paixaorpg | Pulled In Unremittingly [Complete]

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Pulled In Unremittingly [Complete]

Character(s): Timon and Urd
Content: Urd repays her debt to Timon
Setting: Cafe Ersesat
Time: Late Night, Week 17
Warnings: Timon?

It sounded childish to hide but Timon wasn’t sure what else to do. Since his unexpected encounter with Scar he had not run into a single predator in Paixao. Not since his arrival, anyway. In fact, he had actually forgotten all about them. The Organization, the race for mayor, and all the other excitement he had gotten carried away in had wrapped his thoughts up completely. Scar had been an alarming and, as others would argue, much needed wakeup call.

The meerkat had taken refuge under a broken barrel behind Cafe Ersesat. He was too tired to go on and, due to the injury he had received, unwilling to return home. As long as he was hurt he preferred to be alone and out of the public’s eye. Not only that but the idea that there could be more predators out there waiting for him? It didn’t sit well with Timon. Not when he was in this shape. Timon winced at the thought and reached for the shard of glass pierced in his back. However, his paw immediately drew back after even the slightest touch caused him to cry out in pain.

At this rate he would be here all night. Timon groaned. There was nothing wrong with sleeping outside but given the circumstances it would not be enjoyable. He shifted uncomfortably on the pavement, feeling as though something were digging into his chin. When he went to remove the object he was surprised to find that it had been the amulet Urd had made for him. His eyes widened. As long as he had this had Urd not said she owed him a favour? He considered the thought. He didn’t like the idea of calling on the goddess for help, especially in this state, but… There weren’t a lot of other options. Timon had been waiting for to feel better but after the long period of time he waited there hadn’t any signs of improvement. He stared at the stone thoughtfully.

It probably would have been a good idea to have asked Urd how to work this thing when he had the chance.

“Now how is this thing supposed to work?” Timon decided to go with the first thing that came to mind: hitting it against the ground. "Is this thing on? Hello?"

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Urd carefully poured the smallest trickle of distilled potion into a tincture. If she spilled even one drop the whole thing would be out of balance, to say nothing of accidentally shaking or dropping the volatile mixture. There would be disastrous consequences if she was distracted or suddenly surprised.

Which is why she was very glad the sudden pinging in her head had occurred right after she was done. Wincing, she stood straighter, glancing out her window. So he finally decided to make use of the amulet? He probably wanted a mansion or some ridiculous thing. She almost didn't want to leave the comfort of her new home, but...a deal was a deal. And, though she'd never admit it to anyone, she secretly worried about the meerkat.

So Urd opened her window and flew out into the night, towards the direction of the amulet's energy signal. The closer she got, the louder the noise in her head crashed. She stumbled a bit as she landed outside the cafe, hand to her temple, bare feet visible from inside the barrel. "Oi!" she hissed. "What are you doing with that thing, sharpening knives?"

Edited 2010-03-13 16:44 (UTC)

Timon didn’t understand what it was to sharpen knives but somehow caught what Urd had been insinuating. He stopped smashing the amulet against the ground immediately, the sound replaced by a long silence.

Okay, so it worked after all. Now what? He couldn’t just march out there and tell her he needed her help. That would be embarrassing, not to mention completely degrading. But he couldn’t exactly hide under a barrel all night either. That was even more degrading. And what if he got worse, then what would he do? It wasn’t as though one of those human ‘hospitals’ was a hop, skip, and a jump away.

The meerkat silently considered his options. He wasn’t the type to ask for help unless needed it – which in this case he clearly did – but even then he found himself debating whether he should go through with it or not. Urd was the last person- er, goddess, he wanted to see right now. Second last, possibly third… Maybe fourth, fifth… Alright, there were a lot of worse people he could have called on but, either way, he didn’t want anyone to see him to begin with. Maybe all this was a bad idea. Urd would probably mock him or worse: tell everyone. He frowned.

If he didn’t ask her now he wouldn’t later.

Taking a deep breath, Timon winced as he slowly crawled out from under the barrel on all fours. His eyes focused solely one the pavement while he struggled to think of something to say. “I…”

Edited 2010-02-11 04:24 (UTC)

Urd quietly sucked in air at his appearance, quiet for a moment. "Timon..." she finally said quietly, kneeling. She moved as if to pick him up but at the last second, thought better of it. Until she healed him, it was better to keep him as still as possible.

Instead, she kept her hands hovered over him. "Hold still." She lowered her head and closed her eyes, concentrating. A soft white light spread from her hands and over the meerkat, warm and divinely comfortable. The glass shard seemed to move by itself, slowly sliding out of his back, the flesh and fur smoothing out where the wound had been. The other cuts and bruises healed as well until it had looked as if nothing had happened.

But while the physical could be healed, it took more than just a magic spell to fix the heart. Urd opened her eyes, gazing down at Timon quietly. "I have a bed open at my new place. If you wanna stay there for the night."

