way."
Hook:
He frowned, his brows furrowing. He put his hand to the screen, feeling the warmth of her own from the other side. His tail started flicking wildly, as it hung from the window inside the house.
"How dare someone mark something so beautiful." He said, genuinely angry that humans did such things. They had altered her, and she was so beautiful already.
"Having three humans sitting on you isn't worse? You have a high threshhold for torture I think. Are you a masochist, love?" He asked, looking at her, a small smirk playing his lips.
"The name is beautiful, by the way. Quite.. unique." He answered honestly, eyes sparkling as he looked her over again. Gods what a ray of sunshine she truly was.
"I'm Hook." He replied, looking at her from under thick dark lashes.
Janan-‘anqā:
Ana shrugged, letting her hand dip back down. But she moved her legs so that when her hand rested on her thigh it was still pressed to the screen. She had liked the feel of touching his hand, even if it was through the screen. She was close to another cat and that was what counted.
Her eyebrows went up and she blinked. "Oh. I didn't realize that was the lengths they had to go to... Why did they put them on in the first place? Surely you know not to claw their things?"
A smile grew on her lips when he smirked at her.
"Just Ana works fine too, I know my name is a little different." She heard the names being called out at the other place and the names on TV. Her name wasn't exactly commonplace.
"Hook. That's an interesting name." Ana tilted her head a little bit, considering him. "I think it suits you."
He had definitely drawn her in, that was for sure.
Hook:
When she dropped her hand, he did too, and leaned back against the pane, mirroring her pose. So that her hand against the screen was touching his still. He didn't realize he was so desperate for company.. But he was.
"Not claw their things? Aren't you cute." He chuckled, leaning the back of his head against the wood, looking up. Then he laughed again, shaking his head and looking back at her.
"The bastards are keeping me here. I am not housecat, sweetheart. Those torture devices were to keep me from tearing out this screen you see before you."
He looked into her blue eyes, nodding. "Ana." Then he smirked. She had thought his name was interesting. Which was understandable, considering he hadn't exactly made obvious the reson for the name. As a cat, a white mark would decorate his chest, in the shape of a hook.. But that wasn't why he was named Hook.
Holding up his other paw, the one that hadn't been visible till now. A cap was over the tip of his arm, no hand was to be seen. But a shiny silver hook glittered in the sunshine. He turned it a little so she could get a good look.
"I think so too." He teased.
Janan-‘anqā:
"Oh," was all she could manage, a look of surprise crossing her face again. He wasn't a housecat? That meant he preferred to be a stray. All for the best, she supposed, since he didn't seem to like humans all that much. She glanced at the window, at the screen. She wanted to help him. She liked being with Gida, she loved her human. But it wasn't fair that Hook should be trapped here when he clearly didn't want to be.
Nothing came to mind at the moment, but she would think on it again.
If she had been surprised before, she was no less than shocked when he showed her his other hand. Ana turned slightly, pressing her hand to the screen again. A hand should have been there, but there wasn't. She hadn't been joking when she thought him aptly named. She blinked and focused, getting a glimpse of his other side. He had a paw, but it didn't seem right. Her ears flicked back a little even though he teased and she looked back up into his face.
"I was thinking in a more metaphorical sense." She wanted to ask what had happened, but that would be rude. Especially since they didn't really know one another in the slightest. How strange that that was the case and yet she was sitting there thinking of ways to help him escape his humans.
Hook:
She seemed surprised to know he was once a stray. Though it wasn't a dislike for humans. He hated these humans for doing these humiliating things to him, but he didn't hate all humans. He just hated captivity. He liked to explore, and be free. He just couldn't be happy looking at the world through a window.
"Trap.. Like a fox trap. I'm lucky I didn't lose the entire leg." He said, though sarcasm dripped from the word lucky. His paw had healed, but it was useless. So he kept it tightly bound.
He had many turn away thinking him disfigured with that hook for a hand. He sort of expected it from her too, to be honest. She was too cute not to care that there was no hand where one should have been.
Janan-‘anqā:
Traps. Humans were the ones who made them, set them. That was a sad thing. Why would humans want to set traps for any creature, foxes included? That a cat had been caught in one showed well enough that the traps were dangerous. She glanced down at the hook again.
"I'm sorry that happened to you," Ana said, tilting her head slightly to one side before resuming her former position, pressing her hand to his through the screen.
She returned her gaze to his face.
"Why would you want to live out there when there are dangers like that?" There was no condescension in her tone, she just truly wanted to understand. She'd never met a stray before, she'd spent all of her life as a pet. What was it that made cats want to live out in the world, without humans to take care of them? Yes, she on occasion dreamed of seeing new places and meeting new cats, but she had trouble imagining that would ever outweigh her affection for and reliance on Gida.
Hook:
He shrugged when she apologized, his eyes back on her. It's not like she had done it. No, it had been the hunters who poached the lands. Real hunters didn't set traps, they stalked and brought down.
"It's nothing, anymore. Kind of gives me a touch of character, doesn't it?" He said, putting his hook back down and taking in the warmth of her hand. How he wished to run his thumb across her knuckles.
"It's because of that I want to live life out there." He said, his eyes looking proud. He was hardly afraid of anything. There were always going to be dangers, even in a home.
"One will die one day.. There's no escaping it. Why die under a human's bed.. When you can have a little adventure first?" He asked, narrowing his eyes as he spoke. He couldn't imagine a predictable life. Hell even his meals were scheduled here. While he liked food, that was beyond of his realm of comfortablilty.
Janan-‘anqā:
Ana smiled and laughed a little. "It's certainly a talking point. If you hadn't brought it up, we might have lapsed into uncomfortable silence."
