I'm Gonna Soak Up The Sun [Open]

[Tantomile]

What a beautiful, gorgeous day. It was a bit chilly, but nothing terrible. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Tantomile had absolutely nothing planned today. She certainly did not want to see her brother, who always brought her good moods to a sliding stop, and though playing fortuneteller for the kittens was fun, she did not want to fuss with the temperamental planes of mind.

Her ankle-length emerald green skirt fluttered in the slight breeze as she strode across the Junkyard, looking for a good place to sunbathe and daydream, someplace quiet, but where she could be found if someone wished to chat. She eventually found such a place, an abandoned sofa tucked into the base of a pile of junk.

Jumping lightly up, she stretched out on the cushions. Tantomile propped herself up on her elbows, her purple scarf falling to one side of her torso, clad in a cream sweater. She smiled up at the sun, closing her eyes to soak up the rays. What an ideal day....

[alleycat]

For once, Artemis was neither hanging out with the toms, nor the queens. She was practicing her acrobatics, leaping, bouncing and twisting around in a quieter area of the junkyard. She wasn't as good as Tumblebrutus, but she was pretty damn good, still.

She was in the middle of a cartwheel when she realized she wasn't alone, and landed somewhat clumsily in her surprise. Oh, Tantomile!

She bounced over to the somewhat older queen, sitting down on the sofa next to her.

"Hullo, Tantomile!" she said happily.

[Tantomile]

Tantomile's eyes snapped open at the voice and she smiled at the sight of the gray tuxedo queen. She sat up, folding her legs and tucking them beneath her. "Hello Artemis. How are you?"

She wasn't fully acquainted with the younger queen, but Tantomile liked and could get along with any cat in the Junkyard.

Well, almost any... Her thoughts nearly went to her brother, but she forced herself to smile at Artemis. Cheerful and friendly was her mantra today.

[alleycat]

Artemis smiled. Tantomile wasn't who she usually hung out with, but similarly to Tantomile, Artemis was so laid-back and easygoing that she could talk to just about anyone. Her generally sunny attitude made her hard not to like.

"I hope I didn't disturb you," she said, suddenly feeling a little ashamed she'd just dashed up to the queen and invaded her space.

"I'm doing alright, thank you. Quiet day. How's you?"

[Tantomile]

Tantomile shook her head, laughing slightly. "Oh, no, you didn't disturb me. I was just enjoying the sun, hoping for maybe a little company." She shrugged. Her friendly attitude was sometimes forced, but usually genuine. She liked other cats, she liked being around others.

"Today is lovely. It's going to be a good day today, I can feel it...." She trailed off, and smiled up at the sky. She glanced back at Artemis, grinning. "Not psychically, of course. It just seems like the start of a good day." Tantomile stretched her arms over her head, rolling out her shoulders before dropping her hands back to her lap.

She tilted her head at Artemis. "I'm doing well. What were you doing before you noticed me?"

[alleycat]

"Oh, I'm glad," Artemis said cheerfully. "I can be your company!" she added with a small laugh.

She shifted a little, getting more comfortable on the sofa. She glanced up at the sky, like Tantomile, and nodded with a smile. "Aye, don't need to be psychic to tell that today will be a good day."

Scratching the back of her neck idly, she shrugged. "Oh, just practicing some acrobatics."

[Tantomile]

Tantomile grinned. "Oh, how wonderful!" Acrobatics always particularly fascinated her, she loved watching Tumblebrutus at the ball. Sure, Tantomile was graceful and elegant, but hurling her body through the air and not falling on her face had always evaded her. But watching cats who did have that particular skill always made her smile.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry I missed that. I envy anyone who is talented at gymnastics."

[alleycat]

Artemis grinned. "I'm not as good as Tumble, but I'm not too bad, if I may say so myself," she said happily, and stretched, rolling over onto her back.

"Mmm, the sun is almost warm today, despite the weather getting nippier," she remarked, wriggling a little.

[Starskee]

The pitter patter of little feet was heard echoing through the piles of junk. The small blue and ginger kit was obviously excited about something. He skidded out into the clearing, seeing two queens there. Yes! Someone to talk to!
He rushed up to them, not really thinking that he could be interupting something. With a huff he panted out, "I... I.... Did you know that cannons were not only used on ships, but also in wars on land!? Amazing! I never knew that, no," he smiled. Such a weird kid he was, always obsessing over pirates and cannons and things.
Bouncing up and down lightly he pulled out a strange little cylindrical object, "Look Misses! I made a little toy cannon! It really works too, yes!"
He put the object up to his lips and blew a puff of air into one end, making a small crumbled up candy wrapper shoot out of the opening. A large smile was plastered across the kit's face. An obvious energy surrounded him.

