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xp_logsCatseye checks up on Forge in his lab, and gets to the heart of the matter that's been bothering him. The cat is wise.
She'd been waiting for Forge for what felt like years, prowling around the lab looking at the shiny things and inspecting the things that made curious noises or had bright flashing buttons. The purple cat was curious as to what was going on with her friend. His journal post had worried her, along with the snippets of gossip she'd heard about him missing his training session. So Catseye waited for him to arrive, eventually curling up on one of the tables on top of some sort of electronic device that was emitting a very low level of heat. Mmm, warm. She wasn't actually sleeping, merely dozing, but her ears were pricked forward and finely attuned to any sound of Forge approaching.
After a while, the door to the lab slid open, and Forge walked through, tossing a button-down shirt towards one locker while grabbing a lab coat from another in a well-practiced motion. As he walked the perimeter of the lab, he checked various machines and charts, muttering to himself.
"Experiments, check. Suppy requisition, check. Catseye sitting on the mass spectrometer, check. Evening, Cats," he intoned without looking over his shoulder.
"Mrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt," Catseye replied in greeting, rising from the warm spectrometer thingy and trotting to the edge of the table. She arched her back to be petted and let out a 'meep' to try to attract Forge's attention. ShinyBitsBoy needs to pet Catseye before starting work. And ShinyBitsBoy needs to talk.
Absently, Forge reached out a hand and scratched the purple cat between the ears. "You know, part of me wondered if you'd be in college by now. What with your brother insisting that he could make sure you got home schooling to keep you up to speed. See how well that worked, obviously." The wry disdain in Forge's voice was palpable as he wandered around to a touchscreen, his other hand tapping in commands.
Out of defense for Evan, Catseye shifted so that her girlform was sitting on the edge of the table, legs, swinging over the sides. "BigBrother did keep Catseye up to speed," she corrected. "BigBrother taught Catseye manymany things in two years! And now Catseye is in high school! Not with the small kittens anymore! Catseye never thought she would stay in school this long, but BigBrother helped Catseye see school was important. BigBrother wanted Catseye to see that school could make Catseye as smart as ShinyBitsBoy about school things." It was blatant flattery, and Catseye hoped it would trigger a response.
Forge snorted at that thought. "Yeah, if you stayed in school until you're eighty-four. Give Evan some credit, you caught up well. Nineteen, and at the rate you're going, you could probably have your GED in the next year or two. I mean, if you wanted to..." He trailed off, then turned to look at Catseye while he leaned on a nearby counter. "So what do you want to do? I mean, besides chase birds and lay on the windowsill. Ever given any thought to it?"
"Catseye would like her GED in the next year or two," she said with a nod, mostly because she thought it was what Forge wanted to hear rather than out of actual personal desire. "If Catseye was going to get a human job, Catseye would like to work with cats and maybe with dogs at an animal hospital. And Catseye would like to publish books teaching humans about cats. Mister SplodeyButt is going to let Catseye write a paper in history class to start, but Catseye thinks a paper would not be long enough to teach sillyhumans." She narrowed her eyes at Forge and swished her tail. "Is ShinyBitsBoy giving extraspecial thought to what he wants to do lately?"
"Quite a bit," Forge said with a nod. "I finish up my Business degree in June, and I've actually been thinking of going into business for myself. Technology that can help people, you know? I'll probably sit down with the Professor, since a grant from the Institute would really help a lot of the mutant-specific research applications, and then there's the X-Men..." His voice trailed off briefly, but he shook it off. "So it's not like I'll be jetting off for Dubai or anything."
Clicking her nails on the tabletop, Catseye pondered what was being said. Or not said. "Does ShinyBitsBoy not want to be an X-Man anymore?"
That got Forge's attention, as he looked up, startled. "What? No, I mean, of course I do. I just... okay. A couple months ago, I got hurt on something that was supposed to be pretty routine. I got hurt really bad, I could have died." It felt different saying it out loud, he thought. "And I've been healing and doing my physical therapy, but thinking about going out there again, it scares me. And I know there's things I can still do to help, Nathan pointed out that even off the field I've got abilities beyond just my powers that come in handy. But there's just still this knot in my stomach every time I try and go near that uniform again, you know?"
