revenance_rpg | Everyone...meet Bert.

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Everyone...meet Bert.

WHO: Ziva and whoever ends up running into her...and Bert.
WHERE: Near the Sandlot in Twilight Town... You know, big open areas.
WHAT: Ziva has a Meowjesty...named after Abby's hippo.
WHEN: Twilight? (A few days after the MoI adventure)
Warnings: Ziva, a Meowjesty, and her other spirits. There's probably going to be trouble.

Going to talk to Steve, Ziva had been able to put together the pieces from one of her winnings from the party. She'd been...surprised...to say the least when she found out exactly what a Meowjesty was. And it didn't help that Fluffy started doing his version of snickering when the new spirit appeared. Ziva just sighed, shook her head, and took her newest spirit (who she had named Bert) out of Traverse Town and over to the Sandlot, where there would be more room to figure out what it could do.

The three of them had been taking out some of the Nightmares in the area...and that was mostly Bert, as Fluffy and Ziva watched from a safe distance. (Neither of them wanted to get in his way, really.) It didn't take long for most of them to disappear, and she clapped, watching as the giant spirit ran back to where they were standing, before licking her like a dog would. And Fluffy just laughed again, causing Bert to try to lick him too.

"Taste of your own medicine, brat." She said, laughing as Fluffy tried to shake off the remnants of Bert's friendly 'attack', then fly off towards the other end. Bert seemed to pause, looking towards Fluffy, then back at her a couple of times. "What? He wants to play tag. Go!" He didn't move, except to motion towards her, a bench, and his back. Then she understood. "You want me to climb up then?" She used the bench as a boost before climbing up on the spirit's back.... And then he took off at full speed, causing her to almost fall before she managed to grab hold of enough fur to keep from ending up on the ground again.

The chase was on, it seems.

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Wash had finally gotten well enough to leave the hotel room for more than just a food run - at least he wasn't too stiff to go very far anymore. He'd decided to head to Twilight Town for a change of scenery that was only minimally dangerous - nothing floating around here that he couldn't handle, at least. Melody pranced along next to him and Puddles trotted on his other side, nickering with excitement. They were going out! They were going to have fun!

They'd barely rounded one of the curves in the long, winding street when half the street was suddenly full of...something. Something big and fast and huge and somehow Meow Wow-shaped-

And that was about as far as his thought process got before the giant Meow Wow, which happened to be much faster than it looked, bowled him over. He bounced off the street with a startled and undignified yelp and lay where he landed, groaning. Of course. Of course.

Melody shrieked in fury and stood next to her person, bombs at the ready in case the thing came back for another round. Puddles sprinted after it, neighing at the top of his voice. Hey! Stop! You ran over his person! Don't do that!

Ziva laughed as Bert chased Fluffy, she was definitely stuck going along for the ride at the moment. Fluffy was giving him a run for his money, but the Meowjesty was fast... But not fast enough that she missed who was coming towards them. She shouted and smacked the top of Bert's head to try to get his attention.

"No! Slow down! You need to stop. You are going to..." And that was about when Bert ran over Wash, causing him to fly off the road. Fluffy noticed though, and veered upwards to turn back around, trying to get Puddles' attention before anyone else could get hurt. Wait! Stop! It was my person! Accident.

Ziva managed to get Bert to stop, partially because he had to slow way down to turn around to go back after Fluffy. She jumped off, landing on her feet and sprinted over to where Wash was laying. She tried not to panic as she slowed down as she got closer, putting her hands out towards Melody to try to keep her from attacking her, or Bert.

"Wash! Are you okay? I am sorry." She held out a hand to help him sit up, the other looking for a potion. "I apparently need to figure out Meowjesty controls. I am really sorry, it was an accident." Yes, she was babbling, but she was really worried.

Ienzo hadn't anticipated that the creature he had won would be quite so terribly large. As it was, he had decided to take it (and Lea) out for some exercise. Someone appeared to have been clearing through nightmares already, so the stroll through Twilight Town was pleasantly uneventful until the new spirit - he had to name it sometime - decided to take off running at some sound.

Lea, naturally, followed.

Ienzo gave a longsuffering sigh and headed after them, though their apparently interest became very clear when he saw the unnamed giant bouncing up to another of her kind. And a prone Agent Washington. And a very worried Ziva David.

