Scott and Catseye

[x-catseye.livejournal.com]

After purchasing a bike with Kyle, Catseye seeks out Scott for some tutelage in riding it and they discuss her fear of becoming more human.

Ignoring the pain in her knees and palms, Catseye walked her
not-so-shiny-anymore bicycle around to the garage where she could hear
Scott working. "Mister Summers?" she called out tentatively. "Kyle
said that Mister Summers taught Kyle how to ride a bike, and Catseye
thought maybe Mister Summers could teach Catseye too?" Of course, with
Kyle it had been a motorcycle, whereas Catseye only had a bicycle, a
three-gear Schwinn that had been made in the 1940s, but Kyle had
thought that riding a bicycle would be a good first step, and since
Mister Summers knew about motorcycles he had to know about bicycles,
right?

Scott straightened from where he'd been bending over the Romeo's hood
and stared for a moment at Catseye, half-appalled. "Good God," he said
finally, "I gather you haven't had much luck so far..."

Catseye looked down at her still-bleeding knees. "No! No luck! Catseye
does not understand! It is not like driving a car at all!"

"No, it's not. A lot more depends on you, and your balance," Scott
said tentatively, leaning over to get a better look at her knees. "Why
don't you go sit down on the bench over there and I'll get something
to clean you up a little?"

"Is Mister Summers going to his room? Can Catseye come and say hi to
Desdemona?" she asked, brightening.

"No, it's okay, I'm got a first aid kit down here. We have accidents
in the garage sometimes," Scott said wryly, heading over to fetch the
kit.

Feeling thwarted, Catseye frowned as she put the bike against the
garage wall and sat down. "Catseye never plays with other cats
anymore," she mumbled, half to herself. She'd been spending so much
time with schoolwork, driving, working at Elpis, reading with
Jean-Paul, being in the play...aside from being in the woods with
Nick, Kyle, and Dori, she rarely ever played anymore at all. It seemed
like whenever she even tried to act like a cat these days she was
making people upset for some breach of human etiquette.

"What's wrong, kiddo?" Scott asked gently, coming back with his
supplies and sitting down beside her. "Leg up here, if you don't mind
- my knee can't take crouching yet."

Catseye took a moment to arrange her thoughts, obeying Scott's
request. "Sometimes Catseye thinks being human is fun, like when
Catseye is driving or swimming or acting. And sometimes being a human
makes Catseye very happy, like when she is reading a new book or
helping Nathan. So sometimes Catseye thinks that she is not really a
cat anymore. But Catseye was a cat for a long time! Sometimes Catseye
thinks she can never be a human because there are too many rules, but
what if Catseye is forgetting how to be a cat? What if Catseye forgets
how to be herself?"

Scott cleaned away the blood and dirt from her knee as gently as he
could. "You'll always be yourself," he said. "Cat or human. But we do
change, over time... we can become new selves, if that makes any
sense. If I told you that when I was sixteen years old, I was angry
and sullen and stole cars, would you believe me?"

Catseye winced at the ministrations and thought over what Scott had
said. "Catseye thinks that makes sense," she agreed after some time.
"Catseye just does not know if she wants to be a new self." She shook
her head emphatically at his question. "No way! Mister Summers did not
steal a car!"

"Mister Summers stole several cars," Scott said dryly. "He just never
got caught doing it." He wasn't going to explain the concept of a
joyride to Catseye. That would be bad. "And you'll never be an
entirely new self," he went on. "But change isn't a bad thing."

"Catseye thinks maybe change is a bad thing if Mister Summers used to
steal cars but now changed so he thinks stealing cars is bad," she
joked, "because Catseye does not think it was very fair that Mister
Summers gave punishment to Cammie and Catseye when they did not even
steal the car they borrowed to go shopping!"

"One of the fringe benefits of being an adult," Scott said, very
straight-faced. "You get to say 'do as I say, not as I did'. Because
supposedly you've grown up and learned from your mistakes."

She frowned as she struggled with the odd phrase. "So that means
Mister Summers knows it was a mistake and wants to make sure Catseye
doesn't do it too?"

"Got it in one." Scott inclined his head at the other leg as he
pressed a bandage gently against the knee he'd just finished cleaning.
"Now the other one."

"Is Mister Summers going to say Catseye should not ride a bike?" she
asked, following his instructions obediently.

"Heck, no, I think it's a great idea. But you do need a teacher,"
Scott said, "so that you don't wind up chewing up your knees any more
than you already have. It's not fun to fall."

"Nonono it is not! Kyle said he would teach Catseye but Catseye wanted
to try on her own," she explained, "but now Catseye thinks she cannot
do it on her own but she does not want to tell Kyle that! Can Mister
Summers help?"

It was hard not to be fond of her. He didn't generally bother trying.
Scott grinned, bandaging her other knee. "I think it's my duty."


The catgirl threw her arms around Scott happily. "Thankyouthankyou!
And when Catseye learns how to ride the bicycle and then gets her
driving license can Mister Summers teach Catseye how to ride the
motorbike?"

Scott patted her on the back a bit awkwardly. "One thing at a time,
okay?" he said with a helpless smile.