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 Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 8:40 am
Faust kept his rustling to a minimum, even as the corner of a spiral notebook poked him in the a**. Who the hell made those damn things, anyway? Faust should kill them. Find out where they live, jump in the window, and dutch oven them to death. It's what they deserve for this s**t.
After climbing in Seren's bag and kicking out one of her heavy-a** textbooks, the ride had been so damn boring. Thump-thump-thump in the dark, a pause here or there, more thump-thump-thump, more talk noises (why ain't more people like Quenton, Faust thought, appalled), whoosh-whoosh sounds like wind or cars, and then Faust took a nap. An actual nap, in someone's backpack, while they were wandering around like they had a goddamn clue.
Faust woke up pretty proud of himself. New catly level and all.
Now he'd been sitting there, unjostled, for a good five minutes. Or it felt like five minutes. And after that batter-batter-batter for a damn million steps, he wanted to stay unjostled in a dark, quiet place for a good five minutes. But his feline sensibilities changed in a whip-quick second, and now he itched to burst out of the bag. He pawed around until he found the zipper, batted it until his claw caught, and pushed far enough for a liberal shaft of light to shoot in at him. Faust then pushed his muzzle through and flopped bonelessly onto…
A counter. One of those dingy-a** shithouse counters like the ones at Quenton's old apartment, with the peeling pressboard or whatever the hell Blondie called it. "Mrrf," he chuffed at the space.
Ain't nothing like the CatFé.
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 12:45 pm
Seren had pulled out the chicken she had defrosted for dinner tonight, and all the ingredients she needed to cook it. It had been a long day, but at least the nonsense with the damn stat project had been primarily resolved. All they needed to do now was the actual data gathering and then the data processing. In the meantime, she was done with class and tutoring for the day, and home. Home in her little cheap a** apartment with cheap a** fittings, but it was still home. Her home, her sanctuary, a place far away from the s**t she had grown up with. She had gotten her only chef's knife out... And how she had saved for that, it had taken a good amount of work to afford this beauty... and her meat cutting board, and was just about to start chopping the chicken when she heard a sound that she was not expecting. She froze, eyes wide and worried. Had a rat gotten into the apartment? Did that mean the building might have rats now? That was a thought she really did not want to deal with. But she needed to see what had made the sound, or there could be a problem. She turned, slowly, knife gripped in her hand in an almost aggressive/protective manner, and looked around... But not for too long. It wasn't hard to spot what had made the noise. The large, fluffy black cat in his Assistance Animal harness on her counter was entirely obvious against the dingy white. Her jaw dropped, and she ALMOST dropped the knife, too, though she managed to prevent that from happening... She couldn't afford medical bills OR a new knife. "Oh ******** hell... When did you get in my bag?" She breathed out, then set the knife down to come over and examine the kitty, and also her bag. When she looked inside, her eyes widened and she had to control the urge to hyperventilate. Her books. HER SCHOOL BOOKS WERE GONE. She did not have spare money to replace those. What happened? Had the cat knocked them out without her hearing? It must have happened during the lecture, the professor was LOUD at times. "Hoo... Hoo... Ok. So minus... 3 expensive textbooks... Plus one probably expensive Assistance Cat. Ok." She didn't even notice that her hand had reached out to give Faust some pets, fingers going to that spot behind the ears again. "So... How to handle this? I think... Yes. Ok. I'm going to finish prepping my chicken, so I can use it as a focus to calm myself... Once it's in the oven, I can text Zachariah. Yes. Yes, that's a good plan." She looked down at Faust, a bemused look on her blue eyed face. "Catling, I don't know why you would want to come home with me. I'm not very exciting, my apartment isn't super comfortable... But while I have you, I'm going to take care of you." With those words, she went over to her thrift shop special couch, and grabbed the softest of her throw pillows, and brought one over to him to curl up on, so that she could keep an eye on him while she worked, then moved her cooking set up to where she could chop, season, AND see. "There you go, buddy."
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2018 11:13 am
Faust didn't know what her problem was. He shoved three heavy-a** books out of her bag and replaced it with his fluffy a**, which was a helluva lot more entertaining and interactive and pettable. What'd she have to go on about with her heavy breathing and her hand on her chest and the ******** was she waving around that knife for?
Faust leveraged an ear back, issuing a warning grunt if she decided to come near him with that damn thing brandished. He knew he was fluffy and maybe a little overfed, but he wasn't no damn thanksgiving turkey. Chuffing, Faust stepped out of the bag and managed a good solid six inches away from it. She could search that damn thing all she liked — even stab it if she wanted to, he didn't care — but that knife wasn't coming near him.