The meowjesty, apparently ignoring any danger from Melody, bent over Wash, casting a cure spell and barkmeowing happily. It was always good to be useful.

Puddles slowed down, cantering back to his person, making sure to avoid the Meowjesty. It may have been an accident, but you still really hurt his person! You should apologize!

Wash sat up slowly, one hand pressed to the side of his helmet, as though that would help him feel better. The readout on his HUD told him that the healing unit had miraculously not been damaged and was starting to work. "Yeah, I'm...I'm fine. I think." Evidently Mack Truck Meow Wow belonged to Ziva. That'd take some getting used to. "I'm guessing that's new."

Melody let Ziva approach - her person liked her, after all - but began shrieking again at the arrival of the second huge Meow Wow, going so far as to wave her bombs in its face in warning. When it cast a cure spell, she calmed down slightly. Oh. So you're actually trying to help. Okay.

For being so big, the meowjesty was still somewhat timid, and stayed a bit away from everyone else... that cat with bomb things was intimidating, ok? He'll apologize later, when there's not threat of explosions. Bert tried to use the other meowjesty as a barrier between him and the Slightly Angry Cat.

"Yes. Just got him today." She replied, resting a hand on his back as he sat up. "Are you sure you are okay?" The answer seemed void when she saw the second meowjesty come up, with Ienzo, and cast a healing spell... that was good to know they were healers too.

Fluffy landed near, but far enough away to not make himself Melody's target. It was an accident, we were playing! She'll make it up to him later!

"They appear to have good instincts with regards to when they're needed," Ienzo said. Healing spells could be useful, not that he didn't have a Meow Wow to begin with. Of course, Meowjesties could also crush their foes. "I hope you'll be alright," he added to Washington. "They also seem excessively large."

If his Meowjesty was bothered about being called excessively large, it didn't show. She was more concerned with nosing Wash to make sure he was okay. It was probably slightly less than helpful, considering how big she was. Was the person okay? She hadn't done much healing before, and hopefully she'd gotten it right. It seemed like a really nice person; just as nice as hers.

"I figured," Wash murmured, closing his eyes and waiting for the dizziness that he now recognized as the result of a cure spell laid on top of a functional healing unit to pass. "And I'm sure."

He opened his eyes to see Ienzo and a second Meowjesty - the likely source of the cure spell - and bit back several remarks about how it obviously knew he needed to get run over and whether Captain Obvious had approved the Excessively Large statement. He settled for, "No kidding." The curious Meowjesty nearly knocked him over again, and he tried - and failed - to push it away.

Melody was still growling. Good. Bert needed to stay over there, away from her person. Puddles just trotted back and, when it looked like nobody was going anywhere, planted his butt on the street. His person was okay, so everything was okay now, right?

Clearly the person was still feeling badly, the Meowjesty decided. There was only one thing for it; she'd have to protect the person while they recovered! She shouldered everyone else out of the way; it wasn't too hard, and curled up on top of the person. There; he was hidden and safe.

Ienzo snorted, then coughed. "Ah, that really isn't a good thing to do. You could crush him." At least he could name her now. "I suppose Yuffie will do for a name for you, given your misguided enthusiasm."

Yeah, and the others are going to be mad, Lea added. You shouldn't sit on someone else's person!

Wash was paying a bit more attention to Ziva and to the display on his HUD, giving himself a technology-assisted once-over, than he was to anyone else. This meant that he was completely unprepared for the newly named Meowjesty to act like a goddamn paperweight. For the second time in five minutes, he was completely flattened. For a moment he considered struggling, but being pressed flat by a giant Spirit precluded pretty much any action he could take.

Wash had contemplated his imminent death on more than one occasion, but he'd never figured he'd go out like this. Turned out that 'no kidding' were some pretty terrible last words.

Puddles got back to his hooves and reared, whinnying in alarm. Don't do that! Don't do that! Melody, once again shrieking in fury and some amount of fear, went for the much more direct approach, hurling her bombs into Yuffie's face. Get off her person get off get off get off!

Yuffie stumbled back, giving a sad whimper and frantically casting a cure spell on herself. Bombs in the face weren't something even a Meowjesty could take casually. She skittered to hide behind Ienzo, who gave a frustrated sigh. "I apologize for Yuffie's behavior. I'll make sure she understands not to sit on people."

