Kevin and Felicia - Catsitting
Aug. 11th, 2024 07:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsAfter her encounter with Sharon, Felicia comes to Kevin with a request
The knock on Kevin's door was more a performance than actual manners, but Felicia did wait half a beat before pushing it open. If asked she'd say it was the time required to operate a zipper, in actuality it was something she'd worked through being okay with in therapy but not anywhere else.
"Hey," she said simply, closing the door behind her.
"Hardy." He looked up from the file he had open. While it wasn't optimal from a security perspective, Kevin still preferred to digest certain reports in hardcopy. "Something you need or is this a social call. You normally don't ask when you steal from my good bottles."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Felicia replied easily, folding into one of the oversized chairs he kept in here with a practiced grace. Her heels were kicked off as she tucked an ankle under her, at home. "But yes. I could use your assistance."
"I feel I might regret saying this, but sure, what can I do for you?" He set aside his file and leaned back in his chair.
Felicia smiled before giving a deep preparatory sigh, something clearly having been spinning for a while. "Okay. I'm worried about Sharon."
"She's been, well, I'd say distracted but it seems to be more than that," Felicia continued. "Absent around the mansion. Never out of her cat forms. I went to try to speak with her, which was no mean feat by the way, and I'm pretty sure I only found her due to luck, and she just. Bolted."
"Sounds about right. She's been through a couple of traumatic kidnappings as well as the general mess of maturing as a young woman. Add to that the fact that entirely too many people are willing to indulge her fantasy that she can be just a cat and it's not a surprise that she's hiding that way." Kevin said. After a couple of decades as a case officer, he was a surprisingly astute psychologist. "I'm surprised she bolted from you though. She's imprinted with you as a cat and idolizes you as a person."
Felicia flipped her hand with her lips slightly pursed, the universal gesture of "I know right?", as she sighed again and leaned back into the chair. It was more of a huff, really, and she picked at the piping on the chair with her nails. "If I had to guess," she ventured. "I'm too close. She's scared, and feeling small and I'm. Well, I'm me."
"She needs a cold bucket of water. And fortunately, that's what I represent to her. But-" Kevin held up one finger. "If I do this, it's time to move past the cat. Whatever Sharon is going to be, she has to start with being a person first. I can prick that balloon and send her your way."
"Agreed and disagree, but your heart is there and I love that for us," she replied, looking up. "I agree, she needs a shock. I don't agree on her moving past being a cat. She is a cat, Sydney. And she's a person. She's both, she's not human in a way we can't fully understand, and trying to pretend that it's one or the other and not both isn't feasible for her long term."
"But right now? I need you to be bad cop, break whatever this is, so we can teach her to be human. So that ultimately she doesn't have to feel backed into one form just because she thinks it's safe and easy, as that's all she really ever had a chance to fully learn."
Kevin paused and got up, wordlessly pouring a couple of drinks and passing one over to her. "Look, I might be the evil spymaster, but I'm honestly not trying to pigeonhole the kid. It's just I see her and I see a predator, like you. I wonder if she'd ever be happy in the fantasy life you built for yourself about being normal and boring and safe that you think she's innocent enough to maybe want." He took a drink. 'I'll get through her shields and send her to you. But only if you promise that you'll direct her to the life that is best for her, even if you don't want that for her."
Felicia smiled, soft and warm, as she took the drink and held it up to toast with his. "I wouldn't have come to you if I didn't trust you, Kevin. I just want to give her a chance to make a fully informed choice. Whatever that is, I'll respect."
"Good. I'll try not to shake her cage too hard. She's a good kid, even if she's got the potential to be a tremendously effective person like us." Kevin drained the rest of his drink and pulled his jacket off the hanger. "Screw it. I haven't had a good steak in at least three days. Let's go to Peter Luger's and celebrate fixing Sharon over some excellent red meat."
