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Post by Lucca on Jan 23, 2010 16:26:15 GMT -5
A young Coyote, no more than four or five years old, peered once again over the edge of his bed at the door. Hoping that any minute now, his Mother would appear through that door, hopefully with a nice, steaming plate of food in her hands. He stared at the door intently for several minutes, barely moving a muscle, and then his ears went back and he sighed quietly. Tail drooping, he hopped off the edge of the bed, abandoning the picture book that he'd been looking at. He turned back to look at the other form on the bed, another young coyote who was nearly identical to himself, except for being female. (And a lower Rank, but at this age, he wasn't even really aware of Rank, for the most part, except where it concerned titled nobility). " I don't think she's coming," he said, his voice gruff and a little low for one so young. The look in his eyes was resigned, as if this wasn't the first time that he'd been expecting someone to come who hadn't. It looked like they'd have to fend for themselves again as far as supper was concerned, but that was all right. He'd make it all right. For her sake.
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 23, 2010 16:46:56 GMT -5
Laika watched her brother watch the door, ignoring the stuffed toy in front of her that she'd been systematically shredding for the half hour in favor of the staring match. Eventually, her brother lost and she sighed. It would've been nice if it had worked. "Yeah," she agreed with a disappointed sigh. Sometimes Mom forgot the little things. She got distracted. Eventually somebody would notice they were hungry, but then they would be too hungry. And she didn't want to wait that long. Tossing her dismembered chew toy off the bed with one deft swing of her head, she stood up and hopped down next to him. Her mane got in her face and she shook until it stopped being stupid. The door was open. That was a good start. She stood on her hind legs and mouthed at the knob until it finally turned instead of making her teeth slide from all the spit. As soon as it was open, her tail started to wag. She looked back at her brother. "Kitchens or dining room or bother somebody?"
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Post by Lucca on Jan 23, 2010 17:07:24 GMT -5
Arkady moved with his sister as she opened the door, feeling a bit bad he hadn't been able to help beyond pawing at it once the knob was turned, but he was fairly...uncoordinated sometimes, and opening door knobs was a bit beyond him. He was working on it. In the meantime...he cocked his head to the side, considering. His tail was as still as ever, but his ears did perk slightly at the thought of food. His stomach was gnawing at him unhappily, like an angry...oh, what were those animals called?...Banders? Yeah...
"Kitchens," he said with a decisive nod. He didn't feel like bothering anyone, and the dining room was just as likely to be too crowded and noisy and messy. He moved a bit closer to his sister as they moved out the door, just a bit in front; he had some sort of ingrained protective instinct towards her, specifically, among his siblings. Yellow eyes scanned the hall quickly. Nope. Still no sign of anyone.
He knew that Mother did her best...she loved them, he knew, it was just...yeah, she forgot sometimes. It was just the Way Things Are, and Arkady rarely bothered being upset by it. Or at least, he tried not to be, though it did make him just a bit...sad...
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 23, 2010 17:14:33 GMT -5
Content to trot slightly behind her brother, Laika glanced along the empty hallways and frowned. It was dinner time, so lots of people were busy eating and not walking around. She could smell the food a little bit through the flowers, especially the really smelly stuff like the herbs, and it made her stomach growl.
Kitchens it was. They'd gone there for their own food more than once. The staff knew the kinds of things they weren't allowed to eat, which was a shame. Eating cake for dinner and then the rest of it for dessert would have made a lot more sense to her, since the cake was what she liked best. And then there were the green things. Sometimes they disguised the green by throwing in some yellow or some white or some orange, but she wasn't fooled.
It smelled like there was a lot of meat in the air, though, and that made her happy. Her tain continued to swing back and forth with each step, anticipation of dinner combined with happiness to be out of their room. It got boring sometimes.
"Betsy gives good treats," she commented. The old cat was sympathetic to their plight and seemed to like spoiling children, which was great if you were a child. She didn't give dessert early, but she gave it big afterward. "And less veggie. We should try to get it from her first."
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Post by Lucca on Jan 23, 2010 17:30:06 GMT -5
As they walked, Arkady watched his large puppy paws, ears perked for the gentle sound of their footfalls...trying to match his steps to his sister's exactly. It just felt more...right that way. More safe. His mood generally lifted as he could scent the food on the air too...and though he couldn't yet put a name to any of the dishes, his sensitive nose could pick out what each one was. He labelled them "Good", "Okay" and "Bad", depending on how they tasted. The grown ups tended to like to use different labels, like "Healthy" and "Not Healthy".
Arkady wasn't entirely sure what these meant, other than that "Healthy" foods were rarely "Good", and that "Good" foods were rarely "Healthy". Though sometimes meat feel under both categories, which was confusing, but the Coyote was happy for that. He also liked cheese, but since one of his other sisters wasn't allowed to have it, he usually had to sneak it. Some of the cooks got a bit confused sometimes and wouldn't give it to any of them.
