The feel of the cool, tall grass against his bare back left Monnayage in a state of pleasant bliss as he wormed around on the ground like a complacent cat. It really was quite pleasant, this grass, with its rich smells and soft blades. He was surrounded by a sea of soft summer smells and the low hum of insects; every nerve in his body was alive and screaming with titillation.
Due to being alone, he felt no shame in the purring sounds he was making, nor was he particularly bothered by the fact that he was dirtying himself. He would worry about that later.
From the corner of his vision he could see Maneki lying in the grass, watching him. While she looked annoyed by his behavior, he could sense otherwise. She wanted to join him. But the oh-so-sassy kitty would never admit to it, he knew, nor would she ever degrade herself to something such as this. That only made him smile wider.
His hands, which were above his head where he lay, clenched tightly around fistfuls of grass. "Come on, Makki," he said through panting breaths. His heart was racing in his chest. "Try it. You know you want to."
He could feel her regarding him with her scrutinizing gaze. <I'll pass. You look like an idiot. Or like a kitten that has just discovered a large patch of catmint, which still makes you look like an idiot.>
"Ha." So that was her excuse? It was probably true. He definitely felt euphoric. "Suit yourself."
She may not have decided to join him on it, but he sure as heck wasn't going to stop.
Dorothea shuffled her way through the tall grass, her cloak and tunic clumped up in her arms; she wore only a sleeveless linen shirt, her tights and her felt boots. The air was cool, it made her arms tingle, but pleasantly so. Inhaling deeply through her nostrils and exhaling through her mouth, Dorothea also felt the bliss of the beautiful day and it's sweet scents that were carried on the breeze.
As she moved through the grass, she heard him before she saw him. The strange rustling and odd purring sounds... obviously someone else was enjoying themselves; perhaps a bit too much?
"What... are you doing...?" Dorothea asked, finally seeing the young man in the tall blades of grass.
His eyes, which had closed as he'd continued to enjoy himself in the grass, opened slowly at the sound of the stranger's voice. How had he not heard her approaching?
Ah. Yes. Because he was rolling around and purring like an "idiotic kitten."
Maneki was snickering mentally at him.
He lifted his head to look at the newcomer. The first thing his eyes were drawn to was her startlingly intense hair: comparing it to her head being on fire wasn't too far off in his books. Not that vibrant hair colors were unusual in Serendipity, but it was in stark contrast against the verdant greens of the grassland.
His mind was still a bit hazy from the adrenaline flooding through his body; however, he was immediately interested in this person. Above all other reasons, she was a girl, and girls always caught his attention. Even if she was a bit too young for him.
"Hello," he said, flashing her one of his winning smiles that he reserved only for women. He was acutely aware of the purring sounds still coming from his throat, fading with each heavy breath he took. "I'm . . . ah . . ." A quick look over himself told him that he wasn't in the best of positions. He was covered in broken blades, smudges of green on his skin.
He breathed out a laugh at himself and lifted his arm to pull some strands of hair out of his face before gazing at the girl again. "I'm rolling around in the grass. Care to join me?"
Tinges of disapproval emanated from Maneki, but he ignored them.
Dorothea wasn't sure what to think of the strange young man; but he was handsome and appeared to have a strong, fit body. She couldn't help feel a bit of attraction to him. And she loved his spirit already. He was doing what he wanted, pleasing himself and not giving a damn what anyone else might think. That wasn't a sign of weakness.
She shrugged and let herself fall gracefully into the soft grass beside him. Her eyes close and her arms spread out, as if she were hugging in the sun. "Dorothea," she said, not opening her eyes. "And you?"
He'd expected a skeptical look, an offended reaction, or even a mild rejection. What he hadn't expected was for the girl to drop down next to him and make herself comfortable.
Well! Life was full of surprises.
Smiling all the more wider, Monnayage rolled onto his side to face Dorothea and pillowed the side of his head on his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Dorothea," he said. The purring had finally stopped, mad elation being replaced by other more mannish hormones. His heart was still racing like a rabbit. "I'm Monnayage."
With a heated growl, Maneki was suddenly up on his side. Her leap had not been gentle, either, claws extended slightly and verging on the point of breaking his sensitive skin when she'd landed. She curled up possessively, glaring at Dorothea.
