escordvi | closed 🪶 i'm in the end, just what you made me.

[Alright. If she's going to start hissing and bringing out the claws, then Benedikta will, too.

When Ashtail bats at her chest, she takes the cat by the scruff of her neck and holds firmly like a mother would hold her kitten when she is in trouble, and it renders her almost completely still, ears pinned back and eyes wide.]

If you'd just sat politely and asked for a treat, I would have given it.

[Picking her up and setting her down on the table before she climbs to her feet, not giving her the chance to leap back onto her lap.]

Where did you say you found this thing?

[She is FERAL.]

[Just.... Quietly sipping his beer. He recalls Benedikta having handled cats before, but this may be the first time he's ever really seen it firsthand.]

Some sanctuary that trained them as some kind of warrior cat to hunt mice on ships.

[And as Cid goes to find a towel for Benedikta, Ashtail is now arching her back, hissing at Benedikta, as if refusing to back down.]

[Well. Best thing to do now is ignore her until she calms, so that is exactly what Benedikta does, with a slight grunt of disapproval under her breath as she sips her beer, before she nearly chokes on it.]

Warrior cat?

[Benedikta looks to Ashtail and then to Cid in clear disbelief.]

She hardly looks like one.

[Keep hissing all you want, you aren't getting a treat until you're nicer.]

[Stop drinking the beer if you don't like Benedikta—]

Again, always so quick to judge.

[But he's amused since he can see why she thinks that way. Even he has some questions as he's never seen her hunt yet.]

Whether or not she can hunt I can't say since I haven't seen her, but I have seen her with other cats. I could believe her ordering the others to do her bidding for her.

This time, however, she's clearly met her match.

[Ashtail continues to eye Benedikta with a low growl before she darts up to one of the ledges behind the couch and jumps all the way over to her cat tree where she will sulk.]

[She said it was weak, not that it was undrinkable—

Benedikta picks up the treat bag and starts heading to the kitchen with it, prepared to put it away if Ashtail isn't going to come get any from her. Your loss, cat.

But at Cid's words, she turns around to stare at him with an equally grumpy sulk.]

What is that supposed to mean?

[Just a casual half shrug before nodding toward the sulky furball barely visible from the tree.]

I think you've clearly made an impression that you're not one to be trifled with.

[Oh. She preens a bit at that.]

Of course I'm not. Just because she thinks she is cute doesn't mean that she gets things for free. [Benedikta waves her glass at him.] You'd do well to remember that.

[A light laugh.]

Does that apply to you as well?

No?

[Said with some offense, and as if it's the most obvious thing in the world?]

But I am not a cat.

[He would do well to remember that, too!!!

Even if her expression does match Ashtail's at the current moment before she's downing more of the beer.]

[And he is definitely glancing away with the thought that no, they really do look and behave alike, using his glass to hide the amused grin as he looks towards Ashtail.]

Well I can't have you both always at each other's throats. Treats might not get her, but I know another way that might.

[And he'll walk over to a little bin of toys, pulling out one a purple mouse toy attached to a stick, a green feather with a little bell attached to it. Immediately Ashtail's ears perk and she looks up, eyeing the mouse.]

[For a split second—and only a split second—Benedikta is confused because she thinks that he intends to use that on her... before it sinks in.

She's never seen a cat toy like that before, alright!?

So she eyes it suspiciously.]

And what exactly do you mean for me to do with that?

[Like. What the hell is it...]

[A low chuckle as he sees that look, and he can't help but tease her by shaking it towards her, Ash's tail now slowly curling in and out as she watches with keen interest.]

Well you wondered how good of a mouser she could be. Why not put her to the test and have her chase one?

[She snatches that thing so fast out of his hand the moment he shakes it at her, a great big pout on her face as she stares down at it.]

This is meant to be chased?

[She turns it over in her hands, waves it, and looks over to note the way that Ashtail's undivided attention is on this little wand toy in her hand.]

I would look ridiculous.

[A small shrug.]

Think of it as being able to taunt and lure her in any direction you want to go.

[Well... okay. That makes her feel a little better about it, silly as it is. There is one problem, though—]

She will still have to come and get it if she wants it.

[NOPE, STILL NOT BUDGING.

But Benedikta can see the way her eyes darken and go wide, sparking with interest as that instinct starts to kick in.]

Oh she'll come out. But she won't if it's just sitting there.

You have to move it.

[And just mimics the little wiggling motion with his hand.]

[...

....

He looks ridiculous doing that little motion, so what makes him think that Benedikta won't feel absolutely stupid doing it, too? And with this bell?

There's a long pause where she grimaces at it...

......

But then she's lowering it closer to the floor with a sharp groan to give it a testing wiggle first before—]

I won't!

Edited 2023-11-27 05:29 (UTC)

[Oh?

It was small, but Ashtail is now perched very close to the edge, tail swaying this way and that as she is so very focused on the mouse. Seeing this, Cid just looks at Benedikta and nods at the cat.

Come on, Benna.

Just another little wiggle.]

[Yes, she sees it, but that doesn't mean she feels any less silly about it. That she would be reduced to wiggling around a toy for a stubborn cat is not something that was on her list of expectations for this place. Ever.

...

....

But fine.

She will move a little closer to where Ashtail is perched and give it another wiggle. And then another...]

I don't understand why she didn't just go for a treat.

[There's a loud thump as Ashtail leaps from where she is... stalking it slowly...]

A different battle of wills, perhaps?

[Ashtail continues to slowly stalk the mouse before making for a pounce.]

[And Benedikta moves it away just in time. She's not getting it so easily, but Ashtail doesn't even seem to mind because she's ducking behind the coffee table now and lowering herself as close to the ground as she can while Benedikta moves it around on the other side, only half paying attention, the other half on looking the least absurd as possible.

She's not sure it's working.]

Well, I've won this one.

[It's with a haughty laugh, and Benedikta sees that telltale wiggle of her bum before Ashtail leaps out with a speed that a cat should not have, and she manages to catch the mouse and wrench it free from Benedikta's hand to attack it.]

Hey—!

[Cid saw it coming, and just laughs as Ashtail continues to attack and play with the mouse before moving over to him to drop it at his feet, a rather smug look on her face as she stretches up from where she sits, tail curling.]

Think Ash won this round.

[He bends down to give the cat a little scratch under her chin just the way she likes it before taking the stick to have a go at it this time. He's a lot more active with it, making the mouse move this way and that as Ashtail resumes chasing it.]

[Benedikta watches him rather than the cat, and an odd feeling settles in the pit of her stomach at the sight. How domestic—so domestic that it makes her skin crawl as thoughts race to the forefront of her mind. Images that she should not be having. Not now, not ever again.

Images that have her trying to wash down that awful taste with her even worse beer.]

I don't think so.

[A slightly bitter voice as she heads to the kitchen.]

You look like you have it under control anyway.

[Uh oh, she's pouting.]

Come now, this is a great way for you two to bond.

[Just going to lure Ash into the kitchen as he follows.]

Edited 2023-11-27 18:52 (UTC)

[And not for the reasons he thinks she is—

She looks back when he follows her to the kitchen, and she snatches the toy out of his hand again. Well, if they are supposed to bond, then she should be the one with it, shouldn't she? Besides, she can't stand looking at him like that—better that she does it, no matter how silly it is.]

I think this is about as good as it's going to get.

[As she tries to lure her up onto the counter to see if she'll make the jump, all while holding on very securely to her beer this time.]

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