Log [Forge, Catseye] Misery and woe...

[x-catseye.livejournal.com]

During the night of Wednesday, several hours after this log. Catseye indulges in a very cat like moment of wallowing in sheer misery, which Forge puts up with admirably well.



There was misery, and there was embarrassment and then there was sheer and utter despondency as well, Catseye fully indulging in wallowing in all of it. And being told to stay human so it would pass faster was the ultimate insult to injury really, which only added more to the general wretchedness that was being Catseye, just at that moment. A piteous sound followed that thought, even as she curled up a bit tighter, limbs too long to fit properly, not comfortable the way she was when she remained in her cat shape.

Forge grinned over the couch at the moaning girl. If what Dani had said was true, Forge figured that Catseye was in the middle of what amounted to a serious hangover. "Curiosity didn't kill you," he scolded good-naturedly, reaching over to put a wet cloth on her forehead, "but it can sure make you wish it had, huh?"

A utterly woebegone look answered that, Catseye cracking one eye open long enough to make sure he knew exactly how low that comment made her feel on top of everything else. Ungrateful human wretch, scolding her like that, after everything she'd done for him. She reached out with one arm and carefully snagged his sleeve, drawing his arm in closer once she was sure she had a good grip so that she could cling to something at least. He wasn't going to let her climb in his lap if she was human. She couldn't change to cat. This was, to say the least, a sorry state of affairs. "Catseye didn't know it was like that," she moaned piteously. Though most cats loved catnip Catseye wasn't a fan of its effects in the least, the utter loss of sense of self frightening to her. Valerian tea was now fully part of the things Catseye did not like, too.

"Next time, we'll get you situated with some Mountain Dew or something. Proper beverage," Forge announced, content to let Catseye cling to his arm pitifully. "But for the moment, water."

He eased himself over the back of the couch, sitting so that Catseye could prop her head up on his leg, and handed her a bottle of water. "Drink. It'll hydrate you and make you feel better. If it's anything like what I went through after adjusting to the meds, you'll need water. Trust me."

"FizzyStuff goes up Catseye's nose," was the somewhat pouty reply, the cat girl entirely content with the notion of getting to rest her head on his leg - that meant that with gradual squirming, cat or human body, she'd probably manage to co-opt a bit more space. And whether it was some lingering remains of the valerian tea or Catseye's own natural propensity for cuddling was unimportant at that point. She wanted to be cuddled. A lot.

A few tries reminded her that operating on instinct was nice, but being human meant she had to always remember that she was using a different set of limbs and that trying to lap the water out of the bottle would simply not work. Thankfully, drinking didn't lead to choking on the liquid as it had the first time someone had made her drink water from a bottle while in human shape. That would have been the final indignity.

Idly, Forge reached down to scratch Catseye's head, approximately where the perfect between-the-ears spot would be were she in cat form. "I meant as a human, goof. One of these days we'll get you to come down to dinner on two legs and shock the heck out of everyone. No tea, promise."

Smiling at her difficulties with the water bottle, Forge simply lifted her head slightly, supporting it with his leg. He'd seen Doctor MacTaggart make sure Mr. Dayspring was arranged like this in the medlab after his head injuries, he figured the same treatment probably worked for tea-induced hangovers. "Drink it slowly," he chided, "it's cold."

Trying to answer that led to water nearly going down the wrong pipe, though somehow Catseye managed to save herself from disaster. A faintly reproachful look followed that though there wasn't any real spite to it.

The scritching was nice even as a human, she'd decided, and drinking was more important than chiding him for breaking her concentration, suddenly discovering that she was in fact very thirsty indeed. Natural instinct told her to pace herself there though and she did, pausing to give him a solemn look - even as she wriggled just a bit, claiming a smidgen of more lap space. "Catseye is not a goof." Even if she had nearly fallen off the desk. "And Catseye does not want people to start thinking she is human."

