Drawn Together [Akira Saito]

[Skell]

Black smudged fingertips. It's what charcoal did to your hands after you've gripped the stick for long enough -- only your fingertips, though, if you were careful enough. Skell hadn't used charcoal too much just for its messy tendencies in her work, both on her hands and on the page. You needed to be so confident in each stroke. A wrong turn and you could make an apple look like a bowling ball.

She sat outside on the cobbled floor of the streets, trying to get a particularly old-fashioned lamp post just right in her sketchbook. She loved the vintage look. Skell secretly wished that she lived in an previous generation. Where the fashion was simple, yet more elegant and detailed, and the men were still chivalrous.

That was probably the biggest factor of it all. There didn't seem to be very many men around anymore. Only boys.

Although, with the times they were in, she had to admit she was thankful for the opportunities to study what she wanted to study. Although she didn't want to think about Nobodies today. It would take the fun out of her work if that was all she decided to focus on every conscious living, breathing moment.

And so, she found her rarely-used charcoal sticks and eventually found herself out here. Drawing away. Thinking about everything yet nothing in particular. Brushing a lock of curls behind her ear, she let out a sigh as she examined the drawing, and then the post.

"Still not... perfect..." her lips tugged at one of the corners in a contemplative look, wide browns staring acutely at the details of the post. Perfection. She knew that no one could attain it, but it never hurt to strive for it.

Yet such a pessimistic life set-up: to know you're aiming for something you can never reach. At least she acknowledged it.

[Akira Saito]

IN THE END IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER

[atrb=cellSpacing,20,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 500px; background: url(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n607/Nekomi-hime/Backgrounds/Seamless_PLaid_0072_by_AvanteGardeArt.jpg); border: 3px dashed #000000, bTable] i know, time is a valuable thing WATCH IT FLY BY AS THE PENDULUM SWINGS, WATCH IT COUNT DOWN TO THE END [ it's so unreal, didn't look out below WATCH THE TIME GO RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW, TRYING TO HOLD ON BUT DIDN'T EVEN KNOW

Another day spent wondering the worlds in search of something to occupy his time and interest. Sometimes it was hard being a Heartless that didn't feel emotions and all. It made it difficult for him to focus on something for too long at a time. Especially when it wasn't particularly interesting. He didn't always have a problem, it just happened to be one of those days. Or twilights? He found himself in a somewhat residential area or town and it made him somewhat thankful that he had chosen to take on his fluffiest form. His nose picked up all of the human scents that sprouted from the many building. His ears picked up sounds that came from behind closed doors. He didn't eavesdrop though, of course. Doing something like that didn't really interest him much. He wouldn't be able to use what he heard even if he wanted too. He padded through the area, ears alert and eyes forward. He wasn't sure where to go, really. He hadn't chosen this place for any particular reason. He had simply wanted to get away from a certain blonde man for a while. Sure, his job was defined as being the King's personal guard but he was sure the man could take care of himself once in a while. He had done a fine job of that before he named the canine his Ace. So getting away wouldn't cause any harm, or so he hoped. He wouldn't actually worry about that until he finally headed back. Until then, he would enjoy the fresh air and the sunset. And what did we have here? Someone sitting upon the cobblestone street with a pad of paper. With charcoal. Definitely charcoal. He could smell it. But how to approach this curiosity that lay before him. Best to keep this form, since he wasn't in the mood right now to have someone freak out. Not to mention he wasn't feeling in the mood to change. It took energy to pull of that little switch. Energy that he didn't want to spend yet. That would come later. He needed to see if the young woman was interesting first. Before he bothered with being anything other than a dog. He made he way over, tail swaying slightly and one ear tilted back. He wasn't really sure what sort of look that was but he didn't think that would matter too much. He was only trying to get a little information after all. And people, generally females more so than males, tended to like dogs. Aside from some who didn't. But this one didn't look like the type to not like dogs. Besides, even if she didn't he'd just keep moving right along. He stopped not far away. In front of her and off to the side just a bit. He scratched as his ear, something he rarely did in this form because it felt so strange. Anything to make him seem more realistic though. And he sat there. And he'd continue to sit there. For a few minutes at least.

i tried so hard, in spite of the WAY YOU WERE MOCKING ME, ACTING LIKE I WAS PART OF YOUR PROPERTY 532 WORDS skell TAGS ... NOTES in the end - linkin park LYRICS gia <- me CREDITS and even though i tried it all FELL APART, WHAT IT MEANT TO ME WILL EVENTUALLY BE A MEMORY

[Skell]

With a few final scratches across the thick, slightly gritted paper, Skell let out a sigh as she pulled back and looked down at her rendering. She raised up the pad, her darkened fingertips slightly imprinting the creme color of the paper. The mark they left made her frown a little, but what was she to do. Comparing the rendering to the actual model, she wrinkled her nose in satisfaction. Looked just about as close enough to the real thing as she was going to get in two dimensions and with a thickening point of charcoal.

