AN: For solitaryloner's Stress Relief contest. Using the pairing Gumi and Len... Um... anything else? No? Oh, I guess this is based off of "Ah, It's a Wonderful Cat Life" (or somewhat...)

Disclaimer: Me no own anything but... well, this... train-wreck.

Pairing: Eventual Megpoid/Len


Gumi, who happened to be a happy cat hybrid, was pleased to find new prey. It looked like a bird hybrid (with pretty white wings), and she stalked it. However, she didn't think that the bird would be shocked to find a cat stalking it, since cats were one of their natural predators.

"Hey. You're a weird bird," she said, trying to coax a cry of fear from the creature. Instead, she gained a confused look, in which the bird looked as if she had grown another head (or however the saying went.)

"What do you mean 'bird'? I am not a bird!" The other cried out in indignation, trying to flap its wings (probably to intimidate her).

"I mean, you have wings, so you are a bird hybrid, right?" She cocked her head, trying to think of something to explain the bird's weird behavior. "Did you hit your head on a branch?"

The bird spluttered, looking as if she had offended him (though he looked very feminine). "I am not so scatterbrained as to do something like that!"

"Touchy," she muttered to herself but by judging his expression, she was sure he heard her (and got pretty offended too.)

"What is a girl, I mean a cat hybrid, like you doing here in a city like this?"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" She didn't like the tone of his voice, as if he thought the town itself was a horrible atrocity that shouldn't have existed in the first place.

"I just mean that a pretty girl like you shouldn't live in a foul place like this." Maybe it was the plain honesty in his voice, or maybe it was the way he looked at her, but she was somewhat pleased by the comment.

"Don't think you can say something like that and get away with it," she hissed instead, trying to cover up the pleasure she got from his comment. "Don't think that you can just compliment me and I'll forget about what you said about my hometown."

He seemed to be taken aback, shocked by her anger. Maybe it was just her being overly sensitive, but she felt bad for snapping at him, since he seemed like such an innocent little thing.

"I-I didn't mean to offend you. I'm sorry about that. I just meant that this place is polluted with sinners, and I can't believe someone pure like you lives here," he murmured in a soft (sad) voice.

"H-how do you know about the people who live here," she murmured. She had guessed that this bird was someone new based on his actions, such as flying around in circles, and always returning to that one tree, drawing routes and such on the trunk.

"I assumed the worse of everyone?" The way he said it made it sound more like a question than an answer, and she was curious as to what he was hiding. (Everyone, on the other hand, said that curiosity killed the cat, though she wasn't sure that was the case as she was still alive.)

"You don't sound too sure of yourself," she murmured in reply, almost as if she didn't mean for him to hear it.

"What do you mean? I know what I'm talking about!" His feathers were ruffled, as if she had offended him.

"I just meant that it sounded like a question, not a response. You also seemed unsure of the answer, as if you didn't know whether or not what you said was true." Gumi was pleased with herself for being able to deduce that much, but she didn't say anything else.

"I really don't understand you," he muttered in reply. It probably was meant to be only heard by him, but very few things ever got past her ears.

"Well, you're not meant to understand me," she replied childishly, turning her back on him but keeping her senses sharp just in case he tried to do something in retaliation to that comment.

Instead of being attacked as she had expected, he started to laugh, as if amused by her exclamation. "I guess it's true that I shouldn't understand you. But, you see, I was told what to expect out of normal people. And animal hybrids."

She smirked, an uncharacteristic idea coming to her. "Why, yes, there are stereotypes that one should know about each species. So, dear birdie, what are some stereotypes of your species?"

He returned that smirk with a knowing smile, one that seemed to say that he knew what she was trying to do and that he wouldn't reveal anything. "Why, my stereotypes are for me to know, and for you to want to know about," he replied in a smug tone.

"Ah, but you seem to know much about me, don't you? Would it not be fair if I knew the same amount you did?" She tried her best to keep it as a formal discussion, but she was certain that some of her own contractions and informal words were seeping in.

"Why that is true. However, how do you know that I know so much about you? You have not spent enough time with me to know anything about me. Am I right?" He was toying with her, Gumi was sure, but she found that she was having too much fun to consider stopping.

"You seem to know enough about me, so is it not fair that I know the same amount that you do?" She smiled, daring him to say anything to counteract her statement.

"That is also true. You seem to ignore the fact that everything I have said thus-far, and have expected, were wrong about you. Please do correct me if I am wrong." He seemed much too smug for someone who had just met her, and made these assumptions about her.

"I... have to admit that is true... However, you seem to ignore the fact that I gave you some information about myself." She grinned, proud of pointing out something that was obvious in retrospect. While it wasn't much, she had revealed things about herself that she wouldn't for anyone.

"Is that true? Well, if I remember correctly, you only told me something that I picked up long ago." That smug grin was really annoying her, so she immediately ended the conversation—he couldn't do anything if she didn't talk, right?

The silence lasted for quite a while, and it was, ironically, almost deafening, but she managed to keep her mouth shut. That was until he slowly started to spread his wings—she couldn't help her curiosity.

"Wow, those are nice wings. Just what kind of bird are you? I haven't seen any birds with wings like that," she said, looking a bit embarrassed since she just admitted that the birds here weren't all that pretty and hard to look at.

That was the wrong thing to ask, as his face was suddenly devoid of any emotions, and he seemed to be trying to think of an answer that was suitable, but not the truth at all.

Finally, he opened his mouth to answer. "Who said I was a bird? What I am, I will not reveal, but I will say that I am not a bird." He suddenly jumped out of the tree, looking as if he would plummet towards the earth, but the wings opened, and he soared towards the unknown.

Sighing, Gumi muttered, "I hope I get to see him again."