"Perfect. Split the broccoli and meat for three?" she asked, less of a question, despite the rising inflection, and more an assumption that would be accepted.
The knock on Kevin's door was more a performance than actual manners, but Felicia did wait half a beat before pushing it open. If asked she'd say it was the time required to operate a zipper, in actuality it was something she'd worked through being okay with in therapy but not anywhere else.
"Hey," she said simply, closing the door behind her.
"Hardy." He looked up from the file he had open. While it wasn't optimal from a security perspective, Kevin still preferred to digest certain reports in hardcopy. "Something you need or is this a social call. You normally don't ask when you steal from my good bottles."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Felicia replied easily, folding into one of the oversized chairs he kept in here with a practiced grace. Her heels were kicked off as she tucked an ankle under her, at home. "But yes. I could use your assistance."
"I feel I might regret saying this, but sure, what can I do for you?" He set aside his file and leaned back in his chair.
Felicia smiled before giving a deep preparatory sigh, something clearly having been spinning for a while. "Okay. I'm worried about Sharon."
"She's been, well, I'd say distracted but it seems to be more than that," Felicia continued. "Absent around the mansion. Never out of her cat forms. I went to try to speak with her, which was no mean feat by the way, and I'm pretty sure I only found her due to luck, and she just. Bolted."
"Sounds about right. She's been through a couple of traumatic kidnappings as well as the general mess of maturing as a young woman. Add to that the fact that entirely too many people are willing to indulge her fantasy that she can be just a cat and it's not a surprise that she's hiding that way." Kevin said. After a couple of decades as a case officer, he was a surprisingly astute psychologist. "I'm surprised she bolted from you though. She's imprinted with you as a cat and idolizes you as a person."
Felicia flipped her hand with her lips slightly pursed, the universal gesture of "I know right?", as she sighed again and leaned back into the chair. It was more of a huff, really, and she picked at the piping on the chair with her nails. "If I had to guess," she ventured. "I'm too close. She's scared, and feeling small and I'm. Well, I'm me."
"She needs a cold bucket of water. And fortunately, that's what I represent to her. But-" Kevin held up one finger. "If I do this, it's time to move past the cat. Whatever Sharon is going to be, she has to start with being a person first. I can prick that balloon and send her your way."
"Agreed and disagree, but your heart is there and I love that for us," she replied, looking up. "I agree, she needs a shock. I don't agree on her moving past being a cat. She is a cat, Sydney. And she's a person. She's both, she's not human in a way we can't fully understand, and trying to pretend that it's one or the other and not both isn't feasible for her long term."
"But right now? I need you to be bad cop, break whatever this is, so we can teach her to be human. So that ultimately she doesn't have to feel backed into one form just because she thinks it's safe and easy, as that's all she really ever had a chance to fully learn."
Kevin paused and got up, wordlessly pouring a couple of drinks and passing one over to her. "Look, I might be the evil spymaster, but I'm honestly not trying to pigeonhole the kid. It's just I see her and I see a predator, like you. I wonder if she'd ever be happy in the fantasy life you built for yourself about being normal and boring and safe that you think she's innocent enough to maybe want." He took a drink. 'I'll get through her shields and send her to you. But only if you promise that you'll direct her to the life that is best for her, even if you don't want that for her."
Felicia smiled, soft and warm, as she took the drink and held it up to toast with his. "I wouldn't have come to you if I didn't trust you, Kevin. I just want to give her a chance to make a fully informed choice. Whatever that is, I'll respect."
"Good. I'll try not to shake her cage too hard. She's a good kid, even if she's got the potential to be a tremendously effective person like us." Kevin drained the rest of his drink and pulled his jacket off the hanger. "Screw it. I haven't had a good steak in at least three days. Let's go to Peter Luger's and celebrate fixing Sharon over some excellent red meat."
"Perfect. Split the broccoli and meat for three?" she asked, less of a question, despite the rising inflection, and more an assumption that would be accepted.
