Fic: "Secret Shame"
Sep. 28th, 2007 12:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalA short little funny set in the universe of Cheeko's One Question
“Dart, we gotta talk,” Ranu said one day in the gang’s alley. An apple cart had suffered a broken axle and dumped its load practically right in front of Ranu and Dart, and they had rushed in and grabbed over a dozen for themselves before running away ahead of the municipal guards. Now the rest of the gang were sleeping off the unexpected meal while the grey faced boy and the younger, white furred Felicitus talked. Or at least Ranu was talking. Dart was finishing off the last apple by popping the whole fruit into his jaws and practically disemboweling the thing with his mouth full of sharp teeth.
“Wahg ‘bout?” Dart asked, mouth still full. He spat out the core and swallowed down the rest of the apple, wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt.
“Um, I really think you ought t’ think about takin’ off your gloves… I think,” Ranu said carefully.
“What!” Dart snarled, ears thrown back and tail lashing. “I’z never take off my gloves, you know that!”
“Shh! You’ll wake up the others!” Ranu hushed. “I’m not sayin’ you get rid of ‘em, it’s just that… Dart, you wear ‘em all the time. When you’re awake, when you’re asleep, when you’re eating, when you’re taking a bath in the river. It’s weird and the others are starting to talk.”
“So’s?” Dart hissed back. “They is nice gloves, all leathery with pointy claws on ‘em!” He held up one hand, splaying his leather covered fingers in demonstration, showing off the sword steel of his artificial talons.
“Dart, you’re a Felicitus. You’ve already got really sharp claws, what do you need those for?”
“I justs…” Dart’s faced ducked down, looking like he was swallowing back on a I just likes ‘em in favor of the truth. “I can’ts use my regular claws.”
“Oh, demn, Dart. Did’ya get caught by the guards for slashing somebody?” Sometimes, Ranu knew, if a Felicitus was arrested on charges of assault, or even something else, they were punished by mutilation, their front claws and sometimes even their fingers up to the first knuckle, being chopped off. He felt his stomach turn over just thinking about something that awful being done to his friend.
Dart shook his head quickly, upon seeing Ranu’s horrified expression. “Naw, naw, nothin’ like that! It’s just… When I was littler, back when I was with my sibs, one of my sisters stole a little bottle of some kinda fancy paint from one of those perfumy shops that the human ladies buys stuff from. ‘cept it was really fancy.”
“Fancy paint?” Ranu repeated.
“Yeah. She and my other sisters grabbed me after they done it, pinned me down and used the stuff on me.” Breathing hard and looking like he had to be blushing in shame under his face fur, Dart suddenly yanked off his left glove in one motion and held up his hands. Ranu could see his hand, fur dirty, matted and worn from wearing his precious gloves for years on end. His fingers though, Ranu noted gratefully, were intact, as were his…
…bright pink…
…claws.
“Dart, what in the world…?”
“The demned paint was magic!” Dart howled, “and it won’t come off!”
“Dart, we gotta talk,” Ranu said one day in the gang’s alley. An apple cart had suffered a broken axle and dumped its load practically right in front of Ranu and Dart, and they had rushed in and grabbed over a dozen for themselves before running away ahead of the municipal guards. Now the rest of the gang were sleeping off the unexpected meal while the grey faced boy and the younger, white furred Felicitus talked. Or at least Ranu was talking. Dart was finishing off the last apple by popping the whole fruit into his jaws and practically disemboweling the thing with his mouth full of sharp teeth.
“Wahg ‘bout?” Dart asked, mouth still full. He spat out the core and swallowed down the rest of the apple, wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt.
“Um, I really think you ought t’ think about takin’ off your gloves… I think,” Ranu said carefully.
“What!” Dart snarled, ears thrown back and tail lashing. “I’z never take off my gloves, you know that!”
“Shh! You’ll wake up the others!” Ranu hushed. “I’m not sayin’ you get rid of ‘em, it’s just that… Dart, you wear ‘em all the time. When you’re awake, when you’re asleep, when you’re eating, when you’re taking a bath in the river. It’s weird and the others are starting to talk.”
“So’s?” Dart hissed back. “They is nice gloves, all leathery with pointy claws on ‘em!” He held up one hand, splaying his leather covered fingers in demonstration, showing off the sword steel of his artificial talons.
“Dart, you’re a Felicitus. You’ve already got really sharp claws, what do you need those for?”
“I justs…” Dart’s faced ducked down, looking like he was swallowing back on a I just likes ‘em in favor of the truth. “I can’ts use my regular claws.”
“Oh, demn, Dart. Did’ya get caught by the guards for slashing somebody?” Sometimes, Ranu knew, if a Felicitus was arrested on charges of assault, or even something else, they were punished by mutilation, their front claws and sometimes even their fingers up to the first knuckle, being chopped off. He felt his stomach turn over just thinking about something that awful being done to his friend.
Dart shook his head quickly, upon seeing Ranu’s horrified expression. “Naw, naw, nothin’ like that! It’s just… When I was littler, back when I was with my sibs, one of my sisters stole a little bottle of some kinda fancy paint from one of those perfumy shops that the human ladies buys stuff from. ‘cept it was really fancy.”
“Fancy paint?” Ranu repeated.
“Yeah. She and my other sisters grabbed me after they done it, pinned me down and used the stuff on me.” Breathing hard and looking like he had to be blushing in shame under his face fur, Dart suddenly yanked off his left glove in one motion and held up his hands. Ranu could see his hand, fur dirty, matted and worn from wearing his precious gloves for years on end. His fingers though, Ranu noted gratefully, were intact, as were his…
…bright pink…
…claws.
“Dart, what in the world…?”
“The demned paint was magic!” Dart howled, “and it won’t come off!”
