xp_logs | Log [Catseye & Others] Size is in the eye of the pounced...

x-catseye.livejournal.com posting in

In which Catseye finally manages to pull off what she's been trying to do for weeks now, to the delight (and consternation) of those who happen to be witness to the event.

Catseye was flopped on the bed, face down, in her human guise. There was no longer any head beating going on, since apparently abusing the pillows such for her That Look and since she was used to being the one to deliver That Look as opposed as to being on the receiving end of it, she'd decided that finding something else to do to express her discontent was best. Hence, mumbling to herself while being flopped face first on the bed. It actually was helping her feel a smidge better, if only for the sake of being able to grumble about it.

Rahne was flipping back and forth between homework and the journal system, with a background soundtrack of Catseye-mumbles. Eventually she saved her latest essay, turned to look thoughtfully at her roommate, and stood up to go to her closet, shifting halfway and undressing quietly, except for the little silver cross and key-card hung around her neck. Catseye ignored her.

"Catseye," Rahne said, returning to her chair and kneeling in it, looking over the back. "Want to go run around the house?"

Run around the house. Grumble in despair. It was such an easy choice, really. "House running!" Cork-twisting off the bed to land on her feet in a purely feline motion, Catseye then shifted cheerfully, tail lashing in the classic signs of being ready to pounce. Because honestly, running after Rahne in wolf form had an appeal all of it's own and nothing said they couldn't switch turns without warning at any given moment. Well, no warning for anyone else, anyway.

Rahne grinned and jumped off the chair, shifting as she went so that when she struck the ground it was with all four feet in turn, taking off running.

With a yeowl of pure glee, Catseye scrabbled off after her (though she would have said it was a graceful run), belly nearly flat to the floor as she raced to keep up with Rahne's larger shaped and longer legged wolf form. If Catseye were a BIG cat... The small voice snidely remarking on that was firmly ignored, even as Catseye darted to the side so as to not crash into the door, before veering out into the hallway.

There were very important things to keep in mind when dashing about the corridors. One was to avoid any areas that were not suitable for dashing around in, such as kitchens and medlab, but that wasn't difficult. Trampling small children was not on, although letting them join in was fine. Smelling alertly for the approach of food-bearing or injured parties was very important.

And other than that, you just dodged people. Mostly they didn't mind.

Of course, half the fun Catseye found during such chases also involved finding fun angles to bounce off the walls at while making sharp turns, or running between someone's legs just to hear them squawk. She was starting to lose ground on Rahne fast though even when being smart about cutting distance whenever she could, and that would just not do. Digging in with her hind paws, Catseye put on an extra
surge of speed.

It was also important not to leave your playmate behind, whether by dint of longer legs or being able to go through smaller spaces. Rahne took one glance back, tail waving, and quite nearly fell over her own
feet.

Catching up! She was catching up fast! Gleefully, Catseye gathered herself up to pounce - and realized exactly how that gathering up to pounce felt. What would have been one mighty leap indeed turned into an off shuffle step as a mountain lion sized Catseye skidded across the floor and headed straight for a still struggling for balance red wolf.

Rahne yipped and decided, about the time she got her feet back under her, that the thing to do at this point was probably to go mostly limp and sort things out later.

Jamie stepped out into the hallway just as the collision occurred, a glass of milk in one hand and a book in the other. "Hey, Rahne, Catseye," he murmured distractedly, "fancy running into you here . . ."

Then he took another look, and atomized milk sprayed nearly to the opposite wall.

With a small (somewhat) meep of apology, Catseye tried to keep them from tumbling straight into wall, somehow, one paw flailing out just enough to keep them skidding in free space instead. Once everything stopped going topsy turvy, Catseye pricked one ear, then tentatively tugged one paw clear, before nosing Rahne lightly to see if she was all right.

Rahne blinked a few times, decided she was unharmed, and looked up at Catseye. Then she shifted just enough to say, rather breathlessly, "I think ye got it."

"She got something, anyway," Jamie said, eyebrows apparently trying to migrate to the back of his head. "Uh, Catseye, I'm not gonna tell you you're fat, or anything, but I'm definitely detecting a bit of weight gain somewhere around the . . . everywhere."

Rahne was okay. She was okay. Catseye eyed herself experimentally, then grinned - for a cat, it was perhaps an unusual sight at that. Big. CAT. Smug didn't even come close to describing the air about her as she disentangled herself from Rahne. And then indulged in a slow stretch and a jaw cracking yawn, just for fun.

Rahne scooted to a sitting position against the wall and grinned up at Jamie. "She's been working on her powers," she explained, trying not to giggle and failing entirely.

"I got that, I think," Jamie replied a little faintly. "Nice teeth, there, Catseye. Very, um, pointy." He snickered suddenly. "Oh, man, and we thought it was tough keeping you in pastrami before . . ."

Rahne was giggling which was an event in and of itself, only making everything about the day brighter. And the mention of Pastrami certainly wasn't about the go unnoticed, drawing an approving purr from Catseye. A loud rumbly purr at that. Experimentally, unworried about being shot at or the imminent demise of a one she cared for, Catseye hopped in a small circle, getting used to the new proportions fairly easily. Big or small, a cat was a cat, after all. That done, Catseye looked down the hallway, eyes narrowing slightly - mischief in mind, no doubt about that.

