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Chapter Three
Stray
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Despite his best efforts, Keith was asleep… and drooling a little, Ayeka noted with a silent smirk, yawning a little herself as she cuddled against the lanky boy… letting herself enjoy the sensation while he was unconscious and unable to comment on the matter. She could see the sky lightening steadily through the rooms small windows and bit back a yawn… she hadn't slept well the past week or so and it was catching up with her.
"I suppose falling asleep here would simply encourage him further…" she sighed quietly, starting to get up… stopping only when it became apparent that the arm around her waist had no intention of letting go. Rolling her eyes bemusedly, she grabbed his fingers, tugging at them in an attempt to make him let go, but only succeeded in making him grip her more tightly… his brow furrowing slightly as he mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep.
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"There's a good puppy." Talia soothed, arms around the massive wolf's neck, fingers stroking the thick fur on its back. "He's been getting restless lately." She added lightly. Looking at him, smiling in that way that had always made his heart skip a ffew beats.
"Hi Pet, long time no see." Keith returned with a smile of his own, walking towards them… stopping short when the beast turned towards him and growled… baring its fangs and stepping between him and Talia protectively.
"Hey!" Talia exclaimed, giving the beast a smack, making it whimper and lower its ears submissively. "Behave yourself."
"So… how long has he been in here?" Keith asked, resuming his approach towards the figure of his wife, one eye on the wolf as he slipped his arms around Talia's slim waist, kissing her lightly.
"A little while now." Talia responded with a shrug and a smirk as she kissed him back. "He's just not around when you are."
"Neat trick considering that this is my head we're talking about." Keith noted, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, you should hear the conversations I have with the other parts of your subconscious dear." Talia laughed. "This guy is just the most stable of the lot." she added, grinning wickedly.
"Conversations with my what now?" Keith laughed, kissing her neck impulsively, making her purr.
"Well your inner child is always entertaining." She laughed, leaning into the kiss. Neither of them noticed as the wolf started moving away…
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"Keith…" Ayeka said quietly, poking his chest a little, "wake up now… you need to go to bed." Tugging at his arm a little more firmly she added, "Or at least let go of my waist you letch." He just growled, and she could feel his fingertips starting to shift slightly, turning into claws.
"KEITH!" she shouted, giving his chest a solid thwap as the claws dug into her side slightly… not painful yet but starting to get uncomfortable.
"Huh?" he mumbled, starting awake… his fingers digging into her side hard enough to make her wince.
"Ouch!" she yelped, grabbing his hand, pulling away from him sharply.
"What? Oh fuck, sorry Ayeka." Keith apologized quickly, pulling his hand away, noting guiltily the long claws that had formed on their tips.
"May I ask what that was all about?" she asked, rubbing her side… noting with a grimace that even if he hadn't pierced her skin that he'd ruined her blouse. "I liked this blouse too." She added, glaring at her friend.
"I dunno, just dreaming I guess." He sighed, rubbing his eyes with de-clawed fingertips. "I didn't hurt you did I?" he asked, concern obvious in his voice as he leaned over to get a better look at her side.
"Do you always do that kind of thing when you dream?" she scowled, jumping a bit as Keith's fingers brushed her side through the rips in her blouse.
"Talia never complained about anything like this…" Keith shrugged absently, nodding slightly to himself after confirming that he hadn't cut his friend.
"Are you sure that she wasn't simply thicker-skinned than I am?" Ayeka asked, arching an eyebrow at him, a bit surprised at how casually he'd mentioned Talia… he normally didn't like talking about his deceased wife.
"I'm sure." He snorted, grinning a bit. "As tough as she was, she was a baby about this kind of thing. She gets stabbed in the leg during a fight… no big deal, but you'd think she was gonna die the way she used to whine if she scratched herself on a table corner or something."
"I see…" she grinned back, her amethyst eyes sparkling a bit. "Well I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you are getting weirder as time goes by." She added teasingly. "Though it does make me wonder what you were dreaming about."
"Nothing important." He answered dismissively, though she could she him stiffen a little at the question. "Sorry about your shirt, I'll buy you a replacement today if you want." He added, obviously trying to change the subject.
"Okay then…" she agreed, letting him get away with the subject change for the moment, obvious or not. "But first we should both get some sleep, I'm going to need at least a few hours if I want to be at all functional today."
