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Among the Felidae (Yurina and Alan23)

Eve was surprised herself. Never did she knew that one day she would actually try and stand up right before Lachat like this. The moment she saw that Lachat was going to pounce on her, the black-haired one immediately got into a defensive stance herself. Her ears lowered back against her skull slowly. The lower it went, the more serious Eve would be.

Although the next move never happened which was strange indeed. Something that Lachat never did was back out but she did it this time, apparently to not lose her face to Hari? As she turned to Hari and spoke even with that kind of volume, Eve could hear it very clearly. This made her drop her shoulders before watching the retreating back of the blonde neko and she couldn't help but glare slightly at her.

A few seconds Eve remained that way before she remembered the stuff Lachat took that had dropped on the ground. Thankfully they were not ruined, still in their packets as she rushed over and grabbed them. Knocking off some of the dirt off it, she stuffed them back into her pockets, "Hari.. let's go?" she urged Hari, moving towards where they came from.
 
Hari was both amused and slightly puzzled by the way Eve had taken ownership of him - rather like a young human girl laying claim to her boyfriend, and hustling him away. perhaps even more importantly, he found the situation somewhat arousing. It was obvious that Eve was frightened of Lachat, and would not normally have been able to stand up to her. She had won, he realized, a victory, though by the way he could feel her trembling, and her obvious apprehension that victory had been a narrow one.

And then, as he took his arm and hustled him away, it came to him that the race known as neko were exactly like his own. Her emotions were not just coincidentally and amusingly "like" those of a human girl. They were exactly the same. She had been able to summon up her courage and resourcefulness to defy Lachat simply because of her instinctive feelings, the need to defend what was hers, to drive away potential rivals from her chosen mate.

He gently, casually draped his arm protectively around her.

"So, I hope you'll excuse my ignorance, sweet Eve," he said, softly. "But I know so little about you, and your race. Have you... erm... ever mated? Is it even polite to ask stuff like that?"
 
Eve looked to Hari when he pulled her close using his arm, causing her to blink in confusion before she looked up to him and she couldn't help but blush bright when he asked her that. She bit her lower lip before shaking her head. It took her a few seconds to finally reply, "N-No one would want.. to.. m-mate with me." she murmured softly, turning away shyly as they slowly made their way back to their container. Thank goodness no one seem to spot her, or so she thought. She had forgotten that her race were really keen on smell so besides Lachat, someone else could have picked up his scent too.

Reaching her home, she felt much more safer as none of the cats would bother themselves to come here so Eve started to preoccupy herself with the cooking as promised. Although from experience she had no skill whatsoever to cook up something by herself. So she hoped Hari knew how to cook something simple at the very least.
 
Eve's comment, the way she seemed to have taken it for granted that no-one could possibly have ever wanted to mate with her, had shocked Hari the way few things could have. He could not know, of course, just what made one neko attractive to another - perhaps they had other parameters to those that applied to human tastes - but he could not deny that as a human male, he found her attractive indeed. He felt a bit guilty about this, for, in some ways she resembled, mentally, a young child, and it would have gone very much against his personal grain to have feelings of this kind for any human who he felt was not emotionally mature enough for her consent to mean anything, even if she was (as in Eve's case) obviously sexually mature enough for such feelings to be legal.

It was like, he felt, being alone with a drunken or drugged adult human woman - regardless of her age, having such thoughts about her made him dislike himself a lot.

Against this, however, he could hardly ignore her. She had rescued him in his extremity, possibly at great risk to herself. She had shared food with him, food that it seemed was hard to come by. Possibly she had even saved his life. It was possible, he felt, that he had the power to make her feel better about herself. Had he the right to deny her that?

He knelt down beside her, helping her select the ingredients that they needed, stirring and mixing, to make a kind of fish stew. She seemed to be having trouble manipulating and opening the packets of spices and such she had brought back. Whether this was that she was still trembling from her encounter with Lachat, or that a neko, being mainly feline, was less dextrous than a human (though they had opposable thumbs, so surely that wasn't a problem) or that she was still emotionally upset from having to admit that she had not been found desirable by the others in the colony, he could not tell.