The silence between them made Timon worried. Did that mean it was bad? How bad was bad? Not that he wanted to know but silence alone was even less comforting, especially when it allowed his imagination to run wild. He didn’t know how he looked, never mind what had drove itself into his back. Curious, he experimentally reached once again for the shard of glass but stopped immediately at Urd’s command to hold still. He hoped Urd made this quick. His slowly wandering eyes focused once again on the pavement before he screwed them shut and prepared for the worst… which oddly did not come. Not right away, anyway.

Timon opened his eyes again when the last feeling he expected to succumb to swept over him: comfort. The last time he had experienced anything like this was… No, this wasn’t… Urd wouldn’t… Use Light, would she? He could feel it washing over him but it touched nothing of his mind or heart, not like the Light had. A relieved sigh escaped him at this before he sudden felt the shard of glass begin to move. The meerkat gave a short cry in surprise before he cringed in discomfort. It didn’t hurt, nothing hurt (other than his pride, of course), but he could still feel the glass being removed and that was a less than pleasant feeling.

Once Urd had finished healing his wounds the meerkat slowly rose as usual on his two feet. His paw patted against his back, searching for any signs of injury but to his surprise he found none. He looked up at the goddess in awe. He didn’t know what she did or how she did it but it had done quite the trick.

As for her invitation to stay the night Timon could not help but feel surprised. That wasn’t part of the favour. At least, he didn’t think it was. Even if it was though, if he went home he knew he’d spend the rest of the night and morning in hiding. That would probably raise Vyers’ suspicions. Then again, Vyers was pretty dense. Unless they had an early breakfast which he didn’t show up for, the demon would likely be clueless. After all, it wasn’t like him to miss a meal, even if it was as horrible as Vyers’ cooking. He glanced to the side and considered the consequence of lying to Vyers. He could say he say he was spending the night elsewhere but if the demon somehow found him hiding it would raise a lot of questions.

“Alright,” He agreed, his voice as soft as Urd’s. “But no funny stuff.” The last thing he needed was to wake up with marker all over his face or worse.

"Yes, yes. Just stay in my room and away from my housemates and you'll get nothing but peace and quiet." The tone of her voice was light and casual as she carefully picked him up and placed him on her shoulder. She was smiling slightly, more relieved than she could say that he was still giving her a bit of an attitude despite the softness of his voice.

She started to head back towards home, walking instead of flying. The last thing she wanted was to stress him out with another race through town. She still felt a bit bad the last time she had heard his little heart pounding in her hands. "By the way, this is on the house," she said, glancing sidelong at him. "Hold on to that favor. You might need it for something more important."

That wouldn’t be a problem for Timon. He planned to curl up in the first nook he found, be it under Urd’s bed (assuming she had one) or up high on a bookshelf. The meerkat wasn’t terribly picky he just needed somewhere to be alone for awhile. There he could collect himself and finally get some much needed rest. If he had time in the morning, maybe he would snoop through her things and take anything he found of value, but just maybe. It all depended on whether or not she decided to take advantage of his unconscious state, at least regarding stealing. A little snooping would be done regardless.

Timon showed no signs of struggle when Urd picked him up. However, he immediately grew alert after the goddess began walking toward her house. He wasn’t quite sure why she chose to walk but he preferred it to flying any day. All her quick stops and turns made him noxious, something he could go without at the time. His eyes darted around the street, watchful for any predators that could possibly be lurking in the dark. It was only when the goddess spoke to him he looked away.

He didn’t know what ‘on the house’ meant other than the literal translation, causing him to look at her in confusion. When she went on to explain his expression turned to disbelief. Did she call this one a freebee? But… why? What were her motives? She had to be planning something but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what. Timon stared at the goddess. “Uh… Thank you.”

"No problem. Just doing my job as a goddess," Urd replied, looking ahead. Even if she admitted she was worried about him, she knew by experience that it wouldn't go over well. He'd probably find some way to be insulted. Then he'd start an argument, run off and get his furry butt hurt again. He'd never believe she just wanted to look out for him, so she kept those thoughts to herself.

After a moment of silence, she glanced at him again, passing under a bridge. "So...feel like telling me what happened to you? Those were some nasty cuts you had back there."

Being a goddess was a job? Timon always thought it had just been a type of species. Maybe there was a job tied in with the species he was unaware of, something stereotypical, like digging was for meerkats. He remembered Sara saying they had some sort of power over the universe but what exactly a universe was had yet to be explained to him. She had also mentioned deities and different powers they possessed but had been a little vague on the details. Either way, both failed to help him understand the goddess any better. He looked at her questioningly. Animals here were so confusing. Why couldn’t he have wound up trapped with a group of aardvarks or pangolins? The meerkat silently sighed.

