Welcome to Gaia! ::

So far, day 2 as a cat was slightly better than day one. Ari had agreed to take care of Castor- who was, at this very moment, being pampered, she was sure- and Scylla had ventured back out into the harsh world to find someone who could, surely, tell her what the hell was going on!

If this cat thing was supposed to be a promotion, she didn't want it.

So in the end, she was looking for Zirconia. The Mirror Court cat was the only Guardian Cat she knew, really, who would be able to tell her (she hoped) what the hell was going on! Was this some twisted version of a senshi cold? It wasn't just her, as was proven by Albali's state- who else was affected?

It was starting to rain as she darted down the street, trying to see something familiar, some clue that would jog her memory as to where exactly she might find Zirconia. She should have let Ari call her, but she hadn't wanted to wait. At Castor's suggestion, she was wearing his 'bling' in hopes that the other cats would be less inclined to pick on her. A diamond kitty collar, that read Castor. Yeah, she would hopefully not get picked up by animal control. Oh lord; if she switched back to Scylla while she was in an animal control cage?

Would she break the cage? Would she die, impaled on metal rods? Or would her bones crush themselves to du- no, no, she really needed to stop thinking so negative! What was the worst that could happen to her, really? Probably, with her luck, that she'd DIE, impaled on metal rods, or have her neck snapped by a too-tight kitty collar when she went back full size.

At least she would be saved the embarrassment.

Darting under an overhang to avoid the falling rain, she watched feet walking by. It was late afternoon, and there were just so many feet! She would have to pick some that were moving at a convenient speed, if she wanted to use their umbrella- aha! She darted under an umbrella, pacing along and then skipping to the next person's ankles and umbrella, looking for a good match for her pace. After all- her paws were getting tired, but she really wanted to get this task completed.

She was getting really, really tired of tripping over the bigger cracks in the sidewalk. Finally, however, she had found a human whose pace was convenient for her needs, giving her time to pay more attention to the cracks so she could stop slipping and getting wet as umbrellas passed her by. And then she tripped- again- and lost her person. Great.

If she got a cold as a cat, would she have to get Ari to take her to the vet? Or would human medicine work on her? It was something she'd never had to worry about, what with never being a cat before. Could cats get the flu? And what about all those other waterborne diseases. Could she get- heartworms? Or- oh, ew, she was going back to Ari's house when this was over and NEVER LEAVING.

And then her current feet said something, high above, paused, and a hand descended to scratch her behind the ears. Oooo, that felt nice. She tilted her head, raising purple eyes to stare up at-

Marlo? Oh, crap.

"Now what is a guardian p***y doing out here pretty much asking to be ********> What the <********>? Her eyes narrowed, ears flattening back against her head. So, Marlo was in the know- had Elzo told him about the whole magic hoodoo? Or had he been- well... if he'd been corrupted, wouldn't there be something slightly more tangible?

She hissed at him, but didn't leave the shelter of her umbrella. His umbrella. But it was being held over her pretty blue head. "Can you save the shitty jokes and keep walking? I have places to be." Better to just get it out of the way. And if he seemed surprised- well, she was technically already wet anyway. She could just run.

"I'm only half-soaked, and under your umbrella." Someone walking by almost bumped her, and Scylla shrieked as a heel ground into her beautiful, painstakingly groomed though now-soggy tail. "You have no idea how shitty this is." she admitted. "I- I'm not usually a cat. Being on four paws is a little discombobulating." She couldn't help but tilt her head to give him better access to her ears.

And then she was lifting in the air, and she gave a displeased mewl, until she was tucked away inside a coat. She scrabbled instinctively, trying to find support for her paws. "Well I'm sorry it is raining, and that I am short." she snipped.

"This is my stop." she said at one point, pawing lightly at Marlo's belly, scrabbling to get her front paws out of his jacket. But the human didn't stop, and she mewled her protest, chewing at his zipper maliciously. "I needed to go that way!" But he kept walking- and she finally dissolved into a sulk, turning her head and trying to chew one of the buttons off his shirt.

They entered the lobby, and she heard a familiar voice, and poked her head back out of Marlo's jacket, spitting his button out onto the nice marble floor. "Let me at him." she hissed up at Marlo. She still owed him for calling her frigid. "I'll scratch my way up his leg and I'll-" her voice dissolved into a hiss, ears back.

