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xp_logs2009-07-13 01:22 am
x-catseye.livejournal.com) wrote in xp_logs2009-07-13 01:22 am
Yvette/Nick/Catseye- Movie night!
Nick and Catseye bring a movie over to watch with Yvette. After the movie, Catseye tries out something she learned in the movie on Nick.
Nicholas Gleason began to paw at the DVD case in his hands. Even when he wasn't in his wolf form, the boy still tended to be awkward in his motor control. As he began to walk down the long hall in front of him, thankful that he at least was starting to get the layout of the student's rooms down, he turned the DVD over and looked intently at the front cover of 10 Things I Hate About You as it stared back at him. He wasn't sure about the cast, especially the nerdy looking kid with the green shirt on the cover, but it was at least a remake of Shakespeare. Before he and his companion made it to the door they were looking for, he pulled his nervous eyes from the box, and found those of the person next to him. "Are you sure Yvette won't mind us both coming for the movie?"
"Why would she mind?" Catseye asked, genuinely confused.
The boy smiled. It was comforting how much faith Catseye had in him. "I don't know..." As he pulled himself to a stop in front of Yvette's door, he turned back towards the purple-haired girl. "I'm not exactly the most well-spoken guy in front of other people, ya know?"
Catseye knocked on Yvette's door with enthusiasm before turning back to Nick and frowning. "Is Nick saying he is shy? Yvette is sometimes shy too, and Catseye does not think anyone can be shy with Yvette because she is so nice! But even if Nick and Yvette are both shy Catseye is not shy and Catseye will have lots of questions about the movie so Nick should not be afraid about his speaking well. Who picked the movie?" she asked. "Did Yvette pick it because it has Shakespeare in it?"
Before Nick could answer, the door opened, revealing a small, red and spiky Yvette, her eyes glowing bright blue. "Oh, hello," she said, with a small smile - she was still adjusting to her powers and her facial expressions felt stiff and strange. "You are visiting someone?"
Nick shared a quick glance with Catseye before turning towards Yvette, a smirk being forced to turn up the corners of his mouth. "We are visiting someone." He held up the DVD in front of him. "I heard that there was someone who liked Shakespeare stuff around here."
Yvette's eyes flared brighter. "Shakespeare? Yes, very much so." She tilted her head at the DVD case. "I do not think I am seeing this before. Please, do be coming in." Pulling the door open wider, she gestured for the pair to enter.
"Nick brought a movie for Yvette and Catseye and Nick to watch together," Catseye explained happily, bounding into the room. It was extremely hard not to hug Yvette in greeting, but she had to content herself with giving the red-skinned girl her biggest smile instead. "Catseye thought maybe Yvette picked the movie but Catseye is glad Yvette has not seen it because Catseye has not either and Catseye did not want to be the only one who did not see it before! It is about Shakespeare but it is not about Midsummer Night's Dream with the lion person in it," she pointed out sadly. "It is about the Shrew. Catseye and Mister Beaubier read that one before. A Shrew is like a NotVermin," she explained, bouncing on Yvette's bed, "Catseye thought that when the Shrew got tamed that meant it got eated but Mister Beaubier says that a Shrew is also a person who is not very nice and then Catseye and Mister Beaubier read the Shakespeare and the Shrew did not get eated. Catseye will hiss when she sees the Shrew on the movie! Did Nick and Yvette read the Shakespeare about the Shrew?"
Nick closed the door behind him, as it was obvious that Catseye was way too excited to see Yvette to remember. A huge grin spread across his face as he saw the excited look on her face, but quickly shoved the smile to the side as he turned towards Yvette again. "We heard that you just had your inhibitor removed, and figured you could use some company. With our talk about Shakespeare, I put two and two together, and... here we are." Still very self-conscious, Nick held his arms up in front of him, offering one last bit of warning. "Unless you don't want us to stay..."
“The Taming of the Shrew? Yes, I am reading this one. It is very good.” Yvette’s smile grew a little at the sight of the excited catgirl. “And yes, I would like very much for you to stay. It is not so good for me to be the hermit. Just…” Catseye already knew the rules about touching, but Nick didn’t. “Please not to be touching me? Or making the sudden movings? I am, how you say, rusty? With my powers and the being careful.”
The boy again held up his hands in front of him, but this time to show his understanding rather than to retreat. "They already filled me in about the rules earlier." With a teasing grin, Gleason leaned forward, speaking out the side of his mouth in a teasing tone. "But I don't think that I'm the one you need to worry about making sudden movements." With a quick jerk of his head, and pointing of his thumb, he implicated Catseye, another large grin, pulling up the corners of his mouth.