Timon did not turn to look at Urd when she spoke to him again, his eyes solely focused on the ground. “I don’t want to talk about it.” He replied to her. “It doesn’t matter. There was nothing you could have done about it anyway – no offence.” As powerful as she supposedly was, there really was nothing she could do to change the food chain. “You’re not gonna tell anyone about this, are you?”

She raised her eyebrows, intent on telling him just what she could do, but the look on his face stopped her. Urd looked away again, falling into silence as they passed a lone figure. She tensed a bit, face the picture of calm, but it turned out to be an elderly townswoman. She didn't give them a glance as she passed, as if Urd and Timon were invisible.

Urd quietly sighed. "Vyers would probably wanna know. Laharl too, though he'd never admit it. I'm sure there are others who worry about you too." She turned a corner, the street beginning to slope downward. Below, they could see the city stretching out before them for a bit. "...but I won't tell them if you tell me why you don't want anyone to know."

Timon watched the elderly woman pass worriedly. She may have looked small, old, and completely harmless but who knew. Maybe she had something up her sleeve they didn’t know about. Maybe she wasn’t who she seemed to be, it could have been a disguise of some sort. Or, maybe, he was just being paranoid. Regardless, he continued to watch the woman until she disappeared into the night. It was rare he ever saw an elderly inhabitant. So rare, now that he thought of it, he couldn’t say he even had. Most of Paixao’s inhabitants were so young. It was bizarre.

The meerkat frowned at Urd’s response and looked out into the street. He knew what she was trying to accomplish. “That’s exactly why they don’t need to know.” He told her. “No one needs to know. I don’t want them to worry and I especially don’t need anyone feeling sorry for me. Why do you care anyway?”

Ah, there he was; defensive, peevish Timon. She sighed. "I just do, okay? I care that you push so many people way for no reason, that you're so desperate to be alone when what we all need most right now is someone we can trust. I..." she trailed off, shaking her head lightly, exasperation fading. "Look, forget it. I didn't help you to lecture you and if you don't want people to know, they won't know." He had the right to request that...however wrong a decision she knew it was.

Girls never failed to confuse Timon. As far as he was concerned, they were a completely different species. Whatever it was he had suspected Urd of trying to do earlier proved otherwise. Her response almost made it sound as though she cared about him or something. He turned to look at the goddess in confusion. No one actually cared about him. Sure, he liked to say they did but when he had been in his greatest hour of need they had done nothing for him. In fact, when he confronted them, they didn’t even feel bad about it! They had ‘more important issues’ to tend to. With that in mind, why did she care? Assuming, of course, she really did. Timon wasn’t sure.

He sat quietly for a moment unsure how to respond. Girls made things so difficult. What did she want from him? He wasn’t about to spill his feelings to her or tell her his life story if that was what she was after. Timon shifted uncomfortably. As rare as it was, Timon did not want to talk. If Urd didn’t really care then this freebie she had given was only ‘free’ in the case he actually told her what she wanted to know. The thought infuriated Timon. To take advantage of him in such a state was incredibly low and dirty… She was lucky he was in no state to argue and maintain on as good as terms got between them. There were far too many things on his mind to get wrapped up in anything else at the moment.

“I was attacked by a lion.” Timon finally spoke up. “I’m a meerkat, remember? The consummate pray. Feared by no one and eaten by all. That’s right, one lousy level above grubs on the stinkin’ food chain. That all startin’ to sound familiar to you?” The meerkat let out a huff of hot air. “It’s always the same with you bigger animals. You ever think it’s just a little degrading to tell everyone a lion tried to eat you? That I can’t protect myself or even my friends? I don’t want anyone to worry about me, to have to be saved all the time... Just because I’m small that doesn’t mean I want everyone to think little of me too. I wanna be heard, not ignored. I’m tired of bein’ pushed around and walked over. What’s so wrong about wanting a better life?”

It's nature's design.

Timon brought his paw to his face and covered his eyes with it. Great, on top of everything, now he was thinking about home. "Can we please not talk right now?" he asked.

Urd's gaze softened as Timon spoke and she looked away, knowing better than to let him see the sympathy she felt for him. There was so much she wanted to say, the urge to convince him of his importance to people and the strength she knew he had was getting hard to ignore. A hundred remarks were waiting on the tip of her tongue but instead, she simply nodded.

"Okay, Timon."

She remained in silence the rest of the journey, no longer tense or argumentative. Things had been tough on him since he was overdosed on light, she knew. And in the back of her mind, she suspected she could have done more to help him, even if he hadn't accepted her help. But more than anything, she wanted him to make the choice for himself.

Her new house loomed ahead. She stopped in front of it, noting several lights were still on. Goddesses and genies didn't really need to sleep, after all. "If we wanna avoid my sister and Genie, we're gonna have to go through my window." She held out her hand by Timon, giving him the choice to climb aboard rather than being picked up.

