So We Meet Again [Dark] *FINISHED!*

[seraaches]

It was a dream come true…. She strode through the library on hind legs, able to choose any book from anywhere with ease. Kelasia nearly shuddered in delight, a rare emotion to fully wash off of her, but… wow! Her bipedal form was simply a gamble to try and stay near Theofilus, which, she briefly mused worriedly, taking her lower lip between her teeth, was so far a failing prospect. Her wonderfully, handsome and kind employer had been picked for a quest by the Queen of Hearts and the man had changed somehow. Kel was worried enough about him that for a moment she forgot about her wonderful books. If only there was some way she could help Theofilus.

But she had no ideas. A small sigh and Kel shook her head, echoing an attempt to shake off her despondency. No, no. She was going to think of something to help, some way to make herself useful. She nodded and went back to her perusal. Psychology, sociology, relationships, and communications were all the topics she was checking today with only the briefest of sidelines to grab a book on Bandersnatches. In fact, the pet shelves were the ones she stood at now, her other books in arms, as she looked for something about the basic care of a Bander.

[Dark]

Mnemosyne had been making noise all week about tidying up the apartment, and Minh had made sure on the foretold day to be up an hour earlier that Mnemosyne woke up—four hours earlier than was Minh’s norm—and slip out the door to sweet, sweet freedom while she still could. Of course, taking into account Mnemosyne’s ability to track her down wherever she might have hidden was rather discouraging.

So in what Minh hoped was a spectacular manifestation of cunning, she went back to where all of the madness had begun—the library—and hoped for the best. Besides, she’d been meaning to get back to the library for awhile now—considering her last stretch of research had met a premature end in light of new friends—but she and Mnemosyne had been so busy that last few weeks with stalking people and experiments and packing for their cross-country journey that she’d never gotten around to it.

Considering the latest fiasco with Monty, she headed in the direction of the Bandersnatch books only to discover she was not alone in her interest.

She’d never been particularly good with names, but she never forgot a face—even if that face had apparently gained the ability to transform into a bipedal form since the last time they had met. She racked around in her substantially full mind for a moment, and struck gold.

“Kelasia?”

[seraaches]

Kelasia jumped in surprise at the sound of her name and turned, her tail tucking close to her legs. This posture is all that saved her books from hitting the floor; the two heavy psychology books and only slightly slimmer sociology book instead plopped down onto her rather fluffy tail before one of them slid down and she smothered the other two with her free hand into her fur.

”Oh! H-hi… Minh…” The two females had made such a strong impression on her at their first meeting there was no way she could ever forget them. ”H-how are you? Where’s Mnem?” She thought the pair had agreed to go and live together, but she wasn’t certain. A moment of panic and she hoped she hadn’t made some sort of faux pas already.

She quickly stacked the Bander book she had on top of the two books on her tail so she could reach down and pick up the last one.

[Dark]

Kelasia was looking rather spectacular in her new form; bipedal suited her. The transformation process had always been something of a curiosity for Minh, though she’d never really looked fully into the matter as her main field of study lay in a slightly different direction. From what Minh understood of it, the ability to do so was already within the base code—the process was simply some sort of mental trigger; an otherwise unneeded muscle that one could learn, through patience, to flex at will. To know the real truth behind the art of transfiguration, however, she would have to buckle down and figure it out herself. And the effort required to do such seemed excessive. The added dexterity of thumbs could be beneficial in her work, though.

But, yes. There had been a question in there somewhere. Right.

“Mnem? No idea, really, but wherever she is it’s probably being spent in a frothing rage—I ditched her earlier this morning to avoid a fate worse than death. Can you believe she was going to make me clean?”

Seriously; and people thought she was mad.

[seraaches]

Kelasia gave a soft sigh of relief that she hadn’t messed up with the feline already. She really wanted the two females she’d met to like her. She hoped to be friends, even though she hadn’t had a chance to see them again. With this random encounter, perhaps there was a chance that they could meet up more often. That brought a swift stab of hope through the skunk’s body. It would be so wonderful to have some real female friends. Right now she only really spoke with Rogers and he was her coworker.

Minh’s reason for being in the library surprised and amused her. ”You don’t like to clean?” she queried softly. ”Does Mnem like to clean then?” It made sense to her that wotever one didn’t do, the other should. She brushed back some silvered locks from her pale gaze and readjusted the books in her hands. She briefly wondered if Minh had her bipedal form; it seemed logical that the scientist would have it.