Her eyes flickered up from the top of the page to a very light tapping that resounded from the stone ground. Immediately, her eyes brightened up and a girlish smile couldn't be helped.

"...!" she let out a suppressed gasp of excitement. A dog! There weren't too many that roamed the streets of her hometown. In fact, when she thought about it, not very many roamed around at all, "Well hey there..." The dog was just far enough that it was too far for her to lean forward and extend her arm to touch. Instead, an idea popped into her head.

"Oh, please don't leave -- " she quickly flipped to a clean page in her sketchbook and picked up the charcoal again, eyes locking on the dog as she observed his features carefully, "Hope you don't oppose being a model for a little bit... promise I'll be quick, you probably won't stay there for me, haha..." A soft laugh left her lips as she shook her head and began sketching the fur of his face, "Look at me... talking to a dog. You probably don't understand a single word I'm saying, do you?"

Her hand kept sketching away at the page as her eyes drifted over to admire his fur. She had only managed to roughly get a sketch of his mug before something overcame her and she set her pad down before her, leaning down to all fours and crawling maybe two steps forward before she was next to the dog. The temptation to give the husky a good scratch behind the ears and just below his jaw was too much to withstand.

"Or maybe you do... and I'm just ignorant to it." The scholar in Skell appeared, contemplative. The touch of something soft between her fingers made her smile softly. What simple pleasures, "Do you have an owner, buddy?" She leaned down closer to him, flicking at his collar to see what the name tag read, "'Aki,' hm? That's a nice name..."

[Akira Saito]

IN THE END IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER

[atrb=cellSpacing,20,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 500px; background: url(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n607/Nekomi-hime/Backgrounds/Seamless_PLaid_0072_by_AvanteGardeArt.jpg); border: 3px dashed #000000, bTable] i know, time is a valuable thing WATCH IT FLY BY AS THE PENDULUM SWINGS, WATCH IT COUNT DOWN TO THE END [ it's so unreal, didn't look out below WATCH THE TIME GO RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW, TRYING TO HOLD ON BUT DIDN'T EVEN KNOW

His attention drifted for a very brief second before he looked back at the girl with the charcoal. His head tilted ever so slightly and his ear perked a bit. This really could prove interesting after all. It seemed he had been right to assume she wouldn't have an aversion to dogs. She actually seemed rather excited to see him there. He tilted his head the opposite way upon being asked to stay. He hadn't really planned on leaving anyway. Not just yet at least. But why- Oh! The artist wished to draw him? That certainly explained why she wanted him to stick around. So, if only to prove her wrong for thinking he wouldn't stay, he stayed. And he kept completely still too. It seemed to be a habit people had when they saw animals that were considered 'pets' to them. Talking to them. They all did it, everyone he even saw at least. They'd talk like the animal knew what they were saying and, in most cases, they didn't have a clue. It was only after hearing certain words so many times and associating them with certain things that normal animals understood even a little of what was being said. He was different of course. He understood every little word. He did, after all, speak the human language. Not in this form, dog jaws just weren't meant for human speech, but in his other forms. He hadn't met many real dogs in his journeys but he understood them when he was in this form. A little at least. He basically had to learn the language and he hadn't mastered it by any means. Still, he could bark and yelp like any other dog. It's not like the humans could tell the difference. It all sounded the same to them, no matter what he was actually saying. He finally moved, head tilting to the other side again, when the sketchbook was placed upon the ground. He quite enjoyed being scratched behind the ears. It was a dog thing, he guessed. One that carried over to his preferred form. Though, while he was in that form he didn't like enjoying it. Well, depending on who was doing it anyway. Being scratched just below the jaw was something he only enjoyed in this form, which was probably a good thing. 'Oh, the ignorance of you humans.' Not that she was actually ignorant, necessarily. If he had been a regular dog he'd probably be gone by now. He certainly wouldn't know what she had just said. And it was a good thing dogs didn't usually talk. Otherwise he might have been obligated to mention his 'owner' who was currently on a world rather far away. How did a dog end up so far from home? Such a mystery that was. Good thing she didn't know just how far from 'home' he was. She'd start asking questions then.

i tried so hard, in spite of the WAY YOU WERE MOCKING ME, ACTING LIKE I WAS PART OF YOUR PROPERTY 500 WORDS skell TAGS ... NOTES in the end - linkin park LYRICS gia <- me CREDITS and even though i tried it all FELL APART, WHAT IT MEANT TO ME WILL EVENTUALLY BE A MEMORY

[Skell]

She pursed her lips as she paused her scratching, nails still lightly pressed against the skin beneath his fur. She stared into his icy blue eyes for a good, long moment. Just thinking.

"Well, I'm Skell... in case you can understand me after all and you're curious. Maybe your master's spoken to you enough that you can pick up things here and there..." She pulled a hand away and immediately gasped, "Uh oh."

