What's outside my door... (Marcus)

[Marcus Prasad]

Marcus made a big show of considering her request. Stroking his beard as he made thoughtful hum and haw sounds. Inside he was whooping and cheering and doing a mental happy dance! That Glare was a Silk Glare! Never before had Marcus been so happy to irritate his closest friend.

"I guess. As long as you don't scare me like that again."
The man replied as he moved to the door and opened it for her, Waving her inside with a bow all gentlemanly like.

Now fully awake, Brenner began to wiggle and squirm in Silks arms. Not able to make up his little puppy mind whether he wanted to be let onto the ground to limp around and explore, or latch onto Silks face and lick it off.

[Silk Sanada]

Silk continued to glare at him as he made a show of thinking it over. When he finally did let her in, she gave him a bit of a shove as she walked into the house. Brenner began squirming. Silk would have been content cuddling the little dear but instead she turned him lose to get used to his new home. Aiko and Bandit rushed in after him to only once again be reminded about being gentle. Aiko would wander off and come back bringing Brenner one of her favorite chew toys. Her tail wagged excitedly as she welcomed their new friend. Bandit just sat there, staring at the pup trying to decide if Silk would kill him for pushing the thing over.

As soon as the spanish woman set the puppy down, she walked off to go get some soft blankets from the linen closet in the hall. She would make Brenner a nice bed. something he could enjoy laying in and wouldn't give him an achy feeling if he laid in it too long. She would find a nice spot by the two big sliding glass windows that lead out to the back yard. She would kneel down and begin making a make shift nest for the pup. As she did, she'd catch herself glancing out the window.

For some reason, it was different to look out of it now. She didn't know why. It just felt different then what she'd been doing earlier. She'd shake her head lightly and turn to look at the puppy.

"C'mere Brenner. Come on little one. Let's try out your new bed."

She called to the pup in a soft sweet voice. She smiled. She was actually smiling. Bandit stared at her and if he could smile, that is most likely what people would have seen right now. Seeing Silk happy, genuinely happy again, made the cat happy. He supposed the pup couldn't be all bad if his owner was happy again.

[Marcus Prasad]

As Silk sauntered off to fix Brenner a bed, Marcus slid into the kitchen, pulled out a small metal soup bowl and began to pull out all the ingredients for Brenners first meal in the house!
With almost blinding speed the man was slicing tomatoes razor thin and chopping up a small batch of lettuce and other assorted vegetables. Marcus had read somewhere that unlike cats, dogs required a very balanced mix of Veggies to go with the meat.

Speaking of meat....DEER MEAT!
Pulling the freshest shank from the freezer box, Marcus Pulled out a machete from the drawer and went to town. The loud Thwack thwack of partially frozen meat being chopped into small pieces before plopped into another bowl of hot water to thaw.


Now on the floor, Brenner would take a few wobbly steps forward before tripping on his own paws and face planting. In seconds the pup was back on his feet and limping around the room, sniffing at everything, poking his little snout in every crevasse he could find. His little tail waggling back and forth almost faster than the eye can see.

Until he suddenly stopped, Laid still on the ground and rested as his battered body tried to keep up with his enthusiasm. The poor pup was still a lot less than 100%.


"C'mere Brenner. Come on little one. Let's try out your new bed."


Brenner wanted to go. Wanted to please his new family, but Brenner was tired and couldn't move. Raising his little puppy head he let out a sad little howl. One that sent Marcus rocketing from the Kitchen.

"OI! What happened!"
He demanded, eyes wide with worry.

[Silk Sanada]

Silk saw a tired little Brenner who wanted to move but couldn't. As he howled, she moved towards him slow. Just in time for Marcus to come around the corner in panic father like mode. Silk looked at him and laughed as she gently rubbed at Brenner's head behind his ears.

"Nothing, He's just tired and I called him to me but he couldn't get up. He's fine."

She assured Marcus and picked the pup up. She gave the little thing another soft kiss to his head and gently petted him to sooth him.

"Sorry Brenner. I forgot. Bandit was tired then too."

