theeyeofra (theeyeofra) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-01-18 23:59:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | bast, t'challa (black panther) |
Who: Bast & T'Challa
What: Halloween shenanigans
When: Whenever Tony had his Halloween costume party
Where: Idk, wherever it was! SOMEWHERE!
Warnings: Snark. So much snark
Status: Log | Complete
Bast felt more like the goddess that she’d always been today as she walked with Muffin sitting perfectly still in her arms. Somehow, she’d turned part villain, part goddess in regards to her costume, but it felt right all the same. The black suited Osiris or Anubis better than it did her, but she didn’t mind. How many evil villains could say they had a psychic link with their cats anyway? She guessed less than the number of evil villains that could say that they had their own Champion. It was a popular trend. Either way, she felt in control and above all the little people around her, something she may have attributed more to Isis if she’d been in the right mind. Even as a goddess, she’d never really felt that she was better than the humans. It was likely the part of her that mentally connected to the evil villain part of her costume. At least she wasn’t wearing the garish red of Set. Small favors.
She glanced over at T’Challa as she took a sip from her drink. It was another moment before she moved close enough that they could speak. “You’d have liked our gatherings, I think,” she commented, glancing out over the room. “The company is more interesting.” Not that she’d have thought they weren’t that interesting if she hadn’t been dealing with whatever it was that had shifted her thought process. “These are the people you work with?”
“Mm, they are.” T'challa replied with a murmur of near disapproval. He had an air about him that was positively regal beyond question - the way he moved with slow purpose, his tilted up chin, his haughty expression. He had cheated and come in his Black Panther outfit, the one from the first dreams since that one had more flair - a cape, a high collar, glinting gold plated Vibranium accents. It also better displayed his physique, as it was solid black and not textured and thicker than his newer dream’s costume. It was so drab compared to the regality of the first.
“It's a shame we can't have your people here.” He added, sipping and eyeing the rest of the company; all had varying degrees of costumes from simple store bought to more creative types. He frowned a bit more disapprovingly at Tony Stark's. “He would come as himself. Or a variation thereof. So common.” He said the word 'common’ like one would of a subject of low birth.
Bast made a small sound of disapproval. She didn’t really approve of them, but then she didn’t really approve of most people in this moment. T’Challa was different. He was far more interesting than the rest of the people here. He at least understood the value of not being...well, the majority of these people.
“At least then the food and festivities would be a little better. Though, I would leave Isis to herself. She’s not to be bothered with.” Even with the costume, Bast couldn’t stand Isis. “Sekhmet would be fun, but then we’d have to give her the majority of the alcohol to keep her from killing everyone, which might get messy.” Though, even that sounded more entertaining than all this idle chit chat. Her gaze settled where T’Challa looked and she let out a small sigh. “Well, when you are around people like that, you can only expect mundane attempts to entertain.” She paused for a second, looking out over the room and then down to Muffin. “We could make the party a little more interesting...How do you feel about a few more cats? Perhaps not so much of the domestic version. We’re sorely lacking in that department and I’m sure it would...liven things up a little.”
“Mm,” T'challa said in agreement. “An inebriated Sekhmet would indeed be entertaining. I would even settle for an exhibition fight between my Dora Milaje.” He glanced over at Bast. “Not against Sekmet mind you. That would not end well, despite their prowess at combat. But my Adored Ones are excellent fighters and an exhibition match amongst themselves would at the least be a welcome distraction.”
At Bast's jab at Tony he gave a sort of soft snort. “You should see his suits. The armored ones. Some are impressive but pale in comparison to this.” And with a small motion of his free arm gave enough momentum to his cape that it flared out in a momentary but elegant motion.
He raised a curious eyebrow at his companion's suggestion and a small smile tugged at the corners of what were usually otherwise serious lips. “Which breeds did you have in mind?”
“It is a shame they are not here.” Bast felt a hint of disappointment. She supposed she had no sway over the people here so she could not make them fight, but that wasn’t exactly different from the way things went normally. “Sekhmet would likely crush them, but that is what trickery is for. I suppose that is the only thing Isis got right.”
Her attention shifted to T’Challa’s outfit and her expression softened slightly. “No. I’m sure there is little that can compare to that. It is nearly as regal as our outfits, but…” She glanced down at her costume. “Neither is this.” She shrugged slightly. The shift in his expression made her smile a little. “Well, we can hardly call anything interesting, but there’s mountain lions and bobcats in the area. The zoo is too difficult for any of the others to break out of.” She frowned at that thought a moment. So many cats caged and kept for entertainment value. “But I can try anyway.”
T’Challa scanned the room with a twinkle of mischief in his brown eyes. “A few mountain lions and bobcats should do the trick. Perhaps a few stray cats to start and then bring in the big ones for a nice flourish?” He was smiling now, the idea thoroughly entertaining. “A shame the zoos are so well thought out, it would be nice to see a panther.” He gestured with a regal nod for her to begin, if she so pleased.
Bast nodded at his suggestion. It was sensible. She supposed starting off big might give a few things away, but starting off small and ending big would leave for a little more amusement. There was a soft humming noise as she summoned cats to them. It took about ten minutes to see the first one show up. Amusingly enough it was a small, black cat on Halloween. Bast couldn’t help a hint of a smile, but within another minute, there were a few more cats entering the party. “Looks like it worked.” She focused for a moment on the cats, talking with them without speaking a single word. The idea was that they weren’t to hurt anyone, but they should cause as much mischief as possible. Stealing food was acceptable behavior. For now.