[Tantomile]

Tantomile smiled back at Artemis and was about to reply when a little ginger and blue kit skidded to a stop in front of them. She raised an eyebrow when he started yammering on about cannons, of all things. Tantomile didn't mind kits, she liked entertaining them if her head didn't hurt, but this kit.... She remembered which one he was. He was very sweet, but his energy.... Goodness.

She smiled at him when he stopped talking. "Very nice... Starskee, is it? I never knew that about cannons...." She glanced over at Artemis, laughing softly. "Really? How did you make it?" Of course, Tantomile was too polite to ask the kit to leave and too kind to be dismissive of his toy. He was sweet, he really was...

[alleycat]

Artemis blinked at the kit in surprise. Mymy, he sure was talkative. Cute, though. She smiled at him, and grinned when he produced his toy.

"That's awesome! Pirates are cool."

[Olivia]

She wasn't exactly spying on the psychic queen, she just wasn't sure if she should approach her as she hadn't really spoken with her before. Her green eyes watch as the grey Artemis, another cat whom she didn't really know (she didn't know that many to be honest), practices her tumbling and sighs. Olivia would love to be able to flip and do awesome things like that, but she just couldn't get her head around it. She could cartwheel and roundoff, but that was about it. She was slightly afraid of trying even a walkover, for fear of falling and hurting herself.

She listens to their conversation, her ears twitching as she feels bad for eavesdropping. She watches as the blue and orange kitten runs in and shows his prized invention. Olivia giggles to herself as she watches the excited kitten shows how the cannon works, and she slinks away to a spot where she could pretend she wasn't watching the whole thing.

She makes her way towards them, nervous as she didn't really know any of the three. But she was bored, and she wanted to get to know more in the Junkyard.

She is wearing dark blue jeans with a pair of black flats and a white t-shirt, with a white cardigan to hold off the chill. She looks to a space near the chair, however she does not go and sit just yet, standing a little away from the group.

"Hi guys." She says with a small wave, unsure just what she should do. "That's really cool." She smiles, pointing to the cannon.

[Starskee]

Excitedly, Starskee ran over and picked up the wrapper that had been shot from his makeshift cannon. To Tantomile's question of how he made it, he replied, "Well, first I took this tube thing, I don't know what it was, no... But, I took that, yes, and then I-"
He rambled on and on about how he made the thing, seems quite proud of himself. After his explanation, he carefully put the toy back into his shoulderbag and closed it up.
Plopping himself down onto the ground, he sat cross-legged and just looked up at the others, staying quiet for a change. His tail swayed slowly back and forth behind. He was obviously very anxious, as most kittens usually were. Though... he should have outgrown the kitten stage years earlier.

[Tantomile]

Tantomile nodded to the little queen, still listening to Starskee. As he finished his explanation, she smiled. "Wow. I'm very impressed you figured that out. Wonderful." Folding her paws together, she looked back to the little queen that just arrived, trying to remember her name.

She knew who she was, the sister of that Pouncival. But her name.... "Oh, Olivia! That's it..." Tantomile smiled, quite proud of herself. "I'm sorry, I just remembered your name. How are you, dear?"

Tantomile had acquired the slightly annoying habit of calling anyone younger than her by 'dear' or 'sweetheart' or 'honey', or some other overly sweet pet name. Maybe it was something her mother had done once, or a sign of her being past the kitten years. But it was a habit she picked up, and she hoped it made her a little less scary, at least to the kits.

[alleycat]

Artemis smiled as Olivia appeared and gave her a small wave accompanied by a "hullo."

She was more interested in Starskee's toy, though. Jumping down from the sofa, she sat down next to the little tomkit. "could I maybe try your cannon? I love pirates, I used to pretend I was one back when I was an alley cat," she said cheerfully. Being an alley cat had been hard, but playing pretend had made it easier. Her mother playing along with it made it all the better. She'd been at the junkyard for a long long time, but she still missed her mother sometimes.

[Olivia]

Olivia giggles softly as the sleek queen remembers her name. "Yeah, I'm good, how about you?" She smiles, and walks to an unoccupied spot and curls up, watching the grey queen and the pirate-loving Starskee on the ground. She is curious, but doesn't want to stretch her boundaries, and thus watches from afar. She didn't know all that much about pirates, just brief things about what they wore, mainly from watching others dress up like them (the whole pirate hat, eyepatch, puffy clothes thing).

[Starskee]

Starskee smiled as the nice queen asked him to see his cannon. He pulled it back out of his bag and handed it to her. "You just put something inside the barrel and then blow it out through this hole in the back here, yes," he explained, pointing to various parts of the toy.
His long tail flicked happily.
"I like to pretend that I'm one of Growltiger's mates! Maybe Mr. Gus will dress up as Growltiger for me, and then we can play, yes!"

