”But I think a part of them knew somehow. I know they didn’t find me or him, but they knew on that other level with that other sense, the sixth one right? Isn’t that intuition? That’s probably how, probably why after the last one they made sure to get off the ship…probably hit around the corner too, probably so they could get back on quickly…probably…” Her words died down until it became little more than grumbling. Focus turned towards moving the spatula around so everything could cook evenly and she could avoid burns – they didn’t taste that great. Sometimes it added something, but she liked her stews a bit more clean than that.
 
”You’ll forgive her for the muttering,” a voice caught the man’s attention, now noticing how the tail’s mouth moved, ”concentration is key to perfection and mastering one’s craft. One doesn’t want a ship from a shipwright who’s too busy ogling passing ladies after all.” The calm and matter-of-fact took the man by such surprise he found himself nodding in agreement. It…well made sense.
 

Pulling a bottle from her satchel he noted the reddish color as it spilled into another pan, the woman heating it as she started scooping the residue from the skillet into the larger one. A tune he didn’t recognize drifted from her, the conversation momentarily forgotten in the face of preparation. The smells started to affect her attention, stomach gripping her brain a little more tightly than she liked, but such was life. ”He was a sad man though, really,” she reassured softly, calm voice audible over the slight bubbling of the pot as she continued a previous thought, ”The first shot crippled the cat after all. It’d only take one more after that to finish it off and if he wanted I could’ve prepared it for him. That wasn’t good enough though now was it? It needed six bullets though it barely lived by the fifth. Blowing its head off with that last one? A bit overkill really. The poor dear…”

Something tickled at the man’s brain and he replayed their meeting. It struck him while she hummed and gently plopped the plate of veggies and meat into the pot, stirring the wonderful smelling concoction. Minutes into his recollection he remembered a mutt sidling up to him, some silly thing that decided he might deign to feed it. To him it’d been hilarious to watch it bounce against the ground not unlike thugs who tried to get in on his crew’s turf. It’d whimpered, shaking on the ground, a paw reaching as if to try and move it only to find its body lacking any ability to do so, and in the end lay there while they continued onwards. He’d likely broken a few ribs, maybe even punctured a lung or some other organs – hell if he knew canine anatomy!
 
”All this…over a dog?!” he howled, enraged anew, ”It was a dumb mangy mutt and probably gonna die of starvation anyways-“
 
”YOU DON’T KNOW THAT!”
 
The harsh and acidic tone to her loud cry caused him to jump, the first time she hadn’t sounded so cheerful or simply disgruntled at something. Her shoulders sat hunched as she momentarily stopped stirring the pot and turned to view him out of the corner of her eye. Hadn’t they been blue? Yet now vibrantly glowing magenta stared him down, energy dancing around them like unpredictable ribbons. ”Someone could’ve adopted it, businesses fed it table scraps,” she murmured with a harsh tone, ”I’ve seen plenty of strays become community pets. Yet you stood there giggling over its pained whimpers like a kid over schoolyard gossip. Delighting in its misfortune and pain when it wanted so little from you in return for priceless bounty…then again you probably don’t understand how nice it feels to stroke a dog’s fur or feel a cat’s purr through its chest. You poor, poor, poor fellow.”
 

As if to mock him she peered around the abode as she said “poor” and smirked when she saw aggravation blossom in red blotches on his face.

”The funny thing about these communities is how close they can become…I should be worrying about the people coming to your rescue, shouldn’t I?” The taunt grabbed his attention: she was right. Surely someone heard their yelling by now? Became worried about him? He’d lived here basically all his life and these walls weren’t exactly made of thick oak. The windows were all closed he noted, but…surely someone could hear something? ”But…they’re also built on a certain level of trust too. They’ll protect each other, but once someone starts bringing in trouble they know when to cut that bond. If something happens to the sour apple then they’ll simply toss it aside to preserve themselves and their kind. Think of it like herd mentality: if a sheep joins a wolf pack then why shouldn’t the sheep be wary of that one? It might simply set a trap for the sake of its new family. It’s a very tricky situation to be in really.”
 
Something icy slithered through the man’s veins as he sat stuck to the chair. At first he’d tried getting loose despite the copious amounts of rope and yet found his once high powered limbs uncooperative. The more he tried the more sparks shot out and he didn’t fancy setting himself nor his childhood home on fire. Maybe as a last ditch effort though…as he really couldn’t hear anyone so much as attempting to check up on him. When had he really last talked to even his neighbors let alone anyone aside for the old lady?
 

Without warning something slammed into his mouth, the man choking in surprise and finding himself gagging on something as she further shoved it in…a dish towel? The thing tasted foul, likely because he hadn’t washed them since…since his mother died. All through his fit and trying to calm down she sat there, fresh bowl of what he assumed to be beef stew in hand, gently blowing the smoky spoonful’s before eating each one with a pleased hum. ”Can’t have you getting too loud though, just in case!”

It may as well have been ambrosia for the gods as far as Chesha was concerned, though even a baked apple might’ve held the same appeal. At any other time she might’ve bemoaned a lack of spices, but for now the simplistic and hearty taste warmed her almost as pleasantly as it filled her once depressed belly. The meat’s quality also brought it down a bit more than she normally liked, perhaps aged a bit too close to the “point of no return” and honestly…hadn’t been nearly as good as Jimithy. ’They can’t be all winners, but food’s food. No point letting it go to waste.’
 
