Catseye and Korvus: Breakfast! (Backdated)

[x-korvus.livejournal.com]

Catseye meets Korvus as he cooks breakfast. She does not threaten him!

Korvus had finished his morning routine and shower, leaving him with one more task before classes... breakfast. Coming down the stairs from the rooms in a pair of gym pants and a tank top, he moved directly for the kitchen. Breakfast and dinner were two of his favorite times in each day; for lunch he often had local fare but the first and last meals of the day were devoted to cooking something that, for him, was one of the few vestiges of home he had access to.

At the mansion for a training session, Catseye followed her nose to the kitchen, picking up on some wonderful Middle Eastern-type scents. She stopped in her tracks when she spotted Korvus. Tall, curly hair, beard. And he was cooking with Indian spices. Was this Meggan's boy? "Hi," she greeted cheerfully. "I'm Sharon, I don't think we've met!"

Turning and offering a smile, Korvus greeted her. "We have not. I am Korvus Rook'shir." The way he held his hands suggested that they were too messy for him to offer to shake her hand. "It is my pleasure to meet you." Pots boiled in front of him and flour was dusted across a cutting board.

"What are you making?" the catgirl inquired curiously, staring down at his pots to try and discern what he was cooking.

"I am cooking Appam and Vegetable Stew." Korvus opened the lid to the stew so Sharon could smell it. "It is for breakfast. There will be excess if you are hungry."

Catseye nodded appreciatively. "It smells amazing. Middle Eastern food is my favourite! There are some good Middle Eastern restaurants in the city, but being back in New York is not like living in the Middle East though," she lamented. "And I'm always hungry! Thanks! Can I help you with anything?" she asked, leaning on the counter.

"It is Indian." Korvus clarified, though he did not sound offended. "It is simmering. There is nothing left but to wait until the meal can be served.

"You're right, Middle Eastern and Indian are very different," Catseye amended apologetically. She sat on the counter to wait for the food. "When did you leave India?" she inquired curiously.

"I was taken to Madripoor over two years ago by pirates. I have only returned to India once for a short time between then and now." Korvus replied as he got a spoon to test the stew to see if the flavors were what he wanted. After he tested the stew he washed the spoon off and got another sample to offer to Sharon.

"Pirates? Really? Wow. That's awful. I'm so sorry," Catseye responded sympathetically. She knew from her work with Elpis about situations in Madripoor, though her knowledge was pretty basic. "Mmm, that's fantastic!" she said of the sample she was offered. "And you were forced to live as a slave, I guess? How did you end up leaving Madripoor? Were you rescued or did you bust out? Oh, if you want to talk about it, I mean. It's okay if you don't," she assured him quickly.

"I was rescued... again by pirates. The Starjammers do not appreciate slavery and they are sympathetic to mutants." Korvus spoke as he ladled their soup into bowls and stacked na'an on a plate on the counter between them. "I do not have an aversion to speaking of anything. It is through experience that we gain wisdom and we are obligated to share."

Catseye pondered that comment as she chewed on a piece of naan. "That's so true! I really like you!" she announced with a grin. "You know what? You made me breakfast and you are veryvery smart... I don't think I'll even threaten to throw you in the lake if you break Meggan's heart now," she mused thoughtfully.

Korvus laughed softly, standing across the counter from Sharon as they ate. "I appreciate you forgoing the threat. I have been told by Amanda that I am to report threats to her now."

"Really?" The catgirl sounded impressed. "Well, you must be an extra great guy if Meggan's sister has you reporting other threats to her instead of her issuing those threats to you herself!" She dug into her food with her usual enthusiasm and made appreciative noises over it. "This is fantastic! It's almost like a Thai type of curry," she commented. "Are you from Southern India?" She wasn't certain, but she'd read somewhere that Southern Indian cuisine was influenced by Thai or Sri Lankan culture.

"I am from New Delhi in Northern India. It was important to my father that I studied, experienced, and appreciated culture from all over the country, however. He said, as a leader, it would be my responsibility to be representative of the entire country." Korvus offered in explanation.

"He sounds like a smart guy," Catseye nodded as she ate. "So what is it you're supposed to be leading?"

"I am Shiar... In India we are like your Kennedys." It was the best comparison Korvus had. "It was expected I would become a politician or military officer."

The purple-haired girl dipped naan into her stew. "Was and would? So you're not going to become a politician or military officer anymore?"

"The Rook'shir line was found guilty of treason while I spent a year abroad in Africa. They were sentenced to death." Korvus' voice was certainly sad. "I do not wish to return to India. I would prefer to be an X-Man."

Catseye's eyes went wide. Though she tried to keep abreast of international politics, apparently that bit of news had escaped her attention. "I'm so sorry to hear that," she told Korvus, chewing silently for a moment. "I understand not wanting to go back there after something like that was done to your family. I'm going to be an X-Man too. It is a very good thing to do with your life, I think!"

"I believe so as well." Korvus agreed. "I am fortunate to be more physically capable than someone without a genetic mutation. I intend to use that to help my community. That is now a global community."

"Meggan said you have strength and endurance? Uhh, in terms of your genetic mutation, I mean?" Catseye corrected quickly, realizing that she'd said something that could be taken a verrrrrry different way in another context.

Korvus chuckled softly for a moment, swallowing the stew in his mouth before explaining. "My mutation has enhanced the totality of my physical capabilities beyond conventional limits..." He paused for a moment before guessing, "I sense a sexual connotation to your comment?"

"I didn't mean for there to be, that's why I clarified," Catseye shrugged. "If you haven't realized it already, pretty much everything in American culture comes with sexual connotations, since just about everything seems to be about sex. It's one of the reasons I had such a hard time adjusting, myself," she explained. "You can't just say what you think because chances are good that someone else will be thinking it relates to sex. Of course, most of my trouble came from a much broader sphere than just adjusting to hypersexualized American culture- I had to adjust to hypersexualized human culture."

"Than you were raised as... a feline, I assume?" Korvus guessed by the traits, assuming that if human culture shocked her she was feral, either as a human or as a cat. He had heard of mutants being born with visible mutation.

With a nod, Catseye set her plate down, got down off the counter, shifted into her housecat form and then back into girlform. "I can do a cougar, too. Until I was sixteen I had no idea I was a mutant at all, I thought I was just a regular, albeit purple, cat with a really long life span," she grinned. "And then, up until I was around twenty I always thought I'd been born a cat that could shift into a girl. Because of that, I didn't make much of an effort to learn much about human societies or cultures. So I've had a lot of catching up to do. Sometimes I think I'll always be playing catch-up," she added with a smirk, going back to eating.

"I get that impression as well." Korvus admitted. "I was not particularly fluent in casual conversation, even in India. It is exacerbated here. Fortunately it is also very accommodating here."

"This place is the best, it really is," Catseye assured him with a wide smile. "They're so kind about explaining things and helping you fit in. It's a little... isolated, at times. Sometimes it's easy when you're here to forget there's a whole world out there, but everyone's like... a family, so it's nice, too. It... almost fills the void, you know?"

"I truly hope that will be the case." Korvus agreed with a soft smile.