Completed Hide and Seek

[Ninus Aurellius]

The Prince of Rats 19th of Summer, 513 AV Cricet stood up on her back legs and looked up at her master. He was seated at his desk, bent over the wood, his spidery hands slowly slicing a piece of the fungus he had been growing. He was planning to boil it down into one of the black-tar poisons he had been preparing for the last couple of weeks, but Cricet was bored. She had been locked in the tiny apartment all day, and her master hadn't left the desk to feed her. She'd gone outside and gotten a little grooming done on the roof of the Traveler's Row apartment building, but now she was bored to tears. She bounded up to him and grasped his pantleg in her finger-like paws. She ground her teeth at him, bruxing. The purr-like noise signified contentment and love, and the slight thump of her tail on the ground signified annoyance. She wanted him to play. Perhaps...she leapt up onto the table and seized the bottle he had been preparing for the tar-like poison and stuffed it into her mouth. She grasped it with her teeth and leapt down, scampering toward the bed. She bounced onto the sheets, ears up, a playful light in her beady black eyes. She knew that he wouldn't at all be amused at the loss of the vial, but she wanted to play so badly. He'd been working all day, now it was her turn. The rat took the vial from her mouth and worked it around in her paws, her claws clinking on the glass. It was a small thing with a piece of cork in the top to seal it. Sometimes her master used wax or glass stoppers, but cork was so much more fun to chew. She sank her teeth into it.

[Ninus Aurellius]

The Prince of Rats Ninus had been working on the poison endlessly. It was a tempermental fungus from the local mountains, and to get it to become a true poison he needed to slice it into paper thin sheets, then float the sheets on warmed water until the poison had drifted down from the flesh of the fungus. Then he would have to use a cooking fire to boil out the water, scrape off the tar, and stick it in the vial. He was painstakingly slicing, the translucent pieces falling into a metal bowl filled with water. He saw Cricet leap up onto the table and snatch something. He lifted his head and saw her bound toward the bed, the vial he had carefully cleaned stuck between her teeth! "Madam...return it to me." he ordered, holding out his skinny hand to her. She leapt up onto the bed and looked at him, tail wiggling, inviting him to play. Ninus scowled. He was working on a new poison, now was not the time. Timing was of the essence. He looked at the water and saw it turning grey from the mushroom pieces. Good, everything was going as planned. But he couldn't let it sit in the water for long. "Now." he growled at Cricet. He saw her stick the cork in her mouth and her powerful little teeth going to work on his precious vial. "Cricet!" he snapped and rose from the chair, striding toward the bed. He lunged for the vial, but she hopped easily off the bed. She was graceful and could leap quite high, arching her body up over the sheets and landing with a soft thump on the wooden floor. Ninus glared at her from his position on the bed, pulling his skinny legs under him and looking down at her. "You have brought disrespect. What plagues thou so?" he asked her in exasperation.

[Ninus Aurellius]

The Prince of Rats Cricet happily evaded her master's wild lunge, bruxing at him. She took the bottle out of her mouth and sat on the floor staring at him. She heard his vexed question and was quite unable to answer; after all, she was a rat. Rats couldn't speak. But she knew she was annoying him greatly. He was working on a new project and his research might just come to fruition. But how was he to accomplish anything if he didn't take a break for her once in a while? Of course he needed the break. She wiggled her ears at him playfully, watching him rise off the bed and come toward her. She stuffed the bottle in her mouth again and scampered away toward the planters, wedging herself between the ceramic and the wall. She heard him make a vexed noise and the shifting of the large fungus cap above her. What great fun this was! She skittered out from between them and squealed when his wild swipe for her brushed her tail. That had been a close one. Cricet dove beneath the bed, Ninus hot on her heels. She tucked herself up against the wall, watching his skinny arm swoop in and scramble around looking for her. She edged away from his stained fingers, clinking the vial on the ground tauntingly. "Come back to me, lady. What has gotten into thee, hiding beneath bedclothes and taunting me so? You are cruel to your master, little one, with your speed." She heard him tell her. She felt a little guilty for interrupting his research, and considered rolling the vial back toward him.

[Ninus Aurellius]

The Prince of Rats Ninus sighed. Here he was laying on the floor trying to grab Cricet, who for some reason was hiding underneath the bed. He smirked and shook his head. What a clever little beast she was, going somewhere he couldn't grab her so easily! He smirked and worked his shoulder under the bed, his fingers barely brushing her fur. He tickled her, hearing a sharp, delighted squeal in response. She wanted to play, that was her aim. He had kept her cooped up here all day after all, and rats were natural explorers and mischief makers. They rarely stayed in one place. They were extremely social animals. He saw her shoot out from under the bed and he withdrew his arm, settling on his belly on the floor as she ran up to him. She wiggled her ears happily and reared up, extending her paws at him. Rats wrestled, it was a normal social sign of play and Ninus was happy to oblige her. He met her paws with his hand and let her grapple with his fingers, attempting to pin his hand. He pushed his palm against her chest with a smile, feeling her push back stubbornly. Wrestling was a show of dominance and playfulness, but Ninus couldn't help but win almost every time. There were a few times she pinned his wrist beyond his ability to twist out of it, and those chances were quickly tipping in her favour. He gently clapsed her breastbone and pushed her onto her side. She fell with a squeal of joy, bringing her back feet up to kick at his fingers. Ninus tickled her belly again, withdrawing his hand and hovering it above the ground. He was giving his own invitation to play. She gleefully tackled his hand again, wrapping her forearms around his palm and struggling to shove his hand palm-up onto the floor. He let her win, chuckling in amusement. "Thou art but a child, my lady. A child who wiles away her time in laughter and wantonness." he told her. "You make me realize how much I have been toiling for the good of a creation which cannot laugh. Perhaps I will take a break from destruction." He pinned her with a swift flip of his hand, hearing her indignant squeak. He withdraw his arm and rested his chin on folded upper arms. Cricet wandered toward him, grasping his black hair in her fingers and grooming his bangs. Ninus allowed himself a child-like smile, bringing his nose up to nuzzle her. She was truly a good companion for him, something he thought he could never live without after his father had left him in Syliras all those years ago. Ninus reached for the bottle, now forgotten on the floor, and raised up on his knees to put it on the desk. Cricet looked up in disappointment at him, clearly believing the playtime was over. Ninus looked back down at her and laid back on the floor, scratching behind her ears fondly. Today was a good day; he would forget his poison resting in its water, and play with his companion. Cricet was just as happy with the arrangement.

[Radiant]

Ninus :

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	+1 XP
Poison	+1 XP
Animal Husbandry	+2 XP
Acrobatics	+1 XP

Lores

Lore Earned

All work and no play makes Ninus a dull man

Naughty Cricet, Clever Cricet

Rats are extremely social animals

Loots

Notes :

A very sweet solo, Ninus. I got good chuckles from it.

My radiance is not bright enough?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, beam me a PM and we can work it out.