"I shouldn't have asked you that, I guess," he said, as he stirred the pot in which he had combined the ingredients. "It's just... I guess I assumed someone as pretty as you would have a string of suitors." Then remembering that when complimenting a woman (and a neko was, he had seen, very much like a human woman) it's always better to mention at least some specifics "I mean, with those lovely eyes of yours, and those gorgeous legs. If you were a human, the boys would be chasing all after you. Except that those sexy ears of yours make you even prettier than you would be if you were human."

He picked up her tail and kissed the end of it, then dropped it, wondering if he might have gone too far, violated some shibboleth of neko etiquette!
 
As far for her attempts on opening the packets from the food Hari had bought for them, she was still overwhelmed from the shock from Lachat but she was trying her best to concentrate on her task to dispel that feeling. Although she couldn't help but feel a little bit proud of herself for standing up to her like that. With a small smile on her lips at that realization, she felt a little bit more calm now. Or so she thought.

When Hari knelt down beside her, her ears twitched at his words. He seemed regretful for asking her that earlier question? Oh well she wasn't obviously fazed at that the fact that no one would want to mate with her. She would totally understand that she was just a common black cat even till today many of them think they bring bad luck. She was not fully developed like Lachat was since she had just entered adulthood this year. Eve was dirty and it was hard for her to clean herself properly. There was no wonder no other toms would come around even to sniff her. Why she was so shy about the topic was that no one had ever shared a proper talk about this with her so she could only dream or watch from the sidelines.

Before Eve could reassure him, what Hari said and did afterwards made her body froze. What was Hari doing?! especially when he took her tail and kissed the end of it. Her mind was panicking at the attention she was getting from such a kind and good-looking human! Eve's lips parted as her eyes grew wide in surprise. The next thing she realized that her heart was beating so much that she swore it might just pop out from her chest. The black neko's face was clearly beat red, "H-H-H-Hari.. she uttered his name, utterly speechless and embarrassed as she bit her lower lip and pulled her legs together while covering her ears with her long sleeves. Her bushy tail wrapped around her as if she was in a ball.
 
Hari sensed immediately that he had gone too far. She was, after all, a child, in many ways. A state of affairs he had failed to take into account. Moving as quickly as his injuries allowed - still very fast, for he was used to relying on his fitness to preserve his life - he rolled away from her, putting half of the floor area of the container between them, holding his hands in the air in the established (and presumably recognized by nekos as much as his own race) gesture that said "I will not touch. I will stand off, away from you."

Her bright red blush, her obvious fear and embarrassment, the way she had curled herself into a protective ball told him the story. He was learning just how expressive the tail of a neko could be, combining the traits of those of a cat and a human. The latter had far more emotional states they needed to portray, he saw, and far subtler graduations of emotion. A cat curling its tail around itself might be expressing contentment, yet Eve, he knew instinctively, was subconsciously attempting both to protect herself, and mask her humiliation.

She was, he saw, frightened in the way a virgin would be at the advance of a man, yet with more besides. The behavior of Lachat had told him that a neko who could not handle a sexual advance would be laughed at and reviled by the rest. Was Eve's failure to respond "properly" making her feel even worse? If only he knew more about the mores and habits of the (to him) strange race among which he had fallen.

"It's all right, prett -" he stopped himself, hurriedly, deciding that endearments would only frighten her more. "It's all right, Eve. I won;t... I won't come near you. I didn't realize you... I...

"I got it wrong," he concluded sadly, admonishing himself as much as apologizing to her. "Look, just move away, and I'll leave. Eat the stew then forget me, OK?"

He walked towards the door, the various wounds in his muscles screaming their protest at the speed at which he moved.

"Thank you for saving me. I'll never forget you. But... I know you want me gone, now."
 
Embarrassed to the point that she had to curl herself up like this. Of course, that was because she didn't know how to response to such advancement. No one had ever shown her any affection before let alone something of the sexual attention too. Eve's heart was still racing but somehow she knew deep down, she was actually happy that Hari was honest to her and possibly to the human, she was at least attractive to him right?

Now all Eve's gotta do was to just calm down and get used to this perhaps. Although as she tried to calm down so, the words Hari said afterwards made her tense up. Won't come near her? He got it wrong? He'll.. leave? Immediately Eve raised her head, completely confused as Hari looked even more regretful than before as he stood up and moved towards the door.

