Kitty~ <3 [Complete]

[flowing_alchemy]

Characters: Alphonse, Courtney, various ghosts
Setting: Starting in the grand room, moving through the dining room and into the kitchen, back through the grand room...
Time: Middle of the night
Summary: Alphonse finds a kitty! Also ow.
Warnings: ...cat lover obsessing? And ow.

Comments

[dollsy_npcs]

Allison looked around uneasily as she and Courtney left the Greenhouse, arms wrapped around herself and remaining so; obviously, she didn't like the dark that shrouded the glass room at night, or the shadows that lurked and leered. She hurried through the Grand Room, slowing a bit every so often to glance behind her and see that Courtney was following. She was wordlessly leading Courtney towards the Crystal Dining Room--and ultimately, probably the kitchen, where it seemed that no monsters lurked, at first glance. She paused as they came to the doorway to the Crystal Dining Room, looking nervously behind them at the shadows again, then silently looking at Al and the cat. She seemed to want to keep going, if Al and his feline friend weren't in the way.

In the meantime, the cat partially sat down and leaned forward as Al lowered himself and expressed his sympathies. The movement between the two of them was enough to bring them reasonably close to eye-level, enough so that she was in a decent position to try and rub her head against the underside of his chin as he looked over her.

Spotting Courtney approaching, the fur on her back ruffled a little, tail swishing faster as she meowed--louder now, and more pointed--to alert Al to the fact that they were no longer alone. She stood up entirely, turning a wide-eyed gaze squarely onto the young girl joining them.

[flowing_alchemy]

The cat had alerted Alphonse to the presence of others before the voice had - she had seemed bothered by something, and turned a bit, so he followed her gaze...

About to smile to Courtney and respond, before hesitating for a moment at the strange little girl.

He shook it off, though, and smiled anyway.

"I came out to get some food...and I saw this cat here." he explained, pointing to the feline ghost as if some kind of clarification was needed, "So I came to see if she needed any help..."

[goblintamer]

At that, Courtney's face twisted into anger. Didn't he know what this house was like?! It was dangerous! You couldn't just stop to smell the roses and pet the kitties, especially if... where had this cat come from, anyway? She didn't know! First she meets this ghost girl, who really, really seemed agitated now, and she looked like she was leading the thirteen year old away from the upstairs which was not what she had wanted, and so yes. She was agitated. And Alphonse had leant himself to be a good vent for her frustrations.

"You are a nincompoop," she hissed. "This house is trying to kill us, and you think you can stay here without anything happening to you? Where did this cat come--oh, forget it. We need to go. And please don't ask me about the girl here, I really don't know. Can you grab the cat so that I can get you out of here?" She folded her arms crossly. Yes, she was willing to bail the kitty-struck younger brother, but she wasn't feeling obliged to be happy about it.

[dollsy_npcs]

Allison remained silent, arms folded over her stomach and hands clasping the opposite forearms. She seemed to either not notice or simply be disinterested in the cat Al was looking at; she only watched the two older children, periodically stealing furtive glances behind them at the seething shadow-filled sitting room.

Now that Courtney had proved herself to be no danger, the cat had settled down again, fur smoothing and tail stilling; Allison's lack of interest was returned. She simply stood near Al, ears twitching as she listened to him being berated.

[flowing_alchemy]

Alphonse shrunk back slightly at the evident anger that the slightly older girl was displaying - unnerved, slightly, by the scolding and insult.

"...it's okay, I do know how to take care of myself," he began to explain, "I just...was going to hurry to get something to eat, that's all."

He shook his head at the request, as well, "I can't." he said, simply, moving to pat the cat on the head - demonstrating her physical state, and the impossibility of just picking up the cat and taking her to 'get out of there'. "See?"

Though he did wonder about the possibility of her following along, anyway, if he asked her nicely...

[goblintamer]

Breathing a heavy sigh, the older girl brought her fingers to her temples, trying to not go crazy from the stress. "Okay. Fine. We can get you something to eat. Seems like my friend here wants us to go with her there anyway. After that, we go up the stairs, we find my friends, and we..." She paused a moment, getting irritated with her indecision. "...We stick together. Okay?"

She watched as he put a hand through the cat's head, showing that it was another one of the unliving. Great. Perfect, all the ghosties were coming out at this hour. They were a lot better than some other of the things she might have encountered, though. "Okay... look, leave the cat for now. Or maybe get him to follow you... dangle a ghost mousey in front of its face or something. Just, let's go, okay?"

She looked up at the ghost girl now, much gentler in her tone of voice than she was with Alphonse. "You don't want us to go upstairs?" she inquired, somewhat used to her silence but testing it nonetheless. "What, you hungry like ponyboy here?" Wouldn't hurt to see if she had a sense of humor, either.

[dollsy_npcs]

The cat lifted her head to meet the petting, resulting in one eartip poking straight up through the back of Al's hand. She listened, though she didn't seem to have any opinion about the conversation or being demeaned by Courtney, instead trying futilely to encourage more petting.

Allison, in the meantime, shivered a little as Courtney mentioned the upstairs. She still said nothing in response, the comment about hunger did get a small smile from her. Whether that was an affirmative or amusement, it was hard to tell; her default, at least for the moment, seemed to be somewhat harried.

[flowing_alchemy]

Alphonse nodded a little bit, acknowledging the request that they stick together - he appreciated the thought of company and, though he worried what his brother might think, he wasn't about to argue with it, or anything of the sort.

He frowned at the insult, as well, but rose to his feet, glancing down at the cat as he did so.