Forge paused at that, resuming his scritching when Catseye gave a pitiful mew. "Not that just doesn't make sense," he said carefully, "you're a cat, sure. But you're human too. I mean, look at you right now. Two arms, two legs, head. Human. Nothing wrong with that, right?" He smiled, reaching over to gently tweak her nose. "And you are too a goof."

"Catseye is a cat!" One hand moved to rub at her nose, fingers curled inward as though that might make it more paw-like and she nearly changed then and there, on the spot, but the admonitions to stay human until her system had cleared the Valerian were fresh in mind still. And Forge had been serious about them. Still, she'd moved when protesting so at least that could be taken advantage of, resulting in a miniscule increment of more Catseye in his lap. "Catseye is still sick even in human shape." The 'so there' was hard to miss.

"Interesting philosophical question there," Forge mused, absently aware of how much he was starting to talk like Dr. McCoy. "Are you a cat who turns into a girl, or a girl who turns into a cat? The latter seems much more likely, but who knows? Either way," he continued, placing another damp cloth on her forehead, "you are indeed a very sick Catseye right now. And if you go back to being a cat, it'll take you even longer to feel better. So I suppose you're stuck being one of us humans for a bit longer." He smiled, thinking to himself that this was not necessarily a bad thing, no matter how much Catseye would insist it so.

"Something I've been wondering," Forge said absently, continuing to ruffle Catseye's hair gently. "When you first came here, the Professor told us you preferred to be called, well, Catseye - but that you had another name too. Why's that?"

Catseye had not hesitated in the least to take advantage of Forge going off on one of his mental rambles to inch herself further into his lap. She might have been stuck in human form, but she was still a cat. And sick cats belonged in their peoples' laps, even though she resigned herself to the fact that her human frame wasn't entirely going to fit.

"Mrf. Catseye won't change back yet." Resignation and much woe was injected in that statement. "And Catseye needed a human name for the paperwork." At least, that's how it had been suggested to her. The hair ruffling was nice and soothing, and some of the woe was perhaps slipping away a bit at that, even as Catseye cradled the bottle of water close by reflex. 

"Hmm. Makes sense," Forge answered, becoming aware of Catseye's increased presence in his lap. "I dunno, I think 'Sharon' works for you. But you like 'Catseye' better, so there it is." He moved slightly to slip a pillow under her head and continued ruffling her hair. "You do clean up well, for a human. And even if you're not going to admit it - I saw you having fun at the party."

Foiled. Well, only some - pillows were still comfortable and that just meant she could go from lap to leaning against him and have the pillow, too. She snuggled up to him without a second thought, eyes half-closed as she indulged in a jaw cracking yawn, only very belatedly remembering to put a hand in front of her mouth as she did so. Marie-Ange had been very insistent about that one.

"Catseye wanted the smoked salmon canapés. Human dancing is fun-" she caught herself at the last second, '-ny too." The murmur was sing song and low, the headache having started to fade a bit, although she wasn't about to tell him that. And there was comfortable and there was petting and despite the misery that still all meant she was stating to go rather limp and content.

Rolling his eyes, Forge succumbed to the inevitable and tossed an arm over Catseye, giving her a quick squeeze before leaning back. "You had fun, and it wasn't just the canapes," he insisted. "But if that's your story, well, I won't tell anyone you enjoyed it." He found himself yawning along with Catseye and frowned. One of these days he'd figure out just why yawns were contagious.

Forge's response earned up a sudden, spontaneous and unreserved smile, Catseye beaming up at him in approval. Secrets were fun and well, even if people guessed she'd had fun, so long as no one tried to make her outright admit it, maybe it wasn't so bad. Maybe. Perhaps. With more careful consideration being given to the notion later when she wasn't so fuzzy-brained. With that, Catseye tucked herself against him without ceremony to settle down for a nap, an odd purring sort of sound escaping her now and then.

It was good, to be a cat. Even when stuck in human shape for a little while.