Kiga smiled wide once more, eyes closed shut tightly and him rocking onto the tips of his toes. His hands clasped at the small of his back and he looked quite eager to answer. His tone certainly seemed to agree.
"Ayup! I'm going to help you!"
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Did she miss something? Ely stood in the middle of the room. Now that Kiga was warm again she had naturally gravitated for the closest bookcase and was checking spines and arranging things in proper order.
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
"Umm, help you with the... snow... plant... things...."
Kiga clearly didn't have much of an answer. But he made up for his quickly deteriorating sentence with enthusiasm and instead, smiled like a rather caught-out cheshire cat, bouncing on his toes.
"You just let me know what I can do!"
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Ely gave him a smile that took over half her face. It started at her mouth and continued upward until it shined from her brilliant green eyes. She wrapped her hands around him in a fierce hug, too. Ely took every chance she could find to touch Kiga. She enjoyed touching him. She enjoyed his response and expression when she did so.
Ely knew some of Kiga's past. But, she was not a girl for endless prying or prodding. He would talk to her when he felt that he could, and what he had told her was awful. From what he'd spoken about and even from what he hadn't, Ely gathered his child and young adulthood to be devoid of a kind hand. It upset her if she thought about it for too long. Cathian families were full of love, affection and acceptance. Nor could she imagine anyone not loving Kiga.
Ely leaned back to look up into his face.
"How about we find you something warm to wear first?"
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Kiga looked almost a little worried when she leaned back, but then nodded quite eagerly in response. Not that he gave clothing a great deal of thought. Armour might be a different matter.
"I don't really have much though and I can manage. Really. I'll just keep busy!"
Ah well, coat or not; he certainly had enthusiasm in droves.
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
"Oh, no. It is okay. I'm sure we can find you a coat. Come on! There is a whole slew of coats in this cabinet upstairs more than any one person could wear and they are all different sizes."
That puzzled her for quite a bit, the coats. In fact, there were more than just coats. Cloaks, hats, gloves, and many of the gloves without matches. She had no idea why they were folded away in the cabinet instead of a closet. Today though, it was a good thing.
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
"It could have been an inn, that would explain all the coats. The area downstairs is very large, too."
Ely put the coat that smelled like a wet frog to one side. She couldn't smell anything coming off of it, but if Kiga did it was probably moldy and better off thrown away. She continued to search through the stack for something that would fit him when her hands felt the pliant texture of soft leather.
Ely pulled at the coat until it was free of the stack. She straightened up, turned a bit to the side and shook it fiercely a few times. Dust motes flew into a dozen different directions caught by the sun beaming down from the open ceiling. The coat was way too long for her to wear, but it would fit him superbly. Plus, it was the exact same color as the feather that decorated his hair.
Ely spun around and held it out toward him. The coat would fall past his knees but no lower than that. The sleeves came to a triangular point at his wrist and would keep his bare arms safe from the cold, and the collar even had a mantle attached to it that would protect his neck and the back of his nape from getting damp. It was perfect.
"Look Kiga, look!"
Ely's smile was wider than her face could have possibly contained.
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Kiga looked at her wide eyed in wonderment and then finally, something clicked and he laughed. He ignored the coat for a moment and instead just threw his arms about Ely, lifting her feet from the floor in a hug. He also gave her one terribly big kiss because, well; he happened to like big kisses with Ely.
"Wow! That's kind of cool and it doesn't smell like frogs! Should I try it on?"
It seemed Ely's excitability was contagious and truth be told, Kiga certainly didn't mind. What else to do on a frozen day but get excited ebout rummaging through a dusty old closet?
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Ely blinked, gave the tiniest squeal of surprise, and then her breath left her chest. Did she care about getting her breath back? Not in the least. Certainly not while Kiga was both kissing and hugging her.
Should he try it on? Try what on? Ely was sort of lost at the moment. Perhaps it was the sparkles in front of her eyes. The multi-colored ones that, even now, after he put her down were still there. Ely brought her hand up to her lips. They were soft, damp, and hot. She cleared her throat and tried to get a hold of herself.
