Just a Cup of Tea (Francis & Lili)

[Lovino Vargas]

He's the meanest little kitty...

The tags annoyed him.

Taking one step after the next, his paw pads used to the carpeted floor now, Lovino narrowed his eyes in annoyance at the sound the tags made as they clinked and clanged under his chin. With a sigh, he sat down a moment after to give himself a break from the annoying noises, watching as people in the house hurried on to their days' businesses. He had snuck out of Lili's room to explore around the huge mansion, doing his best to avoid sight of other mutants and most of all, the man in charge of everything in the place. He only knew that others mentioned him as 'master' or in Lili's case, what seemed to show that he was the father, and that alone made the cat nervous about actually meeting the other's gaze. He was never good with men, as they were always the ones unable to fall for the cuteness factor of his fluffy form, and the nervousness often blasted out in random attacks and hisses which nowhere near pleased human males. So when he heard the man make his way around the corner, Lovino quickly pressed himself into one of the corners and watched silently, his ears flat against his head and his tail wrapped around his body, trying to be as small as possible. Only when the man was gone did he move out from the corner and licked his shoulder quickly to calm his own bristling fur.

Without a word and only staring towards the room the man had entered, Lovino blinked slowly and decided to go in the opposite direction, again having to deal with the cling-clang of his tags each time he moved. At the very least, he had convinced Lili to not put on a bell; he could only imagine how loud he would have been if not so. And he'd rather not be easily found, so the bell was just an extra nuisance. If it was up to him, even the tags would have come off, but he found it impossible to pull it off over his head. In his cat form, the limbs didn't move as so, and in his human form it was snug around his neck and impossible to pull off without some sort of cutting device like scissors. But it was not tight, either, by any per say. It was just nicely fit, so it wasn't like Lovino could complain saying it made it hard for him to breathe. With a small groan, the cat moved himself into one of the may guest rooms, glancing around it. It was like any other of the few guest rooms he had seen, and he decided there wasn't much to look at, so instead he just moved on for the next room. So far, he had found out where the kitchen, bathroom, few bedrooms, the master bedroom, Lili's room, and the restrooms were. Now it was just curiosity striking his nerves more than anything.

Pressing himself against the wall when he suddenly felt a small bit of chill and an unknown smell, Lovino glanced up to stare at a door, much bigger than any of the other ones. The scent only identified as it led to the outdoors, and Lovino decided to give it a better look so he would know how to open it in case of his sudden urge to run away. He had no thoughts of such at the moment; sure he didn't like humans, but Lili was not too bad of one. She sure annoyed him to no end with demanding to keep the tags on him and to stay in her view, but other than that, she provided him with nice food and some good scratches every now and then. Compared to his past owners, she was definitely much better and easier to deal with.

As soon as he approached towards the door however, Lovino's ears perked up at an unfamiliar sound. It sounded like a ring... Or maybe a buzz? But it was loud, and rang through the whole house. Feeling as if it was going to jump out of his skin, Lovino yowled in fear and jumped high, before he dashed away from the door to the room he was most familiar with; Lili's room, where he tackled himself into her arms and mewled, trembling in fear. His ears flat and tail curled up between his back legs, Lovino dug his claws into Lili's shirt for secured comfort, his eyes still wide with fear.

W-... What was that noise....!?

Word Count: 761

Tags: Lili & Francis

Notes: Doorbell scared poor kitty ;//;

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[Deleted]

Though dislike and hatred were two things Lili attempted to avoid, for such feelings are awful and she cares to not have to feel them unless it is absolutely necessary, it would be instead sufficient enough to say that one of the things that mildly annoyed her were very impromptu visits and invitations. Incapable of saying "No" to last-minute ventures for fear of displeasing the person sending the invitation, she thus grudgingly goes along with whatever has been sprung upon her, never mind the kind of plans she might have had for herself.

For this particular reason Lili had a slight distaste for anything that involved Francis. She didn't hate the man. He was sweet, and he didn't seem as though he wished to force any situations (if anything, most of the blame fell on Oliver,) but he had the unfortunate position of being both Oliver's favorite friend and favorite suitor for his child. Who even did that kind of thing anymore? Not to say Lili wasn't - ahem - appreciative of her fathers efforts, which might have been somewhat submerged in good intentions, she was nonetheless aware that the ulterior motive was to obtain more power.

