TANSTAV part 9

Chapter Three part 3

Xenobia Keller (or Xen) is- well, technically, she's not my girlfriend.  My parents disapprove of our even being friends, because she's only half-gargoyle (her father is a Yoon), and an artist, to boot.  The funny thing about my family: to put it nicely, we're old-fashioned, and to put it truthfully, we're snobs.  My father is this big politician in the monster world, and has these ideas about "preserving purity of the species," and "unsullied blood," and a whole bunch of rubbish like that.  But, having known Xen basically all my life, I feel that species or blood doesn't matter worth a darn in this world.  This difference of opinion is part of what has led to my father and I barely speaking to each other in the past two years.  And, since my relationship with him is already strained, I usually avoid bringing up Xen in conversation (since he usually starts ranting about what a bad influence she is), and certainly never call her my girlfriend.  If he knew the strength of our relationship, he would explode with rage.  And as entertaining as that would be, he would probably disinherit me first.  I like having a little money on the side for when Ishida is slow with my paycheck.

Xen, due to her Dark Fae blood, is smaller and more delicately-boned than most gargoyles, coming up to my shoulder.  She hates the fact that she looks fragile, since she is personally tough as nails.  Her hands and feet are rather big, and she can climb like a Yoon, which I think is awesome.  Other indications of her heritage are her hair, eyes, wings, and tail.  Not that there's anything odd about her having them.  But her hair is red on top, and brown on the bottom.  It looks like she dyes it, but she doesn't.  Typically she leaves it at shoulder length, which I love.  Her eyes are a beautiful shade of purple, and look huge in her small, heart-shaped face.  Xen's wings are brown and furry, and her tail has brown stripes, like a lemur.  Lastly, Xen has the healing powers of a Yoon; however, her blood and tears can only be used on gargoyles.

Without preamble, I swept Xen into a hug.  Because of our different schedules, I hardly ever got to see her.  I tried to enjoy every opportunity I got; burying my face in her hair, I inhaled the lovely scent of her wild rose shampoo.  I heard her give a small, contented sigh as her fingers played with some of the hairs on the back of my neck.  When we finally came apart, she said, "Good to see you too, Tristan."

"Thanks.  Now...what was the question again?"

Xen rolled her eyes.  "What were those people here for?"

"It's a long story.  It's a small issue with a case."  With that, I related the events of the day.

"Three weeks?"  Xen was as flabbergasted as I had been.

"I know.  But under the circumstances, it was the best deal I was likely to get out of him.  I'm thinking of having her see Doc Higgins."

"The shrink?" she asked skeptically.

"He's not that bad!  He helped Larry, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but he's had almost a year! It will take years for the kid to fully recover from this!"

"Ishida doesn't care how much recovered she is, just so long as she can talk to him about what happened."

"That heartless, cruel-" Xen stopped herself before she could call him something naughty.  I thought he deserved it, but admired her self control.

Suddenly, Xen asked me, "When did you eat last?"  She gave me a disapproving frown.

"Last night!" I protested.

"And you haven't had breakfast yet?!" Xen was horrified.  "It's almost noon!  I'll make you some soup."

"You don't have to-"

"Tristan, you are not starving yourself.  I forbid it.  Both you and Calla, when she wakes up, are going to have some food in you, if I have to break every bone in your body!"

With that, she went to the kitchen, and began digging through my cupboards.  We've known each other long enough for her to do breaches of etiquette like that.

"When is the last time you went shopping?!" she scolded.  I shrugged; typically I don't worry much about things like that when I'm working.

Despite my deficiencies in foodstuffs, Xen was able to scrounge up salt, pepper, an old can of chicken broth, and a cooking pot and spoon.  She went to her apartment, which is next door to mine (conveniently enough), and brought back celery, a green onion, soy sauce, minced garlic, ground ginger, eggs, and noodles.  Setting these down, she scrubbed down my kitchen, and then started cooking.  Soon delicious smells were emanating from the pot as she tossed in and stirred different ingredients.  As she stirred the soup, I came up behind her.  Gently I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and then stroked her neck, feeling her shiver.

"You're beautiful," I whispered in her pointed ear.  I traced her jaw with my claws.

"And you are being very distracting," Xen scolded (though she did smile).

