Open to Join Scoping About

Survival demands caution, but greatness requires daring
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Kosmo caught her scent before his odd eyes caught sight of her. It wasn't wild, but not quite captured pet, either. Perhaps something in between, balanced. Opportunistic. Fat on human food and prey alike.

He watched from the shadow of a fire escape as she lifted the limp rodent, mismatched eyes tracking the efficient kill with quiet interest. She didn't hesitate as she hunted. He greeted her carefully so not to spook her. He let his weight shift, claws scraping softly as he stepped into view at the edge of the streetlight's reach.

"A clean catch for a house-fed type." His voice was a low, even drawl of a confident cat. The cinnamon rogue's gaze flicked briefly to the mouse, then back to her face. He didn't crowd her space or give her an excuse to accuse him of wanting her catch.

"You don't seem like you belong out here...But neither do you smell lost." His vague observation felt more like a premonition. The length of his tail - a paltry half snip - circled lazily behind him. It looked like she had blood on her pelt, but perhaps it was some sort of ochre...She had good taste, it seemed.

She who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.

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Vivica's ears perked as she heard a voice behind her, every instinct she had screamed for her to act, to run or strike, but this was not her home anymore, she had nothing but her wits, and those only took her so far. So it was best to fight against her instincts than it was to fight against this cat. Instead, she turned to greet him.

"Something like that." She clicked her tongue, fascinated and slightly suspicious. Would he want something from her? She had nothing to give to him... except her mouse, but he didn't seem to be asking for that, or showing that he even considered it. A weird cat. "House-fed wasn't always how I was." her deep amber eyes narrowed, she had no intentions of sharing her stories to a stranger. At least not while he was still a stranger. "And yet, it is what I live with now. Eating kibble that looks like rabbit dropping and... strangely addictive slop. But mice are better."

Vivica held his mismatched gaze, the tip of her long tail twitched with anticipation, as if she were expecting him to snatch up her food and run. But she didn't voice her concerns outwardly. She then followed his eyes to the red dyed streaks marking her white cheek fur and nodded in understanding. "The people did this." She explained, placing a paw on the red that marked her face. "It's a stain... of some sort. Something to keep me recognizable, I'd argue. People seem to daft to recognize their own housemate." she spoke in a finite, calculated way, it seemed light hearted at least.

She then pulled her catch closer towards her, using her claws to defluff it, scrapping them across it's dusty brown coat to make it a bit more palatable. "You seem... observant. Is there a name beneath the mystery?"

Survival demands caution, but greatness requires daring
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Kosmo's gaze lingered a heartbeat longer on the mouse as she drew it in, then lifted back to her face without a trace of challenge. If anything, there was approval there...not hunger.

"Hm...You don't seem too pleased with your lot in life." he mentioned after she spoke of her humans in that tone. There was no affection there. His own words weren't cruel, nor pitying. Maybe just a bit matter of fact. He shrugged lightly. "Humans can be useful, though, if you know how to go about it. Never trust one, though. Not if you plan on keeping your claws."

At her remark about observation, the faintest curl tugged at one corner of his mouth. "I'm only passing through." He shifted his weight, already angling his body away, as though the conversation had simply intersected his path rather than stopped it. "Tonight just happened to offer something… out of the ordinary."

He dipped his head in a small, polite gesture. "Kosmo."

The half tail traced a slow arc behind him as he took a step back toward the shadows between buildings. "Enjoy your mouse." His mismatched eyes met hers once more, steady and unreadable. "Don't rush a good meal." Then he turned, giving her his back without hurry as the faint scent of fresh lavender wafted from him.

He left the space open and unclaimed. If her curiosity tugged harder than caution, all she'd need to do was say so.

She who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.

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There were words Vivica could say to call the tom back, to call for his company, but she didn't say a word, didn't beg or plead to be spoken to, simply followed the cinnamon pelted tom with a careful gait, as if every stone might fall out beneath her. However she had enough confidence that if it did, she'd know how to fall and land and make it look like she had done it on purpose. 

She followed this Kosmo with her mouse in her mouth, having picked it up before she began to follow. She inspected Kosmo's face like it might have hidden something, it did, but not something that she held too much interest in finding out. It was none of her business what secrets this cat had as much as her secrets weren't his. 

Vivica's eyes narrowed, not in aggression, not quite focus as it was known, but something closer to it. "I'm... Vivica." She held a hesitant pause before she introduced herself, as if the name held something anew, but it was well fitting, at least there was nothing Vivica saw that made it out of sorts. She didn't share her mouse, she hardly loosened her grip around it, like the now sparse haired rodent was a life-line, even if the scrap of prey was hardly how she valued it. 

