Old Memories

Lying on the faded couch in the infamous drink hut, was the figure of a dark crimson feline. In one paw he had a bottle of tequila and in the other his usual bottle of vodka. He held both at eye-level, studying them, as if trying to decide if he should try the new drink.

Various bottles were already strewn across the floor and it was evident he wasn't deciding on the first bottle. He set the bottles down on the couch and sat up slightly. The sudden change of movement caused him to fall off the couch, hitting the floor with a soft THUD. Tail flicking out of boredom and annoyance, he hopped off the couch and began to rummage through the cabinets.

Rummaging through one, he found a few pieces of what looked like paper. Pulling them out, he recognized they were photographs... Who the hell had a camera? Who even knows how to use one? He then remembered his old friend, Ben, who was from the city. He had a camera... and he remembered faintly a few pictures being taken.

Turning the pictures over, he felt short of breath. Memories flooded back like a wave of sickness. Dropping the photos, he pressed a paw over his eyes. Sighing, he tentatively picked up one of the dropped pictures, holding it as if it were a poisonous snake. It was of him and Sno.

"I think I need that other... brown drink..." Jeremiah muttered outloud to himself, wandering over to the tequila and uncapping it.

"Oh, we need to stop meeting like this."

The voice was very cool, feminine, and of course always held a hint of suggestion. But as she sat down before the male, watching him uncap the drink, she seemed a lot more indifferent than she'd been earlier. A lot more calm and much less focused on just sleeping with a guy.

For some reason, she had decided that maybe she'd try to gain a little more self-control and go for quality rather than quantity. It was a surprising decision for her, and she wondered why she'd made it, and was well aware of how difficult it'd be.

A brow was raised slightly, and she took a moment to brush down some parts of her black, rainbow-striped pelt as she spoke, "You really ought to watch yourself." And she sounded a little bit more like a mother than a girl he'd fucked. It was unclear whether she'd seen him stumble off the couch, although there was a bit of a smug, amused look upon her young face.

The lithe figure of the dark grey feline made its way along the familiar walkway, worn from generation after generation of kougras treading over it. His large, white paws were darkened from trailing through the dirt and sand, his claws extending from the browning toes to keep grip in the soft earth. His ivory jaws were parted slightly, taking in the cool air, it's variety of scents rushing over his scent glands. He couldn't smell anything out of the ordinary, and with a sigh, slowed his gait, his tail lashing behind him in irritation. Where had everyone gone?

Eventually, the drink hut came in to view, and with it came voices. Familiar voices. Listening closely, Isaiah easily concluded just who was inside its walls, though it didn't bring him the excitement he'd aniticipated. Instead, the cat was somewhat disconcerted. The two kougras inside would have made good company if it had been just one or the other, but after what Jeremiah had told him yesterday, he was not interested in seeing the two of them together. He turned to leave, but his longing for companionship was too strong to deny and he reluctantly padded slowly towards the drink hut, his brows creased in a scowl.

ooc. Sorry that took so long, I had to take the chicken out of the stove. x)

"Well... your the one following me." Jeremiah raised a brow, taking a large gulf of the tequila. "Ah... I'm alright."

Muttering something to himself, he padded over to the couch and lept up onto it. "You seem different. Oh wait, that's because the second sentence out of your mouth wasn't 'Fuck me.'" A smirk formed his dark features as he turned his gaze from the kougress to the ceiling. He didn't appear to be all that interested... maybe his mind was preoccupied.

ooc| it's okay. x3

"Oh, right, that must be it," she said with a slight smirk, though she shrugged lightly. "Don't worry about it though; I'm turning over a new leaf. Or trying to, at least." And she said it in a matter-of-fact sort of way, like she actually believed she could do it.

Of course, being a very alert girl, she seemed to sense that there was someone else nearby, and so she padded over a little closer towards the entrance of the hut. Immediately she smiled upon seeing him, although it quickly faded upon seeing the scowl. She figured that he must've found out by now, their being father and son and all. Either that, or he just wasn't in a good mood.

"Hi Isaiah.." And she cocked her head slightly, watching him a bit curiously. She'd missed him, certainly, both for the extremely pleasurable times they'd had together and simply for his company.

Despite being happy to see him, she realized that this could quickly turn into an awkward situation. But those never bothered her too much.

He wasn't suprised to see Xen's face appear in the entrance of the hut. Coming to a hault a yard in front of her, he locked his dark, navy blue gaze into hers, his expression somewhere between bitter hatred, and excitement upon seeing her again. His tail curled behind him, hovering just inches above the ground as he stood in silence, trying to decide on just what he was going to say. "Hey." He finally answered in greeting, his tone expressionless. With a small sigh, he stepped forward, his tail curling over her legs in a slight hint of affection as he entered the room. Scanning the shelves while he approached them, he decided on a dark beer, taking the bottle down and blowing the dust off of it's surface before he turned to face the two kougras. "Did I interrupt something?" he asked, directing the question towards Xen.

