Log: Sarah and Catseye

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Sarah finds out the truth about Catseye.


Catseye climbed up through Sarah's open window and into the girl's bedroom without it being a case of mistaken windows this time. She enjoyed napping with the new girl, who didn't seem to realize that she was anything more than just a cat. After her conversation with Nicholas, Catseye recognized even more clearly that she enjoyed being able to just be an everyday feline around one person at the mansion. And to butter Sarah up into more skritching, the offering she brought for the girl tonight was hopefully going to be received better than the mouse she'd never meant for the girl to see.

"Hi, kitty," Sarah greeted the purple cat as it appeared at her window; a familiar occurrence now and certainly not an unpleasant one. The young technopath enjoyed the strange animal's visits, more so when the feline didn't come with other guests, though. From her spot on her bed where she sat with legs folded and her computer on her lap, the brunette made a whispery noise and stretched out her hand with fingers wiggling to beckon the cat closer.

Obliging immediately, Catseye jumped onto the bed and ran her head under Sarah's hand, already purring. She deposited her present on Sarah's computer and looked up at the girl with a proud, hopeful gaze.

The brunette girl continued to scratch the cat's head as she picked up the piece of ... something the animal had dropped. At least the gift didn't have a tail this time. "What's this?" she asked aloud, pausing in her petting to grab a tissue and wipe at the object. Dirt and mud slowly came away, revealing what the young technopath could only guess used to be part of the inner workings of a music box; the key jammed tightly inside. "Now, where did you find this, kitty?" she asked, running her fingers against the cat's soft fur.

Proud of her find, Catseye shifted into girlform- complete with a spagetti strap top and beige capri pants created with one of Forge's new magic collars- and grinned at Sarah. "In the woods! Veryverydeep in the woods, when Catseye first came to the BigHouse! Catseye has been hiding it for a long time, with her other shinythings in the woods in her secret hiding place, but Catseye wanted to give it to the NewGirl because the NewGirl is so nice to Catseye and lets Catseye nap in her bed whenever Catseye wants!"

To say Sarah was surprised by the transformation would have been an understatement. With eyes wide, the young technopath jumped off the bed as the shift happened, dropping the music box pieces onto the mattress at the cat's - girl's! - knees while she scurried away with a yelp. First the Doom Chicken then Kurt and now this! She was beginning to understand how Dorothy felt when she dropped into Oz. "W-Who are you?" she finally managed with her back pressed against the door, her hand on the knob and ready to retreat further if needed. "What did you do to the cat?"

Catseye's expression went from elated to hurt in seconds. She couldn't speak for a few moments. "Catseye is the cat," she stated quietly. "It is Catseye's mutation to be a cat." Sarah had been at the school for a while now- Catseye had just assumed that she'd known about her mutation and that it hadn't mattered to the new girl. Seeing the look on Sarah's face made her feel very sad as she realized that Sarah wasn't okay with her mutation or who she was at all.

Sarah shook her head rapidly from side to side, trying to force her brain to make some sense of the situation by rattling it in her skull until the confusion cleared. "But-but the cat..." she stammered as chocolate eyes took in the purple hair and tail the girl before her pocessed. Her little friend hadn't been a cat with superior intelligence after all but another mutant who could... shapeshift? Again the brunette tried to find her focus by tossing her head rapidly. "The cat is you? I mean, you're the cat? You can become a cat - the one who was here?" Who brought her the parts and mouse and who had sat by when she changed for the night. Suddenly, the technopath's cheeks went as red as her shirt, her face filling with embarrassment over the fact that this girl had seen her undressing.

Not comprehending the blush, Catseye shifted to cat and then back to girl once again so Sarah could see that yes, she really was both a cat and a girl. "Yes, Catseye becomes a cat. Catseye thought NewG- Sarah," she corrected, not wanting to have any further trouble with Sarah, "Sarah knew. Does Sarah not like Catseye anymore?"

