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Emeral leaned forward with her lips puckered out, applying the thinnest layer of lipstick she possibly could. Hopefully not enough to be noticed on its own but, when she pointed it out, could be appreciated. She kissed them together, rubbing it into her lips a little, and smiled. She stood up straight, searching her attire for flaws. She wore slim flare-jeans, that had a bit of a metallic sheen to them. Her top was a deep red, made of that light, soft, stretchy fabric that really fit her snugly. She had her hair pinned on one side with a heart-shaped clip, while the other side was left free to drape over her shoulder. She wished her ears were pierced so she could wear some pretty earrings, but the beetle-imbued amber necklace she had gotten for Christmas hung around her neck, and it would serve as a very fine accessory. She turned to the side to take a look at her back, gazing at her reflection in the full-body mirror on her closet door. The little ribbon on the back of her dress was tied in a bow, serving no other purpose than just that. She hooked her hand into her far pocket, twiddling her claws which she had polished red. She stuck her rump up a little and spanked herself with her other hand. And then she giggled, losing her attitude to a fit of butterflies. It was Valentine's Day. School had already ended, and ever since her true Valentine had seen her off nearly two hours ago, she had been getting this outfit all together. All day it was very silly; everyone passing around Valentine cards at school, with candy and hearts and suckers and sweet-tarts. She got more of them than she expected, from the boys anyway. The girls always passed Valentines to each other, although that was sort of a symbol of popularity. Rini had received the most, of course. Even Lyza had quite a few, but she was still on the dryer side of the love. What really mattered was how many came from, or went to, the boys. Shy William had a card for Squeaky Kimberly, and the class jumped them like piranha to a side of beef. Poor William clammed up for the rest of the day and Emeral felt really bad for him. Of course, when Rini gave one to Goren at recess, no one made a peep of a tease. Ket had a couple Valentines for his friends that were very creative, Emeral thought. She and Lyza each received a piece of white-chocolate in the shape of a playing-card, with a white "K" inscribed in a red heart at the center. He also gave Squeaky Kimberly and Rini and her group some Valentines, but they were just cards with the little candy (chalk!) hearts. Ritzer also gave Emeral a Valentine. It was a small, heart-shaped box with three chocolates inside, sitting in her seat as soon as she got to class. When she saw it and read the tag, she glanced over at the lion cub across the room, who was once again sitting by Ms. Hupp's desk. He leered at her, and so in response she promptly sat upon the box, crushing it under her rear. Then, at recess, all of Lyza's cards were stolen. She was consoled by her friends at lunch, and at the end of the day she walked away with a half-smile on her face, believing that the cards were stolen because Rini was jealous of her. Emeral heard the door behind her creak. She was bending over, and she straightened up. "Oh...my...goodness..." her mom squealed. "Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?" Emeral blushed. "Mooooom..." "You look so cute for your little date," she said, stepping in and kneeling down to be level. "It's not a date," Emeral hissed, stamping her foot. "Ket's mom is gonna be there." "Well you certainly look like you're going on a date." She sniffed the air. "Are you wearing perfume?" Her daughter blushed even more. "It's Valentine's day mom. A girl has to look like this on Valentine's day." "You better be careful," she teased, straightening a few things about her daughter's attire against her struggling will; "you'll be having wolves howling at you all night." "You're the one that's going on a date," Emeral protested. "Dad's taking you out to a candle-light dinner. I'm just going to the movies." "That was a date when I was a teen." "I'm not a teenager!" Her daughter huffed, fume coming out of her ears. "Oh hush, dear, I'm just teasing." She looked her daughter over. "But really, I'm sure if you wanted to you could make Ket drop all his marbles." She stood up and held out her hand, white palm pressing the air. "Stay right there, I have to get my camera!" Emeral huffed again. This was going to be a long evening and she hadn't even left her house yet.