"Sounds good… I'll show you where the guest room is." Keith agreed, standing up, offering her his hand. Smiling at the lavender-haired girl when she accepted, her small hand warm against his.
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She could hear her vertebrae popping as she stretched in her work chair. Some days she could swear that she felt every one of her 20,000 odd years in her pre-pubescent frame. Of course, it probably had a lot more to do with the fact that she hadn't moved from the chair for some 20 hours than anything to do with her objective age. Standing up with a slight groan she started walking towards the door of her lab, absentmindedly checking a few monitors as she went.
"Odd… Krit'lat is being impressively diligent this trip." Washu observed, "He hasn't poached a single cow yet. Wonder if someone told on him." Shrugging she considered giving the high-strung xenobiologist a call and teasing him a bit, but dismissed the thought as she opened the door to the house and the smell of something cooking made her stomach growl loudly.
"What's for dinner?" she asked loudly as she stepped into the kitchen… stopping short as she spotted Ryoko standing in front of the stove, an apron around her waist and her hair pulled back into a short ponytail. "A… are you cooking tonight Ryoko?" she asked nervously, trying not to cringe at the thought of her daughters past creations as Ryoko turned to look at her, grinning widely.
"Tenchi's teaching me how to cook!" Ryoko explained happily, stirring the soup carefully like Tenchi had shown her. "He just had to run to the store quick and get some rice."
"Okay, so long as your being supervised." Washu teased, relaxing.
"I'm in too good a mood to fight with you right now Mom." Ryoko retorted, sticking out her tongue. "I've had Tenchi to myself all day and I haven't had to chase him or fight with anyone even once." Washu just grinned, happy for her daughter... and too hungry to give her a hard time about it at the moment.
"So are Mihoshi and Kiyone back from patrol yet?" Washu asked, pulling a chair over and straddling it as she took over supervising her daughter until Tenchi got back.
"Nope, it's just going to be us three for dinner tonight." Ryoko said, sparing her mom a brief smile before returning her attention to the food.
"That should be a nice change from normal." Washu noted, getting an emphatic nod of agreement from Ryoko. It wasn't often that they had moments like this, actually acting like a mother and daughter… so Washu figured that if ever there was a time to get some personal information out of the girl, this was it. "So things are going well between you and Tenchi then?"
"Yeah… he's still being slow and clueless about things, but he's getting better." Ryoko confirmed. "We spent this morning in bed together." She added, blushing uncharacteristically.
"Oh really/" Washu exclaimed, grinning evilly, unable to resist the urge to tease. "Is he any good?"
"We didn't do anything like that!" Ryoko protested, her blush getting even deeper. "We just cuddled and talked. That's all!"
"Well that's no fun." Washu pouted.
"…I tried…I mean, I wanted to do more." Ryoko mumbled, the spoon she was holding starting to deform as her hands clenched. "He says it's too soon."
"That idiot." Washu sighed. "You know that that's just the way he is, right honey?"
"Yeah…" Ryoko nodded, "It's just kinda frustrating sometimes. I'm way too old to still be a virgin yah know?" she added, smiling at her mother and rolling her eyes.
"5000 years old may very well be a record." Washu agreed with a laugh, glad that her daughter was learning to take things in stride… and even happier that she was starting to confide in her more often. "I only made it to about 20 myself."
"Umm… do you mind if I ask you a question Mom?" Ryoko asked after a few minutes of companionable silence.
"Of course not."
"Am I even… well… sexually compatible… with humans?" she asked, eyes fixed firmly on the soup.
"Do you mean does everything fit the way it should?" Washu asked, raising an eyebrow, "or do you mean reproductively compatible?"
"The second one." Ryoko confirmed, blushing again. "I've seen more than enough to know that everything fits."
"Not naturally." Washu answered after a couple seconds thought. "But I can help with that when it's time." She reassured.
"Thanks."
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"Dad?" Erin called softly, knocking on his bedroom door, ears twitching slightly as she listened for a response. "You in there old man?"
"Are you calling loud enough for him to hear you?" Sasami asked from behind her, hand going out to knock on the door as well.