"I have a place to stay." Scylla told him, lashing him with her tail. Really, had Marlo always been this bossy and she hadn't noticed? Or was she just being hyper-sensitive due to her traumatic BEING A CAT? She sure didn't remember him having been infected with Elzo's brand of gross humor, but hey- the last time she had spent a considerable amount of time alone with her friend had been her debut. Times changed. (Or Elzo's humor was a venereal disease. She'd have to check with Daphne.)

And it was really the end of her rope when Marlo moved over to Brandon and the a*****e opened his big mouth. SLUT? The senshi-cat's ears went back and she yowled at the blue-eyed b*****d- though it was a little meant for both of them, the one who was holding her and the one who was insulting her. The shriek, oddly human, echoed through the lobby and she glared at her ex-date. She also tried to launch herself out of Marlo's shirt jacket so that she could rip the poofter's face off, but she was being a little squeezed. "A lot of force." she hissed up at the man holding her. "Use a lot of force! He smells like piss and beer." Not really, Brandon actually smelled delicious as always. He had great taste in cologne. And for all that he was a p***k- he was a good kisser. (She'd lied on their date.)

And then they were moving for the elevator, and she scrambled out of Xanis' coat a little bit by pure force, one paw freed and her gaze on the man behind them. Brandon was watching, and she extended her paw at him, clawing at the air. Somehow, however, he didn't seem as intimidated by the angry kitty as the big man grabbing him and shoving him towards the front door. No surprise there.

"Your Jada?" she asked as the elevator door closed. "And dare I ask how you know if he was telling filthy lies about this chick?" She desperately wanted to ask just what filthy lies he'd been spreading, "Maybe he wasn't." Brandon was stealing? More than the slice of cheesecake she'd guiltily left money for? And- well well. Marlo shared a lot with a talking cat he barely knew.

The door opened, and they started to exit the elevator. "Not to get all creepy horror movie on you, pal, but does the top floor usually only have one door?" she peered down the hall, feigning ignorance. "Oh, nope, there's the door to the creepy horror-movie stairwell."

"Make her yours." Scylla snorted. "You really are a man." She listened to the lowdown, and her nose wrinkled. Was he really saying that about her? And- Marlo didn't think she was a user? After she'd lived in his hotel for a month without paying? Well, she'd asked first, but the bill was still outstanding. "What if she's not as sweet as punkin pie after all? Women are liars- just like men. You thought about that? I can tell ya- women are catty, and not just literally like me."

She hopped onto the counter as he let her out of his coat, stretching. "Do you have a towel I can roll on, rather than shake all over your walls? Bad guest behavior." she peered around the suite, taking in the decor. Ah! There was her pirate hat from... almost a month ago... sitting on the counter on top of her booty chest. Mental note to get that back! Probably, however, not today. She followed him into the kitchen, watching him go to the kitchen. Ahh, so it was just a general habit, not just a habit when Jada was around.

Go for the tummy- good boy, Xanis. But she didn't think he was going to pull out strawberries for a cat. Maybe some milk? Or cream? She'd never tried that. It had been embarrassing enough learning to eat without hands this morning. "I'm Sailor- Salmon!" she pranced his way, avoiding stepping on the burners of his oven, but otherwise dripping all over his kitchen counters and stovetop. "Are you going to share that with me? I love salmon." Not as much as she loved prime rib, but she was a cat. Tilapia just didn't do it like Salmon did.

Marlo wasn't going to drug her and keep her cooped up in here because she'd talked to him, until she could be dissected, was he? She froze, bright purple eyes narrowing. "Why aren't you freaked out by a talking cat, anyway?"

She hissed as he rolled her in the towel. "Let me roll myself! I can- ahhh, that's my tail, you dolt- OW!" When he released her, however, the towel was the wet one, and she was a fuzzball mess. Anxiously, Scylla started grooming herself, trying to use her nose and paws where she could instead of her tongue. The smell of the disinfectant hit her nose stronger than it ever had as a human, and she sneezed, instinctively trying to sneeze into her paw. "Excuse me."