"Catseye is happy Yvette is a lovely shade of red again," the purple-haired girl crooned, hoping to make her friend feel better about being spiky again. "And Yvette having her powers back means that she is not hurt anymore and that makes Catseye even more happy! Yvette should be careful though not to go talk to NewGirlSarah until Yvette tells her that she is red again or NewGirlSarah will get angry because Catseye did not tell her that Catseye was a mutant and she got angry and then sad and Catseye does not think she likes mutants very much at all because she said she wants to be normal again so Catseye does not think she understands about mutants being special and that she is special too and Catseye thinks Yvette should talk to her because Yvette understands veryverymuch about 'normal'-" she wrinkled her nose at the term, "being sillystupid." Catseye didn't think anyone understood better than Yvette did about not being able to live a normal life, but not letting it make her angry, depressed, and vengeful the way she feared Sarah might get. "Nick should talk to her too because Nick is also new at being a mutant but Nick is not angry and Nick understands about being special, right?"
Yvette blinked, trying to take in the welter of information. “Sarah is not happy to be the mutant?” she asked, to clarify. “I have been talking to her when I was sick, but yes, I can be talking to her again. It can be hard sometimes, coming to the new strange place, away from the friends and the family. Perhaps she is being homesick also.”
"Yeah, I can talk to her too..." Gleason let his eyes drag towards the ground for a few seconds as he tried to avoid the subject of being homesick, doing his best to suppress his own emotions before they started to come up. But tonight wasn't about him. It was about the spiky girl. "But how are you feeling Yvette? Starting to get back into the normal swing of things?"
“I am trying to,” the smaller girl admitted, the glow of her eyes dulling somewhat – without normal facial colouring and expression, Yvette’s eyes and voice were the best cues to her emotional responses. Those and the heightening of her powers when she was angry or frightened or under stress. “The kidney is doing very well and the doctors say that the blood tests are all being normal. I will be taking the medicines so I do not reject it for always, but it is the small thing to be doing to be well again. As for the rest…” She made a flip-flopping gesture with one long-fingered hand. “There are the good days and the bad days, yes?”
"Catseye does not understand homesick," the purple haired girl complained. "The mansion is Catseye's home and Catseye does not think anyone should be sick and not like Catseye's home. Catseye is glad Yvette is not sick anymore and that Yvette has medicines to make her better and be well. Catseye brought snacks!" She suddenly remembered the popcorn bag she'd been holding in her tail. "How come everyone talks about things being normal?" she asked Nick, since he'd asked Yvette about the 'normal' swing of things. "Catseye thinks normal is sillystupid! Except blood tests," she amended for Yvette's sake.
The boy paused for a second, putting his hand up to his chin as he tried to think of just the right way to put it for Cats. "Normal is... subjective..." He paused for another second, raising his eyebrow. "It's different for everyone. Like for me, I feel the most 'normal' when I'm in the woods when I'm a wolf, or when I'm in my room reading." He pushed his eyebrows together for a second, feeling as if he wasn't doing a very good job of explaining it. "It's where and when you feel the most comfortable." He slowly turned towards the blue-eyed girl. "You care to give this one a try?"
Yvette took a seat on the common room’s couch, in the corner that had a blanket of Forge’s material draped over it especially for her. “When people are saying ‘normal’, they are meaning the way things are usually, when there is nothing strange. So Nick is asking me how it is to be back to the way I am being usually, yes?” The easy part done, she turned her mind to the other issue. “People are not so good sometimes when the things they are used to are changing. It is like…” Inspiration hit. “It is like when you are first coming here, and you are finding you have to be the girl more often. You did not always like it, yes? And it is making you grouchy and unhappy. And then when you are finding out that you have the human family, you are not happy again, because the things you are always knowing are changing. It is the same for the mutants whose powers do not come until later. We are having one way of doing things and then, because of the powers, that way is changing. It is not always easy and sometimes we wish things would go back to the way they were being before, the normal way of doing things.” She turned brightly glowing eyes on Catseye. “You are understanding, yes?”
"Yesyesyes! Catseye understands! Catseye knows it is like the same as when she found her family! Catseye told Sarah that! Catseye told her so she would understand, understand that nobody should be angry for very long when things change because things change always and when things change it is part of what makes everyone special! But still Sarah does not understand and then she was crying!" The catgirl's tail lashed about, the girl clearly distressed.
Nick could take a cue. He bit his lip before taking a seat close to Catseye. "I'm sure that Sarah was just a bit... surprised..." Handling the emotions of others wasn't his forte. Hell, handling his own emotions wasn't his forte. "I mean look at all of us. We all had to handle our "specialness" in a different way. Maybe Sarah is just going through a different experience than yours and her 'normal life' is just a little bit odd compared to your 'normal life.'" Again Nick had to catch himself. He knew that he should take his own advice on this matter, but it was still easier to give than receive.
