Did I scare you?" "Uhh.Did I scare you?" "Uhh..." Nickolai stared for a second, trying to marshall his thoughts. The voice was feminine, the face wasn't human. "Hello?" "Hi!" she said quickly. "I'm Jofuran Shigokai. You can call me Joey. Or Furry." She smiled. At least, Nickolai thought it was a smile. He had seen enough non- humans in the past to make something of an educated guess as to her facial expression. She wasn't a Rat, although she looked like she could be one. Her fur was fine, her ears large. A mouse? She was kneeling on the chair set back-to-back with his own, so all he could see of her was her head and shoulders. Her arms were covered in a light grey fur, her hands were relatively human, if a little small. She had a short muzzle that ended in a wet, pink nose. Her eyes were almost uniformly black; there were tiny splashes of white just barely visible at the corners. There was no visible skin; she was entirely covered in fur. Nickolai's brain started back up, and something clicked. "You're a Markal!" "Uh-huh!" she replied brightly, her eyes widening. "And you're Nickolai Dittrich, aren't you?" Nickolai sighed and nodded. "How could you tell?" "Well, that was obviously Talia Dittrich who just walked in. I remember reading about you a few years back." "Thank you," he said perfunctorily. He hated being recognized. Then something occurred to him. |