The Fox and the Hound. (Chris stay out xD)

Posts : 21 Reputation : 5 Join date : 2012-01-08 Age : 26

KARA .

"Did she now?" Patrick said, giving Kara a narrowed glance. He gestured him in side with a stiff movement of his arm and a jerk of his head. A maid approached with a stack of towels and handed them to Patrick.

Kara cut in before he could say anything else. "Case is going to stay," she said firmly, boldly looking up at her butler. "He has nowhere else to go."

"Your father does not house strangers," Patrick said in a hushed tone, turning to his master's daughter. "But just for now... I suppose."

"He's staying for as long as he needs to," snapped Kara, glaring. "Daddy will listen to me."

"We shall see. Go dry off, and change into some dry clothes. Find something for your, er, friend here as well." With that, Patrick handed the towels to the young girl and strode back into the kitchens.

"Sorry. He's just sort of an old prick," murmured Kara, snickering to herself.

Posts : 110 Reputation : 3 Join date : 2011-04-04

Case
"Oh. . .I can tell he and I are going to be. . .wonderful friends." His eye twitching slightly with hate already. "He has the same attitude as my cou-." He cut himself off. "He has the same attitude as a relative whose name I will not even mutter." His fingers had changed without him even noticing, and he only knew because he glanced down and saw fur and small claws. Letting his hand fall behind his back, it quickly transformed back into human. "But it can't be helped. Surely something else happened to turn him like this. . ."

Posts : 21 Reputation : 5 Join date : 2012-01-08 Age : 26

KARA .

Her gaze flew to Case's clenched hands, noticing the claws for a second before he whipped them behind his back. Her eyes lifted back to his face and she gave him a suspicious gaze, wondering why he was so cryptic about things sometimes. Giving a small shake of her head, she tossed him a towel and wrapped on around her shoulders, pulling it tightly around herself. "No. He's just a bit stern and stingy."

Posts : 110 Reputation : 3 Join date : 2011-04-04

Case
Catching the towel, Case rubbed it on his hair, making it a mess. But he didn't mind, for now water did not drip into his eyes. He had been studying emotions and realized now would be the best time to stop talking about his past. He was drawing suspicion. "So.. erm.." Case bit his tongue in thought. "I have no idea what to do now." This wasn't unusual. Case never had anything to do; the boy had no friends for two years and sat in a forest, reading.

Posts : 21 Reputation : 5 Join date : 2012-01-08 Age : 26

KARA .

"Um..." Kara looked up, towards the second story. "C'mon, let's find you a room to stay in." Which would really be quite easy. They had so many unused guest rooms, that it wouldn't be difficult to get Case settled in. Clutching the towel around her, Kara started up the stairs, beckoning to the boy.

Posts : 110 Reputation : 3 Join date : 2011-04-04

Case
Following close behind, Case climbed slightly hesitantly. He knew there would be a chance of meeting Kara's parents. Surely, they would want to know why he was out on his own. Perhaps he could make a lie, but that would be terrible in the long run. If his parents ever found him, they would have to fake a story about finding him, too. Then he would have to see his cousin once more. Another fight. But then again, he Case could have been thinking too far ahead.

"Your house is huge," he commented.

Posts : 21 Reputation : 5 Join date : 2012-01-08 Age : 26

KARA .

Absentmindedly, Kara wandered about the halls, unsure of where to place him. Surely he would feel uncomfortable all alone in a new environment; he was a pretty awkward child to begin with. And secondly, she didn't want her parents to stumble across him anytime soon. Anyway, they didn't look in the rooms very much at all. Nodding, Kara replied, "You couldn't have guessed that from seeing the outside?" She chose a room a couple doors down from hers, knowing that it would be best to keep him close for now. She poked her head inside, seeing that it was supplied with the needs of every bedroom. "This one should do. I'll have a maid come and clean the dust a bit, and stock up the washroom."

Posts : 110 Reputation : 3 Join date : 2011-04-04

Case
"Wow." Case looked through the room. It was empty minus the basics, but the boy did not seem to notice. It wasn't more leaves or trees, and it didn't make him worry about where he stepped. He had tried his best to memorize the entire layout of wherever they wandered about, but it just became too distracting and he would have to guess his way around.

(I feel so stupid. I hate short posts D:)

Posts : 21 Reputation : 5 Join date : 2012-01-08 Age : 26

KARA .

Turning her head, Kara watched Case with a curious gaze. She honestly wondered what was going on through that little boy genius mind of his, but she kept quiet, simply nodding at his one word statement. She stepped away from the door to allow him to enter, end leaned against the doorjamb, crossing her arms over her chest. "If you need anything, my room's not far. Three doors down, on the right."

Posts : 110 Reputation : 3 Join date : 2011-04-04

Case
Shaking his head lightly, Case moved his sight down to the backpack he brought. He had finished every textbook inside already, but was prepared to read them again since Kara seemed eager to leave and partake in some other activity, whatever it be.

(I couldn't think of anything for this post at all...)

Posts : 21 Reputation : 5 Join date : 2012-01-08 Age : 26

KARA .

