Kitten Clues

"Is that a..." Victorian paused and cocked his head. Amber eyes squinted as he stared at the lounging mass of short-tan fur. Blue eyes stared back from a plain-furred face. Two, triangle ears were perked and a pink nose wriggled once. "...cat...?" He questioned, eye twitching somewhat as he could of sworn that the cat smiled at him. Why did it look so smug, just laying there on the castle wall? What secrets did it hold?

What did it know?

He was so focused on watching it that he almost walked over Manon.
Ears flared forward and he blinked in surprise as his chest bumped into her shoulder. "Sorry," Victorian gasped immediately, shaking his head. All the while, he felt the distinctive prickling along his spine that came with being stared at.

"Are you herbs okay?"

They had gone out on the city together, him on his day off and her with a need to get some herbs to study for professor Kylar's class. This was a lesson on dried herbs and so allegedly buying a small parcel of mint and thyme and what have you would be more efficient than drying it yourself.

Or maybe Professor Kylar just didn't want to share from her stores—something he was beginning to wonder about the kooky old herbologist. She was more like a hedge witch than an upstanding woman of education, but from Manon's urgings he had done his best to try and soften the beginnings of a negative opinion.

"That cat is definitely staring at me," he announced as the fur along his spine ruffled. It was illogical... and yet.

@Manon

Wow, wow, wow!

Manon spins around on her toes to take in the magnificence of the King's Gardens. She coos an awed 'ahhh' as she takes each blossom, the beautiful sight bringing her immense joy. Leaning down to give one of the violets a sniff, she feels almost tempted to pick one of them for souvenir's sake, so that she might remember this moment. Her companion might disapprove though, considering that these gardens are very much not her own.

"...a cat?"

"Hmm?" she starts, only just responding to Victorian as she hears his voice faintly behind her. Turning around with the intention to face him, she makes a little 'oop' as they collide gently. He's still so stiff, she thinks fondly as he apologises immediately. Shaking her head and giving a cursory glance at her luggage, she consoles with a smile, "You're fine. They're fine."

Peering over his shoulder, it's then when she sees the cat. It's... How does one describe it? Sitting in the oddest fashion, there is certainly something very impish about its smirk— could cats even smirk? A bemused giggle bursts from her, unsure of what to make of the creature. One thing she can be sure of, however, is that it has certainly fixated its gaze upon her friend.

"It is, isn't it?" she agrees, fixing her own eyes upon him. Squinting, she tilts her head, pretending to scrutinise him. "You are rather funny-looking, maybe that's why."

Bumping him once on the shoulder, she lets out a decisive exhale and nods sagely. "It's okay."

@Victorian
"We are all young and naive still."

code & art by claerie

They had continued their walk, following the cat inadvertently. When it slipped inside a hole in the castle gates, they had deliberated for a moment before deciding—at last—to enter. Almost immediately, Manon's eyes lit up with love. Genuine, unadulterated love for all of the plants that surrounded them. Victorian, a man with a more mundane appreciation for greenery, even stopped and stared. For a moment, the cat was forgotten. Purple and red and pink blooms dazzled every square corner of the delightful gem.

The King's Garden he learned.
It did not occur to them that perhaps they were the cat's accomplices in breaking and entering. Hopefully no punishment would transpire, and Victorian saw others milling about at a distance. Surely this was a public place to some degree?

He brought up the cat again, unable to shake his wariness of it and Manon turned. Her chest collided with his shoulder, her nose pressing into his cheek ever so slightly. Victorian closed his eyes briefly in a reflexive flinch although he felt no pain. Dark ears flicked back but he did not move, his attention so sorely on the smitten feline. The closeness with Manon was momentarily forgotten in favor of him trying to convince her of the cat's corrupt plans.

Her laughter caused Victorian to nod, golden eyes turning to meet green earnestly. Only, she... sided with the cat.

"You are rather funny-looking, maybe that's why."

His mouth fell open slightly as the moment's betrayal coursed through him. Then, it turned to sour laughter and he pursed his lips. "That cat is out to get me, I promise," he announced before tipping up his nose and taking a few more steps into the garden.

"It's okay," she soothed and he softened somewhat whilst trying to ignore the cat's eyes as they seered into his back (at least in his mind, they did).

"What are all of these plants?" he asked then, glancing around the garden curiously.

@Manon

She can't help the giggle that bubbles in her throat, completely failing to suppress it behind her wide beam. Victorian seems to have taken the words to heart when he laughs dryly, chin jutting upwards in apparent indignation. Though assuaged by her reassurance, she still attempts to offer a little more consoling with a light press of her cheek to his shoulder. It is just the impish stare of a feline, what could it possibly do? Peering over his shoulder to stare at the cat, she raises her brow at it, posing a silent question.

"You could take it in a fight." She says, waving a paw. Rearing a little on her hind legs, she kicks out her front paws. "I'm sure I could give it the old one-two to help."

Positioning herself between the cat and her friend, she follows his gaze across the garden, gasping excitedly when he asks about the flowers. Allow me! Pointing first at the nearest flora, she says, "These are violets, pretty self-explanatory from their colours. The white ones are chamomiles, I see them pretty often at College, I've heard they make great 'tea'." Walking over to a shrub of red flowers, she sniffs them as their name comes to her. "These are amaryllis. And those," she glances at the pink petals, "are rhododendrons."

As she takes in the four flowers, she wonders if they had been chosen for their beauty or their meanings. Recalling an old book of floriography, she takes a moment to think as she murmurs to herself, "I wonder if these have any significance to the King and the Queen."

"We are all young and naive still."

code & art by claerie

He is thankful for her mild attempts at consolation, and yet he can feel that he is the butt of the joke. Nonetheless, her wry nettling earns no anger from him. Oddly enough, he feels a flash of fondness that warms his chest and softens his—admittedly—narrowed gaze. Her display of the old one, two does earn her a laugh, however begruding, and Victorian shakes his head. "Oh dear, don't show off all of your tricks now," he muses through a chuckle as he finally manages to tear his eyes away from the feline with the "come hither" eyes.

Manon, when he had first met her, had fit neatly into the mold of a young student committed to her studies. As time had gone on, however, he had come to see where she fit into that box—and where she didn't. Underneath the shyness, her mind had a sharp edge for retorts and sarcasm. It was a secret butterfly knife that she could wedge between his ribs to make him laugh. There was more to discover, and he was pleased to have the excuse to do so.

He hadn't seen his sister for some time, she was so lost in her studies. At least seeing Manon gave him an excuse to be around.

Without further ado, he picked up the proverbial golden key and "unlocked" the chest of herbal knowledge that Manon kept on her sleeve. A passion of his was listening to the passions of others. Their knowledge might never cling to him fully, but he loved the way a wolf's eyes glowed when they spoke about something of interest to them. Herbs, for one, made Manon into a firefly. Green eyes would sparkle as she spoke of violets and chamomile and teas and amaryllises... amaryllisi?

He follows after her slowly, allowing him a moment to sniff each flower and greet it properly now.

"I wonder if these have any significance to the King and the Queen." Victorian glances at Manon and nods. "That is a great question, I'm sure they must." But alas he knows little about a plant's practical meaning, let alone its nature in culture.

"Shall we find someone to ask?" Victorian's ears perk as he glances around for a soldier to pester.

- fade exit -

@Manon