What the hell is with all these cat-people this isn't bloody Akashima I mean C'MON

[Ayaka]

"Hmph..." It was closed. Ayaka sighed. What a waste of time. The only Alchemist shop that wasn't run by some grime covered horny as fuck sod involved in some creepy gang was closed. A sign hung neatly on the door. "Be Back in 10 minutes." Ayaka had been there for 12 and they had not yet returned. Had they no regard for fucking common courtesy? Tch. 'Back in my country such impoliteness would have you shunned, fuckin' rude shit

Her mood was foul, more so than usual. Before getting here she had a run in with a trio of what Ayaka could only call high class trash. The ringleader was wearing so much makeup that Ayaka could practically smell the lead leaking into her skin. The bitch deserved the irritable and painful death she'd receive. They approached her, insinuated she was a prostitute, then claimed that some red-headed tall fuckin' freak was gettin' it on with a buncha catgirls. Nothing pissed her off more than people throwing their weight around, and people getting a hard on for her kind. Sure, people had their kinks - but she didnt get it. So it pissed her right the fuck off.

Ayaka had cussed the girls out and tried to throw rocks at them but they ran off. Muttering something about how she was worse than the 'blue-hared' one. And there was only one blue haired catgirl that came instantly to mind. Her ratty shit for brains sister...

Sure the other one did, what was her name? Renee? The useless mother who couldn't reign in her even more useless child?

It seemed unlikely that both of them would be around the place. Ayaka hoped that it was the dumb as shit mother and not her sister.


"Well, their loss...really.." Ayaka muttered to herself as she turned to leave she was face to face with a tall, redheaded. Oh fuck. This was the creep from the rumours. HE was the alchemist? Her lips formed a sneer of disgust as she could so easily see the tears and rips in his...dual souls. "Ugh..," She'd have to deal with that in a moment.

"Open up, yer hours say you should be and you're three minutes and 23 seconds late."

"Madam. I apologize that I cannot help you right now, but I have just had to deal with some disgusting trash who wanted me to abandon my friend and roommate. So I am not having the best of days right now. If you come back tomorrow I will give you a discount on a purchase. But I really, really need to go and do some Alchemy to de-stress."

"De-stress?" Ayaka muttered. "De-fuckin'-stress? Well sunshine you gotta job to do. Get your dirty assed soul in your dirty ass store, whip up something to calm your angsty ass down and -" She paused and huffed. Golden eyes shifting behind the strange man. Her hair literally bristling. It was her damn sister, and she was acting like... oh god fuck knows.

"Eteri-aya-Yoko you get your fuckin' sorry ass here right the fuck now."

Ayaka pointed back to the alchemist. "And YOU, open up this store. NOW."

[Nevin]

"Dirty assed sou-" By the love of the Great Flow. This had to be Eteri's sister, the one that she said was better than her in every possible way. Honestly, he couldn't see it. Nevin moved in front of the door, then very deliberately looked to Eteri, who did not look happy at this development. Nevin resisted the urge to snap his fingers in realization. It wasn't hero worship - it was having the stuff beaten into her head day in and day out.

Another glance to the window and he saw Eteri nodding rapidly, her frame shaking as she tried to hide behind his curtains. He slowly turned his head to look at the entirely too rude sister. "You can come in - because she wants you to." Nevin unlocked the door and stepped inside, moving to hold the door open for Ayaka - only to be shoved aside as the brown-haired woman stormed inside. She was looking around with a haughty, disdainful expression as Nevin closed and locked the door behind them.

If she calls me a third rate alchemist she's going back out on the street. Dealing with that once had been enough, thank you very much. He folded his arms over his chest and stared steadily at her.

"You're in. What was so vitally crucial that it could not wait?" His tone was flat as he watched Ayaka. In the corner, Eteri was trembling fiercely, and his opinion of Ayaka was getting ready to plummet. Ruling someone through fear was disgusting.

[Eteri]

Why was she here? Oh gosh... why? Why?

"Ayaka..." I said, my voice small. "Why is here?" I muttered.

She rose her neatly trimmed eyebrows at me. "What? Why am I here? Why are you? Why are those bitches out there in the street talkin' about you like you're some cheap ass prostitute?" Ayaka took two steps toward me and I took two steps back. Ayaka sighed, annoyed. She pressed her fingers to her temples. "Goddammit Eteri. What shit did you get yourself into this time. Do you want me to claw out their eyes? I'll fuckin' do it?"

