glencolareef | Days 26-27

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Days 26-27

WHO: The Cat and some peasants
WHAT: A bit of chatter
WHEN: Days 26 and 27
WHERE: The airfield
WARNINGS: N/A

The Cat continues to the airfield despite Taissa and Chloe's departure, and spends the days meticulously looking over (and rubbing his scent onto) the whole area. Anyone he encounters during this process he observes with wide purple eyes. Whether to speak or not is always a decision that takes some thought, and it's best to determine how a human will respond first before making them question their own sanity.

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Levi is still getting used to the airfield-village-thing, but the Cat is the first animal he's seen there. Or the first that stayed and didn't seem to be wild. ~~Or fully wild, cats were weird.~~ He watches for a few moments before crouching down and holding out a hand. "Here kitty."

Well, he certainly isn't going to refuse hospitality. He pads up to the boy, but rather than smell the offered hand with his severely limited senses he sits and watches. You may pet him now.

He hesitates, since the Cat doesn't sniff or rub against him or do any of those friendly cat things. But he also doesn't leave, so after a moment he reaches out and offers head scritchies.

He purrs his approval and tilts his head so Levi scratches just the right spot behind his ears. Good. So far all the people he's met in this strange new life have been Proper, Reasonable people who understand how to treat a cat. He doesn't expect that everyone will be this way, but it's good to know who he doesn't have to be overly wary around.

He continues scritching in the place the Cat move his head too.

"I didn't expect to see cats here," he muses. "But I guess I don't know what's on islands..."

He gives a brief mew in agreement, purring louder as that hand reaches a particular itch. Of course, small cats are uncommon on such small islands as this, but they to tend to be wherever there are humans. It's a very symbiotic relationship, when cats have so much trouble reaching certain parts of their heads to scratch.

He pets in silence for a few moments before speaking up again. Still just musing to himself cause its not like a cats gonna understand and judge him or respond. ~~Well, judge him more than cats normally do.~~

"...its been awhile since I've been able to do something like this." It felt nice. Calm.

This cat does understand, but he's been around humans long enough not to judge one for talking to an animal. Sometimes they just need to voice their thoughts out loud. He's curious about that statement though, so he mews in question.

"Hm?" Was he slacking in his petting? Oops. He makes sure he's still scritching.

"I don't see friendly animals much. There wasn't anything friendly in Prehevil. And on the front..." He sighs and shakes his head.

He purrs a little louder, reassuringly, hoping to make it extra clear that he is friendly. 'The front' usually means war, and this human seems far too young to speak of it as if it's all he knows aside from home.

He just pets the cat silently for awhile, letting the purr calm his nerves. After a few minutes, unless the Cat does anything to stop him, he stands up.

"I shouldn't just stay here all day." Not that he really has anything he should be doing, but he always feels like he should be moving or watching something. "I hope you stick around, though."

The Cat doesn't try to stop the boy, feeling he's done his duty here. He only watches as Levi stands to leave. He gives a quiet mwrrt in answer to that last statement, his own way of saying he isn't going anywhere.

Randvi did not get very much sleep last night, but she did consume a pretty significant amount of alcohol, and she's feeling the effects of both this morning.

Consequently, she's wandering the village in a bit of a daze when she spots the black cat nearby. It makes her smile - there are lots of cats around her village in England and it almost makes her feel at home.

This must be the talented cat that the people needing rescue had mentioned.

“Hello,” she says, smiling. “I hope our little village is to your liking.”

He stops and considers the woman. He's heard a little about the people expected to be present in this place, but... no, not enough to make a guess at who she is. At least she seems at ease speaking to him.

"It is well enough," he answers, quite reasonably. He hasn't really explored much of the place yet, after all.

"I thank you for your hospitality."

Randvi startles a little at the sound. She had known the cat was intelligent, but not that he speaks.

“Oh! You can speak!” Maybe not as much of a surprise as it should be considering everything else she's seen here. “I'm glad you were able to make it here safely.”

Well, everyone is a little startled the first time they hear him talk, even if they know beforehand that he can. She doesn't seem too shocked, so that's good.

"It was not so difficult a journey," he assures her, not thinking to mention that he spent most of it being carried. They really didn't face too many dangers, being safely indoors during the storm.

“Squalo made it all sound quite fraught.”

Of course, she doesn't know anything about this cat beyond his rescue skills, perhaps he's used to conflicts.

