( closed ) ❀ here kitty, kitty

[festal]

Who: Sakura and Tsuzuki
When: 26 July
Where: The Near Shore
What: Answering prayer #43!


They say that shinki are like stray animals - cats, dogs, monkeys, etc. I'm going away for a few days and I don't know if these poor stray cats will get fed while I'm gone. I'd feel better-knowing someone was watching over them...

( It sounded like an easy enough prayer. Nothing dangerous, something simple, and...
nice. And they weren't wrong.

Earlier, Sakura and Tsuzuki had stopped by a store and found some cat food to feed them, a large bottle of water, and some paper bowls. Now, they just have to find these cats. Apparently, there are a lot but they haven't been able to find a single one so far. )

Do you... think we're in the right neighborhood?

( The prayer had come from here... the person who made the wish lived nearby so surely it must be somewhere around here? If they could only find one cat and follow it... )

Comments

[sweetdeath]

[Tsuzuki sets down the bag of cat food, pulls out the map of Tokyo he'd bought last week, and unfolds it along already badly rumpled creases until he runs out of arm and has to hand the edge over to Sakura. He squints down at the neighborhood with the carefully inked red dot for their prayer, and then up at the nearest intersection sign. Icchome... and down. He traces the neighborhood with a fingertip and points.]

Yeah. Right here, see?

[Just one block from the dot for the place where the prayer had been left.]

So it's gotta be pretty close! Maybe if we put some food down, the cats will smell it and show up....

[How far do cats roam, anyway? He bites his bottom lip in deep thought.]

[festal]

( Without even needing to be prompted, she's already reaching to help hold the map. She's looking over the area around the red dot in question. They'd passed a sign not too long ago saying they were in the right neighborhood and she can see a park not too far on the map and from where they are. )

They said there were a lot of cats so they should be easy to find but... ( She'll help to fold the map back, ) Let's try.

( Leaving food out. )

I-if they're being fed, then they shouldn't be afraid of humans...

[sweetdeath]

Right?

[He knows almost nothing about cats but! This should be fine! If they're used to getting fed, it shouldn't take too long to attract them to a food bowl. He glances around, looking for a nice secluded spot where cars and passersby won't scare them too badly, stuffing the messily folded map back into his pants pocket.]

-- Yeah, okay!

[He hefts the cat food bag, and nods towards what looks like either a super tiny park or a lot that's been allowed to go fallow.]

Why don't we put the food over there? Then we can wait on the sidewalk to see if any cats show up.

[festal]

( It looks like a small park that hasn't had much use since most of the neighborhood children outgrew it. She'll set down a shopping bag with a few bottles of water and paper bowls and comes to help Tsuzuki with his heavier one before setting out some of the bowls, )

I hope they come... I'm afraid I don't know much about cats. ( Is this even good cat food? ) They... can't be terribly different from dogs, right?

( They're small. They're cute. They like being taken care of?! )

[sweetdeath]

I don't think they learn tricks like dogs.

[The food said "for cats" on it, and there's a big, self-satisfied looking Persian taking up most of the rest of the front of the bag: Tsuzuki's willing to take it at its word. He sets it down and starts trying to get one corner torn open. There's this paper tape, with a smaller paper tape, and a string, and tugging at each of them in turn at each corner doesn't seem to be loosening any of them....]

But they're cute! And if they're happy they purr.

... I don't know a whole lot about cats either.

[But they're supposed to have good senses of smell. And hearing, he thinks, giving up and patting his pockets in search of a knife or nail clippers or... anything that isn't a lint-speckled hard candy or a packet of free tissues with a well-endowed bunnygirl advertising some video shop. He shoves that hastily back into his pocket, hoping Sakura hadn't seen it, and clears his throat.]

Uh, have you got a pocketknife? I can't get this thing open.

[festal]

( If she noticed, she doesn't say anything about it to him. It isn't her business anyway, right? But she may have just looked away to focus on the bag of food. )

Not with me, no...

( She holds up her arms. Nothing except herself, a small purse with some money, candy, and vials of holy water, and the bag from the store. )

Um, maybe.... ( She holds up her fingers. She's seen other shinki do this before. A borderline? ) You can try this?

( Tracing a line in the air. )

[sweetdeath]

[Tsuzuki stares for a moment, then laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. Man, he is an idiot.]

Right! Yeah, that's a good idea.

[He tips the bag of food away from him just enough to get a good angle on the top edge, aims, and casts.]

Line!

[-- and, hey. The whole paper ribbon pops right off, and the bag sags open. Tsuzuki grabs for it hastily as it threatens to sag right down to the ground, and meets the eyes of a skinny, extremely interested-looking tabby skulking in the bush just a few feet away. He blinks first.]

