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 Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2017 8:04 pm
Bob had been suspicious.
It had taken him nearly two months to recognize the trend. Every Thursday night, like clockwork, Rory Willows would make an excuse to get out of the house for a few hours. She usually left between the hours of eight and nine and not once did she think to invite her favorite fat cat. Not once.
He'd ask idly, now and again, where she was off to. The answer always changed - off to see her boyfriend, out to hang with friends. She'd made the mistake once to say she was going out to dinner, only to reject him when he'd asked to join her.
Big mistake, baby girl.
It hadn't been hard, tracking her. Well, honestly, it'd been a little difficult because as soon as she'd made it away from the house, she'd transformed into Super Sailor Hydra. That in itself was suspicious enough - why would she bother patrolling without a furry sidekick? Or hide the fact she was patrolling?
She didn't bother teleporting (thankfully), so the large Mau followed the young senshi into the park (typical, why did they always choose the park?). Only... there wasn't a victim there. A young blonde man stood waiting at the fountain and instead of attacking him, Sailor Hydra ran up to him and had the audacity to fling her arms around his neck and let out a happy little noise Bob had never heard come out of the teenager before.
Last he checked, the Negaverse hadn't hired on any dopey looking elf-men to fight on their side and judging by the strange aura he gave off, there wasn't a lick of Chaos in him. So why was Hydra hugging him?
Instead of intervening, however, he sat there. He sat there for the entire duration of the duo's meeting, which consisted of talking about their weeks as if they were two good friends playing catch-up from their busy lives. Hmph. If he was such a good friend, then why hadn't Bob heard about him before?
It was all he needed to see - well, that and the suspicious looking doe-eyes that Hydra was tossing Blondie's way. No, this wasn't good, this wasn't good at all.
So, making his way back to the house, he readied himself atop of Aurora's bedspread for her return... because they had some talking to do.
A lot of talking to do.
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Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2017 11:10 am
Thursday nights were her favorite because they were the planned night that she got to see her favorite person. Though, that line of thought often made her feel guilty because there were several people in her life that she cherished greatly, including a too amazing boyfriend who loved her even if she didn't know if she loved him. Rory had meant to bring up her feelings for her sandy haired mystery man that night, but she had been too scared when opportunity presented itself to her.
Rory didn't know if she could handle what she had forced Akio to go through.
Those were the thoughts heavy on her mind when she had finally made it home, heart light and heavy at the same time. A contradiction that she couldn't shake. Climbing the stairs to her bedroom was harder than she would have liked, a hint of exhaustion seeping through her small frame and when she pushed open her bedroom door she hadn't expected to find herself with company so early.
Most of the time, Bob busied himself elsewhere when she wasn't home and came in during the late hours of the night.
"Bob? What are you doing here?" She asked, clearly surprised but delighted as she pulled off her boots and climbed onto the bed, already reaching to scratch the large cat behind the ears.
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Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2017 11:48 am
Claws extended themselves, picking and kneading at the comforter as he watched her slink into the bedroom. It didn't matter that he was pulling up fibers with every dig - there were more important things to be concerned about, than ruining a blanket that he didn't even own.
Her reaction was startled, the teenager clearly unaware that the large beast was in a foul mood, a scowl hidden by layers of fluff around his face. His eyes were narrowed but they widened as he put up a front. No sense in snapping at her right off the bat - especially considering what happened the last time they'd gotten into it.
"I came to see my favorite girl, of course." There was an airish tone to his words as his head nuzzled into her palm. Let her dig her hole a little deeper, then. "What have you been up to, baby girl? Isn't it late for you to be out and about?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2017 12:12 pm
While she was a lover of animals in general, the large maine coon had carved a special place in her heart and she adored him. That however made her a little naive, blind to his irritation and she scooted closer, hands moving to pick him up and set him in her lap if allowed.
"It has been a minute since we did anything." She wrinkled her nose trying to place the last time they had done anything more than a casual patrol.
"We should do a picnic soon, in negaspace, where you can use that other form." The one that broadcasted too loud an aura for them to do anything that wasn't short lived.
