Faline

After a few minutes, I poke my head out and call out to a submissive going by, asking them to get me a wet washcloth and a scented candle. I get a head bob just before they leave. So nice not to be questioned when I ask for something. Pacing at the door till they return, a lit candle and damp cloth in hand, they're thanked, then I get to the desk and get it cleaned off, placing the candle atop it. With that done, I return to my kitchen.

Yes. MY kitchen. I work in it, I run it, it's mine.

Stopping at a sink just inside the large room to re-wet the cloth, it's run over my face and arms. No, I'm not sticky, but I am covered in more than my sweat-scent. I had heard the saying that good sex was messy sex, never understood until now. The thought makes me smile as my face burns in embarrassment. I pretty much figure everyone can guess what happened, but I do not confirm or deny.

Just have to hope Nicolaus gets nowhere near me. Once I get up to my tables, Kerry offers her neck and I gladly accept. End up taking a little more than I had intended, so getting her sat down, I thrust a glass of juice at her.

She gives a chuckle but accepts it readily enough. Someone had been nice enough to cover the meat I left on the table, so I get back to making the meatballs...after putting on an apron of course.

Asking that someone let me know when five hours have passed, there really needs to be a clock in here. There's a timer, but it only goes up to an hour. Could always use the timers on the ovens or timeless microwaves, but those are getting used.

Birds are stocked in the skewer boxes, fries in one fryer and cheese-sticks in the other. Maii is given a break on his words to slice up fruits for me to put in the salad bar thing. One of the crew gets actual salad stuff for it too.

While I toil over dozens of seasoned and stuffed meatballs, I got the others working on experimenting with sweetish flavors they enjoy in pies and creams. Watching their faces when something turns out really good, or majorly bad. The first thing to go bad has the owner of it on their knees as they apologize profusely about wasted food.

"Pfft, we'll just put it in a cloth bag and stash it in Madaline's hair. She won't notice."

The one having a failed pie belongs to one of the Werewolf women. Taking a break from my meatballs, she and I go over what she did and what went wrong. She'd tried mixing too many whole berries into a cream which just made it thin and watery.

Explaining to her that when I first started out I did that too, so instead of a baked item, we go to the blender with her assorted flavors. Mix those with some sugar and milk and voila. The wolf was quite happy after that.

Once I finally decide I have enough balls made, they get started on cooking. Knowing I will probably regret it, I whip up a big batch of chocolate to make into fudge. Then have to stop and think, turning to Kerry for answers.

"Hey, Kerry? Can the canines have chocolate?"

"Since they are also half-human, I don't see why not unless a specific one has an allergy."

Oh, well good, so I finish going about making it, then give each of the crew a spoon covered in its goodness. So far so good, since no one is puking or dying.

Warning both the serval and coyote that I am yet again going to do something probably stupid, I nab a tiny bit and put it on my tongue. They all look on curiously. Sadly, just like with the sugar, I know it's sweet, but it doesn't taste sweet to my tongue.

I could almost cry with the knowledge. Ignoring everyone's looks as I finish making it, nothing more is said. Over the course of five hours, food gets made, eaten, made again, then eaten again.

Do find out, however, that I can take in very small amounts of water while in human form, basically enough to wet the mouth, just as in animal form. My reaction last time didn't work because it didn't mix well with the pepper.

Every new batch is something different, aside from the birds that are pretty constant. The heavy meat-eaters in the place go through those pretty quick. I stuff a few of them before they get put in and see how that turns out.

Messy. It turns out messy.

Since I don't say much after the chocolate let down, it stays pretty quiet. The fudge does go fast, but I give warning that trying to eat too much of it, whether they've had it before or not, can make them sick. Think I get ignored for the most part, but they'll learn one way or another.

Even though it hasn't been that long, only a few days at most, I've been noticing more and more healthy looking people instead of the walking dead...er, zombies. More energy to their steps and lesser amounts of bruising. Hell, they even look happier, when around me anyway.

Glad I can provide something for them, even if I can't do much for myself. While taking a few minutes sitting atop one of the long dining tables to stare at the painting, Orion does come through, he inclines his head at me when I look at him but keeps going. Busy busy busy.

While everyone else is working, I take the chance to go through the pantries, freezer, and refrigerators to make a list of things that need restocking and clip it to my fridge. I even go through the drawers in the cabinets looking for the skewer oven's booklets, I'd stashed them to keep them handy, so now they seem to be hidden. Kerry finds them, so we go over it together. Birds can be stuffed, just have to be tied shut. Well, guess that is kind of obvious, huh? Oops. To my delight, pork can also be put through it.

