middaeg | Intro Overflow: May

[ Her very polite return smile lasts until the fortune-teller turns away, then drops with silent and immeasurable relief. Majima lacks the energy of someone waiting eagerly for your attention-- like an excitable dog who just desperately needs to be taken for a walk.

It's a balm to her exasperated soul. ]

Yes, or something.

[ She gestures with a thumb meaningfully toward where the distant bonfires were or are lit. Without anyone but the two of them to see it, the severity of her distaste twists one side of her mouth down. ]

Maybe if they're charging for the product, there won't be surprises tucked inside the anchovies. I think there must be laws or customs against magically tampering with any food that isn't free of charge. Thoughts?

I dunno, I wouldn't put anythin' past this place. Lucky for us we're not gonna eat it, though.

[ It would be Ms. Mittens suffering the indignity of truth serums or love draughts or what-all else the witches here might come up with. Majima waved at a vendor. Was he doing this quest? Yes, he absolutely was doing this stupid quest. ]

Excuse me, how much for those little grilled fish ya got there?

[ "These? Why, I'll give you a plate of them if you're sharing them. Otherwise, they'll set you back [arbitrarily huge price]," said the man, smiling. ]

Uh, don't really need a whole plate -- we're catchin' a cat. That counts as sharin', right? Fish with the cat, the cat with its owner?

[ Nel looms ominously from a couple feet behind Majima's shoulder (and down some inches). She's heard 'give you a plate if you're sharing' and assumed the worst. ]

It should absolutely count. [ This soft, deadly demeanor is almost certainly not called for. It's just anchovies. ]

We're going to share the happiness of having a home and roof over your head with a missing cat. I think that's worth a discount.

[ As Nel spoke, the man was busy raising his eyebrows -- and he looked about two seconds away from waggling them dramatically, so it was with great relief that Majima accepted the little plate of fish the man handed them. "Awww, I suppose that's close enough, then! Good luck with the Missus! Mittens, I mean!"

Was this cat somehow infamous ]

Why do I get the feelin' this is all some elaborate practical joke? Alright, so have ya ever caught a cat before?

[ She likes their prospects a bit less if the pet they're chasing is an escape artist, parting from the man's fish stall reluctantly after dispensing with the urge to interrogate him for longer. ]

Certainly not.

[ It isn't a helpful reply, so knowing this, Nel tugs the scarf looser around her neck and continues while they trudge down the narrow road. ]

... but if we start anywhere, it should be in higher ground. [ Her hand sweeps before them, drawing his ear to the hustle and bustle of living. ] I'll climb to the rooftops and keep pace. Know any hand signals?

Plenty, but I don't think they'd be real helpful catchin' felines. Show me yours and I'll remember 'em.

[ Look. Cats just didn't order drinks or need heated hand towels. Although they'd probably take them if offered, the fuzzy bastards.

A pair of sinister green eyes opened in the shadow of a nearby alley. "Yoowwww," announced a stray cat, who was sadly not Mrs. Mittens. ]

Sure.

[ Stupid cat doesn't even have two tails. Nel stares back at it, just making sure that those eyes belong to a run-of-the-mill domesticated animal and not something feral. Not unnaturally feral. ]

Just three should do it. Here.

[ Except the first gesture (for 'look below') she trades with Majima is definitely the one he knows as 'refill ice'. That's a fine coincidence, but then the next one, which she claims to mean 'cat above!', is identical to the request for a ladies' drink refill.

The third gesture is a good old index finger-point forward: 'keep moving'. ]

[ That was... a coincidence? How strange, though it was far from the weirdest thing about the day. ]

Uh... right, got it. Let's get this show on the road. For what it's worth, I've seen a couple of those missin' cat posters around.

Shouldn't be too hard to pick her out if she's here.

[ And if she felt like showing. Further away from the festivities, the atmosphere was quieter, and the animals of the city seemed more inclined to show themselves. A bunch of sparrows dustbathing, for instance, or a stray dog. ]

[ Invisible tension continues to drain from the muscles left tense in her neck and shoulders from overexposure. Nel is hideously aware that a borrowed Coven cloak won't magically establish the same belonging that a local has, and this grand, giddy festival is alien. She's the offworlder, now.

She examines Majima sidelong. Him, too. ]

Before I start climbing, may I ask how you've adjusted? Speak as generally as you'd like, or specifics if you're comfortable.

Adjusted?

Well, it's my first day here, and I ain't flipped my shit yet. And now I'm pickin' up missing animal cases, so hey, it's just like home, right? Only with wolf people. And magic.

[ Hey, she'd asked. And oh, what was that up ahead? Paw prints in a thin coating of white outside someone's storefront. Flour? Cat prints? Most likely. ]

It isn't below your usual—

[ The more-of-a-question-really has to wait.

Nel can't be saying anything very important, because she cuts herself off right quick, zeroing in on the (flour, baking powder, pest repellent?) mysterious prints. Climbing can wait.

She makes it two steps before an unfamiliar feline rounds the storefront, rubbing its fluffy sides against the sharp corner. Its head lifts very leisurely and completely disregards the ginger to make eye contact with Majima.

It yawns. ]

Mrs. Mittens?

[ He said, like the cat was going to answer him. The cat stared at him, tail held high in what was definitely recognition. That fucker knew.

And then it bolted, like a brilliant orange bolt through an alleyway. So fast! So nimble! So a total pain in the butt. ]

Goddammit...!

Intro Overflow: May

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