"I'll have to fly up there. I'll go slow, okay?"

Timon sighed. It seemed as though Urd finally got the message. Oi, women. Maybe it would have been better if he had called on a guy instead, then he wouldn’t have found himself confronted with such difficult questions or have to worry about things like feelings. Not to mention all this caring stuff. That probably wouldn’t have come up at all and if so at least at a more appropriate time. He allowed his paw to slide down his face and fall back to his side before he spoke again.

“Thank you.”

His eyes travelled out to the street again where they stayed for the longest time until they reached Urd’s house. During that time the meerkat made no attempt to converse with the goddess. There were far too many things on his mind now and, based on his previous outburst, he wasn’t sure what he’d blurt out next. He turned to look up at Urd when she finally spoke again upon reaching the house. Hm. He hummed softly in response and looked up at the building curiously. The place gave him the strangest feeling.

“Fair enough.” Timon agreed and climbed onto her hand.

Once he was secure in her hands, Urd levitated off the ground and floated gently up to the second floor. She gestured with her free hand and the window opened by itself, the gauzy mauve curtains blowing outward with the sudden movement. She went through into her bedroom, placing him on the rumpled, unmade bed.

Wordlessly, she went about the room, lighting a few candles for light. Her room was the exact same as it was in her old place at Iriela; rich wood and Oriental designs, shades of purples and reds. The bed itself was wide and opulent, which was odd given that Urd didn't need to sleep. But she liked the comfort of a bed (as well as the utility, though she doubted that would ever come up in Paixao), so she'd made sure there were plenty of plush pillows and smooth, silken sheets.

She turned and looked down at him impassively. "No one will bother you as long as you stay in here. Touch any of the stuff on that table --" she pointed to the wide, heavy table against the far wall, on which rested a chaotic display of alchemical tools and ingredients. "--and you'll learn the hard way why you should keep your paws to yourself."

Urd paused, folding her arms under her chest. "Need anything else?"

His eyes wandered around the room curiously while Urd lit a few candles. He could see perfectly well without them but appreciated the gesture regardless. At least now the room wouldn’t look so dark, though still incredibly mysterious. There was a lot that captured his interest, the wide table against the side wall in particular. The moment the goddess listed it as off limits he was immediately drawn to it. After all, that was usually how such things works. The meerkat tilted his head to the side while he looked at the table Urd had pointed to. He wondered what was on it and why she had forbid him to touch anything on it but with a gulp and nod he agreed. He wouldn’t touch anything… But it couldn’t hurt to just to look, right? She never said he couldn’t look at the tables content.

With that said and done, Timon stretched out on the bed as much as possible before curling up in one of its corners, his back to the goddess. “No, that’s all.” He replied with a tired yawn. He couldn’t remember even asking Urd for any of this. Maybe he was just too tired to remember. “Good night, Urd. Sleep tight. Dream of-“ another yawn escaped the meerkat. “-bedbugs tonight.”

With that, it wasn't long before the meerkat began to doze off, his rather unusual, but quite humours, snore filling the air. He had a lot to sleep to catch up on and would need his rest for the trouble he would likely find himself in again tomorrow. This time going through Urd’s possessions, specifically that on the forbidden table. He needed to know what she was hiding otherwise it would bother him for the rest of… Well, probably just the week, but that wasn’t the point. There was something she did not want him to see so, by rule, he HAD to see it.

Urd stood by the doorway a moment, listening to him snore with a bemused smile. She glanced over to the table, eying the open cabinets above that were filled with her labeled bottles of completed medicines. Quietly, she walked over and closed the doors, fingertips lingering over the latch as she made sure via a quick spell that only she'd be able to open it. Of course, she didn't consider the tools and items already spread out on the table; frankly, she doubted he'd be interested in the incomplete mess.

She pursed her lips a bit, glancing at the snoring meerkat once more with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. She was going to make sure he kept out of trouble whether he wanted her to or not.

With that thought in mind, she finally exited the room, closing the door quietly behind her. For now, she wanted to find her sister and Genie. There was a stack of cards with their names on it.

Regardless of the spell Urd had placed on the cabinets latch, Timon could not figure out how open the cabinet the following morning for the life of him. His strategy was to pull on the doors and when that didn’t work he simply tried again. There were many strange yet fascinating smells coming from behind the door. He couldn’t help but wonder what they were. The doors, however, put up a good fight against the meerkat and did their job well at keeping him away from the content behind them. Unfortunately, they did nothing to protect the items that which Urd had left unwisely on the table nearby.