Why was she so violent? I shook my head vehemently. It was hard enough dealing with Nevin right now... I didn't need to deal with being blamed for grievous bodily harm. "Eteri find safe space."

<"Just talk to me like this, you sound like a fuckin' idiot. Haven't you grasped Tradespeak yet?">

I winced. <"N-no... it's hard. There are so many different phrases and terminology and- Ayaka why are you here? Is it because Nevin is an Alchemist?">

My sister glanced over at Nevin then back to me, then back to Nevin. I could see her brain piecing bits of information together and that quite honestly mortified me. I went to inch closer to Nevin but halted when he caught my eye. Instead, I shifted back and away. If I moved slowly...really...really...slowly..maybe no one would notice if I made my way to the door.

"Eteri."

Awww crap. My sister noticed. Her voice wasn't harsh though, this time it held a note of concern.

<"Eteri, I need you to pull your soul out."> She glanced over at Nevin, gave a curt nod and switched to Tradespeak. "You seem competent enough to handle this. Considering whats inside of you."

[Ayaka]

Ayaka ignored the spiteful look the man gave her and turned to Eteri. She was cautious of him, but her sister seemed to like him. For whatever reason. So Ayaka decided she'd explain everything as she went along, composition through monologue or some shit. How had Eteri not seen this? She was a master soul seamstress and yet something so inherently obvious she was blind to. "You took half of that kid, Ven was it? His soul into you. That was a few months ago. Haven't you looked at yourself in a mirror?"

She huffed, "Yes! I no see own good. You know!"

"Right...right..." Ayaka murmured. No, she had forgotten that her bratty sister wasn't able to clearly see the shit inside of her. The scary, dangerous demi-god festering piece of shit inside of her. Ayaka waited as Eteri fumbled around before finally tugging at the flimsy piece of soul inside of her. Her eyes widened at the realisation.

The red miasma of whatever demonic thing had planted itself in her was infecting the part of Ven's soul that she had tried to attach to herself. Ayaka was aware of Nevin's presence but was ignoring him for the time being. There were far more pressing matters at hand. "Cut it off."

"W-what?"

Ayaka crossed her arms in front of her. "You heard me. If he's your friend you'd cut off the clean parts of that before it all goes to hell." She added under her breath. "Like some others..."

Eteri seemed hesitant but did as she was told, once the parts were safely stored away Eteri tried to slink away again. "Good. Go do...something the adults are talking." Ayaka muttered.

<"I'm an adult!"> Eteri shot back. <"I'm an adult I have feelings and I have- I have...emotions and I am sick of you treating me like I'm nothing.">

Ayaka straightened and the imposing sight had Eteri shrink further back away from the shop, tail between her legs and ears flat against your head. Ayaka spoke in tradespeak, purely so the Alchemist didn't think she was saying anything too bad. "I'm treating you with a grain of salt. You're like chaos manifested in physical form. You're a danger to peopel around you, and I don't give two shits about that, but you're a danger to yourself, and unfortunately I do care about that. Even if you DO piss me off. Now can you let me talk to?"

"N-Nevin."

"Talk to Nevin alone."

Eteri stood in the doorway, reluctant to move.

"I'm not going to hurt him, that'd be bad for business."

Eteri nodded and finally turned and left. Ayaka waited till she could no longer hear Eteri's footsteps. There was the faint click of a door shutting somewhere and Ayaka could safely assume her younger sister was out of earshot.

No longer talking to Eteri, Ayaka's voice once again held its harsh bite to it. "Now, I honestly came here just to fuckin talk shop with another alchemist. Instead, I find my little sister moping about his shop. Not only that, but I see a very messed up soul, and a very pristine - masterfully piece of it stitched back up. Now Ain't that a peach?" Ayaka sashayed over to the counter and lifted herself onto it, crossed her legs then her arms and stared down Nevin.

"What do you know about my sister, and why is she shuffling around you like a fuckin' lost pup?"

[Nevin]

Nevin was slowly processing what he had seen. He couldn't speak whatever tongue the two of them were speaking in, but Eteri had definitely seemed upset - until she pulled out the soul inside of her. When she did that, his eyes had gone wide, then narrowed as he remembered something he had been told once, by Stare, the first person who saw his soul. Red, like oozing sores.