[alleycat]

Artemis grinned at Starskee, accepting the cannon. She turned it over in her hands, admiring it. "This is really cool."
She picked up a pebble and slipped it into the barrel of the cannon, then turned it around and put her lips to the hole in the back. She turned her torso, aiming the cannon away from the other cats, and blew into the hole. The pebble flew surprisingly far, and disappeared behind a pile of junk.

[Starskee]

Star clapped his hands together and bounced up and down excitedly. "Great! Great!" he exclaimed. "You'd be a great pirate, yes!" His tail swished back and forth with energy. "Just wait until I make a cutlass! It'll be even cooler, yes!"

[Tantomile]

Tantomile smiled, shifting so her legs dangled off the sofa. Today her legs were itchy, not wanting to stay in the same position for long. "I'm quite well, thank you." She scratched her head, almost irritated at her short fur. It certainly wasn't very warm in the winter.

Glancing back over at Olivia, she asked, "How is your mother? I haven't had a chance to chat with Jellylorum lately, I'd imagine she has her hands full with your brother." Word had certainly spread around the junkyard fast about Pouncival acting out and harassing the girls. Tantomile had hoped it was just a phase, the poor little queens didn't need to deal with him.

[Olivia]

She giggles as she watches Artemis and Starskee play with the odd little toy, and she is quite curious about it, however she remains seated and looks towards Tantomile as she speaks. She shakes her head with a smile on her face.

"She's good, as far as I know, but yes, that's the problem with boys, especially around his age." She giggles softly, tugging her jacket to cover her better due to the chill in the air. "How's Coricopat?"

[alleycat]

Artemis grinned and carefully handed the little cannon back to Starskee.

"Promise me you'll show me your cutlass when it's done!" she said happily.

[Tantomile]

Tantomile grinned, shaking her head. That was the problem with boys, much less mature than the girls their age. When Olivia asked about Coricopat, Tanto glanced away. "Um...."

She was never sure which cats were aware of her and Cori's 'issues'. Probably Munkustrap knew or guessed, but neither of the twins confided much with others. "Coricopat.... I, well..."

Looking to her knees, she finally just said, "He's fine." Really, it was the best answer she could say. She didn't want to trouble Olivia with her silly family issues, which most certainly weren't her fault. It was all Cori's fault, their rift. Besides, he was 'fine'. Fine with his nip, fine with his scruffiness, fine without her.

She hated it when she had to convince herself about it all over again.

[Olivia]

Her thick tail curls around her leg as she watches the short-haired twin. She is unsure whether or not something is up, considering the pauses and body language, however she does not press any further; if something was up, maybe it was best not to enquire.

"That's good." She smiles. "I don't really see him around here much." She reaches up and scratches her large ear before resting her paws in her lap.

[Tantomile]

Everlasting cat, she hated being awkward, mainly because it gave whoever she was talking to reason to think something wasn't right. She nodded at Olivia, absently saying, "Oh, yes, he prefers being alone. It gives him time to think...."

Nodding, she leaned back to stretch out along the couch, closing her eyes as she smiled up at the sun. Eyes still shut, she asked Olivia, "What are you and your friends doing lately? I remember when I was your age, all I cared about was boys and conniving to leave the junkyard without letting Jellylorum know...." She grinned, thinking back. She was only about ten years older than the female kittens, but being young and carefree seemed so far away.

"Even with you and your brother as little bitty kits, she managed to keep an eye on all of us older kittens. It was so frustrating, getting to the gate and being stopped by your mother." Tantomile laughed, her arms folded loosely across her belly. "I'd imagine she hasn't changed a bit in keeping an eye on all of you."

[Starskee]

Starskee piped up at Tantomile's comments about Jellylorum, "She always takes my toys!" What Star considered toys however, were really more like weapons. That little cannon of his could do some damage if loaded with a pebble and aimed at someone's head.

[Olivia]

Olivia nods, understanding what she was talking about. There were times when Olivia just wanted to curl up in her den, alone, hiding from the world.

She wrinkles her nose when Tantomile mentions boys. "Oh no no no, I prefer being by myself, boys aren't mature enough at this age." Truth was, if someone DID show interest in her, Olivia would have to stop and think. But with her whole 'I prefer being alone' facade, and the fact she was kinda odd looking with her larger ears and tail, she did not expect anything at all.

"And mum would kill me if I tried leaving the Junkyard without her permission; I wouldn't want to get on her bad side." She giggles to herself, shaking her head. She laughs at Tantomile's reminiscing words. "Yeah, it's like she's always watching, keeping us all out of trouble. But I think she's more strict with Pounce and I, we're just lucky I guess." There is an obvious joke to her words, but it's said with the kindest heart. True, her mother was quite protective, but Olivia knew enough to know that it was in her best interests. Sometimes, curiosity was annoying when she wasn't allowed to explore what she wanted to.

She giggles at Starskee's comment. "I bet she'd have a reason though." She smiles, knowing her mother wouldn't just take toys for the fun of it.