The sight of his fleeting back made Eve's heart sank and the memories of her lonely nights, hurt, crying in the rain and just plain sadness returned to her.

Her ears dropped as the moment of her embarrassment had completed disappear as it was replaced by dread, "W-Wait! Hari!!" she cried out and rushed towards him, clutching his shirt from the back as she held him back, "Don't.. leave.." the black-haired one uttered, "Don't leave me.. please.." she begged, feeling her eyes welling up with tears as she buried her face to the low of his back, "I don't want.. to be alone.." she whimpered, her fingers clenching on his shirt even tighter.
 
Hari was genuinely confused. Being more used to spending time with human women, and usually those with a high degree of experience at that, he had mistaken Eve's confusion for revulsion at his show of affection. After all, he had quickly concluded, he was of a different species to her. A human woman might rescue an injured dog, feed it, show it affection and kindness, without necessarily wishing to interact sexually with it. He had thought that perhaps her race might consider themselves more refined and higher in the evolutionary scale than humans. Though, the thought struck him, Lachat had seemed willing enough to flirt with him.

The problem was, he concluded, he knew so little about this beautiful race of beings among whom he found himself. In the short time he had known Eve he had tended to fill in blanks in his knowledge by default reference to what he knew of actual cats. A four-legged cat, he knew, was up for sex at any time, but of course nekos were part human, and, stupidly, he had not taken into account that they might experience a sensitivity not know to their quadrupal equivalents. And, too, Eve's physical frailty might have been an issue. It was obvious she was pulling as hard as she could on his shirt but, in truth, this was still not very hard. Was she unwilling for sex, but afraid that if he persisted she would be too weak to resist him? Or afraid of her small body suffering injury if she ever made love? Or should her words simply be taken at face value. That she was terrified of being alone, bullied by the other nekos like Lachat, and needed a protector?

He turned, and tilted her small face up towards him.

"It's all right, Eve," he smiled. "If I'm sure I'm welcome... I'll stay."
 
Eve's body shivered, she was clutching him so tightly that she was afraid if she had let go he might just run off. She really didn't want him to leave. Since he was the first person to ever be kind around her like this and treat her like an equal really. Eve remained as she was until he turned around and tilted her head up, making her watery teal orbs to stare back into Hari's own. Upon his words, the neko couldn't help but feel overwhelmed that he was going to stay, "Hari.." she mewed his name and felt the tears finally running down her face, proceeding to bury her face to his chest. Slowly her grip loosen as she stayed close to him, clearly happy to have hear that Hari was definitely staying with her but then her ears pricked up at the sound of boiling and she turned to see the pot was overflowing.

"Nyaa!" Eve panicked, rushing towards the stove and tried to turn it off.
 
If Eve had not been so obviously distressed, Hari would have laughed out loud to see the way she scuttled across the floor of the container towards the boiling pot. It was so typical of her to panic in that way, and as well as being somewhat cute, her hasty rush also caused the one piece garment that she (and, he'd seen, the other female nekos also) wore to hike up on her body revealing far more than was good for his peace of mind. Eve was, he could not help noticing, attractive indeed by human standards, with her thin limbs and middle, and the tail and ears - which upon first meeting had made him feel slightly uncomfortable - he now saw as an added beauty.

It also intrigued him that nekos could cry. Thinking it over, he guessed it made sense. He had to remember that Eve was neither human, nor cat - she was neko, and he had a whole new set of information to take in. As he mused this way it struck him that he was already accepting that he and she might be together some time. Well, he rationalized, he could hardly leave her now, could he?
 
Clearly Eve was had not realized what the other male was thinking about her at the point of her panicking, she just wanted to have Hari come over quickly and help her! With that thought, Eve looked up at Hari with her bright eyes, ears and tail lowered too in a bid to have Hari see how distressed she was at the boiling pot! Once he did though, everything was back in order. That morning they had a wonderful breakfast or brunch more like it where Eve realized how it felt strangely good to have the human eat with her with the delicious meal they have cooked up together. The black neko wished hard if time could just stop and they could enjoy themselves even more.

