xp_logs | Kevin & Catseye, then Kevin & Yvette

Kevin finally makes good on his promise of giant shiny things to the purple cat a few mornings before he leaves.

He'd left a note inside of the suite she shared with Meggan to meet him in the metal shop. He'd actually left the note with a toy mouse because if she was that much a cat Kevin figured Catseye would appreciate it. About a month or so back Kevin had promised her a shiny thing of her own and Kevin had a lot of time to fill since he'd tried to shut his brain off thanks to the information that Jay had been attacked and possibly killed. Kevin had built a six foot high metal structure for the purple cat, bits of which were lined with fuzzy stuff and other bits of which were wound with rope to claw at and other bits had pouches for stashing catnip beneath them for an instant high. The time between leaving that note and when she might show up was spent working on a sculpture for Jay. Or for Jay's coffin depending how things turned out, but he was trying not to think about that.

Curious about the note and its prospect of shiny things, Catseye snatched the mouse up in her mouth and scampered down to the PlaceOfShinyThings. It was a good mouse, she decided as she sunk her teeth into it. Kevin had good taste in toys.

She pushed the already-ajar door open enough to squeeze through and skidded to a stop when she saw the BIGSHINY in the middle of the room. The mouse dropped from her jaws in a humanesque movement. She tore her gaze away from it for a moment to look at Kevin. "Mrrt?" she asked excitedly.

The questioning mew Kevin heard drew his attention and he looked down at the ground to see the purple feline there with his gift mouse at her paws. "Hey." He put down the soldering iron in his hands after turning it off and patted his thigh as if to invite her closer. Kevin wondered if he should think of her more as a girl than a cat but after the handful of nights she'd spent curled up at the foot of his bed, after learning the no-touching rule anyway, he had trouble thinking of her as anything but a cat. "Yeah, that's your shiny thing," Kevin said as he nodded to the large, heavy sculpture. "Want a tour?" He even knelt down and held out his arms for her to jump into. His gloves had been put back on after the soldering iron was put back down so that meant behind the ear scritching was possible.

Taking the mouse by its tail, Catseye leapt into the open arms, purring loudly and nuzzling her head against his shirt in thanks for what he'd made. She watched the sculpture curiously as Kevin carried her over, whiskers twitching.

"Ah dunno where you want this, outside or in your suite or what, so you've gotta figure it out and let me know so I can move it or you'll have to get someone to help you move it after Ah go, okay?" Kevin looked down at the cat he had cradled in one arm and a gloved finger reached out to rub under her chin. "Alright, so here are your," he paused, fishing for the word he wanted, "amenities." Pointing to the top rope-wrapped bit of metal and then to the other two similar areas he told her, "You've got scratching spots there, and you've got padded, fuzzy spots here, here, and here," he pointed to each platform that he'd covered in foam and fuzzy, soft material, "for napping and stuff." Kevin walked around the structure in a slow circle. Pointing out another two platforms covered in a thinner, plush but less fuzzy material he told the cat, "Ah dunno if you like catnip but you could stash some in these little pockets." He stopped scratching her under the chin to lift the pocket of material in each place to demonstrate. "Or you could put other shiny things in them if you're not into drug use, Ah guess."

Catseye wriggled out of Kevin's hold and jumped onto one of the platforms, landing hard to test its strength. It didn't even wobble. She sat down on the edge and shifted to girlform, being sure to keep her feet on the floor so her full weight was no longer on the structure. A beaming human smile lit her face and she leaned forward to hug Kevin, careful to touch only his shirt. "Thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyou! The ShinyPlayhouse is the bestest playhouse Catseye has evereverever seen! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" But something he'd said earlier had just registered, and she pulled back to frown at him confusedly. "Before you go where?"

It took a second for Kevin to relax in the girl's embrace but once he did his arms wrapped around her waist to return the hug. "You're welcome. Do you know where you want it? Ah can probably find someone to help me carry it wherever you want if you do." Kevin figured he might be able to sucker Julio into it, or Kyle since he was pretty sure Catseye and he were friends anyway. "Oh," he frowned a little in response to her frown. "Ah'm going to California, to the school's west coast annex. Ah wanted to get you this before Ah left. It's just with Jay and...Ah think a new place would be better right now's all." He wondered if Catseye could pick up on emotions like normal cats. Kevin wasn't sure if it was just being able to read body language or if it was hearing the inflection of the voice or maybe even being able to smell something on them from hormones and all but if she could pick it up like the standard issue felines he'd met she'd probably read the misery a lot more quickly than most of the humans would manage to.

