LE GASP, LOVELIES!!!
You’re getting a two parter today! I’ve got some errands to run with Jaya, so have part 1 now an part 2 before I go to bed.
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Over the hum of the street below, Kavi could still hear the whistle of the wind on the other side of the window. Her fingers tingled with cold as she traced circles on the glass. The windows glowed with the setting sun. In the room behind her, Ayanna fussed with her computer, muttering about bad wifi.
Kavi glanced back at her cousin, fingers pausing on the pane of glass. Ayanna was elbow deep in coding, surrounded by a thicket of empty soda cans and snack bags. The way to the hotel room door was clear, save for a few empty wrappers. Kavi stood up straight and walked to the mirrored closet, tugging on a thick winter coat.
“Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?” Ayanna snapped her laptop shut, her eyes trained on Kavi. “Popaw said to stay in the room matter what.”
Kavi took a deep breath, praying her voice wouldn’t shake. “I know. But he won’t be back til after midnight, he said so.” She zipped up the thick coat and pulled her two black braids out from under the collar. “That’s enough time for me to go see the City Gardens.”
Ayanna hopped off the bed to stand over her smaller cousin. “Kavixi Starfell, what do you see in that mirror?”
Kavi stared up into her cousin’s eyes. “What’s that gonna prove, Aya?”
“Just humor me.” Ayanna crossed her arms.
Rolling her eyes, Kavi turned to face the mirror. Large brown eyes watched her from the reflection. Her broad dark face sloped into a blunt muzzle, with a thick black nose at the tip. Two short tusks curved up from either side of her bottom jaw. Shaggy black hair fell down her shoulders in two thick braids, thinning into a long blaze of fur down her spine to the tip of her tail. Thick set shoulders and hips gave her a wide frame and bulky shape. Her eyes traced over the same face she had stared at for years, with the same thoughts crowding the back of her mind as always.
“I see a Starfell clan female.” She would not look Ayanna in the face.
“I see a young one who doesn’t want to believe the dangers of going out among humans.” Ayanna turned Kavi to face her. “Why are you trying to disobey Popaw?”
Kavi kept her eyes glued to the floor. “If I go out with my jacket and a scarf, no one will see me. I’ll just be another human bundled up against the cold.” She raised her eye to Ayanna’s. “I just want to go the Gardens. It would only be for an hour or two. Please.”
The taller female stepped back, crossing her thick arms again. “Tell me.”
“Please, I begged Popaw to take me along so I could go to the Gardens tonight.” Everything rushed out at once, in a long breathless, half crying plea. “It’s only tonight, Warlike Masquerade is playing there tonight, tomorrow they go on a year long worldwide tour! If I don’t see them now, I never will!”
“The band? That one you’re always on about?” Ayanna dropped her arms. “All this for a show?”
Kavi sucked on her lip, staring at her cousin. “Please.”
“Fine!” Ayanna threw her hands up. “But you have to be back in 2 hours. And don’t turn off your cell. If Popaw calls me, I’m calling your butt back here.”
With a whoop, Kavi hugged her cousin. The younger female grabbed a thick woven scarf and doubled it around the lower half of her face, hiding the tusks and protruding muzzle. Over her stubby horns she pulled on a knit cap and the deep fur lined hood over that, obscuring the top of her face in shadow. When she looked back into the mirror, all Kavi could see were her own brown eyes.
She had the door open and was halfway out the door before Ayanna’s voice called her back again. “Tuck in your tail, you mooncalf, it’s waving like an idiot’s battle flag!”
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Be back later, Lovelies!!!!
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