As she reads off items that can be used, I look through the freezer to check if we have it. Sure enough several of everything is within the deep freeze. Stew will be ready tomorrow, so it'll work as dinner or lunch. Keeping birds in one oven and putting assorted seasoned pigs in the other, more frozen meat is put in the fridges to be thawed for tomorrow. When told my five hours are up, I have Kerry finish the breads that I have going.

Asking Maii to lead the way to the solarium, I tell him to come back here after I'm inside. He looks worried, so I tell him that the Lady has taken a liking to me, so I don't think she's planning harm. The look he gives makes me agree silently.

Yeah, who am I kidding.

Also tell him that I have no idea how long this is going to take, but I'll try to make it back to the kitchen at some point, then warn him to stay out of Nicolaus's way since he can strike out at any point. He keeps nodding, but I get the point that I'm being one of those overprotective hens, so I stop.

"Oh, if the person who Madaline feeds on comes in at all before I come back, make sure to give them juice and some of the fudge that I put aside just for them."

He mimics a salute he's seen me give, making me smile. Right outside the door is when I really start getting nervous and fidgety, whispering to Maii that I have no idea what she wants with me, because I honestly don't. My now nervous tone gets him worried again.

"Can you do me a favor? If I'm not back in the kitchen in twelve hours, can you come looking for me? Won't be able to do much, but it makes me feel better that someone will be looking."

He nods, touching at my arm. The boy may be a couple of inches taller than me right now, but I still keep looking at him as a young child. I should be giving him more respect than that.

Steeling my spine, I walk in, then wait for a couple of minutes while I listen. Either real birds are in here or there's a recording on. More than likely a recording since it's pretty low pitched.

Sighing, I start stripping, folding the clothes, and setting them next to the door out of the way. Not hidden, but not obvious either. Falling to all fours as my cat takes shape, my spine stretches, tail going high. My rear end's in the air and claws extend full out before I stand upright.

Putting up my nose, I test the air for anything I might recognize. A few have come and gone, but no one I know personally. All Vamp and smelling of cat.

Shutting them all out of my mind as I leap forward in a run, I stretch out legs that feel cramped and antsy. Everything is pushed out of my mind while leaping into trees and jumping back down, stalking through ferns to pounce on invisible gremlins, and picturing Madaline's annoying face as claws get sharpened along a tree, shredding the bark.

Should try and talk the Mistress into putting some critters in here. Frogs or something. Turtles. Hell, some fish in the multiple pools. Stopping to look into one, it's a rather boring basin, even a few ugly fish will give it something more.

This one being one of the larger bodies, it's around twenty feet across and just as deep. Not a perfect circle either, more oblong-ish and 'natural' looking. Diving in, I wonder at how many rooms there'd originally been before taken out to widen the area to one huge space for this greenhouse-like room.

Or was it always this big? Added onto over the years? Going deep before I come back up and step out, my coat shakes thoroughly before I look up at the trees. They're real trees, and to get that big in here, they've had to have been planted years ago, right?

From what I've seen, nothing really makes sense in this place, not even the people.

Walking up to one of the taller ones, I smell over it to make sure nothing funky is lurking, then rub myself along it. Hard to get texture through thick fur, but I manage with hard presses.

The whole point to claim it and massage muscles hidden beneath a spotted coat, I find it feels pretty glorious. Instincts have me rubbing my jaw along it, scent glands doing their thing. When I'm done making out with the tree - 'cause let's face it, if anyone saw me, that's exactly what it would have looked like, sort of - I shake again, most of the moisture gone by now.

What I hadn't realized until I stopped, was my zombie purring during my rubbing session. Oh well. I now head to the tree that I first met Avina in. It seems a good a place as any to wait for whatever or whoever.

Takes a while, but I eventually find it. Instead of using the tree limb highway though, I climb up the side till I'm above the wide crotch, falling into it rather ungracefully when a claw gets stuck. I take it out on the tree by using it as my scratching post. The open space is close to being like a bowl, with three thick branching limbs leading up on about each 'side'. Avina's scent is really faint, so she hasn't been here in a while.

I climb down to grab some of the wider plant leaves, then go back up and arrange them just so, making myself a small nest. Remember doing this when I was little, granted I used blankets back then, but leaves and tree moss work just as well it seems.

Curled up the way I am, I can just see over the 'bowl' I'm in to the scenery in front of me. It's quite beautiful with all the greens, browns, and splashes of random bright colors from flowers. Must have a gardener or something, since an assortment of other living things are needed for flowers to be able to live here.

Stretching my mouth wide in a yawn, I start dozing. Was told to be here in 5 hours, so I was, and I've spent at least one roaming and running. People might be able to keep track of their time better if she had some damn clocks around.