Ienzo turned his attention to setting an additional cure spell on Yuffie.

Ziva stumbled back when Yuffie decided that Wash would make a fine chair, mumbling a few choice words under her breath. Then she jumped back further when Melody went ballistic, throwing bombs at the poor meowjesty in order to 'protect' her person. (At this point, Bert had hidden around a corner, Slightly Angry Cat was not to be messed with, even if he was 5 times her size.) Fluffy had perched on Puddles' head, and seemed to be doing fine, even when the Thunderaffe had tried to go into action.

"And I will make sure Bert does not either." She moved back to Wash's side after everything seemed to calm down, offering him a hand to help him back up. "Although, I get the feeling he is not going to want to be anywhere near Melody at any near point in the future." She glanced over to where he was hiding, watching them from a distance.

"Well, I have learned three important things today." Meowjesty's could heal, be great bulldozers, and Wash was less prone to death then a normal person.

Suddenly, the giant weight pressing him to the floor was gone, and Wash was free to move again. It took a moment for the fact that he hadn't died to sink in, and then he had his feet under him almost before he knew it, stumbling backwards and scrambling to get away from the giant Meow Wows that seemed to have it in for him. He wasn't ignoring Ziva's offer for help so much as he didn't see it at all. "You think?" he gasped. "That should've been the first fucking thing you taught it!" He was torn between his desire to calm down and his desire to give into panic and flee the scene before one of the bouncy bulldozers decided to try to kill him again.

Puddles calmed down when his person got to his feet and sidled up to his person's side, pressing his head against his person's shoulder. You're okay! Yes yes good good good! Melody would not be mollified nearly so easily; still hissing and snarling at the Meowjesties - even the one who had turned the corner - she backed up to her person, fully intent on protecting him from anything like this ever happening ever again.

It was fortunate that Yuffie had decided - for whatever reason - to sit on Wash and not Ziva, given that his armor was able to stand up to it. Ienzo eyed Wash for a moment; if he didn't go into a panic attack soon it would be surprising. "I truly am sorry, Washington; I had no idea that she would even think of it."

He headed towards Wash, leaving Yuffie with Lea. He kept a wary eye on Melody; he was significantly less bomb-resistant than his Meowjesty. Ienzo held his hands out palm up. "You're safe from them now." He would have said that Wash was safe now but there really wasn't any such thing as being unequivocally safe and he was fairly sure that both Ziva and Wash agreed with him on that point.

"I am sorry about all this..." Ziva watched as Wash scrambled up and backwards, pulling her hand back to stick it in her pocket. She'd started this entire mess, it was Bert that had run over him in the first place. Watching as Puddles and Melody moved closer, she backed up a bit more, glancing over to where Bert was hiding.

Sure, he would be good in a fight, but she had to figure out his limits first. A head tilt in his direction, Fluffy got the hint and flew towards him... she wasn't going to let him get any closer to Melody right now.

"Well, you should be safe from Bert, at least." He wasn't going to go near Melody unless necessary anymore. "I think I should be going now... Keep him away from Melody for now." A wave before she turned to head towards where her spirits were currently hiding.

"Right." It came out as a snarl. Wash had no illusions about his safety when he was in close proximity to a pair of Spirits that outclassed him many times over in terms of size, were untrained, and had each nearly killed him, both within the span of five minutes.

Some small part of him knew that he should reassure Ziva - it wasn't her fault her brand new Meowjesty was wild - but that part of him was very quickly drowned out by the parts that were trying their hardest not to collapse into panic. He needed a place to deal with things himself before he even tried to talk to anyone else. "I'm-" The sentence cut itself off, and he had to take another breath in order to finish. "I'm done." That accomplished, he turned and walked off, intent on finding a place where he could deal with this before having to talk with anyone else. He'd likely have bridges to repair after this, but that was a problem for later, when he might actually be able to think straight.

Oddly enough, Wash was pretty well accustomed to working off the sheer existential panic that came after a close brush with death - he'd had enough practice to get good at it. What he wasn't used to doing was tracking down other people afterwards and making sure they were okay too. He hadn't had someone to really care about in a while - it meant he'd fallen completely out of practice.