“It is taking time,” Yvette added soothingly, noticing the lashing of the other girl’s tail. “She has only had the short time in the new place away from her family and she is still getting used to things. Everything is very strange to her and sometimes, it can be hard. When she is having the time to be thinking instead of the reacting, I am sure she will understand better.” Her hand twitched to pat the other girl on the shoulder, and she tucked it under her leg instead.
Noticing Yvette's abortive movement, Catseye tugged at the blanket over the couch and, with it covering her skin, hugged Yvette, the contact comforting her a little. "Catseye hopes so. Catseye told her she would give time but not forever because Catseye wants to help if she wants to be Catseye's friend and Catseye thinks that if Nick and Yvette talk to her like they talked to Catseye now then Sarah will understand muchmuchbetter! Catseye gave her a present to make her feel better, it was a shinything Catseye saved for a long time. Can Catseye start the movie and open the popcorn soon?"
Happy that the situation died down a little, Nick let another smile creep over him. "Yes, of course we can." He held up the DVD in front of him. "Would you like to start it, and I'll go handle the popcorn?" He wasn't quite sure he trusted Catseye around his food. He still didn't want a mousey surprise in his snacks.
****
Catseye frowned when the credits began to roll. "How did the band get on the roof?" she asked, confused. It had only been two minutes since her last question. "Catseye does not see stairs!"
“Perhaps there is the trap door?” Yvette suggested. She had visibly enjoyed the movie, her hair softening slightly from the long spikes to razor-edged loose curls. Her foot tapped a little to the music. “It is not so much like the play,” she admitted. “But it was the very fun movie, yes?”
Nick let his head fall down into his hands as his body shook slightly with another laugh from Catseye's question. "I think I can handle this one..." But he felt as if he didn't let Yvette get her rest soon, the rest of the medical staff may come at him with a pipe wrench. He slowly turned towards Catseye, raising an eyebrow. "But let's take a walk first." Once again the boy oriented his body towards Yvette one final time. "It was a very fun movie. Hopefully I'll be able to find an actual play for us to watch next time. Can we get you anything before we go?"
Yvette’s voice was a little wistful as she replied, watching the two of them. Catseye might be oblivious, but she was not. “No, I am being fine. And the next time, perhaps we can go to see a play performed, yes? There are many such things in New York and there is the bus run to be getting there.” She paused, a faint frown appearing. “I think. I have not been seeing anything about it on the journals for some time.”
"Catseye wants to see the play, yesyesyes! Because now Catseye has asked lots of questions so Catseye will not have to ask lots at the play and make people say 'ssshhhh!' She looked from Yvette to Nick. "Go? Walk?" The request for the abrupt departure had caught her off guard. "How come Nick did not invite Yvette? What if she wants to walk too?"
The boy suddenly caught himself, his eyes opening wide as he suddenly found himself on the defensive once again. "No, no, no, I didn't mean to not include you Yvette, it's just that..." He suddenly began scratching the back of his head nervously. "I thought with everything you've been going through, still recovering from the surgery and everything, and just getting your inhibitor taken off..." His eyes began nervously darting around the room. "I uh..." He had no idea why he had suddenly become so nervous, nor why he had not requested Yvette's companionship in his initial request.
Resisting the urge to laugh at his reaction, Yvette waved them away. “I am still needing the rest, yes,” she said. “It was kind of you to be thinking of that, Nick. Perhaps the next time?”
He had to take a second to remind himself to breathe before responding. "Whenever you feel better, we still need to go for our first tour of the woods together." He let himself relax slightly, although his stomach still felt like a puzzle of knots. Slowly he turned towards his purple-haired friend. "You ready?"
Catseye frowned at Nick, confused. "But Catseye already took Nick on a tour of the woods," she pointed out. "Does Nick want to go again with Yvette alone so Catseye is not there?" Suddenly it dawned on her that maybe he'd arranged this movie night to get close to Yvette, and that maybe he ws trying to ask her out into the woods because he liked her. It was a sneaky plan. She approved. "Wait- did Nick bring a movie over to watch with Yvette and then ask Yvette to go into the woods because Nick likes Yvette and wants to play bedgames with her? And Nick asked Catseye to come because she is goodfriends with Yvette and then Nick could pretend that he was just coming to be friends?" She wasn't trying to be accusatory- just curious.
Yvette opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out but a slight squeak. She tried again. Still nothing. In desperation, she looked at Nick, practically begging him to say something, anything that would make this whole embarrassing situation go away.
"I... uh... I..." This definitely hadn't gone the way Nick had expected. Quickly he racked his brain for anything that he could say to make the situation better. Clearly anything could make it better than this. He shrugged his shoulders for a second. "July Fool's..." As he let himself fall into another awkward silence, he walked up towards Catseye. Wrong in thinking that he couldn't say anything to make the situation more uncomfortable, he instead decided it was time to make a hasty retreat. "Hey Cats, I'm pretty sure we should get going so Yvette can get her sleep...."