"Ah," he added, holding back a wince and a laugh. "And this is Maneki."
Dorothea lay silent a moment longer, before rolling over to meet his position opposite of him. She rest her head in her hand, propped up by one elbow. "Well," she said smoothly with a smirk, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Monnayage. " She nodded towards the cat. "And Miss. Maneki. You're quite beautiful."
She winked at Monnayage. "As are you, sir." It was true; Dorothea couldn't remember ever meeting someone so gorgeous in her life. It took a lot of strength to hold back her blush- she never blushed, she made others blush. She did not "fall" for others, Dorothea made them fall over her. How much Dorothea wanted to just grab him and...
Dorothea sighed and closed her eyes, letting herself fall back into the grass. As much as she wanted to take Monnayage, she would not allow herself to come across as desperate.
He could tell Maneki was startled by Dorothea's compliment. Her claws, which had been biting against his bare skin, were suddenly retracted, and her tightened posture loosened considerably.
Even he was a bit surprised by this girl's directness. She certainly wasn't afraid to say what was on her mind. It was true that he was quite handsome—he'd been told on many occasions—but girls tended to lean toward the shy side when speaking to him because of it. At least small girls like this one. They seemed to think that being forward in their attraction would turn him off for some silly reason. This girl, however, was obviously different.
He liked it.
Maneki, on the other hand, was still a bit wary, despite the girl having fed into her vanity. Monnayage could sense it, since the feline was not going out of her way to block her feelings from him. Probably due to her shock and mild resentment. She was always like this when girls showed him the least bit of adoring attention.
Notwithstanding his completely agreeing with Dorothea on her statement about his good looks, he held back from openly saying so. Instead he said, with a bit of a sportive tinge, "You're considerably pleasing to the eyes yourself, my lady."
"I know," Dorothea said lazily, not one for 'thank you's'. She lifted one hand to her hair and pulling up a few locks of it. She held up her hair, the sun caught it brilliantly, casting a red glow over her white linen shirt; slowly, Dorothea let the hair fall back into the place on the ground, then repeated in picking it up again.
She hoped she wasn't being too bold, but Dorothea just could not bring herself to be very polite. Why should she thank someone for simply stating the truth?! Obviously, the person wasn't blind and wasn't stupid for commenting on her good looks. But that did not earn a thank you from her. Very little did.
Her head lolled to the side to face him more directly. Her eyes squinted at him, and she smirked. "Isn't it wonderful that two beautiful people happen to be here together?"
His eyebrows rose high at this latest statement, amusement escalating. Well, well! Definitely not timid. And definitely not coy. Something about her reminded him of Maneki.
He laughed, then found himself leaning closer to her as she fiddled with her dazzling hair. She smelled of magic, of exotic lands. Her natural scent, along with the various pheromones she happened to be releasing, heated his blood tremendously.
Then her eyes—more verdant than the grass on which he lay—locked onto his and he saw a much older woman staring at him. This was no fifteen year old if he had anything to say about it.
"You know," he said, breathing out slowly to dispel some of his body's heat, a smile still on his face. "You might want to be careful with all of this flattery. One would think you were hinting toward something."
Had she not had more self control than the average girl, she might have blushed deeply- Dorothea could not deny that she felt a slight burning in her cheeks- but she simply was too prideful. Dorothea chuckled, closing her eyes again and turning her face away. "Perhaps, Monnayage, you are simply hoping that I am hinting at something more?"
He laughed, one of his true laughs, head pulling back a little. Oh, he liked this girl! Not only was she playing with him, she was doing it in a way that left him the one being baited. It was working, too.
"And what if I am?" he asked, still chuckling. He moved even closer this time, the warmth of her body discernible and the pheromones nearly overwhelming. His voice lowered to a seductive murmur. "Last I checked, however, I simply asked you to join me in my fun in the grass."
Dorothea leaned away, not very far, playfully, and turned to face him. "Oh, but I have, haven't I?" she said softly. "I'm laying here in the grass beside you. So, I do believe it is you who is hinting for more." She rolled closer and smirked.
His eyes followed her as she moved away from him. It was true that she had unexpectedly flopped down with him in the grass, but there were two distinct differences from what he'd been doing earlier and what he was doing now. This was far more enticing than simply rolling around.
