"You honor me with your words! Alas, there is no reason to be embarrassed." Luna said to the girl in front of her. The Knightess always preferred others considering themselves on the same level as her.
"House has nothing to do with one's worth as a person. Whatever worth I have, I made with my own hands. That is to say, I'm just a person and we bumped into each other. Just treat me as you would any other." Luna told "Selvinia" with a smile.
It got awkward after ordering food, even Eith could tell. Her ears reflected that as they drooped slightly, but visably. She wondered what she could even say. She really just wanted to snuggle up to Miren, but that seemed outside the scope of her possibilies as it is. Her tail whipped back and forth slightly before she seemed to remember something.
"You. . . Seemed to take specific interest in what happened to Meal-Ticket. . . I think? I thought that's why you wanted to join us in the first place. . ." The Shellagh decided she just joined because she felt obliged or something of the sort.
Mugi gave moans of pleasure as she felt all her worries dissipate from her body. Cynthia had skilled hands, that much was sure. Just the right amount of force to get the knots out, but not too much to hurt. In reply to Cynthia's answer, Mugi had to ask.
"Her desires, huh? I'm curious, what's the most unorthedox thing she's made you do? You have to have a weird story or two about that." No teasing or anything in her voice, just curiosity.
Katherine Lindall and Maoin
The kitten found herself being complimented and ordered around as the teacher wished, eventually being led into a restaurant where she found herself lowered into a seat. Sure she wasn’t hungry, but she hadn’t eaten anything since dinner the previous day. Maoin wasn’t exactly sure about how she felt about the entire situation, especially considering Livia was likely somehow involved with it. But it’s not like as if she could resist the entire staff of the school, was it?
Though when the teacher asked the kitten to act as being her familiar, the waitress would see two small black ears lift themselves up on top of her head as it was clear some thoughts ran beneath her eyes. Then they stopped. It hadn’t been a question. A steady but dull voice responded eventually.
”Something with fish please, Ma’am.” It was apparent that the answer was more so directed at Katherine than the server.
Katherine shrugged from Maoin’s phrase before looking at the server.
”You heard the little miss. The best for my familiar, if you would.” Katherine said with a wry smile. The server went off with a slightly angered face, but was used to it by now. Katherine was definitely not the best person, and Maoin could tell, hell, anyone could.
”And that’s how you deal with that.” Katherine giggled, more to herself than Maoin.
The kitten listened to the teacher deal with the wait staff, a slight frown crossing her face. The doll-user wasn’t exactly the kindest of people, but the black haired girl supposed the other woman already knew that. Although the woman’s insistence at announcing her as her own familiar was grating. Crossing her arms on the table and lowering her head into them, the kitten allowed her tail to shift around slightly as her eyes darted around for a few seconds. Eventually though her voice replied with a degree of frustration.
”Why?””Hmm? Why what?” Katherine had to ask in return. There were a number things “why” could be related to.
”I’m not yours. I’m a stray.” The girl sounded disappointed in herself as she remembered her new status, burying her head just a bit more into her arms.
Katherine smirked at the cat’s words.
”Of that I’m keenly aware. That said, remember how I said that teachers and their familiars get free food? Well, if you were not “my familiar” you are either someone else’s or a stray and no free food.” The Puppeteer tilted her head side to side a bit before speaking again.
”If you want to pay for it, I could just say you’re a stray.”The stray sighed as the other woman explained. So she was willing to manipulate the rules if it was to her benefit or to the result of something she wanted? Maoin wondered if the doll controller even followed all the rules Livia set out for her either. Probably not, although it was entirely possible some of them were simply there for liability reasons rather than any real expectation of them being actually enforced.
With her head already into her arms, the kitten’s ears lowered as the girl rested her head and her eyes darted around. If the other woman didn’t have anything else to instruct her to do, she’d do her best to minimize her interactions.