The cat shook himself out. The damn harness was starting to chafe and get in the way of his puffs. And the hell was she calling him Catling for? Didn't she hear his name when Zachariah introduced him? Or read his damn collar tag?
Wait, s**t, then she'd find out he belonged to Quenton.
Whatever, didn't matter. She gave him a few absent pets (not with the knife) and that was a good start to repay him for his long journey home with her. It wasn't easy shoving those damn textbooks out of her bag, and she jostled him a helluva lot on the way home, and her apartment looked like the a** end of a rat.
So when she brought the pillow, it only seemed fitting. He gave it a sniff, maybe two, pawed at it a little circled around it, pawed at the other side, sniffed again, stepped on it, then settled into a legless lump of cat with a head. His eyes squinted shut, he began his low, rumbling purr; he waited for further pets (there were always further pets). Maybe this would actually be worth his while.
But he wanted to ******** with her first, talking cat and all. He mrred at her emphatically when she went near the raw chicken, even leaned a little off his pillow for extra effect. His collar jingled rhythmically with all of his fidgeting catliness.
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2018 4:04 pm
Seren watched him examine the pillow, with the all the judgement and critical expressions she had come to expect from a kitty, and she couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Yes, I know, it's probably not the comfort level you are used to... But it's what I can afford on my tutoring salary, Faust, and it's all I can offer. Sorry, handsome." Once he was settled in, she did indeed give him a few more pets, because why wouldn't she? She had a handsome and adorable kitty in her apartment and she was going to make the most of the time she had with him. Her fingers dug deep into the fluff, to give him some good scratches behind the ears, and down his fluffy back, to rub at the base of his tail for a long moment, then back up, to scratch at his ruff and beneath his chin. After a minute of that, she sighed happily, and moved to wash her hands. "Alright, big guy, let me just get my chicken cooked up." She noticed the way he leaned towards the meat, as well as the sounds he made, and she chuckled again. "If you're still here when it's ready, I promise I'll share some with you, ok?" She said, with a soft and fond smile." She began to chop the chicken up, into thin strips that would coat nicely with the seasoning, and then set them aside. "BUGGER. Forgot the egg... But I don't want to risk kitty with salmonella, thanks to raw chicken... I can't afford the vet bill, and you'd be a miserable boy." She eyed him, and the chicken... then backed up to the fridge, not looking away, and got an egg out. Luckily the mixing bowls were in the cabinet under the chicken, and she darted back, as quickly as she could.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 11:00 am
Discriminatory as Faust was, he was seldom a cat to rebuke pets. He did not, however, approve of said pets too quickly. When training someone into a good cat servant, too much praise too quickly made them think they could order the cat around. Or like the cat won't suddenly disappear for weeks at a time, leaving them all alone. Now, Faust had that s**t down to a science. He knew to sit still and let her pet him, and appear indifferent about it. So he sat, elevator a**'d when she touched his tail root (to what tail, no one knew, but it worked the damn same), waited for a while, purred softly.
They were average pets, if he had to grade that s**t. Not quite 'the way you pet me sucks', but not 'please continue petting until your hand rots', either. Right smack dab in the middle.
And she knew to cough up the chicken. Most people got their panties in a twist about cats eating human food (like regular cats don't already eat chicken or some s**t). But this one? Nah — Sunset here knew better. She was going to feed him, and she was gonna like it. Hell, she could hand feed him if she wanted to — he didn't care as long as the chicken wound up in his mouth.
So when she walked away from the raw bird meat, Faust left his pillow to investigate what he took as an offering. She might've kept an eye on him, but he wasn't about to back down for that s**t. Eye contact was made as he stooped, puffs looming over the unwrapped, uncooked chicken, and he sniffed at it, and he was about to take a first few licks at it —
But she walked right the ******** back over like she wasn't about that life. Aw hell, you're one of those. Lemme tell you, this cate ate a squirrel jus' yesterday. You think that s**t was cooked? Think again.
