001✖; (video @hot.damn)

[circumitus]

[The last thing Rey wants to do is show her face for all to see, but after meeting Peter, it feels bizarrely necessary.]

"Would seem some people here recognize each other from worlds different from their own -- this current one as well." [Pause.] "Just to put it out there: Am not that same person, even if we share the same face."

[She then makes a face when a croaky meow can be heard in the background. Rey adjusts the position of the device to reveal a three-legged cyclopean cat, sitting on a table at the bar, his spindly tail whipping happily back and forth while salivating some weird pale green drool out the corner of his mouth.]

"And this can't seem to get the memo. Can't seem to get rid of it, either."

[Maybe a part of her doesn't want to, but it is inconvenient.

[Lastly -- and she looks very uncomfortable saying this -- she adds:] "Some have asked what its name is. Ideas and information would be... appreciated."

Comments

@mage | video

[braidmage]

Is that... a cat?

[ There are some cat-like elements to the design, sure, but the one-eyed thing is really throwing Reynir for a loop. He's seen plenty of one-eyed cats in his day but they had all started with two, and lost one while fighting or in accidents or whatever. This cat clearly has only ever had the one.

And that green drool is... challenging. ]

[circumitus]

Think so? That's what people are calling it.

[The few that the cat had revealed himself to.]

Just showed up a few weeks ago. Haven't been able to get rid of it since.

[braidmage]

[ Well... that answers none of his questions but Reynir is just going to go with it. ]

Why would you want to get rid of it?

[ Sure it's not easy on the eyes, but cats are extremely useful and important. Reynir can't imagine anyone having a cat and wanting to get rid of it. That's just idiotic! ]

[audio; un: longinmouth]

[abheirrant]

Someone recognized you, as well? [Yes, that is what she said.] I had two people who knew who I was.

[circumitus]

It could settle being with someone better.

[Someone more adept to care for a living thing than her, anyway.

[The first guy the cat seemed to have met was... Kabal, who seemed to take a liking to the animal but was in the same shoes as Rey. Unlike Kabal, the cat didn't proceed to continuously follow him.]

[circumitus]

Yeah... One of them mentioned you, actually.

[abheirrant]

It wasn't anything bad, was it?

[Please please please please please don't be Pratt telling her he's a menace to society he should have never spoken to back in another world.]

[circumitus]

What? No.

Wasn't anything, really. Just came up in passing.

[Le audible shrug.]

[abheirrant]

Oh. Good. That's good.

[He wasn't worried. Did he sound worried? Because he wasn't.]

It has been odd, admittedly, to find I have a reputation of which I was unaware. I can only hope I was someone quite different when they met me.

[circumitus]

It happens. Am used to it.

[In a way. Rey's been recognized by people that she didn't remember before when her memories got wiped. She was also a battlefield boogeyman to many soldiers as the Salamander, so... that was always a thing. The last part she's significantly less inclined to share with the class, though.]

[braidmage]

But it's chosen to be with you.

[ If she was such a bad option, surely the animal would move on. Therefore, Reynir decides Rey is maybe just being hard on herself. Time to encourage her? ]

Cats don't need much. They take care of themselves, mostly, and it's really easy to do the rest. I'm sure you'll be great at it. If you ever need any advice, you can just ask.

[ Although... maybe this cat's needs are a little different than the standard, who knows. ]

[abheirrant]

You are used to people knowing who you are well before you know them.

[That sounds crazy, but to be fair, a lot of people knew who he was before meeting him. He was the heir of Longinmouth, after all.]

[circumitus]

Have a... preceding reputation.

[One that she's grateful people here don't seem to know.]

[circumitus]

[Rey opens her mouth to argue that she's been "chosen", then closes it. Fuck, that's not too far off from the truth, is it? Oh cockdammit.

[She just makes a disgruntled, growling sound under her breath before she speaks.]

Well, what the hell do they eat? Meat, right? Don't think there's kibble around here.

[Though she could probably stand to take another trip to the zombie-infested food mart if it came to that.]

[abheirrant]

You do? What for? Your pyromancy? Or your charming personality?

[circumitus]

My kill count.

[abheirrant]

Oh.

[He's silent for a moment, wishing he and Rey didn't have something so grisly in common.]

Well. Hopefully those who recognized you knew you for better qualities. They did for me.

[braidmage]

Yes, they are carnivores. They eat meat and nothing else.

[ Assuming of course that is true of this specimen as it is with most cats. ]

If he's a stray that adopted you, chances are he was already finding his food by hunting mice or whatever else he could find. But if you decide to feed him, meat's the way to go. Or fish. Cats love fish.

[circumitus]

[She's more than fine with him not dignifying her quip with a proper response. She just shrugs and moves along.]

Didn't seem to have an opinion, really. Some just mentioned something about running a bar.

...

Have never run a bar.

[circumitus]

Mn. Some fish in the lake.

[As Rey contemplates this, she remembers something:]

Not sure how often it gets hungry. Brought back a rodent a few times and then ran off again. Fucking weirdo. [Rey obviously doesn't get cat behavior. Like, at all.]

[abheirrant]

I suppose this you from another time did, at one point, and it's not merely some shared delusion.

[braidmage]

Oh! I can explain that.

[ Reynir does understand cat behavior, and he's happy to be your translator right now, Rey. ]

He was bringing you a present. If a cat brings you a dead mouse or bird or even sometimes a fallen piece of fruit, that means it likes you. He was just being nice.

[circumitus]

Wait, seriously?

[Pause.]

Huh. Makes sense. The cat already seems amicable. Just doesn't seem to share that with everyone. [For some reason, it's very fixated on her.]

[circumitus]

Guess it doesn't sound too impossible... Have picked up on how to distill liquor here and there.

...

Not opening up a bar here, though.

[braidmage]

Seriously.

[ Reynir can't help grinning at Rey's surprise. ]

Well, of course not! He's only one cat! He can hardly feed all the humans in this place! He decided you're the one he likes.

[ And Reynir holds up a finger indicating she should wait, ducks out of frame of the video and returns a moment later with a long-haired and rather fluffy calico cat with an almost heart-shaped pattern on her forehead draped around his shoulders. ]

This is Kisa. She lets me hold her like this because she trusts me. Cats are very picky about which humans they want to be around.