Soaping Soap
- Locked due to inactivity on Aug 4, '16 4:33pm
Thread Topic: Soaping Soap
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The animal shelter was a place for city hybrid orphans, Marco was always told. It wasn't for those, like him, who came from the woods, who were meant to be tough and never pets. He should never, ever turn to the humans for help, because they were the ones who took away mommy and daddy in the first place, because humans were always stupid enough to start fires. The animal shelters housed dog hybrids, and cat hybrids, even the mice and rabbit hybrids, all meant to one day live as some human's little play pal. But Marco's brother had always told him that going to the animal shelter was for those sissy city hybrids, not fox hybrids like them. They were forest hybrids, and they didn't need the help of any humans to get around. For years, Marco and his brother lived together in a cave in the forest, wearing clothes and shoes that they stole from campers and eating whatever they could get their hands on. And until they were both well into their teenage years, it worked out fine.
It was a nice, sunny morning when they woke up to gunshots outside. They knew the sound- it wasn't hunters, it was hybrid control, probably looking for the two pesky fox hybrids that'd been stealing from campers all those years. Almost immediately, the two brothers got seperated- they both ran different ways, and after hours and hours of hiding and running, Marco knew he was entirely seperated from his brother.
The next evening, after sleeping and hiding behind a boulder all day, he wandered off until he reached the nearest human town. During the day, he knew it was very busy, always full of people and pets and those loud car things. But at night, it was quiet, and Marco could sneak around. It took him a while, but he managed to find it- a building that had a sign, with human words, but through the windows he saw tens of hybrids all curled up and comfortable inside tall cages.
It was the last thing he wanted to do, to go inside where he'd not only encounter other hybrids, but surely there would be humans, too. The first hurtle he ran into was getting the door open. He'd opened a door before, but it was ages and ages ago, and when he tried twisting it the way he thought it should go it simply didn't open. Of course, he had no way of knowing that doors locked, he just thought he was doing it wrong. So, in frustration, he began rattling it everyway he could to try to get it to open. -
Hendrix had probably been in the animal shelter longer than any of the other hybrids. That, combined with his golden-star behavior, had scored him a nice cage. It was at the front of the row, closest to the wall and the window, in the corner, so that he only had another one on one side of him. It was just slightly bigger than the others- Only by about half a foot or so, but it was nice to have. His few personal items were strewn about it- A small lap table, a bowl, a cup, and a brush sat neatly against one corner. In the corner of the wall, his bed- A fluffy, purple and blue blanket, and a couple pillows waited for him. A couple shirts and a few pairs of what the humans called 'booty shorts' were folded, resting close to the door. On the other side sat a small pile waiting to be washed.
Among these was Hendrix's favorite item- His books. They were nestled right next to his bed, it three stacks that went about half way to the ceiling. Romance novels, fantasy books, fairy tales, Si-fi.. Anything the young hybrid could get his hands on. One of the workers at the shelter had taught him to read a few years ago, and, to him, it was the most amazing thing.
Hendrix was sitting in his bed that night, reading one of the books- He had read it three times before- Narnia, The Horse and His Boy, by C. S. Lewis. He didn't have the rest of the series, but he loved the book. He wondered what C and S stood for, but he never asked, for chance of upsetting the workers. Many of them thought it was wrong that he could read. Hendrix didn't understand the reason for that, but he didn't care. Humans were strange.
He was just about to close the book and lay down to sleep when the doorknob started moving. Hendrix froze- It was late, at he wasn't supposed to be up. He thought it wouldn't be a problem, since he didn't need light to read thanks to his cat eyes, but the workers often got upset about it. After a moment, he snapped the book shut and snuggled into his bed, pretending to be asleep. The doorknob kept rattling, but it didn't open. Fear began to bite at Hendrix- Someone was trying to get into the shelter! He was about to yell when he saw who- Or, rather, what- it was through the window. It looked like a dog to him, and since they got strays all the time, Hendrix figured that it would be okay to let him in. There were plenty of empty cages, and it was cold out, and the workers probably wouldn't notice.
He got up, unlocking his cage, glancing around for a minute before creeping over to the door. He turned the knob slowly, and pushed it open, trying to be silent. -
Marco had been very near to giving up when, finally, the door gave way with one of his erratic twists of the knob. Actually, it started moving without him even pushing it, but he figured that was just how doors worked. They moved on their own sometimes, he guessed. Entirely pleased with his own accomplishment, which he was quite sure was his own, he slipped his way into the dark building. It was actually darker in the room than it was outside, and so it took his eyes a second to adjust.
Just like a fox, it only took a blink or two before he saw perfectly well in the darker area. His first view, from the direction he was facing when he entered, showed him another line of cages against a wall. Only, one of them was open. He tilted his head at this, and didn't know why this was until he turned a little towards the left. And, right there, was another person.
He didn't even take the time to consider what type of person it was, hybrid or not, it scared him to suddenly be faced by them. Eyes wide, his ears flattened, and he bared his teeth- an entirely normal set of them, but it was instinct. Then, he saw the ears on the person. A quick scan told him just what it was, pretty easily. A cat hybrid, and an entirely domestic one at that. One of his hopes had been that there might be other forest hybrids in shelters, but if this cat served as example, he was wrong. That settled, he hoped that the hybrid wouldn't be harming him any, and his lips snapped back together.
"... This is where... This is a shelter?" He whispered in question, looking around. There were no humans, or guns hung up on walls, or hybrids chained down with metal collars like his brother used to describe these sorts of places. -
Hendrix was just as startled at the other hybrid- He had expected a dog, but this wasn't a dog. He didn't really know what it was, as the cat had lived in the city his whole life, and had never seen any other sort of hybrid.