** *

The door opened almost immediately when she knocked. Ket's mom blinked. "Wow..." She smiled. "Who are you and what have you done with Emeral?" "I already heard it all from my mom, thanks," she said with a grin. Ket's mom was a little more like herself and knew that the attitude she was giving wasn't really meant to be mean. "Can't a girl just look good on Valentine's day?" "Yeah, can't she?" Miss Rachaun emphatically agreed, placing her hands on her hip. They smiled at one another. "We're still getting ready," she said, "I just heard Kettles'n'Bits shut the shower off a while ago. The movie doesn't start until seven so we have some time for grilled cheese in a bit okay?" "Okie-doke," Emeral chimed, tip-toeing up the stairs. Her red flip-flops whispered against the carpet as she gingerly turned on the ball of her foot, ready to take on the second set of stairs. She saw no presence in the room when she peered over the top step. He must be in his room. Quickly she looked herself over, shooing away bits of lint from her shirt and making sure her bow was tied and her hair-clip was straight. She proceeded up the stairs, well aware that the penultimate step had acquired a squeak. She wanted to surprise him. He had no idea of her appearance; this outfit was completely new, every article of clothing had been worn for testing, washed only once and put into her closet for this very day. She proceeded to his room, and peered beneath the door. The light was off; only darkness seeped through the rift between door and carpet. Curiously she stood up, straightened her hair and knocked gently. The door nudged open, and she slipped her hand through and pried it enough to see that the room was empty. Just then, she heard the clack of something being set upon the bathroom sink. She whipped around, gingerly skipping to the middle of the room, ready to greet her boyfriend and possibly give him a heart attack. "Hey Ke--ohmygosh!" Her hands snapped up to cover her eyes, and after a second she couldn't help but peek through her fingers. Ket stood in the door to the bathroom; face pale, mouth and eyes wide, dressed in nothing but a towel clad around his waist. He blinked several times, like he was looking at a ghost. His eyes panned her, quickly soaking in her attire. She quickly soaked in the lack of his. "H--" He started to raise his hand to wave, but the towel slipped. His hand snapped and caught it before it fell, though he was bent over in the most awkward way with his tail caught between his ankles. "Uh..." he swallowed, voice nervous, "Hi Emmy..." "I see you got all dressed up for the movie too. Looks nice." He gulped again. "You look...good yourself..." His cheeks went from pale to as red as her dress. She giggled, closing her fingers to hide her eyes again. "Please go put pants on," she said, her nerves about to burst, "I won't peek." He quickly darted across the room through his door, shutting it almost closed. Emeral took in a big, deep breath, and spoke very quickly and shallow, "Apples grow on trees but grapes grow on leaves. Apples grow on trees but grapes grow on leaves. Apples grow on trees..." After a bit of chanting she managed to get away with only a few quiet lurches of laughter from her stomach. While Ket proceeded to make himself decent, she proceeded over to Tutty, the stuffed Sphinx, eager to distract herself from 'grapes growing on leaves'. She ran her finger over the Sphinx's snout, and gently tickled its ear. She leaned in and gave it a kiss, and when she withdrew her lips the faintest stain of a peculiar lip shape was left behind. She was very much looking forward to doing something similar in the dark theater. It felt so rebellious, going out to see a movie on a school night. She felt guilty though. She could have invited Lyza. It was so rough, keeping everything a secret from her friend. She knew that Lyza would understand everything if she could just tell her, but then she would be in the same boat they were. Don't think about that now; tonight is a fun night, besides Lyza was no doubt being entertained by Kval. She waited outside Ket's door, ready to hug him and eager to sit with him in the dark. But her emotions were interrupted when she heard the scrape of wood against wood. She pressed her ear to the crack in the door. The sound of a hinged box opening caught her hearing The rustle of papers, and then something she couldn't make out. She waited for a moment more, and her ear twitched; "Happy birthday," Ket's voice said, but through the door it sounded like a mumble. The papers scraped again, and the sound of the box closing was followed by the same scrape of wood-against-wood. When she heard his footfalls, she quickly rushed over to sit on the couch, her body still bouncing up and down while the springs squeaked even as he emerged. He walked to the couch to sit beside her, but he paused as he passed. He was wearing a red shirt with black blobs on it that, if you looked at it just right, outlined DareDevil. He wore his best jeans, but they were still fairly worn and their only difference between his other jeans was that his best didn't have any obvious holes. He glanced at his clothes, and then at hers. "You look nice," she said sweetly. "We're like the Lady and the Tramp," he retorted, referencing the last movie they watched on family night, as he sat beside her. "I couldn't look as amazing as you even if I tried." She blushed as he made the comment, and then bit her lip as he sniffed the air. "It's called Framboise Ligne," she said, pronouncing it fram-boys lig-knee. "But I think it's French so I have no clue if I'm saying it right." "Sounds like 'fan boys'," he chuckled. "I'm a fan." She giggled, shoving him a little. "Mom keeps saying we're going out on a date." "Gee I wonder why," he rolled his eyes. "But it is a date, isn't it?" "Sure it is! But we don't want them to know." He flicked his hand, dismissing the idea. "It's Valentine's, they're just playing off of that." "Who's birthday is it?" She asked softly. He went from relaxed