"What is July Fools? Catseye does not understand! Is Nick trying to fool Catseye?" She remained on the couch, lashing her tail, beginning to get annoyed. Why couldn't people just say what they meant? "Catseye wants Yvette to sleep but Catseye wants to understand, too!"
Nick began shuffling his feet back and forth, obviously in way over his head. It was very difficult for him not to run for the door screaming as if his hair was on fire. He threw both of his hands up, letting them breezes through his hair, beads of sweat beginning to form on his face. "I promise I'll explain Cats. Just, can we..." still shuffling his feet, he pointed again at the door, squinting his eyes together, and obviously looking more and more distressed by the second.
Catseye turned to Yvette, still frowning. "Catseye thinks boys are sillystupid," she commented, knowing full well Nick was right there. "Catseye hopes Yvette has a good sleep and that Catseye and Yvette can talk about the movie some more tomorrow!" She left the room after Nick. "Explain what July Fool's is please?" she demanded when they were out of range of Yvette's room.
As soon as they were out of ear shot, Nick ran his hands through his hair as he turned back towards Catseye. "Ok, I made July Fool's up because..." He took a second to try and think of a way to explain how to say it. "You remember in the movie when the older sister tried to kiss the guy, and he wouldn't kiss her? Well I had the same feeling as she did." The boy paused for a second, confident that he had explained embarassment, but quickly his eyes began to open wide, realizing what he just said. "Not that I wanted to kiss Yvette..." Gleason really wanted to take a time out on the whole evening at this point.
"The older sister was named was Kat," Catseye informed him. "Catseye thinks this is a veryverygood name, even better than Katerina like in the Shakespeare. How come Nick did not want to kiss Yvette? Because her skin would hurt Nick?"
"No, it's not that. Its just..." He let out a slow sigh as he jammed one of his hands into his pockets. The sure sign of his uncomfortably. "I don't really like Yvette... in that way at least. She's a great person and everything. It's just... I'm not attracted to her." He raised his eyebrow, hoping that she understood him.
"Catseye does not understand 'attracted to,'" she replied. "Does Nick mean he does not want to be Yvette's friend? That movie talked about 'normal' a lot," she pointed out. "Bianca thought Kat was not normal. How come everyone thinks cats are not normal?"
Gleason was finally able to start controlling his breathing away from Yvette's room. Ok, he still was breathing like the nerdy kid in grade school after he was forced to run the mile, but at least he wasn't afraid that he was going to turn into a wolf and run through the wall at any second. "Not attracted to someone means... you don't want to play Bed games with them?" He was skipping a lot of steps, but hopefully this was on the level for his friend. "And you saw in the movie Cats. Sometimes it's better to be special than normal. Just like you are." His eyes caught hers for a brief second.
"But Nick is still friends with Yvette even though he doesn't want to play bedgames with her, yes?" She recognized the difference between being someone's friend and being attracted to them, now. Pleased by his praise, Catseye beamed at him. "Nick is very nice to Catseye. Catseye thinks Nick is special too. Catseye thinks she should kiss Nick for saying she is special and making her happy the way Patrick made Kat happy in the movie!" Without waiting for an answer, she stepped in close and pressed her lips to his, trying to remember the way the character had done it in the movie. She tilted her head slightly to one side and moved her lips a little, very interested by the way Nick's lips felt against hers, since she'd never felt anyone else's lips before.
Nick froze completely. His eyes were open wider than they'd ever been in his whole life, and for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to force them to blink as he stared directly at the wall on the other side of the hallway. "I'm... uh... I'm..." No words would come out. Even if they could, it's doubtful he'd even know what to say.
Catseye frowned as she pulled back when Nick started trying to speak. "Is Nick upset? Did Catseye do something wrong?" Was she going to have to go talk to Jean-Paul again about inadvertently making people uncomfortable and what nonsensical bit of human manners she'd breached this time? "Catseye is sorry," she said quickly.
Nick began waving his hands frantically in front of himself. "No, no, no, no. Nothing like that. That was nice." A small grin appeared on his face. "Very nice." Once again, the boy was forced to catch himself as he coughed and fell once again into his awkward gestures. "I... uh... I should get back to my room..." He pointed his thumb down the hallway, thoughts racing through his head that he couldn't control.
Happy that she hadn't done anything wrong and that Nick thought it had been nice, Catseye nodded emphatically. "Okay! Thank you for letting Catseye watch a movie and for bringing the movie to Yvette. It was a very nice movie! Catseye had fun!"
