insanity never tasted sweeter. (xero&scarlet)

[xerophyte]

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
i got my feet on the ground but my head's in the clouds
{ XEROPHYTE }
can't forget where i come from, i hope you're there when i'm done
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

He sucked in the evening air slowly trough his lazily smiling lips, appearing as if he had the whole big bad world under his paw. Some might have commented that he looked arrogant and pompous but in reality, he carried something cats detested much more in a cat than the common arrogance or stupidity. He carried satisfaction. Happiness. Xero was very much contented, to the point he looked genuinely delighted even with cruel, cruel life fast at his heels, and cats with even a drop of hatred might have felt their blood curl in and jealousy, knowing that such a useless cat like him could so easily catch happiness like a hunter could shoot a sitting duck.

Because truthfully, Happiness was a slippery young maiden, only able to be grasped by the idiots who didn't even fully grasp what they had. Idiots like him.

It really was useless for one to make dearest Xerophyte understand things like Common Sense or Proper Etiquette for they were all hopelessly lost on him. But still, it was horribly amusing to to see cats being flustered and angry while pretending to be quite rational and reasonable one minute and helplessly idiotic the next. Indeed, it would have been a blunt lie if he said his behavior didn't amuse him endlessly.

But then, Xerophyte was a very easy cat to please.

Even after sleeping in for the better part of the day, he couldn't help but allow a yet tired yawn from his dry, cracked maw, his movements resembling closely to a young apprentice waking up near noon high. Rolling around the dirt without a care in the world before muttering things to help themselves slap into reality. Unconsciously, he brought a paw up to his maw, cleaning himself half-heartedly as he thought of what useless things to do until sunrise. Jumping in the stream and torturing his lungs no longer held the same appeal to Xerophyte as it was when he first discovered the delightful game, and neither was provoking toms twice as big as him who labeled him as a coward in fury as he happily skipped away. He may have been a coward, but he knew how to run and he knew how to kill.

Provoking she-cats however, was a slightly different story. Xerophyte was like most toms when it came to females, he was cocky and stupid. But given a chance, he could be a perfect gentleman, sweet, caring, fully competent at muttering sweet nothings into her ear. At least, till he got bored and threw them away like used dolls.

He brought his tongue up to his dry, cracked lips slowly, savoring the tingle from the stingy contact more than he should. Oh, he was such masochist, wasn't he? He made a pouting, grimacing sort of face as he brought back his tongue and shut his lips tightly, his usually slacked jaw appearing tense before relaxing once more.

The tom lazily tapped the cooling ground beneath him mindlessly, trying to shove his thoughts this way and that before settling on just not thinking at all. Even though it was quite impossible to become fully brain-dead, but with enough willingness, or rather in his case, unwillingness, he could achieve an almost dormant mind.

He snickered softly. His laziness was a sin, and someday, it was going to kill him. He was sure of that.

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word count * fivefivefive.
muse & inspiration * horrible; buncha spanish songs.
comments * i need to write more. seriously.

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[alizarin && scarlet]

SCARLET } tom's were idiots, but then again they always had been -- or at least she thought so. what was alizarin doing so early in the morning, going off to go maim some helpless tom (although, she couldn't help agree, that was always fun) or choke another unsuspecting victim after submitting to them sweet words and warm laughs that seemed faker than most anything, under the entirely wrong pretense of "hunting". surely, you could see how idiotic he was now -- snake was going to rip his head off when he came back, not the at she minded but it always made her edgy when she didn't have her half-brother by her side, for whatever reason.

the red beauty looked almost ethereal in the sunlight, a dark scowl burning across features that would have looked sweet and soft on any other she-cat, but somehow looked cruel on her -- yet still maintained that same charisma, that same captivating appearance that had toms drooling pitifully. she clawed the ground sharply, imagining it to be the red-eyed face of her brother. he was dead when he came back.

despite outward appearances, she wasn't exactly edgy because alizarin had not yet arrived back, at her beck and call, and like any other normal she-cat who had a brother gone missing, was worried for him. no, scarlet was deeply annoyed with him and would rip his guts apart the moment he stepped within a five foot radius of her -- and she was sure he knew that, which was why he was taking his sweet, careful time to return. which only made her want to kill him more.

