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Post by Plato on Jun 17, 2010 23:34:17 GMT -5
Plato had sat on the fire escape for the past forty-five minutes.
It'd started as just one thing, once being curious as to the sounds from the window when he ventured into human territory, something he hated to do, to get food. He wasn't sure why, but it was the tones, and he'd just thought he'd take a peak, to look through the window, to see what it was.
It was a bit startling to see the TV for the first time, and he was entranced, but more than just being entranced by the pictures, him having the sense to know that no, they couldn't have been trapped inside the box, was with the shows. He didn't know the names, but letters would come up, numbers. A show for children, an educational sort with morals, lessons, vocabulary, math.
That day, he'd stayed five hours until he got too close to the window sill and was shoed away. Ever since, whenever he was able to, he'd sneak around territory to have another look.
This had been going on for the past two months.
He'd learned that the family watched really boring stuff late at night, that the programs he understood were on in the morning or midday, and that two human children watched them. Sometimes he'd get mad when they started crying or distracting him, but for the most part, he took it for what it was: a lesson.
And he'd been trying, even though he'd die before telling anyone he was trying to figure it out, trying to read, to do simple math, to do all the things his father got frustrated at him for being incapable of. Damn it, he was trying, and he was determined to learn something for whenever Socrates returned. Socrates would return: he had to.
Plato scooted a little closer as he watched, saying the words as they came up. "The cat in --in--t-h-e--hut? Damn it, the hat." A frown. "T-h-e sk--ski is b-- the sky is blue." Damn it! The TV voices came too soon!!! If he had more time! "Dogs... bark... loud." A smile came to his face then, prouder at that.
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Post by Victoria on Jun 17, 2010 23:49:41 GMT -5
Victoria had been with the Jellicle far too long. She used to be able to spend days inside, curled up in her pink powder puff of a bed, eating food off of fine white china, leaping after toys bought from a store, and wearing nothing but a studded pink collar.
But now she could hardly stand being indoors. She liked feeling the wind on her fur and smelling things beside the harsh cleaning fluids her humans used. Venturing out the cat-flap and into the backyard, she closed her eyes, savoring the slight chill and scent of grass and trees. And garbage. To think she'd actually enjoy the smell of trash. She smiled indulgently. She really had become a jellicle.
She wormed her way through the hole in the fence her humans didn't know about,and padded her way to the base of a fire escape across the street. She liked to stretch out on the warm metal and soak up the heat left by the sun. She padded cautiously, about halfway up, before she noticed another cat seated at the top, staring through the window.
She recognized the scent - Plato. And he was talking, quietlyto himself. Unable to quell her curiosity, she inched closer, swiveling her ears to hear better. He appeared to be...spelling? The box of moving pictures inside seemed to be playing some kind of program for children. She frowned.
Was he...learning? Confused, she stepped closer, her foot making a soft noise on the step. She suddenly realized she wasn't wearing anything. Nudity was common among the tribe, but she still felt horribly exposed. Especially in front of an utter womanizing tool like Plato.
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Post by Plato on Jun 17, 2010 23:54:25 GMT -5
In the middle of the next small sentence came the noise. Although Plato lacked education in many facets, he had street smarts, or maybe it was just instinct. Immediately, his body pivoted, rigid as he hissed, crouched as if he might attack, fur fluffing out, ears flattening. Who was going to sneak up on him and get away with it when he was trying to learn something?! They were dead meat!
... or Victoria.
Immediately, his eyes widened, expression changing to that of shock as he looked at her eyes before more suddenly becoming aware of the situation. Immediately, his tail pulled around him as he sat down, hands moving in front of his lap to give his body extra coverage, and he looked to the wall.
"I--I'm sorry. I had--I had no idea it was you. This... this area isn't pretty enough for... for you to be in. It's... so run down."
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Post by Victoria on Jun 18, 2010 0:00:26 GMT -5
Victoria's hackles raised as he spun around, mouth opening wide to hiss in return. It was just a cat thing. He went into attack mode and she instantly became tense, back arched, blue eyes ablaze. She took a step back, down the fire escape, wary as he suddenly calmed, realizing it was her. She crossed her arms over her exposed breasts, tail lashing around to wrap around her thighs and cover her thoroughly.
She cocked her head to one side at his words, frowning. Not pretty enough for her? In her experience with Plato, he either hit on queens or was generally kind of an arse. This comment didn't really seem to fit into either category.
"Er...my humans live just across the road." She said cautiously, testing the waters of the conversation. "What were you doing?" Her curiosity rose, and she couldn't bite back the comment.
