Drac Ch18
#2 of Drac
A few days had passed, and following several more instances of Nereen insisting that he see to his own future, Dienza had made an appointment to visit Desio Apartments. He stood in the kitchen of one of the ground floor apartments, inspecting the comparative quality of the craftsmanship. Across the room near the doorway stood Kre Sabar, the orange furred owner of the building dressed in a casual suit. Whether he felt the need to impress Dienza had not decided, and the younger leona had worn a simple T shirt with jeans instead. 'So it has all the essentials as you can see.' Kre explained. 'Bathroom is connected to the bedroom just on the other side of the living room, you have a fully functioning kitchen and the laundry is located over near the office.' 'Nice.' Dienza nodded. Already the thought of living here was appealing but there was another question that needed answering first. 'What's your policy on pets?' 'I'm okay with them.' Kre nodded. 'So long as you can keep them well behaved and under control. I will warn you there are micen living in some sections of the building, so if you're bringing in any of your own be sure to give them some kind of security measure. There have been... problems in the past. If they get out of hand, just let me know.' 'Right.' Dienza nodded. He met Kre's gaze momentarily before the older man looked away. 'Do you mind if I ask... who lived here before?' 'Oh... it was an old acquai... a friend of mine.' He replied. 'She passed away recently. I wasn't sure at first but in the end I decided that renting the apartment was the right thing to do. We can't live in the past after all.' 'I'm sorry to hear.' Dienza nodded slowly. 'How long did you know her?' 'Since the war.' Kre answered. 'She was one of the ones who... didn't quite make it all home.' 'I see.' He younger leona wasn't sure what he could add to this. Dienza knew about post- traumatic stress, and that many of the soldiers who had survived the Avon War didn't come through unscathed. Immense emotional and mental scars haunted many of them more than any physical deformity could. 'Don't worry about it.' Kre shrugged, trying to lighten the mood. 'I don't want to give you a bad impression of this place.' 'Not a problem.' Dienza smiled. 'It's good to know she at least had someone who cared for her. I'm sure that helped her more than it showed. My father was one of the ones who didn't make it back at all. I never met him, but there were times I could see what his loss had done to my mother.' 'That sounds terrible.' Kre said sympathetically. 'It really was such a terrible time.' 'But like you said, we shouldn't dwell.' Dienza took another look around the room. 'This place is nice. I think it's gonna work out just fine.' 'Excellent.' Kre smiled and clapped his hands. 'Well then, shall we see to the paperwork?'
With bond settled and paperwork read and signed, Dienza made his way back to the entrance to the complex. He gave the common area one last glance and smiled. It would be a good place to live and he had Kre's blessing to start moving immediately. All he needed was a quick phone call to Karos to get the okay to borrow the company van and he could get started. As he stepped through the gate and turned right to begin his walk home, he almost collided with someone walking the opposite way. 'Sorry!' A female voice called. 'I didn't see you there.' 'Oh, me either.' Dienza replied. 'I was just on my way out.' As he finished talking, he got a good look at the woman. She looked familiar, someone he'd seen but not for a long time. 'Wait... Risa?' 'You...?' Risa tilted her head in confusion, a look that said she remembered his face but couldn't place his name. 'You're the... the guy in school who always had the guitar, right?' 'Uhh, yea that sounds like me.' Dienza grinned. 'It's Dienza.' 'Dienza, that's it.' Risa nodded. 'Wow I haven't seen you in... well, years.' 'We were only at the same school for a year.' Dienza shrugged. 'I graduated the year after that. So what have you been up to since then?' 'Oh you know... Stuff.' She replied. 'How about you? You visiting someone?' 'Moving in.' Dienza answered with a grin. 'Do you live here?' 'Oh?' Risa's eyes seemed to light up. 'I do actually. My dad owns the building. So I'm gonna be neighbours with a talented musician huh?' 'Absolutely.' He nodded. 'I'll try not to make too much of a ruckus.' 'You be as loud as you want.' Risa concluded, before slowly stepping around him and curling her tail briefly around his leg. He let her go and resumed his walk home, now with two things to smile about.
