Skye didn't steal a car.
She stole three.
And a scooter. The scooter was pink and had dozens of Barbie stickers on it. Pure evil.
We returned it later, as I felt the owner deserved to keep it as punishment for decorating it like that in the first place
The thefts unlocked a few skills for her. Grand Theft Auto and Forge Plates. Both at copper level. Forge plates, as with Shadowpaw's forgery skill was a crafting skill. However, she also got the spell Plate Modification, level 1.
As she cast the spell, it seemed to work like Shadowpaw's Identity Modification spell, and had her fill out a form. When she was done, the numbers on the plate blurred and then reformed with a new one.
"Wow," she said, her eyes bulging.
I leaned against the side of our new van, hugging her close. "I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks, Mast- uhh, Bexley," she said, muffled by my hug. "I tried real hard! And it was kind of scary stealing things."
"I'm sorry to ask you to do it, but we need to unlock some skills. I don't think you'll need to steal vehicles very often, though. Mostly it'd just be to unlock a particular skill."
"Like stealing an airplane to get skills for that?"
"Exactly."
"I guess that's okay, then…"
"Also, if you tinker with the engines, you should get some basic mechanic skills. Don't expect to unlock anything too exotic. Those would be fairly exclusive to a Mechanic class. But even the basics will let you at least keep an engine running when it shouldn't."
"Okay, I'll try." She didn't seem convinced. My Nekos still doubted the System! They'd soon learn not to waste energy on doubt. "I don't know what to do, though."
"You don't need to do anything. Just pick up a spanner and give things a twiddle. Or maybe whack a few things. The System will soon fill your head full of knowledge."
"Spanner? Which one is that?" She glanced at the tools Shadowpaw had retrieved and put in the van's rear. Her face twisted into a look of frustration. "And why don't I know that? I feel like I knew it. Before…"
I ruffled her hair and kissed her forehead. Nekos were so cute when they were learning technical skills!
"It doesn't matter which one. Trust me. Just reach in, grab one, and have some fun."
"But, Bexley, I knew it. I'm sure I did!" She pushed her fists against her temples. "Why don't I know it now?"
I took her hands and gently prised them away. "It's okay. It really is," I told her. "There'll be lots of things you knew which you will forget. It's part of the System. Like, Licorice knew a lot of lawyer things. But her new class is Personal Assistant, not Lawyer. So, the System thinks you don't need to remember that kind of thing."
"That doesn't sound like a good thing." She paled a little as her brain processed it. "And why do I feel like I forgot something real important?"
"Don't stress about it. It'll just give you a headache."
"But Licorice gave me some things to say to cops in case I got stopped. She said she remembered that from before. Why would she remember some things and I can't?"
"Yeah, that might've been a poor example because Licorice has a point in Intelligence so it's possible she can remember some of her lawyer stuff." I puckered my lips in thought. "Maybe it's more like how, when you were a kid, you did a lot of things. Every day, you had adventures. You had conversations with friends. You played with toys. You learnt new things. But unless you really think hard, you can't remember those times. You can't always recall the exact words you said. Or the exact age you were when you did them. You only remember the special times. That's your brain saying there's not enough room in your head to remember everything. It lets the unimportant things just fade away. But, if you need them again, they'll come back."
"They will?"
"Sure. You just need to get the skill. If you unlock the basic mechanical skills like I said, you'll likely remember pieces of your past where you used those tools. And more. The knowledge will all flood in." I gave her ears a scritch. "Trust me."
"That sounds a little better, I guess."
"Want to know what sounds even better?"
"I think so…"
"Close your eyes."
She shut her eyes straight away, lifting her chin a little. I reached out and took hold of her cheeks.
Leaning in, I whispered; "Listen closely, okay?"
She gave a subtle nod, her lips trembling as I kissed her. Our mouths met with the softest of collisions before instinct pulled our tongues close like twin magnets. I pressed her body against the van, feeling her swoon in my arms.
My hands slid down her back and she moaned when I pushed through the waistband of her shorts to slide under her panties. I took hold of her cheeks and gripped them hard as I pulled her tight against me.
"Hear it?" I breathed between kisses.
She gave a quick shake of her head. "No. What am I listening for?"
"You," I gave her butt a squeeze. "Listen."
"I don't hear-" Then her eyes went wide and she slapped a hand to her throat. "I'm purring! Like a real cat. I'm purring!"
"That's right," I tugged at her butt to keep her tight against me. "And it's the best sound in the world!"
Giggling, she batted my cheek and shook her head. "Licorice is right. You're naughty." She looked down with a mocking huff. "It's not my turn, and you know it. You're getting me all excited and you're just going to leave me like this."