"Catseye wants to be an X-Man so she can keep ShinyBitsBoy and WarmSnugglyFriend from getting hurt," the catgirl responded, curling her lip over her teeth. She jumped down from the table and lunged at Forge to hug him tightly. "Catseye is sorry ShinyBitsBoy got hurt and that ShinyBitsBoy's head is still hurt and confused. ShinyBitsBoy is right to be afraid. Only SillyKittens are not scared to go back into danger again."
"I don't need a bodyguard," Forge mumbled into a faceful of purple hair as he froze, then returned the hug. "I need to get over whatever mental block this is that's keeping me from doing what needs to be done. I just... but, thank you," he said. "I don't need you putting yourself in harm's way for me, but it means a lot to hear it."
Stepping back, Catseye poked Forge in one shoulder with her nail. "Catseye would put herself in harm's way for any of her humans. ShinyBitsBoy is SillyStupid if he thinks Catseye wouldn't. And Catseye knows that ShinyBitsBoy would put himself in harm's way for any of his humans too, which is how Catseye knows that ShinyBitsBoy will get over his mental block." She tried to think of how to word what she wanted to say in a way that would make sense to Forge. "ShinyBitsBoy just has to remember that when scarybad things happen we live and we learn how to be more smart next time or else we die. ShinyBitsBoy didn't die. But now ShinyBitsBoy is scared, maybe because he doesn't know how to take what he learned and use it next time?"
"I'm trying," the young inventor admitted sheepishly. "Best I can do."
"Maybe Catseye can help ShinyBitsBoy figure out how to take what he learned from being hurt and use it and not be scared," she suggested with a warm smile. "Catseye wants to help ShinyBitsBoy with his trying."
Forge reached out to ruffle his friend's lavender hair. "Then we'll see what we can do, huh?" He smiled and looked around the lab. "You know, I've got nothing pressing here. I think there's some leftover cioppino from dinner - fish stew. One of the only things I can cook. I'd be willing to share leftovers..."
With a distinctly cat-like noise of glee, Catseye leapt forward and hugged Forge around the neck. "Fish stew! Almost as good as Pastrami! Yesyesyes!"
"Up we go, then," Forge replied, grin splitting his face. "But if you shed on Crystal's stuff, you're on your own, Cats."
She'd been waiting for Forge for what felt like years, prowling around the lab looking at the shiny things and inspecting the things that made curious noises or had bright flashing buttons. The purple cat was curious as to what was going on with her friend. His journal post had worried her, along with the snippets of gossip she'd heard about him missing his training session. So Catseye waited for him to arrive, eventually curling up on one of the tables on top of some sort of electronic device that was emitting a very low level of heat. Mmm, warm. She wasn't actually sleeping, merely dozing, but her ears were pricked forward and finely attuned to any sound of Forge approaching.
After a while, the door to the lab slid open, and Forge walked through, tossing a button-down shirt towards one locker while grabbing a lab coat from another in a well-practiced motion. As he walked the perimeter of the lab, he checked various machines and charts, muttering to himself.
"Experiments, check. Suppy requisition, check. Catseye sitting on the mass spectrometer, check. Evening, Cats," he intoned without looking over his shoulder.
"Mrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt," Catseye replied in greeting, rising from the warm spectrometer thingy and trotting to the edge of the table. She arched her back to be petted and let out a 'meep' to try to attract Forge's attention. ShinyBitsBoy needs to pet Catseye before starting work. And ShinyBitsBoy needs to talk.
Absently, Forge reached out a hand and scratched the purple cat between the ears. "You know, part of me wondered if you'd be in college by now. What with your brother insisting that he could make sure you got home schooling to keep you up to speed. See how well that worked, obviously." The wry disdain in Forge's voice was palpable as he wandered around to a touchscreen, his other hand tapping in commands.
Out of defense for Evan, Catseye shifted so that her girlform was sitting on the edge of the table, legs, swinging over the sides. "BigBrother did keep Catseye up to speed," she corrected. "BigBrother taught Catseye manymany things in two years! And now Catseye is in high school! Not with the small kittens anymore! Catseye never thought she would stay in school this long, but BigBrother helped Catseye see school was important. BigBrother wanted Catseye to see that school could make Catseye as smart as ShinyBitsBoy about school things." It was blatant flattery, and Catseye hoped it would trigger a response.
