The Very Thirsty Horse (King)

Lonan almost hissed at the new name, but then remembered he was an actual cat right now, so it wasn't that insulting. He still didn't like it, though. He flicked his tail, and slowly pulled his gaze up to her eyes.

He chuckled when he saw how annoyed she looked. "My name is Lonan O'Hearn," he said, purring again as a sort of halfhearted apology for staring. He didn't really feel bad, but he was trying not to make her angrier.

"Cookbooks don't have a story. Ye can't be so dull that ye enjoy reading a list of ingredients and directions. Yer far too pretty for that."

Lonan paused as a few dirty thoughts popped into his head.

"Unless ye really like following directions?" he asked, purring louder.

@"King"

Kobayashi... The name sounded strange to him, but it had a familiar ring to it-

Oh no. Not 'first off.'

'First off' was never a good thing, unless he was watching children be scolded for something the dog couldn't possibly have done, then it was hilarious. But it was directed at him this time, so it wasn't any good.

His ears flattened and he purred some more in a feeble attempt to pacify the busty woman. "In that case, yer welcome to give me orders, Ms. Koba-pizza." Oh, right! That was it. There was a pizzeria with her name on it.

Lonan had heard other students talking about how delicious it was, but he couldn't even get inside the store. He lacked the patience to wait in the long line for food he didn't actually need. He would've still lacked the patience even if it was the only thing to eat. The pizza did sound really good, though.

@"King"

"Wait! Don't go!" Lonan called as he hopped off the shelf.

Why did girls always have to be so temperamental and easy to offend? He was being nice. He had even called her pretty. Why was she leaving?

"Do ye like dogs better?" he asked, and shifted into his dog form. His tail wagged a little to replace the purring. "I can do tricks," he offered like that would make everything better.

"I can sit, and lay down, and shake hands, and give high fives, and roll over, and play dead, and give kisses, and fetch beer, and sit up pretty, and chase my tail, and close doors, and wipe my paws, and find the husband or the wife, and eat homework and unwanted vegetables..."

@"King"

Lonan instantly followed the girl. He walked right at her side like a well behaved dog, except his presence was unwanted, and he continued to babble about tricks.

"Someone tried to get me to hold treats on my nose once."

All the books he had pulled from the shelves were left on the floor for some poor librarian to pick up.

"I just ate them instead."

The employees at the front desk shushed him as he walked by. He ignored them. If he wanted to talk, he was going to talk.

"But if ye want me to, I'd-"

His ears perked up excitedly when Crista asked him to fetch something. He would gladly bring her whatever- Oh. "Ha ha. Yer very clever," he mumbled in reply.

At the elevators he sat down next to Crista to wait. "Are we going up to yer room now?" he asked, staring at her chest again. He still wanted to curl up on her. "Ye could take a nap, and I could purr on ye. Cat purring is very relaxing if ye actually hold me..." His words trailed off into a whine, and he pawed at her leg.

@"King"

"I'll stop if ye hold me..." Lonan whined as he stood, and watched her enter the elevator. He was a bit hesitant to follow her. He didn't like elevators. They weren't as bad as cars, but he preferred to stay out of all moving metal boxes.

He whined again. The doors were going to close soon. If he knew which floor was her's, he could just take the stairs. His ears flicked back. He was going to have to get in the metal box.

He walked forward just as the doors tried to close. They froze, and he scurried inside faster.

The doors slowly reopened.

"So... Ye live in the basement? Does it get cold down there? Ye could cuddle with a nice, warm cat."

@"King"