as happy as the laughter of a child

[awakenings]

Who: Re-l (awakenings) and Livio (cognidis).
When: February 20th.
Where: Re-l's apartment.
Summary: Livio gets first dibs on the kittens Re-l has and to visit her for one of their sessions.
Warnings: Teeth-rottingly cute things?


[It's been two months since the kittens were born. She's watched over them carefully despite their parents being with them every waking moment, monitoring them, and actually finding herself curious to watch how the grow. Born as stumpy little tuft balls with eyes closed, now they're mewling messes with bright, blue and green eyes, and looking like their parents. She's been sitting with Ergo for a few hours, watching the kitten waddle around the living room. The older cat watches his children with nearly unblinking eyes, tail lashing and back arching into Re-l's palm.]

Four kittens, perfect specimens. You must be so proud.

[She scratches him again, sighing at herself.]

I need to get out more. I'm talking to a cat like he can actually understand a word I'm saying.

[In fact, the black cat meows at her and brushes into her side before he wanders over to his litter. It's then that she hears a knock at the door and she lifts her head.]

Come on in, Livio. Door's unlocked.

[It's a risk to let the cloaking spell up on her apartment and to keep the door unlocked, but she'll change the password later. She trusts Livio.]

Comments

[awakenings]

[She nods and heads into the kitchen to get him some. She'll let him take a look at the kittens first. When she returns with his glass, she doesn't expect him to be so surprised. Faintly, it occurs to her that maybe he's never really seen them before outside of pictures.

She frowns, setting the glass down on the coffee table. She glances up at him.]

Yeah, they are. They'll get bigger, though.

[Re-l goes over to them and crouches down, letting one of the kittens sniff her boots.]

Come on, come here. You can touch them. They might be small, but they're resilient little things.

[cognidis]

[ He is very surprised. The closest he's been to young animals was years ago when he was still a child, and Jasmine found a puppy. It brings back some painful memories, looking back that far.

Hesitating, Livio follows Re-l over to the kittens, watching them with a mix of curiosity and uncertainty. Finally, he crouches and (tentatively) reaches out to touch one. Soft fuzz brushes lightly against his fingers, a look of perplexed wonderment crossing his face.

One of the kittens then proceeds to flop on his shoe. Amused, he gently picks it up and sets it on its feet. ]

Careful.

[awakenings]

[She watches him interact with one of them, faintly smiling. She's named them after the Collective, and the one bumbling over his shoes just happens to be Husserl. The one at his fingertips, all brave and bold, is Derrida. Her eyes linger on how he reacts to them, to his curiosity and to his brief smile, and the look on her face becomes just a little more genuine.

Ergo brushes against her thigh, watching his kittens. She scratches his head.]

You should see them when they're hungry. They try climbing up my pants and their little claws help them stick to me. It's ridiculous.

[cognidis]

[ He smiles a bit, watching as the kittens nose their way around him. ]

I bet.

[ He looks at Re-l. ]

Have you named them?

[awakenings]

[She looks at him, then to the kittens with almost embarrassment.]

Yeah, but they don't respond to them, so you can rename them to whatever you want and they'll be none the wiser.

[One brushes against her fingertips and she scratches its head.]

[cognidis]

[ No need for embarrassment. He's amused by them more than anything else.

One of them, a white fuzzball splattered with black seems particularly interested in his fingers. ]

...Nobody else wanted one?

[awakenings]

I wanted to give you first pick.

[Livio means more to her than the people just wanting another pet, or the few who she thinks can't handle the responsibility. Livio, at least, can...and it'll do him some good to have a home companion.]

Though, Diego's been by to babysit and play with them.

[cognidis]

[ He smiles a bit. ]

Thank you.

[ Looking down at the little fuzzball nuzzling at his fingers, Livio scratches her a little behind her ears. A soft 'mew' escapes her, and his face brightens just a tad.

He looks at Re-l again, questioning. ]

...Can I?

[ He indicates the fluffy black and white kitten. He wants to hold her, but...well. He hasn't actually held a pet in a long time. ]

[awakenings]

[She nods, letting him inspect one of the kittens. She watches them interact, watches him look so pleased to be around the kitten and touching her. Re-l's gaze fixes on them.

At his question, she nods again, gesturing.]

Go ahead. She's not going to bite you and I know you'll be gentle.

[For as large and as powerful as he is, Livio is like a gentle giant when he wants to be. And she trusts him.]

I think she'd like you to, anyway.