The times, they are a-changing, and we are changing as they go

[runs]

The first thing that Kitty does when her senses return is to run.

Run and run and run and run, and then hide under a chair for good measure. And then just cower there, shaking and hissing should anyone even try to come closer.

To most people, it will just look like a terribly upset black kitten hating the world, but those who can see through masks will notice that that isn't quite true. Because the kitten really has paws that just look a bit too much like hands, with prolonged digits, one of which could function as a thumb, and ears that sit too low on her head and are too asymmetric and flat tilted back to look right. If someone looks carefully, they will also notice gills on the kitten's flanks just behind her shoulders.

She'll hiss at everyone because fuck all of this, but she will only hiss for a few seconds if she knows the person. Probably. Maybe.

Comments

[infinitemayonnaise]

"What...hey, hey!" Nitou can see through masks, and Nitou knows this kitten. He's going to crouch down there and stick his head under the chair. It's probably a good way to get swatted in the nose, but he doesn't care. "It's alright!"

[runs]

He does indeed get swatted in the nose, and then hissed at, but Kitty quietens down after a moment and just stares at him accusingly. It's not all right.

Nothing is all right.

Nothing at all.

[infinitemayonnaise]

She doesn't look right, he can see that now. "I got you, I got you, I'm not gonna let anything else happen."

[runs]

She doubts that he can actually keep that kind of promise, but at the same time if anyone can, she figures, it would be him.

So after a moment of consideration she pulls herself up and jumps on his arm to race up there and hide in the junction of his shoulder and neck, burying as deeply into his fur as she can, a little shaking ball of fur emanating just a bit more warmth than she logically should.

She'll still hiss if he tries to reach up and pet her, but logic is overrated and clearly the world doesn't adhere to it anyway. (If she wasn't this freaked out, she might wonder why she keeps being able to see him as he is, but she's really not in a state of mind to consider such details right now.)

[infinitemayonnaise]

He'll try to reach up there and pet her, yeah, but only once as he starts to try to move to somewhere a little better--a little safer--to keep talking. "You hungry? Need something to eat?" Food solves all problems!...and maybe if he keeps on talking like everything's under control, that might be reassuring.

[runs]

"...Yes." Food is always good. It might not solve all problems, but nothing else comes as close to solving all problems.

Sitting in a spot that feels significantly safer than anywhere else right now helps, too. Not with the actual problem(s) at hand, but at last with how spooked she is.

[infinitemayonnaise]

"We can definitely get you some food, then!" He's got weenies, he can cut the weenies into tiny kitten-sized chunks, this works. "There you go."

There's even some mayonnaise on the side, because he's consistent like that.

[runs]

She will mostly ignore the mayo, but she'll have a go at the weenies. ...Okay, she'll have a little bit of that mayo. But it really tastes a lot better in human form, so she'll quickly stop and return to the weenies.

And then sit there for a moment before she starts to clean herself, and then stops abruptly.

Did she just - she turns her head as far as possible to study her side with a distressed meow. "What-"

[infinitemayonnaise]

"What?" Nitou echoes, moving in for another look. "What's the problem now?"

[runs]

"I don't have gills."

She clearly does, looking at her more closely, but she obviously doesn't. She's a cat.

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Uh...wellllll..." Nitou trails off uncertainly as he bends down to inspect her and realizes that this is no longer the case. "About that..."

[runs]

"Cat's don't have gills."

Everyone knows that. And she's obviously a cat, even if something about the way she moves her legs has become a bit funny lately. But that surely is just an annoying side effect of a growth spurt, right?

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Not normally," Nitou says, "but, uh...that...that looks kinda gill-like." He scratches his neck. "Not that I'm an expert, everything I'm patched together from all breathes air."

[runs]

And, she feels, that is a very sensible way of being, it's perhaps the only sensible thing about Nitou's looks.

"There's no point in having gills because you can only use them in water and water sucks." It's fine for drinking and cooking but that's it. Why people feel like showers and baths are a great thing will always elude her. They are evils that some people claim are necessary is what they ar.

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Water can be fun!" Nitou says, "you just gotta give it a chance! Like have you ever been to the beach?"

[runs]

"I've looked at it." She sounds something between offended and dubious at the question. Because she knows that the ocean looks less polluted here than back home, but even so that much water just seems like a bad idea.