"Ah, but if you didn't notice, I was not only lying in the grass, I was rolling in it. I see no rolling here." He brought his free arm forward, mere centimeters away from her own, and fondled the grass there with his fingers. Not once did his eyes move away from hers. "And in order to fully enjoy rolling around in the grass, I would suggest being... shirtless." He smirked, watching her to see how she would react.
Maneki was saying something to him at this point, but he purposefully blocked her out.
Dorothea smiled and chuckled and sat up. "Ah, I see..." she said, leaning against one arm. With her free hand, she pulled at her loose linen shirt. "I guess you're right... I wouldn't want the shirt to get too stained... and it is very hot. But... I don't know if I can manage it. I'm just too weak from travel." She smirked and moved her hand to his chest, tracing his taut muscles of his chest.
Maneki struck without warning, her paw shooting out to claw at Dorothea's reaching hand. She hissed with malice.
All Monnayage could do was shout out in surprise and dismay, then sit up with such speed that his offending cat was forced to the ground.
Oh, Kia! Why did the stupid fuzzball have to do this now?
Dorothea pulled back, one eye brow raised bemused. "Well then," she said, standing. "I guess that's my cue. I've over stayed my welcome have I? Oh well, and I was so hoping to get to know you better, Monnayage."
Damned Maneki! He wanted to kick her, but of course would never bring himself to doing it. <Why would you do that?!> he raved as he looked down at his cat, who looked very pleased with herself and in no way ashamed.
At once she started to purr. <I've told you before,> she said. As if to rub in even further how much she did not care, she began to lick her paw. <Uncontrollable reflex. Can't help it.>
"Like hell it's an uncon—what?" He turned to Dorothea as she stood, terrible disappointment causing his heart to drop down into his stomach. "No!" He was shooting to his feet in an instant, pieces of grass falling from his body. "You have not overstayed your welcome."
Dorothea was secretly pleased that he immediately jumped up, but she wouldn't say anything. She placed her hands on her hips and walked around him slowly. "Why should I stay?" she said, teasingly. "I mean... Maneki is clearly a beautiful girl herself. I surly can't compete."
( MODS, PLEASE DELETE. SORRY FOR BEING FAILTASTIC. -KIRI )
"I ... uh .... Ah." He smirked, watching her with his eyes as she circled around him like a predatory lioness. So that was it: more fooling around. He couldn't deny that it wasn't a huge relief to realize this. For a moment he had thought that Dorothea had really been offended. He let out an inaudible sigh of relief.
<She's right,> said Maneki. <She can't compete. You should tell her that.>
But instead, he said, rather smugly, "I wouldn't go as far as to say that. She's just a cat." Maneki spat at this. "And I make it a habit to not charm cats." Oh, yes. Maneki deserved that.
Dorothea glanced around him, down at the beautiful cat and smiled as innocently as she could- which wasn't very successful. As she walked around him, she ran her hand over the back of his shoulders, brushing a few pieces of loose grass from them. "Oh...?" she said, as she continued to circle. "Which of us is more beautiful? Perhaps you don't know?"
<This girl does realize she's acting as though she's rivaling herself with a cat, doesn't she?> Maneki asked with severe dislike as Dorothea moved behind him.
That Dorothea was treating Maneki as more than an ordinary cat really wasn't what troubled him at that particular time, though. The moment Dorothea's hand had made contact with his skin, every nerve in his body seemed to come alive. Any and all focus was now on that one place, and it tingled with avidity.
It was hard to speak, to open his mouth.
"I . . . Are you asking me to compare your beauty to that of my cat?" he asked, his voice a bit raspy as he tried to hold off the purr that was sitting in the back of his throat. He managed a smile. "That's just silly."
Dorothea chuckled, her hand continuing to brush around his shoulder and chest, where she came to a stop, her hand laying just over his heart. "Well, she is a very beautiful cat," Dorothea said with a smirk. "And you two do seem very close." She chuckled.
She wondered, though did not speak aloud, exactly what sort of relationship he had with the creature. She sensed something between the two of them... although, she wasn't sure what it was that she was sensing. He couldn't communicate with her, could he?