"So did Nick... I mean I... I mean..." Shaking his head, Nick made another signal down the hall. "I'll see you soon Cats..." Without another word he turned and began walking down the hall, mumbling something about a pipe wrench.
Nicholas Gleason began to paw at the DVD case in his hands. Even when he wasn't in his wolf form, the boy still tended to be awkward in his motor control. As he began to walk down the long hall in front of him, thankful that he at least was starting to get the layout of the student's rooms down, he turned the DVD over and looked intently at the front cover of 10 Things I Hate About You as it stared back at him. He wasn't sure about the cast, especially the nerdy looking kid with the green shirt on the cover, but it was at least a remake of Shakespeare. Before he and his companion made it to the door they were looking for, he pulled his nervous eyes from the box, and found those of the person next to him. "Are you sure Yvette won't mind us both coming for the movie?"
"Why would she mind?" Catseye asked, genuinely confused.
The boy smiled. It was comforting how much faith Catseye had in him. "I don't know..." As he pulled himself to a stop in front of Yvette's door, he turned back towards the purple-haired girl. "I'm not exactly the most well-spoken guy in front of other people, ya know?"
Catseye knocked on Yvette's door with enthusiasm before turning back to Nick and frowning. "Is Nick saying he is shy? Yvette is sometimes shy too, and Catseye does not think anyone can be shy with Yvette because she is so nice! But even if Nick and Yvette are both shy Catseye is not shy and Catseye will have lots of questions about the movie so Nick should not be afraid about his speaking well. Who picked the movie?" she asked. "Did Yvette pick it because it has Shakespeare in it?"
Before Nick could answer, the door opened, revealing a small, red and spiky Yvette, her eyes glowing bright blue. "Oh, hello," she said, with a small smile - she was still adjusting to her powers and her facial expressions felt stiff and strange. "You are visiting someone?"
Nick shared a quick glance with Catseye before turning towards Yvette, a smirk being forced to turn up the corners of his mouth. "We are visiting someone." He held up the DVD in front of him. "I heard that there was someone who liked Shakespeare stuff around here."
Yvette's eyes flared brighter. "Shakespeare? Yes, very much so." She tilted her head at the DVD case. "I do not think I am seeing this before. Please, do be coming in." Pulling the door open wider, she gestured for the pair to enter.
"Nick brought a movie for Yvette and Catseye and Nick to watch together," Catseye explained happily, bounding into the room. It was extremely hard not to hug Yvette in greeting, but she had to content herself with giving the red-skinned girl her biggest smile instead. "Catseye thought maybe Yvette picked the movie but Catseye is glad Yvette has not seen it because Catseye has not either and Catseye did not want to be the only one who did not see it before! It is about Shakespeare but it is not about Midsummer Night's Dream with the lion person in it," she pointed out sadly. "It is about the Shrew. Catseye and Mister Beaubier read that one before. A Shrew is like a NotVermin," she explained, bouncing on Yvette's bed, "Catseye thought that when the Shrew got tamed that meant it got eated but Mister Beaubier says that a Shrew is also a person who is not very nice and then Catseye and Mister Beaubier read the Shakespeare and the Shrew did not get eated. Catseye will hiss when she sees the Shrew on the movie! Did Nick and Yvette read the Shakespeare about the Shrew?"
Nick closed the door behind him, as it was obvious that Catseye was way too excited to see Yvette to remember. A huge grin spread across his face as he saw the excited look on her face, but quickly shoved the smile to the side as he turned towards Yvette again. "We heard that you just had your inhibitor removed, and figured you could use some company. With our talk about Shakespeare, I put two and two together, and... here we are." Still very self-conscious, Nick held his arms up in front of him, offering one last bit of warning. "Unless you don't want us to stay..."
“The Taming of the Shrew? Yes, I am reading this one. It is very good.” Yvette’s smile grew a little at the sight of the excited catgirl. “And yes, I would like very much for you to stay. It is not so good for me to be the hermit. Just…” Catseye already knew the rules about touching, but Nick didn’t. “Please not to be touching me? Or making the sudden movings? I am, how you say, rusty? With my powers and the being careful.”
The boy again held up his hands in front of him, but this time to show his understanding rather than to retreat. "They already filled me in about the rules earlier." With a teasing grin, Gleason leaned forward, speaking out the side of his mouth in a teasing tone. "But I don't think that I'm the one you need to worry about making sudden movements." With a quick jerk of his head, and pointing of his thumb, he implicated Catseye, another large grin, pulling up the corners of his mouth.