She turned toward T’Challa. “I’ve told them there can be some mischief, but no one should get hurt. Not that the cats could really do anything.”
He nodded. That was acceptable. He watched as the cats slowly and stealthily infiltrated the room until one jumped up onto a table, patiently waited until the woman talking turned a certain way with the shrimp cocktail in her hand, then with a carefully extended paw picked the shrimp and started devouring it. The woman, finally looking down at the glass, noticed the missing delicacy, noticed the tabby cat, and shrieked in surprise.
T’challa chuckled.
Bast nearly laughed, but she contained it carefully, the corners of lips twitching up in an amused smile. “Well, there’s that one,” she said quietly, watching as other cats carefully started to follow suit. She noted other people starting to notice them and the startle and surprise that passed around the room. She watched carefully as it did. She gave everyone a little while to get used to the large array of cats and attempt to chase them off before she hummed again.
She couldn’t say how long it would take the bigger cats to get there, but she was prepared to keep them in line. She was also prepared to watch everyone’s reactions. “It shouldn’t be too long, I hope. We’ll have more friends in a little while.”
“Good.” T'challa chuckled into his drink. He snatched a shrimp cocktail from a passing server's tray and watched with an air of superiority as the first black cat approached and sat politely at his feet. Black Panther to black cat it was an interesting image. He ate one shrimp, then another, the black cat all the while silently staring at him with an expectant gaze of yellow eyes.
“Here, enjoy.” He said in his native tongue, dropping the shrimp. He added with a small smirk, “And Bast be with you.”
He loved the perplexed conversation as the guests wondered if Tony had gone overboard this time. There were references to Catwoman and the Batman films, though one intelligent guest made a remark about how they'd seen a documentary on Egypt and how they treated their cats.
His super hearing picked up the padded steps and deep vocalizations of a few big cats approaching the house. He grinned wickedly at Bast. “I believe your guests of honor have arrived.”
Bast watched them, silently communicating with the cat. “He says thank you. I’d tell you his name, but it’s not really something one can easily pronounce. He says you can call him Jay for short…” A pause, “Or Your Highness if you’re feeling fancy.” She laughed a little at that before turning her attention to everyone else.
It was interesting to hear people speak about Egypt in all the madness. Had Tony gone overboard? Well, she wouldn’t dissuade them of the fact. She made a point to look momentarily shocked as the bigger cats started to come through the door and she looked around at everyone else in the crowds, hearing a few shrieks. “Seems they’re a little more startling than the others. I guess that’s not really a surprise.”
T’Challa smiled wryly at the little black cat as Bast translated their mindspeech conversation. “Just like a cat.” He made the smallest of noble nods to the animal.
When the big cats came, T’Challa had a white toothed grin on his face, an expression that almost seemed out of place with his serious demeanor. But he couldn’t help it. The cats were beautiful, and it was entertaining seeing people scattering before them. One of the big cats approached them - a mountain lion, and it stared at them a long, breathless moment before it chose to rub up against Bast’s legs, then, with a momentary glance at T’Challa, his legs as well, before it sat down between them, as if a loyal guard dog.
“Huh.” T’Challa said, thoroughly impressed. He risked petting the head of the big cat, and it didn’t move a muscle, merely watched the unfolding chaos with them. T’Challa frowned, though, as he saw smartphones being whipped out, and not just for Instagram or FacebookLive. “If we do not intervene and calm them, this could get messy.” He looked over at Bast.
Bast’s hand moved just a portion, letting her hand run over the mountain lion’s fur as it rubbed against her legs. She didn’t show fear because there was nothing to fear from her. She didn’t fear any of the others either. They would behave themselves. She had made certain of it.
However, T’Challa’s concern drew her attention to everyone. “Ah. Yes. That could be a problem,” she said quietly. She let out a sigh, running her fingers over the mountain lion’s fur for a brief moment before telepathically calling all the cats to come toward her. They did as told and she told a few of them to leave. It would probably take making most of them leave for people to truly calm down. “I suppose we should let them go back to their homes...People really do have a habit of ruining perfectly good fun. Unless you had another idea?”
It had been fun while it lasted. T'Challa reached out and stroked the head of another big cat as he mulled over Bast’s question. Looking down at the majestic animal's face he smiled a little. “None in particular. I am growing a bit weary of all this. Perhaps we should call it a night and guide our feline companions out. At least we'll make for a royal exit.” He looked over at Bast to see what she thought.
Bast smiled a little at the suggestion. “Yes, I think guiding them out would be our best exit.” She relayed the message to all of the cats still in attendance before looking over at T’Challa and signaling for him to follow her. She walked toward the exit, cats in tow and eyes focused on the faces of the people she walked past.
T’Challa followed her at a respectful distance, but made a show of it that he was by no means as much a superior to the gawking crowd as she was. Head held high, eyes haughty with barely an acknowledging glance at them, with a big cat on either side of him keeping stride, he exited the premises without so much as a backwards glance.
He was sure later on when looking back on this he would see it to be the best, or at least most unique, Halloween he had ever experienced and was positive Bast felt the same way.