That red thing had been inside of her? That was - how much influence had that had on her? Was that thing - Nevin's spine stiffened when he saw thin tentacles ooze forth from the soul, waving in his direction before Eteri shoved it into vials, not seeming to notice the outstretched parts. Nausea swept over him. He should have pressed her harder about the tentacles when that had happened. Those had been inside of her for who knows how long, and he had had a chance to stop it, had caught it happening, and not known enough to realize the danger it presented. He cursed himself - and then Eteri fled, leaving him alone with her sister.

He took a deep breath and focused his gaze on the woman sitting on his counter. She clearly had a far better grasp on tradespeak than her sister did, there was no sign of the hesitation or miscommunications that Eteri suffered from. He leaned to one side slightly, staring at her. For a moment his eyes had flickered red as he studied the bond between the two. Fear, and love, flowed from Eteri towards her sister, while Ayaka seemed concerned and furious - but for her. Damn. Family was confusing, wasn't it?

"I know your sister loves you." That was the first thing he said as he stared at the new cat-girl in his.. life? "She loves you, but doesn't feel like she can compare to you. And she respects you a lot." His hand came up and pressed against his chest, where Eteri had grabbed to pull out his soul to reunite the part she'd mended. "The healed part is because she wanted to show that she could do something for someone else, not just for herself. I didn't ask her to do it, but she did anyway. Made it a surprise for me. A surprise she nearly died trying to do - not because of my soul, but because she apparently wanted to give me flowers as part of the gift. And she ate some. They were.. tiger lilies." His voice took on a bit of a choked edge as he looked in the direction that she had gone. A blue ear was twitching, just in the line of sight from the doorway. "She called for you while she was sick and recovering." Dark eyes flicked back to Ayaka.

"I saved her. It took effort, but she should be recovered now. As for why she's stalking me like this - that, you might know better than I do. She's been doing it for the last three or four days, and won't talk to me. If I walk into a room, she either hides in a corner, or goes outside of it - but stares at me from the doorway or from a window. Once, she was in the rafters and stayed up there for half a day, moving where she could see me if I changed rooms. If I go out, she stalks me, and throws things at me sometimes. And as for those bitches that were spreading false rumors - they were using her poor grasp of Tradespeak against her. Saying she slept with me, and she agreed, because she has literally slept here. That should be dealt with now though, or I am going to poison each and every one of them and drive them into insanity before ending them." His voice was very hard as he spoke, then he shook his head.

[Ayaka]

Ugh

Ayaka thought to herself as the man before her went into a long tirade of ...welll everything, she didn't need to hear his entire goddamn history with Eteri. Jeez. Ayaka glanced over at the doorway at the mention of tiger lillies. Eteri should have known better. It was unlike her to be that daft. She knew what was poisonous so what had caused such a lapse in judgement? "So its been a few days..." Ayaka murmured thoughtfully. She shifted her gaze back to Nevin and noticed the flicker of his eyes. Her own narrowed. He had done something just then, she didn't know what but he had certainly done fuckin...something.

"I don't need a damn lecture on how she sees me." Ayaka said as she pushed herself off the bench and stalked over toward Nevin. "You shouldn't get attached." Nevin lowered his arm and his body stilled for a moment. Bingo. Something was going on between these two, Ayaka just had to figure out what. "Eteri doesn't have a soul. Do you know what that means?"

"Aside from that it seems to have been causing her some mental issues, no. I would have thought it hindered her ability to feel but it seems like that isn't the case."

The guy had little grasp over things. Not surprising. "You can function mostly normal without a soul, in all honesty it varies from person to person. Some are born without one and it develops over time with their actions. Sorta like a buildup of karma or fuckin' whatever. I'm not sure. I never studied it in detail. Whats the point when I can't work with thet damn things. 'Sides, all the cultures will tell you something different anyway."

Ayaka shifted to the cabinet and picked up a small vial, turning it in her hands. An antidote for a toxin that was common in the area. obvious choice. "Eteri can't stay still much, you gave her a task and she did it. Issue was she was always shifting around. Her emotions were all over the place and she kept slipping in and out of more animalistic tendencies." Ayaka paused, "Case and point, following you around without saying a word. She flipped open the vial and sniffed it, just from that she could tell that it had been brewed well. She was impressed but she'd never admit as such. Ayaka dropped the vial, allowing the contents to splatter across the floor. She reached into her pocket and tossed him the few coins it would have cost.