His eyes followed her hand, taking in every detail of her softly-caressing fingers as they trailed along his upper torso. All smells and sounds were lost to him; his heart was fluttering like a hummingbird's. When she finally came to a stop at his chest, he leaned in toward her and took her hand in his own two, cosseting it. Then he looked into her green eyes.
If she only knew how hard she was making this for him! He couldn't understand it, either. It wasn't only a matter of being attracted to her now; it was also a matter of the cat-like need for further petting. He wasn't normally this roused by touch. Maybe the effects of euphoria from rolling in the grass—which he was beginning to suspect did have some form of valerian or catmint growing amongst it—had not completely worn off.
The impulse to purr was almost overwhelming.
"We are close. And she is beautiful," he found himself saying in a low, earnest tone, almost a whisper. "But as I said before," his words were slowing, "you yourself are also very striking."
Just keep up the flirting, he told himself, mind racing. Distract her. No purring.
Tinges of satisfaction came to him from Maneki. <You had no problem purring earlier when she was here. Why not now?>
Dorothea smiled, and for her it was quite a sweet smile... as sweet as she could really muster. And it was genuine. Her hand remained under his, on his chest. Without Dorothea realizing it, a bit of her blush began to color her cheeks. "You're very beautiful, yourself..." she said softly.
Even through his mild desperation to not purr, Monnayage saw the smile, and it wasn't just any smile. It was a real smile; not the seductive and playful sort Dorothea had been giving him so far.
Nothing in the world was more satisfying to him than to see a woman smile.
Then, to add to the appeal, she started to blush—not a conspicuous blush, but a blush just the same.
"Yes," he said, now grinning with geniality. He pulled her hand to his mouth, breathing gently on it, near to kissing it. Never did he move his eyes from hers. "You've said that."
Praise did feel good. He never turned it down. However, he mentally waved it aside this time. "Tell me a bit about yourself, Dorothea," he breathed.
His lips near her skin made her shiver a bit. Oh, how nice it would be to just tackle him into the grass and-- with a slight shake of her head, Dorothea tried to rid herself of those thoughts. She bit her lip and the pinkness of her cheeks darkened slightly.
She didn't really care what others thought of her, most either despised or feared her... or both... but for some reason, she didn't feel like she could share anything about herself without driving Monnayage away; this bothered her deeply. The young redheaded woman couldn't tell which disturbed her more: the idea of pushing him away or the idea that she actually cared what he thought.
She shrugged, trying to shake off the odd confusion. She wasn't about to spill everything onto him. No way. Dorothea gave him a smirk, lifting an eye brow. "A bit of an intimate question, isn't it? Although, why wouldn't you be dying to know?" The last question wasn't much of a question as it was a statement, as far as she was concerned, of the truth.
Being so adept at sensing things a normal human might not, Monnayage did not miss out on the signals Dorothea was sending. Her smirk and wiliness did not distract him from the fact that she was, once again, dancing around his question.
She wasn't the first guarded person he'd come across. A lot of people tended to be, considering so many had backgrounds that might not be smiled on here in Serendipity. That made her all the more interesting.
Deciding not to acknowledge her evasion, he lifted a brow of his own and said, "Not at all, fair lady. I ask that of all beautiful women. If it helps . . ." He pulled away from her, one hand still holding hers. He opened his arms wide so that she could see all of his body, a gesture of non-hostility. "I am Monnayage Mint, cat whisperer extraordinaire. I enjoy meat, birds, and making women smile."
Dorothea leaned back, startled by his sudden openness of himself. She could not help but laugh at his silly description of himself, and his confidence. It was refreshing to meet such a person. Oh, how she liked him! Unable to think of anything else to do, she opened her own arms.
"I am Dorothea Ura," she said, smiling widely. "Daughter of the Angels who fell from Heaven but were cast from Hell. I like attractive, strong, confident men." She winked at him. "Such as yourself."
"Well, Miss Dorothea Ura," he said, laughing. "I'm not quite sure where to go with that." Talk about a heavy drop of information, even if he didn't understand what she'd said for the most part. He'd heard about Heaven and Hell from others, had read about them in books from other cultures, but the concept hadn't made much sense to him. Still didn't, apparently.