"Sorry."  Caressing the side of her face one last time, I moved away to the sofa, so I could watch her from a distance.

Finally, the soup was done.  Xen ladled out two bowls, turned off the stove, and brought our dinner over, along with two spoons.  After saying grace, we dug in.  Let me tell you something: Xen cooks the best food I have ever eaten.  She can make the simplest meal taste like heaven, just by adding a dash of pepper, or a sprig of rosemary, or something like that.  If she weren't focused so much on her art, she could be one of the greatest culinary chefs of the monster world.  Before I knew it, my bowl was empty, and I wanted more.  I quickly went and refilled the bowl.

"Don't forget to save some for Calla," Xen admonished.

"I dunno, this is so good, we should just eat it ourselves.  She need never know."

"Tristan..." Xen gave me a no-nonsense look.  I grinned impudently, and after a moment, Xen did too.

I finished the second helping, and started to get up for thirds.  Xen caught my tail in one hand.

"Oh, no you don't, Mister Greedyguts!"

I tried to tug free, but Xen is stronger than she looks.  So instead, I turned around and scooped her up, off the sofa.  Xen gave a mild exclamation of surprise, but did not seem especially displeased.  In fact, when I lowered my face to hers, she seemed as happy as I was.

Freegans part 17

Matt
"I wonder why these boots were thrown away," said Lucy, looking at them. "They seem to be in good condition to me."
Cara gestured to the right one, which had a splash of what looked like purple nail polish on the toe(Yes, we had nail polish back at the camp. Lucy's little sisters were always putting it on). She rolled her eyes in disgust. "These consumerist people are so wasteful! It's sickening!"

We headed in the opposite direction in the pipe, away from the drop off. Cara led the way, holding Madiza's candle. I went up by her in case of any more accidents, and Madiza came behind me. Lucy and Ben were in the back. I could tell that something was on Cara's mind, because she was muttering under her breath, and her forehead was puckered with deep thought.
"If you keep doing that you'll end up like Madiza," I said. Cara smiled. It was the first time I'd seen her do that since this adventure had started.
"Well, I see a potential problem in our escape plan. Namely, food and water. Where are we supposed to get any? We can't survive in this tunnel without them. And light would also be good. This candle isn't going to last forever."
"That's more than one potential problem," I said.
"You know what I mean!"

At that moment, I noticed something up ahead. "Hey, what's that?" I asked. Cara stopped short, and peered into the darkness. Because of the sudden halt, Madiza bumped into me from behind, and it was only by the grace of God that I didn't bump into Cara.
"It's a pack!" she said. Cautiously she walked forward. It seemed normal enough. She kicked it lightly with the toe of her boot. When nothing happened, she reached out and picked it up, carefully bringing it back to us.
"Be careful," I warned, "it might have a bomb or something."
" I know that," Cara replied. The others tried to get a look, but the lack of space in the tunnel made it difficult. Finally, we managed to form a circle of sorts, and looked at the pack. It was made of burlap, and had a clasp holding it shut. With trembling fingers, Cara undid the clasp. We could not believe what we saw inside.

"Food!" said Madiza in delight. Before anyone could stop her, she grabbed a piece of bread, a roll, from the pack and stuffed it into her mouth! "Madiza!" said Lucy in shock. Ignoring her, the crazy girl chewed vigorously, then gulped it down. She grinned, showing needle-sharp teeth.
"Well," wrote Ben on his paper, "it doesn't seem like she's about to keel over and die. I suppose we could try it."
"Let's wait a minute," said Cara. After the minute was up and Madiza still hadn't exploded or turned green, we each helped ourselves to some of the food. Most of it was pretty hardy stuff, cheeses and bread, and there was even a jar of honey and some water. The water was a little warm, but nobody cared. We hadn't tasted food in a long while, and hadn't even realized how hungry we were. Madiza and Ben ate as if they had been through a three-year famine, which they pretty much had. I sat by Cara as we ate, and helped her look more through the pack.

There was also a rope, grappling hooks, and some pieces of chalk. But there was something else more intriguing.
"Paper!" said Cara in surprise. "And several pencils! It's almost as if whoever left this pack knew we would have a mute person with us!" We looked at each other. This was strange.