but starclan the ancestors up there, knew that she couldn't actually kill him, even if she wanted to. one thing; he was, being the tom and all, more talented than she in matters of following snake's orders perfectly - even if he hadn't really administered any yet - even without a proper brain. she always had to instruct him, but he had the strength, the agility and the godgiven talent that let him do whatever he liked, that let him get away with almost anything under scarlet's eye because she still needed him if she was going to succeed in her ploy. plus, he was also the only heir to red crimson's line that could honestly claim to such a thing. with her bright red fur and sharp green eye, she looked nothing like her idol - her father - and was constantly hating the fact that, in every moment she spent with alizarin - which was almost all the time, despite her wishes - she was reminded of it.

scarlet padded angrily forward in a strict, sharp manner that would have looked like pacing on anyone else - or perhaps walking in a random direction - but on her it looked as if she had a specific place to reach, what with that dark look in her eyes and the scowl on her face that made her more enchanting than any prettier she-cat could imagine. her eyes instantly locked on a figure and her lips twisted upwards - a rare feat - because suddenly her boredom was cured. in moments, she was upon xero, the sun striking eloquently against a bright red coloring. "get up, you lazy-assed bum," she scolded in a sharp hiss, a scarlet paw coming down to strike him.

[xerophyte]

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
i got my feet on the ground but my head's in the clouds
{ XEROPHYTE }
can't forget where i come from, i hope you're there when i'm done
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

If one could ignore the minor details of being awake and alone in those terrifyingly eerie nights and becoming utterly paranoid as a child, not to mention sweat and blood tainted moons of experimenting on how to kill effectively and not to get killed, one might have called Xero's sense of awareness a talent.

Undeniably, he sensed her coming. It would have been hard for him to not see the most mediocre things come his way and Scarlet being far from doing anything in moderation, he had to have been blind and deaf and perhaps lost all his feline senses to have not seen her coming.

Without any restraint, he allowed the she-cat to do whatever she did best, assault and criticize and just scare the crap out of cats while awarding her unladylike behavior with a ready lazy grin dancing on his face, tweaked just a bit wider and much more infuriating just for her. He supposed he could have flipped her or pinned her down or gently dumped her next to him where there was plenty space to sit in the two seconds she gave her threat, but she looked so adorably cute when she was mad.

He did acknowledge the fact that her intentions had rather ill-mannered (was there another explanation for having an ominous looking paw hanging over him and now going for his face at a very rapid pace?) and therefore he supposed he had the right to dodge or counter attack in the split second pure, angry force and gravity conspired against him.

But there were two things to consider here:
One, he really didn't mind being hit (or being called a lazy-assed bum) by such a pretty she-cat. It wasn't like this would be the first time a she-cat was about to slap him senseless.
Two, he was very, very lazy. Especially right now.

Lazy to the point his nice face was at stake. Lazy to the point he took her blow willingly. But that didn't keep him from regretting his laziness a few seconds later.

Physical violence really didn't mean much to the tom but the physical pain was an almost enjoyable change. He wondered if his dead father (or assumed/hopefully dead) had felt that too. If he did, good, if he didn't, oh well. There would always be next time, he could pretty much guarantee that. After all, he was very proud in his ability to piss off cats without fail and his faith in easily provoked cats hadn't failed him yet.

He silently opened his maw to test if his jaw was still intact (it was, thank whoever cats thanked when they could still chew their food without having some annoying child chew it for them) and being stupid yet rational when he wanted to be, he let the incident show its way to the back of his mind without much thought, unlike what smart and rational cats without even half of Xerophyte's almost saintly patience would have done - hold a grudge.

"Scarlet, Scarlet, Scarlet," he said her name lightly, carefully, testing the name on his tongue slowly without a care in the world. He supposed he could carry some kind of light conversation now that he acknowledged her presence like a proper gentlemen but having lived through Scarlet's violent little escapade, he found himself with a right to be his annoying self. With a wide smile, he effortlessly turned to his side, dumping the she-cat off him before granting her wishes and getting up. He brushed his pelt lightly, making him look more presentable before he turned his attention back to her, his head rolled to a curious slant.

"Scarlet is such a mouthful," - it was not and he knew it. Much shorter than Xyrophyte, but even so, he did not feel like a hypocrite because well, he wasn't one. Then, as if something went off in his head, he brightened up considerably. "We should make it shorter!~" he mewed brightly, not a question but an exclamation, a proclamation. It was the kind of tone useless to negotiate with because it was just that kind of tone, the kind filled with pig-headed stubbornness.

