ic Cat Lessons

[Huckleberry]

Kord Dormitories, Fifth Floor

Claremont Academy, Freedom City, New Jersey

Monday, September 11, 2023

 

 

Neko felt that familiar rush of pleasure as she published her latest #CatgirlReacts video. But now #CatgirlNeededaDrinkofWater, so it was time to move on. There was a bit of racket in the hallway, and her instincts pricked up as she reached to open the door.

 

What was this?

 

Pterradonna, Neko’s dorm mate known for her ability to transform into a pterodactyl, was pressed up against one side of the hallway with a look of confusion and perhaps slight fear on her face. Following Pterra’s eyes, Neko saw Consuelo halfway up the wall on the other side of the hallway, dressed up in cat cosplay, and making unconvincing angry cat noises. “Rawr! I’m a cat, Pterra! Rawr! I’m gonna get you!” Rumor had it that Consuelo had gone on some sort of adventure with La Puma Negra last weekend and now thought being a cat was the cool thing to do. If only she weren’t so bad at it.

 

“Um, Suelo,” ventures the nervous, semi-saurian teen, “how are you sticking to the wall?”

 

“What? Oh, uh. . . .” The cat-costumed student drops to the floor and looks up with dismay at the fingertip-shaped holes left in the otherwise immaculate plaster walls of the hallway. “Oops. I must have accidentally done that with my disintegration. Does anybody have some, like, spackle?”

 

Pterradonna takes this moment to slip back in her room. “Uh, gotta go. . . .”

 

“Oh, hey Neko. Look, I’m a cat! Rawr! Rawr!” And Consuelo stomps across the hallway lashing out with imaginary claws. “Wanna cat fight me?”

[Avenger Assembled]

Neko stared at Consuelo, her yellow eyes wide and tail twitching behind her. She counted to ten and took the time to translate her words into English rather than Japanese. She knew intellectually that the dislike she felt around Consuelo wasn't real, that she had a responsibility to offer care for the girl with the terrible powers. Which was why she didn't say any of the many unpleasant things running through her head. 

 

Instead she said, her words dripping with ice as she stared at Consuelo.

 

"What.

 

Do You Think.

 

You Are Doing." 

[Huckleberry]

”Uh. . . “ Consuelo’s forehead wrinkles with concern, and the corners of her mouth pull back and down in a bit of a grimace. “I’m a cat? Rawr? Rawr?” And she paws at the air uncertainly with each “Rawr”.

 

“Is, like, something wrong, Neko? . . . Maybe?” And her look of worry deepens.

[Avenger Assembled]

Neko stared deep into Rot's eyes for a long moment, her tail twitching behind her, then circled the other girl. When she came around, she looked and sounded exactly like Consuelo herself. 

 

"Two can play at that game." She smiled, showing pointed teeth that didn't look like Consuelo at all. "Would you like it if I pretended to be you, but stupid?" She stuck out her tongue and crossed her eyes - 

 

then she was herself again, still moving. As she moved, she was joined by cats; white shorthairs with bobbed tails and brown spots on their fur that looked up at Consuelo with bright yellow eyes the same color as Neko's. 

 

"If you want to see what a cat is like," she added impulsively as an idea came to her, "we can show you..." 

[Huckleberry]

Consuelo looked confused and then more and more worried as Neko talked, until the cat girl offered to show her what a cat is like. 

 

"Oh, yeah, that would be great, Neko!" She said, recovering a little bit of her previous excitement. "That sounds awesome! But, like, I don't think you're stupid. I think cats are cool! And I can't turn into you. I can only destroy stuff.  . . . But uh yeah, I guess I'm, uh, ready to learn.  . . ."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Good," said Neko seriously. "But not now, it would be too...difficult." She considered a moment, then smiled. "Let's meet on the rooftop after curfew," she said. "After that, your training can begin." As she spoke, a fluffy white cat appeared in her arms as smoothly as if it had always been there, and she petted its belly while she studied Consuelo, the two of them looking at Rot with yellow eyes. "We might be in trouble if we are caught - but I never have done." 

