Neko Shorts - 2. Prompt #80--Fall Festival Decorating

Prompt #80--use these words:

ghost, monster, bag, scary, pumpkin

"You don't stand a ghost of a chance in hell of getting that up there without it splatting all over the ground," Ellis said as he watched the lithe figure trying to scale the brick wall.

Kayden glared down at the older neko. The monster pumpkin he was trying to manage under one arm wobbled precariously before he managed to get it wedged between himself and the wall. He had already climbed up several places on the side of the mansion to decorate several niches with small pumpkins, gourds and dried corn with ribbons and such. Most of them had been pumpkins too small for Garin to use for cooking. But this one was much bigger--one Garin had decided would be used for a special pie for the Fall Festival--, and it was a little scary trying to balance it and scale the wall to get it where he wanted it to go--over the main doorway.

"What the hell is he doing?" Joseph Nash, one of the younger guards, snapped as he came around the corner.

Kayden startled at the guard's loud voice, and both Ellis and Nash jumped forward when it looked like the boy might lose his grip. Kayden hissed as his claws dug into the small crevice he was holding, his arm muscles flexing under the strain of holding a good portion of his weight.

As Kayden settled back against the wall, Ellis glared at the young guard who had scared the boy into almost falling.

Of course, the poor guard had gone ashen, and Ellis could tell that the man was nearly sick at the thought that the Duke's young lover may have gotten hurt because of him--again.

It wasn't a new sight to see Kayden climbing something--the wall off the bedroom balcony was his favorite, but other trees, the stable, the guard barracks, the poultry corral were also fair game. Anything he could get his little hands and toes into crevices that would allow him to climb up, he had probably already scaled at least once by now.

But climbing with a pumpkin--that was new.

"He's insisting on helping to decorate the manor for the Fall Festival," Ellis explained, turning his watchful eyes back on the young neko. He was moving with feline grace a few inches higher. "He's already put all those small ones in all those niches. See?" the brown haired neko stated, his tail swishing anxiously, as he vaguely waved his hand at the others already in place.

Joseph Nash looked nervous, as he always did when he saw his master's love doing something that might get him hurt. After having turned the boy over to Damien's obsessed brother, Roman, who had whipped the boy bloody, Nash had been extremely nervous about anything ever happening to Kayden again, especially on his watch.

"Does he have to take such a big one up there?" Nash asked, although it was probably a moot point at this point since Kayden was almost there.

Ellis just shrugged. He'd tried to talk the kid out of trying it, but Kayden had become more stubborn and willful in the last few months.

"Does Lord Whitmore know he's up there?" Nash asked abruptly.

Both the nekos looked back at him with guilty expressions, and Joseph suspected that his master was not aware of the current decorating scheme--or he'd probably have banned Kayden from even trying.

"The lord told Kayden he could help with the Festival decorations," Ellis said evasively.

The guard rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure he didn't know the boy was going to scale walls to do it."

Ellis shrugged. It's not like he could have talked Kayden out of it. These days once he got it in his head to do something, unless Damien had forbidden it, there was little anyone else could do to talk the boy out of it. Having been abused and enslaved for so long, now that the young neko had his freedom, he was becoming rather adventurous.

Joseph sucked in his breath as the pumpkin wobbled a bit again as Kayden tried to juggle the bright orange fruit into place.

"Why didn't he use a bag to carry it up?" Nash asked after Kayden had gotten the pumpkin rebalanced in his hand.

"A bag?" Kayden looked at him like he was stupid, frowning down. He pricked his pointed black ears forward and swished his tail in irritation. At one point, he would never have been so bold as to even speak to the guard, let alone reprimand him. "How would I get it out of the bag up here?"

"Oh," Nash blushed furiously as he realized how stupid that would be.

Both Ellis and Joseph stared up in silence, watching the young neko carefully, ready to leap in if the boy started to fall. Ellis found it funny to watch Kayden concentrate so hard on balancing such a cumbersome object, with the tip of his tongue poking through his teeth and his brows furrowed in concentration.

"Kayden! Where the hell is my pumpkin?!" the chef's loud voice carried from the back of the manor, presumably from near the kitchen door.

The shout startled all of them, but Kayden jerked and the pumpkin fumbled.

"Shit!" Nash cried out as the bright orange fruit plummeted to the front steps.

Both Ellis and Nash jumped as orange goo splattered, spraying their legs and shoes with pulp.

"Kayden!" they heard the chef's voice yell again, coming a little closer as if the man was stalking around the side of the house looking for the missing pumpkin. "I know you took it! I saw you eyeing it earlier!"

Ellis looked up to see the young neko clinging to the side of the wall above the main doorway. The boy was flushing in embarrassment at the splattered mess, but the small smirk that curved on his lips suggested he was also laughing.

"Where are you?" Garin yelled again, even closer this time.

Ellis gaped in surprise as Kayden abruptly started climbing higher. The boy scaled the side of the wall to the small balcony of one of the guest bedrooms.

"Where are you going?" Ellis snapped. "Get down here and--"

There was a gasp from side of the manor as Garin took in the demolished remains of his pumpkin.

Ellis and Nash gaped back at the chef, unsure of what to say as they stood there splattered with the evidence of the destroyed pumpkin. As they watched the man turn nearly purple with rage over the crushed fruit, they burst out in laughter.

"Where is he?" Garin growled, narrowing his eyes at the two men.

"What the--?" Damien's deep voice interrupted as he opened the front door to escort out his best , Oliver Druet, and both of them nearly stepped in the guts of the squashed pumpkin.

"Oh, shit," Nash sucked in his breath at the sight of his master raking them with his piercing eyes, demanding answers.

Ellis blushed furiously at being caught covered in pumpkin goo in front of the Duke. His jaw dropped open, unable to find his voice.

As the eyes of their lord and master raked over the three men standing in front of the manor, Oliver rubbed a hand over his mouth to hide his laughter at the sight of the two stunned men and the furious looking chef. Druet could tell from the clench of his friend's jaw that the man was desperately trying to reign in his own laughter as well.

"Your--your--" Garin started several times, trying to figure out exactly what to say.

It was obvious that the poor chef was livid over the loss of his prize pumpkin. Oliver watched as Damien crossed his arms over his broad chest as he waited patiently for the chef to voice his displeasure.

"Kayden," Garin finally ground out, "destroyed my pumpkin."

"I see," Damien glanced down at the pumpkin guts splattered on the doorstep. Oliver could tell the man was trying to keep control of his voice and not laugh at the chef being so overwrought about the loss of the fruit.

Damien finally looked up, pinning Ellis and Nash with an amused glare. "Do I want to know how this happened?"

Nash sucked in a breath, worried about incurring his master's wrath, but Ellis straightened his shoulders and met the lord's gaze head on.

"Probably not, sir," Ellis admitted with a smirk.

Damien glanced back at Oliver whose shoulders were shaking as he tried to contain his laughter. "I think you should use the side door today."

"Yes, quite," Oliver managed to get out amid his quiet chuckles.

Damien pierced a gaze at Nash and Ellis. "Maybe you two could get this cleaned up. I'm sure Kayden would love to help you."

Ellis bit his lip as he held back a grin and glanced at the ground before he burst into laughter too. He could now hear the lord's friend laughing out loud from somewhere in the back of the foyer.

"But--But--" the poor chef sputtered, mourning the loss of the pumpkin. "The pumpkin...I was going to make a pie for your table for the Fall Festival."

Damien cast an amused glance back at the chef before turning back into the house. "I prefer apple."