Katherine sat patiently, waiting for food. Maoin didn’t seem too interesting in conversation so Katherine started planning for the rest of her night. That said. . .
”Are those the only clothes you have?” She could take a guess, but it didn’t hurt to ask.
The kitten’s tail paused in motion as her head righted itself, although her chin was still resting where her arms crossed one over the other. Of course they were the only clothes she had. Everything else belonged to Lady Foghlu’. The cat tried to reserve her feelings as she responded though, wondering where exactly the teacher was planning on taking this.
”Yes Ma’am.””A favorite color?”The kitten’s head lifted off her arms just for a moment as one of her ears stood at attention, the other one remaining down. Although the cat’s mouth opened to deliver a quick reply, no answer ever found itself coming out.
What was her favorite color? The girl’s eyes looked to the right as it was rather obvious she was putting a bit of thought into the question. Her hair was black, Lady Gwynn’s colors were green, and her hair was a shiny gold. It took a surprising amount of time before the girl managed to formulate a response for the other girl.
”A dark blue or a light black I think, Ma’am.” Why did one of Livia’s teachers care about the favorite color of a stray kitten?
Katherine had noticed something had been bothering her for a while now.
”Could you do me a favor, and drop the “Ma’am” nonsense? Thank you.” The woman didn’t even give the kitten a chance to reply as she continued to speak.
”But a dark blue or light black? Yes, I can work with that. Should be more than enough thread for that. I’ll have to measure your sizes later, but it should be easy enough.” She couldn’t very well leave this poor stray go around with only one outfit. It was a win-win. Katherine got someone to dress-up and Maoin got nice clothes. . . So far as Katherine’s one-sided plans went.
Oh, so the teacher was giving a little charity to a poor defenseless stray cat? Obviously a little irritated, the kitten’s finger flicked a non-existent pebble off the table. It was a lot more satisfying to also imagine the impact that went along with it for a few seconds before the amusement of such a minor activity came to an end.
Not having a response for the other woman, the girl simply waited for the food to arrive, although she had no plans remaining after that. What was the point in making them if people changed so easily on you?
The food came not too long after that, with Katherine in thought and Maoin resting. A large stone bowl of deer stew for Katherine which was, as she hoped, tender. Maoin received a plate of what looked to be some of the more juicy pieces of a mixture of different fish. Katherine wasn’t too big on fish, but that seemed pretty good.
”Now eat. It isn’t going to eat itself.” Katherine took a spoon and took a bit of her stew and couldn’t help but have a very happy smile as she chewed.
For a minute, the kitten poked around with a frustrated face. She wasn’t hungry, and even seeing this admittedly nice looking fish in front of her did not appeal to her appetite. But after shaving various fish around her plate for a minute she started eating each one although they seemed tasteless. Drinking a little water with her meal, the black haired girl continued to graze on dinner slowly until it disappeared. Crossing her arms and looking out the window with the frown of depression, the kitten wondered what exactly the teacher planned on telling her to do next.
”You were hungry then?”. Katherine joked with the cat before eventually finishing her stew as well. She just sat there looking at the cat, wondering if she had anything she enjoyed.
”Do you have anything you find fun to do?” Katherine asked, figuring she might as well bother Maoin more.
The kitten frowned slightly as the teacher insisted on making conversation. Right now, Maoin really just wanted to be left alone. But if she’d tried to leave the Puppeteer had already made it clear some very powerful lackeys would be sent after her.
And besides, what did she find fun? The time spent with her familiar acquaintances on the weekends were appreciated, but that really wasn’t a hobby. She was supposed to just be a servant, really. But there were parts of that she liked more or less than others.
I’m a servant. My job is to take care of my owner. However, Maoin sensed saying this would just lead to another question so she gave a different reply out loud.
”Braiding ...” Mistress’ Hair ”playing with make-up ..,” Mistress’ face ”dancing …” with mistress. Of course, there was other activities that probably shouldn’t be mentioned here. And it would be futile to mention that many of these activities she simply enjoyed because it gave her time to spend with Lady Gwynn.