"Skye Finch," I said, kissing deeply because she was right. "I love you. I will always love you. I will take every opportunity to show you, too. I'm not going to just slot you in and remind you how I feel during an allocated window. It's true, we will keep the Order, but this? This is me telling you I love you. I yearn for you. Do you feel it?"
She was panting at me by the end, her eyes large and glistening.
"I feel it," she moaned. "Let me go, Bexley. Let me go right this second or I'm going to scream because I'll want you inside me right here and now and I won't let you go until you are! And we both know that'll make Licorice sad. She's doing her best to be a good Personal Assistant."
I released her with a chuckle and patted her head as she slumped in a mix of relief and regret.
"I didn't mean for you to feel teased," I told her.
"Too late," she growled, her tail flicking with frustration. "Now I need to change my underwear."
"I can help you, if you like."
"Meanie!" Skye let out a long groan. "Get away from me!"
"Are you sure?"
Her little fists grabbed my shirt as she thrust her face close to mine and kissed me fiercely. "When it's my turn, mister, I'm going to make you pound me so hard that your dick falls off. I swear it. Right off!"
"And I look forward to it."
She pushed me away and turned to the van, calmly adjusting her shorts. "Hit it with a spanner, you said?"
"Yes."
"Alright. I feel like hitting things."
"I'm leaving, then."
"You'd better!"
"No goodbye kiss?"
"If you're still here by the time my hand finds a spanner, I'm going to get skills in brain surgery!"
Laughing, I scooted out of the garage and back into the house. It was a small house on the edge of LA. The neighbourhood wasn't too great, but they'd taken my credit card and didn't ask too many questions.
Licorice wasn't happy with it, but I told her we wouldn't be here long. And I meant it. It was mostly just a place to sleep with a garage big enough for Skye to tinker in for a month or two.
Shadowpaw was out with Licorice. I'd given them a list of my requirements and they were out scouting and researching. Tippy had set up a small group chat on our phones it was pinging away happily with updates.
In the kitchen, Tippy was bent over as she put her head almost all the way into the fridge. Thanks to one of Shadowpaw's expeditions, it was full of snacks and drinks. The variety was obviously edging Tippy close to a moral crisis.
I stepped up behind her and grabbed her butt.
"Eep! Bexley!"
"Sorry," I lied letting one butt cheek go so I could stroke her tail. It was so fluffy! I was glad I'd selected Persian for her. "It was sticking out, so I just couldn't help myself."
"I think you did just help yourself," she muttered. "Do you mind letting me go? I can't concentrate with you groping me. Go grope Skye instead."
"She kicked me out of the garage," I told her. "It's not her turn in the Order. She said if I didn't leave, she'd whack me with a spanner."
"And I'm saying if you don't unhand my ass, I'll whack you with a cucumber."
Because I didn't swing that way, I gave her butt a gentle squeeze and let her go.
"I actually came looking for you," I told her.
"Really?" She pulled herself out of the fridge and cracked the can of coke open. "What for? I'm not next in the Order. Am I? I thought I'd remember if I was."
"Nekos," I sighed. "Such perverted creatures with nothing but sex on the mind."
"Says the man who was just rubbing his junk up against my ass."
"I was not!"
"What's this, then?" She knocked on my crotch like she was knocking on a door. Unfortunately, my wood didn't make a nice knocking sound. I flinched.
"You still have no proof."
"I'll let Licorice decide that," she said with a snort as she took a sip of coke. "What did you need?"
I looked her up and down. She was dressed in a little blue skirt and a crop top. Nothing provocative. Just the sort of thing a girl might wear at home.
So, I felt provoked.
But I put that out of my head as I considered her words.
"I was just showing Skye how to gain some skills," I told her. "I want to show you how to do magic."
"It's not hard," she said. "Just concentrate on it and say the word, right?"
"What?"
"That's how Shadowpaw and Skye were using their spells. Isn't it the same?"
"Ah," I said, nodding the kind of nod a sage would nod. "No. Not quite. Mages are a bit different. If you had to spend too much time concentrating like they do, and filling out mental forms, by the time you were ready to fireball someone in the head, you'd already be a nice scarlet smear all over the ground. And we don't want that, do we?"
"No," she said, obviously wondering how likely that would be. "We don't."
"Glad we agree." I took her coke and a sip from it.
"Hey," she pouted. "That's mine."
"You owe me."
"What for?"
"For threatening me with a cucumber."
"Well, you shouldn't have threatened me with yours first!"