Near immediately, she felt guilt fill her up. The charcoal dust from her fingers had smudged across the earlier pristine, white sections of fur around his snout and along his jaw. She bit her lip, looking back at her sketchbook behind her with the stick of charcoal lying there, tauntingly. Dirty little devil...

"I'm going to take you back to my place... maybe I can find something for you to snack on," not seeing that she could possibly do any more visual harm to the dog, she gave him another good scratch behind the ears before leaning back to gather her things and place it in her pack.

As she did so, she absentmindedly spoke to Aki, "You have a collar, so you must have an owner. Hope he or she doesn't mind that I steal you for a bit. It's nice to talk to someone who doesn't think your object of study is crazy. I mean, I think it's pretty fascinating that there are creatures living with no hearts out there. Can you imagine not having a heart? How hollow you could possibly feel?" At this point she was standing, already taking a few steps forward and hoping that the dog would follow.

"Or would you feel as hollow as everyone lets the idea on to be? I mean, if you form relations with people, or anything really, you'd probably have a particular tone you address them with, or an attitude that overcomes you when they're near. That's a form of expression, right? And expression is a reaction from feeling, right? So, even with beings that are heartless, they should still be able to feel," again, a soft chuckle left her lips, "But that's only my guess..."

She looked over her shoulder and gave a smug look. Guess it would have been silly of her to assume he'd follow her without motive, even if he was lingering on the idea. She whipped out her paintbrush from her pocket and ran it across her palm. And from its bristles, a snack materialized. It was in the stereotypical shape of a bone, but it was something she'd hope would be a bit tastier to him. She wouldn't know, she didn't have a dog's taste buds.

"C'mon... let's head over to my place..." and teasing him with the treat, sure to let him take it if he wanted, she began walking down the street to her place. They weren't far at all. And to seem more welcoming, she opened the front door and gestured for him to enter.

[Akira Saito]

IN THE END IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER

[atrb=cellSpacing,20,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 500px; background: url(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n607/Nekomi-hime/Backgrounds/Seamless_PLaid_0072_by_AvanteGardeArt.jpg); border: 3px dashed #000000, bTable] i know, time is a valuable thing WATCH IT FLY BY AS THE PENDULUM SWINGS, WATCH IT COUNT DOWN TO THE END [ it's so unreal, didn't look out below WATCH THE TIME GO RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW, TRYING TO HOLD ON BUT DIDN'T EVEN KNOW

He simply sat there and enjoyed the lengthy attention he was getting. Over the past week or so his poor furry ears had been teased twice. Scratched for a second or two before they were left itching. This was certainly a nice change of pace. And even when the scratching did stop, he felt quite satisfied. If she hadn't stopped, chances were he wouldn't have heard her tell him her name. Okay, so he would have heard it. But he probably wouldn't have understood quite what she had said. That was the thing with ear scratches and things of the like. The felt too good. When he realized why she gasped, he couldn't even find it in himself to care. So he had a bit of charcoal on him. He figured it was totally worth it. It would come out easier than she probably though. A good thing about shifting into a humanoid form. Things that would normally be difficult to get out of his white fur came off of human skin quite easily. It would be a very simple fix. So when she offered to take him to her place, he was originally thinking of going about his own business. It was his curiosity that kept him sitting there, seriously debating whether or not he wanted to tag along with her. He didn't really see any harm in doing so. Besides, snacks were always nice. Even so, he didn't move as she started of towards home. He did listen though. What she said peaked his interest more than he thought it might. Creatures without hearts weren't something he was particularly skilled with but he had had the pleasure of meeting one such creature before. And he could identify with the hollow feeling. Sort of. He still had a heart, though it was one that couldn't actually feel emotions. He often played everything as if he were still the same old Akira he had always been. It was easy enough to do when you remembered what emotions felt like before you couldn't feel them anymore. You didn't truly 'feel' but you still 'felt'. As completely impossible as it sounded it was true. In a sense. It would be pretty easy for someone to think he was completely normal. As far as having hearts and such goes. He looked at the dog bone she held in her hand. He wasn't particularly fond of things like dog food and animal biscuits but it would seem unnatural if a dog didn't accept the little treat wouldn't it. So he decided he really would follow her. And after catching up to where she now stood, he took the little bone and continued to follow after her. It wasn't long at all before he found himself stepping through the door that she held open. He couldn't help but wonder if this encounter would continue to be as interesting as it had been up to this point. Time world tell, of course, like it always did in the end. Every time.

i tried so hard, in spite of the WAY YOU WERE MOCKING ME, ACTING LIKE I WAS PART OF YOUR PROPERTY 520 WORDS skell TAGS ... NOTES in the end - linkin park LYRICS gia <- me CREDITS and even though i tried it all FELL APART, WHAT IT MEANT TO ME WILL EVENTUALLY BE A MEMORY

[Skell]

With an excited smile, she watched as the dog trotted into her home. She didn't think most dogs were as comfortable with strangers as this one. There was something certainly special about him. Maybe he was very much like a tramp she heard stories about, who acted nice until he got what he wanted then bolted. But, then again, everyone was like that to a certain extent, so she couldn't call him anything bad for having such intentions.

