The Sunguard and Her Cats

Log Info

• Title: The Sunguard and Her Cats

• Emitter: Andelena

• Characters: Andelena, Dolan

• Place: Alexandria - Fernwood Pub

• Summary: Andelena and Dolan get out of the disgusting early autumn weather and into the Fernwood, where they get a much-needed meal and drink. They discuss Andelena's recent efforts to get back into adventuring and Dolan's continued investigations into demonkind. The conversation takes a turn for the surprising, however, when Andelena talks about a scrawny calico cat she's been feeding by the Temple District and regales Dolan with her history concerning cats--revealing that, in fact, a cat is why she was originally sent to a Temple of Daeus back in the Myrrish Kingdoms. Dolan eventually consents to Andelena adopting the scrawny cat, and they leave to go buy supplies for their newfound cat: Patches (a name chosen by Dolan).

The summer is dying, and the damp and chill of autumn's arrival is upon the city of Alexandria. Which is to say that when two Daeusites found themselves with free time on their hands and they were both headed out of the Temple of Daeus, the Sunguard half of the pair said rather sharply, "Fuck this weather, let's get the hell out of here and get some fucking grub in our bodies."

Andelena beats Dolan to the door of the Fernwood Pub and holds it open for him. "Could go for some of that pumpkin-squash stew we had that one time in that one inn--where was that again? Gods, it's been about a decade," Andelena grumbles as they're both inside. But her grumbling turns to a much more firm smile as she's inside the Pub.

Shaking his head and laughing quietly, Dolan walks through the door. He knows better than to argue about who should hold the door, especially when Andie's in this kind of mood. The redolent smells of chicken and onion stew greet them both, as does a drier and more cheerful atmosphere inside. "Don't know if that recipe is made here, Andie. Mama might know. But that sure smells good enough. I could go for some cider, although it's early yet for apple cider."

He wanders towards an open table, one ot the few left, and settles down. "Guess they're headed back home soon. I wonder if there'll be anything to harvest this year."

Andelena takes a seat at the table and just sinks into it, sighing in utter relief. "Ffffuck me sideways, I gotta get me a bowl of what they're cooking in here right now," she remarks. "Didn't realize I was so damn hungry until now. Sure, might not be that particular recipe, but honestly? Stew's stew. Soup's soup. And it's just the thing for a miserable damn day like this one."

She leans back into her chair, stretching out her arms with a little yawn. She shakes out her mop of copper-blonde waves, slightly damp from the wet and chilly weather, and her face screws up a little in thought. "Fuck, yeah," she murmurs. "I signed up for some work soon with the Guild, so hopefully I can help get people home quickly. I honestly don't know what the harvest is going to look like for all of those people. Let alone us up here in the city."

It doesn't take Dolan long to flag down a server, and bespeak for himself an ale and a dish of that chicken and onion stew, then waits for Andelena to bespeak hers - he knows better than to order for her! then leans back in his own chair, lacing fingers together and stretching them behind his head. Fingers release, and his arms drop. "Yeah. I should look for more Guild jobs, we could use the coin. Should send some of it home, too. Mama and Papa will need the help." He stares off past her, gaze faraway. "They've returned the eye to me. They think it's stable, but they can't figure out why."

Andelena places her order with the server--same as Dolan's, although she always gives him that little smirk that speaks her gratitude that he won't presume to know what she wants--and listens to Dolan as he comments on the situation. Her brows furrow, of course, accompanied by that vaguely annoyed pursing of her lips that Dolan knows so well as her look of 'well, shit'. "Well shit," she says, folding her arms across her chest. "Probably some of the brightest minds they've got for fucking around and finding out in that place and they can't figure it out between 'em. Makes me wonder if... I dunno, maybe these particular brand of little infernal fuckheads have this particular ability to interfere with things like your eye?"

She chews on her lip for a moment as the server returns with their drinks. "It'd be one hell of a targeted 'fuck you in particular', but these things know us by now."

Dolan shakes his head quickly, hair that is getting long again flying. "Yeah, but it only happens when I actually use the prayers to look for things, and what I get is super strong. It's never happened when I keep it simple, just looking for evil. Maybe some of the seniors will know." He refers to the senior Sunguards who teach and provide a resource for people like them. "Still, at least I can see right now. So what have you been up to? I've barely seen you when both of us are awake."

"Training," Andelena replies almost automatically. "If I'm gonna keep up with you and all of this demon shit, I need to get stronger. And I've been praying more to the Knight, too. I'm not gonna be the weight on your leg that causes you to sink to your death, and I sure as shit am not gonna see a repeat of what happened that one time in the realm of dreaming. Not one more motherfucker is going to try and take me hostage again."

She sure grins a little, however, as she recalls a bit more. "Sure was fucking satisfying to headbutt that fucker, though. All things considered." The Sunguard knocks back a drink of her ale.

