Summer Stragglers

[raihnstar]

[5 years into the future.]

Janine leaned against the fence of the park. It looks pretty...the same. A bit more use to it, a couple of new games...they had to reinstall the swings because of the new safety codes. Pshh. Safety codes. Bet they had security guards here during the day. She looked around and scratched her nose idly, remembering all the times she'd come here with her brother and sister. Those were the days. No adults to screw your life up. Just to guide you. Not that her dad was doing much screwing up. Screwing around, maybe. Just settle the f.uck down, dad! What about mum?

Let out a small frustrated sigh, letting her eyes glaze over slightly. Rorr was lost in a world of his own, climbing the monkey bars like he was still six. Grow up, monkey boy. Instead she shouts, "Careful, Rorr." No reply. Yuli decided not to come. It'd get too dark too soon. Allready the sky was dshed in cherry and sherbert colours, like a tropical drink. Delicious. Not to mention a little chilly. But Janine had said she'd take Rorr to the park, and here she was...they used to come during the day...but all those little snots in one place...too much. Too much.

And off in the distance, a group of people. Sh.it. Again? Socializing? Go away...don't come over here... she pleaded in her mind. They didn't hear her. Headed right towards the park. Da.mn. Alone time is up.

["Parker!"]

"Remember the park, Garath?"

A light smooth voice crept from the mouth of a petitie looking cat. Her body was still slender with white fur and orange stripes. Ari was still a very pretty girl with a heart burning on fire.

"Uh... What do you mean, remember? We pass it everday."

A much larger cat of the same age strolled beside her. Garath was more bulkyer, stronger looking. It looked like the boy could snap his little sister in half. But of course he would never hurt a fly... maybe a fish-- but not a fly.

The girl hissed at him, giving him a playful punch,

"You know what I mean!"

The male grinned,

"Yeah, when we were spoiled little kittens-- well... I mean you were."

The girl gasped and playfully clawed at him.

"You little-"

She growled as she swatted at her brother before noticeing that some other girl was looking at them.

[gayyy. i'm tired- respod or wait for blue....idc.]

[ßlue]

<sub>Black hair followed his brother and sister. He was taller now, a lot taller. He was still slim but he had muscle to him now, not totally buff, just sort of toned muscle. He was about 17 now. His hair was spiked with gel, ears slowly listening to each sound nearby. He was following without knowing where he was going, just keeping tabs on where his brother and sister were going. His black tail flicked back and forth. He was wearing a long sleeve dark blue shirt against the chill of the oncoming night. Being cats, they didn't need light, they could see fine in nothing but starlight. Hell, get rid of the stars and let them sit in pitch black and at least they would hear around. His blue eyes were almost as dark as his shirt, deep blue, not quite navy, but dark blue, like endless pools of water.

He had his hands stuck in his baggy pants that were currently being held up by a black belt. He wasn't wearing shoes. They'd always annoyed him. His dad only wore shoes at work, they bugged his feet too. Like father like son, he guessed. Geo looked up finally, stopped his eyes from wandering as they saw a couple of dark kids on the playground. He stopped a second. He sort of remembered her. Felt like he remembered the girl. Had she ever told him her name? He couldn't remember anyway but he was sure they'd played on the playground once a long time ago.</sub>

[raihnstar]

"Oh God, Lauret will you shut up about your horses? You know I hate them, but you wont shut up about them!" Clarette snapped at him, feeling chilly air surround her and blow her hair (which was now down to her lower back) around playfully. No, Clarette hadn't changed a bit. She was still as wild as she'd been five years ago, prettier maybe, with soft curves that hadn't been there in her childhood body, and much more fashionably dressed.

The only big change she'd made was to be more careful. Her mother had insisted that to go anywhere alone, she had to keep to herself...not get into fights, not try anything dangerous. Well where's the fun in /that/, maman? It's not supposed to be /fun/, Clarette.

She sighed, switching the bag that had the milk in it and catching sight of the old park they used to go there. There was a gathering of people. People! "Oh, look Lauret! Let's go over there! I bet they're having tons of fun." she said eagerly, and heading that way without his approval of the situation. Most of them seemed to be nearing the benches on the far side, and she approached them carefully, "Hey, can I join you guys?" she asked to nobody in particular. They were all close enough to each other that they'd all hear her. "I'm bored. Our mother sent us to get milk."