"Catseye is happy Yvette is a lovely shade of red again," the purple-haired girl crooned, hoping to make her friend feel better about being spiky again. "And Yvette having her powers back means that she is not hurt anymore and that makes Catseye even more happy! Yvette should be careful though not to go talk to NewGirlSarah until Yvette tells her that she is red again or NewGirlSarah will get angry because Catseye did not tell her that Catseye was a mutant and she got angry and then sad and Catseye does not think she likes mutants very much at all because she said she wants to be normal again so Catseye does not think she understands about mutants being special and that she is special too and Catseye thinks Yvette should talk to her because Yvette understands veryverymuch about 'normal'-" she wrinkled her nose at the term, "being sillystupid." Catseye didn't think anyone understood better than Yvette did about not being able to live a normal life, but not letting it make her angry, depressed, and vengeful the way she feared Sarah might get. "Nick should talk to her too because Nick is also new at being a mutant but Nick is not angry and Nick understands about being special, right?"
Yvette blinked, trying to take in the welter of information. “Sarah is not happy to be the mutant?” she asked, to clarify. “I have been talking to her when I was sick, but yes, I can be talking to her again. It can be hard sometimes, coming to the new strange place, away from the friends and the family. Perhaps she is being homesick also.”
"Yeah, I can talk to her too..." Gleason let his eyes drag towards the ground for a few seconds as he tried to avoid the subject of being homesick, doing his best to suppress his own emotions before they started to come up. But tonight wasn't about him. It was about the spiky girl. "But how are you feeling Yvette? Starting to get back into the normal swing of things?"
“I am trying to,” the smaller girl admitted, the glow of her eyes dulling somewhat – without normal facial colouring and expression, Yvette’s eyes and voice were the best cues to her emotional responses. Those and the heightening of her powers when she was angry or frightened or under stress. “The kidney is doing very well and the doctors say that the blood tests are all being normal. I will be taking the medicines so I do not reject it for always, but it is the small thing to be doing to be well again. As for the rest…” She made a flip-flopping gesture with one long-fingered hand. “There are the good days and the bad days, yes?”
"Catseye does not understand homesick," the purple haired girl complained. "The mansion is Catseye's home and Catseye does not think anyone should be sick and not like Catseye's home. Catseye is glad Yvette is not sick anymore and that Yvette has medicines to make her better and be well. Catseye brought snacks!" She suddenly remembered the popcorn bag she'd been holding in her tail. "How come everyone talks about things being normal?" she asked Nick, since he'd asked Yvette about the 'normal' swing of things. "Catseye thinks normal is sillystupid! Except blood tests," she amended for Yvette's sake.
The boy paused for a second, putting his hand up to his chin as he tried to think of just the right way to put it for Cats. "Normal is... subjective..." He paused for another second, raising his eyebrow. "It's different for everyone. Like for me, I feel the most 'normal' when I'm in the woods when I'm a wolf, or when I'm in my room reading." He pushed his eyebrows together for a second, feeling as if he wasn't doing a very good job of explaining it. "It's where and when you feel the most comfortable." He slowly turned towards the blue-eyed girl. "You care to give this one a try?"
Yvette took a seat on the common room’s couch, in the corner that had a blanket of Forge’s material draped over it especially for her. “When people are saying ‘normal’, they are meaning the way things are usually, when there is nothing strange. So Nick is asking me how it is to be back to the way I am being usually, yes?” The easy part done, she turned her mind to the other issue. “People are not so good sometimes when the things they are used to are changing. It is like…” Inspiration hit. “It is like when you are first coming here, and you are finding you have to be the girl more often. You did not always like it, yes? And it is making you grouchy and unhappy. And then when you are finding out that you have the human family, you are not happy again, because the things you are always knowing are changing. It is the same for the mutants whose powers do not come until later. We are having one way of doing things and then, because of the powers, that way is changing. It is not always easy and sometimes we wish things would go back to the way they were being before, the normal way of doing things.” She turned brightly glowing eyes on Catseye. “You are understanding, yes?”
"Yesyesyes! Catseye understands! Catseye knows it is like the same as when she found her family! Catseye told Sarah that! Catseye told her so she would understand, understand that nobody should be angry for very long when things change because things change always and when things change it is part of what makes everyone special! But still Sarah does not understand and then she was crying!" The catgirl's tail lashed about, the girl clearly distressed.
Nick could take a cue. He bit his lip before taking a seat close to Catseye. "I'm sure that Sarah was just a bit... surprised..." Handling the emotions of others wasn't his forte. Hell, handling his own emotions wasn't his forte. "I mean look at all of us. We all had to handle our "specialness" in a different way. Maybe Sarah is just going through a different experience than yours and her 'normal life' is just a little bit odd compared to your 'normal life.'" Again Nick had to catch himself. He knew that he should take his own advice on this matter, but it was still easier to give than receive.