"Yeah, good idea," he replied to Laika's suggestion. He remembered Betsy. Last time she'd given them three cookies each. Three whole cookies! Mother only gave them one, usually.
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 24, 2010 14:04:49 GMT -5
Beaming at her brother's approval, Laika trotted more quickly down the hallway towards the kitchens and skillfully dodged around one of the staff on her way in. She trusted her brother to follow. She didn't need to keep an eye on him to make sure he stayed close, cause he would.
The smells practically assaulted her hungry nose and made her stomach do back flips of anticipation. It hurt a little, but it would hurt a lot better once she had some food in front of her. A curious nose sharked the counter for a moment before someone shooed her down and she guiltily hopped away, finally looking for the Selkie cat.
Was she in here tonight? The pup hoped...
Yes, there she was! Her arm-fluffies were pushed back into her sleeves and she was doing something with a loaf of bread. Sidling over, she sat at the woman's feet and let out a pitiful whine. "Miss Betsy, we haven't gotten any diiiiinner yet." One paw raised imploringly, not touching anything. Just pleading.
The woman looked down at the pup and smiled, then clucked her tongue. "Well, that's not right, now is it? Hold on just a moment, dear. Your brother too? Yes, I see 'im. Alright." And off she went to make them plates.
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Post by Lucca on Jan 25, 2010 7:42:32 GMT -5
As they got closer to the kitchens and the smell of food flooded his nose even more strongly, Arkady made a small, involuntary whine, and sped up to match his sister's pace (exactly, he made sure it was exactly). While she didn't glance back to see him, Ark's eyes never left her. It was that protective instinct; it caused him to worry if she wasn't in sight and he couldn't hear her. Luckily, right now he could both see and hear her, so he was feeling...well, as peaceful as he ever was. Except for the lack of food in his little stomach, of course.
When they saw Betty, his tail finally sprang into action, and he sidled up alongside his sister, leaning on her a bit as he looked up with wide eyes, making that irresistible pleading expression that only a puppy can do correctly. He grinned big at her when she went to make them dinner, wiggling quite a bit, the smell of food filling him with a nervous sort of energy. He felt that strong, instinctive urge to hunt, to bring back some sort of tasty meat for himself and his family to enjoy. He turned to smile at Laika, a wild delight in his eyes. Though a strangely quiet child, Ark found other ways to communicate without words, usually.
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 25, 2010 21:53:47 GMT -5
Laika leaned back on her brother and grinned, glancing at him while the cat was away. "Tonight was easy," she whispered with a pleased look on her face. Her stomach had only gotten louder and more insistent since they got to the kitchens and she seriously wanted to fill it. When she saw Betsy coming back with a tray in her hands, she jumped up and gave her brother a happy lick-pounce before dashing towards the woman's feet. It never really occurred to her that this could be a bad idea.
Thankfully, the woman had dealt with enough children throughout her life to realize when one of them was pulling a boneheaded maneuver and stopped in place while the pup jumped around her legs eagerly. "You'll get down and behave or I'll put all this right back where I found it," she told the girl with a mock-frown. She even half-turned as if to walk in the other direction with the magical-smelling tray.
Skidding to a halt right next to the counter, Laika looked up at her with huge, apologetic eyes and stayed absolutely still. Then, with exaggerated movements, she walked back to her brother and sat down right next to him. Waiting. Pleading. Hungry. She couldn't stop her tail as she stared up at the tray.
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Post by Lucca on Jan 25, 2010 22:32:29 GMT -5
"Yes," Arkady whispered back, grinning at his sister. He, too, was feeling the pangs of hunger even more strongly than before, but knowing food was on its way towards them, he only felt excitement. His tongue was lolling out of his mouth a bit, unable to help a small amount of drooling in anticipation. His tail thumped a steady rhythm against the kitchen tile, and he eagerly licked Laika back as she...oh no...his ears went back and he whimpered, also giving the cook wide eyes as she makes her threat.
She had to let them have it! She had to! His front paws did a nervous little dance over the tile, as if the urge to pounce was about to take hold, but he remains sitting, tail thumping faster against the floor, swinging wildly back and forth. He could smell the food, and it was only feet away, and it was driving him nuts!
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 28, 2010 9:43:30 GMT -5
Puppies were the funniest things. Betsy had only birthed kittens and chicks, herself, but the baby canines could be so funny. And always so needy! "You'd best follow me, then, the both of you," she said and walked just outside of the kitchens where the children wouldn't get in the way. She expected some hungry bouncing and Laika didn't disappoint her. The girl didn't touch her again, though. After making them both sit one last time, she put the tray down and left them to it. "You both come and find me when you're done. I might have a little treat for you afterwards."
With that, she swished away and went back to buttering the bread for the oven. They were short-staffed enough that day, so Horace had asked her to do some of the simpler tasks. She was a maid, not a cook, but any fool could butter bread.
The word 'treat' made Laika's ears twitch, but her face was already half-buried in the potatoes with gravy and it wouldn't register until after she'd licked the plate clean.
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