Setting sights on his new target, the meerkat carefully climbed down and onto the large table Urd had specifically instructed he leave untouched. He glanced at the door, checking for any signs of her return before he walked across it, observing the tools curiously with his eyes. Nothing looked particularly exciting, though all a bit strange. Timon couldn’t begin to imagine what half the items could be used for, never mind why the goddess had asked him to keep away from them. He scratched his head and eyed the beakers currently sitting in front of him.

Urd never said anything about smelling anything either, did she? Timon glanced at the door again before he carefully leaned forward and brought his nose above the beaker. Immediately he regretted the decision, the odour it contained absolutely repulsive! He leapt back in a fit of coughs, in the process accidently spilling some of the beakers content onto the table.

Oops.

He stared at the spot on the table worriedly. She wouldn’t notice that, would she? It was so small, unless he was looking for it, even he would fail to notice it. Timon bit his lip. She probably would be looking for it. Maybe he could cover it with something? He stepped back to observe the rest of the table better, in the process bumped into another beaker. This time not just a little of the content spilt but the entire beaker itself. Timon watched as another beaker behind it fell over, as well as the one behind that one, and the one behind that, and the one behind that. He tried to stop the domino effect he had begun but in the process only seemed to cause a greater mess. In the end he managed to somehow knock over everything that had been on the table.

The meerkat stared at the mess before him in horror. If Urd wasn’t already on her way to her room she definitely was now. He looked around the room, deciding it was best to make his escape once he caught sight of the window. Timon shook what he could off his coat but the trail of paw prints that led across the floor the window unfortunately led straight to him.

Urd was going to be absolutely furious when she saw this. It was something he would greatly prefer not to be there for.

Edited 2010-02-24 02:34 (UTC)

Suddenly the door slammed open and there Urd was. "Timon! I told you not to --" she broke off, staring in shock at the table. He hadn't just touched things, he absolutely ruined a whole batch of her potions! Snarling, she shot her hand out and the window slammed shut before he could exit. "Why don't you ever listen!? What part of 'don't touch' was hard to grasp?"

She'd been walking further into the room, slamming the door shut behind her, when she noticed the paw prints. Eyes widening, she whipped her head back to Timon. "...you got it on you? That's an undiluted mixture, you idiot!" If he wasn't already feeling the affects of the solution, he would soon. She intended for it to be a hair-growth potion suitable for men and women. It would add volume as well as strength over a gradual time period...but only if it was diluted and mixed with a few more key elements. This stronger concentration would grow thick hair immediately; or in Timon's case, fur. It was probably only a matter of time until he burst into so much fur he'd look like chia pet.

At Urd’s outburst Timon immediately tried to jump out the window by means of escape. If he were to stay here he would be in for even more trouble. Unfortunately, he was nowhere as fast as Urd who managed to shut the window well before he could get to it. As a result he ran straight into the glass. A groan was heard from the meerkat before he peeled himself off the window and began a frantic search for another escape route. He patted the glass down searching for any openings he could possibly find then spun around to look at the door. At that exact moment it too was slammed shut, leaving all hope the meerkat had for escaping behind it.

The redhead ignored Urd’s words as she approached, far more concerned about where he could crawl to escape her reach. He wasted no time on getting back on the floor where he then started to run for her bed. Timon did not make it so much as half way there however before the affects of the potion kicked in. Without any warning, except for the one he had completely ignored, the meerkats fur coat suddenly doubled in size and thickness. Forget the chia pet; Timon had enough fur to pass as a Pomeranian. He stopped to stare at his coat in horror before he threw his head back and screamed.

Edited 2010-02-27 10:56 (UTC)

She winced as he fairly exploded into fur. Sighing, she placed her hand over her face, hand on her hip. She let him scream for a moment while she pinched the bridge of her nose. Why did she think things would turn out any differently? She almost regretted helping him at all...no, that wasn't true.

She did regret leaving him alone in her room.

As Timon's scream rose to a volume she would never have guessed him capable of, Urd cringed and put her fingers in her ears. "You can stop screaming any day now!" she yelled over the din, frowning. "Unless you want the whole house in here!" She walked over to him and knelt, scowling.

"Would you just relax? I can fix it!"

Urd had a point. All his screaming would easily bring attention to him. The last thing he wanted was anyone to see him in such a state. It was bad enough Urd got to see him like this. Timon wasn’t exactly sure how he looked at the moment but could not help but feel humiliated. Whatever had caused his fur to grow to such a length had also grown back all the grey pieces he had plucked out. There weren’t a lot of them but any grey was more than enough to set the meerkat at a lack of ease. When it came to age he honestly was no better around the topic than Vyers. The last time he had been enquired about his age he had thrown a complete fit.

“W-what did you do to me?!” Timon cried out and pulled on his fur. “I’m… I’m…!” At a loss of words he shuffled back, hoping to find himself in a darker area while Urd approached him. “How… Why…?!” How any of this could have possibly happened was beyond Timon but the moment he heard the goddess mention ‘fix’ he easily recovered from his shock. “You can?” His relief quickly changed into suspicion. “How? You’re not going to cut it, are you?” Urd with sharp objects around him? He’d have none of it!

