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 Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:04 pm
He’d been walking a while. Or dragging, anyway. It had happened so strangely, the world growing large like the sets on some Wonderland TV-movie, his weight cart moving slower and slower with no forward moment dragging it along. Enough to bonk him in the back of his head as it rolled over top of him, off the path and into the side of a tree, anyway. And there he’d been…four-legged and furry.
He’d no idea what to think, other than about prospects of food after training. That had been over two hours ago, after working his messenger bag out of its basket on the cart, and resting. And walking. Distances were so much smaller on such…tiny paws. He usually had such big hands.
He wasn’t even processing what it was that had happened yet. He’d been on a long run, and he was still too tired, but he had to find food. He was nearing the university district, he knew that there were vendors there sometimes that the students stopped at for sodas or cheap, filling lunches between classes. Usually they were outside the library, or parked near the larger auditorium hall classes. He’d only seen them from a distance before, too shy to go near the hall of higher learning. He remembered the pigeons picking at abandoned half hot dogs, though. Maybe he could find one. Or maybe some kind soul would fish the money clip out of the bag and buy him hot dogs with it. He didn’t even care if they made off with the rest, if they were dishonest. ‘Fish’ the money clip…
Fish….
He was that hungry.
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Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 6:57 am
The moment Aithne stepped out of the school library, a strong breeze hit her face. It blew her hair out of her face, and left her ears exposed to the cold. She was suddenly greateful for her scarf, it kept the wind away from her neck. Though the weather had been oddly mild recently it was that time of year again. The trees were bare, the wind bitter and the days cold with nights even colder. Squirels had long since entered hibernation, leaving DCU campus oddly animal free. Well, the pigeons were still there, but pigeons, as she had come to understand, were oddly tenacious.
It was late afternoon when she left the campus, a bit late for lunch which meant that she wouldn't have to wait for a table. Probably soup today, something hot to warm her belly, something to drive the cold from her. She imagined tomato soup, pungent with spices, pumpkin soup and clam chowder thick and creamy. And this was when she saw the cat. To be completely honest, Aithne saw that bag first. It had been dropped haphazardly on the street, as if abandoned by its owner. A little odd, but then, Destiny City wasn't exactly a normal place either. The cat was a little farther away. It was a beautiful thing, a little bigger than most cats with cream splotched fur. She stared. Blinked twice. The cat was still there, unmoving.
It looked cold, maybe even tired. Aithne couldn't tell, she was more of a dog person. But it was cold and windy today, and she felt a pang of pity for the animal. Before stepping forward, she looked right. Then left. No she knew was in sight, and she squatted down to place a hand on the cat's head. She scratched the cat's fur gently.
"Where's your home kitty? It's so cold out today."
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Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 7:54 am
He’d heard the approach of a person, and turned to watch the girl come up. Looking over at his bag, mostly, then finally to him and she gave him som e pets. It felt….oddly enough, really nice. He squeezed his grey-blue-green eyes shut with simple pleasure, letting the moment last for a few seconds.
Having not approached the whole cat thing well in his head, his reply was just instinct, no consideration of being a talking cat at all, “It is cold, and no jacket. I am hungry, but I cannot go home. They won’t let me in.”
The dorms didn’t allow pets, plain enough in the rulebook! They’d never let him in, with his bag or no. And who would believe he was himself! Not like his student ID would be very useful for a photo ID. Even at his laziest of not shaving or waxing for competitions, he was never THIS fluffy. He looked over and up at her with large, pitiful eyes. It wasn’t a ploy or manipulation, he just this girl who’d noticed him out of all the world would be kind enough to give a suggestion of what he could do.
It was a university campus, so she must be smart, right?
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 7:21 am
It spoke. Though she had the good grace not to let her jaw drop open, she still jumped back and managed to land on her butt. Aithen stared, shocked. Cats, well normal cats, didn't speak. She remembered, vaguely, that Marlo had once mentioned cats that could talk and dance and turn human? She didn't think they actually existed, that was pushing things a little too far. Perhaps it had been in a dream... But then, what other explanation could there be? She'd had plenty of sleep recently, she'd eaten breakfast and though she hadn't had lunch yet, Aithne couldn't remember hallucinating due to hunger.
She blinked twice before bluntly stating, "You're a talking cat." A pause. "Well," Aithne said, bending over to scoop the cat up, "that simplifies things. I'm not very good at reading body language."
The cat certainly was beautiful. Now that it was bundled against her chest, she saw that it's eyes were a shade of gray that seemed both blue and green. It's fur was thicker and fluffier than it appeared. Still, she didn't doubt that it was cold. Anything would be cold in this wind-chilling weather.