"I... I... You were always a cat while you were here," Sarah replied dumbly, still pressed up against the door and ready to flee if anything else that fell into the 'weird' spectrum happened. "You were a cat, not a girl and - and you brought me a mouse!"

"The mousie was for a person to look after because it is a baby," Catseye explained. "Catseye was out hunting and ate its mother by accident but Catseye did not want the baby mousie to die so Catseye brought the mousie to the BigHouse but then Catseye went in Sarah's window instead of Meggan and Catseye's window." Had Sarah not been reading the journals? "How come Sarah does not answer Catseye? Does Sarah not like Catseye anymore?" she demanded.

"Sarah, I mean, I... I mean..." The smaller girl was flustered and she shook her head again, trying desperately to understand what it was that was happening right in front of her eyes. "You shouldn't do that," the technopath said finally. "You shouldn't let people think you're just a cat!" Sarah's voice rose a little as her embarrassment took over. The other student - Catseye - had seen her undressing, had slept in her bed... all while pretending to be just some house pet. "It's not right to trick people like that."

"Catseye did not trick!" the catgirl protested, upset now. This was almost as bad as her first encounter with Jean-Paul had been. "It is a BadThing to play SillyBad tricks on people! Catseye would not do! Catseye typed in her journal lots since Sarah came and Catseye thought Sarah would know from that but if Sarah did not read then that is not Catseye playing a trick! Catseye did not trick. Sarah did not ask or Catseye would have said, but Sarah never asked so Catseye never said but that is not a trick."

"Why would I ask a cat if they were really a girl?" Sarah returned as she took a tentative step away from the door, frowning. "It wasn't being honest and you shouldn't do that to people. Especially when they are new!" She was having a hard enough time adjusting to life in the mansion; blue furry men climbing up walls and purple cats who turned into girls only made the transition harder. Her eyes were welling with frustrated tears and the technopath pointed to the exit. "I-I'd like you to go, please."

"Why would Sarah think Catseye was just a cat?" the purple haired girl asked angrily. "Everyone new thinks Catseye is just a cat and then when Catseye shows them she is more than just one thing they get angry!" It wasn't much incentive for her to 'be honest', as Sarah was accusing, was it? "Catseye is very honest," she protested. "Catseye always says what she feels and Catseye feels that Sarah is a very mean person who does not understand anything! Catseye is happy to go! Catseye thought Sarah was her friend but Catseye does not want to be friends with anyone who does not like her for being a girl!" She strode across the room, tail swishing angrily, then remembered her music box gears and turned back to grab the shiny piece.

Tucking herself against the wall, Sarah continued to fight the tears that welled in her eyes as the other girl snatched back the little mechanical piece. She didn't like arguments or confrontations, was never any good at them save for the occasional tiff with her sister but nothing ever like this. "Cats don't become people or the other way around," the younger said, arms banded tightly around her chest to hug herself. "And you, you didn't say you were a girl. You slept in my bed and watched me - you should have said you were a girl!"

"Catseye is not 'people', and Catseye is not a cat," she retorted. "Catseye is Catseye. Catseye lives at the mansion full of people who are mutants like Catseye is and Sarah is a mutant too so Catseye thinks Sarah should not say so much about what people don't do and what cats don't do, because the mansion is where people live who are always different from what is normal. People don't talk to squirrels or set things on fire or have sharp skin or turn into wolves or fly, just like cats don't become people. But they do at the mansion." She didn't like Sarah crying, it made her uncomfortable. "Why does Sarah cry because Catseye slept in her bed and watched her? Catseye does not understand." Jean-Paul hadn't been happy- many people hadn't been happy- to find out that a girl was sleeping in their bed instead of a cat, but no one had ever cried before.