"I've not been for very long. Would a cat of your... likeness, know your way around? It would be appreciated." She spoke, her tone leaned neither way, not friendly, not condescending, just one of purpose. If she were to be communing with a local, she wanted something out of it at least.

Survival demands caution, but greatness requires daring
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Kosmo didn't stop. He let her pawsteps fall in behind his own, the faint scrape of claw giving him the indication that they were measured. If she had wanted to attack him, she would have by now. There was no reason for hostilities, especially when he had no interest in her mouse and wasn't in her human's yard.

"Vivica." He didn't recognize the name to mean anything in particular, but he felt it could represent this cat well enough.

Her question drew a soft huff from his nose as he continued, passing an alley crawling with ivy that Kosmo would not turn into. It seemed his plans for the night had changed. The lavender clinging to his pelt stirred as he shifted.

"I know some shortcuts between the houses here in Whitehart which includes some prime hunting spots if you ever feel like tasting blood." The Treecut Place wasn't far from here. But from there it was only a short hop into Clan lands. ThunderClan.

His tail tip gave a slow, thoughtful flick. "If you don't mind walking with me a bit." A gentle door ajar, waiting to see if she would follow.

She who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.

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"Don't wear it out." Vivica replied when Kosmo repeated her name, the smirk she gave him was playful, but carefully curated, as she examined the lavender in his cinnamon fur, a softer kind of contrast to if she had put it onto her black fur. However the smell did cover up a lot, something she'd be tempted to use in future. If the situation ever called for it. 

The mention of blood drew out a soft twitch in her white whiskers, a gentle curve of her mouth that didn't last long enough to be noticed easily. "Oh I'm no stranger to blood. This mouse didn't just jump into my mouth out of my own pure luck." she chirped, aiming the light joke with a twitch of the tip of her long tail.

She watched Kosmo's movements, making sure she didn't miss anything, the way his paws lacked much purpose after they passed an alley. Was that the original plan for him to travel through? Had she altered it? Kosmo seemed to be the type to adapt. It was a good skill that come could learn well from.

Vivica easily kept pace, her lean muscle making good use in keeping up with the cinnamon tom, matching his pace with a calculated ease. "I can keep up fine. Now, Kosmo," she began, her voice cool but not hollow, "where to first?"

"zzZZzz"

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Noah had felt himself borderline boring to death in the recent days. With Raven busy clinging to their housefolk, the tomcat didn't really have anybody to entertain him. He should probably visit his sweet Duchess. Maybe he could take just a short little detour though.

Padding out of the bushes and shaking the pelt, the tom's eyes widened in mild curiosity at the sight of a new feline he had not seen before along with a tom he had maybe caught glimpses of here and there. He was pretty certain that Raven had mentioned him in passing as well but that had never become acquainted.

The tabby paused to stare, contemplating whether or not to greet the two. On one paw he wasn't fond of other cats but on the other his sister had been nagging him to make more friends...

Survival demands caution, but greatness requires daring
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Kosmo slowed just enough for the moment to breathe.His ears had already caught Noah's approach before the bushes stirred. Seemed a heavier step compared to Vivica's. When the tabby emerged, Kosmo's head turned fully this time, mismatched eyes settling on him with calm appraisal rather than surprise.

"Careful." Kosmo said mildly, voice carrying just enough to acknowledge Noah with a smirk. "She's bloodthirsty."

Kosmo didn't bristle or square up, simply made a joke he hoped was inoffensive. He always made sure to keep his exits open.

"Are you just passing through as well, or do you live somewhere among the human dens?"The half tail traced a lazy arc behind him as if the interruption amused him more than it annoyed him. "We were just trading some directions."

She who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.

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Noah's arrival didn't go unnoticed by Vivica, but the mouse wasn't going to go to waste. While Kosmo turned with his greeting, the tuxedo she-cat dropped her mouse and finished it in a few bites before swiping the remains toward the grass. Sure that something else will make use of the parts she did not. 

And then finally, Vivica turned when Kosmo made his remark about her bloodthirst. Little did he know, she thought to herself before sitting beside Kosmo, her tail laid behind her to leave her soft paws free for view, clawless and unthreatening. "Ignore the bark-brain. The only blood I've got any interest in lapping up is that of the universally delectable kind." she said the words casually, matching the energy that Kosmo put out with an amused smirk.

"Seems I should introduce myself twice today. You can call me Vivica." She dipped her head, she doubted that Kosmo would take to introductions right away, but he could be a cat of surprises, who knows what he would do next, same goes for the stranger here. "Tell me, stranger, what is it you're called? Wherever you hail from."