Not that Sunset would hear that; the most she'd hear were the demanding, pathetic sounds of a hungry feline. Of the "meeeooooooowwww" sort, because ******** being short about it. And he'd paw at her arm or her hip or whatever's closest too, as long as it wasn't too much work to reach it.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 7:37 pm
Faust's slow response to her pets almost had her stopping, but then he began to purr, so obviously she had done it at least semi right. Or she hoped, at least. She eyed him as he came close to licking the chicken. "Trust me, Faust-kitty, it'll taste better cooked. With my signature 13 herbs and spices, it'll be ever so much better." She gave him a slightly longing look, wanting to lean over and kiss the kitty, but he was such a grump... Adorable grump, but still!... and she was sure he'd NEVER approve of kisses to his cute kitty face. She got out 2 bowls, and cracked the egg into one, then whisked it, before dredging the meat through the egg and then the spices. "It's a good mix... I did a lot of research, to find the best spices to get a good flavor at a price I can afford." She gave the cat a smile, and laughed at herself, a little sadly. "And here I'm talking to you like you can understand me. Obviously, I spend too much time alone, and am losing my mind. You are a wonderful, adorable cat and deserve all the adoration I can give..." Her expression was quietly lonely as she talked. "But you're still a kitty, and kitties don't understand human language." She looked down at the chicken and laid it out in the pan, then tossed it into the oven, which was dinging. Once that was down, she tossed the dishes in the sink... She had a cat to attend to, she could clean them later... washed her hands, then sighed and went to gently scoop his Fluffesty up. "So. Should I call now, and risk him getting here quickly? If I do, I miss out on seeing you eat chicken. If not, though... I don't know how long it'll take Zachariah to get here, and I do need sleep." She sighed again, and carefully carried the handsome cat into her shabby living room, and settled on the couch, draping him across her lap. "So I think... I shall call him once the chicken is slightly more then half done, so we can share it." She winked at the cat, as if he was in cahoots with her or something. "Yes, that sounds like the best plan, don't you think? You can have half of my planned dinner, I don't mind having a slightly lean night. Not like I didn't make do on less before.... And I will get to pretend, for a little more time, that I have a cat of my own." She began to run her fingers along the cat, trying to seek out the places he liked to be pet the most... He'd liked ear rubs, earlier, but simple strokes had seemed to be boring. Would he give her any hints? Some kitties did.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 3:26 pm
Herbs and spices? What happened to plain, old chicken? If she thought chicken tasted bad on its own, she ain't never had it raw. Faust shot her a skeptical stare, one ear pinned back in doubt. Yo, Sunset. You never had yourself some raw chicken before, have you? You can't beat that texture, even with your eleventy thousand herbs n' spices. Nobody beats that out.
Then she talked to herself about talking to a cat, like the whole damn thing was just so unbelievable. He chuffed and tossed his head, curiously similar to a roll of the eyes. I can understand your human language pretty damn well. Hell, I can almost read it.
Just as he turned around to sit his back to her and give her the cold shoulder, Sunset scooped him up like he weighed not a goddamn thing. Faust grunt-maowed into the action, his legs shrinking against his fluffy body as they curled uselessly inward, and he looked to her attentively. Now where the hell was she taking him? Unless it was home or to the vet's, he didn't really give a damn. Sounded like she wanted to toss him back at his own house without feeding him, though, and Faust wasn't about that life.
But she was talking like Hydork owned him. Wasn't a chance in hell that Four-Eyes did, but she wasn't about to check his collar and find out. Hell, she almost asked him if it was okay. He responded with a rumbling grunt. "Mmmmr."
Shifting, Faust started trying to climb her arm. He knew not to use claws unless he had to — humans were weak to that s**t — but his goal was to get his fat a** up on her shoulders so he could park there like a burden. Then he'd have a pretty good view of whatever it was she was doing to that chicken. But she wanted to pet him, hesitated like a b***h, so he paused his pursuit to headbutt her hand. Pet my face, dammit. It ain't rocket surgery.
Humans needed their damn hands held too much. Hint given, he stepped on her boob to try to get to prime shoulder territory.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 8:53 pm
Seren had no idea, obviously, what all was going on in the cat's head. She just found his many reactions adorable and sweet, and found herself giving him a bright, warm smile. "You know you're a handsome fellow, don't you? Well at least I get some kitty time, which is always good." She settled in for the moment, letting herself relax. The chicken would take the time it took and in the meantime, she was going to give the fluffball many adorations. The headbutt did it's job, and she moved her fingers up to begin giving him ear rubs, fingers digging into the fluff to get the skin beneath, her thumbs rubbing at the scent marking spots right in front of his ears. She had no idea if it would work on him, but she'd had kitties go basically brain inert doing this in the past... The ones who it worked on would just look zoned out. One even had begun to drool a little in his zoney state. The paw on her boob earned a grunt of discomfort, because owww but other then that she didn't say a word... He was a cat, he didn't know better! "Mmm gonna be harder to pet your cute head up there, Fluffy Man, but if you prefer, I'll make it work somehow." She let the hand that couldn't easily reach him drop, so she could pull her phone out of her pocket, for when she needed it, then settled back and continued to give the ear and face rubs to the handsome cat.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 9:10 pm
Faust wasn't a man of the scent spot touching. Hell, he was very particular about who got to pet his head and where. And when Sunset here reached to touch anywhere other than the very top of his head between his ears, Faust leaned the hell away from that s**t. She was a stranger; he had no business marking that unless her cooking was just that damn good. And since it ain't done yet, the jury was still out on that one. Nope, she got the top of his head and that was aall she got until that chicken came out of the oven.
