In The Dark [Open]

[X2]

Coming out of the darkness of the pathway, Keiiji's caramel eyes scanned the center of the junkyard. He wore a silver sash around his mouth that was tied around the back of his head. He had white bandages wrapped around his wrists, that went half way up his arms. A wide belt was wrapped around his waist that mostly covered the scars lining his hips, and one across his stomach. On his left thigh, were the same colored bandages wrapped around, covering the scars underneath. His right leg had the bandages covering his ankle and most of his foot. There were ties around both of his biceps, and another cloth wrapped around his forehead, and tied on the side of his head. However, his mane covered most of the silvery cloth. He gazed at the ground, the very spot that the jellicles had held the jellicle ball, silently musing on what he might have missed. Taking the necessary steps, he walked onto the tire, and sat down.

[OPEN]

[eliaza]

Alyssa wandered through the Junkyard, shaking her head in bewilderment. That had been possibly the strangest conversation she had ever taken part in - and she had had some very strange conversations in her day. She wondered what the deal was with Tommy's friend, what-was-his-name... First he'd seemed to be trying to catch Electra's attention, which had been adorable - then he'd started talking about ghosts? So weird. Maybe he was weak in the head. Shrugging her shoulders, Aly looked up to see where she'd arrived, since she hadn't been paying very close attention as she walked. She hoped there would be something fun going on here, or someone to talk to at least. She was getting bored again very quickly. Spotting someone sitting up on the Tire, her face brightened considerably. She wasn't sure who it was, but what'd that matter? Bounding over to the Tire, she hopped right on up and sat beside Keiiji. "Hi!" she said cheerily. "What's up?"

[X2]

Keiiji's ears had picked up on the movement first before Alyssa came into his peripheral vision. His eyes stared at her with silent intensity, until the queen came over to him. As she bounded up onto the tire beside him, Keiiji made no movements. Aside from his eyes on her, he hadn't made any other acknowledgements. The tone of his voice held no emotion as he replied a greeting. "Hello." His tail tip curled, and then moved to sweep across his lap. Giving her a stern look, he allowed a small shoulder shrug before looking back out in the distance. The sun had almost completely disappeared beyond the horizon. "Couldn't sleep."

[eliaza]

Keiiji's tone and look made little impression on Aly; she didn't really care what sort of a mood he was in, so long as he'd keep talking and give her something to do. She did glance in the direction of the sun when he mentioned sleep, and for the first time noticed how dark it was getting. She supposed it was, in a general sort of way, time for most cats to be seeking their dens for the evening; but she wasn't a bit sleepy, and who decided when it was time for sleep anyway? "Eh, sleep, who needs it," she chuckled. "I mean, it's not like a tribe of cats who stays up dancing all night once a year can have that regular of sleeping patterns, right? Sleep can always be done later, but there's always a chance that by staying awake you'll get a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see or do something that you'd totally've missed if you'd been asleep for it."

[X2]

Keiiji continued to stare out into the distance. He rarely slept so, her words were a moot point to him. "Right." Keiiji leaned backwards until he was laying down on the tire with his arms behind his head. Sunsets were overrated. And sunsets with a strange queen? He closed his eyes briefly. "So what brings you to my side, Alyssa? Or are you bored?"

[eliaza]

Alyssa blinked, surprised he knew her name. She recalled seeing him around before, but didn't think they'd been introduced. She sure didn't remember his name, though that wasn't too surprising - she hadn't exactly been here forever yet, and names were hard to keep straight. "You just answered your own question," she grinned. "I was having a super-interesting talk with Tommy, Electra, and... Mer-mer-something... But then it all just turned into a weird talk about ghosts, and well, then we all kinda dispersed. So I went to find someone else to talk to, and voila! I saw you. What's your name again? You know mine, but I don't know yours, and that may be just because there are so many names to keep track of and my brain just went kaput."

[X2]

Keiiji twisted to be on his side, as he listened to her ramble on. He only knew of the cats names and knew their appearances to place the names with their faces. However, most of the others tended to stay away from him. His eyebrows lowered in thought. She had probably been searching for the name Merton. Tommy and Merton always seemed to be clump together. Course his intelligence could only go so far, even with street contacts. He licked his lips underneath his sash, to moisten them. "Keiiji." He spoke neutrally, then added. "I like to know who I'm sharing a home with, that's all. We haven't met before now."

[eliaza]

Alyssa's eyes sparkled in excitement. She seemed to've found a very interesting person indeed! From what it sounded like, he went around stealthily, finding out cats' names and various things about them, without their knowing it. Somecats would be aghast at the thought, she knew, but Aly wasn't bothered by it - on the contrary, she found it intriguing. Keiiji must have a really interesting life, and lots of exciting things to talk about. Maybe he also spied on that evil cat, Macavity. "Ahh, so you go around gathering intelligence about people," she said, imitating some words she'd heard once from a movie at her humans' house. "Keiiji," she tried out the name. "Great name. Real fierce-sounding."