'How did it go?' Val asked from atop Nereen's head. The woman was napping on the couch with the rat curled up on her head. 'Great!' Dienza beamed, closing the door behind him and stepping into the living room. 'Kre said I could start moving in right away. I'll call Karos tomorrow morning and see if I can borrow the van after work.' 'That sounds good.' Val responded. 'I have no idea who either of those people are.' She twitched as Nereen stirred, jumping onto the arm of the couch as the leona sat herself upright. 'Dienza? How did it go?' She asked, blinking herself awake. 'Great. It's all a go!' Dienza repeated. 'I'm gonna get started tomorrow after work.' 'Wonderful!' Nereen smiled. 'Where did you end up?' 'Bottom floor. Room near the pool.' Dienza replied. 'So, who wants dinner? I'll cook!' 'The hell you will.' Nereen retorted. 'This calls for a celebration, and a celebration needs good food. I'll cook. Val can help.' 'Only if I get to pick then!' Dienza grinned. 'Full roast dinner, steak and veggies, lots of gravy!' 'As you wish, my prince.' Nereen replied in a playful mocking tone. 'In the meantime, might you see to your other duties?' '...What?' He raised an eyebrow in confusion. 'Give the bathroom a clean.' Nereen said blankly. 'I was gonna do it, but then I took a nap instead. So since I'm cooking now, I guess that's on you.' 'Oh joy.' Dienza sighed. 'Fair enough. But the rat's helping me.' 'Do you really think there's anything I could do to help?' Val shrugged. 'Surely I'd be better in the kitchen with-' 'It'll save me looking for the sponge.' Dienza grinned, reaching towards her and snagging her into his grasp. 'I'm gonna claw your wrist open!' Val shrieked. 'I'm gonna eat your face!' Dienza hissed back. The pair of them glared at each other intensely, the leona letting out a low growl and the rattis arching her back and hissing in return. The standoff lasted for almost twenty seconds before Val broke and started to giggle. Dienza did as well a moment after. 'Dammit, I'll win one of these days.' Val squeaked, crawling her way to Dienza's shoulder. 'I'll eat you before I let that happen.' Dienza replied. 'Oh just kiss already!' Nereen interjected with a soft laugh, shaking her head. Dienza turned to the rattis on his shoulder with a big grin and leaned closer. Val tried to back up but only had one step backwards before she would fall. 'Kiss!' The leona puckered his lips and pecked Val on the forehead, making the rattis blush even through her fur. 'C-can we go do this... cleaning?' Val asked, almost whispering.
'It sounds like she's getting to like you.' Nereen said, stirring the pot of gravy slowly before taking a small taste to test it. 'Who wouldn't like me?' Dienza asked jokingly. 'I mean, besides someone who's known me more than a few months.' 'Dienza.' Nereen scolded. 'Try to take this a bit more seriously. A rattis is not like a micen. Even though they're more predatory by nature, they're also more affectionate. She will stick by you, but if you do wrong by her you'll lose her forever. Just remember that. Don't ever push her too far.' 'Alright.' Dienza nodded, an unpleasant thought surfacing in his mind. He had gotten attached to Val even if the rapport they developed looked otherwise. 'I was only kidding. She knows that.' 'I'm sure she does.' Nereen smiled. 'But keep what I said in mind.' 'I will.' Dienza nodded, before standing and heading back to the bathroom. It was spick and clean and completely mould free after the past half hour's work. He took a step inside and leaned forward, peering into the bathtub. Val glared back at him for a moment before rolling her eyes and flipping him the bird. 'That was a dick move.' She said. 'It was just a joke.' Dienza replied. 'I'm sorry.' He'd left her in the tub. Her claws had no grip on the surface and she'd been stuck there for the last three minutes waiting for him to return. 'Still a dick move!' She retorted. 'Hey. You'll get me back, right?' He said, lowering his arm into the tub and running his fingers down her back. 'Hmph.' She turned away and tried to scoot from his hand, almost slipping over on the white surface under her feet. He reached his other hand in and caught her, cradling her softly before lifting her out and holding her to his chest. 'I want my rat to be happy.' He said softly, holding her to his chest as he or Nereen did whenever she felt sad. 'How about a nice big piece of gravy soaked steak? You'll love it.' 'Really?' Her eyes lit up and she peered back at him hopefully. This would be the first time one of the leonas had given her cooked meat off one of their plates. She'd been given small offcuts of ham or bacon before, but they were usually raw and once on the table the leonas tended to only give her vegetables. 'Really.' He nodded. 'My way of saying sorry.' He ran his fingers through her fur again and lifted her up to his cheek. Purring softly, he nuzzled his cheek into hers. 'Okay!' She hugged his face, before composing herself and pushing him away. 'But I'm... still sort of angry at you...'
Nereen watched with one eyebrow raised as Val tore into the chunk of steak, taking bites almost as big as her head. Dienza just grinned, enjoying the spectacle the rattis was making of herself. 'Are you sure this was a good idea...?' Nereen asked. 'What if she chokes?' 'Oh she's fine...' Dienza answered, watching as Val gulped an impressively large piece several times before it finally went down. 'See? If they can handle micen, they can handle this.' He cut off a piece for himself, significantly smaller than what Val had just downed and took a bite. 'I guess...' Nereen shrugged before she also resumed eating. 'Micen?' Val asked, able to talk again but still panting slightly after the large mouthful. 'They can be food too, right?' 'Well...' Dienza took a deep breath. 'Yes. That's technically true.' 'Have you both eaten micen?' Val turned and looked at Nereen. 'We have.' Nereen nodded. She lowered her gaze and kept eating, prompting Val to turn back to Dienza. 'I wanna... I wanna try one.' She said. Dienza stopped eating and thought for a few seconds. The idea was not really all that farfetched. She looked to be big enough at this age, maybe with some difficulty but she should still be able to manage. It occurred to Dienza that what he felt was his own fledgling sense of empathy, but that wasn't his right to force on Val just as his own mother had never forced hers on him. 'Sure.' He said. 'Maybe in a day or two I'll help you with that.'