"Oh, I just went out. Y'know, dinner then a patrol." She shrugged, pushing loose waves of turquoise back out of her hair and face. "I don't have to open tomorrow, so thought it was a good idea to do a round or two." Balancing her weekly meeting with some of her favorite boys, work, her boyfriend (they were still dating...right?), training and all that jazz was more work than she meant.
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Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2017 6:58 pm
He allowed himself to be picked up, expert hands massaging tense muscles as the cat glanced up at the teenager. Bob remained quiet as she offered to take him out, to let him stretch his other legs out while they played picnic in the dark realm.
It was tempting. Almost.
His tail flicked from side to side as he listened to her make an excuse for her absense. Dinner and a patrol, huh? When he'd caught up to her, she hadn't been doing either. And dinner out? When she'd been such a stickler about saving money, lately?
The Mau chose his words wisely, green eyes peering up. "Find anything on patrol?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2017 10:25 am
She could feel the tension beneath her fingertips and Rory frowned, scratching stilling as she debated if it was something worth prodding about or not. He didn't even comment on her suggestion and that's when the girl knew something was wrong.
When had Bob ever turned down an outing that involved food?
His question bothered her, with the girl swallowing while she debated her answer. "No, nothing really." A pause before she amended, "Nothing new." After a moment of deliberation, she reached for either side of his fluffy cheeks.
"You're acting weird Bob. What's wrong?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2017 3:46 pm
Be cool about this, the cat told himself as the woman, his Rory, lied straight to his furry little face. Getting into an argument would only wedge another rift between them and they'd just gotten back to a normal, happy state after the whole fight-upgrade-debacle.
Still, the fur on his back continued to prickle and the large cat pulled himself out of the comfort of his teenager's lap, moving to turn around and plop his furry butt in front of her. His long tail curled a round his legs while his chin rose, almost defiantly.
"I would think carefully about what you say next, baby girl," his voice was stern, but hell - he was irritated! "So why don't you take a moment to think about your answer on this next one: who was that, in the park, that you were talking with?"
Talking was probably too light of a word, but Bob couldn't bring himself to say hanging off of or flirting like a schoolgirl with.
.....at least, not right now he wasn't saying it.
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Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2017 4:04 pm
It was only when Bob plucked himself out of her lap and planted himself across from her did she realize that things were in a worse state than she thought. Blinking several times she tilted her head, braid falling over her shoulder and thumping against her collarbone while her brows furrowed in confusion.
"What are you--" She stopped mid-sentence, eyebrows arching up in surprise.
Was he talking about...?
Instead of answering, she proposed her own question to the cat. "Were you spying on me?" Betrayal and hurt couldn't be kept out of her voice. Gripping at the comforter beneath them she sucked in a deep breath, unsure of how to react or respond.
"I don't think that's any of your business," she decided on, fully aware it was likely to cause another fight.
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Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2017 6:34 pm
Eyes stared at her, dead on.
"What Aurora Willows does may be none of my business but what Super Sailor Hydra does is."
He clearly wasn't going to back down, despite the hurt look in the teenager's face. She could hate him all she wanted to, but the large Maine Coon wasn't about to let her dig an early grave for herself by flirting with the wrong person and getting caught for it.
"She's my responsibility to attend to and when I see her holding hands with a member of the White Moon, I'm going to ask questions."
His tail thwapped the comforter roughly, expressing his irritation. Rory was being stupid and letting her hormones take control of her decisions. This was bad - she clearly didn't know how bad.
"Do you realize what a General would have done if he'd seen you frolicking with some...some Knight?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 2:24 pm
The teenagers jaw set with her sitting up a little straighter as she looked the cat straight in the eye. "Last I checked, you weren't in charge of me." There were few people qualified to give her orders in her opinion. Their queen, the general-sovereigns, and Obsidian. Other generals would make requests and she was inclined to follow.
Bob was merely a guardian cat, one who wasn't even bonded to her. She had her own. Bob was certainly very special to her and she would have claimed him as hers in a heartbeat, but he was saying a lot of dangerous things.