And oh how her wish was granted. A few days had passed and Hari and Eve grew more closer. By this time Hari should know how old Eve was to human years and her mannerisms and routine as well. Now it had become another day where the sun was really high and the neko felt really hot. She was fanning herself before she looked up to Hari and thought that maybe they could go to the well to fetch some water.
 
Hari had spent the intervening time sleeping alone in a corner of the container, and in a state of desperate erithism. The days were not so bad, the eating of meals from the dishes they cooked up, the conversation - during which he learned much about the race of nekos, to the extent he felt that just maybe he might pass among them if he had to - and generally relaxing, all did him good after the hectic and dangerous life he had been leading. Usually, when cooped up with no external entertainment he became bored and listless, but with Eve's company he never felt any suspicion of that most draining of emotions.

The night, though, were a source of torment to him. A highly sexed being, the sight of her, curled up in sleep with her tail wrapped around her, her garment hiked up showing so much of her superbly womanly, all-too-human shape tortured his imagination. To him, she was part girl, part mature woman, and her confession to being never mated added to his disquiet. Had she been an experienced sexual being, he might have squared a further advance with his conscience, but as things were, her obvious shyness and fear concerning matters sexual made his feel that to press the point would be unfair and not entirely ethical. He continued to share jokes with her, but backed off from the compliments, and did not touch her at all.

When she said they needed to venture out to get water, his first thought was to volunteer to go and fetch it alone, thus saving her from exposing herself to the far less safe environment outside where she might suffer more of the bullying and humiliation he had seen was her constant lot. But further thought made his bite back this suggestion. It would only, he realized, embarrass her by lampshading her weakness and ability to protect herself. Yet he also sensed she was glad not to have to go on her own, that having a protector would make the venture much more pleasant for her.

"Yeah, the stuff we've got is getting a bit stale," he agreed. "And it'd be good to see some more of this... this colony. That's if you aren't shamed to be seen with an ugly creature like me, that is."
 
Throughout the days, Eve realized how Hari had not been showering her with compliments like how he used to which made her wonder why. Perhaps he found her finally not pretty as what he had thought before? Her mind wandered off before she proposed of heading into the colony to get some water. They do have their own tap but it was running really slow lately that she knew that the next thing that could happen was that the water could stop coming since this had happened before. She slowly got herself up before Eve turned to Hari when he called himself an ugly creature.

This somehow made her frown. Why would he say that about himself when it was truly the opposite, "You're not.. ugly at all Hari." she murmured, "Unlike me.." Eve whispered to herself, clearly she had no confident in herself as she quickly moved out to the container to get two buckets out, "Urm.. you can stay here.. it would be best if Lachat won't see you." the black neko spoke. At the thought of that blonde neko clinging over Hari made her blood boil once more.

"Besides, you've just healed your arm.. so you shouldn't push yourself on carrying heavy things." she said, eventhough she knew she would have a bit of trouble bringing these two buckets back once they were filled. Turning her back to Hari, she gave him a glance before moving towards the bucket. Yes, this was for the best, rather than have Hari exposed to the colony to both Lachat and possibly the other nekos, especially if the alpha sees him then he won't be too happy to see a human in the colony.
 
"Yeah, but that's not going to happen," Hari said, quickly. Since coming to Eve's house he had never asserted his dominance, never attempted to tell her what do do. Yet he knew, instinctively, that his personality as well as his body was far stronger than hers, and that if he chose to display this, she would not be able to stand up to him. He knew that accompanying her would make the trip easier than her going alone, and would not take no for an answer. "And anyway, the one thing this arm of mine needs to properly heal is exercise. A bucket of water is hardly going to damage it. It's - " He would have said more, but realized that for a creature as physically weak as Eve, a single bucket of water WAS close to the level of what she could easily lift, and he had no wish to humiliate her by reminding her of this. "And two of us can carry twice as much," he added.

Hari was by no means short of perception, yet there was, perhaps, a thing he had not yet fully understood. He had taken Eve's wish for him to stay hidden at face value - that it might be dangerous for word to get around she had a human guest. He had totally missed her real reasons - jealousy and insecurity about the way Lachat had tried to flirt with him - a lack of sensitivity that might only be excused by the fact he normally mixed with women far more streetwise and secure in their sexuality. He was unaware that his ceasing to pay her compliments was causing her such disappointment, or that that she was even thinking about the matter at all. Her slightly wistful expression he had attributed simply to the hard, unpleasant life she led, her failure to find a mate among the male nekos. That she might reciprocate the feelings he was starting to experience for her had not crossed his mind.