“I'm sure the women are grateful for your service.”

"Perhaps," he says noncommittally. He can't begin to guess why they left, so he can't really judge their intentions socially.

"Staying inside during the storm was discomforting for everyone, but there was no real danger."

“It was difficult here as well, but at least we are far enough from water that we did not suffer flooding. Lightning struck very close by.” She can't help bringing it up every time, it had shaken her a bit to witness.

“And what happened to Zam, but I don't know whether that was related.”

It must have been very close indeed, for her to mention it. Indoors as he was, and with his senses muted, he wasn't able to observe the storm for himself.

"What happened to Zam?"

Randvi looks at the cat, helpless, and somehow it doesn't feel as strange as she’d expected to be saying this to him. Cats are friends to Freyja, maybe they can all talk but choose not to.

“I don't know. She disappeared during the night. Her bedding was undisturbed, and no one saw her leave. Her shoes were left behind.”

That’s the detail that constantly snags in her mind. They had been lying there so neatly, as if she had merely stepped out of them.

He considers those details, as well as the woman's clear distress. It sounds as if this 'Zam' person was simply spirited away by magic, but to what end he cannot guess. It also sounds as if Randvi knows this, but the knowledge isn't comforting.

"It's fortunate then that you were still here to welcome us."

“Yes. At this point we should take nothing for granted.” Who could even guess what the next day holds for any of them?

“Is there anything you’ll require while you're here?” She can't just assume that he’ll have the same needs as the others.

"I thank you, no," he answers with a polite nod. Anything he needs he'll acquire in the moment. It's not hard to get two-leggers to do things for him.

"A cat can make do. A dry place to sleep is more than enough hospitality." But he does expect to be fed at any and every time he should decide he's hungry.

“If you wish to share space with the rest of us, most of us sleep in the smaller longhouse closest to the tower.” It may not be the same for all cats, but Nali loves sleeping in people's beds whenever he's in port.

He will definitely be doing that, and probably sleeping in people's beds while they're not there. It'll be nice and warm. He looks up and around for the tower. He can sort of make out a structure, but it's hard to see long distances as he is now.

"That direction?"

“Oh, yes.” In talking to him like a person, she had almost forgotten that he was cat-sized. She points. “Across the square, there.”

Cat-sized, and with a mortal cat's nearsightedness. But he can make out the shape in the distance, now that he's looking for it.

"I'll keep it in mind, thank you."

Jade's been mostly keeping to herself as she recovers from her injuries, but during a brief moment of carefully wandering around and exploring... is that a cat? Dog instincts are activated. Her eyes narrow, her ears fold back against her head, and she starts growling. She does feel kind of bad about growling at this (she assumes) innocent and defenseless animal... but it just feels so right!

The odd sound makes the Cat's ears twitch, and he turns to see what's causing it. Normally he has nothing to fear from the Beast People, but he hasn't been quite right since coming here.

Seeing that it's a two-legger growling at him, he sits where he is and watches her. His tail flips lazily against the ground, almost mocking in communicating his relaxation.

Given some time and the lack of things like running away or meowing, Jade's dog instincts are able to calm down and let her human brain take over a little. The growling slowly tapers off... but she still looks comically suspicious of the cat.

"...Are you a wild kitty, or are you someone's pet?" She's not really expecting an answer, but she's gotten into the habit of thinking out loud.

What an odd girl. He can smell just the slightest whiff of Beast People on her, but not enough to be certain of its meaning. Either way she isn't something that he's seen before. Is she mortal?

"I am no one's pet," he answers after a moment's thought. He can't be any more disconcerting to her than she is to him.

Did that cat just... talk?

Cats can talk here?

...Oh god, does that mean that she had just been growling at a sentient creature? Mortifying.

"Um." Jade plucks at the ends of her sleeves, clearly embarrassed. "I did not know you could talk! I'm so sorry, Mr. Cat. Or Mr. Whatever-your-name-is. I did not mean to imply that you had to be somebody's pet. Or growl at you."

"I was not offended," he reassures her, sounding as calm as he looks. He usually is someone's pet, though the relationship isn't ever what it sounds like.

He tilts his head curiously.

"Have you never heard the talk of other creatures?" Even if most animals ignore what's said by different species, they're all aware that they do talk.

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Days 26-27

Day 26

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Day 26

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Day 27

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