Janine glanced over, "Well I'm not really uh...with them...." she said hesitantly, "I brought my brother here to play..."

[ßlue]

<sub>Geo turned, looking at the newcomers. Holy crap! He wouldn't forget those white bangs on brown hair anyday. He'd played with her too! Here! At the park! A few years ago! He watched her come up, not noticing her brother behind her. What the heck was going on? Suddenly seeing all these people he'd played war with once so long ago? He remembered, that'd been a fun game. A good one too. He watched as she came up, his ears twitching. Milk? Mmmm milk. That sounded good. Or CREAM!!! WHIP CREAM!!! He couldn't stop from biting his lip with a small sharp canine tooth, his small pink rough tongue sliding along the inside of his mouth. Mmmmm...milk.

~

Lauret followed, like always. They were going through the park on the way home, his white bangs rippled in a small breeze. His brown hair was down and looked sort of like a beatles hairdo. He looked at his feet as they walked, not really paying attention but keeping after Clarette.

"But Mariiiie, if I would have rode there you wouldn't have had to leave home and I'd have been back by now, you know how fast Sparks is."

He listened as she berated his horses. She'd never gotten the hang of riding. He sighed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes, thinking about his stallion at home. Sparks. It was a great glossy brown mustang with a white patch on his for head. Lauret had fallen in love with the animal right away when it was just a colt. Clarette ran ahead of him and he stopped. What? People? He looked o where she was running. Yeah. He sighed. People. He wandered up, looking uninteresting and boring. He was holding a plastic bag with a gallon of milk in it.</sub>

["Parker!"]

Ari noticed her other brother, Geo walk slowly behind them. She wondered what he was thinking about. He was still a sly devil sometimes, but his attitude was much..cooler these days. He was a cool guy. She smiled before returning to look as other people had started to come. Some were younger and some were older...but one caught her eye. He had white bangs and dark colored hair... and very nice eyes. He was cute. She looked at him carefully almost recognizing him, but maybe it was too far for her to remember back in the toddler days. She still had her chances of looking at the boy who was talking about horses... Horses... Hmm. She gave a glittered smile as she almost tripped on something, but merely stepped as if nothing happened.

[rawr nothing for her]

[raihnstar]

Rorr ran away from the swings and up to Janine, turning to look at the new people from behind her. Catching sight of Marie Clarette he gasped, "It's the ENEMY!" he bellowed, and ran away screaming. Janine stared after him, and turned to look at Clarette, "Uhh...sorry...about...that..." she was staring harder, "I'm sorry, do I--" she didn't finish her sentence, because the girl had turned to the cat boy, "Do I know you?" she asked him bluntly. He seemed...familiar. "And you?" she turned towards Janine now, her eyes flickering with recognition. "You guys all seem familiar..."

"Haha. I'm having this weird DeJaVou moment." Clarette laughed, tugging on the ends of her hair curiously.

[ßlue]

<sub>Geo grinned. The two girls seemed to remember they knew each other but didn't know from where. He remembered though. Maybe because he was younger, even if only by a few month or a year. He felt too young. He caught Ari looking at him and could tell she recognized them too. He looked from Clarette to Janine.

"Well there was a game of war here a long time ago. Two queens and a King battling for... uhh... whatever it was we were fighting for?"

He smiled, wondering if they'd remember. Maybe they'd played lots of war games? Maybe they wouldn't remember? Thatw as alright, thats why he could speak, to cominicate and know what was going on and meet people. Socialize... right?</sub>

[raihnstar]

There was a moment of silence while both girls had identical expressions of trying to remember. "Oh my GOD!" Clarette screamed, "I remember now! That was YOU?!" she asked, glee showing in her face. "And then I fought against you later, right?! Oh my GOSH! I can't believe that! That's so insane!" she was grinning from ear to ear. Janine resisted rolling her eyes, "Yeah. I remember I won." she said cooly, and smiled at the cat boy, "It wasn't your fault, though. The girl got caught."

Clarette nodded, "Yeah I loved getting caught. It was more fun than holding a position." she shrugged and laughed again, "And you're the boy who was the King, right?! You never told me your name! I'm Marie Clarette, by the way." she introduced herself, giving them a supreme smile. Janine eyed her curiously, "I'm Janine. That's my brother Rorr." she said, pointing to somewhere in the dusk where the boy was bending over, picking something up.