[Huckleberry]

GM

 

The plan does not go off without a hitch. Ten minutes before curfew, the fire alarms go off, and all of Kord Dorm has to evacuate and be counted by the RA's. It's dark out, and most people are in their pajamas, freezing cold in the parking lot while the grumpy RA's make the tally. After the evacuation, an emergency meeting is called. The irate RA's reveal that the alarm was set off by someone leaving popcorn in the microwave too long - again. Apparently, they're in a bad mood, because they make the whole dorm go over the kitchen safety training again, even though everyone is cold, tired, and miserable. It's not until almost ninety minutes after curfew that Neko finds her spot on the roof of the building to meet up with Consuelo.

 

It's several minutes later before the younger teen finally floats above the roofline for their planned rendezvous. "Uh, hey, whew, wasn't sure if you'd be here. I, uh, didn't know if I should wear the cat ears or not, so I wore them, just in case."

[Avenger Assembled]

The Neko that Consuelo was talking to smiled a huge, inhuman smile, showing pointy intersecting teeth like a demonic Cheshire cat - before it seemed to vanish like so much smoke on the wind. For a bare instant, it seemed as thought Consuelo had been the victim of a cruel prank, alone on the darkened roof as the wind blew around her. 

 

"Why do you want to be a cat?" asked a voice from nowhere in particular, a ghostly murmur of sound like the pitter-pat of little feet. "Is it a game?" A sleek white short-haired cat appeared on the rooftop and padded towards Rot, its fur white and dappled with brown spots, its short stub of a tail a contrast to its plump, well-fed body. The cat started licking its paw while staring directly at Rot, scrubbing one ear so it seemed to be waving at her. 

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

Consuelo gets yet another confused look on her face, and responds to Neko. "Wait, you don't know why people want to be cats? Are you serious? I thought everyone new that. People want to be cats because cats are so graceful. Because most of the time, they seem to be enjoying themselves so much. Because cats are either perfectly focused or perfectly, like aloof."

 

Consuelo scratches her head and goes on. "I guess I'm really into cats now because La Puma Negra was so badass when we went out crime fighting the other . . .uh, I mean she, uh, just seems, like cool, I guess.. . " And she gives a nervous little smile. 

[Avenger Assembled]

"Ohhh, it was Carmen, was it?" Neko came padding out of nowhere in particular and sat down next to the cat, which she petted before it climbed onto her lap. "Yes, she is very impressive, isn't she?" she added, sounding a little doubtful. She considered the other girl, then patted the roof next to her so Consuelo could actually join her. "You know," she said thoughtfully, "I was a small child the first time I saw someone who looked like you. I was so confused," she added with a little laugh. "I didn't understand how you could see or hear, or how you could walk around at all." 

 

Up close, Consuelo could see what Neko meant about ears. Though her long hair and fur usually hid it, she had no ears on the sides of her mostly human-shaped head.. The cat on her lap purred loudly as Neko stroked it. "Where I was born, everyone was like me. From the greyest elder to the littlest kit." She smiled, just a little. "That was a long time ago, of course," she added dreamily. "I suppose you can't keep a cat, can you?" 

[Huckleberry]

⁸Rot

 

"Oh, yeah, okay, that makes sense. So are you from, like, the island of the cats or something? Yeah, I guess I was like, uh, sixteen-and-a-half when I first met someone like you."  Consuelo doesn't immediately move next to Neko when a place is offered. "Uh, hey, um, if we're gonna be like in, uh, close proximity, um, maybe, would you.  . . " And Consuelo digs around in her pocket for a bit. "Here, uh, would you want one of these friendship bracelets? People say it really makes that creepy vibe I give off go away.  . . ."

 

Consuelo sits down near Niko. "It's a nice night, huh?"

 

After a few moments of saying nothing, she adds: "Yeah, no cats. Animals spook around me even worse than people."

[Avenger Assembled]

Neko studied the bracelet thoughtfully, toying with it by stretching it out with her fingers. "You just have bad luck," she said. "There are things far more frightening than you." She smiled and wrapped the bracelet around the string of the moon-shaped pendant she wore around her neck. "That must be hard, to see things you want and be unable to touch them." The cat on her lap hopped off and without preamble climbed up on Consuelo's. It was fat and soft and purring as it settled down, kneading biscuits with its paws. Consuelo could see Neko watching the cat, yellow eyes wide. "You can pet him if you want," she said softly. "He won't bite." 