It had taken him hours to find Ziva with Melody and Fang in tow. She hadn't been anywhere he could find in Traverse Town (and he'd even checked the Post Office, of all places); she hadn't been in the tunnels in Twilight town; he'd hoped she wouldn't be on the Mother of Invention. He'd finally found her at the top of the clock tower in Twilight Town - it probably should have been one of the first places he'd checked instead of one of the last. Oh well. "Hey," he started quietly, not quite sure how to go about this.

Ziva had been here and there for most of the day, ending up on the top of the clock tower. Fluffy was flying in front of her, doing loop-de-loops and air acrobatics to try to cheer her up...he could tell something was wrong. He looked down at her, sitting with Ducky in her lap, staring out at the sunset. Ducky was letting her use him as a pillow, her head resting on top of his head.

It had to be her Meowjesty that ran over Wash, didn't it? She hadn't thought the spirit would be that big...or uncontrollable. Sighing, she held Ducky a bit tighter, glancing over to see Fluffy do a barrel roll at high speeds. She was distracted enough she didn't hear footsteps coming up behind her, not realizing Wash was there until his 'Hey'.

"Hi." Was all she said back, still watching Fluffy's antics.

Oh. That didn't sound good. He couldn't say he was surprised. "Are you okay?" He didn't move to sit next to her - the last thing Wash wanted to do was make this worse.

Fang flew out to join Fluffy in the air. Hey, your person seems really upset! Is she okay? Melody padded up to Ducky's person and placed a paw on her leg. Hey, she's sorry she upset you. She's not sorry she scared Bert, but she is sorry for upsetting his person.

"Fine." And a liar, but what was new? She watched Fang join Fluffy, hearing them holding their own conversation. She's worried because Bert ran over your person, and started that whole mess back there. She'll be okay...I think. He hadn't seen her like this in a while...so he was kind of worried.

When Melody walked over, she moved her hand to scratch the cat's head, not saying anything. She didn't blame her, because it was a normal reaction, but she did blame herself for letting Bert get out of control. Ducky peered down at Melody from Ziva's lap. Sorry, she's not that talkative right now.

That was pretty obviously not true. Wash sighed quietly, crossing the few feet between them and taking a seat next to Ziva. He probably could make this worse, but sitting next to her probably wouldn't do it. "You know I don't blame you, right?"

Ooh. Yeah, Fang had heard about that. His person was okay, though! Shouldn't Fluffy's person be okay too, then? They usually help make each other okay, right?

Melody kneaded Ducky's person's leg carefully. That's okay. It's been a really long day for both of their persons. Did Ducky hear about what happened?

"Yes, but that does not mean I do not blame myself." She said, glancing over at him as he sat down next to her. She stayed where she was, even though part of her wanted to reach over for his hand, or lean against him.

Fluffy did his best impression of a shrug. She thinks it's her fault, and probably won't let that go. Bert is a bit crazy...and being as big as he is doesn't help. He looked over to where his person was sitting. She does this a lot.

He did, Fluffy told him when she sent Bert back and called him out. He figured being filled in was the best thing to do, in case something similar happened later. He pointed a leaf at Melody. He also heard that you made an impression on Bert.

"Well, you shouldn't." Come to think of it, that was probably not the smartest thing to say, but it was too late for that. Great. "You wouldn't believe how often this kind of thing happens to me."

Oh. Fang wilted slightly in midair. Well, his person doesn't blame Fang's person. Maybe that'll help?

Damn skippy Melody had made an impression on Bert. He wouldn't be running over her person anymore - she'd made sure of that. It was probably the wrong attitude to have at this particular moment, but Melody was still proud and adamant.

"How often do you get run over by things?" There was a bite in her voice, somewhat sarcastic, because it was a silly question to even ask. At least to her. "Unless that armor is pretty much invincible."

Maybe. But, she's stubborn. It might take a few days for her to realize she didn't do anything wrong. Fluffy somehow managed a shrug midair as he talked. He glanced over at his person again, she just looked....defeated.

Ducky looked over at Melody. Well, he's scared of you. You win.

"All the damn time," he snapped back. He paused for a few moments - okay, that wasn't completely true, and right now that actually mattered. "Okay, not all the time, but more often than you'd think. Last time it was an armored jeep." Wash let loose a short bark of laughter at her next statement. "I wish."

