From: "Amber" <kitsunenoasobi@hotmail.com> Subject: [PW!][MEAT] Discomfort is Comforting Date: Sunday, May 23, 2004 3:18 PM "Mmmmrf." "...unh?" Karl slowly came into consciousness as some more-alert part of his brain told him he shouldn't be sleeping. He felt restricted somehow and figured it must be the blankets. "Grmmmf...soda." "hunh?" His eyes slid open slowly and he stifled a yawn. He felt uncomfortable in his current position -- little did he know HOW uncomfortable -- and attempted to roll over. He suddenly realized it wasn't the blankets that restricted him. It was HER. His brain flashed a million panicked thoughts as he stared wide-eyed into the lightening darkness. Completely against HER. With her arms around HIM. WITH HER FACE NEXT TO HIS. "mmfle...pie." "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUGH!!!!!!!" Karl tore away from Vixxen in a panic and landed with a thump on the floor. She, unaware of why he was screaming, also screamed, and electricity shot everywhere. Karl held up the metal ashtray to deflect the electricity, unaware that...well...metal attracts it as opposed to repels it. As he was thoroughly shocked, Vixxen sat up, now fully awake. "Hey, I had a perfectly nice meal going there--Karl why are you on the floor? Did you get out of bed after I went to sleep last night? KARL I TOLD YOU TO SLEEP IN THE BED!!" "I DID!" he cried, completely surprised at the tone of his voice, or more accurately, the volume. "But then you...you HUGGED ME!" "Tch, yeah! I can hug you if I want!" she replied, confused. "But..." His face was red and he knew it. His brain couldn't generate a reply however, so she took whatever time that he could have responded in by declaring it time to get up. She threw off her shirt and picked up a new one from her bag, then glanced at Karl as he sat uncomfortably. "What??" "u..uh..." "What? Am I not pretty?" She demanded, offended. Unable to properly articulate a reply, Karl could only mentally smack himself as she tugged her new shirt on. This one was red with a cartoony vulpix head surrounded in a circle of flames. Finally she wrapped the cloak around her and grabbed his hand. "Let's get some munchies!" Apparently she had forgotten all about what had happened two minutes ago. Turns out it was around lunch time when they got downstairs and Karl idly wondered how long she had held him like that. Not wanting to intrude on the strange girl's privacy, he chose not to ask. "I'd like a big medium rare hamburger please," Vixxen piped as they stood at the cafe counter. "That's some red. Ya want that?" the man behind the counter growled. "Yeah! Bloody good." Karl felt his stomach lurch. Meat? Good goddish, killing animals for food...who could ever DO such a thing?? "Oh yeah!" Vixxen glanced over at Karl. "Make that two hamburgers!" "No!" Karl squeaked. "I...I just want a salad." They both gave him a strange look and he withered under their glare. Still, he continued to mutter "Salad...just a...salad." "Well ok, a salad from veggiechops here, and a burger for me!" "It'll be 15 minutes. Go sit." Vixxen left the counter, and upon noticing that Karl was still standing petrified by the drink cooler, she marched back and grabbes his hand, dragging him over to a booth. "Sit," she instructed. And so he sat. "So whatcha doin?" she inquired. "Huh? Sitting...here..." "No! I mean...why are you out journeying?" "Oh...uh...looking for stuff." He fumbled idly with the cube pendant around his neck. "Ok. What KINDA stuff?" she continued innocently. He thought about this. "um...oh yeah! a notebook." "Here." The man from behind the counter delivered a half-pound hamburger to Vixxen, who squealed in delight, and a fairly nondescript salad to Karl, who simply stared at Vixxen's meal with a mixture of horror and disgust. She dove into her food with a will and Karl had to force himself to look at his salad instead. He poked at a slightly withered cherry tomato with his fork and rolled it around on the lettuce. Suddenly her hand was on his and she forced his fork down into the salad and lifted it up. "Eat, Karl, EAT!" He mumbled something in reply and then nibbled on the end of a piece of lettuce. Rolling her eyes, Vixxen glared at him over the scratched oak finish of the cafe table. He caught her glare and shrank back, peering at her over the heap of salad she had gathered on his fork for him. "When I say eat, Karl," she instructed, "I mean EAT! Like this!" She picked up her humongous burger and took a huge bite out of it, sending ketchup, mayonaise, and burger juices slopping out the back. She smeared a napkin over her mouth to relieve herself of excess mess, but the sticky concoction of condiments remained on her fingers. "STOP THAT!" Karl squirmed, disgusted. "Stop what??" She blinked. "Oh I see. You DID want a hamburger. You want some, don't you?" She presented it to him, waving it in his face. His stomach flipped. Killing animals for food....killing animals for food...it's against nature!! He pushed the hamburger back towards her, screwing his eyes shut and trying to plug his nose. "Huh? Don't like mayonaise?" "NO! I don't like MEAT!" He wailed. The cafe went completely silent, and he realized how loudly he had shouted that. He clapped a hand to his mouth and the fork clattered to his plate. "You don't like meat?" she inquired in normal tone, despite the utter silence around them. "Uh...no..." he squeaked. "Oh. Well...ok then!" She took her hamburger out of his face and commenced eating it again, and the cafe picked up its general chatter. Somehow Vixxen seemed to bring him out of his shell, and he didn't know if he liked that or not. TBC YARRR!! I crave burger now o.o;