Sweet as Sugar

"Um...I dunno. Are you a demon?" Melly asked Curtis.

"Changeling of sorts," Curtis answered.

"I ment the guy he was talking about" Mu stated

"Oh. Yeah, he's a demon," Curtis replied.

"What kind?" asked Melly.

"Nekomata."

"Cat?" Mu asked "Neat"

"Oh, so you know what that is," said Curtis with a smirk. "Saves me the trouble of explaining it."

"We've come across a few at the cirque" Mu smiled

"I see," Curtis replied. "I don't think Raizin would care for that kind of work."

"The cirque was fun. I was part of the high-wire act" Mu grinned.

"Raizin prefers to experiment on things," Curtis replied. "Try to find the meaning and mechanics of life and fate, that kind of thing."

"That sounds really interesting," remarked Melly.

"Can't say it isn't," admitted Curtis. "I just don't care for it when I'm the test subject."

"What does he do?" Mu asked "Experiments of what kind?"

"Collects live and dead bodies, blood, heart, soul," Curtis began. "Breeds things to see when the heart and soul are first formed. Kills things to see what happens to the heart and soul when the body dies. That kind of thing."

"Wow, that sounds cool" Mu grinned.

"Like I said, it's interesting work," said Curtis. "Although I wouldn't want to be the thing he's killing."

There was a loud mrow, and both Melly and Curtis glanced down to see a tailless black cat at their feet. The feline jumped onto Curtis's shoulder, and then onto Curtis's head. The cat gave the zombie an annoyed bat on the head.

"...Meet Raizin," said Curtis flatly. "Though he won't talk to you out here, for obvious reasons."

Mu grinned. "Hi there"

Raizin just stared at him boredly, one ear turned to the side.

Mu just grinned. He reached a hand up to pet him out of habit more than anything else.

Raizin growled but let Mu pet him. Curtis seemed amused.

"So you're like an science assistant now?" asked Melly.

"Something like that. And I participate in the changeling tournaments," the violet-eyed undead replied. "Though the latter is more for attention and connections than actually winning."

Mu smiled and pet him more. He stopped paying attention around him.

"You mean those fights where it's human against human for demon sport?" asked Melly with a frown. "I don't like those."

"It's a living," Curtis replied. "I don't mind fighting."

"You're very pretty for a Nekomata." Mu stated, pleased to not be clawed.

Raizin purred slightly, though he still looked cross.

"Oh, have you seen Barrett?" asked Curtis.

Melly's expression suddenly went cold. "He's here?"

Mu noticed Melly's change in tone. He turned to her in concern. "Are you okay Melly?" He asked

"She's fine. She just hates Barrett," Curtis replied.

"He's always ruining everything!" Melly snapped. "Why's he here?"

"He's my changeling partner," Curtis answered.

Mu pulled Melly into his arms. "Its okay, I'm here for you. I won't let anyone do nuthin to you" He cooed soothingly to her.

"...That's not the problem," Melly replied with a slight blush. "The problem is that he tells other people that I'm a demon and so I lose a lot of friends like that."