Who: Jake and Tommy Sr. Where: Sully house What: Jake is a cat, and then he's not... When: Sunday afternoon/evening Rating: Vampire stuff happens Open: To anyone who hears Status: Thread, partially written in e-mails, now open.
Tom could not help but chuckle at Herbert. The bird was just funny. By now he was able to let the dodo out of the little barn. Herbert loved to explore but thankfully always returned. It was safe to say Tommy was amazed. He hadn't even thought the bird had enough intelligence to remember his way back. It was also safe to say that Tommy had been fucking scared the first time he had let the dodo out of his sight. He had become attached to the little relict.
Now the bird was stubbornly poking him in the leg. "No, Herbert. You are not going to get another cracker." He shook his head at the animal.
***
Jake missed his family, but he didn't dare go near them when he looked human. He still hadn't fed, but it was getting harder and harder to resist the hunger with each day that passed. It was never as bad when he changed, though, so he figured he'd turn cat and go past the house quickly to see if he could see anyone. He'd never seen Tom Jr. He wanted to see how JR was doing, or check on the babies, or sit in the kitchen and have a cup of coffee with Izzy. He wanted to see his family, damn it.
He'd gone exploring through the forest first, then cut up through the field beside the barn towards the house. Tommy was outside! Jake could hear him so he headed round to see what his twin was up to and who he was talking to. The other cats were nowhere to be seen, and same with the two dogs, which was good. Jake had no desire to be chased up a tree or anything stupid like that. There was, however, Herbert.
The dodo had been over poking at Tommy, but when Jake appeared, the stupid bird decided it needed to say hello. It was endearing at times, but insanely fucking stupid at others. "Fuck off, Herbert," Jake warned him, which sounded like a couple of angry meows, but he might as well have called the dodo over to him.
***
Tommy couldn't help but chuckle at his pet. Sometimes bravery and stupidity was one and the same thing. Jake was proof of that.
"Oh Herbert, that's not gonna end too well for you. Leave the cat alone, you daft bird." His voice was full of affection. He was just glad the cat wasn't hissing.
***
Herbert did not fuck off after all. He was a good bit bigger than all of the cats, although that never usually bothered Jake no matter what form he was in or what the animal was (unless it was a Palulukan, of course). Resigned to the fact that Herbert was going to go through his usual routine, Jake sat down and waited. The dodo just sort of flapped and squawked a bit as he checked out the new cat, and then the stupid bird actually had a thought and seemed to realize that he knew this cat's scent. Herbert stepped back and looked all round, then tilted his head as he peered closer.
Jake tilted his head too, copying the bird for a moment, before getting bored and standing up again. Herbert squawked once more, but Jake just walked round him and padded over to brush against Tommy's leg. He was not going to change back and have a chat, since he knew it wouldn't go well - Mitchell's words about not disappointing people were on a constant loop in his head - but at least he knew his brother was okay for the time being.
***
Tommy watched the exchange rather amused. His bird seemed fine. And then the cat came over to him and was, well...a cat. "Oh... hi..." he said. "Uhm..." He stepped away from it, making his way over to the table where his laptop stood. He would let Herbert enjoy his freedom while he would catch up on some of the articles he had saved.
***
What the hell? Jake grumbled to himself as Tommy walked away, before spotting the laptop over on the table. Rolling his eyes, he quickly made his way over to see what his brother was reading. Jumping up on the table, he glanced back at Tommy before moving round to look at the screen of the laptop. And then he had an idea.
The thing had only just booted up, so nothing was open just yet. Moving as quickly as he could, Jake brought up a text editor and poked at the keyboard with a paw a few times. When he was finished, he jumped back down, stretched as long as he could make himself and then started walking towards a tree.
The window he'd left open said "hi tommny just checkinngin". Because typing was difficult when you had paws instead of fingers.
***
Tommy watched the cat with his mouth hanging open until finally after a few seconds of intense shock the penny dropped. Mitchell was not only a vampire but a shape changer as well. "Oh man, Jake, that's you, yeah?"
***
He stopped when Tommy spoke, and turned to face him. Nodding, he padded a little ways back towards his brother, then stopped and sat down. Even as a cat, he wanted to keep some distance between them.
***
Tommy stared at his brother. This was one thing: weird! "How is it? Being a cat I mean." The biologist couldn't help but see this as an opportunity to gain data.
***
Jake just Looked at Tommy for a moment, before deciding to answer anyway. "It's pretty good. I like the claws when I'm climbing, they're useful, and the fur's good and warm. Being a vampire is cold," he said, "and I dunno how you're going to understand any of this, skxawng. Why didn't you ask a yes/no question?"
It sounded almost exactly like when Taronyu decided to complain at Jake for whatever reasons she usually had.
***
Tommy just let his brother meow patiently. "Yeah, you see... either you change back or you do your typing thing again. Cat is not something I have learned yet." His twin was a bit of an idiot at times.
***
Jake shook his head the instant Tommy suggested changing back. He was going to have to type everything if he wanted to spend time with his brother, which he really really did. He got to his feet and started back towards the laptop. Tommy stood there, watching as Jake jumped up onto the table and started to type once more.
"mnot changhing back./ dangeroius
yes/nop qwuestions arre best"
***
Tom just starred at his tiny furry brother. This was ridiculous. Surely he wouldn't attack him. Jake behaved as if he had a disease. Tom glanced at his brother with a sly expression. "Yeah, or you just shut up for a bit and I tell you something about genetics."
***
"Fucking hell, Tommy," he groaned, not caring how that sounded in Cat noises. It wasn't like he could interrupt, though. Well, he could maybe change into an ikran but that would wreck the table, and Tommy's laptop, and it'd piss Tommy off, and it might damage the house or something, so best not to, really. He could stand to listen to his brother for a while. Or sit. Tommy did tend to go on and on when he got started talking about his favorite subjects.
