Oh.
My.
Primus.
Is this an update? 'Tis! Ladies and gentlemen, I am very sorry for my lack of self-motivation, but I am trying my hardest to work on this. Part of it is finishing stories I have left in limbo, and here is one of my most popular!
So anyway, I've been working on some more chapters lately, trying to fix some plot holes and some overall terrible writing. There's also the upcoming part about college that I was so wrong about back when I was in high school. Being in college now, it makes me laugh whenever I read it to see how little I understood of college.
Hope you all enjoy! And a heads up, as more chapters come out you will see a serious progression in writing skills. For reference, I believe I wrote this chapter in 2014 (eeks!).
Reviews:
n1ghtdr34m3r: Can I just say, thanks for being awesome? I so love looking back and reading your reviews, it really does fill me with great joy (and makes me feel guilty or not updating)! For some of your questions, I will say, to anyone who reads this, yes, Kay's dad is an existing character in the Transformers universe! That's about all I'm going to let myself say, however, otherwise I might say too much! XP Also, the relationships between Kay and the Bots are super important to me and I never felt much between Sam and anyone besides Bee. Absolutely had to fix that, at least with my OC!
Bee4ever: Thank you! And, to be honest, I don't have an exact timing on that yet. I will give a little more and say that I haven't written it out yet but I've definitely thought over where I've wanted to put it.
Hz: Here you are!
With visible determination, Kay searched through each and every piano book in the store. Jazz stood beside her, wanting to help but unable to do so due to the fact that he had no idea the name of the song that Kay was searching for. The teen brushed past the Hispanic holoform, leading him to shift so he could follow.
Kay reached out and grabbed another book, scanning through the contents and smiling.
"There you are," she said quietly. Jazz shifted to look but Kay snapped the book shut, smirking at him while her eyes shifted towards his. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked. Jazz groaned and shuffled behind the chuckling Kay as she went over to a large grand piano that had a sign stating 'Try me!'
"Why can't I see?" he asked. Kay glanced up at him as she settled on the black wooden bench, her fingers ghosting over the gleaming ivory keys in perfect form.
"Because I said so." With a smirk she pressed the keys down and began a delicate song, swinging lightly with the beat. Her hands responded automatically, moving to the correct chord or note the second her mind saw the sheet music. Jazz watched fascinated, listening to the deep, reverberating sound of the instrument. People slowed in their searching, glancing over at the mesmerizing sound. Then she sang.
"Spend all your time waiting, for that second chance. For a break that would make it okay. There's always some reason to feel not good enough, and it's hard at the end of the day." Jazz watched in shock, having not heard such a voice in centuries. "I need some distraction, oh beautiful release, memories seep from my veins. Let me be empty and weightless and maybe I'll find some peace tonight."
Shoppers had stopped in their searches now, watching in awe while Kay played away. Her fingers expertly tickled the keys, producing the exact sounds she wanted. People walking by outside the store, going about their business in the large mall, slowed or stopped in their progressions to hear the teenager play.
"In the arms of the angel fly away from here. From this dark cold hotel room and the endlessness that you fear. You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie. You're in the arms of the angel. May you find some comfort here." The song continued for one more round before Kay ended on the final chord. When the silence reigned once more she reached forward and grabbed the book, standing. She made eye contact with Jazz and smiled, wiggling the book in the air.
"There," she stated. "Now you know." The Bot stared after Kay as she walked to the counter, paying for the book with the money they picked up on the way there. She smiled with a light blush when the clerk complimented her skills, then walked back over to her escort.
"Anything else?" Jazz asked, leading her out of the store. Kay glanced down at her watch in time for her stomach to growl, rather loudly. Jazz laughed at the sound.
"Some food?" she said like a question, starting towards the food court down the large hall. Jazz shrugged.
"Of course, if you're that hungry." In companionable silence they trekked towards the open food court. Mouth watering aromas swarmed Kay's defenseless nostrils causing her mouth to water and her stomach to growl.
"Didn't know I was that hungry," she stated. One aroma stood out: that of Chinese food. Her careful eyes raked the scene, landing on the red neon of a Chinese symbol. "Oh, Chinese food!" she said excitedly. Jazz held onto her piano book as she sped forwards, standing in front of a cash register. A woman of Chinese descent stepped behind it, smiling fakely.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Yeah, can I have an order of General Tso's and a Diet Mountain Dew?" the woman nodded silently and entered the order glancing at the register when it finished calculating the two numbers.
"$7.32, please," she stated. Kay handed her a ten, waiting as the woman handed her the change then as she walked off to get the drink. When she came back she handed Kay a bag with the food and soda can in it. Kay walked off, finding Jazz near the middle of the court.
Setting the bag down on the table she smiled at the man, and he smiled back. His nose crinkled and a surprised look came over his face. Kay jerked lightly with a small chuckle, bringing the container of chicken out of the bag and the box of rice followed by the utensils, drink, and napkin. Jazz wrinkled his nose more.
"What is that?" he asked as Kay peeled it open.
"Chicken covered in sauce with some broccoli with rice, soda, and a fortune cookie on the side," she explained. With haste she stabbed a piece of chicken, scraped the sauce off in the rice and bit, smiling at the taste. "Been forever since I had Chinese," she said after she swallowed the bite. Her plastic fork stabbed another piece of meat as she went through the ritual. Jazz watched in interest.