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

Consuelo was clearly really pumped to be able to pet a cat for once! "Oh really?" She moved in slowly, just like she remembered being able to do when she was a little girl. "Hey, hey." She held her hand out for the cat to check out. "Aww, you're sweet." She couldn't help but say as the cat rubbed its head on her hand. She pet its back with one hand and scratched under its chin. She looked so happy.

 

"Thanks, Neko. It's kinda funny - you mentioned him not biting. . . . This might sound kind of weird, but I sort of miss getting hurt. Like, ever since my condition, uh, my powers starting coming up, nothing ever hurts me. Like if I fall, or run into something, or accidentally get myself with something sharp -  I never feel it. Nothing ever leaves a mark. Weird, huh?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Is it your skin?" asked Neko. "Or inside too?" she asked, her voice a purr that matched the cat as it purred under Rot's touch. She considered for a while as they sat there, out in the night, before she yawned and stretched. "Come on," she said, bouncing smoothly to her bare feet. "I show you more things." She walked neatly along the edge of the dorm roof, placing her feet carefully with every step. "I learned how to do this after I got here," she said, tail switching back and forth as she moved for balance. "They make security high but not too high. My old roomate, Chelone, she was here for eight years, she showed me secrets. She is a tortoise kami, a god of tortoises." 

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

"Uh, how would I know if it was the inside of me?" And Consuelo scratched her head and squinted as of there was something she was missing she was trying to figure out. But then she just let it go.

 

When Neko said she would show her more things, she peeked right up. "Cool, I'm down for whatever. Wait, a God of . . . . Okay. This place is really different than where I grew up, I think. For one thing, nothing was magical where I'm from. Just, like, ordinary." Consuelo follows along behind Neko quietly, not wanting to spoil the tour by saying something off key.

[Avenger Assembled]

Neko walked to the end of the roof and turned, balancing so that only her toes were still clinging to the rooftop, half her feet protruding out behind her into the dark. "No," she said cooly. "This place is almost dead." And with that, she scrabbled down the side of the building (there was no more discreet word for it), leaped into the branches of a nearby tree, and studied Rot from inside the shelter of its leafless branches. The winter tree lent voice to her words. Her eyes glowed like a cat's in the dark but impossibly large, only the white in her hair and fur clearly visible in the gloom. "Come on," she proposed. "Jump." 

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

"Uh, okay. . . " Consuelo takes a run along the ridgeline of the roof and leaps off the end. She gives it a good try, but she definitely uses her ability to fly to reach the old oak, naked now with winter's cold. She lands on one of the thick ropey limbs with gusto, baring her teeth and pretend sinking her "claws" into the bark. Then she remember her disintegration powers, and grimaces nervously as she gingerly floats away from the branch searching frantically for signs that she scarred the old tree.

 

Seeing no real damage, she perks back up. "Hey, that was fun. I guess I could technically jump a distance of .  . . uh, forever."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Hm," said Neko, half-approvingly. It had been an honest effort, and she knew what it was like to scrabble so. "A cat cannot fly. See?" And so saying she fell out of the tree, landing directly on her well-padded butt with a loud thump. She looked startled by the impact but unhurt, and by the time Consuelo had joined her she was licking her hand and running the back of it through her hair. "What do you like to eat?" she asked Consuelo before shaking her head. 

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

Consuelo slowly floats down toward the ground, upside-down,  so that her dreads hang low off her scalp. "Oh, wow, lots of stuff. Gummy worms, Doritos, Cheetos, Takis, Spaghetti-Os, Mountain Dew, gummy worms, uh, Combos, Flamin' Hot Doritos, asparagus, Swedish fish, uh, quesadillas. . . . Yeah, like lots of stuff." Getting a little tired of the feeling of blood running to her head, she slowly spins to right-side-up.

 

"What about you? Do you hunt food? Like birds and stuff? You don't uh, I mean, no. Well, I mean, you don't uh like eat, um, like, uh, kibble, do you?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Neko looked at Consuelo and smiled, her teeth looking sharp. "Yes," she said, her voice grave. "It's the only thing the modern cat eats, and I am very modern, no?" She produced what looked like a handful of dry kibble from one of her ample pockets and walked right up to the other girl, practically holding it up under her nose. "If you want to prove you're a real cat," she said, her voice a low purr as her tail lashed behind her, "you're going to have to eat it too." 

