Tayne Peregrine (hunterperegrine) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2009-07-30 07:52:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-06-10 |
Pouting Young Men.
Who: Seth & Tayne
Where: The Park
When: 6ish
Seth had been working all day. It was awful. He hated working retail. So he was making it up to himself by wandering the park again. Or at least he had been. Hours and hours ago he'd been wandering around, chattering with random people who didn't seem to mind his presence. All that sort of thing. It'd been fun but eventually, he desired a nap - only he hadn't wanted to go back to the apartment.
So he'd found a secret place to hide his clothes then shifted into his cat form. For awhile, the black American Short hair had been napping on a bench, tail gently flicking in time with his dreams. Then there was... The smell of food. Something tasty. He slowly awakened and went in search of said good smelling tasty treat. Unfortunately, when he found it, it was attached to a person who he couldn't exactly see well from the ground. For a moment, he just watched from a short distance...
The owner of said food was one Tayne Peregrine, who was lounging on his back on a park bench reading one of his were-books. It was warm out, which he liked, and he was tired, but he didn't want to be cooped up inside, and he thought going to the pond on the other end of town two days in a row might look a little fishy to Justin. So here he was, in the park, with a book and some fried shrimp he'd battered up himself that afternoon, and that was in a tupperware container on his lap, where no thieving cats could get near it.
Not that he'd planned for thieving cats, of course. Though as Seth approached, he caught a funny scent that he didn't recognize, and looked around for the source.
Spotting the black cat against the grass was easy. "Shoo," he said.
Seth gave the man with the tasty smelling food (shrimp, yay!) an indignant look at being told to 'shoo'. Instead he strode forward and went for the super cute, super loud purring and the rubbing against the man's legs. He couldn't get a really good look at him from this sort of height but Seth concluded that he smelled interesting underneath the shrimp. Very curious... Something feline like deep in there. So how could he possibly tell a cute, sleek kitty to go away when all he wanted was a shrimp?
Only one of Tayne's legs was half-falling off the bench, the other was propped up on the opposite arm from the one he was leaning on, his head pillowed on a folded-up jacket. Tayne frowned and made shooing motions with one hand this time, too. "Git. I don't like cats." Even if he was one now. Though he'd ruled out housecat. "Thank god for that," he added at a mutter.
Well, Seth was very good at arching up to rub against things... Take that as you will. He didn't like cats? That was weird. Then why was he eating shrimp in the park? Honestly, that seemed like the last thing you wanted to do if you didn't like cats. Insolently, Seth hopped up onto one of the few places of the bench he wasn't occupying and started a light walk towards his shrimpy Tupperware.
"Goddammit," Tayne growled, sitting up and reaching to get a hand under the cat's ribs to toss it off again. "What is it with you buggers and insisting you should go where you're least wanted, huh? I sure as hell better not pick up that tendency." Stupid contrary cats.
As the cat went through the air towards the ground, though the trip was not very far, something happened. It was so smooth and perfect that by the time he hit the ground, Seth was human again and in a careful crouch so he was fairly censored. "If you'd just give me a stupid shrimp, I'd go away but since you insist on being mean and throwing animals, maybe I should just steal them and run." What did he mean pick up that tendency...?
"Oh god," Tayne said, his voice sounding strangled, as suddenly there was a man crouched by the park bench talking to him. And the reason he could tell he was a man and not a rather androgynous woman was because he was nude. He couldn't see any manbits, due to how the guy landed, but there were definitely no breasts.
Why did he have to keep running into animals who were people?? "I d-didn't throw you. I j-just tossed you off. That's all." If he'd thrown the guy? He'd have gone more than a foot or two.
Although it wouldn't be the first time that he'd gotten mistaken for an extremely flat chested woman, especially considering how soft and whispery his voice was. And he ran into them because he was just that lucky and Shrimp Boy needed to stop complaining even mentally.
Seth shoved a hand through his curly locks, frowning, "To a cat? That's throwing. Our perceptions are different because we're smaller." Now he was crawling back up to the bench on all fours, eyes totally on the shrimp though he did take a moment to look over the guy holding them. He tsked a little, despite approving of his appearance... Shrimp took precedent.
