"I can't change like that, I guess," she said ruefully. "I may be a Were-cat female, but I was still raised to not sit naked in front of a man."
"You weren't this shy in the baths."
"Everyone was in the same state in the baths," she replied.
Without batting an eye, Tarrin stood up and started unlacing the top of his loose shirt.
"What are you doing?" she demanded.
"Meeting you on common ground," he replied calmly, pulling his shirt off.
She stood up quickly. "No, you really don't have to do that," she said quickly, reaching down and picking up his shirt, then pushing it back at him. "I'm sure you were just as embarassed when Jesmind did this to you as I am now, so cut me some slack."
"It was worse for me," he admitted. "Jesmind took her clothes off first, then ordered me to strip in front of her. She didn't even try to make it easy."
"Good. Now that you know how I feel, you can put your shirt back on and we can sit back down," she said, rather quickly, pushing it at him more.
A hasty reaction. Tarrin studied her scent carefully, since nothing in her bond was telling him why she was acting like that. It wasn't strong enough, whatever it was. His ears picked up when he noticed the shift in the texture of her scent. Then he smiled ever-so-slightly, which made her look at him with confusion. "Alright," he said calmly, putting his shirt back on.
Jula was feeling some sexual attraction. No wonder, after so many months with no physical contact, and recovering from a total domination of her cat instincts, which would be very wanton if she were in season. Even him, someone she feared, was looking good to her, because of her long months of isolation. And she was trying very hard to deny it, or hide it. "Put your robe back on," he told her as he sat down.
Jula nearly ripped the robe pulling it back on, then she sat down demurely across from him. Alot of the tension in her was gone now.
"Rule one, Jula. You can't hide anything from me. What your eyes won't tell me, your scent will. No matter how embarassing you think it is, you can tell me, because odds are I already know."
Jula blushed to the roots of her hair.
"It's a normal reaction," he told her. "You've been alone for a very long time. It's only natural for you to have sexual interest in a male, and it doesn't offend me." He looked at her steadily. "Get over it. I'm not interested. What you're feeling now is something you'll deal with until you do too."
"Did you," she said, then she blushed. "Did Jesmind make you feel the same way?"
"Some. Then again, she didn't give me much choice. She had interest in me long before she caught up with me."
"She seduced you."
"If that's what you want to call it," he said bluntly. "Turned Were-cats aren't easy to deal with, because we have adult impulses and desires, when we have to be treated like children. Jesmind didn't feel like waiting until I was mature enough to deal with an intimate relationship."
"It's embarassing. I know you don't like me, and here I am-" she blushed.
"You won't have the same luck," he warned. "I wouldn't trust you enough to let you get your claws that close to my throat."
"I know. That's why it's so embarassing. You knowing that I want to-it's just embarassing."
"Why? Because it's a rather stupid human custom? So what? So you want to mate. That means as much to me as if you were hungry. Since I'm not interested, I simply don't care. If I was interested, then it would matter to me, but not unless I was interested. One of the little customs among Were-cats is a plain disclosure of those little truths," he told her. "If a male and female are interested, they say so. If one of them isn't, then it goes no further. No male or female would force the issue."
"Jesmind did."
"Jesmind was wrong," he said. "And she got an earfull from her mother for what she did. Simply put, Jula, I don't embarass easily. Neither will you, once you settle into your instincts a bit. What humans make such an issue of doesn't mean as much to us. What I know of you isn't going to change how I act towards you in any way."
"I guess that's a small comfort," she sighed. "But just in case it does bother you, I'm sorry."
"It doesn't bother me at all." He threw his braid over his shoulder. "I think that's about all we can say about that. Making you blush isn't as fun for me as it was for Jesmind. Let's go get you some clothes, and then we're going to go walk around the city."
"Why?"
"Two reasons," she said. "To give you some time to think about things without much stress, and see if someone comes looking for us."
"Why would they do that?"
"Because of what you did before I found you," he said simply. "If they tie you to what happened, I need to know about it now. We can only hope that you didn't leave many witnesses."
"You make it sound so cold."
"I am cold, Jula," he said bluntly. "I don't care about the humans in this city. They can all drop dead, as far as I'm concerned." He stood up and looked down at her. "Thanks to you, I have such a wonderfully cheerful outlook on life."
"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry!" Jula flared, rising to her feet and getting in Tarrin's face. Her eyes were hot and challenging, and she had her paws on her hips.
"How many times can you say it?" he retorted in a low hiss.
"How many times do you want to hear it?" she snapped. "I ruined your life. I admit it! There, are you happy now? I can't change what happened in the past, but don't pretend to say it's in the past, when you do nothing but remind me of it!"
Tarrin took a step back and gave her a light look. That confused her, her ears picking up as she stared into his face. "Good."
"What?"
"I'm not teaching a mewling sheep, Jula. You have spirit, and I want you to have spirit. You'll need that spirit when you deal with your instincts. I wanted to rouse your fighting spirit. I see I finally hit a nerve."
"You did that on purpose?" she said in surprise.
He nodded. "I've been goading you for a while now."
She made an infuriated sound, stamping her foot on the ground. "Don't play with me!" she shouted at him.
"I'm not playing with you, cub. I'm teaching you what you need to know. You just learned that you are strong enough to challenge a stronger, dangerous adversary. You'll need that when you face your other half."
She glared at him, her ears trying to lay back.
"Don't give me attitude, cub," he said in a dangerous tone. "I'll beat it out of you." She blew out her breath and looked away. "Better. Now let's get you some decent clothes, and walk around a while."
"It's not me," Jula said clinically, twisting in a way no human could to look behind her.
The pants were new. Made of that Selani plant fiber whose name he could never remember, they were light and flexible, yet very strong. This pair was dyed a very dark brown, like leather, and they fit her rather well. Tarrin leaned against a wall in the shop of a clothier, and the small Arakite man looked at the pair of non-humans with obvious fear and worry. Jula had the waist of the trousers in her paws, holding them up as far on her as she could to see how they fit her legs. Her tail prevented her from pulling them all the way up. Since her tail emerged from her back just at the top of the cleft of her buttocks, it preserved her modesty. She had the robe hiked up so she could see the fit of the pants, and it was bunched up around the top of the breeches.
"It's not the old you," Tarrin told her. "Trust me. After two days, you'll glare at me if I even mention a dress. Dresses just won't work for you." He turned to the small, thin, bald man calmly. "We'll take them," he told the man in Arakite.