So was he right? She pondered, flopping on the table and crossing her paws, watching him work. "I didn't expect that you'd have prepared for a p***y to come over." the way she said the word was snide, mildly disgusted. "Unless you were hoping your creampuff was coming by. In which case, let me out the door before you start trying to cannibalize her, please." PLEASE let her out the door first. It was actually kind of fun, to pick on Marlo under the guise of a feline.

Fun until he showed off his henshin pen, and her eyes went wide with shock. "You're- you're- oh, no." Marlo couldn't be a senshi. That was- that was terrible, actually. And explained a lot of why he was suddenly gone crazy. Yet following swiftly on the heels of her shock were memories of Castor in the cute little outfit she'd met him with- and the memories made a hysterical giggle bubble up. Her vocal chord luckily didn't laugh quite the same, as a feline. She rolled, on the table, almost belly-laughing. "Oh, that's fabulous." she wiped a tear from her eye with a paw. "It's gonna suck, come snow-time, if you have to dress anything like- like another one of our sweet little menshi." Not little, anymore- Castor had grown up, power-wise at least.

"Fish is good. I guess. Salmon is about the only fish I'll eat though. Don't like trout, tilapia is a little.... ehh. I love mahi-mahi, but I always panic and worry that it is actually a dolphin." She was babbling, and hopped up onto the counter, scootching towards the stove. "So are you a creature of habit, manshi? Every Wednesday, fish." she bent her nose towards the pan, jerking it back as it splattered in her direction.

"And why are you talking so freely about this Jada?" she gave him narrow eyes. "If she is such a sweet girl, you being so free with something that obviously embarrassed her wouldn't go over well." Drunk advances? She'd hit on Xanis while she was drunk? Told him she loved him? And he'd rejected her? Well, that, at least, was something she was used to. "Just a tip on the way girls think. Since you've obviously not got a clue if you're being avoided like the plague. I'll keep my mouth shut though. Get it out. Maybe I can help."

She scowled, tail lashing. "Come snow, I better not be neck deep in it. If I am still a cat, I'll probably have heartworms, and have to go to the vet. And I've SEEN what they do to cats at the vet."

Crap- she had to figure out a way to lose the- she'd already lost the collar. She blinked, wondering when it had fallen off. In his coat? Well, at least he wouldn't get any clues to the fact that her diamond collar was Castor's. "I honestly don't know if cats can drink wine. I- I'd dare some whiskey, though, if you put a dab in some milk."

Marlo had eaten a cute little dolphin? Scylla's head jerked up, purple eyes mournful. "But they are so cute, with the click-clicking, and the squeaking, and the rubbery little noses. And they are so friendly! You obviously haven't been swimming with a dolphin, if you've eaten one." She was convinced of that- no one who had touched one of those cuddly gray mammal-fish could eat one. No matter how tasty. "I could probably have shark though. They're not cute."

She watched him shut off the stove and jumped off the counter, jumping back up onto another, next to the plates. She was going for the big plate when the little one was shoved her way. Oh, right. She was tiny now. Only her eyes were big. "Does Creampuff ever mess up your orderliness? You know with her drunken 'advances?'" she asked, sniffing at the milk and whiskey. "I mean, you say she's such a... mystery and a riddle, maybe she's gonna end up being one fat annoyance, too. How well do you really know her? Weird men talking smack about her downstairs- Maybe turkeybutt got her Halloween'd, and he isn't lying. Maybe she's just got you blindfolded. And maybe she doesn't want to be taken care of." It was weird, talking to Marlo about- herself. Posing hypothetical questions, seeking answers inside. She'd wanted him, once upon a time. But he had been seventeen, and so had she. And a lot had changed since those days, even if the two of them were only nineteen now.

"Are you pouting?" she took a bite of the salmon, hissing and spitting it back out. She tried to blow on it, to cool it, but her mouth wouldn't cooperate. "Do a cat a favor and blow on this." she pawed at the salmon plate, and dipped her nose into the bowl. Milk and whiskey- it would be better if it was warm.

"If I'm still a cat, I guess I'll start meowing a lot more and find someone to give me a dye job. Eventually I won't be a cat anymore." She didn't answer his question. Outside, it was getting a lot darker. The rain was picking up. "You mean this is a widespread problem? Who all has been affected? I was... looking for Zirconia, when we bumped into each other. Do you have any information on what's happened?"