He picked up the buckets and headed for the door. "Come on, pretty -" he stopped, remembering his resolve not to make her uncomfortable with compliments. "Come on, Eve, quicker we get it over with, the quicker we can get back."
 
Eve's ears twitched when Hari was determined to follow her and help her with the water. He took the buckets she wanted to carry and the moment she swore he wanted to say something nice about her like how he used to, he stopped and merely used her name. Her ears drooped as she hung her head a little. Oh what she thinking. She shouldn't be clinging to such words. Hari doesn't mean it anymore. Eve concluded that about herself. Of course, she was just a mangy lonely kitten.

She was surprised that Hari definitely spoke in his own decision, something that he didn't do before and she knew he would back out of it. Her fluffy tail swayed a little before she gave up, although thankful that he really wanted to help, "Okay.. just let's head quickly." she said as she quickly brought him to another way towards the well.

Thankfully it was a little away from the colony but she knew from the colony the well could still be seen. She just hoped that no one would come up and bully her or say something about the human being in their colony. Eve was getting more and more anxious about it. When they were near the well, she told Hari to hide behind some bushes first before sniffing the air. Oh, thank goodness no one was around. Quickly the neko moved with the human in tow so that they could fetch the water in peace.
 
There were not too many things that Flix missed.

A lithe, almost emaciated creature, with a ragged left ear and a longish face hinting at Oriental ancestry, he did not at first blush look like the best in the entire colony at stalking, fighting or fornication. Yet these things were exactly what he was. He hd lost, in his entire time at the colony, two fights. The first was as a kitten of six months when he had unwisely hurled himself at the leader of the colony in return for some imagined slight, and been trashed. The other was when he'd been cornered by an entire pack from a rival colony down by the docks, and even then he'd sent at least four of them limping home in such a state of decrepitude that none of them had been seen abroad for six months. Flax took crap from no-one and yet, somewhat surprisingly, neither did he give it. In fact, his manners were so formal, he might have been the subject of constant mockery by the rest of the colony save for two things. The first was the fighting ability mentioned above. The second that the potential mocker would have to be quick indeed, for Flix enjoyed few things more than a joke against himself, and sent himself up on a regular basis.

Yet he could be serious when he liked, and his thoughts were serious now. Lachat had been quick to spread word around the colony of Eve's new guest, this conversation consisting mostly of asking other nekos as to her chances, for she was besottedly in heat for the human. In his usual urbane manner, Flix had engaged her in conversation, gently teasing out of her more things about Hari than Lachat had even known she was revealing.

Since Eve and Hari had left the container, their every move had been watched by the silent shadow that was Flix. He did not know Eve well, but with his natural instinct to protect the weak he did not want her to get into trouble, and knew that when the news of her guest reached the alpha, the possibility for trouble was high indeed. Sheltering outsiders was against the colony rules, for a very good reason.

And when he saw from Eve's body language that she was as much in heat for Hari as Lachat was, he felt that trouble edge even closer!
 
[ So sorry for my late reply, I was pretty busy last week >; ]

There was something in the air. She could smell it indeed but she couldn't tell whose scent it was. It was very minimal though. This person must be very good in terms of his stalking and hiding since she knew she would have missed that if she didn't concentrate hard enough. Eve's ears lowered as her tail stood still, her teal eyes glancing around the open area for any possible hiding place. Apparently there were a lot of bushes around their watering hole so it was impossible for her to pinpoint where it is. She was thankful that Hari didn't question her on why they were hiding so she had to make an excuse, "Urm.. I think Lachat may be nearby.. if she sees you.. she'll want you again Hari.." she murmured, finding her tongue growing bitter at the name she was mentioning. Clearly this shows how much she really disliked that blonde neko.

