Catseye | John - Monday Afternoon [Backdated]

[x-pyromania.livejournal.com]

'As anyone who has ever been around a cat for any length of time well knows, cats have enormous patience with the limitations of the human kind.' -Cleveland Amory-

There was good lunch and there was bad lunch. Good lunch consisted of a full meal at Madam Lu's down the street and bad lunch meant junk food. Today was bad lunch day. John sat at his desk with his foot propped up on the edge of the table. He dropped his head back and caught a pistachio in his mouth.

Everyone else had left for lunch and the office was quiet. John had declined the invitation to head out. He was feeling lethargic and desperately needed to take a quick nap before he had to work on his report again.

He chewed, yawned and shifted in his seat. Maybe when Angelo got back he could get him to help review the stuff he'd written and that way he could steal an additional hour of sleep. Genius idea.

"JohnJohnJohn!" Catseye called out happily, bounding into the office with two paper bags in her hands. "I felt sad you were here instead of going to eat with the rest of us so I brought you lunch! It is Chinese food lunch and if you want me to help you with your report I can do that- can I do that?"

"Oh, god." He closed his eyes and lifted his hands to his face. "And to what do I deserve this honor?" John leaned forward, rested his arms on the table and looked at the girl expectantly.

Catseye passed him a bag of Chinese takeout. "Because you have been working much too hard that is why you deserve this honour!" she explained with a serious nod. "You look sleepy."

He took the bag with a nod of thanks and motioned for her to take a seat. "Then I'm sure you of all people would understand the importance of taking a catnap every now and then." Nathan used to give him a hard time whenever he caught John sleeping at his desk but John was a lot more productive post a good nap.

The catgirl nodded emphatically. "I showed Cammie the special spot in the back to have naps!" she told him enthusiastically. "I nap on the photocopier in my catform because it is warm. But I do not think you would fit on the photocopier."

John shook his head and dug his chopsticks in the noodles. "Guess I'll have to be careful not to accidentally close the lid on you. Unless of course that thing about you having nine lives is true."

"I have used some of my lives already!" she lamented, digging into her moo shu pork heartily. "I only have three or four left so please do not squash me with the photocopier! Do you know the special spot in the back for napping?"

"Nope." He rather liked his desk and the comfort of his chair. But if there was someplace better... "So tell me about it."

"It is in the storage room there are sheets there from when the office got painted and the sheets make a nice bed sometimes. I can show you there are manymany fun things in the storage room!" she answered excitedly, clapping her hands together.

"Sheets." He stared at the younger girl, not looking too impressed about that. "I think I'll just stick to what I'm used to. Besides, I don't think Cammie will appreciate me taking up her sweet spot. Girl's probably been using it, right?"

"Sleeping? I do not know if she has been sleeping there I can go check I will smell the sheets do you want me to?" she asked helpfully.

John almost choked on the thought. He pressed a fist to his mouth and coughed. "No." He shook his head. "It's fine. I don't need to sleep in the store. I am here to work, you know." He gestured at the clutter on his desk. "I'm fine with short naps. Besides, I need Angelo to give me a kick on my shin if I overdo it."

"Overdo a nap? How can you overdo a nap?" Did he mean sleep too long? "I can kick you if you want me to?"

"Oh, you'd just like that wouldn't you?" He teased but at the look of confusion on her face, he waved a hand indicating a change of topic. "Did you manage to say goodbye to Jay before he left?"

"No." Catseye's face darkened. "He just left. He did not even tell me he was going away. I read Warren saying he was at Muir on the journals that was how I knew." She shook her head and put a smile on her face. "People always leave or die. It is The Way Things Are in Life. Being sad about Life is sillystupid. What report are you doing?" she inquired, trying to change the topic again.

"The one on Indonesia." He allowed for the change of subject and reached out for a printed out copy of his report. It was seven pages long and he still wasn't done with it. "Maybe you can look through it later and see if there's anything I missed out." He would have finished it last night but he hadn't been able to concentrate thanks to his encounter with Bobby.

"Okay! I can do that yesyes! After naptime?" she suggested. "Are you going to nap now? Can I nap with you if I am in catform? Are you warm to nap on?" She knew he had pyrokinetic powers but wasn't sure if that made his skin warm like Angel's and Amara's.

"What." He was stupefied. "You mean nap on me nap on me?" John shifted uncomfortably in his seat then sat upright. "No. You should head over to the copier. I'm not--I can't. But look, thanks for the meal." He stood up and reached for his jacket. "I'm gonna head out for a smoke."

"How come you do not want to nap with me?" Catseye inquired curiously, head tilted in confusion. "Because I am a girl sometimes?"

"Because you're a cat," John corrected her, looking a little affronted by her assumption. "I'm not an animal person. I can barely tolerate Ange's damn dog." He shrugged into his jacket. "And I have allergies. Very bad allergies." Anti-histamines, nasal spray and eye drops were his best friends. "Napping with a cat snuggled up in my arms would just about kill me." It was hard to imagine himself snuggling anything, let alone a cute, furry animal.

"I do not make people have allergies," she grinned, proud of herself. "I do not have dander because I am not a real cat! I would not kill you, I promise."

"I don't snuggle."

"How come? Because you do not like it or because you never tried? Did you ever snuggle with a cat who does not kill you with allergies?" she inquired.

He let out a slight groan as he fell back in his seat. This conversation was ridiculous. John didn't think he'd ever had such a difficult time pushing unwanted company away.

"Look, it's just not right, Ms. Smith. You can't just snuggle up to anyone you like." Just saying the word snuggle for the third time that day was beginning to make him feel sick. "Especially men. It's inappropriate." Yes. That was a good one.

"How come?" Catseye asked. She'd been down this road with Jean-Paul, more than a year ago, so it was less that she didn't understand and more that she wanted to see if he would stand up to his position or if she could thwart him. "We are not doing sex. I am a couple with Nick. You do not like girls for sex. We are not strangers. How come I cannot nap with you?" Her tone was all curiosity, rather than challenging.

"Whoa. Back the assumption truck up for a minute here. I do not like sex with girls?" Now he looked insulted. "What is that supposed to mean? You based that on the fact that I refuse to let you sit on me like I'm some human pet cushion?"

"No! I based that on the fact you like boys for sex!" she answered defensively. "Because you and Angelo did sex!"

John was stunned. "That's it." He gathered up his papers, snatched the report on Indonesia back from her and stood up to leave. But not before he stabbed a finger in front of her face. "You know what you are? You're like a bad horror movie. The Cat People. Or The Cat from Hell. Go look it up."

"I am from New York," she corrected with a grin. "Are you angry? I am sorry if I made you angry I will not tell anyone you like boys for sex if you do not want me to I just thought that is why it should not be inappropriate if we nap together and then we can keep each other warm!"

He stared at her. "Okay. Okay, fine." He nodded as he backtracked out of the office. "You just stick around then. Make yourself comfortable and I will be back shorly." Only he won't. He was going to look for Angelo and sic the dog on her.

"Okay! Yesyesyes I will stay here," the catgirl nodded emphatically, moving to John's chair and clapping her hands excitedly. "I will keep your spot warm for you yesyesyes and then we will have a nice nap!"

Over my dead and rotting corpse, John thought. But he forced out a smile, gave her a salute and quickly shut the door behind him.