Tayne very badly wanted to shrink back-- and take his shrimp with him, dammit. He didn't like cats, and he found he didn't much like it when people acted like cats, either. He liked it even less when he got the once-over. Getting once-overs from guys made him nervous, and unlike with Johan, this time it was pretty damn obvious. Throw in that the guy was naked, and looked like a girl, and Tayne was just plain in uncomfortable-ville, population one very closeted gay man.
"Well. I'm sorry? I didn't want you climbing all over me and leaving cat hair and smells and-- you know, st-stealing my food." Because the girlie guy still looked like he was going to climb up onto him to steal it. And that... was a very bad idea.
He shivered a little at the mixture of scents coming off of Tayne. It was very insane and confusing all at once. And yes, it really was obvious. Seth didn't try to hide anything like that. There was no point to it. Why hide what he was? Even if the Shrimp Bearer had been a girl, he'd've gotten a once over.
"Oh psh. I only wanted one damned shrimp. All you had to do was hold one out and kitty me would have taken it and trotted off. But instead you had to be mean," he paused and sniffled a little, dabbing at crocodile tears. "Why are you so against cats anyhow? You have a... tiny bit of a smell like one. Not enough to be definitive but it's there..."
"I don't like cats because they're contrary and difficult and don't like people unless they're being c-catered to," Tayne answered. "And if you want a shrimp, you can just ask, instead of keeping up the hints." Because as much as he disliked cats in general, he wasn't going to be rude to someone sentient because of it. Or, well, he was going to try not to be rude.
He ignored and didn't address the comment about smelling like a cat. Goddammit. He really didn't want to talk about that with some random naked stranger.
"Oh I love people as long as they're nice to me. I'm a cuddle whore. Ask anyone who knows me. I just want to be loved," he pouted cutely, shaking his head a little to get his wild hair out of his eyes. It was so funny how he was suddenly stuttering around Seth. Very cute. "Pretty please can I have a shrimp?" he gave the Shrimp Bearer sweet pleading puppy eyes.
Pouting young men. Girly, naked pouting young men. Tayne wanted to die, he really did, he was so embarrassed and uncomfortable and really just wanting to get away. He scooped up a handful of his precious shrimp-- that he'd taken forever to fry up, dammit-- and held them out as if that were a bribe to make the guy go away. Or at least get dressed.
Seth picked up exactly one because that's all he had wanted in the first place - see? Seth was a very nice kitty if given the chance. He nibbled it slowly, carefully, practically purring as he ate, "Oh you're a good cook." Of course, he generally just liked shrimp. He smiled pleasantly, "I'm going to go get my clothes to make you chillax. Then we're going to talk about why you smell like cat when you don't like them. Don't try to run. I'll be able to find you. This is your chance to think of a lie." He turned his back on Tayne then stood up, saving him from seeing anything too important before going to find the tree in which he'd hidden his clothing.
Tayne flushed even more, and popped the remaining shrimp into his own mouth to have something focus on other than a rather slim and girly backside retreating away from him. He even held up his book to block the sight, and sank lower on his bench again. God, he wanted to disappear. Vanish right on the spot. But he'd never been that good at magic.
But at least he didn't leave.
Psh, he liked the view. He just didn't want to admit it.
When Seth returned, he smiled to find that Shrimp Guy hadn't left. He was now fully dressed but that honestly didn't help matters much because he was wearing leather pants and a rather loose, kind of frilly shirt with a very low neck and almost knee high boots. He sought out an empty place on the bench and sat down without being asked, working on putting the golden necklace back on that bore his name and his family house in Egyptian hieroglyphics on it. "So... Tell me everything. I'm a neutral ear. I'm Seth Samara by the way."
"Tayne," Tayne answered. "And why should I tell you anything? I don't know anything about you except that you've got no modesty whatsoever and you like shrimp. And are a cat." And embarrass the hell out of me. Even if he'd gone about it a different way, less "I'm your best friend now so I'm ordering you around" and more "so what's up?" it might've gone over better. But at the moment, already feeling awkward and uncomfortable, Tayne was not in a good place to be taking what he perceived as orders.
