Leave it all Behind [Open]

The Bengal tom began to follow along after Keiiji. He sighed inwardly, wishing Keiiji had mentioned a specific food he liked. Horatio disliked having to make these sorts of decisions, at least when there were other cats involved. His life consisted in stories and questions and ideas and words; most everything else was just an afterthought. Food was just fuel, and he almost wished it didn't need to be bothered with - as such, he generally just ate whatever was closest at paw. But now he felt the need to find something that Keiiji would also enjoy eating. Still, there were tasty enough things to be found without going far. Horatio was about to ask the other tom if he liked to eat mice, when a slight sound behind him made him pause and turn back, frowning slightly.

"You hear something?" he called ahead to Keiiji.

Oswin nodded eagerly, her excitement building as she noted that Oola seemed to recognize one of the toms also.

"I've seen him around the warehouse before," she whispered. "I'm sure of it! Looks like we've got some sort of spy. But for which side?"

Peeking out again, she saw that the two toms were moving off. "Yikes, don't let 'em get out of sight!" She crept along behind the walls of rubbish, but in her excitement she trod loudly on something. The patched queen froze, holding her breath as one of the toms stopped to listen.

The Orange tabby could no longer ignore those honed instincts that he had been bred for. There was something nagging at the edges of his senses. And ignoring these gut feelings usually led to getting injured, or spied on. Keiiji had enough injuries to keep him from making the same mistakes that had lead to them in the first place. So has soon as he heard a paw-pad and then a few seconds later a light thud, the tabby disappeared.

He had slipped the sash around his mouth off easily. Letting it land on a piece of junk a few paces away from Horatio, to be left as a decoy. Would only fool even amateurs for a moment, but a lot could happen in a moment. As soon as his sash had been removed, he had moved silently and quickly behind a stack of drawers, before Horatio had even finished his question. His movements were pure stealth, and when he finally found what had set his alarms off, he felt a wash of relief.

It was nothing to be alarmed about, as he gazed critically down at Oswin and Oola from his own vantage point. He knew of them both, not a whole lot. Oola kept to herself for the most part and Oswin tended to stick her nose into places.  But when he started taking jobs from Macavity, he made it a point to at least know those in his command on a name basis, if nothing else. He wasn't about to reveal them to the tribe or Horatio, not unless they wanted to join them for dinner. But he knew he needed to at least find out what they were doing in the junkyard.

"You ladies lost?" His voice revealed nothing behind his intentions, and his lips were in a thin line. He wasn't smiling or frowning, however the bold and jagged scar that cut through his lips was accented by the evening sunset. He no doubt appeared intimidating, though it was not quite his intention. He simply wanted to know what they were up to and then was going to go back to Horatio.

"Mind telling me what you two are intending? Or maybe you'd prefer to join Horatio and I for dinner?" His eyebrow twitched slightly upward before going back to its neutral place. A tell for him, indicating curiosity. "I've seen you both at the Warehouse. I'm sure my companion would enjoy talking with Henches. He seems to have a lot of questions about Macavity. If you two are spying..." He let that hang in the air for a moment, before continuing. "Then I suggest finding one of the bigwigs around here to spy on."

Oswin's lower lip quivered, and she was quite on the verge of going into a genuine pout, maybe even a tantrum. Clearly no matter how evasive she and Oola were, Keiiji already knew everything anyway. And now Oola would never want to do this again, she'd be too scared to even stir two inches out of the warehouse.

But this Horatio person? Well, he knew nothing, as far as she knew. That cheered her slightly. At least they could keep him from knowing anything; might even find out interesting information from him, since, unlike Keiiji, he could probably be tricked into saying something accidentally.

Excited once more, she gave Oola's paw what she hoped was a reassuring squeeze and followed after Keiiji. "Food, food," she sang, going back into playful-kitten mode without batting an eyelid, "time for yummy food!"

Horatio walked over to meet the other three, at this point quite confused. He did not recognize the two queens, and Keiiji had described them only as 'hungry queens who were joining them for dinner.' Surely, if Keiiji didn't know them, they weren't Jellicle? Were they from outside? His pelt prickled at the thought. Though he knew that not everyone from 'outside' was automatically a Macavity's henchman or necessarily bad, his own experiences on the street made him disinclined to associate with anyone he knew nothing about.

But, Keiiji did not seem concerned. Perhaps he was playacting? It occurred to Horatio that two seemingly-innocent young queens would be perfect for Macavity to send in to spy on the Jellicles. So naturally the best thing to do would be to, first, not reveal any information; and second, to pretend to be oblivious. That way, the queens might get comfortable and reveal something about Macavity.

He didn't know for sure that all this was true, of course; but he couldn't help being interested at the prospect of possibly learning of Macavity - perhaps a weakness or some such notion. At any rate, whether or not these two were spies or just innocent queens, friendliness would be the best tactic for now.

Coming up to the other three, Horatio nodded to the queens. "Guests for dinner?" he repeated, sounding surprised but not displeased. "Well... Welcome. What might your names be, then?" He did not claim to be as good at the nonchalance thing as Keiiji.

Keiiji had to admit to himself, that he was slightly surprised that the small queen had taken his paw. It was so small compared to his own, and after he gave her enough boost for her to get onto her own two feet again, Oola had snatched her paw away. His gaze on her had moved off her and away.

"I have no interest in telling Genghis anything." He didn't ask them to not say a word about his involvement with Macavity and at Macavity's warehouse. Asking sounded too much like a favor and promising not to tell her secret if they didn't tell his was too much like blackmail for his liking. If it came out, it came out. He'd deal with it and with Horatio finding out, if it came down to it.

Keiiji watched as Horatio moved over to where he was and watched Oola politely introduce herself. He slightly bowed his head, though if one wasn't looking directly at him, they wouldn't have been able to tell his head had bowed. "Keiiji." He  had introduced. He did raise an eyebrow up at Oswin. "And your name?"

He really didn't need to ask, but he figured it be good to get everyone acquainted. It'd make dinner more comfortable. "Does anyone have something specific in mind for dinner? Does everyone want to catch food? Or woud you rather head into the city?" He knew of a few good restaurants; recommended to him by Bustopher Jones.

Oswin gave Oola an encouraging smile, hoping the other queen knew this was turning the best possible under the circumstances. If they stayed in the 'yard now, they might bump into other Jellicles who were less inclined to 'look the other way' than Keiiji and who, unlike Horatio, might actually know where they came from. Hanging out on neutral grounds, no one could really do anything or accuse them of anything, and their masters would not punish them.

Turning back to the two toms, she clapped her paws excitedly. "Yes, yes! That will be fun! Human food is so tasty and we don't get it very much!"

Horatio nodded along with the others. At this point, he noticed he was hungry enough that he'd prefer to find food as soon as possible, without the added trouble of chasing and catching it.

"I agree, town sounds the best."

He gave one more glance at the two queens, thinking they were the strangest cats he had ever met. One seemed afraid of everything, and was crouching beside her friend as if for protection. The other...well, she was excited about food. Didn't get much stranger than that. He had had thoughts that perhaps these two might work for Macavity, but now he doubted it. What use could Macavity have for two like these? Horatio figured large, muscular brutes were more the types Macavity would employ. Still, if they were strays, they might have overheard something. He could just casually ask them a few things if the opportunity arose.