Mel & Sharon | Good Morning
Jan. 27th, 2024 07:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsMel has an early morning encounter.
Mel could see sunlight dancing through the curtains as she slowly blinked awake. The beds at the mansion sure were comfortable, she hadn’t slept past sunrise in years.
It took her a moment to register the weight on her legs. There was a…. purple cat on her bed? It was watching her imperiously with bright yellow eyes. Mel slowly sat up and scrubbed her face. This wasn’t a dream was it? She pinched her arm for good measure.
Cautiously, she reached out to pet the cat. “Hey kitty kitty, how’d you get in here?”
The cat sniffed delicately at Mel's outstretched fingertips. Its tail flicked, then it stood and hopped off the girl's legs to the side of the mattress -- which abruptly sagged with extra weight.
The thing that now occupied the bottom end of the mattress was still technically a cat. It was simply now ten times the size and in possession of strangely humanoid hands. And it was still staring at Mel.
"Doors are no barrier to me," the creature intoned. It sat once more, its tail curled primly around its front legs. If such an expression could be read on a cat's face, one might have said it looked amused.
“Holy shit!” Mel exclaimed. “You can talk?” It was much to soon after waking up for her to comprehend the shapeshifting just yet.
"Many things are within my power." The tip of the cat's tail twitched. "I am Sharon. Or Catseye, if mutant names are prefered. And you are one of Sam Guthrie's infinite siblings."
“Er- yeah. I’m Mel. I don’t have a mutant name.” She lifted her hand as if to offer it for a shake and then decided against it. “Nice to meet ya.” If Sam had instilled anything into the Guthrie kids, it was manners, even half asleep.
Now that she thought about it, he may have mentioned something about a cat and… bacon? “If ya don’t mind my askin’, what’re you doin’ in here at this hour?”
"I am Cat." That seemed to be the beginning and the end of her justification. The tail gave another flick. "Now is your turn. Your presence shall be explained."
“Oh, I’m jus’ visitin’ for the weekend,” Mel said. “Sammy called it a “test run”? I jus’ got my powers but ain’t sure I wanna move up here jus’ yet.”
Sharon gave her a solemn nod, which, as a gesture, was slightly off-putting when the one performing it was a 120lbs felid. "This is more measured than your siblings. Brought in together without even a trial period. Is like adopting two cats at once, so they might keep each other entertained. What is your power?"
Mel had never had a cat for a pet before, but she nodded along like she understood what Sharon was saying. “I can fly. And glow. I reckon that’s it? I ain’t tested it out much yet.” She wasn’t sure the etiquette for mutants on mutations but figured since Sharon already asked she could too. “And yer a cat-mutant?”
"Mutant-cat. Distinction is subtle yet important."
The weight on the mattress was abruptly redistributed as Sharon changed again, this time into a tall, plain girl around Mel's own age sitting with her legs tucked beneath her. The yellow eyes and flicking tail remained as a constant, as did the inscrutable expression.
"This form is less socially disruptive," Sharon continued as she plucked at the knee of her jumpsuit with a claw, "but is not my preference. Flexibility is lacking. Jaw strength also. I will bite." She clicked her teeth for emphasis. It was probably playful.
“Woah, that’s so cool! Can you jus’ do the three forms or are there others?” Mel questioned, eyes glittering with eagerness. She’d never met anyone so candid with their mutation.
"I have many forms," was the smug reply. At the moment 'many' was doing a lot of heavy lifting for 'four,' but it was more than most people had. Sharon hunched forward so she could rest her elbows against the bedspread, studying Mel with open curiosity. "Power is flight and glowing? This is interesting. Mutations of other siblings are oddly dissimilar. Matter-shifting and avian morphology. But flight without obvious physical mechanism, this is consistent with your brother. Explain to me this glow. You are also nigh invulnerable when you are blasting, maybe?"
“I ain’t sure what that means, but I can show you?” Mel shifted out of bed, somewhat conscious that she was in her pajamas, and stood on the floor. She took a breath to concentrate. Slowly, Mel’s feet lifted from the ground and a soft light emanated in the surrounding air. Hovering, she said, “I can only do it when I’m flyin’ an’ it seems to get brighter the higher I go.”
