Archive of Our Own

Chii was bored. Bored of sleeping. Bored of sharpening her claws on the bedpost. Bored of climbing the curtains. Bored of pouncing on the pillow. Bored of chasing the feathers that came out of the pillow. Bored of eating (and she had to be REALLY bored to be bored of eating.)

Really bored. Really, really, REALLY bored.

Chii rolled over, ears flattening with determination. This, obviously, meant that it was time to Go Exploring.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time that Chii had Gone Exploring, and there weren't very many new places to Explore. On top of the wardrobe was neat, and under the bed had some fun bits of fluff that skittered about but tasted awful, and getting on top of the desk was exciting when it made all the sheets of white stuff fall and fly about, but after that....Chii was bored again. She rolled onto her back, wriggling a bit to make the white sheet things make the slithery crunchy sound, but she'd done that a lot yesterday, too, and it wasn't that interesting anymore.

Then...footsteps!

Chii sprang up, scooting under the bed to peer out hopefully. Maybe it was the Man! It was early for him to be back, but it could be! Maybe he'd come to entertain her! Pet her! Give her scritches and fish!

When the door opened, though, Chii's ears drooped. It wasn't the Man. It was some of the Other People that came in every day and switched things around and fed Chii and picked all the good toys up off the floor. They came in and made noises and waved their arms at the feathers from the pillows and the white sheet things around the desk. They moved around, their shoes going tap-tap-tap on the floor, rustling and banging and making noises like they always did. The rattling of Chii's food bowls in the other room made her ears twitch, but she knew it was just the same thing she'd been eating before, and she was tired of that. She wanted fish. She wanted the Man. Or maybe the Boy-Man that gave good scritches and also gave her good fish. She wanted something Not Boring.

Chii pouted, laying her head on her paws. She was just about to give up in frustration and go back to sleep when she saw....

The door was open.

Not a lot. Only a teeny, kitten-sized bit, in fact.

And Chii could see things! Things moving! Outside! Chii had never been allowed Outside on her own. She'd mostly stayed in the Man's rooms, and when the Boy-Man would sneak her away to different rooms, he wouldn't put her down or let her Explore on her own, no matter how many fun things they walked past.

But. But now...the door was open! And the Other People weren't watching!

And Chii could smell FISH out there!

Chii mewed happily and scrambled for freedom.

---------------------------

"--was not!" Vaan's protest was muted by the roll that he'd stuck in his mouth a moment earlier.

Basch chuckled and pounded him on the back. "Easy, lad. Eat or talk, but both at once is ill-advised."

Penelo's grin was devious, teasing if Larsa didn't miss his guess. She brandished her fork at Vaan. "Oh, you were too, Vaan. I could see how you were eyeing her. And DROOLING."

Vaan finished coughing and leveled a finger back at her, undaunted. "Hey, hey, I was not DROOLING, ok? I have standards."

"Of course," Penelo said, rolling her eyes. She caught Larsa looking at her and shook her head, lips pursing ruefully. Larsa, who admittedly had been following that mouth more than the conversation itself, smiled back.

"--YES, and drooling is reserved for the likes of the new XZ-50. The new Draklor model? Larsa, have you SEEN the specs on those?" Vaan's hands made gestures usually reserved for women's figures, adapted to the outline of an airship's hull. "One of those babies would probably run even the Strahl into the ground!"

Larsa dragged his eyes away from where Penelo was idly sucking the last bit of dessert off her spoon. He reached for his glass and caught Basch studiously not smiling as he didn't watch Larsa watch Penelo. Not, Larsa thought, that anyone could blame him for looking. It had been a long time since Vaan and Penelo had visited, and Penelo looked...fetching in the early summer sun.

"Ah...yes...yes, I believe so," Larsa answered Vaan, gesturing vaguely with his glass. "I do recall something coming across my desk with a lot of test results and abbreviations and numbers and requests for money. I wouldn't feel too bad, Vaan. More experienced men than you have been drooling over those ships. They've just done it via requests to overhaul the entire Archadian fleet."

Vaan's eyes widened. "Y...you said yes, right? Oh man, when...I mean...maybe when they're delivered you could...use someone to test fly them right?"

"Vaan!" Penelo tossed her napkin at him, frowning. "Larsa's got more important things to worry about than getting you on some fancy new airship."

