That Lingering Feeling

Felix walked up the steps onto the outside midnight air, standing in the front deck of the carriage they were on. It was quite large to an obsurd degree, greater width and a heavy size which explained why four horses are required over the standard two. Up ahead, sat comfortably was the helpful dwarf at the reins, steering their ride and waiting for him. She was also his new owner somewhat, although the means to becoming under her ownership left him staggered and concerned.

No regrets now.

Nyitzcha's eyes glanced back to his presence, swinging her tiny feet over the front edge.

"Ay, si' down."

He obeyed, sitting beside her as she calmly leaned back, letting go of the reins.

"Gods, I could certainly go fer a smoke ry t'about now. So, talk to me."

He looked at her with a puzzled look until she took notice. "I brought ye 'ere for some empty chatt'r, nut for a dumb face ye know?"

He nodded, pressing his hands together and leaning forward as the cool wind tickled his face. "Yea, of course. What would you like to know?"

She snorted, turning her head to spit away. Raising her hands up, she removed the goggles on her head and lightly caressed the fogged lens. It was then that Felix noticed the crack going across the right glass, her thumb running by it, gently admiring the sharp detail of its fracture.

"I wan' ye to tell me 'bout yer lass, the Cat girl we be doin' dis for. Tell me 'bout her, how ye met. 'N please, if I wanted to hear lies I'd have purchased an escort 'n 'ave 'im tell me I'm 'is woman! No lies! Das an order!"

Felix shook his head, watching silently as this dwarf girl regained her composure by the blink of an eye. Seems like she is able to channel a hard front at any point, something which he was beginning to understand. Life isn't easy, it never is.

"I had obtained a job watching over someone's farm, he was travelling for personal matters and he had enough trust in me to let me take over in his absence. Beautiful view, lots of animals, a large garden, numerous crops and a small house all for myself for three months."

Nyitzcha smiled. "Das a lot o' faith to be had, and I bet ye had nutin' to yer name before ey? Nut'n but the clothes on yer back."

"Well, I kept my clothes from my owner then. Didn't have any other pair, but luckily his son had a few that were in my size."

"Wait, so dis man left ye 'n charge 'n nut his lad?"

"His son wasn't around, it was a topic he would avoid so who knows. But anyways, I was left in charge while he left, and the first month was amazing. The cows and chickens provided a decent breakfast, a good chunk of his land was littered with apple trees, they carried the sweetest flavor to them ha."

"Yer draggin' 'ere." She mentioned, spinning her hand in plain view.

"Right, anyway come one week there was a nasty storm coming in strong. Started off very windy, then by the end there was thunder."

"I 'member dat, dat wassssss what, five weeks?"

He nodded. "More or less. I hear something crash at the far back of the house, I go to inspect and find that the shed was knocked down. Whether jt was lighting or the wind, I couldn't tell. I tried cleaning up, grabbing any tools I coukd salvage for the night to recover back home. Figured the rest I would clean up by morning. But there was one thing I found under that mess which caught my eye, something about it just popped out I guess."

Felix took in a deep breath and smiled, leaning back as he began to reminisce of the Nekomata's image, that of a silver-brown cat laying unconscious underneath a metal plate.

"I had found her, of course to me it was just a stray cat that I rescued. Took her home, gave her milk and... and I named her."

"What did ye name 'er?" She asked, leaning in.

"KuliKuli."

"Cute, has a nice touch."

"That's what I was going for, something original and not common like Xeno'ch'k or Noa'mi."

"Den what?"

"I fell asleep, fantasized about a beautiful woman cuddled up to me. Something tickled my nose, and when I woke up I find a Nekomata girl naked and leaned on me." Nyitzcha began to laugh, which admittedly made Felix smile back. "You laugh now but when I saw her claws I was certain I was going to die!"

"Ye well, it was certainly her house from den on!" She snorted, waving her hand for him to carry on.

"So I see this woman, and she had the door open for her. She could leave, and I was scared. But that moment, she decided to stay. I couldn't understand why, I was sure it was because I was afraid so she would have a place to stay. But she was clueless, didn't know who she was, where she's from or why she's here. So I took her in, felt like giving her a home. She gave me one too. It was odd, I think we needed that. I read her somehow, you know? It was that lingering feeling inside. Come to find out, she couldn't remember her name, why she was there or where she was from."

"Ah, a wee hit 'n da noggin, ay?"

"I think so. So, I took care of her, and she took care of me. Picked up some friends along the way, and now it turns out her family was on the run from a priest and his angry mob hunting them down for who knows. But she's in trouble and I'm not giving in so easily."

"Well, ye sold yerself for dis, so I be guessin' she feelin' like heaven after all."

Felix frowned and chuckled. "Not purely for sex, but yea. No complaints there though haha. You know I meant to say before, when we exchanged rings, that's for marriage."

She stayed quiet, nodding subtly and looking forward.

"Does that make us husband and wife?"

"Ay, take it as a-a placeholder. I ain't got no ownership tags, 'n I ain't branding ye like so. Dat ring be there to keep ye put 'n remind ye of our deal. Ye can't, ye can't take 'em off without mai say. Go on, try it."

Felix tugged at his ring, feeling its resistance as something unreal and supernatural. It didn't even wiggle.

"Dat be de a-a elven magic. Yea. Well yer story ain't much, but ye ain't lyin' either. Now read me where else I be takin' dis turn 'ere."

Felix shrugged, reaching for the parted magic book. "I can't read."

"Oof, I can't believe that. I be scammed." Both she and Felix chuckled together, shaking their heads and enjoying the company. "But really, make yerself useful 'n grab da woman 'nstead."

"Right away." He wondered if he should address her as Master or Mistress. Well, until she said he would keep it punctual and honest, without overstepping. Of course, with Nyitzcha there was no telling what she would do next. She felt much like a wild card, luckily she was on their side.

Felix breathed in deep, missing his mate. Funny how things have a way of working out.