Why, she's sure she's done it a few times for her studies.

Closing the door behind them, she gave a sigh and let her pack drop to the floor and slipped her red coat off, hanging it on the coat hanger that stood by the entryway. Placing a hand on a wall, she tried to balance herself as she pulled her boots off her legs as well. It only took her a moment to settle in to the comfort of her home -- she just hoped the dog was plenty comfortable, too.

Although, she could imagine that he wouldn't be for much longer. Her mind was still bothered by the marks she smudged onto him, and she wanted to fix it. But, if she knew anything about animals, they usually were opposed to baths...

There was no harm in trying.

"Hey, Aki, lemme give you a tour... promise I'll give you a better tasting snack afterward," she hummed as she smiled down at the pooch. She didn't consider herself a girly-girl by any means, but there was something in the husky that just brought out a warmer, and maybe even approaching a gigglier, side of her. She whistled a tune, in hopes to gain the dog's attention to follow her as she traversed the house.

"First floor... we have the living room, dining room, kitchen, little bathroom down the hall..." she grabbed hold of the banister and tugged to hoist her up the stairs, energetically climbing them one by one, "And then upstairs... we have my room..." she pointed off down the hall and to the right, where a slight vanilla fragrance could barely be picked up. She was obsessed with everything vanilla, it being a weakness of hers. She barely noticed the lightness of it lingering on her as she left the house everyday. It wasn't as though she sprayed gobs of it on her, she merely lived in it and it forever stuck, "I can show you more of that later, if you promise not to make a mess there, aaaaand over here... we have another restroom. But this one's pretty nice. Check out the tile..."

She felt bad on the inside. But she knew she'd feel better after he let her wash him up. Only a little.

Glancing at her own hands, she shrugged, moving over to the sink herself and turning on the faucet. Her own fingers needed to be cleaned of the charcoal.

[Akira Saito]

IN THE END IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER

[atrb=cellSpacing,20,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 500px; background: url(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n607/Nekomi-hime/Backgrounds/Seamless_PLaid_0072_by_AvanteGardeArt.jpg); border: 3px dashed #000000, bTable] i know, time is a valuable thing WATCH IT FLY BY AS THE PENDULUM SWINGS, WATCH IT COUNT DOWN TO THE END [ it's so unreal, didn't look out below WATCH THE TIME GO RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW, TRYING TO HOLD ON BUT DIDN'T EVEN KNOW

He looked around a tad, waiting for the owner if the establishment he was currently standing in. His ear twitched when the door closed. 'To late to turn around now.' He could easily leave if he really wanted to though. He had two other forms that had hands to open the door with. Or he could just conjure himself up a portal and be gone from this world altogether. He wasn't in a hurry to leave just yet though. He made himself look as comfortable as he could without actually lying down or anything. It wasn't hard to do, really. He just relaxed his ears and allowed his tail to wag a bit more freely. That all he ever had to do when he wanted to pull of the comfy, lazy dog act. It wouldn't be hard to just curl up somewhere and take a nap. Traveling tended to tire a person out, especially when they were traveling in such a small form. It took energy to moved through the dark corridors after all. And he could always feel the effects of that much more in this form. Smaller forms had less energy stored up he supposed. At least, that's how it was for him. Real dogs seemed to have quite a bit of energy. Then again, they weren't opening portal to other worlds either. So he could have been dead on when assuming smaller forms had less energy than larger ones. Oh wait, normal humans that didn't travel around didn't seem to have all that much energy. There went that idea. Perhaps just him after all. He followed his human companion, glancing in the direction of the things she mentioned, moving up the stairs not far behind her. He wasn't sure why a dog would need to know were everything was. A dog wouldn't have even understood much of what was said, if any at all. One might understand 'kitchen' because it was associated with food. Maybe 'bedroom' because it was associated with sleep. Wait, she was inviting him to her room later? Oh, if only she knew he wasn't a real dog. That was meant literally by the way, though it could also be taken metaphorically. He wasn't one to take advantage of someone. Not unless he went full out human on the poor girl and he didn't plan to do that. He pretty much hated shifting into that form. He got the impression she currently wanted him in the bathroom rather than her room though. If her telling a dog to 'check out the tile' was anything to go by. He stopped at the door, not really liking where this might be going. He didn't have a problem with baths or anything like but he wasn't a fan of being given a bath. He was more than capable of doing that himself. When he wasn't in this form. Still, he didn't plan to step another paw into that room, no matter how nice the tiles might be. There was no way.

i tried so hard, in spite of the WAY YOU WERE MOCKING ME, ACTING LIKE I WAS PART OF YOUR PROPERTY 520 WORDS skell TAGS ... NOTES in the end - linkin park LYRICS gia <- me CREDITS and even though i tried it all FELL APART, WHAT IT MEANT TO ME WILL EVENTUALLY BE A MEMORY

[Skell]

Through the mirror facing her, she could see the reflection of the husky still standing in the doorway. Her eyes darkened slightly. She called it -- the dog didn't want anything to do with a clean, shiny room. Clean, shiny rooms meant water most likely resided there. And water meant baths.

