Kat Dakuu:
thanks for being so understanding about my lack of appearances >.<
it really means a lot..

Sophie felt her cheeks warm when Tai so casually brushed some hair behind her ear, and smiled sweetly at him, nodding lightly. She couldn't wait to see him after work! She giggled at his comment and watched him briefly before slipping into the bathroom to shower and clean up. The day at the bakery should be easy enough.


---

Derek uncurled a bit at his felt paws against him, then peered one of his pale purple eyes. 'I'm up, I'm up..' He slowly rolled as he yawned widely, then got up and stretched. Food actually sounded pretty good right about now.. Derek tilted his head up when Tai came over and tutted at the couch, then he hopped down and trotted towards the kitchen.

((You're good. ^_^))

Tai headed straight for the kitchen and filled the two dishes the two dishes for cat food. Perdro's was a silver cat bowl, but they'd had to use a small soup bowl for Neo, the name that Sophie had given the black cat. She was weird with cats sometimes, but he liked it. "Here you go, brats," he muttered as he set the two dishes on the ground and headed for the door. Maybe on the way home, he'd buy a matching dish for their new cat and a collar too. That was, if he planned to stay.

Pedro hurried over the food dishes, rubbing against Tai's legs before hurriedly starting to eat. Breakfast was, after all, his favorite time of the day. 'This food really is the best! Hey Derek, do you want to go out again today or do you want to stay in? You are going to stay right?'

Derek paused briefly as the comment reached his ears, but he tried not to let it get to him. Humans teased cats like that, right? Did he actually really like them? Derek mewed quietly, glancing at the Orange cat. He wasn't sure.. He watched the male before going up and sniffing the bowl of food, inspecting it if you would. The small black cat quickly joined Pedro and ate off his food, then tilted his head at the other cat. Derek went over and lightly brushed against his Orange fur. 'I told already, I'd stay..' He mewed.

Sophie didn't come out until Two had already left. She knelt before the cats, her cats, and gently stroked Pedro's head. "Take care of him, alright? We don't know what he's been through." She voiced softly, referring to Neo. Derek hesitated briefly before bumping his little head against her knee, and meowed. She giggled and stroked pat his head. "You're safe with us, right Pedro?" The girl winked at the fluffy cat. Then she stood and hurried off, closing and locking the door behind her.

Derek sat, his tail flicking around some. 'When when they be home again?' He meowed at the other cat, wanting to go out again. It'd take some time for him adjust to the house.

A purr started in Pedro's chest as Derek brushed against him. Even without something as full of attention as a petting session, he couldn't keep the happy hum from bursting out. 'I have to keep making sure!' he huffed, not the least bit worried that he might bother Derek by asking over and over again. He would ask it until Derek felt too guilty with yeses to ever leave.

Tilting his head up to look at Sophie as she rubbed his head, he meowed softly, closing his eyes in contentment for a second before looking over at Derek. What he'd been through? Pedro also didn't know about that, but he didn't care. The past was past and here was now. All he knew was that he wouldn't let Derek run away. When their owner had finally left, he scooted over to lick Derek's ear, then took his human form.

"Not until after the sun reaches the middle of the sky. So you do want to go out?"

Derek meowed in surprise when Pedro kicked his ear, glancing at him with wide curious pale purple eyes. 'What was that for?' He meowed, tilting his head to the side, then trotted over and lightly nudged his head against the males hand. He was purring like a motor boat, swishing his tail playfully. Derek would never act like this in his human form, unless he was high.

After a moment, he paused and took his human form as well and stood to stretch. "Definitely want to go out." He spoke with a light smirk across his lips. This time, instead of hiding his ears under his hair, he let them show, along with his sleek Raven black tail. He usually his them but- Pedro was rubbing off on him, just a little. "Where should we go today?" He wondered curiously, glancing at his friend.

"Grooming," Pedro answered simply. "Or well, I felt like that was a normal thing to do...?" But in retrospect, he had very little experience with other cats and moved to lick Derek without thinking about it. Maybe he did something wrong after all? It was always so hard to tell. But just as he started to doubt, Derek started to purr and rub himself against Pedro, showing something he never expected was possible. So even Derek could act like this? Chuckling Pedro almost forgot to answer the proposed question, too distracted to realize it had been spoken.