She had suspected that he might be a bit angry, although the look in his eyes had really caught her by surprise, so much so that she hardly noticed the small sign of affection. Another girl might've run up to him and beg for forgiveness, though that really wasn't how she was, for the most part.

She lifted her chin slightly, studying him silently for a moment. "Oh no, of course not," she replied a little cooly, her tone turning surprisingly harsh. Though generally very friendly and sweet, she was able to be cold very much so whenever she wanted. And right now, she was a little confused by him.

He was irritated with her cold reaction, lowering his ears to reflect his mood. She had no right to be upset with him. Uncapping his drink and tipping it to his lips, he took a long, refreshing drink, his gaze redirected towards the exit. It looked so tempting. Setting his glass down, he looked back to the girl, his stony expression having yet to falter. "What the hell, Xen?" The accusation slipped from his lips before he could stop it, but he didn't try to appologize. Instead, he continued, allowing his frustration to take the wheel, "He's my dad," he snarled, forgetting that the kougra in question was sitting only feet from him. "Do you know how old he is!?" Taking another swallow from his beverage, he stared at the girl with a ferocious intensity, his lips drawn back in a silent growl.

The way she saw it, he had no right to be upset with her either. And it was weird, their being mad at each other, because she didn't remember them ever arguing before. But she was genuinely pissed, and thought it unfair that he could be upset with her, too.

"Why are you so fucking upset?" she asked back, her voice almost a snarl. "I didn't know he was your dad, you know." Because she wasn't the most virtuous girl, but if she'd known at the time, she might've tried to back off. And certainly if she'd known it would upset him so much, she would've tried to stop. He'd been her friend, and she wasn't out to hurt him.

Still, though, she didn't understand why he seemed so mad about the whole thing. "Oh, like you haven't ever done it with an older woman. Hmph," she replied. And her eyes narrowed slightly, her tail flicking around aggressively in the air. "What is it; jealous of your dear father, are you?" She wasn't quite thinking about what she was saying; she was just mad, and quite a bit confused, and all of these things were sort of just coming out.

"I am twenty-nine and will be thirty... sometime this year." Jeremiah chimed in, still lying on the couch. He seemed a bit out of it. Taking another gulp of the tequila, he turned to watch the two in front of him. He was a little confused as to why they were mad at each other, but he didn't say anything.

He glanced to Jeremiah and gave a small nod, interpreting his addition to the conversation as beneficial on his part. Looking back to Xen, he finally released the growl that had been building in his throat. "Don't lie to me, of course you knew," he barked, his tail thumping against the floor. In his mind, she was only toying with him, betraying him with his own blood. It was Malaia all over again.

"Yeah, I go around sticking it in every old hag I find, that's it," he growled, his tone oozing with sarcasm. It was her final comment that pushed him over the edge, though, and he pulled his white lips back once more to display his yellowing fangs. He'd been faced with this accusation for so long now and he was fed up with it. "Jealous?" He repeated, his eyes narrowed. "Why the hell would I be jealous? I've got great life of my own, great friends... And I try not to fuck stupid sluts like you." The second those words had been uttered, he knew he'd made a mistake. He hadn't meant it, but he couldn't take it back now.

Jeremiah remained silent, listening to Xen and Isaiah bicker. He took another gulp of his tequila, before setting it on the counter and lying back down on the couch. At Isaiah's hag comment, he couldn't help but start laughing, covering his mouth with his paw. He had been drinking all day and he was definitely feeling it. As he listened to Isaiah call Xen a stupid slut he couldn't help it...

"Oooooh, damn... burn." Jeremiah stopped laughing, a smirk forming on his dark features. He was enjoying this. "Now son, in all fairness, I'm pretty sure you knew she was a slut..."

Although he couldn't help but wonder what friends Isaiah was talking about. And where they were.

She, however, saw Jeremiah's addition as being beneficial to her argument. "See? He's twenty-nine. Not even thirty yet." He was certainly younger than her mother, if that was the case. And although older men weren't really her thing, knowing he was in his twenties still made her feel slightly better.

"How would I know? I don't spend a lot of time here, and whatever time I did spent I was with you. And you never spoke of him, not by name at least. I didn't know until afterwards.." Thinking back, though, it hadn't even occurred to her, at the time, that what she was doing was wrong. Maybe she should've considered it a bit.