"So... urm.. stay here till I bring the buckets okay?" Eve murmured to the human before she got up and move to the well. She tied the hoisting rope to the handle of the bucket before dropping it into the well. Letting it fill up with water, once filled, she began to pull it up. Because it was the only well there they could get more extra water which usually the case for her since the water was moving too slow, she was thankful of the pulley easing her struggle to pull it up with a handle that she just needed to turn.

So far so good, she was halfway through now but she had to admit, it was a bit of a struggle. Possibly of how weak she was. She clearly not have much muscle in her arms. Finally once it was up, she smiled to herself at her accomplishment before she did the same thing with the other pail. Eve looked like a diligent little kitten working hard at surviving despite the odds and treatment she gets from the colony.
 
Hari would ideally have liked to help Eve with the buckets of water, and in fact at first was mystified as to why she refused to allow him to do so. As he sat, at a distance, and watched her struggle, though, he managed to figure out why. It could not, he felt, have been easy for Eve to retain her pride, being so physically weak and unable to defend herself or attract a mate, and even having to live in isolation to stop herself being tormented by the others in the colony. he could understand, after he'd thought about it, why she would sooner exhaust herself fetching the water herself than admit she needed help.

He was also intrigued how, in her nervousness, she had admitted she wished to keep him separate from Lachat. Obviously she was jealous of the (relatively) stronger neko, even though she had managed to face her down in their one confrontation. It was now obvious she was insecure about Lachat managing to attract him away from her. It was both endearing and, in a way, arousing.

As he sat and watched her finally place the second full bucket on the ground, he tensed as another neko emerged from the shadows. This one was obviously a male, long and rangy, though not especially thick set. In human terms, he looked like a distance runner rather than a weightlifter, though his hard, confident eyes and confident lope gave Hari (an expert in such matters) the strong impression that few of the others in the colony would enjoy tangling with him.

he wondered if this were another of the nekos that habitually teased and annoyed Eve, yet the neko did not seem inclined to behave in this way, and though Hari could not hear what he said, his greeting appeared to be friendly enough.

*****

"I'd have helped you," Flix said, as he broke from the shadows and, in a single lithe bound, sprang to the top of the wall of the well, almost as sure-footedly as a full cat might have done, and certainly better than any human gymnast might have managed it. "But I guess you don't want your boyfriend to see you needed help. That's why you wouldn't let him do it, yeah?" He smiled. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. But listen, wanted to give you a heads up - I can't say the same for Lachat. She's got her eye on that man of yours... better stick close to him and be prepared to defend what's yours."

And with a single bound, he was gone, as if he had never been there, so quickly that even if another neko had been in the vicinity they could not have seen that, against the rules of the colony, he had assisted someone who was breaking the rules.
 
As Eve was too focused on fetching the water, her ears twitched at voice behind her, tensing up in the process in reaction before her eyes followed the shadow of a lean male neko that easily hopped on the top wall of the well. The sight of him was clear on who he was. It was Flix and almost immeditely she froze in her spot, afraid if he was going to hurt her but instead when he spoke, it made the black-haired neko puzzled and surprised. He could have helped her? To be honest, she had never spoken to this tom as she was always running away or just watching from the shadows thus that was why over time, she managed to remember almost everyone's name and scent that stayed in the colony.

The way Flix moved, it was clear of how easily he could control his body. Not like Eve couldn't do it but she merely didn't have the strength much for it. The neko's eyes wide though at one point when she heard him say about her boyfriend. Almost instantly she knew he was talking about Hari. Eve stood there, glued to the ground as worry filled up but it was quickly dismissed when she saw him smile. Oh, she had never seen his face like that before. The words that came afterwards made Eve hung her head and once she knew he was gone, she glanced back at where Hari was.

Wow, that was really unexpected. Someone from the colony was willing to help her? Now that was a first she had heard something like this coming from someone like him too. Eve bit down her lower lip as she continued to bring the water back up. While she did so, she pondered. Would she really need to stick close to the human and keep him away from Lachat? Well she did it once so she should have no problem doing that again right? Especially if it was Lachat that wanted Hari.

No, she would let Lachat or any females near him. For the sake of Hari's safety of couse.

Finally once she had filled up two buckets, carefully she carried one and brought it to the bushes to where Hari was waiting, "You can.. take this one Hari." she smiled, still a bit fazed as to why Flix was actually helping her? with that she turned and moved back to collect her other bucket and carefully turned to head back to the human so that they could do home.
 