"That's exactly my point. You don't know me, I don't know you other than you dislike me for being a cat and are bound by human pre-conceptions of everything... I was born a cat. I was raised more cat than human. I don't expect you to understand what that means," Seth shrugged his shoulders. At least he'd gotten a name out of Shrimp Guy. He was now Tayne. "I am a mostly neutral ear who has no one to gossip to since likely no one I know knows you."
Tayne thought sourly that he much preferred his born-wolf friend Jessalyn to Seth Samara. At least Jess looked the proper gender and didn't make him uncomfortable and wasn't a freaking housecat. "You aren't going to go away until I tell you something, are you?" he asked with a sigh.
"Mm, pretty much," he said with a smile, fishing a rubber band out of his pocket. Gosh it was hot so he tied up his thick hair with a sigh. Better. A little anyway. At least any stray breeze could brush against his neck then. He pulled a knee to his chest and rested his hand on it, chin on his hand and lightly framed by fingernails shaped to be sharp like claws.
... yeah. Definitely preferred Jess. Tayne sighed, rubbing his forehead with one hand. "I got bit the night of the full moon, okay? I don't even know what I am yet, just some kind of feline. The books say I c-c-could be anything from a housecat to a lion. Except I know I'm not a housecat."
Seth frowned a little. He'd gotten bitten... And now he was going to have to deal with the horrible wait until the full moon to find out exactly what he was. That was awful. He kind of wanted to hug Tayne but knew that wouldn't go over well so he just decided on a gentle pat on the shoulder. "It won't be too bad if you have help. My father is a bitten cat - well housecat. Although why are you so sure you're not one of us? Just out of curiosity. Please."
"For one thing, I don't like them," Tayne said with a little grin, half wry and even a sliver apologetic. "They're nothing like me, they're everything I don't like about animals and people all rolled into one. If I were gonna pick an animal to turn into, it'd probably be some kinda dog. And the books all say that you wind up the closest thing to what you're like, personally, that you can get in the species." He snorted lightly and added, "That, and I still love dogs. Ran into a few rowdy ones the other day, and it was awesome."
"I'm not sure personal preference has anything to do with it," he smirked faintly but couldn't be precisely sure. It didn't matter to Seth whether this guy liked house cats or not. He couldn't change what he was and he wouldn't try for anyone anyhow. The dogs thing sealed it though. All of his family except for Isis disliked dogs. He nodded a little, "You'll probably get something a little bigger then. Which'll be a bitch to hide... Oh, maybe you'll get a Pallas's cat! No particular reason I think that other than they're really nifty looking." Why yes, he did giggle a little. Then he remembered, "Oh no wait... Those are about my size... Damn." Le pout.
"I don't know much of anything about any other kind of cat," Tayne admitted, frowning. "That's the next thing I gotta start looking up... once I've slogged my way through these." He tapped his now-closed book, sitting on one knee. While the information in them was pretty important, a lot of details he hadn't known before-- and some he was pretty sure he hadn't known because it was wrong, but nothing was perfect-- it was really pretty damn dry reading. And since Tayne didn't much like to read, to begin with... well. He was kind of not enjoying himself much.
"Ew books," he said with a recoil of minor disgust. "I can answer questions if you like. Especially cat ones. I'm very open about what I am if you hadn't realized," which he knew Tayne had and that's why he got the Cheshire cat grin. "It'd only be fair since I bothered you so much." See? Seth was a very nice guy. He just was dreadfully social and overbearing about it.
"Do you know anything about cats that aren't your kind of cat?" Tayne shot back, rolling his eyes a little. Though it was nice to find someone who had a somewhat similar view to looking things up in books. Tayne didn't exactly go "ew", but he certainly hadn't been having a lot of fun, either.