What he did understand was the admiration. She, like almost every other woman he'd ever met, thought he was appealing. And this wasn't the first time she'd told him.
He pulled her closer to him, hip pressing against hers as he looked down at her. "I was leaning more toward favorite foods, animals . . . you know. Something I might be able to honor you with?" He grinned. "Not that I can't honor you with myself. I didn't fail to notice that I was in that 'list.'"
Dorothea, as he pulled her close, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, molding against him. She smirked; she could smell his breath and the sweetness of his skin Dorothea was so close. Biting her lip, she secretly hoped he did not notice that where he touched her sent little tingling shock waves up her spine. This man was gorgeous.
"Oh?" she said, her voice low and soft, "And how do you expect to 'honor me with yourself', sir?"
How tiny this girl was! She had to be at least seven inches shorter. He'd have been more amused if it weren't for the fact that—no, okay. He was a little amused. But she was still a woman, and he a man, and some things could be overlooked in certain situations.
"We could start with what we were doing in the grass," he said, winking. "Or we could—"
<There will be no 'honoring' while I'm around, oh-so-amazing cat whisperer,> said Maneki, some cynical emphasis on the title. <Or I'll castrate you here and now.> As if for further emphasis, he could hear her kneading the ground with her claws.
He winced at the thought, but quickly covered this action up with radiating grin. "Or we could go to lunch!" This was said a bit faster than he'd meant to.
Dorothea raised an eye brow, glancing over at Maneki and chuckling. "Ah, I see this one still doesn't approve," she said softly. "I guess it would be rude of me to take what is clearly hers." She winked at the beautiful feline.
"I'd love to accompany you to a meal," Dorothea said, poking his nose.
For someone that didn't share the same magic that he did, Dorothea was showing an uncanny ability to know what was going on. Did she know a lot of people that had animal familiars, or something similar to it? How else would she know when Maneki was shoving her wet little nose into everything? It was a bit troubling, since he had always felt that his conversations with the cat were personal. Could Dorothea hear Maneki?
Giving no sign that he was having these wary feelings, he chuckled. "I'm afraid dear Maneki will never approve of anything that has to do with me and women. But," he added, "the crazed kitty is not my lover, and therefore has no say in what I do with myself." He said this more toward Manki, even though he didn't look away from Dorothea, and could feel the irritation from the cat almost immediately. "Let's go find a nice place where pets aren't allowed, hm?"
Dorothea flashed a grin at the cat and turned back to Monnayage. "Yes, that sounds wonderful. Perhaps we can get ourselves a room?" she chuckled but Dorothea let herself sink to the ground. She was a bit hesitant to leave the field and it's lovely green grasses. Oh, she loved it here. She inhaled deeply, trying to memorize the smell of the air, the grass, Monnayage...
"Of course, we'll—are you all right?" Her drop to the ground caught him off-guard and he made as if to catch her one second too late. Alarmed, he stared down at her.
<She appears to be mad,> Maneki said. She walked up to his side and sat by his feet. <Best leave her before you catch it.> The cat's mental tone was terribly irate. She was apparently quite angry with him and his plans to abandon her. Her tail flicked behind her.
<Madness isn't contagious.> It did seem strange for the girl to have melted at his feet for no apparent reason, but he wasn't going to automatically assume the girl was crazy.
She looked up at him lazily. "I've just been walking a long away," Dorothea said, although her voice wasn't upset or sad in tone. "I just wanted to savor this place a while longer... It's so beautiful here."
Monnayage looked off in the direction Dorothea had appeared from. The grassland stretched out quite a ways that way. She had probably been heading for the town that was a little further outside from here.
"Where were you coming from, if you don't mind my asking?" he asked. He looked back down at her. Women could be confusing at times, he had to admit. Here he was, burning with uninhibited passion, and she felt like playing with that by lying on the grass. Were he not experienced, he didn't know if he'd be able to control himself.
She sighed, flopping down into the grass. Her tunic lifting a bit to reveal her flat ivory stomach. "Just a few minutes?" Dorothea murmured, slipping one hand against her side and pulling the tunic up a little bit further. "I just want to relax a few minutes longer, Monnayage. Why don't you come down here and enjoy some time with me, hm?"
