Red Light Green Light
Tavi glanced back over her shoulder. Yep, still back there. She was suitably impressed. Smiling, she revved the bike a little more. Most police officers would have just given up by now, after realizing that this was a game to her and that she was much better at it than most players. This guy though, he was stubborn; better yet, he was an excellent rider. He also had single minded determination to catch "the bad guy". She was fairly certain he had run at least two red lights already in his pursuit of the dangerous criminal.
Making a sharp turn down a narrow alley, Tavi dodged the dumpster and larger pieces of debris. Grinning behind her faceplate, she came out onto the one way street....going the wrong way. Tavi zig and zagged around the cars honking in surprised indignation,grateful none of them thought to swerve or slam on the breaks. You just couldn't trust drivers not to be idiots these days.
Blue lights appeared in the reflection on a nearby storefront window. Ah, there was her friend. She would have been disappointed if she had lost him so soon. Tavi turned down another street.
With a startled hiss Mara leaped out of the way, catching the top of the bike's frame on her hip. It tossed her a good distance to fetch up against a wall, momentarily stunned, before she hopped to her feet and gave a lively yowl.
"Here kitty kitty..." Her eyes scanned the darkness for the little ball of fur. She really didn't have time to mess around; the lone ranger would be here any second.
Therefore, the kindness of a stranger deserved some thanks - or at least, the confirmation that she was alive and not badly hurt.
Mara slipped out of the shadows, her dappled fur catching the dim streetlight. She crept low to the ground like a nervous cat would, looking up hesitantly at the stranger in front of her. Keeping a safe distance she hunkered down and swung her tail from side to side in standard cat speak for, "I see you there but I haven't joined your club yet."
"That's right. I'm not going to hurt you." She grinned sheepishly at the cat and shrugged one shoulder. "You know aside from nearly running you over."
Making only the smallest of movements, Tavi crept a little closer to the dappled cat. Once within reach, she scooped it up one handed and drew it quickly to her chest and bringing the other arm around it. Running back to the bike, Tavi hopped on and started the vehicle one handed. Now THIS was going to be a challenge.
She slid the bike around the corner of the next building just as the blue lights began to appear on the brick behind her.
"That was close." Not that she was out of the woods yet. Looking down at her passenger, Tavi considered their riding arrangement. In a car this wouldn't be a problem but she would hate for the animal to decide to take a leap off the bike once she got it going again at full speed. Two handed she might be able to lift the bike over into the dumpster but there was no way to do that with one arm around a cat. If she were honest with herself she would have discarded the idea of placing her shiny precious machine into the trash anyway. Tavi cringed at the mere thought of how much cleaning it would require afterward.
There was no help for it. With a resigned sigh, she tucked the cat into her jacket and pulled the straps around to draw it, loosely but firmly closed.
"I doubt you like this arrangement any more than I do but I will get us out of this as soon as possible." Pushing the visor back into place, Tavi cast a glance at the motorcycle mere feet behind her.
She ignored the shouted command to halt and just hoped the guy didn't try to shoot at her before she could round the next corner. If he did then the minor scratches of the cat she was likely about to receive would be the least of her worries. Tavi would have to get a new jacket and she -liked- this jacket.
"Hang on, Cat. This is going to be a fun ride" Peeling off and skidding around the next building, Tavi did her best to put a little more distance between her and the cop
She didn't need to be tucked into a jacket but there was no way to convey that and even less to explain it, so she hunkered down on the seat of the bike in front of the woman and prepared for the inevitable takeoff. It was nearly impossible to hang on without using her claws so she endeavored to at least do so in the least destructive or painful manner possible, using her balance and the pressure of the woman's jacket to stay on the seat of the bike.
As they peeled out, Mara flattened her ears and squinted, tucking her nose into the jacket but peering out the front of it so she could see where they were going. She'd ridden on Amir's bike with him before, but this was something new entirely.
"Huh, we might just get out of a good scratching today after all." Tavi turned onto a straight road and put on more speed. It wouldn't be wise to stay here too long or the motorcycle cop would just call for backup. Really, he probably already had. With a sigh, Tavi realized it was probably time to call an end to this little game of chase. Especially now that she had an extra passenger. Crossing a sidewalk, she used one hand to shove an unobservant pedestrian out of the way. Tavi cut over an few more streets and turned down a back alley, crossed a vacant lot and then rolled gently down into a nearby parking garage. She scanned the walls for something workable and found a door with an employees only sign posted on the front.
