Gonna Make You Happy, Gonna Make it Good [Done]

[carcinoGeneticist]

For the first several weeks of her life as a Card, Aimili had a huge amount of trouble adjusting. She'd managed to pick up on quite a lot of the nuances of life, combining what she saw with the things she'd read while living under the protection of her Father-Jack. Life had slowly gotten easier, and she was beginning to find happiness in small things.

Right now, for instance, she was delighting over the discovery of a bag filled with cupcakes that someone had left sitting on a bench.

Aimili had stared at it for some time, waiting to see if its rightful owner would return and claim it while the scent of chocolate had wafted its way to her nose all the while. Her nose was so much stronger, now. She could smell that they had dark chocolate frosting and chocolate chips lining the outer edge of the cake. She could smell that they'd been baked very recently and were still hot out of the oven, perfect in every way. It had been enough to make her tail wag and her mouth water, though she tried to stop both. It wasn't that she was starving, no, simply that it had been what felt like forever since she'd last had a really amazing meal.

And when no one claimed the cupcakes, she was quick to jump on the possibility.

The hound carried the bag back to the box she'd been living in for the last several days, her tail wagging harder and harder with each step. She flopped down inside, knocking the bag over with a paw and rolling a cake out. It tasted better than it smelled, and when it was all gone, the girl sighed contentedly.

Then, without knowing why, she sniffled. Then a tear rolled down her cheek. Then, without warning, she started to cry fully.

The emotions that went through her head were wildly complicated. Before this moment, Aimili's life had been a wild rush, and she'd never really felt she had a chance to sit down and actually consider things.

She knew that the change, whatever it was, however it had happened, was for the best. She had thousands of things she'd never even dared to dream of having while she'd lived in her Father's warren, and especially not during her breif stint living with Dorian. That Jack had stared at her in a way that made her feel like a pretty dress, or even a delicious snack, something to be owned. She had free will now, could make her own choices. She never had to fear an abrupt change to a sexually-mature Doe who wouldn't have an option who she bedded. She could walk through the streets and smile at people. She didn't have to be afraid that someone who wasn't a hound would panic at the sight of her.

But she'd lost something even more important: her family.

[The Jenn]

Jak had been watching her for about two hours. He'd first bumped into her on his way down the street. Literally. He'd nearly stepped on her tail as he walked by in his bipedal Corvie form and turned around to apologize good-naturedly when he really got an eye for what he'd almost stepped on.

Highland. Bones. Canine. The spine had made him stare. The legs had made him dance inside. The red and swirls and pretty little mane had just been icing on a very unexpected, very surprising cake. Damn it all, but she was pretty. She looked so much like so many things he loved. He couldn't not follow her. And Jak was built to stalk.

He'd changed bodies maybe four or five times over the last two hours, ducking into unoccupied and inconspicuous little spaces to do it. He'd followed her down a few streets, watched her talk to someone, and then staked out her stakeout of the cupcakes. A scavenger. Something inside of his chest soared. She was a scavenger. And she had excellent taste. Chocolate. Mmm.

When she moved, he moved, following her down a back alley in the Outer Bazaar and turning into a reptile with sticky feet to climb the wall. It was a handy trick that he had employed many a time before. He stayed still, eyes glued to her like a good little stalker, and when she started to cry it broke something in his heart. The poor little thing was unhappy.

He skittered down the wall, shifting fluidly into a Highland canine as soon as he hit the bottom. For good measure, he grew his own bone tails beneath the natural canine one of the body and slapped a quick Five of Hearts on his chest. Then he padded over in animal form and whined good-naturedly to announce his presence. "Oh, heeey there. What's the sense in crying? It's okay. Nothing to be sad about, not when I'm around." He moved in quickly to nose her cheek, and then lick it without waiting for a response. "I wanna make you feel so happy. I could make you feel so good. You have no idea. I'm good at making people happy. Hey now, stop crying. You'll see. It'll be greeeat. You'll love it. C'mon now. Shh. Here, have a hug."

