Post by Sanada Tomo on Jul 17, 2010 11:54:06 GMT -4
[This takes place in the few hours between "Disjointed" in the Devil Saints Headquarters and "Run This Town" in the Nigenkai. Also, this is my second time writing it, so excuse me if this is lack luster.]
Ironically, Tomoyo had never owned a cat. Her first ever pet was a white peacock, given to her as a gift by Suzaku. It had been a beautiful thing, back when the Earth had been splendiferous and each Choir worshiped as heralds of the Gods. Her second pet had been a Griffin, sheer black, and very friendly despite Tomo's disposition at that time, having gotten the creature not too long after her Fall.
This cat--whom she had named Zazel--was something entirely different. he was scared and pitiful, having resigned to death when she had grabbed him out of the street. His eyes were golden, common for a feline, and that coincidence alone made Tomoyo wonder if he were some sort of gift from Suzaku. Tomo still felt that i her own way the Goddess still cared about her, still thought of the Yami-ou from time to time without murderous rage in her Prison. This cat, she would have liked to think, was one of those times.
The Ha-ou was rather stuck in the Mortal Realm for a while, which wasn't a terrible thing; but waiting for the Devil Saints to get their shit together didn't leave her with much to do. So Tomoyo busied herself cleaning the cat and trying to take care of its single scar that ran down the side. It took a lot to get Zazel to settle down, and the compromise ended up being Tomo restraining him almost in the choke hold with one hand while wrapping his stomach with the other. Zazel had a habit f going limp when he thought that he was going to die, and it was effective enough to keep him still.
Then she took him to to the vet. It was difficult finding one on the map that the hotel had given her-- it wasn't was though she had arrived with him, after all--and asking the personnel produced no results, either. No one seemed to know where the nearest one was. So she took Zazel and carried him off, asking for directions along the way in Japanese. Her grasp of the language was limited to a very old, very formal dialect. most understood what she was asking for but seemed to have no answer; the younger children had no clue as to what she was talking about.
Her success, apparently, had hinged on using "Veterinarian" as a foreign word as opposed to the phrase "animal healer" in actual Japanese, which was the closest equivalent that Tomo could think of. When she did finally arrive at the designated building, run by a "Goroku-sensei", they were indeed closing down for the evening. But there were two other women sitting in a quaint, pristinely white waiting lounge, and Tomoyo slipped very smoothly into a chair next to them on the left of their row of seats.
"Ma'am," The secretary said, her voice crisp and emotionless, droll, "we do not accept emergency cases this near to closing."
"Does this look like an emergency case?" Sanada shot back. "I just need a vet to redress this cut."
"Do you have any insurance on..." she paused for a moment. "This feline?"
The Yami-ou scoffed. "Who takes out life insurance on a cat? It's going to die sooner than I can find another husband!" The women next to her, one with a parrot and the other with another cat, gasped. "Look, I'll pay for the wound dressing, but if I don't have insurance on myself in this miserable place I'm not going to put any on a kitten. Just sign my name on the list and show me the way to the vet's office when it's my turn. S-A-N-A-D-A no T-O-M-O-Y-O. Not too difficult, is it?"
The woman was scrawling already, and Tomoyo crossed her arms, Zazel between them, cradled like a baby, and the Yami-ou waited her turn.
Ironically, Tomoyo had never owned a cat. Her first ever pet was a white peacock, given to her as a gift by Suzaku. It had been a beautiful thing, back when the Earth had been splendiferous and each Choir worshiped as heralds of the Gods. Her second pet had been a Griffin, sheer black, and very friendly despite Tomo's disposition at that time, having gotten the creature not too long after her Fall.
This cat--whom she had named Zazel--was something entirely different. he was scared and pitiful, having resigned to death when she had grabbed him out of the street. His eyes were golden, common for a feline, and that coincidence alone made Tomoyo wonder if he were some sort of gift from Suzaku. Tomo still felt that i her own way the Goddess still cared about her, still thought of the Yami-ou from time to time without murderous rage in her Prison. This cat, she would have liked to think, was one of those times.
The Ha-ou was rather stuck in the Mortal Realm for a while, which wasn't a terrible thing; but waiting for the Devil Saints to get their shit together didn't leave her with much to do. So Tomoyo busied herself cleaning the cat and trying to take care of its single scar that ran down the side. It took a lot to get Zazel to settle down, and the compromise ended up being Tomo restraining him almost in the choke hold with one hand while wrapping his stomach with the other. Zazel had a habit f going limp when he thought that he was going to die, and it was effective enough to keep him still.
Then she took him to to the vet. It was difficult finding one on the map that the hotel had given her-- it wasn't was though she had arrived with him, after all--and asking the personnel produced no results, either. No one seemed to know where the nearest one was. So she took Zazel and carried him off, asking for directions along the way in Japanese. Her grasp of the language was limited to a very old, very formal dialect. most understood what she was asking for but seemed to have no answer; the younger children had no clue as to what she was talking about.
Her success, apparently, had hinged on using "Veterinarian" as a foreign word as opposed to the phrase "animal healer" in actual Japanese, which was the closest equivalent that Tomo could think of. When she did finally arrive at the designated building, run by a "Goroku-sensei", they were indeed closing down for the evening. But there were two other women sitting in a quaint, pristinely white waiting lounge, and Tomoyo slipped very smoothly into a chair next to them on the left of their row of seats.
"Ma'am," The secretary said, her voice crisp and emotionless, droll, "we do not accept emergency cases this near to closing."
"Does this look like an emergency case?" Sanada shot back. "I just need a vet to redress this cut."
"Do you have any insurance on..." she paused for a moment. "This feline?"
The Yami-ou scoffed. "Who takes out life insurance on a cat? It's going to die sooner than I can find another husband!" The women next to her, one with a parrot and the other with another cat, gasped. "Look, I'll pay for the wound dressing, but if I don't have insurance on myself in this miserable place I'm not going to put any on a kitten. Just sign my name on the list and show me the way to the vet's office when it's my turn. S-A-N-A-D-A no T-O-M-O-Y-O. Not too difficult, is it?"
The woman was scrawling already, and Tomoyo crossed her arms, Zazel between them, cradled like a baby, and the Yami-ou waited her turn.
