A Dash of Chili Powder

32

Amaya was outraged by the screaming, so frustrated by the fact she was SCARED by it. With the bags in tow, she stomped off outside, turning and tapping her foot as she waited for Rage. She drowned very deeply.

She glared at the dirty ground, so close to just leaving. How could he be afraid of a scream? Just...how? She frowned even more deeply. A SCREAM dammit! It's a noise, a measly goddamn noise. A NOISE. 

Seriously. It was a noise. She's never been so angry in her life. It was a noise. How could she be afraid of a noise? She was all sorts of odd today.

Maybe she was getting soft...

Yuki watched their little exchange, bristling. "Hey! He's family so I'd appreciate it if you'd stop insulting him!" she snapped, not meaning to be rude or anything. Just trying to 'protect' her family. "And my name is Kusanagi Yuki." Hmph. Damn newcomers. Always insulting and always yelling.

She was starting to get another headache. 

"Hey, Yuki. She smells really kinda feral," Kiba whispered, his head cocked over his shoulder to five his mate. "Think she tangled with some wolves? Or coyotes or somethin'?"

"Quit your shit talking. She's new and we don't know her," Yuki replied quietly, looking back at Kiba with a small frown, almost as if she was scolding him. She wasn't but still. Manners are important.

"Fine, Fine..."

"Good boy."

"Whatever."

"Don't be so lame," she muttered, turning her attention to the short and very loud blond girl. "So who exactly are you?"

Gracie

Rage was met by an Amaya who was frowning severely. He stopped short as he saw her, blinking. He was always blinking. It was the clearest way he could ask people "What are you doing?". It was an unconscious reflex now.

Amaya looked upset about something. Mad at herself, more than anything. Rage wondered why. She wasn't blind OR mute. He figured she should be pretty content with herself.

Of course, there was that business with her closed-offness. Maybe that was a handicap, too?

He set down the groceries in his left hand. Raised his arm. Hesitated. Were they really that close yet? The thought of touching her was making him beat himself up inside but... she needed SOME kind of comfort. Just once wouldn't be so bad. He just hoped she didn't become suspicious of him because of it.

Rage reached down and patted her shoulder encouragingly. He'd almost been tempted to pat Amaya's head but that just seemed too demeaning for a person her size. His peach colored eyes lightened as if trying to say "it's okay" and he hoped with high hopes that she didn't think of him forever as weird for this.

"My apprentice," Vell said before Kugomi could open her mouth.

"My ASS," she growled with a glare back at him. Then she was back to Yuki. "The nek-- Vell-kun's a friend of mine, since I was little. He taught me how ta talk an' stuff. Haven't seen 'im in months until now, though," she grumbled.

Vell heaved a big sigh. His ear twitched at Kiba's comment. "Wolves. She hangs out with wolves." He said it almost out of disgust.

"An' you smell like dogs," Kugomi pointed out. Then she grinned. "Kakko ii! (Cool!) I thought I'd have ta be stuck with the neko the whole time. So, Yuki-chan? That's a pretty name! "

"Yuki-san. Have manners," Vell quipped from the doorway.

"Ne, ne, can I call you Yun-chan instead?" Kugomi asked excitedly. Vell rolled his eyes and gave up.