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VII: Rain and Roses

Kheyman didn't return to the flat for three days. Pluto didn't ask much when he came by, except about what he had said before he left. He acted as though Kheyman disappeared regularly. Perhaps he did; she didn't know that. Urara still felt strange about it though.

Kheyman didn't contact any of them during his disappearance. Urara thought he did stop at the flat late the first night though. She awoke to voices in the living room, but she didn't get up to see for sure that it was him.

"I have to leave for a while."

"I know. Take all the time you need."

"Thank you, Pluto. I knew you would understand."

"Of course."

"And Urara?"

"I'll watch over her. She's in good hands."

"I know."

The conversation had continued, but Urara had fallen back to sleep by that time.

She was puzzled. She could tell the things Darce had said had rattled Kheyman a bit but she didn't think it was enough to make him leave. Not that she cared. She was just a little afraid that someone as tough and hard-assed as Kheyman could be unhinged by only words, even if they were probably true. Urara was bothered.

Urara was also thoroughly pissed at Kheyman. He killed the love of her life. He didn't have to! Darce wasn't evil. He could have co-existed with humans! Even if they were his food. Urara spent a lot of time locked in the bedroom, crying mostly over Darce and beating the pillow senseless whenever she thought of Kheyman. She was depressed a lot and wouldn't come out of the room, even to eat. But Pluto was good enough to bring her meals to her, even if they came back only half empty.

On the evening of the second day, Urara finally spoke. Pluto had come in with dinner, leaving the door open behind him. Urara had her face buried in her arms over the pillow. He set the tray on the floor beside the bed. He turned to go when she spoke.

"Pluto?"

Pluto turned. Urara had picked her head up off her arms and was looking at him, tears running down her cheeks.

"Why did Kheyman do it?"

Pluto sighed deeply and sat down on the edge of the bed, or--more accurately--hopped up onto it. His feet dangled a good six inches off the floor. It was an enormous bed.

"I honestly can't answer that," he said slowly, choosing his words carefully. "You'll have to talk with Kheyman about that."

"I'm not speaking to that bastard ever again," she said angrily. Pluto frowned.

"That won't get you your answer then, will it?" He then put his hand on her back comfortingly, and said softly, "He didn't want to though."

"Why?"

Pluto shrugged. "Don't ask me to fathom the mind of a robotic lunatic."

Urara set her head on her arms again. "I just wish Kheyman had killed me with him."

"Don't say such things! There's plenty to keep on living for. Look at Kheyman. He's been to hell and back--what am I saying? His world is hell! But you don't see him making death threats to himself every time something turns bad against him. I don't know what he does in his spare time though..." He gave her a thumbs up and a grin. "Buck up, all right?"

Urara gave him a small smile. Pluto grinned wider. "Thatta girl. Try and get out of this hellhole of a flat, all right?"

When she finally nodded, he slid off the bed and walked to the door. He looked back for a second and said, "It's not good to brood. God knows what it did to Kheyman." The door shut with a click behind him. After several moments of hesitation, she got up to eat.

****

The next morning Urara actually got up out of bed and dressed in clean, tight-fitting jeans and an over-large t-shirt. She went out into the kitchen to find bacon and eggs with orange juice waiting for her on the table, compliments of Pluto, who was nowhere to be found.

She brooded over the newspaper for a few minutes when she finished. But she didn't have long, because she had an unexpected caller--two actually. The door burst open and in bounded the two non-humans in the world most likely to get her out of her glumness: Ana and Uni! Uni squealed and ran to throw her furry arms around Urara's neck, nearly dragging her out of her chair as Ana stopped to shut the door.

"Hey, girl, how are yah?!" Uni asked, finally freeing Urara of her chokehold. "How's big, tall, and scary doing?"

Urara snorted, scowling. "How should I know? The asshole disappeared two nights ago."

Uni went suddenly quiet and Ana was serious. "Now why would he do that? Is that regular for him?"

Urara shrugged hopelessly, shaking her head. "I don't know. Darce shouted at him about his being even less human than vampires because he couldn't feel emotion or something like that, before he was--" She stopped herself, feeling her eyes begin to burn with tears. Ana's face softened.

"What happened, hon?" she asked gently, placing a hand softly on the girl's shoulder. Urara bit her lower lip, trying to hold back her tears, but she knew they wouldn't stay for long.

"Darce turned out to be a vampire and... Kheyman, he--"

Urara broke down then, unable to finish. But Ana and Uni knew what she couldn't say. They both put their arms around her, Uni crying with empathy and Ana saying, "Oh, honey," and hugging her tightly. And Urara took comfort in her new-found friends, the fur on Uni's knuckles drying the tears from her face and Ana's words, softer than cashmere, trying to heal her open wounds. Urara cried then more than she'd ever had since that awful night.

"Yah know what you need?" Uni said, sniffling loudly, when they'd finally finished crying. Urara wiped her eyes and shook her head. "You need to shop. Or get drunk. Either one works for us. Your pick."

"Don't you have work?" Urara asked them. Ana shook her head.

"Naw. We quit."

Uni snickered. "More like we got sacked."

"You're kidding!" Urara gasped. "How--"

"We didn't go in for work when we was with you guys, and our boss didn't believe us when we told him we was out kicking some major vampire ass," Uni explained, giggling.

"But what are you going to do about money?" Urara asked them. Ana shrugged.

"We'll get by. We'll probably go back to our boss and talk him into hiring us back. He's such a push-over when it comes to his girls. Plus, we were big money-makers for him. It's not every day you can pay to go see a couple of cat-girls take their clothes off for yah," she said.

"Yeah," said Uni, giggling again. "Yah don't see furry these any day." She cupped her over-large breasts and laughed.

"I suppose not," Urara said, laughing as well. "Let's go shopping."

"Aww. We can't get drunk?" Uni pouted.

"I want to be sober enough to kick the living shit out of Kheyman when he gets back, if he ever gets back," Urara told her. Ana socked her on the arm.

"That's tellin' him, girl," she said.

They spent the entire day out shopping on Carnaby Street. They had lunch at an outdoor café. Ana dragged Urara into a favorite store of theirs where they got all their skimpy leather-and-lace work clothes while Uni bought a bunch of disposable cameras and smuggled them into the store. Urara, under threats of tickling, had tried on several outfits that would outstrip her fire-red-leather ensemble 3 to 1 while Uni took shot after shot of her with the cameras and cat-called and Ana acted as em-cee. The cashier girl thought it was great fun and gave her own suggestions on clothes.

By the time Urara had returned to Kheyman's flat she was exhausted. Under Ana and Uni's heavy nagging, she did buy a few outfits. She dropped the bags at the end of the bed and collapsed on the mattress and fell asleep almost instantly. Pluto came in to check on her once and tucked her in, eyeing the bags on the floor warily. But he left them alone when he went out of the room.

It was the first night since Kheyman left she'd slept soundly.

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