Log [Catseye, Forge] Making sense the cat way...

[x-catseye.livejournal.com]

Monday, lunch time. Catseye has a list of people to find regarding certain matters, and Forge features fairly high on it. The quest for lunch on his part is interrupted as Catseye has a few questions to ask him regarding this post he made.



"Ow! Son of a bitch!" Forge swore, hand flying up to the back of his head. He'd come up from the lab for lunch, after finishing the last run of mechanical analyses of Haroun's cyberware. He had an afternoon class to attend, and then his only goal had been catching up on sleep. Catching what seemed to be a swift blow to the back of the head, however, had not been on the agenda.

Upon turning to see Catseye's frowning face looking at him, Forge's puzzlement jumped to all-new levels. "You hit me!" he protested. "Ow!"

Catseye gave him a flat look, both hands held firmly at her sides, though the frustration was evident enough from the tension radiating from her. "ShinyBitsBoy is being stupid," she finally said, thinning her lips in annoyance. With a sigh of aggravation she took a few steps back, putting herself out of thwapping range. Even if the urge to let go with another good thump was nearly overwhelming. "Catseye thinks for someone who is a genius, ShinyBitsBoy just plain misses the point sometimes!" She opened her mouth to say something else, then snapped it shut, though a cat like sound of pure annoyance followed a second later.

"I... huh... what?" Forge's brain went through a quick cycle of disbelief/shock/confusion before settling on a sort of puzzled consternation. "You're meaning the journal post, aren't you?" He rubbed the back of his head gingerly. "I keep forgetting you read those. But hey, give me a break here," he protested, "is it my fault I'm not exactly the best at trying to get across what I mean? Some folks are just - grr." He smiled, mimicking Catseye's sound of general annoyance and frustration. "Know what I mean?"

She frowned at him further, refusing to be mollified by the mimicry - which would have worked at any other time. "Catseye knows. Catseye thinks ShinyBitsBoy is being that now!" Her hands twitched at that, the reflex to whap sense into another who was doing something stupid nearly overwhelming.

Turning around to add that much more distance, just in case she gave in to the urge to do so, Catseye leaned one of the dining hall walls and let herself slide into a sitting position with near boneless grace - bring far too intent on being irked with Forge to actually pay attention to what she was doing. "So Catseye hit ShinyBitsBoy upside the head. Because ShinyBitsBoy is being stupid and saying things that are not right and kittens being stupid get whapped upside the head."  That she wasn't being articulate at all was quite clear to her and Catseye rapped the back of her head on the wall in frustration. "Human words aren't enough!"

"Kittens? Have you considered that I might be older than you?" Forge objected, before walking over to sit across from Catseye. The fact that she'd spent this long in human form was not lost on him, and he wasn't about to bring it up. "And hey, I know I don't always say things clearly. I'm not too great with human words either, if you'd noticed."

"Catseye did not say ShinyBitsBoy was a kitten." Just that he'd been acting like one, which was why the instinct to just go and whap things into order again had become too hard to ignore. And kittens listened when you thwapped them. And learned. Still, he wasn't the only one she planned on hitting upside the head, either. And... he was listening - which he always did, some part of her spoke up brightly at that - and so Catseye went on, though the struggle to find the right words was evident. "ShinyBitsBoy say, in the post, that he is better because of what he can do." She paused, then shook her head a bit. "Is that what ShinyBitsBoy meant to say?"

"Hey now!" Forge raised his voice, shaking a finger at Catseye. "That's not what I said! Why does everyone want to keep putting words in my mouth? It seems like every time I try and be proud of what I CAN do, everyone's quick to throw what I CAN'T do right in my face. If I was 'better', I wouldn't give a damn what people think about me. If I was 'better', I wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat terrified of what the next day's going to bring. If I was 'better'," he proclaimed bitterly, clenching his metal hand in front of his face, "I wouldn't have this."