Forge snorted at that thought. "Yeah, if you stayed in school until you're eighty-four. Give Evan some credit, you caught up well. Nineteen, and at the rate you're going, you could probably have your GED in the next year or two. I mean, if you wanted to..." He trailed off, then turned to look at Catseye while he leaned on a nearby counter. "So what do you want to do? I mean, besides chase birds and lay on the windowsill. Ever given any thought to it?"
"Catseye would like her GED in the next year or two," she said with a nod, mostly because she thought it was what Forge wanted to hear rather than out of actual personal desire. "If Catseye was going to get a human job, Catseye would like to work with cats and maybe with dogs at an animal hospital. And Catseye would like to publish books teaching humans about cats. Mister SplodeyButt is going to let Catseye write a paper in history class to start, but Catseye thinks a paper would not be long enough to teach sillyhumans." She narrowed her eyes at Forge and swished her tail. "Is ShinyBitsBoy giving extraspecial thought to what he wants to do lately?"
"Quite a bit," Forge said with a nod. "I finish up my Business degree in June, and I've actually been thinking of going into business for myself. Technology that can help people, you know? I'll probably sit down with the Professor, since a grant from the Institute would really help a lot of the mutant-specific research applications, and then there's the X-Men..." His voice trailed off briefly, but he shook it off. "So it's not like I'll be jetting off for Dubai or anything."
Clicking her nails on the tabletop, Catseye pondered what was being said. Or not said. "Does ShinyBitsBoy not want to be an X-Man anymore?"
That got Forge's attention, as he looked up, startled. "What? No, I mean, of course I do. I just... okay. A couple months ago, I got hurt on something that was supposed to be pretty routine. I got hurt really bad, I could have died." It felt different saying it out loud, he thought. "And I've been healing and doing my physical therapy, but thinking about going out there again, it scares me. And I know there's things I can still do to help, Nathan pointed out that even off the field I've got abilities beyond just my powers that come in handy. But there's just still this knot in my stomach every time I try and go near that uniform again, you know?"
"Catseye wants to be an X-Man so she can keep ShinyBitsBoy and WarmSnugglyFriend from getting hurt," the catgirl responded, curling her lip over her teeth. She jumped down from the table and lunged at Forge to hug him tightly. "Catseye is sorry ShinyBitsBoy got hurt and that ShinyBitsBoy's head is still hurt and confused. ShinyBitsBoy is right to be afraid. Only SillyKittens are not scared to go back into danger again."
"I don't need a bodyguard," Forge mumbled into a faceful of purple hair as he froze, then returned the hug. "I need to get over whatever mental block this is that's keeping me from doing what needs to be done. I just... but, thank you," he said. "I don't need you putting yourself in harm's way for me, but it means a lot to hear it."
Stepping back, Catseye poked Forge in one shoulder with her nail. "Catseye would put herself in harm's way for any of her humans. ShinyBitsBoy is SillyStupid if he thinks Catseye wouldn't. And Catseye knows that ShinyBitsBoy would put himself in harm's way for any of his humans too, which is how Catseye knows that ShinyBitsBoy will get over his mental block." She tried to think of how to word what she wanted to say in a way that would make sense to Forge. "ShinyBitsBoy just has to remember that when scarybad things happen we live and we learn how to be more smart next time or else we die. ShinyBitsBoy didn't die. But now ShinyBitsBoy is scared, maybe because he doesn't know how to take what he learned and use it next time?"
"I'm trying," the young inventor admitted sheepishly. "Best I can do."
"Maybe Catseye can help ShinyBitsBoy figure out how to take what he learned from being hurt and use it and not be scared," she suggested with a warm smile. "Catseye wants to help ShinyBitsBoy with his trying."
Forge reached out to ruffle his friend's lavender hair. "Then we'll see what we can do, huh?" He smiled and looked around the lab. "You know, I've got nothing pressing here. I think there's some leftover cioppino from dinner - fish stew. One of the only things I can cook. I'd be willing to share leftovers..."
With a distinctly cat-like noise of glee, Catseye leapt forward and hugged Forge around the neck. "Fish stew! Almost as good as Pastrami! Yesyesyes!"
"Up we go, then," Forge replied, grin splitting his face. "But if you shed on Crystal's stuff, you're on your own, Cats."
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