Abandoned Warehouse District, Saturday Evening

[filleauloup]

There were easier ways to go about acquiring a pet, really, but for one thing, Éponine would feel much better about not hearing the litter of stray kittens mewling pitifully every night outside her window. For another, she'd been raised to understand that if you could get something without having to pay for it, you avoided having to pay for it, and she still saw nothing wrong with that approach to life. She also found the idea of rescuing small animals from the streets vaguely appealing in some way that she couldn't articulate.

Having rounded up a crate lined with a towel, a can of tuna, and a flashlight, and then spent most of the afternoon prowling around her section of the warehouse district to determine where the cat and her kittens were, she was ready to put her plan into motion.

It really did seem like an excessive amount of work and planning to do to acquire a pet, but she suspected it might be worth it. Besides, as far as laying extensive plans to accomplish something went, this wasn't even close to being her most elaborate.

[OOC: For the cat-rescuing accomplice!]

Comments

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"Nothing! I know!" This had shocked the hell out of Kenzi too. "Even the wallets I'd lifted! Bo wasn't there, she'd bugged out, so I was freaking, but you know, my bod wasn't messed with, I still had all my clothes on, all the wallets were there-- Although she'd clearly looked at them," Kenzi added. "I thought I'd dreamed the whole thing! Except I wasn't home, you know?"

[filleauloup]

Éponine snorted. "As if not being home would stop me from thinking it! I've had some of my oddest dreams when I fall asleep in strange places."

Which was beside the point, and she seemed to realize it.

"That was the last time you saw her before you came here?" she guessed.

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"Yup. Two months later. I got to the welcome picnic-- they do one every term, and half the time, the new kids pig out on food they've never seen before," Kenzi said in an aside. "I try to lift her wallet, and she turns around with a big ol' SECURITY label on her shirt, and we both kind of lose it with the whole 'did you follow me?!' thing." She grinned, taking another forkful of rice. "Which, no. Just a cosmic coincidence."

She pointed her fork at Éponine. "Best person I know. Crap with money. Or looking out for herself. But still a great person."

[filleauloup]

"I remember her," Éponine said abruptly, as she made the connection. "From the dungeon. She looks after the children --" she said, as if she were that much older herself -- "at the school, doesn't she? She was so worried about not failing them by not making sure they were safe."

She broke off, staring down at the tabletop and humming vaguely as she frowned in concentration.

"I -- yes, I think she meant it," she concluded in a surprised but pleased tone.

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, her," Kenzi confirmed. She nodded at Éponine's comments, smiling a little. "That's my best friend." And wasn't there a lot of pride in being able to say that? "She has an office at the school. So she can keep an eye on stuff, if things attack or whatever." She gave Eponine a considering look. "It's so strange."

[filleauloup]

"I think it's lovely," Éponine answered, her voice still a touch distant. "To have a friend like that."

The kitten she'd picked out came over to paw at her leg and mew, curiously; she looked down at it, speculatively.

"I think I may have a name in mind for you, my good kitten," she informed it.

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"It is. But still strange." Kenzi picked up her glass again, watching Éponine over the rim. "What's the name?"

[filleauloup]

"What d'you think?" Éponine asked the kitten, leaning down and extending a hand for it to sniff. "Alouette -- d'you think that suits you?"

She assumed that the kitten licking her fingers with a raspy little tongue was not trying to say no.

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"Alouette-- gentil alouette--" Kenzi paused and didn't finish the little song. "Lark?" Hey, no reason to talk about plucking its feathers off when Éponine had just gotten it!

[filleauloup]

"Indeed it is." The kitten batted at Éponine's hand with a paw and hopped away, then leaped back immediately; she let it pounce on her hand. It was a strange choice, all things considered, and she couldn't say why it had seemed like a good idea, but it just did. "Well now, I think it might suit you after all. How you do flit about!"