[infinitemayonnaise]

"But have you ever gone swimming in it?" This is an important question. "That can be a lot of fun!"

[runs]

"EW." She looks disgusted now, but at least Nitou has succeeded in distracting her from being freaked out about the change in her body. "No, I've never-" or has she? No, of course she hasn't. Then why is there that nagging feeling that she has indeed done a lot of swimming in some kind of ocean in her life? She obviously has ne'er gone swimming in the ocean which is perfectly justified because no reasonable person would expect it from a cat.

[infinitemayonnaise]

He grins. "Don't knock it until you tried it. Floating there's great! Swimming is great! It can be a lot of fun."

[runs]

"Water sucks."

She noses around a bit in hopes of a hidden piece of weenie somewhere, but alas there are none. But nosing around makes her gaze hit her paws and...

wait.

Those aren't right. They are formed weird, almost a bit like a human's, and now that she pays attention to it she is digging into the ground a bit oddly with them.

[infinitemayonnaise]

"It's really not that bad!" Nitou might say more, but he's distracted by her distraction. "Hey, now, what's this?"

[runs]

She'll just... reach out to lay a paw against Nitou's shirt, and then bend her little not-fingers to grab it and pull at it. Sure, a bit of the job is done by her claws still, but most of the grip comes from her innermost digit being kind of opposable now and there being digits in the first place, protruding stubby fingers where her paw should be much more solid and round.

And tug some more for good measure. This is so weird.

[infinitemayonnaise]

Nitou stares down at that. "...that is definitely new." There's a long pause. "At...least you can open cabinets now?"

[runs]

"Cats-" Cats can open some cabinets, just not the way humans can, but that's not the point here.

There's clearly something happening here that is making her less and less of a proper cat. "This is stupid."

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Thumbs are pretty awesome, though." Nitou is trying to be comforting, in his own way. "I miss them when I go full lion."

[runs]

"...They are practical." She has to admit that much. Some things get easier to operate with them.

Speaking of full lions, though- "I can see you properly. The whole time." And she couldn't before. Why?

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Wait, what?" He looks down at himself and back at her. "Really? Seriously?" Hold up, things are kind of starting to fall a little more into place...

[runs]

"Yeah." She stands, a bit awkwardly because she's hyperaware of her strange paws now, and starts wandering over towards him and climbing up towards his shoulders. It's comfortable up there and feels safe, from what she remembers of meeting him at the market, and that's what she needs right now.

[infinitemayonnaise]

He'll let her get up there, and he'll offer a bit of petting once she's gotten settled. "You want something to eat? Would that help?"

[runs]

"...I want to know why everything is wrong."

It's bad when you can't even distract her with food any more, but she's at that stage right now.

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Ah, well...that...that happens in the Hedge." Nitou's quiet. "Things can go really wrong in there. Really wrong."

[runs]

Kitty makes an unhappy thrilling sound and burrows more deeply into the fur at Nitou's neck. Now that she's this close to Nitou, he might feel a soft, summery warm breeze brush against his neck, an impression of warmth and sun more than something to actually move any hairs.

"...I think I died."

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Ohhhh..." He reaches up to offer a soothing bit of petting in addition to letting her burrow there. "That...that can happen out there, yeah. But you're safe now."

[runs]

"But aren't people dead after they died?" It's not that she wants to be, but she's pretty sure that she should be. They don't even have DocWagon here.

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Most of the time, yeah, but it doesn't always go that way in the Hedge." Nitou grimaces. "Stuff from there doesn't always work like it should or like you think it should."

[runs]

"I don't like it." She buries herself deeper into his neck again and falls quiet, shaken to her core and not intending to get out of this relative safe space anytime soon. She won't mind if he starts moving and listen to whatever he has to say, but she'll just stay here for a good long while, looking for all the world like a regular kitten sitting on a regular guy's shoulder.

[infinitemayonnaise]

"No one does, kid. No one does." He's tempted to fix something to eat, but he's not sure he wants to do that with her on his shoulder--when you favor cooking on a small campfire charcoal grill like he is, and when you've got a bad history of things literally blowing up in your face when you do that, well...he'd rather be safe. He'll find a nice, peaceful tree somewhere and sit with his back to it, letting her take in some peace there.