"So what now? Food or home?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:13 pm
Oh! He’d frightened her! He thought people only landed like that in foreign cartoons when they were scared. Hopefully her butt wasn’t hurt. Concrete was hard.
Björn paced in a figure-8, having little other recourse. He couldn’t just walk up on her and ask if she was okay, especially being the thing that frightened her. Besides, she was well dressed, and he was certain his paws were a little dirty, walking around a city all day. He wouldn’t just lift a foot and rub the soles of his shoes on a girl’s jacket if he weren’t enchanted, so there was no reason to go about doing so just because he was.
Then she was getting up, and stated the obvious. Hearing it just said, aloud, felt like the final nail in a coffin. He was talking, and he was a cat. And now he was comfortably scooped in her tiny arms! He crossed front paws instead of grabbing onto her shoulder for stability as cats usually did. There was nothing for not getting the dirt of his hind paws on her, than is here her hand was supporting his weight.
“Oh, the messenger bag, if you could? I don’t want to lose it. It isn’t heavy. There’s money! Please use it, keep the rest if you like. I just want a hot dog, or …anything near here. I’ve never been on the university. I just thought…well…there’s that hot dog vender I’ve seen students get lunch at. Yes, a hot dog. With the chili on it. It smells very good. Would you? “
It was much warmer in her coat, with his fur coat! And he could hear and feel her heart he was so close. He had no complaints of this change of fortune, however long or brief it turned out to be. How often did a guy get a free ticket to cuddle inside a girl’s jacket? Really though, the pleasant scent of clean clothes and body wash with the rhythm of breath was comforting. He started to purr a little, startled himself wide-eyed, but he didn’t know how to stop. So he kept purring.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 4:46 am
Aithne swung her head around until she could saw the messenger bag the cat had spoke of. She picked it up and slung it on her shoulder. For a cat, he was really polite, even offering her the money in his wallet. Not that she planned to take it. The cat, or human, or whatever, had obviously been struck with a lot of bad luck recently.
"Oh, the hot dogs? No, you don't really want those...trust me. If you don't mind, I have some smoked salmon at home that was left over from some sandwiches. You can have that. Or anything else in my fridge if you don't like salmon."
Digging around in her own bag, Aithne pulled out the granola bar she'd kept around as emergency food. She held it out so the cat could see.
"Though for now, I guess you can have this if you're really that hungry."
She was aware of the soft purring the cat made. It was a little hard for her to wrap her head around that idea. Talking cat. Talking cat that purred. Talking cat that wanted hot dogs, that had never been to the University. Talking cat that had a messenger bag and a wallet? It was almost as if a human had just...suddenly turned into a cat.
"This is a little awkward, but do you have a name something other than 'cat'?" She asked as she walked towards her home.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 9:08 am
“Salmon sounds amazing, “she was really willing to give a cat something so expensive? There were pet foods he’d seen in stores with chunk real fish in them, but it always seemed probable that the cut or quality of that fish was likely lesser that what was frozen and offered for human consumption. “I love salmon. It’s great for protein and Omega-3’s. “
He did sniff the offered granola, which smelt nutty and fruity and full of grains. If he was himself, he would have accepted it in a heartbeat. He liked granola. But the scent wasn’t pleasing, and it looked harder to manage than catmint or blades of grass. His teeth were all strange as a cat. “I don’t know if I can manage granola, even if it looks delicious. Can cats eat granola? I can be patient. “
Maybe she didn’t like hot dogs? What was wrong with hot dogs? They were high in fat and salt, but he was always eating very healthy. One once in a while wasn’t going to give him health trouble, would it? Maybe she knew something that he didn’t. His name? Was it safe to just give that? Would she look at his ID in the wallet and believe that the talking cat was, in fact, a student at Hillworth was some really bad luck? Smart people didn’t believe in magic. Well, mostly no one believed in magic or enchantment or stuff from fairytales. Being turned into a cat was a lot like being turned into a frog. Maybe only princes got turned into frogs.
More importantly, would it be dangerous to involve her? He didn’t know this kind girl at all, but he did know he didn’t want to cause her any more trouble than necessary. She was probably busy! She was a university girl, with goals and things to do. What if helping him got her turned into a cat? Was this sort of thing a catching problem?
“My…name is Björn. “
“ I hope this doesn’t turn into trouble. I don’t want to get you into the same situation. Have you met any other talking cats?” It didn’t occur to him that if she’d been so surprised to begin with that it was not very likely that she had.
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