But there was nothing worse than the guilt she still felt. Guilt was a nasty thing.

Turning off the faucet, she wrung her hands dry and ran slightly damp fingertips through her dark curls, them randomly catching her eye at the moment. She then turned on her heel, kneeling down to be close to the canine. Her hands immediately went to massage his temporal lobes, even running down his sides occasionally.

"Hey there, cutie," a rather cruel idea crossed her mind. She wasn't sure if she'd be okay with this later, but she figured she'd give it a try for the time being. Skell had no intention of hurting him... just directing him.

A slowly heating-up hand scratched down his back to his hind. Skell lightly channeled some of her fire energy to poke at the dog, to get him to step further into the bathroom. And it worked! The pup yelped a little, out of surprise surely. It didn't hurt, but it was shocking. With a teasing smirk, a small flame then appeared at her fingertips.

"C'mon..." she crooned, leaning back to reach for the faucet of the tub, turning it on and adjusting to make sure it wasn't too hot nor too cold. Once it was ideal, she immediately brought her attention back to poking fiery fun at Aki, "You'll like it, I promise... Don't make me be rough..."

She jabbed her flame menacingly at his hind legs, making him skip up and eventually succumb to the retreat that was the tub. With a softened smirk, Skell leaned forward, extinguishing her flame, and ruffled the dog's fur lovingly, flopping his ears.

She figured he'd probably struggle in the filling tub, most likely to get her flustered and wet with suds. She may as well take a shower after she gets him all cleaned up.

"Now don't you move..." she planted a playful kiss on a still dry patch of fur on the top of his snout, "I'll be right back to help you out."

And so she stood up, eyes giving him a warning look, before retreating back to her room to grab a couple essentials.

[Akira Saito]

IN THE END IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER

[atrb=cellSpacing,20,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 500px; background: url(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n607/Nekomi-hime/Backgrounds/Seamless_PLaid_0072_by_AvanteGardeArt.jpg); border: 3px dashed #000000, bTable] i know, time is a valuable thing WATCH IT FLY BY AS THE PENDULUM SWINGS, WATCH IT COUNT DOWN TO THE END [ it's so unreal, didn't look out below WATCH THE TIME GO RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW, TRYING TO HOLD ON BUT DIDN'T EVEN KNOW

He had a very bad feeling about the way he was now being treated. He didn't think it was going to end as well as the last time she had touched him. Something in the way she spoke told him he should make some sort of quick retreat before it was too late. Alas, despite whatever ulterior motive the woman might have had, he found it hard to pull away from the attention. And, being so caught up in that attention, he let out a little yelp of surprise when he felt the fire energy spark near his rear. He took a very much involuntary step into the tiled room. He should have left when he had first had the chance. He growled softly when the water was turned on. And again when he was forced closer to the tub. It wasn't until he was already at the rectangular water box that he remembered all the little tricks he had up his sleeve. Playing into Skell's hands for now though, he hoped on into the tub as if he really were giving in because of the flames. It would be convincing simply because he was, in a way, giving in. Though not really because of the flames. He could have found another way out of this situation if he had really wanted to. Though he might have ended up burned or something if he had thought about it any longer. It was a pretty good sized tub too. Great for a bath. Not for being bathed though, simply because he didn't need to be bathed. No, it was a good size for a regular human to take a bath. Or, in his case, a regular Mixed form Shifter. And so, as soon as his kidnapper (dog-napper?) left the room, he took on the form he preferred the most. If felt much better to be in water when he didn't have two layers of fur for the liquid to soak through. Fur got pretty heavy when it was wet. Of course, he had left his clothes wherever it was they went when he wasn't wearing them. Hanging somewhere in a closet in the darkness perhaps? Though he was tempted to do otherwise, he sat cross-legged and facing the door. He propped his elbows on the edge of the tub and propped his chin in his palm. And with his head tilted, tail wagging, ear nice and perky, he grinned. This would be fun.

i tried so hard, in spite of the WAY YOU WERE MOCKING ME, ACTING LIKE I WAS PART OF YOUR PROPERTY 420 WORDS skell TAGS ... NOTES in the end - linkin park LYRICS gia <- me CREDITS and even though i tried it all FELL APART, WHAT IT MEANT TO ME WILL EVENTUALLY BE A MEMORY

[Skell]

In her room, Skell gracefully sidestepped about as she hummed herself a tune. Let's see... things to get for a shower...