At one point Kay glanced up to see his curiosity and held the fork out, swallowing her mouthful.
"Want a bite?" she asked. Jazz pouted in return.
"Yeah, but Ratchet hasn't quite figured that out yet," he said. Kay pouted, though a smile shined in her eyes, and reached forward to pat the man's shoulder. He sat motionless, accepting the playful pity. "I got a question," he suddenly stated.
"What is it?' she asked, quickly taking another bite.
"About earlier, how did you know our Cybertronian equivalent of dating?" Kay froze mid-chew as she stared at her meal. The hunk of her meat forced itself down slowly, as if it was a rock affected ten-fold by gravity. Kay quickly swallowed as she regained motion.
"I don't know," she said quietly. "Things like that have been slowly slipping up in my mind. Like twice, I called your guys' eyes, optics." Jazz stared at her as she carefully looked up. "Is that what they're really called?" He nodded. Kay set down her fork and placed her head in her hands. "What is happening to me?"
The sound of a chair scraping against the floor reached Kay's numbing ears. Jazz appeared beside her in the corner of her vision before his arms wrapped around her shoulders and he brought her in for a hug.
"I don't know what's happening, Kay. But we'll help you through it. All of us." Kay smiled and snuggled into the man's chest.
"Thanks, Jazz," she said. A sudden clatter had them pulling apart. Near where one of the large halls connected to the court three men were running with a woman behind.
"KiKi!" they were calling, frantically searching for something near the ground. Kay glanced down when something rubbed her legs and gained an adoring look.
"Oh, hi cutie," she said in a singsong voice. Jazz let go of her shoulders as she pushed her chair back and bent down, holding a hand out to the gray cat rubbing against her legs. "Hi, KiKi. What are you doing here?" she asked. The cat sniffed her hand then began purring, rubbing against the appendage.
With a smile stuck on her face Kay petted the creature then, with careful movements, she picked the cat up. It clung to her shoulder when she brought it near there with no surprise towards its actions.
"Oh, sh, sh, sh, sh, sh," she whispered reassuringly. "It's alright." Kay turned to Jazz who was watching the entire interaction. "You want to pet her?" she asked. The man slowly held his hand out, copying the way Kay did it. After a few sniffs, KiKi licked his finger, causing Jazz to let out a laugh.
"Its tongue has a strange feeling," he said. Kay nodded, nuzzling against the warm, furry, gray side.
"We call that feeling 'sandpaper' because it reminds us of how the actual item feels."
"You found her!" a breathless man suddenly exclaimed in front of the two. KiKi jerked with a yelp and dug her claws through Kay's jacket.
"It's alright," Kay whispered to the frightened creature. When she looked up the man, while panting, was watching with awe.
"She actually doesn't want to scratch your face off!" he said with astonishment. Kay could tell Jazz's eyes widened behind his glasses. With considerate movement, as to not disturb the scared KiKi, she reached a hand over and rested it reassuringly on Jazz's knee. "You think you might want to adopt her?" he said hopefully, pushing his hair back with a hand. His eyes shone with the same emotions he showed physically.
"How much?" Kay asked. "And what does she eat?" The man relaxed with some relief, hope obviously flooding through him.
"She eats almost anything that's food, so that saves money. Right now cats are on sale for $10, and the adoption fee is $15." Kay put the hand that was on Jazz's knee near KiKi's rear end then used the other to grab the money out of her pocket, inspecting it.
Maybe I should splurge a bit, she thought to herself as she saw she had enough money.
"Alright, I'll do it," she said. The man sighed in relief.
"I'll prepare the papers. We're down the hall we came running from, so if you want to finish," he gestured at the half-empty containers of food, "I'll be waiting." The man then walked off and told his coworkers the good news as they went back towards their area.
"I now own a cat," Kay stated blandly, staring after the group. A smile then slowly spread across her face as she turned to Jazz. "I own a kitty!" she exclaimed, hugging the creature close. KiKi purred in response.
"What just happened?" Jazz asked quietly. Kay laughed and quickly finished her lunch. Together the two threw away the garbage and followed behind where the people disappeared, KiKi resting comfortably in Kay's grasp.
About halfway down the hall, they reached the Humane Society booth. The man from earlier was sitting at a fold-up table, looking through some papers and muttering to himself as he did so. Near the end of the papers, he smiled and pulled the one he was looking for out triumphantly. The shift in the position of his head alerted him to the duo's presence and he smiled at them.
"Glad to see you came!" he said, standing and holding out a hand. Kay shifted KiKi and reached out, hoping Jazz was watching. When the man moved his hand towards Jazz, Jazz smiled and confidently reached out, shaking his hand. Kay sat down and for the next couple of minutes the man explained how to care for the black kitten. KiKi dozed in Kay's lap as she was petted, but she did flick her ears towards the conversation many times.
"Another important thing," the man began to finish with, "is that she'll eat almost anything. Mostly that's good because then you can feed her easier, but if she gets hungry she'll go looking for her own food and may eat something she isn't supposed to." Kay nodded, showing she was listening. "But, she is also a wanderer. If you let her outside she probably won't come back soon." Kay shrugged.
"That's fine." She signed the papers, Jazz signing as a legal guardian, and they got a collar and tag as extra. KiKi didn't like the collar but she accepted it. Kay waved at the workers and left the mall with Jazz, holding KiKi close. She smiled at the cat's scent.
The little kitten she used to have had a similar scent.