"Because I want to go home," Sarah replied with a sniffle, running her hand under her nose as the first few tears fell. "I don't want to be here anymore. I want to go home back with my mom and sister where I don't have to deal with all of this." The weirdness. The confusion. Being a mutant. Her hands fluttered like trapped moths before she wrapped herself in another hug. "I want to be normal again!"

The purple haired girl cocked her head in confusion. "Sarah cannot be normal at home. Sarah is a mutant. Sarah cannot change who she is." She sat down on Sarah's bed, playing with the music box gears. "It is like how Catseye was sad and angry when she learned that she was not a cat who changed into a girl instead she was a girl who changed into a cat. Catseye always thought she was a cat. Then Catseye learned she had a human family and that the fatherperson threw Catseye outside in the snow to die but Catseye did not die because she was a cat. When Catseye learned about being born a human Catseye wanted to be normal again and just be a cat like always. But Catseye could not be normal again. Cats and humans and everyone cannot run away from who they are," she murmured. "But Sarah can be normal at the mansion- it is the only place where everyone is a mutant and being a mutant is normal and everyone is special."

Sarah shook her head again, unable to express just how conflicted she was with her new life. How lost she was in the strangeness the purple-haired girl called 'normal.' It percolated underneath everything else - the shock, the confusion that had increased double fold since what she thought was a cat with higher intelligence was really a classmate who'd slept in her bed and seen her undress while in her furry form. "It's not normal and I just want to go to bed right now so can you please leave?"

"Catseye is leaving," she assured the girl with a half-snarl. "But Sarah is wrong. It is normal. Sarah is normal here at the mansion, and Sarah is not going to be happy until she understands. Catseye is sorry Sarah does not understand about being special." There was pity in her voice for the girl. Spending much time being confused herself about various aspects of the human world, the catgirl could sympathize with someone else being confused and not understanding about the mutant world. But if her advice and friendship wasn't accepted then she would not waste her time or energy. "Catseye is sorry that Sarah did not know Catseye was a mutant. Catseye thinks tricks are bad and Catseye did not try to trick Sarah. Sarah just did not understand and that is okay because Catseye does not understand manymanythings so Catseye is not angry any more and Catseye thinks Sarah should not be angry any more either because it is not a badthing that Catseye slept on Sarah's bed because Catseye and Sarah are both girls so nobody will think Catseye and Sarah played bedgames together unless Sarah likes playing bedgames with girls but Catseye thinks nobody would be angry then either because lots of boys at the mansion play bedgames with other boys and it is normal!"

Again the technopath's cheeks turned scarlet at the mention of 'bedgames.' "I just... need some time," she said as she opened the door for Catseye to leave. The tears had stopped but her eyes remained red and the forlorn expression didn't fade. Instead, Sarah kept her gaze on the floor, unable to look at the purple-haired girl with a tail. "I'm sorry, too, but I need time." And sleep. Her head hurt but she doubted she'd find peace in her pillows any time soon.

"Does that mean Sarah does not know if she wants to be Catseye's friend or not?" she inquired, turning the gears over in her hands.

"It means I need time to think because all of this is not normal for me and I'm really confused right now and I need time to think," the younger girl repeated, shuffling her feet anxiously. "I just need some time. Alone."

"Okay but Catseye is not going to leave alone forever unless Sarah does not want to be Catseye's friend because Catseye thinks being alone when someone is confused is a badthing and that it is a goodthing to talk about being confused with someone and not be alone but Catseye will leave alone for some time. Here." She held out the music box gears. "Sarah can still have Catseye's present even if Sarah does not want to be Catseye's friend because Catseye understands being confused."

Swallowing hard, Sarah lifted her head then reached out with slightly quaking fingers to take the offered gift. "Thank you," came the soft but honest reply; she was grateful, not only for the gears but for the understanding even if there was little she could offer in return just yet. Too much was rattling around in her head and the brunette needed time to sort and organize and breath before she could handle the current situation. Alice with an even more puzzling Cheshire Cat. "I... I'll talk to you later, Catseye."