Children Will Be Children [Finished]

[Kari Muffin]

It was a very rare for the little girl to be on the ball, but in the moment she actually knew exactly what was going on. Well, rather she was actually grounded in reality. With confused expression she glanced around. Hadn't she just been playing with the boys? Or was that just her imagination? Oh no. Had she hallucinated the entire game they were playing?

The girl peered around the fountain. Was anyone around to play with her? Where were her brothers? A worried mew escaped her as she slowly made her way around the corner.

She was hungry. That was nothing new. The little girl's frown deepened as she looked around. Were they playing hide and seek? "Guuuuuuys," she called out, her tail twitching in mild agitation.

When there was no immediate answer the girl flopped down rather miserably. Had they left her alone? That was mean. "Guys... I give up!"

[carcinoGeneticist]

From behind his hiding space, Enkidu listened.

Hide and seek. It probably wasn't nice to make Kamina seek, but he and Simun had both wanted to hide, and... It didn't seem fair to always let her hide, when most of the time she would just end up wandering off... Now, however, he was presented with a totally new conundrum. There was no way for him to be sure that his sister wasn't just cheating and trying to get them to give themselves away, or if she was really having trouble. She'd been pretty out of it when they'd started, but they'd made it through a few rounds of play just fine...

Slowly, he dropped to the ground, creeping forward as quietly as he could manage.

From the other side of the courtyard, Simun also heard his sister's bewildered cries. He had much the same thoughts as his brother, but when she announced she had given up, he made his way down out of the window he'd crawled up in to hide, little wings flapping out of sheer instinct. "Kamina? Kaaaaamina, I'm right here! We were playing hide 'n seek, remember?"

He approached the fountain, giving his sister a broad and reassuring smile as soon as she was in view. Was she having that weird thing happen again?

[Kari Muffin]

She jumped slightly when her name was called. Glancing around for the source of the voice. Her ears pulled back. So she hadn't hallucinated the game, and now she had ruined all of their fun. Good going.

"Sorry, no... no I don't remember really," she said with a frustrated sigh. Of course as she did so she expelled quite a few bog gasses from her mouth, creating a rather nice hazy in front of her. She ignored it as she padded forward.

"I didn't mean to ruin the game," she said after a moment. She was looking around the garden, her ears straining for any sound of her other brother. Was he going to stay hidden or was he going to come out too? Maybe they could play another game? Her tail curled as she continued to walk, glancing around at her surroundings.

Her stomach growled rather loudly. She looked to Simun, taking a seat as she did. "Does Enkidu still want me to find him? Because I think I forgot to eat again."

[carcinoGeneticist]

As he crept ever steadily forward, padding through the thick undergrowth, Enkidu had to hold his breath once or twice to keep from sneezing or making any other noises. Leaves and branches combed through his fur and feathers, poking him strangely and making him twitch. Once or twice, they brushed across his face and almost poked his eyes, and he had to force himself not to jump. He was a hunter. He was quiet, stealthy, hidden. His siblings didn't seem to have noticed him just yet, which meant that the game was very much still on.

Even if they didn't realize it. That part didn't seem quite so important, though, because they'd come to that understanding soon enough. One more careful step forward.

The other kitten was being just as observant as his brother, but in a very different way. Where Enkidu's focus was latched on not being noticed, Simun wanted to make sure that he was. Sometimes, Kamina didn't seem to fully realize he was there or talking to her, and then she could get startled. He always felt badly when he did that, so he eyed her carefully as he finished closing the distance between them. She had a look in her eyes that usually meant that she was awake, so that was good. His posture relaxed ever so slightly. "Aww, don't feel bad, it's okay." He said as he paused beside her, bumping his nose against hers in an affectionate gesture. The smell of her and Bog was normal, almost comforting, and he sighed softly as he took in the heady gasses.

After a moment, he raised his head as well, glancing around. He didn't see his brother anywhere just yet, which meant that the King was probably working on sneaking up on them. Simun's ears twitched, and he glanced back at his sister. "He... uh, probably does, yeah." He had to consider her next statement. "..It has been a little while since breakfast, and you didn't really seem hungry then... I bet we can find something?"

[Kari Muffin]

Kamina's ears twitched as her brother spoke, trying to hear other things besides him. Shouldn't they be able to hear where their brother was? Normally he was the loud one... Her tail flopped on the ground unenthusiastically. What mess had she gotten herself into. "Okay..." she said after a moment of looking at her brother with a frown. She would try not to feel bad, but it was hard not to when they let her play with them and she just... failed at it.

"I didn't? I normally don't have a big breakfast anyway...." she eyed the bushes besides her. He could be anywhere in the garden, and she didn't know where to start. No matter how hard she strained to hear for something quiet that could be her other brother her wheezing got in the way. Hide and seek wasn't really a fun game. It just got her jumpy and paranoid when she was coherent, and when she wasn't it just...

"Do you think he's going to spring a trap on us?"

[carcinoGeneticist]

Normally, silence was difficult for Enkidu. He liked to laugh and yell and blow off steam by running and stomping and generally having a good time. But when he had a mission in mind, the young hybrid was well aware of the blood that pumped through his veins.

Spy. Espionage. Silent, sneaking, unseen by all. His grandmother would have been proud. One paw in front of the other, Enkidu crept up on Simun and Kamina, slinking so low to the ground that he could feel the dirt scraping across his belly. The distance was closing - ten feet, then seven, then five, and... That was close enough for now. He wanted to hear what his brother's response to Kamina's question was going to be. Then, he could respond apropriately. Black-tufted ears panned forward, eagerly seeking out whatever words they could.