If Eve thought that she had seen the last of Flix that day, she would have been, technically at least, correct. For she did not see him. This did not mean, however, that he did not see her.

He shadowed her and Hari all the way back to the container, always keeping to the shadows, moving so efficiently, so silently, hugging the shadows and niches so strongly, a mist would have been thought noisy by comparison. This art - known among the race as "sidling" - was an extreme necessity for their survival, and even Eve and Lachat were good at it. But Flax could have given anyone in the colony lessons, could have walked up behind any of them over a floor strewn with broken glass and they would never have known he was there until he chose to tap them on the shoulder.

His main aim was to protect Eve. Though he did not know her well, he knew instinctively that the closer knit the colony was, the greater their chance of survival in a hostile world in which they needed to stay both united and hidden. Anyone's survival might depend on anyone else's. His own might, one day, require Eve to give of her best. For any of the colony to be reduced to emotional helplessness, their confidence shattered, could not be tolerated. And this, he knew, was what Lachat, intentionally or otherwise, had been doing for a long time, forcing the dark haired neko to love alone, unable to take her proper part in the life of the colony.

Hari, too, worried him. An outside, a two-leg, could only be trouble. The first rule of the colony was to avoid being seen, avoid being known. This two-leg would not stay here for ever, and when he went back to his own world, he'd talk. Soon, there would be humans, humans with guns, with all kinds of things that weren't welcome. He cursed the fact that no-one had bothered to try and help Eve, or she would not have been tempted to help this human to save her own loneliness. He shrugged. Well, the damage was done now. All he could do was watch and wait, and do what he could.

In the meantime, he was amused to see Eve's reaction, either to Hari's nearness or to what he, Flix, had said. He had described Hari as her boyfriend, and Eve had not, he'd noticed, contradicted that. The way she was walking, the way she kept stealing shy looks at him, the nervous twitch of her tail, all these told a highly informative story. Lachat had done similar things when talking about Hari, blushing beet red when asking questions about him. It seemed, if Flix was any judge, that both females had a thing for this rangy human.

And as the two reached the container, to see Lachat leaning up against the opening, smiling, Flix tensed, ready to intervene.
 
Eve was thankful that Hari did not mention about seeing Flix since being in the bushes would let him clearly see him. He surely did right? Since he did not bring it up, then she shouldn't ask him right? The black-haired neko walked with him back to their home before Eve froze at the scent carried by the wind. Almost immediately she lowered her ears as she felt anger boiling up. For once she was actually feeling like this and of all people towards Lachat. She knew she should have felt this kind of rage before due to her mistreatment but she knew she couldn't bring it up until now.

Still, Eve really doesn't like conflict at all so she merely moved towards the side and have the tip of her bushy tail wrapped around Hari's free wrist, guiding him towards the side of the container. Maybe she could try and stand up for once, "L-Lachat.. what are you.. doing here?" she asked, wanting to glare but it didn't seem that Eve could do that as her head was hanged low and she still felt nervous at the thought that Lachat was definitely still furious about the other day.

Lachat who was idly waiting them sprang up at the sight of Hari that she almost missed the little eyesore of a loser's weak attempt to speak up. She sneered and without a single word, easily picked up the bucket Eve was carrying and tipped it over the little kitten with a giggle, "Obviously to see Hari~" she purred.
 
For just a brief second, Lachat experienced a certain amount of satisfaction at her small victory. She had made her rival look a total fool, in front of the man for whom they were obviously competing, and inflicted a total humiliation from which Eve would be unlikely to recover. She snatched the second bucket, knowing that Eve was nowhere near strong enough to prevent her, that she could do whatever she wished and that the black haired neko was unable to do anything about it.

It was then that Hari moved.

One second he was completely quiescent, as if amusedly observing the fact that two pretty female nekos were prepared to fight over him. The next, his hand was a blur as it shot out, grabbing the full bucket by the handle, pulling it away from Lachat without even spilling a drop. he set it on the gorund, watched by the two females - and by the hidden Flix, who was intrigued indeed to see what would happen next.