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

"Oh, I've totally eaten dry cat food before. My mom used to tell me it was called "kiddie snacks" to get me to eat it. It was pretty cheap compared to, uh, real food, so I guess that's why I had to eat it sometimes. It's way, way better than dry dog food! That stuff is, like, crazy crunchy!"

 

Consuelo takes a handful of kibble and starts munching.

 

"To be honest, it's kind of a relief to meet someone else that has eaten it. I mean, I probably wouldn't tell anyone else in the whole school.  . . . Oh hey, aren't you going to eat some?" A terrified panic can just be detected at the edge of Consuelo’s expression. 

[Avenger Assembled]

The kibble faded away into nothingness; its scent turning out to have no taste at all, and then its form even less. 

 

Neko stared at Consuelo, then said firmly, "No! No, you do not do that. If you perform for people to like you, they will never like you." She poked Rot in the chest, heedless of the other girl's antilife field. "Crawling on your belly is for dogs. Not cats." She hissed and looked away, tail lashing, obviously trying to master her feelings, frazzled as much by guilt as by anger. 

 

"I am not stupid. I know men watch my show because they are filthy pigs." She smiled, hard, showing sharp teeth. "So I play the game. I show them the sweet, lovely, and super-kawaii catgirl they want," she added, batting her eyelashes as her show's theme played from nowhere in particular, "and they send me money - so I get what I want." She gave Consuelo a pitying look. "There is no shame in being made to bow. But never bow for them."

 

I should feed her. "Have you ever had sushi?" she asked. "Actual sushi, not what they serve in the cafeteria." 

 

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

At first, Consuelo is just confused that Neko is getting mad at her for eating kibble when she asked her to. Was this a trick? Does she hate me just for me, not because of my condition?

 

But Neko seems really mad, and it doesn't seem like it has a lot to do with Consuelo, really, so she just listens, to try to figure out what is going on.

 

"Oh, I didn't know you did that, Neko. But it doesn't matter. I like you. Almost everyone does things they're not proud of for money. The only people who don't are, like, the people that are so scared of being honest with themselves that they convince themselves they are proud of what they're doing, even when it doesn't make any sense. So, yeah, I guess don't be too hard on yourself for not being able to control what nobody else can control either, you know?"

 

And Consuelo shrugs as she anxiously contemplates the prospect of sushi. "Uh, well, it, uh, kinda grosses me out a little, but I would be willing to try it.  . . . "

[Avenger Assembled]

Even in Freedom City amid the mad, riotous abundance of the 21st century, there are no 24 hour sushi places - but there are places where you can get sushi 24 hours a day. 

 

Neko first led Consuelo out of Claremont's grounds, flashing her senior card through the security system so she could bring herself and her 'guest' out onto the streets. "I am over 18, so it is easy," she confided. She led the way through the bustling streets of Bayview after dark. Her tail and ears invisible, she fit in perfectly with the alien crowd, walking with the confidence of someone born on these streets. She led the way to a big convenience store called MUCHO ROLLO, the sort visited by locals as much as tourists passing by on the nearby interstate, and headed straight for the computerized menu in the back. 

 

Neko jabbed the SUSHI SAMPLER PLATTER button, then turned curiously to Consuelo. "It is my treat," she promised her. "I have money." 

[Huckleberry]

GM

 

The two teen heroes walk the sparsely attended commercial streets of Bayview late of a Monday evening. The normal-looking one (Neko) and the one with cat ears on her head (Consuelo) duck into the ever-open MUCH ROLLO in search of passable sushi.

 

Traversing to the food service side of the bodega, Neko selects the sushi sampler item on the ordering kiosk. The clerk behind the counter at this late hour is a rough-looking sort, and you can hear someone else working in the back kitchen. Seeing the order pop up on his screen, the clerk at the counter calls back: "Ramon, roll!" From the back, you hear "Really?" The clerk at the counter, who's nametag says "José" responds "Sí."

 

José is clearly giving Consuelo the eye as the two teens wait. Maybe it's just the cat ears, but more likely he is responding to the effects of her mutations. Ramon comes out from the back with the small box of sushi. He slows as he approaches the counter, his face becoming more angry as he does so. He sidles up to José. "No. Not these ones. No sushi for you!"

 

And he points to a sign saying "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."