"What I meant," he explained after a brief pause, "is that I know I'm different, in ways that normal humans - or cats -" he added, "can't be from each other, because of one thing I can do. Anyone can learn to cook, or to draw, or to worship a certain way, or to write a certain way. But what I can do - what ANY of us can do - that's something special." He folded his arms and slumped against the wall. "And apparently I'm some kind of bigot for thinking so. Go figure."

"No." Catseye sighed and shifted closer, irked at legs that got in the way and arms that folded wrong and ended up bumping against the wall. "Catseye thinks ShinyBitsBoy has it the wrong way. Because it isn't one thing that makes ShinyBitsBoy special." She hissed under her breath, certain she wasn't saying things right - it was easy to just be haughty and proclaims cats were better (even if it was the simple truth) but this meant explaining things in a human way and it was important to get it right.

"ShinyBitsBoy is the one that makes what he can do special. Even Catseye knows things like these," she said, unaware of what her words were implying in that very moment. "Being able to do something isn't important. Why people do things, nofurs or cats, that's what matters. Catseye knows-" she stopped, and grumbled again, realizing she was repeating herself. She pointed one finger at his chest, the clawtip barely visible when sheated. "Why ShinyBitsBoy does what he does is what makes things special." And then she deflated suddenly, a weary sigh escaping her. "Is Catseye making sense?"

He had to grin at that. "What is it with you metamorphs? Rahne tried to say the exact same thing. I mean, you're right. I help people because I want to, but also because I can. I helped Amanda do what she did for Jay, because she asked. And when Jay told me what it was for, I knew I did the right thing - no matter what anyone says. If it's the why that matters, I suppose that's a good one."

"But," he continued, "my point was that without my power being what it is, I couldn't have helped. THAT is what I'm proud of, THAT is what I like to define myself by. Otherwise, you know, I'm just the freak who says stupid things on the journals and pisses people off, right?"

A somber look greeted that, though Catseye wasn't about to get into that conversation. What had happened with Amanda was another kettle of fish entirely. She still didn't like what Amanda had smelled of the next day - or how sick she'd looked. Dead was dead and you moved on, as simple as that. Lingering over it was unhealthy and wrong and eventually spread around you to make others sick too.

Depending too much on one thing would get you killed, if you weren't careful. "And what will ShinyBitsBoy do the day he can't help someone with his power?" Sighing, Catseye tried to curl up comfortably. And found herself tipping to the side suddenly with wide eyes, legs tangled up with one arm, the other flailing out for something to hold onto.

Forge reached forward, catching her before her head smacked into the hardwood floor. "I... ah hell, I don't know. I just... I know there's stuff I can't do. I'm not some kind of miracle machine that can fix everything. It's why I'm learning as much as I can, trying to know as much as I can about everything I can do. It's..." he struggled to find the words. "I can use my power to help people, instead of-" he caught himself there, and searched quickly for another phrase, "instead of just not doing anything. If that's what I choose to do with it, shouldn't I be proud of..."

Realization crossed his features, then he smiled. Leaning down, he bumped his forehead gently against Catseye's and laughed. "You're right. I've been an idiot. I think you get to wear the genius hat today."

Well. Of course everyone knew cats were geniuses. Catseye beamed at him at that, the light bump to the forehead responded to with a brief nose rub of approval. "Cats are always right!" she declared, then set about untangling herself, using her hands to put one leg in a position which was somewhat right and not wildly uncomfortable, and then other, before glaring down at both with deep suspicion. Except when they weren't right, but that wasn't something a cat advertised, after all. "And ShinyBitsBoy is not an idiot," she muttered idly as she pondered getting up, tail swishing idly at the thought. "Just silly sometimes. But Catseye does not mind."

"Ah, what would I do without you?" Forge asked, reaching out to ruffle Catseye's hair playfully. "Silly cat. I'd make you a sandwich, but someone ate all the pastrami..." he gave a mock-disapproving glare that turned into a smile as an idea entered his head.

"Although..." he said lazily, "I suppose I *could* be convinced to show a certain someone a place that makes the best pastrami hoagies in the state, if she's willing to wait until afternoon classes are done."