"Ye think we can get a bulk discount on the good stuff?" Rahne asked merrily.

"We might just have to." Jamie snickered. "Seriously, though, Catseye, you get mega snacks for this. It's traditional. You figure out a new stunt with your powers, you get fun food."

Pastraaami! Without a second thought, Catseye buried a very cold nose against Rahne's neck cheerfully, before wandering over to Jamie to brush up against his legs. Firmly. All big mountain lion cat of her, too. With a cheerful flick of her tail, Catseye then headed down the hallway. Someone had a pounce coming to them.

~*~

Whistling tunelessly, Forge unfolded himself from the boneless heap he'd been laying in, slumped over the edge of his bed and sketching schematics on a notepad. His stomach growling reminded him of the need for food, and with both Kyle and Dani in classes at this hour, that meant dragging himself to the kitchen.

Stepping out into the hall, Forge barely heard the familiar thumping of a running quadruped. "Hey, Catseye," he said, turning just in time to see his vision fill with purple as the cougar-sized feline was suddenly airborne and moving for him at a high rate of speed.

Keeping herself light on her feet while she ran towards Forge had been an interesting exercise. She'd been counting on him being used to that sound to not register the heavier thread or the way she approached him much more quickly than usual. And dampening the hit enough to not break poor Forge while still flattening him quite neatly was an art in and of itself, but at least Catseye was big enough now to actually help soften the blow by landing one paw to the side and snagging his shirt with her teeth - if need be.

The enthusiastic meow coming out as a low roar was, however, entirely unintended and ended as a rather comical meep.

Breathe. BREATHE!, Forge's brain tried to tell his body. Intellectually, he realized that Catseye's mutation had apparently taken a further development with this larger form, and she was rightfully overjoyed with it. Every other bit of his brain was screaming in terror due to the predator currently sitting atop him and pinning him to the hallway floor.

"N...nn..nice kitty?" he stuttered, screwing his eyes shut to try and keep his panic under control.

Mrf. That was not good. Pondering the issue for all of a moment, Catseye decided that maybe routine was a good way to go about things. Forge seemed to respond well to routine - usually. A thunderous (oops) purr took the place of the roar-turned-into-a-meep and Catseye craned her neck enough to press her forehead lightly to his chest, soft-pawing his shoulder lightly.

Dear god, Forge silently prayed, let that not be the 'testing him to see if he's edible' gesture...

Taking a deep breath, Forge cautiously raised one arm, patting Catseye on the huge paw. "Big cat. You did it. Can you, um... can I get up now?"

She turned her head up to look at him for a moment, then rolled off to rest on her side, looking as about as inoffensive as a cat her size could manage. Somehow, Catseye tried to keep the 'hey, look what I did ain't it neat!' air about her, not for once assuming he'd known what she was trying to achieve - while trying her best not to let the sense of victory at finally managing to shift so again on her own get beaten down. Or the worry that she might not be able to do it again settle in too deeply. The collar which had nearly fallen off during the run to find him was still neatly held in her mouth, and she considered just dropping it by him as something to distract him before skulking off. Maybe finding something to snack on would be fun.

Laying on the floor for a moment, Forge finally opened his eyes and looked over at the big cat. His body finally catching up to his brain in the realization that he wasn't going to become his friend's lunch, he managed a shaky grin. "Well, ain't that special?" he asked, reaching out to scratch Catseye's side. "Wait a minute, your collar is..."

Smacking his hand into his forehead, Forge swore under his breath. "Of course I didn't design it to shift UP in size. Now I'm going to have to reconfigure the polymer matrix, which shouldn't be too hard, but still. Damn. Should have thought of that. Yeah, that'll be pretty much useless if you change back," he pointed out, "so you might want to be in your room when you go human again."

He was being a kitten. And she supposed her new shape was impressive. And formidable. And BIG! Offering him an apologetic look, Catseye automatically shifted to kitten talk mode, flattening herself just a bit more to the ground, dropping the collar and nudging it towards him with a paw - toes spread wide open and nary a claw in sight. The purring continued, a touch tentatively as she repressed the urge to flop over for the scratching entirely just a touch too quickly. She wasn't about to change yet. Not until she'd had more fun in this shape, and at the very least gone hunting a little bit. She'd keep the 'wah, feed me' look for a little later, though.

Patting her cautiously on the head, Forge picked up the collar and frowned. "Ruined, completely. But this is solvable. I can get this whipped up by dinnertime." He glanced over to Catseye and gave a wink. "Suppose you'll have to just run around on all fours until then. Maybe go hunt Jay for a while?"

Catseye stuck her tongue out at him without a second thought. He smelled better now, though - that was a good thing. Cautiously, she rose to her feet and pressed her cheek to his legs in a purely instinctive reaction. She wasn't about to go hunt Jay though play had potential there. However... A low purr resonated, and Catseye got That Look on her face.

Kyle needed to go outside and play with her, she decided.