Sometimes, when his sister was like this, it made Simun feel sad. Not because he liked it better when she was out of her mind and off wherever it was that mom sometimes went, no... But because sometimes, she just seemed so scared. He wanted to try and help her feel better, but he wasn't sure how best to accomplish that sometimes beyond simply attempting to not make a big deal out of things. So he smiled reassuringly again, his purple eyes betraying no worry, and bumped lightly against her again. "Nope, so we didn't think anything of it at the time. Just means we should really get food, right?"

Her next comment gave the kitten pause, one ear twitching as he considered it. Knowing their brother... He was probably close by, listening to every word. "...Yeah, probably." He said, giving a small nod of his head.

A second later, their sibling had stepped out from his hiding place, head held high. "I wouldn't do that! The game was off, who do you think I am?!" His ears folded back as he feigned anger to try and hide his embarrassment. Damnit, Simun. He'd ruined everything again. "I was.. I was just looking for you. What are we gonna do now?"

[Kari Muffin]

Kamina was always slightly terrified when she "came to her senses." One minute she was in her own little world contemplating the oddness of the thinglyness of the thing, and the next moment something was happening right in front of her. Sometimes she was in the middle of the kitchen with one of the staff members hovering over her and offering her chocolate or sometimes she was in a middle of a game with her brothers.

Her stomach reminded her that she was hungry. She nodded at her brother, "Yes, it does."

Her ears snapped forward at Simun's comment concerning Enkidu. That was what she had been afraid of.

So when Enkidu popped out of the bushes, she shouldn't have jumped. Of course she did, even if it was only slightly. Actually jumping probably would have snapped her back. That was a horrible thought.

"Then why were you hiding in the bushes?" She said as her tail puffed up in protest. She gave her brother a disapproving look before actually answering his question. A rare occurrence. "We're going to get food. I'm hungry."

[carcinoGeneticist]

What a pair of stick-in-the-muds Enkidu was forced to call siblings. He stared down at the two of them, his eyes beginning to narrow. He really wanted to tackle Simun and wrestle him to the ground, but if he wasn't careful, he'd accidentally tear his wing-membranes, and then Mommy would probably spank him. Again.

The tackling would wait, then, until they were somewhere more cushioned perhaps. He turned his attention back to his sweet sister, the smile returning to his face. As an idea came into his mind, the smile widened into a grin, and his ears stood perfectly straight on his head. It was pretty much the picture of "wickedness in a child", but that was something Enkidu prided himself on. "You know.. what would be even more fun than that?" he began, his voice a slow drawl as he tried to keep his amusement from showing too much. "We could try to sneak food out of the kitchens. That way, the scrubber-boy doesn't try to smoke you, Kamina. Then we can eat in Daddy's room."

There was that look again. It was the look that said something bad was probably going to happen. Simun's ears flipped back, and he glanced at Kamina and then back to Enkidu. "Well uh... Keeping away from the scrubber-boy is good and all, but can't you and I just go get food to keep Kamina away from him?" He swallowed, tucking his tail against his belly. "And then.. why would we eat in Daddy's room? You know he doesn't like us in there... Sometimes he's got company.."

[Kari Muffin]

Kamina eyed Enkidu, her ears pulling back at his suggestion. She had to admit it sounded fun but she wasn't very good at sneaking. And really she could just kick the scrubber-boy in the stomach like that one time. And why would they want to eat in Daddy's room? What if someone was there?

Though.... it might be nice to visit Daddy.

"I think... sneaking is impossible especially for me," She said with a small sigh. As she sighed she expelled some of the gasses, the fumes curling upwards. She could "stalk things" sure, but her smell wasn't something she could hide, and it wasn't like she could run like her brothers. So if they got caught she was the one who would be thrown to the kitchen staff. And sometimes she really hated the kitchen staff. "And I don't want to deal with the scrubber-boy, but I am hungry.and... If we knock before going into Daddy's room and bring him a snack he probably wouldn't mind a visit."

Unless someone was with him.

"Maybe we should bring two snacks."

[carcinoGeneticist]

Hmm. As much of a stick-in-the-mud as his sister was, Kamina had a point. Enkidu fell quiet for a moment as he thought, lightly tapping his talons against the ground. This would call for a completely different strategy, but the pieces were slowly falling into place in the boy's mind. He turned bright orange eyes to his sister, listening to her and even giving a little nod to show he was listening. Which he wasn't, not entirely, but that was only because his brain was going to other places and figuring out how best to work this.

"What if.. we sent you in as a diversion, Kamina?" His eyes shone brightly as he spoke. "Like you said, you aren't good at sneaking, but that's ok. You can distract everyone while Simun and I gather up snacks. If we sneak it, we can get better snacks than they would give us."

The other kitten made a dismayed noise at being included in the plans, but said nothing else. His expression positively radiated displeasure, however, the tip of his tail lashing from where it was tucked between his legs. "C'mon, what's the point of making her be the diversion? You know they're just gonna try to smoke her..."

The Eagle-Cat rounded on his brother, his grin spreading from ear to ear. "That's exactly right. And once you have all the food, I'll go yell at them all for doing it. They'll be so scared that I'm gonna tell Mommy that they'll just give us whatever we want, even better than whatever we've already smuggled out! Then we can bring that to Daddy and his guest, so it'll be sure to go well!" He puffed out his chest, positively beaming with pride.

Simun went quiet for a moment, and then his ears unflattened. Huh. Maybe that would work. The kitten gave his sister a sidelong glance.