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Post by Plato on Jun 18, 2010 0:05:10 GMT -5
"Nothing!" He squeaked, then a bit more stunned at himself. What. The Fuck. Was that?! That was like... that was like something that stupid TUMBLEBRUTUS would do out of all cats. It wasn't manly. It wasn't studly. It was... stupid. And definitely showed it was more than, well, nothing.
He frowned a tiny bit, still keeping his eyes on the wall. "It's... stupid. Just... forget about it. I was being stupid."
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Post by Victoria on Jun 18, 2010 0:09:32 GMT -5
She giggled at the dramatic increase of pitch in his voice. She hated to look as if she was making fun of anyone, it wasn't in her nature, but this was Plato. Mistoffelees had drilled it into her head that he was big, dumb, bad news. She'd witnessed this first hand - his cockiness, his womanizing, his misuse of words; She found it generally kind of irritating.
But something in his face, and his voice, made her drop her smile. "Were you watching the box?" She had no clue what it was called, she assumed he'd understand."I do that sometimes. It's not stupid. It's kind of entertaining." She liked watching the moving colors and pictures. Of course that was far less embarrassing from attempting to learn from it, but she remained oblivious.
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Post by Plato on Jun 18, 2010 0:18:36 GMT -5
"TV, yeah. Just... this is really... is stupid." He lifted his head toward her, making sure to keep his eyes up, not knowing why he was so intimidated. This would be an ideal time to see some boobs and girl parts. But well... he was intimidated for whatever reason, and felt vulnerable.
"Just... just don't tell anyone I was up here. ... especially not Mistoffelees." A funny statement rather than Alonzo. "He'd just call me even more stupid." At least he'd think that his best friend would know when it was serious unless he was being a douche.
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Post by Victoria on Jun 18, 2010 0:27:47 GMT -5
Victoria frowned, putting her hands on her hips, for a moment not caring that her breasts were exposed. For some reason, Plato seemed to be respecting her privacy and not ogling her. She'd have commented on it if she wasn't suddenly angry.
"Don't tell Misto? So you're allowed to make fun of him but he can't make fun of you?" She glared at him, eyes narrowing. "You are such a hypocrite!"
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Post by Plato on Jun 18, 2010 0:33:02 GMT -5
"Hey, I'm not fat! If anything, I need to gain weight! That was really mean!" he argued, mistaking the word for hippo. "Just because I'm not as skinny as Admetus doesn't mean I'm fat!"
His arms folded over his chest then as he looked to the side. "And what would you care anyway. You're smart."
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Post by Victoria on Jun 18, 2010 18:23:27 GMT -5
Victoria sighed huffily, crossing her arms back over chest. "Hy-po-crite. It means your behaivor is contradictory." Oh, he wouldn't be able to understand that word at all. She tried a different tactic.
"How is it fair that you get to make fun of Mistoffelees but he can't make fun of you for watching the box?" She asked snippily.
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Post by Plato on Jun 18, 2010 18:29:59 GMT -5
Wait, the hell was she talking about pregnancy for? A strange expression came to his face at what he perceived to be "contractions," the blatant confusion there, before the defensiveness set in again. How was it fair? God, she had no idea. That was HIS box, and HIS learning, and HIS everything and--
"Because the fag's smart and can read!"
An exasperated exclamation, a little more revealing at that though he wasn't as aware of it at first. And then it settled down as, embarrassed and moodily, he looked away, eyes back through the window to where the TV was, the program still on. But he missed the best part with the word of the day.
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Post by Victoria on Jun 18, 2010 18:38:38 GMT -5
Victoria's face twisted, expression turning dark. She'd heart the whole sentence and it should have been heartbreaking, but her patience had snapped with the word 'fag'. Mistoffelees may have shrugged off their taunting, but Victoria wasn't about to let Plato use slurs when he wasn't there to defend himself. She happily call herself his faghag, but this was different. Ugly and cruel. Her blue eyes had turned cold, and her jaw set.
"Don't you dare use that word around me, especially when talking about my best friend." She resisted the urge to lash her tail angrily, because she didn't want to expose herself. Even in her rage, she had her modesty.
She frowned."Of course he can read, we can all read, what on earth does that have to do with anything?" She spat, not quite putting two and two together and arriving at an illiterate Plato.
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Post by Plato on Jun 18, 2010 18:41:54 GMT -5
Plato looked started as he focused his attention on her and took a step back and up the fire escape. "What word?!" he asked, a genuine sort of horror on his face. "I was complimenting him because he can read!" His nostrils flared slightly, the whites of his eyes more prominent as he pressed into the back of the steps.
And then the last part--'we can all read.'
His shoulders drooped as he looked back to the TV. "You guys can all read." A quiet correction, almost beneath his breath.