Unfussedly, and with no sense of haste, Hari grabbed Lachat, upended her, and crouched onto one knee, holding her across it. Then, without even changing his facial expression and showing no sign of effort, began to bring the flat of his hand down upon her rear, just below the tail, a series of whacks the noise of which echoed around the enclosed area.

"And from now on, pussycat," he said, as he finally released her, "I'd be obliged if you'd leave Eve alone."

Sobbing with shame, her bottom tingling, too embarrassed even to open her eyes, Lachat scurried from the scene, her whimpering cries echoing back to the others.
 
Eve was completely stunned as the water she had worked so hard to fetch with Hari was completely wasted on her. The black-haired neko immediately could feel defeat and the humiliation that Lachat wanted. Tears were beginning to well up in her teal eyes. She was completely shaken at this eventhough she knew she had had probably worse than this before but not before anyone especially Hari. It was at the instant when she saw Lachat grabbing the second bucket, her eyes grew wide as she feared that she was about to soaked again and before she could do anything to stop her, Hari suddenly moved.

The smaller neko looked up at the human, despite him being just a human he seemed to effortlessly pulled away the bucket without even spiling any drop of it, placing it down before grabbing Lachat.

The sight that came afterwards made Eve even more surprised and overwhelmed at what Hari had done. He did not opt for anything violent but to simply punish her on the blonde's bottom like how a mother would scold a misbehaving child. Eve watched in astonishment until Hari spoke his last few words and Lachat hurriedly ran off, utterly embarrassed herself.

For a moment she merely stood there, not caring anymore that she was now soaked to the bone as she stared at Hari's back, ".. Hari..?" she called out, whimpering a little and how happy she actually felt to have Hari say that to Lachat.
 
At first, Hari's actions had been caused merely by a wish to protect Eve, and pay back Lachat, for he had always loathed bullies, and she fit the bill exactly. It wasn't until he had let her go and laughed as she ran into the distance, her hand clasped over her rear end, that he realized the implications of his actions. He had been so angry, he now realized, not because Eve had saved him and given him food she could not afford, without even knowing who he was, or even that she was weak and defenseless and needed protecting. It hit his mind with a shock wave that he had enjoyed protecting the small, dark-haired neko, that her vulnerability, and need to be protected were actually arousing him in ways both emotional and sexual. had she been tough and strong, he would not, he now understood, have felt so attracted to her. What he needed, the thought came to him, was to protect someone. Eve's helplessness was a definite turn-on to him.

There was a huge amount of guilt that came from this. To feel sympathy for her for being such a complete victim was one thing, but to actually enjoy it, to get his rocks off on her weakness, made him feel a complete slimeball. He longed to comfort her, kiss away her humiliation at being bullied in public by Lachat, but it would have been somehow wrong. And yet, looking at her, her eyes wide open in admiration, yet with her ears and tail drooping in mortification, her clothing - he guessed it was a dress, of sorts - sagging and crumpled from the dousing she'd received, her now wet, lank hair so much sexier than when it had been dry, resisting kissing her was a hard challenge indeed.

"Come on, let's get you inside," he said, forcing himself to laugh as an indulgent adult might to a child that had fallen into the pond. "Get you into some dry clothes."

("Oh Eve, you're so pretty," he thought. "You make me so horny. Sometimes I wish I had just a bit less of a conscience.")
 
Eve looked up at Hari as she sniffled, feeling relieved that he was still being Hari even in this state. She couldn't help but she mewed softly, unaware of what Hari was thinking as shook her head and then the rest of her body in an attempt to remove the access water. She reached out and gripped the human's shirt then before moving into the container with him.

She was unaware of Flix watching the whole thing as Eve sat at the opening as she didn't want the rest of the home to be wet because of her. With the big shirt now completely soaked, she reached up her hand and licked the back of it as a habit before she couldn't help but sneezed when the afternoon wind blew in gently into the container home. She knew she needed to get changed out of her clothes so she told Hari to take one out from one of her makeshift shelves. While he went ahead to go and get the clothes, Eve frowned a little, "I'm sorry.. Hari.." she murmured, "I'm.. so weak.. I can't even stand up to Lachat again.." she whimpered, trying not to remember the fact that she came was to have Hari all to herself. If only she could fend herself off, she might even have a chance against that blonde neko.
 
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