Sakura, look.

[His voice is carefully lowered so as not to scare away the cat.]

We've got one already!

[festal]

Oh!

( She's moving to help but it looks like he's got it taken care of which leaves her hanging awkwardly in front of him, hands hovering in front of him like she isn't sure if she should still help or not. He tells her to look and explains why and she lets out a small gasp as she turns to see it, )

It's so cute...! ( Her voice is an excited whisper and she kneels down next to Tsuzuki, reaching for the paper bowls in the bag and removing the paper strip from around them easily. She scoops up some food and sets the bowl between them and the cat carefully, sliding it over slowly, ) Hello.

Um... please don't be afraid, Koneko-san...

( Princess Sakura of Hoshido... polite even to stray cats. She looks up at Tsuzuki. It's pretty clear she's trying her best to not be too excited for the sake of not scaring it off but it's so cute. )

Do you think... we should leave it alone?

( As she's looking away, it's already begun to make a cautious creep towards them. )

[sweetdeath]

Look, it's looking for the food!

[Tsuzuki's whispering, trying not to scare off the cat: as he looks at it, it freezes, flattening itself among the weeds of the neglected park, but when he turns his head away again he can see it starting to advance out of the corner of his eye.

Okay, so maybe the strays aren't completely used to people. But they can definitely see gods and shinki....]

Yeah, let's let it calm down a little.

[festal]

( Her heart is already going out to this poor, nervous stray. She's relating to it on a personal level and she just wants to help it so much now. She nods. They should let it calm down but it's clear she just wants to reach out and pet it and love it now.

She'll pour some water out for it into a bowl first before looking at Tsuzuki expectantly, )

We should move a bit... um, maybe over there? ( By the old slide and swing set next to them. ) If we see more we can leave more food...

[sweetdeath]

[Tsuzuki nods, stepping carefully backwards with the cat food bag cradled in both arms. One step -- two -- three, and his heel catches on the edge of a concrete paving stone upthrust by the roots of a big cherry tree. He scrambles to keep hold of the open bag as he sits down hard in the grass.

Most of the kibble stays in the bag, but a few handfuls fountain up out of the top to scatter across the paving stone and the yard, and the little stray flattens itself again in alarm. Three other skinny strays, though, less alarmed, appear as if by magic at the sound of cat food scattering across the ground, and one immediately darts for the spill, tail straight up in the air as it starts to eat.]

Ow --

[-- he starts to say, and then clamps his mouth shut, making a face instead so as not to scare away the newcomers. He flaps his free hand at Sakura, and whispers.]

-- Let's get them a bowl first!

[festal]

Tsuzuki-san...!

( She's still trying to be quiet so her voice is just a whispered gasp. She's by his side in an instant, already trying to help him up. She doesn't notice the other cats coming out until Tsuzuki mentions them and she looks confused for a moment. )

W-what...?

( She'd completely forgotten about the cats in helping Tsuzuki. She follows his eyes and covers her mouth with her hands to hold back a gasp. Look at that bold little one fearlessly helping itself. It reminds her of someone she knows... But oh, she listens to him, put out another bowl of food and water next to the spilled pile. She's smiling like ea child on Christmas day as a matching pair of kittens appears. )

Oh... ( She's reaching to tug excitely at Tsuzuki's arm to make sure he sees them too. ) There are so many of them...! This must be the right place.

[sweetdeath]

Aww, look at that one! [He points at a half-grown cat, white with a traditional tri-colored set of splotches across her face and back, and grins delightedly.] It's so cute. We've gotta have the right place. Here --

[He reaches for another bowl, pouring a few handfuls of kibble into it, and pushes it out to arm's length in front of him. There are at least ten cats visible now, most of them skinny and a little dirty but otherwise looking like they're in decent health.]

I think you're right. So we'll just have to come back down here every day 'til the lady who usually feeds them gets back....

[festal]

(It's definitely the right place and she kneels down, watching them with a smile on her face. They're so small and fluffy and cute and oh... they're also a little dirty and small and her heart just goes out to them. It's the healing nature in her making her want to take them all home. As she starts to pour water in another bowl for the growing number of cats, one begins to brush and purr against her leg.

They're so cute. She's gonna die.)

I don't mind! (She volunteers. SHE VOLUNTEERS TO CARE FOR THEM.) Th-that is, if you aren't busy...! And you d-don't mind, of course.

[sweetdeath]

Mind? You're kidding, right? They're so cute!

[He looks down at the little black cat rubbing against Sakura's leg, and crouches, offering his hand cautiously. It pauses, sniffs at his hand, and then butts its head against his fingers. He breaks into a grin.]

Look, this one's really friendly.

[Can they keep a cat?]