Edited 2010-02-26 05:38 (UTC)

Urd sighed, reaching out to feel the abundant fur that had sprouted. "Just cutting it wouldn't do anything...it'd just grow right back." Her expression changed from thoughtful to annoyed in an instant. "And, for your information, I didn't do a thing to you. I told you not to touch that table! What are you, a little kid? You always do the opposite of what people tell you?"

She stood up, moving to her work space, scowling. "I'll have to make an antidote. Just...just stay there, okay?" Urd glanced over her shoulder at him, smiling with grim promise. "And if you touch anything else, I swear I'll leave you like that...and add little bows, too!"

With that, she began clearing off the mess he'd made of her table.

Edited 2010-03-13 16:44 (UTC)

“Grow back?! You don’t mean to this long, do you?” Timon expected his fur to grow back but not nearly as long as it was now. If it did, and cutting it didn’t work, what exactly did Urd plan to do? How could she possibly fix this? How could this have even happened in the first place? He had his doubts about her abilities but he knew he didn’t have much other choice given his situation. Where else could he could? Anywhere he went he’d be ridiculed. Well, that and the fact that the goddess had completely confined him to her room. He couldn’t leave even if he wanted to. Not unless he was sneaky.

Childishly the meerkat folded his arms across his chest and sat down with a pout. “I didn’t touch anything!” he argued. “Not on purpose. It was an accident! You said not to touch anything, never anything about just look at things.” There were still plenty of things in the room that were curious to Timon, one being the cupboard that he had struggled to open, but the thought of being covered with bows instantly made him think twice. He looked up at the cupboard and tilted his head to the side questioningly.

“Can I ask you a question?” he asked the goddess. “Other than the one I’m asking now I mean. What’s in that cupboard up there?”

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered in response to his excuses as she worked. The table cleared and reorganized, Urd took quick inventory of the ingredients that had been ruined. It hadn't been a huge loss, though she'd have to make the regrowth potion all over again. She glanced over at Timon, irritation making her frown, and opened said cupboard, taking down a few pill bottles.

"Regents, ingredients, finished products," she replied. The containers came in different shapes and sizes, but all were labeled with her own secret code: different shapes in different combinations, some shapes being quite unorthodox...like what appeared to be a bad drawing of a man's bearded face. Urd paused her actions of placing various dried foliage into a mortar and looked over to Timon with some impatience. "Did anything else get on you? Did you swallow anything?"

Well that hadn’t been very helpful. The meerkat wrinkled his nose at Urd’s response. “Hu? What do you mean? Ingredients for what? What kind of finished products?” If the goddess had gone so far as to lock the cupboard there must have been something good hidden in there. Maybe some sort of treasure or food? On his feet again, Timon stepped forward to investigate. However, he was forced to a halt in mid step when he caught the goddess looking directly at him. A nervous laugh escaped him, noting the impatient look on her face. He shuffled back and sat down again with an innocent smile.

“Just stretching my legs.” Timon explained. “You know what they say about sitting for long periods of time.” Wait, had she just asked if he had swallowed anything? Why would she ask about that unless there really had been food in there? Ah ha! He knew it all along. “Just what was on the table.” He admitted. “I didn’t eat anything.”

Well, that was a relief, then...assuming he was telling the truth. If other potions or ingredients had been added to the equation, there was no way of telling what the antidote would do. If he was lying, he'd just have to pay the consequences. After a second of suspicious silence, Urd looked back down to her work, crushing the ingredients with the pestle.

"Ingredients for potions and medicines," she replied, not expecting him to understand that much either. "Now be quiet for a second, I have to concentrate." She reached over and opened a large jar of dark blue liquid. Dipping a long, thin glass tube into the jar, she took it out again and quickly held it over the mortar, adding precise measurements of the liquid to the mix. When that was done, she mixed it up a bit more before holding a hand over it.

Urd closed her eyes and murmured something too quiet to be heard even with Timon's animal hearing. What was in the mortar seemed to explode with a puff of foul-smelling smoke. "There!" she said triumphantly, withdrawing a small, dark brown oval-shaped pill from the bowl. She held it up to the light, smiling with satisfaction. "I really am amazing."

She suddenly looked back down at Timon with a scowl, all trace of a smile vanished. "You're lucky I could come up with this so quickly. Most antidotes take much longer than this." She walked back over to the meerkat and knelt, holding out the pill in the palm of her hand.

"It's not going to taste all that great, but there's no helping it." Actually, there was, but she wasn't just going to let him off the hook that easily. She held out her other hand, in which an appropriately sized glass of water had somehow materialized.

"Choke it down with the water and the new fur that grew should fall out in a minute or so, leaving you the way you were before you decided not to listen to me."