And speaking of ovens… Part two of Faust's plan came into place. While she was distracted with her phone doing whatever it is kids did on their phones, Faust was getting the absent pets. And Faust hated absent pets — nothing was more interesting than him — but absent pets also meant she wasn't paying him a whole lotta mind. So when he was sure she was hella focused on that phone (doing he didn't know what, but it had a lot of colors on that damn screen), he wiggled his a** to redistribute his weight. And once he felt he had a sure footing on her shoulders, Faust summoned all the kinetic energy he built up from a dozen hours of napping and launched straight off her.
Claws on check, of course.
And he was right on target for his landing — the oven was dead ahead. Paws outstretched, Faust caught the dingy white oven handle and used his weight to pull the door down. It almost snapped back shut on him, but he wiggled and fussed and kicked and wriggled and chuffed and squirmed and twisted until he got enough force together to pull the damn thing down. Faust was only satisfied when he felt his feet touch the ground.
Good. Now he just needed to bust into the oven and get the chicken. Felt kinda hot, though. Licking his lips, he readied to jump up on his new platform —
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 9:39 pm
When he leaned away from her fingers touching his marking spots and ears, she blinked, surprised, but stopped trying to do that. "Well alright, I was just seeing where your favorite spots were. Not like I am a mind reader. Different kitties like different things..." She said, her tone bemused, as she moved her hand back to the middle of his head-top, rubbing carefully. She got her phone unlocked and was getting the message composed when she felt the shift in weight on her shoulder. It caused her to blink in a startled way and... actually drop her phone. She swore and might have snatched for it except the cat... was leaping off of her, and ... "HOLY ********." She swore even more, loudly enough that the neighbor to the right yelled back 'SHADDUP.' She dived OFF the couch and darted around it, running for the cat because the last thing she wanted was to have to explain to Zachariah that his CAT HAD BURNED HIS DAMN FLUFFY TOOTSIES trying to get into her oven. She made it around and snatched for the cat, attempting to grab him. Her fingers certainly made it around his middle. Her other hand grabbed the oven handle, however, and she slammed it shut. "Faust Cat! Holy ********, what are you thinking? That oven is running at 350 degrees Fahrenheit! You could have burned your toe beans off! Or seriously damaged them. Oh kitty!" She dropped to the ground in front of the oven, staring at the cat under her hand.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2018 6:39 am
Faust was swept up in a hurry. He didn't even get a good look at the chicken he could be stealing before he felt nailed hands around his waist. Her little stick-arm slammed the oven shut fast enough to send a gust of hot air in their direction, to which Faust squinted. Hell, it's hot in there. Too hot for this furry a**.
But to all the rest of her exasperated tirade, complete with looking him in the eye, Faust simply looked at the stove timer, then at the fan, then at the too-old countertops, then at the nearby chair, then at her backpack. The only answer he gave was an indifferent "mrr" to all her worrying. And he only hung boneless in her arms for so long — once she finished her ranting and dropped, Faust quivered and wriggled and shifted in her hands to try to get a good grip on her legs. If he could do that, he could launch.
And if he could launch, that meant he could check out the rest of her apartment. If he couldn't have food, he at least deserved a tour of his new digs. Who knew what sort of cool cat toys she was hiding around the apartment? Clearly it was up to Faust to find them.