She regarded any arranged events with suspicion. The moment Oliver saw Lili and Francis conversing at that party, he must have put together a plan, suspecting that the two hit it off well enough to put that plan into action. Needless to say, it really just drove Lili away from him to the point nowadays she spent most of her time in her room in an attempt to avoid having to confront her father about anything related to the future. For this reason she chose to invest in Lovino, a small and unassuming creature who could be kept in her room without suspicion, in a role where little would be expected of him and he wouldn't have to risk ever being taken away for some other task.

He filled the role well, thought it took some time for him to get used to both Lili and the idea of basically being a house pet. His pride might be damaged, but Lili sought to make the job as comfortable for him as possible, sneaking him as much food as she could carry without getting caught, for what self-respecting girl would take any meal into her room, which was supposed to be clean and free of crumbs and other filth?

As she thought about this, it must have been fate that the doorbell rang that day. She glanced out her window into the vast courtyard and spied a familiar car down in the circular driveway and inwardly groaned. Not another tea party! Surely this was the work of her meddlesome father, knowing full well she wouldn't be able to hide and avoid the event if the event came to her. Her door was open just a crack, but that was enough for Lovino to come barreling into her room and into her arms. She held him securely as he continued to panic, scared.

"L-Lovino?? What's wrong?" She stammered. She'd seen him angry, nervous, and suspicious, but this was a new fear she'd never seen in him before. She was shaking, mewling at her in desperation as if something was about to come in and take him away. "It was just the doorbell, someone's here!" Lili said in attempted comfort.

Word Count: 564

Tags: Lovino Vargas

Notes: bwarahghgh baby <33

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[Deleted]

"I did my best to notice, When the call came down the line"

The path to a lady's heart was a long and quite complicated one, paved with difficulties of all sorts from what Francis had observed over the course of the years. Every woman was special and had her own, romantic notions of how the courting process should go – which was unsurprising, seeing as all the other unique traits people possessed that differed from each other.

Lili was no different; she had her own ideals. Francis was currently attempting his best efforts to discover what they were, and as far as he could tell, flowers and sitting down amiably over a cup of tea seemed to be a good start. His intentions were so far only to be able to gain Lili's favor and, at bare minimum, obtain friendship with her; however, that was not going very well. She was a very smart girl, and had long ago realized what Oliver was trying to orchestrate for her. Francis had no say in this situation as an outsider – this was between family members, and it should have stayed that way. And yet, he had volunteered himself to take a chance at courting the young Zwingli daughter – most likely due to his own ridiculous ideas. It was similar to how he viewed to purchasing the “mutants” in all honesty; he thought that by being able to take care of Lili, he could rescue her from her imposing and demanding father. She would be under his protection, having come to live with him in his far too large mansion for only one man and a few others. She would be able to do as she pleased while living with him – she would be free.

Simply put, it was foolish. Lili would probably resent him even more if she ever found out the truth; she didn't deserve to be treated in the way Francis was, as far as his so-called plan went. It was naive, to say in the least, but Francis was trying. There was no harm in doing that, right?

He at least hoped Lili enjoyed his company just to be able to have another person to talk to. That would be enough for him, really; Francis liked spending time with her. They had intelligent conversation, and he was content with her secret slyness. A very lovely, beautiful lady, indeed – Lili was a girl who had so much potential to do whatever she wanted, whatever she chose – if only her father wasn't holding her back.

Francis stepped out of his very fancy car, carrying a bouquet of white carnations, and closed the door behind him. He was a person who greatly appreciated symbolism, and the language of flowers was no exception – it was beautiful, being able to make a bouquet especially for another and let the flowers themselves talk. It was one of those little things in life that made him happy; it was undeniably the romantic inside that made him feel this way. With hope, Lili would accept the flowers and they would be able to have a good-natured afternoon together without any pressure.

He approached the door, taking a deep breath to calm his thoughts, and rang the doorbell.

electric has gangnam style

[Lovino Vargas]

He's the meanest little kitty...