He might have joined her then, had Maneki not chosen that moment to growl with livid reproach and make her way up to his shoulder. This involved claws—many sharp, angry claws—fastening to his bare skin like little fish hooks.
With a strangled cry of pain, he stumbled back, nearly falling over into the grass.
<Tramp!> Maneki spat. Her ears were pulled far back on her head, teeth bared as she continued to spit with malice.
His cat's obvious hatred and jealousy flooded through his mind, merging with his own feelings and nearly overwhelming him. He was so stupid. This wasn't the first time Maneki had acted this way toward a woman he showed interest in; he should have been more prepared. He usually had to lure her away somewhere.
"Maneki, get off!" he cried. Her claws were still digging into his skin as she sat arched on his shoulder.
Once over his initial shock, he looked back at Dorothea, wincing. "I . . . ah . . . don't think Maneki would like that very much. You wouldn't happen to have any salve, would you?"
The moment was ruined.
Dorothea sat up, watching the commotion between man and his cat, and could not resit the urge to laugh. She held her stomach, almost completely doubled over, and laughed. It wasn't a harsh laugh, it was sweet and melodic; it was happy.
When he spoke to her, Dorothea struggled to get a breath so she could speak. "No," she choked, laughing still. "But we can go get you some." She laughed a few minutes more, unable to stand, before it finally died down to just giggles and she able to make it to her feet.
Dorothea gave Maneki a nod. "It's a good thing men are so easy to control," she said, not to Monnayage. "And I can see you've got him under your claw."
When had this become attack-the-man time? Even Dorothea was joining in, speaking one-on-one with Maneki as if the two of them were the dearest of friends.
Monnayage gave a wry smile as Dorothea continued to laugh. It was kind of funny if he looked at it in an outward way, him not being the one covered in minute punctures of pain. His beautiful skin was now peppered with red.
Claws retracting, Maneki got into a comfortable position and began to clean her paw in an arrogant sort of manner, glaring at Dorothea from under her lids. <At least she's right about something.>
He moved his hand to where she sat, rubbing the stinging puncture wounds, then looked down at the ones trailing up his person. <These can get infected, you know!>
<It would serve you right.>
"Ahh," he groaned. "Little devil."
Dorothea reached up, touching Monnayage's stomach and ran her fingers over his hip bone. "You poor thing," she cooed. "Come, lay down here again? I'll rub your shoulders a bit, to help the tension from scratches loosen."
Persistent, this one was. But the thrill he'd been feeling moments ago had been extinguished by Maneki's attack—and her own negative feelings that she was not trying to hinder in any way.
He let out a quiet laugh, grabbing her wandering hands and moving them to his stomach, where he then clasped them into balls between his own. "I'm afraid that might result in loss of limb," he commented, indicating Maneki, who was still eyeing Dorothea like a predator ready to strike. "Or a loss of more . . . tender parts for me. Perhaps we should head to the nearest village to get some salve, and then a bite to eat?" he added, voice rising questioningly with a smile.
Dorothea smiled and stood, not moving her hands away from his. "Alright, fair enough. Where is the nearest village?"
"There's one not too far from here: right in the direction you'd been walking, actually. You'd have hit it soon enough if you'd kept going." But of course she'd had to stop, having come across a guy playing in the grass. And he was glad that she had.
He nodded toward the place he was indicating, then released his hold on her hands. With a smile, he added, "And they don't mind whether a person is wearing a shirt or not." Mainly the guys, but he wasn't going to say that. He doubted they'd mind if a girl went in without a shirt, even if it was a bit out of the norm. Or maybe that was his wishful thinking. He couldn't remember right then.
"Sir," she said, playfully, pulling at a lock of his hair but not harshly, "is it just me, or are you trying to get me to remove my clothing?"
"I could be," he said with a crafty smile. He reached out and tugged lightly on her tunic. "I've never been one for clothes; they're dreadfully uncomfortable. And," he added, voice lowering playfully, "they cover up one's true beauty."
Like his own. A day didn't go by that he didn't revel in his own gorgeous body. To cover it up with cloth was a crime.
"Shirts or not, let's head off, shall we?"
Dorothea chuckled, poking at his shoulder. "Yes, it is a crime. Especially considering we're both very gorgeous people, too." She linked her arm with his. "Lead the way."