She began to rid herself of the red scarf that seemed to never leave her neck. In public, it was as though if she took it off, her head would roll. She was one to get cold easily, and it was a nice addition to her fashion.

Really, there wasn't much to gather in her room. Out of habit, she closed the door a little as she decided to change into a thin white slip. She didn't think she'd be leaving the house anytime soon later that day. She had had her sunshine, and a rather busy morning before she went out to draw. After the shower, it'd be good to just kick back and relax... maybe read a little. Catch up on the news. Something... maybe entertain herself with the dog more. She was sure he'd surely hate her after what she had just did. A bit of her was proud, grinning on the inside. At least she wouldn't feel guilt anymore for having gotten him dirty.

She reached for a towel from the hall closet before she made her way back to the bathroom, her eyes staring down at her feet slipped in soft, cushioned slippers.

The comfort wouldn't last long.

"Aki~ I'm back~" she sang, stepping in with a curling smile on her face. Only, what she saw was definitely not what she remembered.

Last she remembered, she had a dog in the tub.

Not a... a... what was he?

"OH MY GOD!" she blushed furiously, bringing the towel up in front of her. She suddenly felt so revealed, probably at the sight of this man in the tub being so. She stumbled a bit, tripping over her slippers and leaning back to catch her balance, in effect closing the bathroom door with a slam. She grasped the knob for stability, eyeing the stranger in her tub.

What the hell?

He had wolf-like ears, and a swishing tail. Skell wasn't dumb, but supremely stupefied.

"... Aki?! You're a person?" Oh how embarrassing. All the things she had said to him, done to him. But the grin on his face showed a bit of pleasure in the situation if anything, so it didn't seem as though she had annoyed him. After absorbing the initial shock, Skell realized there wasn't much she could do but to embrace the situation. Regardless of how awkward it was, and how uncomfortable she may have felt.

But then again, she wasn't sure how uncomfortable she was. He was still the dog she was growing a liking to. And he stared at her in a somewhat interested manner.

"I assume you can talk -- say something, please..."

[Akira Saito]

IN THE END IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER

[atrb=cellSpacing,20,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 500px; background: url(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n607/Nekomi-hime/Backgrounds/Seamless_PLaid_0072_by_AvanteGardeArt.jpg); border: 3px dashed #000000, bTable] i know, time is a valuable thing WATCH IT FLY BY AS THE PENDULUM SWINGS, WATCH IT COUNT DOWN TO THE END [ it's so unreal, didn't look out below WATCH THE TIME GO RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW, TRYING TO HOLD ON BUT DIDN'T EVEN KNOW

He didn't have to wait long for the girl to make it back to the bathroom. And while he wasn't expecting her to come back dressed the way she did he didn't budge any. Aside from his eyes widening just a tad at least. He had looked like a dog before, sure, but had she planned to shower with him in there? Maybe he should have kept up his little facade a bit longer. Or not. Being given a bath didn't seem like much fun even if he'd have been able to make things even more interesting after. This would have to do. And do it did. After singing out a greeting to him and stepping into the room, she yelled out and covered herself with the towel she had been carrying. Her face went red too, which made this all the more worth it. The door was slammed shut when she lost her balance and grabbed onto the handle to steady herself. He couldn't help but tilt his head a tad further as she eyed him. For a moment he thought she was shocked speechless. In the end though, she pointed out what was fairly obvious already. Of course he was a person. Not really. If you thought about it any, a Heartless wasn't a person no matter what it looked like. And he was a Heartless. So that sort of made him... not a person. Not that she needed to know that. He didn't just tell people straight up that he was a Heartless. Not usually at least. He had told a teen, and the King since he was there, what he was once. But only because girl had wanted him to help her slay other Heartless. And he couldn't go and do something like that. Ah, but that was a week ago. This was a whole new ballgame. Quite the fun one, too. Skell seemed pretty embarrassed and uncomfortable by the turn of events. Which was generally what he had been going for. His grin grew a bit wider when he was asked to speak. He thought about keeping silent but that would have been mean. Not that changing from a dog to a nude teenager right in a girls bathroom was very nice. "Should I be going 'woof'?" That's what normal dogs did when told to speak at least. Not that he was a normal dog. That was a fact the dark headed girl was very much aware of right about now. Oh no, not normal at all. He couldn't really decide what he wanted to do next. A few questions he could ask her popped into his head. Or he could just stand up and stride over to her. Both options would make the situation even more uncomfortable for her, he was sure. Or he could always use those plans as backup. He was curious what she was going to do and he didn't want to spoil his witty little reply just yet. No, those things would have to wait just a moment.

i tried so hard, in spite of the WAY YOU WERE MOCKING ME, ACTING LIKE I WAS PART OF YOUR PROPERTY 520 WORDS skell TAGS ... NOTES in the end - linkin park LYRICS gia <- me CREDITS and even though i tried it all FELL APART, WHAT IT MEANT TO ME WILL EVENTUALLY BE A MEMORY

[Skell]

So, we had a bit of a wiseass in our midst. She was hoping his words would help her think of how to deal with the situation, but of course that'd be just too easy, right?