"Perfect" Rolling the bike over to the door, Tavi hopped off,placing a hand underneath the cat in order to give it a comfortable place to perch.
"I really should have paid more attention to how to pick these things." She said ruefully to the cat like it might be interested in the news. Placing a shoulder against the door, Tavi pushed on it with enough force to make it open whether it was locked or not. She nearly lost her balance when the -unlocked- door easily gave in to her demands. Bending fowards, she halted her momentum and slowly righted herself and her new friend.
"Well that was easier than expected." Tavi gave the feline a reassuring scratch on the head as she headed back to the Hayabusa. "You deserve a whole string of fish for putting up with all this."
Rolling the bike into the little store room, Tavi closed the door behind her. Kneeling down, she eased the jacket open and let her passenger out. Then she took off the helmet and set it on the seat. Short brightly coloured hair spilled out from under it flaring wildly in every direction.
Still bundled against the woman's chest, Mara found herself offered a perch in the form of a hand. She sat carefully, flexing her claws when the woman jolted against, and then through, the door, but not breaking skin.
When released, Mara made a cursory inspection of the room and then settled herself down to clean a little bit of alley grit from between her toes. Cleanliness was, after all, important to any cat. When she looked up at the woman's vibrant hair she gave a little jump, walking close and stretching her nose up as if to inspect it.
Looking at her new found friend, the werewolf leaned back a little and then tilted her head to the side. Yep, spots not stripes. What she had taken in the dark for a common American Tabby cat was not that at all. She looked again for signs of a collar or anything else that would indicate a person was missing their cat. The feline under inspection looked well groomed but her claws looked worn down naturally not clipped and she did not have the normal signs of being spayed.
"You're a bit far from home aren't you?" Leaning back against the door. She sighed. "I'd say me too, if there was such a place. Care for a new one?"
How often did a person find a bike riding cat that wasn't trained? Tavi still worried someone was going to be missing a very beautiful pet. After all, you just didn't see this breed of cat running around wild in the middle of the US.
She wondered at the woman's words; sometimes it was difficult to convey any kind of meaning whatsoever without seeming too human. All the same Mara sat back and warbled a little in the back of her throat. The trill had a questioning lilt to it at the end and she found most humans assumed it was an inquiry of some sort.
Sixteen hundred years was a long time to learn how to get around the "too human" handicap.
"I guess my hair is fine then, at least as a cat toy."
She raised an eyebrow at the questioning tone from her companion and shrugged.
"I am probably as new to Nachton as you but I suppose we can both make a home here. That's the plan anyway."
She looked around the room for anything interesting. It was a store room with brooms,paint cans, traffic cones and sadly not much else of interest. Standing up, Tavi reached down and picked up a traffic cone. She considered it for a moment.
"Its probably useful for something....but right now I am at a loss." Turning a complete circle in the cramped space, she cast one more glance at everything in it.
"Okay, well now I'm officially bored." Patting the bike. "I suppose you'll be safe enough in here for a bit. She would go out and actually -lock- the door behind her and come back to get the vehicle in a few hours when the police have stopped searching for it.
Reaching down, she held her arms out for the cat.
"Shall we go see what other trouble we can get into?"
When the woman held out her arms, Mara didn't have to be asked twice. She leaped softly into them and then padded carefully up to her shoulder, draping herself like a scarf around the woman's neck. Her message couldn't be clearer; at least for tonight, they could be partners in crime.
"There that's better."
She headed out the door,pausing to make certain that it was locked securely.
"A person can't be too careful. You just never know who might come barging in here."
With a whistle and a light step she headed outside to the street and took a look around. There were a larger than average number of police in the area. Several were walking up and down the sidewalk but neither of these were the motorcycle cop who had been so persistent. She figured he was still riding the streets expanding the search and looking into places only a motorcycle could go.
With a sly grin to the cat, Tavi walked up to the pair of policemen.
"Good evening officers. Its a nice night for a walk isn't it?"
"I suppose it is."
Sighing at his partner, Kevin, Jeff figured that it was their public duty to interview all witnesses that might have seen something. To be honest he wasn't even sure why they were wasting time with this mess; there were violent criminals to catch but Mr Hotshot with his shiny bike felt that they should all case the area for his missing perp.