Feeling the embrace of his human made him slightly-- no, much-- calmer, though he didn't dare put his guard down. He felt his heart thump wildly in his chest, adding onto the panic further, and mewed softly to tell her that he heard her. That of course didn't mean she was right, though. It could be something weird walking into the house to take over the place, or attack them, or... The list went on of the possibilities his unsocialized mind came up with. As so, his claws stayed curled into the fabric still, as he refused to let her put him down or pull him away.

He heard footsteps of other mutants as they began to rush for something, preparing for the table their master's daughter would need for the tea party. Confused, Lovino rested his chin on his paws as he kept himself balanced in Lili's hold. His ears flicked, listening for the sound to come again. When it didn't, he looked up to Lili curiously just in time for her to explain the noise as something she called, a 'doorbell'.

Well what the fuck was that? It was loud and long and had a weird noise to it that sure sounded like machinery and... It was just a new sound overall. Narrowing his olive green eyes hearing that someone was here, Lovino pushed himself up slightly and rubbed his small head against the bottom of the human girl's chin, doing what all cats did to what they believed was their's. He was attempting to mark her with his scent, not entirely sure why he had the sudden urge to do so however. That was the weird part about being part animal for a mutant; sudden urges rose for unknown reasons for Lovino himself, and he would instinctively do it without second thought. Perhaps that was where his hisses and purrs came from as well?

He gave a small purr as pleasure soothed his body from being able to mark the girl as his 'territory' in a sense. He did so all the way, making sure to rub his head, neck, and a bit of his shoulders and back against the same area, before he lowered himself back to relax in her arms, now going to groom his paws to distract himself from the initial fear. He ignored the clanking of the tags when he did so, though it gave his ears irritation, which he showed to Lili by several annoyed twitches of his triangular ears. It didn't take long for Lovino to just listen in quietly to his surroundings, being able to even pick up the 'guest's' breaths if he concentrated in it enough.

"Who is it...?" He asked finally when the curiosity at last took over his fear, overshadowing it. Lovino looked up to Lili for answers, tilting his head slightly.

Word Count: 475

Tags: Lili & Francis

Notes: I'm sorry this took forever ;//;

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[Deleted]

Hoo boy. Francis.

She could hear the Frenchman's voice from the front, the loud announcement of the doorman, and the call of her name as her father demanded she come greet their guest. And, something along the lines of "leave the damn cat," but considering his fearfulness she'd feel guilty telling him to stay behind. There was no way she could leave his shaking form on the floor to panic or defend himself from the unknown. The poor thing calmed down only when she held him... she could trust him, right? It wasn't as if he was going to attack faces or run out the door. He wasn't like that - well, usually. She was sure he often desired to go right for Oliver's eyes.

"Ah... Lovino, could you be more gentle?" The prick of his claws against her skin... ouch. It didn't change, even if he could become human this form was still purely feline and hurt like one.

His response was a purr, and a rub of his head under the chin. She grinned and giggled. His fur was soft, but it tickled too. He was adorable when he did that, not that Lili had much experience with cats to know what the expression of affection meant. Claiming her as territory, which was terribly ironic given the relationship they had with each other with she as his owner and technically having claimed him. Lili stood up from the bed and ran her hand down his back, brushing his soft fur back down from its bristled state.

"It's Francis - a friend of the family, if you want to call him that." she explained, moving towards the door with her now free hand outstretched for the knob. "He comes by often. Erm-- his house is where I disappear to. I believe you've asked about that before? This is that man."

And she was expected to be a good girl and go see him whenever it was... strong suggested. She breathed a monosyllable laugh as she walked down the stairs, carrying Lovino along. He father spotted the cat in her arms and heaved an audible grunt of disapproval. "I thought I told you to keep him upstairs."

"He's nervous, and being alone will make it worse!"

The look in his eyes spoke his rebuttal just as effectively as his words could have, 'Who cares.'

Lili frowned at him and stepped past him towards the Frenchman, her hand outstetched for a handshake. "Forgive the informality of my greeting. As you can see, my hands are full." If there was anything she could count on from Francis, it was the ease of his understanding. He was kind and treated everyone right, no matter the blood. That was how she saw him, anyway.

Word Count: 460

Tags: Lovino Vargas

Notes: bwarahghgh baby <33

made by MISSO for use on IoF