With a creepy, 'reassuring' little giggle, he shifted his butt so that his bone tails could wrap around her middle. It was a hug of sorts, but it would also be pretty hard to get out of easily if she was so inclined. He couldn't let that happen. Not now. Not yet. He had to know more about her. He had to.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Aimili was fairly wrapped up in her feeling sorry for herself, and she didn't notice that she was being watched. In fact, she didn't even notice Jak's approach until he whined, and then she looked up at him with a start. Her brown eyes went somewhat wide and she hurriedly wiped at her face with the back of a bony paw. The sight of the other dog's coat made something in her chest tighten somewhat... It made her think of her father, the Czar, and her siblings... The fact that the stranger had tails made of bone only made her stare harder. Was he a Hisstor/Highland mix as well?

Of course, then she spied his rank mark. Red. That was something that made her heart skip a beat, and not for joy. Weren't Hearts supposedly nasty? She was a Club, she knew that was the lowest of the low, and her ranking wasn't high either... She subconsciously dropped her head so that her long and floppy ears would partially obscure her pitch-black marking. She was trying to think of something to say when the stranger closed in on her, utterly disregarding her personal space, and... rambling at her.

He had Highland colors and bone tails, but... Was he insane? The hair on Aimili's neck raised slightly. How was she supposed to defend herself, should he try something? She whimpered quietly, then closed her mouth.

"I-I'm not sad, really,[/b]" she whimpered abruptly, forcing herself to smile at the stranger. Was she in danger? It was starting to seem more and more likely. She was Vikenti's daughter but she lacked the man's strength. "Just a little homesick, but thanks, really.[/b]"

Of course, she had to wonder if he even heard her. The next thing Aimili knew she was being offered a hug and, without accepting, his bony tails were wrapping themselves around her in an extremely creepy way and her hackles raised again. All the same, she lightly draped her paws around him for the briefest moment then tried to withdraw, giving him a smile that was ruined by the way her eyebrows furrowed. Was he going to just let her go? "But.. thanks for noticing. Really.[/b]" go away go away go away

[The Jenn]

Jak didn't notice the raised hackles, too busy leaning into the canine in a manner he would have found comforting and most others would have found a terrible invasion of anything remotely resembling personal space. He grinned reassuringly and panted a little. The body just prompted the action, a very canine thing to do. "Oh, reeeeally? I can feel you there. I hated being away from home. It was aaawful. All better now, a'course. So where do you come from then, pretty bony Highland lady?"

He glanced at her face in passing... and then paused to look at it more closely. Huh. That didn't look entirely good, which made sense with her crying. She was just trying to be strong, wasn't she? Well. She needed to be happy, not strong.

"Teeeell you what," he said brightly, the furry canine tail on his behind giving a thump. "You're homesick and I'm home. And you're hungry and I've got a little extra money. Whyyy don't I take you out for a snack! Those cupcakes seemed to make you pretty darn happy. I bet some kabobs would be good. Or pie. Or chicken. Or whatever you want. There's tooons of places to get food around here. How about that, huh? Get something to eat? Make you smile?" His grin was something to make you edge back in your seat, except for the fact that he meant it all.

The bones. The Highland. It all reminded him so much of Treasa, and of himself. But they didn't have hound in the family, they had coyote. Then again, he hadn't thought they'd had bird in the family, but then the Highlander showed up at Grandpa's house. Maybe they did have hound? Could she possibly be some sort of family? And if she wasn't... could she be anyway? Could something like that work? He didn't know. Huh.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Oh, and it really was a terrible invasion of personal space! Aimili felt herself trying to edge away from the bizzare person, worry in her eyes. She didn't want to offend him, so she felt as if she was at a loss of sorts - how could she get away from him without making him upset? Really, he was being sweet, but it was in a hideously creepy way, like she'd heard some Jacks would act towards their Leverets. All the hound could do was try and swallow the anxiety she was feeling, or at least mask it as best as she could.