"Eteri may never have one. It may have been fine if it stayed that way. Yet she's insistent on making one herself. I don't doubt her skill to do so but whatever is inside her may have sway on her actions. One day she may just up and leave you without a word, or she may strangle you in her sleep. Judgng by whatever is inside her - I'd go for the strangling." Ayaka ignored the mixture of shock and annoyance that had etched itself over the mans face.

"Have you two fucked?"

Nevin went red and turned away. Okay, clearly not. He acted almost like he was a virgin. "If my sister hasn't changed throughout the years - I'd say not. Unless you've known her long enough to experience her heat cycle." Ayaka paused, and decided to dumb it down for him. "Ovulation. She gets needy, whiny, and has done quite whatever and whomever she pleased. I'd take a chance that she's acting like that because she isn't used to such feelings outside of that cycle. Course, I'm just throwing a fuckin' guess out there. I'm smart, but I'm not inside her brain."

Ayaka crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll take Eteri away. Let's pretend she never met you. That'd be easier on the both of you."

[Eteri]

At Ayaka's last sentence I burst back into the room. I wasn't exactly listening to the conversation...I didn't understand about 90% of it but I did hear that last line. I scrambled as I tripped over only to right myself back up. <"No! don't you dare take me away! I like it here!">

Ayaka grabbed my shoulder and gave me a dark glare. <"Woman, you are three days out of of your cycle, do you really think he's gong to deal with that."> Ayaka gestured over to the man. <"You can't even say the word sex without him getting all funny about it like some 6 year old brat. Hell, he may even be a fuckin' virgin.">

I was fuming, why was she getting involved? Why would she want to bother? I huffed as I folded my arms, turning away from her. <"We kissed, just so you know and it wasn't very virgin-like. He promised he'd stick around and I don't see why he wouldn't.">

Ayakas grip on my shoulder tightened and she leaned in closer. Me, being the obstinate person I am tried my best to avert my gaze but I could feel her eyes on me. Oh man...they were judging me. This wasn't good. This was.. ah poop I gotta look at her. I carefully shifted my gaze back to her. <"Eteri...."> She began, ahh! Why did she have to use such a condescending tone. I looked over at her, lips pressed into a thin pout. "<You should be focusing on getting that thing outside of you. Not on some flippant romance. What, first it was that Ven character - now this guy? Who was before Ven? Whatever happened to Draven? Or Derick? Or Elly? Were they all like Nevin too? Or were you just attaching yourself to the first person to show you food and a warm place to sleep?">

I felt an anger boil up inside of me... I had been angry before but this was different. This felt right. I grit my teeth and pushed my sisters hands off my shoulder before shoving her to the ground..hard I stood over her practically spitting. It burned inside me and this..this felt good. It felt right. <"YOU have no control over me anymore. YOU keep your fuckin' dainty hands out of my fucking life or I will RIP them off!"> Yes...ripping them off...that sounded good.

Ayaka stared up at me, her eyes wide in..fear? Yes. It was fear. Good. GOOD she should fear me. Everyone should. This felt great. I took another step forward raising an arm to swipe at her, but before I could.... I felt a strong grip around my wrist.

...

wait?

I blinked and turned to see Nevin whose dark eyes were laced with concern. "Eteri, stop." And just like that. I did. I lowered my hand and shuffled a few steps away. I didn't look at my sister as she picked herself up off the floor and dusted herself off.

"That is what I was talking about." Ayaka said, her voice strained. "I can barely deal with Eteri's shit as it is. Your shop reopens at 9 right? I'll return then to talk shop, and for god fuckin sakes Eteri. Get your blue haired face outta here when I do."

I refused to look at her, even as she lightly padded away from the scene and I heard the chimes of the door as it opened then closed. Nevin and I...we were alone again. I wrung the button of Nevin's oversized shirt I was wearing in my hands. Ah.. alone. Yes. I just had to...

One step back..

Two steps back....

[Nevin]

Nevin didn't know what Ayaka had said to her sister - he needed to look into learning this language that the two of them were speaking. Both women had shot looks in his direction as they spoke, Ayaka clearly unimpressed, and Eteri had focused on his lips for a moment. Had she just told her sister that they had - why did Eteri look so furious? Nevin began moving before he knew what was going on, reacting to the suddenly violent expression on the blue-haired woman's face.

