(no subject)

[katyafeline]

She makes her way home from the bar through the Gloom, slipping through the shadows of the trees in the lane and the spaces between streetlights. She doesn't feel like going through the trouble of undoing her locks on the door one level into the Gloom, so she dips a bit further, letting the top level of light and humanity slip a little further away to where the door isn't locked, and she can come inside without trouble.

There are icy footprints leading from the front door to the kitchen, slowly melting in the heat of the building.

Kind of like how her hair is doing the same as she studies the pantry in bare feet and a dark cloud of unbound hair.

Comments

[katyafeline]

She leans back against him, humming contentedly at his warmth.

"I like pizza." She agrees. Besides, the pizza boy is fun to fluster.

And the pizza should erase the taste of Josiah's blood, though the over-caffeinated, over-tired buzz probably won't wear off for quite a while longer.

[27_53]

She didn't answer his question - which he didn't really pose as one, so he can forgive her that - but he doesn't push at the moment. That will happen later.

"I can call," he says. "What kind do you want?"

(Normal, grammatically somewhat-correct sentences come easier now after the year they've spent moving around his world. It helps to have someone to talk to.)

[katyafeline]

"Hawaiian."

Don't judge.

Pineapple is tasty.

She twists up to plant a (ever-so-slightly bloody and even more entirely frosty, sorry) kiss on his cheek. Her nose wrinkles, because she only realizes how really cold she is when she gauges the difference of temperature between his skin and hers.

"Should have knocked." She belatedly agrees, because brrr.

[27_53]

"No matter," he says.

One arm wraps around her midsection (protectively) and a wing flares out to cover her shoulder, as he reaches for the cell phone in his pocket. There are numbers programmed in - the pizza place is one of them.

He presses his lips against her temple while the line rings in on the other end.

"I would like a delivery," he says. His eyes narrow in annoyance. "Yes, I will hold."

"They seem busy," he comments.

[katyafeline]

"They could not be." It's not really an observation and more of an offer - her ability to cause trouble has never lessened, and she is less on the leash than she was when she first met Skellig. For now, she's burrowing into his warmth, taking the comfort offered. "And they should bring beer."

[27_53]

"They should," he agrees. "Bring beer."

The college-aged kid on the phone returns within a moment or two and takes their order for an extra-large Hawaiian pizza, and after a moment of persuasion (promise of an extra tip and some 'hinting' from Katya), their order for a twelve-pack of beer.

Skellig hits 'end'.

"Thirty minutes."

The phone goes in his pocket, and he proceeds to pick her up off her feet into his arms (she can protest all she wants) and carry her towards the couch. There are blankets, there.

[katyafeline]

She gnaws on his shoulder in protest, but has learned that actual protests are so much wasted air. Besides, this way, she can still share in his warmth, can tangle tendrils of her power with his in a check that is now more ingrained habit than anything else.

She has a partner. You have to take care of your partner.

[27_53]

Exactly.

They end up sprawled on the couch, and he reaches up and lightly taps her on the forehead, before wiping away a bit of smeared blood on her mouth with his fingertips.

"What did you run into at the bar?"

[katyafeline]

She nips at his fingers, before settling back against his shoulder, her fingers trailing through his fingers.

"A friend needed protection." She shrugs. Amulets are fairly standard for her, just... difficult. Taxing.

"No holes punched in my dance card."

[27_53]

"You are tired," he says.

His energy is reaching out as far as he can, trying to patch the gaps he can find without straining his own resources. It has been a long week for them and there isn't much he can do (especially before dinner) but it is something, at least.

[katyafeline]

There's an almost sub-sonic rumble, a hint of the tiger enjoying the attention, appreciating the aid.

"It's... not my strongest talent." She wasn't trained as a generalist, and some things... she just never got around to learning well. "No picking fights tonight."

Pot.

Kettle.

Yes.

[27_53]

"The pizza will be here soon," he says. "As will the beer."

Those will also help.



Skellig smirks.

"Though you should get the door," he comments. "Unless the pizza boy will be terrorized by the sight of wings."

[katyafeline]

She eyes him.