"He's got good hearing." Erin drawled, pushing the door open before Sasami was able to knock. "If he doesn't answer…" she said, stepping into the room and pointing at the empty bed… "it usually means that he's not there."
"You don't think…" Sasami started. Blushing hotly as naughty thoughts started bubbling to the surface of her mind.
"Well we won't know until we check will?" Erin responded, grinning at her older friend, sounding much to adult for her ten year old body as always. "The guest room is at the end of the hall."
"Do you really think we should?" Sasami asked, even as they started tip-toeing down the hall towards the guest room.
"Nope." Erin grinned, whispering conspiratorially, reaching for the doorknob. "That's never stopped me before though."
The door opened with a quiet click, and the two girls snuck in to the dimly-lit room… the heavy cover on the floor… and Ayeka sprawled across the bed in a rather undignified manner… but alone.
"Well so much for that…" Erin frowned, brow furrowing cutely, "where'd the jackass go then?"
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"Thank god for Saturdays." Carrie mumbled to herself as she looked blearily at her alarm clock and the 10:19 displayed on its face in big red numbers. Sighing she worked her way deeper into the pile of blankets and pillows that added a good foot and a half to the height of her bed and stretched out… and promptly yelped in surprise when something licked the bottom of her foot.
"What the hell?" she yelped as she threw off the covers and scrambled out of bed, grabbing for the baseball bat she kept beside it. Lifting the weapon above her head she turned scanning the room, sniffing for any out-of place scents. She registered the scent and saw where it was coming from at the same time.
"Keith?" she asked, confused, as she looked at the huge shaggy wolf standing at the foot of her bed, regarding her cautiously with familiar silver-green eyes… jet-black fur with a dark brown "cape" covering it's neck and shoulders, myriad scars underneath making it look shaggy and unkempt. "What the hell are you doing in my bedroom… and looking like that?" she asked, letting the bat drop to the ground.
The wolf just stared at her, a low whine coming from its throat as it sat down, head tilting to one side.
"Keith?" she asked again, stepping closer, kneeling in front of the huge beast, looking into its eyes as she grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. "This isn't funny you know…"
Keith just whined again, managing to look amazingly pitiful for an animal that weighed at least 250 pounds and could likely tear a normal person in half without even trying hard.
"Anyone home in there?" Carrie asked, narrowing her eyes, growling a little in frustration at the lack of response. "If you don't stop this I'm going to take you to my vet and get you neutered Keith."
Keith whined louder, sinking to the floor and covering his face with huge paws.
"Great." Carrie mumbled... standing up and grabbing some clothes out of her dresser. "Just what I needed, a feral wolf to babysit on my day off." Opening the door to her small bathroom, she turned around, pointing at him. "I'm going to take a shower... you stay here and behave yourself till I'm done or it's the vet for you. Got it?"
The huge wolf, just looked at her, head on the floor, and sighed dejectedly.
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"No, it's okay Grandma… Ayeka and Sasami are here… you don't need to come over." Erin explained into Keith's phone. "Just call me if you see him… I love you too Grandma. Bye." With a cute growl, she snapped he phone shut, barely resisting the urge to throw it across the room.
"No luck then?" Ayeka asked, not sure if she should be annoyed or worried when Erin just shook her head in response. "Has he ever done something like this before?"
"Well he was really late picking me up from school on Thursday and he didn't say why." Erin shrugged, obviously trying to stay calm and controlled… but Ayeka could hear the slight waver in her voice and see tears threatening to spill our of her silver eyes. The way the girl acted, it was easy to forget exactly how young she really was.
"I'm sure he's fine then Erin…" Ayeka reassured, giving the obviously upset girl a hug. "I'm sure he'll be back soon." Smiling over at Sasami as Erin sighed and leaned into the hug…
"I hate feeling helpless…" Erin mumbled, face pressed against Ayeka's shirt. "He hasn't even been gone for very long… for all we know he just went jogging or sumthn'."
"There is nothing wrong with worrying about someone you love Erin." Ayeka soothed, "I'm sure he'll be back soon. He loves you very much you know."
"Yeah… I'm still not used to that idea." Erin sniffed, pulling back and looking up at Ayeka with a sardonic grin. "I think I like it though."