[ßlue]

<sub>Geo grinned, listening to the girl's outburst as she remembered. They both remembered. Clarette, yeah, that was her name! And... Janine! He smiled, happy to finally know their names, even after all these years of not seeing them. He nodded, looking back and forth between the two. He was about 5'7 now, he'd hit a growth spurt last year. He was hopin to grow to a nice 6'1 or so, he wanted to be tall. He crossed his arms.

"Yep, I was King...and... i think I did tell you my name. After we gotcaught. I’m Geoffrey Illume. Geo for short. Oh and this is one of my sisters and on of my brothers, Gareth and Ari…”

He nodded to his brother and sister next to him as he sort of stood in what made their group a sort of circle. So everyone could see everyone.

~

Lauret looked from face to face, gorgeous blue eyes looking out from under a spray of white he’d seen almost his whole life. His eyes caught a flash of gold before he met green eyes and stared. He… knew her. Ari. He was good at remembering things. Yeah, Ari had been a cat girl he’d talked to once a long time ago. He remembered he’d messed up everything and Clarette had left in a bad mood, calling him a wussy and whiner the rest of the day. He straightened. He was a bit taller now. Well, a lot taller now, just like everyone else. He was already seventeen, and almost six feet tall. He was really only 5’11 and three quarters, but everyone always rounded up to six. When he straightened up people could see how really tall her was, and not too bad looking hiding behind that wisp of white bangs and brown hair. He was stronger than he looked at first. He actually had muscle on him, something you wouldn’t expect from his personality.

He’d gotten it from riding horses. His legs were strong from holding the saddle with his knees and thighs or standing in the stirrups to ride. He handled the horses he had himself, not allowing other people to touch them, or at least not while he wasn’t there supervising. He taught a few kids to ride in his spare time; he got paid for it by the parents who wouldn’t accept ‘no it’s okay’ as an answer. His soothing blue eyes stared at the cat girl. Hmmm… Ari. She was prettier now. Taller, older, what was she? Sixteen? Seventeen? She couldn’t be much younger than him. He smiled at her, a small sort of shy smile.</sub>

[raihnstar]

Marie smiled at Geo, "Hey Air, Gareth." she greeted them cheerfully, putting her bag of milk down carefully. "So I guess things have changed." Her eyes wandered over Janine curiously, "You're much taller than I remember."

"Comes from me da's genes." Janine told her with a white toothed smile, beginning to enjoy herself around these odd strangers. "And you're umm...Taller..." You have more boobies... she htought to herself, and hid a grin, snorting.

Clarette seemed not to notice, "My hair's much longer, see!" she said, twirling and letting her hair fan out around her. It accidentally hit Geo in the face and Clarette gasped, "Ohmygosh sorry!" she squeaked, covering her mouth. Janine, who'd been laughing at her earlier thought, laughed harder at this display of sillyness. When she'd got her breath back she shook her head, "You okay, Geo? 's a neat name. Or nickname, rather."

Clarette nodded, "So you're a cat boy, huh? I have milk!" she said innocently, oblivious that it might seem a little rude, "If you want some, you can have some. It was Lauret's idea to get two jugs of milk anyway." Janine stared at her, feeling embarassed for the girl. Jeez...what an airhead.

["Parker!"]

[flirrrrtt fesssst!]

Ari almost looked away as the boy looked to her. He was alot older now. Taller...looking muscular as every teenage boy should. He seemed more confident now, not so shy anymore-- but maybe it was just because of his look. She gave a flirty smile as he smiled at her, obviously regognizing her. Wait-- Lauret! Yes! She glanced to her brother before walking away from them to the boy.

She was wearing jean shorts along with a pink cammi that just barely came up to her waist. She had large pretty blue eyes. She had grown regular sized breasts as well as gaining curves. She was still skinny as ever, not deathly, but very healthy.

"Hey you."

She spoke, her voice airy but plesant. She gave him a frienldly smile, remembering her new...but rather old friend.

--

Garath looked to all the girls. He rememberd some of them, but some were just unknown. He snickered very softly the the girl's rather crude comment. But still... Milk? Yum. Best drink, ever.