Edited 2010-02-28 16:00 (UTC)

Be quiet? He hadn’t even been that loud. Urd had yet to hear loud. Timon crossed his arms across his chest once again and muttered under his breath. How rude. He was the victim here. He deserved some respect, regardless how ridiculous he looked. What did she even need to concentrate for in the first place? She was just mixing things together by the looks of it. Big deal. It wasn’t as though she was handling anything dangerous; poison or otherwise… Was she?

The sudden explosion of smoke made the meerkat jump on that note. What in the savannah was that?! And that smell? Timon’s expression grew sour. Ugh, that a warthog wander in here when he wasn’t looking? He covered his nose to attempt to block out the smell but it did little for him when Urd approached him with pill in hand. Timon looked at her in disbelief at her words. “You expect me to eat that?!” he asked and pointed at the pill with a shudder. “Forget it! There’s gotta be another way. There’s no way I’m putting that in my mouth.”

Much like a child, even though he knew the medicine would make him better, he refused to swallow it due to its bitter taste. The only way Timon was going to swallow that pill was if it Urd forced it down and, like any child, he wasn’t about to make that easy.

"Ohhh?" Urd questioned, smiling sweetly. "I see." She paused for a moment, the same vapid expression on her face.

"You'll eat and you'll like it!" she suddenly snarled, her hand shooting out to grab Timon, the other hand pressing the pill into his muzzle. He was starting to really piss her off! She wasn't at the point that she'd be hurting him (she didn't think), but she was quite firm on this. "It's your own fault you're like this! Stop being a baby and just take the damn medicine!" What was it about this meerkat that made her lose her temper so easily?

Timon forced his mouth shut. Even if the goddess did manage to press the pill through his lips it would be denied entry of his mouth by his teeth. She’d have to force his mouth open she wanted a chance to throw it down his throat. Naturally the meerkat had to make this difficult by squirming in Urd’s hold. He was far from hurting the goddess though. His only reason to bite or scratch her was he felt he were in real danger which he at the moment he did not. Well, other than of eating something gross, of course. But that hardly counted.

The meerkat pulled his head back and shook it in protest making it even harder to push the pill in. As long as he didn’t want to eat that pill he would continue to fight against the goddess. “I don’t wanna!” he shouted.

She growled. "Stop...squirming...you stupid..." When she found she couldn't do much more without actually prying his mouth open, Urd sighed roughly and let go, the pill falling to the floor. "Fine! You don't want this medicine? Good luck getting around town looking like that." She smiled unpleasantly, standing once more and heading towards the vanity in another corner. Her back to him, she rummaged around for a second

"In fact...I'll give you a choice." She turned back around, now holding a brush and several pink ribbons. "You either take that pill or I'll give your fur a makeover people will never forget."

Edited 2010-03-02 04:18 (UTC)

The horrified look on Timon’s face when he had seen his new coat had nothing on the one he gave at the idea of Urd’s little makeover. He wasn’t exactly sure what she was planning but those pink ribbons had his name all over them. Such a shame, especially when he wouldn’t have minded a good fur brushing. The meerkat nervously shuffled back a few steps while his eyes searched the floor desperately for the pill he refused to eat. Suddenly it didn’t sound like such a bad idea it swallow it after all.

“Okay, okay. I’ll take the medicine! Just keep those ribbons away from me.” He replied before he finally found the pill. Timon snatched it off the floor immediately and brought it to his mouth. “See, I’m taking it now! No need to use force.”

The meerkat hesitantly placed the pill in his mouth, disgust clearly evident when it touched his tongue. Timon looked as though he had just eaten something incredibly sour before showing signs of nausea. He slid the pill into his cheek with his tongue, only pretending to swallow it while Urd watched him. After all, it was nasty! Why would he ever want to eat that?! Of course, keeping it in his mouth was probably even worse, the foul taste remaining.

“There.” Timon choked out. “All done.”

Urd folded her arms again, shifting her weight to one foot as she watched the meerkat with a less-than-impressed expression. The theatrics of him taking the medicine aside, she wasn't new to people pretending to take her potions and pills. Her youngest sister tried every time.

So the goddess simply waited, eyes narrowing as the abundance of fur had yet to react with the desired affect. "You don't want to swallow it? Fine. Let it melt in your mouth, then. Really get a good taste for it. It's your business if you prefer the slow, painful way."

How did she know he hadn’t swallowed it? He clenches his fists and stuck his tongue out, the taste in his mouth completely unbearable. Why was it always things that were supposedly good for you the worst to experience? His eyes travelled up at the goddess. He was sure she was getting some form of amusement from this and even if she was, he still refused to swallow the pill. Although, when he thought about it, the idea of it dissolving in his mouth wasn’t any better.