Lets her skin stripe, snow white and coal black and tawny gold, and grins a slightly off-kilter grin.

"I am not scary?"

One must feel sorry for the pizza boy.

[27_53]

"Scary?"

He shakes his head.

"You are...cuddly." He pokes her in the side. "Stuffed animal."

[katyafeline]

She squirms, squeaking, arching away from his fingers.

Fearsome warrior.... riiiiiiight.

"So mean!" She yalps.

[27_53]

"Payback," he laughs. "For earlier."

It doesn't matter when the earlier was. She deserves it. And the bonus fact of her being prone to laughing when he nudges her in the ribs helps both of them; laughter lifts him, and that means more energy for her.

[katyafeline]

Katya snorts at him, attempting to look severe and failing completely. She cannot keep that kind of mask up around him anymore.

"Bah, you earned that." Meaning there's at least one thing she's done that is at least borderline needing retribution.

[27_53]

"But that is what we do," he points out. "Keep the balance in check."

It is why they travel when they do, from place to place - not just because they are bored or because they begin to get noticed. There is a balance that must be maintained, and it is their job.

[katyafeline]

At least now, he has a gal with him who knows how to finagle actual apartments with heat and furniture and occasionally food refrigeration. It helps that neither of them really need to care about being on the 'bad' side of town.

"You and your balance. I shall conquer the world for Light." She huffs, lying shamelessly.

[27_53]

"As you wish," he mutters, poking her again in the ribs as the doorbell rings, heralding the arrival of their food - though he knows that she has known the boy was in the hallway since he stepped in, likely, with all the wards in place that she has so kindly 'decorated' the place in.

"Go, cuddly one."

[katyafeline]

She rolls free, sticking her tongue out at him. She grabs a pen on her way out of the room, twisting her tangle of hair into a rough bun and stabbing the pen through it.

College chic, translated into some sort of Russian.

The voice that greets the pizza boy is straight-up native however, a cheerful early twenty-something flirting with the food and beer bringer.

[27_53]

Skellig vacates the couch while she's gone and ends up sitting once again on one of the giant bean bags which has been dragged to rest by the coffee table.

There is another one for her. It is only polite.

(And they are so much more comfortable for his wings to deal with.)



At the rate she is flirting with the boy, he may have to make an appearance at the door after all, wings regardless...

[katyafeline]

She's keeping a feeler out for his impatience, and manages to shoo the boy away before there's actually a scene. She brings back her spoils, letting him have first crack at the pizza while she gets herself one of the bottles of beer.

[27_53]

"I am glad you like pineapple," he says, fighting with a stubborn piece of wayward cheese that stretches from slice to pie as he pulls it free. "It is one of my favorites."

Especially in Chinese food.

He pushes the box towards her with one hand.

"And also this kind of hunting."

It is so much less work.

[katyafeline]

"Lazy." She pokes him, and then snags a slice, folding it carefully. "The next meal will be on the hoof."

Or she'll just get something from the market and put it in a knapsack before going for a run.

Either way. She can't let him be lazy!

[27_53]

"I prefer my hamburgers on a plate," he protests.

Besides, being lazy means more sleeping, and that means he can keep her in bed longer - there is nothing quite like fur to press your face into in the morning when it is cold outside.

(Thankfully she does not have fleas.)

[katyafeline]

Her smile is languid and utterly unforgiving. Now that she's got the idea, it's going to be hard to dislodge.

"If I am nice, I will, perhaps, not make you run." More of a hide-and-go-seek. With food.

[27_53]

"I can fly faster. More direct."

Belatedly, he realizes that may come across as a challenge.

Oops.

He reaches for a beer.

[katyafeline]

"Deal." One expects there's going to be a lot of dinnernappings and lunchnappings and maybe even breakfastnappings in the next few days.

Skellig might want to start guarding his food. With. Like. Sharp pointy objects.

[27_53]

But she is his sharp pointy object. Or at least, her claws and teeth function in that capacity.

This means war.

[katyafeline]

Totally. Or at least, this means making sure the pantry is locked. But for now, the pizza tastes less like blood and more like sweet pineapple and ham, which is a change she can definitely deal with.