Sharon sat up as Mel rose, the end of her tail beginning to swish against the mattress in wider arcs. "Bioluminescence? If brightness increases with altitude, perhaps is a form of counter-illumination camouflage. Adaptation of mesopelagic marine life. Light produced by photophores reduces contrast of body outlined against brighter waters to predators and prey swimming below. For your purposes is to match the intensity of sunlight, maybe. Or your body produces luciferins, maybe, which catalyze upon oxidation, and the mechanism by which you fly makes use of oxygen in some way." Absently, she extended a hand to pat the bed beneath Mel's hovering body, as if checking to confirm whether it was a legitimate levitation.
Mel floated up to touch the ceiling just because she could. “S’likely the second one if any. I still glow at night, ain’t that the opposite of camouflage?”
The other girl considered this. "Then maybe is not bioluminescence of this type. You fluoresce, maybe, like coral. Absorb energy of one wavelength and emit it as another. Ultraviolet radiation, for example. This increases at higher altitudes as atmosphere becomes thinner. Marginal increase to most, 2% per 1,000 feet. For you significant, maybe."
“Huh,” Mel said, inspecting the light radiating from her arm. “Neat.” She floated down to sit on the bed next to Sharon. “Yer sure book red, where’d you learn all that?”
"I am an autodidact." In a rare moment of social acumen Sharon caught Mel's expression and corrected, "Self-taught. Was homeschooled only, minimal opportunity to leave apartment. Very boring."
Mel couldn’t imagine trying to do that with all eight of her siblings. It would’ve been chaos. “D’you have any siblings? It must’ve been awful lonely if it was jus’ you.”
"Raised by my mother. My brothers also. These were cats, but still my brothers." Sharon laced her fingers together above her head and stretched long. "Of your family, how many more may be expected? X-gene appears especially prevalent.”
“I mean- there’s nine of us total. Dunno if any of the others have it though.” Mel tried to imagine Lizzie or Jeb or Cissie as mutants. It seemed impossible, but so had her own powers a few short weeks ago.
The other girl's tail flicked in apparent amusement. "Nine siblings, and I see here four already. Certain conclusions may be drawn."
Mel raised an eyebrow. “Certain conclu-?” But by then Sharon was already out the door, tail flicking behind her in her feline form.
It was like talking to Paige with Cissie’s attention span. Flopping back into bed, Mel grinned. The mansion was weird. She liked it.
Mel could see sunlight dancing through the curtains as she slowly blinked awake. The beds at the mansion sure were comfortable, she hadn’t slept past sunrise in years.
It took her a moment to register the weight on her legs. There was a…. purple cat on her bed? It was watching her imperiously with bright yellow eyes. Mel slowly sat up and scrubbed her face. This wasn’t a dream was it? She pinched her arm for good measure.
Cautiously, she reached out to pet the cat. “Hey kitty kitty, how’d you get in here?”
The cat sniffed delicately at Mel's outstretched fingertips. Its tail flicked, then it stood and hopped off the girl's legs to the side of the mattress -- which abruptly sagged with extra weight.
The thing that now occupied the bottom end of the mattress was still technically a cat. It was simply now ten times the size and in possession of strangely humanoid hands. And it was still staring at Mel.
"Doors are no barrier to me," the creature intoned. It sat once more, its tail curled primly around its front legs. If such an expression could be read on a cat's face, one might have said it looked amused.
“Holy shit!” Mel exclaimed. “You can talk?” It was much to soon after waking up for her to comprehend the shapeshifting just yet.
"Many things are within my power." The tip of the cat's tail twitched. "I am Sharon. Or Catseye, if mutant names are prefered. And you are one of Sam Guthrie's infinite siblings."
“Er- yeah. I’m Mel. I don’t have a mutant name.” She lifted her hand as if to offer it for a shake and then decided against it. “Nice to meet ya.” If Sam had instilled anything into the Guthrie kids, it was manners, even half asleep.
Now that she thought about it, he may have mentioned something about a cat and… bacon? “If ya don’t mind my askin’, what’re you doin’ in here at this hour?”
"I am Cat." That seemed to be the beginning and the end of her justification. The tail gave another flick. "Now is your turn. Your presence shall be explained."
“Oh, I’m jus’ visitin’ for the weekend,” Mel said. “Sammy called it a “test run”? I jus’ got my powers but ain’t sure I wanna move up here jus’ yet.”
Sharon gave her a solemn nod, which, as a gesture, was slightly off-putting when the one performing it was a 120lbs felid. "This is more measured than your siblings. Brought in together without even a trial period. Is like adopting two cats at once, so they might keep each other entertained. What is your power?"
