curiousity killed the cat...

[ring_for_giles]

Who: Giles & You
What: Testing out a regain and having some fun as a cat
When: August, pre-event
Where: The halls of the ship, sports deck, library, and Giles & Ossie's private pocket dimension
Warnings: Pre-emptive warning for changeling related stuff, but I don't anticipate this going anywhere that needs warnings, will update as needed


A New Contract (Meta)

The shadows have been calling out to Giles recently. Not to disappear the way they normally do, but to embrace them, to fold them up around himself and keep going until he himself has been folded up with them into another shape entirely. He's starting to find the edges now, the workings of the animal world he hadn't been able to reach before coming into sharp focus.

Now it's a matter of testing what he can do, what limits he has while turned animal, what new things this opens up to him. And if he has a little fun along the way, so much the better.

First Steps (Closed to Oswald)

It's probably a good thing they'd recently cat-proofed the cottage, because there's a small black and white cat with unnaturally bright eyes hunched on the coffee table looking like it's about to jump, it had just finished rubbing itself against all the furniture - although there seems to have been no fur left behind from the endeavour - and now it's got its mind set on seeing if it can make the distance from the coffee table to the top of the bookshelf.

It stops when it sees Oswald though, a quiet "Mrrp?" and a quizzical look directed towards him as it sits and tries to pretend it wasn't about to be a menace.

Panthera Pardus (Open)

A panther stalks the halls of the ship, growling at those it sees. Teeth bared and eyes glinting. Although it makes no aggressive moves beyond that, just growls and stares, like it's waiting to see the reaction it brings.
Perhaps it's friendly, perhaps it's not.
There's only one real way to find out.

Felis Catus (Open)

There's a tuxedo cat making a nuisance of itself on the sports deck. It's managed to fish out a tennis ball and now it's chasing the thing around. Pouncing, batting the ball away, watching closely as it rolls, then pouncing again. Repeat ad nauseum. Or at least until someone interrupts.

Later, it'll be found curled up on a particularly comfy chair in the library, sleeping and watching people come and go in equal measure.

Comments

Panthera Pardus

[neverleave]

Just when Natsuno thinks no amount of weirdness can surprise him anymore, he turns a corner to see a growling panther stand between him and the stairs.

The teenager freezes in place, but shock wears off quickly and he moves to cross his arms, eyes narrowing. He's not afraid - more like annoyed.

"Did the captain make you, or are you just a passenger trying to bully people?"

It's not Aiden, because Aiden smells like a corpse, but that doesn't mean it can't be another shapeshifter.

[ring_for_giles]

Giles bristles at being called a bully, although it's not an unfair assessment all things considered. He'd been waiting for the sting of fear, for a worried look, for something but there's nothing there for him in this particular soul.

The panther sits, the growl having died on its lips long ago, and watches. The tip of its tail lashing with minor agitation. It's not going to reveal what it is, certainly not, but its eyes close and head dips in something that might be an apology.

[neverleave]

This particular soul finds it hard to feel anything other than grief or incandescent anger, though he's been getting better (or worse, because feelings are the worst) about it lately. Still, when you have little regard for your own safety and death doesn't matter, the threat of having your arm bitten off becomes an annoyance rather than horror.

Anyway, the panther seems to understand him, which means it's probably a passenger. The captain is lazy and only created one living creature during their time on the ship - it'd be quite a leap from Ody the small crab to an intelligent panther.

"You should be careful. Some people here will shoot you or blow you up with magic if you surprise them."

[ring_for_giles]

The panther growls again, not threatening this time, just expressing displeasure at the warning. Of course he's aware of the risks, when one often plays with fear the myriad ways people act when ruled by it become well known.

It stands up again, pads closer and circles around Natsuno, curious and trying to learn what it can about this boy with animal senses alone

[neverleave]

Natsuno's shoulders tense when the panther approaches and starts circling him. Is it so offended by the warning that it decided to threaten him and get a reaction?

Well, he has no magic powers and the gun is back in his cabin, but if this is some weird game of chicken he sure as hell not losing. Natsuno raises an eyebrow, turning around to follow the panther.

He looks and sounds like a perfectly average teenager, but the smell - he's not human. Unlike most vampires, he's alive, warm and has a heartbeat, but the blood it pumps is definitely something else. There's a second scent lingering around him, though it's fading quickly - the blood he recently drank from Windjammer's special coffee machine.

[ring_for_giles]

Giles may not know what a vampire smells like, or any other flavour of supernatural being for that matter, but he knows the scent of blood and he can connect a few dots.

It puts a bit more risk to it, someone who could see through the Changeling Mask is probably more likely to recognise him when he's not in animal form. He almost keeps trying his luck regardless, trying to get a rise out of Natsuno just to see if he can, but he thinks better of it and backs down instead.

The panther lies down, its head between its paws. A purposeful show of 'I don't mean any harm' that makes it look not unlike an overgrown house-cat