Oh. Fang winced slightly as his person's tone changed. It doesn't sound like his person is helping too much either. That's not good.

Hey, having Bert scared of her definitely worked for Melody. Maybe it would keep him from running over her person again.

She looked over at him, not helping the small smile on her face, giving him a look of 'what'. "You want me to believe you got his by an armored jeep and came out of it alive?" It wouldn't be the most extreme thing she'd believed since being in this dream world, but still. She shook her head and looked back over at where the two bats were floating.

She'll be fine later. It's probably better if he's here, even if he's not exactly...helping. Fluffy knew his person would probably appreciate the company later...even if she didn't now.

Wash took a moment to backpedal. Ziva was smiling, at least. That was good. "You have a giant sentient flower on your lap. Is my getting hit by a jeep really the weirdest thing you've been asked to believe here?"

Yeah, his person isn't always great at helping, but at least he tries! ...usually! Fang was doing his best here.

She glanced down at the spirit in question. Ducky just looked up at her, bobbing his head back and forth. "Good point." She smiled again. "By the way, I never said thank you for him."

Hey! She's talking more, at least. "Are you sure you are okay?"

He returned the smile, breathing a silent sigh of relief. He hadn't actually expected to be able to head that fight off at the pass, so things right now were going better than he'd hoped. "You're welcome. Glad he comes in handy."

That's a good thing, right? "I have a healing unit and a potion. I'm fine."

"First off: I was the one who caused it. Second: I am your girlfriend, I am allowed to worry about you. It is in the job description." And she would, ok?

"He could have seriously injured you. And then Ienzo's sat on you." A wonderful girlfriend she was, really.

"No, your Meowjesty caused it. They do have minds of their own, you know." He offered her a small smile to soften the words. "And you are allowed to worry about me. What you're not allowed to do is beat yourself up over it." He simply ignored the hypocrisy that statement carried, as usual.

"But he didn't. Neither of them did. And that's exactly what the armor's for." Well, okay, it wasn't exactly for Meowjesties, but it was supposed to lessen the blow of larger injuries. It had certainly done that today.

"Yes, but I did not have to encourage him to go chasing after Fluffy." Which she had, in her own way. At his commentary about beating herself over it, she glanced over, giving him that look. "I will not, if you do not. Deal?" Agent Pot, meet Special Agent Kettle.

"I doubt your armor was designed for giant cat-dogs to go running you over. Unless things went really crazy."

"And I didn't have to go walking down that particular street, but this isn't getting us anywhere." Wash shut up pretty quickly at that proposition. She was catching on to him. "Deal," he finally replied.

"No, but it was designed for high impacts and the vacuum of space. I'm pretty sure it can stand up to a giant Meow Wow."

He was right, they weren't really getting anywhere with the conversation. She sighed and glanced over at him when he agreed. She would probably have her moments, but he didn't need to know about them.

"Well, you will not have to worry about the giant Meow Wow much. He is probably terrified of Melody at this point."

That deal wasn't going to last forever - Wash knew he'd have times when he quietly tore himself to pieces, but as long as he didn't do it in front of anybody, then Ziva didn't have to know. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

...okay, that line of thinking was dangerously inaccurate, but that wasn't about to stop Wash.

"And she's probably pretty proud of that."

Melody meowed in affirmation. You bet she was!

One of them would probably break at some point, it was too much in Ziva's nature to worry about the people she cared for, Wash included.

She laughed and moved to scratch at Melody's ears. "Sounds like she is. Just do not flat out attack him on sight, please?"

Melody purred and kneaded Ziva's leg appreciatively. Maaaaaybe.

"Melody." Wash knew the cat well enough by now to know he'd need to get a straight answer, even if he couldn't really understand it. Body language worked well enough sometimes.

Melody stopped kneading Ziva's leg and yowled. Butbutbut-

"Melody."

The yowling stopped abruptly and Melody dropped down, resting her head on her paws and meowing grumpily.

"That better have been a yes."

The only response was another short, grumpy meow.

Wash looked over at Ziva. "She won't."

Ziva chuckled as she watched the exchange between Wash and Melody, before patting the cat on the head. She watched as Ducky reached over and pat Melody too, as if commiserating with her.

"I appreciate it."

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Everyone...meet Bert.

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Timeskip~

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