He squirmed out as best he could to go on that hunt. The kitchen looked pretty goddamn boring, but a bedroom could have something good… But if she was striving to be a damn dirty disappointment, he'd settle for the shoelaces on her shoes. Those usually got left somewhere near the front door, as far as Faust knew. That s**t still wasn't in the kitchen. Lanyards with keys also worked, but he liked personal effects a helluva lot better. s**t that people were attached to meant they freaked the hell out when he smacked those things off the counter.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2018 4:34 pm
Seren sat, slowly taking a few deep breathes, and watched the cat get free. As long as he stayed away from anything that would hurt him, she did not care if he explored her crappy apartment. What would he do, claw her couch some? Woohoo. It was a Thrift Shop Special, gotten cheap because no one had wanted it, same with almost everything else in here. Once she was calm, she got up to watch him go, curiously following after, not chasing. Her shoes were by the door, in a cheap a** "step tansu" made of shoe boxes glued together, and there was a small, rickety table with a plastic bowl on it that held her keys. If he jumped up, he'd find the keys on a school lanyard, along with her student ID. If he continued into the main sitting area, where the couch was, he'd also find a cheap a** arm chair, a dining table/work table with 2 mismatched chairs, and uncurtained windows with a fairly wide ledge... Big enough for a human to sit on, so certainly large enough for a cat to sit on, with 2 cheap cushions to soften it. Off of it were two doors... One was closed, and the other led to a 'just big enough to fit a human' sized bathroom. Strickenized Lolol he gonna be mostly disappoint, she don't got much.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2018 7:02 pm
Dayum. Sunset lives in a goddamn dump. Faust's judgment became more and more apparent the more he saw — more disappointed feline grunts chuffed out of him and he largely snubbed any furniture he came across. The place looked like it should go into the business end of a trash compactor and left there to be obliterated. s**t, the dump looked better. The backyard of Quenton's old apartment complex looked better, even after Quenton had been out of commission for a while and no one was around to clean up after Faust.
So while he paused to work his claws on the couch, he passed up most of the rest of the tour. He got up on the table just to see the view, then promptly got down with no food in sight. Then there was the bathroom counter, and even that had nothing good. The girl was stalking him the whole damn way, too, which annoyed Faust even further. Ain't you got our dinner to watch? Damn, girl. You gonna burn some s**t. And Faust wasn't eating shitty cooking.
He could afford to skip shitty cooking.
Finally he returned to his origin point in the apartment and once again leapt onto the kitchen counters. The formica almost felt dirty under his paws. He returned to the loaner pillow, gave it a last sniff, then curled up neatly on top to take a nap until the food was done. One eye cracked open long enough to give Seren the look of you better feed me before closing altogether. Maybe for thirty seconds, maybe for five minutes, maybe the rest of the time until the chicken was cooked and he could get a free meal.
Then Zachariah would probably be getting his b***h a** over to take him home. This place was nobody's home.
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 1:39 pm
Seren gave a rueful laugh at the sounds the cat made. "Yeah, I know. I don't have much here to keep a cat happy. Sorry, buddy. My budget isn't the biggest, and never has been. This is living large for me, really." She shook her head, wistfully, and followed the cat back into the main area. She glanced over at the timer on the stove, and noticed it was about five minutes-ish to go, so she wandered over to the kitchen area and began to pull out utensils, a pair of plastic but sturdy plates, a plastic cup, and a small plastic bowl. She glanced over, saw Faust curled up on the pillow again, and reached over to rub the top of his head. "Food soon, big guy, I promise." Her tone was affectionate and friendly. After a moment of giving his fuzzy head pets, she turned to the fridge and pulled out some salad, and a pitcher of cold water. She filled both the small bowl and the cup with the water, and moved the bowl closed enough to Faust that he could have some if he wanted... He was a big fluffy boy and it was, after all, summer. Then she set up some salad for herself on one of the plates. By the time she was done with that, the oven timer was binging and she grabbed her mitt, and pulled out the hot pan. She set it on the burners, and used a spatula to plate the chicken on both plates, before shoving the one without salad at the kitty. "I hope you enjoy it... It's one of my home-created specialties."
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Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2018 10:47 am
The hell kinda life you living, Sunset? Living large is chicken with flaky black s**t on it… Sounds like a s**t-a** life to me. Faust licked his lips at her disapprovingly. She needed to reprioritize her spending like Quenton did — he didn't make much for money, lived mostly on apples, but he spent his money wisely on Faust. And whatever came in with the CatFé business that counted for profit also went to Faust.
All good things should come to Faust.
Sunset fell in line with that sentiment when she popped a plate in front of him. It smelled funny, like someone sneezed planty s**t onto meat, but he could eat around the black flaky parts if he had to. The chicken was some kinda light tan — different from when it was raw — and chewier too. First he licked it, then when he moved it close enough to the edge of the plate, he turned to the side and chewed pieces off with his canines. Every time he chewed, his head tilted to the left or the right to keep the meat moving.
He swallowed, licked his lips, and went back to working at it. If she touched him, he didn't care; Faust was busy evaluating her cooking. He never cared for cooked chicken before, but this s**t was passable. He could eat it if he had to. And it was all she had to offer him besides pets, so that was all he was getting.
Yeah, why not. He'd eat the whole piece she gave him, stomachache be damned. Can't let food go to waste as a cat, especially when Numbnuts Hydork was coming back by to pick him up shortly. "Mrrf," he gave her as feedback. At least he didn't burn his paws for it.
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