"Oh, right. Heh, that's not something I good at figuring out. I always just went out as a cat, but I really want to be with you like this too. Derek looks very nice as a human. Should we go to a park and play or maybe look for fish in the pond?" He really didn't know how to think as a human which made sense since like Derek, he hadn't thought to hide his ears or tail which swished happily behind him.

Derek smirked at the given answer to why the other licked his ear. He chuckled at his fumbling, and rest an arm on Pedro's shoulder. Weren't they a little grown to be going to a park to play? And fishing was fun, as a cat.. Hr sighed some as he pondered things they could do during the day, as humans. It was too early to go clubbing.. "Hm.." He sounded thoughtfully.

Derek glanced at his feline friend curiously. "I could take you to an aquarium, a big one. But- you've gotta promise to contain your energy or you'll scare the fish." He offered as an idea, since they didn't have a lot to do around here, and he had some connections.

"An aquarium?" Pedro tilted his head, utterly confused by Derek's suggested. He mentioned fish and that sounded fun, but that didn't mean that Pedro knew what he was talking about. "Er...what's that?" Head tilting even farther, he blinked his orange eyes slowly. "Is it like the fish market? Or do humans like to do things with fish as well?" He was vaguely aware that fish weren't an entirely feline love and his humans talked about how interesting fish were to look at. He thought so too, but it seemed they said it with different intentions than he did. "Ah, but either way, I'd be happy to go!"

Kat Dakuu: boop <3

Derek smirked at the other's response and chuckled softly. Poor thing didn't know what an aquarium was? He'd fix that. He shook his head and casually wrapped an arm over Pedro's shoulders. "It's nothing like the fish market, for you set-up the fish you will see, are only for looking. You can't eat them, got it?" He explained, glancing at his feline friend. Why spoil the surprise by telling him exactly what an aquarium was?

He reclaimed his arm and headed out the door, waiting for Pedro right outside. Today would be an adventure for the Orange tabby neko, wouldn't it? Derek just hoped nothing happened to sour it. "C'mon, we don't have all day."

Kat Dakuu: (Just wondering, are we still doing this? o.o')

(so sorry about all the wait! T.T I got really wrapped up in other things and forgot to check back in!)

Pedro furrowed his brow, but after a shrug, he followed the other cat outside. It took an extra second of concentration, but he managed to hide his ears and tail too, just like how Derek showed him. He hoped the other cat would be proud, but maybe Pedro just cared all by himself about pleasing the other cat. "Okay, I think I get that we're not supposed to eat the fish, but I think it will be fun as long as I don't get wet," he added with a chuckle. "You know so much about the human world. Do you...prefer it to being a cat?" Pedro asked with his head tilted again. He felt like he did that a lot around Derek, but it was a good thing to feel so fascinated and challenged. After a second of hesitation, he reached out to grab the other's hand just like he'd seen Tai and Sophie holding hands. He wasn't sure what it meant, but it felt right.

(Welcome back! It's okay, I totally understand ^^)

Derek chuckled as he noticed the others facial expressions change as he spoke. "You won't get wet, I promise." He murmured, smirking when He watched the male tuck his ears and tail like he had shown him last night, then did the same with his ow and teasingly ruffled Pedro's hair. He was a quick learner, that was a good thing. His eyebrows furrowed some when Pedro mentioned him knowing a lot about the human world, then followed up with a question he wasn't sure how to answer. "Being a stray is different from being a house pet. I've had to learn to cope with both in order to get certain things, not all people are as nice to strays as Sophie is." He explained, since Pedro had a hard time understanding certain things.

When he felt Pedro grab his hand, he smirked some and pulled him along lightly so they could get going.

Pedro contemplated Derek's answer. He really did try to understand things from the other's perspective. His night as a stray ended in the most wonderful of homes when Tai and Sophie picked him up. They seemed to understand his nature without having to ask. He'd also seen the dumpster Derek used to hunt around and that...he wasn't quite sure what it meant, but it filled Pedro with an immense sense of sadness. "I think I understand," he murmured. "But it's still strange how different you are from me. I'm glad I got you to come home with me though." He squeezed Derek's hand, flashing his most brilliant smile. "Now we get to teach each other all these things about our worlds! I hope we can keep doing that for a long time."