To be honest, she wasn't sure why she didn't just do what the typical person would probably do in this situation: scream and throw things at him until he left her home. But, just because he deceived her doesn't mean he deserved to be kicked out. What was it she said earlier? Everyone manipulates to get what they want every once in a while, and you couldn't blame them for that? Something to that effect. But what did this guy want, then?

"Well, I guess that'd be a good place to start, sure," she lashed right back. Trying to get past how worked up he had gotten her to be so easily, she decided to play at his game. Challenges were always welcomed by this human, they always made life more unexpected and exciting. And hell if this wasn't unexpected and admittedly somewhat exciting.

Considering, you know, he could have easily not been a looker.

And the smudges on his cheeks still bothered her somewhat. She noticed them along with the other marks on his face -- a number, three lines, and a couple scratches it looked. Very interesting look, she had to admit indeed. But he was human, or at least partially, so he could just as easily bring a hand up to wipe away the smudging, she was sure. Or, at least try to. Charcoal was still one of those funny materials where water could never fully wash it away -- you'd have to bring soap to it, too.

"Uhm, uh, well..." she cleared a throat. No, she could be smoother about this. She saw the satisfaction her apparent bashfulness gave him. She could try and turn the tables and make him a bit uncomfortable, "I'm sorry I got you dirty. I felt bad, just wanted to get that off for you."

Mustering up whatever craziness she had, she took a step forward before that kick of momentum was enough to get her by the side of the tub. As she neared it, the realization of it being just pure, clear water that was filling the tub made her blush a bit harder and lean over to pick some of the bubble bath she never used -- because time was never willing. Well, he was completely nude -- or so she assumed. She didn't actually look... but...

Time willing or not, there were going to be bubbles in that bath, dammit. She couldn't help but wonder just how he was so damn comfortable being so naked in front of her.

"There. Bubbles are always fun." By now her towel had dropped to the floor and she gave in to her being seen in just the slip. It wasn't like he hadn't caught a glimpse of her before, so there was no point in trying to hide herself now. She sat on the edge of the tub, furiously working her hand in the water to facilitate the bubble growth, sure to keep her eyes off his form. Part of her, a more daring side of her, couldn't help but flash her curiosity for a split second as they shifted over to him -- what did a half-wolf-half-human look like anyway? How did that anatomy work? The bubbles had started forming enough that they helped restrain her from becoming too curious. Yet it still scratched at her. Curse her curiosities...

Soon, the tub was filled with nice, hot water, and a thick layer of bubbles. She wasn't thinking of showering with the guy when he was a dog earlier, but she did want to hop in after she had the smudges off his face. With a now sudsed hand, she looked down at him and smirked, reminding herself it was a challenge. A game. And she could win, still.

A hand went to cup his cheek as the other ran fingertips lightly along his jaw, her sudsed palm then gliding over his skin there up to his cheek, then up through his hair to scratch at the area around his ear. The charcoal was disappearing as the bubbles erased them like magic. Part of her was jealous -- she wasn't sure why dogs minded getting baths. She kind of hated them, too, but if someone was scratching her nicely over its duration? The thought gave her chills.

"So tell me... your thoughts from when you stumbled upon me to now... must have felt so proud of yourself, yanking my chain." And although the smudges were gone now, she couldn't pull her hand away from lightly scratching along his neck just behind his ear. Maybe it was the nature of the situation, but she couldn't lie -- she was drawn to this man a bit.

[Akira Saito]

IN THE END IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER

[atrb=cellSpacing,20,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 500px; background: url(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n607/Nekomi-hime/Backgrounds/Seamless_PLaid_0072_by_AvanteGardeArt.jpg); border: 3px dashed #000000, bTable] i know, time is a valuable thing WATCH IT FLY BY AS THE PENDULUM SWINGS, WATCH IT COUNT DOWN TO THE END [ it's so unreal, didn't look out below WATCH THE TIME GO RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW, TRYING TO HOLD ON BUT DIDN'T EVEN KNOW