Just because a cow turned out to be grade B or C didn’t mean it should be left to rot. Well unless one wanted to make fertilizer, but at this juncture the girl didn’t want to split hairs.
 
Finishing two bowls she’d watched as the man gave it his all to break free from the chair. By this point he laid on the ground, occasionally making a very small ‘thump’ as he couldn’t really get himself off the ground. Only the initial noise made anything of decent volume, this display of trying to somehow encourage the chair to break just…sad really. So beautifully sad.
 

Alas dinner could only last so long and she carefully packed the leftovers away into some Tupperware she washed earlier, opting for one of the more vibrant lids. Finding places to reheat wasn’t usually as tricky as finding a place to actually cook so she’d be fine for a day, maybe two if she managed to keep it cold in between. Really it all depended on the circumstances though…admittedly…she probably wouldn’t be going anywhere for a day or two. ’Perfect, and by then I’ll have some fresh meat.’

The problem with uncared for utensils was that they deteriorated. It would’ve been by grace, possibly a divine type, for Chesha to find a whetstone in this household and thanked the gods for owning one. Her knives might’ve been taken by those ungrateful bastards on the last ship, whether intentionally or not, but she could make do with the set this man owned. Rather than pick him up she found it far more convenient to leave the burly man on the ground to rattle about as he pleased. He became quite a bit more active when she started sharpening in front of him. The girl simply wanted him to know she not only took care of her cutlery, but that she’d prepped it just for him. Besides dull blades made for messy work, something a butcher told her once.
 
Beads of sweat started forming on his brow, the man’s face beginning to glisten and for a brief moment she wondered how awful that towel must taste. Well, not that she really cared, more hoped it matched the taste that’d been in her mouth when he kicked that unfortunate canine. It may or may not be the last thing he tasted, probably not though.
 
”You know…” she slowly started, checking the blade’s sharpness before nodding and starting on the next, ”Arms and legs are usually my favorite. More so on people who really work those muscles, though sometimes even the unshapen have their nice…tenderness to them. I guess it depends what I’m in the mood for really. Something also fun about holding those long bones and cleaning them compared to a messy breast bone. Also not always sure about eating the cartilage, y’know, when eating chicken? Sometimes it’s okay, sometimes not so fond of it. I’ll give credit to the torso though as it does boast some nice chunks of steak as well. Really its organs I’m learning more about lately because they can be kind of tricky, y’know? Though…I guess they have other uses too. If I find the right people quickly enough I can make a nice little sum here and there.”
 

She spied the rising hysteria mixing with his anger, eye savagely demanding an answer…possibly to her hypocrisy. The girl smiled, ”There are some things in life we have no answers for, and some things we may never know. It’s easier to get used to disappointment early on.” He received a full flash of pearly whites, brushed clean before she’d begun her little sharpening session.

”It’s funny really. There existed a small, brief, tiny spot in time I considered being a doctor. I mean the human and humanoid bodies are really quite fascinating. If I studied more I could even help animals. Maybe I could’ve remained a human doctor though, who knows? The funny part about the past is that it’s the past: there is no changing it. You humans have your good points, but you have so…so…so many bad points too. Well, when alive. I guess I can’t completely complain, that bad side does so many things for me too. I can’t tell you how much better I feel after our little sesh! Like a new woman!”
 
Spreading her arms out against the wall Chesha took a deep breath and let it fly out of her. Invigorating. The girl hadn’t fully realized how pent up she felt either, thankful the man hit the nail in the coffin so to speak. Being left behind like that really aggravated her and it might’ve taken a while to relax otherwise. A grin crept across her face, a few giggles wiggling in her chest, ”You were definitely a screamer though, I’ll give you that! Man, I even feared for a bit you might bite through that towel! These will be some of the best tears yet…really wish you hadn’t wiggled so much. Made it kinda hard, y’know? Well no use cryin’ over it now…heh!” Laughter burbled out at her impromptu joke, the only sound heard throughout the house.
 
In front of her laid quite a mess if the man could’ve afforded a housekeeper. The fridge now housed a fair bit of meat, carefully packaged away in thick paper and wrapped with string. Special boxes filled with ice held what organs she could stuff into the freezer, small as it was. A heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys made it in while the rest would be left for any scrounging animals to find and salvage. The bones would probably be cleaned at some point if only so she could leave them around town for the poor homeless mutts of Logue Town, a sort of “beyond the grave” apology on the man’s behalf. Some of the meat would undoubtedly go to them too as payment, but some would be for her. ’ “Cannibalism is when a species eats the flesh or internal organs of the same species.” ‘[/i] The girl mentally recited, grinning as she always recalled one of her favorite additional responses from him, ’ “but you were never human and was a failure of a lab assistant so I guess this is fine.” ‘
 

The cybernetics would be up for grabs by the people as far as she cared, able to fetch a price once cleaned off a bit, and the people in this neck of the woods could use a few extra bucks. She’d leave the house nice and open for animal and mankind alike to pick at what they wanted once she’d cleaned the place up a little more.