For a minute there, Derek thought he might have to break down his explanation more, until Pedro spoke up and he felt the others hand tighten around his briefly. It hard to understand, he'd admit, for a neko like Pedro since he was only a stray for a night. But at least he seemed to be genuinely trying to understand him. Derek too, was trying to understand Pedro. He didn't see the smile until he glanced back at Pedro while they walked, and blinked, then chuckled quietly and went back to looking at the street.

It was a short walk, when they came up to a large building surrounded by other buildings, with some fish painted on the doors and the word "Aquarium" in big blue fancy handwriting. He gave Pedro's hand a squeeze and glanced at him. "No matter what, don't leave my side. It's a big place, and I don't want you getting lost." He murmured before opening the door and leading him inside.

Pedro nodded his head, a little more than awed when they reached their destination. It left him in a rare state of speechlessness that only got worse as they walked inside. The lobby had a large Marlin hanging from the ceiling, the impressive figure leaving a shadow across the earthy-colored tiles. Pedro could hear his shoes echoing against them even in the noisy room. But maybe that was the part of that was cat. He could hear even in such a crowd of people. Well, maybe not that many people, but at least as many as in the supermarket on a Sunday afternoon.

"Wow, this place is amazing. And this is just the entrance?" He could see the blue shimmers of water showing from down a hall that indicated more. Much, much more. Pedro turned, blinking at Derek before he pointed to the Marlin above them. "Do you think it's real? It doesn't smell like fish, but neither do the tanks in the pet store."

Walking inside the Aquarium, it didn't take long to see the excitement that the other neko was dealing with. He smirked some and gave his hand a squeeze. This would be the first time Pedro's gone silent on him like this, but he knew it wasn't because of anything bad. Seeing Pedro like this actually made him happy, even if he wouldn't admit it.

When Pedro finally spoke up, he smirked and nodded. "This is only just the beginning of your excitement." He teased lightly. Then he blinked and glanced up at the Marlin, chuckling and shaking his head and glancing back at Pedro. "It's plastic. They've got stuff like that hanging up as decoration." He said with a light shrug, then lightly tugged Pedro along. "Come on, let's go take a look around."

Pedro nodded again, only managing a hum instead of a real response. However, that didn't last long as Derek pulled him into the aquarium proper. It was...more than he could ever imagine. Pedro had had a lot of dreams involving fish, but none like this! The lobby opened up into a hall that was more of a tunnel, glass curved over the sides and ceiling to show endless water and bright flashes of fish everywhere. Bigs ones, small ones, even some he didn't think were fish at all. He wasn't sure though, had never seen anything like that.

Immediately, Pedro wrenched his hand away from Derek's and ran forward to press both hands onto the glass. "Wow! Look at all of this! It's amazing! I've never seen so many fish before! This is..." He trailed off as he looked back over his shoulder, bright grin softening when he met the other neko's eye. "This makes me really happy."

Derek kept an eye on Pedro as he led him inside the large building, while also minding his surroundings. He never thought he'd see the other, usually hyperactive and always running his mouth, be so quiet and awestruck. It gave the street cat a strange feeling, one he hadn't felt in a very long time and wasn't even sure what to call this feeling.

However, when Pedro pulled away from him and bolted, Derek felt a wave a panic crash over him and as instincts called, he quickly followed him with the intent to scold him for running off. He stopped dead in his tracks when Pedro looked back at him with the biggest smile he'd ever seen the orange tabby wear. It left him speechless, and he momentarily dumbfounded. Derek sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and casually walked over to him. "Me too.." He murmured quietly, placing a hand on Pedro's shoulder. "Don't run off, okay? You promised you wouldn't leave my side." Derek continued quietly.

Pedro nodded, then reached down to grab Derek's hand again. "I'm sorry. You worry too much though. Even if I've gotten lost a few times before, I've always found the right people to get back home." Even if home was a different place or different people, he was happy with every choice and accident he'd made in his life. "But you know, I'm glad I decided to talk to you. You're even nicer than I imagined. You know that right?" He squeezed Derek's hand before he pulled him forward enough that the other Neko could place his hands on the glass too. It felt cool under Pedro's other hand, but strong and steady. "You know if we get separated, we can always meet back here."