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Post by Victoria on Jun 18, 2010 18:46:31 GMT -5
Victoria's eyes widened. "The word 'fag', Plato! It's a-" She was going to say derogatory but she'd begun to notice Plato didn't really understand larger words. "-very mean, bad word for gay. It's very insulting."
She was confused. Why would he compliment Misto for being able to read. Her ears twitched forward to pick up his last comment."We all can read...can't you?" She asked, voice still a bit harsh, still angry.
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Post by Plato on Jun 18, 2010 18:56:59 GMT -5
Plato, more suddenly, looked sick to his stomach. "... but Alonzo and Victor and Admetus and the others--they all--I mean, Victor's like... sorta gay and he never said anything. And Misto never said anything... or Cori..." His voice trailed off a little bit. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" he asked, more quietly, sadly, meant for himself. "I didn't know..."
And then, that sort of question.
He winced, not wanting to answer, not wanting to look so stupid.
"... yeah. I mean... a little... I try. I mean, they've got the word of the day... but I missed it. I mean, I'm not illegitimate or nothing." Another misused word as he shifted uncomfortably. Had he known the difference between illegitimate and illiterate, he'd have never made the claim. He at least knew what he was, and wasn't.
Finally, with a sigh, he shifted to look through the window again, ears drooped. Miserable. "Not really. I'm not smart like everyone else," he said in answer to her question. "Happy?"
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Post by Victoria on Jun 18, 2010 19:10:28 GMT -5
Victoria's frown deepened, but the anger seeped out of her eyes and stance. "You've...you've been using that word all this time and didn't know it was insulting?"She asked, voice incredulous, but softer, less accusatory. "They probably assumed you knew what it meant. That you were okay with calling Mistoffelees that horrible word." Her voice was even quieter.
Illegitimate? Surely he meant illiterate. She found herself recalling other times Plato misused words, misunderstood her meaning, or was generally confused. "You were using the television to help you read?" She asked.
She'd never really thought she could feel sorry for Plato. He was big and handsome, and so cocky it often made her want to slap him. She'd never seen him be anything but irritatingly cheerful, horny, or high. This was new and strange to her.
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Post by Plato on Jun 18, 2010 19:18:24 GMT -5
He sighed--what else could he say to try and prove his point?
Shifting so his tail covered him, he gestured with a paw. "Come up here. Look for yourself. I promise I won't peep at you or anything." Another instance of something muttered as he looked away. His mood was soured completely, but if he already made an arse of himself, might as well go the whole way.
He was certain this would be the end of his cool reputation anyway, and at the moment he didn't want that cool reputation at all.
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Post by Victoria on Jun 18, 2010 19:35:33 GMT -5
She stood still for a moment, weighing the request. He seemed honest enough. Making sure she was completely covered, she took a few cautious steps forward,up the stairs of the fire escape until she was on the step below him, and able to look into the house, at the flashing screen of the box.
"It helps you, er...learn?" She asked nervously, peering into the house.
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Post by Plato on Jun 18, 2010 19:40:12 GMT -5
"Yeah," he said, looking through it. "See, see, the... ad.. thing... it's over and there," he pointed a finger to the screen, a series of numbers coming up that time, math. Comparing it with objects so there'd be something tangible. He leaned a little closer. "I wish they'd do the other stuff... they do all these words and spelling things, and sentences, and they have these like... cartoony cats acting it out and stuff. I mean, I guess it's kinda stupid..."
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Post by Victoria on Jun 18, 2010 20:14:09 GMT -5
She watched the images on the screen, childish things, meant for young humans. Bright primary colors, cartoon characters, upbeat music - the works. She watched for a moment, cocking her head to one side. She remembered watching something similar when the daughter of her humans had been small.
She could hear his self-deprecating tone, and turned her head to look up at him. "It's not stupid if it helps you learn,"she pointed out. She left the most pressing question unsaid. Why did you never learn to read?
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Post by Plato on Jun 18, 2010 20:16:52 GMT -5
"Yeah, but no one cares about that. You can try a million times, and it won't matter if you don't get it, and if it's small and stupid then no one cares even more." He slouched back a little, frowning as the TV was turned off. "Damn it."
Another low sigh was offered. "So I guess you're going to tell Mistoffelees, aren't you?" Frustration. It wasn't fair at all. The cat would make fun of him relentlessly.
"I wouldn't have called him a fag if I knew it was that bad. That's just the way we talk."
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Post by Victoria on Jun 18, 2010 20:26:18 GMT -5
She recoiled a little at his outburst, blue eyes wary. She wanted to put a hand on his shoulder and tell him it was okay, but that would mean removing her arms from her chest and she didn't want to do that. Even as covered as she was, she felt exposed, watching Plato be...as close to vulnerable as she'd ever seen him.