He arched an eyebrow, frowning a little, "Yes, actually. I'm not an expert but I know some basics. That was extremely rude of you, y'know." Alright, he'd been pretty rude himself but Tayne's tone there was just completely unnecessary no matter how extreme or mild it was. Seth sniffed a little, trying not to cat-growl at him.
"Hey, the wolf I know knows pretty much nothing about other were types, either, so it was a valid question!" Even if he hadn't been the politest about it, sure. Most people would take an eyeroll in stride, but apparently not the girly cat man. Seth. "All she really wanted to know was whether I'd be able to go running with her."
"Silly wolf... Your animals might not even get along. You might suddenly be unable to even stand her scent. It's possible," which was bad news really but had to be said. "My father had liked all animals but as soon as he got bitten into a cat? Hated canines. Couldn't stand the smell." He tilted his head to one side, smiling a little, "But that's not necessarily going to happen. You should just be aware of the possibility."
"Her smell didn't bother me Monday," Tayne shrugged. "I've already talked to her, I was in my truck with her, and had no problem. So maybe it's just more proof I'm not a housecat?" All the better for him, he figured. He refused to lose his friends over this were stuff. "So what do you know about big cats?" Because if he was going to be a cat, maybe he'd be something like a puma or a jaguar or something.
Yeah, that likely meant he was going to be much bigger than a wolf or extremely comfortable with canines, "I'd definitely count it as proof." If that would be comforting to Tayne, let it. "As for big cats... You can go with general behavior. You'll probably have the desire to pounce things, eat certain creatures raw. Depending on the cat, you may gain the desire to hide things in trees. Your sleep patterns will change depending on the cat so likely you'll become more nocturnal if you aren't already..." They were all general observations. Until Tayne suggested a specific cat, that was all he could give the man. "Any specific cat you're curious about?"
"Hell, I dunno." Eating things raw? Ew. Hiding things in trees was interesting, but not something he'd thought of yet. Tayne scratched his head. "Lions are pretty cool. Or pumas, those're local-ish. I got bit by a lynx, could be that, too, I suppose. My wolf-friend wanted me to be a cheetah, but I just don't see that one happening." Now that they were actually talking, this wasn't quite so bad. The lack of flirting helped. As did, you know, the lack of nakedness.
"Okay well... Starting with li--Actually, starting with another general fact. You may have to deal with some aggression issues since you're a guy," Back to lions. He settled against the bench more fully and thought... And thought... Until it became clear he was completely spacing out and purring a little. He shook his head and came back to reality. Lions. Right. "Starting with lions... A real one rests for like, 20 hours out of the day or something. So expect lethargy. Probably would end up having a pack mentality like a wolf." He was not going to point out that they were randy as Hell at the right times since this guy seemed to be uncomfortable with... everything.
Aggression. Well, shit. Kind of like his wanting to throw things in the bookstore? Or his tossing of Seth, himself? Or what? Tayne was already wary of his temper, because of what might happen if he lost it. What if the bite made it worse? The worry made him all but miss the moment of blankness on Seth's part, because he was too busy contemplating the consequences of being a temperamental cat.
Though he'd done pretty well keeping a rein on his temper so far, at least.... He shook his head as Seth picked up again. "Well, I haven't had any real desire to sleep more than usual. If anything, I'm having a hell of a time getting to sleep at all. So maybe not a lion...."
Seth smiled a little and tilted his head to one side, "It's really hard to guess at it I think because it's so new, y'know? And you're spending all your time worrying about it and reading different things. You really just need to relax and let it come to you. But you need to start getting used to other cats too." He stuck his tongue out at Tayne looking particularly childish for a moment.
Snorting, Tayne said, about half-way teasing and half-way serious, "Maybe if I could get along with other cats for more than a few minutes at a time, I could get used to them. Besides, what if I'm a jaguar, and something like you would be lunch?" He made a frustrated little noise and added, more quietly and more seriously, "And there's the full moon to worry about. To know how to keep people safe, I've gotta have some idea of how big I am... unless I just go overboard and act like I'm gonna be werebear-sized."