Mel had never had a cat for a pet before, but she nodded along like she understood what Sharon was saying. “I can fly. And glow. I reckon that’s it? I ain’t tested it out much yet.” She wasn’t sure the etiquette for mutants on mutations but figured since Sharon already asked she could too. “And yer a cat-mutant?”
"Mutant-cat. Distinction is subtle yet important."
The weight on the mattress was abruptly redistributed as Sharon changed again, this time into a tall, plain girl around Mel's own age sitting with her legs tucked beneath her. The yellow eyes and flicking tail remained as a constant, as did the inscrutable expression.
"This form is less socially disruptive," Sharon continued as she plucked at the knee of her jumpsuit with a claw, "but is not my preference. Flexibility is lacking. Jaw strength also. I will bite." She clicked her teeth for emphasis. It was probably playful.
“Woah, that’s so cool! Can you jus’ do the three forms or are there others?” Mel questioned, eyes glittering with eagerness. She’d never met anyone so candid with their mutation.
"I have many forms," was the smug reply. At the moment 'many' was doing a lot of heavy lifting for 'four,' but it was more than most people had. Sharon hunched forward so she could rest her elbows against the bedspread, studying Mel with open curiosity. "Power is flight and glowing? This is interesting. Mutations of other siblings are oddly dissimilar. Matter-shifting and avian morphology. But flight without obvious physical mechanism, this is consistent with your brother. Explain to me this glow. You are also nigh invulnerable when you are blasting, maybe?"
“I ain’t sure what that means, but I can show you?” Mel shifted out of bed, somewhat conscious that she was in her pajamas, and stood on the floor. She took a breath to concentrate. Slowly, Mel’s feet lifted from the ground and a soft light emanated in the surrounding air. Hovering, she said, “I can only do it when I’m flyin’ an’ it seems to get brighter the higher I go.”
Sharon sat up as Mel rose, the end of her tail beginning to swish against the mattress in wider arcs. "Bioluminescence? If brightness increases with altitude, perhaps is a form of counter-illumination camouflage. Adaptation of mesopelagic marine life. Light produced by photophores reduces contrast of body outlined against brighter waters to predators and prey swimming below. For your purposes is to match the intensity of sunlight, maybe. Or your body produces luciferins, maybe, which catalyze upon oxidation, and the mechanism by which you fly makes use of oxygen in some way." Absently, she extended a hand to pat the bed beneath Mel's hovering body, as if checking to confirm whether it was a legitimate levitation.
Mel floated up to touch the ceiling just because she could. “S’likely the second one if any. I still glow at night, ain’t that the opposite of camouflage?”
The other girl considered this. "Then maybe is not bioluminescence of this type. You fluoresce, maybe, like coral. Absorb energy of one wavelength and emit it as another. Ultraviolet radiation, for example. This increases at higher altitudes as atmosphere becomes thinner. Marginal increase to most, 2% per 1,000 feet. For you significant, maybe."
“Huh,” Mel said, inspecting the light radiating from her arm. “Neat.” She floated down to sit on the bed next to Sharon. “Yer sure book red, where’d you learn all that?”
"I am an autodidact." In a rare moment of social acumen Sharon caught Mel's expression and corrected, "Self-taught. Was homeschooled only, minimal opportunity to leave apartment. Very boring."
Mel couldn’t imagine trying to do that with all eight of her siblings. It would’ve been chaos. “D’you have any siblings? It must’ve been awful lonely if it was jus’ you.”
"Raised by my mother. My brothers also. These were cats, but still my brothers." Sharon laced her fingers together above her head and stretched long. "Of your family, how many more may be expected? X-gene appears especially prevalent.”
“I mean- there’s nine of us total. Dunno if any of the others have it though.” Mel tried to imagine Lizzie or Jeb or Cissie as mutants. It seemed impossible, but so had her own powers a few short weeks ago.
The other girl's tail flicked in apparent amusement. "Nine siblings, and I see here four already. Certain conclusions may be drawn."
Mel raised an eyebrow. “Certain conclu-?” But by then Sharon was already out the door, tail flicking behind her in her feline form.
It was like talking to Paige with Cissie’s attention span. Flopping back into bed, Mel grinned. The mansion was weird. She liked it.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-27 09:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-27 10:32 pm (UTC)Love how Mel and Sharon get along even if Sharon is still a little confusing to Mel.