When the animal growled at him, Hendrix's ears went back, and he felt his tail fluff, something it always did when he was frightened, regardless of if he wanted it to or not. He relaxed when the other relaxed, though, watching the hybrid scan the room. He nodded at the question, and, without much hesitation, began to talk.
"Yup. One of them, anyways. Are you cold? It's cold today. I think. I don't go outside. Someone said it was cold, so I guess it is. Is it? Anyways, there's.. There's a cage at the end of the second row with some blankets. You're not from the city are you? You don't look like you are. You really should brush your teeth, they don't look very clean. What kinda hybrid are you? Do you have owners? I don't. I- Oh!"
While Hendrix was rambling, he had leaned back, placing an arm on one of the bars of his cage. He hadn't been paying attention, and he slipped, and his arm, bent, had gotten stuck between the bars. He panicked for a moment, mewling in pain. It only took him a second to free his arm, though, and he gave the animal a shy, embarrassed smile.
"Oops." -
Marco wasn't suprised at getting an answer, no, but he was a little annoyed by the massive amount of answer that he received. Not only was he informed that this was a shelter, but it was also cold outside, and the cat didn't go outside, couldn't tell what kind of hybrid he was, informed Marco that he needed to brush his teeth- whatever that meant- and on and on.
In fact, the fox was rather pleased when the cat got his arm stuck in the cage for a moment. It really shut the chatterbox up. Crossing his arms across his chest, Marco looked for the aforementioned place where there were blankets. But it was inside of a cage. A no go for him, as no matter how much he needed help, he wasn't going in a cage. So, he turned his attention back to the other hybrid.
"Brush my teeth?" He asked, in follow up to what the cat had said before. He'd heard of brushing his hair, and did that at least once every few days with a hairbrush he'd had, but it seemed impossible to do the same thing with teeth. "I just need something to eat and somewhere to sleep. Not in a cage." -
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(Sorry brah.)
As soon as Hendrix was upright, he started to open his mouth the talk again, but stopped when the hybrid spoke. He went silent, chewing on his lip. His tail swished around his legs as he thought.
"Hang on."
Hendrix scurried off, to a door at the end of the room- It lead to a small bathroom, that had cabinets. In the cabinets were toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other hygienic stuff. The cat grabbed what he figured the other would need. He stopped by one of the empty cages on his way back, grabbing a blanket.
When he returned, he held the items out. "Toothbrush, toothpaste, and a blanket. I can get you food in a minute. I dunno where you can sleep, but just not in the floor. The workers get mad." -
(S' cool.)
The fox didn't move while the cat was gone. He wasn't sure what to do. It seemed his showing up had only alerted the one hybrid, because all of the others were still sleeping. So there was no one else to question on where he was allowed to go or take. Not that it really mattered all that much. In the end, if the place turned out to suck, he'd just steal some stuff and leave.
When the cat came back, he took everything into his arms. What he found most interesting, though, was the stuff for his teeth. True to its name, the toothbrush had a handle and lots of little bristles. While he ran his thumb over the brush part of it, he looked at the other hybrid.
"Who are the workers? Is that the humans? Are they here?" He asked, looking around again. There weren't any in sight, but then, there were doors leading to different rooms. And when he'd walked up to the building, he thought it looked much taller than what he felt it was inside. -
Hendrix nodded at the questions. "Yeah, the workers are human, I guess. I dunno if they're here. Sometimes I see them at night, sometimes I don't. The light isn't on in Lady's office." Lady was the woman in charge. No one knew her real name, so all the hybrids just called her lady.
"I'll be right back. I'mma get you some food." He took off again, this time going to a different door, that lead to the kitchen. Once there, he searched the fridge for something the strange boy might like. He selected a small piece of steak, and some left over bread, making a small sandwich. When he returned, he held it out with a smile. -
Marco swallowed. Upon entering the shelter, he realized the information he'd gotten about the conditions in it were very wrong. So he was hoping that maybe it was only a big home with just hybrids in it, but that was still too good to be true. So, eventually, he knew he'd have to put up with humans.
This struck another chord for him. When the other hybrid walked away, he stood with his eyebrows furrowed in thought. If humans had come after him and caught his brother, wouldn't they still be looking for him? He wasn't sure if the people he took his brother had anything to do with the people that would be here, but if they did, he'd have to leave whenever they realized it. And that was unfortunate, to him, since he'd only been there for a few minutes and already received a blanket and some things for his teeth. When the hybrid returned, he took the sandwhich from him, biting it thankfully, as it was the first bit of food he'd had since getting seperated from his brother. -
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(bump~)
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(Bump if you still want to do this, I know it's been a while :c)
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Here ^_^
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(clears throat)
Hendrix tilted his head, watching the other hybrid. After a few moments, he sunk to the floor, yawning. "So, you staying, or..? I'm kinda sleepy, so if you're not gonna stay.." His eyes looked towards his own cage, lingering on his blanket for a moment. His tail swirled back and forth, and suddenly, his head snapped up, eyes widening. The light in the office a few doors had flickered down, and the door was opening..
Without thinking, the cat jumped to his feet, grabbing the other's wrist, dragging him towards the door. He abandoned the idea of the cage, as he knew he'd never get Marco to go in. Hendrix didn't want to get in trouble for being out, though. He hated being scolded. So, to avoid it, be threw the door open, pulling Marco out, into the rain. It wasn't until it swung back shut that he realized what he had done.
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