[XD rofl! xDD haha]

[ßlue]

<sub>Lauret watched as Ari stepped over to him. He looked down a moment, trying to be calm. He wishd he was on a horse, he was so much better on a horse, like a different person almost, so much more confident. He wondered if she knew how to ride. He could teach her. then they'd have something in common. They could ride together. He hoped she was good at riding. He looked at her as she said HI there. He smiled at her, almost blushing that she'd said something. She more outgoing than him. Who was more outgoing than him? He faced her, still smiling nicely, seeming pleased that she was talking to him, a subtle hint of surprise and that always present shyness in him. He had beautiful blue eyes, even if they were slightly hidden by his white bangs. He sort of blurted it out before thinking too hard on it. What if she said now? What if she thought he was an idiot? Awww crap, he'd already said it.

"Do you like horses? Do you ride?"

His eyebrows rose in hope. If she didn't know how to ride he could teach her, and he loved teaching the kids back home. He would love to teach her. He waited, unsure what to do with his hands. He decided to hook his thumbs in his pockets and keep them there... bu the milk in the bag started cutting off circulation to his fingers. He let the bag holding hand rest down and the free hand grab his elbow, trying to look unervous and making himself look, naturally, nervous.

~

Geo smiled, looking back and forth with interest at the two more mature boobs. ER!! Girls. Girls! His ears twitched to a slightly embarrassed position, not that they would know what the directions of ca ears meant. You knew these subtle signals where you were half cat, but normal or gifted people usually didn't know what it meant. He was suddenly brought out of his thoughts as he was whacked by something. At first he thought it was a tail, he'd been smacked with plenty of tails in the face over 16 years and he stumbled back, dazed, thinking his brother or sister had hit him. Clarette was apologizing. What? Her hair? Huh? His eyes flickered down and up. d**n hormones. He focused on her face and she said she had milk, so almost instinctively his eyes looked down a little. What?!?! He was SO lost... His eyes sank lower. Bag. Ground. Milk in a jug... not... JUGS...o0o0o0o0oh, made more sense now...

"Milk!! Yeah! What? I can have some? Mmmm... milk... Hey! Dont think just cause I'm a cat you can seduce me with you're milk..."

He eyed her to make sure they both knew he was serious before he plopped down in the grass and dragged the milk over. Mmmm yum yum yum yum yummmm... Milk...</sub>

["Parker!"]

The white cat girl flicked her tail pleasantly looking and bringing back memories of the boy. His eyes were so...so pretty. Her large blue ones blinked if not slowly gazing at his face. Though she did not his being of uncomfortable? Was she intimidating? Nah, she was way to small for that? Her brothers? Hmmm... maybe. But they were busy with the other girls. She hesitated for a moments after he spoke to her.

Horses? That...was random. She almost tilted her head, and ear flicking off to the side. Horses... She gave an instant friendly smile,

"Me? Ride horses?"

The cat slightly giggled amusingly, but it turned out that...

"I wish I did! They're so beautiful, don't you think? I've never rode before-- but I've watched other people ride! You've got to be pretty brave to do that stuff. I'm afraid I might fall off, yaknow?"

Her voice was silky, keeping the conversation going. Oh horses. They were so pretty. She liked the animals-- they were so smart. Most people thought they were stupid-- but nooo they were quite intelligent. But thinking about riding did excite her- oh if only.

[xDDD how... convenient]

[raihnstar]

Janine giggled at Geo's outburst, "Yeah. Seduce you. With her milk." She teased him, and Clarette grinned as well. "If I wanted to seduce you I'd probably go about it in a different way." she said with a grin, and happened to catch what Ari had just said... "Oh no. Now he'll never shut up..." she said, more to herself than to the other two. Janine shrugged, "So he likes horses. Leave him alone. What do you like?"

"Bears. But that's besides the point." she said giving the girl a half smile. Janine shrugged again, "Fine. How about you cat? What do you like? Besides Cats." she added the last bit as an afterthought, giving him another grin and glancing at Clarette, who looked a little bit put out. "He likes bears"

"No he doesn't. He hasn't said bears. What do you like, Geo?"

Clarette mouthed 'say bears' at Geo in a really obvious way.