She whispered to the little pooch in her hands before settling him in the little bed she'd made. Bandit came over and sat down beside the pup. Not because he missed Silk's attention, but because he understood what the pup was going through. It was one of the rare moments anyone would see the normally evil cat sympathize with anyone aside from Silk. Aiko didn't understand really. She'd been found by Tenchi. She had never been sick, or malnourished. She was just a runt who was left to fend for herself and she had done well till she'd been found.

The energetic fox would tug over toy after toy for the new pup and sit in front of him wagging her tail all happy he was there. Silk would get up to go into the kitchen.

"Marcus, do we have like... broth or something?"

She asked as she began to check her cabinets to see what they had.

"If we make a little, and mix some with his food... it will make it easier on his stomach."

Silk could tell how much Marcus cared for the little pup. Brenner was Marcus' Bandit for sure. She might as well give her friend as much help caring for the little dear as she could.

[Marcus Prasad]

Despite Silks reassuring words the man continued to watch the little pup with lips pressed tight together in a thin line. That little puppy cry had cut right through his heart and left him worried and upset despite himself. Watching Bandit and Aiko get aquainted with the little huskie did wonders though and he found himself giggling as even Bandit of all creatures seemed to become protective of weak little Brenner, who showed his appreciation with an affectionate nuzzle with his little puppy snout into the older cats flank, neck and face before becoming completely absorbed with smelling and biting the many interesting things Aiko was bringing to him.

"Broth?"
Marcus asked, shaken out of his vigil over Brenner with a rather important question.
"None that instant stuff, but I know how to scratch make it!"
And with that he bounded back into the kitchen, pulling out a pot of deer bones. His plan was simple. Boil the bones in the water from the defrosting deer meat, strain it and voila! Deer broth.

[Silk Sanada]

Silk could see how protective Marcus was over Brenner. That little pup had already worked his way into the heart of the big guy. She gave a soft smile. She couldn't tell if it was a good or a bad thing. Though it seemed now that Silk was out of that depressed shell she'd been wearing, she could see that Marcus must have been this way with her too. She must have worried him when she was nothing but a husk. It was why he tried so hard to bring her back. Silk would just watch him as he went about trying to prepare some broth for the pup.

Bandit continued to sit with the little pup, he even began to groom Brenner. Aiko continued to bring toys. She would squirm under the couch, wiggle in between things, run to the bed rooms, run through the hall. By the time she'd gathered all the toys, there was a large pile of them in front of Brenner. Aiko would latch on to a squeaky one, chomp on it a few times to show it squeaked and then she gave it to Brenner.

"Hey...Marcus..."

Silk said after having watched him a bit. Marcus did quite a lot for her. More than anyone else had. It had been a long time since she thought anyone cared about her. She wasn't completely out of that shell she'd put herself into but she was starting to come out, and that was because of Marcus. Granted, he did a lot of things to make her mad today, but they were done because he cared and worried about her.

She waited till Marcus looked over at her. Waited till he was satisfied with the bones sitting in the water and boiling up. Aiko and Bandit were entertaining Brenner so they were fine. The moment that Marcus did turn to look at her, Silk would give him a soft smile. Like a little thank you. She knew it must have been hard to take care of her all this time. She wasn't exactly the easiest person to deal with when she was her usual self. She couldn't imagine what he went through trying to deal with her when she wasn't her normal self.

It was in the midst of this thought that Silk would reach out and pull Marcus towards her, like she was going to hug him. That wasn't what happened though. She pulled Marcus towards herself and when he was facing her, the spanish woman pressed her lips to his. She didn't know why she had done it, and chances were if she was asked, she'd try to deny it even happened, but it had. She had kissed Marcus.

Aiko and Bandit stopped focusing on the new pup in the house and looked over at Silk and Marcus. The feline's eyes went wide and Aiko just tilted her head wondering what was going on. The feline would then start hacking and Aiko would pounce on him to silence him. She'd sit on the cat's head making sure no fur balls bothered Marcus and Silk in this moment. Even though the fox was totally nuts, she saw the importance of this and so she gave Brenner a few more toys to occupy him.

