Lady and the Tramp
Carefully, Beatrice descended the stairs, to see what was just going on.
"Just what could her be doing at that time in the middle of the night?" she thought.
While she descended, still looking trough the walls, the figure she saw in the kitchen seemed to take notice of her, raising her ears and quickly covering up what she was doing before hiding behind the counter.
"She is up to something alright" Beatrice thought, nervous.
"What exactly are you doing here in the middle of the night?" she asked.
When she had no response, she added "I can see you behind walls, do not think you are hidden from me for a single second!".
"You acctually can?" asked Noelle, amazed.
The Princess sighed "Of course I can, I am a Beholder. And do not evade the question, what exactly where you doing?".
Noelle blushed on that "Well, can't hide anything from you I suppose, so much for trying to surprise you" she said.
Several of Beatrice's eyes twitched on that "I do not get you, please elaborate".
Noelle scratched her nape, still blushed, and uncovered her work, a bowl of ongoing cake batter "Well, everyone I know loves cake, so, I thought...".
Unlike her vision, Beatrice's nose was as potent as a normal human, so the batter smell just kicked in at that moment, making her belly protest.
"Well, as much as I apreciate the thought, if genuine, of course, I must say that it will change nothing" Beatrice stated, stubborn.
"Well, I guess I can handle you not liking me, if you also don't hate me" Noelle tried, smiling as best as she could.
Still stubborn, Beatrice lifted her nose and left for her room, saying nothing more.
She however, observed Noelle through the walls, baking excitedly through the night, until she finally fell asleep.
"200 Yen as they take a single week to be in bed together" Wolfgang whispered to his sister.
Blushing, Dora slapped his shoulder "You can't just go shipping everyone together like that!"
"Then what else I would do for a passtime?" he asked "Other than hooking up myself".
"Beatrice is straight, we talked about that already when we got out" said Dora.
"So were you. Or so you thought before you met Momoko on 5th grade" He bounced back.
"Fuck off" she said before she took a sip from her mug and turned away from him, grabbing her girlfriend's hand.
Meanwhile, the Princess watched the early morning anime and cartoons, coddled in the sofa with one of her body pillows, as Noelle occupied herself by replenishing Beatrice's plate of cake when it was emptied.
The Beholder blushed hard every single time Noelle approached her with more cake, but never said her anything, trying and failing to look tough and indifferent.
After setting the Princess to another cake, Noelle got back into the kitchen and helped herself with some bacon and eggs for the breakfast she was also cooking.
With her breakfast in a bowl, she sat at the four-places table, in front of Dora. Noelle was still learning how to properly use Hashis, but she was just able enough.
The way Noelle carried herself kinda fascinated Dora, of all the five days she was in the house, the only times she saw her distressed was upon Agent Smith's appearance in the Dragon Heart Academy, and during Beatrice's outburst, and she even solved that last one all by herself, with cake.
Every day, as she left for work, Noelle was exercising in the front yard, and she never remembered her sitting still for whatever reason other than sleeping, eating or in the bathroom. The house was even cleaner, because Noelle took just any excuse to occupy herself.
And yet, behind the smile aways in her face, she knew Noelle was hiding something. Something that was eating her from the inside.
She never told the story behind her exile, she was about to tell it when Smith showed up, but she never touched on the topic ever again, and aways dissmissed Dora when she asked about it.
"And exile... Something to do with the Chieftan of her tribe..." Dora wandered.
"Sis, you better eat before you get late for work" said Wolf.
"Oh, yes..." Dora fell back into reality, and restarted eating her breakfast.
Dora and Wolf finished their breakfast and left for work, Basillia got upstairs, retreating for her routine of audio books.
Beatrice remained in the couch, watching the cartoons.
And Noelle repressed the tears about to fall into the final bits of her cold breakfast.
"117" said Noelle, images flushed into her head, the warmth of the sun harrassing her skin as she ran through the savannah alongside her tribemates, dodging the invader centaur's sword, the hot metal of his armor burning as she attacked him.
"118" she said as more images flushed into her head, she and her childhood friends playing with each other, bitting and scratching in the dirt, all one over the other, no one could tell where one started and the other ended.
"119" She and her best friend Gnara take down their first prey, blood is all over the place, they are soaked in red, but they laugh, they laugh as they complete their dream of coming into adulthood together.
"120" The Hunter enters the hut, taking with him the Chieftain's necklace, covered in blood. He solemnly approaches Gnara, and as the first tears roll trought her face, he hails her the new Chieftain, anouncing Gnara's father death. And after this, Gnara lookes at Noelle, gasps for air, and repressed her tears, not looking on Noelle's gaze again, and even more devasted inside.
"Isn't that enough presses for the morning?" Asked the voice of Basillia, kicking Noelle out of the thoughts that even the exercises where failing to keep away.
Frightened, Noelle stopped, and quickly stood up, as she could acctually use a break "Oh, hello, I'm sorry I didn't see you there..." she said uncomfortable.
"Oh, that's ok, really" Said Basillia, as she sat on the stairs just outside the door "You know, you could talk to us. I not trying to force anything or whatever, but something is clearly bothering you. Dora and I have been through a lot of stuff so, we may understad, or even if we don't, you are living here with us so, we will do what we can to support you".
Noelle smiled, finishing a small sip of her bottle of water and using some to wash the excess of sweat off her body "You have been too good for me already, you took me in, you gave me a roof over my head, and things to do to empty it" she said "besides food, I need nothing else, really" Noelle cleaned herself with a towel, her neck, her armpits, between her breasts "Well, that and to forget. If I don't forget, well... I'll never be ok again".