"Grand Central Station," the words said with great care, "has the best pastrami in town." Eyeing him, hair still ruffled, Catseye pondered his statement anyway. There was no more pastrami in the mansion. She knew this, with the unique knowing of one utterly devoted to pastrami. And when Forge talked like that, something was up. "But Catseye could be convinced otherwise." A pause, and she looked outside - still not much long after noon. "That is hours and hours of waaaiting!"

"You've not been to the Burger Shack, then," Forge decreed, "It's settled, then. I'm sure Kyle's got a jacket you can borrow if you don't have one. It's a bit cold out."

"Mrr?" Wide eyed and actually working on getting up by then Catseye stared at him, forgetting all about getting up as she slipped right back down on her behind. "Catseye has fur! Catseye does not need a jacket."

Forge grinned, knowing the trap was sprung. "Oh? Didn't I mention that you've got to go in on two legs? You know, a restaurant. Out in public and everything. I mean, unless you're scared to. Which is okay, really." He tried his best to hide the smile, but knew he was failing. "And don't try and pretend you hate it so much. I saw you primping in front of the hall mirror after P.E. the other day."

Whap! The left forearm was thwapped neatly, Catseye's staring at him in deep indignation. "Catseye was not! And Catseye is not!" He was playing her on that one, just like she did sometimes to get him to do something. Of course, she knew it at least. "Catseye's running around class clothing was annoying! Lots!" There. That's all it had been about and nothing else at all. "But Catseye will go as human. Because Catseye can." She blinked a bit then at that, not having intended to say that at all. She'd had something about wanting to have pastrami in mind, really. And not telling him that seeing him all smug about getting her to change into a human was fun - and very catlike of him. Hanging her head she sighed. "Even if Catseye will get laughed at for being too clumsy as a human." She loathed the thought with a passion.

"No one's going to laugh at you there, trust me," he explained. "And if they do, I solemnly swear that I will hit them with a french fry." Forge placed his hand over his heart and looked skyward. "And I happen to recall someone completely schooling all of us at dodgeball on Monday. Clumsy as a human, right. Although I think the tail is cheating, mind you. The whole balance thing."

Forge's PDA beeped at him, and he checked it quickly, then swore. "Crap. I have like two minutes to make it to my next class. Grab you at, what, four-thirty? You can be ready by then?"

Who did he think he was talking to? There was pastrami on the line here! "Ha. Catseye was born ready," she answered smugly. "And Catseye's tail is not cheating." Said tail took a pretty good swipe at him too, not that it was meant to connect. "It is Catseye's and she uses it. Pbhhhht!" They had been chasing a ball - of course she was going to catch it, human limbs getting in the way or no!

"Pbbbt yourself!" he answered, sticking his tongue out and rolling his eyes. "Four-thirty then. It's a da--" Forge nearly choked at the oft-feared phrase. "..day-ending completely platonic outing for pastrami hoagies. Right. Four-thirty."

Eyeing him idly, Catseye decided to take pity on him - Forge was being silly about something or other again so working on getting up was a good way to give him time to recover from whatever he'd bothered himself with. And. Pastrami! Purring to herself at the thought, Catseye managed to get up, by virtue of keeping her hands on the floor for balancing until her legs were straight, and then slowly unfolding things until she was standing straight up. "Pastrami!" She beamed down at him, daring a small bounce, heels going up slightly. "Forge should get up now if he has to go to class," she added cheerfully. No class for her this afternoon. There was a world of pleased with that. She should probably nap before going out, she decided. Just to be sure she was awake enough for wherever he was taking her.

Girl bounce purple tall totally unfair - Forge shook his head to try and get his brain back in some form of coherent order before balancing on his artificial foot and smoothly lifting himself up to a standing position. "Class. Right. Pastrami after. I'll.. uh... be seeing you."

Rounding the corner and heading up the stairs, Forge paused briefly to realize he'd never actually gotten that lunch after all.