[Marcus Prasad]

Marcus could feel Silks eyes watching him as he worked on the broth. Granted there wasn't much to it, making broth was actualy kind of easy, but he need a moment to think, to process the past few hours and losing himself to cooking always helped.

Well. His gambit seemed to be working so far. He hadn't expected to use Brenner like this when he found the pup by chance, but Marcus was if anything opportunistic. One had to learn how to be travelling the world for a decade before crossing the wasteland of America after the great fall.

The man was just about to let the pot on for a slow boil when he heard Silk call his name.
"Hahn?"
The man would reply in Hindi, poised still for a moment as he waited for a responce. When one didn't come, he looked up to find Silk standing closer to him and favoring him with a surprisingly heart warming smile. A smile so full of sincerity the man couldn't help but smile right back at her.

And that was when she kissed him.

Every synapse in Marcus' brain nearly overloaded as their lips touched. Normally he would take this sort of thing in stride but this was SILK kissing him!
It wasn't until he wrapped his arms around her slender waist and pulled her closer that he realized he was perfectly ok with this.

Even if it had the chance of being just another Silk trap.

The first thing he noticed was that she tasted exactly how he imagined. Like good spice and warm velvety candy. Flavors that left Marcus trembling as they eventually, finally broke away. Leaving Marcus dazed and still shaking.

After ungluing his tongue from the roof of his mouth Marcus uttered a profound statement.
"W..whoah."
Whoah indeed great Fenris. Whoah indeed. Naturally after all the woman he had been with before, it would be Silk that made him feel 16 all over again.

[Silk Sanada]

Silk hadn't always been the most affectionate person in the world. Even with those in her past, her affection for them usually came in the form of gentle smacks to the back of their heads. For her to actually kiss someone with out some sort of preparation was out of character. Silk had been so out of character lately though, that it didn't seem to matter. In this instance, words failed her on expressing how she felt. Action was the only true way to represent them fully and it seemed, as the kiss broke and Marcus stood there with that single simple, yet laughable utterance; That Silk had made the right choice.

She didn't even mind the fact that Marcus still had his arms around her. She was growing, as a person. Something she had never really considered herself to be. She even gave a bit of a snicker at his shocked look, but then, she would return to the true nature she'd been burying for months. Her hand rose up and gave his head a soft smack.

"Don't get used to it."

She smirked and slipped out of his arms to go and check on Brenner and the other two. Aiko was still sitting on Bandit. The cat looked as though he'd had a heart attack and the moment he was freed, he stared at Silk with horror. What had she done!? He liked his human, cold, heartless, punishing random people with her chaos. Yet she just kissed Marcus. The poor feline didn't know what to think now. His whole little world had been flipped upside down. It wasn't that he didn't like Marcus. He actually respected the man for taking care of Silk, but in his tiny kitty heart, he preferred to be the only one Silk loved on. Even if her love sometimes meant painful tail tugs.

So it was safe to say that now Bandit found himself a bit jealous of Marcus. Aiko on the other hand was the opposite. She couldn't have been happier. She liked Marcus, she liked Silk. Seeing them both smile from something as simple as a kiss, well that was just fantastic for the little dancing fox. She wagged her tail, bounced in circles and yapped all happy like. Even when Silk tapped her nose and told her to calm down, that tail continued to smack Bandit in the back of the head repeatedly. Which made the cat blink. Mixing his horrified look with the constant blinking was just hilarious and Silk couldn't help but laugh at him as she began to pet him to try and snap him out of his shock.

[Marcus Prasad]

After everything that had happen, the Smack to his head was almost refreshing as he flinched under the gentle blow and smiled.
"You would have to do THAT quite a few more times before I would get used to it, So I think I'm safe."
He joked as she pulled herself from his embrace, his fingers lingering along her waist until finally falling to his sides as he watched her move back to tending Brenner. Bandit now seemed completely out of sorts which put a smile on the mans face considering the little kitty cat probably saw more than he ever wanted to see ever in his short life.