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A notable amount of venom from one of the local serpents, a couple of nasty gene-engineered viruses… and a large dose of glitterstim… a notoriously deadly narcotic that was most definitely not meant to be taken internally. Oh yes, it should work. He had originally not considered this route, not with the targets relationship and proximity to someone like Washu… but with here new location, poisoning really was the most effective method for disposing of the royals. They're defenses against more traditional weapons were formidable to say the least, but their immune systems were only slightly boosted. A toxic cocktail like the one he had put together would fell them as easily as it would fell anyone else.
The real question was how to deliver it to the targets. Typically he used simple darts for this kind of work, but it wasn't likely to be an efficient method in this case. Not with their personal shields. Oh well, it simply meant that he'd have to be a little more clever about things than normal. Placing the small poison capsules in a small pouch on his belt, he settled back to wait, watching the house where his targets were saying through the camera he'd hidden on the telephone pole across the street.
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Cathy yawned hugely, the sound of her roommate taking a shower running slowly waking her up. Blearily she looked over at her alarm clock noting the time. She was about to pull her blankets over her head to drown out the noise so she could go back to sleep when her stomach growled insistently.
Sitting up, she threw her down comforter aside, bare legs dangling off the side of the bed, stretching until her back and joints popped satisfyingly. Grabbing her robe to cover her less than modest choice of sleepwear, she stumbled towards out of her room into the comfortably decorated kitchen.
And promptly screamed.
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Stumbling out of the shower, Carrie could feel her teeth and nails starting to grow and sharpen a little out of raw instinct as she grabbed a towel, wrapping it around her still-soapy form and cursing a little as she stubbed her toe on the edge of the sink in the process... pulling open the door to the bathroom as soon as she had the cloth secured.
"Cathy!" she called, wiping suds and water away from her eyes as she sprinted into the living room… "I'm sorry, I forgot to warn… you." She finished with an exasperated groan at the sight of her roommate sitting on the couch, Keith's huge shaggy head resting companionably on her lap as he stretched out on the leather beside her.
"So where'd you find this beast?" Cathy asked cheerfully, ruffling the thick fur on the back of Keith's neck as both of them regarded her with bemused expressions on their faces. Keith couldn't actually smirk like Cathy in his current state, but she had spent enough time around other wolves to recognize his expression. "I don't think I've ever seen a dog this big before… and have you seen how many scars this guy has?'
"…just get him off the couch." Carrie sighed, resisting the urge to tell her friend exactly what the beast resting it's head on her lap actually was. Not that she didn't trust her friend, or think that Cathy wouldn't figure it out on her own anyway… she just wasn't up to explaining this early in the morning. "I'm going to go finish my shower… could you do me a favor and look around for my cell-phone while I'm in there? I need to give his… owners… a call."
"Your phones by the TV, no guarantees on getting this guy off the couch though." Cathy laughed as her friend headed back to the shower. "As for you buddy… you've got to at least let me get up so I can get some food in me." She added, giving Keith a light swat to his shoulder.
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"Moshi… uh, I mean, Hello?" Ayeka answered, switching to Japanese for a half-second before catching herself. Erin and Sasami were taking advantage of the oversized, Japanese style bath Keith had had installed so she had been the only one available to answer Keith's cellphone when it rang.
"…Is this the O'Connor residence?" a decidedly feminine voice asked hesitantly.
"Yes." Replied, a little more coolly than she had meant to, feeling a sudden a surge of unexpected and irrational jealously. "Are you looking for Keith?"
"Uh… I was looking for his daughter actually…" Carrie replied after another second's hesitation. "Who am I talking to, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Ayeka… one of Keith's friends." The princess replied, taking a deep breath and reminding herself that she had no reason or right to get upset at the other girls question. "Erin is currently in the bath and Keith has… stepped out… for the moment. Can I take a message?"
"Uh… yeah." Carrie replied with a sigh, "Could you just tell her that I found her dog? Thanks."
"Her dog? Wait!..." she all but shouted, but Carrie had already hung up.
"Who was that?" Erin asked, walking into the room, an oversized towel wrapped around her small frame, practically dragging on the ground. "Was it my Dad?" she added, her big silver eyes hopeful.
"No…" Ayeka responded softly, "I forgot to ask for their name. Their number is on the cellphone though. Now, is it safe for me to assume that you and Keith do not own a dog?"
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