[X2]

In truth, Keiiji was distrustful by nature. Largely due to how he was raised and the type of occupations his father, Axel, had gotten him into. However, he didn't see the benefits in telly Aly this, and instead nodded his head at how she had described his actions. It was one of his favorite jobs to do when he was out on the streets. It was one of the jobs he'd still take on the side. "That's one way to look at it. Why, do you need a spy?" He was in part joking, but with his serious tone, one would never be able to tell; one way or the other. His eyes gazed over at her when she commented about his name. He had never given much thought to his name before, but he supposed it might sound fierce. Probably why Axel named him it, knowing what he had planned for Keiiji's future. "Nothing special about my name...but what about yours?"

[eliaza]

Alyssa had trouble believing there was "nothing special" about his name. I mean, how many Keiiji's do you just randomly meet on the street? But who knows. She was still learning about not just the junkyard, but Britain in general. For all she knew that could be a normal name here, as common as Richard or George or Harry. "No," she said after a moment, "I don't need a spy at the moment, that I know of. But if I do, I'll be sure to ask you." At his question about her name, she shrugged. "Alyssa? Pretty boring name, if you ask me, and the story's not much more interesting. It was my human's name, and I took it on because it was better than the crazy embarrassing cat name she gave me." She noticed how she always talked about her humans in the past tense, as if they were gone. Which, she guessed, was fine. They were still alive somewhere, but she had no idea where, so for all she could see they were out of her life forever.

[X2]

Keiiji's eyes went back to the sky as he laid there in a pose of contemplation. He needed a job soon. Otherwise, he'd go stir crazy sitting by idly in the junkyard with nothing to do. His short attention span and past didn't allow him to find much enjoyment in "peaceful" activities. His ears twitched when she began speaking once more, about her name. Though speaking probably wasn't completely accurate. Rambling on, was a little closer, though overstating. "I can't imagine." And he couldn't. He'd never had the opportunity or the urge to come into direct contact with humans.

((What an odd couple. The girl who talks a lot and the tom of few words. XD))

[eliaza]

"Trust me," she assured him, "you don't want to imagine." Secretly, of course, Alyssa was hoping Keiiji would inquire further. Sure, the name was embarrassing - but Aly didn't care about being embarrassed, she cared about good stories, and this one was so fun to tell! But she wouldn't, unless he asked. If he didn't really want to hear, his reaction would be totally boring and ruin everything. "Don't get me wrong," she added, "I loved my human, but her creative skills...well." She let that thought hang in the air for a moment.

((If I'm not careful I might start shipping it XD))

[X2]

Keiiji closed his eye briefly, allowing her words to provide an adequate distraction for him. His mane ruffled slightly as a cool breeze passed through the air. Never showing his emotions, he still showed some ticks, things only someone who knew him would know. The shrug of his shoulders was one of them, as he spoke through his sash. "I can relate to that." Unless you counted the finesse of sneaking through Macavity's warehouse undetected to gather intel, or assassinating some rich tomcat within the Briar Manor and making it look like an accident counted as creativity. Though he doubted that was the case. "And how bad is her artistic side?" He spoke, his eyes still closed. He found her constant talking a bonus from others who tended to be too nosy for their own good.

((Hey...If it works, it works. ))

[eliaza]

Alyssa grinned, taking Keiiji's question as sufficient invitation. "Well, let me see." She tapped her chin in thought, trying to figure out the best way to make as much fun out of the explanation as possible. "To give you an idea: she had about a million dolls, and they were all named Dolly; she had a dog named Puppy when it was young and Doggie when it grew up. Totally boring and uninventive, right? So I should've been stuck with a name like Cat or Kitty." She took a deep breath to prepare for the moment. "But somehow she suddenly, for once in her life, got inspired: she called me Tweetie-Bird." She glanced over at Keiiji to see what he'd think - though it was so dark, and (she noticed for the first time) he seemed to be mostly covered up in bandages or whatnot. Briefly she wondered why, but mainly she felt annoyed because she wouldn't be able to see his expression.

[X2]

Keiiji finally opened his eyes, about midway through her explanation. About the time when he figured out that she'd expect a reaction, or a reply of some kind. Though he figured she'd be highly disappointed. Most who did tend to sit with him and converse for any length of time soon despaired with his inability to show...emotions. He did feel though, he just didn't really know how to express it. He couldn't remember a time when he did. His voice was low, though still easily heard through the cloth around his mouth. "Seems to me that to her you were special after all. None of her other animals got any interesting names." He moved to lay on his side, his head under his paw, and his caramel eyes now directly on her. "Do you have a preference?"