"Alright. Some oil check. Pepper. Check. Chives..." The cat growled out in irritation. "Where are the chives?" Swinging open the cabinet he pushed aside several spices looking for the small green circular onions that would make this fish perfect. "Oregano, Pepper, Cinnamon. Where is it?" Sliding the glass bottles with his hands like he was pushing aside piles of sand causing several to topple over, luckily not spilling the contents on the ground.

"It's on the counter behind the toaster."

The Neko named Dean looked down towards his feet. Standing there clinging to his pant leg was the child. The small mouse child that never seems to leave even if he asks her to.

"Why is it behind the toaster?" he asked in an irritated voice as if she moved it there herself.

"I don't know," she said confidently and shrugging her shoulders.

Dean rolled his eyes then went back to his task at hand. Pushing aside the toaster there it was. The exact ingredient he needed in the exact same place he left it. The little girl was too observant for her own good. He picked up the bottle and instead of sprinkling the onion chunks on top of the fish he poured them into his hand to sprinkle on himself. As he got halfway done he felt a tug on his jeans, but closet to his calf then at the very bottom like before. Looking down he noticed a little pink blob attempting to crawl up him like a tower, probably to get to the counter and get his attention.

Taking his eyes completely off his dish he looked right at her. "What are you doing?"

"Getting to the counter." the twelve-year-old's mouse ears were pressed right against her head but not in fear it was something she did while concentrating or thinking. Dean noticed her tail was wrapped around her own body for stability.

"So why not use your pathways in the wall or climb up the counter?"

"No reason."

He knew exactly why. Any moment the child had a moment she did anything desperate to get his attention. He honestly had no idea why. He was a giant compared to her. A giant Neko to be precise. Along with being a cat, he wasn't exactly kid-friendly with his black shaggy hair, black clothes, and either black gloves, black chocker, or spiked bracelets. The perfect image of a black emo kid rebelling against his parents.

"Get down."

"But I'm almost-"

"Get down," he said in a straight voice giving her no mind or overreacting. The mouse sighed looking down before answering. "Fine." as slow as she possibly could she started to slide down his leg. To stop this agonizing sight Dean reached down cupping his hands gently around her. "Come on."

Immediately her ears perked up and she hopped into his hands with excitement. "Okay!" As slowly as he possibly could he raised his coupled hands to the counter then tilted them so she would slide right off with no damage.

Within a second Dean got back to cooking his dinner trying his best to keep his mind on the food, but his mind would keep drifting back to the child on the counter. He watched as she approached the pan and attempted to lay her hands on the edge to pull herself up and peer in. In a split second Dean grabbed the minuscule girl in a fist with a breath held until he knew she was completely away from the stove. With a sigh of relief, he glared at her. His black cat ears were jerked straight up and his eyes flashed a yellow like an actual cat. "Lilly! What are you doing!"

"I was just checking to see what you were cooking," she said innocently and lying with the bottom of her flower pink shirt.

"Don't ever do that again."

"But."

"Ever!"

"Ok." she looked down getting a bit upset, but it wasn't because he yelled at her it was because she worried him. Dean tried his best to ignore her and placed her back down on the counter. Dean flipped the fish over to seer the other side. "Can I have some?"

Dean lost a breath looking over at her. "You're a mouse."

Lilly looked down at herself in confusion. "Yeah?"

"You don't eat fish."

"Yes I do!" she stomped her foot.

"Lilly I know you don't. Please don't lie." He flipped the fish one more time.

"But you do...and I want to try it too."

"No now please go away." He picked the little mouse girl up by her tail and moved her further away from him. "Now go." He pushed her further across the counter with his palm causing her to slide across the surface. Dean honestly thought this was the end of things. He continued to sprinkle more spices on before giving the fish one last flip. He could smell the mix of fishy goodness and a rough outside smell from the spices. Just the way he liked it. Any minute now he would be digging into something he's been anticipating for what seemed like forever. "Alright. Here we-"

A sound off to the side caused his ears to twitch a bit. A soft sort of whine mixed with sniffling could be heard. Turning his head he saw Lilly sitting on the counter with her head down. He could have sworn he saw tears falling down, but her head was dropped preventing his view. He wanted to so badly just ignore the scene but a twinge of guilt kept crawling up his spine not allowing his gaze to leave her. "What...what is...wrong?" He forced himself to say out loud.

Lilly turned her body away from him not giving an answer. He knew why she was crying, he just didn't want to admit it.

"Look I can find something else for you, it's not like I'm going to let you starve."

"Yes, you are. You don't want me here." She finally spoke. Dean had to growl to himself. He shouldn't feel these feelings. He shouldn't care, this was a mouse, dinner, but instead, he placed his head down on the counter with his tail flicking back and forth. He didn't want to do this, but...He gave one more big sigh. "Do you want some? It's not like you would eat a lot?" It was very evident he was forcing himself to say these things.

"Yes please." Within a millisecond the child perked up with no tears evident on her face. It didn't even look like she was just upset. He couldn't help wonder if she was truly upset or if he just got played by a child. She ran straight towards the plate as he scooped the fish out of the pan, luckily before she touched it he pinned her long tail against the table with his hand. As soon as contact was made the girl whipped around glaring at the giant cat man. "Let go I'm hungry." pouting crossing her arms.

Dean looked down knowing full well he's played right into her hands. "Here." he pushed the plate closer to her. "I was just going to cut a piece off but might as well have the whole plate." he lifted his other hand so begrudgingly. While resting his head on his other hand on the counter. "Just don't burn yourself." He mumbled.