“It is taking time,” Yvette added soothingly, noticing the lashing of the other girl’s tail. “She has only had the short time in the new place away from her family and she is still getting used to things. Everything is very strange to her and sometimes, it can be hard. When she is having the time to be thinking instead of the reacting, I am sure she will understand better.” Her hand twitched to pat the other girl on the shoulder, and she tucked it under her leg instead.
Noticing Yvette's abortive movement, Catseye tugged at the blanket over the couch and, with it covering her skin, hugged Yvette, the contact comforting her a little. "Catseye hopes so. Catseye told her she would give time but not forever because Catseye wants to help if she wants to be Catseye's friend and Catseye thinks that if Nick and Yvette talk to her like they talked to Catseye now then Sarah will understand muchmuchbetter! Catseye gave her a present to make her feel better, it was a shinything Catseye saved for a long time. Can Catseye start the movie and open the popcorn soon?"
Happy that the situation died down a little, Nick let another smile creep over him. "Yes, of course we can." He held up the DVD in front of him. "Would you like to start it, and I'll go handle the popcorn?" He wasn't quite sure he trusted Catseye around his food. He still didn't want a mousey surprise in his snacks.
****
Catseye frowned when the credits began to roll. "How did the band get on the roof?" she asked, confused. It had only been two minutes since her last question. "Catseye does not see stairs!"
“Perhaps there is the trap door?” Yvette suggested. She had visibly enjoyed the movie, her hair softening slightly from the long spikes to razor-edged loose curls. Her foot tapped a little to the music. “It is not so much like the play,” she admitted. “But it was the very fun movie, yes?”
Nick let his head fall down into his hands as his body shook slightly with another laugh from Catseye's question. "I think I can handle this one..." But he felt as if he didn't let Yvette get her rest soon, the rest of the medical staff may come at him with a pipe wrench. He slowly turned towards Catseye, raising an eyebrow. "But let's take a walk first." Once again the boy oriented his body towards Yvette one final time. "It was a very fun movie. Hopefully I'll be able to find an actual play for us to watch next time. Can we get you anything before we go?"
Yvette’s voice was a little wistful as she replied, watching the two of them. Catseye might be oblivious, but she was not. “No, I am being fine. And the next time, perhaps we can go to see a play performed, yes? There are many such things in New York and there is the bus run to be getting there.” She paused, a faint frown appearing. “I think. I have not been seeing anything about it on the journals for some time.”
"Catseye wants to see the play, yesyesyes! Because now Catseye has asked lots of questions so Catseye will not have to ask lots at the play and make people say 'ssshhhh!' She looked from Yvette to Nick. "Go? Walk?" The request for the abrupt departure had caught her off guard. "How come Nick did not invite Yvette? What if she wants to walk too?"
The boy suddenly caught himself, his eyes opening wide as he suddenly found himself on the defensive once again. "No, no, no, I didn't mean to not include you Yvette, it's just that..." He suddenly began scratching the back of his head nervously. "I thought with everything you've been going through, still recovering from the surgery and everything, and just getting your inhibitor taken off..." His eyes began nervously darting around the room. "I uh..." He had no idea why he had suddenly become so nervous, nor why he had not requested Yvette's companionship in his initial request.
Resisting the urge to laugh at his reaction, Yvette waved them away. “I am still needing the rest, yes,” she said. “It was kind of you to be thinking of that, Nick. Perhaps the next time?”
He had to take a second to remind himself to breathe before responding. "Whenever you feel better, we still need to go for our first tour of the woods together." He let himself relax slightly, although his stomach still felt like a puzzle of knots. Slowly he turned towards his purple-haired friend. "You ready?"
Catseye frowned at Nick, confused. "But Catseye already took Nick on a tour of the woods," she pointed out. "Does Nick want to go again with Yvette alone so Catseye is not there?" Suddenly it dawned on her that maybe he'd arranged this movie night to get close to Yvette, and that maybe he ws trying to ask her out into the woods because he liked her. It was a sneaky plan. She approved. "Wait- did Nick bring a movie over to watch with Yvette and then ask Yvette to go into the woods because Nick likes Yvette and wants to play bedgames with her? And Nick asked Catseye to come because she is goodfriends with Yvette and then Nick could pretend that he was just coming to be friends?" She wasn't trying to be accusatory- just curious.
Yvette opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out but a slight squeak. She tried again. Still nothing. In desperation, she looked at Nick, practically begging him to say something, anything that would make this whole embarrassing situation go away.
"I... uh... I..." This definitely hadn't gone the way Nick had expected. Quickly he racked his brain for anything that he could say to make the situation better. Clearly anything could make it better than this. He shrugged his shoulders for a second. "July Fool's..." As he let himself fall into another awkward silence, he walked up towards Catseye. Wrong in thinking that he couldn't say anything to make the situation more uncomfortable, he instead decided it was time to make a hasty retreat. "Hey Cats, I'm pretty sure we should get going so Yvette can get her sleep...."