At his last sentence, though, she instantly stopped defending herself, and her ears subconsciously drooped. He'd managed to catch her by surprise, and although she knew that perhaps she was a little too slutty for her own good, that comment coming from him stung in particular. "I.. didn't know you felt that way." Her tone wasn't really cold anymore, just back to its normal state. "I mean, I thought I meant just a little more to you than that." It was true that all they'd really done was have sex and they didn't know each other very well, but he'd treated her well, and she had considered him a friend. But she'd never really had a friend she hadn't slept with, so the whole thing had been a bit confusing to her.

She scowled when she heard Jeremiah laugh, a brow raising. "Right, I'm sure you /did/ know. And I'm pretty sure every other girl you've done is one too, right?"

Isaiah watched how his comment affected her and his conscience screamed at him. His stomach lurched and he knew he needed to stop, to pull her into a hug and forgive her. But his mouth just wouldn't stop. "Don't kid yourself." he retorted harshly, his gaze darkening, but finally he allowed his mind to regain control. He was quiet and his expression was, if anything, colder, but when he spoke, his tone had softened considerably. "Xen, I... I really liked you. I thought we had something special. But obviously," he jerked his head towards Jeremiah, his voice picking up some of it's earlier cruelty. "it didn't mean anything to you. You left me for months, and when you finally come back, the first thing you do is crawl into bed with some guy! No, not even just some guy, my own father." His tail was lashing back and forth again, his claws digging into the floorboards.

She seemed even more surprised by his harsh reply, but she regained herself rather quickly. Hurt as she was, she was pretty tough--and also quite good at hiding any hurt feelings. He'd just caught her off guard, but now she was a lot more prepared.

"I.. I thought we did too," she said in response, her tone turning slightly colder as well. She wasn't sure what it had been, but before their last split she'd grown quite fond of him. What he meant by 'special,' though, she didn't know, and frankly she didn't know what she had felt either. And she didn't want to jump to any conclusions, because the last thing she needed was to get hurt or anything like that.

"I didn't leave you," she snapped back, her eyes narrowing. Or, at least, she didn't remember it. She just knew that, somehow, they'd managed to get separated, but she didn't remember quite how it had happened. Certainly, though, she never intended on leaving him.

Actually, she'd thought that he had intentionally left her. And sleeping with the first guy she'd seen was due mostly to the fact that she wanted to stop thinking about him, and make him jealous should they ever meet again. Being horny was only a small part of it.

"Don't pretend you haven't been fucking all those girls too." She didn't want him to, certainly, for whatever reason, but she suspected he had. And it had been another motivation for having sex with someone else.

"Oh what the HELL. Why am I always used as the fucking sex toy?! This looks like Malaia all over it. Isaiah, GET OVER YOURSELF. My god." His sudden outburst was unexpected, as he sat up on the edge of the couch. "It's not a big deal. It's not. Unless your in love, it really, really is not. Now I've been cheated on when I was 'in love' and that is when you want to start YELLING. Not for something as stupid as THIS."

He was talking much louder than he intended to, waving one paw as if that was going to prove a point. "And XEN, your a slut and you KNOW it. So don't act all 'offended' or crap. When will girls fucking realize that sleeping with some other guy isn't going to make the other guy like you? I've been down that road way too many times. Waaay too many times. On both sides."

Turning to Isaiah, he stood up and padded towards the door. "You know, I have no self-control. I don't like it. But that's who I am. Sorry for screwing your little slutty girlfriend. Can't say I won't do it again or with someone else. You may want to just keep them away. That'd be the... safest thing."

Giving Xen a smirk and a wink, he walked out of the hut to leave the two alone.

He remained silent, her words mulling over in his mind. If she felt the same way towards him as he had with her, why had she done this? If only he could have read her mind, realize just what she was thinking... He could only assume that she was lying to him. He'd never been a very trusting individual.

Her last statement convinced him to finally speak. "I don't have to pretend, hun." He snapped, his brows lowering. "You were the last one..." His voice faded and he averted his gaze, his cheeks taking a rosy hue beneath his dark fur. It wasn't something he found easy to admit. It wasn't as though he hadn't tried to get other kougresses into bed after she'd left, but she didn't need to know that.

Startled at Jeremiah's sudden shouting, he looked up and at the male, his eyes widened. Regaining himself, he listened, partially offended, but for some reason, he wasn't upset. Normally, he would have punched anyone who told him to 'get over himself', but the need didn't arise. This was the most he'd been allowed to glimpse into his father's mysterious past and he almost felt sorry for him. Almost. His appology was what really won him over, despite the fact that he had admitted that he wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

She, too, was surprised by Jeremiah's sudden outburst, but she sat up and listened to him rather intently. And although his words might've sounded a bit harsh, she figured he was probably right, and she thought about this. She knew she was a slut, but for some reason actually hearing it said bothered her.