Seth laughed and shook his head a little, "Wouldn't be the first time someone saw me as prey... There's this really hot merman around here..." He shivered a little at the memory but only elaborated a little, "He saw me as prey and we got along fine." Ah, the full moon. He sighed softly and patted Tayne on the shoulder, "Best to go overboard. You'll be in a half form then anyhow so the size of your animal has no real bearing. Okay well it does but still... Even my half form is a great big monster." He hated his half form but it did prove useful on occasion.
Okay, what the hell. Tayne went red again and hunched in his seat. He did not need to hear about-- much less smell the physical reactions to the memory of-- Seth's happy-sexy-funtimes with a... "Wait, there's a merman around here?" he asked suddenly, sitting up with concern. "You do know those guys eat people, right?"
Well that wasn't the reaction Seth had been going for - er, the concern. Not the red part because that was just totally funny to be perfectly honest. "I didn't taste human on him," he put a finger on his bottom lip, thinking. Not that this was Tayne's point but Seth didn't really get that to be honest.
Tayne shot Seth a glare. "Not every meal." Ugh. More TMI. "But people are either playthings or dinners to merpeople, we're not-- we're not friends or companions or lovers or whatever. You could've gotten yourself killed, if he'd had a change of heart." Not that he cared a whole lot. Seth was annoying, but he still probably didn't deserve to get butchered and eaten.
"Oh I was definitely a plaything," he shrugged, admitting it willingly, "I think we had an unspoken understanding. I was not delicious and he didn't want to get gutted by a monster cat. Likely I won't even speak to him again." That was just the way Seth worked though. Nothing really telling there. "I was well aware of the risks." Alright, not perfectly but well enough. He gave Tayne a very heated, steamy look just to mess with him for he was now a toy, "So sweet of you to be concerned."
Fuck. Shit. Hell. Fuck. Tayne scooted almost panickedly further against the arm of the bench, as far as he could get away from Seth without actually getting up-- spilling the last couple shrimp onto the grass in the process. "Don't do that!"
Seth started cracking up, practically falling off the bench in the process, "I'm sorry! But you get the best 'frightened mouse' look!" And that's when he actually fell off the bench, landing on his hands and knees. This startled him right out of laughing and he glared at the bench, making a low throated, angry 'mrrrrrr' sound before shaking it off. "Poor phobic thing."
"You're not sorry at all," Tayne grumbled, and bent to pick up the fallen shrimp and toss them back into their tupperware. "And I'm not phobic." He grabbed up the top to it, too, and shut it. It looked like it was time to gather up his things and flee.
Alright, he couldn't argue there. He wasn't sorry. Not one bit. Okay, well, "I'm sorry about the shrimp at least." Poor ruined shrimp. He really was sorry about that. "If you weren't phobic, you wouldn't have panicked. So you're either phobic or closeted. Pick your favorite." When ever he put it that way, he generally got 'alright I'm phobic' as an answer.
Seth didn't actually get an answer, this time. Unless you counted a deep flush and an utter avoidance an answer, which Seth might. "Fuckin' pick your own," he muttered, and stood up, grabbing his book on weres as he did so.
Although a housecat's sense of smell was not the primary one compared to the eyesight, it was still heightened enough that he could pick up some of Tayne's emotions on the air... Embarrassment, definitely fear, anger... Phobic wouldn't bring embarrassment. "Oh honey. You found Narnia didn't you?" But instead of sounding condescending or pitying, Seth's voice had a tinge of sadness to it. A little for himself because no way in Hell was he getting near that booty but mostly for Tayne.
"I-- what?" Tayne wasn't always the quickest thinker, and it took him a long beat of frowning on confusion for that to fit into place, and he went, if possible, even redder. "Just-- shut up about it, okay? I c-cant-- I just can't." He tucked his book under his arm and turned away, hurrying off, hopefully to leave Seth behind.
"Yes you can," he called after Tayne, not physically following but he was a very good shouter, "There's nothing to be ashamed of!" Anyone listening to just that would be so confused but who really cared. Seth shrugged his shoulders and sighed a little. Ah well... Nose to the grass, he started poking around for crumbs left behind by the shrimp. Damn that was some good shrimp.