"You wouldn't happen to have seen a motorcycle race past here would you? No need in giving the girl any details to spin tall tales with; she either did or she didn't. It was probably a lost cause anyway. To hear Hotshot tell it, this guy, whoever he was, was the fastest thing on two wheels that he'd ever seen. No doubt, he was two counties over by now.
She wound herself around his ankles as charmingly as possible, leaning at the right angle to let the street lights glint off of her molten silver-spotted coat. Clearly, her companion could not have been the hot shot motorcyclist. Cats don't ride on motorcycles. Everyone knows that.
"Red and black? Yeah, It went past here headed that way." She helpfully pointed up the road. She was being perfectly honest; she was just neglecting to mention that she doubled back through the side streets and vacant lot.
"Nice bike too. Someone has good taste."
She smiled down at the cat weaving in and out of the officer's legs.
"Look, she likes you!" Tavi inwardly smirked at the lint rolling the man's black pants were going to need once her companion got done with them.
"That's pretty special. Most of the time you have to practically run over her to get her attention." Of course, for all Tavi knew the cat was this friendly to everyone which really would suggest that she was used to humans. Whoever left her outside in the city should be shot. Right now she was doing such a good job of helping distract the policemen that she definitely deserved those fish.
"Yes, that's the one. Thank you for the information." He spoke into the radio on his shoulder relaying the latest heading of their suspect.
Perhaps he had been wrong about the kid;she seemed polite and willing to be of assistance. She should probably change that hair though and those clothes; they give off a different impression entirely. Of course, he knew better than to profile people but in this job you had to make some snap decisions.
He harumphed at her mention of how awesome the bike was. Even if she wasn't the punk kid he had taken her for; she did seem to be interested in trouble.
"I'd stay away from the likes of that guy if I were you. Nothing good ever comes from such recklessness. He'd likely get you both killed one day."
Putting on a smile for the cat at his feet, McCormick looked down and continued to hold still. "Yep, nice cat you've got there."
Kneeling down, Kevin held the back of his hand out to the cat. Oh, they definitely needed to stay here a little while longer. How did felines always seem to know which one would not want their attention? And why did they always go directly to that person? He wasn't sure but right at this moment he was blessing the little silver devil because she was making his day.
"Yeah, McCormick, She likes you. You should say hello." He smiled down at the cat, knowing his partner was probably shooting him a look of pure hatred.
"She's very pretty. What's her name?"
Naturally, she rubbed all the harder on the latter.
The second officer made a token gesture of friendship which Mara accepted on behalf of friendly strays everywhere by sniffing his hand lightly and then rubbing her cheek on it once. Then she was back to officer number one, weaving and rubbing and looking every bit like a cat in the throes of cat-rub rapture.
She surveyed her handiwork and discovered a section of slacks she'd left un-furred. She took care of that and then sat back on her haunches, placing her front paws on the officer's knee, voicing a loud objection to the fact that he hadn't properly rewarded such an outward display of feline affection and friendliness. She bounced up and down a few times, clearly indicating that if the required acknowledgment wasn't forthcoming, she would have to take drastic measures and climb up the officer to make sure he'd seen her.
There was nothing more fun than a little bit of stray-kitty-mischief.
Her attention was drawn to the other cop who looked to be amused by something before he bent down to pet the cat. Looking back up at the first officer, Tavi began to get an idea of his problem. Could McCormick here be afraid of cats? He was strung tighter than a bow string. What a weird phobia? Rats, okay...they might have at one time or another carried a disease or two and dogs, sure, some of those were big enough to mess a person up. She certainly had reason to know...but cats?!
She was watching the man in such fascination that she almost missed what the second policeman asked her.
"Uh, Kitty." Wow, Tavi, that was really uninspired. She added quickly. "Little sisters, what can you do?"
Reaching down, he gingerly patted the cat a few times on the head.
"Nice kitty."
He really hoped that would be enough to keep it from taking a flying leap towards his face. He already wanted a hot shower and a chance to scratch the skin off his legs. He was pretty sure his face was swelling. What a wonderful headline this would make in tomorrow's paper: Officer dies from petting pussy. Yep, at least he'd already be dead and not have to face the entire department after they read it.
"Well, Thank you again for the information. We should be moving along."
Walking stiffly away from the girl and the grey menace, McCormick reminded himself to move at a dignified pace. He was hoping to get around a corner quickly before the dancing and scratching began. Ah, the diner there, out of the public eye, even better.
((OOC: He's not swelling up, btw, he's over reacting. Just a tad. Wouldn't want Mara to think she'd actually killed the man.))