to frozen, his lips ajar and his tongue falling to rest behind his bottom teeth. He closed his lips. "It's...my grandpa's birthday today, too." She immediately receded, just a little bit. "I'm so sorry," she apologized, feeling a little bit of shame. "It's okay," Ket replied, reassuring it with a smile. "You said you wouldn't peek. You didn't say anything about eavesdropping." He draped an arm over her, pulling her to lean upon his shoulder. "When is your birthday?" She asked. "June twenty-seventh," he replied. She smiled. "Aww, you're a June Bug." She felt him stroke her hair. She had grown to like it when he did that. "My mom is a May Flower," she said as an aside. "And my dad is an April Shower." "What are you?" He asked. "I'm...not really anything. Mine is on July nineteenth so..." "A July Jewel," he declared. They both laughed. "Hey, it works." He adjusted, his arm already beginning to fall asleep. He took in a sigh, smelling Frambroise in the air. "Tell me about him?" She suggested. "About your grandpa." Ket's chin raised in the air with thought. "He was...adventurous," the tiger began in a reminiscent kind of way; "During the summers, he would take me to all kinds of places. We would go into the woods a lot, sometimes for a full week at a time." He played with the sleeve of her shirt as he spoke. "He taught me all kinds of things. How to tell where you're going if you're lost; how to make a fire...One time, he killed a snake and then that night he cooked it and we ate it." "Oh whoa," Emeral stuck her tongue out. "You ate a snake?" He grinned. "It was really weird-tasting. We went to a few other places too. One time, we went into a cave. It was really dark and scary at the time, I was like six I think. Dad got so mad when he found out about that; but mom was cool with it. She always has been." "Was he your mom's dad?" The tiger nodded. "She went with us once. We climbed a mountain that was four-thousand feet tall. It took a while, but when we were at the top you could see for miles." His hand traced the horizon that he saw in his mind. "I wish I had known you back then," she commented. "Your grandad sounds like an amazing guy." "He was," the tiger replied, with a fading smile. She watched as the corners of his mouth straightened to a weary frown. He stared ahead for a moment, reflecting on some memories. And then he turned toward her, his eyes smiling brightly. "Come with me," he said, and pulled her off the couch. She followed him by the hand as they went into his room. She had not been in there since before Christmas. Even as her foot so unceremoniously stepped across the line and onto the cream-colored carpet, she felt it sag beneath her soles and tickle between her toes as if to say Hello again. Welcome back. He offered her a place to sit upon his bed, and she took it with great interest. He was on his knees by the headboard, which Emeral had seen once before. It had five cubbyholes; one big in the middle, two on either side of that, and two up above that were divided by a large face of wood. Ket placed his hands inside the two cubbyholes that ran across the top, his palms pressing toward the center. Emeral watched as, much like a secret door behind the book-case, Ket carefully pulled and moved the center piece of wood. It shimmied out of its spot, with a sound that Emeral immediately recognized as the one she had heard before. Once it was all the way out, she moved to make room as Ket placed the wooden box between them on the bed. Gingerly he lifted the two latches that held the lid secure, and opened it up. The wood eased back, revealing the humble contents within. The familiar silk bag, which he picked up, was the first thing that leapt to attention. But underneath, he picked up a picture, and handed it to the white tigress. She took it with careful fingers, and looked at the photograph with a sense of reverence. In it, a very large and aged tiger was smiling cheerfully at the camera. He had a very white chin and throat, thick neck, and wide shoulders. He looked like a giant of a man, but had a squint to his eyes that made him gentle and kind as a teddy bear. He was kneeling on one knee, and to his left his arm was draped over a boy. Based on the time-stamp of the photo, Emeral saw a seven-year-old Arkethius, proudly showing off a fish almost half as tall as he. He had an open-mouthed smile, and she could see that a few of his teeth were missing. "Oh, Ket," she cooed, tears welling up in her eyes. She looked at him. He was smiling, a little bashfully. He glanced down at his palm, and she followed his gaze to see the Udjat looking up at her. "He gave you that...right before he passed away. Right?" Ket nodded. "I know it's really rude but...did he pass away peacefully?" The tiger frowned. "He said the Udjat brings good luck. Three days after he gave it to me...he got into a car wreck. He died at the scene." Emeral bit her lip. holding back the tears. "But," Ket continued, "he said everything brought good luck. This thing hasn't brought me any luck yet." He blinked, for right then he felt a cold stare upon him. He looked to see her eyes, green like the sky before a sunny thunderstorm. "Huh?" "It brought me." He stared dumbly for a moment, and then realized that, "You're right." He smiled. That made her smile too, quelling the tempest. Slowly, their lips drew near, and they kissed. It was a simple kiss, that lasted no more than a second. But it was a full kiss none the less. He solemnly returned the Udjat back into the silk pouch, and together they placed it and the photo back into the box. Before the lid was closed, the latches locked and the box placed back into its secret spot, Emeral caught a glimpse of two more items that were very familiar. The first was a note, hastily written by her, after she woke next to him the morning they were boyfriend and girlfriend. The second was a small index card. Upon the side without lines, smeared just a little, was the impression of her lips in deep red, from the card she had given to him for Christmas.