"You had to leave your family, too?[/b]" she asked, vaguely aware of how stupid it sounded. Of course he did, they were both adults, and it seemed like moving out of home when you grew up was a shared custom for both Rabbits and Cards. Her ears moved back, an outward sign of the displeasure she was feeling. "And, oh.. I grew up in the Highlands.[/b]" that was a safe answer, right? She just hoped he didn't ask why she'd gone so far if she clearly didn't want to. That was where things got... sticky.

When he started speaking in that utterly bizzare manner of his, Aimili felt as if she was shrinking inside of her skin as every muscle itched to slide away from him as he slid closer. She did lean her head back as soon as he leaned forward, trying to protect her personal bubble as best she could. As he spoke, however, she wasn't able to keep her tail (which was between her legs, for reasons she couldn't quite voice) from giving a slight wag in return. Food. How long had it been since she'd had a proper meal? The cupcake had been a wonderful treat, but the thought of actual food almost made her start to pant. She swallowed, hard, trying to push the dreams of a meal out of her mind.

"Well...[/b]" she began, biting her lip and almost yelping when she was forcibly reminded that a hound's teeth were sharp. She really wanted to get away from the creepo, but she didn't want to see what would happen if she upset him. He was a higher rank than her, too... Wasn't she supposed to follow his orders, almost like she had to listen to Heike back in the Warren? "I guess that would be nice, yeah. As long as I'm not imposing. I wouldn't want to make you feel like you have to go out of the way just because I was having a bad day.[/b]"

She was crossing her fingers inwardly, hoping the man would decide he had better things to spend his money on and leave her with her box and her cupcakes.

[The Jenn]

Skittish scavenger. She looked like she'd needed cheering up for a long time now. Maybe he could make headway? Jak certainly hoped so. Everyone deserved to be happy. Everyone needed to be happy. Especially when they looked... so much like home.

"Weeeell, more like my family left me. On a mountain. With my brother. Five days away. When I was a kid. And then I didn't see them for a decade." He grinned, unphased by all of this because it had happened and everything had turned out so well. Sort of. Or maybe it was getting better. Something like that. Whatever.

He shook himself, an odd motion so close to her that might have jerked her a little bit with his tails around her torso. "Sorry," he muttered sheepishly, grinning in apology. She still looked unhappy, and not all that used to people, or at least not to his kind of people. Maybe just to him. "You feeling okay? I think some food's just what you need. I know what it's like, hunting for scraps and bits from the trash and eeeeverything you can find that might be edible. Had to do that for most of my life. You get preeeetty damn good at it. Now I can buy food. It's pretty neat. C'mon. Everybody needs a pick me up, and today's your day to get picked up. Smile?"

Standing, he looked at her with a hopeful expression on his face, red eyes fixed on hers.

[carcinoGeneticist]

For a moment, the worry in Aimili's eyes was replaced with genuine shock. As she'd been raised by a Hisstor mother, she'd always felt that there was nothing at all more important than family. She'd left because she had no other options avaliable to her, and because her father would have killed her had she stayed any longer than absolutely necissary. It wasn't out of love for her, it was an issue of honor, but all the same, it stung. But what the bizzare man was describing... It was beyond belief.

Abandoned. Left to die, just a child, knowing nothing about his family for a full decade. It was awful. "I... Oh. I'm so sorry,[/b]" she said, the words springing forth before she even realized she'd said it. Perhaps if she kept this information in mind, she'd be able to act more kindly towards the weird man?

When the tails jostled her, her mouth fell open and she let out a squeak-whine, a completely involuntary response to the sudden movement. He apologized, but he still wasn't letting her go... She couldn't help but feel tense with the wondering of what, exactly, he wanted with her.

Really, he was probably right. How long had it been since her belly had really been full? Food would do her a world of good, but it wouldn't do a thing when it came to helping her relax around the pure Highlander. When he finished speaking and backed off slightly, she raised her head, brown eyes meeting red with a somewhat confused expression. He was being kind, he really was, but for some reason it was hard for her to accept that. And it made sense, really, that he'd try to help, especially if he'd had a hard time when he'd been younger.

