Nokra made sure to keep an eye on Magali every couple of seconds, the Felis watching her like a hawk as she flipped through the cupboards and looked for ingredients, Nokra looking towards the MREs and sticking out his tongue. He had eaten a few before but everytime he chomped into them it seemed they tasted…Off. Were they possibly tainted ones? He could have never known, but just the sight of them brought back a churning in his stomach that he wished to never experience again. When the constant checking on Mags seemed to deem her safe from whatever horrors that could lurk in a kitchen, Nokra set his attentions on Mendez.
“That does seem…Really complicated. Figured as much with Fikri’s past. It’s all pretty much the same for us I guess. Fikri’s kinda the first free Felis I’ve seen personally.” Nokra said with a small huff, crossing his arms and turning his head to the side, only for the Felis to turn back with the words ‘Kidnapping’ and ‘Macking.’ Nokra couldn’t imagine what sort of attractive display or honeyed words Atrix could have summoned to put Mendez in a spell after being kidnapped by the being. He’d have to inquire about Terskixian flirtations with the spider just to try and comprehend them. “Woooow. I um. Well, it’s good to know you’re not being digested in her stomach then, I guess.” Was all Nokra could really muster up to say. “Well, what are everyone’s destinations then? Maybe one of the worlds you guys are going to’ll be a decent start to freedom or something.” That was of course his pipe dreams of helping fly didn’t turn out the way he had envisioned: The Pyra happily accepting his dreams and not just laughing in his face.
“He can have a friend in me when he stops being a twat.” Nokra said with a small, irritated hiss at the air. Optimism and smiles, despite how brilliantly they made Magali shine, had a tendency in this world to bring about some awful things on the people trying to help. Nokra could easily see a rather morose Fikri trying something, and it made his blood boil and steam to the point where the male Felis flexed a hand into a fist and pressed it down on the table as hard as he could. “At least cooking’ll keep you happy though Mags. Gotta find something for myself to do before I die of boredom I guess. Don’t think anyone here is gonna just practice fighting with me, if I can’t…Help around.”
The kitchen seemed to come alive with the scent of whatever batter Magali was preparing and Nokra’s stomach rumbled rather audibly, the Felis being reminded that he was hungry, and that the girl’s cooking was something akin to the gods coming and setting down a feast. “…How long does that stuff take to cook?”
=-=-=
Riola’s eyes scrutinized Fikri, the Edensian keeping a brow raised in suspicion before sighing and nodding his head slowly as he dropped his eyes and followed the pyramid into the Felis’ hand, before he offered a small squeeze of his hand. Listening to the man’s breathing, Riola tried to match along with the Felis. Inhale. Exhale. Calm breathes. His eyes drooped, only for the Edensian to shake his head to keep them from sealing shut again. “Don’t promise me anything unless you know for sure it’s not doing anything to keep you from acting normal, Gato. I’m old enough to have dated your grandmother. Gonna be hard to hide things from me.” Riola said with a small, playful smile.
Payback. It was something that Riola would have given just about anything for at this moment. His Cell didn’t deserve such a death from Viora. Vail deserved absolutely none of the malice that Viora had shown when she had fired off so many shots, even if he was her intended target. Putting himself in the Felis’ embrace, the Edensian sighed and rubbed his eye. “She was one of us yeah…She was…Well, she was the one who helped start this whole thing. Revolucion. She taught us everything. If payback is coming, then I need…Well. I need help. From everyone. I don’t know how many there are of us left, considering she found me, and my cell this fast. Puta madre…I don’t think I’m gonna be making it out of this war sane, or intact sometimes. Communication has been dead as of late anyway, Fikri. Eventually we’re gonna have to check on a base just to see if it’s still intact. For now? I can only assume we’re the last ones left.”
We can’t let more people die. You’re right, Fikri. But it’s going to happen. Who knows? For all we know, people are dying because of me right now. Riola frowned and then nodded, before hugging Fikri a bit tighter. “We’ll try, Gato. That’s the best we can do. I can’t…Promise no one else will get hurt. I can’t even promise Rosalind the fact she’d get out alive either…”
The topic turned towards Mendez and Atrix however, and Riola shrugged a shoulder. “I’ve been hanging around with Atrix longer than he has. Know a little more about how she operates. Minus most of the bedroom stuff. Aranea doesn’t let herself love anything real easy. Took her ages for the Terskix Hound I bought her to be able to sit next to her. And in the end, she chopped up the thing for dinner because it pissed on her ship’s floor.” A small pause. “But you’re right. He’s kept her pretty well under reins. Who knows? Mendez could woo her into something a little less terrifying. Though the thought of Atrix being more human than Terskix is kinda scary itself.”
“The dude’s probably just on edge. They seem close, and the moment you give someone freedom, they’re gonna obsess on the fear of it being taken from them. Plus, for all we know they’re trying to be a thing, and he’s just being machismo, Gato. I’d do the same thing if someone started getting romantic with Rosalind.” Riola pursed his lips and broke the embrace, taking a moment to clear his head and then shoot a glance to the door. “…Think you’ll ever move on, Gato? Just a curiosity.”
=-=-=
“The moment you wanna do your whole ‘I ain’t dead’ shit is the moment they’ll start coming though, Ashi. Gotta remember that.” Hyun responded, returning the same pursed lips that Ashi had given her, and itching a rather troublesome, bent head tendril. She’d have to teach Ashi how to cut them In the future. “The gutters. Eventually someone’s gonna realize I’m shoving my head between your thighs. Then someone’ll come and try and nab you. Probably Graiza. He has it in for us.” Hyun said with a small chuckle. Perhaps a rather nervous sounding chuckle. “Do yourself a favor if you’re captured by him. Kill yourself. People say I’m fuckin’ nuts. I’m fuckin’ saintly compared to that prick.”
“Whoa hey, you’re not paying for jack dick. You’re my…Girlfriend…Still weird to say. I can cover your meds and the time in the bio-pools.” Hyun responded, placing a hand on Ashi, only to retract it when she realized there was a bone where something fleshy should have been. “Keep the money for yourself. Be a bit greedy. Get some clothes. I’ll have Shaldag find you a piece to carry around to protect yourself as well when I’m stuck managing this shitpile.” Hyun added, giving Ashi a small, warm smile and doing her best to just…Try and be the girl she wanted to be for Ashi.
Back to Chuziz? Hyun scratched the back of her head and sucked her teeth, the pink-colored woman stammering for a moment. “Err…Well. I mean..I..Shit’s nothing special. No need to really visit the place. Besides, you’d probably hate it. Mostly water. And my kind just generally ain’t exactly the friendliest bunch. And the food isn’t good.” Every excuse she could muster up to try and avoid having to bring her there. Luckily the comic she brought managed to change the subject for her. “Hm? Oh yeah, Zi meets her girl in this one. The chick that lasted the longest in the series. Considering Zi’s last squeeze got fried by Zamboxis.” She replied, reliving the previous issues in her head. Hyun took a deep breath and leaned gently on Ashi, taking care to avoid broken and bruised bits of the princess and just…finally relaxing for a brief moment.
Shaldag looked towards the two from the doorway and just watched, the Ogrunu crossing his arms and leaning against the door. Good. They’re bonding. Didn’t think they’d act like a couple. I guess I was wrong.