"He's not part of the white moon." She found herself saying, ready to defend her dream prince in whatever manner she needed to. "If you were paying attention instead of spying on me and making accusations, you would have realized that he isn't a knight nor does he have an moonie's energy signature." Her legs were unfolding from beneath her and she was climbing off of her bed.
"But you're too busy finding reasons to scold me and treat me like a child. I thought we were past this."
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 2:47 pm
He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.
One... Two.... Three....Four....
When he opened them again, green eyes still followed where she went, the teenager clearly growing exasperated as he was but opting to remove herself from the situation - and the guilt - instead.
"Sure, deflect. Put the blame on the Guardian who was just trying to guard a senshi." He never implied that he was in charge of her. Hell, he didn't want to be in charge of anything. It stung for her to be so dismissive of his position. Sure, he wasn't some person with two legs that could tell her what to do but damn it, he'd been around the block more than once and at least knew a bad situation when he saw one.
But fine. If she wanted to act like a brat who continued to defend her little on-the-side tryst, he'd pull out another card.
"Great. So he's not Chaos - should we invite Obsidian over, then, to help him with that little problem? I'm sure he'll make an great asset to the cause."
Eyes bore into her, waiting for a reaction.
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 6:15 pm
It took a lot to properly upset Rory and somehow, Bob managed to always know what button to push to set her off.
"Don't." Her voice was icy, unusual for the teen to take up such a tone but the things the cat was saying, implying, threatening immediately had her on the defensive. "He's not part of this and if you make him, then I will never talk to you again." A heavy threat for something that shouldn't have been a big deal but she knew, she knew that if Obsidian was involved anything that was between Seal and herself would be permanently ruined.
"If you do that and you put him in harms way like that, know that you're putting me there too and that's not something we can come back from." Rory knew that Bob could be selfish, but he cared about her and she wanted that to be enough for him to stop pushing.
"I - " She stopped, visibly shaking. "If you're going to do it, then you need to leave. Right now and never come back."
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 7:43 pm
Bob could admit that there were a lot of things in life that he didn't understand but the logic behind a teenage girl's way of thinking was skyrocketing to the top of that list.
"If there's nothing wrong with the situation, you wouldn't be keeping this some big secret from your friends and your superiors."
She still hadn't identified this magical "not-a-Moonie" guy and Bob was very aware of that. Honestly, he shouldn't give two shits. It wasn't his business, it wasn't his grave that was being dug - why should he care?
And yet, annoyingly enough, he did.
Sighing, his shoulders slumped down. "I'm not going to tell anyone because I don't want you getting in hot water over it, baby girl."
What else could he do?
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Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2017 7:58 am
"Maybe I wanted something just for me."
That wasn't untrue, there were very few things she felt like she was allowed to have just for herself and her relationship with Sealie was just that. Moving meeting out of the dream world and into the waking one had been a mistake and something she knew she ought to give up if she wanted to keep him safe now that someone else knew.
It hurt her heart, but she wasn't going to risk her dream prince's safety.
"I'll...I'll handle it, okay?" Rory drew the sleeves of the stolen hoodie she was wearing over her fingers and crossed her arms over her chest. "It's fine, I'm used to giving up things all the time," she mumbled, clearly talking more to herself than to the cat on her bed.
Turning her back on him, she crossed over to the window to look out it instead because she didn't want Bob to see her cry.
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Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2017 10:26 am
He sighed again.
Bob was getting really good at sighing.
He watched her quietly, the teenager moping her way to the window. He knew better than to think that things were okay between them but at the same time, the Mau wasn't prepared to push her to the point where she closed off from him completely. Therefore, he was willing to drop it - for the time being - in a quiet truce.
"So he must be something big, for you to be so defensive over him, huh?"
His tone lacked the accusation that dripped from it earlier, the large orange tom rising to pad his way to the end of the bed. He hopped down and mosied his way towards the thin girl, purring softly as he rubbed his head against her leg.
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