Noelle sat in the side by Basillia, drinking a longer gulp of water.
Basillia thought about what she heard. Noelle's heartbeat was accellerated from the exercises, so she couldn't really know how nervous she was. She settled for a more neutral answer, one she hoped it would help, whatever happened to Noelle "We have to make ourselves at peace we the past. Trying to forget only hurts us even further than what we already where".
Noelle smiled, gloomily "Yeah. I know that".
Basillia heard Noelle's heartbeat drop, like the raw amount of angst could make her heart stop.
"Relax Basillia, you didn't make it worse or anything. It's just that I have to keep it out of my mind, if I do that I'll be ok, right?".
Basillia faced her way, even tho she couldn't really see her "Well guess I'll have to contend with letting you do my loundry then, right?" she laughed, weakly.
Noelle laughed as well "Yeah, like hell Dora will let me anywhere near your panties".
Basillia then finished laughing and stood up "Well I guess I will not meddle in your training routine anymore, I better get upstairs".
"It's ok" said Noelle.
Just as Basillia got up, and went inside, Beatrice appeared at the door.
"Hey, is that where you have been all this time? I demand that you bake more of those delicious cake" the Princess ordered, solemnly.
Noelle looked straight at her, up and down, and said "Oh no, no cake for the Princess until she exercises, we can't have you going out of shape, and that will go fast at the rate you are wolfing my cakes down".
Beatrice instantly blushed "How dare you?!".
"Come on, get down here, let us see, how many presses can you make" said Noelle, taking her hand and pulling her.
"Get off me, you mutton!"said Beatrice, backing away.
"You want cake or you don't?" asked Noelle, with her hands to her hips and an evil grin.
"I do!" said Beatrice, vexed.
"Than do it" said Noelle.
"I will not get into the ground!" she insisted.
Noelle crossed her arms, but the Princess just made an annoyed sound.
Noelle quickly thought about it, and then had an idea "Wanna do something stupid?".
When she first laid eyes on Beatrice, Noelle never imagined the princess being afraid of anything at all really.
Watching her tremble upon a nearing cart of cotton-candy, was indeed a sight to see.
"No one will even recognize you, Princess, everyone just assumes you are on work or that you already finished your homestay and you are supposed to be there, relax" whispered Noelle.
"They do so with Kobolds, Lizardfolk and whatever other common liminals. You do realize, that we are the only representants of our respective races currently in japanese soil, right? In my case, the only one anywhere in the world, other than Beholder territorry" the Princess retorted.
"What? Do you think every single preschooler in the park has a Masters Degree on Liminal biology, so that just to look at us they will know our species and how many are there is in the country?" Noelle ironized, with a small grin.
"You say all those things and tells me to be relaxed, but you where caught yourself!" Beatrice reminded, related to the failed attempt of getting a job at the Dragon Heart Academy.
"Entirely different, I was under direct supervision of a government organization, whose sole purpose is to know all those things and deal with them" Noelle explained "Now however, we where supposed to be under Dora's supervision, and the government is surely not watching us, if they could do so, they wouldn't delegate that job to the normal folk".
"They can't supervise every single liminal in the country, sure, but the one Princess of a potentially hostile, almighty liminal race?" said Beatrice.
Noelle conceded a nod "You do have a point, but they are still not".
"And how is it, you are so sure?" Beatrice asked.
"Elementary, if they did, they would have tackled me into the ground as we turned the corner, lead us back into the house and called Dora immediately for a interrogation regarding her responsability" Noelle said.
"And there is also that, Dora will be in trouble if we get caught" Beatrice realized.
"I did said it was stupid" Noelle agreed.
"Oh, by the Eyes of God..." prayed Beatrice, in desperation.
Why exactly she had agreed with this? She could not remember.
"Damn mutton, and damn her delicious cake" she thought.
"Cheer up, I'll buy you cotton candy, you exercise at the park, we get back home in two or three hours and not a single soul will know about it" said Noelle, approaching the cart.
While Noelle stood in line for the cart, Beatrice remained away, still terrified of the situation.
As she buried herself in negative thought, she suddenly felt a soft pull in her skirt.
As she looked, she saw a small Kobold child, in preschooler age, looking awkardly to her.
Beatrice stood in shock, unknowing of what to do.
"Miss, can you help me? Please?" the child looked about to cry.
Beatrice's mouth gagged for a second, unsure of an answer "W-what do you mean? What happened?".
"I got lost from my brother" said the child, with tears in her eyes.
Beatrice simply could not react, she was terrified as she had never been before "I, I do not know, but I will try..."
The child let loose of her skirt, with the tears in tight held.
At that very moment, Noelle came back with the contton candies, and looked, puzzled, at the scene "Princess? What's going on?".
"That child is lost, and wants help to get back to his brother" said Beatrice.
Noelle looked serious for a second, she gave a cotton candy to Bea, and then she lowed herself into the eyeline of the child, smiled, and said "Calm down, alright? We're gonna find your brother, ok? Want some cotton candy?".
The child nodded slowly, and then he took a pinch of cotton candy, and started to chew it awkwrdly.
"Ok" continued Noelle "Now two things, do you have something of his? Like any object at all that can have his smell?".
The child pulled his backpack up front and took a baseball out of it "It is his" he said.
Noelle took it and immediatelly smelled it thoroughly.
"And where is it, you last saw him?" Noelle asked as she gave the baseball back.
"Up there, near the bathrooms" he pointed.
"Can you take us there?" she asked.
He nodded again, and started moving, looking back to see if the girls would follow him".
Beatrice hesitated for a second, but her resistance was quelled as Noelle grabbed her hand and pulled her the child's way.