It took some time, but she found the energy inside of herself to pull her lips into a smile, her tail giving another small wag. "Yeah. Okay, we can get some food. I appreciate it. I'm sure I'll feel better once I eat. Probably have low blood sugar.[/b]"

[The Jenn]

Oh, and just look at those eyes. They were so hesitant! Maybe she hadn't been shown much kindness in the world. He'd been so lucky, what with Amhal and then Dell and Sa in his life. People loved him and his brother cared for him, and it made him feel all warm and squelchy inside like a fruit that had been left in the sun for too long. Mmm, squishy fruit.

But no, she'd need something fresher! He beamed in his creepy way, red eyes holding hers for long than was probably sane. "Woooonderful. I know this place, the food's cheap and there's a lot of it and they give you free bread and water and butter with all of it. 'cept the butter I sooo need to take home with me. Somebody else loves butter, and since they aren't coming, weeell... it's only nice. Right?" He beamed again, the manic happiness seeming quite normal for the canine, and bounced a little. "I'll feed you some sugar, and make you feel better. That's what's reeeally important. You gotta feel better. You got a nice tail."

Already standing, he encouraged her with tugging and noises and general capering to come with him. As they started to move, his tails would loosen and eventually fall away, but only so that he could dance around her as they walked with seemingly boundless energy. They would end up in a little diner about a three minute walk from her alley, the smells of sizzling grease rising from the air like mana from heaven. "Whaddaya want?" he asked her with a giggle.

[carcinoGeneticist]

What could Aimili say? She knew she needed food and she knew she needed to show this higher-ranked insane person respect. She really didn't want to piss him off and risk being injured in some way, but even worse than that would be the loss of food because she was somehow insensitive. Her stomach was growling just at the thought of something good... When he mentioned her tail she froze for a second, confused. Of all the additions she'd obtained since her... change, her tail was her least favorite of them all. She missed the little cotton-tuff she'd had once before. Having him call attention to the new one forced her to stop and think.

Why would he have mentioned it? It had been wagging (something else she found awkward)... so all she could guess was that he'd wanted to see it wag more. Another meek smile made its way onto her face and she lowered her ears, forcing her tail to thump once more against the ground. "I.. uh, thanks.[/b]" That was the right thing to say when you were complimented, right? "I guess I never really noticed it since... well, it's been on my butt for all my life.[/b]"

Lie.

When tugged, Aimili followed almost obediently, letting him talk all the while and simply nodding and hmn-ing when it was appropriate for her to do so. In some ways the strange Card reminded her of her own mother, doting and sweet and utterly overbearing. The only difference was that Aimili had known her mother and recognized that the woman's insanity wasn't dangerous, for the most part. With this Highland canine she really had no idea. All the same, when the smell of food wafted into her nose she began to hurry slightly, no longer caring about the tails that waved just next to her, seeming to wait to snap her up. All she could focus on was how hungry she felt.

When he spoke again she stared at him, swallowing when she realized she'd actually been drooling a little. How utterly repulsive! But the food did smell good...

"What are you gonna have?[/b]" she finally asked, blinking at him and forcing herself to grin. Since she didn't know what kind of food they served and had a questionable if not non-existant knowledge of how to read the common tongue of Cards. Maybe she could base her decision off what he had.

[The Jenn]

Not at all noticing the lie, Jak's grin nearly split his face with its intensity. This was wonderful. Fantastic, even. He got her out of the box and into the street and in front of the diner and it was all going great so far! She was even drooling! That was a good sign. He drooled sometimes when he was super excitedly happy or hungry. It was the dog. His tails rattled in an awkwardly bizarre wag, the normal Highland canine tail just along for the ride.

And she was grinning too! Schwee! "Ohhh, Iiiii dunno. Maybe something with lots of meat. And gravy." Teeny points of drool formed at the corners of his mouth as he thought about it. "They make reeeeally good gravy here. You can get it on potatoes and meatloaf and it's soooo good. Not rancid. The meat never is here, except when you find it in the dumpster out back and you know it's been baaaaking for a while in the hot sun." He spoke with the confidence of experience.