“There has to- ugh!“ in the process of trying to speak, the meerkat accidentally swallowed the pill. He clutched his throat at the feeling of it slowly sliding down. “I swallowed it!” Timon exclaimed in horror, gagging shortly after. “Ugh! Gross, gross, gross!”

She sighed and rolled her eyes, putting the ~~tools of torture~~ hairbrush and ribbons away. As Timon gagged over the special flavor of the medicine, fur began to fall out. It happened slowly at first, as if he were just shedding, but within a minute, huge chunks of it were falling off of him.

Urd sat down before him, pushing the water his way. "Don't be so dramatic, it's not that bad," she muttered. "Stay out of my stuff and you won't have to relive this experience."

Timon snatched the water from Urd and guzzled it down immediately. He was so desperate to get that horrible taste out of his mouth, had she not offered him the water he would have gone so far as to lick the floor. The meerkat stuck his tongue out and looked up at the goddess pointedly. That look on her face said it all. “I was only looking. Besides, you left it right in the open. If that’s not an invitation, I don’t know what is. I was simply observing without touching anything… on purpose. Therefore it was not snooping.”

He frowned and looked down at himself in disgust. Picking a large clump of fur off, he held it up and looked at it briefly before flicking it aside. “Uh, this’ll only get rid of the long fur, right?”

Urd held up her hand and, with a puff of smoke, a stiff-bristled brush appeared. "Trust me, no one, least of all me, wants to see a bald meerkat," she said dryly. "Hold still a sec." She reached out and ran the brush over his back with careful but firm strokes. "Hmm...looks good. All your original fur is in place." As she brushed, she glanced at his face, eyebrow arched.

"And you can argue with me all you like about what you were doing up there, but face the facts. You mess around with things you don't understand, you might get worse than some extra fur." She finished and stood up again, putting the brush she'd summoned on the vanity with the others.

"There, good as new."

Edited 2010-03-12 01:05 (UTC)

Oh, if only Urd had known how greatly the meerkat had longed for a good fur brushing with a stiff-bristled brush. Or maybe she did and he was not aware of it. Either way, he had no reason to argue against it when he felt the brush run down his back. He gave a soft ‘oh’ in both surprise and satisfaction, his body following the movement of the brush. Without any direction from the goddess, he easily moved into a new position that made it easier for Urd to brush where she was required too. His tail wagged happily, matching the large, dopey grin on his face while she brushed his coat.

When the goddess stopped Timon turned to look up at her. “How am I supposed to learn anything new if I can’t investigate these new things, hu? Also, why did you stop?” he asked, having clearly taken a liking to this brushing treatment. His eyes travelled down to his coat where he examined it curiously, pulling and poking at it before he heard something… something that caught him off guard. The meerkat raised a brow and slowly placed his paws on his chest, then his neck. His confusion quickly became horror when he realized that he was in fact purring!

He coughed to try and cover the noise, quickly turning away from the goddess. “On second thought, I outta get going. It’s been a long night, you know?” Taking note of his wagging tail, Timon grabbed it in attempt to keep it still. Unfortunately, the tip continued wagging again, even in his hold. The meerkat laughed nervously and began to head toward the door. “Just the usual wake up routine. I’m always like this before my morning, uh… What did Vyers call it again? Oh, coffee! That’s it.”

Edited 2010-03-12 02:21 (UTC)

"Mmm hmm," Urd replied with a raised eyebrow, folding her arms and leaning against the vanity as she watched him try desperately to hide what she'd already noticed while she was brushing him. She could have commented on it, but the poor guy had been humiliated enough for the moment. Instead, she merely gestured towards the door, which opened by itself as Timon neared it.

"Coffee. Right. Well, you better get going, then." The amused smirk turned into a genuine, subtle smile.

"Be careful on your way back."

Edited 2010-03-13 16:42 (UTC)

Thankful for the fur that hid his ashen cheeks, Timon continued to wobble toward the door without so much as questioning how it had opened on its own. The meerkat knew Urd didn’t believe him, the excuse wasn’t meant to be believable just enough to get him out of there. He really had been humiliated far enough for one day. His eyes focused on that ahead of him failing to stray up at the goddess as he passed her.

“Yeah, see yeah.” He quickly mumbled before stepped out of the room and began a new adventure all together: finding the houses exit.

She had no worry about Timon finding the exit. Belldandy probably would have many of the downstairs windows open by now to let in fresh air. She sighed and looked down at her lab table, frowning. What an exhausting experience this was. He sure didn't make it easy to help him. Of course, she could relate to that stubborn pride, a little bit.

Pushing herself away from the vanity, Urd headed towards the window, deep in thought. If the meerkat wouldn't let people in, if he refused help when it was offered, she'd just have to keep an eye on him in secret. Well, it wouldn't be the first time. She just hoped he'd wait a little before finding trouble again.

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