***
"It was a joke," Tommy said, clearly seeing Jake's disinterest. As always. He loved talking about science and inventions and discoveries. But being faced by complete disinterest could kill that love even for him. "Look, I'm not quite sure what to do here," he admitted. Even if this was his brother, one-sided conversations were just awkward.
***
Jake's tail hung low as Tommy said he didn't know what to do. He thought for a moment and then his ears pricked up.
"youcan talk aboiut geneticss if you want. or abouit tom and jr and everyone/? i want to know1!"
Typing really wasn't fun like this.
***
"Uhm... all right, I don't know. It's weird," he started. All these kids that took it so naturally that they were in his life.
And Tommy started to talk. This time it was actually quite good that Jake couldn't answer. No interruptions. He could simply paint his thoughts. The colours he chose were various, the joy he felt when he discovered that his second son was just as nerdy as he was. The shock that still sometimes overcame him when he saw all of these unborn children running around. His second life was written. But there were still moments of fear. What if Izzy would leave again? What if all of this did not happen? What about JR who had been a soldier in one of the greatest wars on earth? Scientifically it was very interesting. It was the first case where a person from the Island was transported to earth. Tommy being Tommy let his thoughts trail.
He jumped into the science behind this place and the magic, explained how he struggled with it and didn't accept that there was no explanation. It existed which was proof that there had to be one, otherwise it wouldn't happen. He didn't share how deep his belief went. He would rather believe that he was sitting in a psychiatric hospital being a complete nutter - (sometimes the thought still popped in his mind) - than think that there was no explanation. Quantum mechanics - he was sure Jake would stop listening at this point - implemented the existence of true randomness, pure chaos. Tom wasn't a fan of it. He followed hidden variable theories. If you had no explanation, you simply hadn't found it yet. Tommy went on talking about magic and how it might work in what was his understanding of physics. Maybe rules had to be abandoned, maybe there needed to be a layer beneath basic physics. Something that wasn't visible, wasn't measurable but that affected the physical laws of this world. Ideas popped into his head as it was often the case when he verbalised his thoughts and doubts. Maybe he needed to gather spell casters who could feel magic. Would the Jedi detect changes in the force if spells were cast?
His eyes lit up.
His stomach growled.
Tommy screwed up his face. "Sorry." The world around them had gotten a bit darker. "Uhm, I'm gonna get something to eat. You want something as well?"
***
Jake listened to every word. He nodded or meowed softly when Tommy paused for breath, so that his brother knew he was listening, although he got completely lost during the whole quantum whatever-it-was so he took advantage of that time to sit down comfortably, his tail curling round all his feet as Tommy switched to talking about magic. Still, it was kinda comforting, listening to Tommy geeking out. Sort of like when he'd been recovering from being shot, and Tommy would talk at him about Pandora; the drugs he'd been on had pretty much wiped him out, but he'd tried his best to listen to Tommy's voice and it had kept him calm.
He couldn't help but laugh at the sudden grumbling coming from Tommy's stomach, though. Shaking his head, he sat up straighter before sort of pointing with a paw towards the kitchen.
***
"All right, I'll be back in a second," he said and got up. Ten minutes later he returned with a plate of fruits and vegetables. He settled down again and began cutting. He was sure that Izzy would approve. All the pies needed some counterbalance.
"Thanks for listening, Jake. And not running away screaming and meowing," he said with a laugh.
***
Jake woke up from a light doze as Tommy returned, then went to investigate the plate of food. He looked up at his brother and nodded when he thanked him, then reached over with a paw and snagged a cherry. He'd tried meat as both cat and ikran, but that was it. This would be interesting.
***
Tom chucked softly as he watched his brother. The movement made his hand slip and he ripped a tiny gash in the skin with his knife. A perfect little red line appeared. "Gosh," Tommy commented, annoyed.
***
Jake's nostrils were suddenly full of the heavy metallic tang of blood, and his head snapped up as Tommy studied the cut. Part of his mind was yelling at him to run away, get away into the forest, just leave Tommy to his laptop and fruit, but it was quickly silenced. Any thoughts of Mitchell's advice were long gone, and Jake was... Jake was hungry and all he wanted, all he needed was right there in front of him.
He dropped down off the table, changing back to look human as he landed, but his eyes were fully black and his fangs were out. Reaching out, he grabbed his brother's hand and pulled it close, staring at the cut on his thumb. It wasn't too deep but that didn't matter. That was what his fangs were for, after all.
***
Tom felt completely overrun. Fucking hell! His brother's fangs tore into his skin and it hurt! It almost hurt as much as the knives had hurt.
"Shit! Jake! Stop that!" Fear had gripped his voice and mind. He started to push at his brother. What was Jake doing?
***
That first rush of blood was beyond anything he'd ever thought it could be, and Jake almost felt dizzy with the feel of it pouring down his throat. He ignored the noise, being pushed had no effect on him, he just held on and drank deeply.
He finally felt alive again, he felt strong and aware and warm for the first time in weeks! This was amazing and exactly what he needed and he could not understand why he'd tried to avoid this.
***
Fuck! This wasn't happening. Jake didn't move. It was like pushing against a rock. He had reached the threshold to panic and jumped right over it. "Fuck! JAKE! STOP!" He pushed one more time and now something happened. Jake was pushed away from, practically flew away from him and landed on the grass. Tom just stared for a second.
***
Jake skidded to a stop and jumped back to his feet, glaring back at his brother as he wiped the blood from his face and licked his hand clean. Baring his teeth, he hissed at Tommy before starting to move towards him once more.