Sneaking out of a clingy succugirl's arms on a cold morning gave Bubbles a new appreciation for her own flexibility. The contortions necessary to dodge Kaia's horns, and grabby little mitts, pressed even the neko to her limits.
However, she was eventually tip-toeing over to the nearby window, her boots in one hand, and dress slung over her shoulder. Bubbles took one longing look back at the woman, before she very quietly opened the window and stepped out.
She slipped as soon as her foot hit the frozen roof, causing her to bite her tongue as she did the splits and went sliding towards the gutter. Eyes watering as the morning ice froze and burned her well-used privates.
She just barely caught herself on the gutter, cursing under her breath and managing to pull one boot on. However, before she could get the other in place, she heard a creak and snap and let out a frustrated moan.
The gutter broke free, swinging out over the street, with the neko balancing on one foot inside it. Her arms were pinwheeling as she tried to stay upright, whilst also trying not to make noise to draw attention to herself.
If she was a fantastic neko like the Artema or Toofy, she'd just do a flip and land fully clothed. Unfortunately, Bubbles was just... Bubbles. And she was an idiotic little klutz.
She lost her balance, tumbling backwards.
The neko screamed as she realised what she was falling towards, which turned out to be a terrible idea. She landed face-first, open-mouthed, and naked apart from one boot into the passing cart of dung.
She yanked her head out of the soft and warm material, before bursting into tears at the smell, pawing at her hair and spitting. The driver swung around in his seat in surprise, and she heard Kaia yelling her name.
She sobbed, not even able to rub her cheeks because her hands were covered in shit. All the worst things always happened to her! The neko sadly stepped off the back of the cart, ignoring the driver and slamming her other foot into its boot with a tail-curling squelch.
She stumbled down the road, her filthy dress in hand, sniffling and staring at the ground. She heard people offended by her impropriety, people gagging at the smell, and scrambling to get out of her way.
Kaia might be worried about her. The succubus had heard the scream, and would see the broken gutter. However, Bubbles had been trying to run away from her. She'd let the woman name her, but now she was kinda regretting that.
She had now pretty much done everything that could be done with a succubus, apart from some fetishes around soul sucking and glamours, and she was terrified that she might actually do those, as well. She didn't seem to be very good at telling Kaia, no.
Bubbles knew her life was crap as the stuff covering her, but she wasn't willing to change it. She was scared by what Kaia was offering her, and how it was better than what she had and that she wanted it. However, she was independent, and she needed the succubus to know that.
She'd just been trying to prove that she'd come and go as she liked.
Bubbles poked out her bottom lip and sniffed at her shoulder, before recoiling and falling onto hands and knees. She hacked up a furball into the gutter, full of fishbones and crystallised sugar.
She'd been hoping it had just been horseshit. She might despise the stinky animals that humans loved to ride around on, but at least that would have been okay.
Unfortunately, most houses didn't have plumbing, like Kaia's did.
The smell on Bubbles was the stink of all kinds... But the kinds that could speak. Not pets, not work animals. She'd landed in the godsdamned wastecart, into the contents of a hundred emptied chamberpots.
She hacked another furball, but as she did, a passing cartwheel snagged on her dress. There was a brief pulling of material, and then a horrendous tearing noise as the seams were ripped free and she was left holding nothing but a shit-stained rag.
"Noooo!" Bubbles warbled, staring at what had been one of her favourite dresses.
She'd only changed out of the miner's outfit and into it because Kaia had wanted to play with her in a dress. She wouldn't have given a rattan ass if her pants, that she'd left as Isaac's, had been torn up. The sundress was something else altogether.
Her pale eyes flashed yellow, glowing as her anger boiled up inside her. The neko launched to her feet, focusing all her attention on the cart that had ripped her dress.
She snarled angrily, hands clenching into fists. Her muscles tightened, her cheek began to twitch. The neko growled and turned her head sideways, and then pointed at the lead horse, as she deployed the pent-up spell with all her strength.
A small popping noise, like a paper bag blown up and slammed into a fist, was almost lost beneath the noise of the street. Bubbles grinned as the horse reared up, and then her face dropped as the driver easily got it back under control and they continued on their way, uninterrupted.
Stupid finicky horses. Never scared when you want them to be.
She stomped down the street, tail twitching and claws sliding in and out with irritation. Glaring at everyone who dared to look in her direction, which weren't that many.
She lined up at the public bathhouse, and the receptionist took one look at her and shook their head. She produced a silver tile out of the inside of her cheek, wasting so much of her hard earned silver just to do something she hated, because she'd fallen over.
Hiring an entire pool because she had faeces all over.
The catgirl sank into the hot water, blowing into it angrily as she floated to the bottom of the floor. She sat cross-legged, gently waving her hands to keep her under, as the sludge slowly detached from her.
She snarled as she sat there, hating her life.
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Bubbles moaned to herself as she attempted to dry her ears. The sensitive things were flicking back and forth at the roughness of the towel, refusing to cooperate.
She snarled and flicked her head back and forth violently, trying to fling the water clear. It worked about as well as could be expected. So she went back to padding at her delicate nekomimi.
At least she didn't smell of shit, anymore.
Brushing out her tail had her biting her lip and whimpering. Baths really were the worst thing in the world. She didn't understand humans who wanted to bathe every day, like the lords and ladies, at all. Why would someone willing to submit to this voiden experience?
She squeezed her eyes shut and ruffled the towel up and down her tail, trying not to cry as she did. When it was dry, and felt raw and beaten like a baker's dough, she re-brushed all the hairs flat again.
Bubbles tossed aside the towel angrily, and finally gave a thought to what she was going to do next.
She might not be in heat, but she was still a naked kitty, and this wasn't the nicest part of town. She did have a couple silver coins still tucked away in her mouth. She'd left the rest in the room with the succubus.
She could only really afford something cheap, but she didn't know any cheap tailors with decent clothes. If she wasn't naked, she'd probably actually go and ask Veron where he got his dressed from.
Except Veron always hung out in the worst parts of town, and Bubbles didn't feel like getting pushed into an alley by a thug that she'd have to disarm with a claw to the groin.
How does a naked neko get a dress? She can't go to a nice part of town, because she's naked. They won't let her in the shop, for propriety's sake. She can't go to a nasty part of town, because someone nasty will try and be mean to her, because bastards do what they want.
She could... Maybe rob someone? Steal someone else's dress?