She sat quietly, listening to him explain and watching the emotions play on his face. He really wasn't a housepet, and never would be. He was far too proud and adventurous for such a thing. It would take a fool not to see it. Then again, from the humans she'd seen - Gida not included - many of them really didn't seem to understand cats.
She considered what he said. It sounded... thrilling, really. But she knew she couldn't survive out there. And Gida needed her.
"You really don't belong here." If that wasn't an understatement, nothing was. "If I can find a way, I'll try and help you get away from here."
If he wanted her to, that is.
Hook:
"I don't that love. I'm sure we'd have something to have talked about. That.."He wiggled the finger that was touching the screen, and her own hand. "I'm pretty sure we are decently comfortable already." He teased.
When he was done explaining, she her listened inently. He was rather impressed, she actually gave a damn. It meant she was curious, and that made -him- curious.
"No," He agreed with her. "I truly don't. Don't get me wrong, I gave it a go, I truly did. This isn't my first home. It's just the first I didn't consent to."
His eyes locked on hers, gazing into those blue eyes as he tried to read them. He looked for an ulterior motive.. a reason to want to help him. But he just found genuine curiousity, and he smirked.
"Mmm.. Yes, I would appreciate that. Though." He stopped speaking, and stared into her eyes for a moment once more.
"You help me get out of here.. and I will owe you a debt in return."
Janan-‘anqā:
Her eyes crinkled at the corners as she laughed a little again. "Fine, a comfortable silence, but a silence nonetheless!"
Ana liked him. Her basis of comparison was sadly lacking considerably, but she really did like him.
That he had once tried to be a housepet was interesting. For all that he'd told her and the way he acted, she was surprised he'd even tried. Perhaps he'd been young. It was daunting to her now, she couldn't imagine a kitten wanting to be on their own.
Ana shook her head and waved his words off.
"No, I don't want that. I just want to help. Please, don't think you would owe me anything," she insisted, her gaze locked on his. "I'm not even sure there's anything I would be able to do."
Hook:
"A comfortable silence indeed, love." He purred, his eyes narrowed again and a smirk forming once more.But then he shrrugged his shoulders and shook his head. Waving off what she had said.
"I would, there is no debating it." He said, and his eyes twinkled as he looked back at her. He felt the desire to play with the tip of her braid again, and being unable to upset him.
"You're smart, I'm sure you'll figure out something." He teased. "But I'll be attempting every chance I get. Don't you worry your pretty little head. I'll be free of this place eventually."
Janan-‘anqā:
Ana scrunched her nose at his insistence. She didn't want him to owe her. She didn't need any repayment. But there didn't seem to be any point in arguing with him.
"And I thought I was stubborn," she shot back, the tease evident in her tone.
"I'll have to come back every chance I get before you're gone, then." Ana let her head fall to the side, resting against the screen. She wasn't sure when the next opportunity to make a friend would be. She didn't go far from her home, even though she could, and to her knowledge there were no other cats in the area. She already knew she'd miss him when he was gone.
Perhaps she could look in Gida's sewing box. Would little scissors be able to cut through the screen?
Hook:
He grinned at her, nodding his head. "You have no idea..."He said softly, his voice low. It was hard to argue with him. Mainly for that very reason, he was as stubborn as it got.
When she said she'd have to come visit him a lot until then, he cocked his head at her. What had she meant by that? Clearly she enjoyed his company. A slow grin grew on her face.
"You visit as many times as you like,sweetheart. I could use a ray of sunshine to fill the days until then.. Maybe by the time I leave... I'll just have to take you with me." His tone was teasing but his eyes were serious as they stared into hers.
Janan-‘anqā:
Ana looked away and slowly shook her head.
"I couldn't leave Gida. I don't know what she'd do without me." Besides, she really didn't think she was cut out for his life, no matter how curious she was about it.
She turned back to him and gave him another smile, pressing her hand flat against the screen again so that she could touch as much as she could through the small holes.
"I'm sorry, but I should be getting back. I don't want her to worry about me."
Hook:
He had figured she would say no, it had been light hearted though the offer had truly been there. He smiled, leaning forward to place his own hand on the screen against hers. Her hand was warm, he smiled a bitter smile. He didn't know that he'd see her again. If he got out tonight, he would be long gone. But he hoped to see her again.
"Be safe going home love. Shame I have to let you walk home alone. Humanity really cramps being a gentleman." He chuckled. Which was true, it killed him to have her walk alone. Even if it was just next door. But he suppose that meant he'd get to watch her leave, and the thought made him smile again.
Janan-‘anqā:
She gave him a face that said he might just be a little bit ridiculous.
"Really, Hook, it's just right next door. There isn't even a fence, you can see my door from here," she said and vaguely gestured with her free hand towards the back porch. He could watch her go to his heart's content. Of course, there was nothing he could do if she got into trouble on the way, but the likelihood of that happening was beyond contemplation.
"I'll come back tomorrow, if you're still here will you come to the window?"
Hook:
He was quiet for a moment as he regarded her. Looking into her eyes and feeling a pang. He didn't want to be here tomorrow, and if he could help it he wouldn't be. But she made him consider staying and that scared him a little. He oculdn't do that.
"If I am still here, I will wait in this window, until the end of time to see you." He smiled, and his eyes were warm as he leaned back against the windowsill.
"Good day, Ana." He purred her name, enjoying the way it rolled off the tongue.
Janan-‘anqā:
"Stubborn and exaggeration. You're certainly one for extremes," she replied and finally drew away from the screen.
"Good day, Hook. I... I hope I made your time here just a little bit more bearable," she added and hopped off the windowsill, hurrying back to her home before she could get his reply. It had been such a silly thing to say!