Marcus didn't know what to think about what just happened. He knew from experience the difference between a friendly peck and a full on kiss and THAT....

Was actually really nice.......

Marcus mentally grimaced and went back to making the broth. He needed to process this thing that just happened. Silk was his closest friend for over a decade and never before did she express herself so intimately with him without it being a sneaky trap before so it was hard not thinking this was just another prank of hers.

Still that smile she gave him. She had NEVER smiled like that before. Hell she RARELY smiled at him before and when she DID he would be RUNNING.

Best not to think about it right now. Marcus decided to put it aside and let it percolate in his brain for a few weeks and see what happens. Right now he had a sick puppy to help.
Pulling the bones one by one out of the luke warm broth, the man poured the protein rich liquid into a small bowl, checked on the defrosting dear meat and turned to walk back into the living room.

"Got the broth."
He whispered as he sat down beside Silk, giving Brenner an affectionate scratch behind his little puppy ears.
"Here ya go little one."
Putting the bowl down infront of the little puppy, Marcus watched with glee as it tentatively nudged the bowl with it's snout, tested the broth and slowly began to drink.
"Heh. So now I know what helps huh? Cute little puppies. Guess I'll know how to avoid a whole lot of Drama for next time huh. Ummm, Please dont let there be a next time though."

[Silk Sanada]

Silk looked up and blinked when Marcus said he had the broth. It would certainly get the pups stomach settled before eating. Might also make the small dog eat slower. That was a good thing as malnourished animals tended to eat too fast at first and often times got sick after. She gently gave Brenner a soft pat on the head as he drank up the broth. When Marcus began talking about knowing how to 'fix' her or rather how to help her when she got too far gone, Silk blinked as she stared at Brenner.

"Yeah, I don't imagine there will be a next time..."

She said softly before standing back up. Aiko and Bandit looked over at her.

"It wasn't only Brenner though..."

She smiled softly again, at Marcus before patting him on the head.

"Just, no more fake deaths okay?"

She messed up his hair with a smirk and walked off towards her room.

"I'm going to get some cleaning done...Aiko, Bandit, make sure Brenner doesn't eat too fast."

The animals scooted closer to their new friend to assure her they would watch over him. Though Bandit still gave Marcus an evil little glare. Seeing it Silk snickered.

"Marcus, beware of Bandit. He looks mad at you."

[Marcus Prasad]

'Heh. Almost forgotten how that feels.'
The man thought as Silk ruffled his hair, Sending him into a fit of throaty giggles.
"You'd do the same for me, I know for a fact. Don't know how successful you would be with the whole stripping down bit though. Besides, I'll stay off the fake deaths if you do. When that guy showed me you sitting there slumped in that chair......Anyway, yes. You go clean and can you let me know when the Deer defrosts?"

Running his fingers through Brenner's soft fur, Marcus finally noticed Bandit giving him a Kitty glare.
"Oi, whats gone up your butt?"
He asked the little cat with a crooked brow.

"Marcus, beware of Bandit. He looks mad at you."

"Yeah I noticed. I have a feeling he didn't appreciate out little moment of affection."
He said with a laugh before reaching over to poke Bandit in the nose, Ready to pull his hand back in a VERY real hurry to avoid the eventual swipe.

[Silk Sanada]

Hearing Marcus giggle, made Silk smirk. It always amused her when he giggled. She nodded to some of his words about her doing the same for him. The mention of stripping him down made her face take on a rather thoughtful look, as if she was trying to figure out if she could. She felt confident that she could, and his comment, though harmless did sound like a challenge. Silk kept her mouth shut about it though and just gave a simple nod. Her face might have betrayed her thoughts though as she seemed rather smug about them.

Her brown eyes blinked at the mention of her slumped in a chair. She had almost forgotten about that. About how helpless she had felt and how she had just given up. Hearing that it had bothered Marcus to see her like that, well... Silk didn't know what to do with that information. She always just assumed her friends would get along with or with out her and that she never mattered. It felt like it had been forever since anyone cared. It didn't exactly fix her for good but, it made her more aware that she mattered to someone other than her pets.