And usually she would've smirked and winked in response, but that was before she knew how Isaiah felt about the whole thing. So she merely looked back at him, glad that his father had left them alone. Maybe they could figure something out.

".. Oh." She hadn't expected that. And now she felt even worse. "I.. well, thought you had; that's why I slept with him." For once she was hesitant, and nervous, and rather inarticulate because she really didn't know what to say.

She frowned, padding over closer to him. Studying him for a moment, a bit sadly and regretfully, and then licking his cheek, in an affectionate move that surprised her. As soon as she pulled away, her cheeks had turned pink as well, and she quickly looked away.

"Sorry.. for all that. I honestly thought that you wouldn't care.. that you'd be sleeping around too."

ooc| i gotta go, good night. (:

The idea didn't make sense to him. Had she done all this to make him jealous, or simply because she figured he had been as well? All that it had really achieved was pissing him off. Studying her expression for a moment, he lost himself in his thoughts, but was quickly brought back to reality by the feel of her tongue on his cheek. Stunned, he looked at her with widening eyes, his mouth opening to speak but nothing came out. An appology, that was all that he'd wanted. That was what proved everyone wrong when they said he was exactly like his father. He found it so easy to forgive someone if they managed to appologize and mean it, and as far as he could tell, Xen had. Meeting her gaze with his own, he leaned forward and pressed his warm, moist nose into hers. "It's alright, just don't do it again," he replied, his tone soft now, almost kind.

ooc. Good night! =)

She looked up into his eyes, a soft but somewhat sad smile remaining upon her muzzle. "You're still mad, aren't you?" She cocked her head just slightly, then when he pressed his nose against hers she very gently licked his muzzle. It was surprising, really, how different she acted around him.

"You.. thought we had something special?" She wasn't sure what he meant that; as far as she knew, it could've meant anything to him. From something trivial to something that actually mattered.

"I did it because.. well, I thought you left, and I thought you were having a good time with all those other girls, and I was trying not to think about you. For some reason you're.. just different." And it was true; usually she wouldn't have cared. But for some reason the thought of him screwing around with other girls just really bothered her.

Deciding against commenting on the question of what he'd said, Isaiah arched a brow, his ears tilting forward. "Different?" He repeated, unable to hide the smile that was curling across his white lips. So she had been jealous, he thought to himself with a silent chuckle. It was flattering. In truth, he'd experienced somewhat similar feelings for her. His tail flicked idly beside him, extending briefly to brush against Xen's.

It bothered her slightly that he hadn't answered her question, though maybe he was unsure as well. And sometimes it was just better not to know, right?

"Yes, different... I guess." Realizing how pathetically soft she must've sounded, and quickly regaining herself. In her mind, honesty was weakness which was just plain being pathetic. "Wait a minute." She seemed back to her normal, somewhat selfish self. "So you don't want me screwing around with other guys?"

Despite her changes in tone and expression, though she sat down, her tail contentedly swishing around as well. On the occasion bumping against his as well.

Isaiah remained standing, finally sipping on his neglected beer. "Absolutely not," he replied, setting the glass on the counter beside him. "I mean, I understand if it just sort of... happens. You can't avoid those kinds of encounters," he paused to lift the drink to his lips once more, polishing off the last remaining drops. "But don't even think about fucking another guy on the island." He had meant it to come out as a suggestion, but it sounded more like a demand. "And especially not Jeremiah. That's just disgusting." A small shiver ran through his spine, as if to prove his point. He simply couldn't imagine his own father fooling around with someone he had before. 'Still', he though to himself with a smirk as his gaze raked over the girl's figure, 'I can't blame him for going after someone with those looks.'

She studied him, a brow raising as she listened to his response. "And why not? I mean, who are you to tell me that I can't fuck any guy on this island? I'm sure if I told you I didn't want you with any of those girls, you wouldn't listen." But she noticed his gaze scan over her figure, which brought a little smirk to her muzzle, although she was starting to wonder why he hadn't jumped her yet, or anything like that.

In truth, the only reason he hadn't hungrily taken advantage of her was because he was afraid she would turn him down. Normally, with her at least, he wouldn't hold back, but after the earlier events, he couldn't be sure. His eyes moved slowly up from her hips back to her face, locking into her gaze with an eerie sort of intensity. "Of course I'd listen," He lied, though one couldn't tell by his voice, which was veiled by mock honesty. "If you really didn't want me to play around with another kougress, I wouldn't." He put up his sweetest smile, searching her expression for any sort of reaction.