"...will you come with us, Winny?" he asked, obviously addressing the tabby at his feet, smiling slightly to her.

[goblintamer]

Boy, this kid really did bend under the weight of her frustration. She felt a little bad, actually - she was starting to feel like the bullies that had muscled her after school for pocket change. But she couldn't focus on that too hard - she had to keep them both alive, and that meant that she had to keep moving, and getting this kid out of here.

Catching Allison's nonverbal cues regarding upstairs, she furrowed her brow, though she seemed pleased that the girl could recognize a joke. Probably the whole 'being dead' thing sucked out a lot of your sense of humor. "Okay then. No upstairs, for now. We'll follow you." She looked down at Al after speaking with the ghost, silently urging him on, though looking somewhat bemused as he addressed the ghost cat. "You're giving the cat a name already?" she asked with barely concealed exasperation.

[dollsy_npcs]

Winny meowed as she was addressed, seemingly understanding that she was being spoken to readily enough. The cat unsuccessfully tried to rub against Al's ankle, which was the best attempt at an affirmative answer she could give. Winny was rather soundly ignored by Allison, however, who simply waited to proceed into the kitchen and away from the threatening shadows.

[flowing_alchemy]

Alphonse smiled warmly at Winny - accepting that as a good answer, and he was quite pleased with that.

His smiled turned into something akin to a grimace at Courtney's comment, and nodded. "Well if she's going to be my friend, and come with us...she'd need a name, right?" it was an innocent enough thought, and one that Al believed whole heartedly.

He glanced into the dining room, then, before back at the shadows that were bothering the little girl ghost so much...and he shivered some himself - deciding that it was high time to get out of there, and to the kitchen.

"Come on, Winny..." he mumbled, glancing back at Courtney - knowing that he didn't need to say anything to her - and starting to move into the dining room.

[goblintamer]

"I guess so," the girl replied with a shrug of her shoulders - she definitely didn't feel like pushing the issue - and looked to Allison. "Lead on," she said simply, and began following Allison through the dining room towards the kitchen. She didn't feel like hanging around in the grand room for a second longer.

As they proceeded in, she glanced back to Alphonse. "Hey, uh. I probably shouldn't be so hard on you. I'm a little angry... I was supposed to meet my friends upstairs before the sun went down, and instead I fell asleep in the greenhouse." Having admitted her faults, she crossed her arms, looking down at her feet as she walked, looking cross. "So yeah, I'm pretty much as stupid as you right now."

[dollsy_npcs]

Allison slipped past Al as he moved out of the doorway, glancing back at the pair before she crossed through the dining room and into the kitchen, where she waited. Winny followed Al amiably enough as well, staying close to his feet as they walked.

In the kitchen, the pair would see a little boy as they entered, one who Allison's eyes swept right over. He was around her age, certainly no older than nine, and looked even worse off than she did--he was painfully thin, almost waif-like, with a profoundly lonely air about him. He smiled as the two came into the kitchen, though, looking both relieved and friendly enough as he moved closer; he didn't seem to want to be alone either.

[flowing_alchemy]

Alphonse had given Courtney a friendly enough smile - he didn't mind, really. If she apologized for being angry with him, then it was okay, right? "It's fine - I'm really sorry you missed your friends, though..." the sentiment was spoken without a hint of sarcasm or insincerity.

He paused as they entered the kitchen, though, being careful not to step on Winny (despite the impossibility), whom he was glad had followed along.

This boy seemed...off, as well - was he another ghost? Alphonse couldn't tell for sure, but he seemed friendly enough, at least.

"Hello," he tried, carefully, as the boy approached them - despite feeling relatively safe, here, he still wanted to apply an appropriate measure of caution. "Are you...okay?" he asked, unsure of what exactly to say otherwise.

[goblintamer]

"Yeah, well, me too," she replied simply. Maybe she wouldn't be in this situation, following around a ghost and not knowing what to do, whether or not she really did have the best interests for her. She spent enough time in Goblin town to know that not everyone had the best intentions for defenseless kids like her, and this mansion was anything but friendly.

Courtney looked over at the male ghost suspiciously, and initially balked at Alphonse's immediate interest. Who could say what that guy was doing here? Considering his physical appearance and the loneliness that exuded from him, the witch suspected him to be another ghost. Allison didn't seem to notice him, though. Maybe the ghosts had lived with each other so long that they were totally apathetic towards each other?

"He check out okay?" she asked Allison, glancing towards the little boy that Al was taking an interest in. "You can just shake your head yes or no if you don't wanna talk. I guess you probably know this place better than me."

[dollsy_npcs]

Allison simply looked at Courtney, unblinking and silent, hands clasped more normally in front of her than they had been in a while. For the time being, the kitchen was safe, and she didn't seem anywhere near as upset as she'd been in the scary dark rooms they had been in previously. Still though, the girl neither nodded nor shook her head. Even Winny seemed to be ignoring him.

The ghost boy's gaze drifted from Courtney to Al, and lingered on the younger boy as he spoke. He lifted a hand and put it on Al's arm, bringing with it the by now familiar tingling chill that signaled a ghost's touch--the boy stared up at him earnestly. And then, unlike any of the other ghosts they'd yet met, began to speak. "Stay out of the basement." He warned, voice full of the burning, dire intensity and complete conviction that only a young child could muster.

He was gone a minute later. There was no warning, no flash of light or swirl of smoke--just an abrupt fading away, too quickly for more than one or two brief questions to have been asked. And even then, it certainly wasn't as if they would have received any answers.