Time: Tuesday 24, August
Follows: The Green-Eyed Monster, Take Two: The "C" in "C-Day" is for "Chris"
The Shrine, Tuesday, 24 August, about 1AM
The black cat mewed softly as MacCousin was pulled into the chariot. His amber eyes blinked as the chariot pulled away covered in dust. The cat studied his opulent surroundings for a moment and then purred when he saw a loose pen on the floor.
He pounced on the unsuspecting writing utensil. He glanced around cautiously. Only Ivy and Christy were nearby. Holding mechanical pencils!!! Hooray!!!!
"Mowerr-Roweer," he said, thinking that as much as he missed MacHeather, he was glad she was gone. She would snatch the pens away from him -- which was why he kept a secret stash of pens and pencils in one of the big closets behind the pairs of sensible shoes. Nobody would ever look there.
He jumped up on the table and purred at the addicts. Christy and Ivy watched the cat for a moment and put down their pencils. Nunkies was walking by. The women began to drool.
*Chomp*
They never realized the pencils were gone.
Lucius trotted down the hall, proudly carrying the naughty pen and pencils. He jumped into the closet and dropped the pen in his stash. He rolled across the pens and pencils purring. Then he jumped into his secret stash of papers. They cushioned his fall and he batted the paper around. It made a happy crunchy sound.
He jumped up when he heard Glennis wandering through the halls. Lucius followed her silently for a moment, hoping she might give him some good food, like the Tirimisu the addicts all seemed to gobble down.
Then it caught his eye. Glennis was carrying a paintbrush. He took off running and jumped into Glennis's arms, purring.
"Aww, sweet kitty," cooed Glennis, scratching Lucius's chin.
"Foolish human pet," Lucius replied. It came out as 'Myrhh'. He snatched the paintbrush and leapt from her arms. Glennis watched as her paintbrush disappeared from sight and shook her head.
Lucius ran past another room, and then turned back hearing a funny banging sound. He dropped the paintbrush and bounced into the room. It was that nasty critter that had tried to give him a bath earlier. Actually, a rat was in the cage with Nicolas and pushing the bear against the railings. Lucius continued bouncing around the room, laughing at the vampbear's lack of freedom. He rolled across the floor, kicking his feet into the air.
"So, there!" he said to the vampbear. "Try to give me a bath, will you!"
"Lucius," the vampbear demanded. "Let me out, NOW!!!!" The vampbear turned in the cage to find a stuffed Tribble behind him. "A snack!!!"
The vampbear bit the tribble and it made a cooing noise. Unfortunately, all Nicolas got out of the tribble was a bunch of fuzz.
Lucius flicked his ears toward the sound and turned to face the vampbear with a look of mild interest.
"Look what I've got!" Nicolas bit the tribble again. Lucius rose to his feet and got a better look at the tribble, then turned away. He was tired of that toy.
"I'm hungry! Need food!" Nicolas told Lucius.
Lucius looked at the vampbear. "Food?" he asked.
"Yes! HUNGRY!!!!"
Lucius thought for a second about food. He was rather hungry and the food MacHeather subjected him to was horrid. Maybe this bear would lead him to yummy food, or better yet maybe Nicolas was food.
"Okay," the cat agreed, with an evil kitty grin. "but it better be good food! None of that dried healthy cat stuff MacMom gives me."
Lucius looked at the cage door for a moment. This should be easier than opening MacHeather's door. He opened the cage door with a squeak and the vampbear was ready to happily leap out of his cage, when Lucius bit him and pulled him out.
"No! No!!!" the vampbear grumbled. "Bad cat! Bad Lucius! LETGOOFME!!!!!" The vampbear tried to free himself, but it was a useless endeavor.
Although the bear smelled interesting, he tasted yucky, like fluff. However, he was still fun to carry.
Lucius trotted happily into the closet, carrying the vampbear. Lucius sat on his pile of pilfered pens and paper and dropped the vampbear. "Where's my food!" demanded the cat, nosing the stuffed bear. "I'm hungry! You aren't food!" he whined.
The cat watched the vampbear grab a pen and began frantically scribbling on a piece of paper.
"Where's my food!" the cat demanded.
Nicolas ignored the plainative mews; he was busy scribbling a note to Brenda.
The closet door opened, wider. Roy and Sukh walked into the closet. Roy stepped on Lucius's tail.
"*&*^_*&!!!!" the cat screamed in fury. "Nobody, but nobody, steps on my tail!!!"
"Lucius! There you are!" Sukh picked up the black cat. Nicolas hid behind the shoes, wondering if he had a chance to take a sip of Sukh.
"I can't find the MacCousin," Sukh grumbled to the purring cat, "and the chariot and two horses are gone! Roy, we have to find them!"
"Don't worry, Sukh. We can split up and cover more territory that way." Roy assured the addict.
"What about me?" the vampbear cried. "Let me outta here. Let me help! By Jove, whoever did this....." He got a tad carried away.
*Chomp*
"Ouch!" Sukh rubbed her arm. She picked up the bear. How did Brenda's bear get here? Oh well, she could take it back to the Glow with her. How odd of Heather to forget Lucius, though.
Sukh put the vampbear and cat in the kitty carrier.
Lucius stared at Nicolas and the vampbear stared back. Roy and Sukh ran into her room to change into proper riding clothes.
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PARALLEL STORY: SAFEHOUSE
NEXT
STORY: A FLASH IN THE NIGHT
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