Hugging him again, but going for comforting this time rather than gratitude, Catseye nuzzled her cheek into his shirt the way she would have if she'd been in catform. "Catseye misses BirdBoy veryvery much too. And BreadCookingGirl," she added. "When Catseye was a smallkitten Catseye's friends and colony mates went away to new colonies or died lots of times and Catseye knew it was The Way Things Are but Catseye does not think BirdBoy and the others going away should be The Way Things Are. It is an extra bad thing. But won't ShinyRoomBoy feel better if he stays with his colony?"

Kevin actually smiled, returning this hug more gently than he had the first one. He laid his chin carefully on her shoulder, tucking her in closer to his body. "Ah think Ah'm no use to anyone right now. My powers're back and Jay's gone and...it's worse being here, that's all. Ah know you weren't around to know but Jay and me," Kevin's voice trailed off and his cheek replaced his chin on her shoulder. "It wasn't friend love Ah had for him, fuzzy." He wasn't sure how to explain that he still loved Jay but it was complicated. Not only that but it seemed to be starting to uncomplicate before he'd gone and maybe gotten killed. Probably gotten killed.

"Fuzzball is sorry ShinyRoomBoy lost his NotFriendLove," the catgirl said in a soothing tone, grinning at the nickname Kevin had given her, "but BirdBoy will come back. It is The Way Things Are. And ShinyRoomBoy should not be a SillyKitten and go away!"

"It's okay, it's not the fuzzball's fault, y'know?" He shrugged so slightly it was near imperceptible. "Ah can always come back. It's not like once I leave Ah'm gone forever. Besides, there's just...stuff. And Ah gotta work on it. With it. It's complicated. You can keep him company 'til Ah get back, right?"

"Yesyesyes," Catseye assured him, pulling back to focus on his face, "Catseye will take good care of BirdBoy and BreadCookingGirl and keep them company when they come back, and then when ShinyRoomBoy stops being a SillyKitten, he can come back and keep BirdBoy company too. If ShinyRoomBoy is gone forever, Catseye will come and find and bite," she smirked, poking a finger at his chest.

A pained expression crossed Kevin's face when she threatened to hunt him down for biting. He particularly didn't like the enthusiasm she poured into that word. "Alright, alright, Ah promise Ah won't be gone forever." He emphasized his stipulation because forever was a long time and it would give him a lot of time before threats of biting could commence. Technically he should be dead before she could rightly take a chunk out of him. Oddly, Kevin wondered if she realized by biting him hard enough she'd get through clothing and to skin and end up with decomposing lips. Hot.

Nuzzling him once more, Catseye sat back on the sculpture and shifted again. She tried out one of the scratching spots enthusiastically, then jumped onto another platform, then a third, testing them out. She pawed at the pockets Kevin had designed for hiding things. With an inquiring "mew?" she gave Kevin a stare, then stared pointedly at the toy mouse she'd dropped, hoping he got the message and picked it up for her.

He watched the cat explore her new luxury kitty pad with amused interest. She really was more cat than girl and while that should have been an uncomfortable thing for him it actually made Kevin much more comfortable with her. Especially with her favorite spot on his bed being right up against his side or stomach. The pointed staring took a second for him but Kevin did pick up the toy mouse. "Where ya want it?" Instead of guessing he just held it out to her. Sure, a normal cat would look at him like an idiot but Catseye was part girl and she'd either tell him or take the mouse like a dog might have taken a beloved toy from its owner.

Catseye wrapped her tail around the toy and took it from Kevin, giving him a mew of thanks. She deposited the toy in the pocket and stalked around the platform, contemplating. Then she leapt at Kevin.

Kevin flinched but recovered enough that Catseye landed in an approximation of his arms rather than on the floor from him jumping away. "Treasure secreted away, check," he mused. He created a cradle for the cat with one arms and the fingers of his free hand stroked from her head down her spine. "C'mon, we'll see if there's fish or pastrami or somethin' in the kitchen. Ah'm hungry which means you're hungry because that's how things should work, right?" He looked down at the purple feline and started to head out the door.

After letting out an excited chirping noise, Catseye's rough pink tongue licked the top of his shirt - as close as she could get to licking Kevin's face- in thanks and began to purr emphatically. She snuggled into his arm, placing one paw against his chest affectionately. She would definitely be holding Kevin to his promise of not being gone forever. Or there would be much biting.

In the afternoon Kevin seeks out Yvette to tell her when he's going, as promised. More importantly, he recruits her for a last minute gift to the school.

With his plane ticket booked and an idea in his head, Kevin went to find the girl he'd come to think of as his little sister. If he had any hope of accomplishing this sudden inspiration he'd need her help, and likely someone else's as well though he wasn't sure whether or not Angel would be up to the task so close to the end of the term. If all else failed he'd likely be able to manage as long as Yvette helped him. Having not found her in her room he went to check the Elpis office to see if she was there but when she wasn't there either he headed off to her tree house. "Hey, 'Vette, you up there?" Kevin started up the ladder as he added a call of, "Ah'm coming up so if you are no stickin' your head down the hole, okay?" If she wasn't here he'd just had to comb the mansion for her.