Derek squeezed his hand when he spoke, and turned his attention to the glass. To be honest, him saying that to Pedro wasn't exactly what he meant. He just didn't want to get seperated, because he himself wouldn't know what to do. Despite his calm and cool attitude, he'd be a mess if he got separated from the other and didn't know where to look. He allowed his hand to be placed against the glass as the other neko spoke, and he actually looked at all the fish swimming around. Not just the glass. "That's because it's you." Derek murmured when Pedro commented on how nice he really was.

Derek got into a lot a fights on the street, whether in human or cat form. He spent most of his nights in ckubs, acting like he was getting drunk to pick up girls.. Once he met Pedro though, that side of him slowly faded. That wasn't who he really was, it was an act to get by. Because of that, most people, and cats, knew Derek ran that street and very rarely did he get messed with. He was so lost in thought, he almost missed it when the other mentioned meeting back here if they did get seperated, so that did help him relax some. He glanced at Pedro and nodded lightly. "Yeah.." He murmured.

It was strangely silent. Not that the aquarium itself was free of shrieking children or pleasant chatter, but even when Derek did speak, the words sounded quiet even to Pedro's sensitive ears. He tilted his head. "You okay? Come on, I want to see all the other fishes too." He tugged on Derek's hand to get him moving, but not hard. He wasn't sure what the other neko meant by his words but they made him happy. Not in the bounce up and down sort of happy, but a calm, pleased sort of way. Pedro walked along the class wall, making sure to keep Derek's hand. He would probably forget later, but for now, he wanted to keep Derek's worries away. And whatever he meant by making it sound like Pedro was special.

"Um, and even if it's just to me, I still think you're really nice inside. You'll show it to other people some day too."

Derek shoved the unpleasant thoughts away when Pedro gave him a curious look, and asked if he was okay. He took his free hand and rubbed the back of his neck. "Hm? Yeah, just thinking too much." He said casually with a small smirk as Pedro pulled his hand and smirked more like himself. "Alright, alright." He chuckled, and led the other deeper into the Aquarium so they could see what else was in store for them, making sure to comfortably keep his hand in Pedro's as they walked. He ignored most of the people around them, and glanced at the other when he spoke again and gave his hand a light squeeze. "Maybe, let's not push it." He semi-joked, knowing the other may or may not understand his joke.

"Hmm, push what?" Pedro asked, his head tilted as they walked. Most of the time, Pedro's eyes were trained on the various tanks, but he turned back to Derek when he spoke up again. He stopped swinging their hands as he tried to filter out a meaning. "Do you mean that you don't think you're nice?" It was such an absurd idea when everything Pedro saw seemed to say that contrary, but then, Derek acted tough in a way Pedro couldn't really understand. He shook his head. "But either way, I really like this aquarium a lot. There's so many different fish! Do you think we can see koi too? Those are my favorite!" He'd spent far too much time in front of ponds, watching, to not love the large, but elegant looking fish.

Derek chuckled and shook his head at his words. "No.. Not really.. I don't know.." He sighed and gave his hand a light squeeze. "That's why I'm trusting you." He said quietly as they walked. Derek couldn't even begin to explain what kind of person he had been while being on the streets. His attention shifted when the other mentioned liking the aquarium and smirked. "Koi?" He pondered for a minute before giving Pedro a tug. "C'mon, I think there's a pond outside with some." He said casually.

"Really? You trust me about that? I'm glad." Nodding his head, Pedro let Derek lead him out through a large, arched exit that opened up onto a number of outdoor exhibits. The air smelled of water and excitement, so that Pedro had to stop his ears from jumping out. He just so badly wanted to listen to it all. When he spotted the pond, which had clearly been designed for children to interact with and feed the fish, he yanked Derek to the very edge. "Wow! Look how big they are! This is amazing! They're almost close enough to touch!" Beaming, he pointed out a particularly golden colored koi even as he locked eyes with Derek. "Thank you for taking me here."