Lost Change

Chapter 66

"Off! Down!" I blinked and looked up from my thoughts to find the other woman - Loreena? - had just entered the dining room. She was holding a basket of clothes in her hands and was staring at me like I had just broken her favorite vase. "Get down from there!"

I blinked again. What was her problem? I glanced back at the now-empty bowl of food and took a step towards it, putting it between myself and the Kymari.

"Oh, for the love of... don't tell me she just lets you jump up and eat right on the table! That is for eating off of; not for you to spread dirt and germs all over! Bad!" She made a 'flicking' motion at me with her hands. I hissed back at her in annoyance.

Loreena grumbled under her breath and sat the basket down on the floor. She walked out of the room, only to return a few seconds later with a bottle. It looked like the kind of thing you would use to spritz plants with to moisten their leaves during a dry spell.

She pointed it at me and sprayed me right in the face with tepid water. "Down!"

I squawked in surprise and dove off the table. Sheesh, what is her problem? Fine, fine, I'm going! I hissed at her because she deserved it, then jumped into the air and flew off.

"The stuff I let Terron talk me into. 'Let my sister stay with us for a few days', he says. 'What's the worst that could happen', he says. Lyzel catching some weird disease or getting mauled by her half-wild flying rodent, that's what. Don't think I haven't noticed those scars all over her arm." I heard Loreena muttering to herself as I flew off down the hallway.

I flew faster and made a note to keep my ears perked for any sound of the unfriendly Kymari coming towards whatever room I might happen to be in.

I did a quick exploration through the open doors. I had been given access to six rooms, counting the dining room and Minna's room. The sunroom had been closed back off - apparently that was an 'adult supervision only' room, and I wasn't trusted to be alone in there. Given the earlier conversations, they were probably too worried I would do something to all the plants kept in there.

One of the rooms was a typical living room, though a sheet had been draped over the couch - probably out of concern I would claw it up. Another room seemed to be a pantry or linen closet, and was filled with lots of shelves, but it was empty of anything else. The fifth room was a guest room like Minna's, and the sixth room was a bathroom.

Technically the bathroom door had been mostly closed, so I got the impression it was supposed to be off limits... but it hadn't been pulled entirely shut and I had managed to slip inside it. What with Loreena's attitude, I kind of wanted to 'accidentally' end up in a place I wasn't supposed to be in. Just because.

All of the power outlets had been blocked by furniture or other obstacles. The most easily accessible one was in the living room, where a large screen was plugged in, but it would still require moving the heavy screen to get to. I was really starting to suspect they thought I would stick my claw in a power socket if given half a chance.

I also had access to the hallways connecting the rooms, but they were pretty unremarkable. Aside from a few pictures and a lot of closed doors, there wasn't anything of note in them.

I finished my exploration and circled back to the bathroom. At this point I was really starting to need to use one, and since I didn't have access to Loreena's bed - and since she probably shared it with Terron, who hadn't done anything to deserve such a 'present' - I decided to try and figure out how to use Kymari plumbing.

It was probably a good idea anyways. Back when I was still undecided and angry with Minna I had enjoyed leaving her extra work to deal with, but... it would make things easier for her not to have to deal with a dirty litter box anymore.