"Hello?" came Yvette's voice in response, and a slight shuffle of movement. She obeyed Kevin's warning and stayed put, but gave him a bright smile as his head poked up through the treehouse trap door. "I was finding the quiet place for the homework," she explained, holding up a math book. "And not so many people like the cold, so it is very quiet here. How are you today, Kevin?"

"Yeah, you're crazy. You can see your breath out here, you realize that's generally not a good thing, right?" He shook his head at her. Instead of coming up entirely Kevin stayed on the ladder and crossed his arms on the floor so he could prop his chin up on them. "Ah'm good, how're you?" He was practically bouncing, or at least he felt like he was, due to the urgency of wanting to bring his idea to fruition.

She blinked at him. A cheerful Kevin was a good thing, albeit confusing. "I am liking it out here. It is, how you say, the perk? My skin does not feel the cold so much." She tilted her head at him. "You have the news, yes? You are looking like you are to burst."

"Well, Ah had this idea," he told her quickly. "Ah'm hoping it's not a bad idea and Ah'm hoping you don't have tons of homework to do over the weekend 'cause Ah really, really need your help to pull it off before my plane leaves Sunday night." Kevin paused, frowned, and tried to look more solemn when telling her, "Oh, and Ah bought my plane ticket to California. Ah'm on a red eye at one in the morning Monday."

Another blink, followed by a slight dimming of her eyes. "Oh," she replied. "So sudden..." But she knew he was leaving, and perhaps sooner was better - at least it wasn't dragging out. "What is your idea? I want to be helping." Her homework could wait. This was important. This was kin.

Kevin gulped audibly. This is when he'd find out if it was actually a good idea or if it might hurt people more. "Ah wanna make a memorial sculpture. Y'know, for Dani and Garrison and Mister Wisdom...and Jay. Well, and for others too. For everyone that's not here. Might not be here down the road. Maybe to help the people left behind. Here," he pulled a folded piece of paper out of his back pocket and slid it over to Yvette. The sketch was rough with fabrication notes on it. It was a pair of wings indicated in writing to have a six foot span and came out of a base which could have made the whole thing look like an angel, a cross or an Egyptian ankh. Only the wings were detailed with the rest of it being smooth and unarticulated. No matter how tortured Kevin's relationship with God was, he still believed sometimes and Jay had believed. There was something written on the bottom that he wanted to inscribe at the base. "To all we've lost: For thou art with me." Kevin waited in silence while she looked it over and hesitantly asked, "Bad idea?"

She was quiet for a long moment, looking over the sketch. Then she reached out with a long gloved finger and traced one wing. "I think it is the very good idea," she said quietly, her voice coming out a little tight with emotion. "Perhaps there are the some people who do not want to be thinking about the loss, but there are others who will. To remember is important, I think. So we do not forget why we are here, why we are learning and training." She looked up at him with eyes that would have been bright with unshed tears on anyone else - Yvette had not been able to cry for a very long time now, her powers too much. "We should be starting the work soon, yes? To be sure it is done before you are leaving."

Kevin nodded. There was a smile in his eyes that didn't make it to his lips. He was glad she thought people would appreciate it. He was also glad that she, like he, understood some people would not be happy with the gesture. "Ah've got the old metal from when they wrecked the Blackbird, too." It seemed fitting to use the metal from that to create a memorial. "And Ah was thinking maybe we could see if Angel had the time to help us, too? You know, have you cut out the feathers and attach them individually. It'd go faster with Angel helping with her powers. And Ah think...Ah think Ah want the body and base to be wood. Ah think it needs to be created with powers as much as possible. Because there needs to be something to remind people that even those of us that are the most destructive," namely he and Yvette, "can still create something that heals."

Kevin blushed a little at his owns words, and more so at the fact that they were coming out of his mouth. The feathers would need to be painted red, of course, but that was an easy process and some metals could be permanently changed in their color through heating which Angel might know something about.

"Angel is being in the darkroom a lot, but I can be dragging her out for this." Yvette touched the sketch again, just the briefest brush of fingers along the lines and she swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. Then she set aside her math book, and got to her feet. "I know where there is the best wood for the carving," she said, a new note of resolution in her voice. "Let us go to get it, yes?"

"It's not being carved for the most part, exactly." He raised his hand and waved his fingers a little. Kevin intended to carve the wooden center by decaying the wood away. "But, yeah, let's get it. Gotta be a big piece. Ah'm talkin' about eight feet high for finished product about, so at leave nine high to start with raw."

Despite everything, she laughed a little at that. "I think it will be needing more than the two of us to be carrying it to the workshop if it is so big!" she replied. "There are some dead trees I have not finished cutting down in the woods. Those will be the best, I think."