Kara looked over at him once more before slipping out of the room, closing the door behind her softly. She paused for a second, listening for movement inside. Unable to hear much, she moved on, walking down the hall and disappearing into her own bedroom.

It was a couple hours later when she finally reemerged. She had dried off once more, having changed into a new set of clothes. She had only just realized that Case most likely did not have a change of clothes, and she hurried down the stairs, poking her head into the kitchen to request one of the servants to fetch some old clothes. They would most likely be baggy on him, but big clothes were better than no clothes, right? Kara climbed back up the stairs and hesitantly knocked on the door of Case's newly appointed bedroom.

Posts : 110 Reputation : 3 Join date : 2011-04-04

Case
Normally, anyone who was tired enough would not just wake up from soft knocking. Case though, had only fallen asleep mere minutes before and was subject to change state whenever. The noise filled the bare room and could only echo, as nothing was able to absorb the sound waves and help silence it. It helped greatly when it's primary reason for existence was to force Case to acknowledge that someone wanted to speak to him, even though it was obvious who it was.

The young boy's eyes tiredly opened with a short delay and he stood up slowly. He walked over to the door and reached for the knob, trying to remember if someone even had knocked and his fatigued mind wasn't just playing a trick. It would be better to just open the entrance he decided, as he turned the handle and swung the wooden block out of his vision to see Kara.

"Hello. . ." he said, swaying slightly. Forcing his body to wake up obviously wasn't his best plan.

Posts : 21 Reputation : 5 Join date : 2012-01-08 Age : 26

KARA .

Kara wasn't quite the most patient person, so after a few moments of hearing nothing from within the room, she had pretty much assumed he was sleeping too deeply to have heard her knock. She was, however, proven wrong when the door swung open with a faint creak to reveal a drowsy looking young boy staring back at her with drooping eyes. Feeling dumb now--for who wouldn't have guessed that Case had been asleep?--Kara flicked her hair out of her face before speaking. "Oh," she murmured, glancing at him awkwardly. "Did I wake you?"

Though it was more than obvious that she had, Kara ignored her oblivious choice of words. She paused before speaking again, pretty much cutting off any answer Case would have given her. "Sorry to disturb you." It was best to start with an apology; he was probably quite tired. She gave him a small smile. "But aren't you hungry?"

Posts : 110 Reputation : 3 Join date : 2011-04-04

esaC
Case was indeed still tired--even though it was completed justifies--but instead wanted to be awake with Kara. His eyes were doing their best to put him back out, so he used his middle fingers and started rubbing them until he found himself more awake. He could only help but smile a bit at Kara's little comments. That was, until she asked him how hungry he was. It was obvious to anyone that he was very hungry. He was like the children of Africa, he rarely ate. Luckily for him and not them though, he lived in a forest. He had the ability to pick berries and store them, and slowly eat throughout the seasons. He had to ration them carefully though, if he wanted to make them last.

"Yes.. maybe I am.. just a bit," he said unsure. He never took things from other people, and just being allowed to live in the mansion with Kara--something he doubted would last--was a miracle.

Posts : 21 Reputation : 5 Join date : 2012-01-08 Age : 26

KARA .

Having expected Case to refuse, it took Kara a moment to respond. Giving a small nod, she stepped back and into the hallway, waiting for him to follow. "There's no need to feel uncomfortable," she said, simply wanting to make conversation as they made their way to the staircase. "I can see why you would feel that way though, it is a sudden arrangement. But relax. Okay?"

Posts : 110 Reputation : 3 Join date : 2011-04-04

esaC
"R-right," the boy responded. He knew everything was awkward, and nothing would be able to just 'fix' the situation for the time being, but he still had to do his best to try and seem more grateful than he already was. He followed Kara with a slightly quick pace to catch up with her. Truly there was no one who could just 'get ahead' of Case, being that he spend time that he could have worked on upper-body with running around the forest. "I can try to relax. It's just a concept I haven't been used to for. . .years."

Posts : 21 Reputation : 5 Join date : 2012-01-08 Age : 26

KARA .

She slid her gaze to the side, watching him with an unreadable expression. After a few moments, she gave a small nod and responded, "Yeah. I can tell." She rested her hand on the cold banister along the staircase, running her fingers across the smooth surface as she descended, hoping the boy was following in her wake. "But don't take that the wrong way or anything," Kara added, realizing that her comment may or may not have been discomforting. "It's just that your body language shows that you're not used to being shown sincere hospitality."

Posts : 110 Reputation : 3 Join date : 2011-04-04

While he could usually be offended easily, Case was much too tired. He took no hurt to the comments - his brain not processing what was being spoken too well - and continued moving forward to the stairs.

Sincere hospitality.

"Oh. . . that's not something I've ever had," he sighed, memories flowing back to him. That was his fault, not Kara's. "Oh well, I guess. You're the nicest person I've ever met actually. I could never thank you enough for what you've done."

The rain outside had lightened up but the mere existence was a reminder that he was lucky to have met the girl.

» quick chris!