"What is July Fools? Catseye does not understand! Is Nick trying to fool Catseye?" She remained on the couch, lashing her tail, beginning to get annoyed. Why couldn't people just say what they meant? "Catseye wants Yvette to sleep but Catseye wants to understand, too!"
Nick began shuffling his feet back and forth, obviously in way over his head. It was very difficult for him not to run for the door screaming as if his hair was on fire. He threw both of his hands up, letting them breezes through his hair, beads of sweat beginning to form on his face. "I promise I'll explain Cats. Just, can we..." still shuffling his feet, he pointed again at the door, squinting his eyes together, and obviously looking more and more distressed by the second.
Catseye turned to Yvette, still frowning. "Catseye thinks boys are sillystupid," she commented, knowing full well Nick was right there. "Catseye hopes Yvette has a good sleep and that Catseye and Yvette can talk about the movie some more tomorrow!" She left the room after Nick. "Explain what July Fool's is please?" she demanded when they were out of range of Yvette's room.
As soon as they were out of ear shot, Nick ran his hands through his hair as he turned back towards Catseye. "Ok, I made July Fool's up because..." He took a second to try and think of a way to explain how to say it. "You remember in the movie when the older sister tried to kiss the guy, and he wouldn't kiss her? Well I had the same feeling as she did." The boy paused for a second, confident that he had explained embarassment, but quickly his eyes began to open wide, realizing what he just said. "Not that I wanted to kiss Yvette..." Gleason really wanted to take a time out on the whole evening at this point.
"The older sister was named was Kat," Catseye informed him. "Catseye thinks this is a veryverygood name, even better than Katerina like in the Shakespeare. How come Nick did not want to kiss Yvette? Because her skin would hurt Nick?"
"No, it's not that. Its just..." He let out a slow sigh as he jammed one of his hands into his pockets. The sure sign of his uncomfortably. "I don't really like Yvette... in that way at least. She's a great person and everything. It's just... I'm not attracted to her." He raised his eyebrow, hoping that she understood him.
"Catseye does not understand 'attracted to,'" she replied. "Does Nick mean he does not want to be Yvette's friend? That movie talked about 'normal' a lot," she pointed out. "Bianca thought Kat was not normal. How come everyone thinks cats are not normal?"
Gleason was finally able to start controlling his breathing away from Yvette's room. Ok, he still was breathing like the nerdy kid in grade school after he was forced to run the mile, but at least he wasn't afraid that he was going to turn into a wolf and run through the wall at any second. "Not attracted to someone means... you don't want to play Bed games with them?" He was skipping a lot of steps, but hopefully this was on the level for his friend. "And you saw in the movie Cats. Sometimes it's better to be special than normal. Just like you are." His eyes caught hers for a brief second.
"But Nick is still friends with Yvette even though he doesn't want to play bedgames with her, yes?" She recognized the difference between being someone's friend and being attracted to them, now. Pleased by his praise, Catseye beamed at him. "Nick is very nice to Catseye. Catseye thinks Nick is special too. Catseye thinks she should kiss Nick for saying she is special and making her happy the way Patrick made Kat happy in the movie!" Without waiting for an answer, she stepped in close and pressed her lips to his, trying to remember the way the character had done it in the movie. She tilted her head slightly to one side and moved her lips a little, very interested by the way Nick's lips felt against hers, since she'd never felt anyone else's lips before.
Nick froze completely. His eyes were open wider than they'd ever been in his whole life, and for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to force them to blink as he stared directly at the wall on the other side of the hallway. "I'm... uh... I'm..." No words would come out. Even if they could, it's doubtful he'd even know what to say.
Catseye frowned as she pulled back when Nick started trying to speak. "Is Nick upset? Did Catseye do something wrong?" Was she going to have to go talk to Jean-Paul again about inadvertently making people uncomfortable and what nonsensical bit of human manners she'd breached this time? "Catseye is sorry," she said quickly.
Nick began waving his hands frantically in front of himself. "No, no, no, no. Nothing like that. That was nice." A small grin appeared on his face. "Very nice." Once again, the boy was forced to catch himself as he coughed and fell once again into his awkward gestures. "I... uh... I should get back to my room..." He pointed his thumb down the hallway, thoughts racing through his head that he couldn't control.
Happy that she hadn't done anything wrong and that Nick thought it had been nice, Catseye nodded emphatically. "Okay! Thank you for letting Catseye watch a movie and for bringing the movie to Yvette. It was a very nice movie! Catseye had fun!"
"So did Nick... I mean I... I mean..." Shaking his head, Nick made another signal down the hall. "I'll see you soon Cats..." Without another word he turned and began walking down the hall, mumbling something about a pipe wrench.