“So you enjoy mundane activities?” Katherine could only assume there was more to it. Considering no one else was there to give her back-up, Katherine assumed Maoin would dance with her old master, perhaps the others as well.
“Regardless, I asked so I could figure out a way to keep you entertained. I might not need to worry about that, though.”The kitten nodded after a short time, not really sure how to respond to the other woman. Was this teacher planning on keeping her as some sort of pet for some time, or what? Either way, Maoin wanted to get whatever this woman’s plans were through so she could curl up somewhere and be alone for a while.
”So what now, Miss?” It was rather easy to tell the miss was there possibly to irritate the teacher just a bit.
“Lest you take issue, we’ll head to my room. I want to start working on your outfit, and I feel you want to sulk in peace.” Katherine mention before standing and motioning for the cat to follow her.
“Thank you for the delicious food.” She added to the waitress that just happen to pass by.
The cat remained silent, but followed her.
”My, my. Not even to home yet and the sulking intensifies. Very well, let us away.” Katherine mentioned as she led the cat to her home. It was in the teacher’s dorms and, like the other teacher dorms were typically bigger than the students’.
As the two entered the room, Maoin would notice that there were dolls all over the room. Some sitting around, like they were chatting and others doing mundane chores of dusting and cleaning even though it looked clean as it were.
”Make yourself comfortable. We’ll have to share the bed, but that should not prove an issue. First thing’s first though, I suppose. We need to take your measurements.” Katherine said as she pulled out a measuring tape.
The kitten looked around the single room apartment that the teacher lived in. Aside from being slightly larger than where she lived back with her mistress, the studio apartment was like another version of home. Well except for the army of dolls keeping it clean of course.
Maoin had no idea what ‘this outfit’ would entail, but as she approached the other woman and turned around she started to feel like some sort of doll as she waited for the teacher to measure her and decide what she’d be dressed in next. A slightly higher perk to the kitten’s ears and a slight twitch in her tail would make her sense of curiosity known. Although she had a fancier dress or two, none of them had required precise measurements. Lifting her arms, the girl spoke for the first time since leaving the restaurant.
”I can sleep on the floor, Miss Lindall.””And I’ll not have it.” Katherine told the cat as she tapped the back of her head.
”Besides, look at the size of my bed. We could both sleep there and toss and turn and still never touch.” She quickly finished up with the cat’s measurements and looked at the notes she had a doll mark down.
”I should be able to work with this. Did you need a tail-hole?” The Teacher asked pointing at Maoin’s tail.
The kitten thought for a few seconds as she turned back around, the awkward sensation of being measured by someone who was almost a complete stranger at an end.
”Depends on the length of the garment and how modest you intend for it to be, Miss Lindall.” Having a tail hole meant the skirt wouldn’t lift up and reveal anything beneath, but would also allow her to use it for balance among other things. She could walk without her tail of course, but she wondered how humans did not find themselves tripping over constantly.
Katherine looked over her own dress, and question if the cat thought she’d make something immodest.
”It should be modest enough. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed me wearing a robe. . . But you’ll be fine. If it goes as planned, it should be nice, if not a little plain.” Maoin might notice the doll writing down notes about adding a tail-hole in.
”That said, I think that’s all I need for you. Take a rest or whatever, but I will not have you sleeping on the floor.”The kitten took a final look around the room, but after taking a quick look around the room found a set-in windowsill looking out onto campus and the lake. Hopping up into it, the neko leaned against one of it’s sides and pulled her legs against her chest as she made herself feel decently comfortable.
It was one of those things she always did as a cat too, and despite sometimes being annoyed at being treated like an adorable pet by everyone there were many characteristics that carried over from her old personality. Moving a few strands of hair to hide her face, Maoin allowed the tears to start flowing again.
