the cat

[instar]

Comments

[instar]

"I think only the females drink blood, which suggests they're doing something with it other than lunching, so maybe. But I do not think any of us should be a mosquito. Mosquitoes are fragile, hated, slow, and not terribly difficult to detect."

[hold_infinity]

"Mm," says Robin. "That just means we should be careful mosquitoes, if we need to be."

[instar]

"If Trouble or Charlie screw up in Las Vegas or wherever, then there will be an unsubstantiable report of someone who's supposed to be dead - and screwing up that badly is very unlikely; do you read obituaries from out of state and memorize the associated photographs and bother to tell anyone if you spot them, in the dark, while buzzed? If we screw up as mosquitoes we're dead - or, potentially even worse, maybe half-swatted and trying to demorph in front of somebody who we really should not be demorphing in front of."

[hold_infinity]

Robin shrugs. "I don't necessarily mean we should use mosquitoes for this. But who says this is going to be the only time we'll want to acquire somebody we might not be able to just walk up to? Or something. Maybe someday we'll want to acquire an animal from a zoo we can't break into, or something wild we couldn't get close to easily. I think it's worth finding out if we could use mosquitoes in those kinds of situations, and maybe even figuring out how to do it. And if not mosquitoes, I want to know if there's something else that's small and drinks blood that would work better."

[instar]

"It's worth at least looking up blood-drinking bugs," allows Bella. "Fleas are harder to swat. Find out if fleas can vomit."

[hold_infinity]

"Fleas might not have the carrying capacity," she points out. "And they're probably even less mobile. I'll make a chart."

[instar]

"Excellent. A chart."

[hold_infinity]

Robin grins. "I'm proud of my charts!"

[aeskhyne]

A feline of some kind - tall for a housecat, small for most other things, with long luxurious fur in a pale grey-brown with black spots, and a creamy off-white underbelly - slinks into the room, tail held high.

<Look how cute I am!> says Trouble. <Aren't I the cutest?>

He butts his head against Robin's knee.

[hold_infinity]

"You're adorable," giggles Robin, crouching down to pet him.

[instar]

"You look like one of those ridiculously expensive - what are they called - Savannah cats," says Bella. "What'd you mix in?"

[aeskhyne]

<Serval and snow leopard. I'm a fluffy little killing machine,> he says proudly, and leans into Robin with an ecstatic purr.

[instar]

"Aww."

[aeskhyne]

Purrrrrrr.

[hold_infinity]

"And so soft," says Robin, plopping down on the floor and scooping him into her lap. "I could just pet you forever."

[instar]

"Well, two hours, at any rate."

[aeskhyne]

<Two hours is a lot of tummy rubs,> says Trouble, stretching out in Robin's lap.

[hold_infinity]

Robin takes the hint. "Oooh, fluffy."

[instar]

Bella laughs softly.

[hold_infinity]

"So how long did it take Ethan to ask if he could skin you and wear you as a coat?"

[aeskhyne]

Trouble giggles by thought-speak; out loud, he is still purring.

<I wouldn't make much of a coat, unless he skinned me several times,> he points out. <...And it was like ten seconds.>

[instar]

Bella appears to find this inordinately hilarious.

[aeskhyne]

<I said not until he learns how to actually make a fur coat,> he adds, <which shut him up about it. Mostly.>

[instar]

"Yeah, there's probably some difficult curing process involved," snorts Bella.

[aeskhyne]

<And I bet sewing fur gets complicated.>