Vaan dodged and let the cloth projectile fly by his head, then held up his hands. "Hey, I'm just saying--"

"Nyao?"

Penelo blinked. "...what?"

"Uh...," Vaan replied, twisting in his chair.

"Nyao? Nyao!"

Basch groaned, closing his eyes. "Please don't tell me that that's...."

Larsa peeked around Penelo's chair, back towards the terrace door, and chuckled. "Aha. I see we have another guest for lunch."

Basch sighed and made to stand, but Larsa rose and waved him back. "It's all right, I've got her. She appears to be um...doing battle against Penelo's napkin."

Indeed, Chii was, to all appearances, having a grand time rolling around on the terrace stones, gnawing on the napkin's embroidery. It was hard to tell whether the napkin had fallen on her or whether she had taken the opportunity to pounce after the fact. As it was, though, she looked up at Larsa from under a corner of linen and nyaoed delightedly.

Larsa chuckled again as he knelt down. "And exactly how did you get here, hmm? Oh wait, you're...now, stop struggling, you're only making it...there. All better." He rose and turned, Chii perched in his arms. "Penelo, Vaan, I give you, Lady Chii." Larsa stopped to present her between Vaan and Penelo's chairs. "Lady Chii, these are our friends Vaan and Penelo. Don't hold it against Penelo that she tossed a napkin at you. I'm sure she didn't mean it. She's really quite a kind person."

"Nyao?" Chii said, cocking her head at the others. Or perhaps at the table, laden as it was with the remains of lunch.

"Ohhh, she's adorable!" Penelo said, reaching out to stroke a finger along Chii's fur.

"She's kinda tiny, isn't she?" Vaan asked, scritching once along Chii's back. "Is she yours, Larsa? I didn't know you liked cats."

Penelo's delighted smile momentarily made Larsa lose his train of thought. He rallied, valiantly. "She's but a kitten, really. And I adore cats, but honestly she belongs to---"

Basch cleared his throat softly, his eyes darting from Penelo to Chii to Larsa. He raised an eyebrow meaningfully, with an accompanying conspiratorial smile.

Larsa blinked. "Ah. Well, I did find her, yes. Rescued her from the gardener, really. She'd managed to find her way into the palace somehow...."

Vaan, having caught the silent exchange, snickered. Penelo, involved as she was in finding the perfect scritching spot under Chii's chin, hadn't noticed anything amiss, however. "Oh, that's so sweet of you, Larsa. She's so cute. Can I hold her?"

"Of course. She's friendly, though not the most well-trained. And she'll probably be inordinately interested in..." Penelo's warm hands brushed his as he handed her the purring bundle of kitten. "...in...the fish left on your plate."

"Oh, she can have it, really," Penelo said, chuckling. She offered Chii a bit of tuna from her fingers. "Here, pretty, would you like some, whoa she's fast. Easy there, girl, there's plenty more. Here, want to try some of this...?"

Larsa drifted back over to his chair and sat down. Vaan looked from Larsa to Penelo and back again, grinning. Larsa cleared his throat and went for his glass again.

Vaan propped his chin on one hand. "So. Larsa. How about those XZ-50 test flights? I mean, maybe WE--" he stressed the word with an eyebrow wriggle and an exaggerated glance at Penelo-- "...could, I dunno...make a visit of it? For awhile? I mean...testing out airships has to take...what...a few days at least?"

Larsa raised an eyebrow, lips curling in a smile. Evidently Vaan hadn't forgotten how business was done in Archades. He mirrored Vaan's pose, setting his chin on his hand and smiling. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he could see Basch hiding his grin in his goblet. Honestly, Larsa was beginning to feel part of some collective scheme, kitten and all.

Penelo laughed as Chii nyaoed happily and climbed up to bury her face in Penelo's abandoned plate. The sunlight turned Penelo's hair to new-minted gold which paled beside her smile.

Well. Surely any excuse to have Pe...the two of them visit was to be treasured and would be worth arranging a...special inspection of the new airships. Surely. It was terrible for friends to fall out of touch, after all....

"Eh?" Vaan said, waggling his eyebrows again.

Chii, having plundered Penelo's plate as thoroughly as any sky pirate, waddled over to investigate Larsa's. She cast him a reproachful look for not leaving her any fish, but deigned to lay down next to his arm, curled into a purring ball under his chin.

Larsa found himself chuckling. "I'll see what I can do."