XXI

[punsofiron]

[Liz-kitty found a good perch in a small tree on the nature deck, away from the traps. She knows everyone's still dealing with that whole thing, but there's something she needs to ask...she looks worried and maybe the slightest bit sad, unusually.]

Guys? Has anybody seen Linkara?

Comments

[salvagedlight]

[Ven is bittybitty which makes him difficult to catch in traps - he can hide in all those lovely nooks and crannies. But he wriggles out of the one he found on the rec deck to respond to this.]

Not lately - haven't you?

[punsofiron]

He's not in the room, or in the library or anything. I haven't seen him all day.

[salvagedlight]

...Do you think... he's gone? [it's not nice to think about, let alone say. But he can't just let it sit.]</small.

[punsofiron]

I think he just might be, if nobody's seem him. It's a ship, there's only so many places he could be.

[salvagedlight]

[Ven goes quiet, glancing around as if to look for predators. Then he scampers forward and disappears under the camera, which swings to try and catch him but then quickly shuts off.]

[A few minutes later Cam has deposited him in the Nature Deck and left to keep an eye on the entrance to make sure Pearl doesn't get any more traps set off there. Ven, meanwhile, starts sniffing around, finding a trace of cat-scent and starting to follow it to Liz's tree.]

[wavesinherheart]

[Aqua's been avoided the traps by the simple expedient of hanging out in the pool, for the most part. It's harder to set up traps there, after all. That and paddling around just feels natural.]

Ah, I don't think I have.

[punsofiron]

[If a cat could frown...]

I was afraid of that.

[wavesinherheart]

I'm sorry I don't have any better news.

[punsofiron]

Why should you be sorry? If he's not here, then maybe he's gone home. He can go christen that spaceship of his, catch up on his comic books, say hello to Pollo for once...heck, maybe he can figure something out about that Entity.

[Her tone betrays a slight air of that not really making her feel any better about it, though.]

[optimistickey]

[Sora looks pretty worried.]

No, I haven't seen him for awhile...

[punsofiron]

[Liz sighs, settling on her perch to curl up.]

I hope he'll be okay...

[optimistickey]

[He tries to offer her a smile.]

He'll be all right! He's really smart, and figure out all kinds of problems!

[punsofiron]

[And she tries to smile back]

Yeah...

[milliondollarpipes]

[...oh no. He's already heading up, though he's still not very fast like this.] Not for a couple days now.

[punsofiron]

[Her ears flatten a little to hear that.]

[milliondollarpipes]

Hey, don't go anywhere.

[A few minutes later, he enters the Nature Deck and starts waddling towards the tree, craning his neck to look up at her and grumbling.] 'Least you can still freakin' walk...

[punsofiron]

[She looks down at Harvey, rising up on her haunches and carefully dropping herself down the tree to meet him.]

At least you match your tux.

[colorbymemory]

[Nami has recently been freed thanks to Luna, so she's through dealing with traps--any she sees get avoided.

Now she just looks as concerned as a kitty can.]

I'm sorry, Liz, I haven't.

[punsofiron]

[Sigh] I thought not...

Thanks anyway, Namine.

[colorbymemory]

You're welcome.

[She looks thoughtful for a moment.]

Do you want some company?

[punsofiron]

I'll be alright.

[Read: if you're offering]

[ttlynotanagent]

I haven't.

[He sighs.]

I thought he'd been pretty quiet. I'm sorry Liz.

[Pause, he studies the image of the cat in the tree and then goes to find her on the nature deck. He holds his arms up to the tree.]

[punsofiron]

[She blinks in surprise as he reaches up to her. There's a moment of hesitation, then she carefully bends to hop down into his arms.]

[ttlynotanagent]

[He catches her easily enough and starts to pet her head.]

He might come back someday. You never know with this place.

[punsofiron]

[That actually feels really good right now. Must be a cat thing. She leans into his shoulder and subconsciously starts purring.]

Given everything going on in our own world and up here, it's hard to tell whether that would be something to hope for or not.