It was an expression of hatred, vile and fierce. A delicate hand rose up, fingers curled up to bare their claws, and Nevin could see she intended to attack her sister. This was wrong, very very wrong, and that expression was completely at odds with how she felt towards her sister. Nevin's hand shot out, catching the wrist, and his soft command made the girl freeze. Ayaka seized this opportunity to spit something out about not being able to handle Eteri as it was, then fled. Nevin watched her go,
and wondered for a minute if he would even bother unlocking the door for the woman when she came back. He shook his head slowly and shifted his gaze, catching the fact that Eteri was trying to slink away.

A single stride ate the distance between them, and he took her shoulder gently in one hand, forcing her to stop and look at him. "Eteri. Please stop avoiding me." For the first time that he had seen, a blush crept up her cheeks, and she latched onto his jacket, her fingers curling around the edge as she stepped up against him. She burrowed her head against his chest and Nevin felt her shoulder shake a little in his hand.

"Eteri sorry. Eteri want to be around Nevin. Don't make Eteri go because angry?" Her voice was muffled by his chest, and it took Nevin a moment to figure out what she had said. He rested his hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair as he shook his head above hers.

"I told you I was staying and that you were welcome to. Meeting your sister has not changed that offer. And I'm not about to forget about you." And that darkness that was hiding inside of her - well. He could deal with that if it became an issue.

[Eteri]

Ayaka infuriated me, but she may have been right... I was close to my cycle, what if all of... I shifted my head up to peek at Nevin. What if all of this was just a byproduct of that? What if she was right and I would just wander away again? I lowered my head once more and closed my eyes. This was... a tricky situation, one that I wasn't used to and didn't know how to deal with it.

"Nevin... Eteri need talk..."

"Yes?" He asked.

...Oh no. I wasn't good at talking or anything like this. How do I even start? "I uh...in three days Eteri goes to this...thing...like...it is..." I huffed, sighed, then just spat it all out at once. "In 3 days Eteri go on heat. It is cycle it make Eteri go all...it make Eteri get whiny and needy but needy for lots of things like cuddles and food and attention and physical contact and the sexes and sometimes Eteri not herself when like that."

"So. In three days, you're not going to want to leave the bedroom? And do you want that to be with me, or are you afraid of it to be with me? Because, if it is the former.... well. I don't see the offer of being here for you changing in the next three days, honey."

I didn't quite understand his words. Was he going to lock me up in his room? That..that sounded like it might work. If I was locked up I couldn't cause any issues. "That work maybe...if Eteri locked up...Eteri can not do the trouble?" I contemplated it, but a word in his sentence confused me more than the rest. "What is the honey? I not honey?" I asked.

[Nevin]

Nevin paused, his eyebrows raised as he thought back over what she had said, and what he had said. Then he let out a soft laugh and shook his head slowly. "The only reason I would lock you in the bedroom was if I was in there as well, Eteri." He coughed, once. "In other words, I'll give you what you need during that time." He raised one eyebrow at her, curious if that was blunt enough for her. Or if he would need to flat out say that he was fine with pinning her down on the bed for a few days, stopping only for breaks for food and water. He fought down the slight blush at the mental image of Eteri writhing beneath him came into his mind, and instead focused on what she had asked.

He blinked, he hadn't realized he had been slipping the term of endearment into casual conversation. He shrugged and pressed his lips against hers for a moment, then leaned back and grinned. "I don't know, I think you're pretty sweet." There was a heartbeat of silence, and she blushed harder.

"E-Eteri...sweet?" She squeaked. Nevin just laughed before kissing her again, and the squeaking sound turned into a soft purr of pleasure that vibrated against his mouth. Before they could get too worked up and distracted, he straightened up again,
relishing the slightly dazed look in the blue-haired woman's eyes. He let go of her shoulder and flicked her nose.

"But to actually answer your question, it's a term of endearment. A nickname given from affection, liking someone. As I happen to like you." He brushed his finger against her lips for a moment, then coughed and took a step back.

"And. In case you're afraid that this is because of your cycle or something like that, remember that you've been acting jealous since we really kissed and that was three days ago. Do you normally start feeling your cycle get to you so early?" It was unlikely, he thought, because normally something being in a cycle meant it only happened in that time - hence the name. "And as well as that - I certainly want you to stay even after the cycle passes."