It was a good way to come back at him, he'd admit. Not the greatest way but it worked well in this situation. For her at least. He wasn't sure it would have sounded quite as good coming from just anyone. Of course, he wouldn't have pulled this little stunt with just anyone so not many people would have had this opportunity. And he doubted he'd pull this same little stunt again. It wouldn't be as much fun a second time. He lifted his chin from his palms just a bit, "Woof." He stilled his tail as the water go higher in the tub. It was getting a little heavy now that the fur was soaking up the liquid. Plus he didn't want to splash too much. As fun as this situation was, he didn't want to get the floor wet. He wasn't sure she'd be able to scold him if he did but he also didn't care to find out. He didn't like to make a mess anyway. Although, it might have been fun to see how she'd react. Normal people would have been yelling and throwing things, he was sure. She wasn't. So either she wasn't normal or she didn't really mind that he was sitting in her tub. Or it could have been both. He wasn't really sure. Either way, she seemed a tad bothered by something. Along with the embarrassment and such from before. He didn't remember the charcoal until she pointed out getting him dirty. "Oh?" He dropped one arm to lay across the edge of the tub in front of him. "Then I'm still waiting for my bath~" His satisfaction dimmed ever so slightly when she moved forward, though his curiosity shot up again. Now, he didn't take actual baths very often so he didn't use bubble bath. Showers tended to work just fine for him since he didn't really stay in one place for all too long. He liked to keep moving, for the most part. Of course, he sometimes had to stick around certain people either for entertainment or because it was, generally, his job to do so. Baths just took too long for him on normal occasions. He chuckled as she worked to fill the tub up with a nice layer of little bubblies. Her hard work payed off in the end. The tub was full, with both steamy water and bubbles, and he covered. As well as bubbles up to about your diaphragm could cover you. Everything above that point was still fair game to wandering eyes. Not that he minded any. If he had, he wouldn't have changed forms to begin with. Or he would have brought his clothes along with him. He flicked his ear out of some kind of habit when her sudsy hand touched his face. Skin on skin felt a lot different than skin on fur. He was typically more sensitive to petting and such when he was in his furry canine form. Scratches behind the ear were another story though. This half-and-half form was much more sensitive when it came to the fluffy ears. He he could see his own face he would have noticed the disappearing charcoal. All he really knew was that the girl was still working at his area behind his ear. Whether because the charcoal was still there or not, he couldn't be sure. Not that he cared about the reason behind it. He just tilted his head and went right along with it. "Hm? Yes, it was quite pleasing to see that... look on your face." He stopped there. He was finding it a little harder to think than usual. Stupid ears being sensitive.

i tried so hard, in spite of the WAY YOU WERE MOCKING ME, ACTING LIKE I WAS PART OF YOUR PROPERTY 640 WORDS skell TAGS ... NOTES in the end - linkin park LYRICS gia <- me CREDITS and even though i tried it all FELL APART, WHAT IT MEANT TO ME WILL EVENTUALLY BE A MEMORY

[Skell]

She couldn't help but smirk at his responses to her. He had a good sense of humor, and a teasing character. This was a fun one, no doubt also a bit mischievous. The longer she spent with him in what could be a more awkward situation, the more comfortable she found herself with his character.

"Hey, I cleaned my mess," she chimed, continuing to scratch at that point he seemed to like behind his ear and a bit along his neck. A flirtatious thought crossed her mind, and she wasn't quite sure why she had the urge to go through with it. Honestly, though, what was it about this stranger that didn't make her want to force him out? Maybe it was because he didn't seem like he'd cause any harm, or intend to. Or maybe it's because there was a slight appeal to housing a complete stranger, who happened to be a bit mystical and mysterious in nature. And cute, too. What if he was a criminal? What if she was becoming an accomplice to housing a murderer?

Sounded like some sort of kinky fantasy some women had. She wasn't going to lie about it. It was true: many women are attracted to the mysterious, dangerous stranger, the surprise he could bring... the potential rough housing he could bring, too... No one would outwardly admit it, but the idea was alluring.

As she said before -- only boys, and no men in Twilight Town.

"But if you insist..." still sitting on the ledge of the tub, her hand gave a lasting, quickened scratch at that spot before it, and her other hand, scratched down his neck and moved to massage his shoulders. She leaned down a little to make it more comfortable for her to execute. Despite the slight strain, her smile widened as she saw the pleased look on his face.

"Glad to hear you take pleasure in my bashfulness," she massaged a bit deeper, "I could have hurt you, you know. Kicked you out in all of your nudity. If you are completely nude anyway..." she paused, enough for her mind to wander into dangerous territory, "Must be pretty comfortable in your own skill to be lazying about like that in front of a stranger."

This position was just a bit uncomfortable for her, as she was finding out, regardless of what facial expression she read. Her aim was to make him more uncomfortable, after all. Hands gripping his shoulders, she gently yet firmly pushed him back to rotate. She stood up during the time she assumed he'd be confused, and pinched the cloth of her slip up along her thigh as she stepped one bare foot into the bubbly water, and then the other. She sat down on the ledge of the tub now, and daintily graced her fingers to his shoulders again, pulling him so he sat in between her knees. She couldn't see his face too well unless he looked up, but she'd try to listen hard enough to his voice.

Skell didn't think he'd be one to talk much without being prompted with something, as he's shown thus far. So, she began with a general question.

"This a bit better? Hope so... wouldn't want my guest to be uncomfortable... anything I could do you for?"