"Demons and devils both, baby." Dolan, too, is ready to accept his own ale, and takes a long pull of his immediately. He sets it down with a clunk, letting out a relaxed breath. "I'm not worried about you, but I'm glad you're working hard. So'm I." There's real affection in the human eye that stares back at you, and in his smile. "When do I get to challenge you again?"

Andelena sets her glass down and smiles back just as affectionately as Dolan. "Neither of us can afford to slide backwards," she says. "And y'know what, Bry, it has been a while. Maybe we ought to go a few rounds when get a moment next. Promise I won't fuck you up--or I'd say that, but you've put on some solid muscle."

She looks thoughtful for a moment. "Speaking of training. There's this little cat I've been running into when I go for training. Scrawny little thing with black, white, and orange on her fur. But she's real damn friendly. She'll go right up to you and just beg for affection."

Challenge smolders in Dolan's laughter at that. "I promise I won't fuck you up, either. I'm looking forward to it." There's no question of his acceptance of the challenge. "I'll be waiting."

The mention of the cat catches his interest, though. "Huh. You feeding it? Or is it protecting the temple stores?" Like a true farmboy.

"I think she's just protecting the temple stores, but I'll be honest, Bry, I kind of want to pick her up and take her home." Andelena's steel-grey eyes twinkle a little as she grins. "You know... You probably won't believe me, but I had a cat as a kid. My dad brought home this fuzzy little kitten as a gift for my mother from some trip he took--said the cat was a Rosalian longhaired something-or-other, but I'm pretty sure she was just a fluffy fuckin' cat."

She looks thoughtful again. "Anyway, you know my mother. Wasn't interested in anything that didn't kiss her feet right away, so she ignored the poor thing--and the little cat climbed into my bed one night while I was sleeping, and that was how we became best friends. My mom named her Lady, but I kept calling her Fuzzybutt." Andelena lifts her glass of ale again. "Naturally, my mom got real pissed when she kept trying to call for Lady to prove it was 'her' cat, but I'd go, 'Hey Fuzzybutt, I have food,' and Fuzzybutt came running."

"Like, in the house? Or do you let her out?" Dolan's brow creases, and he only absently pulls out his eating utensils when the two dishes of fragrant chicken and onion stew are set down in front of them. "Thanks," he tells the waitress, and hands her coin to pay for them both. That's one thing he won't let her do usually.

"We kept her in the house," Andelena replies. She takes her dish and allows it to cool for a moment as she continues talking about Lady/Fuzzbutt. "Mother wanted to keep up the appearance that she was a 'proper' noblewoman's cat, I guess. I snuck Fuzzybutt outside, though, when I got tired of embroidery lessons and other bullshit my mom was trying to push onto me."

She grins at Dolan. "The last time, I'd snuck out of the house with Fuzzy, right? Mother caught me and was about to drag me back in by my ear. Then she saw Fuzzybutt hop down from a tree with a bird in her mouth, and Mother just about fainted. Couldn't handle the idea her dainty little fancy kitty was a killer."

As hungry as Dolan in, letting it cool for a minute looks like a really, really good idea, what with the gentle pipes of steam rising from the two plates before them. The smell is incredible, though, and the inquisitor takes a deep breath, one that is let out in a laugh at the description. He doesn't dive in right away, instead taking the time to respond. "Saved by the cat, then. What did she do, then? I hope she didn't kick the cat outside."

Andelena laughs a little. "No, but she did basically stop referring to Fuzzybutt as 'her' cat, and also never called her by name ever again. It was always, "Andelena, your mongrel cat left a rat in my bed,' or 'Andelena, your disgusting creature threw up on my favorite robe.' Fuzzybutt knew who loved her, and that was me--and she also knew my mom was a fuckin' asshole."

She lifts a spoon up full of stew and also appreciates the aroma, nodding appreciatively. "Miss that cat," she says. "Fuzzybutt threw up on Mother's expensive Rosalian silk robe, and she threatened to have it killed, so I stole some of mom's earrings and paid a servant with them to have Fuzzybutt adopted out. She's probably long gone by now, but I was told she was a mouser for an orphanage and was spoiled rotten by all the kids there. Funny enough, mom finding out I'd stolen her earrings and had given them to a servant was the last straw, and that's why she sent me off to the Temple of Daeus to 'shape up'. So... We met because of a cat." Andelena's grin is wide as she lifts the spoon up to her mouth and sips.

"We both know what kind of person your mother is, Andie. You're well shut of her. As for the cat - huh." Surprised and intrigued, Dolan leans back, waggling the spoon in his hand back and forth. "So you want another cat. I - can see it, so long as it doesn't piss in the house." This is said slowly and consideringly, and he lets it hang while he, too, lifts a spoonful of stew. Food is important, after all. "Did you feed it, or does it hunt for itself?"