"Well, yes. Of course."
Of course, indeed. Ely did not want him to try it on. She wanted more kisses. She tried not to let that show, though.
"Try it on, Kiga."
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Kiga didn't wait any longer and wouldn't you know it, didn't quite think to unbutton some of the large coat. A slower, more methodical ninja might just take their time and slip into a jacket with ease. But Kiga, well Kiga was the fastest in town in many regards and his wanting to try on the jacket Ely had gifted him was no exception.
Therefore, he ended up bumbling about with half a jacket pulled over his head and shoulders. Waving his hands about wildly (buried deep withing the flapping sleeves of course,) and bouncing up and down, he grunted and gasped; doing his utmost to get the confounded thing on. He was both flummoxed and vexed before he was done but oddly enough, when the dust settled and his eyes stopped rolling about in their sockets; his hair was strangely untouched. Perhaps it was a magical jacket, one that endows the wearer with rather resilient hair.
"Well hey... this fits really well! It's sure to be warm too! I could almost fit you in here with me Ely, how does it look; hm?"
In one of those moments where Kiga was deliberately silly in order to make her giggle, he posed. Oh, there was no telling just how frequently Kiga actually chose to be silly or instead was just a victim to his own silly nature; but he posed quite deliberately then. One hand on his hips, the back of his other pressed to his forehead; he tilted his head back and shifted his balance to look all the world like an exasperated model.
"Is it me?"
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Ely made a sound. It was not a giggle. It was somewhere between laughter and a snort of disbelief. Of course, her body chose just that moment to hiccup, too. So, it ended up being an amalgamation of sound with laughter winning out. She laughed and laughed and all because Kiga looked absolutely silly in the pose.
Ely laughed so much that she had to hold on to Kiga just to remain standing. The coat was wonderful to touch and, it must be said, Kiga even moreso. She gasped several times too, in a crazy endeavor to regain her breath. The gasps ended up being truly raucous giggles.
Eventually, of course, she had to stop giggling. It took way longer than it should have and her attempted speech was robbed of any coherency several times. Finally, in among the gasps for air and faded giggling a few words could be deciphered.
"...K-Kiga...you-you...ll-look...just like a... a... g-ggirl."
Ely slid off his side and on to the floor laughter capturing her again.
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Well, sometimes in the life of a highly trained ninja assassin type....
Kiga wasn't about to share such stories. As much as the idea might be comical, those stories were sinister and dark, ending in blood shed. It didn't matter how pretty a lady he might make.
Right now though, he was laughing too. Her chuckling was infectious and he had the good sense to be able to laugh at his own goosing about. He adored seeing her laugh, sometimes she was quite serious, or buried in her books; her tail all a twitter as she learned something new.
Heck, Kiga adored her always. But in this moment, he showed it by being caught up in the laughter and needed to lean on something to steady himself.
Of course, he leaned on the edge of something in appropriate and with a scrape and a bang, he ended up laid out on the floor as well, still laughing.
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Ely stopped giggling to gasp. She saw the fall before it happened. Who knows why, it was just one of those things. I'm sure it has happened to you. Where you've seen the person that you love do something before it occurs. Ely could guess the outcome, too. She was just too late or uncoordinated to stop it.
"K-Kiga...ww-wait... you...you're going to h-hit..."
It happened before she finished the sentence.
BANG!
He was on the floor. But, she had managed to crawl over close enough to drag his head into her lap. Finally, too, she was able to control the desire to laugh. Her breathing was rattling in her chest, her eyes were watering, ears twitching a dozen ways, and for the most part her tail had gotten tied into knots, but she had stopped laughing. Ely considered that a win. She flung her hair off her shoulder and subsequently out of his face so she could see him.
"Are you okay? Here, let me see..."
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Kiga looked up at her with that eternal fascination, then decided it were best if he faked it a little. He pouted and showed her his pitiful, pleading eyes; then lifted his hand to touch his forehead with just one finger.
"I think I am bruised all over. It really hurts right here."