"Yeah, No problem."

She replied to him wanting to know when the deer is defrosted. When the kiss was brought up as a reason for Bandit to be mad at Marcus, Silk blushed a bit and cleared her throat before rubbing the back of her neck.

"Yeah well, it wasn't anything so... shut up."

She hurried off to her room to clean up. Was she embarrassed by what she'd done? Yes. Hell fucking yes. Don't get her wrong, in her relationships, even friendships, Silk was the one to always make the first move. She was used to randomly letting her feelings about others known. That part was normal for her but the abnormal part in this was... it was Marcus. With Bauw, there was a connection that happened so quick, Silk had felt like her head was spinning. Then again she had only been about 14-15 and any relationship at that age felt like that. It lasted a few weeks and then Ianh happened. Things with Silk and Bauw came to a rather abrupt end and she leaned upon Ianh. Their relationship just kind of happened. They realized they were getting closer than friends and agreed to be more.

The way that ended wasn't ideal. Silk had family issues in Chile and Ianh had to move on with his life. She didn't really ever get closure on that one and nearly drank herself to death over it and some other issues that piled up. The only one she could rely on at that time had been Tenchi and their relationship started off weird. He proposed before even asking her out and she was so messed up she agreed. She did care for Tenchi, but she was never sure, even during their marriage, if she had actually been in love with him. At least not the way she had been with Ianh. Technically, it wouldn't be lying if you said she hadn't felt any feelings for someone since Ianh. So, now faced with feelings for Marcus threw her off a bit. It made her nervous and embarrassed. Those were weird feelings for the woman who was used to being fearless and angry, then became too broken to feel anything.

Up in her room the thoughts swirled around in her head as she tried to get used to feeling emotions again. She began sorting through her piles of clothes and she opened the curtains into her room to let light in. The window was forced open and the cleaning was officially under way.

Bandit continued to glare at Marcus as if he'd done something horribly wrong. When the large hand came near the feline's face and poked him in the nose, Bandit released a growl and a hiss. His fur stood up on end and he took a swipe at the man but missed. Aiko seeing this, pounced on the cat and pinned him down offering the feline a growl of her own. She yapped and snapped at the cat telling him in her own, rarely seen aggressive way to behave. Though this resulted in her and Bandit having a go on the floor. Both biting and clawing. Neither actually got hurt but it was clear this wasn't their normal play fighting. Bandit was mad and Aiko meant business. She wasn't going to have her best friend being moody when they had just gotten their owner to some what normal.

[Marcus Prasad]

Didn't mean anything eh?
Marcus smiled, but decided not to push. At the best of times Silk was a volatile woman and it made trying to figure out what was going on in her head as futile as trying to figure out what went on in his own.
Marcus cared deeply for the little Chilean woman, that much was true. Having to split his time between managing Anaheim and taking care of her did nothing to decrease that. Deeply enough to Split off from his family. Deeply enough to risk travelling across the wasteland of America.

Deeply enough to fall in love.

Or maybe something like it.

Problem was, trying to figure out how Silk felt about it.
She was all smiles and giggles now, but tomorrow? Who knows. In fact that was exactly the reason they got along so well. Silk was NEVER boring. Always new, always Chaotic and Marcus almost fed on that chaos. She was a whirlwind.

She was LIFE.

And he was slowly coming to the conclusion that he wanted to spend the rest of his with her.

As Aiko and Bandit fought, Brenner cowered in his sheets, Burying his little puppy face underneath and whimpering pitifully, triggering Marcus' Papa wolf instincts yet again as he struck like lightning, pinning Aiko and bandit to the ground firmly but gently.

"Stop it. Now. You are SCARING the puppy."
He hissed between clenched teeth. He would wait a moment before releasing the both of them.
"Now that's enough out of the both you! Aiko go check on Brenner, I think He might have pissed himself."