"Hmm, let's see... you're too pretty to be Scar, so that's out," he thought aloud, not really giving a crap if she wanted a pet name from him or not. "Oh, I know, you can be Letty! Doesn't it sound cute? I think it does," he rambled on, satisfied with what he thought was sheer brilliance.

He paused for his genius to sink in, shutting up for a moment and for a second, being considerate to the she-cat's feelings. Huh, was it possible that there would be a misunderstanding here? Oh, that'd be terrible, he should get this all cleared up. "But it's not like red's a bad color on you, Letty. Quite the opposite. You're almost as cute as your brother," with that he grinned brightly, his expression near breaking his poor bruised face. While he didn't know much about the alluring she-cat, he wasn't completely blind to the obvious.

The obvious, being from the most obvious to least:
One, she hated her brother with a passion.
Two, she was gorgeous and she knew it.
Three, she had some kind of inferiority complex.

It wasn't like he was purposely being an annoying jerk -- he really couldn't help it. It was so much fun, poking cats under their skins, he was completely helpless when it came to such fun time-killing moments like these. He sighed happily; it really was useless trying to keep himself from signing some kind of desperate deathwish when it came to such enjoyable she-cats like Scarlet.

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word count * ninetwonine.
muse & inspiration * sunny; inolvidable - reik.
comments * -spins-

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[alizarin && scarlet]

there must have been something wrong with xerophyte, for him to provoke the especially hot-tempered female in front of him. it was either that, or he had a secret death wish. the reasoning was easy: most cats tended not to mess with scarlet, whether it was because of her profound beauty that most toms found bewildering and enchanting at the same time, or whether it was because of her short temper, coupled with the same angry, malicious look in her eye that often did not let other cats - especially toms - live to see another day.

of course there was an exception to this rule, and his name was alizarin. much to her discomfort and fueling fury, he took that fact in great stride with a dark grin that often made skin crawl. the slender she-cat did not wish it to be this way -- she often wondered why she didn't rip her half-brother to mere pieces at the site of him, considering she absolutley hated his guts and would have very liked to slit his throat at any given chance. of course, this didn't actually mean that scarlet didn't push and pummel and destroy him like she did everyone else - with deep gashes and sharp cuts and jabbing remarks that made most cats whimper - but it was more so that he didn't mind it. because whenever she tried to make the final blow, pristine claws pressed harshly against a liquid-black throat, he would laugh at her and his eyes would almost sparkle, as if mocking her, and the image of their father would return, so she'd end up simply smacking him upside the head.

for a while, alizarin complained softly, a childish whine, and padded after her dramatically, pouting in a way that got her easily aggravated, but he didn't pressure her to lunge at him again until later, when his wounds had healed. he was not at all afraid of his sister - the scarlet red female that every tom, near and far, shivered at the touch, that most toms found themselves quivering at the site at - and that much was evident in his wicked smile, dripping with mockery that never failed to make her blood boil.

but the thing was that xerophyte wasn't alizarin and she had every right to rip him to shreds. at the sound of her name on the tip of his tongue, the smooth way it rolled off of it, the she-cat winced - though, in a subtle way that could not be quite identified, because as soon as such a look of cowardice came, it was gone, replaced by the fierce look that the temperamental she-cat was all too familiar with - and glowered deeply at him, letting her claws slide out of blinding white paws, the ends dipped in a hue almost like blood.

she trembled furiously, feeling the urge to hit him again - harder this time - but somehow managed to keep an almost composed expression, grinding her teeth together, her sharp canines clashing sharply as she suppressed her undeniable fury. as he pushed her off, she lashed out briefly, aiming for his face, but missed because of said toss and letting a dark growl slip from scarlet lips, she landed back - almost clumsy, but she would never admit that - on her paws.

she bared her lips then, her face contorting into a furious expression. her bright green eyes gleamed in the light, a snarl caught in her throat, and she pressed her paws deep into the ground, hiding her anger as they slid into the dirt. she hated how toms like them - him and alizarin - got so deep within her skin. the fact only aggravated her further.

