Re: [Second City: Cat & Jack]
Cat knew love as something weak. Something destructive, something that made people soft in a way that was dangerous. Love made walls go down, and it left feelings flayed and exposed to the air. Love corroded, and even this young girl knew better than to expect anything good to come of it. Oh, she knew what old her had been through, and she refused to suffer the same pangs. It could be said the good outweighed the bad, or, at least, that the good balanced the bad, but Cat didn't think so. After all, where was she now and what did she have? No, love was a waste of time, and this girl bedecked in black? She wanted to have fun. Were she to buy a bottle, that would be the word emblazoned on the label: Fun. But, conversely, she didn't need a bottle for that. She was perfectly capable of finding her own good time, and anyone who didn't like it? Well, that wasn't her concern.
And, for the sake of clarification, this table wasn't fun. It had been business for the older version of this girl, this cutthroat world and inhabitants, but it wasn't fun. This kitten? She didn't care for it either, but it was the kind of thrill she associated with Jack. Oh, perhaps not presently, but he'd talked to her of his addictions once, and they had involved more than liquid in bottles. She could almost sense that old hunger in him, and perhaps that was her imagination. Or, perhaps, like countless mad old kings, the girl was simply playing. Cat and mouse, and this was her batting a paw at the man watching.
He turned.
Well, that was an unexpected move on the chessboard, and her smile told no tales, revealed no secrets. There was no revelation in her gaze, and she left it for him to decide how she felt about the card he'd just played.
She pulled the scarf over her head once more, and she jangled as she left the room with the stealthy kind of quiet that made a thief a great thief. The kitten made no sound, and she blended in to the crowd in the hallway with ease. Youth helped, because she wound around people with the quick steps of the young, and she only slowed to ensure Jack was following, and only every so often.
That she was leading him past the eating area? Was obvious, because the scents wafted into the hall they traversed. Cumin and paprika and bay leaf, and the walls were crumbling stone that let smells waft through along with the chatter of the crowded room with the delicacies. Onward she went, and it became louder and louder ahead.
The voices spoke lazy English, some words unintelligible as English at all, but certainly derived from it. Louder and louder, and there was music too. Instrumental, and it was mix between bollywood and folk, and there were strings and flutes and the thump of drums.
An archway was crowded up ahead, and it was there that Cat led. There, it would become necessary to push through the gathering, but Cat did, and she found a vantage point left and near to the wall in a room that was huge and open and vast. There was a makeshift stage, and upon it a man and a woman, young, early twenties and exchanging vows. The woman laughed, and her vows were uttered in crafted poetry and loudly over the music. The man looked enamored, and the couple wore loud clothing in red and gold and blues. Loose things, and there were no tuxes or big white dresses here.
The collected gathering called out, cheered, heckled and teased boldly and vulgarly. At the outskirts, people danced. At the back, family prepared food and wine was poured into chipped cups. The ground was strewn with sweet-smelling rushes and no one wore shoes, and Cat kicked hers off out of respect.