Picking up Bandit by the scruff of his neck, Marcus brought the angry cat up to eye level and quirked an eyebrow.
"Now what the HELL's Gotten into you? What? Your mad Silk's finally cracked out of her shell or something?"

[Silk Sanada]

Silk would be the first to admit, she was completely messed up. Sanity had never been a strong point, especially now. Marcus had just snapped her out of her emotionless abyss. It was a vulnerable feeling to know you had relied on someone so heavily. Someone could argue that she felt feelings for him because of that. Though, if anyone had known them back in high school, they would know that was the wrong assumption. Had there been no Kelsie, no Tenchi, chances are... something might have happened between the two. They were close friends and Marcus has seen her at her drunkest, craziest, and worst. She supposed it was only a matter of time till things went this way but it was still nerve wracking for her.

The clean clothes began to be put away where they belonged. The dirty ones were growing in the corner of the room. Since she hadn't been herself doing laundry hadn't been on her list. Now though, she could see what a mess she had become. She began to dust the room, swept the stale air out of the window. After whipping around her room for a little while, all her thoughts overwhelmed her and forced the spanish woman to sit on her bed to organize the thoughts. Even though she had said that kiss hadn't meant anything... she knew it had. At least for her it did. Especially after everything. She thought about going out to him and correcting herself, but that was way too terrifying a thought. So, she would return to cleaning.

Aiko and Bandit growled and snapped at each other till Marcus reprimanded and pulled them apart. Aiko's tail tucked between her legs and her ears dropped down. She felt bad for scaring the pup and scurried off to tend to Brenner. Aiko gently licked and nuzzled the pup to try and calm him. Bandit on the other hand continued to glare and snarl at Marcus even as he was held by the scruff. If the cat could talk, no doubt he would launch into a huge thing on how he was tired of watching Silk get rebuilt and torn down because of other human beings. He was stressed out. Silk was up, then she was down, then she was up again. He was worried that with in another day she'd be down again and that they wouldn't get her back up again. He was worried, this time Marcus might be the cause of it.

That bothered the feline because he didn't like many people and he had started to like Marcus. The man took care of his owner well. He tried hard to bring her back to them but her past said that relationships just weren't the best thing for her. Too bad, Bandit was just a cat and couldn't properly express himself.

There would be a shout from Silk's bedroom. It sounded more startled than anything but it was clear that the spanish woman was scared of something. Silk had been cleaning and a little lizard had snuck into her room through the window. So as she had been startled by him when she moved a shirt and he jumped onto the wall. She now flopped onto her bed laughing at herself for having been startled.

[Marcus Prasad]

Oh if only Marcus knew what had been going through the little pussies head he would have been far more sympathetic. As it stood right now, the man simply assumed the cat had slipped back into his 'Hating everyone including Marcus' ways like back in the old days when the terror would do whatever he could to make his life that much harder every time they were around each other. This meant he would have to start looking out for little 'presents' in his shoes again.

Ugh.

He was about to turn and check on Brenner, who slowly had been coaxed up by his surrogate mother when Marcus heard a shriek coming from Silks room. Immediately the man bolted to his feet and was at her door in seconds, only to find her laughing as a tiny lizard shot around her room.

Yup. EXACTLY like the old days.

"You are SUCH a girl sometimes I swear."
The man teased affectionately as he snatched the lizard up with lightning reflexes, taking care to maintain control of the head as to not get bit. Moving to the window he would call Croaker over and hand the man the little reptile to do with as he pleased.

Croaker, like Marcus had a thing for lizards.

"Awwwww such a cute little gu- AWGH HE BIT ME!"

Closing the window, because CLEARLY The wolf cub could handle a little lizard (Or so he hoped) Marcus turned to regard Silk with his arms crossed infront of him. Despite the defensive stance he had a warm smile on his face.

"It's been WAY too long since I heard THAT sound before. You Laughing I mean."
He would then take a seat beside her, not knowing whether she would let him gently pull her head to rest on his shoulder or not. So instead he kept them in his lap.
"Told you. Your stronger than you know girl."