his bright tone made him flinch and her teeth snapped together again, another growl slipping past red lips. xerophyte was so much like alizarin, wasn't he? with their light tones and singsong voices that made her insides twist uncomfortably, yet made her still unable to attack like she would any other cat. because they were different, a voice whispered softly in a hissing sort of tone that made something inside her crease and crumble and clatter. because they weren't fools who cowered in your presence. they knew better.

her thoughts were covered again when he spoke, in that same horrible bright tone that made her so uncomfortable that she couldn't even accept that fact. as if such a thing instantly broke her out of what ever reverie she was in, scarlet hissed sharply under her breath, her eyes growing even darker and her expression more menacing. surely he would get the point. her claws slid out again, as she inched forward angrily.

letty?, she thought incredulously, a sudden break in her murderous thoughts. the small scarlet inside her somehow flushed pleasantly at the thought, as if he had called her cute instead and she immediately shot the thought away, shaking her shoulders with a furious snarl. "oh shut up !" she snapped at him, but then he had called her cute and she suddenly couldn't help but flush lightly, an action concealed by her already red face. after all, despite her furious temper and murderous thoughts, she was still a girl behind it all.

scarlet wasn't sure why such a comment affected her. why she couldn't accept it like she did all the other comments, or the looks of the toms that drooled over her, tongues lolling rather ungracefully out of their mouths. they called her beautiful. they called her enchanting. enticing, mesmerizing, all of those sweet, broken words that most she-cats always longed to hear. but to to her, they meant nothing. empty, empty, empty because they were broken lies after all, right?

it was then that the comment of her delirious, lovable, horrible, sick half-brother registered in her mind, triggering a previous fury and frustration that had not been there. quick as a fly, she instantly shot forward, smashing an unsheathed paw against the side of his face, the movement looking surprisingly graceful for all the anger contained in it. she wanted to kill him. she wanted to strangle him.

"what the hell are you up to, xero?" she snarled, her eyes gleaming dangerously. she wanted him dead, but he couldn't be. just like alizarin.

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[xerophyte]

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
i got my feet on the ground but my head's in the clouds
{ XEROPHYTE }
can't forget where i come from, i hope you're there when i'm done
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Contrary to popular belief, Xero would not make a good partner, for life or for anything else. He could be kind, yes, he could be cooperative, yes, he could even be loyal. He could, and often was, but they were all reserved for short-term relations. So when his interest in them no longer held fast and ties no longer held him down, he would do either one of two things. Leave them or kill them.

He thought of all that, or to be more specific, remembered it all which poked a large hole in his annoyance. He did not wish to remember because while the memories were not painful to him, they were horribly annoying which was even worse.

He took in a deep, slow breath, calming his nerves and letting his innocent, sweet expression appear blank for a split second for him to forcibly push his annoyance and his memories back into the dark and locking them in. Then he returned to the task at hand which was to radiate delight with his careless grin and annoy Scarlet endlessly. She really didn't seem very happy with his happiness, but that was alright because deep down, Xero couldn't care less about anyone else unless it was his job and his best interest to do so. Sad, sad life he lead, but a life it was, something he didn't grant most victims.

The former-rouge slumped in his position lazily, watching the she-cat with his eyes glazed with laughter, giving away his inner contentment. The blinding fury before him just begging to be unleashed was very amusing sight indeed.

He did wonder why she was still holding it all back. After all, it wasn't like he could really do anything to her, for one, Snake would be unhappy and two, she was a she-cat. Usually, gender differences meant nothing to the tom but for the moment, he made an exception. He could break she-cats easily enough and it would have been such a pity for him to break lovely Scarlet just for the sake of relieving his curiosity.

Xero being rather aware of things didn't find it shocking when he sensed a small change in the atmosphere. He did, however became curious when Scarlet's aura didn't seem to be as deadly as it was for a moment. A moment just before it shot up considerably and with that he was received with another blow, this time, a bit more painful than the last. Or a lot more painful, he couldn't really tell due to the pain. But he guessed it hurt a lot more than it did the last time because his head was spinning slightly.

Hmm. That was odd, Xero never recalled being hit so hard that his head was spinning, unless... The tom took a deep breath, half begging and half dreading, he touched his already bruising cheek with his paw and felt small shallow cuts, none bleeding out waterfalls as he hoped and dreaded for. Probably wouldn't leave a scar either he guessed, just itch a lot. With that resolved he turned his attention back to Scarlet who looked absolutely pissed.