"I won't tell Mistoffelees." She offered, trying to cheer him up a bit. "This is private. I'm sorry I snuck up on you like that." She drew the side of her lip into her mouth, biting it, as she often did when nervous. "Just, don't use that word. I wish you and Alonzo and Admetus would stop making fun of him altogether." She said it with a defeated sigh, like she knew she couldn't make him stop.
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Post by Plato on Jun 18, 2010 20:32:04 GMT -5
His face lifted, more curiously. "But like, we don't mean anything bad. I mean, we like Misto. We talk like that all the time. If we hated him, we wouldn't talk to him at all because he wouldn't be worth our time." He looked to her, again a clear effort made to gaze at her face as if it'd just be wrong to look down though God, he knew he wanted to badly.
"It's okay. You didn't know. No one knows I come here. Humans really... I dunno. I guess I just like being a stray a lot and I'm worried they'll like... catch me or somethin'."
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Post by Victoria on Jun 18, 2010 21:06:01 GMT -5
Victoria shrugged her shoulders."The things you say are still hurtful. I mean apart from calling him a, er, fag." The word felt bitter in her mouth. "He's my favorite cat in the whole junkyard. I can't stand it when anyone makes him feel upset." Yes, she was being far too protective of Misto, who could really take care of himself, but it felt good to get this all out in the open.
She took another step down the stairs, still looking awkward. "My humans are right across the road. I don't stay with them much anymore. Don't feel like much of a housecat."
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Post by Plato on Jun 18, 2010 21:23:55 GMT -5
He took a few steps down the fire escape, some hops on all fours, scooting a bit faster to catch up with her. "You don't want to be a stray though, do you? It's rough. You don't get baths often, and there are a lot of fights and stuff. I mean, I'm sure you're tough but yeah."
He scooted down further, a few steps ahead of her. "Were you going to the Junkyard or back to your human home? I could walk you there." His tail swished a little in the movement as if forgetting she was with him until he reached the bottom and he pulled it snugly against his form, not looking over his shoulder at her. "Unless you want me to fuck off, then okay."
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Post by Victoria on Jun 18, 2010 21:43:00 GMT -5
She took a deep breath."I don't want to be a stray, but I do want to be considered, you know, a Jellicle. Not a housecat." Not a princess. She smiled awkwardly. "One of the tribe, you know?" Her deep-seated insecurities about not being considered part of the tribe were mostly gone at this point, but she wouldn't feel truly part of them until she'd been accepted as a queen during the upcoming ball.
"I was headed to the yard. I have, um...clothes there." Making herself aware of her nakedness caused her to blush under her fur, even though she as very aware Plato wasn't sneaking peeks.
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Post by Plato on Jun 18, 2010 21:54:54 GMT -5
"Yeah, me too. I mean, well, yeah, of course I do," he said, picking up a more ambling walk alongside her. "I mean, I think we all do. But at least we have modesty. I mean, could be worse like Victor walking around in his underwear all the time and Alonzo forgetting what a shirt is." He paused.
"I'm still really sorry about that bath you walked in on. That was embarrassing. They were being so stupid and rude."
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Post by Victoria on Jun 22, 2010 14:08:42 GMT -5
Victoria smothered a giggle, thinking about how she knew at least one cat who wouldn't mind Victor walking around in his underwear. She often poked fun at Mistoffelees for whomever his latest crush was, but it seemed as if this thing with Victor was really going somewhere. She wasn't about to mess it up, but she'd never stop teasing him. It was part of their friendship.
"It's okay, I shouldn't have been snooping around." She shrugged her shoulders, arms still tight over her chest. At his comment she frowned to herself. He acted like that too. Often, even more so than Alonzo and Victor. And he'd never once seemed apologetic, for himself or for his friends. "You don't have to apologize for them." She said, voice a bit stiff.
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Post by Plato on Jun 22, 2010 16:18:53 GMT -5
"Well, yeah, I do. I mean, they were being fa--complete idiots," he said, catching himself in the middle of yet another 'fag' getting thrown around. His pace slowed just a bit. "Like, I dunno."
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Post by Victoria on Jul 10, 2010 3:09:12 GMT -5
Her ears pricked as he caught himself in the middle of a word. Well, it's better than nothing Victoria thought idly to herself as she matched his pace.
"I shouldn't have stayed. What was I supposed to expect, you know? Manners?" There was a resigned quality in her voice, even as she giggled the last word. And she was resigned. Resigned to the often irritating behavior of most of the toms close to her age in the yard. She shrugged her shoulders.
It never would occur to her that being called manner-less might be offensive to any of the three toms she'd walked in on. From her experience, they seemed to pride themselves on a lack of propriety.
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