Andelena's downed her first few bites of stew when Dolan consents to having a cat in the apartment. Her steel-grey eyes sparkle a little. "Aww, really? Don't worry, I'll get a box and some kind of kitty litter for it--the servants used some kind of sand mixture for Fuzzybutt when she was kept indoors, and I think I've seen it at the market." There's a certain tone of mischief in Andelena's voice that suggests she's already gone looking for it... just in case Dolan consented.

"The little cat I found? She hunts for herself, mostly--I saw her with a mouse in her mouth the other day--but I did start feeding her a little. I bought some dried fish flakes the other day and gave her some, which made her real happy. Poor little girl was just so tiny. Can't stand it when animals look sad like that. I feel like we could probably keep her indoors so she can keep our food stores free of mice."

"Like, leave the window open so she can come and go?" Dolan's still-mobile brow furrows, and even the stiffened one moves a little. "Or does she piss in a box of sand?" Clearly, he's not getting this, entirely, but he takes bites of stew between questions, eating with a good appetite. "Wouldn't she get bored or restless being cooped up in a house?"

"Cats, I guess, like shitting and pissing in stuff that they can hide the deed in," Andelena explains without any amount of caution for the ears around them. "They do that in the wild, so if you keep one as an indoor cat, they'll stick to a box of sand where they can do their business and hide it under the sand. Keeps them from going on all of your stuff. Granted, didn't stop Fuzzybutt from taking a shit on the seat of Mother's powdering table." There's a grin that crosses her face again as she recalls the memory.

She takes a bite again as she considers the second question. "Not if we have shit for her to do," Andelena replies. "Like boxes that they can hide in. Cats fucking love boxes. Can't explain it, but Fuzzy would try to sit in anything box-shaped that entered my room. I had a jewelry box I never used and she'd sit in it all the time. But mostly, they just sleep when they're not actively doing something."

"Huh." Dolan still isn't getting it. "Never heard of allowing a cat to live inside. We always just let them live out in the barn, they slept in the hay or with the mules. Kept the rats out of the feed. But, if you want to baby, I don't mind. If she pisses on something, you get to clean it up, though." Another bite or stew of stew follows - he's cleaning up pretty quickly.

Andelena snickers. "Yeah, I know, it's probably weird for you. To be honest, I didn't get it either--but this little girl is so scrawny and so thin. I'm worried that if I let her outside, she'll get attacked by some big fuckin' tomcat or a dog. Nothin' against dogs, just that I like this little girl and want to make sure she's safe."

She lifts a spoon up again full of stew. "Don't worry," she says, "I'll take care of her. Piss and all. Now I just gotta... think of a name. Something better than Fuzzybutt."

The stew in front of Dolan continues to be consumed at a good rate of speed - he is not lazy at all with that spoon in his hand. "Hey, it'll be good cleaning practice." A cheeky, almost wicked grin accompanies the jab, and he finally sets his spoon down in a dish that is not quite empty. "Anything for you, baby. I've never seen her, so I couldn't name her. Patches, maybe?"

Andelena snorts a little at the cleaning jab, but it's accompanied with a grin. "Knight knows I need more of it," she says. "Fair's fair."

Her bowl is also swiftly emptied in due time, and Andelena chases it down with her ale. "Patches sounds like a great name," she says. "She's got these big blocks of color on her. Looks like someone painted them onto her, but nope, that's just the way she is. Maybe we ought to go buy cat supplies after we're out of here? Hell, we could bring her home after, too. I know where she is." Eager as always.

Dolan polishes off the last of his stew, and his ale, setting the mug aside with a clunk and licking his spoon. He then wipes the utensils with the rag they'd been wrapped in, wraps them back up, and sticks the lot back into his pouch. "We can do what you like, baby. I've got no idea what you need, so this is all you." He pushes the bowl back a little, and leans back, satisfied. "You ready to go now, or you want another ale?"

Andelena knocks back the last of her ale as Dolan asks the question. Normally, she'd nod to his thoughtful observation of her drink, but there's a sparkle and an enthusiasm in her eyes that's, for a moment, reminiscent of an almost childlike glee. "Hell yeah, I'm ready to go. Let's go get that cat off the street."

The Sunguard gets up and pushes in the chair. "And... thanks for saying yes, babe," Andelena adds with a smile. "I was kind of hoping you would, but wasn't sure for certain how you'd react. You'll like her, I think."

For answer, Dolan merely snorts his amusement, and he, too, gets up and pushes in his chair, leaving dishes and mugs behind. Their food is paid for, and so he starts towards the door. "You put up with me being away so much. Least I can do," he answers, turning to follow her towards the exit.