[Dark]

“I don’t know if she likes to clean; it seems more like of an undeniable compulsion with her, really.”

And it was true. Mnemosyne eluded the aura of someone with far more important things to be doing with her time, but she’d been practically itching to clean Minh’s apartment since she’d first walked through the front door. Personally, Minh didn’t see anything wrong with the place—she knew where everything of importance was, and that’s the only thing that really mattered. Mnemosyne and she, however, apparently had very differing opinions.

It might have something to do with the semi-sentient dust mites that had taken to following Mnem around, but Minh couldn’t ever be too sure.

Steering her thoughts in a more Kelasia-oriented direction, she regarded some of the books the skunk was caring, “Bit of light reading, eh?”

[seraaches]

Kel didn’t really mind cleaning; it helped her clear her mind and get her rampant emotions back under control. Of course, she’d never seen Minh’s home and it was unlikely she’d like that much cleaning. The skunk happily kept her two rooms up above the office clean and that was good enough for her.

Kelasia glanced down at her subject choices and flushed slightly, staring at them rather than the Corvistowne female as she answered. ”Oh, well… yes… Sort of. I just… wanted to do some research.” She wouldn’t answer about why she was so interested in psychology; Theofilus’ business was his own and no one else’s. Time for a convenient subject change! ”Wot brought you out here today, Minh?” the skunk asked quietly. ”Do you have some research to do as well or are you here for personal reading?” If she recalled the females correctly, the black feline should be fairly easy to redirect to other, safer channels.

[Dark]

Her business? Hiding, mostly. But since she’d been in the neighborhood she’d thought she would peruse the library’s selection of books in regards to breeding bandersnatches for particular traits, anything on genetic markers, and whatever else might look useful. After the fiasco with Monty, Minh wasn’t particularly keen on repeating the experience anytime soon. Dynamite, indeed.

Of course, she couldn’t exactly tell Kelasia that, could she? Minh had no idea what the skunk’s stance was on bander rights, and she really didn’t need the CftDToB (Cards for the Decent Treatment of Banders) knocking on her door; with all the other drama going on with her life that would be an absolute nightmare.

Cover story, cover story…

After careful deliberation, and a small bit of inspiration from one of the books Kelasia was holding, Minh answered.

“I’m doing a little bit of research on banders. Mnemosyne could really benefit from having a little furball in her life, and I was thinking about getting her one as a surprise.”

Smooth, Minh. Smooth.

[seraaches]

Kelasia was unaware of Minh’s careful and very smooth plotting before answering the question, though the pause went on long enough that the skunk was briefly afraid that she had somehow offended the Corvistowneian. However, the feline answered in an easy enough tone that the Sorgaire Ranger relaxed again.

”This library has a very good selection of books on banders,” Kel replied brightly. This was the perkiest she’d been since they’d all met for the first time. Her love for books and research came through despite her innate and nearly overwhelming shyness. She quickly turned back to the shelf to gesture around. ”Wot about Banders are you looking for in particular?” the skunk asked as her glance slid across the titles. ”I have one here about basic care; I haven’t looked at it yet, but the author has been a breeder for nearly twenty years. You can always look at this one. Hrms, here’s some about breedings and one with a treatise on genetics I heard was really good. These are the general information books.” She bit her lip, trying to stem a need to flood the feline with questions. ”And there’s always the option of going and meeting with Ashwin to ask questions; he’s the local supplier.”

Actually, Kel really DID want to go meet with Ashwin, but she was too shy and fearful to do it on her own.

[Dark]

Minh picked up the treatise on bander-genetics, and hummed faintly as way of reply. From just briefly flipping through it looked like it could be a beneficial reference guide; maybe with this to refer to she could avoid the massively dangerous tampering that had led to the creation of Monty. Of course, after that first potentially lethal misunderstanding there had been some progress—with the help of enough tranquilizers to take out an equine—and with Mnemosyne’s subtle manipulation Monty might turn out to be something other than a lost cause.

The information of a local supplier was welcome, though Minh wasn’t sure how willingly he’d let his beloved little fluff-for-brains pass into the hands of Minh if he actually knew what she planned to do with her new breeding stock. Still, it would be worth looking into once she and Mnemosyne returned from their walkies about the kingdom.

“Ashwin, eh?”