"First, that was very uncute, Letty," he started, his voice somewhat resembling a parent too tired to scold their children properly when they've come home hours past midnight and high on catnip. "Second, that hurt. And must you always go for the face? Oh... it might leave a scar and I'll have to be traumatized constantly because of it. Do you understand the possibility of myself becoming a social outcast because I'll look intimidating and scary and no one will ever want to talk to me?" It would have been an understatement if he said he was whining because right now, he was going for the whole guilt package. He kind of supposed it would be useless against Scarlet but it was an excellent excuse to play that card since who-knows-how-long.

"And third... what makes you think I'm up to something?" With that he armed himself with his most innocent smile and fearlessly scooted up towards the she-cat, stupidly entering her hitting range like a blind mice dancing back into a cat's trap just when it just narrowly escaped its death.

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word count * sixninesix.
muse & inspiration * humid; me duele amarte - reik.
comments * aha, they are so cute togetharr.

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[alizarin && scarlet]

she felt a strange sense of easiness wash over her as soon as her paw had come in contact with the hard outline of his jaw, white claws searing against soft flesh. it was not often that she felt this emotion envelop her when she caused pain on cats that were much like xero or alizarin, both foolishly "happy" toms who didn't care much if they were slapped around, finding a sheer enjoyment in causing annoyances for others. with regular cats, it was easy to feel the satisfaction -- for an act of violence was only natural as payback when provoking scarlet -- because they would scream in pain, empty souls rolling around in near-dead bodies, and she would smirk at them when they later pleaded for their life.

but he and alizarin weren't like that. cats like them were impossible. where she could attack them again and again, but they would only laugh. blood could streak their faces, scars burn their pelts, and they would only throw her a smirk, expression mocking. there was nothing she could do make them shut up and blend them in with everyone else -- one with bright bloodshot eyes, the other with molten orange. they stood out.

which was why she hated them. venom seemed to seethe out of her, poisonous anger nearly seeping out in bright flushes of color that was carefully camouflaged beneath her scarlet-colored fur, and she glared at him, her expression tight but filled with rage, as her face flushed in an emotion that was even darker than anger. before he had spoke and had opened that idiotic mouth of his, scarlet had almost been wondering whether or not she should really forgive him and almost even began to regret hitting him so hard -- because, after all, maybe she had misjudged him and he wasn't alizarin, and he couldn't be hit again and again and again.

but his words only confirmed the fact. his voice was lazy and tired, like a father who didn't really want to scold their troublesome kit who had gotten into one of the same messes for the umpteenth time, only that he had to if he wanted his child to grow up whole and well, if he didn't want his significant other to scold him later for being careless. such a thing made a wash of memories envelop her -- made her realize with an ache in her chest that she didn't have a father - or a mother, for the fact - and never would. made her remember that was why she had become what she become, why she had to become strong if she didn't want to be weak and die like everyone else without parents.

she closed her eyes, a motion that would appear to be painful if she wasn't as strong and as lasting as she forced herself to believe, before opening her eyes again, paws trembling with annoyance, and she felt that overwhelming urge to smack him again. this time, however, she didn't -- mostly because she knew that violence didn't affect cats like him like they should have. that didn't mean, however, his words and his tone and his face didn't get under his skin.

scarlet narrowed her eyes at him, a low growl trembling upon red lips, but instead she straightened her shoulder and took a breath that sounded more like a sigh, but it couldn't be because cats like her just didn't sigh. no, they snarled and stomped until they got their way. " oh shut it, no one wants to talk to you anyway," she shot back at him and sat down across from him, curling a tail almost daintily around her paws. she looked at him for a moment, her expression appraising and then she finished, "plus, you thick-sculled mouse brain, it couldn't have hurt that much." a pause. then a scowl. "and isn't that the point of being a soldier, to intimidate?" she sighed. "useless," she muttered under her breath.

his voice caught her ears again and she snapped her head up, wondering if he was actually going to say something meaningful, but was let down with his annoying word again. her lips twisted into an annoyed scowl and she meowed, her voice low enough to sound menacing but laced with sarcasm, " please, as if you wouldn't be." scarlet let her eyes narrow, training molten green orbs on his blackwashed pelt. "you're just like him."

"speech"

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